Breaking Free from Performative Religion: A Conversation with Rand Hummel

speaker-1: Baptist Church in Taylor's presents This Week in the Word. Well, thank you again for joining us at this week in the Word at Faith Baptist Church. We we do this to talk about things that are going on here at our church and ⁓ relevant to our conversations centered around our ministry, but more importantly than that, centered around the Word of God. And this week at Faith, we are doing our family VBS and we're so thankful for having already kicked that off last night and looking forward to continuing tonight, Tuesday night and Wednesday night, upon the time that I'm recording this right now. And during this week we're thankful to have Rand Hummel with us. And Rand is going through a session with the adults called Behind the Mask, Breaking Free of Performative Religion. Last night he began it again, and tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday, he'll continue that conversation. So thank you, Rand, for being with again. Yeah. What one of the key components of that is this, you know, falsity that we're so prone to be using. Maybe you could begin by speaking to that. What what is that like? What is the temptation?

speaker-0: Real. I don't even think it's a volitional putting on the mask, okay. I really don't. I think it's something we just get so used to doing that we just begin to do it by habit, but then we do it because we almost have to. It's just part of our life, but there's no motivation behind it. I was just studying yesterday, looking up verses, and I don't know how to phrase this exactly. I know Second Corinthians five twenty, there's a few others. When we stand before God, it's not as much of what we did, but it's the why we did what we did. And if it's not motivated by a love for God and a love for others, then we're missing the whole the greatest commandment of all. And so I even shared last night, I was A couple of years ago, a number of years ago, I was preaching a senior trip at the wilds, ⁓ busy, busy day, took hikes, did fun time, whatever. I'm walking out of my office going to preach, and I'm thinking, whoa, ranch, you didn't even pray about this. But I preached that message like five million times before. And I'm going on senior trips, and I'm thinking, what are you doing? You're a robot. And it really challenged my heart. So I quick prayed, went and preached, and then next day I thought, Why do I do this? I have to. It's my job. And I've done it so long. I know what I'm gonna preach. Got the illustrations memorized, et cetera, et cetera. And I got thinking, so I basically do what I do because I have to and not because I want to. And ⁓ and it wasn't I didn't want to, but there was no real, real motivation. So I started reading and I called myself, I feel like a robot. And then I found out there's robots in the Bible. But they're called Pharisees. And the Pharisees look great. I mean, seriously. I mean, they are painted white and everything's beautiful on the outside. But inside, it was I'm just doing all this because that's what I have to do to be good or to look good or whatever it might be. And it really scared me. It really did. And then I thought, are you just serving Rand and not serving the Lord? And again, it wasn't a rebellion that I don't want to do this, but there was no motivation. So God spoke to my heart. really changed from that point on. And for years and years and years I get up in the morning and I get to go to do what I love. And I love teens. I love serving God. But there's such a difference when you do it because you really, really love to do it and want to do it. And that verse 'cause we're talking last night specifically, to learn not to be ⁓ just ⁓ repetitive and robotic takes the grace of God. Because Honestly, if we just try to do it in our own strength, then we're right back to being robots again. So understanding the grace of God. And so the whole message last night was what hinders us from that enabling grace of God. And then the next two nights tonight, tomorrow night, Wednesday, we're just gonna walk through Matthew six and seven and and if you want to give a title, you could say if you want to continue being a Pharisee, here's here's how you do it. None of us want that. But if you want to keep from that, then don't follow the path. ⁓ and there's eight very biblical simple truths like, you know, pretend everything's right with God. Be overly concerned with what other people think. We're just going through the chapter. ⁓ pray like a Pharisee prays. Because they had a unique way of praying, much different than the publican. Yeah. And only the publican went down justified, okay? ⁓ complain about how hard it is to serve God. Worry that you'll never have enough. Keep a critical spirit. These things are just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, describing the Pharisees. And as I read that, studied through that back then, I thought, ⁓ my word, I keep this is kinda how I live at times. I want everybody to like me, I don't want to offend anybody, and but it really didn't have the God factor in it. So my life was changed and ⁓ then when I went to New England, it was good because in New England, as you know very well, there's It's everybody says, What religion? None. They either are Christians or they're not. And they don't they're not and I have found they're not antagonistic or anti-God. That's just not part of their life at all. And so that really helped to show that there's something about a true believer that people see. And we know it's gonna be intertwined with the fruits of the Spirit. They're gonna see a love, they're gonna see a joy, a peace. They're gonna say, What is it that keeps you smiling, keeps you going, this crazy world we live in? And it really is that real, genuine I don't deserve this relationship with God. But there's not no pretense, no faking it. And that's that's the part that's really touched my heart. So

