Behind The Pulpit
Our weekly pastors podcast where we discuss fun new stories, church events, previous sermons. As well as answering interesting questions from you!
Behind The Pulpit
Kid Rock vs Bad Bunny
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This week on Behind the Pulpit, the pastors touch on winter weather, travel stories, and recent cultural moments tied to the Super Bowl, halftime shows, commercials, and Olympic coverage. The conversation includes reflections on public messaging, artistic expression, and how Christians think through what they’re seeing without flattening everything into easy conclusions.
The episode also spends time responding to listener questions and sermon follow-ups, working through Trinitarian theology, Jesus’ cry from the cross, disability and suffering, and key themes from John 5 and John 9. Sunday’s sermon on healing, faith, and God’s purposes in suffering shapes much of the theological discussion.
The Weekly Warm-Up centers on 1 Corinthians 4:20, Book War continues, and the Theology Sprint takes up Matthew 10 and Peter’s denial of Jesus.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
4:09 Weekly Warmup
7:14 In The News
23:58 The Great Book War
33:51 Audience Questions
45:54 Sermon Recap
1:05:55 Theology Sprint
Music
"Ventura"
Morgan Taylor
U76EPPNJDYZYU0Y7
Alright, friends, welcome to Behind the Pulpit on a balmy Monday afternoon, which is when we're recording this. It is currently uh 28 degrees outside, which man, it's it's like a heat wave here in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Uh over the weekend, I gotta tell you, Saturday. Saturday was the coldest weather I felt in a very long time. It was like negative 15 on the wind chill. It was pretty crazy. Did you feel that? Let us know in the comment section if you were experiencing the negative 15. Like and subscribe to this video. We're so glad you're joining us today. Um, let me check to my left and see if uh Pastor Dave over here experienced the negative 15. How are you doing? Was the beard helping on Saturday with the uh with all the the chilly weather?
Dave:You know when you pull the windshield wiper fluid and um it's liquid in that form? Well, it doesn't stay liquid for very long in this weather. So if you don't get that wiped off your windshield within like a half a second, it's gonna freeze on your windshield. That's how cold it is. It was so you have to get the special brand that's not the you know the different temperature freezing temperature brand. Yeah, that's cold.
Bob:I went out, man, but it was it was it was frigid. It was legitimately frigid outside. Yeah.
Dave:So I ended up outside way too much this weekend for my taste. And I was literally like shaking when I came inside. Like, I need to I need to stop being outside.
Bob:I've been seeing pictures that uh Carol Hensley, our our old uh financial manager, has been posting. Her and her husband made their way to Antarctica. Have you seen these pictures on social media? Yes. They're they're they're uh following the penguins around, they're they're following sea lions or whatever those are. And uh it feels like Antarctica, Antarctica here in New Jersey right now, Pastor Dave. Yeah.
Dave:Although I guess right now the southern pole is facing towards the sun, so it's a lot as freezing. Okay, this time is it. All right, but it's it's cold.
Bob:They've moved all the freezingness up to the northeast right here. It's just like we're in the bullseye.
Dave:I mean it's it's dipping all the way down into like you know the lower half of the United States right now. The the cold is engulfing us.
Bob:It's yes, it's engulfing is a good word. All right. I made the job.
Dave:Does this affect your mood? Do you guys have feel like Yes? I feel like uh I'm more tired.
Bob:I keep waking up, I'm like, why am I so tired? Because it's about negative five degrees outside.
Dave:Yeah. Well, it's like I just want to take out the trash, and I I don't want to like you know, snake my way through the path that I built. I just want to have like everything kind of melt down and I have a pile of firewood. I don't want to dig my firewood out from under the tarp, and everything is a little bit more challenging. So like you put your car in the garage, the slush kind of falls on the garage floor, and then you gotta shovel it out. And everything's like a little bit more uh can the sun come out?
Bob:Yeah, it is true. Let me take a poll here. So I know Noah, uh sometimes I go to the gym in the morning. I know I see Noah there. Um, I don't like to wear I I like to just wear my shorts, get in there, and then I get changed and all that afterwards. And uh I I've still if I go, I still wear the shorts, even though it's zero degrees outside. So uh do you do that, Noah? Do you wear some pants and you take them off? What do you think? No, usually that five-second walk is the worst part of my day. Yeah, it it's pretty, it's pretty frigid. You wear shorts over there.
unknown:Yeah, yeah.
Bob:Well, you're kind of in and out, you know, it's not like you're hanging out like doing a run outside. You kind of it's getting in and out of the car to the to the building, which is warm. But man, that feels nice once you get in that building.
Dave:The other night I was playing basketball over at the deaconry, and I had shorts on and I had my big black long trench coat. And I look so dumb. So I get down there and all the guys are laughing at me like I'm gonna flash them or something, like I'm a streaker. Or do you have your big long trench coat on with shorts? It looks ridiculous.
Bob:Uh like it's cold out there. I'm wearing my coat. It's cold. It's maybe it's cold outside. All right. Well, we're glad you're joining us for behind the pulpit. Uh, we're gonna move into our new segment that we've been uh trialing here called the weekly warm-up. And uh I don't know who's doing that, but uh, I know, I know we're uh we're we're doing it. So who's who's taking the lead on the weekly warm weekly warm-up here? That would be me. Try saying that five times. Weekly warmup, week, week week, weekly warmup. Tough to do. It's hard out here. It's not easy.
Tim:So today uh is if you are no matter where you're watching or listening to this, uh it is season four, episode twenty of Behind. Four twenty is our marijuana episode. I'm just kidding, we're not talking about that today. Um so for today's um verse that we will warm up on, it comes from Fer I don't say it here, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 20, which says, For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. We'll ask you guys to break this down as our weekly warm-up.
Bob:Now remind me what we're doing with this. We're supposed to be ex We come up with a preaching point or something. This is the Bible, Bob. This is Yeah, you talk about you get a verse and you tell me. We've done so many of these little bits where you're like, here, make make make a prop out of this, or whatever you like, just give us stuff to come up with off the top of our head. Yes. So here's the verse. Tell us about the verse. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but of power. Well, if I remember correctly, Paul is uh is is in 1 Corinthians uh dealing with some uh dissenters, people who don't like him very much, and uh he is telling them about the true gospel, uh he is confronting their views of the world, and uh he he's basically saying all these false teachers out there uh are just talk. They're just talk. They just go out and and say things. Um but the real power of the gospel is what comes behind it, and um he's using it as a legitimiz for a a way of legitimizing his his ministry um in first 1 Corinthians 4. Um What would you add to that?
Dave:I think there was uh something about Greek rhetoric and persuasion that he was um saying, I'm not uh coming to you like the rest of those philosophers, rhetorics. Uh it's not about that. I'm not here to show off how smart and wise I am, because the the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. But yet um there's power there for those that the Spirit of God decides to open their eyes. That's what I remember.
Bob:But first Corinthians of I know a contrasting of the kingdom of the world versus the kingdom of Christ, and he's doing a whole big you know, there there was there was a whole slew of people that were coming in that were claiming to be these powerful teachers and uh trying to take Paul's ministry down, which I think continued on into Second Corinthians, which we did do more recently. Uh although that was a year ago now. It was. Yeah, first Corinthians was like three years ago. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Wow. All right. I feel warmed up, Tim.
