Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 976 | Jase Unwittingly Gives His Landscapers Quite a Show & Makes Friends with a Bug Lady

Episode Date: October 17, 2024

Jase is giddy over making an unexpected friend in a lady pest control technician, discovering extremely rare coins in his yard, and accidentally entertaining his landscaping crew. Phil’s pain tolerance is legendary among the Robertson family, and the guys dissect Colossians’ themes of spiritual maturity, discipline, and growth. Al points out that an emotional response to Christ is necessary but only part of the whole journey. In this episode: Colossians 1; Colossians 2, verse 8; Acts 19, verses 8-10; 1 Corinthians 8, verses 1-6; Galatians 4, verses 8-20 -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashame. Jace, I walked in this morning and I was like, and then there was two. They're falling like flies. Speaking of which, I've been battling, my house has turned into just a fly war. I'm at war with flies. You, and I have to agree and have the same thing. I can't stand for one fly to be buzzing around.

I got my own. I don't know, but you're worse than me, but that would be bad if you couldn't. How are they getting into your house? Well, that's what we've been discussing because my wife, she has this, her approach to that as I looked up after I literally just went to war because we've had so many people in our house in the last couple days. Yep.

Because we're doing the miamu of you. I guess that starts tonight. This weekend. It starts tonight. So when this is aired, it would be a week ago probably or a few days. But so all these volunteers, we have a couple hundred, a little less than 200 people coming in, kids and their families. And then we have 60, 70 volunteers. That's a big deal.

So, yeah, my house is full, which last night. Well, now I know how the flies are getting in. Because if you're in and out of doors, in Louisiana, So the flies, just so you don't know if you don't live in a place like this, which, by the way, is not fit for human habitation. And yet we live here. They just wait right at your door. That's what it is. And the minute that door opens, three or four come in, and then they'll only send out one at a time.

Because as soon as you kill one, about five minutes later, here comes another one. That's how it works. Now, we got distracted why it's just two of us, but Zach's dealing with the storm, the aftermath. And they've really just turned into now relief work. That's what they're doing. I mean, not just for themselves, but for the whole community, which is amazing what they're doing. So we can't stress him out about not being on our podcast,

even though we miss him, but he's doing God's work. Well, it's the principle of, you know, when there's chaos and tragedy and natural disasters, whatever you want to put into that category, there are always those who rush to the, tragic occurrence and take leadership. That's right. And that's what they're doing.

That's why we appreciate our first responders, our military, all these things that happen because they become leaders. Because, I mean, I've heard an illustration of this about leadership. It's like when you wonder who's leading if a theater or a building catches on fire and chaos ensues, when the professionals show up, they provide a sense. sense of calm because they're like, here's what we're doing, leave this door, you know, going these kind of groups or whatever they. And part of it is their training, but it's more than just training.

Because you have people, but it's like a gift, like a human gift that comes, you know, in your DNA and whatever, in your environment. Well, my point is the church, which is the body of Christ, rushes in to these environments. And it goes back to this argument about where is God when these things happen? And I heard some scholars say this one time, and I never forgot it. I've used it a thousand times in Bible studies and conversations. But when you look at Jesus becoming a man, God in human form and his life ending on earth on a cross, it told you one thing about God right there.

he's not blind to suffering and tragedy. He became a part of it. And he did it in love. And so that's how God designed this. And then we do the same thing in these types of issues as the body of Christ. And when you say that, that's a good point is when you say, where's God in all this? And you look up and there's wave after wave of people showing up to cook, to clean stuff like, oh, he's showing up. He's, the Holy Spirit has now led these people to come into these areas.

And Zach made such a good point when he was on the last time we had him on when he could, he could get out. He said that the kingdom of God is so much more nimble at helping people than any centralized, whether it's any governmental deals or whatever. And he's right, because it's nimble because it's people driven to help people. Right. Instead of just an entity or an institution or whatever, you know, I thought it was a good point. That's right.

And so Phil, he hurt his back again. And he came the last couple of pocket. He's really been a trooper. He's been trying hard. But this back, you know, he had the accident, what, a year ago? Is it a year and a half? It's been at least a year, a year and a half, maybe. He tried to pick up a boat.

