Transcription

Chris
So, Jeff, how do you like your eggs cooked.

Jeff
Over medium.

Chris
Over medium. So you like the yolk to be just a little bit like more dense? Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Yeah, just just a tiny bit. I mean I still like enough to use my, my toast.

Chris
Oh well I like a runny yolk. Okay. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about today. We’re talking about runny yolks. Today we’re talking about yolks.

Jeff
I’m not sure that’s what we’re talking about. Well we’ll see you’re Chris and I’m Jeff and we’re the Bible guys. I think you may have misread that. You think so? Maybe. Maybe.

Chris
Isn’t today about. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Jeff
Yeah, but it’s a different kind of yoke.

Chris
I know, but it’s funny. Yeah. Okay. You really had me going there thinking, like thinking like. Like. Are we not talking about the yoke of Christ? What are you talking about? All right.

Jeff
Why olcay versus yoke.

Chris
Right. Correct.

Jeff
Yes. Okay. So hey we’re going to do a new one. This is a new one. And this seems to me to be brutally hard.

Chris
And by the way, I.

Jeff
Think you are an exceptional person. And I think.

Chris
I think.

Jeff
I think there’s if there’s anybody on the planet that can do it.

Chris
Okay, Jeff.

Jeff
You’re probably one of them. All right.

Chris
So this this is based off of and I’ve not looked at this or seen this until two seconds ago.

Jeff
Six degrees of.

Chris
Separation. Six degrees of separation for Kevin Bacon. That’s right. Have you ever seen that bit. Yes. Where where they say you can give me any person and I can connect them in in six different ways to get to Kevin Bacon.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. So I can get from this person to this person to this person, to this person. Right. Until I can finally, I’m only six degrees away from Kevin Bacon. Yeah. Which is supposedly true. Yeah. Uh, for every person in the world. As a matter of fact, it’s less now because of social media. Right. But, yeah. So technically, you should be able to do it for anybody. But practically to do it, it’s really hard.

Chris
It’s it’s to do it as very hard. And so I don’t want to waste anybody’s time. So okay. So we’re going to do so.

Jeff
So what we’re looking two pairs I’m going to give you two actors. Yep. And what you’re trying to do is get from one movie to another movie to another movie to another movie or.

Chris
Event.

Jeff
Where they could be.

Chris
An event. Yeah.

Jeff
I’ll just give you a hint. It’s it’s movies. Okay. Um, but it could be events, however you see it, uh, events or movies that because these actors did not act in a movie together, but they mutually acted, acted with people in other movies. Yeah. Do you know how you know, I.

Chris
Know, I know, I know that part, but. Okay. But if you’ve ever heard Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, sometimes it’s outside of a movie. Yeah. Yeah, it can be.

Jeff
It can be. My cousin’s brother.

Chris
He dated her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. That kind of.

Jeff
Thing. Okay, so we are going to use Kevin Bacon in the first one. Okay. And George Clooney.

Chris
Oh. Uh, Kevin Bacon and George Clooney. Yes. Uh, okay. Kevin Bacon was. With Julia Roberts in the movie. Uh uh, gee whiz, I don’t know the name of the movie, but it’s the movie. Oh, Flatliners. Oh, Flatliners. Back in the 80s. Wow. Right? Yeah. And he was with Julia Roberts. Julia Roberts was with George Clooney in, uh, Ocean’s 13. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And, uh, and is that all I have to do? That’s all you.

Jeff
Had to do.

Chris
So that’s two steps.

Jeff
That’s incredible. Yeah. So the one that Desiree gave us was George Clooney was in Ocean’s 11 with Matt Damon. Yes. Matt Damon was in The Departed with Jack Nicholson. Yeah. Jack Nicholson was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

Chris
Oh yeah, well, I did, so I did two.

Jeff
Degrees and you got it in two. Two.

Chris
Yeah. That’s right.

Jeff
Wow. Okay. And then, um, this one. Yeah. This one is near and dear to your heart. Yeah. It’s Zac Efron with Heath ledger.

Chris
With Heath ledger? Yes. Zac Efron and Heath ledger. Yeah. Goodness gracious.

Jeff
This one. This one is really hard.

Chris
Zac Efron and Heath ledger. Okay, Heath Ledger was in A Knight’s Tale with, uh, the guy who was. I don’t know the name, but you’ll know. You’ll know this in A Knight’s Tale. It’s the guy who was the, uh, announcer for the actor. He was. He was like. He’s like. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s, uh, Vaughn Lichtenstein. It’s that guy. Right? Okay, okay. Well, well, that guy was in the Marvel movie. He played vision.

