The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-E96 | 01-03-24

Episode Date: January 6, 2024

Question #1Can you explain Dispensationalism? I have been seeing more and more definitions of it as it pertains to religion.Question #2I loved the 4 Essentials Message/Conversation. My husband is not saved, I found Jesus 15 years ago after 20years of marriage. He is accepting of my faith and going to church and taking the time I want to take for my reading of the Word and my prayer time, and worship, but he has no interest in learning more about God.His one big fear that he has shared is that I will take “this Jesus thing” to the extreme.I’m trying to grow in my faith without distancing myself from him. Any ideas?

5, 4, 3, 2, two, one. Happy New Year! Oh, it's foaming and it's cold. Okay, knock off that thingy over there then. Happy New Year, everybody. Fingers. I know we look like we don't know what we're doing. This is the closest things that we could find to Happy New Year

because it was last minute. So our half happy birthday, half happy new year. We missed you guys. So we're happy to be back. Hopefully you're glad we are back. But everybody's hat stay on the whole entire time. That's it. That's how it's going to go down.

Happy New Year. Lots, lots, lots of things have happened since we last saw you guys. A lot. If you notice, Logan's missing. Yes. Yeah. Talia is now sitting in the seat momentarily until she gets back. Yep.

She's had the baby, people. Yes. Yes. There you go. They're not just for Happy New Year. They're for celebration purposes. We've got a baby. We've got a baby.

We're super excited. Hold on. Let me pull this up because I don't even remember my own children's weights. Oh, my gosh. Or heights. I remember mine.

Hold on, shorties. Let me pull it up. I got to. Or heights. Hold on shorties. Let me pull it up. I gotta pull it up. Okay. Most of us in this room were wrong on what sex it is. Okay. Even Logan thought they were teasing her when she

gave birth to this beautiful little bouncing baby. Put the picture up. We got a girl. We have a girl, people. She was born on December 30th at 9.19 p.m. She's 7 pounds, 12 ounces, 20 and a half inches long. Her name is Caleb Justine, CJ for short.

Is she not gorgeous? Like she, first of all, you know, I don't say a baby is pretty unless a baby is pretty. And that is one beautiful baby. I'm glad I told, the only problem was is I told her, I said, when I first saw her, she's a little too white. Don't worry. I'm like, listen, we got a little little chocolate in there that's true gotta get a little bit of the daddy in there a little now she's looking like she's like a little bit of white a little bit of chocolate yeah she's she's getting to be she's getting she's getting a

little color and that makes her like oh my gosh is that not the most beautiful little girl ever? Super excited for them both. Chris and Logan, so happy. So here's the deal. Like at four in the morning, Chris, Logan's husband, texts me and Norma and says, she's in labor. Be praying. And then we're going to, Logan's going to come in and tell the story because it's like off the charts. Amazing story about the girl killed it. But Tracy actually was with Logan for like how many hours? Vanessa as well. Oh, and Vanessa.

Okay. I didn't know Vanessa was there. I know Heather was there. Okay. So don't know Vanessa was there. I know Heather was there. Okay, so don't tell anybody anything because I want to, but just like, I'm not going to say it because I already have said it to her, but let's talk about Logan and what

kind of girl that girl is. Literally. Norma stole the word. It was totally beast mode. That girl is the strongest woman that Vanessa and I have both seen ever, ever in our lives. Like so, it's so, yeah, you got to put that thing up to you. The one thing that I've already shared this with Logan,

but the girl was squeezed, okay? And what came out was pure Jesus. That is awesome. It was the most like amazing thing i've ever encountered it she's truly amazing and you know what that's you know a lot of people will say like they give the excuse of i've only been saved for five years like like i, she's been saved legitimately a year and one month. Cause she, she, how she found the church, which I'm going to have her tell the story, how she came to the church is truly crazy.

But then she came to the church for like a year and then didn't even make the decision to be saved until Pastor Jonathan came. And then that's been a year. That was last year november that he came so it's a year and a month the girl's been saved and she exemplified christ like off the charts she i mean if you saw her in and around this building or just outside of it you'd always say, I always say 180 degree turn of the lifestyle in which you used to live. You should be doing that. And people always go, well, it's a process.

And like Tom's preaching right now, it should be a quick process. It's not one that has longevity to it. Like everything Jesus did was quick. So we should be always evolving and changing. Yesterday, I was just saying that, oh, I was saying it to Jared, Tracy's husband. Yesterday, yesterday I was talking to him,

but I just said to him, we should never look the same as we did the day before. No, no, I mean, you should be evolving in your Christian walk that rapidly. The responses, the bad responses that you may have done the day before, the next day when those opportunities come to respond the same way, you should quickly be like, that was the wrong way yesterday. Today I will make the right decision.

A lot of times people just never do that because they're like, well, this is who I am. No, no. We are to renew the mind. We are to be different than we were the day before. And God, if Jesus is living in the Holy Spirit, is dwelling in each and every single one of us, then the fruits of the Spirit should be being seen every single day. You didn't have the fruits when you got saved. So the fruits should be being revealed on a daily basis. So you

shouldn't look the same. But go ahead and give your little two cents because Tracy's got some good things to say about about our friend. And I'm just so pleased. Yeah, she I, I guess it's like you expect every moment that okay, this is the last moment I have to see her. Like just pushing this baby, you know, fighting the good fight. And so I think that's what kept me like, okay. But like the whole time, like you just want to like rescue her.

Like Vanessa and I were like, can we just like high five? We'll come in, like just give us an hour. We'll push for an hour for you. Yeah. Cause she wanted to do it all natural. She did.

Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And she, and she did. Yeah. And she did. I mean,

it's like amazing. I know. And so it was, it was incredible. I know how strong of it. And she's watching right now. Logan, I love you so much. Oh, she is. We love you, girl. And so it was. Yeah, I don't even know. I don't have words for how amazing she was the entire time, like the entire time. Yeah. And she was 100% squeezed to the max. And if it was me, I don't know if I would have handled it as well. I really don't. And I've given birth a few times, a couple of times to a few babies. I have four children. I've given birth twice to three of them. Yeah. But at one time you did two yeah i know and that ain't confusing right right yeah oh my they're a little tiny though and yeah it doesn't matter yeah that's like two babies at one time like one is hard enough for people you do too yeah wowsers yeah but still like she does she makes me proud oh i was so proud and what And here's the thing I will say to you is that, and Sarah says this a lot, Sarah Richardson,

who Sarah is not here today, but Sarah is one that I always say the same thing about. There are people in this life that are humble and are teachable. And when you're humble and teachable, then that's when you see the results. Most people, though, even when they come into their walks with God, they come as they are, and that's fine to a degree. But in order to become the man or woman God has called you to be, you have to humble yourself.

Isn't that what the word says? We're to humble ourselves. In order to humble yourself, that means that you have to say, I'm going to let all of my pretenses go, let everything that I am fall to the wayside, and now I'm going to become who Christ has called me to be. And in order to do that, you have to be teachable. You have to be a person that is willing to listen to somebody and be discipled and say, okay, that's got to go, that gets to stay. You have to fast.

You have to be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit. And when he says shed that from your life, you have to shed that from your life. And so that's where I see a person like sarah a person like um like logan they're they're both even like logan's husband chris like um they're all newly like sarah's not newly saved but sarah is a person that um i don't know how you'd say it she kind of like wanted to do her own thing for a period of time and then came back with gangbusters. Like I wouldn't, I don't know if I would say she wasn't saved.

I would, because I don't know that personally, I would say maybe she wasn't as passionate as she is now. And so like when she said I'm in, she says I'm in. So this is a person who fasts on it. And all of us, like right now, and I'm sure Tracy's going to talk about it, but the church is kind of, what's the right word I'm looking for? What we've done is we've teamed up with Revival Today on registration, right? You can do it whether you register or not, but they're doing a 21-day fast.

Now, that 21-day fast doesn't have to be the same for everybody, but I'm just saying, in general, you got a person like Sarah who throughout the whole year fasts. I, throughout the whole year, I don't just do it 21 days, the first 21 days. I've made it a lifestyle, and that's what we really should do. If we want to ever become all God's called us to be, you have to fast. You have to live a lifestyle of it because what that does is it gets rid of you

and your carnal nature and becomes more of a spirit man kind of thing. So props to Logan and Chris because they not only were biblically how you should be when you're going through something like that when you hear the story you'll know what we're talking about um but also on a daily basis since they become saved and said i'm going to live this lifestyle they like have taken it to new heights they defy the people who say i just can't or i don't understand the bible i don't know what it means when i read it and things like that that's an excuse to truly not get beyond who you, you know, a lot of people have learning issues or whatever. You still can learn. You can still, there are ways to hear the word, read the word, study the word. It's the effort and they have put monumental effort in and they're receiving

monumental reward for it. So it's great to see. But you want to do what we normally do so that people know what we're because listen, we have a goal. We 2024 is not how we were with 2023. Our expectation. So let me just share with you. And I love listen, how many people are actually watching Talia right now? And usually it's kind of slow.

So we have 40 people, approximately 40 people watching. It's not, it's at least 40 people watching right now. For a year, a podcast that's a year old, like, I don't know if you understand, but that is huge. I mean, that's like, that's a big deal. But we as a, I always call them my little peanut gallery, we as a team, we have, and me specifically and Tracy, we have some goals.

Like in order for this podcast to be all that I believe God's called it to be, the audience has to grow. And the audience is huge after. Our after plays and stuff like that, that's really where our numbers are off the charts, which is most people don't watch live. What do you call that, Tracy? Yeah, like a replay.

They watch a replay. Those numbers are killer people. We're ecstatic over them but we have some goals because we want to win the lost we want to disciple believers we want to make people stronger in their faith we actually want people to realize that being a christian is not boring it's fun and like it's more than what you think it is so with that being said reason tracy goes through this every single time, and I know it's boring for some,

but it's so that we grow this audience. And then we have some other things that we're going to be doing this year as well to make that happen. But if you watch every week, every single podcast, placate us and please do what she tells us to do because you actually are helping us attain

and go to the place that I believe God's called us to go. So go ahead. All right. Voila. Voila. All right. So as you guys know, and if you don't, if you're new, we are on Facebook, YouTube, Rumble and Black Robe, which is our own platform.

So if you are on Facebook, all you got to do is go up to the page and click share. It'll share to your timeline, right to your page, and it will end up right in the newsfeed for everybody else. So they will see it live. And sometimes what's really cool is when you do share it, sometimes it'll pop up right at the top of the newsfeed for other people because you're their friend and they're watching it. So they might be interested in and pop on and, um, and watch as well. Um. If you are watching live, please comment along with us because we love to hear what you're saying. We love when you stay on track with us

so we don't get too many side conversations. And over here, Talia is now reading all the comments. And so if you guys have questions that go along with the questions being asked, you're welcome to put them on there as well, or you can send them to us. And I'll get to that in a little bit. We are on YouTube. And so YouTube is not our favorite,

but it is available for you guys. And if you want to head over to Rumble if you are on YouTube, we would love you for that. Or Facebook. Yeah, I know, Facebook too. I know, Facebook. Because they have, like, I, when I, I'm not going to use the word, but when I use the V word for, and I don't

mean a body part. I mean, I just thought about that. Yeah. I mean like the health. What is it? The jab. Thank you. There you go.

