Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 371 | Why Many Take Time to Find Their Faith & the Steps You Take Before You Walk on Water

Episode Date: October 29, 2021

Jase and Al discuss why so many people take time to come to Jesus. Phil points out that even a few disciples didn’t believe until they saw the tomb. Jase looks at why Jesus walking on water was just as miraculous as turning water into wine. The guys get into why you should trust doctors who are taught by God. Jase and Al share their amazing experiences with Make-A-Wish kids and why Si is the best at being himself in difficult situations. And Jase spells out why you have to get into the boat and discover who Jesus is before you walk on water. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So last week I did the, I caught the Arkansas Two-Step. That is why you were in Greece. We spoke in Eldorado, Arkansas. Yeah, how'd that go? Well, it was really interesting, Dad, because, you know, we, as you come out and turn there on 167, go north into El Dorada, we were literally only about probably five miles from kind of the epicenter of when our family was the worst place we've ever been right there next to that bar.

So instead of taking the left going that way, I take a right and I go and speak and it was interesting because I mentioned at the beginning, I said, now, because I was talking about our family. And I said, you know, Dad, he was kind of a renegade up here back in the day. I said, but he told me to give you all a message. He changed. And everybody laughed.

But afterwards, I met some people that, you know, were probably your age. And so they were like, oh, yeah, we remember your dad. We remember him back at the back. Isn't that ironic? When you look at big picture, you know, it's almost like a movie. You start off in a setting. We actually might make a movie about it.

Where the bar is and just chaos and bad parenting or whatever, bad decision making. And then you fast forward how many years, 40 years, and there you are speaking Jesus. Right. Just down the road. Well, what's interesting, I have two pictures that I show. I think I mentioned this before. And it's really such a great contrast. It works so well with an audience because I show a picture of the last night we filmed the show.

And it's in Willie's living room, you know, the Taj Mahal of Arkansas Road up there. So it's big, stately. And then there's four generations represented in the picture because, you know, all the way down to my grandkids. And you and mom are there. and it's, you know, very matriarch, patriarch. And so you look at that picture, and I love showing it because I'm like, this is what America said, we love this family. This is what we love about this family.

You know, four generally, and I go through all the positives. And then I pop in a picture that was, looked like it was at the Junction City House. Jace is about, he's not even, he's a baby. I'm about five. And mom is pregnant with Willie. You can tell she has a maternity type of. You don't have a beard, you know, or a shirt on. You just, you know, and I show that picture, and I always make the contrast.

I say, you see what happens in 1972. There's no way this family could have ever imagined that other group. Because you're just trying to survive. You're trying to make it living. You know, day-to-day decisions, they're not based on God. So you never know where we're going. But I always tell an audience that because there's people sitting out there that are in some ways like that 72 family. So, you know, they can't imagine what God can do.

with a group of people. And so you're right, Jay. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. You know, when we studied the parable of the sewer, most of the times we do what we did, which was you look at the four different hearts. But I believe it's also a meaning of a process. I mean, sometimes you are in your life the four different hearts

at stages along in your life. I mean, at some point, that's what I realized in Greece, when I shared Jesus, what I didn't realize was that when they heard our story, because I basically wove the introduction of Jesus through our story, our family and you weren't a Christian in the bar. Well, one of the guys, through the translator, after I was finished, he said, well, I didn't realize you were a refugee too. And I thought to myself, you know what?

before Jesus, we're all refugees. That's right. Good point. We're running from something. Because that's why, you know, they said we felt like we connected. I was like, well, in a way, we all connect. We are. I mean, all the verses that says, God is my refuge.

And so I think you even see that, you know, and what we're going to talk about today in the disciples' hearts because they had trouble believing Jesus as the son of God. But I had not thought about that idea of sort of graduating through those different hearts in Matthew 13. Tell the story you were telling us before we came on

about the guy Blake was telling about because you think about that guy probably went through every one of those hearts before now he's got to this point.

