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, thanks, everybody, for tuning in. This is Jeff. I’m Chris, we’re the Bible guys, and we’re super excited that you joined us here today. It’s gonna be great. Yeah, we’re talking about preparing for persecution.

Jeff
That’s a very exciting topic. We’re going to.

Chris
Have a good one today. Yeah, it’s really good. Chris I’m glad I tuned in. Well hey we have a segment and the segment is called a fall Activity draft list.

Jeff
Oh. So activities we enjoy doing in the fall.

Chris
Yes, it’s officially fall. And so we’re supposed to do rock paper scissors. Okay. And then just sort of make a list of the things that we love to do in the fall.

Jeff
Okay. I’ve been practicing rock, paper, scissors. So I’m going to beat you this time. Okay. Ready to say out loud what it is? 123. Shoot. One. Two three. Shoot. Ready?

Chris

123. Jeff
     Shoot! Rocks! 123. Shoot! Rocks! 123.

Jeff
Shoot paper.

Jeff

123. Jeff
     Shoot.

Jeff
I got you. I got a rock. He got a scissors. Okay, so I get to pick first. Yep. My favorite thing to do in the fall is hunt. I love to go hunting. Okay. It’s my very favorite thing. I didn’t even need to draft that first because it was going to be at the bottom of the list too. Yeah, I didn’t take it first.

Chris
So yeah, and it’s never going to be on my list.

Jeff
So bow hunting, gun hunting, I love it.

Chris
So I don’t hunt. But I’m glad for the people who do. Number two or actually number one for me is football games man. Football football football football on Sunday, football on Monday, football on Thursday. Yeah it’s football all football all the time.

Jeff
And do you like football as much as you like the football snacks.

Chris
You mean at the football games.

Jeff
No no no. Like watching a football game. Do you do snacks while you’re watching football?

Chris
Actually I don’t. What no I don’t oh.

Jeff
You’re missing out.

Chris
Buddy. Yeah, I guess so.

Jeff
I need to teach you how to get get get your snack game going. That’s okay. Well, I’m going to pick football snacks.

Chris
There you go.

Chris
Fall, fall football snacks. That’s number two for you.

Jeff
It’s my number two.

Chris
Okay. My number two is cider mills. Oh.

Jeff
Cider mills are so good. That’s a Michigan thing.

Chris
Oh, yeah. Of course.

Jeff
For our listeners all around the country.

Chris
Yeah. So we have we have apple orchards who build cider mills, who are on site. They produce cider, slushy ciders. Yes. They make donuts that are so good.

Jeff
Oh, like the sugar and cinnamon donuts. The fresh cider mill donuts. Yeah.

Chris
And then sometimes they’ll let you go pick pick your own apples.

Jeff
Quit the podcast and let’s go get some donuts inside. Yeah, that’s so good.

Chris
So we’re going to do that when my daughter comes into town next week.

Jeff
Oh neat neat for us. We love color drives. We like to go look at the trees that are turning colors.

Chris
Oh yeah.

Jeff
You took mine.

Chris
Yeah yeah we do too.

Jeff
So where we live in the north, for those of you who live around the around the world in different places, the trees this time of year begin to turn colors and it’ll be bright golds and bright oranges and bright reds. And it’s just really stunning, just as far as you can see. Amazing.

Chris
And it’s an hour up North Michigan is actually super popular for that.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. Now I have to tell you, the best way to see leaves is when there’s a storm with a black sky behind, but bright sun where you are. Do you ever you ever you ever see that before? I’m not sure where. Over the woods or over the forest, you know, far away. Far away. It’s like a stormy sky, really dark. But there’s a bright sun where you’re at. Shining down on the trees. It’s just stunningly beautiful. Wow. The contrast.

Chris
Okay, so my number three is going to be bonfires.

Jeff
Bonfires. Oh, yeah.

Chris
So we have a bonfire pit at our house and we get ready for it. And we’re super excited about it. Another thing we’re going to do when my daughter comes up from Florida.

Jeff
Bonfires are nice, man. We like to. When I was a kid, we liked to make big piles of leaves and jump in the leaves and play in the leaves.

