Feb. 27, 2025

Church is Discouraging?

Church is Discouraging?

A discussion about Church and discourgment

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A discussion about Church and discourgment

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Thursday, February the twenty seventh, twenty twenty five.

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It is currently ten forty two am Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, if possible,

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I need you to grab some paper, something to write with,

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because I'm going to ask you some very important questions.

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I want you to write down the questions and I

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want you to write down the answers. Okay, Now, for

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some reason you don't have paper and something to write with,

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Use your phone, use your tablet, use your memory. But

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I really want you to give these questions great consideration

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because I think they're very important and well, they're going

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to be critical to this discussion. And I think this

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may go maybe a part one, maybe we'll do a

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part two, part three. I don't know. I don't know

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how many parts we'll do it. Maybe I'll finish it

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all in this episode. We will see. But it's a

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very important conversation. Okay, are you ready? All right? I

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really want to grab something to write with. If you

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can if not just pay close attention till everyone around

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you sh I have to pay attention. All right, he's

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about to ask questions and I have to give the

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answer or I don't know, something bad will happen. All right,

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are you ready? Here we go. I want you to

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think about your life. I want you to think about

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the past. I want you to think about the present.

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Right in your life? What has been? What is? What

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are the three greatest sources of encouragement in your life?

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I want you to think about the past. Maybe going

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to answer this by in the past, these were the

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three greatest sources of encouragement, But in the present, these

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are the three greatest sources of encouragement. Maybe you're maybe

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the past and present is going to be different, so

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you may want to answer it that way. Maybe you

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just have three and they have been true in the

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past and they are true and the present. What are

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the three greatest sources of encouragement in your life? Now?

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You may be able to answer it really quick. You

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may not want to write it down. You're like, well,

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if I write this down, someone's going to see that

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they're not on the list, and they're going to be

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very offended because I'm saying that they're not a great

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source of encouragement in my life. Well, maybe they need

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to see it. I don't know. I don't want to

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create any drama around you, but I really want you

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to consider what are the three greatest sources of encouragement

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in your life? Number two? I think you know where

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I'm going. Look at the past, look at the present?

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What has been? What is? What are the three greatest

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sources of discouragement in your life? So? What have what

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has been? What has? What? What is? When it comes

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to encouragement, What are the three greatest sources of encouragement

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in your life? Past? Present? And when it comes to

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your life past and present? What has been? What is?

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What are the three greatest sources of discouragement in your life? Encouragement, discouragement,

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the three greatest sources of it? What? What? What? What

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do you think? What do you think? Come on, I'm

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waiting for you. Like if we were, if I was

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in front of a live audience, I would really want

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to hear what people would say. But I don't know

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if people. I think people would be like you almost

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don't want to ask this in front of a live audience,

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right because if they're sitting there next to their spouse.

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You know they want to look and say, well, my

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spouse is the greatest source of encouragement in my life,

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or my kids are the greatest source of encourg in

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my life. But at the same time they may be

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wanting to say, my spouse or my kids are the

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greatest source of discouragement in my life. I know you're

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not supposed to say that. Or if you're asking the

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question in church, they may feel they're supposed to say

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this church is a great source of encouragement in my life.

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Or they may want to say the church has been

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a great source of discouragement in my life. But see here,

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it's a podcast. No one has to know. So in

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this case, if you don't want to write it down,

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just at least acknowledge in your mind. What are the

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three greatest sources of encouragement in your life? Maybe past?

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Maybe you need a list for the past, a list

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for the present. What are the great greatest sources of

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discouragement in your life? Again, you may want to have

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three from the past, three in the present. I don't

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know how your If your life has changed, you can

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draw your own conclusion and how you want to answer it,

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but I really want you to give it serious thought.

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Now are you ready? I'm going to ask this question. Aw,

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you're looking at your list three areas of encouragement, the

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greatest sources of encouragement, and the three greatest sources of discouragement.

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You're looking at your list now on your list, does

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the Church or does Christianity or and is it you know? Well,

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put it this way, does one of these or both

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of these show up on your list? The Church or

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Christianity or the Church and Christianity? Do you have them both?

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Do you have one? Do you separate them? In your

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christian life? Has the Church been a source of encouragement

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or has the Church been a source of discouragement? In

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your life? Has the Church been a source of discouragement

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or encouragement? And has it been a source of discouragement

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or encouragement when it comes to Christianity? And I'm separating

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Christianity in the church. So in your life, has the

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Church been encouraging or discouraging? And in your life do

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you feel Christianity has been encouraging or discouraging? Now, I

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know what you're supposed to say, I know what the

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church answer is, but we don't care about church answers

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here on this podcast. Forget the Church. Answer forget it, honest,

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brutal honesty. In your life, the Church and Christianity encouraging

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or discouraging, And I'm separating them because I think sometimes

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Christianity can be very encouraging, but the source can be

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an institution of nothing but great discouragement. I think the

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Church is at best a mixed bag. I don't think

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the Church is ever one of these at any given time.

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I think the Church is sometimes encouraging, sometimes discouraging, and

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I think in many cases it leans towards the discouraging

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more than the encouraging. That's my own personal feelings. I

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mean I could see it here right now and tell

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you stories of great discouraging things that happened in my

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Christian life through the Church because of the Church. So

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in general, just in your life, Okay, forget Christianity, forget

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the Church right now. When you answered that question three

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the three greatest sources of encouragement in your life, does

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the Church of Christianity show up? The three greatest sources

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of discouragement? Did Christianity in the Church show up? So

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I want you to consider the church in general, how

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would you rate it encouraging or discouraging? What has your

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experience been as a Christian attending churches? Come on, look

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back over your life encouraging or discouraging? And then just

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Christianity in general, do you feel like encouraging or discouraging? Now?

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For me, the church has been a great source of

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discouragement at times, great source of discouragement, absolutely, just at

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times brutal. And the and the and the way the

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church has been discouraging. I mean, I can go through

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when when I got the notification that my you know,

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mother basically was dead in the hospital, and you know,

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everybody knew what was going on, and the people who

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knew what was going on, I got, I got griped at.

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I got basically people were frustrated with me because I

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had not mowed the church lawn. I had not cut

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the grass. And it's like, well, I don't know, I

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don't know, my mom's in the hospital waiting for her

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to be pronounced dead. I'm sorry I didn't get to

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that right. I when my father died, how someone in

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the church sent me an email I don't know. Forty

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eight seventy two hours after my father had died, and

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then got all ticked off because I didn't respond and

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try to and try to try to make some point

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that I didn't care about people. And it's like, I

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don't know. My father died seventy two hours ago. I

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don't know. I don't And so I mean I could

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go on and on with examples of what happened in

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the church, so so many, so many crazy things. So

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I mean the stories would be pretty legendary of discouragement,

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not encouragement. And so I separate the church from Christianity.

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So in your life, what are the three greatest sources

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of encouragement? What are the three greatest sources of discouragement?

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And where do you put the church there in encouraging discouraging,

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and where do you put Christianity? Now? In some ways,

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I just want to stop right there. It's been nine

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minutes and twenty three seconds. I should just stop and go.

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I really want you to consider that today and we'll

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talk later, but we're going to continue here, all right.

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I want you just to really think about this. So

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I did a little bit of research, right so, based

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on all available studies, based on all available research on

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human psychology, sociology and well being. All right, so this

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is all based off again, are you ready on all

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available studies and research on human psychology, sociology, and well being,

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all of that combined, here are the three greatest sources

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of encouragement and the three greatest sources of discouragement for

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people in general. So generally speaking, when you bring in

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all the research and all the study on human psychology, sociology,

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and well being, here are the three greatest sources of

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encouragement and the three greatest sources of discouragement. Are you ready?

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What do you think Number one is? What do you

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think number one? What do you think is the strongest

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or the greatest source of encouragement for a person? What

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do you think it is? Do you think it's the Church?

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Do you think it's God? Do you think it's Christianity?

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Do you think it's the Bible? What do you think

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it is? Well? What's listed Number one is strong relationships

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and social support. Now this is where some people may

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point to the church. Some people may not. All right,

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but here we go. Here's a little bit of what

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we have discovered by looking at all of this research.

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Studies consistently show that strong personal connections, whether through family, friends,

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or community, are among the greatest sources of encouragement. Social

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support provides emotional stability, reduces stress, and enhances overall life satisfaction.

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So if you want a basically, if you want a

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great source of encouragement, you need a good relationship or

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relationships plural. You need people. You need someone there to

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build you up, to encourage you and support. And if

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we think about this, this is why we typically find

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ourselves in relationships. Why do we find friends, why do

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we find a spouse, is because we're looking for the

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encouragement to be built up, to be supported, to be caught.

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You know, someone day catch me when I fall. Kind

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of concept. Relationships are typically where we find the greatest

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amount of encouragement, or at least that's where we should.

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Now some will say, well that social support. Some will

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say well, that's the church. But just make it very clear,

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it doesn't have to be a church for you to

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get social support or strong relationships. You can find them

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in a book club, you can find them in all

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kinds of different social settings. And this in finding a

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group of friends who like this, it can come from

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so many things, not necessarily the institutionalized church. Some people, Now,

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the church likes to promote itself. Hey, you can't do

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life alone. Be a part of a small group. Be

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a part of this so that you can have this

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social support. Now, sometimes churches offer great social support. Some

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churches may not. Now and what we could really offer,

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we could get into a whole discussion, is how much

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of the response on ability is it of the church

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to provide said social support. Is that the church's function,

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Is that the church's mission, or is what's supposed to

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happen is that you're a Christian and you go to church,

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you meet other Christians, and then you develop the personal

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relationships and that's where the emotional support comes from. It's

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not necessarily that the church has to create the system

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to make it happen. Is that you meet people and

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you make it happen. Is that the church's responsibility. We

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could get into a big discussion about that, but just

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make it clear what the number one source of strong

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encouragement typically comes from relationships. Now, sometimes relationships can be

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some of the most discouraging thing, or they could be

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an encouraging thing, and the church can kind of function

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at least play a part in this So that's number one.

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Strong relationships and social support. That's where people tend to

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find the greatest source of encouragement. Number two a sense

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of purpose and meaning. A sense of purpose and meaning.

