Ask Me Anything Podcasts: Recent Episodes

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This week on Ask the Pastor features a conversation between Pastor J.D. Greear and Dr. Jason Thacker. Dr. Thacker serves as an assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Boyce College and Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He also is a senior fellow in bioethics and director of the research institute at The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is the author of several books including Following Jesus in the Digital Age and The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity.

A glimpse inside this episode:

• AI is transforming every aspect of society, including faith and identity.
• The concept of human dignity is central to understanding our value in the age of AI.
• AI should not be viewed as a neutral tool; it shapes and forms us.
• The image of God is crucial in discussions about technology and ethics.
• We must slow down and ask the right questions about technology’s impact.
• Humanity’s uniqueness lies in being created in the image of God.
• AI raises important questions about what it means to be human.
• Wisdom in technology use is more important than convenience.
• Parents should engage with their children in understanding technology.
• Government regulation of AI should prioritize human dignity.

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This week on Ask the Pastor features a conversation between Pastor J.D. Greear and Ben Watson. Watson is a former NFL tight end as well as a writer, speaker, and activist. He is a college football studio analyst with the SEC Network, and he serves as VP of Strategic Relationships with the Human Coalition, one of the largest pro-life and pro-women’s organizations in the country.

A glimpse inside this episode:

• The pro-life movement is fundamentally about justice.
• Children have inherent value from the moment of conception.
• Roe v. Wade’s overturn is a step, but not the end of the fight.
• Compassion is crucial in discussing pro-life issues.
• Voting is just one aspect of activism.
• Both political sides lack a complete solution for human flourishing.
• Church unity is essential despite political differences.
• Engagement in the pro-life movement can take many forms.
• Believers should seek to understand each other’s perspectives.
• Faith should guide political identity over party affiliation.

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Ask the Pastor is continuing our Gospel & Politics series. This week features a conversation between Pastor J.D. Greear and Dr. Ed Stetzer. Stetzer is a leading thinker in his field and has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates.

A glimpse inside this episode:

• The cultural moment feels different than prior cultural moments.
• Christians must engage politically without compromising their faith.
• Character in leadership is crucial for effective governance.
• Clarity in beliefs is essential for kindness in discourse.
• Diverse perspectives exist within the Christian community regarding political issues.
• The church’s mission should not pause due to political tensions.
• Engaging as winsome ambassadors is vital in today’s culture.Christians should be cautious of being influenced by media narratives.
• Political engagement should be informed by biblical teachings.
• The importance of unity in essentials and liberty in non-essentials.

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This week’s Ask the Pastor episode kicks off our brand new series, Gospel & Politics. This series will feature Pastor J.D. with other respected leaders talking about how we can integrate both the gospel and politics into our lives this election season.

A glimpse inside this episode:

• Secular beliefs often have Christian foundations, and Christians should recognize the influence of their faith in shaping moral values.
• The witness of the church is not about being good people, but about recognizing our need for Jesus and sharing the gospel with others.
• The decline in church attendance presents an evangelistic opportunity, as many people are searching for meaning and purpose.
• Christians should engage in politics and vote according to their Christian values, while also recognizing the limitations of legislation in enforcing personal beliefs.
• Christian engagement in politics can have a significant impact, and Christians should strive for a holistic understanding of scripture in shaping political discourse.

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In this final edition of Ask the Pastor’s Greatest Hits, Pastor J.D. talks about the pain of unanswered prayer and the realities of prayer for the Christian.

A glimpse inside this episode:

This is a tricky question. I’ve often heard that behind every question is a questioner. When we’re dealing with unanswered prayer, the Bible has a lot to say. But the heart of the questioner matters a lot here. More often than not, when someone asks me about unanswered prayer, it’s not an academic question for them. It’s a question coming from a place of deep hurt. They asked God for healing in their life—and it didn’t happen. They asked God to reconcile a relationship—but the other person still left. They asked God to work in their kid’s life—but it’s been years and there’s no sign of that child returning.

So first off, I want to say, when it seems like God isn’t answering prayer, that’s legitimately painful. It makes us question God’s goodness. It makes us wonder if he’s real. Those are the kinds of doubts that all of us, at one point or another in our walk of faith, deal with. I’ve wrestled with them. Every great saint has wrestled with them. So if you’re in that spot, don’t despair. Walk through that difficult question with God.

And here, I think, is the best road forward: If we’re walking in fellowship with the Spirit, there isn’t technically any such thing as unanswered prayer. (Now, this is different than the way God responds to those outside of Christ: He may hear them, but he hasn’t promised to.) With believers, though, the Apostle John reminds us, “This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15). If we are walking with God, we can be sure we have his ear.

Whatever your situation, whatever your request, if you are God’s child, he’s listening.

Now, does that mean he says “Yes” to everything you ask? Of course not. At times, since God’s wisdom is so much greater than our own, he re-directs our answer. Or he sometimes tells us to wait. Or sometimes he simply says, “No.”

But saying “No” doesn’t mean he’s being cruel. As Jesus taught, a good father gives his children food like eggs and fish, not dangerous animals like scorpions and snakes (cf. Luke 11:12–13). The point is that even earthly parents withhold things from their children—but that withholding is a result of their love, not a lack of it.

Sometimes the exercise of God’s love means he gives us what we would have asked for if we knew what he knew. (I think I first heard that from Tim Keller.) What feels like unanswered prayer is actually God answering according to the wisdom and love of the Father.

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In this edition of Ask the Pastor’s Greatest Hits, Pastor J.D. shares how God called him to the mission field before calling him to be a pastor of a church that sends and supplies the mission field in extravagant ways.

A glimpse inside this episode:

When God called me to be a pastor, he did so by first calling me to the mission field. I spent the first two years of my ministry as a church planter among Muslims overseas. God never relinquished that call to missions; he showed me that my role in it is to be a part of a church that sends and supplies the mission field.

Even though my primary role in the Great Commission is now as an equipper, it is always such a joy to get back on the front lines. Sure, it can be frustrating not being able to speak the language. But I share Christ more, person to person, in a two-week span than I probably do the entire rest of the year here in the States. It is my identity there, the entire reason I had go short term now. So when an opportunity comes up, I simply share the gospel. I wasn’t “Pastor J.D.” there. I was just “J.D. the guy talking about Jesus.” I want that to last: I want to just be the “Jesus guy” even here.

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In this edition of Ask the Pastor’s Greatest Hits, Pastor J.D. talks how to live in the world but not of the world.

A glimpse inside this episode:

Who do you feel the closest kinship with? Who do you spend most of your time with? The lesson from Lot’s life is that you have to make up your mind from the beginning: Who do you really want to be? If it’s with the world, go there 100%. If it’s with God, go with him 100%.

What do you love? What does that say about what your heart really desires?

Are you trying to get as close to the world as you can without becoming it?

So how can I be around “Sodom” but not make the mistake Lot did? It has to do with who you choose to make your close friends and your community. Those are the ones you become like—just like Proverbs 13:20 tells us.

The most miserable person in the world is the half-committed Christian.

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In this edition of Ask the Pastor’s Greatest Hits, Pastor J.D. talks about whether the legal use of marijuana is wise or helpful for Christians.

A glimpse inside this episode:

In the past, this was an easy enough question, because marijuana was illegal. It wasn’t a “gray area” for Christians. The drug was illegal, so it was off-limits to those who are “subject to the governing authorities” (Rom. 13:1). But as recreational marijuana becomes legal in more states, some Christians are having conversations about whether there could be an acceptable use.

• While the Bible never mentions marijuana, it does prohibit intoxication. If one hit of marijuana makes you high, there’s no way to smoke it and obey the Bible’s commands against drunkenness. No drug should not move us to the point of losing control. But that’s much of the intrigue and mystique of marijuana.
• Furthermore, marijuana has been demonstrated to have a lot of addictive qualities, more so than alcohol and nicotine, and Paul says: “Though all things are lawful, but I will not be ruled by them.”
• So, on the whole, it’s just hard to see how this could ever be wise. And that’s the wisest question: Is it helpful?
• I will add: marijuana use makes you demonstrably dumber. I mean, so does watching the Bachelor or 5–6 hours of golf. But it’s not a helpful variable in this equation.

One deeper issue: the effects of marijuana work against the kind of community we should seek in the body of Christ.

In Ephesians, Paul contrasts being drunk with wine vs. filled with the Spirit. That’s not an accidental comparison. Both are ways you deal with stress and problems. Wine (and we could add marijuana) dull your awareness of reality. The Spirit heightens your awareness of an alternate reality–the promises of the gospel and the sovereignty of God. And you speak those to one another in the church, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

• Some who speak from experience say that getting high “pulls you within yourself, causes you to become more disengaged, not only from people, but also from life in general.”
• One says: “Before I was a Christian, I smoked marijuana to . . . disengage from both people and issues.”
• One guy said: “By causing users to disengage from life, marijuana works against the love of neighbor Jesus commands. Christians seeking to honor God with their lives would do well to avoid it.

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In this edition of Ask the Pastor’s Greatest Hits, Pastor J.D. shares four important things to keep in mind when responding to instances of sexual abuse.

A glimpse into this episode:

This is an extremely important question, so much so that after becoming SBC president, the first thing I did was appoint a Sexual Abuse Advisory Group to lead our denomination. They have been leading in dozens of ways—one of the biggest is they’re developing a curriculum to help churches answer this very question. Churches should be a safe haven for the vulnerable, so we need to do everything we can to make our churches safe for survivors and safe from abuse.

A few preliminary thoughts:

• Don’t be shocked it’s happening.
• Prioritize the protection of victims, not the guarding of your reputations.
• Your goal is not to meet the minimal requirements–but as a shepherd to protect your flock.

This is just the start of an answer, but here are four important things to keep in mind:

1. Disclosing sexual abuse takes an enormous amount of courage, so we should honor that.

This may be the least understood aspect of sexual abuse—it results in a huge loss of voice for the victim. Abuse is usually followed by threats not to say anything, and that’s usually what happens.

What you need to know is that the first time you hear about an instance of abuse, chances are the person talking to you has been carrying this for years. They’ve been terrified about what people will think. They’ve assumed they wouldn’t be believed. To speak up takes bravery.

Now, there are important responses and action steps after you hear of abuse. But don’t be so quick to rush to the action step that you forget your first response—listening to a person, made in God’s image, reveal one of the most hurtful experiences of their lives. Listen, listen, listen.

1. If you know of a report of sexual abuse against a minor, you are legally obligated to alert the authorities.

This is not a “Matthew 18” situation. This is a “Romans 13” situation. Because certain sins are not only immoral; they are also illegal. This is never clearer than in the case of sexual abuse against minors.

If you know of sexual abuse against a minor, no matter who you are, no matter who they are, your first response is to alert the authorities. Call CPS or call the police. You may not know all of the best next steps. But they do, and you need to bring them in. The safety of more children than you know may be on the line.

1. If an abuser has access to minors at your church, remove the access immediately—and, again, call the authorities.

Statistics here are horrifying. Those who abuse minors don’t just do it once or twice. They do it repeatedly, even after they’ve been caught (if given the opportunity). So if you know about one case, you need to see that as dozens of more potential cases. This isn’t a gray area: Bring in the authorities.

We need to reject any understanding of grace that puts the vulnerable in harm’s way by giving abusers a chance to do it again

1. Help connect the survivor to other resources.

If someone has disclosed to you, that’s an honor. And you will have a key role in their healing process. But you need to know you shouldn’t be shouldering this alone.

Questions are going to come up—pretty early—that are best processed through a counseling relationship. So one of the best things you can do for a victim is to get them connected to a counselor. This isn’t a handoff—you need to remind the victim that you are still there and want to process everything with them—but it allows other people more trained in abuse care to do what they do best.

Conclusion: It’s a gospel issue

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In this edition of Ask the Pastor’s Greatest Hits, Pastor J.D. talks about some key advantages and disadvantages to each type of schooling and how Scripture guides our decision-making.

A glimpse inside this episode:

My friend Joby Martin says if you want some entertainment, get a home-school mama and a public school mama together and ask what the best educational approach is and then just get some popcorn and sit back and prepare for a UFC bout.

• Home-school mom be like: Sure, you can send your kid to the place where they outlaw prayer like in the times of Nebuchadnezzar and teach your kid that he came from monkeys and where he might get stabbed in the face by a gang member… that’s fine … but we love our son and want him to develop a biblical worldview so we homeschool. Statistically they are more likely to walk with Jesus if you do that, so clearly homeschooling is the godly choice.”
• Public-school mom: Yeah, that’s cool. We just want our kids to have things like… social skills. We think it’s cool that Timmy can churn his own butter and make his own clothes but we want our son to know things like … math. And we think our kids need to learn how to deal with the temptation of the world and not just run from it. After all, Jesus promised he would protect us in the world, not to vacate from it—and if all the Christians flee the public school, where is that going to leave society? How can we be salt and light to the world if we vacate it? Keeping our kids in public school is an act of love for our neighbor.

First, Romans 14. Chapter 14 and the first half of 15 are one extended discussion about how to get along with people in the church who disagree with you on something you feel passionate about.

Second: We’ve done all three: private school, home school, and public school and saw advantages in each.

• 3 in private now, 1 in public
• (Veronica says she couldn’t homeschool all 4 at once because the Bible clearly says Thou shalt not murder. And my wife would’ve killed my kids if they were home-schooled.)

Third, I’ll say: It really is ‘by kid.’

• There haven’t been a lot of studies on this, but those that are out there indicate that there’s not a significant difference in homeschool and public regarding whether the child adopts the faith if the parent is involved. “The data also suggest that family climate, especially faithful religious devotion by both parents, delivered in a context of loving nurture, is far more important than where a child goes to school.”
• Parental involvement is more key than school choice.
• That’s similar to the studies on how much doing devotions impacts a kid. It is the quality of the relationship more than the amount of the teaching that makes the difference. Here it is: Sociologist Vern Bengston says in his book Families and Faith that studies conclusively show that the quality of the child’s relationship to the father is the single-most important factor in whether the child adopts the faith of the parents.

What are advantages to private/home schooling?

• Studies show that both homeschooled kids and private school kids usually do slightly better on standardized testing than public school students.
• Private school students may get more intentionally-tailored Bible teaching and Christian curriculum (takes some pressure off), and homeschool parents have all the freedom they want to disciple their kids and teach them the Bible as a part of everyday school.
• Homeschooling (and private schooling to some extent) allows you the opportunity to tailor your child’s education to that child.
• If in a public school, it can be difficult to control what they’re exposed to at an early age.
• Public school curriculum can be notoriously harsh to Christianity–you’ve got to do due diligence. We had our older kids read apologetics books for that purpose.

What are disadvantages to private/home schooling?

• Social interaction (not just a joke) if you’re not careful when homeschooling.
  • Church is a great place to build the kind of community that can compensate for this, by the way, along with things like sports, extracurricular clubs, etc.
• Exposing them to world. We wanted to have them come home every night and process with us the hard discussions, the temptations, before college.
• Missional element: be careful with this one. That’s your calling not theirs yet.
• Private school is really expensive.
  • It’s a privileged person who even gets to ask a question like this. I understand that. Private schools are really expensive, and not only does that make it impossible for some people … it’s also something that Christians might want to consider even if they can afford it. Do you want your child to only interact with other kids who can afford that kind of school? Or do you want them to have friends from other walks of life, other socio-economic statuses?
• Homeschooling can be really tough.
  • Sometimes it’s nice to have some help shouldering the load of teaching your kids — especially when it comes to subjects that might be out of your comfort zone (which, for me, would come embarrassingly early in the process).

Every kid is different.

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Show Notes:

• The answer to this question comes from the lips of Jesus, the most compassionate person ever to live.
• Marriage is a covenant you make with your spouse before God. God created it in Genesis 2 as a union where two literally become one, and death is the only thing that can dissolve that covenant (with a couple of death-related exceptions which we’ll talk about).
• So, is it ever OK to divorce? Jesus says in Matthew 19 that you can do it in the case of adultery. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, is going to expand that to say desertion by an unbeliever. Why are those exceptions?
• The logic is very important. In the case of both desertion/abandonment and adultery, they both kill the covenant. That’s why I called them “death-related” exceptions earlier.
• So, you say, what about the case of abuse? Or what if the spouse is involved in some illegal activity that they refuse to stop and it’s putting our family at risk?
• First, if you are in an abusive situation, you need to get yourself to a place of safety immediately. Talk to your church, let them help, or if you’re not feeling safe reach out to the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE.
• Second, I would argue that the logic of Paul and Jesus’ exceptions applies also to divorce in the case of a spouse who is doing something that makes them unable to be lived with and puts the family in danger. Creating in abusive environment also kills the marriage covenant, and you are no longer bound to it.

Lean not on your ability as a parent; lean on God’s grace as the hope for your child.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Show Notes:

• We should be as intentional with our families as we are with our jobs.
• There is a sense that, on one level, I as a parent affect the faith journey of my kids.
• But on another level, there is a limit to the responsibility parents have for the choices our kids make. God has made them as individuals. A lot of godly parents will have a child who wanders. And it’s not because they did something wrong.
• Think about it: God was a perfect Father. And the only two humans he “fathered” directly (Adam and Eve) both rebelled. It wasn’t because of deficiencies in God’s parenting.
• There are decisions only our kids can make. Even under the best of circumstances, they can decide to pursue things that are contrary to what God would have for them.
• Pray for your kids. Speak truth to them. But ultimately, know that God wants us to lean into his grace.

God cares more for our kids than we do and he can pursue our kids in ways that we can’t.

Lean not on your ability as a parent; lean on God’s grace as the hope for your child.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Pastor J.D. answers a question about what it really means to be a Christian.

Show Notes:

• Everyone has a different assumption of what it means to be a Christian. In the Western world, a lot of people have the assumption that if you’re not a Jew, not a Muslim, and not an atheist, you must be a Christian.
• Some people think it means a certain amount of “religiosity”—a certain amount of church attendance, a desire to live by the Golden Rule, to do good to others, etc. The problem there is, “how much is enough?” At what point do you become good enough to be a Christian?
• There are two defining marks of a Christian to point out:
  • First, a Christian is born again. To be born again means that you’ve come to a point where you recognize that your sin has separated you from God and there’s nothing you can do that would ever make you good enough to be accepted by God. Then Jesus, in your place, lived a life you were supposed to live, died a death you were condemned to die, and was then resurrected from the dead. He wants to take away the penalty of your sin by applying his death on the cross to your account and put the new life of his Spirit into you.
  • Second, a Christian is a disciple of Jesus—which means you follow him, do what he did, live like he did, and obey his commandments. You devote your life to him. That’s what it means to make him Lord of your life.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost, which means we should live our lives as disciple-making disciples.

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This summer we are looking at some of the most popular Ask the Pastor episodes over the years. This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question of whether or not you can lose your salvation.

Show Notes:

• At first glance, Hebrews 6 seems to say that not only can you lose your salvation, but once you do, you can never get it back! So what does it mean?
• This is important: I believe the writer of Hebrews is giving a general, pastoral warning to his congregation rather than attempting to delineate how the processes of regeneration, justification and eternal security work together.
• So, the warning here is a statement to believers and unbelievers alike about the importance of the gospel. Hopefully, it will rouse unbelievers out of their slumber. To the believer, we know that God will use it to keep his believers tethered closely to the gospel. Warnings like this one are one of God’s means of keeping believers awake to the gospel.
• If you persevere to the end, that proves you had the salvation you could never lose. If you don’t, it proves you never had that faith to begin with.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question!

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This summer we are looking at some of the most popular Ask the Pastor episodes over the years. This week, Pastor J.D. discusses Can a Christian Be Possessed by a Demon?.

Show Notes:

• It depends on what you mean by “demon possessed.” It’s never used in the Greek language that I know of, and it’s not in the Bible. The word in the Bible is “demonized,” which actually broadens it a little bit.
• So, if you mean, “Can a demon so overtake a Christian so that they have no will left and no ability to choose right from wrong,” the answer is definitely no.
• But if you mean, can a demon influence us or afflict us, Scripture I think indicates yes. But their entry into our lives comes from listening to the lies Satan tells us.

We’ve got to “talk back” to Satan’s lies with the truths of Scripture and the gospel.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question!

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This summer we are looking at some of the most popular Ask the Pastor episodes over the years. This week, Pastor J.D. discusses how to honor a toxic parent.

A glimpse inside this episode:

• This brings us to one of the “big 10” — the 10 Commandments. There are a couple of things to understand starting with the 10 commandments are divided into two sections. The first four deal primarily with our relationship with God. The last five deal with our relationship to each other. Honoring your parents is the “hinge” in the middle, so which group does it belong to? Well, both. It’s the bridge between the two categories.
• When we’re young, our parents stand in for God. By submitting to our parents, we’re learning to submit to God.
• To “honor” your parents means to recognize parenthood as the temporary stand-in for God that it is, and you respect your parents accordingly. When you’re young, that means obeying them, and for your whole life it means respecting them.
• If your situation is abusive, you need to get yourself out. Call 800-799-SAFE, the domestic violence hotline.
• If your situation is not abusive, understand that you can respect the institution your parents represent even when you don’t represent them as individuals. When honoring your parents, you are honoring the God behind your parents whose authority is represented by them.

Honoring your parents is really a means to honoring God.

Lean not on your ability as a parent; lean on God’s grace as the hope for your child.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask The Pastor hub to submit your question!

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This summer we are going to at some of the most popular Ask the Pastor episodes over the years. To start, Pastor J.D. discusses what’s important to keep in mind when it comes to leaving a church and choosing one.

A glimpse inside this episode:

1. The no-commitment consumer culture is not appropriate for the church.

Consumer culture works for some things. But not for church. Church is a family: The best parts of church come from that; it’s not a show. It is better to be really connected at a mediocre church than partially committed at the best one.

1. I only have one life to live, and I want to invest it where I get the most return.
2. Hearing the Word.
3. Community that makes you flourish
4. Maximizing gifts: Don’t be a “Lone Ranger Christian,” the one faithful voice in a dead church. You’ll be much more effective working side-by-side with like-minded believers than you will trying to effect change on your own.
5. This matters even more to me now as a father. I want my kids to grow up in a place where they will see and experience firsthand the best community of believers I can offer to them. Gospel-centered ministry is an absolute priority; the spiritual health of my family is too important to have them in a place without it.

What are mistakes you’ve seen people make as they approach this decision?

• Always thinking about your needs is a sign of immaturity. Paul tells the Ephesian believers to “grow up” (Eph 4:1-16), which he defines as learning to use your spiritual gift in the church, not being fed and having your needs met each week. It is infants and toddlers, not adults, whose primary concern in being fed and having their bottoms wiped by others. Ironically, some of the “seasoned” Christians who complain the most about “not getting anything out of their church” act more like toddlers than mature believers! The church is not about you. This is important for any church, because your church, no matter what it starts like, cannot remain perpetually “the hottest show in town.” Someone younger, cooler, and flashier is right now preparing the next best thing. So, we’ll have ups and downs, cold seasons and hot ones.
• Thinking you can turn it around. If you are not part of the lead pastoral team, you very likely will not be able to turn the ship around. Pray and wait.
• Waiting too long. You get the greatest return on relationships when you invest yourself in one place for many years.

I’m not sure how to give you a “litmus test” for when to stay and when to leave. I have known people who felt called by God to stay in a dying place and believe God for its resurrection and actually saw that happen. I’ve known others who tried that and, because they were not in a place where they could really effect the change they desire, “wasted” some great years in a dying organization. I’ve known others who left a dying church and went on to serve God somewhere else, and were greatly blessed in the process. And I’ve known still others who abandoned ship when they should have stayed.

If you think there’s a possibility of change, I’d say stay and make it happen. When you see that there is not, invest your life elsewhere.

Be committed: There’s a difference in how the chicken and the pig contribute to your eggs and sausage breakfast. The chicken makes a contribution; the pig is committed. Be a pig.

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Show Notes:

Matt: J.D., as we’re recording gambling was just legalized in North Carolina this month, like it has been in 37 other states. That has us wondering – is gambling a sin?

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J.D.: Some of our long-time listeners might remember us talking about this 2 years ago, but we thought given its popularity, we’d revisit it. So, look, the reality is that gambling is a HUGE deal right now, especially for young people. If you don’t understand, here are a few numbers:

• At least 20% of the American population has or does participate in sports betting.
• More than 30 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds nationwide do.
• The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) conducted a study on college campuses just last year:
  • • 58% of the respondents (college students) have participated in at least one sports betting activity, though the NCAA includes fantasy sports in its definition of sports betting.
• The NCAA examined what it determined risky behaviors, including betting a few times a week or daily; betting $50 or more on a typical bet, or losing more than $500 betting sports in a single day. The survey found that 16% of 18-22-year-olds had engaged in at least one of the risky behaviors.
• The National Council estimates 3 to 4 percent of the population, about 9 million Americans, experience “problem gambling.”
  • And those that do have a 20 percent higher risk of suicide.

So is it morally wrong to gamble?

• • Gambling can seem harmless. You throw a little bit of money on a sporting event, on a slot machine, or on a lottery ticket… what’s the harm in that?
  • I am going to draw distinction… Vegas type stuff and a $20 office pool
  • The issue of gambling is not small in our society.
  • Gambling is at least a $44 billion dollar industry in the US – and that’s just the legal gambling, to say nothing of off-the-books gambling.In fact, as more and more states legalize gambling, it’s getting worse.
  • Some studies say up to 10% (6-9%) of young adults experience problems related to gambling.
  • But gambling has some big moral ramifications.
  • 3 primary problems with it:
    • First, it goes against the work ethic in Scripture.
      • The Bible has a lot to say about honorable work. There’s always chance, but work creates value: win/win. Gambling by definition is win/lose.
      • What about the stock market? It’s “risky,” you can win big or lose big. Parable of talents, win big and Jesus commended it. Yes, but even there you are adding value. There’s another kind of playing the stock market that is more speculative and more like gambling.
      • Al Mohler says: “Gambling severs the dignity of work from the hope of financial gain, offering the hope of riches without labor, and reward without dignity.”
• Second, the gambling industry intentionally takes advantage of the poor.
• • • Grudem: Every single study shows that the largest group of gamblers are those in the lowest financial brackets.It’s no accident that there are so many lottery ticket outlets in low-income areas. - One study I read shows that “problem gambling” – which we mentioned earlier – is twice as likely to be an issue for those in the lowest-income areas than it is anywhere else. - There’s a certain desperation to turn around their financial situation, and the gambling industry knows that and plays into it. Any honest politician will tell you that lotteries draw most of their money from the poor, seducing them out of their money on the chance of getting rich
• Third, gambling is addictive.
• • That little hit of dopamine from a gambling “win” leads your brain to want more… and more… and more. Just like with any other addiction.
  • Studies show that “where gambling businesses are established, crime rates increase.”
• So… should you gamble at all?
  • Honestly, you need to use your own personal judgment on this. I realize it may sound ultra-spiritual, but this is exactly the kind of issue where the Holy Spirit will guide us… what may feel totally right to one believer may feel morally wrong to another.
  • So walk in freedom, but also in wisdom and with love for others and their weaknesses, too.

