Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1243 | Jase Followed Some Healing Advice & (Almost) Became a Human Blowtorch

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

Jase admits that trusting Amish healing advice briefly turned him into something resembling a human blowtorch. The guys explore the difference between idolatry and dominion, arguing that when people surrender control to creation instead of cultivating it under God, chaos follows. They reflect on how God’s light reveals truths we can’t understand when we’re determined to live in our own darkness. In this episode: Genesis 1, verses 1–4; Genesis 1, verse 28; Psalm 19, verses 1–6; John 1, verses 1–5; John 9, verses 35–41; Colossians 3, verse 4; Ephesians 2, verses 8–10; Second Corinthians 6, verse 1; First John 1, verses 1–7 Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://open.spotify.com/show/3LY8eJ4ZBZHmsImGoDNK2l Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters: 00:00-4:53 Al undermines Zach’s parental authority 04:54-13:17 Jase becomes a human blowtorch 13:18-21:23 The reality of our perishable bodies 21:24-29:58 Pain becomes a platform for the Gospel 29:29-36:20 God doesn’t play Blind Man’s Bluff 36:21-47:25 Idolatry vs. Dominion  47:26-55:57 Jesus makes joy & possibilities endless — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to the unashamed podcast, the 26, 2026 edition as we go forward into the new year. We're excited. We got a new study. We just came off a little break, which is always good, Zat, to refresh our minds. Oh, it was great. Yeah, it was kind of nice. We didn't ask you what you did during the holidays. have some, uh, anything exciting going on up there in North Carolina? We do a, we do a, what we call, Jason, you said you had a three-day sabbatical. We take a, about a six-day sabbatical right after Christmas every year. We go somewhere and we turn off all electronic devices.

And no cell phone, no TV, just nothing. But like, so we went to the beach this year, played a lot of pickleball, read a lot of books, a whole family went, ate some good food, I cooked a lot. So that was great because the kids, Max and Layla, are actually about to go on a tour with country music singer Larry Fleet, which Max met him on this podcast. As a matter of fact, when we were together in Nashville, and they connected and Larry.

That was the first time they met once when we were doing that interview. Yeah, Max was back there, I guess. He was back there trying to hustle, you know. And so, and they literally, I mean, I didn't know. I had no clue, but Max said, hey, Larry called and said, hey, y'all want to go on tour with me. I went and listened to y'all's music, and so they're going to be going all over the country. We're going to be in Tennessee, I think Kingsport, Tennessee.

We're going to go actually go here on that venue. And they might even go to Europe. So they were, that was kind of like their last little, and Max is getting married. So it was kind of an emotional time because I'm like, you know, Max is like, this is the last time you're going to actually live in our house. Because he's, we went back to college yesterday to finish out college and he started the tour in February. And then, and so we were like, it was kind of weird. I mean, like, man, we got Layla's married off.

Now Max is like, they're all kind of like, those two are like on their own. So we're, it was kind of a weird, you know, have this moments where you think, man, this thing's moving. Well, Zach, I, I am on record. I love all of your children. They're all amazing in their own way. But Max has always been my favorite, and I don't make any bones about it. It's because he's the only one with any sense when it comes to college athletics. He's an LSU fan.

So I sent he and his fiancé their first Christmas ornament after they get married for next year. And they were proudly hanged the purple and gold from their Christmas tree next year. Isn't that great, though, Al? because it's like you always have a rebel in the family, but Zach can't get mad about it because he loves Jesus. But he loves LSU. So he's in a quiet. That's why he's so bewildered.

He's like, I think I'm going to Kingsbury, Tennessee or whatever. I'm like, well, you might already nail that one down, first of all, wherever you're going. That shouldn't be I think I'm going there, nail that down. Well, I can't remember what it was. I did pull it up, though. So what did I say? Kingsborough?

No, I said Kingsport. Yeah, I made it up. But I just, I was just saying. It's Bristol, Tennessee. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, you were close. Bristol. I hope they're not putting you in charge of promotion.

You're the worst promoter ever. Come see me in Kingsbury, Tennessee. I think I'll be there. March 13th, we're going to be at the Larry Fleet concert at the Paramount Center, Paramount Center for the Performing Arts in Bristol. Tennessee. I am mad at not Max, but I am mad at Al for,

because he's manipulated Max with this LSU stuff. What he's done is he's over his lifetime, Jase, since he was really young, he started sending him gifts, like jerseys and like footballs and all LSU paraphernalia.