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I'm sorry there, I hit the microphone. A sense of

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So a sense of purpose and meaning. Now this one

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is interesting because this one's a little bit more subjective.

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The first one's very objective. It's very clear, right, get

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do you have friends, do you have a social support? Well,

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you typically are going to see that as the greatest

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source of your encouragement. Not God people, not scripture people. Now,

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when we preach it, we may say the greatest source

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of encouragement is God, it is his word. But I

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think when it comes down to practicality, that's again theoretical theology.

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It sounds good in a sermon and everyone will say amen.

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But if they're really brutally honest, the greatest source of

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encouragement doesn't come from a God in whom they cannot see.

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It doesn't come from philological principles they find in the

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word of God. It comes from a person. People. That's

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where they get their encouragement, That's where they find it. Right.

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Number two, A sense of purpose and meaning. Now, this

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one again is somewhat subjective, but this is what we find. Right.

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People who have a clear sense of purpose, whether through

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faith or work, or personal goals or service to others,

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tend to have a greater sense of resilience and motivation.

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Research suggests that having purpose increases overall happiness, mental health,

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and even longevity. So you need a sense of purpose,

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you need a sense of meaning, and I think that

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I think when it comes to this, remember when I

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talked about what is the three greatest sources of encouragement

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past present? Sense of discouragement? Are sources of discouragement past

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and present. The reason I did that is because really

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for number two here a sense of purpose and meaning.

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I think people find different sense of purpose and meaning

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at different times in their life. Now I know what

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the Christian answer is going to be. Well, my sense

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of purpose meaning comes from God. I'm created to glorify

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God and enjoy Him forever. Congratulations, you memorize the first

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question on the catechism. That's great, that's awesome. It's good

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to know that. But I think a lot of that's theoretical.

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When it comes down to it. I don't think we

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may say we find great encouragement from having a sense

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of purpose and meaning because we're living for God. But

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if you look at the lives of most people, if

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they're even remotely honest. Now this may not be true

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of a pastor, but the average person sitting in the pew,

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if they're honest, the purpose of their life. I mean,

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they spend most of their life going to work, making money,

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saving money for retirement, taking care of their family. Their

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purpose and their purpose, and it shows up at different

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stages in their life. Their purpose may be going to

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college to get that college degree so they can get

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their job. That job their purpose in life, whether they

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want to acknowledge it or not. Many times it's to

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find a spouse. It's to find the love of my life.

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Meaning in life can be found in that relationship. You

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find great sense of meaning in your and your spouse

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and your children. I think that that it's constantly fluctuating.

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Now I know the theological answer is, Hey, Christians, you

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should have this great source of encouragement because you have

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purpose and meaning in your life. And your purpose is God.

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You are created by Him for Him. Your meaning in

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life is Him. Your purpose is to serve Him. Your

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purpose is to further the Kingdom of God. Your purpose

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is that. That's well, that sounds good, but in some

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ways I think that actually becomes a source of discouragement.

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What do I mean by that, Well, you're trying to

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tell people, Hey, your whole focus should be God, your

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whole focus should be His word, prayer, fasting, church, you know, witnessing.

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That's true, should be your life. But at the same time,

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they're like, well, wait a minute, I got a job,

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and I got this, and I got and it's like

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so then they have to feel guilty that God is

301
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not the first thing. So they actually find themselves in

302
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conflict and being discouraged. Well, I want God to be first.

303
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I want to love God the most, but I care

304
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about my job, and I care about this, and I

305
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care about that, and I'm trying to do this and

306
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I'm trying to accomplish this, and I'm trying and so

307
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they live in a constant state of feeling guilty that

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they know theoretically God is supposed to be the purpose

309
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and meaning, but they're really finding purpose and meaning and

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everything else, even though they may try to deny that.

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And this is where Christianity can start becoming a source

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of discouragement because you're given a standard which you're never

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going to be able to meet. But it sounds like

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that if you can find purpose and meaning, whatever that

315
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may be at any given time, whatever it can be,

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I mean, I think it can, your purpose and meaning

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can change so drastically. It can be like, my purpose

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and meaning is this, And it may be I'm gonna

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run a marathon. So you're running every single day, you're

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posting on social media how far you've run, and your

321
00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:04.319
your all your fitness goals, and your purpose and meaning

322
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becomes that even though you would say no, no, God

323
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is my purpose and meaning. Yeah, but you're giving a

324
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lot of time and energy for this. Now, once you

325
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maybe run that marathon or accomplish your weight goals or

326
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what are your fitness goals, the next thing you know,

327
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you're finding a new one. And I think it's conn

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I don't think it's ever so black and white as

329
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we want to make it out to be in the church.

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So what are the is the number one source of

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encouragement strong relationships and social support. Number two a sense

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of purpose and meaning. Number three personal growth and achievement.

333
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Progress in life, whether in learning new skills, Overcoming challenges

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or achieving personal or professional goals is a major source

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of encouragement. The feeling of accomplishment reinforces self worth and motivation. Again,

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for most people, this oh, I want to accomplish this. Oh,

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I want to get this, I want to do this,

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I want to We have these things we want to do,

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and that becomes a greater source of encourage. Even though

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we want to say God is the source, Come on now,

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it's people, it's purpose and meaning, and it's personal growth

342
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and achievement. When you achieve something, you feel good, you

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feel great. When you accomplish this, you get that promotion,

344
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you get this done, you accomplish this, you have this goal,

345
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you finish this part of schooling, you get this certificate,

346
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you get this diploma, You accomplish this, you do this,

347
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you get that pay raise, you get that promotion. All

348
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those different things they are a part of feeling encouraged.

349
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So the three major sources of encouragement based on all

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the studies of psychology, sociology, and basically human well being

351
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are number one, strong relationships and social support. Number two

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a state of purpose and meaning, and number three your

353
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own personal growth and your own personal achievement. So if

354
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you feel like you are growing and you are moving,

355
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you're advancing in your life, and you are achieving things,

356
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you're gonna have a sense of encouragement. If you feel

357
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like you've got a purpose and meaning and you are

358
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pursuing it, you're gonna have a sense of encouragement. And

359
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if you've got people around you encouraging you, cheering you on,

360
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supporting you, you're gonna feel encouraged. And those that means

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that encouragement can happen with or without Christianity, with or

362
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without God, with or without the Church. Now we want,

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we want, we may as Christians, we try to reframe

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that saying we get encouragement from God in these areas.

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But I will argue that when we place God there

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as the way we're going to get our encouragement, we

367
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actually lead to discouragement. But you know the reason why,

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because we're never going to actually meet it's going to

369
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become now this religious standard that we're trying to achieve,

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and we're gonna fall short, and we're gonna fall short,

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and we're gonna fall short, and we're going to constantly

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live feeling guilty even though it's supposed to be the

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thing that brings us encouragement. Hey, you're supposed to live

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it being living your life for God's glory? Are you

375
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living your life for God's glory? How do you know

376
00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:06.000
you're living your life for God's glory? Well, you do this,

377
00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:07.240
and you do this, and you got to do this,

378
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:09.279
and don't do this, and do this and don't do this. Hey,

379
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your purpose and meaning is the Kingdom of God. How

380
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do you know you're living your life for his purpose

381
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and his meaning? Well, you spend more time reading his Bible,

382
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reading the Bible, going to church. You do this. You

383
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:21.839
give more money to this you're doing When you look

384
00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:25.079
at your personal growth and achievement, you're looking at personal

385
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growth and achievement based on how many people you've won

386
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to the Lord. How this everything then becomes this, It

387
00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:38.119
becomes this almost legalistic thing you're trying to achieve, which

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it's supposed to be the thing to encourage you. But

389
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you find yourself feeling guilty and shameful, so you then

390
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find yourself discouraged. We have to I know, I know

391
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I'm not supposed to say any of these things, but

392
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we're supposed to. We have to at least admit that. So,

393
00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:58.799
what are the three greatest sources of encouragement based on

394
00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:04.160
extensive research into psychology, sociology, and human well being. Number

395
00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.400
one strong relationships and social support. Number two a sense

396
00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:11.880
of purpose and meaning. Number three personal growth and achievement.

397
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What are the three greatest sources of discouragement? What are

398
00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:25.240
the three greatest sources of discouragement? Loneliness and social isolation.

399
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A lack of meaningful relationship is one of the biggest

400
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:36.799
source of discouragement and mental distress. Studies link social isolation

401
00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:42.079
and increase rates two increased rates of depression, anxiety, and

402
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.680
even physical health problems. When you wake up one day

403
00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:52.359
and you're like, wait, how did my life end up here?

404
00:23:53.119 --> 00:24:01.920
Isolated alone? Bad things start happening. Bad things start happening.

405
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They start happening physically, they start happening mentally, they start

406
00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:12.119
happening emotionally. According to all the studies, Now there can

407
00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:16.519
be some people will may prefer isolation and loneliness, but

408
00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:20.279
it seems that it may have a temporary benefit, but

409
00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:26.200
all long term things are getting all mixed up and confused,

410
00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:29.480
and it can be not such a good thing. Now,

411
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:32.200
some people will say, we'll see church will fix this.

412
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You go to church, you're no longer socially isolated, you're

413
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:40.079
no longer lonely. Well, the people at church can only

414
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:44.720
provide so much in many cases those relationships, I mean,

415
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:50.119
depending on your situation. I think a lot of times

416
00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:55.000
people who are lonely, like for whatever they end up,

417
00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:56.759
they can go to church and they can meet people.

418
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But a lot of those people have You're going to

419
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see people who have their own lives. They got their families,

420
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They've got their husband, they got their wife, they got

421
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their kids, they got their jobs, they got they're busy,

422
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.000
they got a million things going. You may like, well,

423
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.200
where are they to help me? Well, they've got their

424
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own lives to live. What do you expect them to do?