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Matt: J.D., some people feel like, because we have the Holy Spirit inside of us, we should never have some of these big, mental health struggles like depression or anxiety. The question is, can Christians be depressed? Or if someone is depressed, is that an indication that they’re not saved?

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J.D.: Matt, that’s a heavy question. Let me start here: Lamentations 3:1-8, written by the prophet Jeremiah, one of the most well-known prophets in the Bible:

• I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago … though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.

No light. No hope. That’s how Jeremiah felt, and maybe you can relate. The “he” that Jeremiah is talking about is God. Maybe you’ve also felt like God is not listening—or, even more, you wonder, “God, are you behind this terrible circumstance? At the very least, you’re not doing anything to stop it.”

Jeremiah goes on to say, “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord’ … My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me” (vs. 17–20).

As you read those verses, you may think, “Is this the Bible? Shouldn’t an editor have weeded this out? This is Jeremiah, after all—the prophet of God! Jeremiah, this is not you at your best. Why don’t you take a nap and a shower and take another swing at this tomorrow?”

See, it’s easy to think that what we need is more positive and encouraging psalms like David’s about the Lord being our Shepherd and still waters and cups running over and stuff like that. That’s what the people like. That’s what sells.

• But God put the book of Lamentations in the Bible, even though it’s depressing and most people will never memorize it, because he wants those of you who suffer in the darkness to know that he knows how you feel. And, like Jeremiah, it’s OK for you to express those emotions to God.

One of our Summit church planters tells the story of when he first felt called to ministry, how he resigned from his job in Tennessee and moved his family to North Carolina to attend seminary, only to have everything fall apart. His marriage came within inches of destruction; he went into bankruptcy. Keep in mind, this is one of the smartest people I know, and yet it still got that bad. But the worst part, he said, was holding his newborn son as he died in their arms. He said, “I had no words. All I could ask God during that season was, ‘Why?’ I didn’t want to talk about God or preach the words of God. I only wanted to rage against God. All I’ve done is try to follow him, and this is how he treats me?”

Many believers have gone through dark chapters and thought the same things as Jeremiah, but they’ve suppressed those emotions, telling themselves, “Real Christians don’t ever feel like this.”

Matt, I’d say we agree on people like Jeremiah and Charles Spurgeon being Christians.

• And yet the prophet Jeremiah said his soul was depressed within him.
• Spurgeon told his congregation, “I have spent more days shut up in depression than probably anybody else here.” He was said by many to be the greatest preacher to ever live, and he frequently considered quitting the ministry because he was so depressed.
• Alright Matt, you’re doing well so far. Last one: Martin Luther, one of the most famous church leaders and theologians of all time. Real Christian?
• Well he went through times so dark that his wife would remove all the knives from their home. “For more than a week I was close to the gates of death and hell,” he wrote. “I trembled constantly. I could find no thoughts of Christ, only of desperation and blasphemy of God.”

So to anyone asking this question, to anyone struggling with depression – and especially the thought that your depression is somehow an indicator that you’re not really saved – can’t you see you are not alone in your thoughts? The greatest Christians in history were not those that God delivered from all pain and misery but those he delivered through their pain and misery. He is ready to walk with you through the darkness and do the same for you.

I also think it’s important to point out that depression operates along a continuum. On one end of the continuum is discouragement, which we all feel from time to time, and on other end is depression.

• • Between the two sides of that continuum are a lot of different factors that come together—spiritual factors, physical/biological factors, psychological factors or even social/emotional factors.
• Today we’ve been primarily talking about spiritual factors, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s the only contributor, or even always the primary contributor in depression. God made us a “psychosomatic unity,” which simply means it is impossible to separate, at least on earth, our souls and our bodies, and what happens in one inevitably affects the other.
• Very simple example: You ever realize how unspiritual you get when you haven’t gotten enough sleep, or when you are hungry? I told you a couple of weeks ago, I can get really impatient and rude with people when I’m hangry. Now, in one sense, you could call that a spiritual problem, right? Nothing should justify my being rude. But the truth is, my rudeness—which is a soul problem—is being triggered and exacerbated by my physical condition. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t pray for more patience, just that I should probably also take a nap and eat a Snickers bar. It’s like 1 of my professors used to say, “Sometimes the best thing that you can do for your spiritual life is get a good night sleep.”

(Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that what I experience when I’m hungry is the same as what you experience if you’re walking through depression or that it can be fixed as simply. I’m just making the point that there is a lot going on in any emotion, factors both spiritual and physical (and psychological and social!)

There is a long list of things that can cause depression (i.e., a persistent down mood and/or the inability to enjoy normal pleasures): a significant loss, failure, lack of purpose, unrealistic expectations, temperament, glandular malfunctions, chemical imbalances, certain diseases, response to some medications, change in seasons, fatigue, isolation, sin or idolatry, unbelief, foolishness, legalism… (the list could continue).

To reduce the experience of anxiety or depression down to only one of these factors is simply irresponsible. That’s why, at our church, we not only preach on the spiritual aspects of anxiety and depression, but we also offer ministries that focus more holistically on these struggles. And we encourage people to incorporate medical care into their mental health plan.

We’d be remiss not to offer some resources if you’re struggling:

• First of all, if you’re considering or have ever considered taking your own life, we’d plead with you to talk to someone about it. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255, available 24/7.
• Second, I’d always recommend that you find a solid Christian counselor. If you’re not sure where to find one, call your local church (or if you don’t have one, A local, bible-believing church near you) and ask for recommendations.

We’re also going to link in the show notes to a list of resources put together by Brad Hambrick, who’s not only Summit’s Pastor of Counseling but is also a nationally-respected voice on Christian counseling.

—

Matt: Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to check out YouTube and subscribe @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: J.D., is cremation (as opposed to burial in a casket) wrong?

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J.D.: Well, this one’s actually a little more interesting than you might think. If you’ve never thought much about it, you probably (like most people) just think about the fact that when someone dies, they basically have two options—burial in a casket or by cremation, where your ashes are put into an urn. Some people bury those urns, some keep them around…

• In fact, a 2020 study showed that 56 percent of people who died in America were cremated, which is more than double what that figure was 20 years prior.
• That’s a far cry from how things used to be, when in old England, burial by grave/casket was known as a “Christian burial” and cremation was something only the Vikings did.

You might be surprised to learn that some Christians have strong views against cremation. I’ll lay out that view in just a second. But as we have this conversation, I want to make a few things clear up front because I realize many of you have very dear, important people in your lives that you’ve lost that you know have been cremated.

• So, am I saying that what they chose to do is morally wrong and against some biblical command?
  • No, I am not. I see nowhere in Scripture that gives a clear edict that you must be buried in such a manner that your body is preserved.
• Am I saying—like some people claim—that cremation somehow interferes with the resurrection of the Saints when Jesus returns, ruining a Christians chances of eternal life because their earthly bodies weren’t handled properly after death?
  • Of course not—that’s nonsense! Our bodies are important, but not nearly as important as our souls.
  • And besides—do you really think resurrection after cremation would be “too hard” for God?
• Finally, I of course don’t believe that families who perhaps have to make a decision on how to bury someone and opt for cremation over burial love that deceased person any less than a family that chooses burial.

So, if you have loved ones who have passed away and been cremated, you can rest easy and of course we mean no disrespect. But I do want to point out the other side of this conversation.

John Piper is one of the most prominent voices on this.

• He points out that the Bible teaches us the importance of our earthly bodies—that they’re not prisons for the soul like the ancient Greeks taught.
• “Christianity has always viewed the body as essential to full humanity so that the life to come has primarily been seen as the resurrection of the body in glorious eternal life.” John Piper
• He argues that ​​Paul’s understanding of burial is that this was a picture of being “sown” in the ground like a seed that will sprout with wildly superior beauty at the resurrection, when the graves are opened at the coming of Christ.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:37, 42-44
• He also points out how fire always has a negative connotation to us as humans in Scripture – especially when talking about life-after-death, and so, to end your time on earth consumed by fire is a symbol that doesn’t align with Scripture’s portrayal of the believer’s afterlife.

Now, while arguing all of this, John Piper also calls for churches and pastors to create a culture where expensive, extravagant funerals (and weddings!) are NOT the norm.

• There’s a recognition that burial by casket is more expensive than cremation.
• He even says he feels like churches should help families with these extra costs—not necessarily through a line-item in the church budget but by perhaps establishing an external fund fueled by generous donors.

You say, “Ok, well, what he’s talking about is all symbolic and has no impact on where a person’s soul goes after they die.” Of course, like we’ve said, that’s all true.

• But wherever you fall on this, I do think it deserves some consideration. Death is a big deal, just like other momentous occasions throughout our lives.
• We take symbolism seriously at weddings, even though they don’t really have an impact on how good or bad the marriage will play out.

Again, as a pastor, I don’t teach one as right and the other as sin… I think we’re dealing with issues of wisdom, and I’d just say that I do think it deserves careful consideration rather than flippantly choosing whatever is cheaper.

—

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Matt: Welcome. J.D., here’s a softball… What are your thoughts on the 2024 election? It’s now officially decided through primary votes that we’ll have a re-match of Trump v. Biden in November.

J.D.:

• We as the church didn’t respond well last time… we are getting a gracious mulligan
• I have a handful of pieces of counsel to that end,
  • Let me give a CAVEAT before I share them: Some of you will try to interpret these thoughts as me urging you to vote one way or the other—oh, he means that we should definitely not for this person or that we definitely should vote for this one. That is precisely what I’m not doing. Some of this counsel will pull in different directions. Politics is an imperfect process—we are trying to hold different things in tension and weigh out what is overall the wisest or most moral course for our country.
• So, my counsel to Republicans:
  • Don’t equivocate about character. Righteousness exults a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
  • Don’t equate your secondary strategies with biblical imperatives. Don’t draw straight lines where they should be dotted lines.
  • What is your proactive solution to help the poor (if you feel like the great society was a failure, where the greatest argument against progressive politics is the state of progressive cities, what is your solution?
• My counsel to Democrats:
  • There are several things in your platform that are expressly evil. Speak out about them.
  • Be careful not to equivocate about things that are not equal. What I mean by that is you hear some say, “Oh yeah, well we get abortion wrong but Republicans get poverty relief wrong, as if those things we equal. Many Republicans, whether they are right or wrong, believe that the economic policies they embrace are what’s ultimately best for the poor—they might be wrong, but abortion is the state-sanctioned murder of the unborn. It is wrong to equivocate and act like those things are morally the same. They are not. There may indeed be reasons in certain elections that you think make voting left or abstaining from voting is the wisest choice, but be careful of moral equivocation.
  • Realize that someone can share your compassion for the poor, but disagree with your methodology.
• John 17 matters. It was one of the last things Jesus prayed before he gave his life, as he prayed for the unity of the church. I realized that there are things that are deeply emotional. There are things that are clear issues of justice, and we need to talk about them thoroughly and passionately, and we need to never compromise where the Bible teaches clearly. But I also realized that the same Savior that gave us these commandments and the Savior that gave us these moral imperatives, He also He also prayed for the unity of the church and said that this is what he wanted. This is how the world would know him. The apostle Paul, taking a cue from him, was willing to say about a lot of things that, you know what, I know Paul felt like my convictions are correct in this area, talking about eating meat, you know, Romans 14, but he would not hold that position or push that position in ways that disrupted the unity of the church unnecessarily.

Matt: Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to check out YouTube and subscribe @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: Welcome.

—
Today we have a question today from someone who sent this in named Ronnie. She asked, “Is modesty a biblical virtue or is it a relic of the patriarchy?”

J.D.: So for our listeners that are like, what’s really the question here behind the question? I grew up in the, the purity culture. Josh Harris was, wrote the famous book I Kissed Dating Goodbye and the emphasis was on, girl you have to take care of your brother’s headspace. And basically it was almost presented as if the guy can’t help but think of you as nothing but a sex object. And so dress in a way that keeps him from thinking about that all the time. And it’s not that the modesty piece wasn’t important, it just left out what is even a bigger issue—the guy needs to not see women in that category. He needs to see them as fellow human beings made in the image of God. The extreme version of modesty culture was it kind of heaped all kinds of shame and responsibility onto the girls’ side for what really was the guy’s problem. That is unhelpful and untrue. It’s even dangerous as abuse can get blamed on what she was just asking for because of what she was wearing.

There was some correction that took place to that purity culture that so strongly emphasized modesty that I think was a helpful correction. But, you know, as with a lot of things we have to be careful not to throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater when it comes to modesty. And so what I’m talking with my kids, my family, when I’m talking with people in my life about modesty.

Two tension points:

1.) Style’s change from generation to generation. Every generation sees what the next one wears as immodest. What is considered a modest bathing suit today would be considered scandalous 60 or 70 years ago.

2.) The second thing is that modesty is a genuine biblical principle. We are taking into account what other people are thinking about us. And so I tell my kids, there’s two anchor points when it comes to how you dress. First of all, what does your dress say about you? What does what you wear say about you? What does it draw attention to? Does it emphasize and flaunt the sexual parts of you that really ought to be reserved for a marriage partner?

Now again, it’s not your fault if somebody’s looking at you and lusting after you. We’re not saying that, but on the other side of that truth is you can dress in a way that certainly draws attention to that. And if it’s drawing attention to that and emphasizing that, you should ask yourself why you’re doing that. And is that really what God wants you, is that the most important part of you to present to the world?

The second anchor point I always say is what effect does what you wear have on other people? And again, I’ll just say it once more. I’m not saying it’s your fault that if they think of you in those objectifying ways, but we do recognize that how we dress can have an effect on somebody else and it can make them think about certain things. And I do want to make it easy for people. And I think a believer should be thinking about that. How can I make it easier for my brothers and sisters in Christ to not have one more thing that they’re trying to avoid looking at or thinking about because it just makes it too easy for them to get into not a good headspace.

Matt: I’m just kind of curious, because when we talk about modesty, it is typically our women dressing modestly, but it’s interesting. I remember back when I did college ministry, eight or nine years ago, on summer project, we had all these rules about what people were allowed to wear. And I remember somebody in the end of summer feedback form asked something like,”I don’t understand why you have all these rules for what women can wear, but you let this guy wear a tank top up on stage while he’s teaching every week.”

J.D.: Yeah, great twist on the question. You know, the other part of that is when I was in high school, pornography was only ever talked about as a problem for guys. Now we’re very aware that pornography is a temptation and a problem for females too. And I think you can and should acknowledge that. Now you can say generalizations are generally true without realizing that there are a lot of challenges for females just like there are males and God created them as sexual beings too. And there’s nobody for whom visual stimulation is not part of the of the sexual desires. And so I think a guy should ask a question if he’s on stage. Like, what is my dress saying about me? What is it drawing attention to? Am I trying to draw attention to my form or what makes me sexually attractive to females?

Matt: Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to check out YouTube and subscribe @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: Welcome

J.D., you’ve heard from a member at The Summit Church’s own Chapel Hill Campus who asked you how to share the gospel with a staunch atheist, which we felt like would be a great topic for this week’s episode.

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J.D.: Yeah Matt, I’m sure many of us have been in a situation like this where God lays someone on your heart to share the gospel with, but you know they’re firm in their belief—or unbelief—as an atheist. And it can feel like, “Where do I even begin to share the love of God with them when they don’t believe that any sort of god exists?”

• A lot of prayer: pray 1st, 2nd and 3rd
• Don’t overwhelm them. Don’t talk about it all the time
• Pray for opportunities to show extraordinary grace (Acts 16)
• Invite them to read the Bible. Heb 4:12: Charles Spurgeon talked about the Bible like a caged lion: all we have to do is let it out because who’s ever heard of defending a lion? Read the Bible…
• After you’ve had a couple of intentional conversations, shift more to answering questions 1 Peter 3:15. Trust the Spirit of God to do the work and think of it more like fishing.

Now, that said…

• Of course, I do think it’s wise to be prepared for conversations like these, and I’ll try to be as practical as I can in that.
• Theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer talked about “taking the roof off” of various worldviews that people might hold.
• Everyone has some kind of worldview – even an atheist – and Schaeffer meant that a person’s worldview is kind of like a house that they construct. But there’s only one “blueprint” that can effectively explain all aspects of life, support all the evidence in the world, and be lived out consistently with all of that, and that’s a Christian worldview. All other worldviews are defective in one way or another.
• So to “take the roof off” of an atheist’s worldview, I’d ask questions.
• • On that topic, Randy Newman has a great book called Questioning Evangelism, where he talks about evangelizing through questions like these. He even points out how often Jesus asked questions of skeptics and people curious about his ministry.
  • One of the very best questions we can ask people in these conversations, Newman writes, is very simple: “Really?”
    • Questions like, “Do you really believe we came from nothing, and yet life is so meticulously and miraculously held together?” Or, “Do you really believe that nothing happens when we die?”
• Gavin Ortlund, Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn’t
• • Christianity versus naturalism in relation to the basic elements that all stories have: origins, meaning, conflict, and hope. The constant question will be: Which is telling us a better story—a story that better accounts for the strangeness, the incompleteness, the brokenness, and the beauty of our world?
  • A Christian apologist once remarked to me that on university campuses thirty years ago he was asked more questions about Christianity’s truth (Does God exist? Did Jesus rise from the dead? etc.); today he is asked more questions about Christianity’s goodness (Is the church intolerant? Are Christians homophobic? etc.).

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• Matt: Next up we’re answering the question, “Does Modesty Matter?” Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to check out YouTube and subscribe @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: J.D., this week we’re pivoting from our series on spiritual disciplines and we’ll be tackling some one-off questions our listeners have been sending us for the next few weeks. One of the topics we’ve had several people ask about is how to process what’s going on in Israel and their conflict with Gaza…

—

J.D.: Yeah, Matt, wow. Well, there are a lot of very intense views on this subject. And that makes sense, because it’s a topic that combines worldview with theology—particularly eschatology, or the part of theology that concerns the end times and modern politics.

And we won’t get into a full blown “end times” episode here, but we do need a little help understanding some of the terms that get thrown around.

• “Premillennialism” is the belief that part of God’s plan for the end times involves a 1000 year reign of Jesus that is still to come, and a physical Israel is a part of that.
• The relevance to this discussion is this: Many premillennialists viewed the fact that Israel has their own nation – which happened in 1948, in case you failed your history class—as at least a partial fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God was reinstituting the nation.
• And that’s led to the embrace of the Zionist movement, which, practically speaking, means that anything that advances Israel’s interests is correct and functionally, means you give them an automatic pass on most questions. Their destiny is to rule the world, at least that part of it, so anything they do toward that end we’re in support of.
• Let me say this clearly: that’s not true. Whatever your view of eschatology, it’s never appropriate to wink at injustice. Whatever God does, we never need to “do evil evil may that good may come.” Where Israel, as a nation, commits crimes or acts unjustly, we should unhesitatingly call it out. We should always be on the side of justice.

Now, as a pastor, I typically don’t wade into the finer points of politics or world events—neither called nor competent—and I’m not going to do that here. What I do is talk about the principles that undergird our approach, and that’s what I want to do here: to talk about is a dangerous narrative that has entered the convo that I think it’s important for Christians to identify and reject, and that is:

That modern-day Israel has no right to the land they’re currently occupying; Israel is basically an occupying power–like Britain was in India, or even like European colonists were in parts of N America or Australia—and because they are an occupying power, whatever Palestinians do to get them out is ok. This is a decolonization project. The myth is that Palestinians were living happily in the land until GB came in and forced the colonization in 1948. And then some even like to say that the Jews there are white and it’s another example of white colonization of POC.

• But that’s a completely fallacious comparison.
• First, the Jewish presence in the land stretches back for centuries. Modern Israel is home to 9 million Jews MOST are descended from people who migrated back to the Holy Land from 1881 to 1949, before Israel became a state.So Britain didn’t bring them in.
• In fact, Britain had turned against the Zionist movement in the 1930s, and from 1937 to 1939 moved toward an Arab state with no Jewish state at all
• But in 1947, a compromise was made: the United Nations devised the partition of that area into two states, one Arab and Jewish. It was the “two-state solution” we hear a lot about today, BUT the reason it never happened was in 1948, Arab forces refused the two-state solution the UN sought to enact by attacking Israel. That led to the aborting the quest for a Palestinian state, because the claim was that Israel should have no part of the land, and there would be no rest until Israel as a state cEased to exist.

Which brings us to today. On Oct 7, without warning, more than 3,000 Hamas militants invaded Israel from Gaza, killing at least 1,139, including 766 civilians, a large portion of which were women and children intentionally targeted—even mutilating infants. They also took a minimum of over 250 more as captives.

Hamas is not a good faith group. It’s an Islamist militant group formed in 1987 whose charter calls for the genocide of Jews and the establishment of sharia law, and a call for unrestrained and unceasing holy war (jihad) to attain that objective,

• They categorically reject any negotiated resolution or political settlement of Jewish and Muslim claims to the Holy Land
• As such, what happened on Oct. 7 is no accident; rather, it’s completely in keeping with Hamas’s own explicit aims and stated objectives.
• The attack was unprovoked, it was unspeakably brutal, and plainly genocidal. So, whatever you think the solution is over there, this was a horrendously unjust act, and Israel has, as most of us would think about ourselves, a right to defend themselves.

This is not to say that all of how Israel has responded has been right or just or appropriately proportional. I’m not saying that at all. I’m just rejecting the idea that any and all violence done by Palestinians is justified because it is the freedom battle of the oppressed against an oppressor. And with respect to those who say that the Jewish presence in the land of Palestine is just another example of white colonization, of course some of the Jewish people there have lighter skin as many Jews have intermarried with some Europeans, but many do not. The Jewish people are not an originally or primarily Anglo-European group–they were middle-Eastern, and then scattered because of all kinds of persecution, and now they have a pretty eclectic blind of secondary ethnicities mixed in with their Hebrew ethnicity.

There’s a great article in The Atlantic, written by Simon Montefiore, who writes, “In 2007, Hamas seized power (in Gaza), killing its Fatah rivals in a short civil war. Hamas set up a one-party state that crushes Palestinian opposition within its territory, bans same-sex relationships, represses women, and openly espouses the killing of all Jews.”

Of course, the events of Oct. 7 has led to an ongoing escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict— and my heart does grieve some of the reports of death being brought upon innocent lives in Gaza as collateral. Particularly innocent people caught up in it–especially heartbreaking pictures of infants and children–and then sometimes infuriating Israeli callousness about that. I have a Muslim friend who says that for the last 4 months he’s seen pictures of children and infants killed in the crossfire, and that almost every Muslim he knows has a first or second-degree connection with a non-combatant who has been killed over there.

But I do believe that even as we grieve those reports, and as we rightly call upon Israel to act justly in their response, the narrative that Palestinians should have free reign to enact as much violence as possible as a means of decolonizing is something we can and should reject. Some of what we’re seeing in even mainstream places—chants of “From the River to the Sea,” which is just a thinly veiled call for the expulsion or genocide of all Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterannean Sea—is egregious.

To sum this up, I think Christians have a responsibility to pray and advocate for true justice and peace in the Middle East.

• But we can call acts like those carried out by Hamas what they are—irredeemably evil, inhumane violence that does nothing to reflect the reality of the historical situation in the Holy Land, and does nothing to further a solution towards peace.
• We can say all of that without considering ourselves “Zionists,” and even without fully endorsing all of Israel’s actions or their regime.
• We can call out injustice where we see it.

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• Matt: To finish out the spring semester, we’re going to answer questions you’ve sent in throughout the year so far and then we’ll tackle another big series in the fall. Next up: we want to know Pastor J.D.’s thoughts on the Israel/Gaza conflict.
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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MATT: J.D., we just wrapped up the last of the spiritual disciplines we wanted to cover, and it’s been a great 8-part series. But before we move on, we wanted to answer a few more questions from our listeners and kind of recap what we talked about. A lot of these are more general questions about the disciplines as a whole, and some focus in on certain ones. We’ll keep this a little more “rapid fire.”

First up, from Ashley: How to help my teens practice the spiritual disciplines?

J.D.: I feel that, and as a parent of teenagers, we obviously want to see them grow in all the areas and habits God wants them to. And at the same time, once they’re that age, it’s hard can’t make them do anything.

• I’ve said this before, but a friend of mine told me… (mechanic vs farmer)
• Prayer is a big key here.
• It never hurts to have conversations with them, to check in about these things. To share what the SD’s look like in your life. To model them for the whole family and explain why you’re modeling them.

Practically: a book list (My Essential Christianity; A Praying Life; for boys: JC Ryle’s Thought for Young Men and Kent Hughes’ Disciplines of a Godly Young Man; for girls, 7 Lies and the Truth that Sets them Free; Rebecca McLaughlin’s 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask; Tactics by Greg Koukl).

MATT: From Tiffany: How do we avoid guilt as we fail and succeed in practicing the disciplines?

• This is such an easy trap to fall into. The enemy wants us to feel guilty.
• It’s a relationship: (my dad’s story)
• It’s an invitation: he doesn’t love you more when you do or less when you don’t
• Long obedience in the same direction

MATT: From April: Are all spiritual disciplines equal?

• Yes and no.
• Yes, they’re all important. They’re all talked about and taught to us in Scripture.
• But at the same time, there are certain ones more essential.
  • Scripture is life and the anchor to the others. Jesus suspended fasting for a while with the disciples–doesn’t mean we shouldn’t practice diligently, but there are seasons where it is more appropriate or even not appropriate. But never suspends Scripture. It’s what you live by.
  • Pray always, like breath.

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• Matt: To finish out the spring semester, we’re going to answer questions you’ve sent in throughout the year so far and then we’ll tackle another big series in the fall. Next up: we want to know Pastor J.D.’s thoughts on the Israel/Gaza conflict.
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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MATT: J.D., our next spiritual discipline is worship. What do we mean by the “discipline of worship?”

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J.D.: Matt, good question. I’m excited to talk about this one because I think it’s perhaps the least-understood spiritual discipline. When I say “worship,” what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Probably the 3 or 4 “worship songs” we sing when we gather at church—or even just the genre of the music itself. But Jesus said the Greatest Commandment was to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds, and this is the heart of everything else we do. This is worship, and it’s the center of the Christian life. The center of the Christian’s life, plain and simple, is worship. The center of our discipleship is not community or mission or evangelism or justice work; it’s worship.

• And that’s because we were created for God. One of my favorite devotional writers, Chris Tiegreen, said: “Worship is not part of the Christian life; IT IS the Christian life.” You could be really busy with all the other stuff, but if it doesn’t come out of a heart of passionate love for God, it’s all just dry, dead, religious formality
• At TSC, we attach two important disciplines to the identity of ‘worshiper’: 1. weekly, corporate worship (as in, coming to church each weekend, just like Jesus commanded–he says in Hebrews, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together”); the second is daily personal worship (a daily time where you meet with God, like we see exemplified in the life of Jesus). I hope you practice both.

MATT: From Dalton: “What is the importance of worshiping together instead of online?”

• Listen, I get it. Sometimes health considerations keep you at home. And if you’re sick, please, skip a week. But I think of it like this; sometimes when I’m sick, I will quarantine in my room so I don’t get the rest of my family sick. And I’ve even FaceTimed into family dinner so I could be a part! That’s like “Super Dad.”
• But if every night, even when I’m healthy, I go up to my room and FaceTime into dinner for a few minutes, then you would be right to suspect my commitment to our family. Be in person.
• You can’t follow Jesus and not be connected with his family.

