Pastors' Perspective 05/30/2023 | Full Live Stream

[Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] thank you foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] thank you foreign [Music] sponsored by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa my name is Brian Perez so thankful to have you listening today on the radio and watching as well on Facebook and YouTube we're going to be here live on this Tuesday afternoon until 4 P.M Pacific time so give us a call let us know what's on your mind 888-564-6173 is the number eight five six four six one seven three if you want to talk about the Bible if you have questions about your walk with the Lord maybe you're got some kind of mental health thing going on and not that we're doctors or anything who can you know diagnose you or whatever but we can hopefully put you on the right path spiritually speaking give us a call at 888-564-6173-88-564-6173 and answering your questions today we've got Bobby Conway the pastor of Image Church in Charlotte North Carolina you can also learn more about Bobby at Christianity still makes sense dot com he's got a YouTube channel too by that same name Christianity still makes sense and he is here till 4 pm today what's going on Bobby Conway good to see you hey good to be with you guys how you doing not too bad at all John Huang is in the studio with me he's sitting in for Brian broderson John is one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and John are you going to be there tomorrow night for the night number one of the summer lecture series I'm actually going to be teaching for the junior high tomorrow night oh are you okay maybe we'll sneak over there I wish I could be there Ed stetzer is going to be speaking Yeah I love listening to Ed yes so but you know what you know who else I like listening to is Bobby on the radio I gotta tell you the last couple of weekends I caught your program Bobby and they are so good and uh and so I I just want to say Well done and so if you haven't heard Bobby's program here on K-Wave man it is worth a listen yeah it airs on K-Wave it airs on our sister station ksdw uh you can also see it on Bobby's uh YouTube channel Christianity still makes sense I think there are a few days ahead on YouTube and then we play it on the radio a few days later but uh that in fact I Got a notification because I subscribed to the Christianity still makes sense YouTube channel and I got a notification recently about uh what I think is going to be is it this coming weekends episode or next weekend's episode I I wait that's the same thing what I meant to say was that the past weekend's episode or this coming weekend's episode and now I can't find the notification I must have I must have clicked the little watch later uh on the notification so now I can't find it but uh anyway I thought the topic was well I think it was going to be about Tim Keller things we can learn from Tim Keller yes so is that I don't know if it's the one that's coming up on the radio if that was this last weekend John was that what you heard on the radio this past weekend no he was actually finishing up a three-part series on how to study the Bible so I remember it was on the application right yeah right and we were talking about that last week and then the Tim Keller episode is this coming weekend so what are some things we can learn yeah from uh Dr Keller Bobby yeah I mean I just kind of uh took some time to share seven things that you know I will always appreciate about Timothy Keller and uh you know we just talked about his life and his influence and his impact and his ability to articulate the gospel in a very contextualized way his kind and humble heart uh his ability to work across denominational lines so some of those types of things and then the following week uh just to give our audience a heads up if they hear it so that they don't panic because it's my teammate's idea but it's how My Views have changed regarding the lgbtq community but it's not that my theological position has changed at all but it's kind of like just an attention grabber right but it is how my uh philosophy of how we reach the lgbtq plus Community has been in formed through the years as I've thought through how is it that we take the theology we believe and Reach people so I'll be dealing with some of that but I won't be surprised if uh you know I'll just blame it on my teammate Tim Holt because it's his idea to do this and I'll probably get attacked by a bunch of people who won't listen they'll just read the blurb right but I'm going out on record Sam my view has not changed if you read the blurb it's just a way of getting people to open it up Bobby Conway causing trouble that's all it is but uh check that out coming soon here on the radio on the Christianity still makes sense weekend program on K-Wave and our sister station yes well we've gotta I mean if you have not heard about this church plant coming to Huntington Beach with this crazy guy named John Wong man oh my tell us about it it was a massive opportunity to be a part of a church you want to be given your finances your gifts your time you want to find out about this great movement Calvary Chapel being spread into Huntington Beach with John and his lovely bride that's so sweet of you man so send your tithes your double Tides your triple tides to uh Christ Point City Church did I get it right yes I did Price Point City Church coming soon to a Huntington Beach near you that was just so much fun I met with Pastor Char broderson and Jordan Taylor today just I'm talking and dreaming dreaming about moving forward with this and uh so we're excited we're actually um looking at a few buildings that some church buildings that in Huntington Beach have been so gracious to to say hey um you know we we'd like to have a conversation about you starting a midweek Bible study here and so we'll keep you posted on all that so um probably the best way to stay tuned is through our Instagram page which is at Christ City Church and or Christ Point City Church and uh and and we're going to keep all the news flowing there but we're excited to see how the Lord's just been opening up