Two years, Matt, he said. Two years ago that weighed one ton and Phil weighed 190 pounds. Maybe. And his, you know, in his late 70s. So it was a bad move. Wound up breaking his back. and they did a procedure, and then he broke it again. Yeah, because what happens is,

as people with back problems, I'm sure know that listen to the podcast, the way the back works, once you fix one area of it, then you begin to mess with all the rest of the areas because they're all linked. So he's having issues with that. He's got a lot of nerve problems, and he's really in a lot of pain. And he looked terrible to that. I felt so bad for him. Look, when I stopped by there because I always take him some Chick-fil-A,

Jay Nans in town. And he just looked so terrible. And I said, Dad, are you okay? And he said, I don't know. This is the worst thing I ever meant to. But he was like walking over to get his Bible. He could barely even walk.

I said, Dad, it's okay. Me and Jay, so handle it today. Take the day off. Get some rest. He's got a little procedure coming up that's hopefully going to help him. So keep him in your prayers because he is really suffering. But dad has the highest pain threshold of anybody other than maybe our grandpa. had when he was alive.

And so for him to be in this much pain and letting you know that, it's not even fit for mere mortals because dad is, I mean, he has a high pain threshold. I don't even think he took antibiotics or used any kind of deadening for anything till. No, I mean, he's had like minor surgeries and not had anesthesia.

That's how high is pain through. He's, I can take anything for, you know, a few minutes. So to circle back to my fly's, story. I look up a couple hours later. That's not something you hear on a podcast every day, Maddie. I'm circling back to my fly story. Well, because I had an incredible kill. Do you kill them with the flyswatter or you

with the salt gun? Whatever means necessary. I mean, I have a fly swat. I like a flyer. I do too because it's more of a personal, like I can, you know, I'm good at it. But you get into some situations because what they do, they just, They come back, zhong, you know. So then I just, I get my hat, and I start timing the circle. He zon, and I said, so I'm one, two, zon, you know. You get it to about five seconds, and so I anticipate, so I was telling Missy this story, which is what led to what I'm fixed to tell you.

And so I'm 1001, 1002, you know, and I anticipated it, and I just swung my hat, And I felt it and heard it. Blop! And I thought, what? So you didn't wait for him to light. You got him on a fly. I got him on a blind because he kept coming in the same place every five seconds. He was coming off my right shoulder.

And I didn't want to move and mess up his little whatever he was doing, the marathon for flies. So I popped him. Well, then I saw him. He was at all. So then when I went over, I had a paper, I grabbed a paper towel because I was just gonna grab him. Because I don't leave the dead flies around. But as I went to get him, he like, here he goes off again.

And so I, then I dropped the paper towel, got my hat, and threw it, and popped him. Now I'm on my hands and knees. I grabbed the napkin. I get him. And I was like, man, what? That's the greatest fly kill ever. So immediately, you know how I am. I had to look for somebody.

No, I had to look for somebody to tell. Well, the only person there was Missy. And she never changed facial expressions during the whole story. And she's like, why would you tell me that? And I said, because it was an incredible story. I can appreciate it, Jess. I'm glad you told me. She hates flies.

So look, an hour later, a pest control person, a woman, pulls up. And I'm like, I thought you. y'all just came you know and she's like well your wife call because you know the fly you i heard you got a fly outbreak a fly i was like no it wasn't an outbreak they're just doing what they do i was like there's an occasional fly getting in i was like but i so i told her the story but then me and her start getting into why there's been more flies this year which was a very interesting conversation oh because she had some knowledge of that oh yeah this woman i could tell she wanted to run up on somebody like me,

and let's break it down. Because you were interested. Yeah, exactly. I would be too. So she had lots of ideas, and she wound up leaving me a little bag of bait to put on the outside garbage cans, which is what she's like, you know,

I think in your situation, they're coming to the garbage can because when does your garbage come, you know, or pick that? It's like, well, because it's hot here. Yeah, right. And I was like, I have a lot of people over, a lot of smelly, and they get there, and then it's pretty close to the door, I think, to move the garbage cans further away, put the bag. You're coming up with a game plan.

Which, by the way, I've never seen a woman pest person. I was kind of surprised. She's the first one you've ever said. And I mean news. And I don't know why that is, but I'm glad. It sounds like she's. She broke down every critter because, you know, I told her about the time I had. had the critter get in my ear wig.