And so systematically what he's done, he's come in and he's actually undermined my parental patriarch That's your view. Let me be the Judge Jace here. You should have been doing what Al was doing and you would have pulled it off.

So you got out gifted. You won that one, Al. Good job, buddy. Way to undermine my family. I'm like our Lord and Savior, whom I love with all my heart. I just give good gifts to those who love. Oh, they love that.

That's what I'm doing. Oh, they loved it. Well, I was going to make some New Year's resolutions, but since I was so sick and I did this trip, which I missed the new year because I was on the road, which who does that, you know? Evidently, because my wife said, well, this is, you're not going to welcome in the new year. I was like, well, I'll, how about I call you and we'll do the FaceTime? It's like, yes, great. Well, guess what happened? When I left to Kansas, oh no, it's worse than that out.

When I left to Kansas, about three hours into the trip, I realized I don't have my phone. And so, you know, Zach, when he said he took a, he was comparing what I did to a three-day sabbatical. Now, I took a sabbatical when I left that place because I had no phone for six days. Did you do it on purpose, though? No, Zach, I said I forgot my phone. I wouldn't. That's what I'm saying. have a life. I have, you know, but I had my computer. So technically what I learned,

even though I'm not a tech wizard, and I surprised my wife on New Year's Eve because I figured out how to call my wife on my computer. Get you some of that. Now look, I had to, I only found a place that was 10 by 10 where I could get a signal. And I went all over the private. There. There was one spot that Barrett actually knew about it. He's like, go over there and it'll work. So I was pretty much free from all communication for the six days except for that. But I thought that was cool and surprised because she was like, how are you calling me without a phone?

I said, it's exciting, babe. I pull it off. It's a Christmas miracle. The love I have for you was burning so fiery. I had to find a way. So it was actually a moment. I pulled it off. She was excited.

But, so I've had a lot of people make resolutions for me. I bumped into a guy because, I mean, my throat and my sinuses and all that had been so bad. I lost my voice, terrible. So I got talked into doing this Amish way of restoring your throat capabilities. I was a little nervous about it. I thought I'd share this because I think this is probably the reason that so many rednecks diet young ages that they're willing to try things like what I'm fixed to tell you. So this guy said he got it from the Amish, but he said, what you need is some fire water.

And so the recipe, and I did it, I got, boil me some water. I took, what were the ingredients? Well, it said take apple cider, vicar. vinegar with the hot water. I can't believe. Oh, and some salt. I had like a teaspoon of salt. I had like a couple tablespoons.

I was supposed to have apple cider vinegar, but nobody had any, so I just used white vinegar. That may be where it all went wrong. But then the last ingredient was a couple tablespoons of cayenne pepper. And so I boiled the water, and I rotated that around. and look, just the fumes made me feel better. And I drank a cup of that. And you know what happened?

I think I turned into the first ever human blow torch. I was just emitting fire from the vapors. And I felt really good for about 30 seconds. And then that didn't work. I coughed and weaved. So I thought it was kind of funny that I tried that. But then it led me to what I'm sipping on now, which is my version of the firewater,

which is I got one tea bag in boiling water with a half a lemon squeezed and a couple of teaspoons of honey. And I don't mean this kind that's been processed. I'm talking about honey, the honey comb, raw honey. You're talking about the old school honey. And I made this concoction. And it's actually made me on the road to recovery.

You're missing one key ingredient. Al knows what it is. I know what it is. You got one key ingredient. Urban. A little bourbon in there. No. I tried that one time with my son and I said, you know, we're not talking about what you're not talking about.

We're not talking about just bourbon. We're talking about medicinal. I tried the fire water. Look, trust me, you think, oh, you know, I sip on bourbon. You think, you try my little Amish firewater. Put a couple tablespoons. See, you're not registering. When that hit my lips and went down, it was literally fire water.

Cyan pepper. There's some ginger in there. It could do ginger would help you, too. But it didn't really work, so I don't know if that's an illusion. I don't know if any of that stuff works, to be honest with you. No, I'll tell you what. The hot toddy, the true hot toddy does work. And it's tried and true.

