The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-E16 | 03-10-23

Episode Date: March 10, 2023

Question #1Please explain 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, where it says that women are to keep silent in the churches and in verse 35 it says it is a shame for women to speak in the church. How does this line up with all the women of God who are anointed and preach God’s Word?Question #2What does the Bible say about taking medication? I have a medical marijuana card that I use for pain relief from a back injury. What is the difference between Rx pain medication (Vicodin, Percocet, etc.) and medical marijuana? I have heard Pastor Tom talk about marijuana from the pulpit, but never about other pain medication. Isn’t it better to use something more natural for pain relief as opposed to something that is habit-forming and that your body builds up a tolerance to?Question #3Is there a time when Jesus chooses not to heal or maybe it is not the right time to heal? I recently saw an interview between two Christian men, one born with no arms and legs. The second man asked him if he questioned healing because he was born this way. They both agreed that there are times when God does not choose to heal. Talk about those in situations like this or in any situation where they are sick or suffering.

Welcome to the Hope Hotline and I am so excited that you are with me today. We have some really good questions. The first one is one that has been asked several times to me and it's now worked its way into the rotation, so I am able to answer it and I think people will be very, very happy that I finally am. So first question is, please explain 1 Corinthians 14, 34 through 35, where it says that women are to keep silent in the churches. And in verse 35, it says, it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

How does this line up with all the women of God who are anointed and preach God's word? And this was the other question. So the first question was repeated a couple times by somebody. I think they sent it in twice, maybe three times. And then this question came from someone else. And just so that everybody knows what question I'm answering. So I'm combining two, but that way people will know that it's theirs, okay? The next, the question is basically the same, but it says, I've heard the church speak of Pastor Adalas, and recently you were called Pastor Hope by Jeff Tomas during his pre-service message. Can you explain where it is said and why it is said and why it's okay for women to be pastors as I thought it was a title only used for men. So I'm going to be honest with

you. I, uh, this question was one that I asked for a very, very long time. I had my opinion on it, which I'll probably share later but this question uh is a really great great question both of them both questions basically the same but phenomenal question like I think lots of people have had it um it's never explained very well um I learned and studied it out several years ago which kind of changed my philosophy on it to a certain extent. And so let's look at 1 Corinthians 14, 34, and 35. It says, Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak,

but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And this is 35, verse 35. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for women to speak in church. So let's break this down. You know the air condition is running? You guys might be hearing a real loud noise, and that's because our humming. That's because it's the

air condition and we actually have to we're just so you know when we're doing these podcasts my husband's and mine we're working in a sweatshop people it is a sweat sweat shop situation here um it's very hot we have to turn the air condition off. And by the time we're done, it's very swampy in certain areas of our bodies. Very, very hot. So just know, this is a painstaking process. Like we are selflessly doing things for these podcasts.

What is it when you give of yourself?'s a sacrifice that's the word this is a sacrifice for you people that's well not just for you i enjoy it myself so it's really i'm the one that thought about it i mean i'm the one that i feel like god told me to do it so it's really a sacrifice all the way around i mean if you're having to hear me and you hate hearing me it's a sacrifice for you too so um so let's break this down okay so here's the thing Perry Stone I am never going to do this if I do it it is very very very rare but I'm going to read you some things people because he does such a phenomenal job of explaining this that um i'm not i cannot do it justice and it explains well part of it is i'm going to just tell you um that i can explain part of this this scripture let your women keep silent in the churches for

they are not permitted to speak but they are to be submissive. The reason that was said, Paul was saying to the church of Corinth, is because the women were talking while the pastor was talking, or the man, the priest was talking. And they were very disruptive. The men and the women sat in two different locations, and they were trying to communicate with their husband because they couldn't understand what was being said.

It's like if you go to the Wailing Wall in Israel. Israel, when you go to the Wailing Wall, the Western Wall, when I went there, it's true. Men are on the left, women get to be on the right, and there's one big wall between us. So you can't even see the men's side at all so women can go and pray at the wall but they are in a whole different that people don't understand we're westernized right we we think in a western mindset we think women's lib things like that the middle east if you study it out, women, and to this day,

it is still very segregated. And thought processes on women and their positions and things like that, very, very different. Although they are widely supported, have a strong place in society they are not like us they used to be considered second-class citizens in some areas but even in Bible and biblical times they are not second-class citizens they were never considered second-class citizens they just had their positions in their places and in this case men and women sat in two different spots which we're going to go over but um it's not it wasn't a situation where women were to keep silent because they were trying to preach women were told to be quiet because they were

talking um and they were being disruptive um and the second and then verse 35 says if they want to learn something let them ask their own husbands at home let's pay attention to that it says let them ask their husbands at home okay that's because they were trying to communicate with their husband and what paul was saying is if they if your wife has a question take care of it let her ask you when you're at home so you guys can discuss this in a quiet setting or in a more personal setting not one where there's a whole bunch of people around for it is shameful for women to speak in church it's a meaning that they're being disruptive they're they're not doing what they should do but here's the thing I'm going to read this to you quickly and I apologize

that I am reading it to you in advance normally I would never do this but Perry Stone there is no one that I've ever seen or heard that understands the Bible in its times I mean you can Josephus is phenomenal he's a great historian Matthew Henry's commentaries they're phenomenal but if you want modern day very quickly Hebrew Greek words what they meant where why they meant it when they said it um understanding if you went wanted to go on a tour of Israel um I would say go on his tour because it's the Christian's perspective the man knows everything about everything over there um he's it's just he's just a wealth of knowledge and if you want to understand bible the bible in the biblical perspective in the time that it was

written really hone into him and his teachings because they're it's it's just phenomenal it'll he will open the bible up to you in ways you never thought possible. But let's look. He says, so he starts out with, in this explanation of this scripture, he starts out with 1 Corinthians 14, 34, and 35. And then he takes you to another verse, which is 1 Timothy 2, 11 through 12. And it says, let the women, and he only does King James. Okay, he doesn't do New King James or anything. This is the King James.

