Sermon

Pastor Tommy from The Spirit of Prophecy

Maranatha Ministries

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  1. Because, of course, it's supposed to be the Feast of

  2. Trumpets today at sundown on the Temple Mount. And I

  3. see some very humorous videos from Pastor Tommy. And we're

  4. going to let him introduce himself and give whatever background.

  5. Because a lot of people don't like to share their

  6. location and those kinds of things. So I'll just be

  7. polite and we'll just let Tommy introduce himself.

  8. Yeah, I'm Pastor Tommy McMurtry.

  9. I pastor the Liberty Baptist Church in Rock Falls, Illinois.

  10. Today is actually the 15th anniversary of our church, too.

  11. We're going to be celebrating it this Sunday. But yeah,

  12. so special day today. I did not know today was

  13. the Feast of Trumpets. Now I've got to go make

  14. fun of the... I got to make some AI videos

  15. about that.

  16. Well, that's why I thought you were doing some of

  17. your videos, because... It's a little bit more than that,

  18. Pastor Tommy. You have to understand what's going on with

  19. the dynamics. They hold to a seven-year pre-tribulation rapture. So

  20. history and astronomy, because you can prove with the astronomical

  21. records that Passover could have only occurred twice during the

  22. reign of Pontius Pilate. That was in 30 AD or

  23. 33 AD. So when you couple that with the Bible

  24. promises of Hosea 6, verse 2, that basically says after 2,000 years,

    Hosea 6:2

  25. he would raise us up. They have come to this

  26. crisis of facts because it couldn't have been 30 AD

  27. because that means the pre-tribulation rapture would have had to

  28. happen in 2023, right? So they're desperate. Because they hold

  29. to not only a seven-year tribulation, they also hold to

  30. it must happen on the Feast of Trumpets. It has

  31. to happen this year in order for there to be

  32. a seven tribulation between this Feast of Trumpets and 2033. Now,

  33. compound on top of that, especially American dispensationalists are having

  34. trouble with this because this is the 250-year anniversary of

  35. the United States of America. compounded with the fact today

  36. is the 25th anniversary, which is one-tenth of that, of

  37. the 9-11 attacks on their capital city. So it's creating

  38. a certain anxiety for them, and they're really lashing out

  39. and attacking people that, don't hold to a seven-year tribulation,

  40. don't hold to a pre-tribulation rapture. So I didn't realize

  41. this was also an important date for your church. So

  42. that's very exciting. I'm glad I was able to bless

  43. you in this way. So, you know, as I stated

  44. in my original reach out, you didn't make yourself clear

  45. what your eschatological model was. So can you please clarify

  46. that for us?

  47. Yeah.

  48. So I come from a pre-tribulational dispensational world.

  49. That's what I used to be.

  50. 15 years ago when I started the church, I was

  51. rolling out our doctrinal statement for our charter service we

  52. were going to have. And I had a couple of

  53. people challenge me on the end times, not in any

  54. kind of provocative way. They just weren't sure and they

  55. wanted to know more. And I was very disappointed in

  56. the answers I was giving people. And so that got

  57. me studying three-year process. I kind of had to start

  58. from scratch. And so, you know, when it comes to prophecy,

  59. I don't really know how to explain in few words

  60. where I'm at. I have my areas where I'm very dogmatic.

  61. I have my areas where I'm not dogmatic at all.

  62. I'm a historic premillennialist, but at the same time too,

  63. When it comes to the rapture itself, I still separate

  64. the event of 1 Thessalonians 4, the catching away from

  65. the event of Revelation 19. I think I have a

  66. unique way of explaining that that I think is consistent. But,

  67. you know, I believe in fulfillment theology. I believe that

  68. we have been— I don't believe the church in Israel is separate.

  69. I believe the covenant that God made with Israel, it

  70. was— Um, people never had claim on it because of

  71. their biology, but you know, they had claim on it

  72. because they were part of a kingdom, a system, a nation.

  73. And I believe that nation, that people followed Jesus Christ

  74. and the ones who didn't were cut off. And I

  75. believe we are a part of that covenant of that people.

