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Happy Monday, we are back with 
the ERC Leftovers podcast. 

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Fresh off another full weekend, 
Summer's still here. 

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It got a little warm. 
It's finally starting to feel 

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like summer outside. 
Yeah, yes it is. 

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No, it's true. 
Cool days are good great message

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yesterday we're just rolling 
right through the book of acts 

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and we got to kind of AI mean 
there's been a lot of momentous 

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moments. 
Can I use that word to? 

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Describe momentous moments. 
That's pretty good. 

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But we get we get to Paul, we 
get we get to Saul into Paul and

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the the the one that God has 
chosen to to be his instrument 

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of bringing the gospel to the 
early church to the the world at

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this time in dramatic fashion. 
Oh, my gosh, yeah. 

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I mean, what? 
I think I kind of brought it up 

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yesterday. 
You know, I think some of us 

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would like to think that we 
would want a conversion this 

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dramatic. 
I don't know, maybe, maybe not. 

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But clearly God picks his, picks
his moments wisely. 

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Yeah, but, and I love how you 
brought up Ananias too, though, 

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that with the whole PR thing, 
like there's there's no God, 

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there's no way that I can spin 
this that makes sense. 

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There's there's no way I can 
say, hey, this guy who was 

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trying to murder you last week, 
he's fine. 

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He's we're good, we're good now.
Like we got over it. 

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Yeah, we hashed it out, you 
know, we did. 

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We did the bro hug. 
We're good now. 

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Like really, I don't. 
I don't know about all this. 

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Yeah, so and that kind of 
brought the question about which

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was the greater, which was the 
greater leap of faith, like 

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Saul's turn or the early 
disciples, apostles, the early 

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Christians having to take now 
God at his word that that Saul 

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was now Paul and was supposed to
be this champion for the gospel.

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One of the things I didn't bring
up yesterday, but makes a lot of

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sense is that, you know, if you 
if you're going to question God,

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you're good. 
In some ways, you would almost 

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expect God to get angry about 
you like, you know, questioning 

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him and like his will. 
Ananias does. 

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And I think I think God clearly 
understands, like, you know, 

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Ananias sees a real threat and 
it's legitimate. 

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And so God does doesn't like, 
rebuke him when Ananias pauses 

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for a second, he's like, hey, do
you, do you actually know this 

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guy You want me to go to God 
doesn't say, hey, how dare you 

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question me? 
And he's like, no, no, no. 

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Like he, he gets it. 
He understands that this is a 

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legitimate threat. 
And so he doesn't rebuke Ananias

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for asking the question. 
And I thought that was really 

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good. 
But you know, no time to talk 

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about that yesterday. 
Yeah, it's a big ask and you 

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related it to Moses and and that
scenario too with Moses. 

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Moses didn't have all the 
answers either. 

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He was just walking on and he 
objected. 

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He had these are Are you sure? 
God, do you know the guy that 

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you're talking to? 
I'm not able bodied to to do 

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this. 
No one's going to follow me. 

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I can't really talk to people. 
I he had every excuse. 

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This fall, we'll actually get to
dig into some of those excuses, 

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I think, because we're going to 
spend a couple months with 

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Moses. 
So that'll be really fun, yeah. 

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That'll be great. 
So we're going to dive a little 

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deeper into Acts Chapter 9 here 
on today's episode. 

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Before we get there, we're back 
to would you rather as a segment

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this week. 
And the question comes in kind 

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of our sci-fi fantasy adventure 
movie Nerddom, if we can, if we 

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can say that, would you rather 
go on an adventure with Han Solo

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or Indiana Jones? 
So. 

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Both fictional characters played
by Harrison Ford. 

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Star Wars universe, Indiana 
Jones, pretty much set in, I 

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mean, our world. 
Yeah, yeah. 

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I've never talking about the 
Crystal Skull. 

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I don't know how it gets how 
weird that actually gets, but. 

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I don't. 
I don't know if I remember that 

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specific one first. 3 movies are
they Indiana Jones Canon for me 

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so. 
That's fair anyway. 

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Wait, you're not a which? 
Which one was the one where he 

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Sean Connery? 
He's in the third one. 

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That's the third one. 
I couldn't remember if that was 

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the 3rd or the 4th because I was
like, if you're not going to 

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include that one, man, that's 
it. 

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It hurts me a little bit because
that's the one I grew up most 

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watching. 
Right. 

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No, the first one is Raiders of 
the Lost Ark and then the second

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one, Temple of Doom also isn't 
really good. 

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But then the third one is the 
Last Crusade and then they 

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skipped like 20 years and made 
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. 

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Is Shia LaBeouf in that I. 
I think so. 

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I can't remember who the young 
kid is anyway. 

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I don't really count. 
Even Temple of Doom probably 

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that wasn't it wasn't a great. 
Movie. 

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Let me actually I got to ask you
a question about the question. 

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Oh boy. 
Here's here's the question. 

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About the question, I think it's
fair that because I think 

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there's a few qualifiers. 
Well, actually this is even pre 

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the question kind of. 
You'd mentioned to me that like,

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yeah, your wife Emily was like, 
hey, this would be a good 

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question and it is. 
But let me ask you something 

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about that. 
Like my wife, like she, she's 

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not going to watch Star Wars 
with me. 

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That's not happening. 
Like she's tried once or twice 

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and fallen asleep and, you know,
it's just not her world. 

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I will say that Lissa is kind 
enough to like, you know, watch 

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some of the Marvel movies with 
me and stuff and she's pretty OK

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with that, that fictional world.
But like is is is your spouse 

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more into like kind of the I 
guess you use the phrase nerd 

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dump like that kind of no. 
I can't recall that we've made 

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it all the way through an 
Indiana Jones movie. 

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I think she's endured some Star 
Wars movies, but no, it's not 

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her. 
She can do Marvel like she'll do

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Avengers, and that's about it. 
Star Wars is not something that 

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will captivate her and maybe 
kind of Lord of the Rings baby 

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kind of Harry Potter, but no, 
that's not her default mode. 

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I was just curious because you 
know, you know, somebody for a 

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number of years, but maybe you 
don't know that kind of thing 

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about them. 
Like, oh, what do you like for 

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entertainment? 
You know, what genres do you 

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enjoy? 
That's interesting. 

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It's not. 
It's not what you'd pick. 

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OK, sure, but she knows I care 
about it so she asks the 

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question. 
Oh, see, that's, see, that's a 

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good spouse. 
Like, hey, I will at least kind 

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of be into what you're into 
enough to support you even if I 

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don't participate. 
That's awesome. 

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I think that's actually a really
good spouse. 

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Yeah. 
Yes, it is. 

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So now I think there's a couple 
qualifiers for the question to 

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properly answer them, because 
they do take place in different 

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realities. 
And one of them is even, I would

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argue, a different reality. 
This is going to be a completely

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different country. 
So, So the way that the Star 

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Wars universe does hyperspace, I
feel like it's just not ever 

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really feasible for for us to 
have, right? 

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No. 
Matter, the technological 

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advancements, we can't really 
travel like that ever. 

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So are we just throwing that at 
like we're throwing practicality

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out? 
We're just adventuring in the 

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fictional Star Wars universe 
because the Indiana Jones 

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universe really isn't fictional.
It's it's yeah, it's real life. 

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Yeah, sure. 
But I think, like, you know, for

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anybody who's going to spend any
time in movies or books like 

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this, like if you are not the 
kind of person who can actually,

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I mean, full stop, suspend your 
disbelief, you're not going to 

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enjoy these movies and books and
things like that. 

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You're going to have to have the
ability to do that. 

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And I understand that not 
everybody does. 

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OK, so I'm going to we're. 
Suspending disbelief. 

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OK, that's. 
I guess that was the root of the

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question was are we are we doing
that? 

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Let's just do that. 
Which would totally, yeah, would

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maybe entirely change the appeal
of Han Solo then if if 

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lightspeed didn't work. 
So. 

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OK great. 
So where are you? 

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You. 
Know what actually, as I was 

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thinking about this in in a way 
that I, I maybe don't want to 

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suspend my disbelief and like 
live with me as I am. 

