Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 339 | Phil’s Message to Afghan Christians and How Hurricane Ida Affected the Robertsons

Episode Date: September 3, 2021

Phil and Zach share their messages to the persecuted Christians of Afghanistan. Phil talks about why he likes to live on the edge of madness, especially when it comes to floodwater. Zach and Jase discuss the role of the night minister. Jase believes we’ve been brainwashed — in the best way possible. Zach says that Christ died for everyone individually, but it's time for all those individuals to work together. And Jase tells the story of the time he followed a girl to a bar to confront her about lying. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? We just had one come through. A lot of people said, so how are y'all doing? You're up in north central, Louisiana. What people have to remember, who are not from Louisiana, we live a stone's throw. A little further than a stone, so I say 100 yards. We live 100 yards from a hundred yards from River that comes out of Arkansas, the Wasatahal. We have water fluctuation naturally, but we're not shocked by it year in and year out. We have a water regime that fluctuates 30 feet. So just look 100 yards away.

You see a bayou. You're like, how high does that thing get? You say 30 feet. straight up and they look they look around but where you are and we're right on the edge of we're just on a hill just above it Phil you're on the edge of madness yeah the 30 foot water when it hits if you get it if it goes to 30 it's under my house the water's under my house a 30 footer you say so you do have a little slack there you do have a little slack it's never got in the house never got in the house now get it's got in the house now get

within about in 91, it got to within a foot of being in the house. I eased across the river in a boat and motor, looked at the levee. And the levee was like two inches where I was. My house was like a foot. Yeah. It was two inches on that levee, two more inches, and it breaches the levee. And it'll rip a big hole in it, and the floodwaters will begin to recede, and somebody else is flooded.

I only make the point to let people know, you live at a place 40 years. You know there's going to be water in your yard. You'll be cut off by water from time to time. You park then higher up the high ground. You walk across to your dwelling with the groceries. They've got a four-wheel or something, bring the groceries in. So it's a little bit, you know, clumbusome,

but it's no big thing. we're used to looking at floodwaters on an ongoing basis. We say, yep, where's it going to get to? And they say, 45 feet, and I'm like 45, who. 21-2 is pool stage. That's when everything is just sitting there, low as it gets. 31-2, you've got a 10-foot rise. 41-2, you've got a 20-foot rise.

We begin to gather up stuff. You don't leave stuff in your yard, stuff that will float away, or that water will ruin. We have equipment. We begin to move it out. Move to higher ground, got one coming. We're looking at, I'm not a computer person, but I've got people who look at them. I said, why does that computer say this water's going to do?

As you can say, you've got another 10-foot rise. I said, 10-foot. All right, we move stuff further up the hill. What about now? It's got another 5-foot rise. We move stuff back up the hill further. When all of it leaves, we return. turn and life gets back down to normal.

But my point is, we don't get excited about floods. We're so used to it. That's part of life in Louisiana. Yeah, we dodged a bullet on, at least up in Monroe, dodged a boy. You saw what a little creek in Waverly... Us dodging a bullet means somebody got hammered to the east and southdust. You saw a little creek in Waverly, Tennessee.

I mean, it's just a creek, a little small thing. If you dump 17 inches of rain on it, it just rips the neighborhoods apart. It just up and it blows everything away going in people's house, falls out. You say, well, what in the world? 17 inches overnight. But anywhere around here, if that happens, there's big trouble with floods. It's just too much water to drain off that rapidly. So I'm just saying we did well.

I really feel for the people in deep South Louisiana. A lot of guys I played ball with that were from La Rose and those various parishes. They got hit hard. They got hit hard. Tennessee's going to, I mean, they're going to get it too. It's amazing not many. So far, I haven't heard the loss of life because one's too many. But it's just amazing how destructive a hurricane is.

And you would think our brothers in South Louisiana are a. very hearty group of individuals. A lot of those people, right. They're like me. They're used to waters, but they say, well, this one, you know, nothing you can do, but just run and come back later. It's just the way it is. Well, this one was a big one.

Those things will never stop. And it came on pretty suddenly. I mean, you only had a couple days of notice. Men with all their ingenuity are never going to fix, to solve the problem of floods. It rains enough if you're going to flood. Yeah, we had to rearrange our plans here. We were going to have Shane and Shane on the podcast. I was disappointed.

I actually prepared. I was like, now, what do they do? Because I wasn't familiar with them. And you sent me one of their songs, which I was really impressed with them. They do worship songs. These are musicians. They go through the book of Psalms. So that's where they get their material, which is a good place to go.

