Episode 2 - I'm STILL thirsty

Transcript

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Welcome to another episode of guilt free faith with your host, jimmy James Johnson, where we have little faith, gather to discuss our doubts and differences and have a few laughs along the way.

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This is episode two, continuing the theme of spiritual thirst that we began in episode one.

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Let's start out with a few verses, first from Psalms as a heart longs for following streams, so long as my soul for the oh God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God, psalms 42, one and two.

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The woman said to him, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.

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John four, verse 15.

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For I was hungry and you gave me food.

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I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

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I was a stranger and you welcome me.

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Matthew 25, verse 35.

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What can H2O do for your body?

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What H2O can do for your body, jesus can do for your heart.

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Like water, jesus goes where we can't.

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Throw a person against the wall, his body thuds and drops.

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Splash water against the wall and the liquid conforms and spreads.

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It's molecular makeup grants water grape flexibility, one moment separating and seeping into a crack, another collecting and thundering over Victoria falls.

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Water goes where we cannot.

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So does Jesus.

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He is a spirit and although he forever has a body, he is not bound by a body.

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In fact, john parenthetically explains when he said living water, he was speaking of the spirit who would be given to everyone believing in him.

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John 7, verse 39.

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The spirit of Jesus travels down the throat of your soul, flushing fears, dislodging regrets.

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He does for your soul what water does for your body and thankfully we don't have to give him directions.

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We give none to water.

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Do we, before swallowing, do you look at the liquid and say 10 drops of you go to my spleen, I need four drops of water.

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I need 50 drops on cardiovascular detail.

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The rest of you head north to my scalp.

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It's really itchy.

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Today, no water knows where to go.

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Jesus is like that, plus more.

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Your directions are not needed, but your permission is Like water.

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Jesus won't come in unless swallowed, that is.

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We must willingly surrender to his lordship.

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You can stand waist deep in the Colorado River and still die of thirst until you scoop and swallow the water.

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Does your system know good Until you scoop and swallow the water?

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Does your system know good Until you gulp?

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Christ, the same is true.

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You need a drink, don't you long to flush out the fear, anxiety and guilt.

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You can Note the audience of his invitation Quote if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

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Are you anyone?

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If so, then step up to the well.

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You qualify for his water.

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You simply need to follow the instructions on what, or better, who, to drink from.

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In order for Jesus to do what water does, you must let him penetrate your heart Deep, deep inside, internalize him, ingest him, welcome him.

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Internalize him, ingest him, welcome him into the inner workings of your life.

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Let Christ be the water of your soul.

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Isn't it a relief that Jesus can go where we cannot go.

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Grant permission for him to quench the thirst of your heart.

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Allow your dryness to experience a cascade of living water designed to resuscitate the very depths of your soul.

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Okay, let's continue with.

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Let's add in a few more verses.

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I stretch out my hands to thee.

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My soul thirsts for thee like a parched land.

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Psalms 143, verse 6.

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No, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

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If he is thirsty, give him drink, for by doing so you will heap burning coals upon his head.

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Romans 12, verse 20.

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Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come by and eat.

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Come by wine and milk without money and without price.

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Isaiah 55, verse 1.

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For the sake of those who need your love, hydrate your soul, heed your thirst and drink good water.

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You don't gulp dirt or swallow rocks when it comes to thirst of the body.

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We have learned how to reach for the right stuff.

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Do the same for your heart.

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Not everything you put to your lips will help your thirst.

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Take special concern with the bottle labeled Religion.

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Jesus did Note the setting in which he speaks.

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He isn't talking to the prostitutes or troublemakers, penitentiary inmates or reform school students.

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No, he addresses churchgoers at a religious convention.

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Religious symbols are laid out like a yard sale the temple, the altar, trumpets and robes.

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He could have pointed to any item as a source of drink, but he doesn't.

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These are mere symbols.

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He points to himself, the one to whom the symbols point and in whom they are fulfilled.

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Church activities might hide a thirst, but only Christ quenches it.

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Drink him and drink often.

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Jesus employs a verb that suggests repeated swallows.

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Literally, let him come to me and drink and keep drinking.

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One bottle won't satisfy your thirst.

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Regular sips satisfy thirsty throats.

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Ceaseless communion satisfies thirsty souls.

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Remember this acronym.

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Well, the letters W-E-L-L stand for W Receive Christ's work on the cross.

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E Receive the energy of Christ's spirit.

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L Receive the lordship of Christ over your life.

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L Receive his unending, unfailing love.

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Drink from the bottomless well of Jesus Christ.

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You do not have to live with a dehydrated heart.

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Drinking you, lord, makes us well.

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Drinking you, lord, gives us hope.

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Drinking you, lord, points the way towards helping others.

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Drinking you, lord, is the reminder to thirst for the healing of our hearts, which fall under your dominion.

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Let's consider a few more verses.

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Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

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And let him who hears say Come.

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And let him who is thirsty come.