I, even if you say the jab, you don't even know what they're like. That's like, yeah, it's risky people. It's risky, people. It's risky. But like they drop, like Tom, when I did that thing, like our numbers cut in half on fake book. I know. So like you got to be, I hate that. Head over to Rumble. Everybody needs to just go to Rumble.

I know that you don't think it's easy. It is so easy. It's so easy. It's as easy as fake book. Right. And if you're not commenting, you don't even have to have an account, but we would love for you to comment.

And that's where honestly, all the today, all the conversation is. Logan's in there right now. Erin's in there. Sean's in there. My mom's in there because she is such a great person

and switched over for us. And, you know, we have Talia obviously in there and Marie from New York is there. And so, yeah, so we're there. We'd rather you be in Rumble. We love Rumble and that is the place to be. And then Black Robe as well. You're always welcome to watch on our own platforms. And then as I said, if you have any questions, please send them in to askhopeathopehotline.com. We are looking forward

to new questions as we head into this new year. So please, please send them along. We have our merch available and we have our Hope Hotline mug, our spoon, and our, of course, UBU t-shirt, which I found out Pastor Tom is not a fan of. However, I am working on a little message to explain UBU and actually hope you like hit on exactly what it is. It is not about a license to sin. It is, you know, using your uniqueness and how God created you and using your talents to honor him. So we'll maybe get into that a little bit deeper one day. So click shop, which is you can go right to foundationchurchfl.com and all of those are available for you. Would you like to talk about the next one? Yes. Uh, you want to touch on it? Okay. You can go girl. You want to touch on it though?

Uh, yeah. Do you want me to touch on it? It's okay. Okay. Whatever you want to do, girl. All right. We got the dare to be, we have, um, hope speaking on our Monday nights where we meet every Monday night, the women at our church meet. So the next meeting is January 29th and it'll be 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. And this happens only on the fifth Sunday or fifth Monday of the month. So it's not every single month. So don't miss it. Last time it was amazing.

We had a huge turnout and it was a really great word, really great word. And as we talked about fasting, this is Jonathan Shuttlesworth with Revival Today. And we have whoever's participating in this started yesterday, the second, and we go to the 22nd. And how he has it set up is you fast 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and it is liquids, water, no calories till 6 p.m. and then 6 p.m. you can eat. And that's where we're at right now with that. So it's it's day two and we're going strong. Yeah. And you know, the one thing I want to touch on that is, listen, it's important to fast, right? So some people can't do the 6, like Pastor Jonathan and Pastor Dallas, I think they're doing 21 days, no food, no, like that's what they always do. They do it, they don't just do the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., they do 21 days, no food. That's what they always do. They don't just do the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

They do 21 days, no food. And some people, depending on your age, like Natalie, who I had on the podcast, she doesn't suggest that people past,, I believe 70 is what my mom was sharing with me. Um, people over 70, they should not do the 6am to 6pm. They really should do a different fast. So you know what my mom's doing is she's doing 7pm to 7am because like, that's when she does most of her eating anyway. She's a snacker, a nighttime snacker. People don't believe,

would not believe how much they snack at nighttime. Oh my gosh, I do. So if you have to limit yourself to not eating at that time, you'd be shocked, especially if you're older and maybe you had a lot of early bird specials, right? That's true. You find out. a lot of early bird specials, right? That's true. That is very true. You find out.

What you have to do is just fast. Yeah. Even if it's 21 days of no coffee. Right. That will kill some people. It is beyond the pale for some people not to have a cup of coffee for 21 days. It is.

So find your fast. Now, Jonathan would disagree with me because he believes a fast is a fast and you should not eat. But I'm a little bit more lenient on that because I understand that for some people, physically, they can't do it. For whatever reason, they can't do it for whatever reason they can't do it maybe they have medical like they're still taking medication so they do have to have some form of food in their system to take their medications right so there's a balance i think everybody can fast and this is why he and i he probably agree with me when it comes to that because he would probably say fasting as long if you can't because you are on medications.

He would say, well, at least do some kind of fast. So I don't necessarily think he would. He would disagree with me, but he would say in certain circumstances, it's different. So all I'm saying to you is pick something. Find it. Do it. It's super important i don't even i don't even care like if it's the first 21 days make it for a period of time and try and make it that you fast throughout the year

fasting throughout the year is really important not just the first 21 days of the year and i will tell you this like with adalas or, I always call him by the first name. Sorry, but that's what I do. Pastor Jonathan and Pastor Adalas, they fast throughout the whole entire year as well. So they'll do the first 21 days and then they'll pick one. Then they do one day a week. So super important people. Pastor Rodney even is doing some fasting for the first 21 days this year too.

Norma, how does that work? Because they were talking about this. He has something that you can actually go on, download. It's three message series on fasting. Oh, cool. He's doing three days, correct? I just asked the congregation to do three days out of the week if I remember right. Three days out of the week for fasting.

So for 21 days, something along those lines. And it doesn't have to be consecutive. Okay. And it's no food? No food. No food. Yeah. No food.

Well, that's the thing. What's the point if you're like, again, unless medically speaking, you shouldn't do it. What's the point of fasting if you're going to eat food? I agree. I agree. So like you're not really dying to your carnal nature. What do all of us do but eat? And that's the goal. And that's the goal. To kill the flesh and to kill the, you're not moving God when you fast. You're moving you. Yeah. Out of the way. Exactly. That's exactly what I was about to say. Right out of the way. Out of the way. Yeah. And that's where we all about to say. Right out of the way. Out of the way. And that's where we all have to get.

