EP 31: SCC Savor, Month 8, Days 7-13

Allen: Well, welcome back to the SCC Saver podcast. My name is Alan. One of your co hosts. And I'm Jeremy Rennie, the other co host. The other co host. The best co host. Just kidding. We don't rank our co hosts. No. No, we would never do that. No, no, no, no. Teddy and Gr Chris are great too. Yeah, they're great. And the Bobby, like we had them like once. Maybe we'll get them back. In fact, they're so great they're rarely on. That's right. Because they're doing other great things. Exactly. Yes. If they weren't doing great things, then they'd always be here. Yeah. Because they'd be unhelpful. Yeah. Just keep talking. That's great. Yeah, that's great. Well, we savor God through every bite of scripture on this podcast. And before we get into our Bible reading discussion. I have a couple questions for you as it relates to you being a pastor, having done many years of ministry, seen everything from the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs. here's my question. You ready? All right, go. Which Bible character do you think would be the most difficult church member? wow. Gosh. I mean, okay, this may be like kind of like a cheating answer, but Judas. I mean, I don't know. I mean that's kind of an easy one because like you think he's solid. Yeah. He's like walking around with Jesus. He's he's the keeper of the purse. He's r obviously he's responsible enough they trusted him with the money. Mm-hmm. Or at least they thought he was. And then at the end, you know, he's the guy who stabs Jesus in the back and ends up turning out to be a thief. So I would say it'd be someone who you really leaned on and put all your trust into and thought they were solid and then you find out there's been this whole Yeah. I mean, that just guts you in ministry. And it happens. You someone you Yeah, I'm sure you've you've seen it. Yep. It it happens. You have someone that you thought was really trustworthy and you r like they were your confidant or someone and then they betray you. And it happens the other way too. Like, you know, where where churches have a pastor And they like thought he was a great guy. And then suddenly you find out there's been like this secret double life. He's been leading for years. And it, you know, the pastor can be the Judas. So so so I think that's the hardest. because I mean, you know, you could think like Peter, but at least like Peter, you know what he thinks. Like I actually don't mind church members who come right at me and are like, I think this. And I'm like, Great, we can have a conversation. Yeah, that's right. We can have a clear. It's clear. Clarity is charity, as they say. Yeah, clarity is charity. And and I and so I don't mind people who are direct, even direct with their issues. it's it's harder when when you're like, I think there's something weird, but I don't know what's wrong or why that person's upset. But when they just come at you like a Peter and be like, I think this, you're like, cool. Yeah. Now I can either like agree or debate or listen or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. Yeah. Okay, here's your next question. okay. Related. Because I think sometimes you know, like difficult church member things, theological things and it's good to wrestle with things, but it's like there's also times when people just love to argue about things, love to argue about maybe insignificant things. Yes. yeah so what's maybe a theological question, debate, or argument that you think Christians will laugh about? It's like why did we spend so much time talking about this when we get to heaven? the rapture. Okay. What are I mean, the way Christians get so fired up about that, yeah, and even turn it into like a test of orthodoxy. Yeah. Like if you don't believe the way I do on the rap, I'm like, that's the dumbest thing to get fired up about. Because like, who cares? Like you're you know, like is the rapture before a tribulation, after mid like, well, what does it matter? Like in the end, we're gonna be standing in victory with Christ. Yeah, that's right. And whether Christ took us back before a tribulation or after or you know, however it is, it's also speculative. But Christians for some reason on that issue, like plant their flags and their identity. And like we'll even be like, well, I can't really go to that church because it's mid rapture. I just think like, yeah, we're gonna get to heaven and be like, man, we wasted a lot of paper on that one. A hundred and it's just funny because it's one of those things where it's like you can't influence it. Mm-hmm. Meaning like like hey, there's some maybe, you know, of course, bigger things you could argue about, right? It's like, hey, how do we structure our church, do these things that actually influence the way you live a lot and do things, but like you can't control when rapture is gonna happen. Right. So it's just like why are we yeah, and what yeah, exactly. And and you know, it's like like if if Jesus comes back be if if there's some kind of rapture before the glorious appearance of Christ. Right. Let's say there is. The people who don't think there that's gonna happen are gonna be going up anyway. And they're gonna be like, great. Well, I guess I was