Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 346 | Phil Learns What FOMO Is & Jase Has a 4 a.m. Encounter in the Middle of the Road

Episode Date: September 15, 2021

Phil recalls the time he was too sick to go duck hunting, and Jase teaches him the meaning of “FOMO.” Jase describes his 4 a.m. encounter with a person sitting in the middle of the road. Phil and Jase talk about how Jesus would have cooked his fish. Jase explains why the image of people floating on a cloud in heaven is false and misguided. And the guys explore why God placed us on Earth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? I like his time of year because you got TL season has begun. You got football season. I came in yesterday, which was Sunday, and I hear this screaming. I thought it was a bug because when my wife screams, that means we have a critter that's unwanted. Nine screams when someone scores a touchdown. Well, that's what was happening yesterday. I said, what are you doing? What's the problem?

She went, the Saints are rolling. Yeah. I said, really? She's like, yeah. I mean, I was so worried because dream. What does that mean when your women and yours and mine are screaming when the football team scored a touchdown? My wife, she's not a big fan. She became a football fan when my boys play football.

But she's more, hey, they're from Louisiana. We're supporting our team. moment because she like if the saints are not playing she doesn't watch it like they don't make the playoffs guess what she's out super bowl party are the saints there no i'm out she she's not a so she's loyal oh she was just giddy because they're playing green bay which supposedly's pretty good she said hey in this winston i went yeah she went he's smoking i said oh i get it He did look great. She went to Winston, you know, smoking, which was a little cheesy.

The ups and downs of football, the old guy, what's the quarterback from Green Bay that kind of... Aaron Rodgers. It was not a good day. Aaron seemed like a good old dude, but he just, he's just following on hard times. He was going to check it to him. He said, well, I may stay. I don't know whether there was a money issue. Yeah.

But he wasn't. But I just looked at him pre-game. He just didn't look like a happy person. No, but that was some of the bad jokes I heard yesterday because they were like, well, it was rumored that he was going to be traded to the Saints. So people were saying, well, it looks like he was. That's pretty good. Chase told Dad to put his ears on.

He's never going to hear me from down here. Yeah, Phil, put your ears on because you're so far away from the mic. We don't want you whispering. So, look. I felt for a while, and I said, you know, I mean, It's a demanding thing. Yeah. I reel back a few years.

I'm glad I chased ducks instead of having large violent men chase me. I think you have less injuries than residual effects. That turned out to be a good decision. I just looked at it from me. So, hey, Dad, it's interesting because I was speaking just outside of Pittsburgh this past weekend. And it was interesting because obviously I was in Steeler land on Sunday. And so I was telling the story. Of course, they all, you know, they love the Steelers.

That's where my second stringer, my second stringer camped out there for a while, old Terry. Exactly. It was really interesting. They all knew the story. They had heard it now, you know, through the years. Yeah. But it was interesting, just giving them a little inside baseball on the whole thing and you walking away and, you know, what Bradshaw said and that kind of stuff.

Wouldn't that be inside football? Oh, yeah, inside football. There you go. Yeah. That's better. So. better than. Let me give you a... What was there a thinking?

Well, I'll probably never talk to them. Well, they were happy that you chase ducks because, you know, they love Duck Dynasty, and they were happy because Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowes with the Steeler. So everybody was happy, happy, happy, happy. It was a perfect scenario.

It was a perfect kidney. So the teal hunt, we've had a lot of teal here, and then all of a sudden, opening day came, and it was a goose egg. But here's what I found fast. When I got up at 4 o'clock, which was way too early, but because of the excitement, we have to get out there an hour early on opening day and just getting attacked by throngs of mosquitoes

and putting yourself in danger from snake bites. The acclamation process proves rather brutal. Yeah, you're all excited until about that 100th mosquito bite, and you're like, So, but my drive down here, you forget what's going on in cities late at night from a spiritual perspective. That is correct. And all you have to do to find out what's going on is get up at 4 o'clock in the morning, get in your vehicle, and just drive around. The first light I pull up to, it's red, so I stop, even though there's, you know, nobody, there's nobody out. here much but I stopped and so it turned green and I was fixed to go but a vehicle caught

the corner of my eye going at I would say over 100 miles an hour but it's not a real good move at 4 o'clock in the morning no downtown so I waited and there's yeah there's nowhere to go 100 miles an hour in westman road Louisiana safely and they just come past me through the red light at a hundred miles and a if I would have pulled out bam my light was green theirs was red and they went

a hundred in front of me and I thought huh wonder what they're up to he's either in a hurry to get to where he wants to go or he's on the run yeah it was a guy driving

and there was a female in a passenger seat so I don't know if they was having an argument or they were all the cylinders were working except in his head all the cylinder

well hold on look there's more so maybe they were going tail hunting yeah The port light is on, but nobody's home. Well, the wheel was spinning, but the hamster was dead. Not carrying a full string of fish.

