March 19, 2025

Storms of Life Metaphor

Storms of Life Metaphor

We discuss the common practice of pastors to use the storms of life metaphor

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We discuss the common practice of pastors to use the storms of life metaphor

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central, Ladies and gentlemen,

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I declare war on the use of a specific metaphor.

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I declare war today on the metaphor of the storms

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of life. I'm tired of the metaphor. I'm sick of

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the metaphor, and churches need to stop using it. I'm

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tired of preachers using it, Sunday school teachers using it, devotionals.

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I'm just tired of it. And so I'm going to

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declare war on the use of this storm of life

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metaphor once and for all. I don't know but if

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declaring war is going to accomplish anything, but I'm declaring war,

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and we're going to talk about that right after I

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say good afternoon everyone. It is Wednesday, March the nineteenth,

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twenty twenty five. It is currently four to twenty three

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pm Central time, and I'm coming to you live from

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the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now,

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if you've been going to church, I think for any

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length of time, you have probably had a pastor stand

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behind the pulpit, open the Bible, turn to some text

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that talks about a storm. All right, Jesus walking on

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the water in the midst of a storm, Jesus asleep

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in a boat in the midst of a storm, Paul

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the Apostle, Paul caught in a storm, Jonah asleep in

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the boat when a storm was going on. Whatever the

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storm may be, they will open the Bible, talk about

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a storm, and almost instantaneously take that literal storm that

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the Bible's talking about, that historical account of a literal storm,

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and then turn it into a metaphor for the storm

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in your life. Are you going through a difficult time?

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Do you find yourself in the midst of a storm today?

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Have you found yourself in the midst of a storm

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in the past. Let me tell you something. You're either

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in a storm, you're coming out of a storm, or

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you're getting ready to go into a storm, because that's

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the way life works. Ladies and gentlemen. Even if you're

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not in a storm today, a storm is coming and you.

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We are going to take this text of scripture that

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talks about a literal storm, and I'm going to give

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you principles. I'm going to prescribe to you what you

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need to do. So that you can weather the storms

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of your life. That thing has been that type of

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sermon has been preached a million times, and I'm sick

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of it. I am just beyond sick of it, and

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I'm going to do a lot of criticizing of it today.

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What we're going to do is we're going to talk

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about this metaphor. I'm going to try to demonstrate to

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you that it's not biblical in any way, shape or form,

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and then we're going to try to trace We're going

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to go through church history and try to figure out

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where this metaphor came from. When did it start? I

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think I know who to blame. I think I know

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who to blame, and we'll see if we can track

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that down. But let me tell you why we're gonna talk.

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Why I have declared war on this metaphor. A right.

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It all started innocently enough, three o'clock, four o'clock in

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the morning. I'm listening. If you have the Sermon Audio

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app if you go there to the radio tab, or

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if you just scroll down, you'll see radio. You have

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the Sermon Audio Radio station twenty four to seven, and

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then right next to that you have VC Why America

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VC Why America, and I like listen to VC Why

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America overnight starting around eleven pm Central Time all the

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wait about five or six in the morning, they have

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their overnight programming. It's perfect, it's devotional. It's great to

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go to sleep too. And I wake up listening to

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it around three four in the morning and they're talking

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about the storms of life. And I'm like, oh boy,

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here we go, the storms of life. And they say, hey,

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right now you can get a seven week Bible study

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guide talking about how to weather the storms of life.

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And I'm like, okay, let me get up, grab the iPad. Okay,

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how do I get to this website? They say, go

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to www dot LWF LWF dot o RG forward slash VCY.

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That's www dot LWF dot org forward slash vc why.

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So of course I downloaded the Bible study guide. I'm like, okay, cool,

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a seven week Bible study guide and how to weather

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the storms of life. I know what I'll do when

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I wake up, I'll turn on the microphone and I

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will tell everyone, Hey, guys, there's this study guide. It's free.

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I'm not telling you I like it. I'm not telling

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you I don't like it. I just want you to

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know of this free resource. You know, use discernment, use

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it wisely, go and just kind of do a little

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ten teen minute broadcasts just informing people of a resource

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out there that's free, because it's always good to have resources. Well,

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I that was the plan, but when I turned on

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the microphone, the next thing, you know, I kind of

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start reviewing some of it, and I'm like, you've got

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to be kidding me. And so I then said, you

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know what, it's a seven week study guide. Let's just

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go through all seven weeks. It's going to take the

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storms and the Bible and apply them to the storms

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in our life. Let's take this apart, and the first

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one is Acts twenty seven. So then we started reviewing

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sermons on Acts twenty seven. Those were a total complete

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train wreck and once again demonstrate people take their Bibles,

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open it to Acts twenty seven and turns it into

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a metaphor about the storms in our life. And it's

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just I mean, by the time I'm done with those

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two sermons, I just want to quit this whole thing.

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But I'm like, ah, we've got to work on this.

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So then I went to work on Acts twenty seven.

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I've turned AX twenty seven into like a narrative. I've

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done an observational outline on ACTS twenty seven. I've done

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an exegetical study on ACX twenty seven. So I'm going

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to put all of that together at some point and

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teach it. But I'm like, you know what, let's the

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sermon reviews kind of took us away from the study guide.

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Let's circle back to the study guide and just work

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on the study guide for a couple of episodes. And

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we're going to do this. We've turned this into a

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series called the Storms of Life, and I said, and

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that's what I'll do. So I started looking at the

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first like lesson in the study guide and it got

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to it got to a very important question, basically why

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we have storms of life? Now, of course it's going

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all in with the metaphor, and I'm like, you know what,

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that could get into some very important philosophical discussions and

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we need to have that. But before we do that,

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we're going to talk about the metaphor in the first place.

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So we're going to start working through the study guide.