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• Matt: Next week, we’ll continue our series on the spiritual disciplines by recapping everything we’ve talked about and answering a few new questions, too! Don’t miss it next week.
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: J.D., today we’ll cover our next spiritual discipline, and this week, we’re talking about giving. Everyone loves talking about money, right?

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J.D.:

• Let’s start with the assumption that God doesn’t need our money. In Psalm 50, God says, “I don’t have needs… and if I did have one, I wouldn’t come to you.” God owns the cattle on a thousand hills… The question of money is what it shows about where your heart is.
• First of all, money reveals, more than anything, what we treasure and trust most. Our mouth can talk a big spiritual game all day long, but it’s what we do with our money that shows where our heart actually is
• Which is why Jesus talked about money all the time. It was his most frequently addressed subject. 16 of his 38 parables were about money. He talked about handling money more than he did about relationships; talked about money than he did about heaven and hell. 500 verses in the Bible are about prayer; less than 500 are about faith. More than 2000 are about money. An astounding 1 out of 10 verses in the Gospels talk about money!
• Jesus didn’t talk about money because he needed it–I mean, he could multiply bread loaves and fish or pull gold coins out of fishes’ mouths whenever he wanted–no, he talked about money because he knew money was the most reliable indicator of where our heart actually was.
• In Matthew 6, Jesus warned that money ends up serving as the PRIMARY substitute in our hearts for God. He said, in no uncertain terms, that we couldn’t serve God and money. (That’s the only thing he ever spoke like that about! He never said that about power or sex or anything.) Money is the one thing, he said, that if you love it, you won’t care about God; and if you love God, you won’t care that much about it.

MATT: That brings up a comment from a listener named Rita, who said one of the things she’s been learning regarding the spiritual discipline of giving is how “James urges us to consider why God gave us our money in the first place.”

• JD: Yeah, that’s right. And also in Matthew 6, Jesus talked about two different personality types and different ways they have problems with money.
• For some, money is their security. It’s their safeguard against tragedy or a rainy day. And so, when they get an extra $1000 in their paycheck, they want to save it. For others, money is their significance, their means of a happy and pleasurable life. So, when they get an extra $1000 in their paycheck, they want to spend it. New TV. New drapes. Go on vacation. Btw, in God’s providence, these two different personality types always marry each other! And here’s the irony—each think the other has a problem with money. But Jesus said they actually have the same problem—in that both look to money to provide something only God can provide.
  • To those who think of money as security, Jesus says, “Consider the ravens…” To those who think of money as significance, he says, “Consider the lilies…”
  • To both of them he says, “Seek first the KoG…” “All these things” means all the security or the significance we crave.
• So one of the reasons Jesus talked about money all the time is that it reveals the truth about what we treasure and trust most. Where your money is, Jesus said, that’s where your heart will be, also.
• The second reason Jesus talked about money so much is that what we do with our money shows whether or not we see ourselves as owners of our lives or stewards. At our church, we often talk about the “Five Identities of a Disciple.” One of them is steward. And that’s very different than owner. An owner believes his resources belong to him. A steward sees all his resources as belonging to God—he’s merely the caretaker. When you become a disciple, you cease to see yourself as an owner of anything in your life, only a steward. How you approach your money shows whether you’ve made that shift.)

So when we talk about money, we talk about something that centers on the most basic questions of discipleship—What does your money show about what your idols are? What does it reveal about your understanding of who owns what in your life?

• I will often tell our congregation, in fact, “If you feel this is manipulative—like my preaching on this is all an attempt to get money out of your pocket and into mine, and that’s all you can think about when I’m up here saying this and you can’t get over this, maybe you’ve seen this really abused somewhere—I’d ask you to apply this teaching by giving somewhere else. It’s more important to me that you become an actual disciple than that you let a bad experience keep you from fully following Jesus. God doesn’t need your money and we don’t either. We’ll be fine. God will provide for us. But the only way you can become an actual disciple of Jesus is by giving sacrificially, and it’s more important to me that you learn to give to him than it is that you give here. So, if suspicion that this is about us getting wealthy off of you is an issue for you, I urge you to obey this teaching by giving somewhere else.”
• We always make clear in any giving initiative that our goal is not some financial metric, but 100% of our people responding faithfully to God in their finances.

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• Matt: Next week, we’ll continue our series on the spiritual disciplines by discussing the discipline of giving. Don’t miss it next week!
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: J.D., our next spiritual discipline is fasting. J.D., tell us about it…

J.D.: I mentioned this in our prayer episode, but as we’re recording this, our church is in a season we do every year called 21DOP and fasting. Fasting is basically eliminating something from your life – traditionally, food is what gets eliminated – in order to focus the time and energy you would’ve put into that thing on God.

Fasting is sometimes relegated to the “varsity level” of Christianity, as if it’s only for super-Christians.

But that’s not true. Fasting isn’t given to us as an option. Jesus in Matt. 6 says, “WHEN you fast…” – not “If you fast.” So how do we do it?

Years ago, I wrote a blog post called “I Hate Fasting.” The title is a little tongue-in-cheek, but many Christians, in honest moments, agree with me. Fasting days put you in a bad mood. You rarely come out feeling more spiritual, you come out feeling like you could eat a raw goat.

The reason for that is that though many Christians know they ought to fast, they don’t know why they fast. They know it is connected to prayer, but they don’t know what the connection is and they end up fasting in a way that is completely out of step with the gospel.

Often, we fast because we assume that “punishing” ourselves somehow makes us and our prayers more acceptable to God. Fasting shows God how badly we want and deserve whatever we are asking for. God is moved, we believe, by our culinary flagellation and he grudgingly grants us what we ask for, since we’ve suffered so much in our fast.

That, of course, is a not-even-very-well-veiled version of works-righteousness, and a flagrant denial of what the Gospel teaches us about God. Rather than making God more willing to answer our prayers, it offends God by acting like Christ’s work is not sufficient

So the question is, why do we do it?

Bottom line: it’s not to put God in a better mood to hear us; but to put us in a better position to God.

• It gives God a chance to purify our hearts from idols–to remind us that we need God’s voice more than we need anything else in the world, including food. It demonstrates to God that we understand that, that we crave it, and trains our own souls to think that way.
• It also gives us a greater sensitivity to the “voice” of the Spirit.

In short: Fasting doesn’t change God; fasting changes us.

Matt: We had a listener question from Shannon who asked, ” Should fasting be food like it was in the Bible? Can you explain food fast vs abstaining?”

• So, Shannon, great question. Like I mentioned, many people at our church are fasting right now—and we encourage them to start with food, but we don’t limit it to that.
• I know many, many people who have benefited greatly from fasting from all kinds of things.
  • Social media
  • TV
  • This is not unbiblical, btw–Paul talked about a married couple abstaining from sexual activity as a kind of fast. There’s a principle at work–I am depriving myself of something I desire to train my soul how much more I desire, and am desperate for, God and his power
• But like I said, I personally think fasting from food is the “best” option.
  • There are a lot of things our minds and our bodies enjoy, but food is one thing the body needs.
  • To deprive your body of its usual “fuel” very quickly creates a noticeable void, and if we’re fasting correctly, we’ll fill that void with both dependence and communion with the Holy Spirit.
  • (Obviously, you have to do this safely. You should only do it if you are physically or psychologicaly able)
  • I’ve heard fasting from food described as “Praying with your stomach,” and “temporarily starving your body so you can better feast with your soul.”

Matt: Alex asks: “In Isaiah 58, (God) speaks of fasting (one of my fav passages). What’s the right way to fast? You’re awesome!” (Make a joke about “You’re awesome!”)

• Alex, hopefully I’ve answered some of what you’re asking by talking about the right way to fast earlier in this episode – but I think the passage you’re talking about, Is. 58, is a great example of how not to fast.
  • In Isaiah 58, God addresses hypocrites. They sin, and go on sinning, like the fast pays off their sin.
    • That is an abomination to God.
    • It’s like God said to Saul, “i’d rather have simple obedience than lavish sacrifice.” Better to just do what he says than to disobey him and try to pay him off with the most extravagant offerings.
• Matthew Henry said about this passage, “A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not express true sorrow for sin, and does not promote the putting away of sin, it is not a fast.”
• So there’s an incorrect heart posture being shown here – and then there’s the correct heart posture, which is to fast in order to draw yourself closer to God who has already fully received you, in order to know and enjoy him more.

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• Matt: Next week, we’ll continue our series on the spiritual disciplines by discussing the discipline of giving. Don’t miss it next week!
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: J.D., our next spiritual discipline is practicing the Sabbath. That’s something that I think a lot of people have varying views on – talk to us about how to “keep the Sabbath.”

J.D.: So look, Matt… I’m not very good at this. This may shock you, but I’m a very type-A “Achiever” kind of guy. My wife says I’m an Enneagram 8 to the max, the 8iest 8 who ever 8ted.

• I do NOT like carving time out of my schedule where I’m not getting something done
• It just doesn’t come naturally to me at all.

But like we’ve talked about, these are spiritual disciplines – they don’t come naturally to us. And in the case of “keeping the Sabbath,” they’re sometimes counter-cultural.

We live in a fast-paced world. Every bit of media tells you to utilize every minute of every day to accomplish as much as you can, so that you can obtain as much as you can. And practicing a Sabbath is completely contrary to that – Sabbath is stopping the work that you’d usually do, trusting that God is in control, and focusing on what he wants you to focus on.

So, let’s dig in here.

First, we believe that God has instituted into creation a 7-day rhythm or work and rest/worship.

Second, we believe regular corporate gathering on the Lord’s Day is an essential, non-negotiable element in the life of a disciple.

• Verses such as Hebrews 10:24-25 tell us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Matt: J.D., let me stop you and ask Mackenzie’s question: “The Sabbath is commanded to the Israelites as part of the Old Testament law. So because we’re no longer bound by the OT law, do we still have to Sabbath?”

• This is where the Sabbath gets confusing for people. It’s true that we’re no longer bound by the OT law… but the design reflected in those laws advises us to set aside a day every week for rest and worship.
• It’s built on a principle, the same principle as tithing: one day a week we stop and declare our dependence on God
  • BTW, no other society did this… they all felt they had to work to the max., especially in ancient Israel. Survival was often a day-to-day, season-to-season affair. Crops had to be harvested daily. Water had to be drawn daily. To cut your productivity by 1/7 could make the difference in life and death!
  • By taking a Sabbath, they said, God, I’m doing less than I’m able to do because you commanded me to, and so I’m depending on you to make up for what I’m missing here.”
  • (Same principle as tithing)
• The OT laws are fulfilled in Jesus, so we no longer are bound to the particulars, but the principle behind is the same.
  • We see this principle of flexibility reflected in the early church, who seem to use Sunday as their primary day of gathering.

Matt: Speaking of, here’s a question from John: “What’s up with the sabbath being Saturday or Sunday? Your thoughts?”

• Early church took the principle of
• But Paul says in Romans 14:5: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
  • When the early church changed it from Sat to Sunday they were showing that it wasn’t a particular day that was essential.
• When non-Sunday might be helpful:
  • Some people work on weekends, including pastors and many people in ministry, so observing the Sabbath on Saturday makes sense in those cases.
  • Dubai example
  • Churches with other service times…
• I think for most of you it should be Sunday–that is the “standard” set by early church, and practicing that is consistent with 2K years of church history, but what’s important is to set aside one day a week where you cease from your labors and enjoy God and the gifts he has given.

Matt: So, after all that, how to apply?

• One day a week for rest, renewal and relationships
• One day to be rather than to do. To focus on God, relationships, and enjoy his creation.
• It doesn’t have to be on a Sunday.
  • For most of you it should be, but it’s at least one day a week where you cease from your labors and enjoy God and the gifts he has given.
  • Public worship should always be a part of it, because your relationship with God is central in your life.
  • But it’s also a day to be with family, and be outdoors, and to do things you enjoy that are life-giving.
• Daily rhythms
• If you know it all doesn’t depend on you, you don’t have to work at such a frenetic place and can slow down and adopt creaturely rhythms.
• Another form of confident rest is building in daily rhythms. One Christian counselor I was reading said that you should build 3 types of rest each day:
  • Mental (disengage—Churchill);
  • Social (those who have a daily rhythm of gathering friends, 3x a week had lower rates of heart disease;
  • Time with your spouse: BTW: According to this study, SEX counts as social rest—“this is the best AGM sermon ever!” Teens, don’t get any ideas. This doesn’t apply to you yet.
  • Physical (a recent study found that a 30-minute nap three times a week cuts your heart attack risk by 40%.
  • A recent CNN study showed that those who work 11-hour days are (get this) 250% more likely to become depressed than those who limit their work 8-hour days.
  • The reason is that when you are under work stress your body releases a certain amount of chemicals and hormones to deal with it—which is fine in normal rhythms but when you work too much it literally poisons your body, throwing off your levels and leading you more anxiety and depression.
  • Other studies have shown that people who nap are actually more productive.

Matt: One more listener question, this one from Vicki: “I just finished The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry book. The author has a different list of spiritual disciplines. 4 S’s. silence and solitude, sabbath and simplicity. All taken from the life of Jesus. Based on this, is it still important to observe the Sabbath and what does that look like.”

• Vicki, I’m glad you asked this, because the author of that book, John Mark Comer, has some really insightful views on the Sabbath. He just released another book called Practicing the Way which talks about the spiritual disciplines, which I haven’t had a chance to read yet.
• In Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, he lays out how he and his family practice the Sabbath, and that book was pretty influential in the way many people think about Sabbath in their own lives.
  • He recommends Sabbath-ing in a way that more closely mirrors the way the Israelites did in the OT (sundown to sundown), phones away… a bit more rigid than I am with what you don’t do and more intentional about the restful and life-giving activities that you practice.
  • Some on our staff Sabbath in a way that reflects what JMC lays out.

JMC would agree, I think, that there are various ways of practicing Sabbath and we’re not bound to OT customs and there’s some freedom here, but bottom line is that Sabbath is something our bodies, minds, and souls were designed by God to practice.

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• Matt: Next week, we’ll continue our series on the spiritual disciplines by discussing the discipline of fasting. Don’t miss it next week!
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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Matt: J.D., today we’ll cover our next spiritual discipline, and this week, we’re talking about the “discipline” of surrounding yourself with Christian community.

J.D.: Yeah, this is a good one. The first two spiritual disciplines we covered – Bible study and prayer – are kind of intuitive. While it’s sometimes easier said than done, most people understand that part of the Christian life involves prayer and Bible study and spending time with God.

But a lot of us don’t think of being in community as a “spiritual discipline.”

• We think “If I show up to church most of the time, I’m all set.”
• Or, “I got friends. I’m not lonely.”
• Or, “I go to my small group most times, so I’ve checked the box here.”

And I hear a lot of people say, “Well, I love Jesus, and I have a strong relationship with God, I’m just not that committed to the church.”

• Hmm. How do I say this? That’s not true. I know that you think it’s true, but it’s just not. You might have great respect for Jesus, but Jesus very clearly said that if you loved him you would be committed to his church. He says it in John 15. You’re to love each other so much that you lay down your lives for each other. You can’t do that for somebody you’re not connected to or in relationship with. Jesus told Peter in John 21, “If you love me, show that by how well you take care of my sheep.”
• You can’t say you’re obedient to Jesus if you neglect those he commanded you to love.
• The church is the bride of Christ. You can’t love someone and hate their bride.
  • How do you think I’d react if you said to me, “PJD, we love you. Can you come over to our house for dinner? And here’s the keys to our mountain house, please enjoy it. But… these invitations are not for Veronica. We like you, but we don’t care for her.”
  • That conversation is not going to go well. I’m not coming for dinner! If you love me and want to be friends with me, you have to love and be friends with my life. Thankfully, btw, with my wife, that’s easy. People always like her better than me. People always notice me first because I’m up here, but if we get invited back to someone’s house a second time, it’s always because of her.

Let’s stop for a second and talk about how Jesus demonstrated loving people well.

• He lived among them
• He served them.
• He spoke personally into their lives

Now let’s walk through those quickly and apply them to our lives…

Jesus lived among people.

• He walked with them. Gave real time instruction. He commented on conversations he heard them muttering to each other. He confronted them in their mistakes and comforted them in their failures
• We see this demonstrated in Paul’s life. In Acts 20, when Paul speaks to the Ephesians elders–
  • He says, “You know how I lived with and ministered to you night and day, available to you at all hours” (vs. 31). His speech to them included very specific counsel

Secondly, he personally served them.

• John 13. He didn’t do that for everybody, but those 12

He spoke personally into their lives…

• Me with Paul Tripp on why megachurch pastors fall
• Living in community has added richness to my life even though it’s messy.
• Prov. 27:10 says “Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away,” and we have an opportunity to be that for people through the church.

There’s also a limit to what God can do in your life if you’re not connected to the body. In 1 Cor. 12:25, Paul compares us in the church to members of the body. And at some point he asks, “How does the body care for it’s members?” answer: through other members!

• Say my left elbow itches, so it sends a message up to my brain, “I’m dying over here. Please help.” And what does my brain do? It doesn’t send down a magic “brain power zap” to fix it. No, it sends a message to the fingers on my right hand, “Go take care of your brother left elbow.”

Matt: Brad asks “What should I do if I want to find community, but I’d consider myself a big-time introvert?”

• • Great question. And listen, I get it. While I wouldn’t consider myself extremely introverted, there are times when I just don’t want to be with people… and I’m a pastor!
• But there are two things I would say:
• • First, this is exactly why we’re talking about the “discipline” of community. Discipline sometimes requires us to do things we don’t want to do or wouldn’t normally do. You don’t discipline yourself to do what comes naturally.
  • Second, though, I think it’s important to be kind to yourself: Some people legitimately have a higher “people capacity,” and that’s OK, as long as you are still disciplined enough to maintain consistent community.

Matt: Alright J.D., one more question: This is one we’ve gotten a lot through the years and I know you’ve heard asked. What about the person who says, “It’s hard to find community at my church because there are a lot of hypocrites and a lot of judgmental people?”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said that there are three stages of growth when it comes to Christians engaging with the church:

• The first is disgust at the sins of others.
• The second is disgust at your own sin. On their own, those first two stages push us away from the church.
• But the third stage is where we recognize that we can re-enter the church as an instrument in the hands of the Redeemer—a Redeemer who has, in fact, redeemed us from being the self-righteous Pharisee committed to judging everyone else.

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• Matt: Next week, we’ll continue our series on the spiritual disciplines by examining what it looks like to observe the Sabbath. Don’t miss the first episode in that series next week as we talk about what a healthy prayer life looks like.
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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• Matt: Today we want to talk about our second spiritual discipline. This time, prayer.J.D., there’s a lot to be said about prayer, and you’ve written books on it, you have several Ask Me Anything episodes on it, but I want to start with a listener question from Stephanie, who asks, “How does prayer ‘move the hand of God?’”—J.D.: Wow, strong start. Yeah, Matt, I have spoken a lot about prayer

  • Can’t do it enough

  • 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. We always want to be a praying church, but we set aside times throughout the year to really emphasize it in our church and our own lives.So, to Stephanie’s question, why do we do that? Why emphasize prayer? Does it really change things?

  • Let me give you three quick points about why we believe prayer “moves the hand of God.” First, the Bible makes it clear that God’s purposes are unchanging.

    • Verses like Numbers 23:19 are clear: God is not a man. He never learns anything new. He doesn’t wise up with experience or change his mind.
    • He knows the end from the beginning
  • So, it seems clear that God’s purposes are unchanging, but, like I said, we have to hold this in tension with another truth, which is that God’s plans are unfolding.
    • There’s a story in Exodus 32 says that God changed his course of action based on Moses’ prayer. But here’s the irony of the story: God is the one who tells Moses to go down and see the situation (v. 7). Moses didn’t know the people had corrupted themselves. God showed this to him.
    • Furthermore, the very thing that Moses uses to “change God’s mind” was God’s own promise. (And God, of course, hadn’t forgotten his promises.)
    • God had put Moses into a situation so that he would see the problem God already knew about, remember God’s promises, and petition God to change his course of action. Moses’ prayer itself is a result of God’s plan. God wants Moses to ask this, so he sovereignly puts him in a situation where he will ask for it.
  • But here’s the key: Our prayers are instrumental.
    • The text is clear: Without this prayer, God would have destroyed Israel. The prayer was instrumental in getting God to change his course of action. And that’s consistent with the pattern of prayer throughout Scripture. As I’ve heard it said, “Prayer moves the arm that moves the world.”Now, many people might ask at this point, “Well, what if Moses had refused to pray? Would that mean that they would not have been saved, and would that mean that it was not God’s will to save them after all? And what does that mean if I fail to pray for something God wants me to pray for? Does that mean that the thing that I didn’t pray about wasn’t God’s will after all? Or would God have just gotten someone else to pray it?”

You may begin to feel your head aching. It’s understandable.

Those kinds of questions are the wrong ones to ask about these situations. Scripture never teaches us to think about the will of God that way.

+ The 19th century Princeton theologian A.A. Hodge put it this way (my paraphrase): “Does God know the day you’ll die? Yes. Has he appointed that day? Yes. Can you do anything to change that day? No. Then why do you eat? To live. What happens if you don’t eat? You die. Then if you don’t eat, and die, then would that be the day that God had appointed for you to die?
+ “Quit asking stupid questions and just eat. Eating is the pre-ordained way God has appointed for living.”
+ So, when I wrestle with this, **I tell myself to quit asking stupid questions and just pray.**You see, however impossible it is for our puny minds to understand, God has sovereignly placed us in certain situations for the express purpose of praying his promises and “changing his plans,” so to speak. He wants us to employ divine power to create a different destiny than the one everyone is heading to.

That’s why we say God’s Word is not just a textbook to be learned but a book of promises to be claimed.

+ Like Moses, we are supposed to say, “God, remember you said …” Don’t just read your way through Scripture. Pray your way through it.
+ And trust in the Spirit of God to guide you as you pray, to show you where and how to extend God’s kingdom. He is willing and waiting and wanting to answer!
+ Fed by word/led by Spirit**Matt:** You mentioned praying through Scripture, which leads me to another question, this time from Sivad: “You mentioned praying through the Bible. This may sound silly but what does that look like?”


+ **Not silly at all!** There’s no other book that we “pray through.” At first, it seems foreign: How do I take these written words on a page and pray through them?
+ But the key is to take what you’re reading and keep the “line of communication open” with God through prayer.
    - If you’re reading through **the 10 commandments**, for example, you could confess wherever you’ve broken them to him, and ask for strength to keep his commandments.
    - If you’re **reading through the Psalm**s, they’re almost written as if they’re prayers (some of them are prayers), which makes the connection a little easier.
    - If you’re **reading a narrative passage,** you might struggle to see how to pray that passage – but that has to be done as you’re applying whatever you’re reading. It’s there for a reason – what is that reason? What is the text trying to show or teach you, about yourself, God, etc.? Ask that and then pray that way.
+ Donald S. Whitney’s “Praying Through the Bible” is a good resource.**Matt:** Claire asks: “J.D., what are your thoughts on meditation?”


+ Well, it depends on what kind. Later in this series, we’ll talk about the spiritual disciplines of solitude.
    - Prayer and solitude go hand-in-hand, at times. Jesus did it. .
+ The Bible mentions meditating on Scripture over and over again.
+ BUT, I do want to point out that there’s a c**ultural version of “meditation”** which could be confusing to some people.
    - Practices like mindfulness, or meditating while doing yoga (which you do every day, right, Matt?), or repeating some mantra – that’s typically what people think of today when they hear “meditation.”
    - Our minds need to idle sometimes, nothing wrong with that.
    - **But that’s different from biblical meditation – which is time spent alone with God, meditating on his Word and who he is**.
        * Meditation and stillness can be a replacement for the gospel?
            + **Tim Keller**: ”A lot of modern contemplative spirituality holds out a direct encounter with God apart from the gospel of grace. These kinds of mysticism call for us to find God through purgation or self-purification, kinds of self-salvation.” Christian spirituality is not just ‘be still’, but ‘be still and know that I am God.’
        * Best when it works like jazz. Some promises you are interacting with, as you let God move in your spirit.

—

• Matt: Starting next week, we’ll dive into a series of eight episodes focused on the spiritual disciplines—the basic practices of the Christian life. Don’t miss the first episode in that series next week as we talk about what a healthy prayer life looks like.
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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Show Notes:

Matt: J.D., we’re going to do something we’ve never done, and we’re going to take that question and camp out here on Ask the Pastor for the next several episodes, because you feel like this one is worth unpacking. Like we mentioned at the end of last week’s episode, we’re going to spend the next 8 weeks unpacking something I think a lot of Christians have heard about, but they may not know a ton about: the “spiritual disciplines.” What are some important spiritual disciplines to focus on as we attempt to grow in our faith in 2024?

J.D.: Yeah Matt, the “spiritual disciplines” – or the practices that every disciple of Jesus should follow and work into their lives – are definitely worth talking about, and rather than giving a short answer with a “checklist” of spiritual disciplines, I wanted to go in depth on a few different spiritual disciplines for the next few weeks here on Ask the Pastor, and we’re going to incorporate some of the many great questions we’ve received from our listeners on this topic.

So, starting today, we’re going to dive into an eight-episode series on the spiritual disciplines. Along the way, we’ll be sprinkling in a few different listener questions we’ve collected from you, our listeners.

• By the way, you can always email your questions in to requests@jdgreear.com.
• Or you can even message them to me on Facebook or Instagram.

So to start, I want to talk about one of the most foundational spiritual disciplines: Reading and studying your Bible.

This may seem elementary to some of you, but I’m a pastor… and I have a real sense that the practice of opening up your Bible, reading and studying it, and truly understanding what it says – and even why we read it at all – is unfortunately RARE.

• We know from the example of Jesus and the Apostles this was a big deal.
  • And Jesus himself would go off by himself, early in the morning, to spend time with God.
  • He used Scripture against Satan
  • Acts 2, devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
  • Acts 17:11 commends the Borreans for not taking Paul’s word for something, but “examining the Scriptures daily”

Matt: Let me stop you right there to ask a question sent in by a listener named Dalton who asks, “What time of day is best for Bible reading? Is there a time of day that bible reading ‘sticks better?’”

J.D.: That’s a good question, and I personally have found that the morning is the best time to read your Bible.

• First, when i don’t, i find the day gets away from me and i just run out of time or feel too tired.
• I also feel SO much more prepared for my day when I’ve spent time with God in the morning.
  • Orders my day. I can pray through my cal, and also hear from the HS about anything
  • Orders my mind, sets my mind right.
  • A way of giving God my first and my best
• But one of godliest men I know liked do it better t night, maybe right before bed.
• So there’s no “right answer,” but Dalton, I’m partial to studying the Bible in the mornings.

Matt: Here’s another from Josh: “Does not sticking to a consistent daily quiet time mean I am being disobedient?

• Great question. My answer would be: MAYBE.
• It’s clear that we’re commanded to spend time with God. To neglect that is to sin. But don’t go and beat yourself up if you missed a day.