some amazing doors for us to be moving forward to but man Bobby that means a lot thank you so much and and if you're out in North Carolina there's this amazing church called image church with an amazing Pastor named Bobby Conway so you got to find out about that church and you can do that at imagechurch.live that's where you can even see some of Bobby's past Sunday sermons and uh really good stuff I mentioned a few weeks ago how I'm I'm so used to hearing Bobby on the radio and you know answering questions I had never really seen him teach in front of a crowd of people when he was here at Calvary Costa Mesa a couple of years ago I think it was during covid season so you were again just sitting behind a desk it was I think a pre-recorded message that was shown that Sunday morning and played on the radio on Sunday um at least that's what it seemed like I don't know or maybe you were here live behind a desk I don't know but it wasn't the same as you pacing the stage and uh you know things like that so it was a whole different Dynamic for me no we've had we've had Bobby here live and uh I just remember that that sermon that you preached on uh that crisis of faith that John the Baptist had and that was such a good message and so but yeah I mean he is he's full of energy very Dynamic very clear and I love I love the fact that Bobby that not only are you Bible saturated but you actually take the time to work through you anticipate the kind of questions people would ask when when you're you're preaching through a text and then you address those things and I think that that's really important for communicators to be able to do that um because I think a lot of times if we're not careful we find ourselves answering questions that no one's asking but we as communicators we want to do the best we can to try to answer those questions that people are asking and Bobby does such a great job with that as he preaches so kudos to you my brother ah praise God thank you bro so all these different websites and stuff we've been giving you so sorry so there's Image Church dot live Christianity still makes sense.com uh John's upcoming Church Plant Christ Point City Church in Huntington Beach you can find them on Instagram right now yeah we're just once we get a website all fully designed then we'll have that up we we were able to get all the domains so we just need to build out that website oh cool yeah cool and uh one final website cccm.com for Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa so that you can find out about the summer lecture series taking place on Wednesday nights for the next few weeks beginning tomorrow May 31st our friend Ed stetzer will be joining us to be uh giving a a a a lecture you could call it and you can find out about the lecture and even submit your questions to Ed and some of the questions will be used after the lecture during a discussion time so check that out it will not be streamed live on online so you'll need to come out and join us here at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa again that starts at 6 30 p.m all right let's uh answer some Bible questions yeah see see uh no I almost get the website again now 888-564-6173 cccm 888 it just all got jumbled up in my head 888-564-6173 is the number to call we'll do a Facebook question really quick John sent this one in from California I've been going back and forth with a non-believing friend of mine if we did not evolve from monkeys although I think many things do evolve with so many different types of dogs how many dogs were on the ark as well as wolves Bobby what do you say to the John who sent in this question yeah there are 34 different types of dogs that made their way onto the ark and uh I'm just kidding you give me that stuff I mean hey you know you guys were just going with it you know I was like this is great uh I have uh you know I I think that there would have just been a pair I don't think it would have been like every type you know I when it when it comes to that number one you know I just think that Noah was bringing into the ark a different pair of all the different types of animals but not a different pair of every type of animal within each type so I don't think that well obviously the English Bulldog didn't make it on right like this was kind of manufactured later in life we've had a few of those bad boys and still have our English Bulldog Winston uh but I I just it's tough you know I just kind of think the way I can wrap my head around even envisioning how all the animals could have got on the ark is not to complicate the problem by saying that every different breed of dog came on instead rather there would have been a representative you know male and female dog but what type of dog that was I have no idea but I wouldn't picture you know Saint Bernards and labs and golden retrievers I wouldn't picture every breed like that I would rather just see you know you've got the main you know just the idea of of a dog pair on there uh but man even when it comes to like the larger question of how do you get like dinosaurs on an ark you know where people bring stuff up on on that in or like large elephants and stuff like this you can envision you know them coming on in their more toddler stage or infant stage when they're smaller they you know I don't picture full-grown zebras and full-grown giraffes and and elephants coming on the ark I see definitely pears coming on that are much more young in their development uh John Wong what of John's assertion that many things do evolve what what uh do you think John meant by that yeah you know when we um when we're talking scientifically there is what's called macro Evolution and microevolution and so macro Evolution would be um the way that we traditionally think of evolution you know um you know our kids that are in public school um they probably hear a version a theory of science where there was a big bang and um there were all these organisms that evolved into complex organisms and so um I you know even though even though there are some people that hold to what is called theistic Evolution that believes that that God used the evolution process in creation