425
00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:18.119
Just invite you over Monday through Sunday so that you

426
00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:21.640
have They can only provide so much. Now maybe of

427
00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:25.119
some benefit, but again the church is only gonna I mean,

428
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.200
there's plenty of other social interactions and social groups and

429
00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:31.640
things you can do where you can find that same thing,

430
00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:35.759
finding a sense of community, as churches talk about. You

431
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:39.440
can find it in a lot of different things. But

432
00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:41.960
people can become very discoursed and that There's been plenty

433
00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:44.640
of people who go to church and then will complain

434
00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:47.319
that they feel lonely and they don't feel like anyone

435
00:25:47.400 --> 00:25:50.480
cares about them because they're looking for something that I

436
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:55.960
don't know if any typical organization like that can necessarily provide.

437
00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:01.039
They can try to create situations where you can, but

438
00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:03.559
there's only so much it can do as an institution.

439
00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:12.880
Loneliness and social isolation is a source of great discouragement.

440
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:15.359
And there are a lot of people, I mean, there's

441
00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:17.240
been lots of studies right now that we're in an

442
00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:21.599
epidemic of loneliness and an epidemic of isolation. And some

443
00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:24.880
people blame social media, some people blame a lot of

444
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:32.279
different things how to break that. But when people find

445
00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:35.960
themselves in that situation, I'm telling you it's not good

446
00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.160
when they find themselves kind of like, man, how did

447
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:42.599
I end up alone? How did I end up alone?

448
00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:45.359
What do I do? How do I process this? How

449
00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.039
do I And there's no easy way to make it,

450
00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:51.119
Like you know, there's no simple answer. We'll find a

451
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:53.200
situation where you're not alone, Okay, well then what do

452
00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.200
I do? How do I do that? Well, depending on

453
00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:58.640
their state in life, it may be will go find

454
00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:01.240
someone and then hopefully you find someone and you won't

455
00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:04.640
be alone. Other people may be in a situation where

456
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:08.039
they don't have that and they're still alone for whatever reason.

457
00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:19.799
Now can Christianity come in and offer a solution. Well,

458
00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:21.920
then you want to say, well, find it in God.

459
00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:24.960
Well that's easy to tell. It's easy to tell someone. Hey,

460
00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:27.920
I know you're alone. Okay, now now I'm going to

461
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.640
tell you this. Then I'm going to go over there

462
00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:31.920
and you know, hug my husband and hold his hand,

463
00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:34.599
and we're going to go right off into the sunset.

464
00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:37.000
But hey, I want you to know you shouldn't be

465
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:41.319
all overcome with your feelings of loneliness and isolation because

466
00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:43.960
you believe in God and you're supposed to live for God,

467
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.400
and you're supposed to find your satisfaction in God, and

468
00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:49.000
you're supposed to find your comfort in God. And as

469
00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:51.319
long as you have God, you're never alone. And God

470
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:54.160
is with you. And they preach you this big sermon

471
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:55.920
and you're like, well, you preach a big sermon when

472
00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.240
you've got everything you've got, you've got a million things

473
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:01.799
other than God. But you're gonna tell this person you

474
00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:04.240
need to find your satisfaction in God. You need to

475
00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:06.119
find your happiness and God. A lot of times churches

476
00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:08.559
do this to singles. I know you're single, and I

477
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:10.960
know you're lonely, and that can lead to sin and

478
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:13.720
lead to problems. But just remember you have God. You've

479
00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:16.759
got everything you need. God will stick closer to you

480
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.720
than a brother. He's there. He will never leave you,

481
00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:22.400
he will never forsake you. You'll never be abandoned. You

482
00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:26.079
have God. So spend time with God. Develop your relationship

483
00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:29.720
with God. Find your happiness in God, find your contentment

484
00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:32.200
in God. Because if you've got God, you've got everything

485
00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:34.440
you need. And then singles look at you and go

486
00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:39.240
get out of my face. All right? You tell me

487
00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:41.400
that as you're about to go get into your car

488
00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:43.880
and drive off with your spouse and go home and

489
00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:46.319
spend the evening with your spouse and get in bed

490
00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:49.400
with your spouse. You get out of my face. I

491
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:52.599
think sometimes singles can get really offended at that, because

492
00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:55.440
we like, you just got God, you don't need anything else. Well,

493
00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:57.240
if you don't need anything else, why everybody in this

494
00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:00.319
church has somebody else. Okay, what are you talking about?

495
00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:03.599
All right? I tell oh that can be that's got

496
00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:06.000
to be frustrating being a single and being having that

497
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.039
cram down your throat while everyone's living a life of

498
00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:11.799
having all the other stuff that they say you don't

499
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:16.079
need because you've got God. Well, if nobody needed those

500
00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:19.680
other things because they have God, well, then they wouldn't

501
00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:25.240
all have those other things, would they. So? Number two

502
00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:30.720
a lack of control or uncertainty. When you feel powerless

503
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:36.759
in the faces of life's challenges, whether due to financial struggles, illness,

504
00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:43.160
or political instability, or other uncontrollable factors, that can lead

505
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:50.079
to great sense of discouragement. Research shows that perceived control

506
00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:55.319
over one's circumstance is a key factor in mental resilience.

507
00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:02.920
So what can bring discouragement? Loneliness and social isolation. Number

508
00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:06.559
two A lack of control or uncertainty. You just feel

509
00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:09.839
like you have no control. You're facing a challenge, you're

510
00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:13.319
facing a difficulty, but you can't control it's you can't

511
00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:16.720
make it better, you can't fix it, you can't resolve it,

512
00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:21.359
you can't do anything. Well. Man, that lack of control

513
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:25.319
can begin to really discourage a person and lead to

514
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:28.200
life Look that that loneliness and isolation can lead to

515
00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:32.279
lots of problems when you're like, there's I don't I

516
00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:34.640
don't know what's going to happen. The situation's out of

517
00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:41.440
my control. Man, That can be discouraging as well. Number

518
00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:52.319
three failure and repeated setbacks. Some failure sometimes can be motivating.

519
00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:58.640
Sometimes failure can motivate you fail yeah, but repeated failure

520
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:04.839
without or support can lead to total and complete discouragement.

521
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:06.599
And this is once again where I think the church

522
00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:10.400
sometimes in Christianity can be very discouraging because Christianity provides

523
00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:13.039
you a moral system be holy as God is holy,

524
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.400
which you can never achieve. So you're in a perpetual

525
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:22.200
state of failure. Okay, well that's that's not encouraging. And

526
00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:26.079
the church itself can be Hey, you've got do this, guys.

527
00:31:26.119 --> 00:31:28.440
Pray more, read your Bible more, go to church more,

528
00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:31.519
give more, witness more, do this more, do this, Glorify

529
00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:34.440
God more, do this, love God more, do this, don't

530
00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:36.720
do this, do this, don't do this. And so you're

531
00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:39.559
just like for crying out loud, like it can be

532
00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:41.279
a moment where you're like, I can do it. But

533
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:44.359
then there can be a moment like this this is

534
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:49.400
going nowhere. So whether it's your career, whether it's in

535
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:54.079
your relationship with your spouse or with your kids, whether

536
00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:58.000
it's a personal endeavor. Feeling like once efforts are futile

537
00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:02.039
can create deep frustration and spare. It can happen on

538
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:04.480
a podcast where you're working. You're working, you feel like

539
00:32:04.519 --> 00:32:06.480
you're not getting anywhere, you're not doing anything, you're not

540
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:09.680
accomplishing anything, and well, that gives you that feeling of despair.

541
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:12.680
It can happen in ministry. It can happen in your job.

542
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:15.920
It can happen in your marriage. It can happen when

543
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:19.920
you just you feel you just failure and set back

544
00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:22.440
and you don't seem to be advancing. You can just

545
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:27.799
become everything can begin to unravel. So, based on studies

546
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:32.079
of human psychology, sociology, and human being well being, the

547
00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:38.799
three sources, the three greatest sources for encouragement are people, relationships,

548
00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:42.519
people who encourage you, build you up, support you, which

549
00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:45.200
is a social support structure right of some sort. It

550
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.720
can be individuals people. I guess you could try to

551
00:32:47.720 --> 00:32:51.519
find it in an institution. Number two, a sense of

552
00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:54.559
purpose and meaning a sense of purpose and meaning. And

553
00:32:54.599 --> 00:32:58.640
again I think that's very transitional and that's transitory. It

554
00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:01.960
can change a lot. I know what Christianity would say,

555
00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:05.319
but again, I think that can begin to become a

556
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:08.480
source of discouragement. As we've talked about number three, personal

557
00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:12.960
growth and achievement, those are the sources of encouragement. The

558
00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:17.400
three greatest sources of discouragement loneliness and social isolation, a

559
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:22.160
lack of ConTroll or uncertainty, and failure and repeated setbacks.

560
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:29.960
These findings come from a mix of psychological, sociological, and

561
00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:39.400
neurological research on what influences human well being. Those are

562
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:45.880
the sources of encouragement and the sources of discouragement. Now,

563
00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:50.680
nowhere did any of those say specifically faith Church. God

564
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:52.839
didn't say any of that. And this is where the

565
00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:55.400
Church would push back and go, well, those are all wrong.

566
00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:59.400
The greatest source of encouragement, the greatest source of you know,

567
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:03.599
of all the things you need, comes from God, and

568
00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:08.039
they may even put the Church on there, comes from Christianity.

569
00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:17.079
And while that's what we're trying to discuss now, I

570
00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:21.400
will argue, I will argue, and I don't have a

571
00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:23.639
good answer when it comes to the Church in Christianity.

572
00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:25.280
I think that there, I think we have to draw

573
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.280
a distinction between church and Christianity because I think the

574
00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:33.199
Church has been a source of discouragement. I think the

575
00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:40.280
Church has been a great source of discouragement throughout church history. Right,

576
00:34:40.679 --> 00:34:44.639
you want to consider some I think now you could

577
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:47.000
argue that it's also provided encouragement. I'm not going to

578
00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:49.440
say it hasn't, but it's been a significant source of

579
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:54.480
discouragement for many people. And this discouragement often arises from

580
00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:58.440
a lot of different factors. So let's consider some primary

581
00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:02.400
ways in which the Church has actually been a source

582
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:07.320
of discouragement. Let's consider how the Church has been a

583
00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:15.679
source of discouragement through I think throughout church history. You

584
00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:30.280
ready number one, unrealistic spiritual expectations and legalism. Unrealistic spiritual

585
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:36.119
expectations and legalism. I don't think we can get around this.

