Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 581 | Jase Pinpoints the Friendship Jesus Offers to Both Innocent & Hard Hearts

Episode Date: November 13, 2022

Jase examines the innocence of his younger self and describes the unique friendship that Jesus offers to us as our hearts endure life's blows. Zach discusses the hardened hearts of adults and the cynicism that grows once we have been taken advantage of a couple of times. Jase tells the story of ordering a canister of shrinking dust as a naive kid with a plan to shrink his parents! And Zach discusses raising young boys and how your glass windows eventually change into glass houses. -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashamed. We're in Mark Chapter 9. It's where we're hanging out right now. We had really interesting a story that we read on the last podcast about this, I don't know, I was calling it the stubborn spirit. You know, you've got to have some serious prayer apparently to. Well, the disciples couldn't drive it out. And so they come to Jesus. privately and he's like, yep, that can only come out in prayer. But you're also seeing a lot of problems with the disciples grasping what's going on. I mean, he just had this encounter with Moses and Elijah up on the hill. They're glowing. They don't know what they're

talking about. I mean, Peter's like, hey, this is good. This is good. How about some shelters? But So A tabernacle But you got to remember In these three Jesus acted like He didn't even

Didn't even hear him on that Well right Yeah Because you got to remember When Jesus the first time He broke it to him That he came here to die Well you know

Peter's like Rebuking him And he actually calls him Satan We had that happen But he tells them Three different times In these three chapters That he's gonna

He came here To die And their idea of greatness is just shattered. And even when he did do what he said he was going to do, and Peter arguing with him, the first thing Peter did was adios. Yeah, after he said he wouldn't.

I'm out of here. After he said, I'll die with you. Yeah. And he, no, you're going to. But you know what I think the watershed for Peter was, is remember when the garden, when they first came to get him, he pulls a sword out. and he takes a swipe at this guy and cuts his ear off.

And then when Jesus puts the ear back on and says, put the sword away, son. That would have been enough for me to stay. Well, right. But instead, he thought, what's the point? And he thought, well, you think that. But look, it's hard to wrap your head around the human limitations. It's like, you don't know the difference in God is and us. He says it in this story in Mark 9 where he says,

when the guy says, well, if you can, help me, this was verse 22. Yeah. Because this, from childhood, his son had had this spirit and it had thrown him into the fire, the water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. And I brought up the point I think in overtime where it said, if you can, said Jesus. And he was either questioning sarcastically or he was saying, if you can, because he said everything is possible for him who believes.

So the difference. Peter had in his mind, let's kill them all. That's what we do. Give me my sword. Let's kill. Well, right. Instead of convert them all. Right.

But before we converge, I just wanted to say that with God, everything is possible. Because look, a chapter. Modern day, Jay, you think about the people that are charging us with false charges, this and that, and how they've been doing with the last 45, 50 years. but you can't get to the point where you say, well, let God kill them all and be done with them. You just have to be patient. Well, let me make this point, though.

In the next chapter, I'm looking ahead with the rich young ruler, look, there's also a statement here that in 27 of 10 that Jesus said, with man, this is impossible. I mean, we'll get to that. But it says, with man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. So I just want to make a point. three times in a chapter and a half we have him radiating glowing on the dark in a mountain with dead guys

a thousand years before roughly and you have these two profound statements well the difference in god and us is we're we can do some things but he's like all things are possible nothing is impossible So they should be alleviating their fears and their understanding should be becoming clear. But the reason I read, I think I read this in the overtime, but I also bring this up for the next podcast because in verse 32 of 9, it says they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. Well, what did he just say that the son of man would die? and he would be buried in three days he would rise. So what are they not getting? Go ahead, Zach.

You had a comment? Yeah, I think what they're not getting is, so it's one thing, it would be one thing to say, look, we're about to go fight these boys, and you might lose your life. And,

hey, we're in it for the right reasons. We're going to take this thing by storm, and people can get on board with that because there's the possibility that they may actually win and get liberation. And so probably what they're thinking is,

hey, if I die trying to fight for liberation, you know, at least I'm dying for something that matters. But what Jesus is calling them to us is not that. He's telling them, like, we are marching in to our death. And it was probably just like, wait,

what? I'm thinking Peter's probably hearing this thing. Wait, what is you, you're preemptively saying we're going to be killed, like you're going to die. You're the one we're following. you're going to die they probably just didn't have room what you're discussing what you're discussing dash is the atheist manifesto that's what they're saying i mean he he's not going to be

able to do this or do that they they they you're looking for faith and and the atheist manifesto was saying the same thing he's disciples said no way but you got but it won't work but and to to to defend them somewhat. I mean, you can kind of understand why they thought the way they thought when Jesus is telling I, hey, I'm going to die. And then the next thing he says is, hey, see these little kids? Yeah, you got to be like a little kid. Oh, you want to be first?