the only difference would be between secular Evolution and theistic evolution is in secular everything is just left a chance it's random it's on its own whereas in theistic evolution they they would say God was actually in the process guiding the process and there are people that hold to positions like that even even those that hold to um and this might shock a lot of people people that hold to uh an inspired inherent view of scripture and um and there are some that will lean in that direction but I think that you know um were were most of us I I include myself in this is that I believe that when the Genesis 1 passage describes the creation of the heavens and the Earth um that that there was something Supernatural Divine that was in play when God made the heavens and the Earth and I've got no problem with saying that and believing that when God said it it happened and so um but yet within that um in our in our world even though they're um you know I I don't believe that there was that macro Evolution we do see microevolution happening right you know where um there are these different species of of dogs that Bobby was talking about and the way that animals adapt to their environments and and uh you know so when you've got animals that are living in very hot arid um climates they adapt to that and then there are other animals that live in very frigid cold environments and they adapt to that and so there is that microevolution that happens um but I think you know I I think it's worth having a conversation with people and I'm trying to be sensitive because I know that some of the people that are listening to this you know might be thinking oh my gosh she's like he's totally selling out theologically where he's actually recognizing that they're you know he's saying that there are some people that are Christians but they hold to a theistic evolution you know I I I understand The Angst that people might have um but I remember years ago um listening to Pastor Chuck and I'm not saying the check was theistic Evolution because he definitely wasn't but but he used to say talking on Genesis 1 in terms of like the age of the Earth and all that stuff even though he had his opinions at the end of the day we just don't know but here's the point from Genesis chapter one God made the world and uh and that's the point that we want to remember and that's the point that we want to you know unify and um but you know for me personally I've got no problem in believing that God created the world and he created this existing world out of nothing God said it it happened and that's where Eileen and uh but I think that just understanding the difference between macro Evolution and microevolution could be really helpful good stuff from these guys today Bobby Conway and John Huang and uh John thank you for sending in your question on Facebook messenger and now we're gonna go to the phones at 888-564-6173 grab an open Line we would love to hear from you at 888-564-6173 we're going to start our time on the phones with Richard in Costa Mesa how can we help you Richard yeah I have a question about um I Heard a new answer my pastor's perspective a week or so ago and I think it was uh anyway they said something like that's what a pastor would say and um but there might be a different perspective from a from a like a theologian and what I understood it to me was that a pastor might have more of an Evangelical hurt and not want to exclude people and not to say that it's not biblical but more like inclusive and where a person who's like a theologian might just say well this is what the Bible says and it doesn't give as much um leeway what do you think about is that is that proper to understand it that way well really quick do you remember what the topic of discussion was on that uh it could have been just like I heard it just a moment ago when the other guy was talking about uh Evolution you know he says some people might be feeling angst that um this that you guys are selling out Evolution as a possible you know other method other other than what the Bible says or what most people might say what the Bible says okay Bobby I think the issue is more go ahead well a couple things on the screen uh you know it says what is the difference between a pastor with an Evangelistic heart and one with a scholarly View uh but then you kind of mention um Evangelical and so a lot of times there's confusion where people they refer to themselves as Evangelical when they're trying to say that they're Evangelistic and these are two separate terms uh so to be Evangelistic and have an Evangelistic heart uh should flow out of being Evangelical but somebody could be Evangelical and not necessarily be Evangelistic so it's important to distinguish on these terms and again Richard I'm not sure if that was uh the way that you were wording it but there is a difference and so I would say how then do we distinguish between the work of a pastor and the work of a scholar well it used to be that pastors were considered your scholars in the community they were very well read they were you know polymaths often times where they were wise and saturated on information in different fields of knowledge not just the Bible theology Unfortunately today you know John and myself who are pastors were kind of part of a brand now that has lost its reputation for scholarship and that reputation now has made its way up to your professors and that's an unfortunate move because uh the pastors that have graduated in a lot of ways you had this church growth movement and reaching the culture movement and there were lots of compromises that were made in the name of following Church growth principles sociology and some of these things and it it caused the lie for many pastors to believe that the flock couldn't digest anything heavy and so statements like oh you know they don't have good attention spans these days days when they sit in front of TV 50 60 hours a week and so we started to believe in the church that the way to keep people is you had to entertain them you had to give them what they loved about culture yet without being immoral so you give them entertainment through