  76. We don't have a continuing city anymore. We used to,

  77. and it was Jerusalem, but we don't anymore. We've been

  78. called away from there. to go into all the world

  79. to preach the gospel to every creature. And so people say,

  80. are you covenant theology? I don't really know because the

  81. problem with all these labels, they all have things I

  82. disagree with. But I guess at the end of the day,

  83. I do believe that we are a continuation of Israel.

  84. I think the biblical word that we see in Hebrews says,

  85. is there were certain carnal ordinances imposed on them until

  86. the time of Reformation.

  87. So I think we're Israel reformed, would be the biblical

  88. way to put it.

  89. But yeah, I definitely don't have a real good label

  90. to make it clear where I am on everything.

  91. No, you don't. And just your comments, it's very hard

  92. for people to decipher that. And let me explain to

  93. you why. Because you're saying that that you're still a dispensationalist,

  94. but you don't adhere to the Israelis being God's chosen people.

  95. So that's a mingling of two different sides of the aisle.

  96. One side of the aisle is dispensationalism. The other side

  97. of that aisle is preterism. And you're taking elements for both.

  98. Yeah, so I reject the dispensational label. I absolutely reject that.

  99. But at the same time, I say this all the

  100. time in my program, there are certain things that people

  101. teach in the name of dispensationalism or that they credit

  102. to dispensationalism that clearly was being taught before dispensationalism was around.

  103. Whenever people hear me say I reject dispensationalism, they often

  104. think I reject a rapture or a literal thousand-year reign

  105. of Christ on earth.

  106. I don't reject those things. I just reject.

  107. many of the teachings of dispensationalism, especially the separating of

  108. the church from Israel. I reject the pre-tribulation rapture. Uh,

  109. you know, so, um, there's so many things I disagree with.

  110. I just, if I tell somebody I'm dispensational, they're going

  111. to get the wrong idea in their mind. But if

  112. I tell somebody too, that I'm like a covenant guy,

  113. they might think I'm a Calvinist or something. And I'm not,

  114. I completely reject those, uh, both of those extremes.

  115. I guess you could say.

  116. Well, let me make this simple for the listener. There

  117. are topics according to the end times that really reveal

  118. what you're trying to say. So do you believe in

  119. a literal millennial reign of Christ?

  120. I do. Okay.

  121. So you actually believe that he will physically return to

  122. this planet.

  123. Yes.

  124. Okay. So that, clears up a lot of things so

  125. let me go the next step so you actually believe

  126. that the rapture the catching away it is actually going

  127. to occur that that isn't an event on a timeline yes.

  128. I don't yes i don't believe in the tim la

  129. hay version of it i don't believe we disappear i

  130. don't believe in a secret rapture i believe in a

  131. i believe when jesus returns every eye will see him

  132. I believe that we will be changed in a moment

  133. of twinkling of an eye. We won't disappear in a

  134. moment of twinkling of an eye. We'll change. We'll become

  135. like him. Those, the dead in Christ will arise and

  136. they will be changed. And then we will be caught

  137. up to meet the Lord and to be protected from

  138. his wrath that he will pour out. Now, I do

  139. not believe, I don't believe the tribulation is God's wrath.

  140. I believe there is a clear distinction in the scriptures

  141. between between what is tribulation and what is God's wrath. Tribulation,

  142. we've been going through it for the last 2,000 years.

  143. I believe there will be a heightened time of tribulation

  144. that is going to come, but tribulation is not God's wrath.

  145. God's wrath does not come until the day of the Lord.

  146. And the Bible teaches that the sun will be dark

  147. and the moon turn of blood before that great notable

  148. day of the Lord comes. So I believe that the...

  149. what people refer to as the seal judgments. I believe

  150. that we're here for all of those. I believe we're

  151. here for the mark of the beast. God's wrath though,

  152. that is distinct. That is something that comes at the

  153. day of the Lord. I believe will be taken out

  154. before he pours out his wrath.