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I actually I'm leaning towards 
Indiana Jones. 

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And the reason why is because 
like the archaeological things 

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that he's working through and 
finding proof for are things 

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that I am in my real life self 
really interested in. 

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And so like, now, do I want to 
fall into a pit of snakes? 

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Absolutely not. 
That sounds terrifying. 

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Nor do I want to be, you know, 
chased through a temple by a 

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giant boulder that is going to 
crush me if I don't run fast 

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enough. 
Like, those are things that I 

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may not love, but like the 
intrigue of actually like 

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finding these things that like 
we believe are out there and we 

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or rather in there maybe 
somewhere in the earth. 

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Like, that's really intriguing 
to me. 

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So I'm right now I'm leaning 
that way. 

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So, and with that, my, I think 
my initial leaning is also 

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Indiana Jones somewhat for the 
danger reason, even those 

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dangers that. 
You brought up. 

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I think pale in comparison to 
the threat that Han Solo pretty 

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regularly encounters throughout 
the Star Wars saga. 

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And what did like the adventures
that he was on. 

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They were more like battles. 
He's never really any riches he 

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had were either for I mean, 
bringing, rescuing Princess Leia

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successfully. 
Pretty much everything else was 

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things that he smuggled or 
stole. 

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So his adventures were pretty 
much just like running away from

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the people who are trying to 
kill him. 

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That's that's his active 
adventures is what I kind of 

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thought of Han Solo. 
So. 

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Well, and he's actually like, if
you want to jump over to the 

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Marvel Universe, if you can make
that jump mentally, he's 

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basically a ravager. 
He's kind of like Star Lord 

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before Star Lord found his team,
right? 

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He's he's just a thief. 
Absolutely. 

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Yeah, that's all he does. 
Yeah, and we don't really, I 

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don't know in the main Star Wars
saga ever. 

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He never has even Star Lord in 
in The Avengers saga at least 

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like was tasked with finding the
power stone was tasked with 

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finding something of value. 
Is am I misremembering? 

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There's not like, find that Han 
Solo has that is just this 

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hugely desirable thing. 
No, he he ends up being very 

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much inundated in this like 
socio political world of, you 

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know, major wars. 
And I'm like, I don't, I don't 

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know that I want that. 
Let me give you one more thing 

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that some of people who are 
listening might disagree with. 

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I find that his major key 
companion, Chewbacca, I find him

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painfully annoying. 
I like every time. 

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I'm not even going to attempt to
make the noise that he makes 

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because it's going to turn off 
really bad and people are just 

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going to shut this off if I 
start. 

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Your Wookie accent is worse than
your British accent. 

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I mean, you might think, how is 
that even possible? 

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I think it would be possible. 
So I'm not even going to try, 

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but I just, I, I, I actually 
went through and watched some of

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those movies recently and every 
time Chewbacca does whatever he 

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does, whatever noise he makes, 
I'm just like, Oh my gosh, 

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please Fast forward like this, 
this, this character drives me 

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nuts. 
Wow. 

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I know. 
I think he's more annoying than 

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Jar Jar Binks. 
Wow. 

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Yeah, hot take. 
Hot take. 

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I disagree. 
I disagree very much with that. 

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There is not a character more 
annoying than George anywhere. 

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Anywhere. 
Interesting. 

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OK, so all right, Yep. 
And this is where I knew we 

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could devolve in the in our in 
our nerddom here. 

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We've gone down, yeah, 
hyperspace theories and 

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character flaws, side flaws in 
plot, plot holes in movies, but.

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The psychic matters. 
You got to have one that isn't 

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like super obnoxious. 
Yeah, So despite the relative 

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unexcitement of the proximity of
the adventures of Indiana Jones,

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I do think they'd just be far 
more interesting. 

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00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:45,800
I think most of the Han Solo 
adventures are you running for 

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00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,880
your life or running directly 
into a war zone is is really 

227
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,280
what you're doing. 
So if that's if that's your 

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00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,760
thing, I think you can go Han 
Solo. 

229
00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,680
But as far as the practical, the
actual adventures that are being

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00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:01,800
had, I think I'm in the Indiana 
Jones camp. 

231
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,320
I'm going to land there too. 
The only appeal to the other one

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is being in space. 
Right. 

233
00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,120
Which I don't know that I want 
that for my I mean. 

234
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,240
OK. 
Maybe in the Star Wars, the Star

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00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,840
Wars world, it's easy. 
In our world, it still seems 

236
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:18,200
wildly dangerous. 
Like. 

237
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,800
We haven't mastered space travel
at all. 

238
00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,960
So yeah, I guess Star Wars 
universe, maybe it's fine, but 

239
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,880
still, I don't know. 
I, I, I'm all of a sudden, I'm 

240
00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:34,240
instantly thinking about a 
couple people in our midst who 

241
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,440
are going to say, you guys are 
ridiculous. 

242
00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,080
How? 
How could you even think about 

243
00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:39,440
choosing Indiana Jones over 
that? 

244
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,080
Like over space travel, Yeah. 
Yeah, I've got a couple people 

245
00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:45,800
in mind and if they end up 
listening to this, I'm 

246
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:47,760
definitely going to hear. 
About it on the on the surface, 

247
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,080
I think that's the major draws. 
Of course, why wouldn't you have

248
00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,960
an adventure in space? 
I. 

249
00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,880
Don't know I'm I'm held back by 
the significance of those 

250
00:13:57,880 --> 00:13:59,480
adventures in space. 
Yeah. 

251
00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:01,800
And I'm also the kind of person 
who's like, you know what I 

252
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,920
don't need to ever do? 
Like go visit that Titanic at 

253
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,880
the bottom of the ocean. 
Like I'm just, I'm quite happy 

254
00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,840
being a surface dwelling human 
and I'm good with that. 

255
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:13,520
Yep. 
Agreed. 

256
00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:15,400
Agreed. 
All right. 

257
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:21,480
We are delving further into Acts
Chapter 9 here. 

258
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,800
Saul on the road to Damascus and
just to kind of set up the 

259
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,200
overview a little bit more from 
yesterday, you went through the 

260
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,400
1st 22 verses. 
You kind of covered honing in on

261
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:39,040
some more than others. 
But so Saul's still breathing 

262
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,880
threats and murder against the 
disciples of the Lord went to 

263
00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,160
the high priest and asked 
letters from him to the 

264
00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,680
synagogues of Damascus so that 
if he found any who were of the 

265
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:51,160
way way capitalized, whether men
or women, he might bring them 

266
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,480
bound to Jerusalem, setting up 
this whole sequence. 

267
00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,240
And of course, Paul has been 
routing and murdering and and 

268
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,480
persecuting the early church to 
this point. 

269
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,760
So this isn't entirely out of 
place, but we get an extra 

270
00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,160
detail from Luke here. 
He was. 

271
00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:10,880
He wasn't just some random 
bounty hunter antagonist just 

272
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,360
like doing whatever he wants. 
He's actually tasked here by a 

273
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,680
high priest, by a religious 
leader to go squash this 

274
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,760
movement of this early church, 
right? 

275
00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,800
Yeah, and we we know 
historically speaking, that 

276
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,720
religious leader would still be 
Caiaphas. 

277
00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,640
Same guy who's leading when 
Jesus is crucified. 

278
00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,840
Same guy. 
And so, you know, there's a, 

279
00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,040
there's a level of consistency 
there, which I think is helpful 

280
00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,960
because, you know, had some. 
Of this hasn't been converted. 

281
00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,400
No, and as far as we know, that 
never happened. 

282
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,280
I I would be shocked, you know, 
the lead of the Jewish nation 

283
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,680
being converted, that would have
really changed everything. 

284
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,040
But yeah, it's it's 
historically, we know that 

285
00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,200
that's still Caiaphas. 
And so it rings true that, you 

286
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:06,160
know, if Saul is really pretty 
adept at chasing down these 

287
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,400
Christians or so-called or 
people of the way, Caiaphas is 

288
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,280
probably going to be on board 
with that pretty. 

289
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,000
Quick. 
Yep, I'll rubber stamp this 

290
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,400
thing. 
You go, You go do the deed, man.