Well, I mean, what's interesting is I think when you leave America for any amount of time and you go to, it wasn't a third world country,

but it had third world country tendencies. You just appreciate everything so much when you get back. I mean, when we landed, and Missy and I was driving because it's a long,

it's a long trip home. I mean, it's a long trip there. But I said, you know, I never noticed how clean this town is. It looks so pristine. I've always thought,

well, we live in a dirty town too with trash. And compared to where we were, this place is pristine. It just was a shock. I thought, I'm going to quit griping about this. I mean,

We're, but also, I mean, it's like, it's all the things that, uh, that you appreciate about coming back to America. Because I was like, I cannot wait till I meet with the brothers on Sunday. I just wanted to be around English speaking people. But also when we got home that my Yeti ice chest was in front of my front door. And I thought, I know what that is. And she's like, why would somebody take your eyes? I said, babe, I know what that is. because one of Jay's buddies who we duck up with who helps us on the land,

I told him, I was like, look, I told him this a few weeks ago. I said, you are free to deer hunt my stand anytime you want to. But here are the rules. If you kill a big buck. If you see a big buck, shoot him. See me a pitcher. If you shoot a big doe, tag it, and I don't want to, I don't care. I said, but if you see a young deer, I want you to shoot that deer.

clean it and then put it I told him where my eddy ice chest was I said I want the two hindquarters you keep the backstrap Is this nurse man? Yeah

He was on the podcast In your absence Yeah I told nurseman Okay well they know who he is I said and I want that In front of my front door on ice And that's all we That was the arrangement

So when I pulled up I saw that ice chest And I thought Okay Okay. It was like somebody ran a flag up at your house. Like, you knew what it was. I mean, you got to realize other than one big fish in Greece, I have not eaten a meal that I consider decent.

And so, Missy and I, we ate an entire hind quarter of deer and one night. I had a couple of pieces of toast just to help it get the deer down. That was awesome. So anyway, to tell you the story about Blake, so then we met at Sunday, and it was just, it was awesome. You did a, I thought your sermon was great. We gave you a lot of good ideas from the podcast. Nobody knows that. That's how to get some of my best up.

And I was at the contemporary service. Well, Ryan, who leads that, he was with us from one kingdom. But after when I was walking out, the first guy I ever brought to the Lord, a guy named Blake, he was there and he saw me there and he's like I'm glad I ran into you and he said because you're not going to believe this and he mentioned two names that we had shared Jesus with 28 years ago

and he said one of them, they were their friends he said reached out to me and said they want to study again and I was like are you serious? He said 28 years later he said he's actually been leading a Bible study I said, well, how's he leading a Bible study if he's not a believer yet?

He said, well, that's the thing. He said he's been going by what we told him 28 years ago. He's at a stage in his life where he's now believing actually this is true, which made me realize, look, a lot of people, you know, where is that that says even the demons believe, James? A lot of people believe in Jesus, but they don't believe in Jesus to a point to where they want to change their life. life. Yeah. And that's going on.

It's like Missy said, the last podcast, you know, especially in the ministry we saw over there, people will embrace Jesus just as a compartment of their life, kind of like an insurance policy. So I'm excited about that. And that was that third heart in the parable, the sower, was the cares of the world, wealth. Jesus just becomes a slot amongst everything else. But we know from the parable, Jesus said, that's a thing. That's not, I'm not to be slotted.

I mean, I'm either king or I'm not king. But there is a process. I do believe that I've, I've had signs of these. Yeah, I had thought about that too. I mean, I preached that yesterday. And you said that. And, you know, I kind of compartmentalized the hearts. But I never thought about a person could actually, because when he mentioned this guy,

I thought he was a guy that heard it almost 30 years ago. But it didn't penetrate in the moment. Oh, he was the first heart. Well, the third heart. Now he's like number three. three, but wanting to be number four. Exactly. So he went probably through a process to get there. The third heart is the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth.

Yeah. They make him unfruitful. Right. And they, but it doesn't say what happened to them. It just says they're not bearing fruit. Right. They're not where you want to be. That's right.

They're not committed. The other two, one didn't get it. The second one didn't understand it or and said, well, yeah, that's it. They quickly fall away. but the third one was just hanging there. Well, I thought it was really neat, Jay, so you were in the other service. You probably didn't get a chance to see this.

At the end of our other service, we had a baptism yesterday, and I closed our sermon dad. I went back because I was covering a lot of texts. It was the whole thing from Matthew 11 to 13. Yeah, I wonder why you were doing all that. Well, because we're just, we're trying to finish by the end of the year.

So we, you know what I'm saying? We just can only deal with so much. And I'm leading up to dad, dad's going to preach, by the way, podcast on it. his dad's going to preach at WFR, not this Sunday, but next on November 7th. So you can check that out on our live stream. It's going to be great. But I closed dad with this.

It was such a weird text. It was right there in Matthew, the end of Matthew 11, where he does the thing about come to me, you are weary and burden, and I'll give you rest. You know, take my yoke upon you, my yoke is easy, my burden is life. And it was right in the middle of all this opposition. It was kind of an interesting text. And so I wanted to read this text to you today, is that Lulu, who's our cousin, she listens to the podcast.

and she was there yesterday. And she said, I loved your sermon yesterday. I enjoyed the sweet fellow dropping all his burdens at his baptism yesterday. The relief on his face was priceless. And I knew just what she meant. There was a guy that was baptized at the end. And he was a black guy. And he was just, you know, he was in the moment.