Jeff
Oh. Uh huh. Right.

Chris
Yes. And and, uh. Wait, where was I going with this? It’s Heath ledger.

Jeff
To Zac.

Chris
Efron to Zac Efron. Okay, so he played in the vision. Played. Uh, in the Marvel world, Hugh Jackman is in the Marvel world. Who played Wolverine? Who starred in The Greatest Showman with Zac Efron? Okay, so that’s four degrees. So.

Jeff
So you got from Heath ledger to.

Chris
To to the actor whose vision.

Jeff
But you said some guy, so just some guy was connected to the two of them.

Chris
Well, it’s the actor everybody’s seen.

Jeff
Yeah yeah.

Chris
Yeah yeah. Everybody knows.

Jeff
Vision I’m harassing.

Chris
You. I just don’t know his name.

Jeff
Okay. Hey, that’s pretty good. Uh, hey, I think I’m going to give you a one and three quarters points, okay?

Chris
Because I didn’t know the name of the actor.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so if anybody out there knows the actor who played vision. Yeah. In any of the Marvel movies. And by the way, I.

Jeff
Think this vision interact with. Hugh Jackman.

Chris
Uh, I’m connecting them through the Marvel Universe.

Jeff
Just through the universe.

Chris
And. Yes.

Jeff
Yeah. Okay. That counts. Sure. Okay. Or you could just say that they ran into each other at the Oscars.

Chris
Right, right, right, right. And they were there, the Oscars at the same time on that night. Okay. Which, by the way, connects every actor everywhere.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. Well, there you go, man. So I don’t think I could have done it. I know I couldn’t have done the second one, but we knew you could. So very impressive the talents you have. You know, if the ministry doesn’t work out for you. Yeah, maybe movie trivia can pay the bills.

Chris
Yeah. There you go. Hey, by the way, can I just. Can I say this? This is probably the environment where I could probably say this. Um, I know we’re right. At that time, um, so we had a big Hollywood producer in. Right? Yeah. Uh, who, uh, was a part of our series. Yeah. And, uh, he’s he’s a friend.

Jeff
A series of movie series. We did?

Chris
Yeah. And so he’s a friend. Uh, well, he owns the last script that John Kennedy ever wrote. Right. And so he emailed it to me. Yeah. And and they’re about to make a movie with it. Right. And so it’s going to be a shot and it’s called Our Father. And anyway, so he sent it to me and I read the script. Yeah. And then when we met here, actually in this studio, uh, I was talking with him and I was giving him my feedback on it, and he said, geez. He goes, I like your feedback so much. He goes, I’m about to film another film called The Heart of the father. And it’s it has to do with the, uh, the song amazing Grace. Right. And he said that he was fighting for rights against Oprah, right. And he said he got the rights for it. And, uh, so he said, so I’m going to actually, uh, Fedex you an actual Hollywood script. And so I got in the mail an actual huge paper script from Hollywood, and I’m going to read this thing, and he wants me to read it and give him his feedback. Wow. So I’m super excited.

Jeff
So when I met Mark, I met him in Nashville. We were working on Mark cook. Mark Cook is his name. Uh uh, he also is a big supporter and original board member of the Timothy Initiative, which I work with, planting churches around the world. And he’s a godly man, loves Jesus, loves church planting. And so that’s the context I met him in. And then he’s just such a funny person and such a fun guy. He listens to our podcast, by the way. Hi, Mark. And uh, uh, I thought, oh, Chris Zarba has to meet Mark cook. Yeah. And I knew it was going to be a great one. And, uh, hey, so if you make enough big edits, is Mark going to put you in the credits?

Chris
That’d be funny, wouldn’t it? That’s really funny.

Jeff
It’d be awesome.

Chris
Yeah. Okay.

Jeff
How neat.

Chris
Man. I don’t think it goes that far.

Jeff
I knew you’d like to hang out with him.

Chris
A have a strong feeling that he is, uh, like like it’s. There’s a little bit of courtesy in there, right? Yeah. Well, I don’t know. He’s he’s he’s given me the script. Feet.

Jeff
I heard your feedback on the John Candy script. Yeah. And, uh, uh, you know, a couple modernizations and a couple of those things I thought. Yeah, I thought it was good feedback. You know, you’re a movie guy, man, you know?

