Transcription

Connor:
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris:
Hey everybody, welcome to The Bible Guys. I’m Chris, this is Jeff, and we are glad to be here with you.

Jeff:
Man, it’s the highlight of our day. Yeah, so far. The highlight of our day is being here with you, and you guys send us so many great messages. Yes. And let us know that for some of you, The Bible Guys is a highlight of your day too. One of them.

Chris:
Which I appreciate that very much.

Jeff:
It’s amazing to me.

Chris:
So we have a social… Honestly, if people didn’t communicate that to us, I’m not sure that I’d be motivated to come back in and record stuff.

Jeff:
Because he quite honestly, deep down, doesn’t like talking about the Bible, fun and practical ways, like I do. Fun and practical ways! That’s so good. But since you guys like it so much, he keeps coming back. Okay. All right. So today we have a social media minute, right? We love interacting with our listeners. And so Desiree picked out a few comments from our different social media places. People send in emails at info at BibleGuys.com. People will leave comments on whatever platform you’re listening on, on YouTube, those kinds of things. So here’s a comment from Jambo B. Jambo B. Jambo B. Jambo.

Chris:
Jambo. It’s probably Jambo.

Jeff:
Jambo. J-A-M-B-O.

Chris:
It’s probably Jambo. Okay.

Jeff:
Chris, always being angry, offended, defensive for the world is something we share not only in spirit but in the way we’re jokingly picked on for it. But, Pastor Chris, I feel you But, Pastor Chris, I feel you. Keep fighting the good fight. Praise the Lord.

Chris:
Hey, hey, hey!

Jeff:
Jombo’s my… Jombo, yep, yep. He feels you. He’s my people. I feel you. Yep, yep. Yeah. So, I just think it’s funny this starts off, Chris always being angry. Yeah, right, right. That’s the funny phrase there.

Chris:
Yeah. Well, I mean, let’s be clear, okay? The opinions that I have, because I’ve always… And by the way, it was actually this segment that helped me discover uh, that I’m angry for the world. Right.

Jeff:
So like when I, when I, when I actually say it’s, it’s, it’s a self enlightening thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris:
Cause really, cause I’m just like, I’m like, ah, I can’t believe that. I can’t believe that happened. And even my family, even my family, cause you know, not all of my entire family listens to the Bible guys. Like my kids, like my daughter, one daughter does my other daughter doesn’t anyway. The point is, is that, and by the way, she does periodically, just not consistently, but I actually said, I said, do you realize I’ve discovered that whenever I go, oh, I can’t believe this. And sometimes my kids get mad at me. You know, they’ll say, oh, dad, let it be, let it be. And I say, I said, I think it’s because I don’t get mad for my experience. I get mad that that exists for everybody. And then all of a sudden Tori goes, you are right. She goes, that is exactly why you get mad. That’s what you always say. So anyway, so thanks Jonbo. He’s my people.

Jeff:
And thank you on behalf of all the rest of us little people. That’s right. Thank you for channeling your rage and your anger and your offense, your defensiveness for the rest of us.

Chris:
All right. So that number two says this. I love starting my days with you guys. The perfect mix, mix of learning devotions and daily application mixed with a little bit of fun and silliness. I share it with all of my friends and family and even people I just meet says Cecilia G.

Jeff:
That’s nice. How nice, Cecilia. That’s nice.

Chris:
That’s so cool.

Jeff:
Sharing with all of your friends and family and even people you just meet.

Chris:
Yeah. Well, just having conversations and saying, hey, let me share with you something that you might like.

Jeff:
Yeah. Well, hey, let’s just right now, let’s take a vote, an official vote and make Cecilia G the number one fan of the day. no for sure right yeah i mean if she is telling friends and family and even people that she just meets I can’t imagine anybody beating that today. Right. So good job. All right. Today, let it be known. This is the official day. Cecilia G day. Congratulations on that. That’s awesome. And then Joni P. She writes in often. So, hey, welcome back. She’s given us a few comments. She said, I think both of you can sing. That’s something you don’t seem to want all of us to know. Question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark.