And you want to see process and you want to see things that you've never seen before in your walk with God. And you want to see answered prayer. It's not the answered prayer doesn't because you fasted. So God goes, oh, you fasted. So I'm rewarding you. Yeah. It's not how it works. When you get answered prayer, it's because you have removed doubt and unbelief out of the way. And when you do that, that's when you see answered prayer.

Doubt and unbelief are what keeps you from receiving sometimes. Sin will keep you from receiving. But when you fast and you pray, you're able to, like, that carnal nature is dying. So what you long to do dies away. So unforgiveness keeps you from answered prayer. There's a list of things, not just doubt and unbelief, but there's a list of things that will keep you from answered prayer. And fasting eliminates all of those things.

Again, you do not move God. You move you. So, go ahead, because you had another thing after that. So, we have just a recap of some photos, and I have the video too.

So, want to go through the photos real quick? Christmas Eve service? I don't know if everybody got to see it, but I'm telling you right now, like, that was one for the books. It was a beautiful service.

It's online. Yeah. But, I'm telling you right now, like, that was one for the books. It was a beautiful service. It's online. Yeah. But I'm still getting, like, people telling me how great that Christmas Eve service was. They loved it. Huh? They loved it. It was so, like, every year we do it differently. Right.

Every year. Last year, P-U, it stinks. Last year, not so good. Hurricane year. Last year, P-U, it stinks. Last year, not so good. Hurricane year. Huh? Hurricane year. Everything was kind of stinky. Hurricane year stunk.

The years prior to that, always different, always good. Right, yeah. But not so much last year. Okay. Last year was pretty disappointing. But we came back with a vengeance, people. Roll it, Tracy. Okay. Well,

these are some of the photos. And so this is kind of like what happened when you got like, came right in, this was set up. Um, and then in the front, it's just really cool. Just a lot of fun stuff. And then we had our beautiful ladies a little closer up with, Oh, and then with pastor Tom, uh, we had our little girls up there. And Brinley, sweet little girl. She did so good. So the little girls, Brinley, obviously, we all talk about her. She's been on the podcast. That's Heather's daughter.

There's Tootie right in the middle. That is Tracy's daughter. And then there's Charlotte, which is Talia's sister, and then Courtney's daughter. Yep. They did so good. And for the record then for the record, yeah. For the record.

Yeah. I don't just have them up there because I know you guys, I asked other people and I asked other parents and their kids and I was turned down like quite strongly. Not that they were mean. They were just like, yeah, my kid won't do that. I tried to get other people's kids, but they need to be able to sing first of all the margins narrow yeah

because lots of kids can sing but not good okay so that you're eliminated when you can't sing good because we're not up there to be cute we're actually up there to to sound good yeah so you narrow the margins down and then when you get to the ones that can sing Then they're petrified Which I don't blame them There was like 900 plus in the building So that's scary Yeah, very scary So on top of that

You have to like be able to handle Singing So again That's why I only had those three That's not my choice. I'm not like showing favoritism. I literally asked and nobody else wanted to do it. I don't blame them, though.

I know. No, I don't either. No way, whatever. It's a scary thing to be in front of all those people singing. Ask Vanessa Tomas. She's true. After Vanessa was done singing, she went. I know. I saw her done singing, she went. I know.

I saw her and went, okay. I said to Tom, I said, she's relieved. Yep. She's relieved. You have to remember when you're supposed to get on and off the stage. We're like, I don't know. It's like that was a big deal. So go ahead.

There's the girl. Speaking of. Hottie. Hottie, hottie. Look how beautiful. My wife. She's so hot. Woohoo. Hottie. Hottie, hottie. Look how beautiful. My wife. She's so hot. And then the other hottie.

Look at her. Aw, there's my girl. So beautiful. It was a great night. And then we had our guitars. They did amazing. Anybody that plays a guitar apparently was like, that was the most amazing thing. My mom was like amazed with them.

Oh, that's awesome. I don't know much about it, but that was a loud cheering too. When they finished that, I was like, oh, wow. Like, so we had some artists in there. They understood. These girls, so beautiful.

So amazing. I was so proud of them. And then this group of people, wow. Like, ugh. We're blessed they come to this church. I know. Oh my gosh, like a whole family. And then we had all the come to this church no oh my gosh like a whole family and then we had all the cute little candles that doesn't even like that picture when i saw that

picture like oh it doesn't even look like it looks like you're missing all the people that were in the back oh we're missing tons of people in that picture it was more to focus on mr um abbott but you know oh i see. Because I noticed him right away. It was like a perspective thing. But like holy mackerel. I saw that and I went, where is everybody in that picture? Because there's like, it's deep. It goes way back there.

Oh, yeah. No. That's like the first few rows. Yeah. This is nothing. This was just a little light, a color. And then at the end, it was so fun. We had all the kids out handing out Coca-Colas.

And it was so fun. It was so good. It was so fun. People were so happy. Those were nice ice cold bottles of Coke. They were. So yummy. You want to play that video?

I see that you did that. That's awesome. Yeah, let's try it. That was so cool. Everything. All the the details i just love it like as a photographer and videographer we had the polaroid cameras so much fun i left that part in there so you could see people were taking pictures. Like they grabbed the camera and they took them.

I love that. I love that. Those girls are, everybody is gorgeous. I know. I love seeing you. Look at Erin play. look at Aaron I don't even know if people knew that Aaron plays the drums he plays everything

like Tom was so flippin happy was he oh my gosh he was Aaron was our drummer for years

he's the best like he's been playing since he was I I think, three. Oh my gosh. Obviously, that's his dad. There she is. Pretty girl.

So good. Those girls killed it. So beautiful. This is like my favorite part. Oh, no. There's Talia. It is. I looked at my face and I was like, that wasn't very nice. But considering what that was.