And they write worship songs. I guess that were written from the Psalms. Yeah. And they were really good. So I had picked out, you know, I just hadn't gone through the Psalms and so long, but there's 150 of them. Yeah. And so I went through some, and I had song ideas for Shane and Shane that were a little offbeat.

And so I thought we might have a writing session. So when did this group arrive? Well, they were coming in. They were supposed to come in on yesterday. I mean, how long have they been in resistance? Oh, they've been around a while. They've put out quite a bit of music. They're unbelievable.

I heard him at an event I was at in Arizona. And the reason why I like these guys is because their music and their whole persona is very Christ exalting. In fact, we were worshiping with a group in Arizona, a small group of people. This is where I met, I met Shane, I met both of them, but I got to be buddies with Shane Ever. He's a he's kind of an outdoorsman, a little bit of a country boy, redneck kind of guy, loves the hunting fish. So we were talking,

I didn't know he was. We were talking about duck hunting. And then he walks up on stage and starts leading the whole thing. I was like, oh, that was him. And, but as they're singing, they moved into one of the songs, the last song.

And, of course, I'm like, eyes closed. I'm just worshipping the Lord. And I'm kind of lost in the moment. And we sang the last, you know, sometimes I'll let the audience sing and they just kind of back off the mic. Oh, yeah. They let the audience sing and I open my eyes up and they're gone.

It's like they're gone. It's intentional. It was like this is about him and so their initiative that they're working on now. They've got a new album coming out. We'll have them on. They're going to come back, but they're going to, they've got a new album coming out. They're going through. They do a lot of hymns.

They go through the Psalms and rewrite those and put them to, I mean, it's just incredible. I'll send you some of the stuff. I mean, we've incorporated a lot of their music in our church. just because we want to get to songs that are scriptly sound and God exalting and a little, you know, I use the word disruptive in a good way. So, but we'll have them back then. They're singing is, you know, it's kind of touchy-feely. And so I was kind of in fun, was going to come up with some different ideas to get them out of their comfort zone.

So you may give you a sample. I was dying to get into this. So like Psalm 141 is all about. the evil world setting traps for people of faith. And so I was like, lots of them around. So if I just read this like one verse from Psalm 141, it says in verse 9,

keep me from the snares they have laid for me from the traps set by evil doers. Let the wicked fall into their own nets while I pass by in safety. So see, these are not the type of songs. So you want to see if they could present it. Well, I was going to, da-da-na-da-na-da-na-na-na-na-it's a trap. You know, you got these trap sounds from cymbles and tamboury.

It's a trap. It's like a salsa trap song, which would be fun, but it also, there's a seriousness there because that is happening. So I was going to try to expand their horizons. Lots of traps in this. I just wanted to see what they would say, probably crickets. Maybe you get a writing credit. They're going to come back, so we'll have them on. Traps are reality, Jace.

Yeah. Reality. So I had another one. It's not pine in the sky. I had another one from Psalm 134. It was only two verses. And it talks about ministers of the night. So how old are you have to thought about that?

How old do you have to be if you say, well, I'll never run into a trap on planet earth someone trying to trap me or something you're like no you're you're dreamer there's traps everywhere everywhere you know all the texts be careful hey you live what's out for this what's out there you know you're wrestling against you know what was the movie when that old boy said it's a trap oh oh yeah oh yeah come on now come on so i'm stealing a little bit of their idea but the psalm I mean, it was a good study because the Psalm 134, it was like, it was night ministers. I think they'll go with some of those. In the temple, in Temple worship in First Chronicles, it was a reference to that.

I was looking, well, some of the musicians it says they would rest during the day because they were ministers of night. So they let other people get everything ready. But I thought, we have night ministers today. I thought about Chad Johnson, he takes people frog hunting and fish. at night. He gets them out there because it scares people. I realized this from, I'd share this story before. You know, I would give, I would auction off frog hunts for charity.

Well, I was stunned how much people will pay to do that. Because to them it's exhilarating and they're scared. They go out there and they scream all night long. And you're kind of seeing their heart in that situation. But you're also showing them God's creation and you're doing something out of their comfort zone, you know. And eventually, like what Chad does, they'll have a prayer, you know, just floating down the water and amongst all the creatures and the sounds. And, you know, people are trying to get their life right. And so I thought about that.