speaker-1: What ⁓ was ⁓ maybe two years ago now? I was at the wilds of New England with you and the conversation was struck about this very topic. And that's really what prompted us to invite you to come. And I think there is there there we know that there's different temptations in different environments and different stages of life and and we're all kind of products of the moment in that regard. And one of the things that I was discovering early in my tenure in the South. Especially in the bubble Bible Belt of the South, the buckle of the Bible Belt of the South, is that the temptations here are different than the temptations even from the ministry I was at before. And while I was in Florida, I was on the New England side of Florida, quite literally. It was all New Englanders. and there was exactly what you just described. You're either Christian or you're not. Here, Christianity is so in vogue That to be part of the crowd you have to be a Christian seemingly. It it'd be hard to knock on the door of someone and ask, Are you saved? without defining a little bit more terms. They would probably say yes. Yeah. Yeah. So it's easy to just coast. Right. And it's easy to dress the part. And it's almost so routine that you go to church on Sunday and you look like you go to church on Sunday and you dress like you go to church on Sunday and All of the things that are the trappings of religiosity, but they're not demonstration of a real relationship.

speaker-0: Yeah. And it really comes down to the willingness and the desire to change that, even though outwardly they might see zero change. Mm-hmm. 'Cause you're s I mean, come on, we try to do everything right and and not be distracting in any way. And I think of the Ephesians four passage in ⁓ where it says you put off the old man which is corrupt according to its deceitful lusts. It's it's the desires we have. And we say lust normally think really bad stuff, which it involves that. But it's just that selfish desire to please self. And the idea where they're so deceitful, they can lie to us and we don't even know it. The way we give, the way we pray, the way we visit people or not visit people. And so some of that that doesn't look like terrible yucky bad sin, but still is an attitude We still have to put that off. But then you renew be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that's what the Word of God does. And honestly, ⁓ we can like even the Pharisees, many of ⁓ memorized the first five books of the Old Testament. Memorized them, okay? And just it wasn't too long ago I was doing a study on Psalm one nineteen and I wanted to read David's Bible. In other words, what he considered the word of God, the penitentiary. Right. Genesis is cool. I mean, so many stories or whatever. You get to Exodus and the Exodus. But when you get halfway through Exodus, all of a sudden we got these rules and stuff. And I'm thinking, okay, ⁓ when something gonna get exciting here. Then we go to Leviticus, ⁓ it's the same thing. Then we go to Numbers, same thing. I'm thinking, wow, I'd hate to have to memorize all this. I don't think I could. But then you get to Deuteronomy and all of a sudden it explodes again with like an ⁓ a capsulization of all those others and what a joy it is and To see the power of God. But the key is when you renew your mind with the word, it's that next verse. And you put on whether that's indicative or imperative, I still haven't figured that out. Maybe you can help me with that. But you put on the new man, which is created in righteousness. You still do right. But the next part, true holiness. No pretense. No pretending. This is the real me. This is what I really, really want to do. Like this morning, the illustration. I didn't plan it, didn't think it. I was meeting with a dear friend here in Greenville, ⁓ for for coffee and for a biscuit. He told me we were a meeting, I went to the wrong place. Wrong restaurant. It was open, went in, nobody's in there. I sit down, get a cup of coffee, and the waitress comes over and we get talking and obviously there's nobody around. She had time to talk. She gives me her life story. I found out where she goes to church. Are you a Christian? etc. etcetera, etc. And she's a little down. She has a couple of boys and Has to fund them all ourselves, is working two jobs, all this. Hey, can I pray with you? And just to be encouragement, I do a little daily meditation. I said, On your way to work, I gave her my cart. I said, This is just free to get some Bible. ⁓ thank you. I want to do that. Okay. All that was, and then I get a phone call from my friend, said, Where are you? I said, Where are you? And I said, ⁓ I already drank a half cup coffee. She said, ⁓ don't worry about it. So I went to the other restaurant, okay. And what I'm saying is just Somebody uses the phrase in the Melu or Melu of I don't even know what that word is. Just in life, who can you be a blessing to? Who who can you love to the Lord a little bit? Or find out if they already love the Lord, okay? And share some things. And she told me I don't even know the name of her church or where it is, but wherever she goes to church, she says, ⁓ we have seen so many people saved and baptized right now. It's really exciting. Amen. That's great. That is wonderful, okay? And I said all that to say When we really seek for God to change even the things that maybe nobody else will notice, we change the why. We think what we think because we love what we love. And we think about what we love the most. And you look at your day, you look at your schedule. Is it comfort? Is it my free time or this activity? How often do we really think, how can I be a blessed to my pastor? What missionary can I be a blessing to? Maybe just call them or find out they have a special need or just just constantly looking how I can love God and others, God and others. Once that becomes, if that becomes robotic, I wouldn't want it. But if it comes because I really want to do that from heart, then it's a joy to do that.