291
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,800
Yep. 
So but these breathing threats 

292
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,640
and murder against that's that's
quite a way to describe this 

293
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:30,320
picture of an angry, violent man
absolutely convinced that he's 

294
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,480
right, right that he's you. 
You couldn't really come to this

295
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,080
degree of murdering people, 
right, unless you were wholly 

296
00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,040
convinced that what you were 
doing is correct. 

297
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,520
And within that, that kind of 
sets up the context for this 

298
00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,640
conversion. 
He's holy rightly in this way of

299
00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,880
of Christianity is is wrong. 
It's evil, probably in his mind 

300
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,280
to the point of just it needing 
to be extinguished and then the 

301
00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:04,240
people made extinct from it. 
And Paul, as Paul, Saul has has 

302
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,520
this hatred of those who follow 
Jesus. 

303
00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:13,359
And that picture, that's, that's
severe picture. 

304
00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:18,800
I think Luke doesn't call it out
as that, but for when, when 

305
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,079
we're wrapped up in a life of 
sin, of rebellion of God, Like 

306
00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:28,880
that's the same degree to which 
we are positioned in opposition 

307
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,800
to God, right? 
Oh, absolutely. 

308
00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:36,160
Well, and you brought it up a 
little bit earlier today before 

309
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:40,080
we got on the show. 
This this sense of like, man, 

310
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,960
you are actually actively 
persecuting God when you do this

311
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,160
not in and I mean, we talked a 
little bit about that yesterday.

312
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:49,680
Jesus says, why are you 
persecuting me? 

313
00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,280
And we kind of walk through 
like, Hey, God dwells in those 

314
00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,880
who trust and believe in him. 
And that's one aspect of it. 

315
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,640
But the aspect that you brought 
up this morning that I didn't 

316
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,840
bring up yesterday is no, you 
are actively working against 

317
00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:04,240
God. 
And that should be scary. 

318
00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:05,680
Yeah. 
I mean that. 

319
00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:07,480
I don't know, man. 
Like that's. 

320
00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,880
That's a lot. 
No, that that cut through me 

321
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,200
yesterday. 
You were talking about the at 

322
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,040
the beginning of your message. 
You're talking about the sins 

323
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:19,280
that we justify and how it's you
didn't have to go very deep into

324
00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,960
into your mind to think to think
of sins that we justify. 

325
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:26,760
But then you followed it up with
jumping into this Saul, Saul, 

326
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,600
why are you persecuting me? 
And I just heard, I heard that 

327
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,680
personally within these sins 
that we that we choose or that 

328
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,440
we justify or that we get 
wrapped up in Jesus, just having

329
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,800
that voice to to each of us of 
you're you're choosing this 

330
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,560
thing, you're rebelling in sin. 
Why are you persecuting me in 

331
00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,320
this choice? 
And that just, I don't know, 

332
00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,160
man, that I know that's not what
the words are saying in this 

333
00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,200
badge, but that's how it cut 
through me in the moment. 

334
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,240
Yeah, and The thing is, like, 
you know, what does it mean to 

335
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,480
persecute God? 
Well, certainly one of the 

336
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,800
things it has to mean is I am 
persecuting the one who created 

337
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:05,000
me by saying that there is 
another thing that's worth 

338
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,320
worshipping, right? 
It's idolatry. 

339
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,480
The first commandment have no 
other Godspeed. 

340
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,960
You know, so like we have all of
this stuff and like we've even 

341
00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:16,600
been talking about in the Bible 
study before our service, we've 

342
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,280
been going through Jeremiah and 
Ezekiel. 

343
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:23,400
So we're, we're in, in very much
the, the problem, the main 

344
00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,080
problem and the reason why God 
is actually using these other 

345
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:31,640
armies to just destroy Israel 
and leave barely anything left 

346
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:36,760
of it is because of idolatry. 
And so as we worship anything 

347
00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,560
other than God. 
And, and I think like that's 

348
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,480
what that feels like and that's 
what it sounds like. 

349
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:46,600
God, God is being persecuted. 
Like I created you, I'm 

350
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,280
sustaining you. 
The only reason why you have 

351
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,240
breath in your lungs is because 
of me. 

352
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,920
And now you're going to fight 
against me. 

353
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,360
Are you serious? 
That's that's a problem. 

354
00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:01,120
Yeah, no, that's and that's how 
it kind of cut through me as 

355
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,600
just that active rebelling. 
Are you actively persecuting me 

356
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,520
and the and the choices that 
you're making in day-to-day 

357
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,520
life. 
And so that was good. 

358
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,240
I thought you. 
Came out swinging. 

359
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:12,960
Came out with conviction. 
And and. 

360
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,560
And went yeah, and went from 
there. 

361
00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:20,960
So what's interesting in the 
the, in setting up this 

362
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:26,120
background here of, of the 
lengths that Saul Paul was going

363
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:31,440
to and even the social support 
that he had and during word 

364
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,760
commentary points out about his 
background, then this wasn't 

365
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,680
this conversion wasn't like a 
memory wipe reset moment, which 

366
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,280
makes sense because I haven't 
really met anyone who at the 

367
00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,400
point that they become a 
Christian, they're, they're 

368
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,480
like, they don't have any memory
of their life before they came 

369
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,800
to faith, right? 
So of course we don't see that 

370
00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:58,280
with Saul and Paul here, but 
that that means he has, he has 

371
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,640
all these experiences still 
locked away in in his memory, in

372
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,400
his mind. 
He has this terribleness of this

373
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,200
past life that that he was when 
he was actively fighting against

374
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,160
Christians. 
And now he is 1 and I don't, I 

375
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,440
don't know that I've ever really
processed that. 

376
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:19,920
But it is an interesting picture
of what we today can still war 

377
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:21,960
against. 
It's an interesting reminder of 

378
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,800
we still have that life behind 
us. 

379
00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,120
We have, we have that old life 
or the, OR that guilt or the, OR

380
00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:32,520
those things. 
But with what we know, what we 

381
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,800
now know about Paul and the path
forward, none of that really 

382
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,320
hung him up, right? 
Like he, he wasn't, he wasn't 

383
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,360
anchored to those past sins or 
those past guilt or that past 

384
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,760
life. 
It was from this point on, this 

385
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,160
is my life now. 
And, and I think there are times

386
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,560
that we can get wrapped up in 
that we can, we can make excuses

387
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,040
for who we were or how or how 
we're not qualified because of 

388
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,240
what we've done or, or things 
like that. 

389
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,120
And we didn't see any of that 
here in in Paul's or here or in 

390
00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:06,040
any of his letters, any of how 
Paul talks about himself or how 

391
00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,240
others talk about him in the New
Testament. 

392
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:12,280
None of that is holding him 
back, despite having having all 

393
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,320
that still in in his 
experiential mind. 

394
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,320
Well, and you're completely 
right. 

395
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,120
You know this when when the 
Bible talks about in Christ, you

396
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:26,080
are a new creation that that's 
not just, you know, fun Ted talk

397
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,200
words on a page. 
No, God calls you a brand new 

398
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,040
creation. 
Now the the thing where this is 

399
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,320
actually weirdly positive is 
let's say you became a 

400
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,480
Christian. 
Your mind was wiped clean of 

401
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,880
your previous life. 
In some ways that would probably

402
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,640
be terribly unhelpful simply 
because those those things that 

403
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,640
we were hung up on prior to our 
relationship with Jesus Christ, 

404
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,840
those things end up being 
incredibly helpful for our 

405
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,280
witness in our testimony of 
where I've been. 

406
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,600
Now I don't get hung up on where
I've been in terms of like I 

407
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,920
feel guilty or shameful of it. 
No, I get to look back where 

408
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,680
I've been and see and, and now 
say, see how far God has moved 

409
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,000
me forward by his power. 
Not because like, Oh well, I 

410
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,920
just had a change of heart I 
got, you know, like we, we do 

411
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:16,680
stuff like that and we have the 
willpower to do it. 

412
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,200
Like, hey, I'm tired of not 
fitting in my pants. 