I thought about a gators are in the shallow water. Oh, yeah. I'm telling it, it shakes people up. Well, he's on call 24-7. I mean, 3 o'clock in the morning, that guy's ready to go. But, you know, I also thought about when I was a teenager and the first time I went out to camp, you know, where Willie owns that. and his son, John Luke, runs it. But I had a lot of favorable memories of that, of being out because they take all distractions

away. There's no cell phones. And you spend a week out there basically worshiping God, having fun, doing classes, and different things. But you're just living out in the woods. It's a camp. But one night during that week-long session, and you probably remember this, they have what they called an all-night prayer session.

Oh, yeah. And I remember first hearing that, I thought, we're going to pray all night? I mean, how are we going to do that? Well, what they did is they, by each cabin would take an hour. But in essence, you would pray all night until the sun comes up. Yeah. And I'm telling you, it was a really powerful moment to be a part of that every year. And I thought, well, now I get it.

There was a psalm about it, night ministers. So kind of a take on. I thought the melody could be that, you know, in the worldly song, they had the night moves. Yeah, Bob Seeger. Working on a night. That one? Yeah. I'm like, where is the spiritual version of that?

We need a song about night movers. Who's your guy to sing the night moves? Bob Seeger. Yeah, it was a singer. Night mooseers. Working on. Yeah, that was about something a little different. Because I'm kind of a night.

That's a different kind of night move. Yeah. My first year of marriage, I literally shared Jesus with people at all hours of the night. I mean, it's just, I don't know, the Lord, it was his idea. That's when people called, and that age bracket I was in. It was, I would have all night Bible studies. But I actually looked back on, if I'd read Psalm 134, I was actually a night ministry. Well, I think that's a, there is a shelf life on night ministry, and that shelf life for me has passed.

running, doing college ministry for, you know, 10 years. You're like, there's gray beginning to get below your chin, Zach. I can't do it now. But we need these people. You know, I mean, the Bible, like First Thessalon's five, is those who get drunk, get drunk at night. Most people at night, and I'm saying between midnight and 5 a.m., there's a lot of corruption going on. You are correct. But there is a small group of men and women who love.

love Jesus and I think the cutting edge of ministry, they are night ministers. They're the ones. But it's the dirtiest of all ministries. I think about, you mentioned Chad and Debbie. I mean, I'm like, I don't know how, I do not know how they do it. I mean, they're on call for women who, I mean, they're picking up women who are trapped in prostitution. And, I mean, they're doing some of the, I mean, it is a messy business.

But I look at when my mom passed away, this is an interesting story. I may have told this before on here. And I'm at the funeral. And they've got, I mean, there's a line out the door of people wanting to pay their respects. And I knew most of them. But one lady comes up to me and she's just weeping. And she said, man, my son is saved because of your mom. And I didn't know who she was.

So really, she said, oh, yeah. So then she starts telling me the story of mom, it's an encounter with Phil. and her and how influential mom was and Phil's conversion of introducing Bill Smith to him and bringing Bill Smith in which by the way

we're working on a movie about our listeners about the first 28 years of Phil and Kay's marriage which is going to be very powerful and part of this is going to be in the movie What's that going to be ready? I'm trying to get it from R to PG-13

but it's going to be interesting but she's telling that story and she said in your and so Phil comes to Christ to your mom it is partly from your mother's ministry and just hard for him. He converts, and when we say, by the way, he converts what we mean is that Phil introduced Jesus to, that's what we mean by that.

He introduces Jesus to Chad Johnson. Chad Johnson rescued this woman out of prostitution and drug addiction. Who's the night minister I was referring to a while ago? And who was estranged from her son, but after going through the transformation program, her son finally after a year came to church with her and then he I think he heard maybe you speak or one of you you guys preach and then he responds to the gospel and became a Christian and she's like so I just want you

know and of course that was of all the things that came forward it was it was that because those were night ministers Bill Smith going into that bar meeting you that's a you like my idea about this night I did I kind of like it let's take a quick break somebody asked me yesterday with the brothers that said, is there any way to get married here? I said, we will marry you to Jesus first.

Then you can marry each other if that's what you want to do. I said, we'll start with Jesus. You marry him first. They're like, really? I said, yeah. I said, then we'll get to the marriage between you two. I said, think on that. Be right here a week from out now.

We'll start the process. That's pretty cool. okay, we'll be there Sunday. But see, to me, that goes in with where we're at in Matthew. You're talking about John the Baptist's role in Jesus. Because you remember when John the Baptist died, his death came from him rebuking the powers that be in their marriage situation. Yep, yep. I'm not sure where that is.

Well, even when you think about the, we talk about the night ministers, these are the rogue. ministers you know John the Baptist was a rogue minister I mean he didn't fit the mold for sure you know what I mean he was he was in dirty ministry yeah you just thought there was a better chance with with if you wanted a formula come to Jesus first marry him and then you two marry each other and I said we can do that on the same day yeah and they were like that is awesome I said, think about it. I'll look for you next week. Because if you're serious, you'll be back.