Okay, it says, let the women, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. So he says, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. That's very interesting. And we're going to take, so that coincides with this 1 Corinthians 14. So he's going to combine these two scriptures so that you understand the whole entire thing. So it says that the book of Acts is the earliest record of the actions of

the holy spirit in the lives of the apostles and the first generation christian converts many of whom were women we do know this because at the foot of the cross was women who discovered jesus's uh body women okay along with men but but the women weren't the first ones, right? So it says, Peter at Pentecost, quoting Joel, announced that sons and daughters would prophesy. So women are allowed to prophesy. It speaks about that in Joel, which, excuse me, it speaks about that in Peter at Acts 2.17. Many years later, in Acts 21.9, we read that Philip had four daughters who prophesied and the epistles we read where God used husband and wife couples in the church to assist in organizing churches in their homes and the husband

and wife team are listed working together teaching and instructing so women were heavily involved at the very beginning of churches women prophesied it spoke about it in Joel and Acts. It talks about women that did prophesy. Philip's daughters, four daughters prophesied. Husbands and wives started churches and organizing in their homes. And there is one couple that is specifically talked about, which is Priscilla and Aquila,

a dynamic couple who assisted apollos in understanding the holy spirit which you can find that in acts 18 24 through 28 verse 26 of that same passage reads that aquila and priscilla took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of god more perfectly it didn't say aquila did it it said both of them did it okay so they both taught him this couple formed a church in their house which you'll see in Romans 16 3 through 5 when ministers publicly stated that Paul forbade any woman to speak in the church they will have difficulty explaining another instruction that Paul gives in first Corinthians 11 5 so he's addressing women being able to preach or teach in the body of christ okay that's this is uh perry stone addressing it and he's using scripture okay but every woman that

prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered is dishonorous um her dishonors her head for that is even all for that is even all one as if she was as if she was shaven so if a woman didn't have her head cover and she was prophesying she might as well have had her head shaved and if you know middle eastern or eastern mindsets women never shave their heads it's not at all it's not good it's like when um it's like when um the and the Russians in the war, the Germans and the Russians, when the women, when, let's see how I explain this, when the Germans came in, or the Russians came into Germany

and the women, to preserve their lives, they started dating and being involved with the Russian soldiers when Germany the men came back the German soldiers came back they shaved and cut off the hair of the women that the German women vice versa but really if you you look at that it's women their hair is their crown right so women um most of the time not all the time have long hair men love long hair that's why my husband tells women all the time don't cut your hair off if you had long hair when you met your husband keep your long hair he probably loves it so uh but most men um if you ask them some don't care, as long as you look real feminine and girly.

But a lot of men love long hair. So that's a lot for just that one verse. But keep going. In this reference, Paul acknowledges that women both prayed and prophesied in the church. Is this a contradiction that a woman should never speak in a church, and yet she is permitted to pray and prophesy in the church going back to let your women keep silent passage in first Corinthians 3 14 34 through 35 note that Paul follows this injunction with these words if they will learn anything let them ask and ask their

husbands at home this is actually the second half of the verse that explains the keep silent ammunition in the jewish culture the temple had a court of women where women were permitted to watch the procedures of the temple so women a lot of people don't know this um in the temple there were there was a place for women and there was a place for men women did not go where the men went they were not allowed. So the women were permitted to watch the procedures of the temple. There was also a Gentile partition restricting Gentiles from entering a past or certain point. In the Jewish synagogue, men sat on the main floor

and the women were permitted in the balconies. I hope this is making sense to you because this is a big deal. This opens up these scriptures so that you're able to understand them more thoroughly. That's why I always say, don't read the Bible. Study the Bible. If you study it,

the things that you think you know and the things that you think you understand radically will change your thought process. You don't really, a lot of times we don't know what we think we know because we don't know about the culture, we don't know about the time, and we don't know Greek words and Hebrew words and what they are translated as, which changes their meanings completely.

But if you study it, 1 Timothy talks about, study to show yourself approved, a workman that needeth not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth does not say read the bible it says study the bible okay many scholars believe that the passage on women keeping silent was not related to praying or prophesying but to prevent that when a speaker was talking they would disrupt the service by asking their husbands for further explanation and thus create confusion. Paul instructs the women to learn from their husbands when they are at home to prevent public disruption and confusion during the service. Greek scholars point out that in that culture, the men attended synagogues and were all well

educated while women bore children and performed the task of being wives and mothers. Thus, the educated men taught their wives in private. Paul is not dealing with the subject of women preachers, but of discipline and order during a religious service. There you go. That's what that scripture means. Now, I'm going to go a little bit more in detail, but I will tell you, I didn't learn that information from Perry Stone Stone I learned that when I actually studied the scriptures and I broke them down

that's when my mind began to change because up to that point I always believed women were not to preach or teach in the church women or not necessarily teach they were allowed to teach but only to other women or maybe maybe not even teach in certain um situations so when I understood that scripture I thought well okay maybe I'm wrong that because I never would listen to a woman pastor never I mean I am very old-fashioned shocking but I am very old-fashioned so I was like I ain't listening she's out of she's not she's not abiding by what the word of God says women are to keep silent women are not to preach they're supposed to be under men and and I'm not saying that that's not the case and some of what I just said but up to that point I never ever, ever would listen to a woman preach at all.