The ear wig. They say doesn't get in your ear, even though it's called an earwig. Exactly. That was a myth, they said. Which was a lie. I told I'd been seeing more earwigs just in the outside areas. And so she started breaking down the environment of which, you know, that promote more earwigs.

So I found the conversation fascinating. But it just told me that when it comes. comes to humanity, it takes all types. I literally had an insect expert. Yeah. And so we probably spent 30 minutes breaking down how we can make our house. I mean, it was interesting. I was really thinking, wondering what she was going to come up with because, you know, I always used the old wives' tails. Remember they say you put a baggie full of water and you put it above your door. Yeah. Somehow they wouldn't go through that, but that's not true. No, I asked her about that. She's like, no, that's a myth. Yeah. So anyway, I wind up going and thanking my wife.

for doing that. And I tried to tell her about some of the conversations we had so I could remember some of the fact. She was like, babe, I'm really starting to worry about it. She thought I was having like a midlife crisis

over this fly. I was like, babe, it was a spectacular. So anyway, so yesterday, I had something happened before we get into Colossians.

You know, I'm a treasure hunter. I have a show about treasure hunt. It taught me how to do it. I'm sponsored by Garrett, which they make metal detectors, and I have my name on one. And I post from time to time. You know, we have an arrangement.

So Missy's like, well, you know, you've been so busy lately. I mean, when you get a chance, I need some stuff to post, you know. So that's when I hear that, it's like, oh, I need to go treasure hunting. But we've been so busy. We have the me and moo thing. We've done a lot of podcasts and various other things. So I was like, well, I'm going to go out there where I found that Spanish coin on my property that I've hunted hundreds of times. And then a few podcasts later, I told you, I went back out there.

I found two more Indian. It just keeps reduced. It's like they're just keep coming up. I go out there yesterday thinking, if I just find one thing, we'll do a little picture, you know. I'll have one hour to do it. So I go out there in the same spot where the holes are. There's a cypress tree in my front yard. It's just right there.

Well, there's a lot of iron in there. And so then I had an idea. I thought, you know what? Some of this iron is shallow, and I can tell that it's just like maybe a piece of a hoe or maybe an axe head because it's a man, bang, bang, bang, man. But I don't want to dig it up because I know it's a big piece of iron. Right. But I thought, well, I'll just dig that up and maybe there's something in or around. Because it could, I see now, because I'm not an expert in this.

So I'm seeing now that it could also block something else. That's right. It becomes a blocker. All right, I got it, I got it. And I just thought maybe. And so I started digging up. I literally started digging up every signal. And I probably dug up three or four pieces of iron.

And one of them was an old old hole, which I found. It was kind of cool, you know, even though it was just a big metal piece of iron. And I was digging all the nails out of each hole because you can put your pinpointer down. The old nails, their nails were way bigger. So you think nail, you're thinking little. These are like huge big block. It was like spikes. Almost like that.

So, I mean, I had my whole bag full of this stuff in the first 30 minutes. And then I felt like that was a lot of stuff. And so I kind of reset myself and I started going through the same area. Well, I get a signal that I thought, hmm, I dig it up. It's a, it's another Indian head, 1895. I'm like, well, here we go. I'm taking pictures, you know. And I was like, I got my picture.

So, but now I'm, it's excitement. That's what this does. Yeah. I get another signal that was a weird signal and I actually thought it was iron. I dug it up. It was a buffalo nickel. I was like, okay, well, I got two coins, you know, and that's something. Well, I get another signal.

And I'm not moving, I'm five feet just going round and round, where I dug up all the iron. And I dig up a 1919 wheat penny, which is just looks like a regular penny. But this thing was like glowing green. It had a coat of patina around it. Well, now I'm getting giddy. Because I got three coins. And this theory I had is actually working because I know there's good stuff here. I just needed to remove the iron.

Then all of a sudden, when I took some pictures, I turned around and I was like, I'm going to head home, my detector goes off. And I immediately, I thought, this is a silver coin. It was just as clear. And there's holes all around where I'm getting this signal. So I started getting like, giddy. I said, I know this is a silver. Was it fly giddy or was it? This is way beyond the signal.