speaker-1: How do you do that? I I I was as you were talking, I was reminded of a a message. I probably heard it years ago. I might have been ⁓ in freshman or sophomore in college ⁓ and a friend sent it to me. It was a John MacArthur message and he was answering that question, Well, how do you actually do that? And he gave a instruction in his conclusion on what you should pray for. Okay. If you're struggling and you're saying, I wish I had that relationship with God, but I don't have it and MacArthur said, Well then just pray That God would change the taste buds on the tongue of your heart. So that what should taste good to you does taste good to you. And the Bible is sweet as honey, all of those things. And that that is a segue I'd like to take is often in our lives it is it becomes a decision, especially in a culture of Christianity which is morally quote unquote good. The decision is not as often between outright wicked rebellion and holy righteous, you know, the two ⁓ the devil on one side, the angel on the other. It's it's more often decision between what we might determine to be good and what God says is best. And the priorities have to be defined by the word of God, which is what you keep coming back to. So how do I decide between, well this is good. I could do this, but this is best.

speaker-0: Yes, yeah.

speaker-1: This is what God would have me to do that's best.

speaker-0: Well, what you're saying to me is Philippians two thirteen. It is God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. In other words, what he wants to he wants us to please him. So what really brings pleasure to God? We know it's faith. Without faith it's impossible to please God. But he gives us to do to to do and to will. He gives us the desire and then the enablement, the ability to do the desire. He does okay, he doesn't give us what we desire. He gives us the desire, and he puts it in our heart. You commit your way into the Lord. He will put within you the desire of your heart. I will say real quick this way, I was at a Christian school in Pennsylvania, and I love to do this with teens. Hey, what do you want to do when you're really, really old, ⁓ like 32? What do you want to be doing at that point, okay? And the kids are raised, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a missionary, I want to be a pastor, I wanna be a nurse, home. A school teacher, all this stuff. And then the kid raised his hand and said, I want to be a professional mud jeep driver. And all the kids laughed at him. So I walked over and said, Are you serious? ⁓ I love Jeeps. I want to be racing through the okay. I said, that is cool. I have a Jeep, and I really do. I have a 98 ⁓ Wrangler. I got great big wheels. I got an Angry Bird in the front for the kids. They love that. I love my Jeep. Okay. Well. And I told him, I said, now if you're gonna do that, you better get a job and train to be a mechanic, because you're gonna break axles and everything in that. And you gotta make some money in this, okay? But if you do that and you become really, really good, I mean really good, did you know there's very, very few Christians in that world? And buddy, you could be the closest thing to God that they have ever seen. And the whole class gets quiet. What is God put within your heart to do? What do you love to do? Then do it in a way that it opens up more avenues for you to be a blessing to somebody, okay? And I really, really believe 'cause most guys, okay, most guys my age, the idea of hanging with teens and preaching to ⁓ I actually love it. And I get asked all the time, how do you know when you're done being a youth pastor and need to move on? I said easy. When junior high boys literally irritate you. I said, no, I just think that they walk around a lot stupid in their pockets. Okay, they're just crazy weird. I call them free people. But when they really irritate you, they know. They know. And if you just can't love them for that stage of life, then they're actually quite fun. And even though they act really weird, they are much, much much, much smarter and perceptive than we think they are. They're picking up a lot.