Well, you got to be last. So he's taken every single one of their assumptions about power, about power dynamics. And he's doing this. He said, it's actually like this. That's still going on today. If you want to be the greatest, you got to be a servant. You just think about that. It was like Missy and I was talking about this last night because, you know, we have a little baby now and we're just awed every day because it's a reminder of how we all go through this process.

And she made a good point because these childlike qualities, the curiosity, open-mindedness, and courage that you see from a kid, even when they first put something in their mouth to eat it, you know, They have the bottle. Okay, we get that. We get how the woman's anatomy is. And that's quickly applied. But then when they eat real food, what Missy said, she had a funny illustration. The first time he opened his mouth,

well, he has no idea what you're fixed to stick in there. And he just like, it'd be like you going to a restaurant putting a blindfold on and just say go for it that's something i would never do because i have no idea what they were you know i just don't we don't trust people we want to like what we like and when you see you know so you start realizing there that some you know some fear is helpful just like they with a kid on how they they learn through pain and they say oh don't don't do that again you know i mean missy she thought boy he loves this chair the other night he just he hangs out at that chair well i went over and looked at the chair i said i wonder why he likes this chair well i looked

down and there were little bitty pieces of leather missing and i said i know why he likes his chair he's chin on it i said he's eating this chair she said no he's not when she came over and looked she said oh i said yeah that's why he likes the chair he's bit by bit. And just, she's like, oh, no, what is this made of? I was like, leather. I said, I think he's a steak eater. Yep, he's good to go.

He's just starting on the outside, working his way in. Might not be too good for the digestive body. Well, I know. We watched him for two days. That's called roughage right there. Roughage is good. Real ruffage. This is where.

I was. I need to keep him away for getting rid of that chair. Yeah, we've had that conversation. Because it went from panic to, like, well, you live and learn. We're all learning together. Learning together. He's eating the chair.

That's a problem. I have dogs that are eating chairs. But human beings, I would say, no, we get rid of the chair. There's the only option we have. Yeah, exactly. But to Zach's point, he is trying to get them to wrap their head around. This is not what you think. And greatness is redefined.

And look, God's greatness is better than anything that you can come up with. That's why this is the greatest religious movement in the history of the world. Because it is true. It does produce character. It is a better way for society to live. Immortality is riding on it, but they have, as all humans do, having a struggle with anything that will deliver you and give you, immortality. It's just a...

Well, because I think the problem is... Well, the reason why is I think because they were... When they hear immortality, that what they're missing is, they think that it's the immortality that is the prize, but that's... It's not immortality. It's not life forever. It's life forever in the presence of God. So God is the prize. I think that's what the Pharisees...

And a lot of these guys... We all struggle with this, right? I think that's what we see this paradox that Jesus is unfolding in the kingdom. I mentioned in the last episode. Jesus mentions the kingdom 52 times in the book of, I think 52 times in the book of Matthew. And the kingdom is bringing forth a paradox that what a paradox is, it's a perceived contradiction. But upon further investigation, you realize that it's not a contradiction. So it seems like a contradiction to say, if you want to live, of you got to die, or if you want to be first, you've got to be last, or you know,

you've got to be like a kid. And these all seems like they don't make sense. But then when you see the very nature of who God is, you see God actually living out what he's calling us to. That's Philippians too, right? Christ, who being in very nature of God. He has to get in the middle of the mindset that God really doesn't love us. And that's why he sent Jesus.

He didn't send Jesus. He didn't send Jesus to condemn us. It's hard for them to realize he's trying to give you life. He's not trying to condemn you. That's a hard concept for humans to have. One author said that the problem defined is this. It is the worship of self is the problem. So if you understand that the problem is the worship of yourself,

which if you just run that out, the reason why that's a problem is because I'm not built to be working. I'm a finite creature. If you worship me, I can't, like, I can't handle that. Like, I just can't, I can't sustain reality. I'm not a God. And so that's the problem. And if that's the problem with humanity, then the solution is to die to self.