586
00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:39.760
And this is why some of those things, some of

587
00:35:39.800 --> 00:35:46.039
the things I said, it can actually it can actually

588
00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:51.960
go hang on. Okay, wow, okay, I was I was

589
00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:55.360
looking at the all of my stats and everything was

590
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:57.519
going crazy here. So let's let's consider this, all right.

591
00:35:57.559 --> 00:36:00.280
So when it comes to the church, and this has

592
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:03.039
gone in a completely different direction than I originally planned

593
00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:06.679
because we had all these technical problems at the beginning.

594
00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:09.480
This is not going in the direction I had planned. Okay,

595
00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:11.800
but that's all right. I had I had audio cued up.

596
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:13.239
We're not even going to get to the audio, but

597
00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:15.760
that's okay. We've talked about what are the three greatest

598
00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:19.079
sources of encouragement? The three greatest sources of discouragement? All right?

599
00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:22.440
And that that got my mind thinking in all kinds

600
00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:25.079
of different ways. And I think that and in some

601
00:36:25.159 --> 00:36:26.840
of those I can hear how the church will try

602
00:36:26.840 --> 00:36:28.559
to answer it. But I think the church's answer almost

603
00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:31.519
always leads to discouragement. So I'm going to forego what

604
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:33.559
I was originally going to do and let's just dig

605
00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:36.880
into this. What I think the Church is a great

606
00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:39.599
source of discouragement. And here's the reason why. Number One

607
00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:41.559
I think this is I think maybe this is the key.

608
00:36:41.880 --> 00:36:48.639
The church offers this unrealistic, these unrealistic spiritual expectations and legalism.

609
00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:53.639
So the church will say, hey, God and Christianity and

610
00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:56.440
the Bible, that's where you find your encouragement, that's where

611
00:36:56.480 --> 00:36:59.199
you find hope and peace and all of these things.

612
00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:01.840
But almost in how probably it's like this is what

613
00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:03.519
it should look like, but you have to do this

614
00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:04.920
and do this, and do this and do this, and

615
00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:06.320
you got to put God first, and you got to

616
00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:08.039
do this, and you're supposed to love God. He's supposed

617
00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:10.480
to do this. And at some point all of these

618
00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:14.960
expectations just puts you in a cycle of trying, trying, trying, trying,

619
00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:17.800
and you never getting there, which actually leads to one

620
00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:23.719
of the sources of discouragement. I think it almost it's counterintuitive,

621
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:27.039
whether people realize it or not. Right many churches teach

622
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:30.639
that believers should experience victory over sin, constant joy, and

623
00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:34.960
unwavering faith, creating an impossible standard. This leads to people

624
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:37.360
feel like a failure when they struggle with doubt, sin,

625
00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:42.280
or suffering. Legalism adds burdens that Christ never placed unbelievers,

626
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:46.199
making the Christian life feel like an unachievable checklist rather

627
00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:52.159
than a life of grace. I think that's just absolutely factual. Hey,

628
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:55.760
Christianity is supposed to be the thing that encourages you,

629
00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:59.880
but it encourages you by basically either promising you that

630
00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:02.719
you can achieve something which you cannot achieve, and then

631
00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:04.480
you're gonna fall on your face. You're gonna fall on

632
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:06.440
your face over and over and over and over and over,

633
00:38:06.760 --> 00:38:09.840
or say that you can have encouragement and all of

634
00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:12.880
this stuff if and there's always a strong if you

635
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.320
do this, this, this, this, this and this and this.

636
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:19.559
So it's legalism with false hope, false promise that you

637
00:38:19.559 --> 00:38:22.840
can achieve something which you can never truly achieve. That's

638
00:38:23.159 --> 00:38:25.599
if that's not a recipe of discouragement, I don't know

639
00:38:25.639 --> 00:38:31.320
what it is. People often feel that no matter how

640
00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:37.000
much they try, they're never good enough. It creates guilt, shame,

641
00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:42.400
and spiritual exhaustion instead of true encouragement in Christ. So

642
00:38:42.519 --> 00:38:49.440
the church offers unrealistic spiritual unrealistic spiritual expectations of what

643
00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:52.159
you can achieve, what you can do even though you can't.

644
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:54.400
And then it gives you a list of dues and

645
00:38:54.440 --> 00:38:56.599
don'ts and rules of what you have to do and

646
00:38:56.639 --> 00:38:59.840
should do and can't do in order to have all

647
00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:04.039
the things that promises you that. If that's not a

648
00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:10.880
source of discouragement, I don't know what is. So number

649
00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:16.599
two number two a misuse. I think this is the

650
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:22.920
second way the church discourages. It misuses scripture to give

651
00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:28.239
people a false hope. The church loves to come in

652
00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:32.840
and offer, Hey, here's this scripture, here's this SCRIPTUREY grab

653
00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:37.039
onto this, here's this promise, this promise, and you're like, oh, yes, yes,

654
00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:39.440
I've got all of this hope, I've got that, and

655
00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:45.760
now I'm encouraged. The only problem is churches misuse versus

656
00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:50.039
like Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven. Right, I know the

657
00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:52.599
plans I have for you to bless you has nothing

658
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:55.320
to do with us, not a thing Philippians four thirteen.

659
00:39:55.360 --> 00:39:57.320
I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.

660
00:39:57.679 --> 00:40:00.800
No context is offered Roman's eight twenty eight. All things

661
00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:03.480
work together for good. These are just thrown out there,

662
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:07.039
and they lead people to expect earthly success, healing, or

663
00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:10.639
a problem free life. When reality doesn't match these promises,

664
00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:13.000
believers feel that either they have felled God or that

665
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:17.280
God has felled them. Churches love to grab scriptures and

666
00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:19.199
offer it up as a sense of hope, a sense

667
00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:21.920
of encouragement, and you get encouraged for a brief period

668
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:23.679
of time, and then you're like, wait a minute, this

669
00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:25.679
doesn't seem to work, and this doesn't seem to work,

670
00:40:25.719 --> 00:40:27.800
and this doesn't work, and this doesn't work, and then

671
00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:30.760
the church, and you're like, then you were more discouraged

672
00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:35.920
than you were when you showed up. All of this

673
00:40:36.039 --> 00:40:39.639
leads to false expectations that inevitably lead to disappointment. When

674
00:40:39.719 --> 00:40:43.039
suffering doesn't go away, people feel abandoned by God or

675
00:40:43.159 --> 00:40:47.280
lied to by the church. So how does the church

676
00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:54.400
discourage gives unrealistic spiritual expectations? And legalism Number two misuses

677
00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:59.239
scripture to give false hope. Number three, all the hypocrisy

678
00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:04.679
and corruption in the church, now this can discourage. Now,

679
00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:08.519
the reason this discourages is all the hypocrisy and corruption

680
00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:11.880
in the church contradicts everything the church says. Because the

681
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:14.840
church says, hey, we all now are Christians, so we

682
00:41:14.920 --> 00:41:17.800
have supernatural ability to do this, and to do this,

683
00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:19.880
and to do this, and to do this even though

684
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.639
after two thousand years of church history, what have we

685
00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:25.599
found that Christians inside the church and outside the church,

686
00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:28.320
what do we do? We sin? We sin? We sin,

687
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:31.840
we sin, So we are only hypocrites if we pretend

688
00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:36.119
that we don't. If we will acknowledge God's standards are

689
00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:39.920
that which we cannot achieve, we never will. We're always,

690
00:41:39.960 --> 00:41:42.000
in practice are going to fall short of the very

691
00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:45.880
standards which we preach and teach. Unless we acknowledge that,

692
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:49.239
then there's going to be a sense of hypocrisy. But

693
00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:52.119
there's always going to be sin, and there's always going

694
00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:55.039
to be corruption in the church. There always is going

695
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:58.519
to be And when you think about church, we have

696
00:41:58.599 --> 00:42:04.800
scandals of every kind in church history, financial corruption, sexual abuse,

697
00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:12.280
child molestation, cover ups, authoritarian leadership. People have been deeply

698
00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:17.679
wounded and messed over in Christianity and within the church.

699
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:22.679
Many churches protect their reputation over victims, leading to disillusionment.

700
00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:27.400
Leaders will preach humility but live in luxury or demand

701
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:35.639
moral purity while secretly sinning. This creates deep discouragement. Rarely

702
00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:38.280
the church is this place where hey, everyone, look, guys, guys,

703
00:42:38.760 --> 00:42:41.440
we know what we're called to try to do, but

704
00:42:41.559 --> 00:42:46.840
let's all be honest here. We're all we're all trash,

705
00:42:47.079 --> 00:42:52.760
We're all perpetual sinners. Can we admit this? Can we

706
00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:57.239
function as a church with not pretending that we're something

707
00:42:57.320 --> 00:42:59.719
that we're not, but acknowledging everyone here is in sin

708
00:43:00.119 --> 00:43:02.519
of some sort. Look at the person to your right,

709
00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:05.880
they're perpetually in sin. Look to the person to your left,

710
00:43:05.960 --> 00:43:08.519
they're in perpetual sin. Look at the person behind you,

711
00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:10.719
They're in perpetual sin. Look at the person in front

712
00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:13.159
of you, they're in perpetual sin. Now hold up a mirror.

713
00:43:13.320 --> 00:43:16.599
You're in perpetual sin. So everyone can drop their rocks,

714
00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:19.199
everyone can drop their pretense, everyone can get rid of

715
00:43:19.199 --> 00:43:22.119
their robes of self righteousness. Everyone can stop saying I

716
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:24.639
think the God that we're not like other people, because

717
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:31.400
we are the other people, we're the sinners. But because

718
00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:36.159
the church doesn't do that. Well, if everyone in the

719
00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:40.119
church perceives that they have now a supernatural ability to

720
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:44.000
basically keep the law of God to some level, even

721
00:43:44.360 --> 00:43:47.199
even if they deny perfection, they almost preach it as

722
00:43:47.280 --> 00:43:49.440
if you can get close. I mean, they teach that

723
00:43:49.480 --> 00:43:51.280
you're a new creature in Christ. Old things passed away,

724
00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:53.039
all things have become new. I mean, I don't know

725
00:43:53.079 --> 00:43:55.079
how they can't how they can teach that to be

726
00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:58.079
true practically and not yet demand perfection, but they try

727
00:43:58.079 --> 00:44:02.400
to hold some idea of being perfection. I'm not reaching perfection.

