This is the transcript of Restitutio episode 634: Six Ways to Kill Your Community This transcript was auto-generated and only approximates the contents of this episode. Audio file 634 Sean Finnegan - How to Ruin Your Community.mp3 Transcript 00:00 Hey there, I'm Sean Finnegan and you are listening to Restitudio, the podcast that seeks to recover authentic Christianity and live it out today. 00:12 One of the great concerns that many of us pastors have about our churches is the lack of community. 00:18 So often people come, sit for a while, and leave without making any real connections with others who are present. 00:26 In other cases, a self-centered spectator mindset leads to cynicism and misery, which in turn degrades or divides the community. 00:37 I originally delivered this sermon back in January of 2022 at a week 00:42 event called Revive, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. 00:46 It was a time of intense partisan politics, accusations of racism, and much civil unrest. 00:55 Rather than focusing on what to do, I preached on what not to do. 01:00 Hopefully you find it helpful. 01:01 Here now is episode 634, 6 ways to kill your community. 01:15 Although most of us come to faith for selfish reasons, staying faithful to the end requires you to shift your focus away from yourself to God. 01:25 If you do not make this shift, you will have two potential outcomes. 01:33 Either you will eventually leave the community because of what we're going to look at in a minute, basically remaining self-centered, 01:41 Eventually you will get disillusioned. 01:44 You will think the community bothers you or stinks or isn't serving you well enough. 01:51 You'll get jaded in some way and you'll leave. 01:55 Or the 2nd and much worse result is that you'll stay in the community but be cynical. 02:06 Lord knows we don't want more jaded 02:09 people in the church that are just miserable. 02:14 Talk about an anti-evangelism strategy. 02:17 A new person comes to church, a new person comes to your fellowship, and they meet that one curmudgeonly fellow in the corner that's just like, yeah, pastor doesn't really know what he's talking about. 02:30 This whole thing's just for you. 02:32 know, usually we just sit around and, you know, we didn't even have a plan. 02:35 You know, it's just because you're here that we're even doing any of this. 02:39 You don't need somebody like that in your community, somebody that's jaded and cynical and miserable. 02:46 And this is the inevitable result if you fail to make that shift from self-centered to God-centered. 02:55 Now look, I do not fault you or anyone else, myself even, for coming to faith in God for selfish reasons. 03:03 I came for selfish reasons. 03:05 I needed help. 03:06 I needed saving. 03:07 I needed to be rescued from my situation. 03:10 I needed to be cleansed from my sins. 03:12 I understood that. 03:13 I cried out to God. 03:15 He forgave me. 03:16 He brought me into a relationship with Him, and therefore into the community of the believers as well. 03:23 But you can't, and that's fine, but you can't stay there long term. 03:30 And the thing is, it's not even just a one-time thing. 03:32 It's not like three months after you became a Christian, you're like, all right, pastor, I went from self-centered to God-centered. 03:38 I'm good. 03:40 Well, guess what? 03:40 10 years later, you're beaten down by the world, maybe you've invested in some other younger Christians in the faith, and they betrayed you, or they turned away, or they stabbed you in the back. 03:52 And now, guess what? 03:54 You're feeling cynical, you're feeling jaded, you're feeling like, man, 04:00 This community of faith is not meeting my needs. 04:04 What happened? 04:05 You went from God-centered back to self-centered. 04:10 And I think that is deadly because there's a big difference between Christianity and consumerism. 04:20 Consumerism asks the question, do I like it? 04:26 Is it at a price I'm willing to pay? 04:30 Does it make my life easier? 04:31 Look, I'm not going to condemn this at all. 04:34 These are good questions to ask if you're buying a phone or a turkey or whatever it is you buy. 04:42 Uggs. 04:43 You know, does it make your life better? 04:45 Is it afford, these are good questions to ask. 04:48 I'm not condemning the questions. 04:49 In the arena of purchasing, these are appropriate, these are appropriate questions. 04:54 Will others like me if I have it? 04:57 Will I be different if I have it than others? 05:00 Would not having it hurt my productivity, reputation? 05:04 Would not having this thing hurt my chances at romance? 05:07 A lot of the singles asking that question. 05:10 I gotta get this, I gotta get that, I gotta... 05:13 I understand it. 05:14 But that's not Christianity. 05:17 That's consumerism, that's not Christianity. 05:21 Christianity does not ask the question, is this meeting my needs? 05:26 That's consumerism. 05:28 Christianity doesn't say, it's all about you. 05:32 No, those are commercials. 05:33 That's consumerism where they say that. 05:36 Christianity doesn't say, oh, you deserve this. 05:40 Look, and if you're going to a church where the pastor's telling you you deserve it and you're wonderful and you don't ever need to change and you're just beautiful no matter what you do, I think you might be in trouble. 05:53 I think you might be in trouble. 05:55 Now look, I don't think you're a maggot. 05:58 you're worth God's love. 05:59 I really believe that. 06:00 I believe God loves you way more than you even realize. 06:05 But if you're going to be one of his people, being one of God's people is being like Jesus. 06:12 And when I look at Jesus, I see someone who is utterly and totally and completely God-centered. 06:22 Jesus said, my food is to do the will of the Father who sent me. 06:27 Jesus said, the words that I speak to you, the commandment I have received, he has told me what to say and what to speak. 06:34 He spoke God's words. 06:36 He said, the works that I do are not my own, but the one who sent me. 06:40 Jesus was all about God. 06:43 He was the most God-centered person that has ever lived. 06:49 And so if you want to carry his name, Christian, right, that's Christ, if you want to carry the name of Christ, 06:56 You've got to be like Christ. 06:57 It just makes sense, right? 07:00 So if you're going to be a Christian, you want to be like Christ, and Christ was utterly God-centered. 07:05 When we look at Jesus, what did it look like to be God-centered for Jesus? 07:11 Suffering, dying, that's what it looked like. 07:18 Putting God's will above his own. 07:20 You remember the night before Jesus went to suffer. 07:23 Right? 07:23 You remember what it was like, he was in the garden, he was praying, and what was he praying? 07:28 God, give me a winning lottery ticket. 07:33 No, he wasn't praying for health, wealth, and prosperity. 07:36 What was he praying for? 07:37 He was saying, God, if there's any other way that we can do this, let this cup pass from me. 07:43 Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. 