speaker-1: Well, and it is it is though this decision between good and bas best is a tension point, I think, for people in our climates. You you more or less are in it too, having been involved in camps and in and out of churches and things. And that is certainly what the Pharisees they could have told you all the laws and they could have told you how they were doing better than the standard. You know, they were writing on to it and exemplaring it. ⁓ this past week at our church we hosted the interim pastors conference for GFA and Marsh Fance guys were in here and what a blessing those guys are to help churches in their transition. And in conversation with many of them, ⁓ one of the fellows that's been doing it now for several years almost since its formation, ⁓ stated, you know, he meets with these pulpit committees in these churches and he'll ask an open ended question. What are you looking for in a pastor? And they'll list all of these masks I don't know else to describe it. Yeah, I know what you're saying. And they're not word based. And then he'll he'll he'll he won't correct it and he'll ask a follow up. Now, okay, that's glad to hear that, you know, ⁓ interesting. At least ⁓ you can always say something nice. And then he'll say, Now what would you like your church to look like in five years? Another open ended question and another list of masks. You know, I want fellowship, generally speaking. I want fun for my kids to have. I want and it's not word based. And I guess it's what I keep coming back to. The difference between good and best is what God defines it as. Yeah. In His Word. Yeah. So how do I break off the mask? Seems to me that it's when you meditate on your on the Word of God, which is the point you drove home in just about every message yesterday that you were in. Come back to the Word of God. Come back to the Word of God.

speaker-0: Well, and it's it's also like with the question, okay, if I want to be motivated by love, how do you grow in your love for the Lord? Like if I asked you, how can a person grow in their love for the Lord? What's the first thing that comes up? Be in But there's another one.

speaker-1: Right. Be in the word. Right.

speaker-0: Okay. And nobody talks about. Yeah. It's in the book of Luke, I think it's chapter seven, if I'm not mistaken. And Jesus, he goes, he's invited to a a Pharisee's house and preachers, like a preacher meeting. He gets there, nobody greets him, nobody says hi. He just goes in. And then while he's there, reclining like they would do, this woman came in who's called a sinner. What she was, whether or she or not she's a prostitute, we don't know, but she was a sinner. And I knew somewhere before. Obviously Jesus had already met and healed her and forgiven her, okay? But she, like many of us who maybe have a past, am I really forgiven? Does God really love me? You struggle with that. A lot of people do, okay? And she's there weeping, weeping. So the way the story goes, ⁓ Simon the the Pharisee, it doesn't even say he said anything, he thought, who let this woman in? If he if this Jesus knew who that was, there's no way he would allow this. And all of a sudden the Bible says, and Jesus answered him, He didn't say anything. So that does teach me never think anything you don't want the Lord to answer. And they told the story. Two people owe a lot of money, or one owes, we'll say, ⁓ five hundred thousand dollars, the other fifty dollars. They're both forgiven. Who loves the most? He got the answer right, those who are forgiven the most. And this is where we forget.

speaker-1: He's listening.