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Let him who desires take the water of life without price.

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Revelation 22, verse 17.

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Jesus said to them I am the bread of life.

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He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

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John 6, verse 35.

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Lord, I come thirsty.

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I come to drink to receive.

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I receive your work on the cross and your resurrection.

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You have defeated death and my sins are pardoned.

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I receive your energy.

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Empowered by your Holy Spirit, I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.

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I receive your Lordship.

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I belong to you.

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Nothing comes to me that has not passed through you.

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I receive your love.

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Nothing can separate me from your love.

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In the name of my Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, I pray Amen.

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Come to Jesus and from him Drink deeply and drink often.

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Your hearts will be strengthened and out of you will flow rivers of living water.

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Okay, so what comes to mind as we continue to explore the parallels between our thirst as physical, our thirst as physical human beings versus our spiritual thirst as spiritual beings?

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I don't know about you, but I don't drink as much water as I should.

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I forget exactly how much you're supposed to drink each day, but you know it's a fair amount.

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I forget of what they say eight glasses of water for the average person.

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I'm definitely bigger than the average person, so I'm assuming to be a lot more than that.

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I have some of those special you know carrying pictures that are, you know, to help you stay hydrated throughout the day.

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I've been trying to get into the habit of that carrying this big ass thing around, checking to make sure first that it's not, you know, filled with contaminants.

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You know the plastics and the.

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You know the chemicals and the um, it's like you need a whole safety checklist just to have a bottle of water to drink out of these days, which is absurd.

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I mean, what kind of civilization sells poison to itself, and not even like enjoyable poison, right, it's not like.

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Oh, you know.

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You know we sell heroin to ourselves, like you know, but at least you have a good time, you know, to gulp it down.

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A bunch of micro plastics, like there's a, you never get to enjoy.

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That, you know, it seems like all a downside from where I'm sitting.

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So what happens, I find, with water is that you get used to that lack of hydration.

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In other words, like I have people in my family that walk around with these gigantic water bottles and you know, and they're drinking all throughout the day.

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I mean, they may even refill that bottle several times a day, this big ass bottle, but you can believe that you know from them doing this habitually.

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They would notice if all of a sudden they stopped doing that, or they'd be noticed if they.

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They would notice if you, you know, cut their intake in half.

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See, they've been enjoying the benefits of hydration.

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You know they're, they're flushing those toxins.

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Their skin is is is hydrated and moist.

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They're probably more, you know, more popular in terms of, you know urinating and their bowel movements.

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There must be just tons of benefits there, not to mention the fact that they're replacing things that probably wouldn't have them feeling that good over the long run, like drinks with a lot of sugar and caffeine and artificial sweeteners and all that stuff.

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So they're avoiding that and enjoying the refreshment of quality water throughout the day.

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So they're used to that, they know what the benefits are there and they enjoy it.

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For those of us who have been gorging ourselves on you know Coke or Diet Coke or Sweet Tea or Gatorade, it's a totally different story, right?

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Because that's, that's how we get our thirst taken care of.

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When we get thirsty, we're not thinking about you know a jug of water.

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We're thinking about something tasty, you know where.

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The last thing we want to do is sit down to a shitload of water, unless, you know, we've been running or something.

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There are circumstances.

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It's interesting when the bodies, when the body's under a lot of pressure, your thirst for actual water seems to increase.

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So, like, if I go out and, you know, exercise for an hour, I actually want to drink some water.

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Like I really feel the need to be hydrated and I'll drink that water and and and feel good and enjoy it.

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But if it weren't for that exertion, I'd be like, hey, you know, pour me up a Coke, you know, pour me up a Sweet Tea, you know.

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Or if I'm really trying to be conscientious, I'd be like you know, give me a Gatorade zero or something.

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I'm going to keep my sugar down, even though I'm just filling myself with artificial sweeteners, which I don't think are much better, but at any rate I'm used to it.

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So if I'm dehydrated, or to whatever extent I'm dehydrated, that's how I've been living Right Now.

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Consider the parallel, consider the analogy of how that fits into our spiritual thirst.

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So many of us have been stumbling around through life just parched spiritually.

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I mean, for some of us we've never even really had that refreshment.

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Maybe we've never really believed in anything and we can put religion aside.

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This doesn't even have to be about that.

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Some of us have never believed in ourselves because even from our childhood, people were telling us that we were worthless or we were good for nothing.

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So as life's challenges started to come along in our minds, we had all of these limiting beliefs.

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So that's really exhausting when you're looking down the highway of challenges and being like, wow, like I'm really dried out already and I, you know, I haven't even, you know, finished the fight.

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Some people never had, like, any spiritual upbringing and again, this doesn't have to be quote a religious thing, it doesn't have to be a Christian thing.

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I'm just talking about the belief or recognition and something larger than you from which you can draw strength where you can, you know, from whom you can draw wisdom or consult or find consolation.

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Some people have never had that, through no fault of their own.