He was so serene. And Paul Stevens was baptized him. He was kind of, you know, going through the gospel with him. And when he came up out of the water, he just took a big, deep breath. And he just, whew. I mean, just exhale. You know, I've seen people do a lot of different things, but I've never seen that. Of course, it's up on that big new screen we have.

And, I mean, it was just, it was, and everybody, like, clapped and laughed because it was like, who, you know, I mean, it was just top five responses. Oh, it was fantastic. I've seen people, you know, lift their hands and shout, but I've never seen my, whew. I mean, he just took this. Dan showed me one other day. He did a little clip. The preacher was standing in. the water and he said I now baptized you in the name of the father son the holy spirit

that there was about an eight-year-old kid that was standing there that the preacher was talking to and as soon as he said I'm going to baptize in the name of the father son and holy spirit the kid the eight-year-old said I'll do it and without him even touching him he just held his nose went down and come back up he just did it himself in the preacher preacher said I think you ought to do it. That's pretty funny. That was a self-fun. He held his nose and just dunked himself and came back up and said, I've got the spirit now.

That's funny. That's pretty good, though. Yeah. I like that. I don't know. There'd be some people say, oh, we've got to do it again. You know, because. No, what I was going to bring up when you all were kind enough to ask me to speak at White's Fair Road,

that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, beginning in Matthew, Chapter 16. you get over to John and John said Jesus is talking he said now's the time of a judgment on this world and now the prince of this world be driven out of course what he was fixing to do but when I'm lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself he said this to show what kind of death he was going to die what's interesting is when you get over to the end of the book of John and John and John himself being participants after they saw the empty tomb John was there with Peter remember yep and down at the bottom at verse 9 says they finally the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went inside he saw and believed he said uh-oh they still did not understand from scripture

that Jesus had to rise from the dead all the way to them standing in the tomb looking in there saying they still did not grasp what Jesus said over in Matthew look here's what's going to happen when he announced what he'd be going to do they just looked to him and looked at everybody else and Peter said no yeah they they still didn't get it until they saw the tomb empty then they said oh that's what he kept saying we I mean even if you heard what I told you, God said you wouldn't believe it. Well, I told, let's take a break. I told the church yesterday that you were up on that date on November 7th

and what you were going to be preaching. And I said, you've been kind of trying it out on us on the podcast. But when I said it, everybody clapped and cheered. So they're excited about you being back. That's a good sign if you get a standing old before you get there. That means they want to hear from me, which is good. Yeah. So we're in Matthew 14. We didn't do much, Jay, so in terms of our Matthew text. Shocker. And so y'all were blaming me this whole time for.

Well, we figured since you're such a storyteller, we wouldn't have your storytelling ability. So we had to, like, cram a lot of guests on here to try to fill your shoes. So we had, we had a nurseman. We had Stone. We had Martin and Gaw. And you know, Martin, which, by the way, he threw you and I under the bus, apparently, on the, on the kiddie podcast comments. But anyway, who said that? You said it. Oh, I did?

You said it. And apparently they, I don't remember you saying it about them, but they said you said it about this. So they took a whole podcast to throw you and me under the bus. Well, I'm about a part of their feelings. Yeah, that's what I sound like. And then I was like, what did I have to do? And they said, oh, no.

They said, you let him right into it. I was like, okay, whatever. So we had them on here. We have mom and Lisa as well. But we're in John, I mean, not John, Matthew 14. And we'd kind of shifted into this idea of kind of fortifying the faith of believers. And it starts with finding out what happened to John the Baptist. Yeah.

He lost his head. And then Jesus has a couple of really big miracles here that are kind of, you know, I always thought aimed more at the disciples. I always thought the feeding of the 5,000 was as much about convincing them of who he was, as much as it was the crowd that he fed. But anyway, so we talked about that one. And so we left off, we got to the point where he's going to walk on the water. Yeah.

In 1422. I've always, it stood out to me that in John's account of this, you know, after he fed the 5,000, in chapter 6 in verse 15 of John, this is in between feeding and Jesus walking on the water. it said Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force withdrew again to a mountain by himself. And that stood out to me because they were struggling with the idea of being an earthly king, which is what Satan tempted him to become, and to be an eternal king. Yep. That's why when you read verses... And if you could feed your army miraculously, who could ever defeat you?