If the problem is the worship of self, then the solution has to be to die to self. So there is a, in this paradox, it's not, we're not being asked to do something that's logically incoherent or that makes no sense. It actually makes perfect sense. and you know this whenever you live out a life that is that is overflowing in a life of love, then you realize, man, like when we adopted Ruth, you'd say, well, you got four kids, Zach, you just added another one to the mix. That's going to, she's going to take up the love that you have to offer the other kids,

but something profound happened when we adopted her is that she actually, like love is exponentially growing in our family. She added love to it. And that's the nature of love is that it's overflowing and that it can be expanded. It's not a finite resource. That's who God is. And that's what we're being invited into. And when we're pulling inward and we're selfish, then we become like that black hole.

And we just pull in everything around us. And we look back after five or ten years of doing that. And we're like, we're isolated, we're lonely, or miserable. Did we get to do the things we want to do? Yeah. And it never fulfilled us. Yep. It never fulfilled us.

And that's the paradox that Jesus is bringing forth in the gospel of the kingdom. I believe that is the core. core of the whole thing. Yep. You are correct, my man. Let's take a break. So my point was, you know, how do you make a statement that everything is possible for him who believes?

Why were they not getting it? Because it's hard for us to get past our present circumstances to have faith. Because we're looking around thinking, well, this is this is not going well. And what's contributing to a lot of that is, you know, he gets into talking about. being a having a childlike attitude and you know the the next paragraph read read that 33 through 37 days because we've alluded to it a couple of times to read that whole text well he says when they came to compurnum when he was in the house he asked them what were you arguing about on the road which by the way there's the Jedi Jesus mind trick again how would he know what they were talking about right but they

kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest I mean, they've completely missed it. It's affecting their prayer life, their faith, and their trust. Now they were arguing with the teachers of the law. Now they're arguing with each other. Yeah. Sitting down, Jesus called the 12 and said, if anyone wants to be first, he must become the very last and the servant of all.

Now, just look, we've read that a hundred times. But if your track instructor came out and said, okay, here's the way to greatness. we're going to start a race and whoever finishes dead last is the winner they would fire him immediately but i mean that this is why they're having i mean they're easily thrown under the bus but when you're looking at your current situation you're like this guy's an idiot what's you talking about what serving what that's what you're wanting us to do look and it gets worse because two paragraphs later he's going to say after he brings up about the kids here

because he's wanting them to leave a legacy and not become legends. And that's the difference. I mean, some preacher said that one time, but it's true. Because they're talking about who's going to be the greatest legend from this point on. And he's like, no, I'm going to affect everything from your marriage, which he talks about, from your kids to the people that you're helping. I mean, you're going to be my servants and we're going to change the world for the better. And we're going to live eternally as a forever family. That all sounds great on paper,

but you're looking at thinking, but you want me to finish last? You want me to be like a child? And then he says- That would be a good sermon title, Jay's. Legend or Legacy. Then two paragraphs later, he's like, oh, and by the way,

before you cause a kid to stumble, it'd be better for you to have a millstone tied around your neck and thrown out in the lake. And if your hand causes you to send, cut it off. Because you'd be better off if you make it to heaven without a hand. Well, all of a sudden, they're looking down at their hand thinking, what's this guy on top of it?

This is way too, this is way too out there and crazy and radical. So to finish this in verse 36, he took a little child and had him stand among them, taking him in his arms, he said to them, whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me. And so it's just... So what he was saying there is I'm the illustration of this child because the father sent his child here for you to embrace.

See, he's using that illustration, which I think it was so powerful. And you think about it, in our culture, this is not even as meaningful. I don't think as it was in that culture because children, I mean, they didn't already recognize them until they got a certain age because you didn't know whether they were going to live or die. It was a different way of view in children. And they didn't have any like, you know, Jesus, that's why we don't know anything about his childhood. Because. Well, and to your point, in 10, 13, you know, Mark is famous for telling these stories within a story, he's going to bring them back up. Yep.