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That just that's, you know, that's not how they grew up, or that just wasn't introduced to them, or they never found a niche that really felt right to them or would also have been.

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What happens, unfortunately, way too often, is they were given some type of spiritual foundation, but in the midst of seeking that out, some bad things ended up turning them away from that path.

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So what are examples of that?

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Lots of people go to church, at least initially, you know, or maybe you know as a younger person thinking about, you know, jesus, loving, forgiving the things that we teach Seems like we teach kids to do this more than we teach adults, which is kind of bizarre.

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But we present, you know, a softer image of Christ to some kids, some kids, we get, you know, the fire brimstone all the way through and that's just what it is.

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But I have seen where people, including myself, grow up with a more idealized version or I might even say a more accurate version but some people will disagree of Christ and His love and His forgiveness and His tolerance and patience and charity.

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But I'll actually go to the building of the church or the body of the church and there'll be so much judgment preached, there'll be so much judgment carried out, so much hypocrisy, so much pettiness, so much just of an obvious deviation from the Christ.

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I think I know, or I'm reading about, or I'm at least interested in knowing about, so I forget what the exact saying is.

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But you know how they say like underneath, every atheist is just like a disappointed believer, and you know.

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Whether exactly that's true or not or whatever, it doesn't really matter.

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And I don't really care if you're an atheist or not.

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I'm not here to take responsibility for that.

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I don't even know if my way is the right way or you know times I have faith like that sometimes I don't.

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I'm just a seeker, I'm not a teacher, so don't expect that from me.

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This is just an open conversation that I hope you'll join me in, because I don't know, I don't have the answers.

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But anyway, a lot of us get turned away down the path, right, because it's like or like, even if you know, say you're, quote raised the right way.

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But then as you get older, you know a bunch of shit happens, whether it's, you know, things that happen in the church or things that happen in your life, whatever.

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You lose faith, you get upset, you get angry, you get, you know, just smashed by different circumstances.

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And so you're, you become parched right, because you're not getting the refreshment of forgiveness and your burdens being alleviated.

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And you know, seemingly, christ's coming to your rescue.

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So that gets, that gets old man, you know it's.

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I don't know why we don't, you know.

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I mean, I do know why, but I have some sense of why.

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But you know, it's kind of bizarre that, given the reality of life's rigors, because in different ways and to different degrees we're all facing life's rigors so why we can't in our spiritual environment, in our church or amongst our church friends or whatever, why we can't just be like, oh, like that shit was horrible.

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I don't know where God fits into it, but I'm not happy with this.

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You know this isn't what I signed up for.

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You know, I'm trying to stand on these scriptures A, b and C and I don't see any of that coming to fruition.

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So how can you know the word be the truth, or how can I believe what people are telling me when I'm actually living without those benefits, without those blessings, without that spiritual water to refill me and rehydrate me, to propel me forward?

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I can't tell you how rare I mean I, at least off top of my head I've never found that type of open discussion in church.

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I don't believe I ever have, and I've been to a lot of different churches over the years.

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My parents took me to a lot of different churches as we tried to find a church home, which actually also was very demonstrative of the fact that there were a lot of systematic or, you know, not systematic.

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There were a lot of systemic issues that, like we would just keep running into trying to find a spot where it seemed like we could, you know, have a decent go of it.

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Now people say, hey, you know the church, it's not a magical, you know, distance from the world or anything like.

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The people in the church are just regular people and so all the issues you have in the world, you also have them in the church.

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But you know there's still a net benefit to engaging in the body and being encouraged and working that out amongst yourselves.

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I mean that's what the if you ask people that go to church or support going to church like, they will tell you that right, they will.

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There are certain you know lists of approved benefits to stepping into that environment, even if you find it uncomfortable or awkward or distasteful.

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You know you'll hear things like.

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You know we're, you know, three or more gathered.

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There's a spirit, you know just the power of people praying for one another, the necessity of getting the word.

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You know from a pastor that that's blessed and that's something you know that you need to hear.

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Just the fact of how.

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You know the fellowship between people is a walking out of what Christ was talking about.

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Right, because as we deal in relationships, it has to be with forgiveness, it has to be with, you know, patience and modesty, right and humility, and then we can build strong relationships out of that.

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And so you know I can't really challenge that and that didn't really, you know, or those things weren't enough, I guess, to keep my folks and I like really in a particular church for a long period of time, nor really to facilitate new relationships that survived, you know, a long period of time or a lifetime, and in my case, like growing up, you know, before you even got to the whole think of like hypocrisy and nobody being able to spread their doubt, you know, to speak, express their doubts and all that.

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I think you know we were dealing partially with, just like the race and class elements of the church, right, because the church ultimately is a social organization and depending on the time and place and you know the sect and who you are and who they are, you may find varying degrees of fit or connection.

00:36:46.490 --> 00:37:20.326
So, like being interracial, we would go to one church, you know we go to a black church and you know they would be, you know, hating on my mom being white, so you know she couldn't really fit in and plus, you know they'd be, you know, or you know or maybe you know it was always a mixed bag in terms of what you know they would think of.

