Is The Bible A Tape Measure?

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Looking at our world from a theological
perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast

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making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Thursday, June thirteenth,

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twenty twenty four. It is currently
four forty nine pm Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from
the Theology Central studio located right here in

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Abilene, Texas. So, how
how has your day been? Have you

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had a good day? Has it
been great? Has it been wonderful?

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Look, I hope you've had a
better day than I have. Today.

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It has been just I feel like
all I have done today is drive from

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one place to another place to another
place, sit in the car, drive

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in another place. Like I just
that's what I feel like. The whole

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day has just been kind of like
just discombobulated, and it just feels like

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I'm just kind of like, you
know what, I'm glad that this day

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is over. I'm ready just to
kind of kick back and just do whatever

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I want, right, don't.
I don't really feel like doing much.

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I hope your day has been a
great day. I in some ways I

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shouldn't be complaining about my day because
I mean, I mean it's just I

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guess maybe just a minor inconvenience to
just not be able to do what you

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want, right, I mean,
that's kind of life, right. So

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I guess I'm kind of complaining about
the normal things everyone has to deal with.

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But I'm so I'm almost almost compulsive
when it comes to time, Like

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I like to know, I like
to have complete control of my time,

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and I like to make sure I
do exactly what I want to do.

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I don't like anything interrupting my time, and so whenever I have to go

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do this, or go do this, or go do this, go do

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this, then I get all just
discombobulated and I don't like it. So

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in some ways I should not complain. But if I'm just being I mean,

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if I'm being transparent, I could
sit here and say I could sit

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here and talk like I'm so godly, but it would just be a lie.

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Right. The reality is, I
was like, Okay, I'm going

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to do this. I have to
do this, I have to do this,

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and now I did try to have
a good attitude. I did not

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complain about it. I did have
a good attitude. Internally, maybe my

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attitude wasn't so good and maybe now
I'm just sitting here looking at the clock

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going. Man, it's fast approaching
five pm. What happened to this day?

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It's gone? But you know what, I do have this time now,

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So I want to try to make
the most of everything I've been doing

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today. I did a lot of
driving around today, as I've kind of

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hinted at, I did a lot
of just driving around. And because I

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knew I was going to be doing
that, I made sure I had a

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device with me, and I made
sure that I was going to have the

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ability to listen to as many different
things as I could on the sermon's two

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point zerop. That's what I said. I look, a if I'm going

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to have to be driving around all
day, if I'm going to be sitting

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in the car, I'm going to
make sure I can listen to the sermon's

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two point oh app and just listen
to as many different things as possible.

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Now. I also had, obviously
my other podcasting apps. So I think

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the first thing I saw was I
think his first Baptist church Hammon Indiana or

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is that I think it's in Indiana. I think it's Indiana, and in

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Indiana. I'm almost positive Indiana.
All right. I got a notification on

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one of my podcast apps. They
just published a new sermon and it was

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on pro It was from the Book
of Proverbs, and I'm like, ooh,

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that's good, because maybe maybe I
could use that. But wait a

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minute. For our Proverbs we're doing
the sermon's two point oh app challenge.

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Their sermons are not on the sermon's
two point oh app, so I can't

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really utilize it. Or maybe I
could just use it for our Proverbs series

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and forget the sermon's two points.
So then I thought, maybe I'll listen

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to it. I'm like, well, no, let me just let me

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just keep that. I think I
hit play and realized that we're using I

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think it was Proverbs twenty seven about
friendship, but it started really weird,

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and I'm like, okay, let's
let's keep that in the back of my

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mind. Maybe we'll circle back to
that. All right, Maybe we'll circle

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back to that and we'll use it. So I'm like, okay, that's

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one thing that I can do something
with. Another thing was a series in

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the Book of Psalms. It was
the Coming Middle East War, I think

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was the name of it. Let
me see if I got my app here,

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let me see here if I can
find my app Yeah here, Yeah,

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Psalm eighty three The Coming Middle East
War, Part one from Central Baptist

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Church doctor Andy Bloom. I don't
know how many parts the series has,

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but Psalm eighty three, The Coming
Middle East War. You may want to

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look it up and listen to it. I'm a little I'm a little confused,

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right. I started listening to it, and once they got into Psalm

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eighty three, and then immediately the
direction he went, I was a little

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perplexed. I'm like, wait a
minute, I guess when you when you

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read Psalm eighty three, is that
referring to past tense? Present tints for

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them? Are future tints for them? But past tens for Yeah, I've

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got a lot of questions. So
I listened to that. I'm like,

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Okay, well I may do something
with some eighty three, you know,

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maybe maybe we will do something with
that. When okay, so I have

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something on Psalm's twenty seven, I
could do something with that. Then I

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have something on Psalm eighty three,
Okay, I could do something with that.

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Then I listened to it was a
little quick devotional, I think it

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was. I don't even think the
program was more than five minutes long.

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This is These are all this is
on the sermon's two point oh app as

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well, And I think it's entitled
simple discipleship. I think it's what it's

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called. I think it's called simple
discipleship. Literally, it's like four or

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five minutes long. Literally, and
he kind of makes some references to some

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verses, but his basic hypotheses is
that discipleship is easy, just follow Jesus.

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So after and of course with me, I can't speak for you.

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Whenever I listen to something, I
don't have to listen to a lot of

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it. Then I can just stop
and while I'm driving or if I'm just

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sitting there waiting, then I can
sit there in my mind and you know,

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have a conversation with myself about it
for like two hours trying to process

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it. So, even though there
was a short devotional which I didn't quite

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get maybe exactly where they were going, just the question of is discipleship easy?

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Is it really simple? And when
you say it's simple, what do

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you mean by that? Well,
and a four or five minute devotional you

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really can't answer some of those questions. So then I thought, you know

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what, maybe the next time I
broadcast I can talk about that. Well,

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then, I so I had all
of these ideas well. Then the

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last place that I was sitting at, waiting, I was just sitting there

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waiting in the car, and you
know the heat here in Texas, and

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I had the air conditioning running,
obviously. I started listening to a message

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on the sermon's two point zero app
entitled who and What? Who and What?

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And when I saw the title,
I'm like, well, that's an

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interesting title, who and What.
I wonder what that's about. So I

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started listening to it, and the
next thing I found myself was hearing a

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sermon illustration, an illustration used in
a sermon. And the more I started

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thinking about the illustration, I'm like, I don't know if that really works

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the way you think it works.
I know everyone is saying amen to you

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in the congregation, but for me
here in Albilene, Texas, sitting in

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my car, I am going,
I don't know. I don't know if

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that really works if you think about
it. So here's what I want you

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to do. Here's what I want
you to consider. I want you to

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consider a tape measure. I want
you to think about a tape measure.

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Right, you probably have when someone
in your house, somewhere in your house,

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grab a tape measure right now for
those for some reason, I don't

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know what a tape measure is.
No, obviously everyone knows what a tape

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measure is. But I'm going to
read a definition just to really get us

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to think about because this was the
main point. This was a major object

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in this sermon illustration. A tape
measure or measuring tape is a flexible ruler

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used to measure length or distance.
It consists of a ribbon of cloth,

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plastic, fiberglass, or metal strip
with linear measurement markings. It is a

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common measuring tool. So you've all
seen measuring tape of some sort of maybe

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different materials, but you have seen
them, you have probably used them.

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Now here's the question, as valuable
as measuring tape is, as useful as

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it is, as common of a
tool as it is, and maybe it

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is of great use and very helpful
in some situations. As wonderful as that

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measuring tape is, is it possible
that what I'm holding in my hand right

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now also serves as a tape measure
or a measuring tape, and what I'm

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holding in my hand right now.
Is the Bible? Is the Bible a

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tape measure? Is the Bible a
measuring tape. Now your first instinct is

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going to be like, absolutely,
it's the tape measure. Absolutely, it's

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the measuring tape. It's how we
measure things. Okay, I hear you,

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But you know I like to you
know, play Devil's advocates. So

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what I'm going to do is I'm
going to take you back. You're sitting

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in the car with me or waiting, and I decided to hit play on

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a sermon. The name of the
sermon is who and what? Now?