wrong. All right, great. And the pe and if and if, you know, if if the the the description of the rapture, like in first Timot in Thessalonians four is actually also a description of the glorious second appearing of Christ. So that his he gathers up as saints when he appears. It's not like the people who believe the other way. are gonna be like, well, I'm not going. Yeah, yeah. Because it didn't fall into my theology. Like we're all gonna be like, yeah, that's true. So I I just think it's the most preposterous thing to get wrapped around the axle about. Yeah. Yeah. It is funny. I heard heard someone say that that doesn't hold a you know, a pre trib rapture view. Yeah. They go, you know, I'm happy to change my theology midair. Yeah. Like I think that's gonna be one where Like you know, people said, See, I told you and we're all gonna laugh. Yeah and like like you know that's great. It's like each other in the air moving. Yeah, that's great. All right, let's get into our discussion. This is month eight, days six through thirteen. We're gonna comment on the n end of Ezra, Nehemiah one through seven, Proverbs six through eleven, Luke fourteen twenty-five to seventeen nineteen, and then into first Timothy and then into second. Timothy. and so we'll kinda pick up at the end here, Ezra Nehemiah. we concluded kind of at the end of Ezra, it just kind of big picture is you know, they're coming back into Jerusalem, and and there's now performing these reforms to get back to worship. That's right. They've rebuilt the temple, they're bringing the people back into obedience to the law of God. Mm-hmm. Right. So it's a rebuilding, you know. The temple, the worship, the people, their their obedience. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then so now we get into Nehemiah. Right. and so these are again kind of written same same time, kind of a continuous story. And Nehemiah's really cool, really interesting. I I I love this book. just especially the prayer about their confession of sin is just kind of the model of of what sin should be. It's their admittance, Nehemiah's prayer here at the beginning is their admittance. Of breaking the law of doing things wrong. And then Nehemiah's whole charge is let's get back. Let's get back to how the Lord has prescribed things. We've sinned and we want to be attentive to how God has prescribed him and to his mercy. And like that's what was also real encouraging as I think I was just reading it. It's like, man, you can come back to the Lord. Yeah. And and I think, you know, it starts with his prayer. and and the book is punctuated with prayer. And so, you know, he has this great task on his heart, but and and we're gonna see he like labors and sacrifices and fights and stands, but it's all born along by prayer. And so I so I think, you know, Nehemiah is a go-to book for me when I think about the hard work of ministry, when I think about the hard work of being a gospel worker, whether it's being a pastor of a church or if you're, you know, a church member and you're trying to disciple somebody or You're serving in the youth ministry or, you know, whatever, or, you know, missions workers or just any kind of time you're you're laboring for the Lord. If you're like an elder or a deacon and you're trying to do work, I you know, Ne Nehemiah is gonna be a go to book because it shows what it's like to do the work of the Lord. it's hard. Yeah, it it takes prayer, it takes God's, you know, like. One of the lines in Nehemiah is the gracious hand of God is upon us. So like it has to be his power. there will be opponents who don't want things to change. You know, Nehemiah is trying to to change things according to God's word. Yeah. And so anytime you're like trying to follow God's word, there will always be opponents. even peop people inside, people outside. Yeah, that that's what's interesting. These are people inside, right? We know people outside are gonna be opponents. But the it's the people inside even. It's like we gotta get back to the word. Gotta be back to the word. how do you find, you know, just kind of through our listeners thinking about this, what's the endurance and hope to persevere in the midst of opp opposition when you're trying to do things God's way? you know, how yeah, how do you how do you persevere through trying to do the Lord's work? 'Cause I think sometimes we have this kind of idea that if I give myself to the Lord's work, it's gonna just be like Blessing upon blessing, victory upon victory. You know, no weapon forged against me shall prosper. And I'm just gonna like like walk in victory. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my experience in doing the Lord's work is that the Lord gives you victories, but it's it's with a constant opposition of all different sorts. so you're right. It does take endurance. and so where does so back to your question, where does the endurance come from? and and the answer it it comes from a big view of God. Yeah. And believing that He is sovereign, that He accomplishes His Word, that He is in control of all things. I mean, to me, the sovereignty of God is is the great truth, coupled with the love of God, that He is for me and He's for His Word. And so if I'm following His Word, He's gonna be for that. And that He is sovereign even over the the opponents and and even when the opponents seem to be doing things or when negative circumstances seem to be undercutting things, I can be like, All right, God is, you know, playing four D chess with the with the universe. Like like we say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's way ahead of it all. And so I c I can even kind of take a breath in the apparent setbacks and difficulties 'cause I know the Lord is at work. Yeah. That's true. And and that seems to be Nehemiah. He's just trusting. y you know, Nehemiah four fourteen Don't be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe inspiring Lord and fight for your countrymen, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes. Yeah. So it's it wasn't just like we can do this, like Jerusalem strong, like we're we're we're awesome, believe in ourselves. He's like, No, we just have to remember that God is awesome. Yeah. And that's what carries you through. Yeah. the challenges of ministry in life. Yeah. And if you lose that big picture of God, then it's down to like your own self and your own politics and abilities and and that runs out real fast. Mine aren't good enough. No. I don't know about you, but no, no. Yeah. yeah, on that same in that same vein, just thinking about we were doing a young adult missionary study and we were just talking about different missionaries throughout church history and whatnot. And they mentioned something of of Expect think great things from God and do great things for God. It's like expect that the sovereign God is gonna do great things like he did in Nehemiah. Nehemiah clearly had expectancy that God would show up when he did things according to the way that he wanted to do them. And then he also did great things. So how did by the way, how did your how did the young adults study missionaries? Did you have like a curriculum? yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was a little curriculum called missionary. it's another missionary. Yeah, it's called missionary. if you're listening, go check out. They've got a whole website. Things they've got a conference and stuff coming up. They've also put out resources. but yeah, it was it was videos recorded, I think like thirty-five, forty minute videos. I'm like, Adam Aaron Judson. would this be a good thing for like a small group Bible study that's like, Hey, we want to take six weeks and or eight weeks. I don't know how many videos. Yeah. I mean, there's usually six in these ministry. It's either six or eight. Yeah. That's how you know. Yeah. But like, you know, it's Yeah, and maybe that's like something. So if you're out there and you want to study as your small group more about missions. So th these are like the biographies of missionaries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's exactly it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just kind of yeah, they're Who was it like Andra Judson, Hudson Taylor? Yep. I assume. Yeah. guys like that. Yeah, yeah. There's a few others. Can't remember. anyway. Yeah. Anyway. But yeah, that would be great. Check out. yeah, they're And they have like little discussion guides too. Cool. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it was a lot of time. Sorry. Yeah, no, that's great that's great. It's great. It's good to just well on that on that. It's just good to study. maybe another answer to how do you endure is like look at past faithful saints. Yeah. That's a huge one. That gives you hope. yeah. Big time. Big time. Which is why the scriptures are important because, you know, you're reading Nehemiah right now and you're like, God helped Nehemiah persevere and get this wall done. Despite all kinds of headwinds. you know, the the people, you know, the people were tired, the opponents were nasty, the the pol the the politics were bad, the resources were limited. you know, it like everything was against them. And yet the Lord brought through. Yeah. Amen. Proverbs. Yeah, Proverbs which have just been filleting me. Filleting. Yeah, fillet just open the heart and filleting and slicing. Mm-hmm. It's just really made me consider. It's like, man, do I walk wisely? You know, am I doing these things? How am I pursu pursuing these things? I think something that I d just recently that God's really just been showing me as I've been reading Proverbs in the Bible, is like theologically I know this is true, but you know, there's often often a difference between your head and your heart. Mm-hmm. And it's like this is God speaking. Like like I'm meeting with God. w when I read his word and he's speaking to me. and I just think that I've been delighting in that truth recently. That like, hey, this is God's speech. This is God's word for me. and so I yeah, I've just been really encouraged by that. Some of the proverbs Well it's like our podcast, you know, tagline, we're savoring God through every bite of scripture. So we God gives us his word so that we can know him. Yeah. And s experience him through his word. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's just been really, really true. And I think just big theme thematically In Proverbs is right, you have lady wisdom and lady f folly. So Proverbs kind of one through nine is kinda like the theological foundation in this poem concludes the intro to this book where the call of Proverbs is a call to recognize, internalize, and walk in the way of wisdom. And so you have these personified. And it's like Proverbs eight talks about like wisdom is is calling. it's like are you gonna pick up the phone on wisdom? It's like are you gonna listen to God? 'Cause he's speaking. and that that just kind of really has is has resonated with me. one of the proverbs that that's in our reading, that I was reading was just Proverbs really t twelve and just the contrast of the righteous and the wicked. And just I was reading on this, I was like, Man, it's much more beneficial to live righteously, to live according to God's way. yeah, than it in like just to have honesty, teachability, integrity. But the wicked, they're dishonest, they're slothful, they're foolish, they're anxious, and nothing actually ever ends up turning out for the wicked. It always turns out for the righteous. And as we talked about last week, sometimes in this age, definitely in this age, but then especially in the age to come. So it just gives an eternal perspective to pursue righteousness, because it's a better way. I would also point out a chapter from last week, five and six, and then seven continues. the these are three wonderful chapters warning against sexual immorality. Yeah, that's great. And I I thought, you know, it's you know, the sub Lady Folly is personified or embodied in the the wayward wife. Yep. the the adulterous wife in in these texts. But I just think like, man, we live in a culture where you know the the s the allure of sexual sin is so rampant on so many levels that we we're even just kind of desensitized to that. You know, what we see on TV and and so, you know, this this is a good one to snap us back to the dangers of sexual temptation. So just encourage people to meditate on that. you know, Paul says in First Corinthians six, flee from sexual immorality. And that's the sense you get here, like flee the the you know, the adulterous woman. And again, we we understand that it's not like women are the bad temptation or something like you know, in other words, i in this story, folly and wisdom are embodied as women. But it doesn't mean that like men can't be the problem. Yeah, that's yeah. So anyway, just want to make sure c are clear this is not a good pastor. Or kind of like sexist thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it is just showing the dangers of sexual immorality. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think I think the as you just mentioned, the desensitization of it Is is rampant. It's like, man, you really gotta peel the curtain back and use wisdom and discernment. And I think that's actually the call of Proverbs is to use biblical discernment. It's like you're look, it's like if you held up a clear Bible in front of your eyes, it's like you're looking through the Bible through the world. You know, it's like I gotta filter everything through this. What is leading me in the way of righteousness, or what's leading me in the way of wickedness? And it kind of causes us to like, okay. This is leading me down the path that's leading to destruction, or it's leading me down the way of righteousness. Yeah. That's One of the things you wanna do, you know, as well, once we start moving, like next week's podcast, we'll start talking about, you know, like Proverbs e you know, eleven on and twelve on. And those, you know, at that point we're gonna get to the individual proverbs and just encourage you as you're reading those, if one really pops. You know, highlight it, write it down, put it on your bathroom mirror. Yeah. And just kind of like cause it's sometimes it's a little overwhelming. I'm sort of giving a reading strategy. Yeah, it's a little overwhelming to get all these proverbs. Yeah. So if one or two really pop, put it on your your bedroom mirror or ask yourself, like, where am I struggling? Like, is my mouth a problem? Yeah. am I have a stingy heart with money? am I arrogant? do you know, like and then and then just kind of flag that 'cause inevitably you're gonna that's gonna pop up in Proverbs. Yeah. am I in a leadership role? There's a lot of stuff on leadership here. you know, those kind of things. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great reading strategy. Just yep, make it your home screen, write it on a note, put it on your laptop, put it on your desk, just anything you can surround yourself with and engulf it to to really, you know, consider and meditate and think about. No. New Testament. We we're in a section of Luke, yeah where we have some of the more well-known parables of Jesus that are really affecting and powerful. Chapter fifteen, you have the trilogy, the troika of parables. Yeah, troika is a good word of parables. where they're basically an answer to the question, well, the the complaint that the Pharisees level against Jesus, mm-hmm, where they see him hanging out with the sinners and the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the people who were not following the law of Moses, and he's like, Why are you eating you why are you eating with them? So he