07:46 That's what he was praying. 07:46 He was praying for a way out. 07:49 But in the end, he said, not my will, but your will be done. 07:53 And he said that consistently throughout, and this is where it landed him. 07:57 And this is both horrifying and beautiful. 08:00 It's horrifying the suffering that he went through, but it's beautiful to see a human being who says, God, your will first, always. 08:09 And so what did Jesus say to those who would follow him? 08:11 He said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 08:19 Whoa. 08:21 If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 08:27 You want to be a Christian? 08:29 Deny yourself. 08:30 You want to be a Christian? 08:32 That's what it's going to look like for you too. 08:35 Jesus said, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. 08:39 And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 08:43 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of them of me. 08:47 Verse 39, next one. 08:49 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 08:55 That's what Jesus says. 08:58 You wanna be a real Christian or a fake Christian? 09:04 You wanna be a, do you want to be, let me slow it down. 09:08 Maybe I went too fast there. 09:10 Do you want to be 09:12 A real Christian or a fake Christian? 09:15 Real Christian. 09:15 You do? 09:16 Yeah. 09:18 Look, you don't want to set it. 09:20 I would have been fine with being a fake Christian. 09:21 But the problem with being a fake Christian is you get a fake salvation. 09:27 Right? 09:27 That's the downside, right? 09:29 And you have a fake relationship with God and you have a fake community where it's not the real thing. 09:35 It's not the real McCoy. 09:36 That's the difference between Monopoly money. 09:39 Anybody here ever play the game Monopoly? 09:40 It's that little fake money. 09:42 And then real money. 09:44 Who wants Monopoly money? 09:47 Nobody carries that around because it's fake. 09:50 Who cares? 09:52 I want real Christianity. 09:56 I'm not here to play games. 09:58 I like real Christianity. 10:00 Real Christianity says this. 10:03 Die. 10:06 Jesus doesn't say, oh, I'm going to die for you and you'll be fine and then I'll be, you don't have to worry about it. 10:11 I took care of it all. 10:13 No, Jesus says, if you want to follow after me, you have to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. 10:19 That's what he says. 10:20 He says, you have to be willing to lose your life. 10:25 That's what he says. 10:26 Now look, for most of us, this is not literal. 10:31 For most of us, you're not going to literally die because of Christ. 10:34 Now, in some countries of the world, that does happen. 10:37 But it sure better happen for you spiritually, that you will spiritually, that you were in your mind, say, I am willing to die so that he may live, including your importance, your significance, your importance, all of that, your pride, your skills, 10:58 Your reputation, all of that needs to die, and then let God bring you back to life, have a new life, a resurrected life, and commission you. 11:09 Now what the heart of a Christian says, the heart of a Christian says this, God, what can I do for you today? 11:20 A lot of us can easily say to ourselves, how can I please others in the community? 11:28 But the problem with that mindset is that if the community treats you badly, then you're going to be totally ruined and miserable and unable to continue loving difficult people. 11:39 So it really needs to be centered on, God, what can I do for you today? 11:44 has to be centered on God. 11:46 Can't be centered on yourself. 11:47 It can't be centered on your friends. 11:49 Can't be centered on that new person that you're working with and you're discipling because they're all going to let you down. 11:55 I'm going to let you down. 11:56 We're imperfect. 11:57 We're flawed. 12:00 God loves the world, so we love the world. 12:04 God loves his people, so we love his people. 12:07 Do you see how I'm saying that? 12:09 I'm saying God is the center. 12:10 God is the focus. 12:12 And because God loves 12:14 filthy, sinful, hateful, angry unbelievers, that's what the world means, right? 12:24 I'm supposed to love those people. 12:26 What do you mean love them, pastor? 12:28 They hate you. 12:29 So what? 12:31 So what if they hate me? 12:32 So what if they hate you? 12:34 They hated Jesus. 12:37 They hung him up on a cross. 12:40 And still he loved them. 12:43 That's not for super Christians. 12:44 That's just standard. 12:46 That's just like, Jesus is like, you want to follow me? 12:48 He says you have to love your enemies. 12:51 You have to love unbelievers. 12:53 And you even have to love the family of God. 12:57 The people in your church, the people in your fellowship, the people, maybe you're in an online community because you don't have people near you. 13:03 Those people, yeah. 13:05 The one that talks too long. 13:06 Yeah, the one that has the funny accent. 13:09 Yeah, the one that farts and then pretends it was the chair. 13:14 I kid you not, I was in a meeting a month ago and somebody pulled that move. 13:19 They let out the gas and they moved the chair, as if we wouldn't notice. 13:26 Yeah, that guy, you gotta love that guy. 13:28 Jerry knows what I'm talking about, he was in that meeting. 13:31 And it was during a prayer. 13:36 It was during a prayer. 13:38 It wasn't Jerry, no, it wasn't Jerry. 13:41 I don't know if Jerry's done that before. 13:45 Maybe he has, I don't know. 13:46 We'll have a confession time later. 13:50 I'm getting distracted. 13:51 What is my point? 13:52 My point is, in your heart, and this is, again, this is not a one-time thing. 13:58 In your heart, you have to make the shift from self-centered, from asking, what do I want, to God-centered, and asking, what does God want? 14:08 And if you can't do that, 14:10 You are either going to not last in the community. 14:13 You're going to keep looking for another community that'll meet your needs. 14:16 That doesn't quite meet my needs. 14:18 That pastor's boring. 14:19 That music stinks. 14:20 This one over here. 14:22 That's what you're going to be doing. 14:23 Or you're just going to stay in the community and be cynical. 14:27 And I think both of those are bad outcomes. 14:30 So you've got to make that shift. 14:31 Not me, but your will be done in my life. 14:34 So in light of this, I thought I'd share with you 14:38 from a reverse psychology point of view, six ways to kill your community. 14:44 Six ways to kill your community. 14:51 I want to be clear. 14:52 Do the opposite of what I'm about to show you, okay? 14:56 Do the opposite. 14:57 But if you did want to kill your community, one of the ways to do it would be to just not go. 15:03 Stay home. 15:05 Lurk online. 15:08 don't actually go to anything. 15:10 Now there are, of course, legitimate reasons to stay home. 15:13 If you've got the vid, stay home. 15:17 You know what I mean? 15:18 You need to stay home. 15:19 If your kid's hurt or sick, stay home. 15:24 If you're in the middle of a fight with your wife, stay home, fight with your wife, get it done. 15:30 That's more important. 