Yeah. But if you just want to run it by me, you know, can we get married? I said, you may not think of the weight of all this. I said, this is a serious thing. Were they from here? I think they were local. But one of them said, you know, I think he said he worked out there at the mill. I said, contact Chad Johnson.

Yeah. I said, why are you there? So, Phil, you. He's a good, solid brother. Moving into Matthew 3, though, You actually had one stint as an actor. I didn't see it, but I heard that you actually got to play John the Baptist. Oh, yeah, we talked about that.

I didn't know the audience. When I was just quoting what John was saying, you brood of vipers, you bunch of snakes, who warned you of the coming rat? But I was saying it, you know, I was acting. Yeah. I mean, but people started crying, and it was a stir. Okay, I found this.

I found this. People were getting up and leaving. People were crying, but I would just tell them what John the Baptist was like. Yeah. What John the Baptist was like, but it created quite the uproar. But you know what? We're going to get to this since we're studying Matthew. It's in Matthew.

It was live. In 14, when Herod in verse 3 had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because Herodius, his brother, Phillips, wife. for John had been saying to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. I mean, you just think that's where it started, which in Matthew 3, which I said last podcast,

I believe there was something from God's plan about bridging the gap from having his chosen people, the Jews, and having the law, and then bringing John the Baptist us forth who as far as keeping the law was near flawless.

I'm telling you. I mean, it said he had the Holy Spirit from birth around him and never touched for a minute drink. And he's out there just throwing haymakers about anything that was not lining up with the law. Some of them say, I'm too blunt, but I said, well, I've never started a Bible study by saying you brood of vipers. Well, that's...

Who warned you of the coming wrath? I've never gone that far with it. Yeah, you weren't that blind. Let's read it. And as Matthew 3-1, in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.

So John the Baptist, before he gets into that indictment of the Brute of Vipers, I mean, he was prophesied about. This is not a, I mean, this is somebody prophesied about in the Old Testament, which I think. You turn one page just to give the people an update because everybody's waiting on the kingdom to get here. 2,000 years after John said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. I have my hand, you listeners, on the page. I'm on Matthew 3. I turn one page, and I'm looking at Matthew 4. From that time on, verse 17, Matthew 4, 17.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach, see if this sounds like John. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Now, I've folded three pages now in my Bible. Bible, and I'm turning over again. As you go, he sends out the disciples. As you go, verse 10, chapter 10, verse 7, as you go preach this message, Jesus is talking, the kingdom of heaven is near. Now, I got three times in a row out of the same book with John the Baptist, Jesus, and the disciples, and they're all saying, precisely the same thing.

But a lot of people are wondering what you're, they're like, why are you making a point about it? Why would you read that and say, yeah, it's coming 2,000 years later, somewhere in the future, the kingdom will be here. We're just waiting on it to get here. If John the Baptist and Jesus and the disciples are saying, it's at hand, it's near. We'll just start there and read the rest of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,

and get back with me on whether the kingdom of God is even here or not. If it was near 2,000 years ago when this went down and all three of them are saying the same thing, wouldn't you think that it arrived at some point? I think the confusion. Pretty quick. The confusion comes in. If you define kingdom, which is basically where God reigns, I think what's missed is people look around.

at the earth and say, well, God's not raining here because look at this place. We have diseases, there's a hurricane, there's wars, and just the things in the past week that have happened. And they're blaming God, so they're like, well, the kingdom can't be here. What they're missing, I believe, is that when someone surrenders to God and he reigns in their life, that is a part of the kingdom of God. Yeah. And when you look at some of the verses where you now, you know, later when he says, even in this passage in chapter 3, when John the Baptist says in verse 11,

I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one who's way more powerful than I, whose sandals I'm not fit to carry, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So you have the introduction of the Holy Spirit actually being available. Well, if you house the Holy Spirit of God in your body, oh, you're part of the kingdom of God because God is reigning in you. And you have all these paths where Christ is in you. Well, you heard what Matthew recorded John the Baptist says say in Mark,

Mark chapter 1 about verse 13 to 14 and 15, the kingdom of God, the time has come. The kingdom of God is near, repent, and believe the good news. That's Mark, chapter one. You turn nine chapters. Mark 9.1, I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power. You're going to see it in your lifetime.