the music you give them all of that in order to capture them is if the word of God the spirit of God was not enough to capture people's heart in a Contagious Christian Community and so I do think that what happened was is you know pre-covered uh you could really see uh that the mega church and all this I mean it was really growing it was starting to get some compromise but now what's happened is I think a lot of people are disillusioned with the mega church their disillusioned with the with the celebrity Pastor their disillusioned with you know the watering down of the word of God and those that it that the church basically compromised to reach people in that fashion well guess what those people that were captured into the net of Christianity in that way well they left once they felt there was going to be any cost to sticking around and so now they're gone and the real Believers that are sticking around the church they want to be fed they want to learn they want to grow and unfortunately a lot of pastors graduate Seminary and then they survive on a pop diet of just reading uh the next and the latest book that comes out instead of being grounded theologically philosophically culturally biblically and so professors will often do that and that's why you have people like myself and John I mean we looked at theologians and and philosophers not because we don't want to look to pastors but because a lot of pastors unfortunately they're not feeding us in this way and that's what made Timothy Keller so special is he was a thought leader who was well-rounded in philosophy sociology psychology The Bible History culture and all of that he could weave together into a beautiful uh you know hearty message well here we are today and I don't think there should be this big Chasm of difference I do think that that we need to be practical in our presentation of the Bible but I also think that scholars in the classroom should be practical in the way that they establish the importance of Scholars ship John Huang yeah I I remember years ago listening to Pastor Chuck Swindoll share this this is the way he described a pastor a pastor should have the mind of a scholar the heart of a child and the hide of a rhinoceros and that has always been so helpful over the years and um and I really do believe that as pastors we need to continue to learn and to stay on top of things when it comes to our own personal understanding of God's word and that means that we're spending time personally in our own devotions and in our studies wanting to understand the meaning of scripture so that we could teach it present it share it clearly the aim is to be understood all for the glory of Jesus um and and also you know as um as you know Bobby mentioned it's our the Evangelistic heart would be if if that's what was meant we want to see people um have um an understanding of Christ a Clear Vision of Jesus so that they could come into a relationship with Christ because Jesus is the only way that a person can be in a right relationship with God um but when it comes to understanding the different views um I I just want to be clear that it's not that we want to make compromises in the gospel but there are things that are secondary issues um you know when it comes to things like you know the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit and the timing of the Rapture of the church and even the way that Christians understand Genesis chapter 1 and I'm not saying they're not important issues and I think it's really important for Christians to study and to um you know have convictions about these places but what I've also seen over the years in pastoral Ministry is I have seen people become so divisive over secondary issues because um you know their their dogmas have become their Battleground for becoming so dogmatic that if you don't agree with me on the timing of the Rapture then I can't fellowship with you in fact I've even heard people say that if you don't believe in a pre-trib Rapture then you're preaching heresy then I I listen to that and think you don't understand what heresy means you know or when people say well if you don't believe in six literal 24-hour days in in the creation story then you're a heretic and and your your whole understanding of the Bible is skewed well all of that is you can have strong opinions on that but that's not true um you know what we need to be grounded in is what is the gospel we believe that there's only one God we believe that he's Triune we believe that God the son became human we believe that he lived a sinless life his name is Jesus we believe he died on the cross we believe that he paid the ransom for our Redemption completed the work of Salvation we believe that he rose again from the dead three days later we believe that Jesus ascended to the right hand of the father and he sent the Holy Spirit and and we believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone and and those are those Hills those mountains those platforms that we are united in and we stand and we die there and uh and and we're not going to compromise in those things but at the same time we want to be able to acknowledge that there are people that love Jesus and they hold different opinions different views on some of these secondary issues and I I for one do not want to break Fellowship over those differences and so I've Got Friends I I am a continuationist I believe that sign gifts continue but I've got friends that are cessationists I I am a pre-trib pre-mill a Christian in my Theology of the end times but I've got some great friends that are post-trib and and I from one I I believe that Genesis 1 is talking about God said and it was made it was created I have no problem with that but at the same time I know that there are people that are you know working through their understanding of Genesis 1 and they're leaning more towards what would be referred to as theistic Evolution and and so those are the things that I'm sensitive towards it doesn't mean that we're compromising the gospel but it does mean that there are people that agree that the Bible is the inspired infallible inerrant word of God but at the same