Forget about supply lines and all the things about warfare. If your king could miraculously feed you fish and chips, you know, every time you got hungry. Well, you remember the verse in 1st Timothy 6, we talked about Jesus made the good confession before Pilate. And they had this dialogue. He's like, so you're a king. I mean, there was always this prophecy that this kingdom would be established. that would be an eternal kingdom. Right.

Which the fact that it's eternal would be in contrast to being an earthly kingdom. You know, Daniel said that these earthly kingdoms rise up. But it was just hard for them to wrap their head around anything other than an earthly kingdom destroying all these other kingdoms. But isn't it interesting, you're right, that everything we've studied up until this point, of course, we also studied the Book of John. Like, it seems so clear to me by what he was. saying that's what he meant but the people in the moment did not get it i mean including the disciples but it's like when i told you the story about me being in greece and they saying well you're you're a

refugee too well one of the things i said that i've said many times that didn't seem profound here in america but was profound to them was i made an illustration in my sermon and i didn't really prepare to do it it just came out you i had no notes i just was going to introduce jesus But one thing I said is I said, you can recognize who's king by the manner of which they operate. And I said, the evil one, and I quoted those verses, he's been a murderer from the beginning. You know, Jesus came to destroy him who had the power of death. I said, the evil one has been taking people out since his creation. I mean, that's his mode of operati, you know.

He'll kill you. And you even see that in, I think, abortion and just the murder of innocent life. Sure. So these radical groups, well, how are they trying to take power in our world by killing people? That is the way they operate. So it should make you pause and say, well, wait a minute, where Jesus is about life. Everything he's about is bringing life. and eventually eternal life.

And so, well, that had a profound impact on them because they're coming from cultures where they're being threatened, you know, to be murdered if they don't comply. It's either you're going to comply or kill you. That's right. And so here I am. Cut part of your body off or whatever.

I mean. I'm about Jesus' life. These people are. standing up and clapping, you know, because they're like, we want to live. And I think that's the difference in the earthly kingdom that is established, where we just, we have the biggest stick or the biggest military or we're the greatest threat, and that's how we're going to take control, which is how every other earthly kingdom took its pedestal, versus here's Jesus in a surrendering, humbling spirit, helping people,

because he's going to bring life. And ultimately, when he was resurrected, well, then it made sense. Right. Because they're like, this is greater than being powerful enough to kill people. I ran into this little caveat. Y'all can do with what you will. But it's pretty interesting that it's fact that when a human body dies, how the rotting process begins pretty well immediately.

Would you agree? Yep. You die and you rot. Yep. When Paul, that over the, well, you scoffers, wondering, pairs what I'm going to do, something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you. So when the Apostle Paul is telling that in Acts chapter,

13, you're looking at someone walking on water and performing all these miracles. Jesus himself is a miracle. No sex involved, and you get a human being coming out of somebody. You're like, whoa, here. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. We tell you the good news. What God promised our fathers going through the Old Testament, Jesus is coming.

he has fulfilled for us. We're here to see it. They're children by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second time, you're my son, today I'll become your father. The fact that God raised him from the dead never to decay is stated in these words. I'll give you the holy and sure blessings promise to David.

Now it's stated elsewhere, so it is. You will not let your holy ones see decay. for when David had served God's purpose, he fell asleep. He was buried with his father's. His body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. It's just an interesting point that it was miraculous enough that he beat death. On top of that, when this particular body,

died and they killed him and he gave up his life took his last breath forgive them father they don't know what they're doing that body just lies there out but it doesn't rot or smell it's just there so the only thing i can think of it was just god showing us there's nothing i can't do nothing that's true it's amazing that that's actually brought out when the apostle paul is telling this much it's a This is a doze you have a story. But he said, even if we tell you, you may not believe it to this day out. Most people don't. Which is, let's take another break.

Which is curious, I wonder if when he raised Lazarus in John 11. Because you remember Martha came up. Martha said, no, no, don't roll the stone. He's going to smell bad. That's right. So I wonder if, because Jesus already knew who it was going to do, if he had started decayed or not. Maybe he didn't either.

Because he knew he was going to raise it. That's my point. Because I thought of last, it became somewhat of an issue. Look, he's going to smell terrible. What I'm saying, basically Jesus said, I got this. Is the disciples were having to go through this process are realizing that he's an eternal king.

And this is not about some kind of earthly power. Because you remember in Matthew 8. That was my point, because you made that point. Yeah, a similar thing had occurred. Remember when they was in the storm and he said, You have little faith, 826. Why are you so afraid? Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was come.