She had nothing to say I wanted to hear because she was out of order. So that was my philosophy until I read the scripture. I studied it out, and then I was like, oh, maybe I'm wrong about this. I mean, I literally remember having a discussion with a girlfriend of mine and was like, no way. Women should never be pastors. They should never hold that title the whole night. So I'm going to keep going because if you ask this question and you felt like I did,

then I would hope that you'll be as open-minded. And I was not that open-minded. I was pretty closed-mindedminded to be honest with you but I started going well maybe I might be wrong because I'm not that close-minded that I know that I can't believe that I might be wrong about something I'm pretty dogmatic but I also know that I'm not right all the time not that I mean I'm not that wrong that often, to be honest with you. But every now and then, I am wrong. So I always leave that door open just slightly that maybe you are wrong about this one particular thing. It says, the theme of Paul's admonition is a woman speaking in the church.

There are two important words for speak and speaking, and this is really what I want you to listen to because this is where understanding Greek words Hebrew words and the definitions and how they translate vitally vitally important okay it changes the whole verse the whole verse so this is where I say be open to maybe being wrong because maybe you don't know what the Greek word or the Greek Hebrew word for things is. Right? So, he said, this is what he's saying. There are two important words for speak or speaking that must be understood in relation to a woman not speaking in the church. They are the Greek verbs, laleo and lago.

Okay? The word laleo refers to the ability or use of the organs of speech giving a sound utterance or expressing words with your voice lego means to speak in the sense of declaring or declaring an intelligible message according to greek scholars laleo emphasizes the outward form of speech and lego refers to the substance and meaning of what has been spoken in brief laleo refers to the act of speaking while lego declares what the speaker actually says he's going to go a little bit deeper i was just about to say something but i'm going to let him finish his thoughts the greek word laleo is also used for the sounds made by birds, insects, bees,

and even the sound of a trumpet, which you hear, which you see in Revelations 4.1. The sound of thunder, which we also see in Revelations 10, verses 3-4. The voice of the dragon speaking, which is in Revelations 13.11. And the speaking voice given to the image of the beast, which is in Revelations 13, 11, and the speaking voice given to the image of the beast, which is in Revelations 13, 15. The word was also used by Greeks when infants would jabber before they could articulate words. The root of the word laleo is la,

illustrating the effort of a child to make its first sounds. La, la, la. To understand the context of a woman keeping silent, Paul does not use the word for a woman making intelligent words or speech, but the word for making sounds. He was saying they should not be la-la-lying around in the church. It was about disturbing the service and not about teaching and instructing with an intelligible sound and voice. An examination of scripture shows that women

were permitted to pray and prophesy and were active in ministry, which we see in Acts 21 9 and Romans 16 1 through 5. And in giving you these scriptures to back up what he's saying but i'm also giving them to you hopefully you study it out in greater detail in second in first timothy am i making sense so far okay in first timothy 2 11 through 12 because you have you've heard this before have you heard people but did you understand the scripture before now so you got you knew about it because you'd already studied out so when people said women shouldn't talk you were like no that scripture it does not mean that it means this right okay but have you understood like the greek and hebrew words for it see i didn't either until just recently. So it even is more concrete that that scripture is not saying what I thought it said back

in the day, which is probably about five years ago. No, not five years ago. It's probably 10, 10 years ago. Oh, yeah. It's been recent. Yeah. I'm telling you, I'm super old fashioned. Like, yeah.

But when I read that scripture scripture I didn't think I needed to study it out I was just like that means what it means so boom whatever and I love these like Joyce Meyer she never claimed to be a preacher or pastor for for the most part she always claimed to be a teacher and she always said she submitted to under her husband so I love Joyce Meyer's like she's she's going with the flow of what the Bible says I can I can listen to her but other people yeah I was like nope not doing it and then I realized okay you don't know as much as you think you know which is good never think you've arrived always be confident that you left but you haven't arrived at first timothy 2 11 through 12 the women were

not to usurp authority over men super important super important the greek word for usurp is um authentio authenticate like authority authentio um and it means to act upon your own or to dominate over which is like authority, right? Look at the word silence from verse 11. Let the woman learn in silence. In 1 Corinthians 14, 28, if a person speaks out loud in tongues in a church service and no one interprets, then the person is to keep silent. And they should. That is actually factually true.

This Greek word is segeo and means to hold your peace and say nothing else. It is used when the multitude kept silent when Paul and Barnabas were speaking, which we see in Acts 15, 12. And when Paul gave a speech before a group of men, which is in Acts 21, 40. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says for women to keep silent and uses this word meaning to say nothing for if they were disturbing the speaker by interpreting um as the minister spoke they were to listen and not to act um and at that time for explanation so they were to keep silent meaning be quiet however in first timothy 2 11 where women were told to keep silent, the Greek word for silence here is different than in 1 Corinthians 14.12.