413
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,920
So I'm going to change myself. 
OK. 

414
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,560
But as far as like faith and 
understanding and seeking God, 

415
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,120
the Bible makes it very clear 
that God is the one doing the 

416
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,600
active work and changing us when
he does that. 

417
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,640
And so to be able to look back 
and give God all the credit for 

418
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,920
where I now sit and where I will
sit in another 5-10, fifteen, 20

419
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,000
years, I think that's actually a
phenomenal thing that we get to 

420
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,520
remember how broken and faulty 
we were, how much we rebelled 

421
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,520
against God, how much we were 
instruments of sin rather than 

422
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,760
instruments of grace. 
And in all of those ways, it's 

423
00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,640
actually really good to 
remember, but not stay there in 

424
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,000
shame. 
Amen. 

425
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,880
Amen. 
I want to jump into in the next 

426
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,760
couple verses, actually 
something that a phrase that 

427
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,280
isn't in the original text in 
verses 3 through 6 here, but is 

428
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:17,920
later on when Paul is recounting
his experience to to other 

429
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,320
Christians all the way up in 
chapter 22. 

430
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,960
There's something that happens 
kind of between verses 5 and 6. 

431
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,280
He he asked, and this is in the 
original Chapter 9 text. 

432
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,040
Paul from the ground asks, who 
are you, Lord? 

433
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,160
I am Jesus whom you are 
persecuting. 

434
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,160
And and Paul has this response, 
or at least he tells it this way

435
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,880
in Acts 22. 
He says in verse 8 after Jesus 

436
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:43,600
asked, why are you persecuting 
me? 

437
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,760
Saul's response is who are you, 
Lord, what shall I do? 

438
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,040
And this is in Acts 22, eight 
through 10. 

439
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,200
And that question that isn't, 
it's not in the original text 

440
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,640
here in Chapter 9, but we can 
kind of piece it together from 

441
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:05,680
his account later on in Acts 22.
Man, that question is, is a big 

442
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,560
1. 
And in that moment, it takes a 

443
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,080
lot of faith in that moment, 
even we don't even have this 

444
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,360
whole conversion of him yet, But
to ask that question, incredibly

445
00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:18,320
dangerous, incredibly faith 
filled, like to be able to 

446
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,080
sincerely follow through. 
If you're asking that question 

447
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,400
of God, what do you want me to 
do? 

448
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,000
You got to be ready to go, 
right? 

449
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,440
Like you got to. 
You got to be ready to saddle up

450
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,960
for the response. 
Oh, that's a yeah, that's a 

451
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,600
great way to put that. 
You know, I've heard so many 

452
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,160
Christians, excuse me, kind of 
jokingly say, hey, don't pray 

453
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,440
for patience because then God is
going to build the situations 

454
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,160
that are going to. 
Make you more things. 

455
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,520
Yeah. 
But I actually think this is, 

456
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,200
this is far more dangerous. 
It's it's a way bigger and more 

457
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,840
difficult question because as 
it's pointed out in the Enduring

458
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,160
Word commentary, which the show 
notes are there that have this, 

459
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,680
you know, if you dare to really 
ask God this question, but when 

460
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:06,040
we ask it, you must ask it with 
submission and determined 

461
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,160
obedience, buddy. 
Yeah, that's a dangerous prayer.

462
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,280
It's a dangerous question. 
That's what's catchy about that 

463
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,680
question. 
The obedience kind of has to 

464
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,520
already be there. 
That determined obedience has to

465
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,680
be there before you ask it. 
So if you ask the question and 

466
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,040
then your obedience is 
determined by what? 

467
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,560
The response to the question, 
then you're not, then you're not

468
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,840
asking my question obedience. 
You're not asking it in faith. 

469
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:38,400
You're not just ready to follow 
God's leading in that moment, 

470
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,040
You're still kind of. 
Well, yeah, I could. 

471
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:43,320
That works for me. 
I, I I. 

472
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,240
It works. 
For me, but that's what the 

473
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:46,800
response is. 
If you're not willing to just 

474
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,520
follow what he's what he's 
answering that question with. 

475
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,840
And so that was amazing to me. 
And I I've never really pieced 

476
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,000
that together from him from his 
later account, like he was even 

477
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,560
before he goes to this house and
and Ananias, he gives him back. 

478
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,000
Jesus gives him back his sight. 
But like after he's healed and 

479
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,240
converted and sent out, he's 
already asking this question of 

480
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,280
obedience in this moment, just 
from this encounter with with 

481
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:13,800
Jesus. 
What do you want me to do? 

482
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,680
And maybe This is why God knew 
ahead of time that Paul was such

483
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,600
a well, some, some translations 
use the word instrument. 

484
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,760
I think I used that one 
yesterday out of the ESV that 

485
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:30,040
that Paul is going to be such a 
helpful instrument despite his 

486
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:35,040
background, because clearly he 
had a determined obedience to 

487
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,800
what he believed prior to 
meeting Jesus. 

488
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,920
And so God who sees the heart, 
who knows our character and 

489
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,360
understands us more deeply than 
we understand ourselves, He's 

490
00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:50,640
like, Oh no, this is my guy. 
Like I, I know what, I know how 

491
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,240
I built him. 
I know his convictions. 

492
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,200
And so he's going to be my 
instrument to use. 

493
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,680
Yeah. 
So that that's amazing that we 

494
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,440
already see it's not that God 
had to be validated, but we 

495
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,960
can't even as Ananias is asking,
we kind of needed some 

496
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:08,160
validation. 
Well, you know what? 

497
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,880
He was already. 
He was in before he even got 

498
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,680
sent to Damascus. 
He's asking, all right. 

499
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,800
He said he's the Lord. 
What do you want me to do? 

500
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,040
You're revealing yourself to me 
as the Lord. 

501
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:24,360
And he was somehow like Psyche 
shifted in that moment already, 

502
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,800
even before his sight is 
restored, even before he goes 

503
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,400
down this road to Damascus and 
meets Ananias and all those, and

504
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,640
is in his whatever accepted into
the community, which is still 

505
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,080
wild. 
That that. 

506
00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:38,640
It's all that that's all that it
took. 

507
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:43,880
But and he and he did make it 
personal like he what what do 

508
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,760
you want with me? 
What do you want me to do? 

509
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,200
Another note from this this 
commentary, he says we are often

510
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,920
quite interested in what God 
wants others to do. 

511
00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,280
But the surrendered heart asked,
Lord, what do you want me to do?

512
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,800
What? 
We're not supposed to be 

513
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,440
sideline Christians, right? 
And that's maybe an extreme way 

514
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,200
to say it, but we're called to 
get in the game. 

515
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,920
And God was putting Paul in the 
game. 

516
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,800
And when, when his number was 
called to drop out, the sports 

517
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,520
metaphor, like when his number 
was called, he was ready to go. 

518
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,120
I know it doesn't always feel 
like our numbers are being 

519
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,280
called necessarily that we're 
upward, but we're, we're called 

520
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:32,640
to be active. 
We're called to be vigilant. 

521
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,000
We're called to live with eyes 
open. 

522
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,840
So in those opportunities, in 
those Holy Spirit whisperings or

523
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:43,640
leadings, or even we, we talked 
about last week about the how 

524
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:47,800
the spirit instructed, but 
Philip still needed to act 

525
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,600
right? 
Like that's that's those moments

526
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,520
that that's those OK, go down 
this road, you're going to meet 

527
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,720
the guy. 
But when we have those moments 

528
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,880
and then that's the point that 
we got to go that we got to do 

529
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,280
that in the in the shore 
uncertainty of the prodding of 

530
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,520
of the leading of God. 
So what do you want me to do? 

531
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,600
Especially when it's directed at
you. 

532
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,320
Our response should not be 
someone else's got that right. 

533
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,240
It's. 
And I actually, I'm, I'm just 

534
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,080
thinking now, like we just 
started, it was just announced 

535
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:28,440
yesterday, 40 by fall, which 
which is a fun, snazzy way to 

536
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:34,200
say like, Hey, we want each 
individual to look at how God 

537
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,280
has crafted them, look at how 
God has gifted them, and then 

538
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,320
ask the question, what do you 
want me to do? 