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So if you want to go download it, go download

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it now again. Go to www dot l WF dot

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oh four slash VC. Why download the study guide and

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we're gonna just kind of go a little bit into

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the study guide, and then we're gonna talk about this metaphor,

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the storms of life metaphor. And I'm telling you I've

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grown sick and tired of it. I really really have.

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And I'll explain why in just a minute. So I'm

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gonna pull up the study guide. I'm gonna pull up

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the study guide. Here it is. I'm gonna go all

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the way to the top. Here we go, how to

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Weather the Storms of Life, a seven week Bible study

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to help anchor you in God's Truth. Now, any study

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guide that's gonna help anchor me into God's truth, that

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sounds great. But my question immediately is, wait a minute,

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are you going to anchor me in God's truth When

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you're building this all on a metaphor that I don't

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believe exists in scripture, Then you're not anchoring me in

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God's truth. You're anchoring me and while you're made up metaphor.

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But okay, okay, well we'll talk about that in a minute.

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Then they got the guide to studying our Bible, and

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we already took that all apart. We're not going to

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go through that. Then we have the kind of the

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title page, how to Weather the Storms of Life. Right.

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Then we have the contents. Week one, Ride out the storm.

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Week two, Live above sea level, and that's see level,

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not sea live above sea level. Week three, be unsinkable,

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Week four, let go of burdens. Week five, Trust God

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in the storm, Week six, fine, peace in the storm.

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Week seven, fight your way out. Then it says listen now,

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and then the discussion guide all right, and then immediately

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we have the introduction, and the title of the introduction

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is how to Weather the Storms of Life. They don't

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even wait, Look, they don't even they don't even try

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to build the metaphor. They just immediately go in with

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how to Weather the Storms of life. They just immediately

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start going with this metaphor. And remember it begins this

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way in Acts twenty seven. That's why we been doing

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all of the discussion about Acts twenty seven. We find

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the story of Paul who boards a ship that rides

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straight into the teeth of a ferocious storm. And John

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six we find the Disciples in a boat in the

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middle of a storm, and Genesis Noah floats and an

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art during a worldwide flood. These are some of the

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most gripping stories in the Bible. If you listen, you

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can hear the booming thunder and see the lightning as

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it has its fingers flash across the sky. You can

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hear the old ships creak and groan, and the moaning

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and the whistling of the wind. The story of a

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ship in the midst of a storm captivates our imagination.

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But reading about storms and living through them are two

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different things. So why would God tell us these stories

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about storms and ships. He tells us because they are

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more than history lessons. The Holy Spirit takes these stories

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and illustrates valuable spirit truths to help us navigate. Now, immediately,

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they're just making the claim that these stories are in

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the Bible not just to give us history so immediately,

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not to be descriptive, but to be prescriptive, to prescribe

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you and I the things we need to do and

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we need to know in order to navigate. Not to

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navigate literal storms, but to navigate navigate metaphorical storms. So

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I mean, they're they're they're doubling down on this metaphor.

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It says, Then immediately it says life is like a

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sea voyage. Sometimes the sea is calm and the wind

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blows softly. Sometimes the sun is shining, and we thank

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God for those happy times. Maybe that's where you are

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right now, just selling along. If that's you, enjoy it

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because it's a gift from God. But sometimes the wind

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rises and the sky darkens. Sometimes we find ourselves in

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the midst of a terrible storm we never saw coming.

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And that's the way life is. Every human being is

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sailing between two eternities. Sometimes things are good, sometimes things

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are bad. And this study we're going to look at

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the storms and the Bible so we can learn how

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to weather the storms of life. There you go, We're

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gonna look at the storms of the in the Bible

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to see how you and I can weather the storms

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of life. Now already, just from a hermaoneutical standpoint, you're

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telling me that the historical narratives about physical storms are

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actually there to prescribe to us the very important things

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we need so that we can navigate the storms of life.

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And nobody nobody in the church, nobody, no pastors, no

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Sunday school teachers, nobody sitting in the pew, no one

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bothers to raise their hand and go, how is this

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what hermoneutical system does this? No nobody ever bothers to go,

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wait a minute, I think there's a problem here. No,

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I guess not, because the minute you raise your hand

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and start saying I think there's a problem, you're going

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to be viewed as the problem. It says, end this study.

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We're going to look at the storms in the Bible

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so we can learn how to weather the storms of life.

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We hope that you will be encouraged as you remember

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a storm you've already faced, prepare for the storm on

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the horizon, or sell through the middle of one. God

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is with you. Do not be afraid. Then it has

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a quote from Adrian Rodgers. Stop telling God how big

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your storm is. Instead tell the storm how big your

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God is. I guess if I if you have problems

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in your life, just telling the problems in your life,

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My God is bigger than this problem, and that should

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make it go away. It should just take care of

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the cancer, should take care of the fact that you

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were molested for ten years, should just fix everything. I

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guess I don't really know what that is supposed to do,

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but okay, So then here is week one ride out

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the storm. Imagine sailing along in the middle of the

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ocean on a big ship. All of a sudden, the

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worst storm you have ever seen rolls in. Waves are crashing,

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the sky becomes dark, and you're thrown about the boat

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with no way to keep your balance. You do not

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know what will happen in the coming hours. As the

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angry ocean wrestles with the ship, you wonder if you

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will ever make it out of this storm. Paul experienced

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this kind of storm and Acts Chapter twenty seven and

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the first in Acts Chapter twenty seven. In the first century,

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Paul was imprisoned by Roman officials for proclaiming the Gospel

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of Jesus Christ. He was transported by sea to Rome, Italy.

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On this voyage, the ship sailed into a ferocious storm.

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By the end of the journey, Paul went from being

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a prisoner to being the captain of the ship because

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he chose to trust the Lord through the storm. And

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we've already talked about this, does he actually become the

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captain of the ship. We've heard multiple sermons make this

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exact same claim. I don't think that's accurate. We gave

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it to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence says it's completely fraudulent.