You're like, yeah. Few fries short of a happy load. So we go, so I go on down. Well, then I get on Highway 34, and I see a car coming up like I'm on Audubon in Germany, and I see headlights in a distance. And about the time I noticed it, it just went, around me. Was it the same vehicle earlier?

Different vehicle. So this is random people in a hurry for something to breathe. I thought, what is going on here? So then when I get down literally a quarter mile from the layer where we gather up, you're in the woods now. I'm in the woods. Come around a curve. And there's a guy in the middle of the road, not in his lane, not in my lane.

He's just in the middle. Truck is running. One headlight out. And I just slow down. So I sat there for five seconds and thought, what do we do here? He's just sitting there.

It's one more. Ports light on, but nobody home. Yep. Wheels are spinning. Hamstered dead. Here we go again. It's not firing, not all of them. So I ease around him.

Of course, I reached down and grabbed my pistol just in case this was some kind of trap. Yeah. Didn't point it, but just had my hand on it. And I look at him and he was just had both hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead, kind of looked kind of pale and sweaty. And I thought, he's just having, he stopped here. Life has stopped. Tough night.

Tough night. Yep. So I assume drugs or alcohol might be involved. But so when I made it, I just thought, wow. I mean, there's a lot of cutting up in confusion. 4 o'clock in the morning. This is a losing proposition. So it made me appreciate having a purpose, knowing that I'm a son of God,

and I'm getting to go duck hunting with the brothers this morning. See, you were exiting and leaving the hurried and coming. and confused world all around you. You're fixing to end up in the middle of the woods where they couldn't have got to you. Nobody could have reached us where we were without the proper equipment, meaning track machine, the mud holes,

down through the thickets, turn off the little cuts to get there. So you were leaving all that behind and the peace and tranquility of opening day of duck season. Up till season, which Barrett, my buddy from Kansas, you know, he's in the Midwest, and he's like,

I don't understand why y'all go till hunting every day. I said, what are you talking about? Because it's open. He's like, yeah, but we're talking snakes. I mean, it's hot, which it is. There's tens of thousands of mosquitoes. We only usually get them, what, once ever four or five days in generalities. Now, this year's been a little different.

Opening day, zero. row, but the next three days, which we went this morning, we've actually shot teal three days in a row. That's right. We haven't hammered them, but it's been enough to where I'm happy. But he's like, I just don't understand because they're not the greatest eating duck, but I'm like, well, I give them to people who love them. I mean, blue winged till, a lot of people love them. And so he said, well, I just can't wrap my head around.

He kept on about it. And then I thought, why do we go every day? And I said, well, you're underestimating the power of FOMO. and he said what i said phomo he said i've never heard that term before in my life he's up in can his jahawk country

never came to there and i said it stands for the fear of missing out i said i would rather was there silence on the end of the line it was silence and he said but i could see if you had people that you participated in this the worst thing that happened is you be in bed and they're rumbling just one bunch after another.

I said, that's it. It reminds me of the time on Cypress Creek. I didn't think they were coming. We had hunted about three days in a row and hadn't done anything. On the fourth day. I think you were actually sick. I got very ill. You were sick.

I was sick and I said, I don't know whether they'll get them or not. I said, but I'm sick. So I'm approximately three quarters of a mile or a mile to the duck hole up there. Yeah. But I was, even in my bed, I was a close enough proximity. I could hear the gunfire.