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As he builds towards this illustration,
and once he says the illustration, he's

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going to talk about the tape measure. I want you to see if you

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can detect what you think my possible
issue with his illustration could be. Now

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ninety percent, I think now I'm
giving you kind of in this way,

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I'm kind of giving it away.
Well, I'm at least letting you know

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that I have a problem with it. I think ninety nine point nine percent

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of people who go to church would
be just saying amen, and they would

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say it was a great illustration,
and they may even use the same illustration

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on social media with their friends or
family. But I always went out,

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look, I just have to be
honest with you. When I heard it,

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I didn't go, Wow, what
a great illustration. My mind went,

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what that doesn't work. This doesn't
work, and maybe you'll understand why.

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You may disagree with me. But
that's okay. So here we go.

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This was just I don't even know
how long ago, maybe an hour

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ago, when I was sitting in
a parking lot waiting, and I was

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listening and well, here's what I
heard, and well we'll we'll just kind

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of review it and we'll talk about
it, all right. So I listened

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to a lot of things, and
a lot of things we could talk about,

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but this one just seemed to be
this is the most recent, so

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it's the most recent on my mind. And because it's just like the opening

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illustration, this doesn't turn into fifteen
hours of review. So this I think

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works for everyone. So here we
go. Hey, good evening, everybody.

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Miss Kim. You are doing a
great job on the piano. It's

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just fabulous. Thank you. Otis
pixies up tempo songs and you've got to

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be moving pretty quick to keep up
there. So that was very good,

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and the guys in the win section
they were doing pretty good too. Yeah.

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Well, it's good to see you
all tonight, and I'd like for

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us to have a word of prayer
and then share a few things with you.

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My wife asked how long. She
didn't ask that. She said,

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what will you be preaching about tonight? And of course she married a smart

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alex, So I said, I
hope I'll be preaching about twenty five minutes,

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so because I want to want to
get us out in plenty of in

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plenty of time. Okay, Now
again this is not the illustration, obviously,

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but I just sometimes I just don't
understand. Like I look, I

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don't know how the I don't know
how the average person sitting in the few

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feels about it. I don't know. But like I'm going to preach twenty

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five minutes, I want to get
you out of here, Like, is

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there something else going on? So
we got to cut the sermon short for?

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And what is that other thing that
requires or or brings up the possibility

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of cutting the sermon short. I've
always been baffled by that churches have all

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these other activities and the thing that
always gets cut is the preaching of God's

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word. Isn't that the most important
thing we could do? Whatever else we're

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doing, cut that short, but
let the preaching of God's word go as

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long as it needs to. I
will I never understand that like we we

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give such lip service. It's the
inspired, inerrant word of God. It's

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shepper than any two edged sword.
It's our spiritual food. It is to

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be desired more than gold and silver. I love the word of God.

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No one's gonna take the word of
God for me. If they try to

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ban it, They're gonna have to
throw me in prison. They're gonna have

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to pry it out of my dead
hands. I love the Bible. It

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is the most important thing. And
in church we're like, well, we

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we got something else to do,
so we're gonna we're gonnahut, We're gonna

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cut this short. And I'm always
like, does that not go against everything

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we But I digress. But twenty
five minutes, twenty five minutes, I

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just maybe maybe my problem is I'm
not spiritual, and I fully will admit

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this. Look, I'm a fleshly
person. Okay, I have flesh.

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I don't always think spiritually, but
this is my perspective. If I'm sitting

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at church, Okay, I had
to get in my car. At first,

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I had to wake up, or
I had to you know, whatever,

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whatever time of day it is,
I had to wake up and get

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ready, or I had to get
ready. At some point, I had

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to get ready, get dressed,
get in the car, and drive to

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a particular physical location. And then
I said, down, now, why

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am I driving to that location?
I know many of you drive to a

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church because you like the people,
you like the music, you like the

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atmosphere, you like, I don't
know, talking about the weather, talking

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about whatever people talk about. Right, you're there for all of that.

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I have always viewed church that I'm
there for one purpose to hear preaching and

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teaching. I need to be taught. I need to be taught, and

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I need to continue to be taught
until I'm no longer a child being tossed

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to and fro with every wind of
doctrine. I'm there to be equipped.

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I am there to be challenge.
I am there to be convicted. I

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am there to be encouraged. I
it all depends on what the text is.

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I need to learn. I need
to learn doctrine. I need to

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learn theology. So if I'm gonna
get ready, get in my car and

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drive all the way to a physical
location, walk, get out of my

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car, walk into the building,
sit down, grab my Bible, open

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it up with a notebook, and
I'm gonna be told it's gonna be twenty

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five minutes. With all due respect, there's no reason I should. I

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could. I could listen to a
sermon in twenty five the drive there,

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I could have listened to something that
I could have sent it home and done

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a twenty five minute devotional. What
is the point of driving there for that?

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Like, I don't understand that.
I know many of you think completely

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different, but I'm just like,
twenty five minutes. Okay, what are

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we gonna do with God's word in
twenty five minutes? Your introduction is gonna

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go longer than five. You know
that he's doing all the pleasantries, Like,

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okay, it's going to knock out
five. So now we're down to

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twenty. You know you're gonna have
an opening and closing prayer. Now you're

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down to less than twenty. Now
you're not nineteen or eighteen. Probably at

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the end you're gonna summarize what you
said. You're probably down to seventeen sixteen.

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You're gonna probably have an illustration or
two. So now you're probably down,

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I don't know, fifteen fourteen minutes
of actually doing something with the Word

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of God, Like, what,
why am I even driving here? Now

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I know what you're gonna say.
That's because you're antisocial, you don't like

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people, you're mean, you're a
jerk. And there's probably a lot of

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truth to all of that. I
just know, walking around shaking some hands,

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people talking about what's going on.
Hey, it's been hot lately.

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Yeah, I know, what about
the weather? Yeah, I understand,

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just all the small talk. I
know some of you love that and your

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life is not complete unless you have
it, and you may feel like you

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need it for your spiritual life.
Well that's great for you, but I

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feel like I'm there for this,
for my for the Bible. So I

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just I don't know. I hear
twenty five minutes and I'm like, oh

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boy, Now in this case,
it works out perfectly for me because I

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was already in my car and I
wasn't driving to someplace, and well,

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he's going to give me an illustration
that I can do something with. So

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maybe you should look at it this
way, don't worry about the length.

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As long as you get something from
it, then it was worth the drive

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to the location. I just I
know that that's such a pragmatic approach to

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it, and that's not probably very
godly, but it's just I've always looked

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at it like, wait, it's
Wednesday night. You want me to I've

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been at work all day. You
want me to come home, change,

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hurry up, get everything ready,
drive to the church for a fifteen minute

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devotional? What in the No?
Sorry, no, Like now, I

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did it because I feel like when
the church is open, I'm supposed to

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be there. So Sunday school,
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday.

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Always attended every service available. But
there were times, I'm going to tell

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you, driving in my car,
I was complaining the whole way there and

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complaining the whole way home. That
could have just said at home and done

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Take all the driving time and all
of the extra time thrown in. I

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could have done far more at home, sitting there with an open Bible and

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a notebook. So I know that's
such a bad way of thinking about it,

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but okay, all right, So
twenty five minutes, twenty five minutes,

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and he wants to make sure we
they get out in time. I

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don't know in time for what I'm
assuming there's something else going on, all

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right, So there's the time issue. That's not the tape measure issue.

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Let's see what he's going to say
now. I's getting ready to do the

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opening prayer. You know how I
have my thoughts on opening prayers. But

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here we go. Dear Father,
we come before you at this time.

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Lord, we don't want to just
mark time. We want to listen to

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your Holy Spirit. And Father.
I pray that the things that are said

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here tonight, that you would take
them based on the word of God,

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and through the word of God,
create faith in Christ, and create a

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sense of vision about what you would
have us to do in our lives.

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I pray Lord that you will give
us a very clear and specific vision this

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evening, about tonight and about our
future for the remainder of our days.

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So we ask your blessing now,
and we pray in Jesus's name. Amen.

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Now, when I was sitting in
the car, I did find that

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I did laugh a little bit.
I did chuckle a little bit. I'm

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like, Okay, hey, hey, I'm going to preach twenty five minutes.