They were being told. So for someone to miss that is beyond me. But what I was going to say, though, Phil, is that we tend to focus on this, what I just said, about the kingdom of God on earth being people who house the spirit of God. We are. The kingdom is here through those people. But what other people, religious people, focus on is the next phase of that, which is the bodily resurrection, where the kingdom is gathered together, which is true. that will happen. You know, in 1st, 10th, speaking of the resurrection,

he says that so in Adam all die, so in Christ all be made alive. And then he has an interesting, let me read it so I don't get it wrong, but in 1st Corinthians 15, when he says, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Where's that at?

That's 1523. And the kingdom is handed over. Yeah, that's what I was getting. to. Then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God, the Father, after he is destroyed all dominion, authority, power, for he must reign until all his enemies are under his feet. The last enemy destroyed his death. So I think there's a part of the religious world who are only focused on that aspect of talking about the kingdom. And I'm like, but you're missing the part where John the Baptist and Jesus are saying in this 2,000 years ago, roughly.

And all the disciples. Yeah, that the kingdom is at hand. Now, I've had arguments with people and discussions that say, well, that doesn't mean near or at hand. Like, it's fixing to happen. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm not sure what that, because they're like, well, with the Lord a year, it's like a thousand days. before you die. It's coming in their lifetime.

Yeah, where is that? Yeah, that one's the Mart 9-1. Yeah, let's take a quick break. I think the reason why people, why this matters, you really get this if you work with young people. If you work with older people, it's not a big of deal,

but if you work with like young 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds, and you say, let me give you the gospel. You come to Jesus, you put your faith in him, all your sins will be forgiven, and then now grind it, it out for 80 years, so you're about 80, 80 or 90, and you'll die, then you get the reward. That's not the best news, because I've got to, you're telling me, I've got to grind it out

the rest of my life. But if the kingdom is here and the kingdom is now, then I can start to experience the presence of God and the joy of my salvation right now. I think that's why it matters, like just like boots on the ground. Why doesn't matter what we're talking about here? It matters because you're participating, what we're submitting to you, is that you're participating in the kingdom now. It's what Nicodemus, like, I want to see the kingdom. I want to see the kingdom. And what Jesus started talking about?

Being born again. Yeah, started talking about the Holy Spirit of God. Exactly. I mean, you got Peter, now we're going to get to this because we're in Matthew. But you know, when Jesus, where is that, Matthew 16, where he asked, there's a sophosier, who do you say I am? And Peter said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. And he's like, I tell you what, on that rock, I'm going to build my church. And I'm going to give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. A lot of religious people when they read that, they immediately, to get back to my point, envisioned Peter in heaven with a big gate, and he's got some keys that fit that gate.

And they're like, so when you die, you meet St. Peter. You're going to meet Peter. He's going to unlock the gate because God gave him some keys. Now look, I'm reading in the Bible, and I see that he got these keys based on him saying that Jesus is the son of God. And I read when John the Baptist just said that Jesus is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. I turn a few pages to Phil's point over to Acts 2, and I see this wind come up, and there's fire on people's heads, and the Holy Spirit is dumped out from heaven, and the signs and miracles of that.

The gospel is being preached. And then this fellow, Peter, gets up. He's the one that got up because he was the one who has the keys. Well, but I'm saying we're looking at that. Other people say, no, that's the keys to the gate up at heaven. And so he, what does he do? He basically declares that same confession he made to Jesus in Matthew 16. He's like, look, Jesus is the son of God.

He is a man, came from David's line, and like what we talked about in Matthew, too. And so he goes through the death and the burial and the resurrection. It was impossible for him to be dead. They're all listening, like, the same guy from Nazareth and born in Bethlehem. He's like, yeah, let me assure you that he is both Lord and Christ. So the people are here, they're cut to the whole. heart. Oh, hold on, but he told them what they did. He said, but you crucified. You

would have a wicked man put him to death. The fact that a lot of them, which some of them probably did wander away when they heard that, because they're like, well, who are you? Put that on us. Yeah. So they're cut to the heart, and then the same word comes up, because they say, what should we do? And he's like, repent. Well, that's, now we have almost kind of like an infusion of what John was preaching, because then he says, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus, and then it said, you'll receive forgiveness of sins, which kind of goes into what John of Baptist was saying, but then all of a sudden, it's like, and you will receive the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Well, to me, at that moment, that's where people

should say, wait a minute here. You saw what he said to Nicodemus. you saw this conversation between John the Baptist here. If you house the Holy Spirit of God, guess what? The kingdom is now here. Yeah. In you. And so when he said, I give you the keys, I think it's the declaration. The keys of the declaration that Jesus is the son of the living God.