And look, it was just bobobo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo. I said, good night. I said, Ms. Kay. She said, what are you doing? So do you agree with me? The fear of missing out is powerful? I mean, I said, man, what am I doing? Lying here and.

bed, you know, because I'm sick. I said, I should have just sucked it up and went on up there. Oh, I'm telling you. But after all the smoke cleared, I hated to ask, did y'all burn them or what? And they said, we burned them. Big bunches, one after the other. That's why I told

that story, because it made me realize a lot of people who are doing this cutting up, you know, especially in the teenage world. We had a girl the night at a house church who we had shared Jesus with her when she was a younger teenager and help bring her to Jesus but I hadn't seen her in a while so we were talking with her house church she's like I have no the first thing she said she's like I have no friends

and I was like what you mean I mean it was kind of a weird thing to say she's like they're all getting drunk smoking weed I just have no friends and so I but I thought well this girl must be doing pretty good you know if that was the first thing she said she said I mean it's just they're just going crazy you know but she was going off on that but I've said seen the same thing like in the teenage world that fear of missing out is the same draw that's causing all the mischief because you know when you look at it you know i saw those three vehicles other night you know it's it's a dead end whatever's fixing a hat if i could have followed those three incidents that i saw in one drive you know you know it's going to end up with

flashing lights or a casket, it's just not going to work. Which brings up an interesting thought. When you look at the qualities of kingdom livers, she was saying, all my friends, they're not motivated. What is motivating y'all? And we tried to explain to them because the rescued, the rescued, they're looking at it with the F-O-M-A, whatever you called it, F-O-M-O. Yeah. They're afraid to miss out, and it's a lot of wordage about heaven and eternity.

So someone says, so what motivates you to come together and help some poor soul, and they give you a cursing, but you're patient with them, and they finally turn, and they are rescued, then they get it. Because you say, our being rescued is our motivation, because we're, afraid to miss out. Well, right. It's kind of like the teal deal. Yeah.

You know? I think it's just wherever your heart is, but you're right. Hang on, Jess. Let's take a break. Yeah. So I, it was interesting. Why do you follow Jesus? You say, we're afraid to miss out.

Well, I think it's a factor, and I think that's a good factor. It's a very good factor. Look, I heard a great sermon Sunday on heaven. And you know what struck me about it? because there's a lot of verses, you know, the one that stuck out of my head is the one that no, what's it say, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, you know, what the Lord has planned for those who are he is. I'm not sure where exactly that is, but it's in there.

And so a lot of people say, well, you don't know what heaven is like, and we don't, because our minds can't grasp more than eternity. Yeah, well, I mean, you're kind of, you know, we have the dimensions that we can comprehend, but when you start getting into defying laws of gravity and different things that you can't see in a spiritual world and more dimensions, you just, you can't grasp it. So there's all these books and movies about heaven and all the stuff that comes out. But us, you know, I usually focus on when Jesus said John 14, which was the first verse he read. But his only point was it's a place.

You know, it's an actual place and we're going there. But the John 14, you know, where it says, I'll go and prepare a place for you. And the point of the story was that he told his disciples, look, I'm the way. So I've always said it's who you're with. It's not necessarily where you go. But even in our study of Matthew, the more I heard the sermon, from Matthew 417 where Jesus said, repent for the kingdom? Jesus, that verse was 1 Corinthians 2.9.

All right, 1st Corinthians 2.9. What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love it. Yeah. So, and I think it's more because we can't grasp it. But Jesus said, you know, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. It's coming to earth. Then in chapter 5, when we went through the beatitudes, well, he told us.

in those beatitudes. The first one's verse three. He said, Blessed of the poor and spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then verse 10, he says the same thing. Those are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And then verse 16, which we're going to get to today, you know, talking about let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven. And you get to verse 19. and he talks about our righteousness should pass that of the Pharisees. And it says, and whatever practices and teaches, whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

So, I mean, what my point is, heaven comes up a lot in the Bible. And when you read the Philippians 3 passage that says our citizenship is in heaven, it's interesting and I think encouraging to talk about and discuss heaven and like you said the fear of missing out on it should be a factor in a human being's life that's why I jotted down when the apostle Paul was talking to the Thessalonians he said the message rang out from you he said the Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia or your faith in God has become known everywhere, and Jesus is trying to, in Matthew 5, Matthew is just recording the fact that our goal is to be like him because he's come to rescue us

watch. Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turn to God from idols, which nothing has changed there, to serve the living. and true God, and to wait for his son, check this out, Jace, from heaven. Yeah. He said, wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Jesus who rescues us, rescues us from the coming wrath. So there's a lot at stake in what Jesus said in Matthew 5.

therefore I've come to do these things for you. Here's how you roll while you're there. If he, whom his son, to wait for his son from heaven. So if that's where Jesus is camped out in heaven, and that's where he came from, and he's saying to us, that's where you can be. I've come to prepare a place for you. I left heaven.