Look, this question leads me to something pretty important, which is that I want to make sure that we all understand the WHY behind reading you Bible every day.

• Yes, reading it will help you understand more about God, about biblical history, and it’ll make you more biblically literate. Yes, we’re commanded to hide God’s Word in our hearts. Yes, it’s a practice we take from Jesus himself.
• But WHY do we do it? What is the #1 GOAL of Bible reading? To KNOW God by spending time with him.
• If you ask me about Veronica… and I say, “She was born in… her siblings are named; her favorite music is… height/weight…”
  • Love this quote by AW Tozer: “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.”

Matt: That’s good. Let me ask a question that’s a little bit more about the “nuts and bolts,” from Paul: “How do you pick which book of the Bible or section of the Bible to study in your time with God?”

• Another great question. I just open it up and read whatever page it falls on…
  • No, but seriously, there are a LOT of great resources these days to help you plan out your reading. Of course, you don’t have to use one – I oftentimes don’t – but we live in an age where a fantastic Bible reading plan is only a Google search away.
  • If you’re a new believer/searching, start with the Gospels.
• Summit App
• Lectio 365
• ESV Study Bible app

—

• Matt: Starting next week, we’ll dive into a series of eight episodes focused on the spiritual disciplines—the basic practices of the Christian life. Don’t miss the first episode in that series next week as we talk about what a healthy prayer life looks like.
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear.

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Show Notes:

Matt: Welcome to Ask the Pastor with Pastor J.D. Greear. I’m your host, Matt Love. You might be thinking… “What happened to Ask Me Anything?” Well, I’m glad you asked. We’ve decided to really reinvest in this podcast, keep it growing, and we’ve decided to add a new format, a new structure, and a new name! Ask Me Anything is now Ask the Pastor, and the pastor we’re asking is none other than J.D. Greear.

J.D.: Yes, we’re very excited about the new name, new format. But there is one drawback: Matt has a face for radio and podcasts, so that’s the only downside to this and I know all of you watching on video will have to just overlook that.

Matt: J.D., let’s get right into it. Here’s a listener question from Madeline. She writes: “A friend of mine is a Swiftie. She has a Swiftie necklace she wears all the time, her lock screen is of Taylor, she wears Eras shirts, she brings up Taylor Swift any time she can. And she recently went to a concert…it is turning into an obsession. How can I help her see that as Christians, Taylor Swift is not someone we want to emulate?”

—

J.D.: Here’s what I want to say first and foremost: I am not anti-Taylor Swift. So, Swifties, don’t hate on me, OK? My family—my daughters, especially—listens to her music from time to time. I took them to see the ERAS movie.

• I DO NOT think there’s anything inherently immoral about being a fan of hers.
• We’ve talked before on the Ask Me Anything podcast about whether or not Christians should listen to any secular music at all. You can go back and listen, but the bottom line is that that’s an area where every disciple of Jesus needs to use their own conscience.
  • I know people who do not listen to ANY secular music at all. That’s a conviction they have for themselves, and I can’t blame them for that. Some of them even make pretty compelling arguments about why they choose not to do so.
  • There are many others (and I’d put myself in this camp) who do listen to secular music–the Apostle Paul seems to have, too, FWIW, based on how he quotes some of the poets of the day—and to you I’d say (and this applies to movies and TV shows as well), you HAVE TO keep your guard up for what gets past your “filter.”
    • There’s a difference between music that is not inherently Christian and music that is inherently “Anti-Christ”/”Anti-God.” That celebrates the things that God hates and centers the theme.
      • I always compare it with going to a secular party. You can go to a secular event with secular people and sometimes while you are there, they sin. That’s different from going with someone when the expressed purpose is to sin. To get drunk or do drugs or watch pornography or visit a prostitute, obviously.
      • In the same way, If the express purpose of the song, the theme, is sin, I wouldn’t touch it.
  • And then there’s also an awareness of which temptations you’re just particular susceptible to; ones you can’t get out of your head
    • It could a certain kind of sexual temptation that you know you are just particularly susceptible to. It could be materialism or even violence or focus on body image.
    • Luther, if your head is made of butter
  • Then there’s just the saturation question.
    • Proverbs 4: “As a man thinks in his heart…”
    • Colossians 3 tells us to “Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
    • Again, I don’t personally take that to mean we should never consume any secular content. But the question is, what are we setting our minds on? What is consuming the majority of our thoughts?
• Is Taylor Swift someone you should listen to? I can’t answer that for you—you need to make that decision on your own – but I can tell you for me and my family, we find MOST of her songs decently acceptable.

Now, let me address the real question here: “Is Taylor Swift someone we want to emulate?” That’s another question entirely.

• Madeline here seems to be writing about a friend who’s made Taylor Swift into a hero of hers. I don’t know the girl she’s talking about, and I don’t know how far this emulation or obsession goes.
• But I have seen this emulation of celebrities rise to an unhealthy level in other people’s lives that I do know personally, and I can speak to that.

First, let’s address Taylor Swift herself.

• Does she write super-catchy, relatable songs? Yes. Are the majority of her songs inherently anti-God? No.
• But I wouldn’t say she’s some kind of hero that Christians need to be emulating.
  • Taylor has been outspoken about her support of abortion, particularly after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
  • She’s been very, very vocal about her support of the LGBTQ+ movement, both in comments and in her music itself – including her song “You Need to Calm Down.”
  • She openly teaches karma, a very anti-biblical worldview.
• I will say that in the “Eras Tour” movie, I was unsettled at how much focus was put on her and her amazing gifts, and how when those accolades were directed at her, she didn’t give glory to God, even in the shallow ways that some celebrities or pro athletes do when they point up to heaven.
  • She just stood on the stage and received it, and then for one of her final songs did “Mastermind,” which I know is about love, but at that moment in the concert it seemed to also point to her great genius.
  • I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading too much into that, but my spirit was bothered, I can at least say that.
    • It felt like that moment in Acts where Herod was making a speech and the people shouted, “It is not the voice of a man, but a god!” and Acts says that Herod stood there and just received it, and it was so grievous to God that God struck him down immediately.

But, again, I’m not just trying to bash Taylor Swift here. She makes no pretense about being a Christian. As Christians, we’d be hard-pressed to find ANY celebrity that’s truly worth emulating.

• • So when you latch onto a cultural icon, whether it’s Taylor Swift, or my favorite celebrity, Nicolas Cage, or anybody else – you have to approach them and their work with the understanding that we can APPRECIATE them without EMULATING them.
• Idolatry should bother us.

—

• Matt: Starting next week, we’ll dive into a series of eight episodes focused on the spiritual disciplines—the basic practices of the Christian life. Don’t miss the first episode in that series next week as we talk about how to actually read your Bible..
• We’re now on YouTube; subscribe to @J.D.Greear

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We have a VERY special surprise for you today. Next Monday, Feb. 5, we’ll be back with a whole new name and format…

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Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: Can you remember the last time you went through a period of intense doubt?

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. talks about the most famous doubter of all time-Thomas-and shows us how we can deal with our doubts. Many of us think that our doubts disqualify us spiritually. But doubt is like a raised foot: It can step backwards in unbelief, but it can also walk forward in faith.

You’ll learn what to do with your doubts, as well as what God says to you in the midst of your doubt. Like Thomas, you may not get all of your questions answered. But you may get something even better-a love too wonderful for words.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: Do you ever feel stuck in your sin? Do you ever wish you were more able to kick old habits and overcome old temptations?

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. walks us through the temptation of Jesus, showing us how Satan brings his battle against Jesus-and against us. He doesn’t begin where we might expect, enticing Jesus to do sinful things. He begins, instead, with identity.

You’ll learn to spot the three traps Satan always uses, and you’ll hear about the one truth that enables you to withstand any attack.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: Do you remember the first time someone had “the talk” with you? Chances are, they didn’t pick up their Bible to walk you through God’s view of sex.

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. walks through 1 Corinthians 6, showing us that sex is more than just biology, but a deeply spiritual reality. In our day, with so much confusion about sex, we need this teaching more than ever.

You’ll learn how God designed sex, where our society gets sex wrong, and what we can do with our own sexual guilt and shame.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: When was the last time you had a political discussion with another believer? (Did it go well?)

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. teaches about the four myths Americans believe about politics-myths that are just as active inside the church as outside it. These four myths tend to turn political discussions into raging arguments, so it’s important that we recognize them and learn to avoid them.

You’ll learn how to navigate political differences without compromising your convictions, setting your hope not on the stars and stripes of our flag, but in the scars and stripes of our Savior.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: If you had 10 minutes and a divine eraser, what do you think you’d remove from the Bible? If you’re like most people, you might erase the idea of hell.

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. shows us why it would be disastrous to remove hell from our Bibles. Hell may be a difficult doctrine to wrestle with, but when seen from God’s vantage point, it is essential to knowing, loving, and worshiping God.

You’ll be challenged to see God’s wrath for what it is-an expression of his goodness, justice, patience, and love.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: What would you say makes you more anxious than anything else? Money, work, being alone, losing someone you love?

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. addresses an emotion that we’ve all felt (and that all of us would like to feel less often)-anxiety. We know Jesus says we should not be anxious. But Jesus doesn’t just leave us there: He provides a way of healing for the anxious soul.

You’ll learn more about what fuels your anxiety, as well as what you can do to overcome it.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: When you’re looking for God’s guidance in a situation, don’t you wish he would just write the answer out in the sky? Or, maybe, send you a personalized text message?

In this episode of “12 Truths & a Lie,” Pastor J.D. answers the question he gets more than any other: How can I know God’s will for my life? When faced with a tough life choice-about school, about work, about your relationships-many people are terrified they’ll somehow miss God’s will.

But God’s will isn’t some mysterious target we’re aiming at in the dark. As you’ll learn in this episode, the more important question is not how God guides, but whom God guides.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: Have you ever wondered why God answers some prayers, but not others? Some of the most painful moments in the Christian life revolve around unanswered prayer.

In this episode of 12 Truths & A Lie, Pastor J.D. talks about this universal, but disorienting, experience. He shows us, through the life of the patriarch Jacob, what God is up to when he seems so silent and distant.

You’ll learn five of the most common reasons God says “no” to our prayers, as well as helpful tips you can use in your prayers today.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: In this episode of 12 Truths & A Lie, Pastor J.D. answers the question, “How could God have ordained the Old Testament conquest?” You’ll see why the morals of the Bible, while offensive to many, are actually the most liberating, just, and transformative rules ever written.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: In this episode of 12 Truths & A Lie, Pastor J.D. answers one of the most ancient questions throughout Christianity: Is God really in control? And if so, why is there so much evil and suffering? To start answering this question, we have to understand the bigness of God. A lot of people struggle with this question because they like to think of God as a slightly bigger, and slightly smarter version of themselves.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: Have you ever been in the midst of some task-something lifegiving, challenging, and exciting all at once-and thought, “Man, it seems like I was made for this!”? What if that feeling wasn’t just a fleeting thought, but a picture of reality? What if God actually has given you a specific task, some way to reflect his kingdom?

In this episode of “12 Truths & A Lie,” Pastor J.D. teaches us what God thinks about our work. Many of us haven’t given that a lot of thought. What does God have to do with my job? Actually, quite a bit! Through your work, God can fulfill promises, display his redemption, and advance his mission.

Whether you’re a builder or a banker, a student, or a stay-at-home mom, you’ll learn the five ways you can approach your work from a uniquely Christian perspective.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: With everything that goes on in church, do you ever wonder, “What exactly is the most important thing we’re doing here?” Most churches keep themselves-and their members-really busy. They judge their success by how many people attend or how many baptisms they’ve done. But heaven doesn’t celebrate any of those numbers. It only celebrates disciples.

In this episode of “12 Truths and a Lie,” Pastor J.D. shows us the heart of Jesus’ mission. It’s found right in the Great Commission. But it’s not “going,” “teaching,” or “baptizing.” At the center of it all is one command: “Make disciples.” Disciple-making wasn’t a special assignment for a select few, but the central calling for every follower of Jesus.

You’ll learn all about Jesus’ call to become a disciple, along with the five identities of every follower of Jesus-worshiper, family member, servant, steward, and witness. Most importantly, you’ll learn how you can discover your role in the disciple-making process. Because God’s method for reaching the world isn’t big ministries with uber-talented preachers, but everyday Christians, filled with the Spirit, making disciples everywhere they go.

In other words, God’s method … is you.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

View Details

Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

Show Notes: Have you ever asked yourself, “How can I know, for sure, that I’m going to heaven when I die?” So many Christians have wrestled with this question for their entire lives, which can lead to anxiety and insecurity about their eternal destination. How can you know, for sure, that you’re going to heaven when you die? Most people feel like knowing for sure they’ll go to heaven has something to do with their behavior-If you are good enough; if you believe enough; go to church enough; give enough.

In this episode of 12 Truths and a Lie, Pastor JD talks about how to experience true assurance of our salvation. Listen as the truths of scripture are explained in regards to knowing for sure that we have been counted as righteous. We get Christ’s perfect record credited to our account. When God looks at J.D. Greear, he sees not how many times I’ve prayed, how sincere I was in my faith, how pure I was… but he sees Jesus’ record credited to mine.

Our prayer is that you can find peace in the fact that when God sees you, he sees the perfect life of Jesus. And so he says to you, “YOU ARE MY beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”

In the next episode, Pastor J.D. will take a deep dive into discipleship—you don’t want to miss it!

Scripture references found in this episode: Romans 4:1-5; 1 John 5:13; John 14:18; Genesis 15:6; 1 Cor 13:1; John 1:16-18; John 2:20-27; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:15; Prov 24:11

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Each week, we’ll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit Access more at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths–A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear

About 12 Truths and a Lie Podcast: Whether you’re a new Christian or have walked with God for decades, life is filled with difficult questions that can feel impossible to answer. In the 12 Truths & A Lie Podcast, Pastor J.D. Greear confidently tackles some of the most perplexing issues, including our purpose, the afterlife, how to handle political differences, and more with profound insight, empathy, and scriptural application.J.D. Greear serves as the Lead Pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC. He is the author of several books, including “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart,” “Essential Christianity,” and his most recent work, “12 Truths and a Lie.” Additionally, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Chick-fil-A since January 2022 and previously held the position of the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Our prayer for you is that this podcast will help draw you closer to God and be bold in asking hard questions. Here’s the promise: with each question, we will pursue the answers according to what God’s Word says…the ultimate truth.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We’ll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a listener question from Cameron who asked, "Why Does James Say We’re Justified by Works?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a listener question from Kelly who asked, "What Is the Occult? Is It Real?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. finishes a two-part series about Jesus' return. The second question is: "What does it look like to live ready for Jesus’ return?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question submitted from Brandon. He asked, "What’s going to happen in the “end times?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question submitted from Linda. She asked, "If God Draws People to Faith, Why Not My Lost Family Member?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question submitted from Ruperto. He asked, "Is it ever OK to lie?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers "How Do I Tell Someone of Another Religion They’re Wrong?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question in his recent sermon: "What stands in the way of ethnic unity?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question that was submitted by Jessie. She asked, "What does it mean to be “poor in spirit?”

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question that was submitted by Annie. She asked, "How should a believer handle guilt from sinning?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. welcomes back Pastor Tony Merida, author of "Gather," to answer, "How do you find a good church?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question in his recent sermon: "How does the church achieve diversity?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. is joined by Pastor Tony Merida, author of "Gather," to answer, "Why is it important to go to church in person?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. finishes his two-part series leading up to Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. The second question he answers is, "What gives you hope about the direction of the SBC?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. begins a two-part series leading up to Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. The first question he answers is, "How should we think about disfellowshipping churches in the SBC that have women as pastors?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question “What does it mean that the sins of the fathers are visited on the 3rd and 4th generation?”

Show Notes:

• There’s a phrase from Exodus 34:7 where God says that he will punish the children and their children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation.
  • Let’s start with what it clearly doesn’t mean. The Bible says elsewhere that it would be unjust for God to hold the children guilty for the sins of the parents.
  • What it is doing is stating that sins of the fathers affect the children.
• One of my mentors when I was in seminary said every single major Bible theme is introduced in Genesis and the rest of the Bible kind of just explains those themes.
  • So take the Genesis story of Joseph: Joseph’s brothers are jealous of him and sold him into slavery. But that sin of jealousy didn’t come out of nowhere. Joseph was the son of Rachel who was Jacob’s favorite wife. Jacob had showed extensive favoritism to Rachel and Joseph, so the sons of Leah took it out on him.
  • I’m not saying they’re innocent. I’m just saying that they were actually responding to anger and bitterness over the sin’s of their father.
• Our sin affects shapes our children. They learn to repeat our mistakes often to even greater degrees.
  • I don’t know about you, but it breaks my heart when I see my idols replicated in my children. And I see it all the time. Things that have become a little too important to me manifest in them.
    • If we worship the idol of success, then your kids will always have that pressure of feeling like they got to be first or best or top of their class.
• If there’s one big takeaway from this Ask Me Anything podcast it’s that sin is serious. It is deadly serious. It’s like John Owen, the Puritan always said, “You got to be killing sin, or it’s going to be killing you at any given moment.” One of those two things is happening and not just in you, and you and your children and those you influence for generations to come.
• I don’t want to end this on a really negative note. So let me say this: Exodus 34 also says that God keeps faithfulness with 1000s of generations. And what that means is that God is much more merciful and healing that our sin is damaging. So when you sow faith, you can actually break the cycle. God loves to help you break the cycle of sin. I can think of several examples throughout the Bible and in my own life.
  • There’s a movie out right now called Jesus Revolution about the life of Greg Laurie. Greg Laurie was raised by a single mother who struggled with addiction and had multiple failed marriages. As a result, Greg Laurie himself experimented with drugs and lived a rebellious lifestyle as a teenager. In some ways, that’s her sin being replicated in him. But then Greg Laurie becomes a Christian and helps lead this Jesus movement. He becomes a pastor and founds Harvest Christian Fellowship out in California. So yes, it’s true that God sometimes lets the effects of our sin go into the third and fourth generation. But it’s also true that one courageous act of faith can change not just your life and your destiny, but the destiny of your children, your children’s children, and the lives of those you influence for generations to come.
• So for those that are known by God and loved by God, Romans 8:28 says that he can use all things for good, including the sins and the struggles that at one point in our life negatively affected us. God can reweave those for good in our life and produce the gold of his presence and and the brokenness of our sorrow.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question “Why does God seem cruel in some parts of the Bible?”

Show Notes:

• I always joke that if there are five questions I’m going to be asked on a college campus, this is one of them.
• I don’t want to give one general answer here. We’ve done episodes like that before where you have to press into the individual passage itself, and find within it the clues that shows you that the same God that we find in Jesus—the merciful God, the one who’s willing to die on the cross is the same God of the Old Testament. Sometimes people think Old Testament God is like God in His middle school years—He’s crank and then he basically gets saved and comes back as Jesus who is loving and gentle. But what Jesus said was far different.
  • Jesus said that they really are the same.
• Let’s just take one example. David commits the sin in 2 Samuel 24 where he counts the people and God told him not to do that. David does it anyways, and because of that, God sends a plague where 70,000 people die.
  • When you look at that, you might think, “What kind of god is this?” in response to something that wasn’t really even that bad. David just counted the people that God strikes down 70,000 innocent people.
  • What we’re not going to dive into is why that sin was actually really bad, but let’s talk on the question of 70,000 people dying something that not even really their sin.
    • The passage makes it clear: God was angry with the sin of Israel. And David was just his instrument for letting punishment come to Israel. What that means is that these weren’t all innocent people. And in a bigger sense, that’s the truth of the entire human race. All of us were not guilty of every sin, but all of us are guilty of enough sin that we stand under God’s condemnation.
    • One time in the New Testament, there was this tower that fell on Jewish people and the disciples asked Jesus if they were the most wicked people in Israel? Jesus said, no. He said, “Truly, truly, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” So the question is, “Why are any of us still living today?”
    • Whatever God is doing in the human race is in one sense justified.
  • The second part of my answer is this: Others are not held guilty for our sins, but the Bible teaches that our sins do have an effect on others. I mean, we all know that right? If you have a father who is an alcoholic, then the kids suffer. The kids didn’t do anything wrong, but they suffer for it. If one marriage partner sins, then both the other spouse and the kids suffer from their sinful choices.
    • There’s constant things throughout the Bible that just remind you that our sin affects people and when it’s the sin of a leader like David, then yes, people suffer.
    • Innocent people suffer from my mistakes as a father and as a pastor. It raises the level of leadership.
• One more thing: You might say, “Well, that’s what I’m talking about, the 70,000 people didn’t just experience some negative effects of David’s leadership. They died, and that is just so ultimate.”
  • It was really liberating for me when I when I finally got my head around it. In the Bible’s perspective, physical death is not ultimate in terms of judgment. Every single person in the story of David and the counting of the people are dead right now including David and Samuel—the most righteous people—all of them have passed away. The 70,000 just died early. To use Tim Keller’s phrase, “He collected a few people early for the sake of many people’s eternities.” That is hardly immoral.
  • From an eternal perspective, physical death is not the ultimate judgment, eternal life or eternal death. That’s the ultimate judgment
  • So you have to have an eternal perspective about this stuff. You have to realize that death looks big to us. But in light of eternity, it’s not that big and ultimate justice comes in either heavenly reward or it comes in an eternal punishment.
• God’s justice is like the ocean. You can never get to the bottom of it. And the one thing no one will ever say, when we get into eternity, is that is that God was wrong, or we were more just than he was.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question “Were men like King David really great men of faith?”

Show Notes:

• You know, one of the things you realize are some of the great men and women of faith in the Bible had some pretty significant flaws.
  • David’s were legendary. There’s the situation with Bathsheba, which was, at best, an abuse of power. Then you have multiple places of compromise and he seems to be a pretty terrible father. And at the very end of his life, he commits a sin that grieves God so bad that 70,000 Israelites die.
  • So why do we talk about David as a hero of the faith?
• I recently was teaching through the story of David at our church, and at the end of David’s life there’s a verse that the author of Samuel uses to summarize David’s life.
  • 2 Samuel 22:21-25, ” The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands, he rewarded me, for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God, for all his rules were before me and from his statutes, I did not turn aside. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my likeness in his sight.”
    • We read this and we’re like, ah, David. Blameless is not the word that I would use to describe your life. How could any of us reading the story of David say, “Oh, yeah, David was blameless and clean.”
    • Why would David say that? And why would the editor include this at the end of David’s life?
• I see three options as to why the author would say that about David as a great man of faith:
  • Option number one is what we call hagiography. Hagiography is just a fancy word that means that you tell the most polished version of a person’s life and you leave out all the bad parts. Basically, you turn them into a hero. I remember when I was a kid reading this biography of George Washington and the biography is basically said George Washington did no wrong. He walked five miles in the snow to repay a penny somebody had overpaid him. He could tell no lies, and when he chopped down the cherry tree. He was dauntless fearless, a man with no flaws. And that’s why that’s why America is awesome. To be clear, George Washington was a great man. But we know that he liked like a lot of great men had some some pretty significant inconsistencies, some grievous ones. So is the author trying to whitewash David’s past? Well, I mean, no, I mean, the same author that put this here also recorded all of the bad stuff in the preceding chapters and the author is not trying to pretend that what he just recorded didn’t actually happen. The sin that David committed was real, and the pain he caused was real. The Bible has been clear about that.
  • Option number two is what we call positional righteousness. And that is where you say, well, these statements are declarations about David’s positional righteousness in Christ. Because after all, that’s what the gospel is about is how God trades our unrighteousness for Christ’s righteousness. When we trust Christ, we receive His righteousness. But I would say there are several things in this text that don’t quite fit with that explanation. Several things that indicate that positional righteousness is not the not the best answer to this dilemma we find. Look again at what David says in verse 21, “according to the cleanness of my hands, I have kept the ways of the Lord according to my righteousness. I did not turn aside.”
    • I think it’s pretty clear here that David is referring to good things that he himself did, and not good things that Jesus did in his place.
• This leads me to the third option, which I believe is the correct one, and that is what I would call new creation righteousness.
  • What that means is that this final statement about David demonstrates the reality and the power of God to restore the believer.
  • In fact, let me point you to a couple of the things David said that I think really illustrates this. In Psalms 103, David says, “The Lord does not deal with us according to our sins.” God doesn’t remember our wicked deeds, but he does remember our righteous ones. And that means that because of Jesus, our lives can be defined by by the good that we do, not the sins that we committed.
  • I mean, it’s very possible that somebody’s listening to me right now you sin grievously in your past. And listen, I’m not trying to minimize that or whitewash what you did. That pain that you caused was real. In many cases, it needs restitution. In some cases, it leaves lasting earthly consequences. There are certain kinds of abuse that mean you’ll never be able to reengage in certain relationships. But the good news of the gospel is that even with the reality of those sins, your life can be defined the summation of your life will not be the bad that you did.
  • The final verdict on David’s life, the label that Scripture gives him, is not abuser, compromiser, negligent father, or murderer — even though all those things are true — the label that God puts on David in the Scripture is humble man of faith, blameless one, gracious man of God, man of courage.
• You see, because of your past, you might label yourself a cheater, thief, adulterer, absent father, abuser, criminal, compromiser, coward, alcoholic, failure, but see, just like with David, God has a new label for you and from this point forward your life can be defined not by the sins you committed, but by the by the works of faith and the love that you’re going to do.
• It’s time for some of you to get on with that. Stop wallowing in the shame of your past and get on with the good that God has for you.
• Say with David, “God can restore me so that what I’m defined by are the works of faith and not the sin I committed.”

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question from Justin, who asked, “Why Does the Bible Say Women Must Be Silent In the Church?”

Show Notes:

• There’s some things in Scripture that even Peter said were often hard to understand. So if Peter had a hard time understanding, it doesn’t surprise me that there’s some things in our New Testament that we’re not sure what they mean.
• In 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, it says, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” (ESV)
  • Paul is clearly not saying that women should never speak in church. How do I know that? Well, for one thing, just three chapters before this in chapter 11, Paul gave instructions for how women were to speak and pray and prophesy in church.
  • He said women were to do so “with their heads covered” which communicated that they weren’t elders.
  • The point is, Paul’s not going to give an instruction about how women should speak in church, and then turn around and give a verse that means they should never speak in church, because that wouldn’t make any sense.
  • The biblical rule of interpretation is that you interpret hard verses by easy ones because the Bible doesn’t ever contradict itself. The easy verse here is that women are given instructions about how to speak in church. Clearly, this can’t mean women don’t speak in church because it would would contradict him own words, so what does it mean?
• Well, you can see from this chapter that there was a particular problem that Paul was addressing:
  • In 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, you see that in their worship services there were different groups in Corinth who were apparently interrupting each other with with some kind of agenda that they were bringing to the surface.
    • Some are speaking in tongues in the middle of a church service and others were disputing those words or disputing the tongue that was given. So Paul gives instructions to three different groups in chapter 14.
      • In verse 28, he says don’t just yell out in the tongue if there’s no interpreter.
      • In verse 30, he says don’t interrupt somebody else who was given a prophecy with a better one that you think you have.
      • And now verse 33, to the women of Corinth, he says, “Don’t be disputing prophecies that are given by others and evaluating publicly whether they’re from God because that’s something reserved for the office of the elder.”
    • Paul refers to 1 Corinthians 11 to say that the the official evaluation and disputation of prophecy, the authoritative teaching on what is really from God and what’s not, is the function of an elder, and a woman is not to play that role in the church.
    • So that’s the kind of speaking he is referring to in the authoritative capacity of an elder.
• Now, here’s one objection that I’ve heard. Sometimes people will ask, “Maybe Paul’s instruction here is only for a particularly boisterous group of women in Corinth.” But here’s why I don’t think that’s a good explanation.
  • If that were true, why would Paul say it this way?
  • In verse 33, he says, “as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.” In other words, he said: this is not just about Corinth, it’s about all churches of saints everywhere.
• So I think the better interpretation is what we’ve talked about and is consistent with what Paul says everywhere. Women have access to all the spiritual gifts and they should use them in the church and use them publicly and privately. They should use them from the stage and one on one.
  • But they should just not do so in the capacity of an elder.
• We want more women speaking in church and we want more women using their spiritual gifts in church, which often involves speaking.
  • We can encourage and bless that, while respecting the order that God established since God’s church is a reflection of his image. And God’s plan is always best, which is the doctrine we call complementarianism.
  • The New Testament is clear. From start to finish, women play a crucial part of Christ’s body, and they have access to all the same spiritual gifts that men do. Their insight is valuable. The church needs to hear from them, and our body is much worse off without them.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question from one of our listeners, James: “Is It OK for Christians to Use IVF?”