speaker-0: When we spend time with the Lord and dig into his word, you take First Corinthians thirteen, the elements of love, you take the fruit of the Spirit, you walk through Philippians four, eight, when it talks about what to think about, okay? When you walk through these quote unquote biblical lists, and you don't stop and slow down and think of the antonym, and do I really love or am I hateful? Do I have joy or am I grumpy? Is there peace or am I always worried? When you take both of those, okay? And all of a sudden I think, ⁓ Lord, I am such a mess. Thank you, thank you for forgiving me. So this is what I encourage us to do. Get in the Word, realize how wonderful God is, but kind of bring to your mind how wicked you are, to whom much is forgiven. If we really stop and think what He actually forgave us of, we don't deserve heaven. We don't deserve forgiveness. We don't deserve any of that. And sometimes you just want to say, Lord, why, why, why did you let me know you and be saved? I don't deserve this. So when you're truly seeing, maybe not just the the ⁓ what's the word, the day by day wickedness, but the potential wickedness that could be in our hearts if we didn't walk with God. And I think sometimes we think we're doing pretty good. I think that's exactly what the Pharisee prayed. Look at me, look at him. And he, humbly the publican, went to his house justified. So to increase in your love for the Lord, concentrate on how wonderful God is and how wicked or potentially wicked we could be, and you're going to love him more. You're going to love him more. I promise you.

speaker-1: And you're gonna love others more. ⁓ totally. It's in

speaker-0: You won't be judgmental 'cause you'd think I'm just as bad as Sam, but God forgave me. A guy came to me last night. I don't know his name, who he was. He goes, You never wish that you could like maybe start over? I said, Buddy, you can. You ask God to forgive you. He cleanses you from all unrighteousness. And at that point you start over. And you can do that tonight. Yeah. It was really sweet. I don't know who he was, but some guy

speaker-1: Yeah, the relational graces then come to play. That might be one of the temptations. You know, when when you observe you brought up the Pharisees, when you observe and you brought up the you know, the story of the Pharisee and the publican, that the you know, it that's a a parabolic story. Right. But it's demonstrative of what connected with the audience. Yes. And you read the Pharisee, he is looking over here the whole time and he's saying, This guy, this guy, I'm glad I'm not like him, whatever. And then you look at the publican who does go home justified and he didn't look at anybody but God. And he recognized something in himself. And and perhaps that's where the mask comes on. It's when we begin there's many days, but w it w maybe the the fruit you could say is this relational distance that's created.

speaker-0: Yeah. And by the way, it's one of the only parables that Jesus before he spoke it told who it was to. Right. He said, Yeah, this is for you guys that think you're okay. Yeah. You think you're already right, okay? You think you're better than everybody else. And then he gives the parable. Yeah, yeah. It's an interesting parable really.

speaker-1: It is. The the thing that I wanted to continue this conversation about though is even related to this week and the unique dynamic of what we're doing. It's a family VBS. It's really not a traditional VBS in almost any sense of the word, but we have a fun rally, skit game, silly songs. The kids dismiss and ⁓ with them a lot of the workers that have the energy enthusiasm to go with them. And then you're speaking to a lot of some parents, a lot of the older people as well. And we have a unique week where the the demographics come together. Yeah. Yeah. And you and I, even before we hit record, we're talking about that. Just the uniqueness of the crowd that you're in. And sometimes I'll just say before I give it to you again, is we just finished the life of David. Right. And ⁓ David towards the end of his life is weak and frail. First Kings chapter one has this we'll just call it weird story of David not being able to warm himself. And and then First Kings chapter two, David has one more and you see the heart of the go of God in this man who's weak, he's sinned, he's but he wants to give Solomon this final charge. Yeah. And in that message I I reference the fact that God wants to use you when you're living and breathing. That's the category. You say I I can't do that when I'm old, I can't do that when I'm young. Those are the temptations. If the devil can get you to believe that, he can get you to not do anything. And now here you are speaking to a pretty wide swath. I know our children are leaving. Can God still use us regardless of what age stage we're in? Totally.