I mean, it works for what, I've been struggling with this for 12 days. This house with nighttime cough and helps you go to sleep. And the first person that I ever saw it was my granny is one that first did it. And it's a little bit of honey and some lemon juice. This is true. I learned this. The Amish fire water. No, no, it is true.

It's such a distraction that you forget everything and anything. By the hot toddy. You have a now a new problem. I could do smoke rings and I wasn't even smoking. It was just rings coming out. I was like, look at the paper. Missy was like, how are you doing that? I was like a side story now.

This is a side story. What you got to say? You're air. I've become a superhero. All I do is breathe on you and you'll pass out. What was it like later? Is this duck call room, Zach? Are we on duck car room?

The later was probably the dangerous part. It was what happened. I'm just saying all these wives, Ted, they're all just things that we come up with. Right now it's a distraction. But this is a more enjoyable with the tea and honey and lemon. It's a more enjoyable distraction. So there it is.

So I did want to mention, And I did want to mention that we had the, you mentioned about the new years. And because we used to stay up and watch the ball drop. I missed the one in New York. You know, they got the big ball in Times Square. And then, but I, the last three or four years, Zach, you'll appreciate this with Nashville kids singers. I've been watching the Nashville edition. And it's mostly country music, although now it's kind of crossed over because you've got like jelly roll and all

these other guys. But they have a music note that drops in Nashville, which makes sense. So it got me to wondering about different cities what they did. And so down here, close to where I'm at now at the Southern Lair in Gulf Shores, the city of Mobile, do you know what they drop at the when the hour strikes 12? They have a drop at their tallest building here in Mobile. I'm going to guess a crawfish. No, that's a good guess, but no. Jase, you want to take a shot at it? No idea. A moon pie.

Okay. No, that's a good idea. I like moon pie. I think it's a great idea. So then I started looking up and down the coast at Bay St. Louis, Louis, which is about halfway from here to Louisiana on the coast. They have an oyster that they drop. And then on a cross, there's a crawfiz.

So you got it. It's like regional things that they drop on New Year. I didn't know cities did that. I didn't know that was a thing. I've only in my life. and I've been here almost as long as you have. I've only saw the new year go over once. I'm asleep when that's going on.

One time. Can you believe that? Jay's read the verse and said what the disobedient do they do at night, and he said, I'm sleeping. No, it's because it's during duck season. If you're a duck hunter, I can't be staying up to midnight. I'll get it in the morning. And you're sleeping it off.

Oh, Jason, ripping and roaring and chasing ducks. You ready to roll. And burning holes into his loins. Yeah, yeah, we know what you do. I know, Al, I'll have a scar there. And it's just a reminder that you need to keep the coffee out of your lap and keep it ingested. And so, y'all learned a lesson there. I will say, as a throwback to that conversation, I'm amazed at something that you were drinking and putting inside your body.

It shows you the power of the esophagus and the stomach lining would literally burn a hole into your loins at the same time. That's incredible. Oh, I know. Jay, I kept, you know, not complaining, but I was in pain for days. And I was running around with old Jay Stone, you know, gallimating across the country. The picture of compassion. And finally, when I had to, I was trying to take a picture and give it to the doctor because they were, you know, looking at my progress. And he saw it and he's like, I cannot believe that happened to you.

It was like so shocking that, I mean, it looks absolutely terrible. it's like somebody took a quarter and just branded me about an inch down into my leg and festered and just all the skin was gone. But you know why I realize now is because it was concentrated in that one spot. It was, and I didn't know it was happening. I literally, it just shows you how if you don't know something's happening, you know, I thought I was just pulled a muscle or something. I didn't know.

It took me a while to figure out the process, and I'm trapped in a truck. There's power. And then I put our in that constant. Tight waiters and go agitated for five hours. Yeah. I mean, I said, take me to the hospital. When we got in the trial, I said, take me in the hospital before I started doing all that.

So, anyway, we can't get off with boys. Move on, move on. But it shows that we're perishable. And no matter what you do, things just happen. You know, that's why my wife calls Doug Season, which. my mom is the one that came up with it, the ordeal. And she's carrying that legacy. It's all part of the ordeal.

And so I didn't take a three-day sabbatical. I was unable to move. I've been sick and I've been in pain. And I really was thankful just because I thought we had so many Bible studies and Jesus conversations in those six days. I mean for hours and hours. I just thought, this is what happens. This is spiritual warfare.