It's Hallmark. I know, I love it. It's not so good. Tom wants to hang that in his office. That is special right there. That is special right there. That is special. And there's Trish. Trish was there.

And that was it. That was our Christmas season. That was the best of the best. I know. So, hey, listen. Can one of you guys, in case people didn't see it, post the link to go back and watch the Christmas Eve service if they didn't get to see it?

Yes. I'm sure they did because everybody who's watching is a part of. Listen, that was so much fun and so good. Lots of hard work, but hard work always pays off. Always. And that worship team worked their tail ends off. I know. They really did off to make that thing successful. So thank you.

Now, before we get going, because we're 32 minutes in and we've done nothing. We've answered no questions. That was some of the amazing things. What? Everybody wanted to know. They missed us so much. Yeah. Listen, we have a week to catch up.

Yeah. A lot's gone on. But we have a special guest today. You want to do the introduction, my friend? Who's that little cutie over there? Bring her face in. You have to go really close to the mic. Very,, Emma. She actually speaks. So let me just say this. Like, I have known Emma since she was three or four. How old is it? How old are you now, Emma?

Yeah, since she was three. Since she was three. She was mine. Like, I had her for children's ministry. She was my little chick. Like, there are so many pictures of her as a little chickadee. She's like a woman now. It's disgusting.

It's disgusting. But listen, if you saw her, I wish, if you could pull up a photo, if you could see her when she was a baby, like the cutest little flippin' three-year-old you've ever seen in your life. I wish you could find her. Oh, her face. It's like the cutest thing. I'm not that she's not cute.

You're beautiful now. I'm just saying. But Emma's been around for a while because her parents have been around for a while. So that's Vanessa's little mini-me. And we're glad you're here today. How special. So I said to Vanessa, so listen, is this like her first time? This is her first time being in the podcast. Is this her first time watching? I'm thinking, yeah, no, she probably watches. Her mom's on it. No, she doesn't watch it at all. She's like Tom.

Doesn't watch at all. Neither does Norma. I just found that out. Yeah, I don't watch either. If I'm not on it, good luck. My son does. Aw, tiny. That's why he's the favorite. No, I'm just kidding.

I have no favorites, but I'm just saying. Lies. Okay, Vanessa, do you have a favorite? I don't. Thank you. I know Tracy does. No way. okay Vanessa do you have a favorite I don't thank you I know Tracy does I'm 100% my mother's favorite I know Tracy does

but I am like Vanessa I have no Tracy you admitted you have a favorite what you guys made me pick one no I did not

no I did not I was calling you out oh wow I honestly don't have a favorite. Like I can't even think of a favorite. I love them uniquely. She's right there. She's right there.

I love them uniquely. I love them uniquely. Exactly. My mom has a favorite. I do not. I do not have a favorite. Hey, Talia,

does your mom have a favorite? I'm 100% her favorite. Absolutely has a favorite and she lets it know. Sometimes it's Charlotte. Yeah. Is it between you and Charlotte? It's between me and Charlotte.

But I'm definitely. It's the favorite right now is Tal. For sure. Just because Charlotte is a messy person. She messes up my mom's cleaning. Oh, yeah. And her mom. Listen.

Your mom is so. She is a surgical cleaner. She takes care of our kids' side of the building. She handles the cleaning of it. You literally could go and eat off the floor. She's a cleaner. She's a cleaner. She's a cleaner.

It's crazy. Her house, I've never walked into your house ever, and it'd be messy. It's amazing. And if there's a piece of lint on the ground i'm so sorry the place is filthy and it's a piece of lint and i'm like uh okay we definitely need intervention yeah oh my gosh so are we ready to go with the first question i mean sure let's go's do it. We might only make it past this one. That's okay. Okay, I'm going to be honest with you. This first question was like way over my head.

Way, whoopsie, way over my head. So it's still over my head. I'm going to do my best, and some of it makes sense to me, and some of it doesn't. So the first one says, can you explain dispensationalism? Dispensationalism. I've been seeing more and more definitions of it as it pertains to religion. Well, here's the thing.

I'm going to tell you. I only saw it pertaining to religion. So I don't know what dispensation is outside of, because I couldn't find anything but where it pertains to a religious aspect of things. So this is the definition, okay? Don't get lost in the woods and the weeds. We're going to get through this one as fast as we possibly can, but still answering this person's question and honoring them as well.

A dispensation is a way of ordering things, an administration, a system, or a management. In theology, a dispensation is the divine administration of a period of time. Each dispensation is a divinely appointed age. Dispensationalism is a theological system that recognizes these ages ordained by God to order the affairs of the world. I still didn't understand it after I read that definition.

Do you guys? I even read it twice. And I hate to say it. I read it three and four times. And I still was like, what the what? Yeah. What the dispensation? I do not understand. I was like, so I'm going to tell you what I, I'm going to tell you what they say, not what I think, because if you listen to what I say, you're going to be as lost as last year's Easter egg. Okay?

And you're never going to know what the heck. Okay? Dispensationalism. This is what I copied and pasted. And that's the truth. So no perjury, what is it? Plagiarizing. No plagiarizing here without me telling you.

I can't even tell you where I found this, to be honest with you. I would give them props. But just know, this isn't my words. This is somebody else's. And I would, I can't even remember. Dispensationalism has two primary distinctives. One is a consistently literal interpretation of scripture, especially Bible prophecy.

So what that means is a person who believes in dispensation, the dispensation theory is the word is literal. If it says that the millennial reign is a thousand years, guess what? It will be a thousand years. Even though scripture says that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. Okay, so they'll say it's a thousand years.