So he had already shown them once. Well, and then when you think about him turning the water to wine, his first miracle, I mean, they weren't putting two and two together here. If you can turn water into wine, you could also walk on it. That's irrelevant. You could actually turn it. You could have turned the water into a stone.

Yeah. It's like once you do it, of course, then he shushed the wind. So it's like he just fed $5,000 with a couple of fish and... Three or four loads of bread. For a body to die and not begin to rot is a miraculous thing.

Well, but my point is, Phil, I think in each of these instances, because I'm presenting a point, you're like, well, how come they didn't get it? Because they kept applying this to earthly measures. So this means we're going to take over the world here. That's what they were missing. And how come they just didn't say, oh, this is bigger than this earth. Yeah. So that's why when he said, I think,

think, I mean, you want a three-point sermon with only, I guess, two, five, eight words. When he saw the disciples in Matthew 14 here and walking on the lake, they were terrified thinking, it's a ghost. And if you go back to Matthew 8, remember, they asked after the storm died, they said, what kind of man is this that even the winds and the waves obeying? Well, now they've evolved a little bit. Now they're like, well, it must be a ghost. So we're like, what kind of man is this?

Oh, well, it must be a ghost. It can't be him. That's impossible. You can't walk on the water. I mean, maybe you could turn it to wine, but walking on it, no. You've said it. All these impossibilities keep adding up to possibilities. All right.

So then he says this, which is the eight-word three-point sermon, he says, take courage, or one version says, cheer up. It is I. Don't be afraid. But you just think about what knowing Jesus means to our life. That's a universal three-point sermon to your life. Knowing Jesus, it is I. Knowing Jesus is the son of God means you would cheer up and you wouldn't be afraid.

And you'd be courageous. You wouldn't be courageous. I mean, it would, you know. It's the reason you and Missy got on a plane and flew halfway around the world. Exactly. Which at first I thought this could be dangerous. But I thought, well, take courage because I know Jesus is the son of God. And the only reason I'm going over here is to share him in countries that needs it.

More than this country. I mean, when you're walking around a believer in Jesus and they'll shoot you dead, if you publicly proclaim that, I want to help those people. I've had a lot of people ask me, I go to Africa someplace, and they're like, why would you go there? What if something happened to you? What if you died? What if you got Ebola? All these questions that years, and I always say, well, then I would go out doing the thing I love.

Going somewhere in sharing Jesus. I mean, like, there's no downside to me. There's something humbling about, because like when you mention Iran, we don't, I don't have a favorable impression because we've been in conflict. with them at all the time, you know. But when I met people who had surrendered to Jesus, who were from Iran, that went away. They were just people. That's right. Yep. They were family to me. They loved Jesus. They seemed no different from Americans who trust in Jesus. In fact, I'm sure you viewed them as some of the most courageous people on the planet because they're willing to put their lives at risk to share with their people. And all these verses about

leaving your family and I didn't come to bring peace. And, We can't understand that, but they can. That's right. Because you are blackballed. I mean, if you do this, not only does the family disown you, they'll put out a hit to take you out because of it. Yeah, and plus just think about it, if you were totally tied to everybody back home, you couldn't really be you were supposed to be because you'd be worried about them all the time. You know, your cousin, your sister, whatever, you know. But also think in this scenario, it also teaches us that God doesn't necessarily.

take away the struggles, the fears, or suffering. Because in each of these instances, he moves in while this is going on. And then it's up to you to recognize him as the person you're going to put your faith and trust in while this is going on. I mean, why even allow this to happen? Because in these moments, do you realize the need for something greater? But so in response to that, this is interesting, Jay, as I love your three-point sermon and the eight words,

Peter basically does what had just been done to Jesus. Remembering all that stuff he'd just dealt with with the Pharisees, and then at the end if they say, well, show us a sign. I mean, they'd already say it was from the devil. They had said all these, you're a lawbreaker, you break the Sabbath. And so Peter says, he says, take courage, it is I, don't be afraid. And then Peter says, if it's you,

Which sounds like what the evil one said and the temptation of Jesus. Exactly. If it's you, tell me to come to you on the water, which is really interesting that... Let me have some of that action. Exactly. I mean, I just found that fascinating that Peter, that would be his way to prove that he really was. He was like, let me see. By the way, he didn't get too far. No, he didn't. He got down out of the boat. He walked on the water. So he did experience it. He did it.

But then he doubted. But then he doubted. And then it says he... I think you need to stay away from ifs and doubts. That's right. When he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. And he said, Lord save me. Yeah.