You know, whether I did it on my own or whatever, I just thought they're going to try to shut you up because there were too many good things that happened for the Lord. Really, the trip was not a duck hunting trip. And I'll give Jaystone credit. He said, this has turned into a crusade for Jesus. He said that after about day three. I said, oh, that's what it is.

And so it was fantastic. Well, since he's my son-in-law, I'm always glad when he gets in the crosshairs of a crusade for Jesus quest. So that's always a good thing for everybody around. Well, I think it was, but I think when you think about New Year's resolutions and all just to keep that theme, these are the things that make your life in the life, you know, worth living. It's simple stuff. It's studying your Bible, not just reading your Bible, studying your Bible. having Jesus conversations, praying, communicating to God.

I mean, everybody always, you know, they want to hear other people's resolutions like there's something profound. It's these simple things that happen in the faith that just ignite your faith. And so that's what I recommend if you want to make some resolutions. It was funny, Jaiska's on New Year's Day. I was reading some of the birth stuff for this study. and I'm also studying the book of James, which is really interesting to have two separate Bible studies going off the same time because we're preaching James this year or the first few months of our church. And so I had two different studies going on at the same time. And both of them are great.

And it was really ironic because I was reading one of the oldest manuscripts in terms of the New Testament right alongside one of the newest, which James was written very early. I mean, just right after, you know, everything happened. And so it was really interesting seeing the dynamic of the study. And Lisa has started a year read-through-the-b Bible program that she's doing. And so she said, well, I'm fixing to go and do my little Bible study. I said, well, I'm going to be over here doing my really big Bible study because we got two of them going on and it's so enriching. But you're right.

But it's not just what you bring into your heart and mind, but then it's what flows out from the result. which is powerful. And so I want to open today's session back into 1 John 1.1 with a verse I wanted to read last time, but I couldn't get it in. And it's back to that concept that that you talked about with John 1, 1 through 4 and Genesis 1, through 4, sort of the parallels that run through these different eras. And while I was researching this, I found another one that I had never really recognized,

but it's very similar. Different literary work, so it's not the same as those other three. But won't you listen to this? This is from Psalm 19, and this was David's Psalm. But listen how similar it is to what we've been talking about. I just had to read it. It's so good. It really enriched me.

He says in Psalm 19, The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands. So it's right this creation narrative right off the back. day after day they pour for speech. There's words again. Night after night, they display knowledge. There's no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

So in other words, it's so loud is such a revelation that you can hear it. Their voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the end of the world. In the heavens, he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion. Who does that sound like? Like a champion rejoicing to run its course. It rises at one end of the heavens and it makes its circuit to the other.

And Jace, here's the point I want to make about the heat, concentrated heat. Nothing is hidden from its heat. And he goes on to talk about the law and he talks about, you know, all these different things at the end of the Psalm. But I just, when I read that, I thought, man, no matter where you go, you see, you keep going back to these same principles of who God is, How he created us, how he's redeemed us, how he's connected us back into him, and now how we're a part of this eternal existence. I just thought that was really rich. I had never noticed it before in that same narrative as what we've been studied.

Well, look, I'll tell you this. I left this part out. The day I was literally on fire from coffee, you know, we go hunt with these people that I don't know. Jay lined it up. This was back in Louisiana. This is before I went to Kansas. and we got in the guy that owned the place. And we only killed three ducks.

One of the hottest holes in Louisiana, but the fog rolled in. So not only did I burn myself, we only shot three ducks because the fog. I basically just sat out there and fried. But when we got into the little rig leaving there, well, a Jesus question popped up. And it was basically just like, you know, you're different than most people I take hunting.

And no foul language, you know, positive, all this kind of stuff. And so I took that to me. And he was asking why I'm like that. So I gave a little Jesus message and didn't think much about it. But a couple weeks later, O.J., he called me. He's like, hey, what did you? what did you say to that guy when you were in his rig with him? I said, well, I told him about Jesus.

He said, well, he just gave his life to the Lord. This guy was an older gentleman in his, I'd say, mid-60s, I guess. And so then I thought, man, I was on fire for the Lord, and I was literally on fire. That's the intensity of the heat. I haven't said all that. Was it worth it for me to burn a hole for this guy to hear by Jesus? I'm going to say, absolutely it was. So there you go.