Chris
Yeah, you do that now.

Jeff
Sometimes. We did a couple of years ago. Was it last year with Rowan, my grandson? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we did it.

Chris
Okay. All right. So my number four is going to be, um, I’m sort of cheating a little bit, but it is totally in the middle of the fall cheating you. What is pumpkin carving? Oh, yeah. So even that’s for Halloween. It’s still massive. It’s massively in the fall. Yeah, yeah. And so my family for pumpkin carving for my family is an event. So we have people wait all year long to see what pumpkins that we’re going to place on Facebook.

Jeff
Well you kind of do that with like every holiday. It’s an event.

Chris
Yeah. It sort of is. It sort of is.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah. So all right. My my fifth one because there’s number five right. Yep. Number five is this number five. Yep. My fifth one would be if we’re doing the fall then is Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah I love the big Thanksgiving thing.

Chris
So you guys do all that.

Jeff
Yeah. Mashed potatoes and and lately I’ve been the one doing the turkey for our family. So great turkey dinner and all that kind of stuff. It’s just fun. Yeah. This time of year is great for that.

Chris
And I would say I’m going to go with. And in the town I grew up in, there’s a fair, there’s a local fair that is quite impressive. It’s called the Canfield Fair and Canfield, Ohio just just connected the Youngstown. And it is quite big. It’s not as big as like a state fair, but. It is close. It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal. So and it happens every year and it’s like on Labor Day or whatever. And and we go, I’ve been going the last several years in a row. Make, make, make my way in there. And it is a great nostalgic thing for me.

Jeff
Does Labor Day count as fall?

Chris
Well, I.

Jeff
Not on the calendar.

Chris
No. For real.

Jeff
The fall equinox is at the end. Oh, that’s.

Chris
Fine then I’ll just choose cocoa. Because we actually do Coco nights where it’ll be like, it’s a cold night. Let’s do some Coco. Yeah, and we’ll actually do Coco. Wrap up and warm blankets.

Jeff
Coco is hot chocolate for the people who don’t know what Coco is. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
Yeah yeah yeah.

Jeff
Oh, that sounds really good.

Chris
Marshmallows.

Jeff
All right, man, we have good falls. We know how to celebrate fall. Yeah. If anybody wonders if we know anything, which after they listen to our podcast, they wonder. These people know anything. We know how to celebrate fall. Yeah.

Chris
And you know what? And by the way, if my daughter is listening in Florida.

Jeff
You just ruined all the surprises.

Chris
Well, yeah. Well, I just want to say is have fun doing nothing, right. What do you do?

Jeff
Hey, sunshine. Again?

Chris
Yeah. Have fun with no leave changes, no temperature changes, no traditions in the fall. Some people, just.

Jeff
Some people just make bad choices.

Chris
Yeah, that’s. It’s like I love summer. Yeah.

Jeff
Okay. Well, now it’ll be in January that you’re going to be rethinking your decisions and wanting to go visit her in.

Chris
February and March and April.

Jeff
Okay, so Jesus is preparing his disciples for persecution. Remember yesterday he sent them out? Yeah. And so when you go, you just have to expect, hey, it’s not all going to be sunshine and roses and unicorns and skittles and rainbows, right?

Jeff
So wow.

Chris
Unicorns and Skittles. Yeah. I think you’re going to say sunshine and rainbows, but you tossed in unicorns and Skittles.

Jeff
Yeah, it’s not going to be all your wildest dreams coming true. Okay. All right. You know, when you’re out there, it’s not going to just be super easy. And so along with go tell everybody the good news, he says, look, in Matthew chapter ten, look, I’m sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves, but beware, for you will be handed over to the courts, and you’ll be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings, because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you’re arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time, for it is not you who will be speaking. It will be the spirit of your father speaking through you. A brother will betray his brother to death. A father will betray his own child and children rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. All nations will hate you because you are my followers, but everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel. Students are not greater than their teacher and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the Prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names. But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you, for the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all what I tell you now in the darkness. Jeff
Shout abroad. When daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear. Shout from the housetops for all to hear. Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body. They cannot touch your soul. Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. What is the price of two sparrows? One copper coin. But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered, so don’t be afraid. You are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven, but everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my father in heaven. Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth. I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I’ve come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter in law against her mother in law. Your enemies will be your be right in your own household. If you love your father and mother more than you love me, you’re not worthy of being mine. Or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you’re not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you’re not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you’ll lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you’ll find it. Anyone who receives you receives me. And anyone who receives me receives the father who sent me. If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you’ll be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you’ll be given a reward like theirs. Jeff
And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

Chris
Mhm.