15:32 unless you have already agreed to do something at church that day and then pause the fight, do your responsibility because you have integrity, come home and resume the fight. 15:42 Amen, pastor? 15:44 Preach it. 15:47 Some of you husbands need to learn how to fight with your wives in a godly way. 15:50 Because if you don't fight with them, then you never deal with any issues. 15:54 Some of you women, same thing. 15:55 You need to be able to bring up your issues and talk through them. 15:57 I don't know why I'm talking about that. 15:59 I don't know. 16:01 it's a reason to stay home. 16:02 Yeah, that is, if you have an emergency at work and you need to miss church, you need to stay home. 16:09 Okay. 16:10 If that emergency happens every Sunday, guess what? 16:14 That's just your job. 16:15 That's not an emergency. 16:18 Realign your balance, right? 16:20 There are, in other words, my point is there are legitimate reasons to stay home, but your norm should be showing up. 16:29 Just show up. 16:32 But Pastor, I don't want to go to church today. 16:34 I just want to watch Stephen Furtick. 16:37 He's got so much energy. 16:40 I feel like if I watch Stephen Furtick, his hair is, it's got a quarter inch on Pastor Victor. 16:46 It's taller and therefore he's a better preacher. 16:51 But Pastor, I want to watch Craig Groeschel. 16:53 He is the church's coach. 16:57 He's the church's coach. 16:58 He's going to coach me on life lessons, and if I watch Groeschel, I'm going to succeed in life. 17:07 I know. 17:08 Judah Smith. 17:09 Pastor, I love to come to church, but I'd rather go online and watch Judah Smith because he is stylish. 17:17 You see what he wore last Sunday? 17:23 But what does the scripture say? 17:25 Acts 2.41 says, so those who received his word were baptized and when they were added that day about 3,000 souls. 17:33 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 17:42 They devoted themselves to the teaching and the fellowship. 17:48 Now look, you want to watch some celebrity pastors on your phone, go ahead. 17:54 Go ahead. 17:55 Ain't nothing wrong with that. 17:57 I do it from time to time. 17:58 Not ashamed to say. 18:01 But you also need the local fellowship. 18:06 And you know what? 18:07 The local fellowship needs you. 18:10 need the community, and the community needs you. 18:13 So show up. 18:14 All right, that's enough on that. 18:15 Number 2, criticize everything. 18:19 You want to kill your community? 18:21 Show up, and then criticize. 18:25 Why don't they have healthy refreshments? 18:30 Who picked this carpet? 18:32 Were they colorblind? 18:36 Why is this sermon so boring? 18:41 Just criticize everything. 18:43 Just really lay into it. 18:44 Oh, man, Pastor Dan is having an off day today. 18:47 I'm going to leave a little comment. 18:52 Let him know that I know that he stunk. 18:58 Man, Pastor Victor's telling that same story. 19:00 I've already heard that story three times. 19:04 Pastor, it's time for another sabbatical. 19:06 You need some new material. 19:12 Pastor Sean's too intellectual. 19:16 Give us practical teaching, Pastor. 19:21 Or maybe it's the music. 19:23 Do we have to sing good, father again? 19:30 Why can't Chris Tomlin write more words? 19:35 Just writes the same words over and over again. 19:38 Why do we have to keep singing that song? 19:41 Or whatever it is your song is you don't like. 19:45 Why is that baby crying? 19:46 Why is the music too quiet? 19:48 Why is it, why don't they have Dunkin' Donuts coffee? 19:51 Why do they have Dunkin' Donuts coffee? 19:54 Criticize everything and you will kill your community. 20:02 Are you a critical person? 20:03 Some of us are critical people. 20:04 Some of us actually think these things in our heads while we're sitting there listening. 20:10 Somebody's feeling a little convicted in the front row here. 20:12 We're not going to name any names, but sermon's laying at home. 20:16 If you are a critical person, if that is a struggle in your mind, then you have to consciously grab your mind and say, what can I do to help? 20:31 because that will kill the criticism. 20:32 The criticism says, I'm not being fed. 20:36 The criticism says, this music sucks. 20:39 The criticism says, my **** is tired of this chair. 20:44 How do you kill that? 20:45 You have to somehow shift it. 20:47 What does God want me to do? 20:49 Where is the knee? 20:51 There's a baby crying. 20:52 Okay, all right. 20:54 I could be annoyed. 20:55 I could give the death stare to the parent that's obviously stressed out. 21:00 Or I could go back there and say, let me take the baby. 21:05 Let me help out. 21:06 Now, if you don't know anything about babies, don't take the baby, obviously. 21:11 I'm assuming you've got some sort of familiarity here. 21:16 What can I do to help? 21:19 It says in the Bible, Ephesians 4, 29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths. 21:26 Now normally we think of this in the sense of using foul language, right? 21:30 But corrupting talk could just as well be talk that brings corruption. 21:35 It could even be a talk that tears down, right? 21:38 Because what's the opposite of corrupting talk? 21:40 It's only such as good for building up, as it fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 21:46 One of the best ways you can help your community, instead of criticizing it, is to edify. 21:56 You see the audio person back there slaving away, and you say to them, nice job. 22:03 I'm so thankful you're doing the audio today. 22:05 You see the slide person, same thing. 22:07 You see somebody, like an usher over there, trying to fit people in their seats and do whatever it is ushers do, and at the end of the service, you go up to that usher, you say, you know, I'm so thankful that you are doing this service. 22:18 Thank you. 22:19 I see you. 22:22 I appreciate that you stood the whole service. 22:24 just in case somebody came in late. 22:26 So you could open the door so it would be easy to get them in the room. 22:29 I appreciate that. 22:31 Edification, that's what edification is. 22:32 It's building the person up rather than tearing them down. 22:35 There's other verses, Romans 14, 19, so then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 22:42 First Thessalonians 5, 11, therefore encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. 22:50 That's going to bring strength to community. 22:51 If you want to kill it, you criticize it. 22:53 If you want to bring strength, you build it up. 22:56 Next one, #3, cause division. 22:59 You want to kill your community, start a faction. 23:04 Start a group within your community that has a grievance against the rest of the community. 23:10 It's a great way to kill a community. 23:13 Very effective. 23:15 In fact, I was reading, you know the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5? 23:19 Fruit of Spirit, like love, joy, peace, all that. 23:21 Right before the fruit of the Spirit, they have the works of the flesh. 