And to my point, when he said in 14 of 10, he said, let the little children come to me and do not handle them for the kingdom of God. belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter. And to your point out, a couple chapters later, he's gonna tell him a parable about that represents what you just said if a guy has a vineyard and he sends these representatives, you know,

and they kept robbing him. And so finally he sent his child. And guess what? They killed him. They killed him. So he's bringing up that theme. So what I was going to say and what I did in the last podcast in overtime was asked the question how prayer and faith worked together. Because life is filled with fear.

And the disciples, they were uncomfortable when Jesus started saying he had to die. Because what this does is it introduces pain into the kingdom and difficulty in that God is going to to take us through it. But we're creatures as humans that we want us, we always want pain and difficulty to be taken away from us. We don't want to walk

into that. And so I brought up... We don't want to suffer. Yeah, I brought up a point that the reason they were having difficulty with this miracle in Mark 9 is that it seemed like a dangerous,

violent, a scary situation for a guy to be in with having a son that's violently going into convulsions and foaming at the mouth. And so they're trying to heal them. They couldn't do it. And they pulled Jesus to the side and say, why can we do it? And he's like, well, that kind comes only through prayer and fasting. And I brought up an example.

In the Psalms, you can find a lot of comfort because David, and others, seemed to pray when they were angry or when they were fearful. And there was a little outline. I heard a sermon from Psalm 3 that I brought this up. And I think it was noteworthy. And just to read it again, in verse 1, he said, oh, Lord. And this was, now just think of his current situation. This was a Psalm of David when he was fleeing from his son, Absalom, who was trying to kill him.

And take this throne. That's a pretty good. That's a pretty difficult situation in life. If your son's trying to kill you, I don't know how any more difficult it could get. Yeah. And so he prays, oh, Lord, how many are my foes? How many rise up against me? And we're later going to find out that there were thousands.

And that's how we're attacked physically. We are to this day, even today. But we're also, they were attacking his character. because in verse two it's as many are saying of me, God will not deliver him because of his past. And look, we all struggle with having to live with our past. People, that's the first thing they bring up. Even if they know your past or not,

they know we're all sinners and they're like, you're a hypocrite. Because they're deducing, correctly so, that we all have baggage, which is why Jesus came. We're all hypocrites. So then he prayed verse three, though. So that's kind of why we are fearful because people do attack us.

The evil one does attack us. People attack us physically. They attack us spiritually. They attack our character. But he prays, and this is kind of the, he kind of gives a four-point way of understanding prayer and faith despite our current conditions. If they're fearful or we're having trouble understanding why is the Lord allowing this to happen in my life? It takes the text.

with meaning you're sure of what you hope for. And certain. What you don't see. Right. So he says, but you are a shield around me. And the shield implies that he's not going to take you away from the storm of the battle. He's going to take you right in the middle of it. That's why you need a shield.

If you're headed forward, it makes you think of all those verses. It says we're not like those who shrink back and are destroyed. And your shield around me, Lord, you're best. glory on me. So it's not in his, he wasn't looking for, at his glory, and this is the king talking. He's like, for the Lord to be glorified. And you lift up my head. I don't lift my head selfishly in pride like I'm the greatest, like what they were arguing. The Lord lifts my head when I'm going through the pain and difficulty and lack of understanding and fearful moments. You take up the shield of faith. Of faith. That's right. Fees and six. You don't need a shield if you're not going

forward. That's it. So it says, I'll lie down and sleep. Verse 5, I wake again. Well, I skip for it. To the Lord, I cry aloud, and he answers me from, and I believe that holy hill, which I think is an, you know, indirect, direct moment to what Jesus would do on the hill, you know, as far as sacrifice. Or he was looking back for all the sacrifices that that was given because of our sin. I mean, I mean, David had already concluded, that's why he's a man after God's own heart, that ultimately God would provide a way, you know, out from under our sins. Right. He would save us.

So he says, I'll lie down and sleep, I'll wake again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side, which is why I went to this Psalm. And the point I was making is we pray our fears, we pray our emotions, even when we're angry because he's obviously he's surrounded. I mean it doesn't look good but he realizes God does his best work

in these situations that seem overwhelming because you go back to where we're at and mark because all things are possible. The bigger plan is more important. Nothing is impossible. We're going to be resurrected. We're going to live again. So then he says, arise of the Lord, deliver me verse 7.