Chris
Wow, there’s a lot in there.

Jeff
He covered it right there.

Chris
Yeah. He really did.

Chris
Yeah. And it’s so funny because you know in other parts of the scripture, if you don’t really read carefully at the intent you can. Maybe be a little confused because, you know, Jesus talks about turning the other cheek. He talks about loving one another. He talks about praying for your enemies. He talks about loving those that are hard to love, and how you get no credit for loving those that love you. But loving those that don’t love you is difficult. But but it’s the way of God. He talks about all those things, right? He always says, Shalom, peace be to you. Right. And yet at the same time, in verse number 34, he says, don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth. I came not to bring peace, but a sword. And you’re like, what if you took just that verse out of context? You would think that, you know, he’s saying, we’re.

Jeff
Going to go to war.

Chris
We’re going to go to war. Right? And and that actually there’s nothing peaceful about Christianity or the purpose that he came. Yeah. But what he’s talking about, he’s talking about devotion and following. Right. Because he says and he’s not.

Jeff
Saying that we’re the ones that are going to take up the sword, but that the sword will come against us.

Chris
Yes, yes, that’s exactly right. Because what he’s saying is, is he’s saying there’s going to be a long line drawn between father and son or mother and son, you know, and he says, he says you may even create enemies in your own household because, because there’s a clear line and you have to love me more than even your own family. And that’s the that’s the potential friction I think that he’s referring to. Yeah.

Jeff
Well, if you look at the, the, the journey Jesus has taken his disciples on, right? Because we’re about halfway through his ministry now, maybe getting a little more towards two thirds. He says to them, they go, hey, Jesus, where do you sleep? He goes, oh, just come and see. He doesn’t say anything about. Oh, and you’re not going to have any peace. They’re going to bring the sword against you. He doesn’t bring that up at that point, right?

Chris
Right.

Jeff
And then later on he says, well, why don’t you come and follow me? Right. Leave your nets. Come and follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men. I’m going to give you purpose. I’m going to give you meaning. And they do. Then he begins to teach them. He begins to teach in parables. He gives them power. He gives them a mission. Go tell people, right. Go do all these things. And then finally, now he’s ratcheting up. He’s being he’s being very transparent and honest as they really start leaning in as they start to go, wow, he gave us power to do miracles. Wow. He gave us a mission to go tell people, Jesus. Okay, now that you’re stepping into my role, not not the Savior of the world, but telling everybody and changing the world. Just understand, if they hated me, they called me the Prince of demons. So if they hated me, they’re going to call you people. Pretty bad stuff too. They want to kill me, remember? They’re going to throw me off a cliff. They’re going to do worse things to you. And so he says, hey, the government’s going to hate you. Religious people are going to hate you. Your family might hate you, right? And so don’t be afraid. Don’t worry about those things. Right. There’s going to be threats, maybe even actual physical harm. There’s going to be public ridicule. There’s you’re going to feel rejected by your loved ones. But Matthew 20 1026, he says the truth will be revealed. 1028 he says, your soul cannot be harmed. 1032 he says, God himself is going to acknowledge you if you acknowledge him. 1031 he says, God’s love can sustain you, right? What Jesus is trying to say is, listen, it’s going to get really hard for some of us. Jeff
Yeah. It’s going to be worth it. It’s going to be worth it’s going to be okay.

Chris
You know, so many people may not know this, but we go to Heritage Church, which is located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. And so last night we were actually in an elders meeting where there was an ordination for a brand new elder. And and he made the cut. Right? Yeah, yeah. And so anyway, as you were welcoming him into the position of elder, you said to him, be warned. What? And many people might be interested in hearing this mentality, but because basically what you were trying to say is ministry is hard. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. And so like if you were to recap what you said, what would you say?