728
00:44:02.719 --> 00:44:05.559
But the point is everyone believes they can. Well, you

729
00:44:05.639 --> 00:44:08.440
know how much discouragement's going to lead to when everyone

730
00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:17.159
realizes they can't and that they don't. So this makes

731
00:44:17.159 --> 00:44:20.519
people question whether Christianity's even real. It leads many to

732
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:22.679
walk away from the church, believing it's filled with self

733
00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:25.480
serving individuals rather than true followers of Christ. But see,

734
00:44:25.519 --> 00:44:28.280
that's a problem as well. You walk away saying all

735
00:44:28.320 --> 00:44:30.360
of those people in the church are sinners, none of

736
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:33.119
them are really following Christ. But I am you're you're

737
00:44:33.159 --> 00:44:36.400
only That's not the solution because what you have to

738
00:44:36.400 --> 00:44:38.519
realize is those people are no better than you, and

739
00:44:38.559 --> 00:44:49.119
you're no better than them because we're all sinners. So

740
00:44:49.159 --> 00:44:54.000
how does the church discourage unrealistic spiritual expectations and legalism?

741
00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:58.719
Unrealistic spiritual expectations and legalism number two? And misuse of

742
00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:03.000
scripture to give false hope number three, hypocrisy and corruption

743
00:45:03.119 --> 00:45:07.119
and leadership Number four. The church's treatment of those who struggle.

744
00:45:07.800 --> 00:45:12.519
Many believers who struggle with mental illness, addiction, doubt, difficult

745
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:18.360
life circumstances. They're met with judgment rather than compassion, because

746
00:45:18.519 --> 00:45:21.400
Christianity has this idea you shouldn't be struggling. You have

747
00:45:21.480 --> 00:45:24.239
God boom, you can do anything, you can do it.

748
00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:26.760
And while people struggle and they fail, and they struggle,

749
00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:29.840
and they may struggle with sexual sin or or they

750
00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:31.960
may struggle with this, or they may struggle with worry.

751
00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:34.039
They may struggle with anxiety, they may struggle with this,

752
00:45:34.079 --> 00:45:38.440
they may just it's basically stop it, don't do it, repent,

753
00:45:38.880 --> 00:45:42.840
be a good person. Well, congratulations, that's going to fix

754
00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:50.280
a lot of problems. Churches tend to oversimplify advice, which

755
00:45:50.280 --> 00:45:54.320
is basically, pray more, have more faith, read your Bible.

756
00:45:55.039 --> 00:46:01.119
You'll feel better. That's typically the church's response, so those

757
00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:05.760
who leave the faith are deconstructed, are often shunned or labeled, labeled,

758
00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:10.400
rather than engaged with, loved and understood. Now it's typically

759
00:46:11.440 --> 00:46:13.639
you're the problem. You're the problem. You're the problem. You're

760
00:46:13.679 --> 00:46:16.159
the problem. You're the problem. You're the problem, because they

761
00:46:16.159 --> 00:46:19.119
want Christianity to be like, no, you have problems, you

762
00:46:19.159 --> 00:46:22.119
become saved, and then now dun dun, du duh, we

763
00:46:22.239 --> 00:46:25.599
basically walk on water. And then we still talk about

764
00:46:25.599 --> 00:46:28.119
all those bad people outside of the church because in

765
00:46:28.159 --> 00:46:30.320
here we've got all of our stuff all figured out.

766
00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:32.480
Now that works for a while, and it may be

767
00:46:32.599 --> 00:46:34.719
encouraging for a while, and you may be able to

768
00:46:34.760 --> 00:46:37.280
live and play the part, and you may able. It'll

769
00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:39.480
put on the facade, and you may be it'll put

770
00:46:39.480 --> 00:46:42.559
on the robes of self righteousness, and it may all work,

771
00:46:42.599 --> 00:46:45.639
but sooner or later everything begins to crumble. And then

772
00:46:45.679 --> 00:46:48.400
when you find yourself struggling, Christianity doesn't have any good

773
00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:52.320
answers for you other than stop it, do this, read

774
00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:56.079
your bibble more, do this, pray what's your problem? And

775
00:46:56.239 --> 00:47:01.559
you're like, okay, well never mind, I give up. So

776
00:47:01.599 --> 00:47:04.239
then this leads people to feeling alone. Wait, what's one

777
00:47:04.280 --> 00:47:06.559
of the real things of discouragement one of the things

778
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:10.360
that encourage you need people? Right, Well, now you feel alone,

779
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:13.400
and you feel like you're alone and you're suffering and

780
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:16.039
nobody is going to support you. So many walk away

781
00:47:16.079 --> 00:47:18.440
feeling that the church doesn't care about their real struggles.

782
00:47:19.119 --> 00:47:22.320
Now again, at the same time, it's complicated, right, because

783
00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:24.239
the church can only do so much. A lot of

784
00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:26.679
times people always walk away saying, well, the church didn't care,

785
00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:29.159
the church didn't care. But at the same time, the

786
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:32.639
church can't. The people in church can't take care of

787
00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:36.000
everyone's problems. They can only do so much for you, right,

788
00:47:36.039 --> 00:47:37.719
There's only so much they can do. They may be

789
00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:39.840
able to show up a couple of times they be

790
00:47:39.920 --> 00:47:42.360
able to call on you that there's some things they

791
00:47:42.400 --> 00:47:45.920
can do, but ultimately they can do very little as

792
00:47:45.960 --> 00:47:51.360
an institution. Now, if you develop close friends, then those

793
00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:55.119
friends can but the church itself, those people have their

794
00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:58.519
own lives. So then it becomes this, what are we expecting?

795
00:47:58.559 --> 00:48:02.639
And again it's odd because on one hand we preach

796
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:06.239
that all the encouragement, all that you need, all all

797
00:48:06.280 --> 00:48:08.920
the support you need comes from Christ, it comes from

798
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:12.639
his word. But at the same time people will then say, well,

799
00:48:12.679 --> 00:48:14.840
the church didn't do that. Well wait, so so the

800
00:48:15.280 --> 00:48:17.519
institution is the thing that's supposed to do it for

801
00:48:17.559 --> 00:48:19.760
you and not God. Well, then why do we continue

802
00:48:19.800 --> 00:48:21.760
to say God is the one that he's my wrong,

803
00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:25.000
he's my refuge, he's my he's my hope, he's my shield,

804
00:48:25.199 --> 00:48:27.880
he's my defender. He's We say all it that God

805
00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:30.760
does all of these things for us. He's my he's

806
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:33.000
my spiritual You know, the Word of God is my food.

807
00:48:33.280 --> 00:48:36.039
It is my milk, it is my meat. It sustains me,

808
00:48:36.199 --> 00:48:38.800
it gives me hope, it helps me. Well, then if

809
00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:40.920
God in his word does all of that, then why

810
00:48:40.960 --> 00:48:42.639
are you worried about what other people are doing or

811
00:48:42.719 --> 00:48:45.480
not doing well. Then you realize you need other people. Okay, well,

812
00:48:45.559 --> 00:48:47.800
now what is the expectation of what the church can

813
00:48:47.840 --> 00:48:56.760
and can't do? That becomes very complicated. Another thing that

814
00:48:56.800 --> 00:48:59.840
the church has done that leads to discouragement is the

815
00:49:00.079 --> 00:49:04.079
celebrity pastor and the church as an industry. The rise

816
00:49:04.079 --> 00:49:06.679
of a celebrity pastor and the church is an entertainment

817
00:49:06.719 --> 00:49:11.719
driven business has created superficial Christianity. People come seeking spiritual

818
00:49:11.760 --> 00:49:14.719
depth but are met with self help sermons, entertainment, and

819
00:49:14.760 --> 00:49:19.079
shallow theology. Conferences, speaking tours, and book deals create a

820
00:49:19.119 --> 00:49:22.559
culture where pastors are treated like celebrities rather than shepherds.

821
00:49:25.119 --> 00:49:28.400
People seeking deep theological truth often feel let down when

822
00:49:28.400 --> 00:49:31.239
I go to church. The focus on marketing and image

823
00:49:31.280 --> 00:49:36.159
makes Christianity feel an authentic. It's marketing, it's money, it's

824
00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:42.239
get people we need, and it's programs, it's activities. Sometimes

825
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:45.519
if you come looking for something, you can feel greatly discouraged.

826
00:49:45.519 --> 00:49:48.280
You can feel like, what is this? This is something

827
00:49:48.360 --> 00:49:50.639
other than what I thought. So the church can be

828
00:49:50.679 --> 00:49:58.880
a source of discouragement. A sixth way the church can

829
00:49:59.079 --> 00:50:01.280
it can be a source of great discouragement. The church's

830
00:50:01.320 --> 00:50:07.239
failure to address philological and doctrinal issues. Honestly, many churches

831
00:50:07.280 --> 00:50:09.800
water down doctrine to avoid offending people, leading to a

832
00:50:09.880 --> 00:50:13.800
lack of biblical depth. Others promote one sided interpretations of scripture,

833
00:50:14.039 --> 00:50:18.320
ignoring historical and philological complexities. When believers seek answers to

834
00:50:18.360 --> 00:50:22.000
difficult questions, they are often dismissed or labeled as oh,

835
00:50:22.039 --> 00:50:24.320
come on, I know what. They're going to be labeled

836
00:50:24.320 --> 00:50:28.639
as a trouble maker. We don't want it. We got

837
00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:31.280
to make it simple, we got to make it easy,

838
00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:34.400
we got to make it comfortable. We can't dig in

839
00:50:34.400 --> 00:50:37.079
in any meaningful, serious way. And if you start asking

840
00:50:37.079 --> 00:50:40.760
hard questions and you're the troublemaker, so what happens. It

841
00:50:40.880 --> 00:50:44.159
discourages people. Those who ask deep questions feel like church

842
00:50:44.239 --> 00:50:46.519
does not want them to think critically. The church doesn't

843
00:50:46.559 --> 00:50:49.760
want you to think critically. People who study theology and

844
00:50:49.840 --> 00:50:57.079
depth often fill alone when churches avoid difficult discussions. The

845
00:50:57.159 --> 00:50:59.920
church doesn't want to honestly deal with things, doesn't want

846
00:50:59.920 --> 00:51:04.400
to honestly deal with reality. It just wants it wants.