Strike all my enemies on the jaw and break the teeth of the wicked. I made a point that he seems angry here, but, you know, when you're the most fearful is when you tend to lash out the most in anger. From the Lord comes deliverance, which is the point. May your blessing be on your people, which I do think in the end, he had a loving attitude toward that. I mean, he was wanting the Lord to deliver him, but he wanted blessing on the people. because two things that happen as a result of understanding what God wants for us is a love to God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and a love for people.

So I was just trying to give an image of why I think they couldn't drive that demon out. They were distracted. They were worried about their own greatness. They were not understanding the death of Jesus, which was imminent. I mean, because that's why he repeats it three times in a chapter and a half here. And so prayer is a powerful thing. And they weren't asking Jesus, even twice, two instances there from 32 to 34. They were just keeping quiet about it and they were afraid to ask him.

Yeah, David had one thing going for him. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Whoever comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seeking. even in times when you're surrounded by enemies by the thousands. Which any of us could find ourselves in, right? Let's take another break. So, Jason, it's interesting that you brought up, David, that's why I wanted you to read that again,

was because we talked about his situation and his life. He had always had this ability, even from a young, a teenager, to when times got tough, he turned to God, which is the whole idea, because it's the father. right? That's his father, and so he trusted it. But, you know, I didn't think about it to you were just reading it that when you think about David, now you know why that God said the everlasting kingdom when it happens. It's going to happen through the House of David. Even way back then, he said that. And they're really after David, there were a few decent kings,

but for the most part, all the kings of Israel were not very good people and led Israel into a lot of trouble. And so he said from the House of David, and of course, Jesus, his lineage, the physical side of him, comes through the house of David. So I think that spirit you were talking about of that childlike faith that Jesus brings into the earth, because I think this is a fascinating picture of Jesus that we don't think of very often that's in our text when he compares himself to the welcoming of this child. In other words, he's like, when you wrap your hands around me, when you love me, I am the child. It's another picture of Jesus.

You know, we're talking about all the resume at Jesus. He's also a child. Do you know why? Innocence. Never sin. So a child is innocent. That's why they'll believe you. I want my grandkids come in and a storm comes up.

They don't, well, they don't like storms. And that'll all come. And when it was like lightning outside, they're all three just right in my lap, just as close as they. Hey, it's my dogs. Exactly. And so. Dunders and here they come. And why is that?

Because they think you can protect them. Yep. Because they believe that. So that's this kind of concept that Jesus says. Well, they appreciate security, you know. They do. That's right. And all of us do. All my dogs jump up on the chair, and I haven't heard it yet.

I haven't heard it. But they're listening. Dogs, listen, it's when thunders way off in the distance. Right. Here they come. No, there's a lot of thing about kids. I mean, they forgive and they don't hold grudges. I mean, even in, you know, they just, they wake up the next day.

and then you're their caretaker. It's so weird that, you know, later on, that's not going to happen. We're going to have a little notebook and we're like strike number four. Let's hold on to that grudge. They also imitate those who they trust, you know, when you think about kids, they, whatever you do, they imitate, which we know Jesus was the image of God, you know. Well, you alluded to this. Go ahead, Zat.

Yeah, somebody told me one time, a youth minister here in Asheville that I'm friends with, actually runs a youth camp here. And I was talking about my boys. And he said, Zach, because this guy's race, I think three or four boys. And he says, when your kids are younger, he said, it's like your house. All the windows are about six foot up in the air. and you have to tell them what it looks like outside, and you can pick them up sometimes and show them what it looks like outside.

And he said, the day they turn 13 years old, he said, it's like your entire house becomes glass and they know everything. And I just thought, you know, it's kind of funny because I'm like, man,

if you have a 13 year old kid, you know that, they just know everything. And they're just belligerently, I mean, I mean, it's a whole other seventh grade is a weird deal. But I think this idea of being a kid is like,

If I tell a two-year-old or three-year-old, whatever I tell him is outside, he's going to believe it. I say, hey, there's a guy that comes once a year, and he can shrink down his entire body to fit in his big fat guy, but he can shrink down his entire body and fit into a chimney, and he shows up down at the bottom of the fireplace with a bag that he's got all the toys in the world in this bag. And they're like, really? You know, it's like the most absurd thing. They just believe you because they trust you. And I don't think that God is calling us to believe in something irrational. But I do think there's something in the heart of a child that there's an innocence and there's a trust.