So he was watching Jesus and he's walking. He's like, I'm really doing this. Then he looked around at his setting and thought, oh boy. I mean, but how many times does that happen? I've been in situations where I was super, You're going to walk on water. You've got to be a little bit more all-in than Peter was. He should just ran to him.

It's like me and Jay when we were on vacation. We were at the Mobile Bay. And we were literally, every time we were drifting over this point, we were catching a 35-pound, 30-to-40-pound red. But the wind started blowing, and the swells got so big. and I was trying to deny that because every time we went by me we're catching a 35 pound rent

I was like, no, we'll be all right I mean, we're in Jesus here but about that third pass I think Jay said well I think Jesus doesn't want us to be stupid and I thought you know what, you're right there is a point

which it made me think when he's because I started looking I mean we'd go so far up and so far down I was like we're going to die out here catching these redfish. You weren't quite enough boat to be pulling off.

Doubt started rising by minds because I thought, I'm going to stand for God and say, look, I believed, but I just didn't want to be stupid. He's like, yeah, that was dumb. And I had to catch one more red. Let's take another break. By the way, he said, you of little faith, after he pulled Peter up, he said,

why did you doubt? after Jesus to Peter. Peter was like, I thought I could do it. Well, what I find interesting is, you just think about the dynamics of it. Jesus was walking on the water himself because he could. But not only that, his power allowed Peter to walk on him, and yet it was based on Peter believing he could do it.

I mean, when you think about that, that's a mindbender. Because Peter wasn't controlling the molecules in the water to make it where you wouldn't see. Jesus was doing that, but he was doing it based on the fact of Peter thinking he could do it. That's right. So think about that. That's a mind. That shows you that our thoughts and our faith affects sometimes how our world around us functions.

He wasn't thinking, I can only do this through you. That's right. Oh, if you can, I can't. Exactly. I have somehow the power here. And for the first few steps, he really believed he could do it. I think it's like walking on burning coals. They do the same thing.

Right. They're like, it's just mind over matter. It's mind over matter. It's mind over matter. He wasn't thinking, oh, I'm with a supernatural being. He's like, mind over matter. Oh, no, I see the wind. Maybe it's matter over mine.

You know, I just saw a video this last week. I don't feel I've ever seen it. It was some kind of Chinese paramilitary group. And they're all, they just had the camo pants on, and they're all pretty buff guys. And they're just breaking stuff over them, like concrete pieces. And then they're jumping on the guy's stomach, breaking the kind of. The whole video was stuff being broken over these men.

And they're just jumping around, you know. And I guess it was like a recruiting video or something for the Chinese military. But I thought to myself, I said, boy, I couldn't do one concrete deal across my back. I'm out. You know, I'm done. But outside of Jesus, that worked every time but once. Then you get a punctured lungs, ruptured heart, and you die. That's right.

So I thought, I was amazed at what they were doing, but I thought, this has to have a shelf life at some point because you keep breaking concrete pieces over people. Yeah. You know, it's just a matter of way. By the way, he ends the whole story up by saying when the men that recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country, people brought all their sick to him and begged them to get to let the sick. just touched the edge of his cloak

and all who touched him were healed. I mean, the whole pack. But see, Phil, at first I read that and thought that was a positive and I almost think it's a negative. They're still thinking, what can he do for me now? Here on Earth.

They're still missing the point that so what if he... The tricker is he did it, but it didn't change most of them's mind. Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people believe in Jesus, but they don't do it in order for their life. They don't want to live the life. They're like, I'll give you my mental assent that, okay, you're there and you have some

power. Makes sense when you look at creation. But I'm not going to change my life over this. Yeah. Not in my day to day. And so that's why you find people trying to find a temporary solution to an illness. What's that going to do long term? Exactly.

You're still, at some point, you will die. About a month ago, I made a decision. The local doctor said, well, I had an ailment. He gave me some pills. I took them for a month. But when I got down to the last pill and the thing before you get another bottle, I just thought about it. I said, what am I doing?

Taking these pills from a doctor, when the one I follow walks on water and will raise me from the dead. I took that last pill instead of ingesting it, I throwed the container and the pill in the trash. I said, you know what? Here's the deal. Lord, I'm all in. I'm 75 years old.