Chris:
Yeah. So she’s wanting us to acknowledge the fact that we can sing, question mark. But we can’t. I can’t really sing sing. You know what’s so interesting? Is that when I was at my first church, it was a tiny little church, right? So it was 180 people, which actually isn’t tiny, tiny for some, but you know, from what my experience is, it was smaller. And I was there for eight years. It was a very long time. And I was the worship leader for three years. I can’t read music. I can’t play anything. But I could hold a tune, kind of. But I was doing the choir, the band, the praise team, I was doing everything.

Jeff:
Oh, you were the everything else pastor.

Chris:
I was the everything else pastor. And we had other part-time people, they left. I got stuck in the rut. Anyway, the point is that I used to sing all the time. Well then, after I left that church, I went to a large church. It was like 2,000 on a weekend or something. And so my old people would say, hey, do you sing on stage? And so my answer was always, I don’t have to, because everybody who’s on stage is better than me. So why would I? Why would I ever sing? And it’s sort of been that way for the rest of my entire career.

Jeff:
Yeah. I was a worship leader for 15 years. I do read music. I do have a music background, music degree, but yeah, everybody on our stage sings better than I do now.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I every once in a while break out in a little bit of a tune, like a little ditty. You do? But you don’t, though. I don’t, no. Yeah, why? Why not? Does Jesus not put a song in your heart, Jeff?

Jeff:
I do have a song in my heart. I just don’t have to brag about it all the time. Songs are made to be sung, bro. I don’t have to show off.

Chris:
You think anybody who sings worship is showing off?

Jeff:
Not anybody. Did you hear that, ladies and gentlemen?

Chris:
Jeff has just announced that our worship leader who sits on stage is showing off.

Jeff:
Most of the time when you sing, it sounds like, good morning, good morning. Look at you. So most of the time you’re not singing worship songs on here and singing to the Lord. You’re singing show tunes.

Chris:
There’s a big difference between those two things. Yeah, that’s definitely true. That’s true. A little ditty.

Jeff:
Yeah, so, well, thanks. If you thought we were trying to be sneaky and hide it, then why did you just expose us, Joanie? Right. Right?

Chris:
Yeah, way to go, Joanie.

Jeff:
Well, she’s not fan of the day, I’ll tell you that. Right, right. She ruined it. It’s like she just pulled the mask up on Batman.

Chris:
So the real answer is we can kind of sing.

Jeff:
Kind of sing, yeah.

Chris:
Compared to most others.

Jeff:
I made a living doing it, but yeah. You know, my brothers sing. My brother Mark and his family, they travel full-time. He owns a recording studio. My brother Steven, he travels full-time, sings, he owns a recording studio. So yeah, there’s a lot of music in our family. But now I pretty much just preach and lead. I don’t do as much singing.

Chris:
Yeah, and you need to stick with your day job.

Jeff:
I do. I really do. I really do. Okay. Well, thank you for that. That was fun. So we are in John chapter 21. John’s starting to wrap things up here. And Jesus appears again to some more disciples, not all of them, but to some more disciples. In John 21, one through 14, it says, later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. And this is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there, Simon Peter, Thomas, nicknamed the twin, Nathanael from Canaan and Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, I’m going fishing. We’ll come too, they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn, Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was, and he called out, fellows, have you caught any fish? No, they replied, and then he said, throw out your net on the right side of the boat, and you’ll get some. So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, it’s the Lord, and when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic, for he’d stripped for work, and he jumped into the water and headed ashore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to shore, for they were only about 100 yards from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them, fish cooking over a charcoal fire and some bread. Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught, Jesus said. So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to shore, and there were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn. Now, come and have some breakfast, Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. And then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he’d been raised from the dead.

Chris:
Which is extremely cool. I love it. You know, Jesus had prepared the breakfast before he revealed himself to them. Yes. He had shown up on the shore.

Jeff:
Or while he was preparing.

Chris:
What do you mean?

Jeff:
He revealed himself while he was preparing breakfast.

Chris:
Well, I, I suppose so, but it says, wait, wait, doesn’t it say, um, okay. It says the others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net into the shore. They were only a hundred yards from the shore, so they couldn’t have taken long. And when they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them, which means it’s already prepared. So how long could it have taken? And, you know, well, they had to catch fish.