847
00:51:04.440 --> 00:51:07.079
It doesn't want to deal with real issues and really

848
00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:09.760
dig into say, well, here's what the scriptures teach me.

849
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:12.960
When this scripture doesn't make any senswer Wait, this is complicated,

850
00:51:13.079 --> 00:51:15.079
or that's hard for me to wrap my mind around,

851
00:51:15.199 --> 00:51:16.960
or what about this or what about that? Well, wait

852
00:51:16.960 --> 00:51:19.320
a minute, and all these very difficult things that we

853
00:51:19.360 --> 00:51:22.039
talk about all the time on the podcast and in churches.

854
00:51:22.400 --> 00:51:25.639
Sh you're not supposed to talk that way. It's supposed

855
00:51:25.679 --> 00:51:29.039
to be this very shallow. It has a it has

856
00:51:29.119 --> 00:51:34.239
the it has the appearance of godliness, has the form

857
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:38.719
of godliness. But there's no substance. You can't really dig

858
00:51:38.800 --> 00:51:41.599
in and struggle. There's no place for struggle. There's no

859
00:51:41.639 --> 00:51:44.400
place for questions, there's no place for doubt. It's just

860
00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:48.760
supposed to be accept this and shut up. You're supposed

861
00:51:48.800 --> 00:51:51.920
to just shut up in color, stay within the lines.

862
00:51:52.039 --> 00:51:54.079
And you're like, well, things don't make sense to me.

863
00:51:54.960 --> 00:51:57.920
All right. God created a world. He's all knowing and

864
00:51:57.960 --> 00:52:01.159
all powerful. Yet his all know and all powerful didn't

865
00:52:01.199 --> 00:52:03.880
bother I don't know, not to create satan or to

866
00:52:03.960 --> 00:52:06.559
destroy satan. But he allowed Adam and Eve to sin.

867
00:52:06.760 --> 00:52:09.880
Instead of stopping it there, he let people be born sinners.

868
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:13.960
So people are born sin sinful, they're born condemned. But

869
00:52:14.039 --> 00:52:16.239
if they sin, doing what is according to their nature,

870
00:52:16.320 --> 00:52:18.639
then that sin is wrong. And if they don't do this,

871
00:52:18.679 --> 00:52:21.079
they're gonna burn forever in hell. Yeah, there's some serious

872
00:52:21.159 --> 00:52:24.840
questions there. And the powerful God could intervene and stop

873
00:52:24.880 --> 00:52:26.840
this or stop this, but he doesn't stop this sin.

874
00:52:27.039 --> 00:52:29.119
He doesn't stop this sin. But then he will punish

875
00:52:29.199 --> 00:52:30.840
you for the sin that he did not stop. And

876
00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:33.360
I'm supposed to pray to what God to intervene. He

877
00:52:33.440 --> 00:52:36.119
is the very God who did not intervene to stop

878
00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:39.800
the problem that I'm praying about. These are very hard questions,

879
00:52:40.559 --> 00:52:43.159
you see, sh You can't if you start talking like

880
00:52:43.199 --> 00:52:48.639
that in church, you will be cast out. So you

881
00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:52.280
just have to shut up in color now, For many people,

882
00:52:52.559 --> 00:52:55.880
they got no problem. Bring them the crayons, bring them

883
00:52:55.920 --> 00:52:59.559
the coloring book. They're gonna color very nice within the lines,

884
00:53:00.039 --> 00:53:01.760
going to get an A plus. Look at Oh, you

885
00:53:01.800 --> 00:53:03.639
did such a good job. And then you've got people

886
00:53:03.679 --> 00:53:05.920
like me and they're like, what are you doing. You're

887
00:53:06.320 --> 00:53:08.599
you're not even, You're not even, you're not even coloring

888
00:53:08.599 --> 00:53:12.320
within the picture. What is this? This is trash? Get out.

889
00:53:12.559 --> 00:53:15.199
You're a failure. And you're right, I am a failure

890
00:53:15.239 --> 00:53:18.400
and I am trash. Because I just can't color within

891
00:53:18.480 --> 00:53:21.480
the lines because there's too many things to struggle with

892
00:53:29.480 --> 00:53:32.079
a number seven. Another way the church discourages is the

893
00:53:32.159 --> 00:53:36.159
church's approach to suffering and the Prosperity Gospel influence. Many

894
00:53:36.239 --> 00:53:38.800
churches teach that if you have enough faith, God basically

895
00:53:38.880 --> 00:53:41.840
is gonna heal you, bless you, or remove all your suffering.

896
00:53:42.079 --> 00:53:45.480
That's basically the concept. This false theology leads to suffering

897
00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:49.880
suffering believers to blame themselves when prayers go unanswered. Even

898
00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.519
non Prosperity Gospel churches subtly push this mindset, making suffering

899
00:53:54.559 --> 00:53:58.960
believers feel like they are less faithful. Hey, if you

900
00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:01.119
will do this, and you'll do this, God's gonna fix

901
00:54:01.159 --> 00:54:03.199
all your problems. He's gonna make it all go away. Well,

902
00:54:03.280 --> 00:54:06.280
he doesn't always make it go away. The sickness is

903
00:54:06.320 --> 00:54:09.960
not going away. The sickness is terminal. Death is coming.

904
00:54:10.199 --> 00:54:12.519
So stop telling people that, oh no, it's going to

905
00:54:12.559 --> 00:54:14.800
give Your situation is going to get better, This is

906
00:54:14.800 --> 00:54:18.519
gonna get better. Just stop it. It only leads to discouragement.

907
00:54:18.559 --> 00:54:22.480
It may give temporary encouragement, but it destroys and then

908
00:54:22.519 --> 00:54:24.760
and or the ideas well, things aren't getting better because

909
00:54:24.760 --> 00:54:28.239
you're probably in sin. You probably did this wrong, and

910
00:54:28.320 --> 00:54:31.320
you probably did death wrong. I'll never forget on the

911
00:54:31.400 --> 00:54:36.119
Christian Post school shooting out a Christian school, right. You

912
00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:38.360
know what the Christians in the comments section and the

913
00:54:38.440 --> 00:54:41.239
Christian Post were saying, Well, what was this school not

914
00:54:41.400 --> 00:54:44.679
doing right? Because God didn't protect it? Is it something

915
00:54:44.679 --> 00:54:47.960
they're teaching? Something about their doctrine? Are they in sin?

916
00:54:48.280 --> 00:54:51.239
So the idea is that if the Christian school was

917
00:54:51.519 --> 00:54:54.760
teaching the right doctrine and not in sin, that nobody

918
00:54:54.800 --> 00:54:57.000
there could never be a school shooting there. There could

919
00:54:57.039 --> 00:54:58.880
never be a church shooting. There can never be a

920
00:54:58.880 --> 00:55:01.920
school shooting if we're doing the right thing. What kind

921
00:55:01.920 --> 00:55:08.239
of ridiculous ridiculousness is that? But that mentality is so

922
00:55:08.880 --> 00:55:12.199
ingrained in many Christian minds that if you do it's

923
00:55:12.239 --> 00:55:16.559
basically job's friends all over. If you do good, everything's

924
00:55:16.599 --> 00:55:18.119
going to be good. If you do bad, well, then

925
00:55:18.119 --> 00:55:19.880
bad things are going to happen. So if you do bad,

926
00:55:19.920 --> 00:55:23.639
you must have done something bad. Which wait a minute,

927
00:55:23.719 --> 00:55:26.039
we're all perpetually in sin, so then bad things should

928
00:55:26.039 --> 00:55:27.880
be happening to all of us. But see that goes

929
00:55:27.880 --> 00:55:29.920
back to the Christian mindset that some of us basically

930
00:55:29.960 --> 00:55:41.639
don't sin. I see, so this just isolates those who suffer,

931
00:55:41.679 --> 00:55:47.440
and it creates disillusionment when suffering persists despite faithfulness. Another

932
00:55:47.480 --> 00:55:51.360
thing that discourages about church is what church politics, division

933
00:55:51.400 --> 00:55:54.960
and power struggles. Many churches become obsessed with internal power,

934
00:55:55.519 --> 00:56:00.840
denominational battles, political agendas rather than the gospels. Factions form

935
00:56:00.880 --> 00:56:03.559
over secondary issues, leading to church splits and in fighting.

936
00:56:03.800 --> 00:56:06.599
Pastors use their position to control rather than to serve.

937
00:56:07.239 --> 00:56:10.719
Instead of finding unity and peace, people find division and hostility.

938
00:56:11.039 --> 00:56:13.559
Many leave the church altogether because it mirrors the world's

939
00:56:13.559 --> 00:56:20.480
power struggle rather than Christ's humility. Now we're already at

940
00:56:20.559 --> 00:56:24.840
fifty six minutes. I didn't even get through all the lists,

941
00:56:24.840 --> 00:56:27.559
and most of that list was compiled by asking Ai,

942
00:56:27.880 --> 00:56:30.760
how does the church discourage throughout church history? And AI

943
00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:34.920
had no problem pulling up all kinds of examples. So

944
00:56:34.960 --> 00:56:36.800
I didn't even get through all of them, but I

945
00:56:36.880 --> 00:56:39.920
did ask Ai, so what happens? What needs to change? Well?

946
00:56:39.920 --> 00:56:43.119
AI said, number one, honest theology. Stop using out of

947
00:56:43.159 --> 00:56:50.719
context promises, teach real biblical encouragement. We need honest theology.