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But we won't get into that right now, because we

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have a specific purpose in this episode, and that is

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to declare war on this metaphor. Now now they're going

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to actually use They're going to actually describe this as

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a metaphor. Here we go. Acts twenty seven teaches us

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how to navigate the metaphorical storms of our own lives

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as believers in Christ. Acts twenty seven does not teach

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you how to navigate the metaphorical storms of your life.

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That is not what Acts twenty seven is about. That's

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not its purpose. It has nothing to do with the

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so called storms of your life. We have to declare

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war on this metaphor. This week we will read Acts

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twenty seven and find out how God can use the

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challenges we face to grow our faith and bless others.

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Then there's a prayer. I'm not going to take that apart.

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Then it goes to day one. Reason for now, I

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want to get into that week on Day one. I

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want to get into it because this reason for storms

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opens up the door to some very unpleasant philosophical discussions

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that you're not going to like, and I'm not going

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to like. I want to get there. But before we

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get there, we've got to declare war on the metaphor.

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All right, so are you here? We go? This is

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this is I'm hoping to start the war and end

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the war in one episode that pastors need to stop

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this storms of life metaphor. It needs to stop. It

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just needs to come to a complete crashing end. And

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if you sit in the pew and you hear it,

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you need to stop it somehow. I'm not saying you

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make a scene publicly, but in private you've got to say, pastor,

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that's this is not a biblical metaphor in any way,

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shape or form. Are you ready? I want you to

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write this down. I believe it is accurate to say

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that nowhere I believe this is accurate. I believe it

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is accurate to say that. Nowhere in the Bible does

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it explicitly or even implicitly connect storms to life's problems

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or refer to personal trials as storms. Now. I know

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when I say this, I'm gonna get some of you going, oh,

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you're just being nitpicky and you're just trying to make

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a big deal out of nothing. Who cares? Well, it's amazing,

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Like sometimes we're supposed to care about accuracy. We're supposed

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to care about handling the word of God, you know,

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with in truth, and that we get everything correct. And

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then there's other times whe we're like, well it doesn't

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really matter. It either matters or it doesn't. So I'm

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gonna you can say, this is my hypothesis that nowhere

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in the Bible does it explicitly or even implicitly connects

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storms to life's problems are referred to personal trials as storms.

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The storm as life trials metaphor is a modern day

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interpretive device that preachers and teachers impose on the text,

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rather than something the Bible itself teaches. I'm going to

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state this again. This is my hypothesis. This is what

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I'm putting forth. No, and first part of my hypothesis

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I think is just completely factual. Nowhere in the Bible

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does it explicitly or implicitly connect storms to life's problems

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or refer to personal trials as storms. I think that's

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a fact, but we'll just say it's my hypothesis. The

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storm as life trials metaphor is a modern day interpretive

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device that preachers and teachers and pose on the text.

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This storms as life trials metaphor, right the storms as

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life trials metaphor. This is preachers and teachers and Sunday

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school teachers, and pose this onto the Bible. They're imposing

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it on the Bible, and everyone in the pew sits

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there and says, amen, Amen. Everyone's sitting in Sunday school

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class amends it. Now. If you can impose that onto

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the Bible, then don't get mad when someone else imposes

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something else on the Bible. See what it really comes

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down to. People only argue about how the Bible is

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handled when they disagree what someone says. But if they

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agree with what someone says, they don't really care if

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it's imposed on the text or not. Our whole argument

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that you're imposing that on the text, don't even pretend

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we care. We don't care if it's imposed on the text.

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We only care if what's being imposed on the text

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is something we agree with and something we like. If

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we like it, we're for it. We don't like it,

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then all of a sudden we care about harmoneutics. We

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only care about hermoneuticts when it goes against what we

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don't like, which is just disingenuous and just ridiculous all

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the way around. So let me state it again. The

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storm as life trial metaphor is a modern day interpretive

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device that preachers and pose on the text. It is

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not something the Bible itself teaches. All right, So let's

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try to look at the biblical evidence to see if

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my hypothesis is even a little bit accurate. All right,

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let's start here. Number one. I'm going to claim that

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every biblical storm in the Bible is a literal physical event,

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and that in every case it's a literal physical event. Now,

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you may be able to find one, going, well, are

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we sure this is a literal physical event? I think

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I'm going to be pretty dogmat I can think I'm

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pretty sure that every single one in the Bible is

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a literal physical event. The Bible mentioned storms multiple times,

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but every single one refers to actual physical weather events,

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not figurative life struggles. Let me just give you some examples,

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all right. Let's start in the Old Testament Noah's flood

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Genesis six through nine. The flood was a judgment on humanity,

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not a metaphor for life's trials. It's not a metaphor.

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It's a literal storm, literal God judgment on literal earth. Okay,

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the plague of Hell Exodus nine twenty two through twenty

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six a literal healthstorm sent as a part of God's

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judgment on Egypt. And you could argue that that literal

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healthstorm was actually in an attack upon Egyptian deities. But

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we won't get into all of that right now. Job's storm,

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Job one, eighteen through nineteen, Chapter thirty eight, Verse one,

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Job actually experienced a windstorm that killed us children. Later,

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God speaks from a literal world win in Job thirty

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eight one. Nowhere does Job or God metaphorically called Job

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suffering a storm. It's just not done. It's a literal windstorm. Next,

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God uses storms in judgments Psalm eighteen Naem one Jonah one.

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The Bible repeatedly says that God controls storms, but only

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in the sense of actual weather or judgment. Jonah's storm

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was not a metaphor. It was a real storm caused

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by his disobedience. Literal storms, New Testament storms, Jesus calming

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the storm Matthew eight twenty three through twenty seven, Mark

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four thirty five through forty one, Luke eight twenty two

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through twenty five. This is a literal storm that Jesus

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miraculously stops. The passage does not say this represents life struggles.

