Biography of God | Skip Heitzig | Joni Table Talk | Joni Lamb

so are there philosophical and scientific clues that confirm god's existence and what's the secret to being god's friend well today's special guest is here to answer these questions and reveal the true heart of the father first joining me around the table is my daughter rachel ann brown how are you i want to be god's friend yes well you know abraham was a was was called a friend of god and so that's pretty cool to think about god coming into your tent visiting with you right yeah absolutely you know this is something that my generation is interested in yeah we're questioning our purpose and who god is and how he relates to us and how we can be in relationship with him and so this is gonna be a really good show to dive into all of that it really will be and we're going to talk about all of that april simon's how are you i'm doing great i'll never forget when my four-year-old asked me who made god and i can refer her to this episode today cindy murdock how are you i'm great thank you if anybody's ever wondered how can i speak or say with uh understanding to somebody about how god exists or how i know this book is and our guest today is going to explain that so well well we want to welcome pastor skip heitzek to the table thank you it's great to be here with you here i'm outnumbered and happily so well around the world especially in western countries more and more people are not only wrestling with their belief in god but many are even denying his very existence but if we look close enough we can see how he has placed his divine fingerprint across all of creation let's go back a little bit before we get into you writing the book the biography of god which really helps us to understand why we believe in god and helps you answer those questions to people who have ant questions about god let's talk about your journey to finding on tell us about growing up and when you really had that encounter where you met god yourself yes so i went my journey basically was from faith to skepticism back to faith but different faith biblical faith so i grew up in a traditional church i grew up in a uh church that my parents took me to every week i grew up believing in god but when i was 12 years of age thereabouts i was in my backyard in california and i remember looking up going how do i really know this stuff you know yeah that's a typical journey most people need to ask those questions in life and i ask those questions so i went then with my peers and experimented with lots of different activities until finally at age 18 in san jose i came back to faith in god but it was very personal it's very profound and very different than how i was raised so um we've talked about this before where first off if you have children who are going through that transition maybe you raised them train up a child in the ways go or he or she should go and when he's old he will not depart from that i'm just hold on to that because it's okay for kids to ask questions right and um but what was different when you kind of really made that surrender like okay lord i really believe this because you had the same brain it was same brain and same god but it was different in that i realized that god cared about me knew knew i existed cared about me had a plan for my life and i i was willing to surrender i was different than just entertaining thoughts about god i really came to a place of surrendering my life to his plan and purpose and um i didn't see bright lights joni i didn't hear a voice but i felt relief i felt like a burden was lifted so immediately god gave to me the gift of you just did the right thing kind of like you know i felt something was different a piece that passed all understanding i couldn't articulate it but i needed to have that experience you know in my book there's the statement the lord gave me when i was writing it because my book is called serendraw but he said did you know joni that your lack of surrender will have a profound impact on those who are destined to be connected to your purpose wow and i'm thinking about your life yeah i'm thinking about if you had not made that decision to surrender if the holy spirit hadn't opened your heart up to be able to receive truth you know how many people would have missed out yeah so i was listening to a lot of my friends who were being converted during the jesus movement and i really didn't want much to do with them i did i wasn't compelled like they were and i remember when i was alone and i could sort of process alone without anybody telling me what to do i remember thinking about them especially ones that i regarded as pretty smart people and something caused them to make that turn and so i was just now open intellectually to it and it was then that i watched billy graham on television and gave my life to christ and everything changed after that that's so powerful how is your faith different from what you grew up with because you described it as a new type of experience that you have yeah so i was told what to believe i wasn't told why i should believe it so i i really had if somebody were to challenge me i couldn't give them a good answer in fact i did have a crisis of faith after i had a real experience with god and it was that crisis that made me wrestle with issues because i realize unbelievers really do have good questions and they deserve good answers and i really had bad answers yeah so i wanted to get good answers so i remember going on a search and finding that there's lots of people like me but far smarter than i am who have struggled and have come out philosophically have come out scientifically who are they're brilliant people scientific people who believe in god why do they believe in god what reasons do they have so i devoured a lot of their books and since i was being challenged by doctors and professors on my belief in god i would read these books go back and look for people to talk to look for people to argue with i wanted people to ask me about god and challenge me because i was i was equipped and there's nothing like feeling like you've got good answers and you really want you know a lot of times we go i don't want to engage with an unbeliever but imagine if you are equipped with truth and you have ready answers and you can fulfill what peter said you know always be ready to give a good answer if you have that the empowerment that that gives you it's like bring it on yeah so your zoology teacher is that was that your first kind of crisis if you will yeah it was so go back and tell i know you tell the story in the book and tell us what happened with him and then tell the end of