Which this is, so this is different than this. The Greek word hesucheia is a word meaning being still and in quietness or figuratively away from the bustle and the noise. Paul is saying, let them be at peace and not attempt to rise up against the spiritual authority of the men in the church. If men were teaching, then women were to subject to the male teachers and not rise up and challenge their authority. When a person reads 1 Corinthians 14.34 and 1 Timothy 2.11 without researching textual and historical context context it would seem Paul was very much against a woman saying or doing anything in a church setting however the Greek

words the context and the cultural traditions of the day have a bearing upon understanding the intent of Paul's instructions which is what I was trying to say and convey in addition Paul was blessed to have many co-laborers, and this is super important, women. We play a huge role. Women played a huge role in biblical history. God counts us as important. We are not second-class citizens. We are valuable and very important to the body of Christ, to our spouses, to our family.

Like most women know this, especially in the climate that we live today. But when it comes to the church world, like in a career, we say women can be a president of a company, she could be president of the United States, she can be a doctor, a lawyer, whatever. We're completely fine with that. But when it comes to the church it's like everything is upside down okay um but in truth it's not it's not and we hold great value great importance um and we need to hold on to that and

to grab hold of it um and this is where we see it in the in the word it says in addition paul was blessed to have many co-laborers including numerous women who assisted him in ministry so we're going to see where um where he's where i'm going to give you scripture now where we see this okay i beseech uh edius and beseech uh cinti i don't know these names i'm sorry cintish that they be um that they be of the same mind in the lord and i retreat the also true yoke fellow help those women which labored with me in the gospel with clement also and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life which is philemon 4 2 through 3 this is the reason why i don't read the king james version i read the new king james version because oh my gosh did

that make sense to any of you it made no sense to me whatsoever but go back and read it into the new king james because i ain't going back i'm not looking it up really quick i want to keep this thing moving the evidence is that God permits men and women to participate in his spiritual charismata. In Luke, several wealthy women ministered to Christ of their substance. And this is in Luke 8, 1 through 3. It says, and the 12 were with him, which is the 12 disciples, and certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities

mary called magdalene out of the whom out of whom uh went seven devils and joanna the wife of chuzas herod's steward and susanna and many others which ministered unto him of their substance we and this is what he says if we move from the ministry of Christ to the time of his sufferings, all of his chosen disciples fled the scene except the Apostle John. However, dedicated women were present at the cross, including Mary, the mother of Christ, who was given to the care of the Apostle, which is John 19, 25-27. When the other ten disciples were hiding behind locked doors and windows for fear of their lives, it was two women

with the same name, Mary, who journeyed to the tomb at about sunrise to anoint Christ's body, Matthew 28 on, which means that they cared not for themselves. They cared more about taking care of Christ. And if that meant that their lives were taken from them, then so be it. They said they were indifferent to that they said we're going to go to the tomb and we're going to find our lord and savior and if it cost us our life to um to um anoint his body then that's so be it so be it after christ ascension to heaven there were women including mary and the mother of christ present during the early meetings in jerusalem prior to the outpouring of the holy spirit which we see in acts 1 14 while the men ran away the women remained and became the first to announce the good news that christ was resurrected

matthew 28 7 and today we uh we would be that would and today they would be termed evangelist or those bringing the good news. Now you sit there and go, well, that doesn't mean what you just read to me doesn't change my thoughts. It doesn't mean that women should be called pastor or anything else. But then we move to deaconesses. Deacons are considered pastors. If you look up the term, it's actually a pastor and a teacher. So let's look at that.

And this is where uh your thought processes might change on women being pastors it does mine okay the mo it says most churches are familiar with male deacons but few know about female deaconesses the earliest biblical biblical mentions of a female deacon was when paul wrote to roman paul wrote in Romans 16.1, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church, which is in Sincrea. The Greek word for servant is not the usual word doulos. Doulos is the Greek word for servant. But in the New Testament, that's for the New Testament slave or servant. But the Greek word diakonos, which is an attendant in ministry,

one who assists or is a teacher or pastor. So the Greek word servant can be dolos or diakonos, okay? Both of them have different meanings. One is a servant. One is a one who assists or teaches or preaches. It's a pastor. So it's a one who assists or is a teacher or a pastor, okay? I just repeated myself twice.

When the Christian church split between the West, which is the Catholic, and the East, which is Byzantine, later termed the Orthodox, the Eastern church permitted. So the Eastern Church is the Byzantine, okay? The Eastern Church permitted women to serve in the position of a deaconess. The deaconess was a female who served to help in the work of ministry. The ministry of a deaconess was mentioned by the early fathers, Clement of Alexandria or Origen. The deaconess was generally a widow who had only once been married,

although sometimes the position was filled by virgins, which would eliminate a lot of people. Okay. Christian historians note that the deaconess ministry functions included certain pastoral duties, including baptizing the female converts in the congregation, caring for those who were imprisoned, and assisting in comforting the persecuted. The deaconess also assisted the women who had given birth to children and visited with members of their own gender.

In the 3rd century, in Syria, a document called Didacylia of the Apostles expressed that the bishop appoint a woman for the ministry of a woman for of the woman of women appoint a woman for the ministry of women for there are homes in which you cannot send a male deacon to the to their women on the account of the heathen tom talked about a heathen tom used the word heathen on Tom used the word heathen. On the account of the heathen, but you may send a deaconess. And there are many other matters the office of a woman deacon is required. In the 5th century, the apostolic constitutions recorded a bishop laying hands upon the woman and calling down the Holy Spirit for the ministry of a deaconess.