Chris
Well, I’m looking forward to reading it. So how fun. Hopefully, by the time Mark, if you hear this, uh, I’ll have already talked to you, and I’ll have read it. Good.

Jeff
Okay, so, Matthew, but it’s kind of neat to even get that in the mail, isn’t it? Oh, for sure. Good for you, buddy. Okay, so Matthew, chapter 11. And, uh, this is just one place in the New Testament, one place in the Gospels where this event happens, Matthew chapter 11, verse 20 through 30. Uh, I love the the word pictures Jesus uses here. He’s just he does such a nice job. And, uh, it’s a peaceful thing. So he says. Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. What sorrow awaits you, Chorazin and Bethsaida? This isn’t the peaceful part. We’re getting to it in a minute. I’m sorry. Yes. Uh chorazin. And Bethsaida. For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off in judgment than you. And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No. You’ll go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom would be better off on Judgment Day than you. So far.

Chris
This is not peaceful.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, that that part not so good. That’s rough. But then. Verse 25. Yes, at that time Jesus prayed this prayer, O father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing, for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, father. It pleased you to do it this way. My father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the son except the father. And no one truly knows the father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Then Jesus said, come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I’m humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear. And the burden I give you is light.

Chris
There’s the, there’s the, there’s the peaceful part. The yoke. Yes. So. And the peaceful part. So Jesus promises rest for the soul. Right. But but he’s he’s talking about many things there. Um, so let me read the notes from the Life Application Study Bible, which we don’t get any money to promote, but we probably should. And here we go. Side note, um, in Tyndale, right. It says tyre, Sidon and Sodom were ancient cities with long standing reputations for wickedness, as found in Genesis 1819. Ezekiel 2728 each was destroyed by God for its evil. The people of Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum had, um, had seen Jesus firsthand, and yet they stubbornly refused to repent of their sins and believe in him. Jesus said that if some of the wickedest cities in the world had seen him, they would have repented, because Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum saw Jesus and didn’t believe in him, they would suffer even greater, greater punishment than the wicked cities who hadn’t seen Jesus. Similarly, nations and cities with churches on every corner and Bibles in every home will have no excuse on Judgment Day if the people do not repent from their sin and believe in Jesus.

Jeff
Oh.

Chris
That’s a strong note.

Jeff
Let’s just close there. Yeah.

Chris
No doubt.

Jeff
Man alive.

Chris
Yeah. And by the way, Jesus again, remember how, uh, I think it was yesterday in yesterday’s podcast, how you talked about how Jesus walks around and is able to see people in different lights. You said it was it was it was the it was the God who, uh, can, you know, sense everything walking around with people who are dying or dying. Right. So Jesus had this sense of, of, of seeing things that nobody else would see. I think that this, this idea is sort of the same way. So Jesus is using his knowledge not just out of history, but Jesus is using his knowledge of knowing exactly, uh, what he’s talking about. Right? And when he says, hey, these cities, have they seen me? They would have repented, right? Like, that’s not just a, I suppose. Right? That’s an actual statement. Yeah.

Jeff
So so I know how wicked Sodom was. Right? But if I had done this there, they would have repented. Right? And Capernaum, you guys aren’t even paying attention, right?

Chris
And so think about it. Jesus is speaking from a perspective that he sees that nobody else can see, and he’s laying it out on the line and he’s trying to make a statement, obviously, about their, uh, well-being, about their response to Jesus himself, about himself. So he’s trying to say, you know, you reckon I’m right here.

Jeff
That’s this is a challenge, I think. It’s okay. It’s a secondary concept here, but I do think it’s a challenge a little bit about the idea of religiosity, doing religious things, because the people Jesus did more miracles in Capernaum than anywhere else. But it wasn’t like he was out walking around going, you’re healed and you’re healed and you’re healed. People were bringing these people to Jesus. They were doing the religious thing. Jesus, would you heal me? Sure. Jesus. Would you heal my friend? Sure. So the people in Capernaum would go, what do you mean? We kept asking you to feed us and to teach us and to heal us. And Jesus is going no, in Sodom they would have seen me as the Son of God. Right. It’s not the miracles. And I think a lot of times we, we get sucked into doing the religious thing. We get sucked into believing that Jesus is our biggest fan and that he wants all of our wildest dreams to come true. And it’s about us and not about him, because they they were coming to Jesus. Remember the huge crowds? He kept having to leave Capernaum because the crowds were so big, right? So for us to go, oh boy. Yeah, my faith is really important to me. I never miss a church service, right? My faith is so important to me. I always ask God to bless me. It’s different than I just want Jesus. It’s a big jump between those two things.