  155. Okay.

  156. So I'll make this very succinct for the people. What

  157. he is saying is, is Revelation chapter 19, verse 15.

    Revelation 19:15

  158. Okay.

  159. There Jesus Christ plainly states that what he does at Armageddon,

  160. that's the wrath of God. So Pastor Tommy is saying

  161. that's before that event. I'll go ahead and read it.

  162. to you. Now this is from the New King James Version.

  163. Revelation chapter 19. Now out of his mouth goes a

    Revelation 19 chapter mention

  164. sharp sword. That with it he should strike the nations.

  165. And he himself will rule them. With a rod of iron.

  166. He treads the winepress. Of the fierceness. And the wrath.

  167. God Almighty so so pastor Tommy is saying that that

  168. the rapture happens before this stampede across this planet of

  169. the Lord Jesus Christ so that's what you're saying pastor

  170. Tom yes okay okay very good now we have to

  171. I also have to ask the other questions people also

  172. get emotionally charged about because you're not very clear we

  173. have to be very clear in order to relay the gospel. So,

  174. I know this is a pointed question, and I'm sorry,

  175. but I must ask it. Dispensationalists believe that at this event,

  176. all of the unsaved Jews will automatically be saved, having

  177. not accepted Jesus Christ. Do you believe those Israelis that

  178. are unrepentant in Christ will automatically be raptured.

  179. Absolutely not. In fact, I believe they will be destroyed.

  180. I believe God's coming to bring judgment upon them. There

  181. is nothing in the scripture to indicate or to prove

  182. a massive Jewish revival at Christ's return.

  183. That's read into the text.

  184. And as far as my not being clear, if you

  185. want clarity on what I believe, That's where you need

  186. to go to the podcast. The Facebook page is mostly

  187. me having fun. And sometimes I make fun of our

  188. own side and I challenge our own side. I regularly

  189. make my side very upset because I challenge our own

  190. positions in areas where I think we're weak. There are

  191. certain things where I have strong beliefs and convictions. There's

  192. other things where I have opinions. And what you just

  193. asked about I do not believe the scriptures indicate a

  194. future Jewish revival. All the scriptures that people use, because

  195. every dispensationalist that hears this will say, well, they're going

  196. to go to a bunch of Old Testament scriptures and say,

  197. I reject those. Those found their fulfillment in the first

  198. century at things like Pentecost and the work that God

  199. did then.

  200. Those things are not talking about something, you know, in

  201. our future. That's, I believe that's ridiculous.

  202. So, This is a very important question as well. And people,

  203. I'm glad that you put it that way so I

  204. can ask this so people can know. So that is

  205. to say, dispensationalists believe that there's going to be 144,000

  206. Jews during the tribulation that does this great revival. You're

  207. saying yes or no to that?

  208. I say absolutely not. First off, I always ask those people,

  209. where does it call them Jews? For one, in Revelation

  210. 7 and chapter 14, where does it call them evangelists?

  211. Where does it show them evangelizing? That is something they

  212. are reading into the text because, again, when they go

  213. to Old Testament passages that were fulfilled in the first century,

  214. they read that into the future. So when they see

  215. in Revelation 7 and 14, those 144,000, They're like, well,

  216. this must be that Jewish revival. But that's absolutely ridiculous.

  217. In chapter 14, they are with the lamb on Mount Zion.

  218. So do all 144,000 get killed during the tribulation? But

  219. there are also people who follow the lamb with us

  220. wherever you go. They seem to be people who have

  221. been around. And the reality is, well, in my belief,

  222. what Revelation 7 is clearly showing us is after we

  223. see the seals, which some people believe the seals are

  224. representative of church history. I'm open to that position, but

  225. it's not my official position. But either way, I believe

  226. what we're seeing in Revelation chapter 6 is we have

    Revelation 6 chapter mention

  227. a part of that chapter where you have the martyrs

  228. wanting to know, how long, O Lord, dost thou not

  229. judge and avenge our blood? And I believe we don't

  230. see God judging and avenging their blood until the book

  231. is open. The book cannot be open until the seals

  232. are broken. The seals are not going to be broken

  233. and God is not going to judge the world until

  234. God has fulfilled his promise to Abraham. And that is

  235. that through his seed, all the nations of the world

  236. are going to be blessed. And so I believe the 144,000

  237. that we see are a reference to more than likely

  238. Old Testament saints, in the resurrection, the multitude that no

  239. man could number of every nation and kindred and tongue,

  240. that's people that have been being saved for the last 2,000 years.