time we understand that our interpretations aren't inherent we understand like Paul the Apostle for we know in part so um so that that's just what I'm passionate about but I love that description Mind of a scholar heart of a child and the height of a rhinoceros Richard any thoughts from you on what you just heard are you there Richard yes okay yeah any thoughts on what you just heard from Bobby and uh exactly what I was looking for I mean um okay I think we're losing your connection there I don't know if it's a Bluetooth thing or what it is but uh thank you for calling us today here on pastor's perspective all right we're coming up to our break here so uh won't take another call until we get uh back from the break 888-564-6173 is the number to call Triple eight five six four six one seven three we've got Bobby Conway and John Huang answering your questions until 4 pm Pacific time so give us a call Bobby is the pastor of Image Church in Charlotte North Carolina he joins us today via the Bobby cam you can find out more about Bobby at Christianity still makes sense.com he's also got a YouTube channel that you can subscribe to and you'll get notified whenever he puts out a new video again that's Christianity still makes sense and here in the studio with me it's John Wong he's sitting in for Brian broderson today John is one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and he's teaching the junior hires tomorrow at Calvary Costa Mesa for the midweek service we'd love to have you all come out you can leave your Junior hires and John's care and then the rest of you come on out to hear the message that we're going to hear from Dr Ed stetzer now Ed you hear him here on our Flagship station K-Wave on Saturday mornings he's got a a question and answer type of show he interviews people and you know they call in and ask questions but he's going to be here at Calvary Costa Mesa tomorrow Wednesday the 31st of May and uh his topic of conversation how do we see culture through a gospel lens and you can send in your question and it might be used in a discussion that will be going on after the lecture you can go to cccm.com find the calendar there and then look for the gathering on Wednesday nights all right we'll be back in a little bit with more of your questions give us a call at 888-564-6173-88-564-6173 [Music] Bobby Conway leaning into his camera again Bobby stop that you're freaking me out man [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] welcome back to Pastor's perspective I'm Brian Perez and we've got Bobby Conway and John Huang here to answer your questions for about another 25 minutes so give us a call 888-564-6173 that's the number there on the bottom of the screen if you're watching us on Facebook and YouTube 888-564-6173 and a little bit earlier we were talking to uh or or Bobby I should say mentioned that on an upcoming episode of his Christianity still makes sense radio program and podcast he'll be discussing uh lgbtq issues and uh looks like we've got a couple of calls on the board that want to discuss it now they don't want to wait a couple of weeks to hear it on the radio or watch it on YouTube so Rey and California will begin with you welcome to the program no I'm sorry hold on hold on Ray you had a different question hold on hold on let me get back to you Lorna I pushed the wrong button Lorna what is your question for us today Ray we'll get to you right after this are you there Lorna well Lorna may not even be there so we'll go back to Ray Ray are you still there hi thank you yes I am okay what's your question for us today thank you is the marriage license in the United States a biblically based thing uh the reason I ask is because sometimes the government can do things differently and by law the spouse owes the money that the previous uh debt has to be paid you know if the spouse becomes sick or so forth uh where the the um government could become like an enemy to that new spouse having to pay the debt of the you know one who might have a problem but uh just wanting to make sure that marriage is biblically based into the Lord if I'm in the Congo getting married versus I'm in California getting married am I still married under the sight of the Lord and giving my heart mind and soul to the Lord and being a Christ follower and fearing the Lord with all my heart uh just going forward with uh being married just want to make sure that if a marriage license is delayed for a year is that a big deal or John what do you think well obviously I mean every every state every country are going to have laws that are designed um you know to protect its citizens and um I think I think the point for us though is um to keep in mind that when we are talking about marriage the Bible is clear that it is a covenant relationship and there is a legal element to it because you remember in Matthew 19 when Jesus was speaking about um divorce there was actually a certificate of divorce that had to be issued and so which means that there was a legal understanding of that Covenant it's not just two people you know standing under a starry night in the forest saying hey you know we're going to pledge our loves love to each other and and it's all good with God no um the fact that Jesus showed up at a wedding ceremony in John Chapter 2 like his presence is is like validating the whole marriage ceremony and so um yeah that you know if if you're going to talk about marriage it's a covenant relationship and there is a legal component to it but again you know depending upon where you are in the world um you know there are going to be different laws designed to protect their citizens and so um I think that as long as it's a legal marriage you're good yeah and you might want to check with an attorney to get answers to those other you know sub questions that you had about debt from the previous spouse and everything else you might want to get some answers that way Ray thank you for calling us today here on pastor's perspective so Lorna hung up not sure what happened but if you're still listening Lorna give us a call back and we'd love to chat with you instead we'll go to Lucy in California what's up