23:24 And the works of the flesh, at the end of that list, it lists off a whole bunch of different sins. 23:28 At the end of the list, it says, those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 23:35 Check out this little sampling from that list. 23:39 Enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissension, faction. 23:48 Those are 7 words that go along with divisive people causing divisions in the church. 23:56 Look, if you're causing divisions, and you can so easily get sucked in, all that happens is one person needs to say to you, Noah whispers in my ear and he says, do you think this is right? 24:09 Should we really be doing it this way? 24:12 It just starts with like a little question. 24:13 Not that you would say that, brother. 24:14 You just happen to be in the front row. 24:16 You're a good man. 24:17 But it just starts with a little question like that. 24:20 You say, maybe we should work together to change things. 24:26 But instead of actually going to leadership and instead of actually getting involved in the discussion and face to face and all that, you just kind of sow seeds of discontent among people and get them on your side against whoever it is that's on the other side. 24:40 Look, if you're going to do these things, you need to watch yourself. 24:45 I'm not even worried about your church. 24:46 I'm worried about you. 24:48 Because if you are doing the works of the flesh according to Galatians 5, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. 24:53 Hello? 24:57 Do you want to not inherit the kingdom of God? 25:01 That's a really sort of gentle way of saying, face the wrath of Almighty God on the day of judgment, right? 25:09 Because those are the options. 25:10 It's not like there's a middle zone where it's like just chilling. 25:13 there's the inherit the kingdom of God and there's the wrath of God Almighty. 25:17 There's no just chilling in the middle, right? 25:20 Just like eating your popcorn and like, wow, those guys over there are really, really suffering God's wrath. 25:26 Man, that sucks. 25:27 You know, and these guys, wow, they really got the kingdom. 25:29 That's really great. 25:29 Let me just eat some more popcorn. 25:30 There's no spectators on the sidelines in this scenario. 25:33 This is serious stuff as far as division goes. 25:36 Now, look, I'm not saying pastors are perfect. 25:39 I am one. 25:41 I know for sure that we're not perfect. 25:44 If you ever doubt that, just talk to my wife. 25:47 She'll tell you that I'm not perfect. 25:50 The wives always know. 25:52 Look, we do need correction from time to time. 25:54 Sometimes your elders are wrong. 25:56 It does happen. 25:58 But there's a way to go about things that doesn't cause division. 26:01 There's a godly way to bring up issues. 26:05 And it's described in the Bible, and it has to do with you going and talking to the person that's involved and then bringing others along and so on. 26:14 All right, let's move on to what Jesus prayed for us. 26:18 It's in John chapter 17. 26:20 I'm going to ask you to go there. 26:22 John 17, verse 20. 26:24 And this is a very interesting prayer of Jesus. 26:28 Did you know Jesus prayed? 26:32 The most famous prayer of Jesus is the one that begins with, our Father, right, who was in heaven? 26:40 Right, that's his most famous prayer. 26:42 But this prayer is actually much longer. 26:45 It's pretty much the whole chapter of John 17. 26:48 And did you know that he prayed for you in this prayer? 26:52 John 17, verse 20, Jesus says, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. 27:02 That's why I say it's you. 27:04 Jesus is there with his disciples and he says, and I'm not just praying for these guys, also those who will hear from their word. 27:11 Eventually, centuries later, that's you. 27:14 So pay attention. 27:15 This is what Jesus 20 centuries ago prayed for you. 27:21 Verse 21, that they may all be one. 27:24 just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 27:32 Whew. 27:33 There's two really important statements there. 27:37 One, out of all the things Jesus could have prayed for those who would hear from the word of his disciples, out of all the different things he prayed, he prayed that we would be one. 27:50 as he and the Father are one, that we would have that kind of community, that oneness with each other. 27:56 Now, it's not like Jesus was naive or had picked disciples that were naturally going to get along with each other. 28:03 I mean, he's got a tax collector and a zealot and a bunch of fishermen. 28:08 right? 28:08 I mean, this is not a normal group of people that all grew up in the same neighborhood. 28:13 They're wildly different in their temperament and their background, their views of what things should be done in the society and politically as well. 28:20 And yet Jesus says, I want them to be one. 28:23 And I want those who hear from them, I want them to be one. 28:27 So that the world will believe this is legit. 28:32 We live in an age that treasures diversity. 28:38 We live in an age that believes that diversity is a virtue. 28:44 We pretty much, as Christians, we pretty much invented that idea. 28:48 I think we invented it. 28:49 I don't know, maybe somebody else believed it before us. 28:53 But like in the 1st century, in the book of Acts, there was a group of Jews who thought non-Jews were gross. 29:02 And because of Jesus, and because of the understanding that he had opened up the covenant to Gentiles as well, they stepped over the line. 29:12 And they invited, and it happened in Antioch, and that's the city where we were first called Christians. 29:18 In A multicultural, diverse metropolis like Antioch, that's where we were first called Christians. 29:23 So look, if the world sees 29:27 that your community, your fellowship, your church, has Democrats and Republicans that love each other and respect each other, that's evidence of something miraculous. 29:44 Right? 29:45 We have some pretty strong opinions about that subject, don't we? 29:52 But can you love and respect, can you say, 29:54 I am a Christian first before I am a Republican, or before I am a Democrat, or before I am a libertarian, or before I'm an anarchist, or maybe you're a communist like Brother Joe. 30:04 I don't know, but can we say we're a Christian first? 30:09 Sorry, that was just... 30:10 right there. 30:10 I had to go. 30:11 I had to do it. 30:14 Can you say that, all right, I think you're wrong on this, but you're my sister in Christ. 30:21 You're my brother in Christ, because that is what binds us together. 30:24 Because if we have that oneness in the midst of that diversity, Jesus says, the world may believe that you have sent me. 30:32 The world will actually believe that God sent the Son 30:35 that the father sent his son to save us, that is actually true, and not just some made-up story, if they see a community that is miraculously one. 30:47 But if instead we say, oh my gosh, I can't handle wearing this stupid mask another day at church, I'm not going, I'm protesting. 31:01 We're the opposite. 31:03 I can't believe they're not requiring masks. 31:06 I'm not going. 