Tim:Good. That's the purpose. We're living in a time where the biggest questions aren't just what we believe, but why we believe it and whether we're prepared to pass that on to the next generation. On Sunday, February 22nd, we are so excited to welcome Corey Miller, CEO of Ratio Christi, which is a global ministry dedicated to equipping Christians to think clearly, live faithfully, and defend the truth of the Christian worldview in today's culture. Corey's going to be preaching at both Sunday services with two distinct messages. At the 9 a.m., he'll bring a message titled, Is Jesus unique to basic morality? A fresh and compelling look at the golden rule as evidence for the truth of Christianity. Then at 1045, he'll address the third revolution and the scandal of the evangelical mind, helping us understand the cultural upheaval we're experiencing and how Christians should respond with clarity and wisdom. Following the 1045 service from 12:30 to 2 o'clock p.m., Corey will be leading a parenting seminar titled The Battle for Your Child's Mind. This seminar will build on the morning messages and include teaching and QA designed to help parents navigate faith, education, and culture in today's world. If you're planning to attend that seminar, we ask that you please just register on our church website, millingtonbaptist.org, so we can prepare for you accordingly. Again, that's Sunday, February the 22nd. Corey Miller is going to be preaching at both the 9 and 1045 services, followed by the parenting seminar at 1230. Get ready for a Sunday that strengthens convictions, sharpens thinking, and equips families to live faithfully in a challenging age. Remind me what's next.
Bob:In the news? Yes. In the news. All right, let's do some in the news. All right, it was suggested that we should be talking about this will be a very sporty in the news. Um has anything happened in the sports world in the last uh day or so? Olympics. Well, there is a lot, a lot of stories about the Olympics, so we can talk about that, as well as the Super Bowl. So I will I will just state up front. I did not watch the Super Bowl. I did hear later on that um the Seahawks won. Uh, which if I had to choose one team, I probably would have chosen the Seahawks, because I don't like anything New England. Um but I don't know. Was it a good game? Did you guys watch? Was it good or was it like eh?
Dave:If you like defense, you love three field goals in the whole first half. It was really slow. There was a you know a little bit of a picking up the pace in the second half, but it as far as the game, it was uh you know, the the Patriots were never really in it. So the quarterback is 23 years old, right?
Bob:So last year I watched and I remember the game being very good last year at the end, right? That's that was last year, right? Who played last year? Chiefs, Eagles. Yes, that was it was a good game, right? I I I believe so. The Eagles got it. I think it came right down to the wire. I think it came to remember. I think it came down to the wire last year. All right. Well, of course, nobody really watches the Super Bowl for the football. They watch for the commercials. So, what were the big commercials that were out there on the Super Bowl and what were your takes?
Dave:Those of you that watched the Dunkin' Donuts commercial, I think we were talking about earlier, was kind of clever. So they had um older characters from TV sitcom past, you know, uh characters from from Cheers, they had Ted Dan. Ted Dancing. Um they had um George Costanza. Yeah, they had Seinfeld characters. They had Seinfeld characters? Wow. Urkel, Steve Urkel, didn't they have him? Yeah, they had what's his name from Friends? Um Jennifer Aniston, as well as the Ross Ross, was it? I guess or Chandler. It couldn't be Chandler, right? He passed away. So that was a whole Dunkin' Donuts commercial, which was pretty clever. I thought that was interesting. They had uh singing toilet seats. I don't know if you guys saw that one. I saw a different singing commercial. What was that advertising? So these seats were like, you know, flapping up and down, singing this song, and you're like, what is where is this going? And at the end of the commercial, it was about looking down at the color of your urine to see if it's uh yellow or not, to see if you're properly hydrated. And um that was that was the first. I but I'm not gonna forget that. It was just straight up weird. So you know how they have these new like I I don't wanna I don't wanna offend anybody, so but I'm about to offend you. Okay, so there's these new like trends about I'm gonna go to this store in a strip mall that has needles, and I'm gonna pick pick from a menu a concoction of whatever cocktail of whatever, whatever I don't know. I'm gonna have I'm gonna let you put put some nutrients in my body. So it was it was one of those uh commercials for something like something like liquid IV or something like that. Make sure you have whatever nutrients you need to have in your life.
Bob:Yeah, I see. I I'm looking at the best commercials, uh w wait. That was about hydration. Oh, that's what it is. Here, this one. Yeah. That was about hydration, liquid IV or places where you can go and you can like tell them you need certainly. Oh, I see. So you take the liquid IV and then you have to pee and you get the check. Is that what the deal was? You get they can't.
Dave:It's it's it's a kind of a strange trend, I think, I feel like right now. You're going somewhere who's not your general doctor, who's sticking with a needle, who's putting stuff in your body that I I feel a little I feel like a little nervous about those places. But if you if you do that, I don't mean to offend you. I just thought that was an interesting commercial with the toilet singing.
Bob:That's all I'm saying. Okay. I see there was some AI commercials. Uh shake your bots off. Sfedca big game commercial. So AI was in there somewhere.
Tim:There's a lot of AI ads and then ads about AI.
Dave:Yeah. That's the big thing, right? Doesn't Elon have AI.com? Is that his website?
Tim:I had that I had that ad. One of the first ads was about AI having ads, and it had a not lovely example of an ad that might be you might find on AI. Um at the beginning of the program.
Bob:The the program. Standard Budweiser commercials with the horse. Alright. Yeah, Budweiser. Um so what about the halftime show? I heard there was uh quite a bit of controversy around the halftime show. There was the the guy sang in Spanish and had subtitles. Bad Bad Mun what's his name? Bad Bunny. Bad Not to be confused with the chocolate bunny that King Nebuchadnezzar had in the Veggie Tales vehicle. And then Lady Gaga showed up with Bad Bunny. Did she? I think I saw that somewhere. It was a zoo. Oh wow. But there was also the turning point uh halftime show where Kid Rock showed up, and I heard I heard you and Dave and Tim had a had a bit of a uh uh almost came to fisticuffs over Kid Rock.
Tim:A discussion over lunch.
Bob:There was food thrown.
Dave:We're not friends anymore. That's the thing.
Bob:Well, what what was what was the issue? What was the issue here? I I didn't understand from what you were saying before.
Dave:Tim was making a valid point that there's been some really terrible things that Kid Rock has sang about in the past, which is totally true. So, but I said, you know, you gotta watch his show from last night. So what they did, just from a Christian worldview perspective, so they had you know the All-American halftime show, they had some country artists, and then he was the hot headliner, hi uh highlight, um, headliner. So he did an older song that he did uh from years ago back in the day, and then they paused and they had this cellist come out with a violinist and they played some, I think, beautiful music, and that was symbolic of Kid Rock's conversion experience. And then they reintroduced him, not as Kid Rock, they introduced him as his actual name, which I think is R Rob Robbie Richie or something like that. Something like that. And he gets up to the stage after the second introduction and sings a song that's a country hit called Till You Can't, which is basically about hey, take advantage of the opportunities you have right now in life till you can't. And then he gets to the end of that song and he writes another verse that's gospel, and he's like, I, you know, I wanted to add this one more verse. There's a book in your house that's collecting dust, and there's a man on the cross that's making things available for you, and he'll give you a second chance. You should take advantage of it till you can't. And that was like the ending. And I was like, Well, that's a very gospel-centered message there. And I thought, hmm. All right, kid rock. I was impressed. So I thought it was a good show. All right. Personally. But the other one was Bad Bunny, which, you know, I don't know, maybe there's some stuff to say about that. Tim, what do you want to say about Bad Bunny?