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You know, I definitely want to
get you out in time. Dear

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Lord, we don't want to mark
time. We want to listen to your

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Holy Spirit. But we're going to
mark time by being done in twenty five

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minutes. I know. I just
found that kind of a Hey, I'm

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gonna get you out here in time. Lord, we don't want to mark

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time. Well, I I don't
know. I don't know, but that's

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okay, that's okay, right,
But here we go, now, here

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we go. Now we're gonna get
into it. The tape measure illustration.

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It's gonna take a while to get
there. It's gonna take a while to

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get there. It's gonna take a
it's kind of going to take a wandering

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way to get there, but it's
gonna get there. Now. Once it

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gets there, that's where. That's
as far as we're gonna go. You

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can go listen to the rest of
the sermon on your own. There may

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be great things in it, and
it may prove to me. It may

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be it may be proof that my
belief of driving all the way to church

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for a twenty five minute message is
not worth it. Now, if I

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was Catholic or Lutheran where it's sacramental
and where the preaching of God's word may

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be important, But what else is
also important? Is the liturgy or the

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partaking of the Lord's Supper because it's
a means of grace. Well, then

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I would have a different view.
But if I'm showing up in a typical

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non sacramental church, then the most
highest point of everything is the preaching of

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God's word, Well, then that's
what I'm there for. So then I

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guess time. It's going to be
hard not to consider time. But you

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know what, it has been proven
that sometimes a twenty five minutes sermon can

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be much more profound, be much
more doctrinal and theological than an hour.

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So maybe I shouldn't worry about the
time. Maybe I do look at it

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too fleshly that I'm worried about how
much time it takes me to get ready,

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00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.400
drive all the way there, and
then drive all the way back home.

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So maybe I'm looking at it more
bro Maybe I shouldn't worry about the

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time of the sermon, but the
contents therein So maybe I'm wrong. I

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try to look at the contents there, and just sometimes I feel like in

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twenty five minutes, I don't get
much content, so then I could have

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gotten more. See, so again, I'll look at it from a very

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pragmatic perspective. All right, but
let's continue. I'm normally on Wednesday evenings.

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We're going through We're going through the
Book of Psalms, and I'm really

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looking forward to getting back to the
Psalms of a cent or as they're called

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00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:11.960
in our in our King James version, the songs of Degrees. But really

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felt strongly, strongly impressed that we
as as a people need to know who

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we are and what we're about.
We need to know who we are and

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what we're about. The scripture tells
now that's actually a profound question. Who

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are we and what are we about? Now, I'm just going to be

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honest with you. When I was
sitting in the car, that didn't even

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really register in my brain, right
who we are and what and what we

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what are we about? I didn't
give it much thought. Now that I'm

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thinking about, that's a rather profound
question that one could write down. Who

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am I and what am I about? Who am I and what am I

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about? So that's that's actually a
very profound question. Everyone should write that

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down. Who are you and what
are you really about? Who are you?

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Now? If you're sitting in church, you'll be like, I'm a

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blood bought child of God. But
I mean, come on, really,

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when you remove all of the spiritual
pretense and religious garb that you tend to

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use and the lingo that you tend
to, if you just really, who

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are you? Who are you?
And what are you really about? That's

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a good question, right. I
know, we still get to get to

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the tape measure. We still got
to get to. The tape measure is

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in onverse Thessalonians, chapter five,
verse twenty one. To prove all things

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and to hold fast that which is
good. And we know, we know

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that we are assaulted or we are
a wash in a sea of ideas and

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a sea of information every place that
we turn today, whether whether you're an

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00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:10.680
old fogie like me that listens to
the radio or you know, whenever I

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travel around and enjoy to enjoy to
do that, but or or on the

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internet or just talking to people,
or wherever it is. Wherever it is,

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we are a wash and a sea
of ideas, and we need to

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we need to prove all things.
I think this is an interesting question.

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Are we more a wash and ideas
in twenty twenty four than we have been

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in the past. I think the
we always There's always been ideas all around

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everyone. I just think the access
to those ideas may have been more limited,

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right, but people have always been
there wherever. If they may not

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have had the Internet, but whomever
they were around, those people will express

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their ideas. And you expressed your
ideas, right you had newspapers, you

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had books, you had pamphlets,
whatever, There've always been there. Now,

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you may not have sought out those
ideas. I mean, I mean,

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I obviously was raised at a time
there was no Internet, but I

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was little caught the city bus a
block from my house where the city bus

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was. I'd catch the bus right
to the Abling Public Library and would spend

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most of the day in the Abling
Public Library. I started doing that probably

354
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when I was in kindergarten, I
think is when I started catching the bus

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around about that time kindergarten, first
grade, and I would spend the day

356
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at the library. There were ideas
filled. I didn't need the Internet.

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Now not everyone else would go spend
all day at the library. Now,

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that's when I was kindergarten, first
grade. When I was a teenager.

359
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I was still driving to the library
as a teenager and spend sometimes Thursday nights

360
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or or a Wednesday night or a
Tuesday night hanging out in the library.

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So I've always been doing I've always
been doing that. So the ideas have

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always been there, right, you
know, I was buying comic books like

363
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crazy as a kid. I would
ride my bike down to this like a

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00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:15.119
it was kind of like a drug
store slash soda fountain. They had,

365
00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:18.119
you know, they would have malts
and shakes and root beer floats and all

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00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:21.720
that, but then they always had
a big rack of comic books and I

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would sit there and buy all kinds
of comic books. Those comic books were

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filled with ideas. So I think
they're the ideas have always been there.

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Maybe we have access to more ideas, but you know what, a lot

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of people have access to those ideas, they still don't use those tools.

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They don't use the Internet or their
phone or Wi Fi or whatever necessarily too.

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I guess they encounter ideas, but
I don't think a lot of times

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people take time to process those ideas. Whether because ideas are present in movies,

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books, everything, so but yeah, I mean, I think we've

375
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always been a wash and ideas.
I think it's always been the case.

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I think some people just don't give
much thought to the ideas of being perceived.

377
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A lot of people watch a movie. When you kind of talk to

378
00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.640
them about the actual meaning or message
of the movie, they have no clue

379
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:11.640
because they didn't bother to consider it. But they were still those ideas still

380
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:15.759
impact them. So so I think
they've always been there, but maybe we

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00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:21.559
have more access now. I don't
know. I'm always skeptical. I think.

382
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I think. I think in some
ways the world and in some ways,

383
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as much as the world has changed, there's some aspects of it that

384
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have always been present. You can
go all the way back to ancient times

385
00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:36.160
where they would gather to talk about
philosophy, like in the public square,

386
00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:42.440
and people would debate, and so
the ideas have always been present. Just

387
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:48.000
because somebody says something doesn't make it
so. And we need to evaluate things,

388
00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.880
and we have we have the means
to evaluate everything in in the in

389
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this book, in this book,
now, I hope you have one of

390
00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:00.359
these. I know that we've kind
of got out of the habit when we

391
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come to church. We've gotten out
of the habit of bring in our bibles,

392
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I think because we see the thing
up here. Now, this this

393
00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:15.079
was probably the first major thing that
caught my attention when I was sitting in

394
00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.559
the car, because I immediately paused
and I sat out loud to myself in

395
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the car, well, whose fault
is that? He's like, Hey,

396
00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:26.680
I hope you own one of these. He's talking about a Bible, and

397
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:29.720
I hope you bring it. But
a lot of you don't bring your Bible

398
00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:32.640
because the words are up here on
the screen. Well, guess what.

399
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:38.720
The people in the pew didn't put
the words on the screen. It's churches

400
00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:42.200
who came up with the idea,
let's put the scriptures up on a screen.

401
00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:47.559
No, don't do that. If
you want your people to own a

402
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.039
Bible, carry a Bible and bring
a Bible, don't put the words on

403
00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:53.599
the screen. Make them bring a
bible. He said, well, not

404
00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:59.200
everyone has a Bible, then have
a Pew Bible. I'm holding what would

405
00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:03.039
be considered a Pew Bible right here. I told everyone about this bible,

406
00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:07.039
the Thomas Nelson, New King James
Pew Bible. This thing is I've been

407
00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:08.359
using it since I got it.
Someone told me about it, and I've

408
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:11.559
been using it because I love it. I love the type, I love

409
00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:17.920
everything about it. But churches can
put those in all the pews and then

410
00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:21.519
people would actually have to touch a
physical Bible. So I one end,

411
00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:26.440
It's like, if the putting the
scriptures on the screen has cut down on

412
00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:32.400
Bible ownership and Bible engagement and Bible
usage, then by all means, stop

413
00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:34.480
putting it on the screen. Tell
people to open their bibles. Now.