539
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:44,200
And so like as a, as a community
of believers, man, it's really 

540
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,160
important for us to give 
opportunities for people to ask 

541
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,000
that question and then to work 
out what that question looks 

542
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,920
like in their local faith 
community. 

543
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,880
And so I think it's really 
important that we that we do 

544
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:01,160
that, that we ask the question 
and that as church leaders we 

545
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,560
provide opportunities to have 
that question answered. 

546
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,480
So yeah, we're starting with 
that within our own the 

547
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:12,200
community here, the Wednesday 
nights and and Sundays, both 

548
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,000
serving the people that make up 
our church. 

549
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,520
But but out of that, I mean the 
greater goal being OK, how do we

550
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:21,880
how do we impact our community 
with this? 

551
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:26,160
How do we have a place that is 
we use the tagline house for the

552
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:31,680
broken home for the healed. 
Can we can we be positioned to 

553
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:37,040
to testify, to serve, to be able
to live out that yes, this is 

554
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,480
what my life used to be, but now
it's this. 

555
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:45,000
Now I'm healed now I'm changed 
and this is something for you to

556
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,760
be a part of to the same gift of
Jesus is is available for you. 

557
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,360
Can we can we make it? 
I'm not and I'm not saying it's 

558
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:57,400
all about like building a shrine
or a place here, but we've grown

559
00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,840
a lot in the past in the past 
couple years to the point of we 

560
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,440
do need to start thinking about 
having greater volunteer 

561
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,760
involvement. 
We, we have to shore up some 

562
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:14,120
systems, as it were, that word, 
like maybe people bristle at 

563
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,720
that word a little bit, but we, 
we do need to have ways of, you 

564
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,920
know, what if someone's here for
the first time, they're, they're

565
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,040
new or, or they, whatever they 
have, they have kids that are 

566
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,160
coming in the nursery or 
children's church or they're 

567
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,800
dropping kids on Wednesday 
nights or the, the parents 

568
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,760
themselves are looking to get 
connected with, with other 

569
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,520
couples or small groups or 
things like that's part of 

570
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,440
that's part of ministry too. 
We have to have like those 

571
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:43,360
opportunities ready to go. 
And, and we do that best, I 

572
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,160
think by having the people, you 
people who've, who've 

573
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,840
experienced it, who've 
experienced the community here, 

574
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,440
being able to say, yeah, this 
is, you know what? 

575
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:57,120
I was new here two years ago and
this person gave me a handshake 

576
00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,200
and invited me to this thing. 
And now I'm, I'm here to do the 

577
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,360
same thing. 
And, and, and we want you here 

578
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:03,760
and we want you as part of this 
community. 

579
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,080
And we think that there's life 
changing power in, in the truth 

580
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,440
of God's word here and in the 
and in the Christian community 

581
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,880
we have. 
So it's not just serving to say 

582
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,240
we've got a children's ministry 
or serving that we have, we have

583
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,120
greeters or hospitality ministry
or whatever else it it might be.

584
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:26,080
It's, it's how we serve well. 
It's how we meet and accommodate

585
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:28,440
people who don't know Jesus 
well. 

586
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,640
You know, and actually a 
significant part of my own 

587
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:37,920
personal testimony is that like,
OK, so came to this church, you 

588
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:42,480
know, a number of years ago and 
like at some point God really 

589
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,560
kind of broke through to me 
mentally, emotionally, 

590
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,600
spiritually, whatever. 
And that's and that's great. 

591
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,280
And so like I'm, I'm sitting 
there as a believer on a Sunday 

592
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,800
morning. 
But one of the things that I 

593
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:57,240
cannot deny about my own 
personal experience and time 

594
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:02,520
with God thus far is that man, 
my heart was really more so set 

595
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:07,440
on fire for life as a Christian 
when somebody gave me 

596
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,199
opportunities to participate. 
I mean, honestly, like it was 

597
00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,440
great coming on Sunday mornings 
and just like consuming and 

598
00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:17,080
taking in what I was hearing. 
And that was really good. 

599
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,560
But at the point that I was able
and encouraged to participate, 

600
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,320
man, things really started 
changing for not just myself, 

601
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,080
but our entire family pretty 
quickly when that happened. 

602
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:34,920
And it, it has put us on this 
journey of like, not just being 

603
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,000
a casual Christian. 
I, I don't know if I'm saying 

604
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,800
that right. 
Not just, hey, I, I, I believe 

605
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:44,239
this intellectually, but like, 
no, now I'm living this thing 

606
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,800
out. 
And actually going back to when 

607
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,760
early Christianity wasn't called
Christianity, it was called the 

608
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,320
way. 
And as so we talk about the way,

609
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,239
that's not just, hey, here's 
what I intellectually believe. 

610
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,320
No, this is how I walk. 
This is how I live. 

611
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,680
This is how I exercise my faith 
in my daily life. 

612
00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:06,160
I'm, I'm walking the way of 
Jesus in everything that I do. 

613
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:11,960
And so, yeah, to be able to 
participate in what our faith 

614
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,400
community is doing, that's 
pretty powerful. 

615
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:19,720
Yeah, no, it's amazing. 
And this, this conversion, this 

616
00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:24,440
experience that's all had. 
There's there's another little 

617
00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:29,360
interesting nuance. 
Galatians 111 through 12 Paul 

618
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:31,880
now writing this letter to 
Galatians, writes that the 

619
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,800
gospel that was preached to me 
is not according to man, for I 

620
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,480
neither received it from man nor
as I taught it, but it came 

621
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,360
through the revelation of Jesus 
Christ. 

622
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,440
It makes it seem like and and 
there's the little doubt that 

623
00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:49,640
Paul, though he was blinded like
saw Jesus revealed himself to 

624
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:53,480
him. 
But he also in in verse 17 of 

625
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:58,280
chapter 22, again, when Paul 
himself is is recounting this 

626
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:03,200
interaction, verse 17 of 22, he 
he says, when I returned to 

627
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:04,480
Jerusalem was praying at the 
temple. 

628
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:08,320
I fell into a trance and saw the
Lord speaking to me like he's 

629
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:13,400
He's had almost this downloaded 
experience of the gospel where 

630
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,320
it was just all I don't. 
Know that's a good way to say 

631
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,360
that, actually. 
Yeah, I kind of get visions of 

632
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,000
the Matrix plug in like he was 
just like he just downloaded the

633
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:29,280
Gospel one point O pack, but 
like he not only had this 

634
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,520
experience with Jesus, but but 
it had it. 

635
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,920
It was so fast and the 
impression that Jesus made on 

636
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:40,560
him was just so instantaneous. 
His life was radically changed 

637
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,880
in that moment. 
There wasn't this trial period 

638
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:50,800
of Yep, sit down with Ananias 
once a day for two hours for the

639
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,360
next two weeks and then you'll 
be trained up and ready to go 

640
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,000
or, or make sure you meet with 
these guys and they'll lay hands

641
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,320
on you and Commission you to to 
go out and make sure they pray 

642
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,840
over you and all there. 
There weren't these qualifiers. 

643
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:08,920
He in this one radical moment 
and experience, he was equipped 

644
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,760
and ready to go just by 
encountering Jesus, right. 

645
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,920
So I think we can also make much
to do about nothing. 

646
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,720
Yes, there can be next steps 
things at church. 

647
00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:22,280
And of course there's there's 
questions that we want to answer

648
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,160
and we want to learn more about 
the Bible. 

649
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,440
I understand people wanted to 
have a deeper faith, but also, 

650
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,560
as we've said before, and as we 
see in this passage, 

651
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:37,160
encountering Jesus and believing
that qualifies you to go, that 

652
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:41,400
that qualifies you to serve and 
engage and share this gospel, 

653
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:42,720
right? 
Absolutely. 

654
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:46,240
And the, and The thing is like, 
you know, you can always, you 

655
00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:50,000
can always learn more. 
I mean, I, I think that's true. 

656
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,720
And like, even after, you know, 
years of seminary and stuff, 

657
00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:57,520
like, you know, honestly, I 
learn more every single week. 