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Jesus simply demonstrates his divine authority over creation, demonstrating his deity.

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All right, Jesus walking on water Matthew fourteen twenty two

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through three, or thirty three, Mark six forty five through

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fifty two, John six sixteen through twenty one. Again, this

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is a real storm. It's not a metaphor. Jesus walking

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on water demonstrates his power, not a general lesson on

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life struggles. It demonstrates him as divine, his deity, not

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a metaphor about your problems in your life. Acts twenty seven,

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Paul Shipwreck. The storm is an actual event, demonstrating God's

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providence of repulse journey to Rome. Nowhere does Paul or

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Luke suggest that this storm represents life's trials. What is

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the conclusion? Every single biblical storm is a literal, physical event,

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never a metaphor for personal struggles. It's not there. Stop

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using it that way. Declare war on this metaphor, the

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storms of life metaphor for the trials in your life.

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It's a it's a nowhere to be found in the Bible.

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Does the Bible ever call trial storms to be one

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hundred percent accurate? We must ask, does any Biblical writer

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ever use the word storm to refer to personal hardship

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or suffering. The Bible uses other metaphors for trials, doesn't

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seem to use storms, uses fire one Peter one, six

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to seven, Isaiah forty three. Maybe possibly, and even that

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when I would, we would have to really take apart

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Daniel three, refining silver gold, so the refining of silver

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and gold Malachi three, Zachariah thirteen, a race, Hebrews twelve,

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First Corinthians nine, a fight or battle Ephesian six, Second

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Timothy four, childbirth, John sixteen, in Romans eight, a furnace,

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Psalms sixty six, and Proverbs seventeen. Nowhere in scripture are

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trials metaphorically called storms. If Biblical author is meant to

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compare trials to storms, they had plenty of chances, but

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they don't appear to ever do that. They use these

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other metaphors, a fire, refining silver and gold, a race,

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a fight, childbirth, furnace. They don't appear to use the

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storm metaphor. It's not in the Bible. I know we

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supposedly care so much about who it's the inspired and

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errant word of God, and we care about the Bible

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and we care about well, no, you don't. You really,

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that's just such a joke. It's just a joke. Now.

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Some and I mentioned Isaiah forty three. Some may mention

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Isaiah forty three to two. And because this verse Isaiah

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forty three has misapplied multiple times, and we've talked about

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I think it was John Bunyan who really messed right

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in messing up Isaiah forty three. When you pass through

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the waters, I will be with you, and through the

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rivers they shall not overflow you. When you walk through

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the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the

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flames scort you. Now, Number one, that is not about you.

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This is about those in Babylonian captivity coming out all right.

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But is this a storm life struggle metaphor. No, this

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is a direct promise to Israel, not a metaphor for

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personal struggles. And then we could talk about the the

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rivers and the fire. Is this is this a referring

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to the literal dangers Israel had faced, like the Red Sea,

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the Jordan River. Is this the idea that no matter

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what dangers they face going through, God is going to

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be with them. I don't think it is not using

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storms as a metaphor here of our problems in our life.

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This is a reference specifically to their historical situation, their past,

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and what they're getting ready to endure and what they're

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getting ready to encounter in the future. When pastors go

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to Isaiah forty three, it starts applying that to us.

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I already immediately know that you know hermonoudics doesn't matter,

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and we've seen that over and over, and we're going

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to be dealing with Isaiah forty three before we know it,

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and we're going to talk about all of this again.

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All right. So where does this storm as trials idea

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comes from? If the Bible never uses storms as a

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metaphor for trials, then why do preachers and teachers use

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this analogy. Many pastors have popular made this a popular idea,

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made this phrase wathering the storms of life. They've made

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this popular. They take inspiration from Biblical stories involving storms,

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but they add symbolic meaning that the Bible itself never

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gives and for example, Jesus claimed the storm calm the

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storm in Mark four, So He's going to calm the

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storm in your life. Paul indored a shipwreck and acts

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twenty seven. So God will help you through your personal storms.

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That's kind of examples of what pastors do. Now, what

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are the problems? Well, the past passages are not teaching

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general lessons about trials. They're just not. They show Jesus

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divine power and God's sovereign plan. They are not a

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metaphor for life's difficulties. Now, it may be a convenient

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emotional metaphor, and I think that's why pastors use it.

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People emotionally connect with storms because they're uncontrollable and overwhelming.

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But just because something is a powerful image doesn't mean

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it is biblical. A preacher can apply a passage in

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a meaningful way without forcing a meaning onto it that

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the Bible never gives. So what is the final verdict here?

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The Bible never uses storms as a metaphor, never for

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lifes trials. It never uses it for a metaphor for lifestrial.

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Every storm in the Bible is literal. The Bible never

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refers to personal struggles as storms. The Biblical authors use

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other metaphors. The storms of life phrase is a modern

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extra biblical metaphor and posed on to scripture, but that

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still didn't really answer the question where does this come from.

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Let's try to figure out where this metaphor originates from,

460
00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:47.200
all right, I think that's I think it's worth our

461
00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:53.319
time right now. The exact origin of the storms of

462
00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:59.240
life metaphor in Christian teaching may be difficult to pinpoint,

463
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:07.480
but it is likely. I think this is fair to say.

464
00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.119
It's likely it became popular through a combination of mid

465
00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:19.599
evil sermon traditions, revivalist preaching, and modern evangelical storytelling techniques.