00:37:20.326 --> 00:37:35.802
You know, my sister and me Sometimes we were, you know, very well embraced and I would say most of the time, actually that's what happens, because you know it's a whole other can of worms.

00:37:35.802 --> 00:37:52.972
But, like for me and my own personal experience, you know, if you're interracial in the US is, you know, black and white, you're going to kind of get fuddled into the black side in a number of ways.

00:37:52.972 --> 00:37:59.126
I mean, that's what happened to me in my life and I'm not complaining and I embrace that identity and I'm good.

00:37:59.126 --> 00:38:07.552
But just in terms of giving you some details and like the patterns that we live through is like that's what you do.

00:38:07.552 --> 00:38:08.822
You go to a black church, you know.

00:38:08.822 --> 00:38:12.847
You go to a black Baptist church, you know, are they cool with me?

00:38:12.847 --> 00:38:14.231
Okay, yeah, they're cool with me.

00:38:14.231 --> 00:38:15.192
Are they cool with my sister?

00:38:15.192 --> 00:38:21.971
Yeah, they cool with my dad, you know, maybe, you know, it kind of depends on the class thing, right?

00:38:21.971 --> 00:38:30.775
You know, if we're just middle class, like if it's middle class, maybe you know, if it was like a little more hood, my dad definitely wasn't that like.

00:38:30.775 --> 00:38:33.065
He grew up like in the in a country, right?

00:38:33.065 --> 00:38:40.889
So he didn't grow up like in the urban environment, so that's, that's a different part of the culture, right?

00:38:40.889 --> 00:38:51.967
So they may not have been feeling him, and then we'd be like, all right, we'll go to a white church and generally what would happen?

00:38:51.967 --> 00:39:35.494
Again, not all the time, but generally, at least in the place and time that I grew up, they didn't really embrace my sister and I, my sister and me, you know, because we were mixed, because, again, when you're mixed, like I said in my experience, you're kind of more accepted on the black side, and so, you know, so we would go to a white church, we'd kind of always beginning, you know, we'd be getting, you know, just kind of marginalized.

00:39:35.494 --> 00:39:58.005
You know the kids, you know want to play with us as much, or, like, you know, the kids, we won't get all those invitations like to kind of be drawn into their play group or their play date group or their, you know, the birthday parties of the people in the, you know, in the Sunday school or whatever, and you could just see that.

00:39:58.005 --> 00:40:04.465
And obviously my parents you know them, you know being adults, like they could certainly see what was going on.

00:40:04.465 --> 00:40:10.548
And then you know, if it was a white church, then yeah, they'll accept my mom.

00:40:10.548 --> 00:40:24.226
But then they, you know, they find out there, you know she's married to my dad, like my dad will show up and then it's like, oh well, that's, you know we're not, you know, really feeling that and then we're definitely not feeling this guy showing up.

00:40:24.226 --> 00:40:29.246
You know the complexion of the audience is white, you know.

00:40:29.246 --> 00:40:47.751
Then you get a black guy showing up and I mean, on top of all the other issues that human beings have, like when you bring, you know, class and race into it, that's just a multiplier.

00:40:47.751 --> 00:40:52.628
I mean you're trying to just overcome that.

00:40:52.628 --> 00:41:07.405
You're just trying to overcome those barriers before you even get to the things like let me tell you about, you know, my life's ups and downs, or the ups and downs of my faith, or what I did or didn't get out of that sermon.

00:41:07.405 --> 00:41:30.168
So, just to circle back around, there are a lot of people that are thirsty because of things that got in the way, and to me it's not their fault.

00:41:30.168 --> 00:41:34.769
I mean, everybody wants to be hydrated.

00:41:34.769 --> 00:41:41.893
If everybody knew what it felt like to be hydrated, you know, even in your body.

00:41:41.893 --> 00:41:51.871
You know, when you're feeling good and you're lubricated and you're energetic and you're clear minded, everybody, if they're exposed to that, everybody enjoys that feeling.

00:41:51.871 --> 00:41:53.224
That's just endemic.

00:41:53.224 --> 00:41:56.603
That's, you know, inherent to the human condition.

00:41:56.603 --> 00:42:04.728
We'd like to feel good, right, because that's, like you know, the cousin of happiness.

00:42:04.728 --> 00:42:08.206
It's hard to be really happy when you don't feel good.

00:42:08.206 --> 00:42:12.581
Ask me, with all the health problems I've had, I can tell you that.

00:42:12.581 --> 00:42:29.501
So, similarly, people that have been parched spiritually that's you know, that's a lot to deal with.

00:42:29.501 --> 00:42:31.061
That's a you know.

00:42:31.061 --> 00:42:41.923
You know it doesn't give you as much of a reserve tank with which to combat life's challenges.