No one would read the New Testament and deny that women were actively involved in ministry and support of the church however the issue has been about a woman who teaches or who is a pastor of a congregation and here's where he talks about so up to this point if i probably only have five people viewing i wouldn't be surprised because i am reading and people don't like when you read and i hate it too but the only thing is is i'm not good at explaining this. If I was better, I wouldn't be reading. But I'm not. So you're going to have to suffer through this reading. For the ones that really want to know the answer to this question. And the rest of you turned me off and hopefully you'll come back.

I don't know what to tell you. Scroll through to the next question. Whatever. I don't know. So one of the significant changes that occurred under the new covenant this is where it changes people so if you are disputing this okay this is where it changes one of the significant changes that occurred was the change um in the new in the new covenant and when the gentiles were grafted into the abrahamic blessing um and how god viewed men and women and

their new family of God. The Jewish tradition held that women were less significant than men and had no spiritual authority, except in a few rare instances where the Spirit of God moved upon them, as the case of Deborah, who was a judge. And you can find out about Deborah. She's in chapters four and five. Deborah was a judge. She held a very high position in the Israelite community again women are very significant but there is a there are scripture that talk about women and men

being equal and I'm going to get to that one significant passage that may give the best summary of the blend of men and women jews and gentiles and how how they operate in the body of christ is in galatians 3 chapters 28 or verse chapter 3 verses 28 and 29 it says neither is um there is neither jew nor greek there is neither bond nor free there is neither male or female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be in Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, which is Galatians 20.

And if you broke that scripture down, it means everybody's equal. Everybody holds the same position. Whether you're a Jew or a Gentile it doesn't matter as far as god is looking um at it we are grafted in we are one of the same and thank you thank you uh jesus christ for doing that for us when he died and purchased that on the cross because now it's not the jewish people who are are um just special we are special too in the sight of god right women and men same which changes everything under the new covenant the blood of christ makes all believers one in

faith one in the family of god there is no racial and people need to understand that i mean this is a this world is crazy with racism on both it doesn't matter I mean there are people that are of all colors and they are racist to all colors except their own this is craziness why this is and why it's going on is nuts but that's the sin of the world we all need to remember we all our blood runs red it's irrelevant color skin it is um so uh there is no racial or ethnic divisions all men and women are formed in god's image and the covenant gives acts each access to the fullness of god's spiritual blessings thus god has and will continue to use women in all forms of ministry so if you thought only women were allowed to be in the pulpit that changes it as far as i'm concerned

changed it for me my whole now some people call me pastor i don't really care about titles the bible talks about you know saying that it talks about don't call care about titles. The Bible talks about, you know, saying that, it talks about don't call anyone father. It even talks about different, I'm not a title person. Tom's not a title person at all either. If people honor us and respect us and they call us pastor or whatever, I'm fine with that. I don't label myself as that.

Tom says that I hold pastoral duties here at the church. I do. Tracy's brother was making fun of me. He sent in this question and says, what is the title of a pastor? Or what does the position of a pastor hold? And how do you not do those things? I do.

I preach. I teach. I do. I lead people. I correct people. I do everything that a shepherd would do. I do um I I um lead people I correct people I do everything that a shepherd would do I do um but I don't really necessarily feel like I need to have the title there are people who call me that a lot of people who call me that and I won't I if they're my friend, a lot of times, like when I was in Vegas, like Tracy's sister-in-law was there too. Tracy's brother is on Jonathan's board.

So he was in the meeting. I was shopping with her and she called me pastor. I was like, you don't need to call me pastor. Just call me Hope. A lot of the girls, I just like, you know, just call me Hope. I don't care. And I don't care it's and I don't care um I think it's very sweet I think it's very respectful and I think people

honor you when they they call you that and I and I find that to be um I'm privileged by that I'm very grateful that people feel like that, but it's not something necessary. And if somebody doesn't call me pastor, they still, I know a lot of people don't. They just call me hope. I know how they feel about me. It's irrelevant. The title doesn't make you be something. How you behave and your actions make you be something. Okay.

I don't introduce myself. I, it drives me crazy when people, uh, I meet somebody and they introduce themselves as pastor so-and-so. It's like, I don't care about that. They find their value in a title. Your value is not held in a title. Your value is held in how you act and behave on a daily basis. Is it Christ-like?

Is it not? That's where your value is, period. So just because you call yourself something doesn't mean you're all that. It just doesn't. Because you can force people to call you any title you want. And it doesn't even have to be in the spiritual realm

or in the church realm, excuse me. But that doesn't mean they respect you and it doesn't mean that they like you you've just forced them to call you something right it doesn't matter there's a lot of people who make you know judgment calls on people's lives every day there are judges out there that are very bad judges you're forced to call them honorable this judge that you have no respect for them, and they're not honorable based on their actions and their behaviors, right? So that's just an example of what I'm talking about.