658
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,280
You know, I even learn more 
sitting down and talking with 

659
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,880
you during this podcast, like, 
because you'll say things and 

660
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:04,960
I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I guess I
hadn't thought of it that way or

661
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,760
hadn't heard that before. 
So yeah, you can always learn 

662
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,280
more. 
But, you know, I think I've 

663
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,560
heard it this way. 
If if you wait for the exact 

664
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,360
right moment to start your 
family, in other words, like 

665
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,760
have kids, you're never going to
have kids. 

666
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,240
And in the same way, like if you
wait until I think I know enough

667
00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:26,320
and now I can go, you know, 
actually be an ambassador for 

668
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,440
Christ, you're never going to do
it because there's always more 

669
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:30,720
to know. 
There's always more to learn. 

670
00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,320
There's always somebody smarter 
than you. 

671
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,960
And so, you know, depending on 
what kind of a high bar you set 

672
00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,200
for yourself, you may never do 
anything but study and study and

673
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:42,000
study. 
And those things are great. 

674
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:46,400
But God calls us to be active 
ambassadors, not people who sit 

675
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:48,520
on the sidelines as I think you 
said earlier. 

676
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:52,120
And we have this, so we have 
this immediate conversion, we 

677
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:55,880
have this three days without 
sight that he he wasn't healed 

678
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:59,560
of his blindness for three days.
And it says he neither ate nor 

679
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,480
drank. 
The thought from the enduring 

680
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,040
Word commentary here that this 
was a humbling experience for 

681
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:11,120
Saul and a time where he must 
have challenged all his previous

682
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,360
ideas about who God was and what
pleased God. 

683
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:18,080
In these three days, Saul was 
dying to himself. 

684
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:20,640
It would be only after the three
days of dying that he would 

685
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:22,720
receive resurrection life from 
Jesus. 

686
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,800
We have this picture. 
And of course, to live to live 

687
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,960
as Christ, to die as gain to to 
pick up our cross daily and 

688
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,120
follow me. 
We have we have these other kind

689
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,920
of parallels to this idea. 
He does have this instant 

690
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:40,760
transformation, but his 
immediate experience following 

691
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:45,200
that is kind of the the 
deconstruction of the life that 

692
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,480
was right that that old life has
passed away. 

693
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,080
The new has come. 
We see in this this kind of 

694
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,560
three days drawn out, not 
relying on food or water, 

695
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,000
neither ate nor drank. 
He's blind. 

696
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,600
He has no, I mean every 
everything he knew about his 

697
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:04,200
world, right was, was was sense 
and sight and touch and rage and

698
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:07,360
anger and all of a sudden it's 
just his life. 

699
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:09,920
His world is crashed down upon 
in humility. 

700
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,360
He's helpless. 
He's he's not gaining 

701
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:17,160
sustenance. 
All he has quote UN quote. 

702
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:23,600
All he has is Jesus right and 
and right but but isn't isn't 

703
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,480
that the point that we can be 
brought to where it? 

704
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:28,760
Where it finally clicks when 
when all we have left is Jesus, 

705
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:31,120
we we see that in Saul's 
experience here. 

706
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,240
And of course, something 
powerful worked out of it. 

707
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,080
Yeah. 
And you know, nobody, nobody 

708
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:41,200
gets excited about, you know, 
having very difficult seasons or

709
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:43,400
times in your life. 
Nobody gets excited about that. 

710
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:48,640
However, what is exciting is 
what could come out of that. 

711
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:53,000
It has the potential. 
So if I, if my bank account is 

712
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,120
drained, which I've experienced 
before, and all the the 

713
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,960
resources that I thought I had, 
which were holding me up, if, if

714
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,560
all those things are taking 
away, all of a sudden I'm, I'm 

715
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:07,000
going to have to ask the 
question, is God really 

716
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:09,960
faithful? 
And it will be answered. 

717
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,400
But man, it's getting there, 
getting to the point where I'm 

718
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,480
willing to ask that question, Is
God really faithful to me? 

719
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:22,400
Is he going to prove it? 
Yeah, that's, it's a tough place

720
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,640
to be, but on the other side, on
the other side of that is 

721
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:30,320
something fantastic that we 
would have never known had we 

722
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:33,400
not fallen into that place. 
Again, I've recounted it before 

723
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,120
and I won't do the whole thing. 
But listen, I and our family 

724
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:39,280
seminary experience was exactly 
that. 

725
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:42,880
We had all these things holding 
us up and they were all taken 

726
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:47,400
away financially or otherwise. 
And then, you know, not that God

727
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,640
wasn't there before, but like he
started showing up in ways that 

728
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:55,680
we would have never even thought
to look until we had nothing but

729
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,680
him. 
And that changed our entire it 

730
00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:04,960
changed my world, absolutely. 
And despite this vision here we 

731
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,000
also so he gets instruction and 
go to Damascus to meet Ananias 

732
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:12,040
and Ananias is given a vision 
and even God does explain to him

733
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:13,440
a little bit of what Paul's 
experience. 

734
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:16,200
It's not just hey, there's a 
dude's going to show up at your 

735
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,800
door and he needs your help like
God. 

736
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:23,920
God does inform him a little 
more with unbelievable items. 

737
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:28,320
I mean to to Ananias his 
objection of I've heard from 

738
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,680
many about this man verses 13 
through 16 how much harm he has 

739
00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,280
done to your Saints in Jerusalem
and here he has authority from 

740
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:36,760
the chief priest to bind all who
calling your name again. 

741
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:40,960
And so this was well known that 
saw he wasn't just doing this 

742
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,640
thing on his own, supported by 
the religious leaders and powers

743
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,080
that would be. 
And, and it's it's common 

744
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:52,640
knowledge that that he has this 
support and God just responds, 

745
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:55,680
this is my chosen vessel, man, 
deal with it right? 

746
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,680
Like. 
That's, that's, that's, that's a

747
00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:04,200
hard answer to hear. 
But but I, I love, you know, we 

748
00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:07,320
don't get to hear anything else 
about Ananias after this moment.

749
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,400
And as far as we can tell, and I
think the enduring word 

750
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:15,360
commentary points us out is that
Ananias is not a pastor, He's 

751
00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:16,800
not a priest, he's not a 
prophet. 

752
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:20,000
He's, he's, he's your everyday 
Christian. 

753
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:25,840
And yet God uses him in this 
remarkable way to go lay hands 

754
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:30,800
on Saul, to brave what he knows 
is an incredibly dangerous 

755
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,560
moment. 
And God's like, yeah, but I'm 

756
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:36,440
going to be with you. 
And it doesn't matter if you 

757
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:37,960
don't have the right title or 
this or that. 

758
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,640
Like, I can still use you to do 
amazing things. 

759
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,320
And that's exactly what God does
to randomize. 

760
00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:48,240
He uses them to do this amazing 
thing and to actually create 

761
00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:52,040
reconciliation for an entire 
community. 

762
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:57,360
Now that I think is maybe one of
the more interesting parts about

763
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:01,720
Ananias is he's the first one 
who looks at Saul and says, you 

764
00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:05,040
know what? 
I accept you as part of my 

765
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:06,920
community. 
I'm not afraid of you. 

766
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,280
In fact, we are now brothers in 
Christ. 

767
00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:14,640
That's a big leap. 
And bringing it up yesterday, 

768
00:44:14,640 --> 00:44:17,240
like what if somebody had done 
that to us or our family? 

769
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:20,000
Like the last thing most of us 
would want to do is put our 

770
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,320
hands on them and and call them 
family. 

771
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:25,480
But that's exactly what God 
calls us to do. 

772
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:27,680
He calls us to radical 
forgiveness and radical 

773
00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:31,360
reconciliation. 
And that's, that's a remarkable 

774
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:33,320
thing. 
And that makes the God of the 

775
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:39,040
Bible very different than any 
other quote UN quote God of any 

776
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:40,520
other religion. 
Right. 

777
00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:44,720
And despite Ananias initial 
objections to what's happening, 

778
00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:49,440
he after God kind of responds 
and and informs him of what he 

779
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:51,640
is to do. 
He does jump in with both feet. 