speaker-0: Totally, totally. And I'm very firm on that. If you can breathe, you can pray. And it's almost I know for me, it's almost like, hey, this grandpa came to our school and he really taught us how to pray. So w where does the age thing fit in? And right now I'm Christian schools time, we don't even find anybody to come speak in chapels. You know, they it's it's just it is tough out there. So first of all I gotta say, I don't know if I've ever seen a vacation bible school quite like this and I think it is just amazing. 'Cause I watched the people that are older watching you guys send your interns out spitting water up in the air with the fountains and the music. And then when you taught that song, that chorus. Quartet. That's amazing. That's amazing. And I'm seeing people eighty years old trying to keep rhythm and clapping with you and I just thought this is fun. And the people are having fun watching the kids have fun, okay? And then the kids of course they run out and they get to go do their things. And then the way you have it set up and you bring everybody in the middle, well their hearts are already it's just a fun atmosphere, okay? And there's a there's an anticipation. They're here 'cause they really want to be here. They don't have to come. ⁓ no. But they're here 'cause they want to be here. So what you're doing, ⁓ is you're giving every single age group the ability, first of all, to mix together, to watch each other now I'm sure the kids aren't even thinking, they're getting out of there. They you have what do you have chocolate chip cookies or something?

speaker-1: I didn't stand There was I was we told before we there was fifty some odd three and four year olds last night. Our workers went home tired.

speaker-0: They did. But you know okay, if you want a church, you mentioned the word healthy and strong. You gotta have kids. Yeah. You gotta have some youthfulness and That that youthful, unbelievable faith that they have in God. Like God is who he says he is. We get older, sometimes we forget that. You know, I shared like yesterday I read those letters from second graders. You know, hey God, I think you got confused because ⁓ what I prayed for was not a brother but a puppy. And everybody laughs, but that kid meant that. He really meant that. And We can well Jesus said let you become like little children. You don't become childish. You become childlike. True, implicit faith. And that's why so many trust Christ when they're young. If somehow we could get rid of the spiritual amnesia that so many of us face when we get older, we forget what it was like the day we trusted Christ at age six or eight or ten. And we forget the joy that it brought us when we actually spent time with God five days in a row. It was so cool. You know what I'm saying? And ⁓ I mean I'm privileged, I have a camp guy, and and I get to write six-week Bible studies and constantly keep saying, Thank you. This first time in my life I ever was able to go for like a couple months faithful to my devotions and all this. But they have that youthful joy that we shouldn't none of us should ever lose that. So what you're doing by them seeing all this, and again you're skits. And man, you guys spend an awful lot of time on that set and everything. But it's really cool. I wish everybody in Greenman would come. There wouldn't be room for them all. But But honestly, if they want to come and see people that enjoy laughing ⁓ and loving the Lord, and I get asked a lot regarding home, hey, tell ⁓ you laugh a lot and you love a lot. And then you learn everything you can about your Lord. These are just simple things for the kids to have good memories of growing up.

speaker-1: ⁓ we'll take him. Yeah, we'll take him we'll squeeze ⁓ in. I I this is our third year doing the Family BBS. Okay. And I'd say the format this year really uniquely connects to the theme though in that regard. Yeah. Because you know, we have a lot of fun, but it does strike a chord to go y yeah, I I hope that the the adults are seeing it. Like that this is these kids are excited about what you're excited about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we started last night with just having some of the adults come and play games and it was silly and dumb. Yeah. But it is true that is a parent, a grandparent, a a a a teacher, when a child is going to get excited about what you're excited about. What if our adults were really excited about serving God? Yeah and said it it is is it hard? There are hard times. But I'd rather go through hard times serving Jesus.