I get it. Okay. So I just trying to get your giddiness on a scale. I dig this hole and turn it around. I check where the hole that's left and nothing there. And I was like, ooh, it's in the pot. It wasn't even that deep. And when I put it over my main metal detector, it was just bang, bang, bang,

bang, bang, may, may, man, bang. I was like, I know this is a silver coin, but I couldn't see it. So I reached in there where the sound was coming from and just got a handful of dirt. And when I looked in my hand, I could see it. Huge. Big silver quarter. and it was a walking liberty. So they only made the walk in liberty from 1916 to 1930.

So even though it's not that old as far, I mean, it's solid silver coin. It's 100 years old. Well, and I'm saying though, you know, when you find stuff from the 1800s, it's more exciting, but the walking liberty is kind of rare because you only have a 15 year period. And this one, the reason I'm telling you this,

it didn't have the date on it, which is famous for them. It's in spectacular condition. And so I'm taking pictures of this. Do you know why they call it Walking Liberty? What was the... You'll see when I show you the picture. It's fascinating.

Because it's Lady Liberty walking. Ah. Look, I found so many... Of course, this story... So you didn't have any problem with the post. Look, there it is. So that's her walking. And across of it...

Oh, wow. You can't see... Oh, they're fantastic. This thing is in mint condition. Well, you would think it's in mint condition, but you can't see the date because at the bottom, the date was always raised. And it was, it's the first thing to leave. Yeah, right. But it does look like it's in mint condition for finding it in the ground.

And look at the in God we trust. I love the in God we trust the way it looks because it's raised too. Is it in God we trust with the stars? And look, look at the bottom. back of it. Oh, wow. So yeah, you'll be looking at this, but it's like an eagle flying. So, yeah, I mean, the cool thing is it's almost like it was, the idea was an active coin, because Lady Liberty's walking, the eagle's flying. Oh, it's spectacular. I've only found one or two, I think just one before this. And this was in my yard where I've hunted hundreds of times.

So look, now I'm like off the charts excited. I'm, I'm howling. to the skies and no one. And I literally put that in my pocket and I thought, let me just check the pod to make sure there wasn't something else. Ha, ha. Bang, bang. I was like, there's another silver coin in the same pod. So that was a mercury dime.

I'll show you the picture of that. there it is 1920 oh wow so it's got the date on it yeah i mean can you believe it's unbelievable put that in my pocket take two steps goes off again and i dig up another silver which was a 1912 barber silver dime that's a mate they're just all right that's like somebody just dumped it in the it's like they dumped it and the iron was masking it and the iron was masking it it the whole time. It was in my yard the whole time. I could have done a whole episode over on this.

And I'm gallivanting all over. If only you had a show, Jase. And so all I got was... I hope it was an epic post for Garrett, you know. Oh, it's going to be epic. So that's what's funny, is it's hard to take pictures of yourself. Yeah. With all these coins.

Yeah. It's the ultimate selfie. So look, I literally, I thought about Phil yesterday. because I actually got a cramp in my back and was rolling around on the ground during all this, which is then when I realized I thought I was alone the whole time. Somebody was watching.

The people who were fixed to mow my yard, the whole team of them. Because they had pulled up, but I had my earphones on and I didn't realize it. And you're running around. I'm running around, rolling around on the ground. And when I looked up, they were standing there.

They're looking at me with grounds on their faces, but I think they were thinking, what is he doing? You know, they were thinking, this is, this guy is insane. So look, do you realize how hard it is to lay down like that and show the coins and take a picture of yourself? No, I've never done it before, did. Yeah, gave me a cramp in the back. So, you know, I had to share that because it just made me, one, realize the spiritual application I've used many. time because we're going to get into this in Colossians when he compares you know the treasures that are hidden in Christ and it's way more exciting than some I'm finding some old coin and to me

it was thrilling because it's my yard and they're valuable coins I mean they're not you know nothing life changing here but I mean valuable coins but it being in my yard and there's a reason he uses that analogy and I think back to Luke 15 in that story. I mean, it causes joy. Yeah. And this is lost. It was never going to be found unless somebody does a lot of work. That's right. And gets really lucky. Right. And you said this before, that the idea is, it's always been there.