I just left there, and I just appeared down here to show you that I am who I I am. Well, and our citizenship is in heaven. And that's where we came from. Because technically that is where we came from. Because that's where we're bound to go because that's where he came from. Well, and you think about it, when this is true, almost that if, but when this is true and you're resurrected, as members of the kingdom of heaven on earth, you get this imperishable body. You're actually going to spend way more.

time. They were smart enough. Than you did on the earth. Yeah, they were smart enough to say, so show us the way. And he says, don't you get it? I am the way. Well, right. I mean, I think that was his point.

But the more I said, I heard this sermon because I thought, well, this is going to be a bold move because I was thinking of that First Corinthians passage. Because, you know, he said, let's talk about heaven. Jace, it's hard to see heaven when all you've ever seen is the, earth. Well, so here's how he did it. Now, I thought this was interesting. He read the verses where it said we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth. However, he made a point to say, you know, we talk about the earth burning up, but he's like, well, it says a new heaven and a new earth. And I think in Joe Beam's book, was it out, that he talked about the three different

heavens. And I thought it was interesting, like how they're translated in the Bible. You may have more knowledge of that. When you read the Old Testament, the actual. The idea, when they looked up into the sky, what we would call the atmosphere, that was called the heavens, but then they recognized there was something beyond that as well. So it's kind of, it's almost like a layer, you know, when you read Old Testament, it was different layers or different ideas. That's why Paul said I was caught up in the third heaven, meaning above and beyond the atmosphere. Because, you know, you get them at the ancients, they didn't have, you know, Hubble telescope. They weren't able to, I mean, all.

they could do is look up in the sky, but they saw the stars and they saw the sun, said they knew something was there. But you don't even read much in the Old Testament about our concept of heaven, which is what you're talking about. I mean, the Pharisees believe in the resurrection, but most people didn't even believe in that. So this was a new concept. When Jesus came along, he was giving them a lot of new, you know, thought to chew on with this idea that the kingdom was going to be in a place beyond this earth, you know, the idea of heaven. Well, this pastor that was sharing this, he did something I thought pretty clever, which was he visualized or made you visualize all the moments on earth where you might say,

boy, this is heaven. Because we've all done that, like where you're experiencing something that, I mean, like to me, look, we get a bunch of deal in there. Most of the time we see hell on earth, not heaven while we're here. But there's probably been some trips or there's some hunts or some moments or, you know, whatever you're into. You know, I mean, I've been, when I was on top of mountain in Israel, you know, my family there and we were just looking out at the start. I'm like, boy, this is all right. I mean, you have these moments in your life where you feel like whether it's beauty or experience.

So he came out of that, he talked about a place, talked about the new heaven and new earth. And then he, what he did that I like is he read Revelation 214, and he talked about, you know, where it says there's no, there'll be no, he'll wipe away every tear, there's no pain. I may have to turn over there and read that. No sin, no guilt, what are the, let me read that. Jay's let's take a break where you're looking for that. Yeah, no tears, no pain, no death, no mourning. And then you just start thinking of everything else that's not going to be there. So no blaming, no prejudice, no sin, no guilt.

Which is what I thought to myself is the reason that song, that John Lennon song, imagined took off. because he basically took a God concept of imagining a world where everybody is unified and well no wonder the song took up because what he thought could happen on earth which was only in your imagination because people are evil and they just don't like each other

it is going to happen in heaven. So his whole point was you can have an earthly experience with a new body in heaven, thus the new heaven and new earth. And if you took out all the things like pain, suffering, sadness, mourning, it would be heaven on earth. If you think about it. I think that's why when Peter formally introduced what Jesus had said he would do,

die, be buried, and raised from the dead. right before he told them this man was handed over to you by God said purpose and foreknowledge Jason to your point in Acts 219 leading up to that he quoted the prophet Joel who said I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below our time both together so you'll know there is a god that's what he's saying yeah blood and fire and billows of smoke the sun will be turned to darkness, to moon, to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So he then preached the gospel to him, but it is kind of what Joel said was tying heaven and earth together, and that both of them

are real places. Exactly. Well, I think about it, Jason, the contrast, you brought up the John Lennon song. Contrast that to the Mercy Me song that was a huge hit. I can only imagine, one is told from an earthly perspective to Dad's point, but then Mercy Me tells it from a heavenly perspective. That is correct. I can only imagine when I'm there and I realize it and man, then the presence of God is like there, right there with me. I mean, it's a, it's a whole different concept, but powerful. Yeah, but for some reason, a lot of religious people got this, everything is white and we're floating around in some clouds and we're just like doing a worship service forever and ever and that somehow got their view of heaven and I'm like well why why did he even