Lucy I'm good we're doing well thank you good um question um I called there way back you know a year ago and I said that I was race Catholic I was born Catholic but now I'm saved um a year ago now my question is because my family are still Catholic there are some events that we go to the mass and communion but when I talked to a priest before they say that if I switch and not Catholic anymore especially if I'm baptized on a different religion I I am ex communicated so I want to hear the empty our intake of Christian or if I can still go to the math with Catholic if there's any events with the family and receive communion now let me ask you this Lucy have you been baptized at a at a Christian church since you've come out of the Catholic Church yes yes um not too long ago a month ago okay Bobby what do you say to Lucy I guess um I would say that it would be important to think through why would you want to take communion at the Roman Catholic Church given what they believe communion to be is communion uh Roman Catholics uh teach transubstantiation so uh if you're a Protestant receiving communion from a Roman Catholic priest you have two people with diametrically opposed understandings of what's taking place in that moment you have a priest handing you a wafer and a cup believing that you are digesting consuming the physical body of Jesus while as a Protestant you're doing this in remembrance of the physical body that was crucified on a cross for us so uh I would say it's kind of um two people coming together with two opposing views about what's really even happening in that moment so I suppose if you were to take it uh you could take it from the standpoint of going hey I don't believe that it's turning in to the literal body and blood of Jesus I'm just taking it as a Protestant but then you have to ask yourself as a Protestant if that's what's happening and you're taking it well it does the priests know that because would the priest give you communion if you believe that what was happening was just an act in Memorial and so that's another question so I think it could come down to your conscience I mean I could certainly see how you know a Christian could show up at a Catholic service go up take communion and they don't believe in transubstantiation but for me I just wouldn't feel like I have to take it that day there's plenty of other times that I could take it and I'd rather take it in a proper theological context I'd rather take it in a way where communion is taught more accurately than to partake in a moment where I feel like there is a theological stretch as it relates to the body and blood of Jesus literally uh you know kind of materializing through that moment now Lucy if you show up at one of these events like be at a wedding or a funeral or a memorial service are you expected to partake in communion Vietnam myself I don't know what to do God it John any insight from you yeah well I I think that everything that Bobby shared is really worth thinking about but also at the the same time you know um if unless I misunderstood it sounded like um the Catholic church was saying that um you are considered excommunicated for not even you know being a member of the Catholic church so I don't even know if they would even let you participate in those things but again it's you know the important thing is for us we need to make sure that we're standing in the gospel and um and I know that there's always going to be you know the pressure of family and churches and even within denominations even within Protestant churches expectations of what they think membership should look like but I think that we need to always go back to ask ourselves and to really think about like what Bobby said what is the biblical gospel are we standing in the gospel and not to be obnoxious about it but you know to always make sure that we're you know representing Christ the right way when we speak to people especially those things that you know that that we may have discovered um you know that we really didn't understand before until the gospel became clear to us that we carry the right tone and how we share those things because we don't want to come across obnoxious but um I think that it's important that in those opportunities when family members are saying hey what's going on you know for you to be able to say hey I've got some really great stuff that I discovered in the gospel and uh and you can share with them that but again there's there is that practical thing that if the Catholic Church considers you as excommunicated um I I don't even think that will they'll allow you to come to the table Lucy thanks for calling us today here on pastor's perspective 888-564-6173 is the number to call in the next 15 minutes or so you can still get your question answered from Bobby Conway and John Huang 888-564-6173 here's a question that was sent in on Facebook Jasmine sent this one in and it is in the Bible it seems like before Jesus died on the cross for us in order to receive forgiveness from God they had to give an offering so then why in Joshua 7 Aiken and his whole family are stoned to death for stealing why couldn't they atone for their sins by offering God a sacrifice why did God have them all die John what do you tell Jasmine that is actually a really great question and we're so glad that you asked that and this is one of those passages that there's a couple of things that you always have to keep in mind and the first is there's always going to come a moment where you're just going to say I really don't know the full answer to this and and I think that um you know it's we need to be okay with that to say hey I'm just going to put this in a file that says till further notice but another thing though is I really encourage people in in seeking to understand stories like this to just make sure that you do your best to read the story as carefully as you can and you know I um when I saw that question I I opened up to Joshua 7 and I I'm looking at my Bible and I see that there are words that are highlighted and circled you know regarding aikenson the words that are used regarding his sin is Unfaithful sin violated taken stolen