31:09 I can't tell you how many times I heard both of those things in the last two years. 31:14 Right, Brother Victor? 31:15 Right, Brother Dan? 31:16 How many times have we heard people say, I've had even some people that were so ******** you should not have church when this whole thing started. 31:25 You should not have church. 31:25 Do not go to, do not gather. 31:27 Are you crazy? 31:28 You're out of your mind. 31:29 You need to stay home. 31:31 went from that to, I ain't wearing a mask. 31:35 COVID ain't real. 31:38 I've had people that literally went from one side to the other. 31:42 I've had people go from that side to this side, but you know what? 31:45 Christ is what unites us, not your opinion on the pandemic. 31:50 It's Christ that unites us. 31:51 And I can have unity with the most dedicated, strict Faucian 32:00 on one side and the loosest follower of Trump, anti-masker, whatever, anti-vax, you know, Bill Gates is the devil person. 32:10 And we can have both of them sit next to each other and worship the Lord, because that's more important than our opinions on these other things. 32:19 And maybe there's other issues that you want to throw in there too. 32:22 Look, we're going to have disagreements on many different things. 32:25 You know why? 32:26 Because we're different people from each other and we don't want a community where we all think exactly the same. 32:31 That's called a cult. 32:33 We don't want that. 32:35 You know how you get a cult? 32:36 You get strong, powerful people that force everyone to think the same. 32:41 We're not looking for that either. 32:42 We want you to keep your head, keep your individuality, but put Christ above all these other things. 32:48 Look at verse 22. 32:49 The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one. 32:56 He said it again. 32:57 Jesus didn't just pray for you to be one with each other once. 33:01 He prayed it twice. 33:04 Verse 23, I and them and you and me. 33:06 He's still going. 33:08 that they may become perfectly one. 33:10 That's the third time. 33:11 How many times you want Jesus to pray for you to be one? 33:15 Now let me ask you this. 33:18 Do you think if you just coast, if you just don't put any effort in, that harmony will result in your community? 33:29 No, you've got to fight for unity. 33:32 You have to fight for unity. 33:33 Unity is not the natural state 33:36 of the world. 33:36 I don't know if you noticed that. 33:37 The world is angry at itself, at us, at everybody. 33:42 So if you want unity, you actually have to prioritize it and fight for it and say, I am so triggered and offended right now, but I'm still coming because I want to fight for unity because Jesus told me to. 33:57 I'm not saying never deal with your issues, okay? 34:00 I'm just saying prioritize fighting for unity. 34:04 Factions are natural. 34:05 And then it goes on to say in verse 23, once again, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me. 34:16 Jesus says that if we're one, it will show the world that he was sent by the Father. 34:23 He's not just a rando that had a following, right? 34:28 He was actually sent by God and that God loved 34:33 us, even as he loved Jesus. 34:36 All right, #4. 34:37 I got a little carried away on that one. 34:38 Number 4, don't surf. 34:40 You want to kill your community? 34:42 Just never lift a finger to help. 34:46 Just don't surf in any way whatsoever. 34:50 Treat the church like a movie theater. 34:54 At the movie theater, it's all about you. 34:58 It really is all about you. 35:00 It's about you getting entertained, 35:02 It's about you getting greeted at the door. 35:04 It's about you getting popcorn. 35:08 I went to this movie theater. 35:10 I think it was down in Jersey. 35:11 They had caramel popcorn. 35:13 My goodness. 35:14 It's incredible. 35:16 I got a whole tub of it. 35:17 Ate the whole thing. 35:18 It was great. 35:20 It was all about what you want. 35:22 What do you want? 35:23 Do you want Skittles? 35:24 Do you want peanut M&Ms? 35:25 What about those little Pop-Tart bites? 35:28 Have you had those? 35:29 Oh my God. 35:31 Goodness. 35:31 It's all about you. 35:32 That's why they have so many options. 35:35 You go to the movie theater and you expect that the staff are going to clean the room, right? 35:42 The room where you watch it. 35:43 You expect them to clean that, right? 35:46 And if they don't clean it, you get upset. 35:48 And you know what? 35:49 You should get upset because that's gross and they should clean it. 35:52 You don't want to sit in somebody else's crumbs. 35:54 Of course, you're making crumbs everywhere yourself, but you expect they're going to clean that too. 36:00 That's the expectations, that's the mindset of a theater. 36:03 Why do we go to a movie theater? 36:04 To be entertained. 36:07 To be told a story that takes us out of our troubles for a little while so that we may enjoy that 90 minutes or whatever it is. 36:16 Some of these movies are like 4 hours now. 36:17 But enjoy the time, and some of us are snobs. 36:21 We want to do the IMAX version, okay? 36:24 So that's like the mega church right there, the IMAX version. 36:27 And then you have the sort of like budget theaters. 36:30 That's the small churches, right? 36:32 So that's the mindset of a theater. 36:34 And you never think to yourself, at least I don't. 36:37 I'm going to be real honest here. 36:39 I never think to myself when I'm sitting there in a theater spilling my popcorn everywhere and just watching the movie, I never think to myself, maybe I should get up and help. 36:51 Have any of you ever had that thought? 36:53 I've never had that thought. 36:54 I'm not even ashamed to say now that all of you also are evil people like me. 36:59 I've never had that. 37:00 I've never once thought to myself while the person was collecting the tickets, maybe I should help. 37:04 This person is probably tired. 37:05 Let me collect tickets for a while. 37:07 Give me the vest. 37:08 I'll do it. 37:09 No, I've never had. 37:10 Why would I have that thought? 37:11 These people are paid to do this thing. 37:12 I'm here to be entertained. 37:14 It's their job to take my ticket. 37:16 And I'm going to have a wonderful time because it really is all about me at the movie theater. 37:20 But that's not the church. 37:25 And if you go to the church expecting it to be a movie theater, you're going to be disappointed, and you could even potentially kill that community, because that community needs you to say to yourself, maybe I should help. 37:43 Because most churches don't function on all paid staff. 37:47 Most fellowships don't have any paid staff, right? 37:53 Having a heart to serve is really important. 37:57 Romans 12:11 says, Do not be slothful and zeal. 38:02 Be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 38:04 1 Peter 4, 10 says, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 38:11 Galatians 5, 13, for you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. 38:19 Did you see that? 38:19 It said, serve the Lord. 38:21 It said, be good stewards and serve one another. 38:24 And it said, through love, serve one another. 