780
00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:55,760
Verse 17 brother Saul and and he
came and laid hands on him and 

781
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,320
the Lord Jesus who appeared to 
you on the road as you came and 

782
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,240
sent me that you might receive 
your sight and be filled with 

783
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:02,760
the Holy Spirit. 
So there does come a point 

784
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:06,920
again, this was prodded by God 
and and I still had to take 

785
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:08,960
action. 
It wasn't the Holy Spirit that 

786
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:11,640
just did the thing. 
It was the Holy Spirit leading 

787
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:15,160
the thing. 
And Paul was filled with the 

788
00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:18,080
Holy Spirit. 
He was healed from his physical 

789
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:21,040
blindness. 
Some would say he was also in 

790
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:24,120
this moment healed from his 
spiritual blindness, which he 

791
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:26,360
had been to that point. 
And there's, there's parallels 

792
00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:29,200
there too of him being 
physically blind to mimic his, 

793
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:32,720
his spiritual blindness as well.
And he had to cast all of that 

794
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:37,280
off in these, in these three 
days of yeah, of deprivation 

795
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:41,160
that he had in this experience. 
He rose and was baptized. 

796
00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:45,120
And when Saul could see again, 
both physically and spiritually,

797
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:48,720
he immediately wanted to 
identify with Jesus and the 

798
00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:50,760
disciples of Jesus by being 
baptized. 

799
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:54,040
This was the next step. 
Why here's water. 

800
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,600
Why should I not be baptized? 
And we're, we're not going to 

801
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:00,360
hang out in this baptism thing 
forever. 

802
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:03,280
But it, it is. 
We see this traditional 

803
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:09,040
significance of being washed 
with water at whatever point in 

804
00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:12,600
the an infant in the care of of 
parents of a Christian 

805
00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:18,200
household, a grown child, an 
adult child, a young adult 

806
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:23,560
middle it whatever it might be. 
We, we see this as as a pattern,

807
00:46:23,560 --> 00:46:27,360
as a washing, as a declaration 
of what God has done in your 

808
00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:29,920
life. 
And I do say it that way because

809
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,080
yes, it's maybe you making the 
declaration, but it's still 

810
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:35,840
about what God has done. 
It is very little to do with 

811
00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:39,760
what we you have done in 
baptism. 

812
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:43,840
It's all about declaring what is
God, God has done in your life. 

813
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:47,400
Yeah, absolutely. 
We and I and I, it's, it's 

814
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:52,760
interesting that the baptism 
part, it comes so quickly, but 

815
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:56,360
man, the second that we accept 
and believe in Jesus Christ as 

816
00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,760
our Lord and Savior, that is the
next logical step. 

817
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:03,960
Like you brought it up a couple 
weeks ago in your sermon and 

818
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,320
it's I, I think it's great to 
build parties and have 

819
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:10,320
celebrations around this stuff. 
So maybe we plan it out weeks or

820
00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:13,040
months in advance. 
Nothing wrong with that, but at 

821
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:17,200
the same time, like the very 
second that God calls us into 

822
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:21,480
his grace and into his mercy, 
let's do that. 

823
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:23,640
Let's do that. 
And so, yeah, I do want to 

824
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:29,000
continue to normalize, hey, if 
God's calling you right now, if 

825
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:31,960
this is the first time that like
you're really meeting Jesus and 

826
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:36,880
let let's let's be baptized, 
Let's wash away your sins by the

827
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:39,160
word of God and through water 
and through washing. 

828
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:42,440
And let's pronounce by the 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 

829
00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:45,520
that you are now a part of His 
family because of what he's 

830
00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:48,320
done. 
And that's really the conversion

831
00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:52,040
experience that we see just 
acted out here in Paul. 

832
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:55,880
It's it's why I believe God 
chose him as this instrument. 

833
00:47:55,880 --> 00:48:00,000
If he, if he could change, if, 
if Jesus could breakthrough and 

834
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,600
have an impact on this life, who
was a sworn enemy of God. 

835
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:07,320
There's nothing that any of us 
have that could be such a turn 

836
00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:10,240
out that could remove us from 
the love of Christ. 

837
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:13,280
He writes in Paul, writes in his
letter to Timothy, First Timothy

838
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,480
1. 
He was a blasphemer, A 

839
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,760
persecutor and insolent man. 
But I obtained mercy because I 

840
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:23,360
did it ignorantly in unbelief. 
And this reason I obtained mercy

841
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:27,040
that in me first Christ Jesus 
might show all long-suffering as

842
00:48:27,040 --> 00:48:29,800
a pattern for those who are 
going to believe in him for 

843
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:32,720
everlasting life. 
Paul even acknowledged it. 

844
00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:38,760
If he can change me, there's no 
one beyond saving if I was 

845
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,560
changed. 
So you listener out whatever is 

846
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:46,760
in the past, whatever neighbor 
or acquaintance or family member

847
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:51,880
that you might have, none of 
them are beyond saving from 

848
00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:53,960
this. 
And, and we have this pattern of

849
00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:57,120
Paul's conversion, I think for 
for the early church in that 

850
00:48:57,120 --> 00:49:01,480
moment, for us now today, that 
that even if God's love could 

851
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:04,160
reach him, there's nothing we 
can do to separate ourselves. 

852
00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:08,760
And and I don't, I don't think 
we always like hearing this 

853
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:11,640
because we feel the personal 
effects of other people's sins. 

854
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:18,120
But let's be honest, Paul was a 
murderer, right? 

855
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:20,600
Hard stop. 
Like he's, he was a murderer. 

856
00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:22,840
And God still says, you know 
what? 

857
00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:26,920
My grace is bigger than that. 
It's just bigger than that. 

858
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:31,920
And So what, what sin is their 
greater? 

859
00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:35,080
I mean, of course the Bible will
tell you that idolatry is a you 

860
00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:40,000
know, but like as far as human 
to human man, you stop 

861
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:42,800
somebody's life, that's as bad 
as it gets. 

862
00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:48,440
And if God can look at that and 
say, yeah, but my son, there's, 

863
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:50,360
there's nothing that can stop 
us. 

864
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:54,480
There's nothing that is too big 
for God to forgive as as we 

865
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:56,920
believe in Jesus Christ, there 
just isn't anything. 

866
00:49:57,320 --> 00:50:00,240
And I think that's an important 
part of this, this story, this 

867
00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:05,600
account to this life of Paul. 
God simply could have broken 

868
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:07,920
him. 
God, God simply could have just 

869
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:11,120
eliminated him from the playing 
board. 

870
00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:14,400
So I would also speak to any, 
any of you out there who either 

871
00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:20,040
feel empty spiritually, 
emotionally, whatever it might 

872
00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:25,200
be in in life, that emptiness 
isn't from God. 

873
00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:30,440
It it could be from things that 
we either justified in our lives

874
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:34,240
or, or things that we reasonably
filled our lives with, because 

875
00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:35,600
that's that's what Paul was 
doing. 

876
00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:38,920
And then God emptied him of 
those things, but he didn't 

877
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:42,640
leave him there. 
He then had the news of Jesus. 

878
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:48,520
He he had Ananias alongside him.
He even says he also had, he 

879
00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:51,240
also had physical needs. 
Obviously he hadn't eaten for 

880
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:55,120
three days, eaten or drank and 
he did receive food. 

881
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:57,760
After he received food, he was 
strengthened. 

882
00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:02,200
God filled his spiritual and 
physical needs in this moment. 

883
00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:05,120
He didn't just leave him 
helpless, right? 

884
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:12,120
So God uses our brokenness as as
a precursor, as as a prelude to 

885
00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:16,200
being filled by the things we 
need, being strengthened in the 

886
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:20,360
things that we truly need. 
However long we live in that fog

887
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:25,160
of, of justification, of of self
justification or, or confusing 

888
00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:30,120
ourselves of what we might need,
God tears the God's ready to 

889
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:32,640
tear that away and fill it with 
what we actually need. 

890
00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:34,760
I think is what we see in this 
in Paul here. 