You never know. You know, I mean, you're out in the woods, which is another good New Year's resolution. Spend time in the outdoors because there's something about it. That led me to the Lord, which led me to his book, which led me to Jesus. Just being outdoors, that being kind of my happy place, because you can't help it. look around and think, somebody is the author of this life that I'm looking at in this design. No, that's so good. In fact, Zach, you used that word life last time.

Of course, the word, it says we proclaim, this we proclaim concerning the word of life. And we know it's that same logos that we know from John 1. And the word life there is also the same one. And that's Zoe, the Greek word Zoe. and it says in him was life, John 1, 4, and that life was the light of all mankind. And then I want to read another verse, Colossians 3, 4, when Christ, who is our life, as that is our life. Yeah, in that verse.

Appears. He is your life. And there's that manifest, appears. Then you will also, you also will appear with Him in glory. So I love that idea. Well, if you notice in the second passage, when he gets in, like the first part, the emphasis is on the word life. And then what you see in 1-1-1-1-4 is you see that life is personified.

So life has a name. Then when you get to verse 5 through 10, then you have another word, light. Now, light is personified. And so I think the Colossians passage is helpful because the whole book, Colossians, the whole letter of Colossians, rather, is a letter that's testifying to not the shadow of the things, right? It's the substance. So if you read that whole Colossians passage one and two, it's like, in him, in him, in him,

in him. The reality, however, is found in Christ. And so what John's doing here in these first, you know, 10 verses is he's first coming up with life, but he said, but life's not an idea. life's a person. And now light is not an idea. Life's a person. And another way that you could separate this is the first four verses are about being, God's being. And then the second part, when he talks about life, it's about us knowing. So it's about knowing God, because you know through illumination, if the lights are off and I walk into this room, in fact, when I walked into

this studio today, all the lights were off in the studio, except for the light over there. where Josh is working. And I literally, because I came in from the outside, I couldn't see. And then I was like, I couldn't tell where things are at. I was afraid I was going to like trip over a couch or trip over a chair. And I said, hey, they, turn their lights on.

And then as soon as he turned the lights on, guess what? The craziest thing happened is that I had the knowledge of where everything was at. I knew it. I could see it. And so with Christ, you can see everything. It's through Christ that we can actually see reality.

We can know what the furniture's at. I can know what not to trip over. I can know this couch is great if you sit on it. It's not great if you're going to try to walk through it. You're going to trip. So it helps us see the intention and the purpose and the design of creation. And we can use it for its ultimate purpose, which is to have dominion over it and to use it for the glory of God instead of letting

control us. Which is why that darkness is so frightening. Most of the time it's not. I mean, Jason, I grew up in an area that was dark and it always seemed scary. but the only reason in dark is scary is because you don't know what's out there. You don't know what's out there. But most of the time there's nothing out there.

Here's the kick, and you're going to see the evil one, this celestial fallen being that we've kind of empowered through our sins. You see him come up a lot, which we didn't talk about in our first podcast, but he's going to come up a lot. Because the problem is people in the world using this light and darkness, and we were all in the world and of the world, you think you can see. So part of you coming to Jesus is realizing,

oh, I'm in darkness. I'm just going around with my hands out. You know, we've all been in those moments when all the lights go out and you're... Yeah. It is a scary thing. Well, that's the depiction that he's trying to get you to see. This is your life.

The evil one comes in there and takes control and gives you the impression that, oh, you can see, you're doing great as you're headed toward death and destruction. Well, right. That's my mind. But isn't that how evil men operate too? I mean, you know, I remember when I was a kid, there's these a group of guys that are super evil people, and they would stay come in this room, and they would turn

the lights out, and they said, we're going to play a game called Blind Man's Bluff. and they would take pillows and they would put stuff in the pillow and they would hit me and jump upside the head with these pillows but the only way they'd get away with it is by turning the lights off and when you guys would wear us out with those pillows I was thinking you know if you turn the lights on

then you can't the game's over like we see where you're coming from but that was the caveat to the game and we always lost but you turn the lights on and then things get illuminated and it's so related to the concept of truth because in order for me to believe in a lie,

I have to have some kind of blind spot. That's one of the name, the game when you speak, it was called Blind Man's Bluff, right? But you have to be blinded in some capacity in order to believe in a lie, meaning that I have to take your word for it. So if you say around the corner

from this building, there's a $100 bill waiting for you. well, I can't see around that corner. So either, I mean, the only way I'm going to believe the lie, but if somehow I could see what was around that corner, then it would be impossible for you to deceive me into believing that something is around the corner that's not actually there. So what Christ does is that he actually illuminates our, or the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, illuminates our awareness to what is actually real.