deceived um outrage coveted concealed and and so we see that whatever Aiken did it wasn't just some some you know light yeah I mean it was there was like real evil and Corruption that was going on and in response to that we see the word anger and wrath in in the way that God responded to Aiken's treachery but also keep in mind that sin has consequences so as we're focusing on why would why would you know such horrible things happen to Aiken and his family well what about the 36 people that died as a result of Aiken's treachery like if you go back to the story in Joshua chapter 7 verse 5 it says that as a result of Aiken's actions that Not only was Israel defeated in their confrontation their battle against AI but it says that the men of AI struck down about 36 of them so think about these 36 lives that were lost and then think about their wives think about their children think about their family these were Sons these were brothers these were cousins and and so so in this case you know when when you're dealing with Aiken could he have been forgiven absolutely but are there still consequences to their actions you know looking at it through a legal system I remember a few years back there was a a pretty publicized story in the news about a woman who was in prison for committing murder and while she was there in prison she gave her heart to Jesus and she ended up becoming this really bright light in her prison for Christ as a result of that there were a bunch of Christians that were now pleading with the governor for a pardon and the governor looked at this case and he's having to look at it through the eyes of the law but also for the Through The Eyes of the family whose loved ones were killed by this woman right and so even though this woman was now Justified she's forgiven she's going to heaven here's what the woman said she said I know I'm right with God but I also know that I've done an evil I've done a crime and so I am willing to accept the consequences from my actions and so she eventually did get the death penalty and she died but leading up to that she also expressed her hope and confidence of a God who forgives sins and that she's right with God and so so here's a case here's a man named Aiken if he wanted to he could repent and God would forgive him but still something had to be accounted for for these 36 lives that were lost plus their families and plus the the the fact that Israel was in a state of of under God's discipline and so I think that just even reading that story is that going to be the most satisfying answer probably not but at least it brings us in the direction of saying huh there's actually more to this story than what I actually thought Bobby Conway yeah good answer there John um I would just add in verse 10 it says the Lord said to Joshua in chapter 7. get up why have you fallen on your face Israel sinned and note uh the use of the word they they have transgressed my Covenant that I commanded them they have taken some of the devoted things they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies they turn their backs before their enemies because they have become devoted to destruction so what I what I think is Aiken is kind of the head of the family but I think his family was in collusion with him so it wasn't like you had Aiken who steals his stuff and his family is totally naive and then they're punished I think that there was collusion amongst Aiken and his whole entire family and they were working together to gather things for themselves and as a result because they were diametrically opposed to what the Lord would want for them they basically became this model of what not to do so kind of like ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament in Acts chapter five there's moments where God just takes somebody like with hoffney and Phineas or whatever over and and will seek to make an example of people so it's not like the normal way God always works but meant to create a deterrent for future evil Jasmine thanks for sending in your question on Facebook Messenger here's another one from Facebook before we go to the phones at 888-564-6173 Jonathan wants to know if the people who died in the flood during Noah's time repented and were saved my other question is on dichotomy and trichotomy the reason I ask is because I was having a discussion with another person about demon possession of a repented believer and this term was brought up and I wasn't sure what it meant even after looking it up John do you want to answer the first part of that so it was the people if the people who died in the flood during Noah's time did they repent and become saved no they did not um they they were judged because they weren't repentant in fact that's why in the New Testament it talks about Noah and his family being the only ones saved and so you know the the sign of believing um the word of God was that act of obedience of going into the ark and that's why the book of Hebrews talks about how by faith not only did Noah build the art but he and his family went into the ark and um if if there were others that repented they would have gone in with them but no one else did okay Bobby Conway what do you say to the second half of the question yeah um I perhaps you know as it relates even to the first question um I think John and I would agree with him by and large um but I could see how there could have been people maybe drowning in their moments of desperation where it's true only Noah his wife uh and his three kids and their wives it's true that only they were saved that they survived the actual flood uh but is it possible that judgment was falling on people that weren't going to survive the flood but perhaps in uh Brokenness repented sort of like the thief on the cross who he was done with his Earthly existence he was going to die uh his time was quickly running out but he was going to be in Paradise um I don't know the answer to that I really don't but I wouldn't be surprised if we got to heaven and we found out some stories I mean be pretty cool right I mean it was like oh man like you know you're you're kind of hanging out in heaven and you're like so tell me about