466
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:23.279
I think it's a combination of all of that, midevil

467
00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:30.799
sermon traditions, revivalist preaching, and modern evangelical storytelling techniques. I

468
00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:34.119
think that's what we get now. We have no, we

469
00:28:34.119 --> 00:28:37.839
don't appear to have any early Church fathers or reformers

470
00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:42.000
to have used the metaphor extensively. We can trace its

471
00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:44.880
rise through different periods of church history. So let's go

472
00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.319
through all these different periods and see where this metaphor

473
00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:51.799
a likely arose. If we go to the early Church

474
00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:54.960
and mid evil Christianity will go from the first to

475
00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:59.880
fifteenth century. Did early Church theologians use storms as a

476
00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:03.319
metaphor for trials. We don't seem to have any major

477
00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:07.680
evidence suggesting that the early Church fathers Augustine origin crysostom

478
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:12.200
athanaceous interpreted Biblical storms as metaphor for life's difficulties. We

479
00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:16.000
don't appear to find that. Instead, they tend to focus

480
00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:21.200
on allegorical readings of storms, particularly in relationship to baptism,

481
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.920
Christ's power over nature, or God's judgment. Now, they did

482
00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:29.680
use the allegorical hermeneutical system. They did. There's no way

483
00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:32.359
to get around that. The early Church fathers loved the

484
00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:37.200
allegorical hermeneutical method. No way to get around that. But

485
00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:41.599
they didn't use this allegorical method to say the storms

486
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:45.440
were the trials of life. They connected storms to baptism,

487
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:51.480
Christ's power over nature, are God's judgment, not you're going

488
00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:56.880
through the storms of life thing. Key interpretations of Biblical

489
00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:00.640
storms and early Christianity. Jesus calming the storm in Mark

490
00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:04.519
four Matthew eight Luke eight was seen as Christ's divine power.

491
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.640
They made it about Christ's divine power, not a metaphor

492
00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:11.680
for store for problems in your life. Early theologians like

493
00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:15.240
Augustine saw the passages proof of jesus divinity and authority

494
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:20.160
over creation, not a metaphor for personal struggles. Noah's flood

495
00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:23.559
in Genesis six through nine. The early Church Fathers connected

496
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:26.720
this as a baptism symbolism. The flood was often linked

497
00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:31.359
to baptism and salvation, not life's challenges. Jonah's storm and

498
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:34.640
Jonah One, God's judgment and mercy. The focus was on

499
00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:38.359
God's sovereignty in Jonah's disobedience, not a general metaphor for

500
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:42.160
life struggles. There seems to be very little evidence that

501
00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:45.119
the early Church used storms as a metaphor for personal traits.

502
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.680
There may be something there in the early Church fathers.

503
00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.480
By no means am my saying that this has been

504
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:52.640
an exhaustive I've looked at every page of every word,

505
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:56.079
of every note of every sermon, of every no I

506
00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:59.480
can't say that, but it doesn't appear there's anything. If

507
00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:01.839
it was there, it was in the minority of the

508
00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:04.960
minority of the minority, minority were today. If you look

509
00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:09.200
up any sermon on any of the storm passages, almost

510
00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:11.640
immediately someone's going to connect it to the storms of life.

511
00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:15.920
It's just it's so built into the Christian way of

512
00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:19.119
thinking today that anyone calls it into question, you just

513
00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:22.440
immediately just get ignored and viewed as you're the problem. No,

514
00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:25.880
the problem is you guys keep using this ridiculous metaphor.

515
00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:31.880
What happens in the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.

516
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:36.119
Did the Reformers use storms to refer to life's problems? No,

517
00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:39.960
at least not the way modern preachers do. I think

518
00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:43.119
we can say not the way they do today. Luther

519
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:49.799
and Calvin, they focused on God's sovereignty, providence, and human sin,

520
00:31:50.359 --> 00:31:53.519
not a poetic metaphor about life struggles. So if you

521
00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:58.720
take Luther and Calvin, doesn't appear to be there the

522
00:31:58.839 --> 00:32:02.079
key themes and the Reformation, suffering was seen as a

523
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:04.640
test of faith, but using storms as a direct metaphor

524
00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:07.599
for trials was not a common teaching. I'm not saying

525
00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:10.000
it's not there. Didn't it seem to be super common.

526
00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:14.440
Storms in the Bible were interpreted literally, not metaphorically. The

527
00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:18.559
Reformers did not popularize the storms of life metaphor. They

528
00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:22.240
focused more on God's sovereignty over trials rather than poetic metaphors.

529
00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:29.640
But now we come to the seventeenth to nineteenth century

530
00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:35.279
here comes the Puritans, here comes the Revivalist, and here

531
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:41.880
comes the storm of life metaphor. All right, did the

532
00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:46.880
Puritans and Revivalists use the storm metaphor? Yes, this is

533
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:49.680
where the metaphor likely began to emerge. The Puritans and

534
00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:54.279
later Revivalist preachers eighteenth nineteenth century emphasized personal trials and

535
00:32:54.319 --> 00:33:00.960
divine providence, often using nature based metaphors. The possible influence.

536
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:10.480
Are you ready? Pilgrim's Progress? That book is a mess, okay,

537
00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:14.480
John Bunyan's pilgrims Progress. It's the book that you can

538
00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:17.039
trace what people do, why people do what they do

539
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:21.720
to Isaiah forty three. It comes from Pilgrim's Progress. Pilgrim's Progress. Really,

540
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:26.480
this book uses storms, floods, and dangerous waters symbolically to

541
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:30.200
represent trials in the Christian life. It's John Bunyan. You

542
00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:32.960
take a book that's an allegory, and then you take

543
00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:35.559
the allegory and then you read it into the Bible.

544
00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:40.079
You don't read allegory into the text. That's just not

545
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:47.759
the way we do hermeneutics. That's why the whole Storms

546
00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:51.039
of Life metaphor is taking as preachers reading it and

547
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:54.599
posing it on to the text, and you're destroying the

548
00:33:54.680 --> 00:33:57.720
purpose of these historical narratives because you no longer make

549
00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:00.799
them a historical narrative that's descriptive. You now turn the

550
00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:05.079
historical narrative into a metaphor for something that it's not

551
00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:09.320
even talking about. And then you somehow find magically prescribed

552
00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:13.440
steps that people need to take to navigate their metaphorical storm.