the story by the time you left the class did it have any effect on him because you kept your faith yeah so it was the first day of college yeah i had just given my life to the lord that summer i turned 18 and so by fall i was in college and the first day of class my integrated zoology professor said show of hands how many of you believe in god i raised my hand i'm thinking half the class is going to raise their hand maybe two in fact kind of sheepishly raise their hand because the way he pronounced you were just like i raised it up i'm thinking here's another believer i have a believing professor who wants to have fellowship so i raised my hand and then he uh i i think i remember standing up even and then he said one of the things i'm going to do in this class is dismantle the faith you claim you have that is going to be my task now immediately i thought i thought your job was to teach me integrated zoology not to dismantle my belief think about that yeah so crazy so he he kind of showed his his wares he's this is my objective and i really wasn't ready for the onslaught of doubt that i would feel that came from his class and other professors that i had after that because my undergraduate was in radiology was in a medical profession and so i just i was inundated with all of these arguments and it took me from kind of a high level excitement to a real low level of doubt and despair even so would did you ever have any conversation with him during the course of your class he didn't really uh go he a little bit did he pick on you or yeah he would make remarks yeah he he made several remarks over here we should talk to him now it would be right he would be we need to find it yeah yeah what would you say is the number one struggle that people have with god in his existence two things that people uh talk about that i've discovered they want proof they'll use a word prove to me god exists but then they'll follow up if god exists why would he allow suffering evil we've heard that a lot right there's so much of it how can a good god allow bad things yeah exactly and how can you allow them to happen to good people now there's there's a lot of ways to unravel that um you were inferring when you say why would god allow bad things happen to good people you're inferring that you are a good person right and yet jesus defined goodness very differently didn't he said there's nobody good but god so but once you dismiss that then you have to look at another component we don't always talk about is we have to be very careful that we don't assign something that is painful as something that is evil something that is bad you know um god caught romans 8 28 all things work together for good so so what we would say is bad or evil can actually be a prescription by god himself allowed into our lives given to us by god to work something greater so paul had a thorn in the flesh prayed three times god basically said no i'm not going to do that i have something better my grace is all you need and he did not get relief where he sought it so sometimes god takes things that we would say are bad and uses it for a good purpose so can they really be called bad can can it be called evil so an example i use is if you took two substances pure sodium and pure chlorine both of those those ingested would could kill you they're poisons but if you combine them salt you have salt table salt sodium chloride so you have something that god and god does that god takes things in life that could kill you but in the right combination and he knows just how much to give and how much you can handle he actually grows you through it and that's what that scripture that says what the enemy meant for evil right god used for good yeah and i mean that's really when we grow don't you think i do i do think that definitely god uses all things to grow us and i want to bring it down to a little bit more personal we're we're all moms here how do you teach your kids this you know we bring them to church we teach them about god like you said how can we instill what you say in this book to them just in everyday lives great question thank you for that and and here's just let me tell you what i did i determined with my son because i had a dad who's sort of aloof i couldn't approach him that much so i determined that with my son i was always approachable that i was not the senior pastor of a church i was dad so i said nate you can come grab me and and and talk to me or or hang out with me anytime you feel like it even if i'm after church talking to people in line or i'm in my office and somebody's crying and counseling you have the right to barge in on me anytime you feel like it and he's god he did he would come in at the most inopportune times and and i remember people feeling a little bit uneasy so i would explain listen i have a deal with my son that i'm always approachable always accessible he can come anytime so just so you know that that's how that's that's how i live my life and then number two i would take nate into the hot tub and i got this from a friend of mine josh mcdowell who did this with his kids i would i would have i had a hot tub in our backyard and every night nate and i would spend time in the hot tub and that was sort of safe time i said nate here in this time i want you to be able to talk about any issue temptation question about god question about life that you have this is where we're going to talk about it and hopefully resolve it so they were they became some of the richest times where we had pretty deep conversations about girls about temptation about drugs about alcohol about god about how do you know about what he's being challenged with and um i i think a combination of those two things really helped and i think they help any parent yeah so that i think that's really important i know right you and i have talked about that is that um kids really want time with you yeah even your adult children yeah and if we don't have these conversations with them then they're going to have them with other people and i know as a new mom like when i'm at that stage with my son i want him to be coming to me so i can help shape that narrative in his life and really give him the foundation yes to which that he can live the rest of his life through that lens in fact he's probably already had those conversations by the time we hear about it oftentimes they've already had that privately with friends yeah especially now in this day and age people and information the conversations that are happening the things that our kids are being exposed to is literally crazy yeah yeah it really is you talk about um the goldilocks zone yeah in your book what