891
00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:37,760
Amen. 
That was Yep, absolutely. 

892
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:40,160
I can add nothing to that of 
substance. 

893
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:45,960
That was fantastic. 
Do you have anything else to add

894
00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:51,040
of of substance as we wrap out 
this Chapter 9 here? 

895
00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:53,080
Anything else that you wish you 
could have said yesterday? 

896
00:51:53,280 --> 00:51:56,280
Oh, well, I mean, I think you 
know, you, you get to you get to

897
00:51:56,280 --> 00:52:01,200
verse 20 and you just see the 
instantaneous He is the Son of 

898
00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:02,680
God. 
Look at that. 

899
00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:08,120
He is the Son of God and to 
whatever extent and degree that 

900
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:13,440
we can say that publicly and in 
freedom and with joy having our 

901
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:16,640
having our hearts, you know, 
they've been changed. 

902
00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:20,880
That's an, you know, because we 
proclaim, we proclaim it with 

903
00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:22,840
our mouth and we believe it in 
our hearts. 

904
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:27,320
And so that proclamation, 
whatever form that comes into 

905
00:52:27,360 --> 00:52:30,320
the outside world around us, 
like it's important to proclaim 

906
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:34,280
that, that, hey, I'm nailing my 
colors to the Mass right here on

907
00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:36,160
Jesus. 
And you're not going to move me 

908
00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:39,280
off that because I've 
experienced it, I've seen it, 

909
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:43,520
I'm living it out now. 
And you know, there's just 

910
00:52:43,520 --> 00:52:45,120
nothing that's going to change 
that for me. 

911
00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:48,000
And so accept me. 
Don't accept me, but this is 

912
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:51,920
what I believe. 
Yep, and he unabashedly 

913
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:55,040
proclaimed it. 
He had the freshness of of 

914
00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:58,040
having experienced this new 
conversion. 

915
00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:01,640
I think that's that's something 
that I often wrestle with, or at

916
00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:05,440
least I think especially, 
especially you and I in our 

917
00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:10,320
positions or even if you want to
say whatever mature seasoned 

918
00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:16,120
Christians, we we have to stay 
sharp in understanding how how 

919
00:53:16,120 --> 00:53:20,920
unbelievers think to in in order
to communicate the gospel well 

920
00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:22,920
to them. 
So Paul in this moment still had

921
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:26,400
that freshness, that life, as we
said before, it wasn't erased 

922
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:30,200
from his mind. 
He still had a very fresh 

923
00:53:30,200 --> 00:53:34,600
recollection of what his life as
an unbeliever was like, right? 

924
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:38,760
Like so he was still, he was 
still able to be of like mind, 

925
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:42,760
even of, of unbelievers of the 
people that he was ministering 

926
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:45,160
to. 
A I think we have to often 

927
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:48,520
consider that too, even in, in 
living out our actions, the the 

928
00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:51,080
words that we say, we we still 
have to stay sharp and vigilant 

929
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:55,840
of how to communicate with a 
world that maybe considers us 

930
00:53:55,840 --> 00:53:59,640
enemies. 
That is not like minded in in 

931
00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:03,240
Christian thinking. 
And interestingly enough, and I,

932
00:54:03,480 --> 00:54:05,480
I don't want to get too far down
the rabbit trail 'cause we're 

933
00:54:05,480 --> 00:54:08,720
probably getting towards the end
of the show, but interestingly 

934
00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:11,920
enough, that statistic we 
brought up yesterday that 

935
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:18,880
168,000,000 self identifying 
Christians, 168 million people 

936
00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:23,000
will also also will also tell 
you, yeah, I don't know that I 

937
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:26,320
believe that the Bible is the 
inerrant word of God that I need

938
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:30,440
to take at face value. 
And so yes, you're right, we 

939
00:54:30,440 --> 00:54:33,800
need to be able to know how to 
talk to unbelievers with fresh 

940
00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:36,320
eyes that remember what our life
was like prior. 

941
00:54:36,800 --> 00:54:43,520
But we also have 80% of self 
identifying Christians who maybe

942
00:54:43,640 --> 00:54:48,640
need to hear the authentic 
message too because they, you 

943
00:54:48,640 --> 00:54:51,600
know, they don't believe that 
the Bible is the inherent word 

944
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:54,000
of God. 
And that's where we're not. 

945
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:56,600
You and I as a church, we're 
not. 

946
00:54:56,600 --> 00:54:58,040
We're not going to bring 
ourselves there. 

947
00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:03,360
We're not cherry picking or 
throwing out passages that maybe

948
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:06,520
aren't culturally relevant 
anymore or things like that. 

949
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:11,120
There are potentially parts of 
the Bible that we don't fully 

950
00:55:11,120 --> 00:55:14,240
understand. 
They're not meant to be just 

951
00:55:14,240 --> 00:55:18,600
discarded and and castaway. 
Yes, we are pursuing truth each 

952
00:55:18,600 --> 00:55:21,120
week. 
We're pursuing knowledge each 

953
00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:24,040
week in and I'm not, I'm not 
saying we should just give up 

954
00:55:24,040 --> 00:55:29,400
and not try to understand it, 
but we also hold it above 

955
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:31,520
ourselves. 
Even the things that we don't 

956
00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:35,120
understand There are, I do 
believe there are some things 

957
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:37,920
just reserved for God's 
understanding this side of 

958
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:40,600
heaven. 
Maybe even when we're in heaven,

959
00:55:40,600 --> 00:55:42,720
there might still be things that
we don't have. 

960
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:45,600
I feel like we have that 
conception that once we go to 

961
00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:46,920
heaven, we'll just know 
everything. 

962
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:50,040
I don't, I don't know that we 
will. 

963
00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:53,920
Will we just like be all knowing
like God in heaven? 

964
00:55:53,920 --> 00:55:55,560
I don't think the Bible promises
that. 

965
00:55:56,200 --> 00:55:58,560
We'll have all. 
The time in the world to maybe 

966
00:55:58,560 --> 00:56:00,840
ask those questions and learn 
all the knowledge we want to. 

967
00:56:00,840 --> 00:56:02,560
But I don't think it'll be an 
instantaneous thing. 

968
00:56:02,560 --> 00:56:04,560
We're like, yeah, OK, I 
understand this now. 

969
00:56:05,160 --> 00:56:06,680
Yeah. 
I don't know, probably not. 

970
00:56:09,520 --> 00:56:11,240
Anyway, all right, this was 
good. 

971
00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:13,680
We're enjoying the series in 
acts with you all. 

972
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:18,200
And hey, we got some requests if
you're, if you're listening, we 

973
00:56:18,200 --> 00:56:21,320
weren't on all the podcast 
platforms, but we got a couple 

974
00:56:21,320 --> 00:56:25,520
requests for iHeartRadio and to 
make sure that we are on Amazon 

975
00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:28,400
podcast. 
So we were on Spotify and Apple 

976
00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:30,160
for sure. 
We were on Amazon, but I just, I

977
00:56:30,160 --> 00:56:32,520
made sure the RSS feed was 
working on that and that should 

978
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:35,600
also be filling there. 
And now we're on iHeartRadio 

979
00:56:35,600 --> 00:56:38,040
podcasts as well. 
So if there's anything else or 

980
00:56:38,040 --> 00:56:41,040
people that you know of who want
to listen to it that they can't 

981
00:56:41,880 --> 00:56:44,480
find our podcast or listen to 
our podcast on their platform, 

982
00:56:44,480 --> 00:56:47,240
just hit me up, let me know. 
I'll figure out how to get the 

983
00:56:47,240 --> 00:56:50,560
RSS feed working for the podcast
and we'll do that. 

984
00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:52,880
Thanks for doing the technical 
side of things that I. 

985
00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:55,200
I say a bunch of words that 
maybe a bunch of people don't 

986
00:56:55,200 --> 00:56:58,960
understand, but if if people 
can't find it, just talk to me 

987
00:56:58,960 --> 00:57:01,280
and I'll make sure they can. 
So fantastic. 

988
00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:02,840
All right, thanks for hanging 
with us. 

989
00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:03,920
Have a blessed week, Church.