And so to the degree that you submit to the Spirit's revelation about reality is the degree to which you can actually experience freedom from sin, which is why he says here, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. This isn't just talking about forgiveness of sins. This is talking about real genuine cleansing that comes from the revelatory knowledge of what actually is reality. We can be freed from the power of sin as we are submitted to the Spirit as he's revealing this to us. I don't have to trip over the couch if I allow the Spirit to turn the lights on. Well, and it makes you able to do what you were created for, walking in the light. which, you know, I'm sure we'll get into this at some point, which we're not going to redefine sin,

but it's more than just breaking some moral code, which is what most religions have it down to. You know, it means missing the mark. You're not being what you were designed to be. And so what do we do? You'll see those three things come up in 1st John. You'll see sin come up. You'll see the evil one come up.

And then the last verse seems like it's out of place. The last verse in the book of 1st John seems like, what? And do you know it off the top of your head? It seems random. And because people... Keep yourselves from idols. Yeah. Little children keep yourself from idols.

This whole letter, sermon, I think it's more of a poetic sermon to a house church, says, dear children, keep yourselves from idols. like, what's that got to do with anything? But when you think about the beginning where they started in creation and we're born to reflect God and to worship God, and Jesus is the image

of the invisible God, and we are made in his image as to reflect. Well, when you take something else that's created and make that, the image that you bow down to, you then are giving power over to something that is not the supernatural power, the life. Yeah.

And it empowers these celestial beings. And this is kind of how it works. Those three things work together, sin, the celestial beings, and idols. Yeah, that's interesting that you brought that up because there's a parallel to this in John 15, where he talks about abiding in the vine. He gives this image of a vine. and he says, you got, like, if you abide in the vine, if you connect it to the vine, then you're going to actually bear fruit.

And so that is indicative of like this garden, right? We go back to the creation itself and it would be fruitful, multiply, like produce fruit. Like, go cultivate. Have dominion over the earth. So if you understand idolatry in its most basic form to be, not necessarily the worship of some, like, statue, although it is that, but that's, just a version of it. Idolatry is to take the creation that you were and I and Adam and Eve where God said,

I want you to cultivate the creation, cultivate the earth, cultivate the garden, and I want you to have dominion over it. What idolatry would be, instead of doing that, it would be then to give that dominion over to the creation to then have power over you. And so what's happening in this, when you talk about this, idea of abiding and walking with and redefining sin, which you said we're not going to do, but we probably need to, probably do need to redefine sin from our current understanding of it, that sin is not the violation of an arbitrary commandment that God gave to prove our loyalty to

him. To sin is to actually abdicate our, what God calls us to do, which is be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion, and instead we're going to give that ever to creation. That's idolatry. I was going to tell you, I've got the perfect illustration for what you're talking about. You and I were talking earlier, and you'd sent me a note about the new Seattle mayor, who's one of these woke socialist types, who's taken over the city. And basically, she's just said, do drugs in the street. Whatever needs to have, we've unshackled any idea of trying to have some order in this chaos. And about 12 years ago, I went to Seattle for the first time to go on a cruise out of Alaska.

And I happen to go every year for the next three or four years doing cruises, most of them working. And so Lisa and I, the first time I went, I walked down the streets. It's a beautiful city. It's right on the water and these great restaurants. And man, this is what a beautiful city that these people have created here. They created this little jewel, you know, right up in our northwest and Seattle. Next year we go, it lost a little luster. There was a few more things going on in the streets that weren't great.