Bob:Uh so I Well there was concerns that Bad Bunny was making some political statements in Spanish that people that didn't speak Spanish didn't understand.
Tim:I so I watched the Bad Bunny vehicle. Vehicle. I I love, I really enjoy Latin music. Um I listen to the battery.
Bob:So you're you're what you're saying is you're a bad bunny fan.
Tim:I would not call myself a bad bunny fanatic. Um, I know what he sings about is not appropriate. You dabble in some bad bunnies. I enjoy the way the music sounds. Um lyrically, I cannot recommend it to anyone based on my faith. However, um I did watch it. I thought it was a really cool um picture of Puerto Rican culture. Uh the the set was great. Um, you know, a lot of the things that he, you know, I thought it was really cool. I thought you got I I learned a lot about as much as I could about Puerto Rico from a halftime show, which I thought was cool. Um there was nothing overtly, yeah. I mean, yeah, every single person who does a halftime show um is um gonna have some sort of thing that they lean into, right? And he there was a couple things that you know, smaller political notions, but nothing like last year. Um yeah, I thought I thought it was it was um not nearly I wouldn't I wouldn't call it bad at all. I thought I enjoyed it. I thought product from a production standpoint, I thought it was it was a masterpiece. I thought the camera work was incredible, the the choreography was awesome. Um, but for the most part, um, but yeah, overall, I I enjoyed it. I I will have to go back and watch the turning point USA one. Um but yeah, I did not tune into that. All right. This is why Tim and I are having a fight.
Bob:So I appreciate it he's been over here buying his time, man. He's just it's like, all right, let me let me break it down.
Dave:I thought to say positive things, I thought the message about the unity of our country was good on the football thing, right? And then generally, um, you know, I I feel like there was an attempt to have a message about inclusion, right? So that's the positives. So where I felt like it was a struggle was there was definitely LGBT stuff, LGBT stuff. There's some gay grinding going on in the background, and then I don't speak Spanish there very well.
Tim:Hold on. On that, there yes, there was that, but there also was a real life traditional marriage. Did I just hear that? I heard that. Yes, you did. There was actually a tradit, there was a a man and a woman who actually got married for real uh showing. They did. That was interesting. So that was kind of cool.
Dave:People actually got married right there and had their wedding cake during the set during the thing. I think that was the first time ever. Somebody got married on the field and during halftime. Wow. So so I I mean my Spanish is limited, but I did look up the lyrics after, and the stuff he was singing about was not appropriate at all. It was about degenerate, uh, you know, intimate relationships with some uh, I feel like not marital partners. That was that's what it that's what that was about there. Correct.
Bob:He said it was uh um yeah, maybe the reason why he sang in Spanish so that you wouldn't know. Yeah, well, here's the thing like all his music is in Spanish. If you know if you know, you know, right?
Dave:If it's a message of inclusion, those of us who don't have like a fluency in Spanish didn't feel included. So that felt kind of ironic there. Um the other thing is there was some political messaging. So he had his was it a Grammy he won? Uh and he handed it to a little boy. And little little boy was representing the um little boy that was captured, uh, well, captured, maybe maybe not the wrong term, that was um put into custody by ICE when he um the little boy with the hat that's been all over the news, Liam, I think is his first name. So it was symbolic of him giving this trophy to this little boy, and I think the symbolism there on the one hand was quite beautiful because he was like, This is kind of like a a little me. Um here's a Hispanic person giving a a a Grammy to a young little boy saying, I I did this, you can make it too. Um that's cool, but but there was a subtle message there that anybody who stands for anything that is happening with border control is is inherently problematic, and or the word hateful was there at the end. And I felt like that message was sort of conveyed with that. The other thing they had that was somewhat political was the critique with the there was a hurricane in Puerto Rico a couple years ago now, and they had these two telephone poles and two guys climbing up the poles trying to get the power going, and it seemed like uh a critique of the way in which we didn't properly give uh aid to Puerto Rico at the time. So there was some messaging that was given there. It was artistic, so you had to interpret it a little bit, but um yeah. I will say uh, you know, the thing about Charlie Kirk at the very end of the TPU essay was was touching. Yeah, they had a tribute to him and his wife and two children, and it's sad to think about that. And they only had a little bit of time to put this thing together, but I think they might have started a tradition which like with like an alternative halftime show. Because there was like five or six million people that tuned in. Or maybe it was more than that, I don't know. So that's a pretty big siphon to leave the Super Bowl and do something else. Um anyway, those are some thoughts. What did you think? Did you guys watch that? I'm interested to hear uh other takes on it. Um certainly sparks conversation. Noah, what does that look mean? Noah's like got this little grin to say he's about to say something. I don't know why.
Noah:I actually didn't watch anything. The only thing I watch is like Was the Cadillac Formula One team livery reveal commercial at the end? I didn't watch anything else. That's true.
Bob:Well, there's also Also the Olympics happening. Is there any com so I heard Lindsay Vaughn had a major injury and lots of political statements from certain people that have been getting uh getting some airtime? Um anybody watching been watching the Olympics over the last uh few days? Yeah. The Louge. The Luge. Okay.
Dave:What's your favorite? I I like curling. I like um. I'm watching curling right now. I like um so my wife loves the figure skating, and I try so hard, but sometimes when my mind wanders. But it's impressive, Tim. I don't mean to say what they're doing is not incredible.
Bob:I mean, could you get up there? No, I speaking of figure skating. Uh the it is so cold outside. I saw people trying to figure skate on the uh Passaic River over here in uh in Long Hill.
Tim:If you are not tuning in to Ilya Malinan when that guy figure skates, that guy he can do it, right?
Bob:Could you get up there and do a triple coaxle bungee jump off of the ice? Whatever they call it. It's a real trick. Yeah. Triple coaxle bungee jump. It's it's it's impressive what they're 25 seconds. They get some height.
Dave:They get some height. So the Olympics opening ceremony, I thought, was tasteful in Milan, Italy. Oh, so in contrasting to the Paris a couple years ago, was I felt like a little bit raunchy. I don't know. There was some Greek god meal thing that looked like the Lord's Supper and it felt a little blasphemous. Very French, very French.
Tim:Very yeah. They they tune a lot of like classical um Italian things with art and music um and and all that stuff. I thought it was cool.
Bob:I understand. We're we're hosting the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles. Is that true? Yes. Better get ready. Well, that's gonna be interesting. Yeah.
Tim:A lot of stuff going on in the news. There we go. Gentlemen, it is that time again for our men's breakfast. Join us on Saturday, September the 21st for another incredible morning of amazing food and fellowship. The event's gonna start at 8 o'clock, but the doors open at 7.30, so it might behoove you to get there a bit early. We're so excited to host our very own Dr. Frank Donaruma, who's gonna share his testimony about what God has done in his life. Another amazing men's breakfast is on the way. Saturday, February 21st. Come on out. You don't need to sign up, just show up. Doors open at 7.30. We start at 8. Come and enjoy some fellowship.
Bob:All right, why don't we pivot? Let's do a do a pivot. Speaking of Ross from Friends, pivot!
unknown:Pivot!