But the blessing of it doesn't come until you find it. And so, you think about that on a spiritual scale. I mean, that's, that's a pretty big idea. In other words, it's always been there. but until you tap into it, it can't fulfill what it was meant to do. And you can say the same thing with spiritual gifts or anything else, which is why it never ends. Now I'm thinking, and I'm sure you thought this, is like, what else is there? Oh, as soon as we finish this today, because I didn't want to leave.

No. But I had to because we were meeting all the volunteers and getting all the stuff, right? So I was like, I got to go. but and missy so i was sending her all the pictures yeah well they just kept coming so after a while she said you're getting really good at this you know because she was thinking yeah you've hunted here hundreds of times how are you finding all this so quickly you know but so she was excited about that as much as she didn't like the fly story she liked the pictures of the that's another

spiritual application jays about this idea of masking that something could could mask something good. Not that it wasn't necessarily bad, like you said. I mean, it's kind of interesting. It was a hole or head or whatever. Yeah. But that there's something much more valuable behind. Oh, no. Most of this is junk. Yeah. The junk is masking the real blessing. The real value. And I think that's just, you know, the reason the Lord used that as an analogy is he does, when he said he came to seek and to save the lost and told these illustrations, I mean, that's the reason. That's the Lord, That's what he does. He plucks us out of the world, the mire of the world with all this chaos. And it really is the style of what Jesus did while he was on Earth. He made the same

observations you're making. He just had these guys and he's trying to teach him because he knows he's fixing to be gone. And they've got to carry this on. And so he's just looking around. He's like, you know, it's like a feel. And then he just tells the story. And they're sitting there thinking, huh. And then he's making all these deeper truths. And he says, look, I'm here. You got me right now I won't always be here. You know, you're going to need this one day, but they didn't, they didn't understand it until he was gone, which is pretty amazing. Well, if you want to get into Colossians, I mean, I think the, this initial couple of

paragraphs is a real good summation like we did a podcast a few ago. Yeah. Because he just immediately gets to the gospel. I mean, he said he's praying for him, he's heard about him. Do you want to read that first paragraph? Yeah, let me do that little first paragraph again, because we've kind of done little sections at a time. And there were a couple of things that I missed

when we were kind of laying out the overview. I wanted to mention anyway. And so it says in verse 3, you always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith, which, Jay, as you made the point a couple of times, that Paul had never been here. So I find fascinating.

Yeah, me too. And he's only heard about it, because of the people, Epaphras and probably Philema. And we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints, the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel. So I like that, I didn't bring this up before.

You notice that Paul uses that same framing of faith, hope, and love as a trio. and I just found that fascinating because he did a whole chapter on it in 1st, Corinthians 13 when he said out of the three, love is the best, which is kind of interesting, but he does that again here. This gospel that has come to you, all over the world, this gospel is bearing fruit and growing. Just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace and all its truth. Now, I will say this about that.

you know, these people, back in this day, you didn't travel too far from where you were because it's too hard to get any place. You know, you had to walk. And so I'm sure of them getting a message that the stuff they were into was going all over the world was pretty exciting, you know, I mean, because they wouldn't have known otherwise. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf. So he's the one that started the church there and who also told us of your love in the spirit. So, works both ways. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you

and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way, and now them bearing fruit, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, so that you have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you, interesting term, to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light, where he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. Yeah, it's an awesome section. One thing I thought we didn't mention is, because when you hear about this guy, Apefers, just in my study, someone brought this this out and i think it was a very good point if you go back to acts 19 when paul was in ephesus because you think where did guys like a papyrs come from and paul i'll just read this this is 19 uh 8 through 10 because he really had a makeshift bible school yeah the school of how do you say his name tyrannis yeah I think it's the only time he's ever mentioned. Yeah, I think I did a pretty good job of it.

Yeah, that's it. But I'll just read this. It says, Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God, which is what he just mentioned here in this letter as far as their identities. Like, he has qualified you and brought you into the kingdom of his son. Yeah. In verse 9 of Acts 19 says,

some of them became obstinate, they refused to believe in publicly malign the way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with them and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Toranus. This went on for two years so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. Which ironically, Jais, was the same amount of time you and I. Well, I think they made that point when we were. at the school.