Show Notes:

• I do want to be sensitive here, because I know that there are probably people listening right now who are going through this.
  • I know that this is an incredibly emotional decision to make. Most of the time that decision has been preceded by a very emotional journey of trying to conceive and not being able to get pregnant. I know there are others who might be listening who actually were conceived via IVF, and and I’ll address that here later on as well.
• So I’ll just start here, I see a potential problem that IVF can bring about that runs contrary to a biblical perspective on life, namely, that life begins at conception.
• All human life, at whatever stage, is sacred.
• Many times the procedure is carried out in a way where they take multiple eggs, because they’re trying to make the process as efficient as possible. Sometimes an implanted embryo won’t actually develop into a child or there’ll be a miscarriage, so they’ll actually fertilize multiple embryos at one time, and then the ones that they don’t use, they either freeze those additional embryos, or in some places, they’ll actually discard them. And that’s where there we find an ethical problem.
  • Because if life does begin at conception, then we’re dealing with human beings now made in the image of God. And that means we’re creating a number of individual people in the image of God who have a soul.
  • We create them with the knowledge that we’re likely going to be destroying a number of them intentionally.
• Listen, I don’t claim to have the last word on this ever changing world of reproductive technologies. In fact, I would refer our listeners to the work of somebody by the name of Jennifer Lahl at the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Her work actually raises a lot of these questions and helps you think through them biblically.
• But I do want to say as clearly as I can, that the idea that we would create babies in embryonic form as a fertilized egg, and intentionally discard them, that runs entirely contrary to a true pro life position.
• While that is agreed on generally by evangelical theologians, there are some trusted evangelical theologians that have injected some nuance into this discussion that I think we ought to be aware of:
  • For example, Wayne Grudem, who is a very influential evangelical theologian has a very trusted voice and has been a consistently reliable voice in these kinds of things for years. He has an article with the Gospel Coalition called “How IVF Can Be Morally Right.” Not that it is always morally right, but how it can be morally right. It’s well researched and helpful if you’re considering this.
  • What he concludes is that IVF is a morally good action in some circumstances. He says, and I quote, “If IVF is used by a married couple, and if care is taken to prevent the intentional destruction of embryos, then it is a morally good action that pleases God because it violates no scriptural guidelines, achieves the moral good of overcoming infertility, and brings the blessing of children to yet another family.”
  • Dr. Grudem also says he says choosing to fertilize only one egg or two at a time and using those with the hope that they will survive is far different than the common practice of IVF, where several eggs are fertilized and then most are intentionally destroyed.
  • In that case, he says there is a willful and intentional destruction of human lives, which we would say is unethical because it violates the commandment, thou shalt not murder.
• And let me also say this, if you are a married couple who is considering this, I would encourage you to make sure you’re thinking about all the different options you have in starting a family.
  • I know that not being able to conceive is incredibly painful. But there’s an incredible beauty and adoption and there’s such a need for it.
  • There are also Christian leaders who advocate for the adoption of unused, frozen IVF embryos that are out there. I’ve know some families that are very committed to life and say, well, that’s where we’re going to start. That’s where we’re gonna adopt because these are babies made in the image of God.
• Lastly, if you’ve already used IVF, let me just speak as a pastor for a minute: My goal in answering this question is not to heap shame on you. God is sovereign. And he used that procedure to bring about life.
  • That doesn’t license everything that we do, but it does recognize that that there was a sovereignty of God. As you wrestle through the rightness, or wrongness, of certain decisions, you can always rejoice in the child that God gave you.
• Maybe you’re listening right now and you were conceived through IVF, and you’re saying, “Wait a minute, was I conceived through an immoral means?” One of the beauties of God’s sovereignty is that he creates some of his best work through the mess of our choices.
  • Think about the cross: There was so much chaos, so much mess, but out of that God brought our salvation. He brought the resurrection—the most beautiful thing in history. Your life is precious, and God has a plan for you. You are not an accident. God knit you together in the womb, just like he did any of us. That’s what Psalm 39 promises all of us.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question in his recent sermon: “Does charismatic worship go too far?”

Show Notes:

• Let me give you twin worship principles to hold in tension:
  • Different cultures (and different personalities) have different ways of expressing emotion. Different cultures and different traditions have distinct ways of expressing emotion and reverence and worship, and that’s ok.
  • I’ve learned this most as we’ve tried to make strides in becoming a multi-ethnic church. As you know, pursuing ethnic unity is much bigger than just worship style. But worship is one area where our church has learned a ton from various cultures being involved.
    • For example, we have a lot of traditional Southern Baptists in our church. When they are really into it in church, they tend to sing with a lot of gusto. There’s not a lot of movement in their worship, and many of them can’t even clap on beat, but there’s plenty of volume, especially when we bring out those old hymns. If they get totally into it, they may even lift one arm for a moment like they are trying to ask a question. And if they are experiencing full-on revival, they’ll sway back and forth with both arms bent 90 degrees at the elbows, as if they’re carrying a giant, invisible microwave oven. And when I preach, they’ll let out punctuated, staccato “Amens” when I say something they think is powerful, especially if I alliterate it.
    • Mixed in among them is a sizable number of people who grew up in churches that were a bit more loquacious with their sermon feedback.
  • During worship, a lot of former Pentecostals add in some rhythmic clapping, shouting, and jumping that I don’t typically see from our members who grew up at First Baptist.
  • Our Latino members combine this sanctified enthusiasm with what can only be called a supernatural endurance. For them, anything less than two hours of singing cannot legitimately be called “worship.” I’m serious: the first time I attended a service at our Summit en Español campus, I missed lunch with my family. And I think dinner, too.
• So here’s the question: Which of these is the correct, biblical way to worship? Amen.
• What is wrong is when we elevate our preferences and make them normative. Remember what God told Samuel earlier in 1 Samuel? Don’t judge the outside, Samuel “Man looks on the outside, but I look on the heart.”
• I grew up in a church with some of the godliest people I’ve ever known—many lived the most sacrificial lives; they were people of integrity; they were people of deep prayer, people who brought others to Jesus consistently—they were just quieter and less expressive.
  • But I know people who would look at them self righteously and say, “They are not filled with the Spirit.” Man looks on the outside, but God looks on the heart.
• Here’s the other worship principle: All worship should have elements of passion and self-forgetfulness.
  • Remember, “undignified” is the word David used in 2 Samuel 6:22.
    • He said to Michal, “And I will make myself even more undignified than this when I worship…!” The word here implies self-forgetfulness.
    • What David said is, ‘When I worship, I’m not going to think about what people are thinking about me; I’m going to think about what they are thinking about God.” It is true we all do things differently, but the corresponding truth is that all worship should contain elements of passion and self-forgetful expressiveness.
• More than 20x in Scripture we are encouraged, even commanded, to raise our hands in worship.
  • Here’s just a few examples: Psalm 88:9, “I call for you every day, O Lord; I spread out my hands like a child toward you.” Psalm 143:6, “I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you like a man in a parched land.” Psalm 28:2, “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help; as I lift my hands…” Psalm 134:2, “Lift your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord.”
• You say, “But isn’t it hypocritical to do something I don’t feel in my heart?”
  • No. Here’s how obedience works: sometimes as you are obeying, when you don’t feel like it, God changes your heart to desire what you are doing. In some ways, your obedience is like a cry to God to change your heart.
  • In fact, here’s a little secret: the posture of our bodies actually guides the emotions of your heart. That’s how God designed us. Psychologists tell us that we are psychosomatic creatures, which means our souls and bodies are intertwined.
  • So, when I get into a posture of surrender, I feel emotions of surrender. When I adopt a posture of reverence, it helps guide my heart to feel reverence.
  • A lot of times we think that the posture of our body is a reflection of our heart; but often the posture of our body serves as the guide, the catalyst for our heart.
• I want fellow believers to see my worship, who know when I’m going through a hard time, and they see my hands raised and joy on my face and tears in my eyes, when they know everything is going wrong in my life, and they say, “Now, this must be a God worth trusting! This God must be so amazing that he gives you joy even when everything is not going your way!”
• Listen, I’m not trying to contradict what I said earlier about different cultures and different personalities having different ways of expressing emotion, no one necessarily better than the others. I’m just saying that in all worship we ought to see expressiveness and passion and, sometimes, we ought to look undignified.
• We go forward with these twin, complementary truths:
  • Different cultures (and different personalities) have different ways of expressing emotion. (and you’re not the judge of anybody else).
  • All (gospel-based) worship should have elements of passion and self-forgetfulness.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question that has been submitted by several listeners: “Should I get a divorce if I’m miserable in my marriage?”

Show Notes:

• My heart goes out to people that are in these types of situations. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than being in a relationship that supposed to bring life and joy than when it ends up feeling like misery.
  • That’s why at multiple points the Bible will advocate caution as you approach marriage because you are about to tie yourself to someone for the rest of your life. It’s not a covenant to enter lightly.
  • We have done a podcast before here on Ask Me Anything, which is linked here, that walks through the biblical reasons on whether or not divorce is OK.
  • But I do want to acknowledge, like I stated on the previous podcast, that there are some reasons where the Bible teaches that divorce is justifiable. This can be remembered by the three A’s: adultery, abandonment (1 Corinthians 7), and abuse.
• But the specific question wasn’t if adultery, abandonment, and abuse were present should I get a divorce but if I am just miserable, can I get a divorce, and the Bible is pretty clear that in that case, you don’t have a justifiable reason to leave.
  • Divorce has never been about you and your happiness. It’s about a covenant that reflects God’s unconditional love and sometimes you show that by being with somebody that at the time is not giving you warm fuzzies or meeting all of your needs.
  • Jesus didn’t stay with us because we made him happy. It was that love that ultimately showed his greatest glory.
• So somebody might hear that and say, “Well then does God want me to be miserable?”
  • Of course not. God does not want you to be miserable at all but here’s the thing, the way to happiness in the Bible is never through a change of circumstances. The way to happiness in the Bible is the way to holiness.
  • What this might mean is that you stay married even if you feel unfulfilled. Let me be clear, I’m not talking about the situations where there is abuse. I’m only talking about the situations where you feel unhappy.
  • Russell Moore said, “Remaining faithful to a wife that you wish you had not married might seem miserable to you but taking up a cross and following Jesus is miserable in the short run at least. That’s why the book of Hebrews presents the life of faith in terms as sometimes not receiving what was promised (Hebrews 11:39) but seeing it and embracing it from afar.”
    • Sometimes the happiness that you’re embracing in the midst of a difficult marriage is the happiness that’s not now in the present but a happiness that is there in the future.

So how do you stay in a difficult marriage?

• Reject the “Right Person” myth.
  • We talked a lot about this in our relationship series, but the “right person” myth says that there’s a right person out there for you and that a good marriage—and therefore your happiness—is determined by finding that person. If you aren’t happy in marriage, you probably aren’t with the right person. Press reset and try again.
  • But here’s the thing: You always marry the wrong person. How do I know that? You’re both sinners who will disappoint and fail one another! Plus, you’ll both change over time.
• Do it for Jesus.
  • The covenant you made in marriage was first and foremost to him. Even if you weren’t a Christian when you got married, marriage was still God’s creation, and you did it in his name. You may not feel, in the moment, that the person standing in front of you is worthy of forgiveness or your continued faithfulness. But Jesus always is.
• Soak yourself in God’s grace.
  • What precedes Jesus’ teaching on marriage in Matthew 19 is his teaching on forgiveness. That’s no accident. Ultimately, what kills a marriage isn’t a specific infraction; it’s hardened hearts that’s unable to forgive and live in grace. It’s not the fights or the frustrations or the lack of fulfillment. It’s a posture of the soul.
  • The good news is that Jesus can soften your heart through the gospel and his Holy Spirit. So lean into that. In the cross, we find forgiveness for the sins done by us and healing for the ones done to us.
• Do it for others.
  • In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul urges that a spouse stuck in an unfulfilling marriage to an unbeliever lift their eyes beyond themselves to the positive effect that remaining in the marriage will have on others, particularly their kids. Sociology has borne this out today: Except in cases of abuse, dissatisfied spouses who choose to remain together lead to much better outcomes for their children than children of those who separate.
• Get some counseling.
  • Me and Veronica have at several points…
  • But make sure you go to a godly counselor that you trust. I can’t tell you the number of people that have ended their marriage because some counselor told them they might as well go ahead and do it since they don’t get along.
  • When we consider leaving or divorcing, we, as believers, must consider what that communicates to those around us about the love of God. When we walk away from a marriage because we are unhappy, we implicitly tell others that God’s love is conditional, that when we annoy him or disappoint him or make him unhappy, he leaves us.
  • The world desperately needs to know a different kind of love—the patient, steadfast, never-giving up love of God. Let’s show them.
• Don’t give up hope.
  • Keep being faithful and praying. Sometimes God really will change the person. Give God’s grace space to work.

When you consider leaving your spouse, consider what it communicates about the love of God. That really is what is God’s primary purpose in marriage. It was a gift to us but it’s also about him—he’s teaching us about himself through marriage. So when we walk away from a marriage because it’s not fulfilling or because we feel miserable, we implicitly or sometimes explicitly tell us others that God’s love is conditional. We tell them that we annoy God or disappoint God, we can expect him to walk away from us, too.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers the question, “How do you handle it when a Christian leader falls?”

Show Notes:

• Unfortunately, I think we can all think of a Christian leader that we’ve looked up to and respected who has fallen—either morally, disqualifying themselves from ministry, or denouncing the faith altogether.
  • There are few things quite as devastating as when you look to someone as your spiritual hero and they fall. Sometimes it’s someone you’ve seen from a distance whose teaching had a big impact on you and sometimes it’s someone who is up close—maybe not everyone has heard of them but they’ve had a big impact on you.
  • This raises questions like, “Were they always a hypocrite or was this a moment of weakness they got in? Is everything they ever taught a lie?”
  • Sadly I can name several men that I’ve looked up to in ministry who have disqualified themselves from ministry.
• There was a book that was written by Paul Trip called Dangerous Calling, which is about the danger of being called into ministry and the irony is if you open up the cover and see the names of the men who endorsed the book, they were all really good friends of mine and all of them except for one have fallen.
  • So I asked Paul Trip about this and he said, “There are two things—number one they lose peer community. By peer community, I mean the kind of people that look into your life and call stuff out. They don’t work for you. They’re not impressed with you. They can speak truth to you. Most of those people community around them but not peer community. The second problem is something that compounds the first—they forget the power of indwelling sin. They think that somehow their success in ministry or how much they know moves them beyond that initial call to follow Jesus and die to yourself.”
• I can tell you that even after being in ministry for over 25 years, the fight between the flesh and the spirit never goes away. It never gets easier. The raging of my flesh against God is as real as it ever was.
• So when that happens and it effects you personally and you’re dealing with that disappointment, there’s a few things I try to remind people.
  • At their very best, they were still very flawed and they were never designed to be your savior. They were only to point to Christ. Now, hopefully they will point consistently to Christ by their life, but there are just a lot of figures in the Bible who started that way and then disappointed.
• Ultimately, the Christian leaders you look up to you are not there to be the object of your faith. They’re just a means to point you to put your faith in him.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question from one of our listeners, Brennan: “Should evangelicals participate in Lent?”

Show Notes:

• This one is going to be one of the classic, “yes, no and it’s up to you” kind of answers.
• First of all, if you’re not familiar, Lent is the practice that some denominations observe by setting aside the 40 days leading up to Easter (actually, it technically ends on Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter) to devote themselves to prayer and fasting.
• Traditionally, Lent is started on Ash Wednesday, which is where participants signify the start of lent by drawing the cross on their foreheads with ashes.
  • People usually fast from something during during this time… “giving ____ up for lent.”
• Let me start by saying that I do not really observe lent, and lent is not part of our Baptist “calendar.”
• However, there is certainly not any harm that necessarily comes from observing lent—and in fact, I strongly believe that more Christians should set aside periods of time in their lives where they devote themselves to fasting and prayer.
• Part of the resistance to this is that there is a certain stream that teaches that these rituals earn merit with God and only in doing these are you filling yourself with grace—a sacramental approach where participating in these rituals fills you with grace.
  • And the counter to that is our righteousness has been gifted to us through Christ and there’s nothing we can do to add to it—this is not directly commanded in the Bible so why do we need to do this?
• What I want to say is there is a value in attaching yourself to the historic Christian calendar. Many Christians have approached this with the right spirit for many years.
  • I’m all for more time spent in prayer and fasting, and if doing that with the global church is helpful, then that is great.
  • At the Summit Church we do things a little differently. For the past three years, at the beginning of the calendar year (usually January/February), we have what we call 21 Days of Fasting & Prayer. Each year it’s been an incredibly powerful time both for me personally and for our church.
• Sometimes when people fast, they don’t really understand why they’re doing it. This happens with Lent, too. People think that because they are hungry, God will listen to them.
  • The gospel would say, “No, God’s attention to you, his love, is not conditioned based on how hungry you are.” Fasting is really about putting yourself in a position to hear from him. It’s less about getting you in a position where God likes you and more tuning your heart to the Father’s.
• To make sure we’re clear, the commandment of God is that we pray and fast often, but the exact form of the, the calendar in which that happens, isn’t subscribed.

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This week, listen in to Pastor J.D.’s thoughts on revival that he shared at a recent Summit Church staff meeting.

Show Notes:

• There are two ways God sends revival:
  • “All at once” and “over time“
• Rick Warren has said that Saddleback has never had a revival, only a ‘vival’
  • While Saddleback isn’t a perfect church, there’s a lot of evidence of genuine spiritual awakening but it didn’t happen in one service that extended for eight days. It happened through faithful preaching, teaching and disciple making.
  • It’s important to be aware that God is the one who chooses how he sends things.
• To quote Tim Keller, the definition of revival is, “The intensification of the ordinary operation of the work of the Holy Spirit, occurring mainly through the ordinary ‘instituted means of grace’— preaching, pastoring, worship, prayer.”
  • During these seasons God’s glory gets heavier, sin becomes more real, Jesus’ love and presence become more “felt.” And lots of people get saved.
  • So we get up every day and we do those four things listed out: preach, pastor, worship and pray.
• My encouragement to you is, don’t force anything, or assume it has to look just like somewhere else.
  • Almost none of Jesus’ miracles happened the same way: Sometimes he speaks, sometimes he spits on the ground—it’s all in different ways. You can not reproduce a miracle. You keep on doing what he has called you to, and God will work.
• We can long for revival and not assume anything BUT there are a few things that these kind of awakenings always have in common:
  • Prayer—the evidence that God is on the move.
    • I was reminded of this recently in Psalm 71. David, as he got older, saw his main job as “proclaiming your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” I’m not older, but I wanted to share this. I want the next generation of the Summit church (leaders that we’re raising up), to know in the depths of their heart that God is faithful and he answers prayers.
  • The second characteristic is always confession of sin. There’s a greater awareness of your sinfulness.
    • It starts in the church. The few revivals I’ve had a privilege to be a part of always start with the leaderships’ sensitivity to sin.
  • The final characteristic is having an openness to the Spirit.
    • We just join God in what he is doing.

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This week, Pastor J.D. finishes the Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity. The final question is, “What is the difference between being religious and being spiritual?”

Show Notes:

• • This is a really important question because the fastest growing category in the United States is “spiritual but not religious,” which I talk about in my book, Essential Christianity.
  • Simultaneous to this growing interest in spirituality, there is also a decrease in trust in religious institutions and historic traditional religious belief systems.
  • Just listen to talk shows, Hollywood, sports starts and you will hear the message of “I have a religious side to me—I really want to commune with the divine, but I’m just not part of organized religion.”
  • So for Christianity, the world’s largest religion, it sounds like it’s pretty bad news… but it might not be. I think there is a good and bad version of the “spiritual but not religious.”
    • The bad version is, “I want religion on my terms. I’m not really interested in God or anybody else in telling me what is right and what is true. I don’t want morality dictated to me by anything. I want to find truth within me.” It’s a toxic, self-actualization way of thinking and it’s everywhere.
    • The good version of it is that a lot of the formal religious structures including ritualism and authority structures are being questioned. Jesus taught something entirely different from those things. Jesus focused not on religion but on a relationship (loving God with all of your heart, loving your neighbor as yourself, the gospel is a gift of grace that you receive). So, detaching from an unhealthy dependance on religion can be a good thing.
    • One of the thing that surprises people when they read through the Bible for the first time is how central a relationship and communion is with all of Christianity.
      • If you look back at the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God. God led them out in Exodus and led them with a plow by day and a pillar of fire by night. When Jesus came they called him God, with us, Emmanuel. Now with the Holy Spirit he is God in us.
      • Jesus went so far to tell his disciples that if they have the choice between having him, Jesus, with them or having the Holy Spirit inside of them, they should choose the Holy Spirit if they really understood what the Holy Spirit could do for them.
• All of that to say that the experience with the Spirit is supposed to be so incredible that it really defines all of Christianity, which is ironic that a lot of people think that you now choose between spirituality and religion because, at least in the Bible, they really are one in the same. You cannot have a relationship with God and not commune with his Spirit.
  • This leads a lot of people to say, “What does the Holy Spirit do exactly?”
    • In Romans, Paul identifies several things:
      • The Spirit enables us to believe in Jesus. The fact that you are convinced that Jesus is Lord and submit to him is all produced by the Holy Spirit.
      • The Spirit produces the life of Christ in us. Throughout Romans 8, Paul keeps saying the Spirit is life. In Romans 5 Paul says the Spirit sheds abroad Christ’s love in our hearts, which means he gives us a felt sense of God’s presence and his love.
      • Paul says the Spirit prays for us with groanings that can’t be uttered.
    • The main things that the Spirit does is he sheds abroad Christ’s love, communicates Christ’s presence, and he fills us with the spiritual fruits—the love, joy, and peace that characterize life in the Spirit.
  • So if find yourself saying, “I want to be spiritual and not religious” I would actually say that’s not a bad place to start as you turn toward Christianity because Jesus, in many ways, was the opposite of religion. It was religious people who were most against him. The New Testament describes really knowing God as fellowship in the Spirit.

For more from Essential Christianity, order your copy today!

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This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity. The fifth question is, “Is downplaying the sinfulness of homosexuality necessary to reach the next generation?”

Show Notes:

• • I had one good friend tell me I should leave the topic of homosexuality out of the book, since it can be so hard for some people to swallow. I recognize that sometimes, there are issues that you want to time when you bring them up when you’re sharing the gospel with someone.
  • In the end, I decided to put in a small chapter about what Christians have historically believed on this. First, because that’s a pretty significant part of the book of Romans (which the book is based on), when Paul talks about the evidence of our rebellion against God. If anyone is reading along in the book of Romans as I go through this, they’d have a big, glaring question about this topic. That’s a big reason why I don’t think downplaying homosexuality is something we can do anymore.
  • When trying to reach the next generation, this is one of the top things they come into an evangelical church thinking about. The world says there are only two options: affirmation and alienation. Because of that, they don’t give any moral authority to those who they believe are “alienating,” and because of that, I believe I have to show them that the Bible offers a third option: you don’t affirm the behavior but you do affirm the individual as made in the image of God and worthy of love and respect and protection.
  • Leaving the subject out was going to be counterproductive in my book, and I believe it’s the same situation with our churches: the next generation is coming in with their own narrative about what I believe, so I have to address it head-on.
  • There are also a couple of biblical problems that lead me to believe downplaying this topic is not helpful (which I wrote about in an article posted on The Gospel Coalition). First, removing the offense of the cross will also divest it of its power. Repentance, properly understood, is offensive—but repentance has always been at the center of the gospel message.
  • Second, we know from the Bible that Jesus was full of both grace and truth… not just one or the other. Truth without grace leads to fundamentalism and judgment. Grace without truth leads to acceptance amongst people, but not to repentance before the Father. Jesus was full of both, and the two together are the power of God.

For more from Essential Christianity, order your copy today!

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This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, “Essential Christianity.” The fourth question is, “Can anyone actually know they will go to heaven?”

Show Notes:

I’ve talked about this before, but if there were a Guinness World Record for the amount of times someone asked Jesus to save them, I’m pretty sure I’d hold it.

By the time I was 19, I’d “become a Christian” about 5,000 times. Every time my church gave an invitation to pray a prayer to “accept Jesus,” I did it right away. One year my church had a goal of 300 conversions and I think I fulfilled that goal all by myself.

I know that sounds neurotic, but I just wanted to be sure that I was saved. I was plagued with questions like “Last time I prayed that, did I feel sorry enough about my sins?” and “Since praying the prayer, have I followed Jesus closely enough?”

I knew the Bible said that we were “saved [by] faith,” (Ephesians 2:8) but I wanted to know: what was the faith that saves, and how could I be sure I had it?

I’ve since found that a lot of Christians have these same questions. Ask 20 different people what “faith” is, and you’ll likely get as many different answers. Some think of it as a general sense that God is real. Others think it means sincerity in religion. They say, “I’m getting more serious about my faith.” Some think having faith just means adopting a positive, hopeful outlook on life. Others think it just means that at some point you prayed the infamous “sinner’s prayer,” asking Jesus into your heart.

So here’s the question we want to consider: what is the faith that saves, and how can we know that we have it?

• In the book, I used the example of Abraham. How was Abraham saved? He was saved by faith. And his faith was credited to him as righteousness.
• The faith that saves is believing God’s promise and resting on it. The only difference between our faith and Abraham’s is that Abraham looked forward, believing God’s promise to send salvation; you and I look backward, believing he has sent it.
• Christians trust God to keep his promise to them just as Abraham trusted God to keep his promise to him. If we believe that God has forgiven our sins in Jesus, just as he promised (v 25), then, like Abraham, our faith is credited to us as righteousness. That’s the faith that saves.
• We know that faith doesn’t exclude effort, but it does exclude earning. In other words, we’ll never earn our salvation – but saving faith shows evidence (fruit) in the life of the believer.
  • As Martin Luther said, “The law says, ‘Do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘Believe in this,’ and everything is already done.”