414
00:29:34.519 --> 00:29:42.200
I know, I know from a
preaching perspective why you like why pastors like

415
00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:45.279
the screen because you don't have to
stop and tell people look it up.

416
00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:51.240
Those pauses where you're like, okay, if you have your Bible turned to

417
00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:53.599
first Thessalonians, Okay, now we're
going to turn over to you know,

418
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:56.480
the Book of Proverbs. You got
to give people a chance to look it

419
00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:03.119
up, right, So well,
that can kind of break the flow of

420
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.599
the preaching. And I also know
what happens when you tell people to turn

421
00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:11.440
Oh it drives me crazy. You're
preaching, and you'll realize that people are

422
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:15.519
You're just you're turned to a passage
for a reference, and everyone's now going

423
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:18.839
back and they're reading the first part
and to continue to read and you're like,

424
00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:21.960
I'm trying to preach. But if
you put it on the screen,

425
00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:25.039
well, then the people can only
see what's there, there's nothing else to

426
00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:26.319
read, and then you can make
it go away whenever you want. So

427
00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:33.079
there's probably benefits putting it on the
screen, But has it proven to be

428
00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:38.000
Has it been counter productive to put
the scriptures up on a screen? Has

429
00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:41.720
it been counterproductive? Because now people
are like, I don't need to bring

430
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:42.920
a Bible to church. Well,
if I don't need to bring a Bible

431
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:52.519
to church, I don't know.
I still think we should get people to

432
00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:56.160
buy physical bibles and carry physical bibles. That's what I do, only because

433
00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:02.880
it's so counter culture to in twenty
twenty four now to actually carry a physical

434
00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:07.240
book and to open it. And
that is so different because we spend all

435
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.200
of our life looking at everything on
a screen, whether a tablet or a

436
00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:17.599
phone. So I think it's I
think it's it's it's conducive to breaking that

437
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:19.960
cycle of just looking at a tablet, looking at a phone by making people

438
00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:23.920
put their phone down and actually open
up a physical bible. I think it

439
00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.960
at least feels different, and I
think that there's a positive. So I'm

440
00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:33.440
not a fan of putting the scriptures
on the screen, but there are times

441
00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:37.599
I wish I did because I could
be like, hey, guys, could

442
00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:40.640
you look at me? I said
it back. You could have read this

443
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:44.319
chapter yesterday. You can read it
tonight. You don't have to read it

444
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:47.160
right now. I'm trying to preach
and you're not listening to me. Or

445
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:49.119
when someone doesn't like what they say
and they decide to grab their Bible and

446
00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:52.000
they go back there and want to
start engaging in Bible study where you're trying

447
00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:55.880
to preach because they're ready to try
to prove you wrong. That drives me

448
00:31:55.920 --> 00:32:00.400
insane. You can see this when
it's a small church. Large you may

449
00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:02.839
not see this, but I so, yeah, I don't know. I

450
00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:06.319
don't know if the screen thing is
a good thing or a bad thing.

451
00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:07.960
But you know what we have.
We still haven't gotten to the tape measure.

452
00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:13.160
Let's get to the tape measure.
But I've got a feeling that you

453
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:17.480
don't have a screen at home with
the Bible on it up there on the

454
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.440
wall. So we need to have
one of these, and you and whether

455
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.759
it's that or or on your phone
or whatever it is. But we have

456
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:30.400
got to be people that know the
Bible. We have to know it and

457
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:38.720
not just no proof text. I
was privy to a conversation just a few

458
00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:45.519
days ago and in which someone said, I'm finding out that it's not enough

459
00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:49.160
for me just to hear the scriptures
whenever I come to church. I probably

460
00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:54.519
need to start reading the Bible at
home too, And I thought, I

461
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:59.319
wonder how many folks might feel that
way. I hope that we all feel

462
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.440
that way, that we're not getting
enough of God's word comeing to church and

463
00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:08.720
hearing scriptures from the pulpit and hearing
the explanation of scripture from the pulpit.

464
00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:14.240
I hope that we're experiencing a real
hunger to open up the scripture and get

465
00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:17.160
in there and let God speak to
us. That's our standard. If we

466
00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:21.839
don't have that standard in our mind, then we don't have the ability to

467
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.559
prove all things and to put things
to the test. We might have a

468
00:33:24.599 --> 00:33:29.200
discussion here about how wide is this
part of the podium. Y'all can see

469
00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:32.119
my hands here, how wide is
that part of the podium? Well,

470
00:33:32.359 --> 00:33:37.039
we could we could have a very
lengthy discussion, you know, about will

471
00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:39.880
it is that two feet wide?
Maybe it's maybe it's thirty inches, maybe

472
00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:44.039
it's thirty two inches. I'm not
sure. And we could stand back there

473
00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:47.680
and stand over here and all give
our opinions, but ultimately, what we've

474
00:33:47.720 --> 00:33:52.480
got to do is put a tape
measure on it and see what it actually

475
00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:58.200
is. But without that tape measure, all we've got is guesses. All

476
00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:01.000
we have is guesses. Now,
brother Steve back here might have a much

477
00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:05.880
better guess than I do, because
he's a carpenter, you know. But

478
00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:12.679
the way to determine for sure is
the way to prove it is to put

479
00:34:12.679 --> 00:34:16.039
a tape measure to it. Our
tape measure is the Bible, and if

480
00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:20.559
we don't know what the Bible says, then then we don't have that standard

481
00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:25.480
in our mind. Now, as
soon as I heard that, sitting in

482
00:34:25.480 --> 00:34:30.239
the car, I just started laughing. I started this laughing, completely out

483
00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:34.599
loud, hysterical, and you probably
don't find it funny, but I find

484
00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:38.440
it absolutely hilarious because he's like,
hey, so if we don't have a

485
00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:43.559
tape measure and we're sitting here looking
at the measurement of this pulpit wherever he's

486
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:46.639
preaching from this podium. Well,
some may say, well that's thirty inches,

487
00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:50.480
or that's three feet or four feet
or two feet or five feet,

488
00:34:50.519 --> 00:34:52.960
and we may have a discussion and
we may not be able to come to

489
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:55.079
an agreement. Some people may be
able to make a good guess. But

490
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:59.719
if we take a tape measure,
we can fix it, we can solve

491
00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:05.400
it. There will be agreement.
So the Bible is our tape measure.

492
00:35:05.719 --> 00:35:09.000
And I just start cracking out,
like you know that discussion about the width

493
00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:14.400
of the or the height of the
podium or the pulpit. You know it's

494
00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:17.840
two feet, three feet, five
feet thirty inches. What when you're describing

495
00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:25.239
that that you're literally describing Christianity.
Christians stand around. No, I think

496
00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:28.239
it's thirty feet, now, I
think it's five. No, I think

497
00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:30.920
it's ten. I think it's a
one hundred and twenty feet. No I

498
00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:32.440
think it's I think it's two inches. No no, no, no,

499
00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:35.960
no, it's it's gotta be it's
gotta be at least a mile long.

500
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:39.280
No no, no, no,
no, it's it's it's eighteen miles high.

501
00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:44.000
What and you talk with some of
those measurements are just absolutely ridiculous.

502
00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:47.920
Maybe, but ladies and gentlemen,
let me tell you there is literally no

503
00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:52.559
agreement in Christianity. It's all wonderful
to say the Bible is the tape measure.

504
00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:58.920
The problem is we can't agree on
how to read the tape measure.