Chris
Oh, very big. And I think.

Jeff
That’s what he’s referencing here, because Capernaum was chasing Jesus, chasing him, and he’s like, yeah, that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for you to want me. Not not what I give you. Right. And there’s a huge difference between those two things. Yeah.

Chris
And a lot of times they followed him because they were hungry, because they heard that he was feeding great crowds. Yeah, yeah, he’s walking.

Jeff
Around sack lunches and feeding people with him. Right.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah.

Chris
And, uh, by the way, I grew up. Now, I know you didn’t because you and I have very similar backgrounds.

Jeff
Yeah, in a lot of ways.

Chris
But but but I but I bounced around to a couple different churches, uh, you know, growing up, and we were sort of non-practicing Catholics and things like that. And, and it’s interesting how, uh, you know, every denomination has variances. In other words, uh, I’ll take those guys out of it and I’ll use Baptist, for example. Uh, the Baptists in the South are very different than the Baptists in the North, right. It just has a different flavor. They believe the same thing. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Sure, sure, sure.

Chris
They believe the same thing. Yeah.

Jeff
And there’s different brands of Baptists too.

Chris
Yeah, yeah.

Chris
But but they but they sometimes feel different. Right. Well, uh, it’s the same thing I think, with the Catholic religion. So, uh, when, when my, when my brother, who’s a very dedicated Catholic still today went, came and visited me in Atlanta, he would attend a Catholic church there and he would say, wow, these guys feel like they’re Baptist, right? And I said, well, that’s because the hospital downtown is called Atlanta or Georgia Baptist, right? Right, right. It’s the Baptist capital right back then. And so anyway, the bottom line is, is there’s just a little bit of a different flavor. Well, it just so happens that I grew up in, uh, the flavor of, uh, you didn’t understand anything that you went to. Now, that’s not always the case, right? But, like, you know, some people go and they’ll hear entire services in a different language.

Jeff
Oh, right. Right.

Chris
And the Latin or Chaldean.

Jeff
Right.

Chris
Right. Right. Right, right.

Chris
And and what they’ll do is they’ll say, well, it’s all about my religiosity, right? Because I have showed up, I have checked the box, I have jumped through a hoop, I’ve run faster, I’ve jumped higher. And this counts, right? My, my, my participation counts for something. It’s not about Jesus. It’s not about wanting Jesus, knowing Jesus, understanding Jesus. Although we Revere Jesus, right? But there’s like you said, big difference. I’m not saying that service wasn’t about Jesus. I’m saying very big difference between those two experiences. And, and, uh, and I had a guy in the lobby, like 5 or 6 weeks ago say I was actually told in my religion growing up that the that the leader came up to me and said, uh, you don’t have to read the Bible. In fact, don’t read the Bible. We’ll tell you what the Bible says. Mhm. And so it’s like, wow, that is just amazing. So anyway all that to say like you know I think people can relate.

Jeff
So so then his answer is. Come to me and put my yoke upon you. And you know you made the joke at the beginning about yolks. Egg yolks y o l k. Right. And he’s using the word yolk E a yolk is what would tie two oxen together. Right. So there’d be a if you’ve ever been in Amish country still they use the. Bonnie and I were just in Shipshewana, Indiana. They were out doing some work, and they had two oxen that were pulling.

Chris
And it’s usually like a big wooden plank.