yourself well actually I was living in the time of Noah and man I was just parting it up and man I was drowning man the waters were hitting fast and hard and I just saw people rebelling against God shaking their fists in and I thought something's off on this man God I I know I see Noah's boat it's kind of off in a distance I don't think I'm gonna be able to have enough breath to catch the boat ride so I think I'm home closed for the rest of my Earthly existence but if there's a way that you'd forgive me I'd love that perhaps that will be a part of what we hear I don't know that's a good question as it relates to yeah I mean heck I never thought of the perspective until the question came it's one of the things I love about live questions it just forces us to think about things uh you know and we work together but I think that there's room for that yeah so what you're saying is like a like a deathbed confession but this was a death waterbed confession you could call it yes yeah yes it is it's a waterbed so the waterbed was created a long time ago yes that's right but as it uh relates to dichotomy trichotomy we're talking about the difference uh between um whether or not we are three parts or two parts so a dichotomist would say that we are material and immaterial that were body and were sold the trichotomists will say that we're Body Soul and Spirit um I used to be a trichotomist I would be more of a dichotomist now I would take the view that the spirit um you know is a part of the soul and I think that the words often can even be used interchangeably if anybody wants to learn more they could look into some of the writings of J.P Moreland who has written a lot of work on the soul he'll give a dichotomous perspective but he won't leave you out to dry he'll also include a trichotomous perspective for you to chew on and who is this again what was his name JP Moreland very good all right Sherry let's go to your question thank you for calling 888-564-6173 for taking my call um I have a member of my family who goes to a Gothic club and I was thinking that's like a satanic music they wear black men will dress like women women will dress like men um so I wanted to get your view on that and what I could say to him because I don't want him opening up the door to demonics now does this person consider themselves to be a Christian so that's a good question I don't know okay Bobby what would you say to Sherry you know sometimes people will take on a certain uh you know dress style uh and they resonate with maybe dark clothing uh but they're not really trying to send a message about their belief in Satan so I think that it could allude to the fact that you know somebody's dressing in all black that they're engaged in some you know pretty dark stuff but we wouldn't want to just draw that conclusion without asking questions are there things to be concerned with absolutely Johnny Johnny Cash wore all black uh but he wasn't you know a goth guy so I wear a lot of black uh myself and I'm certainly not a goth guy uh I'm wearing black right now so it was John hollerblind yeah yeah well John's actually starting a gothic church in Huntington Beach uh where he'll be offering some goth music so ah look at him there on YouTube and Facebook yeah perfect so I guess I would recommend having a conversation first officers person a Christian uh and what's the motivation uh you tell me why you like the dark clothing uh is the clothing representative of a deeper philosophical belief you have if so what is that belief and if that's your belief what does influence that belief why do you find yourself drawn to it I just asked lots of questions and then that should set the table for how you should have a good conversation John yeah and then one thing too you know um also keep in mind especially for young people they are searching for communities and groups that they feel like they belong in and um you know there's there's a lot of times young people will walk into a certain subculture not so much because they you know necessarily like the fashion or the belief system it could just be because there are some people in there that were really nice to them and invited them in and they're just looking for someone that'll just care about them and they feel like they're accepted you know right now our young people are living with stresses that I think most of us that are older just didn't even have to deal with it's the problems haven't changed they haven't changed and they're you know but but the means um of of the way that that people are relating to each other is just it's so heartbreaking you know especially with technology and social media people don't even know how to have meaningful conversations with each other and so everything is via text or it's on screen and and so I think that there is a human longing a need for like real meaningful friendships and uh and sometimes they find it in places that for us as parents we're just like no it's like we don't want them to go down that way so I think that that's also something to have a conversation about be praying for but man may God just give our young people places where they can go and find real meaningful friendships in Jesus in 20 seconds talk to one of these young people who's listening right now and is wondering what this is all about you know what one of the things that you need to know about Jesus is he is the Friend of Sinners so if you're looking for someone that will receive you and accept you just as you are come to the one who loves you so much he died on the cross for you he came back to life and he says whoever comes to me I will never reject and if you want more information you can check out calvarychapel.com click on the tab that says how to know God we are out of time we will talk to you tomorrow for Bobby Conway and John Fong I'm Brian Perez and pastor's perspective was sponsored by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa

Channel: KWAVE Radio

Views: 1,324

Keywords: K-Wave, KWVE-FM, Bible, Jesus, Christian, love, joy, answers, question, salvation, atheist, God

Id: GBfLMC8J3OU

Length: 62min 45sec (3765 seconds)

Published: Tue May 30 2023