  241. So I think Revelation 7 is just showing that before

  242. God fulfills his promise to judge the world and avenge

  243. the blood of the martyrs, God is going to save

  244. a people from all over the world like he promised Abraham.

  245. And so I believe the 144,000 are a reference to.

  246. Show God kept his promise to the fathers about, um,

  247. you know, that remnant, but also that they, he would

  248. have a people from all nations. And so that's what

  249. we're seeing. There's nothing in there indicating a future revival

  250. or this secret group of 144,000 that they don't know

  251. what tribe they are, but God does, you know, that

  252. God's just going to pick some people because their genetics

  253. that's ridiculous.

  254. Um, So you bring up a very good point, and

  255. this is another good way you can present exactly your point.

  256. So many people have this question, and it really makes

  257. a lot of people get stumped. So do you believe

  258. that the two groups mentioned in Revelation chapter 7, then

    Revelation 7 chapter mention

  259. there's another 144,000 mentioned in Revelation chapter 14, you believe

    Revelation 14 chapter mention

  260. they're the same group?

  261. Yes.

  262. Okay, very good.

  263. All right.

  264. So what you're saying is basically concerning these 144,000 is this.

  265. Irregardless of whether they're a part of the regular church

  266. or not, that's beside the point. What you're saying is

  267. that all the disciples were actually Jews. The problem with

  268. that is only 11 of them were saved. What you're

  269. saying is that the modern Judaist that currently occupy the

  270. modern state of Israel, they are at current point, they're

  271. Judas Iscariots. They have rejected Christ. So that's what you're

  272. succinctly saying.

  273. Yes, they are a fulfillment of the prophecy of an

  274. Antichrist that would come, that was spoken of in 1 John.

  275. That just as the Messiah was prophesied that he would come,

  276. and he came, we see that the reality is if

  277. you are a Jew, a true Jew in that covenant

  278. with God, there is all kinds of Old Testament scriptures

  279. showing them you are to follow the Messiah. Jesus is Shiloh.

  280. Jesus is the prophet like unto Moses. Why is it

  281. that all the Jews who obeyed the commands of the law,

  282. they became the new group?

  283. That doesn't make any sense at all.

  284. No, they were the real Jews, the original Jews, the

  285. obedient Jews. And then we see in the book of Acts,

  286. God revealed, hey, I want people from all nations here. Jesus,

  287. in fact, Jesus was upset at his triumphal entry when

  288. it was just Jews and they weren't ready.

  289. Jesus said, my house should be called a house of

  290. prayer for all nations.

  291. And it's a good study to go back and look

  292. at the passage he was referring to there in Isaiah.

  293. But without going into all that, we see that it

  294. was prophesied that after Christ, there was going to be

  295. an antichrist figure that would come. And so the reality

  296. is those people of Israel who were considered Jews, who

  297. rejected Christ, they started another religion. They started another movement.

  298. And their belief was that Jesus was not the Christ.

  299. Jesus said upon this rock, I will build my church,

  300. which I believe is Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ.

  301. But what is Satan? Satan has come along and said,

  302. this is not the Christ. Somebody else is the Christ.

  303. And so the thing is, who is the original?

  304. What's the original religion?

  305. It's not the people who rejected the Messiah or the

  306. people who accepted the Messiah. It's the people who rejected

  307. him and believed in another person. And so I do

  308. believe in a future antichrist that's, that's going to come.

  309. And I believe modern day Judaism, it is basically the,

  310. you know, it's a fulfillment of that prophecy of antichrist

  311. that shall come.