505
00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:06.000
There was an article on the Christian
Post about the Southern Baptist and I guess

506
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:12.840
they decided not to pass some amendment
that would completely you know, banish churches

507
00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:15.360
from the Southern Baptist Convention if to
have women's pastor. And the whole thing

508
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:19.360
is a little like what are they
trying to do here? And so are

509
00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.119
they saying it's okay to a woman
as a pastor, or we're not gonna

510
00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:25.480
punish churches that have women pastors?
Like, okay, what's going on in

511
00:36:25.519 --> 00:36:29.840
the Southern Baptist Convention. And immediately
I was reading the article, I was

512
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:30.840
like, well, maybe I'll do
a broadcast about it, but okay,

513
00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:35.320
let me just go down to the
comments. Went to the comments section,

514
00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:39.079
Boom, nobody's agreeing. Somebody are
like, well, the Bible is absolutely

515
00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:42.719
clear a woman should not be a
pastor, and other people like no,

516
00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:45.360
no, no, no, no. Where it says that some are called

517
00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:47.480
to be pastors or teachers, Well, the Greek word here or the Greek

518
00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:51.760
word here, that could mean man
or woman. So no, but then

519
00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:54.880
I says, and that qualification to
be that, well, that's not necessarily

520
00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:58.920
a pastor. And then there's all
the argument. I'm like, nobody can

521
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:04.920
agree. Nobody, he can't agree. But where's the tape measure? See,

522
00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:07.199
if we just have a tape measure, then we can know. We'll

523
00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:13.960
know if it's thirty feet or or
two feet or five feet or ten inches,

524
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.840
we will know. No, we
will not, because we can't agree

525
00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:22.280
on how to even read the tape
measure. Nobody can agree on it.

526
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:25.599
How should it be read? What
does it actually say? Does it actually

527
00:37:25.639 --> 00:37:29.880
mean? Well, that seems to
say that this is twelve inches long?

528
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:32.000
Well no, sorry that you're reading
it wrong. No, but it says

529
00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:36.440
nope, sorry, that's not what
it says. And look, I can

530
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:38.519
take the Bible, I say,
the tape measure. Okay, okay,

531
00:37:38.599 --> 00:37:43.239
so we're gonna what's the subject.
Oh, the subject is baptism. Well,

532
00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:45.719
this person says this, This person
says this, Well, I've got

533
00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:50.039
the Bible. Let me lay down
the tape measure. The correct understanding,

534
00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:53.679
according to this tape measure is that
Bible. The baptism, according to the

535
00:37:53.679 --> 00:37:58.760
tape measure, is only for those
who believe. It is to be done

536
00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:01.840
by immersion in the name of the
Father Son and the Holy Spirit. It

537
00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:06.719
is not for infants, it's not
for unbelievers, and it's not to be

538
00:38:06.760 --> 00:38:09.280
done according to sprinkling. Someone else
will come along, take the same Bible,

539
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:12.960
put it down and go. Well. My tape measure says it's for

540
00:38:13.079 --> 00:38:15.800
children who are eight days old.
They will be sprinkled in the name of

541
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:21.360
the Father Son and the Holy Spirit, and they will obtain salvation through it.

542
00:38:21.639 --> 00:38:24.320
They will be regenerated, their sins
will be washed away, and they

543
00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:27.800
will be made new. Someone will
say no, no, no, no,

544
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:29.800
no, no, no no,
I've got the tape measure. No,

545
00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:32.480
baptism is for babies, but it
does not save them. It only

546
00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:36.559
puts the mark of the Covenant on
them. And if someone else will come

547
00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:37.880
along, go no no, no, no, no no no. Baptism

548
00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:40.840
is to be only in the name
of Jesus, not in the name of

549
00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:43.840
the Father Son of the Holy Spirit. Someone else, come along, No

550
00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:47.000
No, Baptism is to be by
immersion only for those who believe, and

551
00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:51.360
it's a requirement for salvation. If
someone is not baptized, they will go

552
00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:53.039
to Hell. And you're like,
wait a minute, and then someone else

553
00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:55.199
come out salvation. No, you
can lose your salvation. No, you

554
00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:59.119
can't lose your salvation. Wait,
salvation is done by the work of God.

555
00:38:59.159 --> 00:39:00.440
No, it's done by the work
of God and man. It's monogistic,

556
00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:05.440
it's synergistic. No. No,
we have a semi Pelagian Pelagian view,

557
00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:08.119
our many in view, Augustinian view, Calvinistic view. We can go

558
00:39:08.199 --> 00:39:19.719
on and on and on and on. We love to say that the Bible's

559
00:39:19.719 --> 00:39:22.599
a tape measure. See the world, they can't figure out right, they

560
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:25.800
can't figure out wrong. They don't
have the tape measure. But we have

561
00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:31.159
the tape measure, and we can
open it up. We can know right

562
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:35.320
and wrong, we can know truth
from error. We can know it.

563
00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:38.760
Oh, I have I have been
taught that my whole Christian life. But

564
00:39:38.800 --> 00:39:45.199
then to explain to me after two
thousand years of supposedly having the tape measure,

565
00:39:45.320 --> 00:39:47.199
Okay, around two thousand years,
we'd have you know, when we

566
00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:51.119
ultimately finally start getting Bibles in our
hands. But you get the idea.

567
00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:55.199
Around two thousand years, we've supposedly
had the tape measure, and what have

568
00:39:55.280 --> 00:40:00.840
we done while We've got one denomination
after another denomination after another denomination, and

569
00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:05.719
then that denomination will split and turn
into another denomination, and that will split,

570
00:40:05.760 --> 00:40:07.280
and then this this and this this
church will split, and then this

571
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:10.119
will split, and then this denomination
will decide that this is true. And

572
00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:13.719
then the other people say, no, not according to my tape measure,

573
00:40:13.880 --> 00:40:15.519
you're wrong. And then they'll say
no, our tape measure says you're wrong.

574
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:17.920
No, you're the heretic. No, you're head the heretic. Well,

575
00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:21.639
we'll start another church and we'll condemn
your church. I know we're going

576
00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:24.719
to condemn you. And no this
is and then just on and on and

577
00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:35.480
on and on and on and on. Sounds so good. Hey, if

578
00:40:35.519 --> 00:40:38.079
you want to know the measurement to
this podium, to this pulpit, you

579
00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:44.199
just put a tape measure to it. Boom, all everyone's opinion stops.

580
00:40:45.280 --> 00:40:47.440
This is the measurement of the pulpit. There is no dispute about it.

581
00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:51.440
And everybody's like okay, but no, no, no, no no,

582
00:40:51.559 --> 00:40:53.840
when it comes when in fact what
he the way he was describing, we

583
00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:59.719
could sit here and talk and discuss
and everyone can make their best opinions about

584
00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:01.760
the the size of the pulpit and
the measurement of the pulpit or the podium,

585
00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:07.360
whichever word he utilize. I was
like, that just sounds like Christianity.

586
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:10.039
That sounds like a small group Bible
study. That sounds like a Sunday

587
00:41:10.039 --> 00:41:15.239
school class. That sounds like church. That sounds like five Christians sitting around

588
00:41:15.239 --> 00:41:16.199
talking. Well, it could be
this what could be Oh, I think

589
00:41:16.239 --> 00:41:19.199
it could be this well, I
think it could be this well, I

590
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:22.800
think it could be that. That's
one of the reasons I love doing the

591
00:41:22.840 --> 00:41:28.360
Sermon's two point oh app challenge,
right, because those are all those ministries

592
00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:31.039
on the Sermon's two point oh app
have all signed a confession of faith.

593
00:41:31.360 --> 00:41:35.679
They've all agreed to a confession of
faith. They've agreed to it, right

594
00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:37.840
that all of their messages will agree
to that confession of faith, and if

595
00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:43.400
their sermons violate that confession of faith, they can be removed by the discretion

596
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:46.599
of sermon audio. Okay, great, so you think that there would be

597
00:41:46.840 --> 00:41:50.920
mass similarity. But go listen and
you'll be like, wait a minute,

598
00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:53.679
this one says this. I mean
we just listened to a sermon that's on

599
00:41:54.159 --> 00:41:59.320
the sermon's two point Oh app what
yesterday? Or someone says God is not

600
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:06.880
in control of all things. He's
using the same tape measure. He reads

601
00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:12.880
the tape measures saying God is not
in control of all things and he does

602
00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:15.519
not cause all things to happen,
And you're like, okay, well,

603
00:42:15.559 --> 00:42:19.840
other people would read the Bible say
God is in control of all things,

604
00:42:19.880 --> 00:42:22.360
and he does cause all things to
happen, maybe by the use of secondary

605
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:28.599
causes, therefore making God not the
author of sin. Okay, get,

606
00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:31.320
I get. I'm basically referencing the
London Baptist Confession of Faith, which will

607
00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:36.800
provide scripture from the supposed tape measure. But I can take the London Baptist

608
00:42:36.840 --> 00:42:39.000
Confession of Faith and other people like
that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong.