put us down here to experience all this because really the only problem it is all these problems the pain suffering this would be heaven on earth if we didn't die mankind is the problem yeah if we didn't make mistakes and the solution the solution is Jesus. I mean, if we went on a road trip and we couldn't be killed and nothing bad could happen, well, that would be heaven on earth. We would be experiencing something together as a family that was awesome. So it's like, well, why would you need a new body?

You know, Romans 8, I think 24 says, you know, we eagerly await the redemption of our body. If you're not going to do anything, you're going to float around on some clouds, what? Where's that at? Who comes up with this stuff? But every movie, you know, everything, it's like, what is this? No wonder people are, they don't have the fear of missing out. Why would you want to go just be some floating gaseous mist on a white puffy cloud? I don't get the cloud.

That has nothing to do with heaven. Well, again, that's because you can't, people, people can't imagine beyond our atmosphere. You know, it's just, it's kind of your trap by everything you see, and therefore, the only way you can relate it to heaven. It's one of the reasons why I feel like we don't talk about it more is because we're just so, like, back to that Corinthians past, we just don't know much. I mean, we know it's going to be great, but we don't know much about what it's actually going to be like. He did give us an imagination. And I think when it says the first John 3 that we're going to be like Jesus's body, and him post-resurrection, catching those fish,

and eating them. I mean, why would you do that? Just think, if you think the Bible's not accidental, what is he doing that? Why didn't he just say, okay, I'm now floating on the cloud. We got the floating on the cloud part in Acts 1, but he didn't have to do that.

He just did it so he could kind of relate, I guess. And where we're going, there'll be no fish to eat. Yeah. He did the opposite. He did the opposite. They had this moment like we have every day. I don't think they were fried. I think the fish were probably grilled.

Well, they were grilled. I think he probably left. Well, if he ate the opalises cat, I think he left the skin on it. You said the sea of gadoli was full of hops. I didn't see one scaled fish. All I saw was ops in mass. So I'm like, now how would you cook those on the creek bank? I mean, I think he blackened them.

blackened him with a little seasoning. He had in some Cajun season, and he put it on there. But Jesus eating fish was a big boom for me when I read that. Well, that's what I was saying, Phil. These hokey movies and people came up with this idea of heaven that is not appealing, and it's not biblical. They usually have us flying to some extent. but the bottom line is to discover and to visit the cosmos sounds pretty cool to me.

Yeah, you know, look. I mean, check these five planets out. I have five out here that are earth-like. Now, you notice they were much larger than the Earth. This is bigger than I made the planet Earth. There's bigger ones than this, and I want to show you some of those. Well, I'd like to just travel through that, and it's like when the, when the, when the, pioneers came out west, I'd love to do that on a cosmic scale for eternity.

Exactly. But look, when time stands still, which will happen at the resurrection for us. No more time. Well, so will space. So there's no traveling. If you want to be somewhere, he just put that so you can relate. When it says a cloud hit him from their sight, that didn't mean he traveled through one. That just means you couldn't see him.

He wasn't bound by, okay, he's eternal, but oh, but he's got to travel. No, if you're eternal, you no longer have to travel anywhere. That is correct. You have, it's just, it's not, it's common sense. You can be everywhere at once. You can be everywhere at once, and you can experience these things. So, look, it made me think, and I think a lot of people, when they hear sermons like that, they pick out things they don't agree with.

I think that's a mistake. He was reading the scriptures. He, kind of what I did, he just, I mean, heaven has talked about so much, but since we don't really understand it or it doesn't go into graphic detail about what exactly is going to happen, we just go along with the Hollywood version. Oh, yeah, I'm just going to be a gaseous myth floating on a cloud through eternity. Well, I can't wait.

Let's take another break. But you got to think about it though, Jay's. Think about it's from your perspective of where you are on earth. I mean, you know, we're in 21st century America. We've seen things. We've, our imagination is bigger. Imagine you're a Pashtun convert to Christ in Afghanistan. And these people are still living like it was about 1,400.

