Welcome to #Christian Straight Talk, introducing Reverend Ben Cooper, and Simon Pinchbeck. With this week's podcast, our podcasts have now been published and can be purchased in hardback or as an E-book direct from Amazon. You can listen to our podcast on multiple platforms, including Amazon Buzzsprout and Spotify.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Good morning, listen to that music that's warrior music
Simon Pinchbeck:has proper music in it and
Reverend Ben Cooper:goodness gracious me. Must be Matt reverend singing that in the background.
Simon Pinchbeck:And what is that music called ben?
Reverend Ben Cooper:Faith come alive. what a powerful bit of music God led you to? Absolutely. So strong.
Simon Pinchbeck:I put it together in the back of my my carriage
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, you had a moment. Were in, were here, Yeah, the musicians or the flutist is here. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening, wherever you are. Thank you so much for joining us today, as you link in as you share everything out. And as the intro said, there, we are so blessed to be able to chat to be in this position where we were able to just bring the scriptures to you and also to us that God is moving very powerfully in the times in which we live. And we got another interesting subject. And Simon is going to bring it right into a holy place because I feel really mucky today. I don't feel holy do you?
Simon Pinchbeck:And it's only what
Reverend Ben Cooper:help me Jesus.
Simon Pinchbeck:Yeah, this is great to be back across the mics with you Ben. And it's great to be sharing this stuff. And then I will just the title of this today is really choose this day. It's called choose this day, and it's choose this day who you're going to serve. And we're going to go straight into a scripture, which is Joshua 24 1415. And Joshua is coming to the end. It's not been Joshua, the book of Joshua is a real powerful book in it. It's a Warrior Book in it,
Reverend Ben Cooper:but it's a warrior. It's an absolute steamer of a book, you know, it's got so much power and authority. And I actually believe we've heard it in me for so long that Jonathan, Jennifer, the Joshua generation, I believe that we are literally in a time when God is raising up warriors in the wasteland of the UK. I believe that men and women are being raised up for such a time as this, amongst everything that's going on in church at a church business life that that is coming a time when when we're going to see more Joshua and Caleb, when we're going to know what we're able, we're able because of him.
Simon Pinchbeck:Jonah bend I don't think it's just the UK I think it's across the world. Do you think it's across the west across the world raise is raising up people to question the establishment. Yeah. Because you know, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So, so everything we read in the Old Testament, all this stuff is relevant for today. And let's listen to this. He says, he says in a place called Shechem. And he's brought all the tribes of Israel together and they've seen mighty battles that neither Lord is real taking them through is that armies have fallen before and they've beaten Anik and all that follows
Reverend Ben Cooper:like it's a filmer it when you look at it, what they what they went through and what they done. And also got remembers that they're trained, didn't know what they went against. And what they fought against that they wasn't bred
Simon Pinchbeck:for war was they know they weren't young men I've ever been we're like now they wasn't. They was in their 80s. And, and you know what? So we got a few years left.
Reverend Ben Cooper:We got a few years left. We got a couple of years left, we got a couple years left on the old ticket
Simon Pinchbeck:that day, and they didn't did certainly in the Lord's day God
Reverend Ben Cooper:obedience comes to mind as well that they were so obedient to what God was saying. And you come back you always have to come back to the Joshua one job done. Yeah, you know, be strong and courageous meditate and all that sort of stuff. Because if they wasn't firm on the rock in God, none of this would have happened.
Simon Pinchbeck:If the Lord told him and Joshua
Reverend Ben Cooper:very clear, very clear, very clear, clear, and courageous.
Simon Pinchbeck:Don't download the left or the right just stay ahead and
Reverend Ben Cooper:stay ahead, stay focused, and that stays today. stay steady, stay, stay on the rock keep keep on going and keep on going. But Simon this scripture that you bought to the mics this morning, Joshua 24, verse 14, just the first few words in it in it says Now fair, the Lord and serving With all your faithfulness, throw away the gods of your ancestors, worship beyond the rivers and Euphrates rivers, and in Egypt and serve the Lord God is making it clear that you're going to serve me and that is it. I'm not a god, that is going to share it with anyone. I'm not sharing it with man. I'm not sharing it with pastors. I'm not sharing with leaders. I'm not sharing it with the establishment. I am a jealous God, serve me and serve me only. It's quite, it's heavy stuff,
Simon Pinchbeck:heavy stuff, but it doesn't make it complicated. Does
Reverend Ben Cooper:he know, you know where you stand? He says, Now, I find that really almost tearful that bit there now fear the Lord, to fear God, what does that actually mean to come with fear and trembling? You know, and it's not in a revival mode. It's not in it's a mode of understanding. I think I've lost the understanding of what fear the Lord actually means. I'm quite fearful of the I'm fearful that I've lost the true understanding. What does that actually mean? Does the church in the West truly understand what it means to fear the Lord?