So I covered three questions in that. I got your brother's question and two others. Knocking them out of the parks, my friend. Knocking them out of the parks. Next question. So I hope that answered your question. I hope that if you're still closed-minded to it, you may dig deeper. And, hey, listen, even if it didn't change your mind,

I mean, everybody can have their own opinion, and as long as you treat people the correct way, that's all that matters. Next question. What does the Bible say about taking medication? I have a medical marijuana card that I use for pain relief from a back injury. What is the difference between prescription pain medication, which they used Vicodin and Percocet as an example, and medical marijuana? I have heard Pastor Tom talk about marijuana from the pulpit,

but never about other pain medication. Isn't it better to use something more natural for pain relief as opposed to something that is habit-forming that your body builds up a tolerance to? Well, marijuana is absolutely 100% addicting and habit-forming. There's no denying it. It kills brain cells um that's also a fact and my thing is if you're a christian why don't you just try god

why don't you try healing and maybe you say well i've done that and it hasn't worked i would say to you how hard have you tried it how much have you fasted over it how much have you to get doubt and unbelief out um there are other alternatives other than medical marijuana and there's well i'll explain a little bit better but i'm like i mean people will try and say, well, medical marijuana is, is at least it's like an herb. It's grown. Well, lots of things are grown. Poppy seed is grown too. I mean, that's not good for you. I mean, if you make it, what's the poppy, what is, uh, people were using poppy seed back in the day. What, what, what, what do you get from, uh, what is it? Uh, gosh, op opium opium's horrible for you they grow it though i mean that's a homegrown thing it's very addicting and it's not good for you i mean and first corinthians

6 10 says nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of heaven will you say well i'm not a drunkard? Well, I don't know about that. Do drunkards get intoxicated? Yes, they do. Let's look at the definition of intoxicated. If you look at Webster's dictionary of what intoxicated means, let's look at that. It says affected by alcohol or drugs, especially to the point where physical and mental control is marketably marketably diminished so i say uh you can use like the example of vicodin and percocet i would say if you're using vicodin and percocet as a means to take care of um of like back pain that's very addicting too and it alters your your um your functioning your like people who are addicted to Percocet and Vicodin and things like that they walk around like with zombies it says do not take it um if if going to drive. I mean, come on. So, like, I don't think if somebody took a Vicodin or Percocet once, twice,

that's heaven and hell. No. I say that if you're taking them on a regular basis and it's a means for you to function, not good. Not good at all. And they are addicting, and they do alter your personality, and they do affect your physical and mental control to an intoxicating way. And so that would file under drunkards.

So drunkards are intoxicated. Intoxicating means affected by alcohol or drugs. Percocet. Isn't there like Percocet and Vicodin, but isn't there like, what's it called? It starts with a C that people are heavily addicted to right now, to oxycodone. What's the other one? Well, cocaine, but oxycodone.

And I thought there was one that started with the c that people do even there there's depression medication uh what is that called starts with a p i think um no maybe it's percocet maybe percocet is what people take for depression and stuff. But here's the thing. What's crazy about that medication is it tells you that it causes your mind to want to have suicidal thoughts. Why are you taking something that can cause your mind suicidal thoughts? Why don't you just dig deep into the Bible where it says that we have a sound mind.

We are stable in all of our ways. I mean, put on healing scriptures. What happens is people say, I've tried that. It didn't work. Well, my thought process on that is how long did it take you to get to the mental capacity or the state of health that you you were in how long prior to that Prozac is that what you're trying to show me Prozac god bless that's it how long did you like how long did you take how long did you try taking captive of all your thoughts if you didn't

take captive of all your thoughts for 10 years and you expect a week two weeks a month two months of actually trying to take captive of all your thoughts and it doesn't work I'm like you did 10 years worth of the other why don't you give God the same chance and and and figure out if maybe he works he works a lot better and he'll work a lot faster. The more you put into it, the more you get out and the quicker of the return, right? So if you turned on scriptures about having a sound mind, healing scriptures about your body being healed, if you took scriptures about, in general, about the blessings of God, what God has for you, if you listen to them all the time, you listen to teachings.

If you spent three hours in the Bible, most of us will open up the People magazine. People magazine, you'll sit there and we'll look at a People magazine until you're done. And it may take you about two hours to go through that People magazine. And it felt like this, right? If you would do the same thing with the bible or memorizing scripture or whatever if you would or in worship if you did that in your life like you did the carnal things in your life you would have such a high return far superior than you thought ever possible that you would speak things and immediately you would see a response in your body. Because why?

You'd be more spirit-minded. Spirit, soul, and body. Your soul and your spirit would be responding versus your carnal nature. But we don't ever, ever put the same amount of time in. We are so worried about our careers and making sure that we get to the next level. Why don't we do that same thing with our spiritual walk, making sure we get to the next spiritual level with our walk? We do well by people if we did that. We would be transforming the lives around us.

Instead, we care more about our careers and how that transforms the life our life and our children's lives because we can give them more things it'd be far better for our kids to do far less and see a more spiritually guided home than one that is the opposite so um let's see i'm trying to read my responses to this because I went off on a tangent so people are addicted to pain medications marijuana up until recently wasn't legal and it shouldn't be legal there are people driving vehicles that have miracle medical marijuana licenses and they're driving their cars.