Jeff
Well, I told him, anytime that you ask God to increase your impact or you ask God to increase your effectiveness, you’re also asking God to increase your capacity for pain. Yeah, right. And I don’t know which I.

Chris
Thought was a heck of a statement.

Jeff
I don’t know that we want to put that on a recruiting poster in seminary, right? Right. Hey, join the ministry and increase your capacity for pain. Right. But there is a reality to that that, you know, the more we desire effectiveness, the more we want to change the world. We just have to understand more and more people are going to pit themselves against us. They’re going to want to be our enemies. They’re going to blame us for things that aren’t true. They’re going to accuse us of of things. They’re going to reject God, but they can’t get to God. So they’re going to reject you. They’re going to want to hurt you. And that’s just true. And this is what Jesus is saying. And so he starts off saying, come and see. And he says, come and follow. And he says, go and tell. And now he says, you’ve got to take up your cross. Right. You’ve got to you’ve got to be willing to have your family think you hate them. He doesn’t tell us to hate our family, but you’re going to have family members who aren’t going to understand this mission that you’re on. They’re going to feel rejected by you. And then he’s going to say, take up your cross. And, man, if you reject me, I’ll reject you. But if you will claim me, I’m on your side and it’s going to be worth it, and the mission is worth it. The cost is going to be worth it. And the impact that you’re hoping for, I believe God will give us. And he says, listen, even if you just give a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you’ll surely be rewarded. So he said, dude, can’t you imagine if you make the kind of sacrifice the world is going to demand of you? Jeff
You’re going to be rewarded. If you just give a cup of cold water, you’re going to be rewarded. So can you imagine the quality of the reward? Can you imagine how proud you’re going to be in a humble way, how satisfied you’re going to be when you stand before your king having paid the price and God say, well done.

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
That’s a great that’s a great thought. Hey, by the way, when you were a youth pastor, pastor of high school students. Yeah. Did you have a name for your youth group?

Jeff
I can’t remember.

Jeff
What. Yeah, I don’t.

Jeff
Remember any of the names.

Chris
Oh, wow. Yeah.

Chris
And you’re in. You’re you’re so old. I know, so mom was called.

Jeff
We weren’t really that cool.

Chris
Okay, well, we were called crossfire, which sounds pretty lame right now. I think that old commercial crossfire, you know, with the guns. But it was crossfire, and. But anyway, the above, there was, like, a big logo with a cross and the word. And then above it said living proof. And then on the bottom of the circle it said Luke 923 and 24, which was, take up your cross and follow me. So crossfire was the idea that, you know, it was centered around this idea that, like, you have to put Jesus before your father, your mother, your friends, before everybody and take up your cross and follow Christ because it says, if any man wants to find his life, he has to lose it. And any man he wants to hang on to his life, he’s, you know, I said that wrong. If you hang on, you want to hang on to lose it, you’re going to lose it. And if you want to, if you want to save it, then you have to give it to me. Yeah. That’s right.

Jeff
The. Let me find I had a lyrics. There’s a song. That always gets in my mind about this, especially when I feel like I’m going through a tough time. Sing it and I’m not going to sing it.

Chris
Yeah, come on, sing it.

Jeff
But it says the the chorus says he never. He never promised. I’m not going to sing it.

Chris
Sing it, sing it.

Jeff
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy. And the hill would not be hard to climb. He never offered a victory without fighting. But he said help would always come in time. So, JUStrillionEMEMBER, when you’re standing in the valley of Decision and the adversary says, give in, just hold on, our Lord will show up and he’ll take you through the fire again.

Chris
Who sings that?