is that so that is what some astronomers have said that we are in in in this universe the earth is in the inhabitable zone so they call it the goldilocks zone and so if you say we happened life happened by chance what really what are the chances of being in in an environment that has its lead star the sun 93 million miles away that gives just the perfect temperature to the whole sphere the rotation of the earth uh the the why aren't we destroyed by asteroids like a lot of planets are even our moon look at the the surface of a lot of bodies like that but we are in a very unique place and it didn't happen by chance so there's an argument to be made a an evidence to be shown a teleological evidence it's a philosophical term for um a design that proves a designer or points to a designer because yeah we're looking for life in outer space and there's always some report here and there and that's big news lately but there's nothing definitive yet here we are why is that why are we here why do we keep existing and there's there's there's evidence to be shown because of a designer yeah you know earlier you talked about god giving us free will and his love for us giving man and woman free will that also explains some of why things are allowed in life good and bad yes so there's god allows not only free moral agency free choice but he allows consequences of those choices a parent knows what that's like you can do this or you can do that a child decides to do something bad you have to let the bad consequence happen to an extent at least to teach the lesson because if you intervene every time junior grabs a vase and you put his hand out to stop it or you stop the vase from dropping he'll never experience the consequence at some point the vase has to break he may have to get a cut on his leg because of it so that he understands our natural consequences choices in life if god takes that away then god can't be all loving because god's not allowing for the choice of free love of volitional love toward him so when people say how can an all-powerful all-loving god allow evil to exist he has to let evil exist for him to be all loving and all-powerful yeah so you you even mentioned that testimonies and even martyrdom is uh is another proof that god exists i know if those of you watching haven't read fox's book of martyrs yeah quite an incredible book everybody should read that book two stories because you can see god glorified in the most awful of circumstances yeah so when you talk about what is universally true and we believe jesus christ is the same yesterday today and forever and he'll save my soul he'll save somebody in uganda somebody in africa whether you have a christian background muslim background buddhist background doesn't matter these truths are universal truths so um if i were to say if i were to give a testimony absurdly and say i put a banana peel on my head and it gave me peace and joy every day okay then you would expect that to happen across different cultures if it doesn't happen then it's only true uniquely it's not true universally but when when you have people in different segments of society throughout history of different status um all receiving christ and having joy peace purpose forgiveness living a different life there's got to be something to that that's where the that's where that testimony of changed lives is so powerful because it happens everywhere and it's documented in your book you share a story about an old man with an orange can you share that with us yeah so it's a fun story it's a story about an atheist in england who was giving a speech to convey to his audience that there was no god which is how my wife was raised incidentally she was raised by a doctor and a lawyer he was both he went to a medical school and law school very brilliant who was an atheist and that's how my wife grew up wow well this guy was in in an audience speaking to the audience trying to convince them there is no god and basically giving attacks that were ad hominem attacks personal attacks christians are this christian to that a man who was known by the audience as the town drunk previously but converted walks forward and tattered clothes stands at the front of the stage starts peeling an orange well everybody turns to notice him standing there and the speaker is distracted by him standing there he said what are you what are you doing i'm giving a speech and you're interrupting me basically he was just peeling the uh orange he peeled it took a bite a slice of it and then he said to the speaker i have a question for you the slice of orange that i just ate was it sweet or was it sour and the atheist said there's no way for me to tell i i'd how would i know i can't i can't answer your question so the converted drunk said exactly the bible says taste and see that the lord is good you're speaking about a subject you've never tried you're speaking about a savior you've never received you don't you're looking as an outsider we've experienced it and my life is the testimony wow so it was the changed life and everybody in the audience who knew that previous drunk believed him oh there you go testimonies are irresistible that's why we share so many around the table you said in your book and i'm going to read it because i love this god promises rewards to those who pursue him one of those rewards is satisfaction the fulfilling contentment of being what you were created to be remember the more you do as you please the less you are pleased with what you do how many people do you know that they have gone through life making their own decisions making their own judgments even people who know god people who go to church that they're like i'm going to do this they have never even stopped to say okay what was i created to do and i want to hook up if you will to the internet of heaven and become all that you've called me to do you go on to say if you make life all about you you will never ever be satisfied but the more you do what pleases god the more pleasure he will give you in that pursuit man that is like happy life so powerful it's so powerful because um i just i mean i just can't implore you enough those of you that don't know the lord or have a personal relationship with him that he longs to know you he longs to spend time with you he longs to have a relationship with you and some of my sweetest times are not even in church although we go to church but some of the sweetest moments i have is when i am alone and no one is there but just me and god and i want to tell you if you get still long enough and you get into the word of god you put on some praise and worship music and you just say okay god