  312. This started in the first century.

  313. I mean, John said, even now are there many antichrists

  314. whereby we know it is the last time. So I,

  315. think Judas Iscariot is the perfect, and this is kind

  316. of just how I explain it. I think he's a

  317. good way to explain the start of the Antichrist religion

  318. because of the fact he was a disciple of Christ.

  319. He was somebody who ultimately rejected him. did not have

  320. faith in him, was never saved, and was instrumental in

  321. crucifying him, turning him over to the authorities. And he's

  322. also explained in the same way as the Antichrist, the

  323. son of perdition, and many of those titles they share.

  324. So I think Judas represents the starting of this Antichrist movement.

  325. I think Judaism for the last 2,000 years has been

  326. kind of the embodiment of that. But the fulfillment of

  327. that will ultimately be when another figure comes along that

  328. they accept as the Messiah. And I do believe that's

  329. still to come. And so I refuse to support anything

  330. that denies Jesus as the Messiah and that's looking for another.

  331. It makes no sense for any Christian to support Judaism.

  332. The only area where we should support Jews is is

  333. like in the way we support everyone else, and that's

  334. by preaching the truth and getting the gospel to them.

  335. Boy, that's a mouthful. That's going to upset a lot

  336. of people, but let me try to explain in my

  337. way what you said. Literally, ladies and gentlemen, no one

  338. understands this. He mentioned that Judas was really the first anti-Christ,

  339. and this is correct. It was a follower of Christ...

  340. that joined with the Judaists in their rejection of Jesus Christ.

  341. Now this also can double back into a way how

  342. we Gentiles who were saved are grafted back in that tree.

  343. Take note, Judas hung himself on a tree. But Matthias,

  344. he was grafted back into that tree. So Matthias is

  345. our great hope. Anybody who believes in Jesus are grafted

  346. back into that tree Revelation chapter 9, 10, and 11 there,

    Revelation 9 chapter mention

  347. especially the Greek word plorema. We fulfill the olive tree.

  348. So that's what Pastor Tommy is trying to say, that

  349. Jews now, or Judaists, those who practice Judaism, they still

  350. have the opportunity to accept Christ and be saved in

  351. Christ and be re-grafted back into the real tree. Jesus Christ,

  352. the real tree, Well, the Judaist, they've rejected that. So

  353. that's what Tommy is trying to say. So it's very

  354. important that we get these things out in the open.

  355. And now I'm going to cross over to the next one.

  356. Pastor Tommy has started making videos about Calvinism, which even

  357. throws personal friends of mine into confusion. Wait a minute.

  358. I thought he made fun of dispensationalists. How is he then, therefore,

  359. making fun of Calvinists? So can you explain that, why

  360. it is you're going to poke fun at the Calvinists,

  361. and how, if you are different from them, how does

  362. your beliefs differentiate from the Calvinists?

  363. Yeah, so my eschatology is probably closer to a lot

  364. of Calvinists, with the exception of the premillennialism. And I

  365. don't usually have a whole lot of conflict.

  366. With Calvinists on eschatology. It's just on the soteriology.

  367. Dispensationalists, I typically am more with them on salvation, unless

  368. they're dispensational salvation people. And in the independent fundamental Baptist world,

  369. most of them are dispensational, but they reject dispensational salvation. So,

  370. you know, and don't get me wrong, I am friends

  371. with dispensationalists.

  372. I have dispensationalists preaching.

  373. My church, but you know, if you know me, I'm

  374. the kind of person that, you know, I, I like

  375. to have fun with people and not everybody has fun

  376. with that, but I can also take it. And, and

  377. so I don't want people to think I'm like super

  378. hostile towards dispensationalists. I understand why I can come across

  379. that way. But, um, but with the Calvinist too, um,

  380. I just, I absolutely reject the tulip. I absolutely, um,

  381. think that that is false. And I just, I can't

  382. get on board with them there at all. And, you know, I, again,

  383. even my videos, making fun of Calvinists, they're not meant

  384. to be hostile. Um, I do have Calvinist friends as well, but, uh, uh,

  385. these are, these are my ways of challenging people, but

  386. also to kind of having some fun with it.