Bob:I'm gonna pivot over to uh from the news to the to the war. The great back to war. Out of the frying pan. All right.
Tim:And into the fryer.
Bob:All right, so Tim, give us the give us the update on the war. Uh here's the score as it currently stands.
Tim:Pastor Bob with a big win last week. Uh he is currently trailing Pastor Dave by two points. The score is six to eight. For those of you who are not watching on YouTube.
Bob:Now, this is this is much more interesting than the Super Bowl.
Tim:Uh real quick exactly. Uh real quick, speaking of those who who listen, not on YouTube, I walked over to the Millington Baptist shuttle yesterday. You did you walked over to the Chabad and got the shuttle? Hector Garcell, who was driving the shuttle, was in front. I I went over to say hello, and on the car play was Phibi and the Gauntlet of Questions. Really? It was on the during the NBC Shuttle ride.
Bob:Phoebe, that was what we were listening to, was Phoebe. Phoebe, yes. Hey, whoever did that, thanks for raising awareness. They're a friend of the show. We need to get them uh we need to get some behind the pulpit merchandise. Noah, we need to get that on the on the online stores on BTP.
Tim:I already did my budget things, so maybe next year. Um I've lost my mouth.
Bob:Is your name Noah? I said Noah, not Tim. Oh, sorry, Noah. He's the apparel guy. We can make some merch happen. Make some merch happen.
Tim:Anyway, uh like a behind the pulpit sticker. This past week, the uh the matchup was running scared uh for Pastor Dave and the redeemed man from Pastor Bob.
Bob:Oh, I thought you said Pastor Dave was running scared because I'm on his heels.
Tim:Well, there was no reason for him to run scared this time as he came away with the win in rather convincing form. Ding ding ding ding is receiving 75% of the votes.
Bob:You know what? That tells me who's listening to the show. I see. Interesting. Pastor Dave just uh just appeals to the ladies.
Tim:Six to nine and in favor of Pastor Dave.
Bob:What is happening with that comment? Because my book was the redeemed man. I'm assuming that there was a lot of women that voted because we didn't want to be interested in the redeemed man. We just lost every man ever watches behind a pulpit.
Tim:No, there's no way John Bucksbaum is leaving this show.
Bob:I I think John Buxbaum still voted for my my book. We'll find out. He'll come up and tell me. Okay, so um, since I lost, I will make my entry this week. I've been doing a lot of reading on productivity, and my entry is a book called Eat That Frog. Oh, yeah. Boom. Ribbet, ribbit right here by Brian Tracy. 21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time. There just isn't enough time for everything on our to-do list, and there never will be. Successful people don't try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure they get those done. They eat their frogs. So lots of really good stuff in here. I'm I'm chewing on it right now. So he's got some uh some methods, he's got he's got a chapter on practicing creative procrastination. Some of you might find interesting. You gotta upgrade your skills, you gotta identify your constraints, you gotta slice and dice the task. So if you want to get more done, if you're feeling like you're a procrastinator, this is the book for you. And man, that green looks really good on the camera right there. Why why are you why are you blocking my uh blocking my view right there, Tim? What's going on? I am it's just the TV screen. Oh the stream doesn't have it. Oh, okay. All right. Well, eat that frog, folks, right there. Right there. It's it's coming for you. By the way, have you ever had frog legs? Apparently they're quite a delicacy in in the south. Florida. You can get them at the Coney Island Nathan's as well. You can, frog legs. Never had them, but I hear they're good. What do you got over there, Pastor Dave? Okay.
Dave:So the idea behind the title uh is that if you were told here's a list of stuff you have to do today, and one of them is you have to eat this frog on your desk. The point of the book is you would want to get that out of the way first. Otherwise, you're gonna spend the rest of your day anxiously worrying about the moment where you're gonna have to eventually eat the stupid frog. So Mr. Tracy is saying get it over with, you'll you'll have a much better day if you do that first. There you go. Okay. Just thought I'd help you. I'm trying to help you out. I'm trying to help you out. Sounds like you're helping me recommend this book, Pastor Day. I am. But you won't want that book as much as you want this book. So getting the message by Dr. Dan Doriani is a textbook that I actually use when I do adjunct teaching for a class on principles of biblical interpretation. If you want to know how to study and understand the Bible for yourself and enjoy the joy of Bible discovery, which is the best kind of way to learn, not secondhand, but firsthand, this is good. Um, so it's non-technical, which is why I love it. It's an introduction to interpretation. There's no foreign languages in here. Doriani's a great Bible teacher. Bob and I have heard him speak once or twice. Um fed dinner with him. He will give you texts as samples to analyze. He'll tell you how to solve problems, he'll tell you how to develop themes. He goes through each of the genres of biblical literature and shows you how to deal with each of those. This is good for any age. Um, adults. It's also good for teenagers, it's good for college students, it's good for Christian leaders. And this book has been translated into many languages and it's been revised with a global audience in mind. So, you know, one of the things he teaches in here is like the here's a simple lesson that uh maybe you'll you'll uh like this one. So he calls it the interpretation grid of the puddle. So the puddle is like if you were to drop a stone into a body of water, it kind of has ripples, right? So in that way, you the way you interpret the Bible is by working your way through the ripples, starting in the center and working your way out. So like you start with the word, then you move out to the verse, then you move out to the paragraph, then you move out to the chapter, then you move out to the book, then you move out to what testament is this in. And if you don't interpret the Bible using the principle of the puddle, sometimes you'll misinterpret the Bible. You'll take one verse out of somewhere, just pluck it out, and you won't understand the context. So that's the kind of thing he teaches you in this book. There's a zillion more tools and tips like that in here. He's got the principle of the ladder. I'm not going to explain that what that is to you now, but you're going to want to know about that. Uh, it's a key principle, a biblical interpretation. Principle of the ladder. So uh this is my book, Getting the Message. Um, it's got a sharp new cover here. The one I have is like older and green and a little bit more uh outdated, but this is the revised and expanded edition. Dr. Dan Doriani getting the message. Check it out. Uh uh, who published this book? This one is PR. PR. Yeah. All right. So PR. A lot of his stuff is PR, although the reformed expository commentaries. Are they PR too? Yeah, they're PR too. They're PR. It looks like all of his stuff is PR. So he's a PR guy. Yeah. So it's a good New Jersey publishing house. You're supporting the gospel here in the Garden State, which is an important thing to do. Phillipsburg, New Jersey. We recommend you decide. That's right. Tim, I'm looking at the Behind the Pulpit show from last week and I can't see where to vote. So it's here somewhere, right? Oh.
Bob:So what you're saying is there might have been some voter suppression last week, Pastor D. I can't find it. Uh it's in the comments, right? It's in the description.
Tim:Oh no.
Bob:I think we need to have some voter ID laws for uh behind the pulpit book work, Pastor Tim. Is it in the description?
Tim:Where's where can I find it? It should have been in the description. I edited the description, unless I edit it in the wrong.
Bob:Uh-oh. Uh-oh. I don't know. Maybe I'm gonna cry foul here, Tim. Something must have uh We might have to have a redo. Well, so okay, somebody voted.
Dave:He got the votes. Yes.
Bob:I know, but people they they knew how to do the back channel voting. They there was something must have happened where there was hanging chads in the back room.