553
00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:17.760
When those texts are not teaching those principles, you're making

554
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:23.719
them up in your own mind. Now, some may say

555
00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:27.000
Bunyan does not equate storms directly with struggles, but he

556
00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:31.159
does popularize the nature based metaphor for Christians suffering. I'm

557
00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:33.719
gonna I put the blame more on Bunyan than maybe

558
00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:39.719
others will. I put the blame Pilgrim's Progress. Whether you

559
00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:41.639
love the book or hate the book, you've got to

560
00:34:41.719 --> 00:34:46.360
see the things it caused and preaching. I mean, come on,

561
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:49.119
you've got to see that it leads to this allegorical

562
00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:56.159
symbolic nonsense. How about Jonathan Edwards and the First Great

563
00:34:56.159 --> 00:35:00.480
Awakening seventeen thirties to seventeen forties. Edward's famous the sermon

564
00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:03.199
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God compares God's

565
00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:07.280
wrath to natural disasters now though he doesn't call trial storms.

566
00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:11.239
His vivid imagery of divine judgment influenced later metaphorical preaching.

567
00:35:11.719 --> 00:35:17.079
And then we get to Charles hadden Spurgeon eighteen thirty

568
00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:21.119
four to eighteen ninety two, eighteen thirty four to eighteen

569
00:35:21.199 --> 00:35:24.599
ninety two, and everyone's like the Prince of preachers, the

570
00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:28.599
greatest preacher, Charles hadden Spurgeon, and they speak of him

571
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:35.480
in reverent tones. Okay, well, I challenge you get a

572
00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:38.519
copy of Morning and Evening by Charles hadden Spurgeon, his

573
00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:42.639
famous devotional that everyone talks about how great it is.

574
00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:47.519
You look at how he handles scriptures. If I would

575
00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:50.639
say that, if you follow the Herman nudy, if you

576
00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:53.639
look at the way he handles scriptures and Evening and

577
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:56.880
Morning by Charles hadden Spurgeon, and you brought that to

578
00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:01.599
a herminutics class, you should get an f I'm just

579
00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:06.039
gonna be blunt what he does with some text. I'm

580
00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:09.400
just always dumbfounded. I'm like, what where, what do you

581
00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:14.920
That's not what the text is about. Oh, I know

582
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:16.840
I'm not supposed to say that. I know. I know.

583
00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:21.480
Spurgeon occasionally referred to storms of affliction, but did so

584
00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:26.119
poetically rather than exogetically. Well, I think his poetic his

585
00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:30.519
poetic approach was his exogetical approach. But okay, he focused

586
00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:33.079
on God's providence and suffering, but never implied that Biblical

587
00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:36.960
storms were metaphors. The Puritans and Revivalists began to use

588
00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:39.880
poetic storm imagery, but never did claim that Biblical storms

589
00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:43.000
were metaphors for life struggles. They never may have dramatic

590
00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:46.760
directly stated it, but they they laid the foundation. I'm

591
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.760
still going to say the Puritans, Charles hadn't spurgeon. That's

592
00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:54.400
and John Bunyan's that whole that's where all these problems began.

593
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:57.920
Now if you jump to the twentieth century, oh, now

594
00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:01.679
we get to the evangelicals and we get the charismatics.

595
00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:07.039
This is where it really takes off. The twentieth century

596
00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:11.480
saw a shift towards applicational preaching, where preachers sought to

597
00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:16.400
make Biblical stories relevant to everyday struggles. This error saw

598
00:37:16.440 --> 00:37:19.480
the rise of motivational Christian messages, which led to the

599
00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:24.920
to making very popular this idea of the storm trial metaphor.

600
00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:27.800
All right, who were some of the people who helped

601
00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:33.079
made this popular. Billy Sunday eighteen sixty two to nineteen

602
00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:38.159
thirty five. The Fiery Revivalists used emotional and dramatic preaching,

603
00:37:38.280 --> 00:37:42.519
incorporating nature based metaphors. He frequently preached about facing difficulties

604
00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:44.519
as a test of faith, even though he may not

605
00:37:44.599 --> 00:37:49.280
have directly equated storms with personal trials, but he's doing

606
00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:51.679
many of the same concepts. Then you have Billy Graham

607
00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:55.280
nineteen eighteen to two thousand and five. Graham's sermons were

608
00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:58.480
highly application driven, often focusing on how God helps those

609
00:37:58.760 --> 00:38:02.199
who struggle. His message of personal faith through hardship helped

610
00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:05.199
reinforce the storm of life metaphor. Then we get to

611
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.000
the charismatic and Word of Faith movements from the nineteen fifties.

612
00:38:09.559 --> 00:38:12.280
Sadly it still exists. I don't know why those I

613
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.000
don't know how the charismatic movement survived more than five minutes.

614
00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:18.159
But okay, you had preachers like Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagen,

615
00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:22.320
Joel Olstein began using storms as symbols of life problems

616
00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:27.719
to emphasize victory through faith. The Prosperity Gospel helped further

617
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:31.639
popularize the storm image, often used in self help context.

618
00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:35.519
Then we have the modern worship music. Many contemporary Christian

619
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:39.320
songs use storms metaphorically praise you in the storm, casting

620
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:43.960
crowns Oceans by Hillsong. This has reinforced the storm as

621
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:48.360
trial concept even further in modern Christian thought. By the

622
00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:53.199
twentieth century, preachers and Christian media had fully embedded the

623
00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:58.480
storms of life metaphor into evangelical culture. This was not

624
00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:03.519
a biblical development. It was a rhetorical and a cultural one.

625
00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:06.960
It was a rhetorical and cultural thing that then was

626
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:11.239
imposed upon scripture because it does not arise from scripture.