By the end of the fifth year, we were. afraid to walk the streets of Seattle down where all the tourists are. And like we just wouldn't even get out of our hotel. Now you continue to watch this progression of just saying there is no order and we've turned it over to creation itself. And it's just becoming untenable, unlivable, unvisitable. And so when you watch that, you can even see it in real time over a couple of decades in a U.S. city. Imagine the whole idea of you. humanity in this idea of what happens when something other than God is in charge, when you take away his order, when you take away his light and all the other metaphors that we've been talking

about. Well, you see that in every city, an area that tries this, right? When you worship and serve the creation rather than seeing the creation as something that we actually cultivate, the creation is something that we steward, the creation is something that we exercise dominion over. when you flip that script, the end result is always a death work. It's always a city like Seattle that is just, or San Francisco. I mean, there's so many cities across America that have embraced this ideology, and you see the decline, you see the filth, you see the, it's the opposite of a beautiful

garden that's expanding. Instead, what it is, it becomes a trash dump that is shrinking, which is, sounds a whole lot like hell, right? And so that's, that's the juxtaposition. So when you read these text here about light and about illumination and about life, the picture is all, goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 1 verse 28, which is that idea, like, this is your calling. This is what the calling of man is. Don't turn that over to creation. You fulfill what God's called you to do. I think it's actually the grand story of the whole Bible is that God has instructed man at the very beginning to take the temple, which was the garden, and I want you to take this temple and expand it across the entire cosmos for the dwelling place of God.

And where Adam failed in that, and where Israel failed in that, Christ has succeeded. And so that's a big underlying part of what the text here in 1, John, is getting at particularly in light of what you mentioned about the temple being destroyed in 8070. And you can't trust the leaders of these places because they're just whistling through the graveyard. They're like the evil one. The evil one said, I would rather lead and Lord in hell than serve in heaven. I mean, that's how we wind up finding this being that, as you mentioned earlier. And it's the same thing.

These people, they'll clean up a little part of the city and they'll say, see, nothing's happening here. Everything's great. You're talking about blinded. Well, and they think they can see. That's why I was going to bring up this. You know, we didn't mention this before, because I guess we're just kind of introducing this. But when he said, you know, I think the lead, which we kind of buried,

is that when John wrote the book of John, he's definitely quickly getting to this as a person. Because in John 1-1, he says, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. but then it says he was with God in the beginning. Of course, he explains it in verse 14.

The word became flesh. We have seen His glory, the one and only son. But when he gets here, now it's post-resurrection, and he's like, that, which was from the beginning, which we know is the word of life, because he's getting that at the end of the verse. But it's almost like, oh yeah, he's a person. but it's that which we have heard.

So then he goes through this kind of deeper understanding because not only did they hear it, they saw it with their eyes, but they looked at it. And all these words are different Greek words. And they're more complex than you think. It's meditation, understanding, going, processing. So it's like you're seeing it,

but it's not just that they saw, him, which is why I think he's using a different adjective to even describe this being. Because how do you describe, okay, he's a person. He's not just any person. He's life itself. And so I do think it's a bizarre way. I remember my dad used to say that. He said, boy, he saw that resurrection, and it went from a hymn to an it.

Whatever that was, you need to get behind him and following him. And Jason, when we study John, you remember John uses the same technique in his writing of this gospel, because it said he looked in the tomb, talking about himself, and he saw that Jesus wasn't there. But then about three verses later, it says he saw, which in the English language, that could be the same word. But it means so much more. Oh, it does. It's lost in translation. That's why I wanted to bring it up.

Look, what he's saying is, and why we're making a big point of this. this is the more you contemplate this, meditate on it, just let it soak in. The light not only comes on, but you start thinking, oh, the possibilities are endless. I mean, forget the New Year's resolution. I got a resolution every day. I wake up with a resolution after contemplating who this is. And I think it's so much bigger, which is why we're, we didn't really plan on this, but study in this book is not, I'll keep calling it a book, it's more of a sermon. It's deeper than you think, because he's really using words that you need to meditate and contemplate on wrapping your head around who this being is.

And the greatest part of this is you can be welcomed into it, into a partnership and a participation of it right now. Because what, yeah, because what's the hallmarker of the original sin was the opposite opposite of what you just said. What they thought when Satan shows up on the scene is that the possibilities are limited. That's how they do God's commandments, which you're going to find in this whole book of First John that that's not the case. But the way they interpreted the commandments of God at the beginning, you can eat from any tree in the garden except for one, but don't eat to that one or you're surely that. When Satan comes in, the lie was that the possibilities are