609
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:42.840
They would put down their confession of
faith, and both confessions of faith

610
00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:53.000
would say that they were based off
the scripture utilizing the tape measure. So

611
00:42:53.400 --> 00:43:05.039
is the Bible a tape measure?
Now here's the thing. Our tape measure.

612
00:43:05.079 --> 00:43:07.719
Now, I know this makes it
everyone uncomfortable, but we have to

613
00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:10.920
acknowledge this our tape measure. You
say, well, the tape measure determines

614
00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:15.079
the measurement. Yeah, but when
it comes to theology and the Bible,

615
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:22.920
guess what we interpret the tape measure. You say, no, the tape

616
00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:25.280
measure just gives you the measurement and
what it says is how it is.

617
00:43:25.559 --> 00:43:28.800
Well, we can all say that's
the way we want it to be,

618
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:31.280
but that's not the way it is. You can read the same passage I

619
00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:36.239
can read, and we're going to
interpret the tape measure differently. So what

620
00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:40.360
really is the authority the tape measure
or your interpretation of said tape measure?

621
00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:44.559
And I have been arguing now for
a very long time that if we,

622
00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:49.760
as much as we don't want to
admit this, the real authority in Christianity

623
00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:54.119
is not the Bible. It's our
interpretation of the Bible. Because we interpret

624
00:43:54.199 --> 00:43:58.760
it and then we say this is
true, that is false. We are

625
00:43:58.880 --> 00:44:01.320
right, they are wrong. This
is the right church. That is the

626
00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:06.960
wrong church based off what we'll say
the tape measure. But that church that

627
00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:09.199
you're saying wrong, will say no, based off the tape measure, you're

628
00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:14.320
wrong. Both people can't be right, so we can't either we call into

629
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:17.440
question the tape measure or the issue
is none of us know how to read

630
00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:22.159
the tape measure because there's no agreed
upon way and how to read it.

631
00:44:22.280 --> 00:44:27.320
There's not an agreed upon hermoneutical system, there's not an agreed upon interpretation.

632
00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:36.239
So we have to know the Bible
personally, and we have to be able

633
00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:39.400
to share the truths of the Bible
personally. But again, I'd like to

634
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:45.079
remind us that the apostle Paul told
us in Ephesians chapter four that we should

635
00:44:45.119 --> 00:44:51.920
speak the truth in love. Speaking
the truth in love, coming, being

636
00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:58.840
hard nosed and all of that doesn't
persuade anybody. And what we want to

637
00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:02.320
do is we want to pursue people, don't we. I mean, we

638
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:05.679
don't want to just come in and
drop a rock on them and says,

639
00:45:05.679 --> 00:45:07.880
well, this is the way it
is, and you can like it or

640
00:45:07.960 --> 00:45:12.280
lopem. I've said my peace.
I mean, you know, is that

641
00:45:12.400 --> 00:45:16.880
really what we want to do,
don't We want to persuade people to accept

642
00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:21.360
God's truth so that they can be
in a position of blessing by the Lord.

643
00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:23.760
That's what we want, and that's
why it's so essential to speak the

644
00:45:23.800 --> 00:45:30.519
truth in love. So now I
completely agree we should speak the truth in

645
00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:34.000
love. I've got no problem with
that. I completely agree with that.

646
00:45:34.920 --> 00:45:38.440
But you said we have to persuade
people. Now, I understand when we're

647
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:43.480
dealing with the lost world, maybe
there's some attempt to persuade. But if

648
00:45:43.519 --> 00:45:47.440
I'm just talking to another Christian,
they accept the tape measure. I accept

649
00:45:47.480 --> 00:45:52.039
the tape measure. Why do I
have to persuade them? Shouldn't we just

650
00:45:52.079 --> 00:45:58.320
be able to lay down the tape
measure and go, sorry, I know

651
00:45:58.360 --> 00:46:01.440
you're the Church of you know,
the twenty four foot measurement, but my

652
00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:07.199
Bible says it's actually eighteen feet.
So the Church of the twenty four feet

653
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:12.639
is wrong. This is actually eighteen
and so went no, no, no,

654
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:19.039
it's it's no, here's the tape
measure. So I shouldn't have to

655
00:46:19.079 --> 00:46:22.440
do much persuading. I should just
lay down the tape measure and go there

656
00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:25.079
you go the end. I'll walk
away now. But it I would see

657
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:29.079
in my brain when I was a
young Christian, I thought that's the way

658
00:46:29.119 --> 00:46:31.880
it would work. All I gotta
do is know the Bible. Then I

659
00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:37.159
have the tape measure. I have
truth. And then when someone starts arguing

660
00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:39.320
with me, all I gotta do
is open the Bible and go, I

661
00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:44.719
don't know what your problem is.
It's right here, here's the tape measure.

662
00:46:45.119 --> 00:46:49.039
Measure it, measure it. Come
on, pull out the tape measure

663
00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:53.440
measure. Oh, guess what you're
wrong. I'm right. But then you

664
00:46:53.519 --> 00:46:59.519
realize you can pull out the Bible, you can go to all the scriptures

665
00:46:59.559 --> 00:47:01.639
and say, okay, that's the
measurements. Here's the measurements. It's a

666
00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:05.480
little bit of this scripture. Got
them all, okay, that's the measurement.

667
00:47:05.559 --> 00:47:07.119
Okay, what do you get?
And they'll be like nope. And

668
00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:14.199
I came into contact with this relatively
early on because a lot of the girls

669
00:47:14.199 --> 00:47:16.280
I went to school with at that
time. In fact, I used to

670
00:47:16.320 --> 00:47:19.920
defend them all the time. Where
one is Pentecostals. I didn't understand what

671
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:22.880
a oneest Pentecostal was at the time. I just know that everyone picked on

672
00:47:22.920 --> 00:47:24.920
them because they did not cut their
hair, they didn't wear any jewelry,

673
00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:29.280
didn't wear any makeup, and there
were long dresses. I mean, we're

674
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:30.760
in the nineteen eighties. So they
got picked on. So I would always

675
00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:32.760
try to defend them. I tell
it, back off, back off,

676
00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:36.960
back off, back off, leave
alone, live them alone. Oh not

677
00:47:37.039 --> 00:47:39.000
because I cared about their religion.
I didn't even understand the religion. You

678
00:47:39.039 --> 00:47:44.039
know, I had no concept of
it. My issue was just stop picking

679
00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:45.599
on them for being different. Okay, So you know, because I got

680
00:47:45.599 --> 00:47:49.400
picked on all the time. Now, it didn't always benefit me to help

681
00:47:49.480 --> 00:47:52.039
defend them, but I did what
I could when I could not all the

682
00:47:52.039 --> 00:47:53.880
time. I shouldn't say all the
time. Just in certain instances. I

683
00:47:53.880 --> 00:47:57.159
think it's better to state it that
way. Don't want to sound like it

684
00:47:57.159 --> 00:48:00.239
was a daily occurrence or a weekly
occurrence. But at different times. Well,

685
00:48:00.280 --> 00:48:07.119
when I became a Christian and I
started talking to them, then I

686
00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:09.880
was like, okay, there,
these these girls are Christians. I'm a

687
00:48:09.960 --> 00:48:14.679
Christian. Let's start talking. And
then they started telling me that my baptism

688
00:48:14.760 --> 00:48:17.280
was invalid because I was baptizing the
name of the Father, Son and the

689
00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:21.639
Holy Spirit. They're like, that's
like having a check that hasn't been signed.