This is nuts. And they may become, there are people who drink alcohol, and their level of being able to handle more alcohol continually changes, but doesn't mean you're not an alcoholic. You could drink for three hours, and you would never know that the person has been drinking for three hours because their would never know that you that the person has been drinking for three hours because their tolerance level is so high does that mean that they're not an alcoholic and does that not mean that they're not a drunkard they are all those things just because you can handle more doesn't mean that you're not all those things the bible says and and and just because it's

now legal doesn't mean that it should be. And how many people are actually using the medical marijuana for recreational purposes? I mean, there are people who are getting high with different family members on a medical marijuana card. It's not good. It's not good. Just because it's legal doesn't mean that it's right um so if i'm assuming this is a christian but maybe i shouldn't maybe you're asking for a family member right so if it's a family member and they're not a christian they might not listen to you because a sinner doesn't understand what the save does if you are saved stop getting high

dig deep into healing but stop getting high because it's not good it's not good and for my thing is is why take the risk of not going to heaven it's not worth it it's not worth the risk of not going to heaven so on a chance that that drunkard meant alcohol, it doesn't mean just alcohol. It means anything that alters your mental capacity. What did you say? What is that? Oh, be sober-minded. Thank you.

But that didn't say you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. But you are to be sober-minded, absolutely. But people will say, well, if I'm not sober-minded, I still can go to heaven. So that's why I say it, because it clearly says it in different places in the gospel that to not be to do these things, because if you do, your husband just texted me.

Oh. Oh. They're doing the South African thing right now. Let's go to the next question it says is there a time when jesus chooses not to heal or maybe it is not the right time to heal i recently saw an interview between two christian men one born with no arms and legs the second man asked if he if he questioned healing because he was born this way and they both agreed that there are times when God does not choose to heal I'd like to have them share that where that's out

in the gospel I seriously love when people give their opinions with no scripture behind it so the person that wrote this I ask you did they give a scripture with that where God chooses never to heal? I've never seen that in the Bible. I've actually seen the opposite of that everywhere in the Bible. But so if they can't give you scripture to back up their opinion, then I would say to you, throw out their opinion. If it doesn't have a scripture to follow it, it means nothing. We don't base our biblical stands with no biblical scripture. Otherwise it's just an opinion and it means

nothing. Talk about those in situations like this or in any situation where they are sick or suffering. Let's look at scriptures. We're going to look at Matthew 6, 6 through 13, and it's titled model prayer. Okay. So this is how you're to model prayer. But you, when you go, go into your room and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do which is what a lot of pastors do they talk on all these king james versions or like with the pharisees and sadducees they always wanted to sound like they were so daggum smart but god this tells you right

here don't do that jesus healed with a word you don't need long drawn out prayers. It's not necessary. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Tom calls those word solids, meaning there's a lot of, it's a lot of words that amount to nothing. Therefore, do not be like them. And Jesus, when he was saying this,

he was speaking directly to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He was calling them out. They were the preachers of the day. He was calling them out. Therefore, do not be like them. For your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. In this matter, therefore pray. Now, listen. What Jesus is saying is when you pray, this is how you pray. Okay? And I'm going to tell you something. It's very important what he says here. So listen to it and apply it to your life. And then when you apply it to your life, when you hear junk like those two men were saying,

this is just the way God does it sometimes. When you hear junk like that, you'll automatically know that's this is just the way God does it sometimes when you hear junk like that you'll automatically know that's junk okay our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come verse 10 your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven is there people without limbs in heaven no Satan comes to comes to steal, kill, and destroy. John 10.10 says that. Your kingdom come, your will be done. His will is what is on earth as it is in heaven.

What is in heaven? Perfection, no sickness, no disease, nothing. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And give us this day our daily bread. This is another one. Healing is actually for everyone that is willing to receive it. But there are things that keep us from our healing. Sin, unforgiveness, and doubt.

Those three things will keep you from getting healed every single time. Give us our daily bread. And forgive us our debts. As we forgive our debtors. You don't have a choice. You are to forget anyone that has sinned against you. Okay. That's the facts.

I'm not going to read the rest of it. Because it's just 13. And it's. I'm going to finish it. And do not lead us into temptation. So you're to stay away from it and deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

So we do not listen to man's opinion. We only follow the word of God. That's it. Did Jesus restore people's limbs when he walked on this earth? 100% he did. And I'm going to give you one scripture scripture of where it happened if you look at Luke 17 11 through 19 it's the 10 lepers okay there is a difference between healing and restoration healing is when your body let's say with the 10pers, the 10 lepers were covered in sores, boils, and things like that.

When you had leprosy, you lost body parts. You could lose your nose. You could lose your ears. You could lose your digits, fingers, and toes. You lost body parts. It ate them away. So leprosy was a horrendous disease. It made your skin white and scaly. It was extremely painful. No one was to be around a leper. Lepers could only come out when everyone went in. They

were ostracized because nobody wanted leprosy because of what it did to the body. So you couldn't even be around them. And if somebody touched you. Their life could be taken. That was a leper. So for these lepers. These ten lepers to come to Jesus. They took their life in their hands.

Okay. It says. And it came to pass. As he went to Jerusalem. That he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Meaning Jesus. And he. And as he entered into a certain village. There he met him.

Ten men that were lepers which stood afar off because it couldn't come near him and they lifted up their voices and said Jesus master have mercy on us so it was a risk that they were even out at the same time that everybody was out okay on top of that they stayed far away from him but they still could have gotten in trouble for that and when he saw them he said, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. Doubt and unbelief. What they didn't say to Jesus is,

No, no, no. Heal us now so that we can go to the priest and we know. See, you had to show yourself to the priest so that he could say that you were cleansed so that you could go back into the community and you didn't have to live outside the community any longer. So that's why Jesus said go to the priest because the priest was the one that could permit them back into society.