You know, they've never seen the text. television, they're out in a village somewhere, they live under an oppressive rule of, you know, people, Sharia law. But say you're a Christian and you believe in Christ and you got to keep it to yourself, what does that guy imagine heaven to be like? I mean, anywhere but where I'm at right now for a guy like that would seem heavenly if you're living hell on Earth. So I've always thought about it. It all depends on your perspective of where you are on the planet because there are a lot of people that don't see at all what we see. So our imagination is going to be a lot different than a lot of other people on the earth,

even in the 21st century. But I think part of sharing Jesus, there should be this discussion that comes up, because if you're a member of the kingdom of heaven, and somebody says, now what exactly is that? And you say, well, unfortunately, I just don't know. Just don't know. Well, so I think, Al, you're right. You're like, look, I may not know for sure, but here's what I do know.

We're going to get an imperishable body. We're going to have experiences with each other. There will be no tears, no pain, no mourning, all the promises. No death. Yeah, no death. That's out. And so then that's when I started making a list of all the things that cause problems. You know, stuff like blame and guilt and bitterness and all those things are gone.

Friction, factions, envy, jealousy, hatred, If you weed it out all of that, well, then we could just go anywhere we want to and live. If you weed it all out, Jays, you'd have heaven on earth. You'd have heaven on earth. That's right. Why not just take us immediately to heaven then? And why don't we skip this?

Which I think there's something to be said about us being here to find the character of God. so we go to heaven and know what's expected. Because I think you're then looking at character instead of being comfortable. But it does say no one knows what we do, but we know when he comes, we will be like him. That's what I'm saying. That's good news.

So I think all these problems lead us to finding God and his character. Because you think about it like this. if you gave your kid everything he ever wanted at all times and he had no problems, he would grow up to be what? A spoiled brat, wouldn't he? Yeah. I mean, the problem, the trouble, the mistakes, the teaching. Well, I think that's what you.

So you have to get sin and death out of the equation or you'll never have any idea of heaven. Well, and I think you've got to appreciate the struggle to appreciate the, reward. You know, we read this about the reward in heaven, but if you didn't know the struggle and the problems and the overcoming, you wouldn't appreciate the final outcome. Yeah. One of the definitions that Noah's, Noah, what's his last name, Noah Webster, that came up with the first dictionary in these United States of America. One of the things, one of the points he said was, you're, that rescued is being freed from, sin freed from death, freed from confinement, and it opens up one's mind to say, man, I'm beginning

to really like the idea of a place where there is no sin, there is no death, and it's freedom from one end to the other. It would be a wonderful way to live. Yeah. Well, wasn't that Paul's point, though, to the Philippians. Remember in Philippians one when he said, you know, it would be far better for me to die and to be with Christ. He looked at heaven as a deliverance, but he said, I'm torn because I know you need me here. And he's talking to those early Christians, the early church, and he's like, so I'm torn. I would rather go be with Christ, but because I love you so much, I'm going to stay until he, you know, takes me on to be with him. So that same idea, is kind of what we're talking about here.

Like we long for something even better, even if your life is pretty good here. But at the same time, you stay here and do God's work because that's what being in the kingdom is all about. Because, you know, that's one more person that knows about the kingdom because of the work you do.

Yeah. Well, I taught this lesson, and basically it came from, you know, because I start out Bible studies asking three questions. How'd you get here? What are you doing here, Earth, you know? and how are you leaving? Which are basic humanity questions.

But, you know, when we get to Matthew 5, 13, and 14, he starts both of those verses off with you are, which is in our culture on earth, we have an identity, so-called crisis. People don't know where they came from. They don't even know, you know, maybe I'm not a male, I'm a female, or I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing here.

I don't know my purpose. And some clarify it perfectly when they say, I'm neither male nor female. Well, right. I'm gender neutral. You're like, so I can't, you're not a female, no. You're not a male, no. And I'm like, so.

Well, you just think, Phil. And they say, I'm neutral. You got to introduce me and realize that I'm gender neutral. I'm neither male nor female. I think that's why God started out, clarifying there was a male and there was a female. Well, but just think that's from the beginning. Think about how hard it would be to find purpose and meaning if you couldn't even have the basic simplicity of your sex or sexuality. I mean, you're going to be hard pressed to figure out any sort of purpose or meaning in life,

which to Jason's point is exactly why you are as an important. starting point for anything, you know, just to understand that. Let's take, let's take our last break, Jay. Jesus said, you are the salty earth, you are the light of the world. Well, he was sharing your purpose. But if you back up to that point, well, you think about any creation or invention that you see in life, how do you understand it? Just think of any creation or invention that comes along.