Jeff:
So they, he was standing on shore first.

Chris:
Okay. Listen, There’s no way that Jesus was in the middle of cooking breakfast and then shouted and then all they had to do was pull up the net and row 100 yards?

Jeff:
No, no, no. They had to throw their net on the other side. So at dawn, Jesus was standing at the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, fellows, have you caught any fish? No. Throw out your net on the other side of the boat. And so they did. And they couldn’t haul in the net because there’s so many fish. Then they realize it’s Peter. They realize it’s Jesus. Peter jumps in the water. And then they have to come in. When they get in, after having thrown their net full, no fish, you know how hard it is to pull in that great big net?

Chris:
Yeah, it takes probably 10 minutes.

Jeff:
Throw it over on the other side, and then now they’re struggling trying to get it out, and then they have to drag this full net that they cannot pull into the boat. They have to pull it behind the boat. They have to get it to shore, all that kind of stuff. This could have been 30 minutes. Jesus could have made a fire and made breakfast in that time. It’s being difficult.

Chris:
Yeah, it doesn’t matter though, does it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know what? Maybe I need to think more about all that it takes to go fishing. But I will say this. This is the only time in scripture that it tells us, for whatever reason, there was 153 large fish. And they weren’t just medium fish. They were large fish. And have you ever held up Yeah, and I don’t go fishing often at all, but have you ever held up a string of fish, and let’s just say there’s a dozen small fish, right? That is hard to lift up, right? And so, yeah, you’re right in that 153 large fish, you know, and obviously it seems like the net should have torn, which is why the scripture says, and yet the net didn’t tear. That’s right. So, yeah, you’re right. You know what? I bet you it was three hours. That’s not what I was saying. They rowed with 153 large fish and it took them three hours.

Jeff:
He could have been just there fixing breakfast. Yes. When he calls out.

Chris:
In fact, Jesus went home and took a nap. Yes. And then came back and then started the fire.

Jeff:
But you know, I love this passage. Love this. I love this story. And then it’s going to go just a little further in just a moment, right? Tomorrow.

Chris:
Yes. Because he has breakfast and then challenges Peter.

Jeff:
But if you think about it, let’s go back. The last interaction Jesus, Jesus and Peter had directly.

Chris:
Peter… Well, besides him appearing twice.

Jeff:
Yeah, but it doesn’t say that they talked directly in that moment. Jesus talked directly to Thomas. He talked directly with Mary Magdalene. But Peter still is carrying, I believe, he’s still carrying his shame of denying Christ. I think he’s struggling with what is his role now among the disciples. He’s seen the resurrected Lord, which is amazing, but he doesn’t seem to have his call on him. He doesn’t feel like he does, because he says, I’m going to go back to the old job I had. Right? I’m going to go back fishing. Literally, that’s his phrase, right? I’m going fishing. And a bunch of the rest go, me too. They didn’t know what to do now. Now, didn’t Jesus just say two days ago, as the father sent me, now I’m sending you? Didn’t he just tell them again, I’ve got a mission for you. And now Peter doesn’t understand what he’s supposed to do next. And so he’s going to go back to what he knows. I know fishing. I’m going to go back fishing. And six of the others go, us too. We’re going back. We’re going to go fishing with you. And so we know that Thomas does, we know Nathaniel does, we know that James and John do, and then there’s two others that go with Peter. You know, a lot of times we’re tempted when things get bad or when we make a mistake, when we fail, when we sin, we get tempted to go, well, it’s over for me. I ruined it. I might as well just go back to doing what I was doing before. We’re tempted to go back with the old friends. We’re tempted to go back to the old job. We’re tempted to go back to the old lifestyle. And he gave up as if God had given up on him. And Jesus shows up specifically on shore. and he doesn’t bring judgment on Peter and the rest. He doesn’t say, what the heck are you guys doing out here? Didn’t I just say, as the Father sent me, so send I you? Didn’t I just give you those? He doesn’t do any of that stuff. He’s out there fixing breakfast because they’d been fishing in the nighttime, because this is at dawn. Right, they fished all night. So you know they’re thinking, right? So you know they’re thinking, oh let’s hurry up and get this wrapped up so we can get some breakfast. I know whenever I’m coming to the end of a shift, I come to the end of a day and I’m like, I wonder what we’re having for dinner? On a regular basis, I’ll talk to my wife and say, hey, I’m almost done with work, what are we having for dinner, right? So you know that’s what they’re thinking is, I wonder what we’re going to have for breakfast. And so Jesus is anticipating what they’re going to be wanting and needing. And he’s prepping for them in a way that is going to bring satisfaction. And then he calls out to them and says, have you caught any fish? No. Hey, why don’t you throw the net on the other side? Doesn’t that feel familiar?