I'm not getting any younger here on the earth. If you want to take me at any time, go ahead and take me because I know I'm leaving anyway. I said, forget. this doctor stuff you are I think you are overall that's a good way to think but it could be like me and jay on the swells at some point you know you have to just you have to think is this dumb or because i mean even jesus said he acknowledged doctors when he said it's not the healthy you need a doctor but the sick yep so that's what mom says but but it is interesting dad you do have to

have a value on your whole life. And you have to say at some point, okay, I thought about our uncle Jim, you know, he's, he's in pretty bad shape. He's 82, you know, and John called me about it. And, you know, John's the youngest in the family. He's taken care of it. But he was like, man, so many decisions to make.

I said, John, your dad's 82. He's lived them. He got past, you know, Moses said in Psalm 90, he's past the point where most people get. So I was like, look, you're not going to make a bad decision a wrong decision. He's at the end of his life. And you're viewing everything through an eternal lens.

I like that about where you're at. I mean, what you're saying is if you go tomorrow, you've had a pretty full life, 75. That's it. You know, some people, you've got these groups of people who won't seek any medical. Right. They say it's against God. And guess what they do? They die.

Yeah. I mean, there's just a fact. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you know what? They made their decision. This free country go for it.

But you have to, I think. you know, there's common sense that applies here. But the overall riding factor is that Jesus walks on water anyways is the dead. I mean, that has to be top. That has to be your overarch. Let's take a break. That's where I was when I went, jump, I said, I'm going with you, Lord. Because you knew the medicine made you feel terrible.

That's right. And at some point in life, you have to. It's like if you find out you get cancer, you look at the cancer treatment. You're like, okay, do I want to fight this? to get me a little more time, or do I want to say, you know, people make that decision every day? I think I'll just trust in God. Look, I've talked about this kid before he's not a kid anymore. He's in his 20s.

He has some rare, you know, bone disease, and they gave him his life expectancy of about seven years old, and he's now around 20. I don't know his exact age. He's the longest living human with this condition. But he had about here recently, and, I mean, the man's ready to do. go. I mean, he's like, hey, whatever. And every time it, it like seems to be the end, he just, he keeps coming back, you know. But his attitude, everyone else kind of crumbles around him because they're trying to help him and pursue the, from a medical stance. But he's like,

man, I'm the longest living person. And he believes this because God healed him and uses his life. He's such an inspiration to him, which is why I'm friends with. him. I'm like, I need this guy. You know, in my life. He's, he's just, what a perspective. He's ready to go and he makes the most of every opportunity. You remember back when we were doing the show, the very first time as a family, we had make a wish. They would come, well, maybe four times a year and they would bring kids. The show was popular. Kids love the show. And I'll never forget the first time. We didn't really know what to expect. And they brought the first group of kids in their parents. And it was such a sad situation, because these were

terminal kids with terminal illnesses. And we were all like about to just start crying because it was so sad to us to watch this. And then I never forget, after we spent time with them and we really tried to not be sad, we prayed over them. Dad usually had a prayer. When all those kids and their parents left, I remember us having a conversation that, look, we're going to be doing this several times a year. We have to, they come here because our show is funny.

They love us. They're so excited to get to. to meet it. They're not thinking their fist and a die. They're thinking I'm getting to meet the cash from Duck Dyes. So we had a conversation. We all said from this point forward, we're going to make this the most upbeat, fun time, and we're going to, you know, we're going to

treat these kids that way, because that's what they came for. Not for us to be sad and crying, you know, but that was hard, wasn't it? I have seen a lot of them and you, too, that they said was going to pass on, but they didn't. Some do. That's why I went inside the first time, you know, he had this kid the first, I mean, it was one of the first

few times. I had this kid come in there, And they're like, look, he's literally only has a few days to live. He comes in there. And sigh just like pushes him, you know, and like tickles it. And everybody just went, I was thinking, what are you doing, and that kid busted out laughing? Because he expected that. Well, right.

And he was like, I thought, okay, so that was funny, but never do that again. Of course, he does, but you're right. You know, it's a dismal situation and that laughter that's getting. Our job was to bring joy. And Sa'i, after that first meeting forward, he would wear a boa or something crazy, always, because they expected crazy Uncle Simon. And that's what he was to him. So I just, I mean, looking back on it, those were special.

A lot of those kids have gone on to be with the Lord. But we're going to see him again. But sometimes you just have to bring joy in a moment. I do want you to mention that before we leave this text, because I don't want to skip verse 32 and 33. Well, I was fixed to bring that up. because that was the last worship. I mean, to me, look, it's the other two accounts,

they don't have the, it kind of ends in bewildered by. But in Matthew's account, when they, those who were in the boat, they worshipped him. Yeah. And it's amazing to me how worship comes up in a boat. We're nowhere near a church building. Yep. We're not in a corporate setting, as people say at, which I cannot stand that phrase.