Yeah. They brought this up. Because they were doing it every day, and it's just like us, every day for two years as long as well. Well, there's one, one, I think it's the, you can check me on this. I'm 99% sure this is true. But in the ESV version of the Bible, there's a notation here. And it's, when it says daily, it says it's like every four hours.

And most scholars think that it was like 10 p.m., I think 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., which is a weird time. Probably because they had to work, right? Yeah, but some people say that it was 11 to 4 during the day. Yeah. But he was there every day at an odd hour, is my point. Right. A odd few hours, which is where they get that. Because when I was reading that in some theological book, and I was like, how do they know he was doing this five hours a day?

Right. And I think it's a notation in the ESV. You can check me out on that. I'm going to check it away. But I think it's interesting because Paul had planted that seed with these guys every day. So when you read this phrase in Colossians 1 when he's talking about, and a lot like Ephesians 1 when he says, I want you to know Christ better.

Yep. You're not going to grow and mature accidentally. Right. It's not, and, you know, I'm all for ultra calls because some people in the power of conversion, even when we're talking about this treasure, you know, we're lost and we're found. You hear the story of Jesus and these conversion stories are awesome. But what he's addressing is this growth and training and teaching and getting rid of the baggage. And that's what happened, you know, for two years, just think about how many Bible studies happen. that day.

Right. This was purposeful. So here's what it says. Some manuscripts add from the fifth hour to the tenth, that is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Okay. So, but I think the part I read is there was some debate about that. Yeah. Whether it was.

Could have been at night. Yeah. But either way. Yeah. The point is it was, I mean, this was a five-hour daily Bible study for two years. Yeah. But the reason I'm making a big point out of this is because I think when you, you know, we tend to think, oh, these are books about doctrine. Right.

These were real people that Paul had, I mean, when you go back to the book of Acts and Jesus said, you'll be my witnesses, the Holy Spirit's going to come on you. You know, Peter gets up, preaches the first sermon, the Holy Spirit's made available. There's people coming to Christ, you know, then Paul comes. in after he's killing the Christians. I mean, this whole story, this movement started, and some of the little bitty details of it that we kind of sweep under the rug, that two years of him training young men and women

with the gospel was bearing fruit because here's this guy, Paffirce that says, hey, I went down a little place called Calais. And it's rolling, you know. And so now you're, have this whole letter that we get all the benefits of of seeing who Jesus is and about this, a lot of this is about growth and maturity and watching what you put in your brain because he challenges some of the things they were struggling with, which is not unlike what we deal with.

It's a really good point, Jay, is that the idea, I love the idea that to bear fruit is to allow, something to do what it does naturally because a tree bear's fruit or a plant because that's what it was made for. It's the same with us. But we all know that it doesn't reach maximum bearing fruit capacity unless a lot goes into it. Exactly. The pruning.

Jesus talked about that a lot, John 13, John 15, the idea that all that has to happen is so I'm just sitting there thinking about all the people dedicated to listen to this podcast because we do the podcast. So obviously we're dedicated to present it to you guys. but when you guys tell you when I go someplace that you're listening to us for four hours a week. Yeah. And along with living your life and doing everything else, I'm always impressed because I was like, man, who has time to do that? But people that want to bear fruit and grow and, you know, study God's worse.

I'll get it. Well, that's why I'm kind of telling this. It takes time. And, you know, he gives this beautiful portrait of Jesus in the next section. but he seems to be, number one, kind of addressing their identity because he calls them holy and faithful and saints and part of the kingdom of the sun, the body of Christ, which he'll get to.

And then he's also, you know, just when you start thinking about how he's viewing this, we all as human beings want to do what's right. And, you know, when he starts addressing all the problems that are coming in amongst them and all the persecution that they're receiving, and part of it is this kind of Jewish legalism. He deals with that in chapter two. This rule-oriented thing. And then you've got to remember the backdrop of this.