Chris:
Yeah, for sure.

Jeff:
Right. He’s taking Peter back to where he got Peter’s attention the first time. Right. Right. He’s taking him back to because in that moment, John went, oh, wait a minute. I remember that happening before. Send chills down your spine kind of thing. Wait a minute. That’s Jesus, right? Because it says the disciple Jesus loved. Again, John says to Peter, and so Peter puts his clothes on, jumps in the water, swims to shore in that moment. Just the pure joy of that moment, the euphoria of that moment is really incredible. I just love how Jesus decided to set this issue up. Now tomorrow we’re going to talk about the incredible words Jesus said, but even just setting up this story. is precious to me because Peter gave up on himself and Jesus reminded Peter, dude, I called you the first time and I never changed my mind. And he calls him back the same way he called him the first time. Cast your net on the other side.

Chris:
Yeah. And think about how many years ago that was. That was over three years ago. Yeah. And that was Peter’s very first, you know, mountaintop experience. You know, so, you know, think about how personal this was in every single way. Jesus had first met Peter. Peter was a fisherman. That’s what he did. He was the expert fisherman. He couldn’t catch anything. And then when Jesus said the first time, cast your net over, Jesus, or Peter, had a rebuttal in that moment. And Peter said, we just did that an hour ago. And so I know there’s going to be none, but nevertheless, Lord, since you say so, I’ll try it. So he throws it over, and then of course, it almost sinks the boat. It almost sinks the boats and that’s when it says that he exclaims, my Lord, my God, right? So that’s his, that’s Peter’s very personal, you know, Jesus had met Peter and connected with Peter and done a miracle in Peter’s world, you know, on such a personal way. And so that was Peter’s big mountaintop experience.

Jeff:
And then Jesus called him and said, follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. Right. I’ve got a mission for you. Then just a couple of days ago, he says, The Father sent me, now I’m sending you. I’m sending you on this mission.” And Peter didn’t feel like he qualified for that mission anymore. You know, I betrayed Jesus. I didn’t betray him, but I denied him.

Chris:
Yeah, so I just think it’s just, there’s a beauty in here where when he shouts out from the shore and says, cast it over on the right side, it is a callback for every great thing. And you’re right. I do believe that the reason probably why Jesus did this is because he was sending a message to Peter, even though you fail, I still love you. I remember who you are. I know that you remember who I am. And so let’s go back to that original relationship that we had, even though that, you know, you’ve strayed, even though that you failed, even though that it was a rough time and yeah, you weren’t proud and you’re ashamed and all those things, which is a great reason why Peter would have been so excited that he’s like, Hey, I’m not going to take, I’m not going to wait the seven hours. It’s going to take to, to, to row a hundred yards, you know, where Jesus, you know, cook breakfast. And then lunch and dinner, then breakfast again, right? Peter’s like, no, I’m swimming in now. You go now. And by the way, 100 yards is a lot to swim.