Tim:Something must have happened. I'm actually rather annoyed because I spend way too much time on these descriptions that I'm really upset that it didn't come through. Um but if you ever if this ever happens, uh it's the same link every week. So if you go back to a previous episode, if you go back to a previous episode, they know I update the same form every week. So they know as we speak the new options. Who's gonna be in there? They're gonna know. They're ready to go. I can think of a few people who probably you could go right now to that to one of the previous links and vote for Eat That Frog or uh getting the message right now. There's already a response. Someone already voted. I don't know how.
Dave:That was me.
Tim:Oh, there you go.
Dave:I just found it from two weeks ago, and I'm like, does this one work?
Bob:I already put my vote in. I'll have to go in a vote for myself so it's even. All right. Good luck finding the link. It's like a treasure hunting out. There we go.
Tim:Are you a teen in our youth group? I mean, more than likely you're a parent of someone in our youth group. However, this is an important announcement for both of you. This week is the last week to sign up for our winter retreat. It's gonna be the last weekend in the month of February, believing into March, and we're going to Refreshing Mountain, Pennsylvania. These retreat weekends are always incredible. Uh, I myself am a leader who will be going on the trip, and we cannot wait for another incredible transforming weekend away in Pennsylvania. Like I said, this is the last week to sign up. So if you're seeing this right now, you have a child, or you yourself can attend this retreat and you haven't signed up yet. We ask that you go do that right now because you're not gonna want to miss it. We hope you can make it out to our 2026 Rush Winter Retreat.
Bob:All right, I think we have some questions. All right, so let's move on to the questions. People are at people inquiring minds want to know about some things here, Pastor Dave. So we agreed to split up these two questions. We got a JR question right here that Pastor Dave was going to attempt to answer. And maybe I'll give him an assist. And then I got a second one about um a verse from the sermon. So what's the first question here, Tim?
Tim:So, as alluded to, this first question is from our friend of the show, John Rickershauser. Congratulations, John. Uh new member of Millington Baptist Church. You can't do that.
Bob:Have we kept a list on how many questions John has asked? We should give him a prize when we hit like a hundred.
Tim:They're all in it's a feed has never been deleted, so we can go back.
Bob:But I'm saying, do we know how many? Because maybe when when he hits like a hundred, we can give him a gold-plated behind the pulpit logo or something. We can start counting. Um so here is his question.
Dave:We can have like, you know, ask by John. And we'll publish a book just of John's questions. Like the John Piper asked. Yeah, ask Pastor John. He's got a whole book of the questions that he answered called Ask Pastor John.
Bob:John is now he's now a member. He he joined the joined the church yesterday.
Dave:Welcome, John. Yeah.
Bob:Now your questions are gonna get harder, I can tell.
Tim:We should get John a special camera recording set up in his home and with like a nice chair and a smoking jacket.
Bob:You know, sometimes on these shows they give people segments. Maybe we can give uh our our greatest fans like different segments where they come on. On the ground with John Rogershouse. It's true. All right, anyway, what's the question here? We're we're getting sidetracked. All right, here's the question.
Tim:I got things to do today. At the cross, when Jesus asked, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Uh was he then separated from God from uh for three days until the resurrection action?
Dave:Okay, so the technical answer here is uh what we talk about with regards to the ontological trinity or the imminent trinity versus the economic trinity. And the Holy Spirit and the Son and the Father are one in essence, though they are three in persons. And so a person uh is an individual substance of a rational nature, so the son is a person and the father is a person, and we study something called intra-trinitarian relations, how God is toward himself or ad intra, as opposed to uh how he is toward the world, which is ad extra. So there was never a time when God the Father did not exist, there was never a time when God the Son did not exist, and there was never a time when God the Holy Spirit did not exist, and so these three are one, and the father is God in himself, the son is God in himself, the spirit is God in himself, although they have different relational distinctions. So um there's a unity here, but then there's also a distinction. So the father is unbegotten, the son is eternally begotten, the spirit is not begotten. Um on the cross, Jesus makes that statement. It's a direct quote from Psalm 22, by the way, and um it's important that we not break the Trinity on Good Friday, right? So it's not that um for a moment the ontological trinity stopped existing on Good Friday, that would not be that would be a heresy to say that. So the incarnate son was the one taking on the wrath, a penalty for sin. He was the acting subject there. Um but there was never a nanosecond when the son was living apart from the father, and so we have to be careful about how we talk about that. And um, yes, there's a change in relationship in the economic trinity as the sin is being paid for and punished by the son, but there's not a relational break in the ontological trinity. There's never a change in relationship between the father and the son in the ontological trinity. So um some people on Good Friday get a little wacko with their Trinitarianism, man. They break the Trinity on Good Friday. It happens, and I think it's important that we correct that. Um and it shouldn't happen. It shouldn't happen. You can't break the Trinity. So yes, on the one hand, the Son is the one incurring the judgment of God, but it's not just the Father's judgment, it's not just the Spirit's judgment, it's also the Son's judgment. He's bearing this judgment volitionally um that he's uh also the one who is the perfect judge. So uh we have to be careful in how we talk about the oneness of God, and even on Good Friday, God was one. There's a song, okay? It's just a song, it's not in the Bible, but there's a song that says the father turns his face away. And I love the song. What's the song called? Is it how deep, right? It's a good song. Um but don't take it too far. We're using imagery here, right? So we're we're trying to capture something uh theological. We're not uh necessarily being super literal, right? So the father never abandons his son. Uh he he may have lost his uh filial relationship. Um he's suffering, certainly in his humanity, but he's suffering as the incarnate Son of God that is always loved by the Father. There's one theologian that made a very provocative statement about this one time, and I gotta do some more thinking about it, but I'll just share it with you, John, so that you can think about it too. And that is on the one hand, he was experiencing the wrath of the father and his own wrath that settled judgment against sin. But there was also, this is theologian said this, there was never a moment where the father was more proud of the son than when he was actually performing the greatest act of redemption in all the world as well. So wow, think on that. Um uh it's it's um interesting. So the great Tim Keller, if you want to chase us down, Tim Keller has a sermon um about the presence of God at the during the Passion Week of uh uh Jesus' life and how the father is present with the son, but the presence of God, Keller says, becomes a part of the spiritual agony as well. Um as the presence of God begins to become more the presence of God's wrath. Bruce Ware was the theologian who said that. Bruce Ware. There's never never was the father more pleased with his son than when the son was hanging on the cross to accomplish the mission that the father gave him. So um there's a Jonathan Edwards sermon about Christ's agony in uh in his work as well. But it's it's a very difficult question, but I I don't want to make a separation there between the father and the son, even on Good Friday. So it's the Father's wrath, it's also the Son's wrath against sin. It's also the Spirit's wrath against sin. And in a way, um there's a unity here, though it's somewhat mysterious.
Bob:One of Timothy Keller's most profound and well-known sermons on the topic is titled The Crucifixion, originally preached April 1st, 2012. I got the link here, Pastor Dave. Are they free now? Can you get everything for free? Yeah, Kathy made everything free after he passed away. You can get like so much. Just go on gospel in life for free. All his sermons are free.
Dave:You don't gotta pay anymore. He's one of the few people ever that I would pay for a sermon. And I did. Like, yeah, two dollars. I'll take two dollars, I'll do it. Okay. Wouldn't you? Back in the day. Oh, I paid for sermons, yeah, for sure.