Well, could it be just a day though? You know what I'm saying? Because when God created the earth, he did it in a day. There are some people that say, well, that was a thousand years. So that was six days and that was a thousand years. So that was seven, or it was six days. And on the seventh, he rested. So it's 6,000 years was the earth was created or what we, have you guys ever heard that before? Yeah. Yeah. So it just depends like dispensation is literal meaning of whatever it says. It's literal where there's no fluidity. Okay?

Second, a view of the uniqueness of Israel as separate from the church and God's programs. So classical dispensationalism identifies seven dispensations in God's plan for humanity. I have a graph. So hopefully a visual might help you. It didn't help me. I'm going to just be honest with you. Before we go into it, it didn't help me.

But go ahead, Tracy, put the graph up. So there's seven dispensations with dispensationalism. And I'm just going to tell you, you try and say that twice. No way. That word. All you. Yeah, nothing. There's an eternity past and an eternity future, obviously. There is innocence, consciousness,

human government, promise, law, grace, and a thousand year kingdom. Okay. So it's actually divided into Old Testament and New Testament. Okay. Old Testament is the curse and death, the flood, the languages, the Egyptian bondage, right? Which is Moses. Gentiles, I don't understand the Gentile part, which I believe it's because it's Abraham. Up to Abraham is considered Gentile. And then there's Israel. I'm looking at the graph, so that's why I'm looking up. Israel is the law, which is Mosesoses okay then jesus dies for our

sins which is the cross the church is the grace and gentile again and then christ returns for a thousand year reign the kingdom the tribulation, the right throne judgment, okay? That's the hard way to figure that out. Now I have one more that's a little bit easier to understand, but I'm going to tell you it's still not much better. So you have the innocence of consciousness, which is man before the flood, which is Abraham. No, Abraham was after the flood.

So it's Noah and the Melchizedek, and then Adam and Eve, and like Cain and Abel. Who else am I missing before that? Before the flood. Before the flood. Before the flood. Before, like, Noah. Before Noah.

Like, I hit, like, the major players, correct? Yeah. Okay. Then there's man after the flood, which is the human government, which is now Abraham and Moses, all of them. Okay, there's Abram right there, which ended up being Abraham, which is God's promises, right?

And then Moses is the law, then Christ is the church, then tribulation is the judgment, and then kingdom is the millennium. Now, that makes no sense to you right now. But when I read to you the rest of dispensationalism, it might, but it might not. Okay, so we're going to break it down. You can keep that up.

Okay. Dispensationalism as a system results in a premillennial interpretation of Christ's second coming and usually a pre-tribulational interpretation of the rapture. So here's the thing that I can kind of tell you. People who are dispensational, they all believe in pre-trib. There's no wavering on that. And the reason they do is they believe in Israel and Gentile or Christ. So one is church, one is Israel, right? So there's two separate compartments. And so they believe that the church has to go pre-trib in order for the Israelites, the true Jews,

who will walk through tribulation, and then at the Great White Throne Judgment, those who endure to the end will be saved. That's the big thing, okay? But it's mostly pre-trib is the big foundation. To summarize, dispensationalism is a theological system that emphasizes the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, so it's the literal word,

recognizes a distinction between Israel and the church, and organizes the Bible into different dispensations or ministrations, which that's those sections right there. Dispensationalist theology is perhaps best known for its distinctive extacological, and that's what we talked about before a long time ago. I've talked about this. I answered this question two or three times. It's a hard word to say, and it's even harder to understand

to a certain degree. I don't understand. Like for me, just read the Bible. Let's get rid of all these theologies and theories and whatever. But maybe that's because I'm just too simple minded. And that might be true. And sometimes being a deeper thinker is better because there's greater understanding. This well does not go in deep.

It's pretty shallow. But it works for me. So it's distinctive eschatological doctrines, particularly the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture of the church. According to this doctrine, this present church age will be followed by a seven-year period of tribulation, which is what we all believe, before the tribulation begins. Thus, pre-tribulation, the church will be caught up to heaven, where believers will be with Christ.

Oh my goodness. Why, oh why, does somebody have to always call me? The church will be caught up to heaven where believers will be with Christ until the second coming, which occurs at the end of the tribulation. At that time, they will return with Christ who will then inaugurate his millennial kingdom. They are also premillennialist,

although dispensationalism is best known for its nestological doctrines. At its heart is the distinction between Israel and the church. There are two peoples of God. Israel is one of these and consists of the descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. The church is the other, and it consists of all those and only those, whether Jew or Gentile, who are saved. So you have to be saved. Between the day of Pentecost and the rapture.

Part of the reason for the pre-tribulation rapture is to remove the church from earth so that God can begin dealing with national Israel again. And that's probably why you're hearing about it so much right now, is because everybody's believing that these are the times that we're entering into either the birthing pains, or some people even believe that we're in the beginning of tribulation. Everybody has their own theories and thought processes on this. But again, no one knows about the day or the hour of any of all these things. But that's probably the reason why you're hearing this being talked about.

Because everybody's trying to figure out where we're at in the revelation part of things. Or like Matthew 24 when Jesus talks about what it'll look like before his return. There's another theory that disputes, and that's the Reformed covenant theology, which is opposite than this. And the covenant theology believers are the Protestants, who are part of the Reformation, also Calvinists. Yes. The covenant theory defines two overriding covenants,

which is grace and works. So people who are Calvinists usually are on the covenant side of things, and they're not as literal on the word. It explains a lot, doesn't it? It explains why, whereas the literal word doesn't, they don't take it as literal word. Right. Because there's really actually nothing in the word that says that,

and this is going to maybe offend some, but there's nothing in the word specifically that says that once you've asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, that you can't lose your salvation. There's scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture that actually shows the opposite and actually says that if you've asked him to be your Lord and Savior, you walk away, that you're worse off than you were in the beginning. So it talks about the great falling away,

the great apostasy, two places, two places that are actually titled in the New Testament, the great falling away. You can't fall away from something that you've never been a part of. So it makes no sense. But the covenant theory is opposite than the dispensational. A third covenant is sometimes mentioned, and that is called the redemption.