00:42:41.923 --> 00:42:54.132
So, regardless of what that spiritual water is for you, it's important to have it.

00:42:54.132 --> 00:42:57.148
I mean, it's you know, it's a blessing to have it.

00:42:57.148 --> 00:43:17.885
Let's put it that way you know the parts of me or the times for me, or whatever, when you know I, you know, don't believe in anything or have lost belief or faith, or have just kicked myself, thinking like I can't even believe I entertain.

00:43:17.885 --> 00:43:20.766
This is so absurd Like I'm just suffering.

00:43:20.766 --> 00:43:22.644
What the hell you know me?

00:43:22.644 --> 00:43:24.009
What kind of bargain is this?

00:43:24.009 --> 00:43:38.447
Why am I serving somebody without the benefits you know, which I think is a legitimate question?

00:43:38.447 --> 00:43:50.311
Now, a lot of people have been taught different and they're going to be offended by that because they're going to be like well, god, you know it's great and he's died for our sins and this and that.

00:43:50.311 --> 00:43:56.831
So you owe that love and that dedication and that service.

00:43:56.831 --> 00:43:59.286
So what the hell are you talking about?

00:43:59.286 --> 00:44:03.021
You know acting like you're supposed to get something out of it.

00:44:03.021 --> 00:44:22.289
I'm just like, what human behavior have you encountered in yourself or others that doesn't have some sense of self-motivation?

00:44:22.289 --> 00:44:38.253
Like, even if you say you're doing things selflessly right, let's say you know the times when I'm doing things just to serve other people.

00:44:38.253 --> 00:44:52.670
You know, there's a lot of times when you do things like that that are very joyful, that are very pleasant.

00:44:52.670 --> 00:45:18.666
They are, in fact, refreshing to your spirit, because there is at least a part of us that finds joy and peace and sense through service, which, of course, can take, you know, infinite forms.

00:45:18.666 --> 00:45:30.077
So yeah, like somebody says, well, you know that person, you know they're a person of service.

00:45:30.077 --> 00:45:38.431
Obviously, you know they're not a selfish person, they're doing these things, they love God, they're walking in you know Christ's footsteps.

00:45:38.431 --> 00:45:43.952
And I'd be like, well, yeah, I mean they are getting something out of it.

00:45:43.952 --> 00:45:50.231
So like, well, what are they getting out of if they're serving others?

00:45:50.231 --> 00:45:56.215
Well, they're getting, you know, potentially they're getting the joy out of doing it.

00:45:56.215 --> 00:46:00.711
Most of us have experienced that at some time in our lives.

00:46:00.711 --> 00:46:42.402
They're getting this kind of insurance right that you know, if they're taught, or they believe, or just afraid that God is working on this contractual basis, that they're fulfilling their end of the bargain so that they will, you know, not have, you know, calamity befall them and whether in this life or in the next, they're also getting, you know, a sense of it could be misplaced.

00:46:42.402 --> 00:46:59.028
But again, this kind of sense of like reciprocity that they think or have been taught that that's going to come out of this right that they're going to be doing you know, quote doing good deeds and then that's going to be reciprocated to them.

00:46:59.028 --> 00:47:05.550
So when people say, oh well, you know, that's that's.

00:47:05.550 --> 00:47:11.012
Look, how selfless that person is, I'm like I don't, there's nothing selfless about that.

00:47:11.012 --> 00:47:15.675
We're just not seeing the larger picture.

00:47:15.675 --> 00:47:24.108
You're talking about selfishness in terms of, like you know, oh well, does that person, you know, give money away?

00:47:24.108 --> 00:47:27.652
If they give money away, they're selfless.

00:47:27.652 --> 00:47:30.693
If they give money, if they hoard money, they're selfish.

00:47:30.693 --> 00:47:33.150
Okay.

00:47:33.150 --> 00:47:53.500
But you know, we have to look a lot deeper, to be honest with ourselves about what motivates ourselves and, of course, once again, the whole absurdity of as if God doesn't know that God knows our hearts.

00:47:53.500 --> 00:47:59.250
I mean, the word says that in hell, I mean, even if you didn't believe in God or whatever.

00:47:59.250 --> 00:48:08.688
I mean, if you believe in anything, you would have to believe that it could read your thoughts, right, I mean that's just so elementary.

00:48:08.688 --> 00:48:10.190
Or just watch your behavior.

00:48:10.190 --> 00:48:50.253
So what I'm saying is, you know, I think to have an authentic relationship with God, you need to first be honest with yourself, be honest about who you are, how you're feeling, why you're feeling, why you're doing this or that, and then at least you can come to God and have like an honest conversation.

00:48:50.253 --> 00:48:53.907
Otherwise you're just.

00:48:53.907 --> 00:49:28.217
You know, I mean to me personally, I've really never, at least like as an adult, as you know, someone as they began to mature, I never really saw the sense of having phony conversations with God, like why wouldn't I tell God that I'm interested in doing this thing?