I think it's more about the trust. The reason why, as we get older, we quit trusting is because we get hurt. And after you get kicked into teeth a few times, you're like, you know what? I don't believe that you are truthful what you're saying because the last time I believed somebody when they said that, I end up getting taken to the cleaners. And I'm not, so we developed a hard shell around this. And the kids, it's like truly unadulterated trust, which, again, is a picture of who God is inside of his own nature, where you have a father and a son, which is interesting, right? You have a father and a son.

God is eternally a father and a son, and there's a love between them, the spirit. But they never, they never heard each other. You want to talk about what unadulterated trust looks like? Look inside the Trinity. Look inside the Godhead. look at how God operates inside of himself. There's no lack of trust between the father and the son. Because it's impossible for them to hurt each other.

And so when we get to this idea about little kids, I think it's kind of a picture, a little, he gives us these little human glimpses on earth. Like here's just a little picture of what I'm like. And if you see the heart of a child and how they just will jump up in your lap and they will trust you and they will accept you and there's no, there's no manipulation. there's nothing that's that's kind of like how I am and if you want to get into my kingdom

it's this is what it's like in the kingdom so you got to be like be like the kids well there's a reason yeah there's a reason Jesus said you need to be born again because kids they don't have any baggage and you know baggage is what's causing a lot of problems in our society and uh it made me think I mean look I had trust issues just like everybody else and one of the contributors to that I've shared this story before, probably a couple hundred podcasts ago. But when I was a kid, when I first told this story, it was the first time I'd ever told it because I was so embarrassed. But I saved my money.

I was seven, eight years old, which we had no money. But I saved my money for months because at the back of a comic book, I saw an ad for 1999. You could get a canister of shrinking dust. and the picture on the ad was a kid walking and he had his parents in his pocket. They just, their heads were sticking out.

And I thought, you know what? That'd make my life a lot easier. And so I saved my money and sent that in the mail. And guess what? Oval team. It never arrived.

So somebody stole it $20 because I was trusting and I was a kid. Whoops. They con me. Yeah, they conned me out of $20. But it also showed that I really believed that that product was available. And mom and dad are still supersized through the whole thing. Let's take another.

Hang on. Hang on, let's take a break. Yeah, it's like never again. Once you get hurt, you don't, you know, it's like, it's hard to go back. And you think about like, that's the cynicism you was talking about. That's when you start getting cynical, right? You start getting burned.

No, because don't underestimate months of that money. I mean, that was all I had that took months to acquire, and all my hopes and dreams were dash. But, I mean, I think it was a good later on when I, you know, after I became a son of God, I realized I'm glad that was a con. Because my idea of greatness was wrong. Not unlike the disciple. I thought, no, that would be great if I could just make anybody that cross me

an inch tall and put it in your pocket that's real power and for 20 bucks not even 20 1995 jace i never heard that story before i don't believe i think i told you but you probably weren't listening but i don't know i shared that on the podcast it was a

i remember telling my wife about it i was like i had i did something really embarrassing one time and i i told i was just a kid but i you know i had a comic book and there was the And I thought, but I just thought, what kind of now I look back on it? What kind of twisted person makes an ad designed at kids? And, I mean, was it? It's called not biblical, but it's called money-grubbing scum. They clip me.

So it's like, I compare it to the Christmas story, the movie they show every year for 24 hours. Remember, that's why I said Oval Tene. So he, like, invest all his time into this. They're sending them these little secret decoders, and he's working it out. He's trying to figure it out. He decodes the message they've been giving him all these months of listening on the radio, and it's Drink More Oval Team. I didn't know what you meant by that.

You know, I remember being down there at y'all's house when I was about, I remember when it happened to me for the first time. I was probably about nine years old, trusting nine-year-old. I'm down at there at y'all's place. You know, had that one room with all the Dallas Cowboys stuff in it. And one John Gimber was there. And I had a Pete Rose baseball card, and it was, I think it was like a good one. And he convinces me.

Yeah, it was a rookie card. And he convinces me to trade him. It was Mookie Wilson for Pete Rose. I had trade. And I'm convinced. I got the best deal until when the whole episode is over. Then I realize I'm looking in the little, was it Beckett magazine? It had like the price of it.

And I was like, oh, my goodness, I'm just got taken to the cleaners. And I've never traded John Gimber anything since then. You got to watch Gember. Never again. You got to watch Gember on his trades, even as an adult. Sometimes you'll wind up on the wrong end of a choice. Or in the same room, I was coaxed into that room to play a. a friendly game, a friendly game of something called Blind Man's Bluff with you guys.