So it's basically, though, grace and works. And most of the Baptists that I grew up with that are Calvinists, and there's a lot of even churches that don't label themselves as Baptists, but they actually are Calvinists. So there are churches that have very archy names. We have a bunch of them around here in this area that actually are, their pastor grew up, took his schooling at a Baptist seminary or something like that, and their whole denomination

is built on the Calvinist doctrine. So they may not have the name. Like this church, this church was a fellowship church, right? It's called Fellowship Church. They actually are Southern Baptist. They use all of the associative-related churches paraphernalia, and the associative-related churches paraphernalia is Calvinist because it's once saved, always saved. I don't know if you guys know that, but it absolutely is. And so associative-related churches is that you can't lose your salvation,

but it's founded off of one of its founders or one of its participants that is heavily involved in it is Elevation Church. So Elevation Church, run by Stephen Furtick, Calvinist Baptist doctrine. So if you don't believe that theology, if you don't come from a Calvinist, you may not want to watch them because it's indoctrinating you into that. Whether you believe it or not, whether you know it or not, that's what they believe. That's what their doctrine stands for. And it's a dangerous, in my opinion, it's dangerous. So that's it.

That's dispensationalism in a nutshell. And you're probably as confused as i was before but really it's really breaks down to two kinds of people the israelites and the church itself pre-treb 100 all the way literal word they believe literal word um which i'm a i'm a literal word person to be honest with you if the bible says it but i also know that there's some things that we're just not going to know. And I also know that the Bible is full of symbolism and things like that. And that's how it works. So anybody over there want to add their two cents into that little cluster of whatever?

No. Yeah. I didn't think so. That's why you got the dunce caps on right over there. You're not wearing them by mistake. It's not just for Happy New Year. No, it's not. As for that question. Next one. I love the four essentials message conversation since starting foundation in July. I have definitely upped my game in prayer, Bible study and worship and have great conversation with my friends who are saved. My husband is not saved.

I found Jesus 15 years ago after 20 years of marriage. He is accepting of my faith and going to church and taking the time I want to take for my reading of the word and my prayer time and worship. But he has no interest in learning more about God. His one big fear that he has shared is that I will take this Jesus thing to the extreme. I pray for him all the time that God will whack him upside the head with the realization that he needs him and that the Holy Spirit will give him the right words to say to him without pushing too hard. Back to the original point. And I love that people give me, like this question was much larger

and I've shortened it. But if we get to the next question after this, you're gonna understand why I liked that she, or yeah, it has to be a she because she's married to a man. I like that she gave me so much information even though I had to shorten it because then I actually understand the question.

Oh my goodness. I don't know who's calling me, but they're annoying me. So if I don't, so I appreciate that I got all this information, but I shortened it um back to the original point how do i engage in fellowship when i don't have a hubby to do it with i am out of the house five times a week because i have a full schedule of activities plus church on sunday so going to another meeting would be a challenge i'm trying to grow in my faith without distancing myself from him any ideas okay So the fellowshipping of yourself

together. I'm just going to say you're already doing that. And Vanessa, who actually teaches on this subject, because she's like, my husband is the original teacher, but she's actually done Bible studies on this teaching. So I'll have her give her two cents too. But so the fellowshipping of yourself together, you're already doing that on church on Sunday. You're already doing that in the middle of the week, going to a Bible study. You don't need to add that into anything else. You're also talking to Christian friends on the phone. That's fellowshipping, right? You don't need to take yourself from your husband one more day. You're doing a great job. You got your life full, which I think is great because a lot of times people, it sounds, you're doing a great job. You got your life full, which I think is great

because a lot of times people, it sounds like you're retired because you're doing things in the day, horseback riding and things like that. So it's good to keep yourself busy and it's good to keep yourself active, right? But you can be so spiritually minded, you're no earthly good at times, which will be a huge turnoff to your husband because life is not like, like people go to work eight hours a day. And when they're at work for the eight hours a day, they're not like, they probably are listening to Christian music

or listening to a biblical teaching, but they're still having to function in the world. You need to be functioning in the world. You need to be doing horseback riding. You should be doing a sport like a pickleball or whatever, where you get together with other people. How do you win the lost? By cultivating and creating relationships. That means it's probably going to have to be with people that are not saved, but that doesn't mean that you're best friends. That means that you're putting yourself out there so that you can be meeting with people so that you can

lend them to the Lord. What I would tell you is this. Do you agree or disagree about what I just said, Vanessa? As far as she's already out there. So, okay. She's saying it. I'm saying it. You don't need to fellowship anymore. You're fine. But I will tell you with your husband, and it sounds like you're doing a bang up job because you're trying to let your words be few. Okay, but 1 Peter 3, 4 clearly says, wives likewise be submissive to your own husbands that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won

by the conduct of their wives. Okay, you wanna win your husband? Keep doing what you're doing. Sheddyville, keep the mouth shut, but live a godly lifestyle. And if he asks you to do something that is not biblical, you do not submit to it. It's only the things that, you know, that fall under the guise of like, there's like just areas that don't matter.