38:28 You know what these don't sound like to me? 38:31 suggestions. 38:33 These verses don't seem, I mean, what do you think? 38:36 Do they seem worded like if you feel like it? 38:40 doesn't seem like it's worded that way. 38:42 Doesn't seem like it's worded that way to you? 38:43 It sounds like you should do it. 38:46 sounds like this is a command. 38:47 So the question is, how can you do it? 38:50 How can you do it? 38:51 And that's once again, going from self-centered, it's all about me, it's all about me getting entertained, me being transported, my spiritual needs, to it's all about God. 39:01 and what I can do for God and what I can do for God's people in this situation. 39:06 I'm so thankful for the team that's here serving at Revive. 39:10 I really am. 39:11 You guys are incredible and you have done a wonderful job with this event. 39:15 We have people on all different kinds of duties behind the scenes. 39:19 Did you notice that the chairs miraculously got back in rows after last night they were all moved away? 39:28 And we messed them up again this morning for the small groups. 39:31 And somebody like pushed a button and magically they all lined back up. 39:35 No, people are doing that. 39:37 Those are people serving and we're not paying them. 39:40 In fact, they're paying to be here. 39:41 That's an example of what I'm talking about. 39:45 Did you know somebody has to get wood for that fire? 39:49 That ********* fire. 39:50 Somebody has to get the wood, they have to put it in the fire. 39:54 And every so many hours, if you don't put more wood in the fire, guess what happens? 39:58 No more fire. 39:59 Somebody's doing that right now. 40:02 That's awesome. 40:02 That's what I'm talking about. 40:05 Serving and serving with a good heart. 40:07 All right, we could say a lot about that. 40:09 But look, there is a secret that you are more blessed when you serve than when you get served. 40:17 It's kind of an unknown thing, but when you are serving in some sort of capacity, and I'm not talking about toxic where like you're being forced to do something you hate, okay? 40:25 I'm talking about doing it with the right heart and everything else. 40:28 There's more of a blessing in serving than it is in being served. 40:31 Let's go to #5. 40:32 I got to hurry up here. 40:34 I don't want to go too long here. 40:35 Number 5, don't give. 40:38 If you give, you won't have enough. 40:42 We tell ourselves these things. 40:44 We say, oh, I'll give when I'm older. 40:47 We say, what if disaster strikes when I need the money? 40:51 I'll give once I pay off my college loans. 40:55 Yeah, that's when I'll give. 40:57 Once my college loan, some of you are never going to have your college loans paid off, so you're like safe for life. 41:05 Other people give, the old people give. 41:07 They'll be fine, they'll be fine. 41:08 Just let the old people do it. 41:10 You know, Jesus talked about giving in Matthew 6. 41:12 He says, not if you give. 41:14 He says, when you give. 41:17 Jesus said, when you give. 41:19 And I get it, many of you are poor. 41:21 The poorest I was in my whole life was when I was in my early 20s. 41:25 I was the poorest I was in my whole life. 41:27 And I didn't have hardly anything. 41:30 But you can still give a little bit, even if it's just pocket change. 41:34 The point is not the amount. 41:35 The point is to have a heart that is generous. 41:40 A heart that looks to give rather than to receive. 41:44 I like this 41:45 Statement that my brother Jerry Weirwall said, he said, Spread it around like manure, right? 41:52 Isn't that what you said about giving? 41:53 I said, Money is like manure. 41:59 It's only good if you spread it around. 42:00 All right, money is like manure. 42:01 It's only good if you spread it around. 42:03 So don't just give to your church. 42:05 Give to your church. 42:07 Give to the needy person that you know that's going through a situation. 42:10 Give to a charity. 42:11 Give to a ministry that you believe in, the work that they're doing. 42:15 Spread it around, right? 42:16 That's good advice. 42:18 But if you're only giving $1.00, you're going to spread 1/4 over here, 1/4 over there. 42:24 It's not going to do much. 42:25 But 42:26 If you're really that poor, then that's your heart. 42:29 Jesus actually looked at this woman, she gave like a penny, and he said she gave more than them all. 42:33 You know why? 42:34 Because of her heart. 42:35 She didn't have anything, and she just gave a little bit, but that's what she had. 42:39 So it's not about the amount, it's about the heart. 42:42 It says in Acts 20, verse 35, in all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. 42:54 That's what Jesus said. 42:56 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 43:04 And I encourage you to give. 43:07 Giving is good for you. 43:09 Did you know that some people are here this weekend because of the giving of others that were generous enough to pay more than the amount and they gave extra, and that was a blessing to the body of Christ? 43:23 People in this very room, that's pretty cool. 43:26 All right, number six, don't invite others. 43:30 Hide your light under a basket. 43:33 That's the pastor's job, evangelism. 43:36 Come on. 43:38 That's a big word, too many syllables. 43:40 That can't be for regular people. 43:41 That's, I know, that's for people who have the gift of evangelism. 43:46 That's for Timmy Paul Lupe. 43:47 That's who's supposed to invite others. 43:50 That's not for regular people. 43:52 No, 43:55 Forget the great commission, embrace the great omission. 44:00 You know the great commission? 44:01 Jesus says, go make disciples. 44:04 The great omission is, what? 44:07 Me. 44:09 No. 44:12 That's not the attitude we're supposed to have. 44:15 It's the correct attitude with inviting others to come to our communities, whether it's church or whether it's an event at your house where you're going to have some Christians over and some non-Christians over, you're going to have a dinner. 44:25 Timmy Paul does these kinds of things all the time. 44:27 We do them at the church too, or other kinds of events, whether it's Easter, whether it's some BBQ that your church is having, whatever it is, whatever the event is, the attitude you should have is I get to invite others. 44:41 I get to participate in 44:44 the process of others tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. 44:51 People are lost. 44:52 People are lost. 44:53 They're dying out there. 44:55 They're upset or they're full of anxiety. 44:58 Suicide is way up. 45:00 People are struggling. 45:03 You could be part of the process. 45:05 I'm not saying you're going to be in charge of saying every word that's going to bring them to salvation, but you could be part of the team 45:11 that helps them to taste and see that the Lord is good. 45:13 Because when people taste God and His goodness, they can begin to be changed. 45:17 They can begin to be drawn to Him, and that can change their whole lives. 45:22 So let's review. 45:24 How to kill your community. 