He is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He's Lord. And so when you surrender to that and, you know, repentance is, more than just saying, oh, I'm sorry for what I did. I mean, it's a change of thinking. Because that's what he was appealing to. He was trying to get him inside their mind

and change how they viewed this Jesus. The little baby Jesus turned out to be the king. The king. That's why he started off saying, where's the king of the Jews and the Magi came? And then Pollock gets at the end of the year, the king of the Jews. No, he missed it.

No, he's just king. He's a Jew, Gentile. He's a Jew, he's, he's, king, he's in control. It's why Jesus when he said... Remember, Pilots said, are you a king? He said, you've said it. Oh, he acknowledged it. But speaking of the kingdom,

when Jesus said, when you pray, he said, this is what you do, be praying. Like, thy kingdom come. Yeah. That will be done on earth just like it is in heaven. So I think we think about like, this is relevant for today

because my neighbor spent a good bit of time in Afghanistan, working with the State Department, and I go there. He's on my front porch of the day, almost in tears. And I'm like, man, what's wrong? He's like, man, I've got my phones blowing up, emails are blowing up, you know, all these people trapped in Afghanistan, people that I know, Afghanis, that he knew and had worked

with over there that are running for their lives. You think about the underground church in Afghanistan, running for their life, to Taliban, hunting these people down. You think, why does it matter if the kingdom's here? I think it matters because, like, God's kingdom is. is actively working right here. The kingdom is moving in Afghanistan right now. And they're trying to stamp it out, but they can't.

That's why I major in kingdom work, not governmental work. That's good. Man-made constructs. I'm like, no, I'm not your man. But that's why people who, when you said like converting people or your mom, it's Christ in us. It's the Holy Spirit. that it's god converting people through these jars of clay with our baggage it's not really us no it's

not and i think people misinterpret that whenever i because we get comments every down there well phil's not converting anybody i'm like well that's not what we're saying like god like we're yeah we're people are scared of that word conversion because when they think that they think oh it's a cult you're they're like yeah yeah brainwashing you know we've been brainwashed but it's it's it's been by the Spirit of God. It wasn't, and it was at our own choosing. Yeah, but what it is, it's an introduction to Jesus, and it's a revelation of your sin, your depravity,

but it's also a revelation of what Christ did and his finished work on the cross. I think there's a big theological debate that's gone on for the last several years, and it's kind of coming to a head now, of this idea of you've got two things going on. Christ died for my sins. The theological term is substitutional,

penal atonement, Christ died as a substitute for the penalty of my sin. And then the other side, I say, no, no, Christ died for the collective atonement of every, like, of humanity. And it's like we pit these things against one another. I think this matters in the context of this kingdom discussion because Christ died for Zach Dashers' sins, me individually. He died for Phil Robertson's sins. He died for Jace and all you listening. He died for your sins individually and stood in your place. When we are added into the kingdom, then Christ uses individuals to redeem the world. And so that's why you see the church, the underground church, we're like, we're supporting the underground church and the liberation of people in China and the liberation of people in Afghanistan. You see us

working towards things like justice and stuff, but we do it collectively, but we can't begin that work until we're personally redeemed. And then the kingdom is unleashed. on the world as it happened in this particular place. And you look at it hospitals, the advancement of science, cures for all these diseases. That all came from God's people. All the earthy kingdoms have in fact collapsed. And we're going down that road too, getting closer all the time.

We're moving in the wrong direction. But the kingdom of God, when someone obeys the gospel like they did in Acts chapter 2, you repent and be baptized, you receive God's story. spirit. It'll be a spiritual kingdom under a American governmental construct. Well, not just American, but it's a spiritual kingdom. We're a constitutional republic, you say, that's correct. And the kingdom of God is working along through that. Now, this will collapse like all the rest of them has. The man-made construct, it was well thought out.

It was Bible-based. But you say, but the kingdom will never be destroyed. And the kingdom fail and fall, but not the kingdom. And the kingdom is working in America, but the kingdom is also working in Afghanistan and Iran. Worldwide. It's a spiritual kingdom, though, at the Jason's point. It's housed in human bodies.

That's it. I mean, so the Holy Spirit is housed. I had them ask me what group. I mean, what group will I be with? I said, what group will you be with? Let me read this. Tell them the kingdom of God. Let me read this.

And based on what he said, offer me a different explanation. This is Luke 17, 20, and 21. Once having been asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, the kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation or other translation says visibly. Nor will people say here it is or there it is because the kingdom of God is within or among you. You will be the kingdom and they all looked around like what?