Like if you want to honor him, right? And he says, can you please bring me a drink? Or then you submit and you give him the drink. It's not where you're a slave or something like that. But there are things. If he wants you to go to the grocery store with him, then you go to the grocery store with him. You do the things that he wants to do. But if he tells you you can't read your Bible, if you can't, you're not to tithe off of the income that you bring in, he's wrong. And you don't submit to that authority. You submit only to the things that are not biblical principle

that go against the word of God. If he tells you you can't go to church on Sunday, you do not submit to that. That's not biblical. There are certain things that you are not to compromise on when you're married to somebody who is not saved. And they ask you to do a non-biblical thing. Outside of that, if it's got ungodly instruction, you don't do it. If it doesn't fall under those guidelines, submit. I will tell you, the more you be quiet and the more that you are the example, the better chance you have of him being saved. I'm not saying it's going to be 100%, but I'm just saying the likelihood goes up higher the more that you do that.

Yeah. I mean, we know lots of people who have been married to people, women especially, who've been married to guys that are, for years, wanted nothing to do with God. And they, especially at this church, I will say say i've heard it so many times at this church where my husband would never go to church because they felt like the pastor was so such a weak sauce that they like the husband was like i ain't going to that church and then they come and they see tom and they hear tom and they find out okay there's he's a real man he's a man that makes mistakes he's not afraid to admit that he makes mistakes he's like transparent but he's a strong man he's not a wuss just like they're not

wusses and they don't want to go and listen to a man who's weak right who's if the mama ain't happy the whole house ain't happy there's guys out there that don't subscribe to that nonsense and it's nonsense the man should run the home. He should be the priest of the house. And not to say if he's having a bad day, the whole house should have a bad day. That's not what I'm saying. But the house should not be run by the woman. And when it is, it is completely out of order. So we have a lot of men who have gotten saved or actually are coming to church for the first time in their lives because they're under biblical preaching and teaching and somebody who's in right standing in their home,

and it makes a difference. So I would move to my next question, but I'm going to be honest with you. I want to take a little bit of time. So with that being said, does anybody have anything they want to add? Especially, are you good with that? I think you nailed it. Also, like...

Can you get closer? I can't hear you. The prayers of the righteous... Move that thing closer to you. Yeah, real close. Yeah, real close. Because you're soft-spoken. Also, you nailed it.

But also, like, the prayers of the righteous avail if much. So be praying for your husband. And every time you encounter a situation Also, you nailed it. But also, the prayers of the righteous avail if much. So be praying for your husband. And every time you encounter a situation like when you're squeezed, let Jesus come out. And that will be a witness to him. Absolutely.

Absolutely. And it sounds like, okay, so they've been married for 35 years. Because 20 years plus 15, 35. And she says she prays. She wants God to whack him over the head but i would say draw him in because the scripture says unless he draws them in they will not be saved so instead of whacking him over the head let's and i know you're being funny but pray that the lord draws him in he continues to take that crusty old exterior and that crusty old heart and keep like chiseling away at all that hardness and um usually people who are this dogmatic and don't want anything to do with it when they get saved they stick to it it's the ones that believe that they're already saved that they're living in

in clear rebellion of the word but under the guise that they are saved, it never happens for them. Because they already think they have arrived. It's the ones that know that they're not saved. Those are the ones that are easiest to get saved. It's true. Very true. Parents that have kids that believe that they're saved and that they're Christians and their lifestyles are totally opposite than that. They got a harder, it's harder. Or women that are married or men that are married to women who believe that they're saved, that their lifestyle does not exemplify that at all. The whole time they believe I'm in good standing with God.

That's a tougher thing to turn over because they've already believed that they're there. How do you convince somebody that they're not saved when they believe they are? That's a tough thing to turn over um because they've already believed that they're there how do you convince somebody that they're not saved when they believe they are that's a tough thing that has to be like revelation from the lord that like whereas the revelation is already there for somebody who believes i'm not saved and i don't want to be saved i want nothing to do with it you got a better chance of them getting saved than the other way around. So, um, so let's go straight to, um, winning the loss. If you are not saved today, today is your day. If you have been saved and you want to come back to him, listen, it's the new year. Let's get, let's start it out. Right.

2024 can be the best year yet. It really can be. Um, I,, like, even with everything that's going on around the world, I know that 2024 is going to be better than 2023. Every year, every year that I, yeah, Vanessa just said yes, every year that I capitalize on my walk with God and I take it to the next level, that year is far superior than the year before. It's the ones that I've been kind of like laissez-faire, you know, whatever will be, will be. Those years have been like, eh, they're okay. But the ones that I'm taking new ground in, watch out because they're far superior than any other

year that I've ever experienced before. And again, no day should be the same as it was before. Yesterday, I should be better than I was, or today I should be better than I was yesterday. And tomorrow will look different as well. And when you're trying to go after God like that, seek ye first the kingdom and all these things will be added to you, right? Seek ye first the kingdom and all its righteousness

and all these things will be added. You don't? Seek ye first the kingdom and all its righteousness and all these things will be added. You don't seek him for the added things, but they just come because his word is true. It's a covenant promise. So if you're seeking him and his righteousness, all of what he has will be added to you. It's just a principle that he will not go back on. And I just promise you, you do that, watch out.

Watch out because sky's the limit. So if you don't know him today or if you've known him in the past and you want to get your life right, say this prayer with me right now. Heavenly Father, I come to you right now. I thank you for what you did on the cross. I thank you for dying for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of my sins. And what you say for me to do from this moment forward, I will do. I will change. I'll go 180 degrees in the opposite direction. I will live for you and you will be the Lord of my life

from this moment on. In Jesus' mighty name we pray, amen. If you said that prayer, man, a new day is for you. Nothing, nothing will be the same. And it is a great adventure. With Jesus as the pilot of your life and you sitting in the co-pilot seat, and you literally let him, he says your steps are ordered by him. If you let him walk out your

life for what he has for you, like there's nothing like it. He'll take you places you never thought you'd go and you will be the happiest you've ever been. Amen. All right, guys. Happy New Year. We'll see you on Friday. Who knows what's going to happen? Bye. Thank you. you