  387. And, um, but yeah, and, and not everybody takes it

  388. the right way. And, and I, I, I.

  389. Try to do these things in a good spirit, but

  390. it doesn't always come across that way, and I understand why.

  391. Boy, that puts you in a landmine, doesn't it?

  392. Absolutely.

  393. So, TULIP is T-U-L-I-P of capitalism. It means total depravity,

  394. unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.

  395. I am sorry that we lost Tommy. I'm not sure why.

  396. I assure you that I did not kick him off

  397. the broadcast. It is possible that he got a phone

  398. call because I know that I have had my own

  399. broadcast interrupted. So I'm not sure what that is about.

  400. But so far, so good. So Tommy says he's still

  401. there on his end, but I don't have his video.

  402. So Pastor Tommy, if you can still hear me, I

  403. just relayed to the people who are different from Calvinists.

  404. They normally won't know what tulip means. So I explained

  405. to them that mode of salvation. So if you're still

  406. with us, I'm not sure why I don't have your video,

  407. but I appreciate your comments and your responses. So what

  408. part of Tulip don't you exactly agree with Tommy?

  409. So I would reject all five points. Totally.

  410. I think when it comes to Tulip, if you go

  411. back to like the Westminster confession, um, it's a lot

  412. more vague than many Calvinists are now. I think you

  413. can spin some of the, those things into truth. So

  414. for example, when it comes to total depravity, um, I

  415. believe we're completely incapable of saving ourselves. I mean, obviously

  416. without the work of God, none of us would come

  417. to a place of salvation or a realization of a

  418. need of salvation. So my problem with total depravity is

  419. when they make it out, like we're not even capable

  420. of rejecting or accepting the gospel. I do think people

  421. have a choice. I think God does give us free

  422. will in those things. the unconditional election. I think there's

  423. ways you can spin that into truth. But to me,

  424. it's the limited atonement one and irresistible grace. Limited atonement,

  425. I do believe that the death of Christ was sufficient

  426. for the entire world. But at the same time, the

  427. only ones who will partake in the benefits of that

  428. are going to be the ones who actually believe. And

  429. so the irresistible grace, is another one too. I can't

  430. find a way to spin that into truth. I do

  431. believe people can resist. Obviously, um, you know, the, the

  432. work of the Holy spirit is a necessity. Nobody is

  433. going to come except the father drum, but I believe

  434. he draws everybody. I believe he's that light that light

  435. at every man that comes in the world. Jesus said,

  436. and I, if I be lifted from the earth, we'll

  437. draw all men unto me. And so then the perseverance

  438. of the saints, um, I absolutely believe in once saved,

  439. always saved.

  440. But my problem with the Calvinist version.

  441. Of that is they put the focus on the believer

  442. in his works, that if you truly are elect, you

  443. will persevere to the end.

  444. In other words, you will keep being a good Christian.

  445. You'll maintain your faith.

  446. You're not going to fall away, all those things. I

  447. believe in the perseverance of the Holy Spirit. I believe

  448. that the proof of of once saved, always saved, is

  449. not in my works.

  450. It's in the work of Jesus Christ. He said it

  451. is finished. He rose again from the dead.

  452. And therefore, since my salvation is not based on my works,

  453. but his works, well, proof of my salvation is based

  454. on his works and not my works. And so I

  455. think Calvinism, ultimately that limited atonement, that is the one

  456. of the biggest problems that if you believe limited atonement,

  457. you have to have the total depravity, the unconditional election.

  458. But I think irresistible grace is also a super easy

  459. thing to disprove. So I just think it's a terrible

  460. way to explain salvation. And I think it takes away

  461. a lot of people's joy. I don't think you're going

  462. to enjoy your salvation. I don't think you're going to

  463. have the security to, and peace that God wants you

  464. to have if you're constantly looking at yourself for evidence

  465. of salvation. No, Jesus Christ, he's the author and finisher

  466. of our faith.