The backdrop of this is there's all these other gods in the city. They're under Roman rule. Well, these gods, and he addresses it, I did a lot of study on this and we'll get to, they're made up gods. There's only one true living God, and that's us. We're known by him. So I think he's trying to get them to hang in there, kind of realize who they are, realize that Jesus is Lord of all, king of all,

and he kind of gives his reasoning in this beautiful poem or song, you know, in 15 through really 21. But what I was going to say is I heard this preacher that John Tyson, he was preaching a sermon, and he came from a real kind of Pentecostal background. But like, and he described it in that he was doing an illustration because he was doing a sermon on, where is that where it says, I want you to, that's Colossians 128 so that we may present everyone fully much in Christ.

And he said, I came from a group that was just on fire, you know, and it was all kind of short-term. Did you row the crowd up and you get them to respond? And he was like, now look, I'm all four alter calls. Don't get me wrong. But he said, I remember as I look back on it, he said, we had a pastor there that when the people would come down, he would like put his hand on their forehead. and he would say, never the same again. He said he would go to the next one, never the same again, never the same again.

So he said, when I look back on that now, and as I've matured myself and realize that this is deeper, this is long term, this is going through struggles and kind of like what we talked about, when tragedies happen, we, God sends us in as the church. And he's like, I think back to, well, how are you going to convince a pastor in the moment to put, put his hand on somebody and say 20 years of struggle and growth and all kinds of problem. Well, nobody wants to hear that in the moment. But I thought it was a fascinating illustration about when he was young because I look back

when I first came to the cry. I was the same way. I mean, it took a while. But then I was like, why are we not on fire? What's the problem? And the bottom line is, you know, people have a lot of baggage. they've gotten into things that have affected their thinking and their mentality. And it, like the iron does it with treasure, you know,

it keeps them from being open-minded on the simple story of Christ. Plus everybody, Jason, is a work in progress. So it's impossible for everybody to be at the same level at all times. When you're talking about the kingdom of God. So when you go in and you're with a group of people, I mean, there's people at, some people just got in. They just found out about this. Whereas the other guy over there, maybe they've been there 50 years and have been a

blessing, but they're going to be totally different and looking at it a different way. The way you kind of described is like hype. And hype is not a bad thing. Like when you watch a football game, you're watching a bunch of young football players that have been hyped up for that moment because we've got to get out here. We've got three hours to prove we're the best. And we talked about this, the difference in transaction versus transnational. transformation. What you're trying to get them to do is back like you've been here. But there's

always that thing about we got to hype them up to get them into that moment. And so I think that carries over a lot of times into churches because it's like, well, man, we got to have a full hype fest every time. But it's really, and I'm not against excitement, but at the same time, man, over the long haul, it's not near as exciting when people are just cooking food for people that have just gone through a disaster. But man, that's the kind of stuff. When I see a video like that, that gets me going because I said these people just drove all the way to North Carolina to help other people. Well, the point I wanted to make on this first section, you know, when he says we always thank God, our father, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you, because we've heard about your faith in Christ,

the love you have for all the saint, faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven, and that you've already heard about in the Word of Truth, the gospel that has come to, to you all over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace and all its truth which then he you know gave the point that you learned it from a papyrus yeah our fellow dear servant and i think a lot of people think you know church turns into when you hear the gospel and you respond well it's over you're in and it just seems to stay right there which is the reason he's going back to that is it's always the power it's always good news i guess and a good question to ask is why why is

it good news and i think you see that in the amount of bible studies you have people have a picture of the church in a lot of areas where it seems not very joyous not very joyous not very hopeful, not very loving. Yep. Because I think we tend to put maturity into, well, as, you know, if you've been a Christian for 20 years, that means you're mature. But that, no. Maturity doesn't come with just time because some of the grumpiest people I know

have been Christians for years. Exactly. And they're doing a lot of things. A lot of people think, well, if I do a lot of stuff, that means I got it figured out. No. There's something about keeping the story of Jesus at the forefront and the focus that rekindles your fire on a daily basis. That's why when he gets into the part about knowledge, one of the deceptive philosophies that were being introduced that were hollow was based on this Gnosticism, this mystery and knowledge that only a select few. find out and you're it's it's kind of like an intellectual view of faith you know like if you can

figure out the secret right and it made me think of that first corinthians eight which he really gets into the situation what's going on here because you got to think about their system back then was you have the gods and basically the gods could be anything but it's all if if everything's going good well the gods must be pleased right but you're You can't find security in that because us as humans, they're not real. And look at the way that they took it, Jay's what you look at all these different gods and what they represented. They were all human characteristics.