You either got to ask the creator, whoever invented it or created it, or you got to read some kind of manual. They have an owner's right. You get in a vehicle and what? You look around and say, well, somebody created a machine here that you didn't, you weren't aware of. Look at the process. Look what's happened to the transfer of information and the speed at which it now operates. A fellow like me who saw that, who saw it just come out of nowhere, Al, and the computer

world showed up and I happened to be sitting here watching it come, but I never dreamed you'd be able to transfer information at the speed that it's being currently transmitted. I just didn't think it was possible. But my point is, when it comes to God, it's the same thing. If you don't figure out why you're here, you either got to find the creator who created you or read the owner's manual, which you have one called a Bible. If you don't do one of two things, those two things, things, well, you would just be a restless wanderer on the earth trying to figure out,

well, why, why, why, why? Because there are billions who say in their mind they did not think it worthwhile to participate and have a knowledge of God. They didn't think it worthwhile, therefore he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what or not to be done. And even the little stuff that we talk about, like this morning now, we were in the duck blind. So we've hunted the same spot four days in a row. So I get in the blind this morning. I got a flashlight because I'm looking for snakes on the way.

And I have a shooting hole that I pop up out of, that I've popped up out of the last two days. But when a light hit it, it was a majestic spider web that had been formed overnight. And I thought, with a spider right in the middle of it. And I thought, huh. I mean, it literally, I could not have moved out of my seated position without hitting it. Material that is much smaller than the smallest thread is you're looking at it. And this spider was not, he was like an eighth of an inch of my pinky nail. fingernail. I mean, this thing was tiny. And I thought...

And there's a lot of web there. Yeah. I thought, how in the world did this much web come out of his rear end in one night? Jace, experts in that particular field, whatever they call it, have studied that for years and are trying to figure out how something could come out of the rear end of a spider that you could go across on like a bridge, tie it off, put another. one back where you came from, they, they wait on the perfect breeze and the thread comes out of a pouch and look, and the breeze carries it across the road or in front of the duck line like you had, that shooting port. He put it on the breeze. He didn't, because you say,

well, how did he, did he walk down? Dragging it? Because it's sticky. And the reason he made it sticky is it comes out of his rear end and the wind's got it and it carries it across where you get up every morning, that hole, and he's got one strand across it. He says, okay, he's saying, I got something going.

Well, he goes back down that one and puts another one, and then he gets another one and gets another one, and it's sticky that it sticks to thing. How did he decide to put, what kind of glue did he say, I need the right type glue that would stick to a limb over there six feet.

Exactly. So I looked this up, Al, while we started talking about this. I look it up, and I was like, what do people who don't believe in God say about this? Because it looked miraculous that he did this in one night. They're saying salt water can do anything. Well, I start reading, and they're like, okay, the spider, because I put the question in. I was like, how does a spider, where did this web, this silk come from, in one night.

So I start reading this material for how big it is, Phil, is stronger than steel, which took humans thousands of years to come up with. I know it. What was your by the way? My by the way was what you just said. Oh. I'm like, well, you know, they want to be able to study this and reproduce it. They think they can reproduce it because one little strand has shown them that it is

more stout than steel. And they said, we need to figure out how to make that stuff. I'm sure they did an autopsy on the spider and said, it ain't in there, boys. So look, here's what they... Well, look, I got with Jason, I got one to blow your mind even more. So what if that spider

was exposed to radiation and then he bit you and then through some sort of miraculous ability, you could then become a spider and you could climb up the side of buildings and you could fly through the air and you would shoot webs out of your wrist. And what if that were to happen?

They would call you Spider-Man. Spider-Man. So look, Al, I'm reading this thing. And they're like, the spider, could that happen? The spider started off in the water. Now, this is the atheistic view of the evolution and natural process as the spider. It said it started off in the water. water, then it went to the ground, had no web, you know, not, then it said, and suddenly,

suddenly grew, three organs, three web silk producing organs, one sticky, one not sticky because he had to have one to walk down to go back, or he would get stuck and die. So they had to compensate for that. Yeah. And one half and half. and all the spiders have them. And so he knows which one is sticky and which one is not. So, and then it said, so then he started off with it on the ground, which I thought, well, that wouldn't work.