627
00:39:11.400 --> 00:39:14.679
It's imposed on scripture, and person after person have said

628
00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:18.119
in the pew saying Amen, Amen, Amen, oh pastor thank you.

629
00:39:18.360 --> 00:39:21.679
I'm going through a storm and this message was so helpful,

630
00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:23.840
and I'm gonna trust that Jesus will walk on the

631
00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:26.559
storm of my life and tell it to be steel

632
00:39:26.760 --> 00:39:37.119
and all the storms. Just stop the nonsense people. The

633
00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:41.280
metaphor is a modern day invention. No biblical writer ever

634
00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:45.199
calls life struggles storms. The early Church Reformers and Puritans

635
00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:48.639
did not use it explicitly, but they Puritans started laying

636
00:39:48.679 --> 00:39:54.880
the foundation. The metaphor emerged gradually through Puritan poetry, revivalist preaching,

637
00:39:55.239 --> 00:39:59.280
and modern evangelical application driven sermons. It became fully mainstream

638
00:39:59.320 --> 00:40:02.039
in the twentieth cent due to teleevangelists, worship music, and

639
00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:09.440
motivational preaching. The storms of life metaphor listen. It's a

640
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:13.039
modern day Christian teaching. It is not a biblical one.

641
00:40:16.559 --> 00:40:20.880
It should not be imposed on biblical text where storms

642
00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:27.639
were meant literally, not figuratively. You can't do that. You

643
00:40:27.719 --> 00:40:30.480
can't go to these storm narratives and say, oh, we're

644
00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:32.480
going to learn how to deal with the storms of life.

645
00:40:32.559 --> 00:40:34.639
It's not about the storms of life. It's not teaching

646
00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:36.960
you a lesson. It's not prescribing you a lesson. That

647
00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:39.480
lesson that it is teaching I shouldn't say it's teaching

648
00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:41.519
you a lesson. It's not teaching you a lesson about you.

649
00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:44.400
Is teaching you a lesson about God? Or it's teaching

650
00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:47.639
you a lesson about that particular storm and like this

651
00:40:47.719 --> 00:40:49.840
storm was there because of sin, or this storm was

652
00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:54.320
there for this reason. That not about you. It's not

653
00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:57.480
about you. It's not about your circumstance. It's not about

654
00:40:57.559 --> 00:40:59.679
how to help you through your circumstance. It's not to

655
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:02.079
urge you in the middle of your circumstance. It's a

656
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:06.360
historical narrative about a specific situation, and they're literal storms.

657
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:09.360
Has nothing to do about your metaphorical storm that you're

658
00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:12.079
going through. It's not about your cancer, it's not about

659
00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:14.840
your relationship, it's not about trouble with your kids. It's

660
00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:17.960
not about your financial problems, problems and your marriage, it's

661
00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:23.880
not about any of that. We've got to declare war

662
00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:27.960
on this absolutely ridiculous metaphor. I'm sick of hearing it.

663
00:41:32.920 --> 00:41:36.360
And if you just go now you can look up,

664
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:40.679
of course, in specific passages that are about storms. But

665
00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:46.199
if you just go to the sermon audio app just

666
00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:51.639
type in storms, just types in storms, storms of life.

667
00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:57.840
There's under storms five hundred and seventy nine sermons. Just

668
00:41:58.039 --> 00:42:02.079
the word storms five hundred and seven sermons, five hundred

669
00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:13.159
and seventy nine. All right, then see here, Well, there's

670
00:42:13.199 --> 00:42:17.199
one Trust God. Some of these I don't know how

671
00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:18.880
they really fit. Some of these I don't know how

672
00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:23.559
they really fit. Trust Jesus to calm the storms in

673
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:27.199
your life. There's one Trust Jesus. This was preached on

674
00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:30.599
February the second, twenty twenty five. All right, the trust

675
00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:33.000
Jesus to calm the storms in your life. There's one

676
00:42:33.079 --> 00:42:37.159
right here. I'm gonna save it because this, this is just,

677
00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:40.519
this is just. It never ends with this stuff. Man,

678
00:42:41.159 --> 00:42:44.519
I don't get why pastors do this, the calm and

679
00:42:44.599 --> 00:42:48.760
the storm, the calm and the storm. Here's another one

680
00:42:49.719 --> 00:42:51.840
from Mark four. I know where it's gonna go. I'm

681
00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:54.280
gonna share. I'm gonna want to say share it. I'm

682
00:42:54.280 --> 00:43:00.000
sharing it to my notes application. All right, see here,

683
00:42:59.760 --> 00:43:05.400
where is your faith? Where is your faith? It is

684
00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:07.320
important to be a child of God and to follow him.

685
00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:10.000
There will be storms in life. There is another there

686
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.440
it is again this stuff, it's so, it never ends.

687
00:43:15.239 --> 00:43:21.440
And past I don't understand why nobody ever calls us

688
00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:30.039
into question. He's still in the storm. Here's another one. Oh,

689
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:32.760
it's from Acts twenty seven. Oh boy, here we go.

690
00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.639
I'm gonna save this one. Oh man, you just look

691
00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:38.840
them up. Just oh, I just I just want to

692
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:42.599
smash my iPad in a million places. I'm so sick

693
00:43:42.679 --> 00:43:46.760
of it. And all those ones I get. They go

694
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:50.840
to Matthew eight, Mark four and Acts twenty seven. They

695
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:53.559
go they you just know when a pastor is going

696
00:43:53.639 --> 00:43:55.880
to be on this section. You know the sermon you're

697
00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:59.440
going to hear. It's a historical narrative about a literal storm,

698
00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:02.360
and I don't care. They will mention it's a literal storm,

699
00:44:02.440 --> 00:44:05.119
but then immediately it becomes about the storms in your life,

700
00:44:05.159 --> 00:44:07.519
even though the text is not about that has nothing

701
00:44:07.559 --> 00:44:13.679
to do with it, and nobody ever calls it out.