And it's a pillow fight. What you think of, how could you get harmed in a pillow fight until I realized you guys were taking like jeans and clothes and like you were winding down the pillowcase to where it was a ball of just solid density that you. And then y'all proceeded to just take our head. Me and Jeff and any of the young kids, I mean, it was like a brutal gladiators. Why did you do stuff like that? All of that was a response to getting manipulated and bushwhacked at every turn. I mean, when I was a kid. You tough it up after a while.

Yeah, you have your head on a swivel. Psalm 3, right? You're surrounded by enemies. But that's why I appreciate David and that Psalm. I'm talking about he's relying on the Lord's glory and the Lord's sustaining. You know, if we just try to figure all this out, especially when difficulties come our way, you're just going to be fearful. Your plans are going to fall apart.

I mean, life is brief, and it's filled with a lot of persecutions and troubles and difficulty. Short and a lot of trouble. Things are just not going to work. And look, God never promised a bed of roses here while on this life. Even, you know, when I read that from the rich young ruler, which I know we'll get into detail later, but when they were like, you know, Peter said, well, we've left everything to follow you. You remember that he was like, I mean, we got nothing. We're following you around. And he said, you know, Jesus said, look, you'll, you'll be blessed with homes and brothers and sisters and, you know, family and fields for me and the gospel. And you'll receive, you know, a hundred times that. But then he threw him one little. thing and persecutions. And when you fast forward throughout this life, look, it was difficult. Everything they had was taken away from them.

They were persecuted and eventually murdered because of their faith. So if you look at this from a common sense approach, he's not removing the storm from our life. He's just giving us a shield as we go through it. I agree. Let's take our last break. Yeah, Annie has given us an anchor of hope. I mean, I think that's the thing we're latching on to something that's coming. So when we talk about the kingdom, we can say the kingdom is already here, but not yet fulfilled completely. And so we have morsels of it here. We have things that are like echoes of the kingdom. We have tangible expressions of the kingdom here that we can see, that we can taste, that we can partake in. one of them is this little kids.

I mean, Jesus has got to be like these little kids. And if you have a little kid, we've got to, Ruth's two years old now. She's at that, I'm so cute. And you just look at there and think,

man, so much joy she brings our life. But it's like, there's a little morsels with the kingdom. Marriage can be moreso. It can also be a tangible expression of hell, too, if you're not careful.

But, you know, I think that what we're getting here is we're getting a picture of what it looks like. And so we're longing for a day when there will be no manipulation. all of the having your head on a swivel. Like that kind of stuff, you know, like, yeah, we, well, that's how we are here. And we're working to get out of that.

But there will be a day that's coming. And God does promise us this, that on that day on the day when he's revealed in his glory and we're caught up with him and we're with all the other saints, we're marveling at who this God is. We're going to live in relationships with people where not only do we not abuse each other, it will be impossible to abuse each other. It will be impossible to manipulate each other. It will be impossible to use each other. All those things will be impossible.

And so you want to talk about just complete, unadulterated love that you can fully be exposed and not worry about ridicule, abuse, or anything. I mean, that's what we're, and that is, by the way, heaven, because that's who God is. That's what it means to bask and live in the presence of God. And that is the ultimate price. finally gained peace of mind. Well, I think the, the, the, I think the, what Jesus was trying to walk the balance of

is he, he didn't want to crush his disciple's spirit because he chose them. He, he's also, he understands that they're missing the point here, because we're human. Well, and, Jay's, look at how humble these guys are, because Mark, by Peter's telling, is putting all this stuff in here. I mean, they're the ones who wrote the stuff that made them look terrible. But the reason why is because they're trying to show us, look, it's easy to miss. I mean, we missed it, you know, because look at the next story in verse 38. To your point, just another exact.

They had just gotten through arguing about who's the greatest. And then in verse 38, teacher said John, so this is now, John, we saw a man driving out demons in your name. We told him to stop because he wasn't one of us. So in other words, if we can't argue about who's the greatest among us, we're greater than those people. That's what human beings do, though. They compare themselves with other people. It's a legalistic basis. So Jesus responds the same way as he has throughout this whole thing.