Bob:For Tim Coward. But now. Aren't they on Logos though? Isn't Logos have like a collection? They might they might be on Logos, but definitely on Gospel on Life, his uh his uh website.
Dave:Yeah.
Bob:So that's my answer, John. Let me know what you think, because it's a hard topic. I'd like to hear more from it. Comment, comment down in the uh comment section. We gotta get some more engaging engagement down there. So I can guarantee you though, if you make a comment, Pastor Dave will uh will uh he will start typing. He's gonna start typing. What did you say? You you you got in a keyboard war with one guy that uh and then now you guys are friends? Kenny. We know who you are, bro.
Dave:You're my buddy now. Kenny and I exchange he's friends with somebody at Midwestern on the faculty there. Oh, he is? Who? Yeah, do you know? Uh I'll have to look at my emails because he was copied on one of the emails. Okay. So he's doing personal church history research on these different small Baptist associations and their doctrinal statements for whoever this professor is at Midwestern. So what's up, Kenny? If you watch, I don't know if he watches, but we email. Okay.
Bob:Jason Dusing, uh Church History Guess. I'll look it up for you. All right, there we go. Alrighty. So, second question. Question number two had to do with the sermon text yesterday.
Tim:It did. What a good, what a good transition. Here's the question This past Sunday we read John 9 4. John 9 uh John 9 4. We must work. We read John 9 4 twice. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no One can work. What does when no one can work mean?
Bob:Good question. Um, so John has a lot of metaphors, particularly uses night and day, light and darkness. So when Jesus says night is coming when no one can work, he's using darkness as a metaphor for the end of his earthly ministry. And so in the in the context of the first century hearers, Jesus is referring here to the night of his crucifixion when his ministry on earth was going to come to a close and the light was going to leave earth and return to heaven. So this night is this period where there's a certain level of opportunity that the work the work ceases. And so Jesus is challenging his readers here to do the work of his father as long as as long as they can while they're on earth. Uh for him, he's the light of the world. He's he's in he's on earth and the light is there. Um but the statement I think does carry some broader implications beyond Jesus' immediate context. Um so for us too, there's gonna be a time where we're not gonna be here anymore. Um, you know, uh there may be a time when the trumpet sounds and you know uh that this time our time on earth ends, or um through circumstances, whether that's death or even disability, or our own, uh, as I mentioned, our own departure would render the work impossible for here on on uh on earth. So he's using this contrast in the media context, and then it also does have some implications beyond that. Um so that's what he's getting at there. Or as Kid Rock Cody Johnson would say, till you can't. Till you can't, that's right. So get to work. Jesus is saying I did.
Tim:I really like that Cody Johnson.
Bob:Eat that frog. That's what Jesus is saying.
Dave:You know what you're really gonna like? The kid rock version after this show when you go look it up. You're gonna you're gonna I'm gonna turn Tim into a believer.
Bob:Make sure you put a link to the Kid Rock uh song there. All right, I'm gonna turn it over to Pastor Dave for the uh questions for the sermon.
Dave:Hey, here we are. Hey John 5, John 9. Let's start with a 60-second flyover.
Bob:What was your sermon about yesterday? My sermon was about a lot of things, Pastor Dave. We looked at two pools. We talked about the pool of Bethesda, the pool of Siloam. It's good. We had two pools.
Dave:It's time for one. One savior.
Bob:By the way, speaking of skiing, well, now let me not go there yet just yet. Two pools, one savior. So in the ancient world, there was these pools where a lot of um that they were thought to have healing properties, and so people with disabilities, people with various diseases would gather around these pools uh for healing. Um so I don't know why that's funny. But you're like not talking about skiing at all, and then you're like speaking in skiing. I'll tell I'll tell you why I'll tell you why I thought of it in a second. I'm summarizing the sermon now. So we talked about the canvas of God's glory and how and we asked the question, why does God allow disability? And we looked at these two scenes in John chapter 5 and John chapter 9, and then we talked about it in John 9. There's Jesus' famous saying about he's the light of the world. Um we we talked about how people with disabilities point us to the light of the world, and how Jesus comes in and he sees the overlooked, he restores the forgotten, and he calls the church to s to do the same. And so there's a missional call in these passages uh to go out and reach those who are on the margins, those who are specifically disabled, and um uh and and point them to Jesus. So that was kind of the gist of the sermon. Then we also had uh a section with Sarah Bush from Johnny and Friends hearing a bit about her story as well as the ministry um of Johnny and Friends and what they do. Um so that's the summary. The reason I thought about this uh skiing is because if you go out to Colorado and you go skiing, um, way out in the mountains, there's a lot of these um uh uh hot springs that have mineral waters that are naturally very warm uh because of the the uh the heat that comes up from the earth itself, and they're very prevalent in ski towns, which is why I I thought of that and laughed and then digressed.
Dave:So the mud. The mud takes some saliva and spits in the dirt and makes mud and applies it to the guy's eyes. Why does he do that? And what's the significance of that theologically?
Bob:Yeah, so uh for that part, one of the things that I mentioned, and I think it it bears some repeating, is that it the same word that's used for mud, specifically for mud, is in in Greek, is the word that's used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for when Adam is formed. And so I think there's a this echo of of creation uh in the act that Jesus is doing uh linguistically. And um he's pointing here not just to healing but to a type of recreation. He's kind of this inbreaking of the kingdom, pointing us ahead to the the recreation of the new heavens and the and the new earth. It's it's a pretty fascinating thing that's going on right there. And so that's what he uses in order to uh to open the man's eyes and then to see him, the light of the world, the one who heals him.
Dave:A little interesting trivia there. So um, who sinned, this man or his parents? What is Jesus' answer, and why is that answer significant in terms of the culture that they are coming from, and then in terms of our context?
Bob:So, yeah, so we've had this discussion back and forth in in the series, and uh one of the things we've we've talked about is that um certainly there can be a time when you when you sin and uh there can be a physical ramification. If you're doing doing something you know you shouldn't be doing and it causes a physical harm that maybe leads to a disability, that that is not impossible. Um but it in in the first century in Jesus' time that was the assumption. Um, you know, there was a Talmudic tradition from the rabbis, uh, there was different explanations about even um using Genesis 25 and Esau's birth as a uh evidence for this sinning in the womb idea or the parents passing down some kind of generational sin. Um that was the assumption. But the disciples are asking the question because they're they're kind of puzzled that this guy has been blind from birth and they're wondering why he's got this disability. And Jesus answered is it wasn't it was not a result of his sin or his parents' sin, but God specifically allowed this to come into being so that his works uh could bring about God, could bring God glory. Um so Jesus in that sense is turning the cultural assumption way upside down. And um I like the turn of phrase that I use that I I thought was was good and helpful to remember is that Jesus is the telling the disciples to look for answers, not in the past causes, but in the future purposes. So it's not about what happened in the past, it's about what God's gonna do in the future and how God's gonna get the glory for that. And uh you'll see if you read the rest of John chapter 9, once this man is healed, there's a whole big commotion, and he's out proclaiming the name of Jesus, saying, I was blind, now I see, and this was the guy who healed me. It's it's pointing people to Jesus as a result of the work that's going on in his life.