00:49:28.217 --> 00:49:30.260
That's like supposedly a sin, right?

00:49:30.260 --> 00:49:35.016
So, like you know, if I was a kid or something, why wouldn't I tell God I'm trying to get with this girl?

00:49:35.016 --> 00:49:47.005
Why wouldn't I tell God, you know that I'm, you know, hoping my weed hookup, you know, shows, you know.

00:49:47.005 --> 00:49:56.807
And similarly, why aren't I going to confess that I'm upset or disappointed, like if something doesn't happen or something goes wrong?

00:49:56.807 --> 00:50:14.608
Or just, you know, like it just seemed to me if you're saying that there's, you know this, you know, higher being to have any type of meaningful interaction.

00:50:14.608 --> 00:50:22.994
The idea that you're going to be like somehow posturing or watching what you say to them, or something like that.

00:50:22.994 --> 00:50:45.425
It just seemed, you know, it seemed to me would take more faith to believe in the utility of doing that than it would just to believe that, hey, like I don't know, you know about this God, who he is, what he is, but hey, I can like talk to myself in my head so I can talk to God and, you know, lay out what's going on.

00:50:45.425 --> 00:51:04.434
You know good and bad, right or wrong, and I'm sure a lot of people you know bulk at that because they're like I would never, fucking, you know, talk to God like that.

00:51:04.434 --> 00:51:05.788
What are you talking about?

00:51:05.788 --> 00:51:08.094
That's disrespectful.

00:51:08.094 --> 00:51:11.052
I mean you don't swear when you're talking to God.

00:51:11.052 --> 00:51:14.844
You don't talk about some shit that you know God wouldn't want you to do, you don't?

00:51:14.844 --> 00:51:23.545
You know, and I'm like so you mean you're talking about acting a certain way.

00:51:23.545 --> 00:51:38.398
I'm banking on what I'm banking on being a certain way.

00:51:38.398 --> 00:51:46.157
I'm banking on, like, the transparency of being a certain way before my God right.

00:51:46.157 --> 00:51:51.027
I'm not talking about running out in the street and telling everybody, you know your secrets and all that?

00:51:51.027 --> 00:52:00.592
Right, Because people are imperfect and they will judge you and they will expect more, or some will be offended and some will be delighted.

00:52:00.592 --> 00:52:03.851
You will have fans and you will have haters.

00:52:03.851 --> 00:52:40.815
But that's not like what I'm, you know, garnering from the Bible, the New Testament Bible, you know, in Christ, spending time with sinners, inviting them to drink of the living water along with everyone else, even when many people were bulking at that, because they definitely were and especially people that live under the burden of the law.

00:52:40.815 --> 00:52:54.492
Really, they are the least tolerant of people that have thrown off the burden of the law, which is, you know, totally understandable, right?

00:52:54.492 --> 00:52:56.853
I mean, it's like you're being held to these standards.

00:52:56.853 --> 00:52:59.855
It's like, well, why isn't that person being held to those standards?

00:52:59.855 --> 00:53:07.931
Like, I didn't want to spend Friday night, you know, donating my time to the soup kitchen, but I did it because Christ would want me to.

00:53:07.931 --> 00:53:16.438
And this person you know was, you know, doing lines off the toilet at the club and banging supermodels on Friday night.

00:53:16.438 --> 00:53:18.228
Now, what the fuck is that all about?

00:53:18.228 --> 00:53:32.476
You know, and that ties into, you know, the Bible addresses this thing.

00:53:32.476 --> 00:53:38.626
You know, this kind of dynamic in numerous places, like you know.

00:53:38.626 --> 00:53:48.690
For instance, one that comes to mind is, you know, like with the prodigal son, like you know, why does that?

00:53:48.690 --> 00:53:58.293
You know, here he's the one that you know broke you know, essentially the law wasn't doing what he was supposed to.

00:53:58.293 --> 00:54:06.076
You know, just kind of ran off, you know spent, you know his his, you know inheritance and whatnot.

00:54:06.076 --> 00:54:08.871
I mean he just you know.

00:54:08.871 --> 00:54:12.733
I mean there's nothing like pause of the say about, I mean, the kid just went off and did his thing.

00:54:12.733 --> 00:54:13.407
What do you want to do?

00:54:13.407 --> 00:54:48.534
And then when he comes back, obviously people are like, how are you going to welcome him back and, you know, bless him and, and you know, essentially, feed and water him, when he's the person that ran away, that he was the person that you know blew you off, and obviously you know that story.

00:54:48.534 --> 00:55:01.818
One of the takeaways is that, like, that's the love and forgiveness of God and that we really should want that.

00:55:01.818 --> 00:55:11.393
We think we want to be the other person, you know, we want to be the other sibling who's like no see, I'm going to, you know, just do my.

00:55:11.393 --> 00:55:15.594
I'm going to walk to straight narrow, I'm going to dot my eyes and cross my T's.