45:25 Stay home, criticize everything, cause division, don't serve, don't give, and don't invite others. 45:33 That's a pretty good list, Now look, if you're doing these things, repent. 45:41 Repent. 45:42 You want to see what repentance looks like? 45:45 Show up, edify everyone, fight for unity, serve, give, invite others. 45:55 That's what we're being called to do, to have a strong community. 46:02 And once again, if you have a strong community that testifies more than your words, 46:08 right? 46:08 We can have lots of words. 46:10 I can come up with lots of words. 46:11 I don't know about you. 46:12 But look, they take one look at my wife and they see that she's miserable. 46:17 What do all those words do? 46:20 It's just like smoke. 46:22 Or they come to my fellowship and they sit through my fellowship and they are around the people and the people are miserable. 46:29 Doesn't matter what those words say. 46:31 People sense joy. 46:34 and they sense misery. 46:35 Not that you can't have issues and work through them, and we do suffer, but we suffer together, and we suffer in a godly way that brings hope and not just stewing in it permanently. 46:45 So the community itself can testify. 46:49 I really want to encourage you to ask yourself the question, am I self-centered, just real honest, am I self-centered when I go to church or when I am in community, or am I God-centered? 47:03 And if you're not, this is your chance to change that. 47:06 This is, why not change it right now? 47:08 It's just a decision you make in your heart, and then the next time you catch yourself doing one of the six things that kills community, let that be a trigger. 47:17 You start criticizing, you start complaining, you start canvassing, you start dividing, and you say, whoa, I just fell into self mode. 47:24 Let's go into God mode, God-centered. 47:33 That brings this message to an end. 47:34 What'd you think? 47:35 Come on over to restitudio.org and find episode 634, Six Ways to Kill Your Community, and leave your feedback there. 47:44 We'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject as well. 47:48 Speaking of which, someone named Willibrardus wrote in on episode 612, Colossians 116, Old Creation or New Creation. 47:58 And he wrote in Dutch, which I used Google Translate to make into English, and this is what he said. 48:06 From the Netherlands, with regards, I am writing in the Dutch language. 48:10 This explanation was clearly explained to me by Sir Anthony Buzzard. 48:16 I also have his New Testament here in the Netherlands. 48:18 Let me just pause in there. 48:19 So what he's referring to is my presentation on Colossians 116. 48:25 where I took a new creation perspective. 48:28 And this is the same perspective that pretty much every single other biblical Unitarian who's ever written on Colossians 116 has taken, with the sole exception of Dustin Smith, who takes an old creation point of view on it. 48:42 And in that talk, he was in the room and gave me some flack. 48:46 And we have a brief interchange on his view of it. 48:50 But essentially the new creation idea is that Colossians 1.16 is not talking about the Genesis creation of the heavens and the earth, but the creation that came about through Christ and in Christ, this new created realm or sphere of influence that includes a lot of authority structures that didn't previously exist, both in heaven and on earth, both invisible and visible. 49:14 So anyhow, he's just acknowledging that he was already familiar with this position that I laid out in episode 612. 49:21 But then he goes on to say, what also strikes me in your presentation is that you write that God created a universe. 49:28 I find that illogical because the Bible and the Genesis account would then be worthless. 49:35 The word earth in Genesis 1:1 is eretz and refers to land, soil, or ground. 49:43 Nowhere is there any mention of a universe or planets. 49:48 I would appreciate your explanation as to why you repeatedly use the word universe from a heliocentric theory. 49:56 Well, I'm not really sure where the writer of this comment is coming from, if he's a flat earther or some other sect of Christianity that doesn't believe God created the universe, but so far as I know, literally all Abrahamic religions recognize God as the creator of the universe. 50:13 So I didn't think that was something that needed to be, I don't know, defended or explained. 50:20 But since you asked, and I think everyone should be allowed to ask any question they want, right? 50:26 Since you asked, here are the verses why. 50:29 Nehemiah 9, 6 says, you alone are Yahweh. 50:32 You made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it. 50:39 I grant his point entirely that heaven in the Bible, Shamayim is the Hebrew word, typically just means sky. 50:47 And the word translated earth, eretz or ha'aretz is 50:52 generally referring to the land. 50:54 They did not have an off-planet perspective. 50:56 They did not look at the earth as a blue marble picture like we do in our modern time. 51:05 I grant all that. 51:06 Okay, that's not the issue. 51:07 But Nehemiah still says that God doesn't just make the sky and the land. 51:12 He also made the heaven of heavens with all their host. 51:16 And this term host is referring to the celestial realms and their inhabitants. 51:22 inhabitants. 51:23 Psalm 33.6 likewise says, by the word of Yahweh, the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of his mouth. 51:31 Now once again, host refers to heavenly bodies. 51:35 And so from a geocentric perspective, the perspective of ancient people standing on earth, which appears to be flat if you're not high enough up to see the curvature of the earth or if you're not near an ocean where you see the curvature a little bit with mass of boats, 51:51 coming up. 51:53 For most of us, the Earth does appear to be flat. 51:56 And for most of us, all of the stars and the planets, those that we can see with our naked eye, are in the sky. 52:05 So we have to foreshorten the distances that we know actually exist and recognize that ancient people did not have telescopes yet. 52:14 They did not have off-planet sensors and satellites. 52:18 And so they did not fully understand yet 52:21 that stars were really, really, really, really far away. 52:24 They appear to be in the same sky that the birds flew in. 52:28 Be that as it may, that is still what God created. 52:32 Because Nehemiah says, the heaven of the heavens, so there's the sky above the skies, right, and all their hosts. 52:39 And Psalm 33, 6 says, all their hosts by the breath of his mouth. 52:44 In Genesis 1, 14 through 16, God creates the lights. 52:48 In the dome of the sky, he makes the sun, he makes the moon, he makes the stars. 52:53 So this is clear evidence that biblical authors recognize God as the creator of all the things, the stuff, the universe, the cosmos, whatever you want to call it. 53:07 Another verse on this is Psalm 8.3, which recognizes the moon and the stars as what God has established. 53:14 So over and over again, God is the author of all creation, not just the planet. 