948
00:56:50.760 --> 00:56:53.119
And I would say, in my mind, when I say

949
00:56:53.159 --> 00:56:57.000
honest theology, honest theology just means being honest with the text,

950
00:56:57.079 --> 00:56:59.519
honest with the struggle, honest with the difficulty, honest with

951
00:56:59.559 --> 00:57:01.800
the things that don't make sense, honest with the struggles

952
00:57:01.800 --> 00:57:05.280
in life, honest about this in life and this doesn't work,

953
00:57:05.320 --> 00:57:07.559
and this doesn't and this happens, and this happens, and

954
00:57:07.840 --> 00:57:10.960
and honest about all of the issues that I've brought

955
00:57:11.000 --> 00:57:15.760
up already through this. Number two, we need grace over legalism.

956
00:57:16.400 --> 00:57:19.159
We need to help people understand that God's grace sustains them,

957
00:57:19.199 --> 00:57:22.760
not their performance. It's got to be grace over legalism.

958
00:57:22.880 --> 00:57:28.400
It's got to be imputed righteousness over practical righteousness. We

959
00:57:28.440 --> 00:57:32.880
also need leadership that's willing just to be just to

960
00:57:32.920 --> 00:57:35.960
be honest and say I'm a sinner, I fail, I

961
00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:40.239
make a miss, and pastors can say that and everybody like, oh, okay,

962
00:57:40.280 --> 00:57:44.079
well that's humble. And then when they fail, everybody's like, oh,

963
00:57:44.239 --> 00:57:46.800
I can't believe he told you five hundred and seventy

964
00:57:46.800 --> 00:57:49.000
two times and he fails and he's in sin. Well,

965
00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:50.880
it couldn't have been that sin. Well, what did you

966
00:57:50.920 --> 00:57:53.320
think it was? He that he was eating his kids?

967
00:57:53.360 --> 00:57:57.159
Oatmeal cookies. Did you think it was something small, Well,

968
00:57:57.199 --> 00:57:59.360
I thought it was just he was very sensitive to sin,

969
00:57:59.480 --> 00:58:02.239
so you know he was you know, he yelled at

970
00:58:02.239 --> 00:58:07.519
his kid for a second. Or when if someone is

971
00:58:07.519 --> 00:58:09.679
telling you they're a sinnered, that means that there could

972
00:58:09.719 --> 00:58:12.639
be some sin. Well, there shouldn't be sin, but there's

973
00:58:12.719 --> 00:58:16.880
going to be sin, and everyone's life to some extent,

974
00:58:17.039 --> 00:58:24.760
and it can get greater at any given time. We

975
00:58:24.800 --> 00:58:26.880
need to support those who struggle. We need to walk

976
00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:31.079
alongside those who suffer, doubt, or fail instead of judging them.

977
00:58:37.320 --> 00:58:44.360
So the church can either uplift or the church can crush.

978
00:58:44.480 --> 00:58:46.960
Now there's a lot more. This did not go anywhere

979
00:58:47.000 --> 00:58:48.840
close to the direction I wanted to go. It did

980
00:58:48.880 --> 00:58:51.920
not I have an entire all This started at around

981
00:58:51.920 --> 00:58:55.880
four in the morning when I heard Insight for Living

982
00:58:55.920 --> 00:58:59.719
podcasts with Chuck Swindall Charles Windall, depending how you want

983
00:58:59.719 --> 00:59:02.519
to run, refer to him as And it was one

984
00:59:02.519 --> 00:59:05.320
of his older messages and it was on encouragement and

985
00:59:05.360 --> 00:59:08.480
he gives this awesome illustration about encouragement, which got my

986
00:59:08.559 --> 00:59:10.880
mind thinking about all of this. Well, then as I

987
00:59:10.920 --> 00:59:13.639
started thinking throughout the morning, just what about this? And

988
00:59:13.679 --> 00:59:16.760
looking this and what about this, and asking AI questions

989
00:59:16.800 --> 00:59:18.679
and then considering this, and then looking up this and

990
00:59:18.719 --> 00:59:20.920
then looking up that, and then I listened to the

991
00:59:21.079 --> 00:59:23.079
entire message from Chuck s Windall, and it's like, well,

992
00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:26.599
what about this? And what? It just started? It started building.

993
00:59:26.639 --> 00:59:28.840
And so then once we tried to go live, and

994
00:59:28.840 --> 00:59:31.360
then everything, well, you talk about discouragement, everything kind of

995
00:59:31.400 --> 00:59:33.440
went wrong when we first went live, So then we

996
00:59:33.599 --> 00:59:36.639
just started the program again. And then well then everything,

997
00:59:37.000 --> 00:59:41.000
my entire everything from my opening, everything went wrong. Everything,

998
00:59:41.039 --> 00:59:44.920
this whole thing has gone completely off the rail. This

999
00:59:45.039 --> 00:59:47.320
did not go anywhere close to the direction I wanted

1000
00:59:47.320 --> 00:59:50.440
to go. I wanted to play that clip, is what

1001
00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:52.440
I wanted to do, and then I wanted to talk

1002
00:59:52.480 --> 00:59:54.679
about I said, I forgot to play the clip, and

1003
00:59:54.719 --> 00:59:57.960
so then I was so far into it everything got

1004
00:59:57.960 --> 01:00:01.159
messed up. I also I wanted to share with you.

1005
01:00:01.639 --> 01:00:05.000
It was funny because when I started talking about encouragement

1006
01:00:05.159 --> 01:00:11.280
and discouragement to artificial intelligence, my AI chatbot said basically said, oh,

1007
01:00:11.559 --> 01:00:16.599
here's how you think about encouragement and discouragement within Christianity.

1008
01:00:16.639 --> 01:00:19.360
And I'm like what, I'm like, what are you doing here? Like?

1009
01:00:20.599 --> 01:00:22.679
So AI was like, here's how you're going to answer

1010
01:00:22.679 --> 01:00:24.519
the question. I'm like, well, whoa well, wait a minute.

1011
01:00:24.639 --> 01:00:26.800
You don't know this. You don't know how I'm going

1012
01:00:26.880 --> 01:00:29.400
to answer that. Who do you think you are? You

1013
01:00:29.519 --> 01:00:32.559
don't know me, but what do you do? And and

1014
01:00:33.360 --> 01:00:37.440
well Ai did pretty good. This is what This is

1015
01:00:37.440 --> 01:00:41.280
what Ai said. And this is like I hadn't even

1016
01:00:41.400 --> 01:00:43.880
I wasn't I didn't even ask it about what I think.

1017
01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:47.400
I was asking it about what is what do we

1018
01:00:47.440 --> 01:00:50.960
know about encouragement and discouragement and other fields of study?

1019
01:00:51.159 --> 01:00:54.039
But Ai said, based on all your studies, referring to

1020
01:00:54.079 --> 01:00:58.280
my studies, based on all of my research, and based

1021
01:00:58.320 --> 01:01:02.519
on all of your fiel logical reflections, here's what I

1022
01:01:02.559 --> 01:01:06.760
think you might consider the three greatest sources of encouragement

1023
01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:10.519
and the three greatest sources of discouragement, particularly in light

1024
01:01:10.639 --> 01:01:14.599
of your theological framework. And I was like, this is creepy, Okay,

1025
01:01:14.880 --> 01:01:18.519
I wasn't asking about me. Why are you talking? Who

1026
01:01:18.559 --> 01:01:20.639
do you think you are? So this guy you want

1027
01:01:20.639 --> 01:01:25.800
to know what Ai said about me? All right? Ai

1028
01:01:25.960 --> 01:01:28.000
said that this is what I would say that if

1029
01:01:28.039 --> 01:01:30.280
someone came to me right now and said, hey, what

1030
01:01:30.360 --> 01:01:32.760
are the three greatest sources of encouragement? What should I

1031
01:01:32.840 --> 01:01:36.440
look to for the three greatest sources of encouragement? Ai said,

1032
01:01:36.480 --> 01:01:38.719
what do you think? Ai said, my number one source

1033
01:01:38.719 --> 01:01:41.440
would be, or what I would say other people need

1034
01:01:41.480 --> 01:01:46.639
to find to be their greatest source. Hey, this is creepy.

1035
01:01:46.880 --> 01:01:53.199
AI said, I would say that the imputed righteousness of

1036
01:01:53.440 --> 01:01:58.079
Christ should be our greatest source of encouragement. And I'm like,

1037
01:01:58.480 --> 01:02:02.599
you don't know that. You don't know me, But from

1038
01:02:02.639 --> 01:02:06.760
a thiological perspective, I absolutely would, it says. This is

1039
01:02:06.760 --> 01:02:09.920
what Ai says. Since you emphasized the doctrine of imputed

1040
01:02:09.960 --> 01:02:13.440
righteousness as essential, this truth would be a primary source

1041
01:02:13.440 --> 01:02:16.039
of encouragement. It assures that believers are counted righteous in

1042
01:02:16.159 --> 01:02:19.519
Christ despite their continual failure to meet God's perfect standard.

1043
01:02:19.760 --> 01:02:22.519
Encouragement comes from knowing that their standing before God is

1044
01:02:22.559 --> 01:02:26.239
not based on their flawed love, their flawed obedience, but

1045
01:02:26.360 --> 01:02:32.519
on Christ's perfect love and Christ's perfect obedience. Wow that

1046
01:02:34.480 --> 01:02:40.840
I'm like, Okay, AI, just thank you. That is true.

1047
01:02:40.840 --> 01:02:43.760
From a thiological perspective, I would say that. From a

1048
01:02:43.920 --> 01:02:47.519
thiological perspective, I would say, if you need encouragement, don't

1049
01:02:47.519 --> 01:02:51.800
look to the church. Okay, don't even look into Christianity,

1050
01:02:51.800 --> 01:02:54.840
alar look to the imputed righteousness of Christ, because that's

1051
01:02:54.840 --> 01:02:57.440
where I can find encouragement, because then I know I'm

1052
01:02:57.480 --> 01:03:00.679
declared to be righteous, perfect and holy, which then guarantees

1053
01:03:00.840 --> 01:03:02.760
me an eternity where there's no more pain and no

1054
01:03:02.760 --> 01:03:04.719
more suffering and no more death. It has nothing to

1055
01:03:04.760 --> 01:03:10.079
do with me, hey, I said. Number two, the sovereignty

1056
01:03:10.519 --> 01:03:14.320
and faithfulness of God. Given your strong focus on historical

1057
01:03:14.320 --> 01:03:17.719
and textual accuracy, you likely find great encouragement in the

1058
01:03:17.840 --> 01:03:20.800
unchanging nature of God his faithful inness to us promise,

1059
01:03:20.880 --> 01:03:24.400
particularly those concerning redemption and judgment. They provide a sense

1060
01:03:24.440 --> 01:03:27.239
of stability in a world where human effort and affections

1061
01:03:27.320 --> 01:03:30.920
fall short. So it says, basically, I would say, look

1062
01:03:31.000 --> 01:03:35.159
to the unchanging God. Look to God. He doesn't change,

1063
01:03:35.199 --> 01:03:38.960
his character remains consistent, He is sovereign, he is faithful.