Simon Pinchbeck:Now it's gone, that's gone out of the church, Ben, and we've done a podcast on that, and the fear of God, and that's going to be coming out in our second book, which is all on fear. But you're exactly right. You know, the Father, our father doesn't want us to, it's for our own good. It's not that he wants to beat us or with the
Reverend Ben Cooper:with the worldly fear. This is a holy judgment, fear of realizing how holy and pure he is.
Simon Pinchbeck:And you know what the world at this moment in time, and certain branches of the church want to rap? God the Father up and Jesus up as this loving this beautiful, loving finger, you can do no wrong, he's got you all the time. But and that's great. And that's true, but he wants you to follow in. You Don't wink at sin, he doesn't want you to be distracted with the other gods of our world, which are materialism last order. Money is a big thing for people, isn't it? You know, you don't want us to be distracted by that. Keep your eyes on him. And as long as Jesus said, on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew six, Seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness, and everything else will fall into place. Now, I know many men whose Christian men whose say their lives are train wrecks, and I say, Well, what time you given the garden they go, we don't have time to I don't have time. And if you don't have time to give to God, well, your life is gonna be a train wreck. Because that what he says in this bend, you know? And he goes on to say in in 1524 15, Joshua, he says, and it's an if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day. He says, Choose this day, no mess about don't don't choose tomorrow, don't ever use the second
Reverend Ben Cooper:week. Think spreadsheet. Don't need a flow chart or a pie chart,
Simon Pinchbeck:though reasons in size. Don't have to put it before scientists do. You're gonna have to put in
Reverend Ben Cooper:a test tube and come up with a Bunsen burner and we've got we've got them we've got the remedy. It's now let me
Simon Pinchbeck:ring this Morphe ology. Might you know who's got a decomp? No, no, he said, Look, he says,
Reverend Ben Cooper:Now fair, the Lord and serve Him with all your faithfulness. And then he puts it back on us. Throw away the gods of your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates river in Egypt and serve the Lord. Then Simon's in verse 15, it says, that if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day, whom you will serve whether the gods of your ancestors beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you so that gives me a bit of comfort. I tell you why. And it says, Let me finish up. But as for me, and my house, I will should serve the Lord, that as for me, were served the Lord as for me, my house was served that that is that is almost a throwaway comment is it? What we don't RK what I say what I say what I don't, what I don't do is take note of what it says before.
Simon Pinchbeck:That's the thing you know, you'll see that you'll see that verse. I will say that you'll see that happening.
Reverend Ben Cooper:But yeah, and also the word servant. Servant is in the New Testament and the Old Testament, I will serve him but serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, God don't mess about his words dizzy. You ever gonna want to or you're not gonna want to, but if you want to lay the gods down in your life, because you have got gods in your life, lay him down, because he's telling us throw the gods away of your of your ancestors. So a lot of people don't like the terminal G and the language where it says, where it comes up that the generational line, but God makes it very clear, be careful of your ancestors, the ones in your family that will before you that you don't follow the trends and the hashtag of their life. You got to be careful ever knew that you don't follow this, this generational thing that comes up because my grandparents done it, I do it because my mum does it, I do it because my brother they do it. I've got to make a decision for myself.
Simon Pinchbeck:And it's very interesting point, you might say, No one can help you make this decision, you've got to make this decision. And he says this day, choose the day you choose you today. Don't, don't, don't run to your bishop, don't run to your spiritual director don't run to run the guy down a road, who knows a bit of the Bible don't know, choose this day, ooh, you will serve
Reverend Ben Cooper:this it. And also it says very clearly at the back end of 15 of the gods of the Amorites in so we live in a land that there are foreign gods. You know, we're hearing a lot of way through different ministries. Over the last number of weeks and years about, we're gonna take city by stone, each city is going to be saved, our towns are going to be sad that that's not biblical language. Because everywhere God took the Israelites, they had to live in a land and not adapt their selves to the people in the land. But what we have here is a lot of churchy religious people, follow the gods of the land, but then come to church for two hours on a Sunday. And then go back to the serving God, a blue, Walter lakeside, and all the shops and
Simon Pinchbeck:trust in what you say there. Because, you know, it says in in our Bible done it, you know, we have to be in the world, but not over the world. And that's true. We have to live in the world. And the problem we have a lot of people with in the church environment, we don't want to be knocking nacho cheese all the time. But but we're having a go and we'll have a go. And I think till our last breath against the wrong people. Yeah, wrong gospel, that that's what it's about the people that are preaching the gospel to social justice, God, all that sort of stuff coming to prosperity, all the wrong gospels will come against that, like a ton of bricks knock it like a steam train. But but so we have to be, we have to not serve, we have to be in the world. And we haven't got to be in that Christian only how to love we because it
Reverend Ben Cooper:doesn't exist it that doesn't that a holy huddle has been created created by the establishment and the area of church. It's it's trying to make a huddle and trying to protect itself from the world when actually Jesus says go into all the world and integrate and teach, and go in there fearlessly. But don't be part of it. You got to go in. And it's not about when we're talking about winning. We're not talking about preaching the gospel, in a way of what certain ministries are saying about your city, your town is going to be saved your neighborhood is going to be all for Jesus because that that is not correct. Because Christ is not coming back for a world or Kent will not be saved for Jesus Christ. Because the Scripture makes it very clear that you are going to live in a land where foreign gods are. And as he said, as you go into the land of Canaan, do not mimic their lifestyle.