Do not stop it, Jesus said. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me. For whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. Which again, I just think it's that idea. I love, Zach your illustration earlier about how that Ruth has expanded the love capacity. Because I've seen it too, especially your older kids, because now they're giving as much love as they receive. And that's really what happens, right?

I mean, that's the concept. Yeah, because creation, creation, when you create, life, what you're creating is, you're creating more worshippers or God through us is creating more worshippers. And to define the word worship, it's to love. It's, it's affection. It's, it's affections that are pointed as something and ultimately it should be God. But, but, you know, when I was reading this about in his name, if you, if you give someone a cup of water to drink, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as far as to Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

When we talk about doing things in the name of Jesus, like that's not just like a simple like I say in Jesus name. What we're saying there is we're doing it like on his behalf. We're doing it in the context of his will. And I think that's the point he's driving out here. Like that's not a like you guys like what you mentioned. Like you're you're way too caught up in these positions. And what we see is is that if anyone,

should be caught up in a positional thing, which should be Jesus, because he is the ultimate position in that he is the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, all the attributes that Phil mentioned in the sermon. And he is going to die. He is going to give up that position

and take on humanity, or maybe not give up the position, but he's going to take on the position of humanity. And so what we're being called to his humility. Yeah, Romans 12 brings it to light. In view of God's mercy, offer your body. as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual act of worship,

which is what you are alluding to. Yeah. Well, that's why Jesus died, gave his life for all of humanity. And guess who else died? All these disciples, they gave their lives. Well, I wanted to read the last section because then he says, if anyone causes this 42, these little ones who believe in me to sin, it'd be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

If your hand caused you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life maim than with two hands and go to hell where the fire never goes out. And if your foot caused you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and are thrown into hell. All these things are true, but they're just very graphic. And if your eye cause you to sin, pluck it out, it's better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown in to hell.

where their worm does not die and the fire is not quench. That's a quote from Isaiah. No, Isaiah? Yeah, Isaiah. So then it says this. Because remember, he's redefining greatness. And he's looking, and you can say stuff like this when you just illuminated yourself and you're in the presence of people that have been dead hundreds of years.

So it's not as graphic when you think about what they just saw. I mean, they're like, okay, they're trying to put, he's trying to get on put, put the pieces together. And I believe that he's trying to get them not to think less of themselves, despite all their weaknesses and failings, but to think of yourself less. I mean, that, that is the difference. That's the, the line that he's walking, because then he introduces two things, which I've, I've made this point about him not promising.

them a life without pain and difficulty because he says in 49 everyone will be salted with fire salt is good but if it loses its saltiness how can you make it salty again have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other so i believe that right here he has a moment for them that he's providing them their identity and their purpose. He's like, you're salt. And what is your purpose? Be salty. And so it kind of helps understand if you read Matthew's version when he says 513,

this is right after again, he says, you're going to be persecuted. People are going to say all kinds of evil against you. This is going to be difficult. Remember when he gave them the beatitudes? Then he said, you are the salt of the earth. there's your identity. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trample by men.

So when you think of this, to be salty, you've got to be moving forward. You've got to be shaking the salt. You can't just go dig a hole and hide out. And so then he has another illustration about the light, just like you're the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Because there's a tendency when things get tough or you're going to be persecuted or you're going to be insulted or things are not going to go in your way. There's a tendency just to quit.

And that's what he's trying to say. He gives them this graphic illustration about even if you lose a hand or because they're going to go to a place where these things are going to become real possibilities. Their bodies are going to be dismembered in various. barbaric ways because of their faith in Jesus. So when you look at it in that context, you can wrap your head around it. What he's trying to do. He's trying to build them up, not tear them down to where they're feeling like, well, I'm just worthless.

I can't get this right. So I think it's interesting as we wrap up that he gets, when he's talking about what you just mentioned Jason read, he does it in the context of the little ones again. It's back to that concept of innocence and our behavior and how it relates to him. Because he goes back and says, he's still got the little child there, you know, when this happens. And so he refers back to the child again about how we even treat children, which, by the way, in our culture is, you know, off the rails right now. It is. This first certainly needs to be applied in our own culture.

So we're out of time. We'll talk a little bit more about this concept because it is a pretty graphic thing. So we're going to talk about that a little bit in our overtime segment. If you want to follow us over, blazedtv.com slash unashamed. Right now there's a promo going on. Use the promo code feel. You get $10 off that subscription. So check it out.

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