limited guys. He has limited the possibilities for you, but that is actually a lie. And so when the revelation is turned on, when the light is turned on, when the mind is illuminated, I love what you just said there. I think that is so profound that the understanding them becomes not, I can't do these things that are fun. That's not it. It is that the, oh, wow, the possibilities are limitless, which is why that verse four in 1 John 1 is so important because he says that we're writing these things so that our joy may be complete. What is the, what's the intention? What's the purpose of this? Is that your joy may be complete? Well, how is it going to be complete? It's going to be complete by understanding and believing that the possibilities are limitless. What God has prepared

for those who love him, no eye has seen nor the heart of man. Imagine what God has prepared for those who love him. The endless possibilities, but he has revealed it to us by a spirit. This is a whole like paradigm shift in the way that we think about sin and the way that we think about joy. And it happens to coincide in a person whose name is Jesus. Yeah. And I would add, I would add, and your point.

purpose, because that's why I think the fellowship word is lost in translation, is because you become a participant now. There is a not yet, which he addresses. When he gets to 1st John 3, you know, he brings up, there will be another manifestation or appearing of Jesus. When he comes, we will see him like he is, and we will have that bodily resurrection. We'll get to that. Great point because the fellowship, I mean, the fellowship, he says it right here. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. So we say, wow, the world's divided or this or that or that. Man, you want community.

You want fellowship. You want friends. You want family. You want walk in the light as he is in the light, and we will have fellowship with one another. Well, right. I'm going to do in a future, First John, rabbit hole is I'm going to, to go everywhere that word is used. It's not as many as you would think, that word fellowship. You're going to be stunned where that's used. And it's used all over the place about, and then

it's translated in English, our partnership in the gospel. You know, think the, think First 2nd Corinthians 5, you know, when it says, we're the ambassadors of God in Christ. We make him known. but then he gets to 2nd Corinthians 6 and it says this little verse that makes people feel uncomfortable and I don't want you to panic. I'm going to show you how this is good news. There's different kinds of work. It's the same kind of work that goes back to the creation story. You know, when he rested Adam in the garden to work it, well, that's a different kind of work. He was reflecting the image of God. Well, this comes full circle when you get into verses like Ephesians 2, where it says God's salvation is the gift of God, not by man, so that they can boast, not by works. You know, we've said that verse at nauseam.

But then three or four verses later, it says, for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Second Corinthians, 6.1 says the same thing as God's fellow workers. do not receive God's grace and vain. And so I think there's a different kind of work. There's a bad work working in darkness, thinking you can see or thinking you can somehow earn your salvation. But then there's a good work. It's a work that goes back to that garden when he rested Adam in the garden to work it

and take care of the blessings. The problem started. Which was before the fall. Exactly. If you read Genesis 128, he blessed them. and then said, go work. So work was a blessing, not a curse. The curse was in Genesis 3, which was that wasn't the work.

That wasn't the curse. The curse was just going to produce thorns and thistles for you. Right. And we'll get to that. I probably shouldn't have brought it up because that was just a thumbnail. But I do want to get into that for a whole podcast and talk about where the words you use. One thing I do want to read, because I know we're almost out of time. To go back to your point out about seeing and the light, this is very common.

with John, when he had this conversation in John 9, after the man who was born blind, remember all that, and Jesus healed him, and he said so that the work of God may be displayed in his life. But he gets to the end, and he uses this same concept that you're seeing in 1st John here about the contemplation, understanding, meditation, and how the light comes in the mind. And I want to read this, John 935, Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him he said do you believe in the son of man which is really why the book of first john is written because people are not believing that here's this man who came from god

who is he sir the man asked tell me so that i may believe in him jesus said you have now seen him in fact he is the one speaking with you which are two of the references john uses it we've heard him speak. We've listened to him. We touched him. We, in, in his preamble here. And so then the man said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. Jesus said, for judgment, I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. Some Pharisees who were with him, heard him say this and asked what? Are we blind to? And Jesus says, if you were, were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. And I just wanted to read that because that's what this transition from darkness to light is all

about. Not only are you in darkness, but you think you're in the light. That's what the evil powers, the idolatry, your own sin and selfish ambition contribute to. And that's what Jesus, he breaks that chain. I mean, he did it on his death on the cross and resurrection, but then he gives you that spirit to be able to be illuminated in truth and light. No, that's good. And it's also a bigger narrative of what that means, which it gets into that idolatry bit you brought in at the end as well. All right, we're off and running. We'll see you next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube

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