1064
01:03:40.559 --> 01:03:42.480
Because if I look to anything else in this world,

1065
01:03:42.480 --> 01:03:46.280
it's unchanging. It's faught. I mean, it's changing. It fluctuates

1066
01:03:46.440 --> 01:03:49.239
people this They may like you, they may dislike you,

1067
01:03:49.440 --> 01:03:51.760
they may support you, then they may not support you.

1068
01:03:52.440 --> 01:03:54.599
They may be there and then the next thing you know,

1069
01:03:54.639 --> 01:03:57.840
they're not there because of sickness or this or because,

1070
01:03:58.119 --> 01:04:00.800
and so the only thing you can count on is well,

1071
01:04:00.880 --> 01:04:05.519
God is at least he exists and he is unchangeable.

1072
01:04:05.880 --> 01:04:09.719
So yeah, that's that's pretty accurate. And then number three,

1073
01:04:09.760 --> 01:04:14.199
AI said, scripture as law and gospel. Your approach to

1074
01:04:14.239 --> 01:04:18.079
biblical commands, especially regarding love as law that exposes sin

1075
01:04:18.199 --> 01:04:21.119
and drives people to Christ's efficiency, aligns with the classic

1076
01:04:21.199 --> 01:04:24.159
distinction between law and gospel. The encouragement is found in

1077
01:04:24.199 --> 01:04:26.800
the Gospel. God has provided what humans lack, and this

1078
01:04:26.880 --> 01:04:30.440
truth brings comfort to those who see their own deficiencies clearly.

1079
01:04:31.159 --> 01:04:34.599
So hey, I said, hey, the Bible, you will you

1080
01:04:34.639 --> 01:04:37.079
would find the Bible as a source of encouragement if

1081
01:04:37.119 --> 01:04:40.480
you understand it with the law gospel distinction, and if

1082
01:04:40.519 --> 01:04:42.360
you don't, then I would say would be the greatest

1083
01:04:42.360 --> 01:04:44.960
source of discouragement you've ever read in your life, because

1084
01:04:45.119 --> 01:04:46.960
your every page is going to be like do this,

1085
01:04:47.320 --> 01:04:50.199
do this, don't do this, do this, don't do that.

1086
01:04:50.280 --> 01:04:51.960
By the time you end it, you're just going to

1087
01:04:52.000 --> 01:04:54.000
be like, i'm's going to end my life. There's no

1088
01:04:54.079 --> 01:04:57.119
point in reading it. But law and gospel gives me

1089
01:04:57.119 --> 01:04:59.679
some sense of Yeah, all of those laws point me

1090
01:04:59.679 --> 01:05:02.679
to who did it for me? Now I find encouragement.

1091
01:05:02.719 --> 01:05:09.760
So yeah, AI got that right. Now what would uh

1092
01:05:09.840 --> 01:05:12.039
what would you think? Uh? A, I would say, my

1093
01:05:12.400 --> 01:05:15.519
I would point to being the three greatest sources of discouragement,

1094
01:05:16.719 --> 01:05:21.159
AI said. Number one the pervasiveness of human sin and selfishness.

1095
01:05:21.920 --> 01:05:24.480
Your view that even human love for God is inherently

1096
01:05:24.599 --> 01:05:27.679
selfish suggests that the corruption of human nature is deeply

1097
01:05:27.719 --> 01:05:31.280
discouraging reality to you, No matter how much someone strives

1098
01:05:31.320 --> 01:05:33.440
to love or obey, that will always fall short, which

1099
01:05:33.480 --> 01:05:37.840
can create an ongoing sense of frustration grief over sin. Yeah,

1100
01:05:37.960 --> 01:05:40.599
I don't. I don't even believe that human love is

1101
01:05:40.679 --> 01:05:44.519
actually pure in any way, shape or shape or form.

1102
01:05:44.559 --> 01:05:47.639
Because we love because we get something from it. Okay,

1103
01:05:47.679 --> 01:05:49.920
that's what we want. We need it, and if we

1104
01:05:49.960 --> 01:05:52.199
don't get it, then we go and fight. We tri

1105
01:05:52.360 --> 01:05:55.360
we want to look somewhere else because we we we

1106
01:05:55.400 --> 01:05:57.639
want to be loved and we need to be loved

1107
01:05:57.639 --> 01:06:00.559
because we have wants and needs that can be met

1108
01:06:00.760 --> 01:06:04.360
through that. And I guess what it fits perfectly? What's

1109
01:06:04.360 --> 01:06:08.719
the greatest source of encouragement? According to psychology, sociology, and

1110
01:06:08.719 --> 01:06:11.760
studies of human well being, it's other people. Why do

1111
01:06:11.880 --> 01:06:17.480
we need other people because we get encouragement? Yeah, oh man,

1112
01:06:18.039 --> 01:06:20.800
that's okay. So but yeah, but at the same time,

1113
01:06:20.800 --> 01:06:23.320
that can be discouraging because everything we do is being

1114
01:06:23.360 --> 01:06:27.639
done through our own selfishness. We're self seeking. Yea yeah.

1115
01:06:27.719 --> 01:06:33.440
Number two the widespread misinterpretation and misapplication of scripture. You

1116
01:06:33.519 --> 01:06:36.639
have consistently expressed your frustration with how many preachers and

1117
01:06:36.679 --> 01:06:41.000
teachers mishandle biblical texts, particularly by making passages immediately about

1118
01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:44.599
the listener rather than respecting their historical and philological context.

1119
01:06:44.960 --> 01:06:48.480
This apparent neglect of proper interpretation likely serves as a

1120
01:06:48.519 --> 01:06:52.800
great source of discouragement for you. Well, thank you AI.

1121
01:06:53.159 --> 01:06:56.760
And then number three, it says the disconnect between philological

1122
01:06:56.800 --> 01:07:00.480
claims and observable reality. You have pointed out a tension

1123
01:07:00.480 --> 01:07:04.920
between philological claims guaranteed healing freedom from sin with what

1124
01:07:05.079 --> 01:07:08.960
actually happens in real life. This failure of certain Christian

1125
01:07:09.000 --> 01:07:12.840
teaching to align with lived experience, whether in terms of suffering,

1126
01:07:12.920 --> 01:07:15.960
moral struggle, or unanswered prayer, seems to be a key

1127
01:07:16.039 --> 01:07:21.880
point of discouragement for you. I'm like, hey, I why'd

1128
01:07:21.880 --> 01:07:24.400
you shut up? Who do you think you are? I

1129
01:07:24.559 --> 01:07:27.039
was weird. Hey, I just threw that out there. This morning,

1130
01:07:27.199 --> 01:07:30.000
I was asking questions about encouragement discourage me. It's like, hey,

1131
01:07:30.400 --> 01:07:32.440
do you want to see how smart I am? I

1132
01:07:32.480 --> 01:07:34.880
can tell you what things encourage you, and I can

1133
01:07:34.920 --> 01:07:42.079
tell you what things discourage you. From a philological perspective. Now,

1134
01:07:42.159 --> 01:07:47.039
if you want to get practically what encourages me, music

1135
01:07:47.199 --> 01:07:49.719
is obviously way way way way up in the list.

1136
01:07:49.760 --> 01:07:52.880
I have certain things that encourage encourage me, but those

1137
01:07:52.960 --> 01:07:55.199
are like, well, do they encourage me or do they

1138
01:07:55.199 --> 01:08:02.519
make me happy? That maybe blurring the lines. Now this

1139
01:08:02.519 --> 01:08:05.840
this message discourages me. I'm probably, I'm probably. I probably

1140
01:08:05.880 --> 01:08:09.039
will delete this because this turned into a train wreck.

1141
01:08:11.320 --> 01:08:13.679
I could definitely present this in a much better organized

1142
01:08:13.719 --> 01:08:15.360
I don't know what happened here. I don't even know

1143
01:08:15.400 --> 01:08:19.680
what happened. I don't like this just went I don't

1144
01:08:19.680 --> 01:08:23.119
know what happened. I think what happened is that beginning

1145
01:08:23.159 --> 01:08:25.840
where everything got all messed up, is where everything went wrong.

1146
01:08:25.960 --> 01:08:28.800
So here's what I would say. I'll just end with

1147
01:08:28.880 --> 01:08:31.560
this because most likely this is going to be deleted,

1148
01:08:31.640 --> 01:08:35.560
so you can just go ahead and hear this. Today

1149
01:08:36.199 --> 01:08:38.399
we talked about encouragement, discouragement. What do you do you

1150
01:08:38.439 --> 01:08:42.079
consider yourself a source of encouragement or do you consider

1151
01:08:42.119 --> 01:08:46.399
yourself a source of discouragement? Are you the encouraging one

1152
01:08:46.840 --> 01:08:53.960
or the discouraging one? How can you encourage today? How

1153
01:08:53.960 --> 01:08:58.079
can you discourage today? Because we are always either encouraging

1154
01:08:58.199 --> 01:09:01.399
or discouraging, always some way, shape or form. All right,

1155
01:09:01.439 --> 01:09:08.039
thanks for listening. Everyone, have an encouraging day. I'm gonna

1156
01:09:08.079 --> 01:09:12.399
go now be discouraged because I don't really know what

1157
01:09:13.239 --> 01:09:17.319
just happened. And thanks for listening. God bless