You know, preachers often ask people the question: “If you died tonight and God were to say, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ what would you say?” The question has become a cliché, but it’s actually a good one to consider. What would you say?

• Many say, “Well, because I was a good person.” Or “Because I tried my best.” “Because I was a sincere Christian and always tried to live out what I believed.”
• But faith that saves always starts its answer with “Because Jesus…” It would never start with “Because I…” Why? Because any answer that starts with me is going to reveal faith in my work, not faith in his. The faith that saves is the faith that leans all its hope for heaven, and for life, on Jesus Christ.

How you answer that question, then, is how you can know whether you have the faith that saves. This is how the younger, sinner’s-prayer-praying, baptism-junkie J.D. could have stopped worrying about whether he’d prayed some prayer well enough or felt sorry deeply enough or gotten committed to Jesus strongly enough to be saved. I could have rested in the fact that he did what he said he did. This is how you can live with a confidence undiminished by unchosen circumstances or unsuccessful Christian living, free of anxiety about how this life will go and what will happen to you in the next one.

Why should God let you into heaven?

“Because Jesus died and rose to take my sins and give me his righteousness.”

This is my answer. What’s yours?

For more from Essential Christianity, order your copy today!

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This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity. The third question is, “If God is real, why doesn’t everybody believe in him?”

Show Notes:

Like we talked about in our last episode, there is abundant evidence for the existence of God. So then, why doesn’t everyone believe in him?

The truth, Paul says, is that we suppress it because we think we want a world, a life, without God. This means that the question, “Is there even a God?” is one that we answer more with our hearts than our heads. The problem is not that the evidence is not there; it’s that our hearts don’t want to see it.

The philosopher William James, who many regard as a forerunner to 20th-century postmodernism, said that in determining what we believe, more important than evidence is (to use the title of his most famous lecture) “The Will to Believe.” What we believe, James explained, is less determined by the evidence itself than by what we want to believe. Postmodern philosophy patted itself on the back for this great discovery. And it was a great discovery.

But Paul got there two millennia earlier: “For though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21). Or Rom. 1:18… we suppress the truth with unrighteousness.

In other words, our heads are controlled by our hearts. It wasn’t that we couldn’t figure out the truth about God; we didn’t want to figure it out because we didn’t really want to know it. The flaw was not in the evidence but in the hearts considering that evidence.

So in a sense, we know, but we don’t know, because we don’t want to know. We suppress the truth that is evident to us because we don’t want it to be true.

• We want to be the center of our story, making the rules…
• We’re the point. Our comfort is the priority. We know best. Our way is better. Our will is supreme.

Humanity’s suppression of truth, Paul explains, manifests itself in two forms: an irreligious form of suppression and a religious one.

Irreligious suppression: Atheism (or agnosticism)

Listen, I’m not saying there are not people genuinely convinced that they are atheists. I’m saying that according to Romans 1 that atheism is driven by a subconscious desire not to know. We know but we don’t know because we don’t want to know.

• Everybody in their heart knows the truth, but we don’t want to admit it to ourselves so some of us convinced ourselves there is no God. We don’t like the thought of an all-powerful, ruling God, so we suppress the truth.
• Which is why a lot of the great atheist-intellects of the last 100 years who have become Christians—people like T.S. Elliot, W.H. Auden, C.E.M. Joad, C.S. Lewis, A. N. Wilson (by the way, ever notice all the really smart people go by their initials)—have all said, “What brought me to faith was not some new argument or evidence. I just admitted to myself that I always knew there was a God.”
• When I am sharing Christ with someone, I often will ask, “If you come to see these things are true, are you willing to change your life in response? “Because a willingness to follow the truth is a prerequisite to knowing the truth.”

Religious suppression: Idolatry

When we suppress the truth of who God is through religion, we change the object of our worship into something we can control.

The false gods humanity has worshipped all have one thing in common—they exist to serve us. We worshipped, but our main question was how to get God into orbit around our lives. But the most basic truth of creation is that we were created for God and his glory—he is at the center. But we wanted a God who would serve us, be our divine butler, and so we reimagined God in that form.

Anthropologists have noted that all peoples in all place worship… even if you’re not religious. We can no more turn off worship by not being religious than we could turn off our sex drive by not getting married.

When you say, “What about those that have never heard?” the truth is that everybody’s heard. God showed it to us and revealed it in us. But we suppress that knowledge of an all-ruling, all-sovereign God because we don’t want it to be true. And for that reason we all stand condemned.

So our denial of God’s existence, according to Paul, is not the faulty conclusion of a genuinely confused mind but the subconscious desire of a heart that is resistant to God. Denial is not the only fruit, however. Some of us willingly acknowledge God’s existence, but we then distort him into “images” that cater to our sinful hearts. This is Paul’s explanation for the multiplicity of religions in the world. We took glory from the real God and assigned it to new versions of him that we preferred over him. Furthermore, we manifest our resistance to God’s glory through disobedience—we do what we want instead of what God wants even when we know what he wants. We’ll get into that more in the next chapter.

Denial, distortion, and disobedience: three bad fruits of a heart that is resistant to God’s power, glory, and authority.

For more from Essential Christianity, order your copy today!

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This week, Pastor J.D. continues our Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity. The second question is, “How do we even know there’s a God?”

Show Notes:

• • This new book, Exploring Christianity, looks at 10 key words in the book of Romans to help us explore the truth behind Christianity. In Romans 1:19-20, Paul makes it clear that God has made himself and his existence undeniable. He says, “What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.”
  • Now (like a lot of the book of Romans), there’s a lot of meat there, but Paul’s basic claim is that God has made the basic truths about himself known to every person who’s ever lived. He’s left his fingerprints in various places, if we have eyes to see them.
  • Philosophers helpfully grouped these fingerprints into four primary categories, and then unhelpfully gave them complicated names. I’m going to use those complicated names, but don’t let them trip you up. The concepts are pretty simple. I figure if we can memorize the name of our $14, 16-ingredient drink at Starbucks, we can learn these. And, if you happen to find yourself in a philosophical discussion about the nature of God at the Waffle House late one afternoon and drop in one of these multisyllabic masterpieces, it’s sure to increase your standing in the debate.
• These are four ways that the apostle says God reveals himself in creation:
• The Cosmological Fingerprint
• This one goes back all the way to Aristotle. It’s the question of why there is something rather than nothing, and where did the original something come from?
• • If the world began 14 billion years ago with a Big Bang, where did the materials that caused the Big Bang come from?
  • You can’t keep going back in infinite regress into nothingness.
  • Eventually something has to come from somewhere. “Nothingness” can’t just explode.
  • In his book God Delusion, Richard Dawkins admits this is a problem. He says, “Darwin’s theory works for biology, but not for cosmology (or, ultimate origins).” And, “Cosmology is waiting on its Darwin.”
  • In other words, he thinks that while they have explained how life took shape on the earth, he admits they still have no idea where life itself, or the materials that produced life, came from.
  • We need a theory, he says, as to why anything exists, because it is self-evident that nothing x nobody can’t equal everything.
  • But don’t worry,” he says in the book, one day we’ll find it. (Which is a textbook example of a blind, hopeful leap of faith.)
• The Teleological Fingerprint
• Not only do we have the question of why there is something rather than nothing, but our creation appears to be very finely tuned.
  • The more we learn about this, the more amazing it becomes.
  • Scientists say that life on earth depends on multiple factors that are so precise that if they were off by even a hair, life could not exist. They call it the Goldilocks principle: things are “just right” for human life.
  • The makeup of the atmosphere is very exact, yet it’s the difference between life and death. If some of those levels were even slightly off—for example, if the level of oxygen dropped by 6% we would all suffocate; if it rose by 4%, our planet would erupt into a giant fireball. And we’d all die.
  • Or, if the CO2 were just a little higher or a just little bit lower (say, 0.01%), then the earth would either become an oven or have no atmosphere at all. And we’d all die.
  • Or this: The water molecule is the only molecule whose solid form (ice) is less dense than its liquid form. Which means that when it freezes it floats. If ice did not float, it would sink to the bottom and the whole ocean would eventually freeze from the bottom up and… we would all die.
  • Or the distance of the earth from the sun: If we were 2% closer to the sun, the planet would be too hot for water to exist. And we’d all die.
  • And then there’s tilt of the earth, which is set at an ideal 23.5 degrees, which we’ve learned is perfect for temperatures and tides and such. You’ve probably never thought about it, but if it was was not tilted, temperatures would be extreme and we’d all die. At least the humans.
  • One more for fun: We’ve learned that if Jupiter wasn’t the size and in the orbit it is, astronomers predict that there would be 10,000x the number of asteroid strikes right here on earth, and we’d probably all die.
  • Jupiter is like the Luke Maye of planets, setting picks on asteroids so the earth can get open for the 3-pointer of life. Without it, our planet would be pummeled with asteroids and life could never exist.

Then we put up our telescopes and pull out our microscopes and we find the same complexity in the cell and atomic structure:

• Even the most basic DNA strands are incredibly complex, enough so that Francis Collins, head of the human genome project, says “How could a cosmic accident ever result in something of this digital elegance of a DNA strand?”
  • It’s like thinking an explosion in an ink factory could inadvertently produce the collected works of Shakespeare.
• And just so you know, these are not the conclusions of seminary grads doubling as amateur scientists. The late Stephen Hawking said in one of his later books, The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many (precise ratios), like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron… The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
• You say, “Well, maybe we’re just lucky. In a universe as big as ours our planet was bound to exist somewhere and we just happen to be on it.”
  • But scientists say that the odds of a planet like earth existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all ‘just happened’ defies common sense. It’s like tossing a coin every second and having it come up heads for 10 billion years in a row.
  • So, yeah, you can speculate that this part of the galaxy was just really, really lucky, but is that the best and easiest explanation for what we see?
  • It takes an anti-God bias to arrive there–it’s usually that people have some other problem that follows from a God creating it all that makes them look at the evidence that way.
  • One scientist said; The greatest miracle of all time without any close second, is the existence of life on our planet!
• The Moral Fingerprint
• • The very fact that we have moral feelings suggest the presence of a divine law giver.
  • This week I parked in parking garage and every few feet was a sign: “Keep your parking ticket with you.” Someone, somewhere, was going to ask for it!
  • Sure enough: the restaurant; and kiosk on the way out…
  • In the same way, feelings of guilt and moral obligation point to a Divine Lawgiver to whom we will give account.
  • Feelings of guilt and moral obligation are common to all people in all cultures.
  • And here’s the other thing: they are not present in any form in the animal kingdom.
    • We all know cats, for example, seem to derive some pleasure from playing with a mouse before they eat it. Yet you never find a cat sniveling under the bed later feeling bad… That’s not just because they are exceptionally evil. It’s just in their nature. If a lion mauls a human, you never find him in the woods later wracked with guilt (Oh, what have I done?)… They don’t feel guilty for acting according to their natures.
  • Yet, we do. Doesn’t the fact that we all have feelings of guilt point to the fact that we are stamped with the image of some Divine Lawgiver, who has implanted in our hearts his sense of right, and truth, and love?
• Even if we stop believing in God, we can’t shake this idea that we’re going to be held accountable one day.
• • One of my favorite illustrations about this is from Franz Kafka’s The Trial… Kafka intended that to be a picture of the human soul going through life. You have a voice inside you telling you’re guilty.
  • Doesn’t that point to the fact that one day we’ll face the divine law-giver who has stamped his image and his requirements on our hearts?
• The Desire Fingerprint
• He has shown the truth about himself to us, Paul says, and he has revealed it IN US.
• There are things in our hearts that tell us we are more than just accidental biology—
• Like our longings for love and meaning and eternity.
• The atheist philosopher Albert Camus said that we long for “love without parting,” but that a universe without God gives us only “the conscious certainty of death without hope.”
  • Camus called this “the Absurdity of life.” He said life was one long, tragic, absurd comedy, as we seek things from life that life simply can’t provide.
• C.S. Lewis had a different answer: A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
• I am not saying that these are proofs of God, but rather evidences of his existence—divine fingerprints. Sure, a fingerprint can be forged, but you’d need a compelling reason to believe it was forged before you wrote it off. In Romans 1, Paul is not so much concerned with building out logical proofs of God as he is pointing us to divine fingerprints which should be easy to recognize and reasonable to accept.
• Paul’s point is that it takes an agenda not to hear the voice of God speaking in creation, because the voice is sufficiently clear.

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This week, Pastor J.D. begins a new Ask Me Anything series based on his new book, Essential Christianity. First up: “What Is Christianity, In a Sentence?”

Show Notes:

I get asked questions like this a lot because there’s so much misunderstanding about what Christianity is or isn’t. So, I’m going to give you a sentence that I think defines Christianity in a sentence, but first, let’s talk about why so many are confused about it, and why there even seems to be a growing animosity towards Christianity.

This new book, Exploring Christianity, works through 10 key words in the book of Romans to help us explore the truth behind Christianity. And we start off with the gospel announcement that Paul makes very clear in chapter 1.

Now, this book is not a commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans. Instead, it uses the major talking points of Paul’s letter to construct a framework of Christian essentials. I’m asking, “If Paul were writing the book of Romans today, to people living in a 21st-century Western post-Christian culture rather than people living in a 1st-century Roman and Jewish culture, how would he write it?”

So, what is the gospel announcement that Paul starts the book with? He says the gospel is good news about:

• who Jesus is
• what he’s done
• what he brings

Based on that, here’s a workable definition we can use, then, from this point forward:

God, in an act of grace, sent his Son, Jesus, to earth as a man so that through his life, death, and resurrection he could rescue us, reign as King, and lead us into the eternal, full life we were created to enjoy.

That’s the one sentence I’d say we can sum up Christianity with. Let’s break that down:

God…

The gospel begins with God. God exists, and he’s been moving and speaking throughout history. That’s already a big claim, and we’re only one word in! How can we know he’s there? What is he like? How do we know when he’s speaking to us? I don’t want to “tease” too hard, but we do get into that more in the book.

…in an act of grace,…

That word “grace” means “undeserved kindness.” Grace, properly understood, is what makes Christianity different from every other spiritual approach. Grace is the entire basis of the gospel: the melody line around which all other Christian truths are played.

…sent his Son, Jesus,…

Or, as the apostle John explains it, God himself became a man and dwelt among us (John 1:14). More on the what and why of this later.

…so he could rescue us…

The most important thing about Jesus is not what he taught but what he did. Paul’s letter to the Romans, in fact, speaks very little about what Jesus taught and a whole lot about what he did. It’s not what he taught that saved us, but what he did. The symbol of Christianity is not a lectern but a cross.

Christianity is, in its essence, a rescue religion. Which, of course, raises the questions: Why do we need rescuing? And how can a man who lived 2,000 years ago have done something then that can rescue me today? Those are great questions, and we get into them in the book.

…reign as King, and lead us into the eternal, full life we were created to enjoy.

The gospel is not just about what Jesus came to rescue you from, but what he came to rescue you for: the full, eternal life that we were created to enjoy. As Paul explains, the gospel restores us to the life we were made for all along (the subject of chapters 7 to 10). This is what a lot of Christians, as well as non-believers, forget, but it pulsates through almost every chapter of Paul’s great letter.

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This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons as he answers the question, “Should Christians Watch Game of Thrones? (Or Anything With Nudity?)”

Show Notes:

• This is similar to our questions on music, but I do think it’s more specific.
• I’ll talk about nudity specifically, but let’s expand it a little bit to shows that have various kinds of sinful things in it.
• First of all, we’ve got to realize that we are in the world. God knows that, and we are supposed to have an awareness of the culture that we’re in, and where it has needs and where the culture is making mistakes. Paul said to be “simple” when it comes to what is evil, but even he demonstrated a familiarity with the culture—like the poets, for instance—even though sin was laced through their work.
• Another thing to realize is that God created art and entertainment for his glory, as a way of relaxing. Comedy, entertainment, drama and suspense that I can read, watch and listen to may not be specifically about the Great Commission, but it’s serving a God-glorifying purpose because God created us to enjoy art and to participate in his creation. The enjoyment of art is not by itself a sinful or wasted enterprise.
• Sometimes, there is a place in the arts for the fact of sin because it’s part of an overall redemptive thing that I’m trying to teach. But when it comes to acting and those types of things, like John Piper says, there’s a difference between depicting sin as an act and actually sinning in doing the depicting.
• But revealing nudity (or taking God’s name in vain, I believe) creates a situation where the actor is not only depicting sin but is themselves sinning while doing the depicting. Their body is actually being exposed, or God’s name would actually be blasphemed.
• Jesus said that to fantasize about having sex with someone makes you guilty (in God’s eyes) of the sin, and Hollywood skin and sex are meant to arouse.
• I read an article a little while ago by John Piper, specifically about Game of Thrones. He said that first of all, Jesus died to purify, and the Bible from beginning to end makes a radical call for holiness.
  • Jesus talked in the most extreme terms about pursuing good.
  • Some would say that watching these things will help them be more relevant to lost people, but at what cost? That relevance is never worth more than your personal holiness.
  • Piper says that nudity is not make-believe. If you’re going to value the modesty and self-control of women, you’re not going to do something that celebrates and puts that kind of thing on display.
  • It’s hard to say, “I weep with repentance at Jesus’ death,” while laughing (or intentionally enjoying) the kinds of things that put him on the cross.
  • Piper says prolonged exposure to these things affects us.
  • Lastly, he says there’s no great film that needs nudity to add to its greatness.
• So, how much is too much? What’s the right balance? Well, there’s no way I could give something that just applies to everyone. I will say, there’s a difference when something has sinful stuff in it and when its central focus is to celebrate and affirm sin.
• Like Kevin DeYoung says, yes, people are wired differently—but those who say that these things don’t phase them at all may not really know themselves as well as they think they do. And if looking upon what God has forbidden has no affect on you, I’m not sure that’s a good thing after all.
• VidAngel is a service that my family uses from time to time, with some options that will cut some of this out for you.
• Overall, if your conscience is troubled, that’s a sign that you should just not watch something.
  • If in doubt, it’s probably safer to not watch something.
• If you feel like none of this bothers you—just take a week to really pray about some of this, and ask God if it’s really OK, and if it really helps you enjoy more fulness in your relationship with him.

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This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons as he answers the question, “What Does It Mean Practically to Follow Jesus?”

Show Notes:

What does it mean to become a Christian? According to the gospels, very simply, it means to follow Jesus. It doesn’t mean to start being perfect; it’s not to know every answer to every theological question, it’s just to follow Jesus. Jesus invites people everywhere and anywhere to follow him.

Now, I want to acknowledge that a lot of people don’t know exactly what that means. Back in biblical times, it was pretty straightforward. You literally just followed him—he went that way, you went that way. But today, he’s not physically here anymore, he’s invisible, so what does it mean to follow him?

Great question. Back in those days, when you wanted to follow a Rabbi, you would go and sit at his feet and he would examine you with questions and put you through a series of tests to see if you were worthy to be their disciple. If you passed, they’d invite you to follow them, at which point you’d literally go everywhere with them, listening to everything they taught, watching all the ways they’d interact, and trying to imitate their every move.

Ray Vander Laan, a historian who specializes in 1st century Israel, said that in those days the greatest praise you could give to a talmid (which is the Hebrew word for disciple) was “the dust of your rabbi is all over you.” That didn’t mean “Dude, you’re dirty! Go take a shower!” It meant, “You have followed your rabbi so closely that you’ve heard everything he said, seen everything he’s done, and everything he’s stepped in has splashed up on you.”

All of that should give you a picture of what it means to follow Jesus. Here’s Ray Vander Laan’s definition: “A talmid (disciple) is someone who seeks not only to know what his master knows, but also to do what his master does.” There are two elements there:

• • The first: Learning. You want to know what your master knows. Listen, if you want to be a disciple, there’s no shortcut to this—there’s a lot of learning involved. If you are serious about being a disciple, your life will be filled with a lot of learning, listening to messages, being regularly in church, reading books, participating in small groups and leadership cohorts seeking to grow in your knowledge. You say, “But I’m not really an academic kind of person.” Look, you don’t have to be. I’m just saying if you’re in love with somebody, you’re going to learn all about them—and that’s a big part of the Christian life.
  • But that’s just half of the discipleship formula…
  • The other half is doing. A disciple doesn’t want to merely know what his master knows; he or she also wants to do what his master does. How did he live? What were his priorities?
• • Following Jesus means seeking to know what he knows, and do what he does. Around the Summit, you’ll hear us simplify that into the 5 identities of the disciple: You become a worshiper, family member, servant, steward, and witness. That’s what he was.

45 Philip (went and) found (a friend named) Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

• Nathanael said, “Can anything good come outta there?” Totally snobby. But Philip doesn’t answer it; he just says, “Come see for yourself.” Some of you have a friend you want to tell about Jesus, but you don’t, because you are afraid of how they are going to react. Follow this example of Philip. Jesus doesn’t need your help converting them; he’ll do that. Just tell them your story like Philip did, and when they ask you an antagonistic question, you say, “Come and see for yourself… Come to church with me. Let’s read the Bible together.”
• Jesus does all the converting; we just need to extend the invitation.
• Think of it like if you were asked to defend a caged lion—you don’t need to defend the lion, just open the gate, and let the lion do his own defending.

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This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons on the life of King David as he answers the question, “How can I know where God is moving?”

Show Notes:

David doesn’t figure out what he wants to do and ask God to bless it; he asks God what God wants to do and seeks to follow him. We see countless examples of this, like the question that opens chapter 2: “After this, David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Go up.’ David said, ‘To which shall I go up?’ And he said, ‘To Hebron.’ 2 So David went up there…”

One of the phrases we have started using around the Summit Church is that success in our ministry means joining God in what he is doing around us. Success is not attempting great things for God and asking him to bless us; success is discerning where God is at work and joining him in that.

• A lot of us go through life backwards. We assume that God has put us into the world to figure stuff out and fix everything, so our general attitude is; “God, this is what I think needs to be done; help me in it.”
• But in every epoch of Scripture, God is the primary actor. God is the one bringing salvation and blessing to the earth. Our job is to discern where he is at work and join him.
• Jesus explained in John 5 that this was his whole ministry philosophy. He said, “My Father is always at work around me, and my job is to figure out what he is doing and join him in it.”

A person after God’s own heart seeks to join God in what he is doing.

You say, “But what does that mean exactly?” How do you discern where God is at work? Great question!

• Sometimes it can take the form of a divine call that comes to you through an opportunity the Spirit invites you into. Think of Paul who got the vision of the man from Macedonia saying, “Come and help us.” Paul discerned that God was calling him to go over and be a part of what he was doing in Macedonia. Now, you may not get an actual vision, but God might let you sense some opportunity where you are positioned and gifted to help, and you sense the Spirit saying, “Come and join me in what I’m doing.”
• Or maybe it’s in a conversation that you sense God has been at work in someone’s heart and he’s put you in a place to participate. That’s what Jesus did with the woman at the well in John 4. He sensed the Father had created a sense of dissatisfaction in her and put him there to point out where she could find living water. All my sharing Jesus on an airplane or in a coffee shop are like that. I ask questions, and get a sense that God is at work in someone’s life, and I join him in that.
• Sometimes you discern where he is at work by experiencing unusual success in something. As a church, we have been involved in lots of different initiatives, but we’ve never experienced the success like we have in missions and church planting—it’s like there is a divine wind blowing behind us. We’ve sent out close to 1600 of our members on church planting teams. Other pastors ask, “How do you do this? What leadership strategies?” It’s not my leadership. I know that because a lot of other good ideas I’ve tried here have failed.” This is just an area where God is at work, and we’ve sought to join him.

One of my prayers for 2023 is that God would open up my ears to hear the sound of his marching so that I can join him. For most of my life, I’ve done the opposite. I’ve assumed it’s my responsibility to fix everything, and seek his help. No, that’s his job. My job is to join him in what he’s doing. At the end of the day, your greatest Strategy for Success = Submission.

Good news: this year, I’m not responsible to win my neighbors or friends to Christ. The Holy Spirit does that. I’m not responsible to grow this church—numerically or spiritually. He does that. He invites me to join in what he’s doing—which means that more important than great ideas I might have for God are ears to hear what he’s saying and eyes to see what he’s doing, so I can join him.

The first quality that makes David, a man after God’s own heart is a posture of submission. Is that your attitude toward your life? Toward your dating life? Your career? Your retirement? God, open my eyes so I can join you in what you are doing…”

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This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons on the life of King David and his friendship with Jonathan and discover what makes the best friendship.

Show Notes:

Here’s what David’s friendship with Jonathan did:

1. It shielded David.

• Jonathan alerted David to danger that he was unaware of. He saw things that David could not see.
• The central point is that together is better.
• And that’s partially because our friends see danger in our lives before we do. The definition of a blind spot is something you can’t see because you are blind to it. If you knew about it, it wouldn’t be a blind spot. You can’t see it, but quite often your friends can. Often that blind spot is in our own hearts: Proverbs 18:1, “An isolated man seeks his own desire and rages against all sound judgment.” When you get isolated, selfish heart deformities begin to grow unchecked.
• Are people close enough to you to speak into your life? Be honest.

Here’s the second thing this friendship did:

2. It strengthened David.

• Jonathan spoke courage into David’s life when David was ready to give up. He reminded David that God had great plans for his life even when David’s world seemed to be collapsing around him.
• True friends multiply your strength. God designed our hearts to work that way.
• God made us so that our strength multiplies when we pull together with a friend. Have you experienced that?
• Close friendships sustain and strengthen us: I was re-reading something Tim Keller said the other day about marriage. He said in times of distress, it’s not the romantic part of the marriage relationship that helps, but the friendship part. He talked about going through one of the most difficult seasons of his life, and says in the middle of it that it dawned on him: His wife helped sustain him but not because she was his wife—but because she was his friend. What I needed, he said, wasn’t sex, or a roommate, or someone I shared my bank account with. It was a true soul friend.
• And so he says to married people, or those looking to get married: “You must do everything possible, you must pay any price, to be best friends with your spouse.” Good marriages, he says, are not basically romance garnished with friendship. They are friendships garnished with romance.
• And for those of you not married, it means that the most sustaining parts of marriage are available to you. It’s not sex or sharing a bed—it’s friendship.

So, this friendship shielded David, and strengthened him, and lastly:

3. It shaped David.

• Later on we’ll see David show extreme generosity and selflessness with others. After tragedy had struck Saul and Jonathan’s house, David asked if there was any of Jonathan’s descendants he could show kindness to. And David found Jonathan had one living relative, a boy named Mephibosheth, but he was crippled. David said, “Bring him to my table. He’ll never lack anything,” and for the rest of his life David treated him like a son. That’s a generosity of spirit he learned, at least in part, from Jonathan.
• Jonathan’s character shaped David’s character. That’s what Proverbs says will happen: Proverbs 13:20, “He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but the companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
• I’ve heard Pastor Craig Groeschel say that this verse means there is one place in your lives I can look right now to accurately predict our future. It’s not your New Year’s resolutions. It’s who your close friends are.
• Craig says you become the average of your five closest friends.
• You say, “That’s depressing.” The good news in that is that if you want to change your future and are not sure where to start, you have a very actionable step: change your close friendships.
  • I often say it’s not the dreams you dream that determine your destiny; it’s the small decisions you make. One of those important decisions is who you do life with; who you walk closely with.
• Pastor Groeschel says, “We all have something we’d like to become… a better parent. A better student/worker. A more solid Christian. What if the decision to become that was really a decision about what friends you chose?”