tells these three parables. There's the lost sheep that Jesus goes after, You know, just as the shepherd goes after the one lost sheep. So Jesus, in a sense, saying, I'm going after the lost sheep. It's those people over there. And the same thing with the lost coin. That these, you know, the sinners are lost. So he's not denying they're lost. Jesus isn't saying, like, no, the sinners and the prostitutes and ta tax collectors are fine. Yeah. No, stop judging them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just as good. God loves everybody. No, he's but he's like, they're lost. They're lost. They're lost. But I'm going to find them. And so it shows both an affirmation of the the the way what sin does, it makes us lost, but the heart of Jesus in coming. and then you get the parable of the lost son, which is, you know, often called the the prodigal son. but you have the two sons. you know, one represents obviously the tax collectors and sinners. They're the ones who've gone and squandered. Yeah, they squandered, they've gone to a far country. But the older son, he represents the attitude of the Pharisees. Which is like you can't be welcoming them back after their sin. Yeah. And and so this is the got the gospel message that when people come back in repentance, mm-hmm. So again, this is not just stop judging, sweep everything out of the road. Get out of jail free car. Yeah, yeah. You know, the the presumption here is is that these sinners and these tax collectors are s are repenting and coming back. Mm-hmm. And same thing, you know, the the the prodigal son, I mean, he's repenting. I've sinned against heaven and against you. And when someone comes repenting, we need to have an open heart to receive them in. no matter what, you know, sometimes there's history that makes you not want to open up. Yeah. And I yeah, I think that's maybe the radical part of it, you know, verse verse 10 of chapter 15 is just so I tell you there's joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Mm-hmm. It's like, man, is that our is that our heart? Is that our attitude? Joy when a sinner repents. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it's just it's it's it's you know, against the Pharisees, they're like, he's eating with sinners. Yeah. It's like, man, there if their proper response is to be joyful. We want people to know Jesus. Our current, you know, number number four, seek the lost. Seek the lost. Seek the lost. Because this is what Jesus did. That's right. He sought the lost and then he sought there was joy when they came to follow him. Yeah, it it's a great joy. And yeah, this good good connection to the five currents, you know, the the culture. What we call a gospel culture. What does it look like when the gospel of Jesus Christ shapes the culture of a local church? And we've described that in terms of five currents, think of like ocean currents that are flowing, shaping the direction of our culture. So it's Savor God, that's where we get our podcast from. Mm-hmm. number two, sacrifice yourself. number three, strengthen one another. Strengthen one another. So that's like among Christians, our job is to build each other up. Yeah. And then number four, seek the lost. Yeah. and then current five is send workers, which is the same as seek the lost, except it's sending people to seek the lost in places where we wouldn't go. So that'd be like missionaries or a church plant on the other side of town or something. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, seeking the lost is really built upon Jesus' model that he that the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. and so that there might be rejoicing in heaven when one sinner. You know, a great example of this is is Saul or Paul. Yeah. I mean, this was a bad dude. Yeah. and then he repented and suddenly the church was faced with a guy who had done damage. You know, can you imagine him walking into the Jerusalem church? And there's people who are like, That guy threw my dad in jail. Yeah. That guy destroyed my business. And suddenly he's there like, I repent, I'm a follower of Jesus. And suddenly they have to rejoice in him. Yeah. You know, it what a challenging thing. But this is what it's talking about. Yeah. Yeah, that's sobering. Just thinking about like I want to see my enemies destroyed. I mean, this is just our that's our natural nature. Human nature. Yeah. You want to see, yeah. And and you know, to just see to see justice happen is a a natural and in at some level a good response. Yeah. But but grace, you know, God's grace is so great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, chapter sixteen gets into the theme of money. Yeah. And and you you have a really kind of bizarre parable, probably one of the the weirdest ones, where Jesus is pointing to a dishonest manager. Yes. He's a bro's about to get fired. And so this is a strange parable. Yeah, so to pet so to protect to prepare for his imminent dismissal, he goes around and And chops the debts of all the people around him so that when he's fired, those people will be nice to him. Uh-huh. And Jesus holds this dude up and he's like, he's like, yeah, they know how like they know how to get it done. Yeah. You know, you should do that. and