  467. And so, yeah, I.

  468. Think it, you know, when it comes, people, they get

  469. real upset too because it was the big historical position

  470. for a long time. But, you know, I'm willing to

  471. give some grace to people who came out of a

  472. time of when the Catholics had a stranglehold on Europe,

  473. when access to the scriptures was very limited. I do

  474. think there's a lot of good, sincere men during those

  475. times that had Calvinistic beliefs, but good night. You know,

  476. we've got the word of God easily available to us.

  477. We have religious freedom.

  478. How are we still, you know, looking at the scriptures

  479. and salvation in such a archaic way that I think

  480. we should be past this by now.

  481. I think we should be getting better in these areas.

  482. And so I think people's desire to connect themselves to

  483. historical Christians, they've tried to be as much like them

  484. as possible instead of building on what they gave us.

  485. That's what we should be doing. We should be getting better.

  486. And so bless their hearts. Some of our Christian forefathers

  487. that believe the tulip, but we don't have any excuse

  488. to teach things in that way anymore.

  489. Well, I appreciate your response. You were very clear and

  490. to the point. I very appreciate your clear, direct response, Tommy.

  491. So in finishing up here, where are you planning on

  492. going next with your ministry? What are you, like I

  493. already said, you already do dispensationalist, you do Calvinist. What's

  494. on your horizon? What are you looking for here in

  495. the near future that you can expand your ministry into?

  496. Well, I mean, obviously, my main focal point is our

  497. local church. You know, that takes up a majority of

  498. my time. Obviously, that's not what people see. People, most

  499. of the people out there, they know me from the

  500. online ministry. That's something that I do on the side.

  501. And, and, and don't get me wrong.

  502. It's been a big blessing to the ministry of our church.

  503. It's helped a lot of people find out about us. Um, but, um,

  504. I'm more focused on our church right now. Uh, right

  505. now I'm trying to get involved in the prison ministry,

  506. jail ministries, things like that.

  507. Um, but as far as.

  508. My online goals, um, I'm really trying to, um, expand

  509. more in just as far as, uh, having conversations with different,

  510. different people. As an independent fundamental Baptist, we are known

  511. for isolating ourselves, going into our echo chambers, locking ourselves

  512. into a position, and never changing. And I don't think

  513. we should change if we're right, but I think if

  514. we're wrong, we should change. And I think that the IFB,

  515. they're very bad at allowing themselves any kind of legitimate challenge.

  516. And the problem with that is if you have an

  517. error and you never allow yourself to be challenged, and

  518. then you isolate yourself, you're just going to radicalize yourself

  519. in that error. And that's why we see so much

  520. weird stuff in the IFB world and just a lot

  521. of crazies in it.

  522. And I don't want to be that way.

  523. So right now, what I'm trying to do as far

  524. as in expanding on what I'm doing, I have been

  525. trying to have some conversations I've been reaching out to

  526. some pretty big names, and I haven't been able to

  527. get any of them to agree to come on the

  528. program yet or even respond to me yet. But I

  529. wanted to talk a lot about this Christian nationalism, kind

  530. of start talking a lot more about how to apply

  531. our Christian beliefs in the political realm.

  532. And I am very interested in politics.

  533. I did an interview recently with somebody. One of the

  534. questions he was going to ask me, and he never

  535. got to it, Sorry about that. It was, but it

  536. was basically about politics. He notices I don't talk about

  537. that very much. And he was wondering about some of

  538. my political beliefs. And I don't talk about politics a

  539. whole lot, even though I am very interested in it.

  540. Just because for one, when it comes to mainstream politics,

  541. I don't see anybody out there representing my beliefs.

  542. The Republicans certainly don't. And the Democrats definitely don't.

  543. Um, and when it comes to a lot of my

  544. personal beliefs, as far as like even how to implement

  545. those things in government, we're Baptist, we're big separation of

  546. church and state people, but that doesn't mean we can't

  547. have a political opinion or even be involved in politics.

  548. And so there's just a lot of stuff I don't know.

  549. And frankly, what I'm hearing from Baptist is typically really

  550. dumb and unproductive and they're always just wanting to support

  551. Israel and everything. I don't think that's right. And I've

  552. talked to people like Doug Wilson. I had him on

  553. the program once. I want to have him back on.