00:55:15.594 --> 00:55:17.130
I'm going to be homemade o'clock.

00:55:17.130 --> 00:55:21.335
I'm, you know, I'm going to work diligently on my father's business.

00:55:21.335 --> 00:55:23.068
I'm, you know, I'm.

00:55:23.068 --> 00:55:25.735
I'm going to remain celibate until I'm married.

00:55:25.735 --> 00:55:26.786
I'm going to.

00:55:26.786 --> 00:55:31.677
I'm going to never have a drink, you know, I'm never going to smoke.

00:55:31.677 --> 00:55:48.438
I'm never going to lie, okay, so so there are those of us that are living that out, and what a heartbreak it is.

00:55:48.438 --> 00:56:17.306
How heartbreaking is it when our father, who art in heaven, blesses people that didn't do that or haven't been doing that here, you've been living a certain way for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, maybe your entire life, and now what?

00:56:17.306 --> 00:56:22.353
Some joker that's been pissing his life away.

00:56:22.353 --> 00:56:45.132
He still gets the same blessings, maybe even more blessing, or or indeed isn't it more, just because he first got a chance to do whatever he did and he wanted it to do, you know, putting the law aside and then came back and then enjoyed the benefits of, you know, being forgiven.

00:56:45.132 --> 00:56:47.478
It's like, wow, okay, so he had the best of everything.

00:56:47.478 --> 00:56:48.969
Where does that leave me?

00:56:48.969 --> 00:56:53.952
I mean, who isn't going to be mad about that?

00:56:53.952 --> 00:57:04.295
And to, until you know, our thirst has been really slaked spiritually.

00:57:04.295 --> 00:57:07.509
That's something that will piss you off.

00:57:07.509 --> 00:57:19.815
That's something that will make you question why you're carrying out this strenuous walk.

00:57:19.815 --> 00:58:04.536
But to me, one takeaway I have is that's actually the way we wanted it to be, because we're all the prodigal son, and what I mean by that is, if all sins are equal and Christ died for our sins, then we need to be able to depend on returning to our father as often as we need to.

00:58:04.536 --> 00:58:12.673
We are going to fall off the path in many ways every day.

00:58:12.673 --> 00:58:24.269
Sometimes it'll be, you know, something tiny could be like a white lie, another day could be, you know, murder.

00:58:24.269 --> 00:58:39.969
So, just like you know, laying out that whole spectrum, where do you want to draw the line that you can't come back to God after crossing?

00:58:39.969 --> 00:58:59.737
I think God's clearly saying in the flesh, like in yourself as a human being yes, I see how that offends you, but you don't really have the godly perspective on it.

00:58:59.737 --> 00:59:01.550
You don't have the big picture perspective.

00:59:01.550 --> 00:59:15.588
And the big picture perspective is that story is only a comfort to people that have embraced Christ's finished forgiveness for them.

00:59:15.588 --> 00:59:32.789
And the reason why I say that is because when you embrace Christ's forgiveness, you are always the prodigal son.

00:59:32.789 --> 00:59:46.030
You are always, you know, tripping, stumbling around, you know just being a human being, which, what else could you be?

00:59:46.030 --> 00:59:55.914
I mean, some people think they're holy, you know, I'm not sure all what that means.

00:59:55.914 --> 01:00:00.405
They're like somehow perfected or something, and like this physical plane.

01:00:00.405 --> 01:00:11.353
I'm going to have to disagree with that, but, man, like, if God loves me, I want to be able to continue to come back to the estate.

01:00:11.353 --> 01:00:17.010
I want to be able to keep coming back and be like God.

01:00:17.010 --> 01:00:20.666
You know, once again, you know it's Friday.

01:00:20.666 --> 01:00:21.871
I fucked up again, man.

01:00:21.871 --> 01:00:28.157
You know, in fact, not only did I fucked up, but I didn't even try that hard.

01:00:28.157 --> 01:00:31.311
I can't even pretend like I gave it.

01:00:31.311 --> 01:00:33.215
You know, 100% of my effort.

01:00:33.215 --> 01:00:37.411
I just I don't even.

01:00:37.411 --> 01:00:39.750
I don't have an excuse, man, what can I say?

01:00:39.750 --> 01:01:02.938
Here I am and boy do I want God to not to put me on punishment, not to give me a time out, not to dock me my pay or my inheritance, you know, not to decide I me not to bad mouth me.

01:01:02.938 --> 01:01:06.929
No, I want him just to hug me, man.

01:01:06.929 --> 01:01:19.628
I want him to hug me and welcome me back, tell me about how glad he is to see me.

01:01:19.628 --> 01:01:54.563
And yet, oftentimes in the church, even when we listen to that story, we don't get it, nor is it really talked about or or or preached on so boldly as that To say yeah, no, like guys, we are the prodigal son, that's what we do.

01:01:54.563 --> 01:02:21.795
God saying You're gonna need to keep coming back to me and I'm gonna love you and accept you See, and and that's to me like so obvious what Christ is saying there's no time In the New Testament I can think of and I'm sure you know people have.