it's like, what are you talking about? Yeah, I don't I don't understand. It's one of the it's like you read that and you're like, is this the Bible? Yeah, right. Seriously, I was like, I don't, don't know. He's like a bad guy who solves his problems by like doing things. But you know, the the the point so the thing you have to ask in a parable is like what is the point of comparison? And it's not I think sometimes people misinterpret parables by trying to make every single detail mean something. Yeah. And it's really just kind of a main spiritual point. Yeah, what you know, what what is the main point? There might be a couple points of contact. So you just have to identify what those are. and and so and here it is, he says, For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light. in dealing with their own people. So he's like the like he knows how to be shrewd. Like we're not even that shrewd. But then so here here's the here's the point of contact. I tell you make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. So the idea is use your money to serve those who are lost and to help the poor and the needy. And by using your money, you know, and use it for the kingdom of God and use it to support missionaries so that, you know, when your money fails, y you'll be welcome, but not into those people's homes, but into God's home. So it's sort of a you know, it's a jarring parable that really makes you think. And that's of course the point of the parables is there's always some kind of twist that makes you go like, hmm. And and of course rich man Lazarus, you know, again, here's a crazy story. Yeah. So and I would say like if if you're still struggling with the the sh the dishonest guy, you know, Rich Man and Lazarus help somewhat because the rich man didn't care for the guy right at his gate. Yeah. And he didn't love him with his money. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, there's a lot to say about that one. There's a lot I was gonna say, there's a lot to say about that. Yeah. you know, all kinds of questions on that parable, the rich man of Lazarus. Like, is this an actual description of the afterlife? Yeah, I was gonna say that's one of the big, you know, questions. What do you think? sure could be. I mean, you know, I mean, Jesus tells it, yeah, and and he's telling it, you know, as if like this is a scenario. so so yeah, you know, we have this life. To to respond to the Lord. And he says to this guy, hey, it's too late. I I think probably the the for me, the the line that really affects me in that parable is you know, where the guy's like, please just send him here to, you know, dip his finger in a little drip of water. And it's like the horrible horrors of hell. And then, you know, Abraham's like, sorry, you had your good things in life, and now Lazarus skin is good things. And then he says in verse 20 six, besides all this. A great chasm has been fixed between us and you. You know, a great chasm fixed. Like once we die, there is a great chasm fixed. And you know, now is the day of repentance. Now is the day to to to turn to the Lord. I I just find to me that's the line that hits me so much. Even though I don't think it's the main point of the parable. Yeah. but it but it's it affected me. Yeah. I think okay, this is interesting. I was watching a video last night. This is related to this where a pastor, he was talking about Sean Demar's Room for Nuance podcast. He was talking about He's my bud. Yeah. That's cool. His podcast is great. But anyway. The dude is hilarious. Hysterical. Yeah. If if you are looking for a a super engaging Christian podcast that's long form. Yeah, long form. It's long form. Yeah, it's long. Yeah. So it could be an hour and a half interview. Yeah. But he is so fun. Mm hmm. Yeah. You just you did an interview with him. Yeah, I d I was on that podcast. You know, when you're when you're on his podcast, you're just kind of like always a little bit on edge. You're like, I have no idea what's gonna come out of his mouth next. Yeah, yeah. He's hysterical. Like like he looked at me in the podcast and he says, What's your least favorite race? And I was like, What? And so I said, The Iron Man? And then he like smiled and nodded. Like he's the kind of guy who'll just say weird things just to like get a reaction from people. But and yet and yet the questions he asks are so he's really thoughtful. Yeah. Yeah. He's really That's hysterical. I w like there's just a minute where like my head spun around once and I was like, What? That's comedy, I don't remember that. my gosh. but anyway, here's here's what he was saying. He was talking about preaching funerals. especially at someone maybe who's was an unbeliever or you just don't know about the state of the training 'cause you didn't really know but they wanted a funeral done. And here's he I thought this was masterful, and I think this applies to every Christian, not just people who do funerals. Was I am not sure about this person's soul. I didn't know them. I don't want to make a claim about where they may or may not be. But here's what I can guarantee. Wherever they are, I guarantee you what they would want you to know is that you should put your trust and faith in Jesus. bro, that's good. Isn't that good? That's so good. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Because I mean, there's there's the rich man who's like, please send Lazarus back to tell my family. Yes. And of course, Jesus with this kind of foreshadowing of his own ministry, he's like, even if a man rose from the dead, you know, they wouldn't believe. Yeah. And it's like, you know, well, you believe what Jesus has already done. Yeah. The gospel. Yeah. Dude, that's strong. Isn't that isn't that good? Wow. Like wherever they are, I guarantee what they want you to know is put your trust and faith in Jesus. Okay, moving on to first and second Timothy here. Yeah. This is again pastoral epistles. Paul is writing to his young protege, Timothy, about how to be faithful, how the church ought to operate. And so we get the end of First Timothy, if you want to comment and jump in here, about the church kind of really fighting the good fight of faith is is what actually the conclusion of of first Timothy, which is, Timothy, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. So he's supposed to guard this deposit. That's right. And because there's false teachers, that this has been a a major problem. Here at the end of chapter five and six of First Timothy, you have instructions about widows. Mm-hmm. So there was a category of church members in local churches called the widows, who who were of a certain age in a certain situation where the church actually took care of them financially. Yeah. You know, they didn't have family, they're over a certain age, they had shown, you know, a good life. This wasn't just like, hey, anyone who's a widow, join this church and the church take care of you. Yeah. But it was like, you know, they'd been model Christians, blah, blah, blah. So that's interesting. Yeah. chapter six. it by the way, this is one that that I've always found to be helpful is chapter six, verses seventeen to nineteen, instructions to the rich. so if you know, if you're listening and the Lord has blessed you financially, and this is a a direct teaching for you. And I think for a lot of us Americans, even those of us who aren't as rich as other Americans, compared to the rest of the world, we're pretty rich rich. Yeah. but you know, it's it's great instructions. Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant. So don't be proud because you're wealthy, 'cause money can make you, you know, think you're better than others. It just our hearts are tempted the way. Don't set your hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God. Make sure your hope's in God. Who will richly provide us with all things. So don't don't be like confident because of your investments. instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and willing to share. So do good with your money, be generous with your money, give away your money for the the good of God's people and the good of the gospel. And then here's why, verse 19 storing up treasure for themselves is a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life. You know, life is not having a bunch of money to live the good life. Like if you're like, man, I got money and I can go on whatever trips I want and I can live on Sanibel and I've got three houses and boats. Look at I'm living the life. Yeah. And Timothy's like, or Paul's like, that's not the life. The life is what's coming in Christ. So invest in the future life. that you will have in Christ's return. That's great. I just thought that like I just find this so helpful. And again, I you know, I'm not Elon Musk, but like I'm an American, like I have resources. Yeah. And so I just I I just find this is really a a text that is a good instruction. So if you do if God has blessed you financially, take some time to read and think this week on First Timothy six, seventeen to nineteen. How can I use my money for the advancement of the kingdom of God? That's right. And in fact, that is an investment in your own future. Yeah. That that will pay off. It's the best investment you can make. Yep. Yep. It truly is better to give than it is to receive. Amen. Second Timothy. and so this is Paul's second letter, second pastoral epistle to Timothy. And and in this one, he's really encouraging Timothy to stand firm in the midst of well, it's kind of going full circle back to Nehemiah. In the midst of trials, opponents, difficulties, pastoral ministry is hard. Bob Pastor Bobby's been doing a great job teaching through this in ABC classes, yeah, adult Bible classes. yeah. It's been so helpful. He's such a great Bible teacher. He's such a great Bible teacher. Yeah. Opens the word up, explains it clearly, applies it. his framework, he as he was presenting Second Timothy, was just thinking about pastoral ministry was traits of a healthy pastor. Yep. sober. steadfast, scriptural and strategic. So they're sober minded, right? They think clearly. They're steadfast, right? They persevere. They keep going. They're scriptural. I mean like they're grounded in the word of God and they're strategic. They do things well and prudently and have wisdom. And I just thought that was such a great framework to think about. Think about that. Yeah, that's right. and I love the three analogies Paul uses to describe