Friendships are important because they shield us, strengthen us, and shape us. That’s how God designed us.

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This week, listen into one of Pastor J.D.’s recent sermons where he explained a question based on Matthew, Chapter 7: “Can you be active in church and still go to hell?”

Show Notes:

On that final day there will be a lot of people, Jesus says, to whom he says, “You were active in my church; you were super religious; but you never really repented; so I never knew you.”

Are you going to be in that number? Part of my own story of coming to Christ came after a Sunday School teacher confronted me with that in middle school. It was a Friday night and my whole small group had gone over to his house so we could go bowling. But before we went, he wanted to do a short Bible study, because that’s what you do in student ministry: you bait kids with things like bowling and then hit ‘em with Bible study. And I remember him reading this passage from Matthew 7, “Many will say to me…” And then he looked at us and said, “Boys, a bunch of y’all are going to be in that number.” And that was about all he said. I knew in my heart it was going to be me.

I was super religious. Been in church all my life. And at my church, you had to go 3x a week for it to count: 3 to thrive! I always said that the only drug problem I had growing up was getting drug to church. So, I was plenty religious, but I had never repented and surrendered to Jesus as King.

Here’s how you can know if you’ve substituted religion for repentance:

A. Rationalization

• You rationalize your sin. That’s what Saul did. Look at all the good things I’ve done!
• You never think about your sin in terms of rebellion against God; only how you compare to others.
• I’m not having an affair, it’s just pornography.
• I may not be fully committed in my relationship with Jesus, but I’m a good person and go to church.

B. Unchanged behavior

• Your mouth says that Jesus is King, but your life says something different.
• There are 2 ways to tell what you believe: what your mouth says and what your life says. If what your mouth says differs from what your life says, God accepts the testimony of your life.
• With Saul’s mouth he said God was King. But his life said that he was.
• Write this down: A repentance that does not change you in life won’t save you in death, either.
• Jesus’ half-brother, James talks about this when he says, “You say you believe in God? Good. Even the demons believe and tremble… They believe so much that they tremble at the thought of God.” But demon’s aren’t saved. Why? Because their belief doesn’t lead to repentance.
• It’s not what your mouth says that God takes as the indicator of what you believe. It’s what your life says.

C. Worldly sorrow not godly sorrow

• Several times in his life, Saul wept over his sin. He did it there in 1 Samuel 28.
• A lot of people confuse worldly sorrow over repentance. Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 7:10. He says, “For godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation… whereas
  worldly sorrow produces death.”
• There are two types of sorrow over sin. There is worldly sorrow–worldly sorrow arises for all kinds of reasons. The embarrassment of being caught. Self-pity. Self-condemnation. Fear. None of those things equal repentance.
• Confessing your sin is not repentance. You may have just been trying to relieve your guilt or get something off your chest.
• Repentance is the Greek word “meta-noia”, which means a change of mind. To repent means you change your mind about the Kingship of Jesus and adjust your life around that new reality.
• No change, no Jesus.

D. Partial compliance

• This is a big one. You start obeying God in one area but not all. Repentance is one of those things that has to be total or it is meaningless. Let’s say that there was a man who was an adulterer. He had multiple affairs, a different one on every day of the week. His wife confronts him and says, “OK… I’ll quit sleeping with Tuesday girl and Friday girl but Thursday girl and I are going to keep going for a while.” That’s not repentance.
• Marital faithfulness is one of those things that has to be total for it to be meaningful. A man can’t be “mostly faithful” to his wife. She’s either the only 1 or she’s not.
• The same thing is true of Lordship. You are either surrendered to him or you’re not. Or, as we say, he’s either Lord of all or not Lord at all.

And I always want to be clear when I say this: I’m not talking about achieving sinless perfection. We all struggle with sin and lapses of faith for the rest of our lives. That happens to me. But Jesus is the King of my life, and standing here before you right now, there’s no area I am willfully holding back from him.

Think of it like this: A man who gets married doesn’t suddenly become a perfect husband who loves his wife purely and completely at every moment. Every man struggles to be a loving husband. Sometimes you even have stray thoughts. But a man who is serious about his marriage is still, even in the midst of all that, a one-woman man. If you say you are married, and are still intentionally seeing other people on the side, your marriage is a sham. Saying you belong to Jesus even as you intentionally keep areas of your life back from him is a sham.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

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This week we wrap up our marriage and family series. Pastor J.D. jumps from talking about traditional marriage and family to answer a controversial family question.

Show Notes:

Two perspectives to this: 1. Is it biblically permissible? 2. Even if it isn’t, is this one of those ‘live and let live’ areas? Not everything Christians believe about morality do we believe should be put into laws others who don’t share our beliefs should live by.

NOTE: Please listen to the full length episode for full context. Do not rely solely on these show notes as they do not paint the full picture of what Pastor J.D. is communicating.

Part 1: Six biblical passages–every mention is negative, either prohibiting or condemning such behavior and all very clear. 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, for instance, refers to “men who have sex with men” as a vice that would prevent a person from entering the kingdom of God. The two Greek terms he used, malakoi and arsenokoitai, were the common terms of the day to refer to a broad range of homosexual relationships.

Common objections:

1. “Jesus never spoke about homosexuality.”
2. This is a claim that is true only in the most technical and unhelpful sense. No, Jesus never uttered the word “homosexual.” He also never mentioned (by name) rape, child abuse, fraud, or idolatry. But his stance on each of those issues is, nevertheless, quite clear.
3. There are two ways that Jesus could have established what was right and wrong in regards to sexuality. He could have talked about every possible variation of the wrong, condemning each aberration one by one. Or he could put forward a vision for what is right. Think of it like this: if five women were standing side by side, and one of them was my wife, I could identify her in two ways: I could say that each of the other four were not my wife; or I could say, “That wonderful woman there…she’s my wife.” Jesus repeatedly affirmed the Mosaic understanding of the sanctity of sex within heterosexual marriage, and by doing that he disallowed all deviations.
4. Furthermore, saying “Jesus never talked about it” pits the words of Jesus against the rest of the Scriptures. But Jesus himself said that all of the Scriptures were inspired, which means that the black letters in our Bible have as much divine authority as the red ones.
5. “What Paul had in mind was not the same as homosexuality as we know it today.”
6. He was, they argue, thinking of male prostitution, rape, or pedophilia. Committed same-sex relationships didn’t exist in Paul’s day, so Paul’s words don’t apply.
7. This is, simply put, not true. Historian Thomas Hubbard (not a Christian), wrote an exhaustive (and exhaustively long, nearly 600 pages) work on homosexuality in the ancient world, entitled Homosexuality in Greece and Rome. He demonstrates that homosexuality existed in a wide variety of forms, much like today. And that included committed, lifelong, same-sex partners. Had Paul wanted to distinguish between valid and invalid forms of homosexuality, he could have done so.
8. Or consider Romans 1, in which Paul talks about humanity’s rejection of God’s authority. Because we rejected God’s authority, “God gave them [that is, us] up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (Romans 1:26–27). As Richard Hays says concerning this passage, Paul depicts gay and lesbian activity as an outward epitome of the inward posture of sin—rejection of the Creator’s design.

Part 2: But can’t we believe that it is wrong and still allow marriage? Christians don’t think every wrong thing should be illegal. J Budizewski says, “The New Testament contains literally hundreds of precepts.” Unlike Islam, we don’t think the government should enforce the vast majority of them. “Christianity is not a legislative religion.” In Mosaic Law, Moses believed divorce was wrong but made an allowance for it.

Should we apply that to gay marriage? No, marriage is such a building block.

• • Between genders; the place of pro-creation and the harmony of the genders in the home where love is demonstrated among differences. - A man and a man or a woman and a woman do not bring to the table what a man and a woman bring. A man cannot be a mother and a woman cannot be a father, each brings something unique to the family that children miss out on when one of them is not present. Who is unnecessary? The Mother or Father?
• Homosexuality in the home also distorts a child’s understanding of his/her sexuality.
• When this breaks down, or its centrality is compromised–whether through same-sex marriages or polygamy or whatever, society is weakened–the family breaks down, society breaks down
• Slippery slope: “Love is the basis of marriage. You can’t declare who someone can love.”
  • Why exclusive? Permanent? Why only two persons?
  • Brother and sister? Man and two women? Multiple marriages? “I don’t want to go there!” You have to!
• Important insight: Government doesn’t create marriage, it recognizes it as fundamental to the creation
  • Our rights are that way. Our constitution acknowledges that rights are not created, but recognized. If the government creates the right, it can be taken away… MLK
• What about civil unions?
• We should acknowledge that marriage is not really what the homosexuals are after (by admission of some of their own top leaders). In Netherlands, where gay marriage has been accepted for a long time, upwards of 80% of kids born out of wedlock.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

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The presents may all be unwrapped, but how much is too much? It may be too late for this Christmas, but perhaps in the new year this is a question you’d like to wrestle with in your family.

Show Notes:

• Christmas is about gifts, mostly the extravagant gift of Jesus.
• Jesus calls us to follow him–how did he leverage his resources. Certainly, it’s wise to understand the times we are in, that we are in the richest country in the world, and that comes with responsibility.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (ESV).
  • Our gift giving should glorify the gospel
    • It’s lavish generosity: your gift ought to make me thank God for his generosity. When I see it cost you and you care about me.
• How we do it in our house:
  • Something you want, need, wear, read
  • Biggest gift at Christmas goes to Jesus!
• John Piper: Why do we give Christmas gifts?
  • Gift giving is biblical
  • God’s gifts to us:
    • God gives us His Son (John 3:16)
    • 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” The very essence of Christmas includes a divine overflow of generosity, kindness, grace, giving–doing for us, giving to us, what we could never do for ourselves or get on our own.
  • Our gifts to God:
    • We have a responsibility to give to Christ.
    • It’s dangerous in one sense to speak of giving to Christ because our giving to Christ dare not be seen as a paying him back, as if the transaction were done because he needs to get our services.
    • Our giving to Christ is an overflow of affection and thankfulness for our forgiveness.
    • Part of worship is finding ways to show how much we admire and reverence and trust and value Jesus.
  • Our gifts to others:
    • The giving of God to us and our joyful readiness to show affection in giving to him overflow in our giving to others.
    • Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
    • 2 Corinthians 8:2, “In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed.”
    • The giving of God to us and our joyful readiness to show affection in giving to him overflow in our giving to others.
    • Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
    • 2 Corinthians 8:2, “In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed.”
    • Our gift giving should lead others to:
      • Rejoice in God as the great and first giver of the greatest gift.
      • Seek the mindset that offers back to Christ the gift of trust, hope, admiration, joy, and affection.
      • Seek the mindset that overflows with joy in giving to others.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

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This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. discusses how many kids Christians should consider having.

Show Notes:

• Proverbs 24:27: Establish your work in the field, afterward build your house.
  • Doesn’t mean you have to wait a long time or that you need to be rich. But you probably don’t want to be on the rocks.
• In general, we are waiting too long to have kids and not having enough. Not high enough value on childbearing.
  • Genesis 1: Be fruitful and multiply.
    • Many would-be-prophets are currently telling us: too many kids causes poverty, global warming. We are headed for an apocalypse because of too many people. Countries that have low birth rates are the one economically struggling so that argument doesn’t hold up.
  • Psalm 127: no magic number.
• But what about taking time to get to know each other? I get it, honeymoon phase. But I got to know my wife so much better after we had kids; I didn’t get less of her when we had kids, I got more.
• Have a parenting strategy:
  • Contrary to Beatles, love is not ALL you need.
  • Parenting catches you so off guard.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

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This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. gives us the second half of his 10 stages of grace-saturated, gospel-centered fighting. He’s joined by his wife, Veronica, for another episode.

Show Notes:

If you missed the first half of this episode, take a look now.

10 Stages in Grace-Saturated, Gospel-Centered Fighting:6. Believe in God’s purpose for your marriage

• We knew that God had obviously appointed us to be together even though we felt like we married the wrong person sometimes, and that God had a plan for our difficulties and was making something beautiful out of them!
• There is one factor that, if we could introduce it into your marriage, would do more to strengthen it than anything else, and that is hope.
• And that hope comes from knowing that God has a plan for your marriage, even the difficult parts of it. He knew whom you were marrying, he knew the consternation they would cause you, and he’s got a plan to make something beautiful out of you and maybe your marriage in it.
• Same thing is true for single people. God has a purpose for all things, even the difficult relationship.

7. Speak grace-saturated words

• If you are speaking words that build up, not tear down:
• For every one statement about what is wrong, there will be five describing what is right and that paint a vision of the beautiful person God is making them.
  • You’ll never demean with “you” statements. Calling names: Names make you feel good, quickest way to alienate an enemy… Say, “You did this,” not “You are this”
  • You’ll avoid saying ‘never’ and ‘always.’ You’re always this way or that way. Don’t escalate it beyond the problem. “Never” and “always” basically tell the person that “you are this” and “you stink” rather than “you have done this” and “I expect more from you.”
  • You’ll avoid being sarcastic (Sarcasm usually functions like a knife. And it’s the quickest way to turn somebody off: Remember: smarty had a party and no one came).
  • Avoid being condescending (to condescend means to talk down to).
• And women, avoid confronting your husband publicly:
  • There’s nothing that shuts a man down like having his wife tear him down to someone else.

8. Don’t give up until there is no longer a chance of reconciliation

• We know divorce is a larger topic, but to just touch on it quickly: we know that God hates it. So do some of you.
  • In most cases, he sees it as adultery.
• There are exceptions:
  • Adultery; 1 Corinthians 7 Paul says if you have an unbelieving spouse who leaves you, if you wonder if you fit into that category, see us.
  • Abuse: We’ve covered this more at-length on Ask Me Anything, but of course you should never stay in an abusive situation and you should reach out and get some help immediately.
• But the point is that you should give grace a chance.
• Before you give up on your marriage, give the power of grace a chance.

9. Truly forgive

• Remember: Forgiveness is a choice not to remember or bring up the offense any longer!
• Ken Sande: True forgiveness says:
  • I will not think about this incident.
  • I will not bring it up again or use it against you.
  • I will not talk to others about it.
  • I will not allow it to stand between us or hinder our relationship
  • You have to think of past flaws like they are ammunition already spent.
• Never get “historical” in an argument. “My wife gets mad and goes historical.”

Forgiveness should never be conditional upon their repentance.

• “Well, I’d forgive them if they’d ask for it.”
• Don’t confuse forgiveness with reconciliation. Reconciliation takes two people: the person who sinned has to repent and you have to forgive.
• But forgiveness only takes one person. You can forgive without reconciling. Don’t wait on the person to repent before you forgive.
• The only alternative to forgiveness is bitterness, which is like trying to punish the other person by drinking poison yourself.

10. Remember what Jesus did for you

• The only way to do all of this is for the cross to grow LARGE in your life. That’s why some people lack the ability to do this – the cross is so small.
  • If you do things as an act of service for your spouse, you will lose motivation. You have to do it for Jesus. Your spouse may not be worth it. Jesus always is.
• Maybe you say, “Oh, Pastor J.D., I really wish my spouse were here to hear this but it’s just me…” What can I do? They won’t respond to any of this! Do it for Jesus.
• Maybe this is how you will demonstrate the glory of Christ to your neighbors: by serving Christ even when there is no pay-off in your marriage, simply because he’s worthy of it!

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. answers a question about marital conflict. He’s joined by his wife, Veronica, for another episode.

Show Notes:

Let me dispel a myth right from the beginning: good couples are not couples who never fight; good couples are couples who have learned to fight fairly; to fight Christianly. If you’re one of those starry-eyed engaged couples who feel like, “We never fight…” Veronica and I were like that, too. How blissful it is to be young! You just can’t get close to another sinner without there being conflict.

10 Stages in Grace-Saturated, Gospel-Centered Fighting:1. Examine YOUR heart.

• Even if you’ve been wronged, what does your anger say about your heart?
• Has malice, wrath, anger, and bitterness snuck in?
• Mind the smoke detectors! Rage, malice, wrath, and bitterness always indicate idolatry, which is a bigger problem in your heart than whatever your spouse is doing to you.
• And this is why you need outside counsel in your life.

2. Overlook whatever you can.

• You don’t have to comment on every little infraction. Choose your battles.
  • Proverbs 19:11 It is to a man’s glory to overlook an offense.
  • Proverbs 12:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.
• This would not apply to things that do lasting damage to your relationship with each other or them. Or any kind of abuse.
  • Sometimes, we don’t want to bring up their sin against us because we don’t want to disturb the peace.
  • Guys are especially bad at this. You just want to maintain the peace. A few times in our relationship (I’m being really transparent…) I’ve had to speak up.
• There are times you need to speak up and confront; and there are times just to let it go, and there’s a real art to knowing the difference.

3. Be practical in how you fight.

• • Proverbs 12:18: “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
  • “Rash words.” Words not thought out, spoken in anger, or not given at a good time.
  • Veronica and I have found it helpful to boundarize conflict within times, zones, and moods: For example, allowing an argument to begin if we are both physically tired. We have set certain rooms, certain times, off limits.
    • We will invoke what I call the “24 hour rule.” “I promise to come back to this.”
    • Now, men, you have to keep your word, otherwise you lose credibility.
• You say, “What about, ‘Don’t let sun go down on your wrath?’ Doesn’t that mean we have to deal with our anger before we go to bed?
• It can’t mean literally before the sun goes down because that would mean some people in Sweden could nurse their grievances for three months in the summer but in the winter they’d only have about two hours…
• The main point of that verse is that we need to deal with our wrath and vengeance and get it out of our hearts.
• Sometimes 24 hrs helps us to separate unrighteous, selfish irritation from righteous, loving, others-centered anger.

4. Be quick to listen and slow to speak.

• • Proverbs 18:13: “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is a folly and a shame.”
  • This is exactly what some of you do, especially you men.
    • Brad Hambrick, our pastoral counselor: “The vast majority of communication problems are not expression problems, but listening problems.”
• Let me offer you some remedial help on listening (and I need these two, because I am so bad at these things):
• • First of all, be a servant listener: Seek first to understand, and only secondly to be understood! Think of their thoughts through the lens of Philippians 2: Consider their thoughts and needs “more important” than your own. Isn’t that the opposite of the way we come into most discussions? OK, next, if you believe that…
  • Don’t interrupt. Interrupting says ‘my thoughts are more important than your thoughts.’
• If you don’t know what to say, ask questions.
• If you still don’t know what to say, ask more questions.
• If you still don’t know what to say after that, just repeat what the other person said back to them. Because that at least lets them know you’ve heard them!
• • Sometimes that is just what they want, and a lot of time, it takes care of 90% of the issue!
• Part of this: Don’t give premature advice. Because, one, you will probably misread the situation.
  • Secondly (men especially): she is not a problem to be solved; she’s a person to be heard. A lot of times she’s looking for a companion in her pain, not a solution to her problem. So don’t interrupt her and explain away her pain with Aristotilean logic: A=b, b=c, ergo a=c… ergo it’s really illogical that you feel hurt.
  • When you do that, I can promise you she won’t go, “Huh. Thank you. I’m so stupid sometimes. I could have sworn I was offended, but now I see, by clear force of your logic, that I am not really hurt after all! I’m so glad you’re my husband.”
• The majority of communication problems are not expression problems, but listening problems.
• “Listening is a skill that is most necessary when it is most difficult.” Much more to say on that, but if you want more, attend one of Brad Hambrick’s marriage seminars or access a lot of his stuff on his website.

5. Seek their sanctification, not your vindication.

• Sometimes you are going to have to say, “I’m right in this and I could win it, but that doesn’t progress us toward the goal. I’m going to keep my eyes on the bigger prize and just lose this one. My goal is their sanctification, not my vindication.
• Once you let go the idea that you have to win and be vindicated, you can focus on what helps them and the relationship.
• That’s how Jesus was.

More to come on the next episode!

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

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This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. answers another question about how to parent teenagers. This time he’s joined by his wife, Veronica.

Show Notes:

A wandering child does not mean failure: God played the parent role for two humans and they both rebelled. Cain and Abel were parented exactly the same. One became a man of God, the other a murderer.

• Key resource: Feeding the Mouth that Bites You, by Ken Wilgus, Ph.D. and the Feeding the Mouth that Bites You podcast.
• When a kid is in rebellion, you can’t be prophet and dad at the same time.
  • Think more like a farmer than a mechanic. Worst thing to do is dig up seed! You give rain and sun. In the analogy, rain and sun are the quality of the relationship not quantity of devotion.
• Wait on God: All the defining moments in my life came from somewhere else.
  • Psalm 136: Israel’s history with “steadfast love of Lord endures forever.” I did this an exercise with our staff team. We wrote out key moments where the Lord worked in our lives, and I had this realization: my mom and dad wrote none of the key moments in my life.
  • Psalm 127
  • Psalm 37:39-40
• The role of prayer:
  • Abraham prays for Lot and angels grab his hand.
  • Man lowered through roof: their faith. your faith subs for the man in the stretcher.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question.

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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This week, as we continue our marriage and family series, Pastor J.D. answers a question about how to parent teenagers.

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This week, as we continue our marriage & family series, Pastor J.D. shares the second half of his answer to the question: "What Counsel Would You Give Young Christians About Dating?"

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This week, as we continue our marriage & family series, Pastor J.D. shares the first half of his answer to the question: "What Counsel Would You Give Young Christians About Dating?"

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This week, we continue our marriage & family series with part two of last week's episode: "What Are the Biggest Obstacles Christians Face in Marriage?"

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This week, we kick off a brand new series on marriage, family, and relationships. First up, we'll look at the first part of Pastor J.D.'s answer to the question: "What Are the Biggest Obstacles Christians Face in Marriage?"

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At some point, we all deal with criticism of some kind. In this episode of Ask Me Anything, Pastor J.D. talks about how to deal with criticism when it comes your way.

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In this episode, Pastor J.D. answers the question, "What do I do if there's a sin I can't shake?" and gives some practical ways to fight sin.

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In this week's episode, Pastor J.D. continues through our series on Psalm 23. This week, he answers, "What if God is using your pain to bring you closer to him?"

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This week, we continue our series taken from a recent sermon series Pastor J.D. did at The Summit Church on Psalm 23. This week, Pastor J.D. answers: "What does waiting on God actually look like?"

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This week, we dive into a short series taken from a recent sermon series Pastor J.D. did at The Summit Church on Psalm 23. First, Pastor J.D. answers: "What does faith look like in a season of suffering?"

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This week, Pastor J.D. talks about whether or not Christians should listen to secular music.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question about whether or not we should give out our own pronouns when asked.

Show Notes:

We have actually talked about this topic a couple of years ago from another angle, and this may be a good time to revisit that. The podcast from several years ago got a lot of attention and a lot of people asked questions about it. I think it's good to bring that back up, both to continue the conversation and also to clarify some things I said. I'd actually like to start by discussing that previous question ("Should we use someone's preferred pronouns when asked?"). The conversation in our culture has shifted even since then. Also, I'll be candid: as I've wrestled with this, some of my own thinking on this has crystalized and, I'd even say, matured. There are several dynamics at play when we think about a question like this. One of those is is truth. Our job as witnesses is to stand uncompromisingly on the truth, to rebuke our society, to stand against untruth and darkness. Another dynamic are the relational aspects of knowing someone and maintaining a relationship with them. We're not just called to defend truth but to win people. So, if someone has transitioned and wants to be called different pronouns, should you consent to that? Let me first use a phrase I first heard from Andrew T. Walker: "The answer to that question begins and ends with no." The reason I say that is because I think, as believers, we have to be crystal clear on the truth. I did make this point on our previous episode, talking about the necessity of being crystal clear on truth, but I think I should have been more clear and I want to do that now: there can be no ambiguity in our testimony to the world. This is not ambiguous in Scripture, it's not unclear, and part of our calling is to speak to culture when culture does not align with what God has said. I understand there's a lot of brokenness, dysphoria, and complexity to this for a lot of people, but we have to be honest about what the Bible says. After that has been made clear, some of these other relational dynamics kick in. In that previous episode, I was hypothesizing about a situation where I'm sitting in my office with a dad and his transgender child, coming to me for clarity and so I make clear to them what the Bible says. But, if in the course of conversation I used the child's self-referential pronoun as I talk with and about them, just to keep them in the conversation, I don't think that would represent a capitulation or compromise of truth if someone chose to do that, assuming they'd been clear about the truth on the front end and the back end. That should never be done in a way that implies acceptance or affirmation, even for a second. The easiest thing, honestly, is to use their name, even if that forces you to word things awkwardly. Again, we're trying to balance two things: clearly testify to the truth, and doing our best to keep our relationship with the other person in order to engage with them at the heart level. Let me add a third thing we're balancing: to fight the battle at the right location. Being clear and truthful about gender is a battle we have to fight, no matter how unpopular. But that doesn't mean that I fire shots or draw battle lines in every other sentence when I'm trying to get the conversation focused on what we need to get it focused on. Our goal is to engage the issue in a way that engages the heart, and to speak truthful about God's design without apology. So that's why I say the answer to the question begins and ends with no.

Now, back to whether or not you list your own pronouns when asked (like on a name-tag at work, for example). 

Different dynamics are at play here. On the one hand, saying that my pronouns are he/him is a true statement. I'm not telling or affirming a lie. But, what obviously is being done here is an attempt to normalize the idea that pronouns are a choice.

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Listen into one of Pastor J.D.'s recent sermons where he explained a question based on John 20:23: "Did Jesus give Peter the ability to forgive sins?"

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Recently, Pastor J.D. got to host a special "Live AMA" with college students from Hardin Baptist Church in Hardin, KY. Listen in as Pastor J.D. answers questions submitted by the audience, including, "Should Churches Sacrifice Doctrine to Appeal to More People?"

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This week, join Pastor J.D. for the second episode in a special three-part series of a "Live AMA," featuring the question, "How much should you dwell on your sin?"

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This week, join Pastor J.D. for a special three-part series of a "Live AMA," featuring the question, "How do you have faith in something that you can't prove exists?"

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Have you ever wondered if Christianity is too good to be true? In this episode, Pastor J.D. answers the question, "Is Christianity Just Wishful Thinking?"

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In this episode, we listen back to a recent sermon when Pastor J.D. answered the question, "When Should I Not Take Communion?"

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In this episode, Pastor J.D. is answering a listener question from Ashley: If you were baptized as a baby, should you be re-baptized as an adult?

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In this episode, Pastor J.D. is answering a listener question: Can a Christian support abortion?

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In this episode, Pastor J.D. is addressing whether or not a church should be disfellowshipped from the SBC if they have a woman serving in the role of pastor.

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In this episode, taken from one of Pastor J.D.'s recent sermons, we answer the question: what is love?