speaker-0: Yeah. You know one thing that ignites the joy in a church and in hearts? Bringing your unsaved friends in and watching them trust Christ. ⁓ yeah. Amen. And then when you get to baptize them and they make that public confession, you should be laughing or crying one to two. You're excited but you're crying as the tears of joy. And what they do is then they're so excited about the Lord then they get their friends and come. And it's contagious, it really is. First Thessalonians, how three, four, five weeks, Paul wasn't there long. And their contagious joy, contagious faith, contagious hope spread like wildfire. And it does that when people come and see their need for Christ. And so that's why I encourage our normal churchgoers, make it a point to see if you can get at least four or five people to come to your church with you. And this is a perfect

speaker-1: This is a perfect.

speaker-0: They want something for their kids. I talked to a family last night, don't go to your church, they're coming tonight. Yeah. Because ⁓ they have nursery for the little ones and my younger ones can have fun and

speaker-1: There was a lady last night, ⁓ she'd been praying for some her friends that she'd met to come to church. Yep. ⁓ late and ⁓ last night they were there. They have no kids. Mm-hmm. And it's just their their their oldest is just getting into college and they had two kids, college and then ⁓ high school, and then mom. Yep. And they're there. Yep. And they're coming back tomorrow. Good. Or tonight, I guess. Tonight, they're coming back tonight. But there's an enthusiasm and an excitement.

speaker-0: And that and that that is contagious.

speaker-1: Is it you've served the Lord now, you've been in ministry for how long? Any regrets? Not no.

speaker-0: Right. No. Yes. And I said it last night because they asked me. I wish I was fifty again. Right. My only regret, if I could go back and be fifty again, I don't like being seventy. And I could just do it all again. I'm serious. If I could do it all again, I would. And I've learned things over the years and I try to be more understanding and more loving and try to really just step back and

speaker-1: Yes, in a sense. You would serve Lord again.

speaker-0: And not formulate what I'm gonna say within seconds of them speaking, but listen to them and their heart and then ask God for wisdom, biblical wisdom, on how to help ⁓ I would slow down a little bit, if you know what I mean.

speaker-1: I don't know if Rand Hummel can slow down. Well, we're thrilled to have you again this week and we're recording this in hopes that if you're listening or watching that you'll join us ⁓ again. We're gonna be having it tonight, ⁓ as I at the time of this recording we'll have another session. Tonight's session at the time of this recording would be

speaker-0: Right. Tonight's session is help, I see a little Pharisee in me in points one, two, and three, how we need to be very, very careful not to become Pharisaical. And the three main points are simply don't pretend everything's right with the Lord, don't be overwhelmed with what other people think, and don't pray like a Pharisee. And we're going to walk through how the Pharisees prayed and then what Jesus wants us to do.

speaker-1: Without maybe locking yourself into allowing the and still allowing the spirit to move. But w where are you going Tuesday and Wednesday then?

speaker-0: Okay. tonight's Monday, right? See, basically we'll get three of ⁓ done tonight and then we'll do there's five more. Sure. And the one that's a biggie is being willing to forgive, but truly understand forgiveness. Forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is a promise. Okay. And we're gonna deal with that heavily 'cause that holds a lot of people back. And when it's

speaker-1: Night is Monday.

speaker-0: I'm not saying it's it's simple. I'm not saying it's always easy, but simple. And Lord willing, we'll see. I don't want to give the the

speaker-1: Don't give it all away. We've got to leave some things. Spoiler alert. Yeah.

speaker-0: But the title would be on Wednesday night, Marturia Phobia.

speaker-1: Boy, that's a great radio tease to come back on Wednesday to know what that is. Well, we are thrilled for this week. God's already been doing the work and we'd love to have you join us. Everything starts six o'clock with registration for the kids. Actually we have some fun things in the auditorium. The first official ceremony every night is at six thirty. And ⁓ we'd love to have you join us. If for some reason you're not able to join us or you're watching or or listening to this after it's already finished, all of Rand's sessions will be recorded and posted and and you can certainly go back. and watch or listen to them in that way. But thank you, Rand, for jumping on here with us. And thank you for watching us ⁓ at this week in the Word. Thank you for joining us today. Faith Baptist Church www dot fbct.org

speaker-0: Information about the church, visit us at Taylors.org ⁓