  554. But the post-millennial crowd, what they typically say about politics,

  555. I find intriguing. And I agree with a lot of

  556. stuff they say. There's a bunch of other things they

  557. talk about where I have questions. And so I'm looking

  558. for some people that I can talk to about that.

  559. And I would like to start kind of discussing more

  560. political things on the program, but I'm still trying to

  561. figure out where I am on some of that stuff.

  562. All right. You bring up a very important point. So

  563. you've by yourself admission, you are an independent fundamental Baptist.

  564. So I've had people question me. They've heard of the

  565. new independent fundamental Baptist. Are those two different things?

  566. Yes, yes.

  567. So they're similar in some areas, but I'm an independent

  568. fundamental Baptist. I used to fellowship with a new independent

  569. fundamental Baptist, but basically, while the new independent fundamental Baptist,

  570. they have certain things right, like eschatology. When it comes

  571. to a lot of the flaws of the IFB, they

  572. have all those flaws and then some.

  573. You know, they're even more isolated.

  574. They're just even more radical on certain things. And I just,

  575. you know, couldn't really handle the crazy in that crowd.

  576. But they would definitely align more with me on end

  577. times and things like that. But I guess this is

  578. the way I explain it. I'm like the new independent

  579. fundamental Baptist when it comes to eschatology. I'm more like

  580. the independent fundamental Baptist when it comes to living life.

  581. And so.

  582. When it comes to end times, we might not even

  583. be around when the tribulation comes. Jesus might not return

  584. until long after I'm gone. So in reality, my beliefs

  585. on those things don't really affect my day-to-day life. But

  586. teaching on being a husband, father, neighbor, Christian, That's everyday life.

  587. And I'm IFB when it comes to those things. And

  588. I'm very different from the new IFB who they just

  589. kind of, you know, they take a position, you know,

  590. and just try to go to extremes with it.

  591. And they're just very ungodly. So that's kind of, but.

  592. As far as the differences though, they're definitely in a

  593. different camp.

  594. Okay.

  595. All right. Thank you. You made that very clear because,

  596. you know, that's one of the things that those of

  597. us that are outside those camps, we really have a

  598. hard time navigating those types of things, the different denominations

  599. that we're not familiar with. For example, let's say that

  600. I'm Orthodox. You saying you're independent fundamental Baptist, that requires

  601. a big definition. And I I want to thank you

  602. so much for clarifying that for the people in the

  603. other nations that still hold to Jesus Christ. So this

  604. has been a very good, insightful, informative interview, and I

  605. really do appreciate you coming on, Pastor Tommy. So how

  606. can people get a hold of you? I'm sure you've

  607. got a web address and all that good stuff. Give

  608. out any information you would like to give out.

  609. Yeah, so my YouTube channel is The Spirit of Prophecy Podcast.

  610. I'm on Facebook, just as Tommy McMurtry, or The Spirit

  611. of Prophecy Podcast is where I share the funny stuff.

  612. My email's lbcofrockfalls at gmail.com.

  613. That's the best place to get a hold of me.

  614. I also have a preaching YouTube channel where we do

  615. all the church stuff. That's Liberty Baptist Church of Rock Falls, Illinois.

  616. And I'm on Instagram and Twitter and things like that.

  617. I don't really do much on those platforms. Facebook and

  618. YouTube is where I'm most active. If you reach out

  619. to me on those other platforms, you might not hear anything.

  620. All right. Well, thank you, Pastor Tommy, and God bless.

  621. You have been fantastic. Quite a blessing to us today

  622. and very informative for all those people who just didn't

  623. understand where you were coming from. And I appreciate and

  624. I support your performance and your desire to get the

  625. gospel out there. We fully support your mission and what

  626. we're doing and especially your lightheartedness in doing so. So

  627. thank you so much for being on the program. Till

  628. next time, ladies and gentlemen. You're welcome. Until next time,

  629. ladies and gentlemen, God bless.

  630. Godspeed.