Yeah. I mean, we worship God. Our life is transformed. You'll like the corporate worship. No, I cannot stand it. Now, you can worship God outside the building or however you want to, but when we come into a corporate setting, we're going to do it one way. And you're like, which way is that?

Ours, whatever that may mean. You'll hear this was a spontaneous reaction of worship, saying or singing truly you are the son of God, which I think in those three state, of how we view God, you go from Matthew 8 to hear, look, they have, what kind of man is this? They were first just trying to figure what kind of human is this? Then, well, it must be a ghost. You see this process.

And now all of a sudden, in worship, after they realize, they declare, no, he's a son of God. And I think that's a process we all have to journey in our faith and coming to know Jesus, is acknowledging, yes, he's a man so we can relate. and put ourselves in that situation. But at some point, you've got to say, you know what, he is the son of God. He did come to earth. He is who he said he was.

And it should trigger a spontaneous lifestyle of worship. Yep, yeah. No, it's a great point. And now what I love about it is that worship really is just recognizing who Jesus is. I mean, that's what worship is. You know, whether we're singing or praying or just having a conversation or doing a podcast, I mean, that's what happens when you worship, you acknowledge who God is. Well, when I was reading this, I wrote this down.

Knowing Jesus produces courage, of course, from that one statement, assurance of who he is, confidence, confidence, joy, perseverance, because they didn't enjoy going through the storm earlier, or even the process now with the storm. but it produces perseverance and ultimately worship. Yeah. So, I mean, I think it's just so interesting that this comes up in this setting. Yeah, I know. It is weird. And that happens a few times.

Well, even right before he was led to be crucified, you remember it says Jesus came together as disciples and they sang a hymn. Yeah. And I always thought, wow, what a moment. They probably just sang a song that they knew and it didn't really impact the disciples, but Jesus knew you're going to remember this song later. Yeah. It was funny because after I die, I'm buried and raised.

Don't you know how you hear a song? It's like, you know, your dad, our grandpa, his favorite song was a, and he would lead it all the time. And it was, you never mentioned him to me. I mean, this was like a hundred-year-old song. And I never. Oh, I never. When he led that, I was like, this is the old fogiest. song I have ever heard in my life. But after he died, I heard the song one time, and it meant

way more to me then because then I thought about his life. And then I thought about the actual words. I never thought about the words, but I look at our family. And we tend to speak Jesus first in situations with people that we encounter. Well, it's a direct contrast in a good way of that song. He's like, you don't want to be the person that never mentioned Jesus to a person who does know him. Well, what was interesting was with Granny and Paul is that when dad became a Christian, they moved in next door to us. And so all of your mentoring and discipleship years, they were right there.

And so, of course, and Jason and I and Willie were growing up as a part of that. So I think about that song, Granny used to sing it. She would be cooking, you know, and she would sing that song that same. I can just about know all the words to it just from so many years of here. But yesterday, Jayce, you were in the instrumental side on the archipel side where I was. Perky, who's another one of our buddies, who listens to the podcast. He led a new song to me, maybe he's done it before, but it was called a new wine. And it was, I mean, it's just one of those songs that sticks with you.

And the same thing was the words, because it talks. I never thought about this. You can't make wine, any wine, but new wine for sure, without pressing the grapes, without crushing. And so the song talks about that, about how then how weird. We're crushed, impressed, and then remade in the image of Christ. It was a fantastic. So, and I told her to perky yesterday, I was texting, and I said, man, that's sewn. And then we're waiting to baptize this guy.

And so they sang it several times while we had the little interim there waiting on the guy to, you know, get ready to be baptized. And I was like, what a beautiful thing. My whole thing to think about, that's what new wine is. It's hard pressed, but it's made into something great. Well, I want to say something as we close. We don't do this very often, but going back to the parable of the sewer. you know, being part of the process. I mean, we may have some people out there listening

who's been heart number one has no desire to do this. But you got to remember, the first thing that has to happen when we read these stories, especially this about seeing Jesus as the son of God walking on the water, you got to get in a boat. It's never going to, something magical is not going to happen in your life where all of a sudden, you know, somebody taps you on the shoulder, like, I mean, you know, something supernatural.

At some point, you've got to say, I'm going to give this a try and seek. This is for people who are seeking God. So get in the boat and see where it leads in Jesus. That's a great point. And to your questions, if you're not sure who Jesus is, or if you think it's just some supernatural thing you can't understand, remember, he is the son of God and he died for you. So it's a good time to get on board.

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 bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to blazed TV at blazestiv.com slash unashamed.