Look, people who make this only futuristic, this Jesus read letters gives you a contradiction of that Because people are like, well, when we will know it when we see it. Well, no, he said the opposite. It's not going to come with your careful observation. You're not going to look over there and say, there it is. That's right. Here it is.

Because it's within or among people. Well, it's like the, he also says it's like the wind. You can't say where it's coming from or where it's going. It's spirit-led people. I don't know what else it can be. Yeah, and it's probably fair to say it's not here in full fruition, which it will be. Well, we said.

that. There's another phase, but I'm saying a lot of the religious world nullify the facts that you're part of the kingdom once you house the Holy Spirit. There's a, because God reigns in us. It's the greatest forest on power on planet earth. There's a, there's a, there's a heresy in scripture known as Gnosticism, which is essentially the idea that, that everything physical is evil and bad and everything spiritual is good. And I think what happens with this theology of the kingdom that we're talking about is it blows nauseousism out of the water because it says basically that the kingdom is here. It's a spiritual kingdom manifested in bodily form, which by the way is what Christ did as well, right?

The kingdom of heaven coming in bodily form. But it is here. And I think it matters when John says that he, I mean, that's what he, that's the first thing it says about him that he said was that repent for the kingdom of God is near. Yeah, that's why we're making such a big deal by it. It's a big deal. And Jesus repeated it in the next chapter when he starts his ministry. And the disciples went out.

He said, preach this message, repent for the kingdom of heaven. They're like, is that it? Yeah. They're like, that's it. And I think it matters now more than ever because when we're in times where, like I remember the last year. It's the greatest event in human history when the kingdom showed up. And it's encouraging because how many times if you're listening to this podcast over the last year,

and this is an admission of my own part, that I felt. defeated because I look around at the culture, I'm looking around, whatever, and geopolitical and you're like, man, is there any hope? And the answer is yes. Why? Because the kingdom is here. That's why I was so encouraged. We talked about this in the last episode with a Sadie's event this weekend because I saw

the kingdom of God unfolding in a room of 1,200 young girls. And I saw the kingdom move. And I was like, wait a second. It just hit me. Like it's like, they're not going to shut down the. kingdom. No matter how bad it gets, the kingdom of God will not be thwarted. That is correct. It will not be shut down and we can't take comfort in that. Well, because they can't find it. They can't find it. Because they can't say here it is or there it is because it's within people.

That's why it's even amongst all religious groups and amongst the whole world. There actually, I think Colossians 3 speaks on that where it says, you know, we're hidden. We're hidden in Christ. It's, it's. like, and we may be in a house somewhere. We may be in a church building, but we also may be, you know, in a parking lot. We were talking about the night moves. I mean, I remember being in a parking lot of a bar because I met with this girl the night before who was a new Christian. And I said, I keep getting reports that you're going to bars. And she's like, well, they're lying. I'm not doing that. And so Missy and I, no, this is, you know, I'm 20 years old, but we

were going by somewhere and they were some sign saying they were having some big party at a at a bar. I said, let's just drive by there and see. I wasn't there 30 seconds. And guess who comes to stumble out of the bar? The same girl who said, wasn't me. I don't know where you're getting that report. But, I mean, my point was we, the kingdom, we were doing kingdom work here. Yep. Because when she saw me and I saw her, I didn't even have to say anything. She just, when I got home, guess who's calling me? She was cussing me up one side down the other. Because she found her in the bar.

Well, she's like, what are you spying on me? I told you I wasn't there. I just let her talk. And then as the conversation went on, you know what happened. She starts crying. He's talking to the Colossians here. The Apostle Paul said, we give him thanks to the Father. He has qualified you to share in the,

the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. He has rescued us, he has already rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us already happened into the kingdom of the son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. Well, how could you be brought into the kingdom if you were at Colossi and not be there? I mean, give me a break. Well, that's why it matters. We used the term.

It's called the finished work of Christ for a reason. He finished it. He accomplished it, and then he brought us into the kingdom. Yeah. I want to clarify on my story, too, because a lot of people think, well, why would you be doing something like that? But you notice it says repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. There is a decision you make.

And when you're young in the faith, it's bumpy right there at first. We're fixed to get to the next section where Jesus was back. baptized, which he wasn't doing it to be forgiven of sins because he had done. But why would this act be happening of the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove? Well, then all of a sudden he starts his ministry. Yeah. And it becomes a shadow for us on what happens when you receive that Holy Spirit. Well, you start your ministry.