And it's catching his breakfast, dinner, and supper. What's he been eating on before he come up with these utensils? So look, and then it said at some point he realized. How did he make it without the web that catches his food? There was no answer. That's why I told you they're really studying this spider. So look, so at some point it says he moved into the air with his whip so he could catch flying prey. I was like, well, what was he catching on the ground?

I don't get it how it just happened. And there was literally no explanation. And after I read that, I thought, I would sure hate to put my identity tied up with the spiders. because it didn't make any rational or reasonable explanation whatsoever. Then you read the text without Jesus, things that are made could not have been made. Exactly. Made everything. So I want to give you this.

I don't know where I got this from, but in answer to that question, why I'm here. And getting to the point of what we're going to talk about for the next couple sessions about our mission on being, we're the salt of the earth and the light of the world. There's principles and characters, character traits of God that come out that identifies why we're here and what we're supposed to be doing. And the first one I wrote down is that God loves us. I mean, when you trace back to why we're here, that's number one. He is love. You remember the verse in 1 John 4 that says, this is love, not that we love him, but that he loved us and gave his son for?

So he created this because he is love, which leads to the second on which he knows us because he created us on purpose in love. And so that means he would know everything about us, just like that spider. I mean, the details of that. And so, and that's where we were introduced to the family concept. because you think about the garden for what we have now and how we reproduce and our family structure. If he's behind that and he knows us, he had that eternal family, speaking of heaven, in mind from the beginning because he's eternal. He's our father.

Which leads to the third one. So he loves me. He knows me. He created me. And he didn't just create me, but he created me to be like Jesus, which is the third. the theme of the Bible. So when you get in all these character traits, like just pick Galatians 522. Because you said, what is Jesus like?

You know, he's love, he's joy, he's peace, he's patience, he's kind, he's gentle, he's faithful, he's self-control, he showed self-control. So he created us, and then we have all these problems, but we find that character of God and the answers to what really he's concerned about. you know, while we're the pre-child on earth. And then four... It gives you the meaning, chase of life. Right.

So he loved me, he knows me, he created me, and he planned me. And I thought about that Act 17. He determined the time for me and the exact places where I should live. He gives us different gifts, different passions. You know, each individual has different abilities, different personalities. And you say, well, why? So everything that he desires could get done. You just think about the kingdom of heaven,

all these people that were created by God with the plan on purpose, functioning as servants of him. Well, you could do anything. Because we all have different gifts, talents, abilities. Which leads to the last one, which is he uses this, which I think this is the fifth thing

that is being discussed when it says, you're the salt of the earth, you're the law of the world, we're here because our mission is his mission, which is to gather those who want to put their faith and trust in him. And that's why I thought you can culminate all this by one thing. We didn't choose to be here as physical humans, but you do choose your spiritual birth. You know, he says, I want to adopt you. I planned you. I created you.

I loved you. I know you. I want to use you. But he gives you the ultimate. option. You can say I don't want to be adopted. Plus an interesting point is that out of the seven, eight billion people on planet earth, and no two are exactly alike, even twins, you say so everyone has their own particular skill sets and everyone is different. Think about how many different types of human beings that, that, and no two are exactly alike.

Exactly. Your DNA. mind different than your. Which is more fascinating than the spider. Yeah. And you get to looking at the DNA thing and you're thinking, so all these differences, but the key to it and you just kind of brought it up and it made me think about that, Chase.

But we can all be like Jesus if we want to, if we desire to. We can be like our creator. Well, that would make us all alike as far as that goes with the qualities you just said. That'd make us a lack. Bring us together. I was trying to give you the reason

why we just didn't go straight to heaven from birth. We came from heaven. He had a purpose. Because through this trouble and tough circumstances, you don't find happiness, but you find joy. Well, there's a difference than that, because happiness is based on your circumstance. If something bad happens, guess what?

Not happy. But you can find God's eternal joy in this process. through Jesus, and you realize what his character traits are. Fortunately for us, all his character traits are awesome. Yep. They're all good. They're all right. They're all holy, which is why we're here,

why we have to go through struggles. He gives us Jesus. He is the perfect person. That's why he said, I'm the way, the truth. But meanwhile, we are going to be a family forever, and it was God's purpose all along. And for everyone listening, I would want, want to just have that fear of missing out on that overwhelm me.

I mean, we're going. Come go with us. All right. We're out of time. Let's pick it up there next time. 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 and be sure to click that little

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