690
00:48:21.840 --> 00:48:23.320
You've got to be baptized in the
name of Jesus. And I'm like,

691
00:48:25.320 --> 00:48:29.199
but Jesus says, go therefore and
baptize them in the name of the

692
00:48:29.199 --> 00:48:30.880
Father's Son in the Holy Spirit.
And they'd be like, yeah, but

693
00:48:30.920 --> 00:48:34.360
our tape measurement says over there in
the Book of Acts that they were baptized

694
00:48:34.360 --> 00:48:37.840
in the name of Jesus. Well, so then what's in Acts. Trump's

695
00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:40.000
what Jesus said. I'm like,
So then I was like, oh,

696
00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:44.960
does anyone know how to read and
then then how to read the you know

697
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:45.880
how to read this? And then
they're like, well, you got to

698
00:48:45.880 --> 00:48:47.760
also get the Holy Spirit. I'm
like, I thought I got the whole

699
00:48:47.800 --> 00:48:51.159
spirit when I got saved. No, to get the Holy Spirit, you've

700
00:48:51.119 --> 00:48:52.960
got to be baptized in the Holy
Spirit. Okay, what do I have

701
00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:54.320
to do to be baptized in the
Holy Spirit? Well, you have to

702
00:48:54.599 --> 00:48:59.599
seek it, pray for it,
and then you'll speak in tongues. Well

703
00:48:59.599 --> 00:49:01.960
what is Well it sounds like this, and I'm you know, I'm not

704
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:05.119
trying to mock it. And I'm
like, well, that's just sounds like

705
00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:08.039
gibberish. No, that's a heavenly
language. To God gives you to confirm

706
00:49:08.119 --> 00:49:10.880
the fact that you've been baptizing the
Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit,

707
00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:15.280
you don't have power. I'm like, I don't have power like the whole

708
00:49:15.320 --> 00:49:19.239
and I'm like, well, my
Bible seems to. And then immediately we

709
00:49:19.320 --> 00:49:22.559
started having you know, and I
just ultimately was like, this is craziness.

710
00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:24.880
I don't even know what they're talking
about. They're crazy. And so

711
00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:29.960
then I'm like, okay. So
then I realized immediately their Christianity thinks my

712
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:34.760
Christianity is wrong, and my Christianity
thinks they're Christianity is wrong. And then

713
00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:37.840
the next thing you know that I'm
running into church christ Well, my Christianity

714
00:49:37.880 --> 00:49:40.159
says there, and the next thing
you know, I'm running into this,

715
00:49:40.239 --> 00:49:43.280
and next thing you know, I'm
running into this. Then I'll leave my

716
00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:45.480
Baptist church. You go to Lutheran
church, and the Lutherans are telling me

717
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:47.280
everything I learned as a Baptist was
wrong. And then the Baptist are telling

718
00:49:47.280 --> 00:49:51.320
me everything I'm learning as a Lutheran
is wrong. And then I meet Catholics,

719
00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:53.920
and then Catholics are and then I'm
like, oh, what is going

720
00:49:53.960 --> 00:49:58.039
on? So then I just started
coming up with the concept, here's the

721
00:49:58.119 --> 00:50:00.880
problem. They don't know the Bible, that don't actually read the Bible,

722
00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:05.320
that don't actually study the Bible,
because if I read it and study it,

723
00:50:05.400 --> 00:50:07.039
then I will know more all of
it than all of them, and

724
00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:09.880
I can prove that they're all wrong. So then I thought my mission was

725
00:50:09.920 --> 00:50:13.599
to prove everyone was wrong. And
then I realized, no matter how much

726
00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:16.000
I studied, no matter how many
degrees I obtained, no matter how many

727
00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:20.800
hours I spent reading the Bible,
no matter how many hours I spent studying

728
00:50:20.800 --> 00:50:24.360
the Bible, guess what, it
didn't matter, because they would still say

729
00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:29.199
that I was wrong, even if
I felt like I won the debate.

730
00:50:30.800 --> 00:50:34.320
And I'm like, well, so
then who has the tape measure? Does

731
00:50:34.360 --> 00:50:37.920
anyone have a tape measure anyone?
Because that's the church. And you just

732
00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:40.719
throw out the measurement, you know
whatever, twenty feet, fifteen feet,

733
00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:45.119
thirty, whatever measurement you want to
throw out, that's the church of that

734
00:50:45.199 --> 00:50:50.239
measurement. I'm the church of this
measurement. And we're all supposedly using the

735
00:50:50.400 --> 00:51:00.159
same tape measure and we're coming up
with radically different measurements, and there's no

736
00:51:00.320 --> 00:51:07.719
point and to argue with people,
it's just it's absolutely useless. You can

737
00:51:07.800 --> 00:51:13.239
quote all the scriptures and they will
quote their scriptures. You quote scripture,

738
00:51:13.599 --> 00:51:16.679
they quote scripture. You use the
tape measure, they use the tape measure,

739
00:51:16.920 --> 00:51:22.039
same tape measure, different measurements.
In fact, not just a few

740
00:51:22.079 --> 00:51:30.639
different measurements, thousands of different measurements, thousands of different groups, thousands of

741
00:51:30.639 --> 00:51:39.360
different churches, thousands of different interpretations, thousands of different understandings. So how

742
00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:47.119
do we process that? So again, I just started laughing when he was

743
00:51:47.159 --> 00:51:51.159
like, so we could sit here
and you may think it's this long,

744
00:51:51.199 --> 00:51:53.400
and you may think it's this long, and we can have different opinions,

745
00:51:53.480 --> 00:51:57.559
and some people's opinions may be better
than others. But once we put a

746
00:51:57.559 --> 00:52:00.239
tape measure to it, it fixes
everything. And it's like, and the

747
00:52:00.239 --> 00:52:01.639
Bible is the tape measure, and
I just start laughing. I'm like,

748
00:52:01.960 --> 00:52:06.360
really, what you were describing about, however, one would be arguing over

749
00:52:06.400 --> 00:52:15.480
the actual measurement of the pulpit,
sounds exactly what happens in Christianity. Now,

750
00:52:15.559 --> 00:52:22.119
we could argue that, if we're
honest, the Bible does not serve

751
00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:31.000
as the tape measure. Our interpretation
becomes the tape measure, which would mean

752
00:52:32.639 --> 00:52:43.320
it's not sola scriptura, it's sola
mia. It's solo me, it's me

753
00:52:43.599 --> 00:52:52.840
alone. I'm the final authority,
because my interpretation becomes the truth. Should

754
00:52:52.840 --> 00:52:57.480
women be pastors? Just go go
find the Christian Post article about the Southern

755
00:52:57.519 --> 00:53:00.760
Baptist and their decision not to pass. I can't remember what it's called.

756
00:53:01.159 --> 00:53:07.679
Uh this new you know this new
you know proposal about what to do with

757
00:53:07.800 --> 00:53:12.960
churches who have Southern Baptist churches have
women pastors? And just go read the

758
00:53:13.000 --> 00:53:19.320
comments under the article. People,
everyone's quoting scripture. Someone say, scripture

759
00:53:19.360 --> 00:53:22.559
is clear a woman can't be a
pastor. Someone else will quote scripture it

760
00:53:22.639 --> 00:53:27.039
is clear that a woman can be
a pastor, and some say it's unclear

761
00:53:27.199 --> 00:53:30.280
either way, all using the same
tape tape measure. Some says it's clear

762
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:34.280
a woman can't be a pastor,
some says it's clear a woman can be,

763
00:53:34.480 --> 00:53:37.719
and some say it's unclear either way. How is that humanly possible?

764
00:53:38.280 --> 00:53:51.239
If the Bible is truly the tape
measure? Now, I know what you're

765
00:53:51.239 --> 00:53:58.480
gonna say, But so what can
we do? Well? I think all

766
00:53:58.519 --> 00:54:04.599
we can do is be very open
and honest with ourselves that in many cases

767
00:54:05.039 --> 00:54:12.599
our tape measure is not really the
Bible. We learned a measurement, right,

768
00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:15.719
we call that being taught doctrine and
being taught theology. We learned a

769
00:54:15.800 --> 00:54:22.480
system, We learned a doctrinal system, and that's we pretend that it's the

770
00:54:22.519 --> 00:54:28.000
Bible as the tape measure, but
it's really it's scrutem systematic theology. It's

771
00:54:28.159 --> 00:54:32.280
it's it's rary is which we've learned
a system of doctrine, whatever system it

772
00:54:32.400 --> 00:54:37.440
is, covenant theology, dispensational.
We learned a system, and that's our

773
00:54:37.480 --> 00:54:42.480
tape measure. Lordship salvation, non
lordship salvation, all millennialism, pre millennialism.