53:20 And again, I literally have never heard of anyone taking this position. 53:23 So maybe I'm missing something in translation. 53:26 That's entirely possible. 53:28 And if it is so, 53:29 Willa Brutus, I hope I say your name somewhat right. 53:33 Please forgive me if I'm getting this all wrong. 53:35 But yes, I do believe and affirm that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth, the sky and the land, and the other skies and the other lands, and the stars, and the luminaries, and the heavenly beings as well, all the stuff. 53:49 So hopefully that helped clarify my position on the subject. 53:54 On podcast 63, that's going back 10 years to the year 2016, John Henrici wrote in on it just a couple days ago, which brought it back up to the top. 54:08 He wrote in on the podcast called Why Does God Allow Suffering, which was part of an apologetics class that I did. 54:15 And if you are interested in getting any of my classes, they're all on the feed, which you can find in your podcast app on your phone. 54:22 That's kind of the preferred method. 54:24 It's a little clunky. 54:25 YouTube's still not really set up for audio, at least not well, in my opinion. 54:31 I think these are ported over to YouTube now as well. 54:34 But take a look at my classes on the website, restitudio.org. 54:39 There's a tab at the top called classes you could click on. 54:42 And I have 15 different classes on there now, which that's pretty impressive. 54:48 They're not actually all taught by me, 54:50 But most of them are. 54:51 Most of them are. 54:52 I have one that's kind of like a mix of teachers, one that was taught by Josh Anderson and one that was taught by Victor Gluckin. 55:00 But then the rest of these are classes that I taught. 55:03 And the second one on that list is apologetics, way back from 2016. 55:08 And so take a look at that if you're interested. 55:10 restitudio.org, click on the classes tab, and then you can find the link either 55:15 either for Apple or Spotify, depending on what kind of podcast app you have, if you're an Apple person or a Spotify person. 55:24 And the more recent classes have links to YouTube as well, but that wasn't available in the old days when we just did everything in audio. 55:32 Anyhow, John wrote in saying, I am always encouraged by the meekness and fear that is consistently displayed on these Restitudio podcasts. 55:40 Nowadays, too many so-called mature Christians on the internet and in pulpits across the world arrogantly present their views as indisputable truths. 55:50 They refuse to consider that they might be wrong. 55:53 Their obvious goal is to convince you they are right, and if you do not agree with them, you are wrong. 55:59 Your series on apologetics has given me a renewed appreciation for how to effectively speak in defense of my beliefs in a manner that shows a willingness to listen to all reasonable objections with an honest disposition that I might still be wrong. 56:15 Doing that always takes me, and should take anyone else, back to scripture and back to the reverence and respect for God, which is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. 56:25 Keep up the good work. 56:27 And his comment goes on from there. 56:28 You can read the whole thing at restitudio.org. 56:30 Just then you can see it in the recent comments if you go there like today or tomorrow. 56:35 But if you're hearing this later, you just go to podcast 63. 56:38 You'll be able to see his comments there. 56:40 John, thank you so much for your comments on this episode. 56:44 It's such an important practice for us as Christians to 56:48 develop and maintain humility to recognize we could be wrong. 56:53 My definition of humility is just simply this. 56:55 I could be wrong and I'm willing to listen to you. 56:59 I'm willing to listen to your side. 57:01 And this is something I've tried to model on this podcast, sometimes more successfully than others. 57:07 But it is something that 57:09 regardless of how well I do it or not, is really important in the Bible, humility and being able to listen and being correctable and being willing to listen to the other side. 57:20 That's how we grow. 57:22 And a lot of times we can strengthen ourselves and other times we can weaken our position and then take on a better position. 57:29 So that's going to be it for comments. 57:32 I did want to mention about donations that I 57:37 I've been having some great struggles with my server, which is the company that hosts the Restitudio website and all the files that people can access on their devices. 57:49 I've actually been having issues for a month, and what I discovered like a week ago, this is crazy, but I discovered a week ago that the last donation that was made 58:00 through the website was actually December 5th. 58:03 And I did not really notice it because those who were doing monthly recurring donations, those are still working just fine. 58:11 And then other people were sending in checks in the mail. 58:16 And I didn't even just catch that donations were actually down for anyone that wanted to donate, like just online through the website. 58:24 So I am working with the server to fix that. 58:28 They seem 58:30 pretty incapable. 58:31 So I may end up just switching servers to a different company and then transferring everything over, which actually might be easier than dealing with the customer service of a company I'm working with. 58:42 I don't really want to mention their name or bash them or anything, but I'll just say this, that I did find a link that if any of you, especially during December, which is typically the biggest month for donations for all nonprofits and ministries, 58:58 If any of you were hoping to donate and couldn't do it because the plugin literally just wasn't even there, you can do it now. 59:06 You go to restitudio.org, click the donations button, and then I have a link that says to donate online, click here, and it takes you to my donation service website. 59:17 It's a website called Donor Box, and you can do a donation that way, either one time or weekly, monthly, annually, whatever you prefer. 59:27 and you could do a credit card, debit card, or through bank transfers. 59:30 So anyhow, I figured I'd make that announcement in case some of you were frustrated by that. 59:35 I really hate to frustrate people with the podcast or the website or whatever, because that's not really what I'm here to do. 59:42 What I'm here to do is recover authentic Christianity and live it out today. 59:46 What I'm here to do is figure out how to think about God, how to think about the Bible, and do it in a way that is helpful. 59:55 So that's enough of that. 59:56 If you do want to donate, you can do it at restitudio.org. 59:59 Thanks to all of you who have been donating and for those who sent in checks. 1:00:02 I didn't even realize that people sending in checks might mean, hey, your donation plug-in is broken. 1:00:08 But I figured it out now. 1:00:10 So thanks everybody. 1:00:11 I'll catch you next week. 1:00:12 And remember, the truth has nothing to fear.