Dave:So I was chatting with you a little bit about what Tim Keller did with this. I don't know why Tim Keller keeps coming up today, but he was talking about two paths, and the answer of, you know, who sinned this man or his parents, he said it's kind of like these two different thought processes that you can go down. So your parents sinning, that's this is somebody else's fault, and I'm gonna be angry. So he called that the anger path, right? I'm this way because someone else did something to me, and I'm I have a right to be bitter and angry about that. That's an anger path. Or did this man sin? And that's what Keller called the guilt path. I sinned, I'm being punished. It's my fault. That's why I'm like this. So I feel guilty, I feel shamed, I'm to blame, I'm you know, always down on myself. So Keller said, like, there's these two paths you can go down with suffering, but disability too, um, maybe many different kinds of hardships in life can take you down one of these two paths. Right. And then he said, biblically speaking, the answer of neither was really profound in the sense that Jesus is calling you to a third path, a third way. He called it the surrendered path. Like this is because God's going to be glorified in such and such way. So I wonder, um, why do you think it's difficult for people to get to that third path and to surrender? Why do we um need time or you know, what's in the way of us immediately getting there? How come that's challenging? And how can we help people?
Bob:Yeah, that's I think in both of his the two paths you outlined, that's sort of the why did this happen question that we were talking about in the message, that it's natural for us to start there. Why? Why did this happen? Why did God why did you allow this to happen? Um, I've seen a lot of people then use that as a reason to walk away from God because they think that God has abandoned them at some level. Um why is it difficult for people to get to what I call the second question? What's God gonna gonna accomplish through this? It's just because we have, and I'll only speak for myself, but I think I'm not alone. We have a picture of what we think our life is going to be in the future, and when certain circumstances come into our life that upend our expectations, it's really hard to let those go and not to blame somebody for that. Um so you know, and I've shared my story, so you know, obviously there were there was different pictures we had about what our family was going to look like, and then when we had a son with disabilities, that that limited certain things that we could do that other families might get to do. Um, and that um i i is is a loss at some level, at least a loss of a dream, a loss of a picture of the future. And so it's hard for people to kind of get to that place of acceptance and then say, God, as a result of this, how can you teach me and shape me and mold me and form me through the midst of this process? It's just it's so natural to go to that why and be angry and sad and not be able to get out of that pit and have this kind of victimish mentality about yourself. Um But when when you're able to move to that second question, uh that that really gets you into a place of seeing that God has has something bigger planned for you, even if it's not what you expected. Anna, would you add anything to that?
Dave:Yeah, I mean that's uh where the path of freedom is gonna be. What about the spiritual lessons? So these are physical uh healings, but in the Gospel of John, these are considered signs, things that are significant. Uh, would you agree that there's a profound lesson here that goes beyond just the physical healing that Jesus is um offering here?
Bob:Or how would you explain what is John doing with these healings? I I think the uh the physical signs, the physical healings are pointing to the greater spiritual truth. So if you read both of the um John 5 and John 9 passages, uh I I didn't get to go into like read through the responses of the Pharisees, but there's a contrast that's put out there. The Pharisees are often missing the point, their hearts are hard, uh, especially with the blind man in chapter 9, they're specifically described as being blind, right? His eyes are open, their eyes remain blind. And um I think in these instances, Jesus is getting at the deeper spiritual need for him and for salvation, that people that were uh overlooked by the world are are the ones that see Jesus for who he is and go and tell people about him, and the ones who are supposed to be the most spiritual, the most religious people are the ones who are looking past him and missing the point, the ones who should have recognized him. And so John is giving that contrast between the two of them and telling us that ultimately we need spiritual healing first, and then physical healing may happen, but spiritual healing is the most important thing we should be uh pursuing.
Dave:This is a small tangent, but um as far as the John 9 passage, the man the man is given some instruction by Jesus to do something. He's asking him to participate in some way, right? Like go sending in the pool. Why why do you think Jesus invites him to be a participant in this this story in that way? Is there is there a reason why Jesus asks him to do something?
Bob:Yeah, I think it has I think it does have to do with that word scent for the translation of Saloum. That's Jesus sending him to go and do something in the same way, if you extrapolate that out to the church, he's Jesus is the sent one who then is sending us to go out on on a mission to tell other people about about him and to participate in that with him. So I think there's an action that's involved here. It's not just a theological reflection, but it's it's something that we should should be doing. Any any theology we we know, when it gets deep down in our hearts, is going to produce action for us to go and do. If I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then then that should change my heart posture and how I act in the world, um and be on a mission to go and make disciples of all nations. So I think that's at least part of what he's getting at.
Dave:I'm always puzzled by that question from the guy in John 5. Do you want to get well? I mean, it seems like a stupid question. But yeah, um if we could just maybe assume that the Son of God is perfect and he doesn't actually ask stupid questions, there must be a reason why.
Bob:So if he can see into his heart and what's going on there, it was clearly an intentional question.
Dave:Yeah. So what I mean you talked about this a little bit in the sermon, but what do you think is the purpose of that question? Why would he start there? Do you want to get well?
Bob:Yeah, I added in you had the suggestion about some other people have kind of gone down the victim mentality route, uh, that this guy really is using his his infirmity as an excuse to not to not go and pursue healing. Um I think that's probably a part of it. Uh but to me, I think it is this Jesus sees into his heart and sees that it's a deeper spiritual issue that um is is at the heart of of this man. So him even wanting to go in the water and getting healed physically and everything is sort of tangential to the main point that he he needs to get right with God, that he needs to see Jesus for who he is and give his life to him. Um and so Jesus is is asking the question Do you do you really want to come to me? Do you really do you really see me for who I am? And I I think that's evidenced by the fact that when he does, which we we talked a little bit about, when he leaves, and the Pharisees confront him, or the Jewish leaders confront him, he doesn't tell them that it was Jesus who healed him, and then Jesus comes later on and confronts him, kind of like Dave did with Tim over Kid Rock. Why does he say that? Why does he chase him down later? Yeah, I think he chases him down because he doesn't he doesn't acknowledge him before the Jewish leaders. Because then right after that, we're told he goes back to the Jewish leaders and tells them that it was Jesus who healed him. So initially he's, I guess, too afraid to do that, and then later on, after Jesus confronts him again, he does go back and do that. He does go back and acknowledge Jesus uh action publicly. So to me, that that indicates there was there was something different at the beginning that changed after Jesus came back to him.
Dave:Those are two really cool stories about healing. Um, I think statistically in the Christian church, in church history, healing would be the exception, not the rule for now. Um, I mean, most people who suffer from disabilities in this life will have them until the day that they die. So um, and all of us, by the way, will die of something if at some he tarries. Um so some are healed. Um we want to see that. We believe in miracles, and Jesus certainly has the power to heal. But um how do we understand the fact that this this healing is um true and wonderful, but at the same time there's lessons for us in the the groaning, in the in the phase of not being healed. How can how can we how can we understand what God's calling us to do if we don't experience the wonderful healing of the passages? In the waiting. Those were two really wonderful stories. Happy endings, but it's not always like that.