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In this episode, Pastor J.D. answers a question about whether or not we should still have denominations.

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In the second of two parts on the topic, Pastor J.D. addresses whether or not a Christian can be a socialist.

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In the first of two parts on the topic, Pastor J.D. addresses whether or not a Christian can be a socialist.

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In a special episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. has recorded a message addressing the recently published report from the Sexual Abuse Task Force of the SBC.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, we listen in as Pastor J.D. talks about communion during a recent sermon.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. answers a question from one of our listeners, Linda, about whether or not people of other faiths go to Heaven.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. defines what it means to be a multiplying leader.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. answers a question from a listener named Caroline who asks what the command to "be fruitful and multiply" means, especially for the single & infertile.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, we listen in to a recent sermon where Pastor J.D. answers a question about how we know where the Holy Spirit is leading us.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. answers a question from a listener about how important it is that someone's doctrine be correct, and whether it's worth confronting friends or family about.

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. answers the question, "Should I get married or not?"

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In this week's episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. talks about whether or not gambling is morally wrong.

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In this episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. answers a question from a listener named Barbara. She asks what passages and method he uses when he shares the gospel with people.

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This week, Pastor J.D. answers a question about why biblical church discipline is a necessary—and even a loving—thing to do.

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Pastor J.D. answers the question, "Does the Bible really teach that men shouldn't have long hair?"

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In a follow up to last week's question, Pastor J.D. talks about the Bible verses that seem to imply you can lose your salvation.

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In this week's episode of Ask Me Anything, Pastor J.D. answers one of our most-asked questions: can you lose your salvation?

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In this episode of the Ask Me Anything Podcast, Pastor J.D. answers the question of how to respond to hypocritical Christians.

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Pastor J.D. is joined by special guest Trillia Newbell to talk about whether or not Christians should be colorblind.

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Pastor J.D. answers the question, "How Does God See Me If I'm Divorced?" in this week's episode of Ask Me Anything.

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Show Notes:

The answer to this question comes from the lips of Jesus, the most compassionate person ever to live. Marriage is a covenant you make with your spouse before God. God created it in Genesis 2 as a union where two literally become one, and death is the only thing that can dissolve that covenant (with a couple of death-related exceptions which we'll talk about). So, is it ever OK to divorce? Jesus says in Matthew 19 that you can do it in the case of adultery. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, is going to expand that to say desertion by an unbeliever. Why are those exceptions? The logic is very important. In the case of both desertion/abandonment and adultery, they both kill the covenant. That's why I called them "death-related" exceptions earlier. So, you say, what about the case of abuse? Or what if the spouse is involved in some illegal activity that they refuse to stop and it's putting our family at risk? First, if you are in an abusive situation, you need to get yourself to a place of safety immediately. Talk to your church, let them help, or if you're not feeling safe reach out to the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE. Second, I would argue that the logic of Paul and Jesus' exceptions applies also to divorce in the case of a spouse who is doing something that makes them unable to be lived with and puts the family in danger. Creating in abusive environment also kills the marriage covenant, and you are no longer bound to it.

Lean not on your ability as a parent; lean on God’s grace as the hope for your child.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question!

As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Pastor J.D. unpacks what the Bible says about honoring parents and its implications.

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Pastor J.D. shares how parents of children who have wandered from the faith can cling to God’s truth that he is still working.

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Pastor J.D. addresses the question we’ve all been waiting for in this light-hearted episode.

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In an excerpt from a sermon preached at The Summit Church, Pastor J.D. explains what the Bible says about being in the world but not of the world.

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Pastor J.D. gives some helpful definitions and clarifications when it comes to the Christian and spiritual warfare.

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Pastor J.D. discusses a helpful framework Christians can use to consider partnering with those they disagree with.

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Pastor J.D. defines what an idol is and what our modern-day idols look like.

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Pastor J.D. is joined by author Rebecca McLaughlin as they discuss this question from her new book, Is Christmas Unbelievable?

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Pastor J.D. is joined by author Rebecca McLaughlin as they discuss this question from her new book, Is Christmas Unbelievable?

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Pastor J.D. discusses places where the Devil is at work today, how we can identify them, and what Christians can do about it.

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Pastor J.D. explains four ways the church can, and should, model transparency and accountability.

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Pastor J.D. answers a question about what it really means to be a Christian.

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Pastor J.D. discusses whether a certain level of "Christian celebrity" can be helpful, or if it is always hurtful.

Show Notes:

I don’t think the idea of a Christian celebrity is categorically, across the board, a bad thing. It’s always been a part of Christianity in some way, even going back to the apostles. I think of men and women like Billy and Ruth Graham, Elisabeth Elliot, John Piper, and so many more who have taken their “Christian celebrity” and made tremendous impact on the kingdom. I think it's wrong to seek celebrity, but sometimes God does raise up a man or woman for a particular task at a particular time, and they may become well known. In fact, some level of "Christian celebrity" is inescapable and inevitable. I do think it can be dangerous—both for the people that are lifting this person up and for the man or woman that is being lifted up. For Paul, in 1 Cor. 3, he recognizes that he and Apollos as two "celebrity Christians." He says there is danger in relying on a particular person more than you do on God, and viewing them as the primary source of your spiritual growth can be devastating. It's also dangerous for those of us in ministry. If in my quest to serve the body of Christ, my name becomes known, I should treat that as a necessary evil. But if I begin to thrive on that and feed off of it, that will always let me down.

God didn't make us for the stage. He made us to be servants.

Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question!

As always, don't forget to rate and review this podcast!

Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Pastor J.D. talks about the pain of unanswered prayer and the realities of prayer for the Christian.

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Pastor J.D. shares some practical ways to cultivate a habit of prayer.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the title of his newest book, “Just Ask: The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer.”

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Pastor J.D. explains the differences in the creation of Bible translations.

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Pastor J.D. talks about the celebration of post-Christian culture within the church and whether or not that’s a good thing.

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Pastor J.D. and Rebecca McLaughlin discuss Rebecca’s new book, The Secular Creed, as she helps to disentangle the beliefs Christians gladly affirm from those they cannot embrace.

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Pastor J.D. and Rebecca McLaughlin discuss several complex questions on topics like same-sex attraction, race, and politics.

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Pastor J.D. and Rebecca McLaughlin discuss some areas of life where Christians have been more shaped by culture than Scripture.

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Pastor J.D. and Rebecca McLaughlin discuss the traditional approach to defending our faith in light of the current questions people are asking.

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Pastor J.D. shares the valuable wisdom he’s learned from three of the women who have influenced him most.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the role of women within the church, especially as it relates to positions of leadership.

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Pastor J.D. and Matt Love sit down with Will Mancini to talk about his new book and answer an important question about the future of the church.

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Pastor J.D. discusses God’s design for men according to Genesis 2 and 3.

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Pastor J.D. shares five identities of a disciple—worshiper, family member, servant, steward, witness.

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Pastor J.D. defines what it means to be pro-life and explains what it requires and the responsibility for Christians.

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Pastor J.D. explains a few of the most common pro-choice arguments and responds to each one with scientific and scriptural insight.

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Pastor J.D. discusses how this view might be a reflection of our time and place as well as the Bible’s role throughout history.

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Pastor J.D. shares why humility and repentance are key in any discussion about Critical Race Theory.

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Pastor J.D. briefly explains CRT and how injustice should be considered humbly, soberly, and charitably in the light of Scripture.

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In this re-broadcast of one of our most popular episodes, Pastor J.D. looks at the creation narrative and explains that an open Bible and an open mind are key when contemplating the concept of evolution.

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Pastor J.D. explains that it's more about "the why" than "the what" we ask God.

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Pastor J.D. talks about why the definitions of friendship and marriage are vital to understanding the Bible’s intent for relationships.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the purpose of the Second Amendment and a Christian perspective of self-defense.

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Pastor J.D. explains original sin and why it’s bad news that makes the good news of salvation possible.

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Pastor J.D. wrote a short evangelistic book this year called, "Searching for Christmas: What if There's More to the Story than You Thought?", to put a gift in the hands of Christians for those they're reaching out to. We're happy to be able to present to you the full audio book in its entirety to enjoy and pass along to others.

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Pastor J.D. discusses how the Summit approaches multisite and what the Bible has to say about it.

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Pastor J.D. reflects on his two-sermon series on Ecclesiastes—his underrated favorite.

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Pastor J.D. talks about the importance of time with God, even in dry seasons, and some tools that can help along the way.

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Pastor J.D. discusses three common objectives people have surrounding the death penalty.

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Pastor J.D. shares three words that should guide our post-election posture—empathy, charity, and unity.

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Pastor J.D. challenges college students—and anyone else in a season of transition—to give two years doing something strategic for the mission of God.

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Pastor J.D. talks about why it’s time we kick our bucket lists and do the one thing now that we can’t do in eternity—share the gospel.

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Pastor J.D. shares how God called him to the mission field before calling him to be a pastor of a church that sends and supplies the mission field in extravagant ways.

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Pastor J.D. is joined by Pastor Bryan Loritts for a special edition of Ask Me Anything where they look at the events of the past week.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the three most important things for new believers to do as they begin their relationship with Christ.

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Pastor J.D. talks about the importance of doctrine, values, and mission when aligning with a denomination and shares some of his convictions.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the different types of promises we see in Scripture and how God’s promises are still true for us today.

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Pastor J.D. explains why the seemingly obvious lives vs. livelihood answer is more complicated than we think.

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Pastor J.D. talks about how times of suffering, like the current coronavirus pandemic, should be viewed in connection to God’s judgment.

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Pastor J.D. shares some of his thoughts about doing church online, especially in light of the current coronavirus pandemic.

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With the cancellation of the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, Pastor J.D. Greear briefly answers what that means for him over the next year.

Resources:

Why canceling the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting is putting 'Gospel Above All'

2020 SBC Annual Meeting canceled

Baptist Press COVID-19 coverage

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Pastor J.D. talks about some key advantages and disadvantages to each type of schooling and how Scripture guides our decision-making.

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During this uncertain time, Pastor J.D. addresses a common question Christians have about prayer. He makes it clear that God not only hears our prayers but moves as a result.

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Pastor J.D. shares four main ways Christians should respond in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Pastor J.D. and Matt are joined by special guest, Brian Fikkert, author of the new "Becoming Whole" and "When Helping Hurts."

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Pastor J.D. talks about the need to care for the earth but also remember the purpose of God creating it, especially when it comes to matters like global warming.

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Pastor J.D. discusses what’s important to keep in mind when it comes to leaving a church and choosing one.

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Pastor J.D. talks about the nuances of cold-call evangelism and why evangelism is vital to the church today.

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Pastor J.D. walks through various views of spiritual gifts today and discusses some general guardrails to keep in mind when approaching gifts like speaking in tongues.

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Pastor J.D. discusses whether our attitude toward the United States should be one of pride or of shame.

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Pastor J.D. talks about this rising issue, learning how to find Sabbath rest, and four ways of rest we need every day.

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Pastor J.D. looks at the creation narrative and explains that an open Bible and an open mind are key when contemplating the concept of evolution.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the common struggle of anxiety and what Scripture has to say about it.

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Pastor J.D. shares about the generosity matrix and how that can help us view finances biblically.

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Pastor J.D. talks about whether aliens are a possibility or a mere figment of the imagination.

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Pastor J.D. discusses transgenderism, gender ambiguity, and the concept of pronoun hospitality.

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Pastor J.D. explains why slavery isn’t a problem we should brush aside and how we should view it through the lens of Scripture.

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Pastor J.D. discusses some misconceptions and implications regarding the issue of masturbation.

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Pastor J.D. talks about whether the legal use of marijuana is wise or helpful for Christians.

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Oftentimes, Pastor J.D. will ask the staff of The Summit Church to read a book before our monthly large team meeting. In our episode today, J.D. is teaching the staff from the book A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

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In our episode today, J.D. works quickly through value statements about disciple making at The Summit Church.

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In our episode today, J.D. very quickly answers some common questions around working - specifically working in a church. How many hours should we expect our team to work each week? What does rest look like while in ministry?

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Pastor J.D. is hitting three quick leadership application points about setting and changing culture from the book "Creativity, Inc" by Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar and Disney Animation.

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In one of our two most popular episodes from season one, Pastor J.D. shares four important things to keep in mind when responding to instances of sexual abuse. Enjoy this re-broadcast, and watch for season two in September.

A glimpse into this episode:

This is an extremely important question, so much so that after becoming SBC president, the first thing I did was appoint a Sexual Abuse Advisory Group to lead our denomination. They have been leading in dozens of ways—one of the biggest is they’re developing a curriculum to help churches answer this very question. Churches should be a safe haven for the vulnerable, so we need to do everything we can to make our churches safe for survivors and safe from abuse.

A few preliminary thoughts:

Don’t be shocked it’s happening.

Prioritize the protection of victims, not the guarding of your reputations.

Your goal is not to meet the minimal requirements--but as a shepherd to protect your flock.

This is just the start of an answer, but here are four important things to keep in mind:

Disclosing sexual abuse takes an enormous amount of courage, so we should honor that.

This may be the least understood aspect of sexual abuse—it results in a huge loss of voice for the victim. Abuse is usually followed by threats not to say anything, and that’s usually what happens.

What you need to know is that the first time you hear about an instance of abuse, chances are the person talking to you has been carrying this for years. They’ve been terrified about what people will think. They’ve assumed they wouldn’t be believed. To speak up takes bravery.

Now, there are important responses and action steps after you hear of abuse. But don’t be so quick to rush to the action step that you forget your first response—listening to a person, made in God’s image, reveal one of the most hurtful experiences of their lives. Listen, listen, listen.

If you know of a report of sexual abuse against a minor, you are legally obligated to alert the authorities.

This is not a “Matthew 18” situation. This is a “Romans 13” situation. Because certain sins are not only immoral; they are also illegal. This is never clearer than in the case of sexual abuse against minors.

If you know of sexual abuse against a minor, no matter who you are, no matter who they are, your first response is to alert the authorities. Call CPS or call the police. You may not know all of the best next steps. But they do, and you need to bring them in. The safety of more children than you know may be on the line.

If an abuser has access to minors at your church, remove the access immediately—and, again, call the authorities.

Statistics here are horrifying. Those who abuse minors don’t just do it once or twice. They do it repeatedly, even after they’ve been caught (if given the opportunity). So if you know about one case, you need to see that as dozens of more potential cases. This isn’t a gray area: Bring in the authorities.

We need to reject any understanding of grace that puts the vulnerable in harm’s way by giving abusers a chance to do it again

Help connect the survivor to other resources.

If someone has disclosed to you, that’s an honor. And you will have a key role in their healing process. But you need to know you shouldn’t be shouldering this alone.

Questions are going to come up—pretty early—that are best processed through a counseling relationship. So one of the best things you can do for a victim is to get them connected to a counselor. This isn’t a handoff—you need to remind the victim that you are still there and want to process everything with them—but it allows other people more trained in abuse care to do what they do best.

Conclusion: It’s a gospel issue

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This Episode's Sponsor: With Ministry Grid’s library of over 3,000 training videos, it's now simpler than ever to train every volunteer and leader i...

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Pastor J.D. explains that the gospel must be of first importance, both empowering and informing the church.

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Pastor J.D. discusses some of the major objections to short-term mission trips and how we can participate in and facilitate them wisely.

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Pastor J.D. shares four important things to keep in mind when responding to instances of sexual abuse. Note: If you heard Pastor J.D. answer this question last week, please go back to make sure you also listen to "What is the greatest need in the American church?"

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Pastor J.D. explains that the gospel must be of first importance, both empowering and informing the church.

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Pastor J.D. talks about the three kinds of faith we see in the Bible and how that faith is a gift in various ways.

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Pastor J.D. shares four questions that are helpful to start a conversation with our atheist friends, neighbors, and coworkers.

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Pastor J.D. explains why we both should and shouldn’t feel satisfied by our jobs because God created us to work, but our work here on earth is toil.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the role of the family in the growth and discipleship of children and shares some practical tips.

A glimpse inside this episode:

God gave the home and family as one of the two “gospel gardens," the church being the second. The ultimate job of parenting it to let go and to send out.

Studies show the quality of the relationship not the depth of instruction is the determiner. Sociologist Vern Bengtson says in his book, Families and Faith, that studies conclusively show that the quality of the child’s relationship to the father is the single-most important factor in whether the child adopts the faith of the parents.

But what does this look like practically in the Greear household?

When they were young, every day. Now, once a week: Dad, devotion, dessert.

Allows me to plan. We study books of the Bible, and I jot down thoughts throughout the week. Try to pray with my kids once a week.

I make sure they are equipped for quiet time. The Christian life has to grow from within, so I want to equip them but allow the Spirit to do what only the Spirit can do.

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This Episode's Sponsor: One of the greatest predictors of a disciple’s spiritual growth is regular Bible reading. That’s why LifeWay created the Daily Discipleship Guide. To download four free sessions of the Daily Discipleship Guide, visit BibleStudiesforLife.com/DDG.

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Pastor J.D. shares his advice for newlyweds and we share an important podcast update you won’t want to miss.

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Pastor J.D. discusses why it’s important to remain rooted in your identity in Christ and look for the helpful truth, even in the most mean-spirited critiques, when you’re in a season of heavy criticism.

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Pastor J.D. shares how he makes time for reading and other advice he’s found helpful to remain an avid reader.

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Pastor J.D. reviews the major approaches people take regarding miracles and explains why caution, not cynicism, is necessary.

A glimpse inside this episode:

Brief review of major approaches:

Continuits: miracles never stopped Cessasionists: Stopped after disciples died. Third Wave: Miracles happen in movement-based waves. Open but cautious: Nothing in the Bible that indicates that miracles have stopped.

I am open but cautious:

It’s okay to be a little skeptical, not believing everything you hear about what God has said to person, or even everything you personally feel. To be honest, I probably don’t believe 60 percent of the “miracles,” “visions” or “God told me” reports that I hear. But don’t let that caution turn into cynicism.

One heresy: Miracles are not a benefit we can just claim, like we can Isaiah 53 ("by his stripes we are healed"). We can’t just claim healing like forgiveness.

Sam Storms in his book, Practicing the Power, talks about expectancy. What would God do? When you see him in the Gospels, how did Jesus react?

They are signs:

Miracles don’t suspend the natural order; they are a return to the natural order. They are not just a naked display of God’s power or magic tricks, but reveal the redemptive purpose of his power. CS Lewis: “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” Examples:

Jesus didn’t levitate or do a Vader choke-hold on his opponents. He turned water into wine (which God does, but usually in a longer process). He multiplied food so that more people could eat it (again, a divine, but usually slower process). He made blind people see, deaf people hear, dead people alive—he took the brokenness of the world and healed it.

This Episode's Sponsor: With Ministry Grid’s library of over 3,000 training videos, it's now simpler than ever to train every volunteer and leader in your church. And this is training you can trust. Each Ministry Grid video features an experienced ministry leader who has been where you are now. Learn how to get unlimited access for you and your church at MinistryGrid.com.

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Pastor J.D. shares some encouragement and wisdom for the worship leaders, reminding them of the vital role they play in the church.

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Pastor J.D. talks about those who have influenced him and his preaching the most over the years and what he’s learned from them.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the difference between having a consumer and a committed relationship with the church and where the Bible discusses the concept of church membership.

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Pastor J.D. talks about how social media shapes us—whether we like it or not—and how we can participate in it in healthy ways.

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Pastor J.D. addresses some common misconceptions about male leadership and explains the Bible’s plan for it in relationships, the home, and life.

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Pastor J.D. would obviously have lunch with Nicolas Cage, but who are the others? They just might surprise you.

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Pastor J.D. shares that the Christian Sabbath is much more than a day off to do what we want to do. Rather, the Sabbath is a principle for all of life as we put God first.

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Pastor J.D. explains that while hell is a difficult reality, it is something that the Bible teaches, and we can’t fully understand God and his world unless we grapple with it.

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Pastor J.D. continues the discussion from Episode 19 and specifically talks about how Christians should respond to a police shooting.

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Pastor J.D. discusses the origins of privilege, its influence in society, and the responsibility Christians have in the issue.

A glimpse inside this episode:

This term “privilege” was first developed by a white woman in the 1980’s to talk not about race but male privilege in academics. (Learned from Dr. George Yancey)

Definition: “An invisible package of unearned assets that whites can count on cashing in each day.”

Privilege is multi-dimensional. There is never one exclusive privileged class and one underprivileged class. Rather, there are various ways in which a person may be privileged or not. For example, a white woman growing up in poverty, with an abusive father, may experience far fewer benefits of “privilege” than a black man growing up in an affluent, healthy family. Dr. Yancey says there is tall privilege and good-looking privilege. He says that Asians are often given a “they must be smart at math privilege.” The phrase “white privilege” indicates that—all other factors being equal—there is more social advantage in being white in the United States than in being non-white. Or, in other words, because “whiteness” is the social norm, those who are in that group have more benefits than those outside that group. Examples:

As a white guy, if a traffic cop pulls me over, I never have to wonder if it was because of my race (Almost all POC have stories about this) As a white guy, the same is true when I see a clerk looking at me in the store. As a white guy, I don’t have to worry about my name causing me to be overlooked on a job or housing application. (Chris Green tells a story about assumptions being made by a lender about his income because he was black.)

We want to see all people in our society have access to the same rights and privileges. When Dr. George Yancey, an African-American sociologist from North Texas University, came to speak to our church recently, he made a really interesting comment about privilege: He said “privileges” are like “rights.” It’s not that we want to take rights from one group and give them to others, but we want to see the rights that one group enjoys extended to all. He said often, in discussing privilege (white privilege or male privilege), there’s an unspoken assumption: “Things are not equal between these two groups, and we need to make them equal by pulling the top group down.” But if we think about privilege more like rights, it changes the conversation. When I think of the privileges that I have as a white person, or as a man, what I want is to see those privileges extended to as many people as possible. I don’t want people to lose all of their rights. I want more people to have those rights!

These are just a handful of examples that show us that at least at some level, privilege exists. Another way to say it (that I’ve found helpful) is that the judicial and empowerment structures in our society, while better than in generations past, are still tilted. There is a sort of center-of-gravity toward the majority culture.

What to do about it?

There is responsibility to use that privilege to help others Politicians are divided: some will say that because our history of exploitation and discrimination has undoubtedly contributed to creating some of these realities, that demands certain benefits and privileges be extended to the black community Others will say that that won’t help: now that the doors of opportunity have been opened, only black people can go through them. DESK: Diploma, employment, spouse, kids. These are things everyone can do and are proven to fight poverty.

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Pastor J.D. shares why Christianity that is not built on “it is written” is insufficient for both personal faith and sparking a worldwide resurgence of the Christian movement.

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Pastor J.D. talks about creating a sending culture in the church by sending as many people as possible on short-term mission trips to open eyes to missional culture and principles.

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Pastor J.D. gives parents some helpful guidelines for navigating conversations about sexual identity with their kids.

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Pastor J.D. discusses his hopes and goals for the new year.

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Pastor J.D. speaks to the recent claim that Christians should unhitch their faith from the Old Testament and explains why doing so is unwise and untrue to the nature of Scripture.

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Pastor J.D. explains why it’s important to not only read but also remember what you read with some helpful tips he’s found throughout the years.

A glimpse into this episode:

A guy once told me that in 5 years you’ll be the same person except for the books you read and the people you meet.

First of all, you should be reading.

John Wesley, “Read or get out of the ministry.” “Readers are leaders.”

But assuming you already are a reader… I talk to people all the time who read a lot but are frustrated at how little they seem to retain. They want to know the secret to reading books well.

People always see my library, which is pretty large--over a thousand books, and invariably ask me the same question, “Have you read all of these?”

I believe it really doesn’t matter how many books you’ve read if you can’t remember what’s in any of them. As Proverbs 12:27 says, “Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.”

Here are my two action items for you on how to read a book well:

First, take notes.

If you look into one of my books, you’ll notice that I underline passages, add stars next to others, and scribble short responses in the margins. Sometimes I’m agreeing with the author; sometimes I’m arguing; sometimes I’m making dumb jokes that only future J.D. will find funny. But I’m engaging the words, not simply looking at them.

Second, create a cheat sheet.

This is the toughest part, and it’s where most dedicated readers fall off. After the book is done, and you’ve been scribbling throughout it, create a 1-2 page cheat sheet that acts as your guide for the book. I like to use the empty pages at the front of the book for this (which, if I’m remembering correctly, is what Mortimer Adler suggested in his classic book, How to Read a Book). Now, if you’ve ever seen one of my books, you know that my cheat sheet isn’t comprehensive (or even always legible). That’s okay: it’s not for anyone else but me. But that cheat sheet helps me remember what I liked about a book and where to find it. So at a glance, I can remember, for instance, that Tim Keller has a great evangelism analogy about a doughnut on page 46 (or whatever). I also have a filing system by topic and book of the Bible where I catalogue a lot of the helpful things I read. And after 20 years of ministry I’ve created a rich storage of useful things that I can use later for sermons or anything else.

I keep track of all of the books that I read, but it ends up being about 65-70 books a year. I also use a service called Blinkist that gives short summaries of leadership books.

What happens when the Bible and humanity collide? Not what you’d expect. Living & Effective, a podcast collaboration between Christianity Today and the Christian Standard Bible, journeys through history, current events, theology, and the human condition to uncover surprising ways the Bible accomplishes God’s plan in the world."

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Pastor J.D. discusses the difference between playing along with the idea of Santa Claus and helping kids distinguish truth from fiction.

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Pastor J.D. shares his process for developing his weekly sermons, from research to manuscript and everything in between.

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Pastor J.D. explains the three concentric circles of friendship—care, influence, and intimacy—and gives wisdom for how to approach relationships in each one, especially those affected by negativity.

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Pastor J.D. discusses three problems with the belief that all religions lead to God and also explains that if God is real, it’s only natural that he sets the terms for where and how we seek him.

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Pastor J.D. shares the importance of building relationships with the grace and truth of the gospel and why these relationships need to be stronger than our words as we befriend our neighbors.

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Pastor J.D. shares his thoughts on dating and courtship, as well as some helpful guidelines for appropriate displays of affection before marriage.

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Pastor J.D. explains the reality that all Christians are called to do whatever they’re gifted in for the glory of God, wherever God places them.

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Pastor J.D. discusses that moral failures should cause Christians to ask, “Where am I susceptible to the same sin?” and strive for a culture of accountability among church members and leadership.

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Pastor J.D. shares helpful tips to structure quiet time with God and reminds listeners that It’s more important to find a rhythm that works for them than to do it “the right way.”

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Pastor J.D. discusses four core myths about Christians and politics while encouraging listeners to exercise both empathy and charity in their daily lives, especially when talking about politics.

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Pastor J.D. explains that neither celebrating nor opposing Halloween is right or wrong. However, the holiday does present a unique opportunity for fellowship among neighbors.

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Pastor J.D. answers one of his most asked questions and talks about the non-negotiables of the Christian faith in contrast to some particulars where it’s okay to disagree.

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Pastor J.D. shares his vision for Ask Me Anything and discusses why it’s important to ask candid, tough questions in pursuit of biblical wisdom.