So they didn't say, no, no, no, we don't want to go until we actually see our body cleansed and we're purified and we're healed. Jesus said, go show yourselves unto the priest. And then it says, and it came to pass, meaning their healing came to pass as they went and they were cleansed. So their faith and their doubt and belief, what they had to do is they had to believe that as they walked to the priest, that healing would come to their bodies. Most people today would say, no, I won't believe it until I see it.

So you got to do it while I'm standing in front of you. Okay, that's not how Jesus, Jesus, Jesus tested them and their belief came through as they walked it out. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back. So before he could even get to the priest, he turned back and with a loud voice glorified God. And he fell down at his face. He fell down on his face and at his feet. And this is what he did to Jesus, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. So he didn't even get to the priest before he saw that his body was being healed. He turned back around to Jesus and came and he fell on his face and knelt at his feet.

And he began to thank Jesus for what Jesus had done through his healing. And Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed weren't all the others of the 10 lepers healed but where are the nine he says and they there are not found um so the 10 didn't come back and he says they're not found that return to give and this is king jay new king's name so what he says is basically says where are the nine they didn't come back they're not found that return to give glory to god save this stranger so he said so all of the rest of them don't come back to me only the samaritan the nine jews go to the priest only the samaritan who hated Jews comes back and thanks Jesus for healing him.

And this is what Jesus says to him. And he said unto him, Arise, go, thy faith. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Whole also means restored. So when Jesus healed the ten lepers, he restored only one. And the reason only one was restored is because only one was thankful. Only one came back to say thank you. It's super important to be thankful beyond.

If you looked at how to pray, one of the things about praying is to be thankful. So when you pray, you thank him for what he's already done and already accomplished. Even if you don't see it in your body, you thank him because you know it's going to come to pass. So here, Jesus restored his digits, his nose, his ears, whatever. Flesh would be gone. Flesh would be completely gone off of someone's body. He restored that person completely. The other nine, if they would have come back,

they would have been completely restored. So healing and miracle. Restoration is a miracle. So he received the miracle of everything being restored. So people that are missing limbs today, I mean, there's stories where people's limbs have been completely put back. There's stories, I have, Andrew's stories where people's limbs have been completely put back. There's stories.

I have Andrew Womack tell stories of where there's been people born without cataracts or things in their eyes in order for them to be able to see. He has prayed. The Holy Spirit has completely told him, this is what you need to pray for. And that very thing that is missing completely in that person's eye or whatever, completely restored, brought into the eye, and the person completely seen. I mean, it does happen. It doesn't happen, though, if you don't believe it can happen. If you believe it's God's will for you to live like that, it won't happen for you.

That's just the facts. But Scripture completely says otherwise. And for people to say that God doesn't do it that's their opinion they have no bible reference to back it up not one thing whatsoever they may try and use the old testament but we have a new covenant and that would be Jesus just in case people don't know what I'm talking about that fall back on the old covenant. We've got Jesus now. By his stripes, we are healed. Boom.

That happened on the cross. With the cross came salvation. And I would strongly suggest, if you don't know Jesus today, or if you've walked away from him, I would strongly suggest that you come running back, because this world is crazy right now. And only he can put that comfort and peace that you, you know, just three years ago, you were just so settled and life was so good

and so at peace and things were easy and comfortable. And now we look at the world and we go, this is crazy. But I can tell you, I live in peace. I live in comfort. How about you, Tracy? I don't have a worry in the world. Not one. I don't care that we have a new normal. Doesn't bother me a bit. My normal is still normal. I walk with Jesus each and every day. I have not a care in the world. I don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself. That's what the Bible says.

And as long as I have Jesus, I know food will be on my plate at dinner and any other time that I need it. My need will be met. The finances will be there. And if you need that in your life, you once knew it, you don't anymore, or you have never known what I'm talking about. Jesus died on the cross to provide it for you. Not just me, but for you. And it's as simple as saying this prayer. So I just invite cross to provide it for you not just me but for you and it's as simple as saying this prayer so I just invite you to say it with me right now Heavenly Father I ask you to come into my life I ask you to be my Lord and Savior I ask you to forgive me of my sins the father I turn from my

wicked ways and I ask the Lord Jesus that from this moment on you will help me to live for you so that when I die I will go and be with heaven for eternity I thank you and I praise you right now in Jesus mighty name

we pray and you are now born again saved whatever you want to call it fresh start new beginning I don't know that is a true fresh start that is a true new beginning and if you've never said that prayer but you've got a fresh start and new beginning you need to say that prayer whatever so uh I think that's about it correct I think that's about it for this podcast I ask or I don't ask I don't care um I'm telling you I'm not asking I'm telling you have a great night spend some time with your family may have lots of laughs enjoy your day you know when you're with Jesus sky's the limit

you determine what your day looks like and what it doesn't if you choose to walk with him if you choose to put on joy then that's what you're going to get you want to be grumpy grouchy moan and groan go for it but that ain't that ain't christ-like so you affect everybody around you and you don't look like a believer and we want people to come our way so start start by acting like jesus rules and reigns in your life right have a Have a great night. Have a good day. If you're on the other side of the earth, you might be asleep. Sweet dreams. Goodbye. See you later.