01:02:21.795 --> 01:02:31.125
Please point out, you know, whatever Scriptures, whatever you think challenges us, it's fine, I'm open to it.

01:02:31.125 --> 01:02:57.239
I mean, I'm speaking from my heart and just from my memory in terms of you know the Bible, you know the New Testament is about Christ sacrifices and about what he values and he values us.

01:02:57.239 --> 01:03:11.394
You know, when just one sheep Gets lost from the herd, the shepherd goes and rescues that one sheep.

01:03:11.394 --> 01:03:14.322
The shepherd doesn't just go.

01:03:14.322 --> 01:03:17.556
Oh well, you know shit, I got 10,000 sheep.

01:03:17.556 --> 01:03:19.181
One fell off the way side.

01:03:19.181 --> 01:03:20.326
Oh, you know whatever.

01:03:20.326 --> 01:03:24.900
No, the shepherd loves that sheep.

01:03:24.900 --> 01:03:28.981
God loves us so much that he wants to come get us.

01:03:28.981 --> 01:03:32.014
That just fell off the track in the path.

01:03:32.014 --> 01:03:37.590
So like, that's what I would want to believe and I believe that is what the word says.

01:03:37.590 --> 01:03:51.306
Now, how many people really read the word, or how much that's been confused, or how much you know the way it's been preached has really backtracked that.

01:03:51.306 --> 01:03:58.599
Or everybody wants to put in their little caveats and they're you know, well, yeah, but you know you're still supposed to be living right and you're supposed you know, and it's like okay, dude.

01:03:58.599 --> 01:04:13.449
So basically, no matter what, no matter what happens, you want me to feel condemned, like that's what human beings are often telling us.

01:04:13.449 --> 01:04:13.588
Right?

01:04:13.588 --> 01:04:19.934
I mean, basically that's what they're saying Don't get too comfortable With God's forgiveness, because you're going to be condemned.

01:04:19.934 --> 01:04:29.632
And that condemnation could be anything from just you know God taking his hand off you and you know shit not working out.

01:04:29.632 --> 01:04:35.693
Well, you know your businesses fail, your you know your marriage fails, you get sick.

01:04:35.693 --> 01:04:41.994
You know it could be any of that, or all the way to like eternal damnation and burning in hellfire.

01:04:41.994 --> 01:05:01.545
So few Christians Give people the permission To rest In the finished work of Christ.

01:05:01.545 --> 01:05:08.934
Just just reflect on the fact that you're a Christian.

01:05:08.934 --> 01:05:14.014
Just just reflect on it, even within yourself.

01:05:14.014 --> 01:05:24.282
If you're a Christian and everybody's welcome here, and you know, hey, you're welcome here, believe me, there's.

01:05:24.282 --> 01:05:26.670
There's no need for any labels or whatever here.

01:05:26.670 --> 01:05:27.994
I've fallen all over the place.

01:05:27.994 --> 01:05:29.813
So I'm glad to have you.

01:05:29.813 --> 01:05:47.132
But just think about it if you were a Christian, or when you were a Christian, or if you've been around Christians, how often is it that somebody's like, hey Well, you know, jesus died for our sins.

01:05:47.132 --> 01:05:58.771
Like you know, to cover all of our sins, you know past, present, future sins, right, otherwise it wouldn't be very helpful, right, if there was like a cutoff date like, oh, christ died for our sins up until, you know, january 2020.

01:05:58.771 --> 01:06:08.668
So, like, you're on your own after that, you better be.

01:06:08.668 --> 01:06:11.474
You know sacrificing, you know cattle and burn an incense or something.

01:06:11.474 --> 01:06:17.023
Because, like you're fuck, you know, for the past X amount of years, no, it's, it's a.

01:06:17.023 --> 01:06:27.014
It's perpetually, it extends infinitely into the future.

01:06:27.014 --> 01:06:37.014
I mean, that's why it's significant, that's why it's, in fact, the gospel, that's why it's good news, it's a good news.

01:06:37.014 --> 01:06:39.014
It's a good news.

01:06:39.014 --> 01:06:42.423
It's a good news because, in fact, the gospel that's why it's good news.

01:06:42.423 --> 01:06:51.521
If it didn't go on to cover you Past, present and future, it would not be good news.

01:06:51.521 --> 01:07:07.985
That would be some shitty news, man, because that means that, essentially, the benefits of Christ's forgiveness that you've, you know, been hoping to cash in on.

01:07:07.985 --> 01:07:15.742
You know that warranty ran out.

01:07:15.742 --> 01:07:20.760
Your warranty ran out, man, you know.

01:07:20.760 --> 01:07:25.014
So now you have to go and pay for everything out of your pocket.

01:07:25.014 --> 01:07:30.204

Episode 2 - I'm STILL thirsty

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Episode 2 - I'm STILL thirsty

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