702
00:44:14.960 --> 00:44:18.360
Oh but you take someone else. They take a passage

703
00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:21.920
of scripture and they impose something on it. But you

704
00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:25.039
don't like what they're imposing on scripture, then lo and behold,

705
00:44:25.159 --> 00:44:27.519
all of a sudden you get mad and you get

706
00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:31.519
ticked off. Oh you're not handling the word of God correctly. Well, look, no,

707
00:44:31.760 --> 00:44:34.519
you either care about when every single time it happens,

708
00:44:34.719 --> 00:44:36.360
or you don't care at all. You don't get to

709
00:44:36.400 --> 00:44:38.679
pick and choose, because based on whether you like what's

710
00:44:38.719 --> 00:44:42.559
being imposed on the text. You may love the storms

711
00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:45.360
of life metaphor sermons, you may eat them up. You

712
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:48.039
may love them. They may encourage you, But I don't

713
00:44:48.039 --> 00:44:50.440
know why they're encouraging you, because everything they're telling you

714
00:44:50.679 --> 00:44:53.159
has nothing to do with you, and the principles they're

715
00:44:53.199 --> 00:44:55.639
giving you doesn't come from the actual text that they're

716
00:44:55.639 --> 00:45:00.519
supposedly pulling the principles from. It would be better to say, hey,

717
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:03.559
today we're gonna I'm gonna do a little self help.

718
00:45:03.639 --> 00:45:06.519
We're gonna do a little self help lesson life is

719
00:45:06.519 --> 00:45:09.519
full of difficulty, pain and trials. I'm gonna give you

720
00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:12.480
five things that you can do to navigate trials and

721
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:15.039
difficulties in your life. And don't sit there and try

722
00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:18.000
to force them from scripture. Just give your five little

723
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:24.360
you know, pseudo psychological, you know, counseling tips like no,

724
00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:27.360
I took it from the Word of God. I took

725
00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:30.239
it from Now you put them into scripture, they're not

726
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:34.440
there because those storms have nothing to do with us.

727
00:45:35.679 --> 00:45:42.239
Lose my ever living mind. So we figure the Bible

728
00:45:42.360 --> 00:45:44.440
doesn't use it this way, so it's being imposed on

729
00:45:44.480 --> 00:45:47.000
the text. We went through church history and it really

730
00:45:47.119 --> 00:45:52.880
explodes with the evangelical charismatic world. But the Puritans lay

731
00:45:52.920 --> 00:45:56.079
the foundation. The Puritans get the blame. I think John Bunyan.

732
00:45:56.519 --> 00:45:59.199
I think John Bunyan and Charles Haddon Spurgeon get the blame,

733
00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:07.360
especially with Isaiah forty three. John Bunyan gets the blame.

734
00:46:07.400 --> 00:46:08.639
I don't know what in the world he was doing

735
00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:11.639
with Isaiah forty three. He totally destroyed that. Okay, that

736
00:46:11.760 --> 00:46:14.599
was insane. I mean, and don't take my word for it.

737
00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.000
I don't have a cop where is my I think

738
00:46:17.039 --> 00:46:20.039
it's downstairs. I have a hardback copy of Morning and

739
00:46:20.079 --> 00:46:22.639
Evening by Charles Headenspurgeon, because I've been told my whole

740
00:46:22.679 --> 00:46:25.039
Christian life it's the greatest devotional ever. It's the greatest

741
00:46:25.039 --> 00:46:27.920
devotional ever. You've got to have Charles Headonsburg. Yeah, and

742
00:46:27.960 --> 00:46:30.159
you start going through that like this would this would

743
00:46:30.159 --> 00:46:37.239
get an F in any reasonable school teaching hermeneutics. But

744
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:40.760
you're not supposed to criticize it because he's he's on

745
00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:46.639
our team. I don't care about the team. Again, who

746
00:46:46.679 --> 00:46:51.039
cares about philological teams? Don't? We just care about the text.

747
00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:56.840
Historical narrative is a historical narrative. Most cases, they're descriptive,

748
00:46:56.880 --> 00:46:59.760
they're not prescriptive. And you can't take a literal a

749
00:47:00.920 --> 00:47:03.880
historical narrative about a literal storm that's descriptive and all

750
00:47:03.920 --> 00:47:06.880
of a sudden turn it into our prescriptive passage giving

751
00:47:06.880 --> 00:47:09.199
you principles and how to deal with a metaphorical storm.

752
00:47:09.239 --> 00:47:13.559
It's just the whole thing is ridiculous, But there we

753
00:47:13.639 --> 00:47:15.880
have it. I wanted to at least get that out

754
00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:20.280
of the way. Next time we'll look at the reasons

755
00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:23.360
for the storms. I don't know how you're going to

756
00:47:23.440 --> 00:47:26.000
get reasons from the storms in your life, from the

757
00:47:26.039 --> 00:47:29.519
reasons for the storm and the actual physics. Okay, oh man,

758
00:47:29.679 --> 00:47:32.039
it just becomes another problem. But we will get into

759
00:47:32.079 --> 00:47:36.159
some very deep philosophical issues that's going to make everyone

760
00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:40.039
very uncomfortable. But we will cover that next time. For now,

761
00:47:41.800 --> 00:47:45.719
the storms, how to weather the storms of life. The

762
00:47:45.760 --> 00:47:50.760
study guide is built literally on this metaphor. This metaphor

763
00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:53.920
is not biblical. This metaphor was not a part of

764
00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:57.559
early church. It's a modern day invention imposed on the

765
00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:01.920
text by pastors, teachers. And guess who I blame. I

766
00:48:01.920 --> 00:48:04.159
don't blame the pastors and teachers. I blame all the

767
00:48:04.159 --> 00:48:07.119
people sitting in the pew saying amen to it and

768
00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:13.000
supporting it. Thanks for listening, God bless