That's what you do. And so God declared in that moment at Jesus' baptism that what? He's the son. Because that's where we get our identity. God declares the same thing to us when we're baptized. Yep. Where he loves us. And this is what pleases him.

Hold that one second. Let's take one last break. And then he comes out of the water and what happens? All bells and glory and prizes and rewards? No, the exact opposite. He's taken out to the wilderness for, 40 days to be tempted by the evil. And so I told that story about that girl because she had said she was going to repent.

She said, not me. And turn to God and followed Jesus. And we baptized her. And then a few weeks later, we have reports that she's not just going to bars. She's going to bars and getting drunk and trying to hook up with guys that she's not married to. So as a concerned brother and sister, I'm like, What are you doing? This out of love, but...

A concerned citizen of the king. Yeah, I'm a concerned citizen. And look, eventually, after that bumpy part, you know, she spent years following Jesus, and we talk about that story now, and we laugh about it. Which it wasn't funny, because at the time it was serious. I mean, her eternal dwelling is on the line. But now we look back on it, like, I can't believe you came to a bar to see if I was lying. Well, that's a good point. I'm glad you brought repentance up because that is what John

said. He said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. And a lot of people listen to today may be thinking, man, I don't see the kingdom. I don't feel the kingdom. I don't feel God's presence. When we talk about the kingdom, what we're saying is you're dwelling in the presence of God, he's with us, Emmanuel, God with us. And that's why the kingdom is near because Christ means Emmanuel or Emmanuel means God with us. And I think that if you say, how can I see the kingdom, Well, just keep this in mind. That's the same exact question that Nicodemus asked the very next chapter, or the John 3, rather, in John 3, the other gospel, he says,

how can I see the kingdom? And basically what Jesus is telling him is you've got to repent. Yeah. Jesus said it in Matthew 4. He said repent for the king. And Peter, what did he say? When we preach the gospel, Luke had it best when he's speaking of the Apostle Paul. Paul, here he is, I consider my life worth nothing to me.

if only I may finish the race and complete the task of the Lord Jesus has given me the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Now, I know that none of you among whom I've gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. He said, therefore I minister to the blood. So when you preach the gospel, you're basically preaching the kingdom. The last thing in the book of Acts, boldly and without hindrance, Paul preached the kingdom of God

and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ if you read all those texts that's two of them you got about eight in the book of Acts you read that you say preaching the gospel is the gospel of the kingdom yeah that always he puts it in prayers a lot the gospel and the kingdom gospel

and it's not you can't leave them out and I think this matters because even as a Christian I've been a Christian for 20 years and this weekend, like I've had these moments where I've had to do this. Like, I've already repented this. Christ, I'm saved. I'm free from the penalty of sin.

I'm going to heaven. There's no guilt associated with me. But sin does have a power over me still in parts of my life. And I've kind of felt callous to last several months. And I had to, like, I had to repent. I repented to my wife two days ago. I have not been leading our family spiritually. I've been distracted by other things.

And I haven't felt God's presence either. And so if you're listening and you're like, man, what do I do if I don't feel God's presence? So if I'm not tasting the kingdom, I would say you probably need to just get on your knees and repent. Well, I think repenting, I think a definition of that would be good. I mean, it's a change of your heart. And I think that's where it comes into you,

you humble yourself before God and your honor. But you change your thinking also on what produces success. Because if you're thinking how many followers you got on Twitter or, you know, Snapchat or if that's where you're getting your identity, that's just a poor way of thinking or how popular or whatever. You're going into areas that I'm not familiar with. Well, I'm just saying whether you please God. Snapchat, I'm going to talk a little. Yeah.

But whether you got to make up your mind. on whether you're trying to gain God's approval. Are you trying to make God happy, or you're trying to make other people happy or yourself? So, I mean, repentance is, there's a lot involved that because then when you acknowledge that, well, then your direction's going to change. Where you go, what you do, who you're with, what you say.

And so you look up and your whole life has changed because you've actually changed lords, which is crazy. It's from yourself to Jesus. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem, and to all Judea and to the Gentiles also. Look, I said, buddy, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Which is a change of direction and then a change of life. Well, I think we're out of time, so we'll hit back.

I'm assuming when we're our next episode will probably continue with John the Baptist. be a good time to talk about baptism because that gets introduced. We kind of mentioned that today. Zach, I'm glad you showed up all the way from North Carolina. We'll just pick up back in Matthew 3. Matthew 3. So I'll be here for the next two episodes. I don't, no hate mail, Al's out of town.

Al needed some. He just needed some time off. He was so stressed out. Bless his heart. We just got to pray for him. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. and don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube

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