Jeff
Yeah, there’ll be a beam on the top and something that swings down on the bottom, and it sits right on their shoulder blades and a little bit on their breast breastbone. So they when they lean into a thing, the shared power of those two oxen will pull together. And you can’t, you know. So yoke is used many times in the Bible. In the Old Testament it was usually had to do with negative things the yoke of slavery that God would. They were free people, but then they would rebel against God, and God would send oppressors to come and put on the yoke of slavery. So it was almost always negative in the Old Testament. And then Jesus picks it up and says, take my yoke upon you and it’ll be easy. He’s saying, tie yourself to me and we’ll pull together. Yeah, right. Um, so it requires both oxen to pull. So it’s not just one. It’s both. Both are pulling. Not that you’re earning your way to heaven, but when it comes to peace, when it comes to accomplish anything, when it comes to fulfillment, right? You get in you, you tie yourself to Jesus. That’s very different. So now you have to be in step with Jesus. You have to go where he goes, you have to step at the same pace that he steps at. You have to be be be heading in the same direction with the same objective. Tie yourself to me and then your burden will be easy and your burden will be light. And that’s very different than having you stand up on stage having Trey, our worship leader, stand up on stage and sing about Jesus to me, right? Oh, that makes me feel good. I got goosebumps and Chris gets up and talks about Jesus to me, right? Jeff
And oh wow. Oh, that was clever Chris. I never thought of that about Jesus before. And then I go home and I check a box and I go, okay, well, I did that. That’s the church thing. Now, I did my Jesus thing this week and I keep going is very different from me choosing to tie myself to Jesus and go lock step with him in the direction he’s going on his mission. Right. Very, very different. And so he’s saying Sodom and Gomorrah. If they had seen what Jesus did, they would have gone lock step with Jesus. But Capernaum, they’re doing all the religious things. They’re showing up at the religious services. They’re getting goosebumps and healings.

Chris
Right.

Jeff
But they were far from him because it was about them, not about him.

Chris
So I mentioned the two different extreme church services and things like that. And I actually mentioned specific denominations. You know, the reason why I did that, I didn’t mean to talk about those things like that. Here’s what I’m really thinking. So how many people listen to the podcast, uh, like every episode it has, what, 800, 900 listeners? Something like that a day or something?

Jeff
Something like that? Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
We’ll have, uh, 15,000 a month.

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
Okay. So then on top of that, how many, how many different places around the world listen.

Jeff
Uh 80 countries have listened.

Jeff
Yeah, 80 some 84.

Chris
So think about this. How many people hearings? Maybe, perhaps, maybe this message are relating it to their church experience, which are radically different across the board.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris
That’s what I’m thinking. Right, right, right. So I’m thinking like everybody’s tying it to their own church experience. And I can’t even imagine if you lined those up and compared them all like, wow. So that’s why the emphasis is it has to be about knowing Jesus. Right? Right. Not not about anything else.

Jeff
Style is just style. Style has everything to do with you, quite honestly. Yeah, right. What captures your attention preference? What do you like? Right. So style uh, is is a different thing, the worship service component. And as long as it’s not contrary to Scripture, that’s.

Chris
What we’re taught when we grew up with most of the time.

Jeff
Right. So we have to worship him in spirit and in truth. So our worship style can’t be contrary to Scripture. But, um, worship style tends to be more about us. The question is not about what style is right. The question is, does the service that you are participating in, or does your daily devotional? Or does your time with God cause you to desire and be willing to yoke yourself to Jesus, tie yourself to Jesus, and go lock step with him today. That’s the question, right? It’s not about the service. It’s about do you come out? That’s what Jesus said. Don’t be just hearers of the word. Be doers. Yoke yourself to me. Go step with, step with me. That’s it. Right. And that’s a different mentality. Yeah.

Chris
So I can I can imagine that, um, uh, farmers who, by the way, that’s that’s who he’s speaking to. So first century people, uh, they knew every thing that implied, you know, everything that Jesus was implying. They knew. So they knew that, like, sometimes you have a strong donkey, sometimes you have a weak donkey. And so if there’s already a weak donkey, uh, and then all of a sudden, you move up the strong donkey, that strong donkey, if he could talk, would be like, uh, great. Yeah. This is gonna be tough, right? Right, right, right. And so when Jesus is saying, uh, take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So imagine this. You’re plowing a field and you’re going to literally put a yoke on your back, and you’re going to be yoked with Superman, right? Right, right, right. So so you’re yoking with Superman, right? And you’re thinking to yourself, this is gonna be easy. Yeah, right.

Jeff
Because Superman’s like, I got this, right?

Chris
Right, right. And so no matter how hard you try, it’s kind.

Jeff
Of just hang on.

Chris
Man. You know, it’s not going to really fall on you. Right? And so imagine how much even more than we, you know, our little minds trying to picture Superman. Imagine how much more Jesus is saying, no, come with me. And I’m going to give you the ability to forgive when you don’t have the ability within yourself, the ability to love those who are hard to love, the ability to experience what my word promises, which is the peace that transcends hard circumstances or understanding, you know, just all those different things that come with the power of God within us that are beyond ourselves. It’s a really.

Jeff
Good point, man. Good job, I like that.

Chris
Cool. Well, thanks. Well, hey, that sounds like a really great place to end. And, uh, we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.