Jeff:
It is. Yeah. So, you know, sometimes people will feel like, you know, you’ve been on this amazing spiritual journey and then life comes crashing down around you, either because of your own choices or because of circumstances that were out of your control. Life collapses around you. You have some massive disappointments. Maybe you feel like you’ve disappointed God. What do you do? And almost every time I recommend to people, go back to where you got started with Jesus. maybe not physically, but get back there. What were you thinking and doing then? What were the steps that you took then? So Peter goes back to where he met Jesus, he’s out fishing, he doesn’t really know what to do, and Jesus met him where they first met each other. And a lot of times we make things really complicated. Over those three or four or five years, 10 years that you’ve been walking with the Lord, you’ve added all these things, all these Bible studies and these ministries and these friends and all these things, then the world comes crashing down and this complicated Christian life isn’t manageable for you. And so you don’t know what to do. Go back to the simple part when you first met Jesus. You were excited to tell other people, You wanted your friends to know. You wanted to know everything Jesus said. You wanted to spend time in the word. Most of the time, most brand new Christians are relatively comfortable talking to God, just in simple terms, and then we complicate it with big fancy prayers and deep Bible studies, and we do all these things, and then it sometimes can begin to fade. Go back to where you met Jesus, and he’ll meet you there.

Chris:
Yeah, that’s good. And then also, there’s another lesson, too, where in here, as we’re talking about Peter’s evolving relationship with God, and we’re talking about the mountaintop experience when he first met Jesus versus now, this interaction that he’s having and about to have with Jesus, it reminds me also that marriage, the institution of marriage, God tells us, and Paul actually says it, and other places, where marriage was designed as an institution by God to be a reflection of our relationship with our Heavenly Father, right? And so, and we may not be an expert, we don’t think, in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but the one thing that we do know a lot about, if we’ve been married for 30 years, like you and I have been, right, is that

Jeff:
Not to each other. Not to each other. We have been married to our own individual spouses. Individual wives, yes.

Chris:
That’s correct. Here’s what I’m trying to say. I’m trying to say that love matures and gets deeper and better. That’s what I’m saying. I’m saying that the longer you’re married, you cannot ever replicate those first two years when you were dating Bonnie, right? That whole, like, you know, even C.S. Lewis talks about this. When he talks about it in his book, The main one. The big one.

Jeff:
Mere Christianity?

Chris:
Yes, mere Christianity. When he talks about, he says, he says, how could a couple ever be expected to live in the fire and passion of when they were dating? He said, how in the world can a couple ever experience that, you know, all their entire marriage or their relationship? He says, the bottom line is, is you can’t. Right? So love then becomes a choice. It becomes deeper. It becomes, you know, and so he talks about being in love versus, um, uh, uh, choosing love. And he says, being in love is the, is merely the explosion that started the relationship of choosing love. which is awesome. And so anyway, all that to say, so think about Peter. He may not necessarily, when he goes back to the beginnings and the fundamentals, he may not necessarily experience that mountaintop feeling of euphoria that he first had with Jesus. And a lot of times, you know, that’s what we want to do. We want to say, Oh, I just, I seem to have lost the joy of my salvation, or, you know, I wish I can go back and feel the way I was when I very first came to know Christ. Well, if you think about it, marriage is a reflection of our relationship with the Heavenly Father. Yeah, it may not be that way, but it’s better now. It’s more mature, right? There’s more pain. There’s more struggle. It’s deeper. It’s richer. There’s more commitment. There’s more choice. You know, you’ve learned more. There’s more wisdom, you know, and so it’s, it’s just better. It’s richer. And then, and that’s what Peter’s going to have for the rest of his life until he gives up his life.

Jeff:
Yes. So go back and do what you did if you want what you had. There you go. Right. So that explosion might not come back. But there are times when you just don’t feel like doing a thing. But then when you start doing the thing, then next thing you know, you enjoy doing that thing. And so, you know, go back. If you’re talking about spouses, go back and spend time with them. Go on dates again, go for walks again, go to the movies again, go to the restaurant again, go learn to laugh again, tell stories again, give each other gifts again. If you want what you had, you have to do what you did. And it’s the same thing spiritually, I believe, that if you want what you used to have, that fire, that enthusiasm, sometimes you don’t feel like it. But your feelings will follow your actions most of the time. So if you decide that you’re going to lean back in and do the things you used to do, you’re going to learn to pray again. You’re going to learn to read the Bible again. You’re going to learn to hang out with new Christian friends that are talking about the Bible with enthusiasm. You begin doing those things. The next thing you know, you want to do those things again. And it’ll relight that fire for you. That’s great.

Chris:
Yeah. Well, hey, that’s a great place to end. That’s our time. And so we’ll see you next time on The Bible Guys.