i want to know you he'll show up will he show up he will show up and you don't have to have all the answers and all the arguments it's you come by as a child you come by faith and god is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him yes so that's why you know it's it's it's good to know some of these things but the most important thing is that you personally know the lord so you just take that step of relationship because he created us for that he hired hard-wired us to be contented in a relationship and first and foremost with him vertically and then horizontal what is the relationship with the lord look like for you because i feel like there's a lot of people that are watching that are listening and they're saying i want that i want that personal intimate relationship but god feels so far from me yeah yeah that's a great question and i addressed that in the 16th chapter about how to be god's friend and um so rachel said she wanted to be his friends so um let me just talk about the idea of being god's friend because that that phrase doesn't fit right god's friend how can you be friend with somebody who is completely different and shares no commonality at all with you you know he's invisible you know there's so many ways all powerful we can't relate to that so but the great truth is he invites us into a friendship relationship from the beginning in the garden god came to walk with his creation in the cool of the day and it the hebrew intimates had a day it was a daily experience that god wanted a daily hangout with adam and eve in a very unique personal way and then jesus said to his disciples from now on i'm not calling you servants i'm calling you friends so how do you be a friend with god well one of the ways i i address is first of all god is spontaneous god doesn't necessarily say i'll be there at two o'clock tomorrow he shows up and a friendship with god has to have that kind of elasticity where that spontaneity is okay you know god showed up in abraham's tent in the heat of the day very inappropriate time uh inopportune time for them but um that's one way then another way is worship because god is so infinitely greater than we are the only relationship we're going to have that's satisfying to us is that we surrender like you write about joni and we we submit to him and we worship him and there's a joy that occurs in that you know when you realize i don't understand i don't know why you are allowing this at this time i don't know why you would bring this into my life or show up this way but i'm worshiping you and i'm trusting you there's a great joy in that mystery of not knowing a lot of people don't have a relationship because they think god is a bad god an evil god they have a skewed view of god what would you say to that i would say there's two sources that inform us about god one is right one is wrong and there are several sources but i'm putting them all in one of two categories there's either revelation or there's imagination revelation is what god discloses about himself and his word imagination is me making stuff up as i go along and that's where most people get their information about god i picture god as this or i've heard about god is this they don't go to any source documents they don't go to any revelation so when you don't have revelation you're only left with the imagination so you either hear things or find arguments that make you think god is bad or you you just sort of decide i'm going to believe in a god who sits in the clouds and smiles all day long and lets people do whatever they want and so you have to decide you know where am i going to get my information that's good what would you say to that zoology professor today if you were in a conversation with him privately and he said i'm going to dismantle everything you believe about god what would you say to him i would thank him because that drove me into a crisis made me stronger on the other end and then i'd sit down with him and tell him why he should taste and see that the lord is good right and i would hope to engage him in a meaningful conversation to dismantle the roadblocks he has set up to let faith flow freely and let him have a satisfying relationship with the god who made him i love that well you know in genesis 18 before god dealt with the cities of sodom and gomorrah he asked an interesting question he said shall i hide from abraham what i am about to do abraham was so close to the lord had such a great friendship that god not only let abraham in on his plans but he also wanted abraham's opinion on the matter this is the same kind of genuine friendship god wants with each of us if you're watching today and you want to have a relationship with the lord but maybe you've never accepted jesus into your heart maybe you've never prayed that simple prayer of salvation all of us know john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life first john 1 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness well there's a toll-free number on the screen we'd love for you to call if you need prayer today maybe you need someone to walk you through the salvation prayer we'd be honored to do that of course you can also go to daystar.com click on prayer send your prayer request in that way and we will pray for all the prayer requests that come in from around the world i want to thank skip isaac for joining us at the table today be sure to pick up a copy of his new book biography of god you can visit him online at skipheitzing.com i tell you this would be a great gift to give to that person who has questions because he answers so many of the questions that people have about god what a great present well as always don't forget to join the conversation after the program by leaving us a comment on facebook instagram or twitter and remember scripture says that if you draw near to god he will draw near to you so be encouraged today thank you for watching i tell you i get so many great emails from people watching people a lot of times that for whatever reason are in the home and can't get out and they tell me they've grown and they've learned so much about the things of the lord thank you for sending those in and thank you for watching today we'll see you next time bye-bye for today

Channel: The Way Of Life Church

Views: 10,640

Rating: 4.9376945 out of 5

Keywords: the way of life church, groeschel, lifechurch, life.churchtv, church, god's word, sermon, Christian, bible, God, Joni Lamp, Joni Table Talk, Daystar, Skip Heitzig, Heitzig, Pastor Skip Heitzig, Biography of God, Biography

Id: XcRkl4ucEgY

Length: 28min 9sec (1689 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 23 2021