You know, this is the god of power and the god of the water and the, you know, Achilles had the speed. Everybody's got, it's like superheroes. Like, we got to have a bunch of superheroes because they all represent a different version of ourselves. But you think about that how humanism works. That's what, they were doing. humanism way back there.

Exactly. I actually studied that last night because when we get to Colossians 2, there's a phrase, and I went down the rabbit hole of looking at it, when it says the elemental forces of the world. Let me see where that's it. Verse 20 of chapter 2. Well, that says the basic principles of the world, but there's somewhere else that says the elemental. It says the same thing in verse 8, too.

Oh, that's it. That's it. So 2.8 says see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of the world. And some translation says elemental principles or forces of the world.

So when I looked at that, that's why I wanted to bring up this 1st Corinthians 8.1. It says we, now about food, sacrifice to idols, we know that we all possess knowledge. Well, here this knowledge comes up again. And he says, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know, which is a confusing sentence.

But the next verse kind of clarifies that. It says, but the man who loves God is known by God. And you say, well, what's his point? and he's fixed to explain it. Well, all these other gods are not real. They don't know you. That's right. So the living true God knows you.

Well, there is the big difference. And that's why this is more relational than the amount of information that you have in your mind. Or trying to look at a situation and say, well, a hurricane came, somebody must have done something wrong. The gods are angry. Yeah. Somebody's guilty. And so he goes on to say, and to clarify this, so then about eating food sacrifice to idols, this is verse 4, 1 Corinthians 8, we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and there's no God but one. They're just made up.

So it makes you think everyone has a God or a system that they put their faith and trust in. That's right. And they're all nothing or worthless besides the true living God because they don't know you. Right. There's the difference. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us, there's but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live. And there's but one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live, which is going to be a pattern that you're going to see in Colossians 1 because Christ was creator of all things and he's sustainer and

whatever word you want to use for when he came back from the dead. He can't die. Right. So he can extend your life forever. Well, no other God promises that. And you really, and you really won't love what you don't know. I mean, which is what makes love better. So I want to read this Galatians 4 because look, you're going to see the same identical theme. You remember when he said, we've all become sons through our faith in the Lord Jesus? We were baptized into Christ. Well, then he starts talking about being an heir as a son.

Yep. Well, when he gets to verse 8, he goes through the same idea about speaking of these elemental forces of the world. He says, formally, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by now. nature are not gods. He brings up these made up gods again. But now that you know God or or rather are known by God, it's the same phrase you used in 1st Corinthians 8. He's like, these other gods don't know you. They're not for you. There's no security in that. So think about their condition under

Rome. What's the problem here? Well, the Caesar, the Nero, he's a flawed human being. Yeah. Do you think you're actually going to get security by him or whatever gods he says, we're following. Right. There's, it's a rule-oriented system. And the crazier that they got, the crazier everybody's life got. Exactly.

So then it goes on to say, or rather, you're known my God, how is it that you're turning back to those weak and miserable principles? And that's what those elemental forces of the world represent, like you said, the earth, fire, wind, whatever happens, circumstances. Do you wish to be enslaved by them? all over again, you were observing special days and months and seasons and years, I fear for you that somehow I've wasted my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you.

Verse 13, as you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached to the gospel. And that's, we struggle in life, and we find that as a way to grow in our faith and be dependent on God, because God is speaking through us, is my point. So verse 15, what has happened to all your joy? I can testify that if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win you over but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us so that you may be zealous for them.

It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so, and to be so, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you and change my tone because I'm perplexed about you. So I read all that to say, knowing Christ, he was saying, I want Christ to be formed in you. And that's the goal, I think, in his letter. to Colise is get back to Jesus. This is a process where he's formed in you and you become Christ.

So think about when he says in Colossians 3, when he says, since you've been raised with Christ, set your mind on things above. And then it says where Christ is seated, who is your life? Yeah, I love it. And takes us back to Ephesians too, that you may know him better, which I believe now that's what the whole book was about. All right, Jayes, we're out of time. Just the two of us.

Just the two of us, we can make anything. We hopefully have another chair full next time we see you on Unashamed. 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 Blaze TV at blazedtv.com slash Unashamed.