Jeff
Jason Crabb. And it’s such a powerful lyric, right? Because he didn’t say the cross won’t get heavy. He doesn’t. He doesn’t say it here either. Right, right. This is a burden that we have to bear. And it’s a struggle. And this is for every Christian. I mean, we talked about it in the context of spiritual leadership a minute ago, but he’s talking to all of his followers at this point. Right. And he doesn’t say it’s going to be easy. He doesn’t say the hill is not going to be hard to climb, but he does say, I’ll go with you and then you’ll be rewarded. When it’s all done, it’s going to be worth it. And you know everything. Everything is hard. Everything. I’ve talked about this several times with our staff, right? Everything good. Everything worth doing is hard. Um. And life in general is hard. Bad things in life are hard, so we just struggle. There are moments of beauty there. You know, I was just out at Grand Tetons National Park and looking at the mountains across the lake and having this amazing meal, and it was incredible. It was a glorious moment. But that’s not real life, right? Even the people who lived there, the pioneers who went out there, they had to live in ten feet of snow in the winter, and they had to, you know, fight off the wolves and the struggle on that. So, you know, we get these moments of glimpses of Paradise thinking, oh, that’s what our heart yearns for. That’s the reward he’s going to take us to is Paradise. But in between here and there, everything is hard, so it’s worth it. There’s some wisdom in choosing what kind of hard things you’re going to do. Jeff
And when we decide, you know what, I’m going to lean into the hard thing of taking up this cross. I’m going to follow Jesus. I’m going to make sure everybody knows about Jesus on my way. And if it costs me something, okay, and he’s going to go with me and he’ll reward me when it’s done, it’s going to be worth it, right?

Chris
I also have a song and it’s very similar to sing it, sing it to to your song as well. Oh yeah, it’s by Jason Aldean. And it goes, if you’re going through hell, keep on going.

Chris
don’t slow down.

Jeff
yeah.

Chris
I was trying to make a joke. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He says you might get out before.

Chris
The devil even knows you’re there. Yeah. Probably not. Yeah, probably not, probably not, probably not.

Chris
Of course he’s not talking about actual hell. He’s just talking about going through a hard time.

Jeff
Yep.

Chris
All right. Fine. The joke. Joke fell flat with you I enjoyed it. Hopefully somebody enjoyed.

Jeff
It, I enjoyed.

Jeff
It, it was.

Jeff
Wonderful. Chris
I though you were. Hey, look. So we’re recording this. We’re on our fourth podcast recording.

Jeff
This is the ninth of the day.

Chris
And my wife is joking with me. She texted me, do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend? Something that I should be aware of? Smuggling drugs part time. Just wondering. Okay, bye.

Jeff
Because she’s wondering where you are.

Jeff
Yeah.

Jeff
What time is.

Jeff
It? Oh, it’s only like, like eight 13in the evening. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s so funny. Well, so.

Chris
Yeah, I think that in the end, to be quite honest, just the idea of picking up your cross and following Jesus is one of the most profound thoughts that any of us can, can just embrace, because we haven’t really talked about it in full detail. But like the actual the carrying of the cross to Golgotha, you know, is is explained later on in detail. But when he says, pick up your cross, everybody in the first century knew what that meant. Yeah, right. So it’s like it is like, you know, it’s your you’re paying your dues. You’re, you know, it’s the cross that was going to be their, their means of suffering. Yeah. And he’s saying like, hey, embrace the suffering. Yeah. Right. That’s what he’s saying. Yeah. So just that idea alone is it’s so consistent with what Paul said, you know, to live as gain, to die or to live as Christ to die is gain. Yeah. And just that concept alone is pretty profound.

Jeff
So I think our.

Jeff
Brothers and sisters around the world understand that way better than we do.

Jeff
Oh, for.

Jeff
Certain, because in our mind. And so when he says, don’t imagine I came to bring peace, most of us, what we want is God just make my life better. Yeah. And what Jesus said is, listen, I’m not. I didn’t come to make your life better. Yeah, right. It’s probably going to get hard.

Chris
Yeah, well, that’s.

Jeff
That’s the truth. So.

Jeff
So his goal isn’t for us to be happy and comfortable. His goal is for us to become more and more like Jesus.

Jeff
Right?

Jeff
Right. And to recognize this isn’t home and that we’re on a mission. So I love this passage. It’s it’s a hard passage, but it’s an encouraging passage because the rewards coming.

Chris
Yeah, well, that’s our time. So we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.