Bob:Yeah. Well, you're gonna talk about the groaning next week, right? You're gonna be a lot of groaning next week, Pastor Dave. Um and I think I sweat the appetite. Right. I did say that somewhere in in in the message, and I think this is the way I that the way that I um I understand it. Yes, Jesus healed some, not all. Uh healing is the exception. Uh, not to say that he won't, not to say that we shouldn't come to him in faith. But I think when Jesus does healing in the gospels, it is it is intentional, and that's part of the point he's making in John 9, is that I'm doing this man is going to be healed so that it's gonna point people to to God in the healing, but even in not in the healing, God still gets the glory for our life as we continue to trust in him. And I I think that's why the question to the man in John 5 uh cuts to the heart. Do you want to get well? And I think it's a spiritual diagnostic question. Because even if we don't, if even if we are not physically healed, so to speak, and there's you know, w we could have discussions about what exactly does that that mean. Um what is full restor, you know, will we we could have some some some type of healing in this in this life, maybe not full restoration until the new heavens and new earth. Um but e even in the midst of the suffering and the groaning, Jesus still comes to us and says, Do you want to do you wanna get well? Do you want to do you see me? Do you trust in me? Because I think when we um fully give our lives to Jesus, when we learn to trust him even more, when things don't go our way, when we're when we're clinging to him, no matter what comes into our lives, we can still face it with certainty and with um confidence that God's going to be with us, even if we don't experience that full restorative healing that will come in the future. Um and I think that's part of the question that Jesus is getting at with that man in John 5, which then I think also plays out into John and to John 9 as well. Um so trust him. Trust him in the midst of all of that. Trust him uh if there's healing, if there's not healing, um, trust that he's he's walking he walk he's walking you through that, he's got a purpose, and he's gonna be with you no matter what comes your way.
Dave:Yeah, all right. Well, was there anything else? Or does that pretty much wrap up your sermon commentary?
Bob:I no, I think that's it, other than um I think Johnny, speaking of Johnny and Friends, Johnny Erickson Tata has been a great example of that, that she's been a quadruplegic her whole life and has not been healed of that n yet in this life, but her ministry has expanded to a worldwide impact. Um, and God certainly has gotten the glory through that. So that's a great ministry that you should definitely check out.
Dave:One time I was watching Johnny speak, and she was, I think she was on location in Israel, maybe by the pool. Um and she was having uh Jesus moment there. I don't remember which pool. Are they both still archaeological archaeologically available?
Bob:One of them is definitely uh Jeff Callender told me pool of Bethesda, definitely. He had the pictures, but the pool of Salome, um, he said, I'm not sure we can find that one. Because that one might have been more shallow, it might have had a uh original aqueduct that is dried up, so that one's harder to find. Okay.
Dave:Well, I'm not sure. You look up the story. I think it must have been Bethesda. She was sitting by the pool of Bethesda, and then you know, there was hundreds of people at the pool of Bethesda who were not healed. There's just this one guy, and she said uh at that moment in that place location, she came to the place where she said, Thank you, Lord, for saying no. And reflecting on how God has used her to pursue him, to pursue the main thing, which is a relationship with him and holiness, yeah, and now the impact that she's had because of the fact that he said no. Right. And it would have been very different if he said yes. She wouldn't have done the same things that she did. Yeah, yeah. So we pursue him now for the sake of our own holiness, and finally we will all receive everlasting health. Well, we're going to the groaning next week, along with the body, and we'll see some more truths.
Bob:And then we'll have a new body on the final week.
Dave:So we'll end with some really fantastic hope.
Tim:Well, stay tuned to Upside Down Glory as we continue in this series. For many parents, one of the deepest pains they carry is a relationship with an adult child that's. No longer feels close, or it feels broken altogether. Maybe communication has slowly faded. Maybe conversations feel tense, fragile, or filled with uncertainty. Or maybe your adult child has gotten no contact and you're left wondering how things even reach this point in the first place. Estrangement between parents and adult children has reached epidemic levels in our culture today, and some studies suggest that as many as one in four families are experiencing some form of estrangement. And for many parents, the hurt is real, ongoing, and often carried in silence. When Love Hurts, Parents of Adult Prodigal Children is a new group designed to walk alongside parents navigating these painful realities. Through group discussion, prayer, and spiritual discernment, this group exists to offer understanding, encouragement, and Christ-centered hope. The group will meet Tuesday nights from 6 30 p.m. right here at NBC, beginning February the 17th. If you are a parent walking through this season and feeling alone, you don't have to carry it by yourself. This group is here for you. And that brings us to where are we now? Um Noah Graves.
Bob:Noah claims he's got the hardest theology sprint in the history of theology sprints of the world. That is true.
Noah:And with that, I have a new rule that I am going to be allowing. Um so from now on, I will always lead with my hardest question on uh stock. And then if it is too difficult for this week, you always have the option to uh tune in the easy option. We have to admit that it's too hard. Is that what you're saying? Yes. I know Pastor Dave likes to play basketball. Think of it as you can either A take the initial game-winning three-pointer or B the warm-up layup. So I think it's like playing horse, right? All right, so here we go. This week's Theology Sprint question is in Matthew 10, 33, Jesus says, But whoever denies me before men, I will I also will deny before my father who is in heaven. Does this mean Jesus will deny Peter before God the Father, since Peter denied Jesus before men three times? Oh. No.
Dave:That's about full allegiance. That that passage, I oftentimes use that in the baptism waters. So this is talking about acknowledgement of the Lord uh in a moment of public proclamation and express expressing our allegiance to him, uh, not being ashamed of him. That does not mean that we will not also have momentary failure from time to time in our lives, such as Peter. He had a fearful evening, three fearful moments, three times he denied him, and he stumbled, which we all will stumble um under stress. But Peter was forgiven and very clearly restored in John chapter 21, as he denied him three times around a charcoal fire, by the way, same Greek word. And then in John 21, around a charcoal fire, Jesus three times asks him, Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. Um, and so the first passage in Matthew 10 is about who are you publicly loyal to, right? So uh you acknowledge Christ, and I'll acknowledge you before my Father. And that's our oftentimes in Baptist circles, that's our baptism. That's what we do. That's that's how we profess our faith. That's how we do it. We we don't necessarily raise our hand or sign a card or uh pray a prayer. We look to our baptism as the moment that we publicly declare our allegiance in Christ. That's that's our initiation right here in our our uh our tradition. But you know, I think it's a little a little bit um uh well let's just say we all have our moments of failure and Jesus is very gracious.
Bob:What would you add? Well to me it seems a bit like the um the uh discussion in the in the warning passages in Hebrews. So it's it's uh you know, your point about Peter stumbling one time okay, we understand that we can get weak, but if there's a continual denial of him before uh men, that's when judgment uh comes. Um because it it's sort of proof that you really never were following him in the first place. Um seems to me that there'd be a bit of a bit of a similar uh discussion there. It's a continual state of denial that maybe he's warning about rather than a one-time weakness. Yeah. Yeah. So good question. Noah, not that hard. Like an elbow pull-up, jump out. No, just a false uh false advertisement.
Dave:Peter was the rock, man. He's uh, you know. Obviously, having a relationship with the Lord after his denials. So well, thank you so much for uh Pentecost. He was a wrote two epistles, he got crucified upside down, he was big leader in the church.
Bob:Let's just say he uh he he repented of his his early ways. Which is good news, man. If there's hope for him, there's hope for me. Amen. Well, thanks so much for joining us on Behind the Pulpit this week. Um hopefully the weather gets a little warmer. We're on the upswing and uh the Arctic has left us. We'll see, but we hope to see you next week, and we will report on the weather at Behind the Pulpit. Go eat the frog. Go eat your frog.