ministry. he says it's like being this is chapter two now, verses four to seven. It's like being a soldier, like being an athlete, and like being a farmer. Yeah. And in all of those, man, they just require discipline, steadfastness. y you know, it's not I mean, you've been you've been at done elite level athletics, and it's like it it's not it's not sexy. It's a lot of work. No. It's a grind. Yeah. I mean, you just have to be committed. Like it's discipline, it's getting up early, it's saying no to things. And pushing yourself. You know, you think about a farmer, like a farmer's job. I mean, we kind of romanticize it as like, you're out there with, but it's like, it's hard work, dude. Hard work. You can't, you can't be like farmers don't take vacations. or you think like the soldier, like he just has to obey orders. So, so there's something about the life of ministry that you just accept that you're like, I am here serving the Lord. And it's about consistency and diligence and discipline. And that's that's what it looks like. to endure and to do the work in ministry. And I think some people get involved in ministry or they want to get involved in church because they want fame or they want to be like a a Christian superstar, you know, the Christian celebrity culture. And Paul's like, dude, it's like being a farmer. Like you get up before the crack of dawn and you get working. Yep. And it's hard and tiring. But there's a blessing. Yeah. It's worth it. It's worth it. Yeah. I think something that just reading through Proverbs, reading through this, reading through all this, it's like Man, the the Christian life is just it's slow. It's slow. It's supposed to be slow. It's slow. In our culture, it's so we want things now. We want instant gratification. We want fame. We want glory. We want platform. We want everything to blow up right now. And I just keep reading the Bible and it's just like it's slow. It's steadfast. It's like a soldier. You discipline yourself. It's like an athlete. You discipline yourself. And it's just like, man. J Jerusalem's w walls were not rebuilt in a day. That's right. Yeah. And Rome wasn't built in a day. Rome was not built in a day. And the Christian life doesn't happen a day. And sanctification doesn't happen in a day. And but we are we and you know, and I think especially as Americans, we're kind of suckers for gimmicks or programs that promise quick spiritual results. Yeah. Like we're using this thing and we planted, you know, whenever I hear guys are like, Man, we planted fifteen thousand churches in another country this last year, I'm just like baloney. Yeah. I know you didn't. The Apostle Paul. Yeah, like you've what's happened is there's things happening that you've defined as church planting, quote un air quote, quote unquote. And and and you're probably fabricating some numbers. Like it's just not that's not how church ministry works. Think about Paul's years and years of laboring in the Greco Roman Empire in the Mediterranean region. And he didn't plant fifteen thousand churches. And this is Paul. This is Paul. Yeah, it's it's just hard work. Ministry is slow, faithful, hard work. I mean, think about every church you've been in. Think about how development takes time. Think about every person you've tried to who see come to faith, how slow sanctification is. Think about your own life, how long it's taken you to grow and learn. The Christian life is slow. And and so it takes Diligence and persistence. And you got to ignore the siren song of supposed Is that an Odyssey reference? yeah, it is. Yeah. Yes. the siren song of shortcuts. Yes. And fast things. It just it doesn't last. Yeah. Yeah. No. Yep. That's great. There's hope for the Christian though. In that slowness. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So so if you're if you're out there serving the Lord in some way, kind of this whole this whole section is kind of about serving the Lord. Whatever way you're serving the Lord, don't be discouraged by small results. If you're just in a Bible study and it seems like you made a little progress this year with your group, but there's still so much to do, it's okay. This is normal Christian life. Yeah. The harvest is plenty, but the labors are few. And you gotta labor. Yep. Labor on. Well, we'll keep. Pressing on in our Bible reading. Keep putting these out for you guys. I owe music. I haven't been putting music because it took away my so if you're you're wondering where the music went, they took away that track and I haven't been able to find a find a good one. really? Yeah. I'm like you know what the actually the soundtrack was called, the one that I was using? What? It was called The Sermon. No. Yes. And it was the best one. Fitting. Yeah, but now they took it away for whatever reason. It's probably so good that someone now copyrighted it and they gotta pay for it. Yeah, that's probably true. So I gotta find a new music. So Jana was asking about that. If you're wondering where the music went, that's what happened. If you can find a good track or something, send it to me and I'll and I'll put it on. Maybe yeah. All right. This has been another episode of the SCC Saver podcast. Apple, YouTube, Spotify. We'll see you next time.