774
00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:45.920
Now we think that we actually learned
the Bible, but we learned a

775
00:54:45.039 --> 00:54:50.639
system, and so that system becomes
the tape measure. Anything that goes against

776
00:54:50.679 --> 00:54:53.360
that system, we say is wrong. But we're measuring it against our system,

777
00:54:53.440 --> 00:54:57.320
even though we don't want to admit
that. I think that's a problem.

778
00:54:57.320 --> 00:55:00.239
Sometimes our tape measure is really a
system and not the Bible. I

779
00:55:00.280 --> 00:55:04.920
think that's the first problem. The
second problem is I think in many cases

780
00:55:05.239 --> 00:55:10.880
where we cannot we have a hard
time removing ourselves and removing our past understanding

781
00:55:10.880 --> 00:55:15.400
from present study. We have to
find a way that when we open our

782
00:55:15.400 --> 00:55:19.800
Bible we forget everything we've ever been
taught. We try to remove our wants

783
00:55:19.840 --> 00:55:22.800
and our desires and our thoughts from
it, and we seek to understand the

784
00:55:22.880 --> 00:55:30.760
text alone by doing observational work first, observing what's actually their understanding, who

785
00:55:30.800 --> 00:55:34.039
it's written to, what was going
on content, and who can and we

786
00:55:34.079 --> 00:55:37.559
cannot worry about if it goes against
a system. Look, when I open

787
00:55:37.599 --> 00:55:38.920
the Bible, I don't care if
reform people are going to get mad.

788
00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:42.519
I don't care if non reform people
are going to get mad. I don't

789
00:55:42.559 --> 00:55:45.119
care if lordship people are going to
get mad. I don't care if non

790
00:55:45.159 --> 00:55:47.239
lordship people are going to get mad. I don't care if Covenant theology people

791
00:55:47.239 --> 00:55:51.000
get mad. I don't care if
dispensation lests get mad. I don't care

792
00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:53.079
if those who believe in ifant baptism
get mad. Are people who reject if

793
00:55:53.119 --> 00:55:58.760
it baptism get mad. I don't
care about any team. I don't care.

794
00:55:59.000 --> 00:56:01.320
All the teams can leave me alone. I don't want your jersey.

795
00:56:01.480 --> 00:56:07.440
I don't want to be a part
of your team. Because your team becomes

796
00:56:07.480 --> 00:56:10.320
the measurement, the tape measure.
I want the Bible to be that.

797
00:56:10.920 --> 00:56:15.320
And it's not always simple, and
it's not always easy, and we think,

798
00:56:15.360 --> 00:56:16.920
well it could be this, Well
it could be you have to ask

799
00:56:17.039 --> 00:56:22.199
hard questions, and you have to
deal with unpleasant truths and things that don't

800
00:56:22.239 --> 00:56:25.679
make any sense, and things that
can be confusing are confounding. And we

801
00:56:25.760 --> 00:56:30.199
have to embrace that because if we
can't get to that, then we don't

802
00:56:30.239 --> 00:56:36.320
really have a tape measure. And
what I have seen is so many times

803
00:56:36.320 --> 00:56:37.760
people want to argue with me,
and I'll be like, well, let's

804
00:56:37.800 --> 00:56:40.760
okay, let's okay, you have
your opinion, have my opinion, let's

805
00:56:40.760 --> 00:56:45.480
set our opinion. Let's just go
to the text. Just the text alone,

806
00:56:45.800 --> 00:56:51.679
just the But now that's going to
require us looking up three thousand verses

807
00:56:51.760 --> 00:56:53.199
that use this term. Are you
willing to do the work on that.

808
00:56:53.440 --> 00:56:59.039
It's going to require us doing a
you know, a month long observational exercise.

809
00:56:59.159 --> 00:57:00.599
Are you willing to do that?
This Bible study method, this Bible

810
00:57:00.599 --> 00:57:04.320
study method. Are you willing to
do this? And so many people are

811
00:57:04.320 --> 00:57:06.679
not willing to put in the work. You know what they'll do. They

812
00:57:06.679 --> 00:57:08.320
want to go run to Google,
google it, find out what someone else

813
00:57:08.320 --> 00:57:10.760
said and said, Well, the
people on my team says this is the

814
00:57:10.840 --> 00:57:20.039
right measurement. Yeah, but your
team is not the tape measure. How

815
00:57:20.079 --> 00:57:23.360
can we restore the Bible to truly
being the tape measure because I think right

816
00:57:23.400 --> 00:57:31.039
now, if we're honest, we're
the tape measure, and we pretend that

817
00:57:31.119 --> 00:57:38.119
it's the Bible, and I think
we're deceiving ourselves. Now what he said,

818
00:57:38.199 --> 00:57:42.440
I understand saying the Bible is the
tape measure and we all need the

819
00:57:42.440 --> 00:57:46.559
Bible. Look, I completely understand
he's not saying anything that every other church

820
00:57:46.599 --> 00:57:52.559
would say. I'm just playing Devil's
Advocate to it because it just makes me

821
00:57:52.679 --> 00:57:57.159
laugh because what he's describing is like
sounds like my entire Christian life. Everyone's

822
00:57:57.199 --> 00:57:59.079
like, well, it's this long, it's this long. No, it's

823
00:57:59.119 --> 00:58:01.199
this long, it's this long.
I would love to think I could just

824
00:58:01.239 --> 00:58:06.320
open up the Bible and say this
is the tape measure, but this is

825
00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:10.159
what it is. That church has
a different tape measure than obviously that church,

826
00:58:10.559 --> 00:58:14.719
because if they had the same tape
measure, they would be the church

827
00:58:14.840 --> 00:58:24.840
of the same measurement. Think of
all the churches in your town. Each

828
00:58:24.920 --> 00:58:32.000
church represents a different measurement. That's
the church of the twelve foot church,

829
00:58:32.079 --> 00:58:42.840
that's the twenty three foot church,
that's the six foot church. Clearly,

830
00:58:42.920 --> 00:58:46.880
then if you get different measurements,
you're using a different tape measure right,

831
00:58:50.199 --> 00:58:53.119
all right, thanks for listening.
You can email me news if at yahoo

832
00:58:53.159 --> 00:58:59.880
dot com. That's news if at
yahoo dot com news I F at Yahoo.

833
00:59:00.679 --> 00:59:02.400
Thank you for listening. Hopefully that
was helpful. Look, I spent

834
00:59:02.440 --> 00:59:07.360
the day, you know, It's
not like I could sit there and take

835
00:59:07.760 --> 00:59:12.119
detailed notes and work out a full
blown message. But I wanted to at

836
00:59:12.199 --> 00:59:15.119
least take something I heard and at
least lay it, present it to you,

837
00:59:15.199 --> 00:59:17.679
and hopefully you can do something with
it if you want to look up

838
00:59:17.679 --> 00:59:21.679
the rest of that sermon, since
we barely got into it. It's called

839
00:59:21.760 --> 00:59:29.519
who and What by doctor Ken Francis
Who and What. I'm not criticizing him

840
00:59:29.519 --> 00:59:35.199
calling the Bible the tape measure.
I'm just presenting some of the difficulties that

841
00:59:35.280 --> 00:59:39.679
arise from that illustration, which is
what he was talking about, what everyone

842
00:59:39.760 --> 00:59:44.199
does with the pulpit and arguing about
it, or disagreeing about it or guessing

843
00:59:44.519 --> 00:59:47.000
is exactly really what happens in Christianity. As much as we want to believe

844
00:59:47.039 --> 00:59:51.280
that we have one tape measure and
it fixes it everything, it doesn't fix

845
00:59:51.320 --> 00:59:55.239
everything. So why doesn't it fix
everything? Well, I've presented some possible

846
00:59:55.320 --> 01:00:00.000
reasons. You can give me your
thoughts news f at yahoo dot com,

847
01:00:00.159 --> 01:00:02.239
news if at yahoo dot com.
What I thought was going to be about

848
01:00:02.280 --> 01:00:08.320
a fifteen minute message has now gone
sixty minutes and seven seconds. Thanks for

849
01:00:08.400 --> 01:00:12.440
listening, God bless