Simon Pinchbeck:But you're absolutely right. You're never gonna win a whole town for the Lord just it's just not going to happen if because if you look at the percentage of that small town of Swan Lee was about 30,000 people. Yeah, percentage of people to actually go to church in Sway is
Reverend Ben Cooper:wondering less than
Simon Pinchbeck:1000 and less than a follow less than 500. And
Reverend Ben Cooper:then again, write that down again, and then you break it down into Am I a believer?
Simon Pinchbeck:So that's my ticking the box or am I believe, but so, so you're not going to cite so that got some towns
Reverend Ben Cooper:are not going to be saved? Because God is coming back? Christ sorry, Christ is coming back. And what's it coming back for he's coming back to sweep through and the antichrist that what we're seeing is a world ramping up ramping up to lift up the Antichrist, he's empty. So there's no way you will have in the end days, towns and postcodes, save for Jesus because the Antichrist will wipe them out. You've only got look at the persecuted church, the churches in Iran, the churches in Afghanistan, a lot of the churches in the rural what are called a rural church of Jesus Christ. They don't even have a building. They're flattened. But God is moving so powerfully. And I think
Simon Pinchbeck:what is brought home to us during these lockdown things is that you know, this is church what we're doing Now, I would have mics This is talking about Scripture people listen to this you're
Reverend Ben Cooper:part of the kingdom the body of Christ. Yeah,
Simon Pinchbeck:this is the kingdom so so you know we're working to advance the kingdom and
Reverend Ben Cooper:it's just a serving the Lord isn't it.
Simon Pinchbeck:It's definitely serving the sermon and Lord, where where we are and coming out. We have God's other gods we have the gods of materialism. TV we've got gods of sports world, you know, it's a God in everything, the climate change, all of that sort of stuff. You know where people are on the planet rather than worshipping their Creator, we have them sort of gods. And the Bible tells us clearly Joshua's tenants clearly stay away from that world stay away from that, stay away from that and choose choose this day you're gonna serve
Reverend Ben Cooper:but if you're going to say for as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You can't do that until you go backwards in the text because what it to serve the Lord means to lay down God's in your life to serve the Lord as for me and my house that means to get rid of the gaming you imagine every house you imagine how many houses with teenagers in and this is for me to the grandkids and all that going on? When they get on the game and and all that sort of stuff? Imagine all the stuff that's coming through the TVs? Oh, the gods that are coming through the TVs coming through the airwaves coming through the music,
Simon Pinchbeck:but and I've got a seven year old granddaughter who who's going on 27 Do you know when she can you know what she can do an amazing American accent? Really? Why? Because he's on because she's watched so much YouTube stuff. Yeah, and she can do an amazing she's absolutely beautiful little thing but she could do an American accent just like that. Because all the stuff she watches
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah. Is on American accent. It's interesting, isn't it? How how God made it very clear. When I take you into the promised land. That land is my land in your land. But I'm not gonna make that land a holy huddle. You're gonna find giants? Yeah, you're gonna see trials and tribulations send the spies out, I'll show you the promised land. But in that promised land, there are going to be enormous trials, enormous stretching, but it's a promised land. So not only is it a promise that the promises in the land and the Promised Land is flowing with milk and honey, and God's promises are yes and amen, we get that. But when I live real life, and my land and my Promised Land is the Jerusalem before my feet, I will find that I will have foreign gods I will find our love in the Philippine Nephilim around me, giants, issues this that, but I cannot adapt to the world way of living. So when God said, when you get the land of Canaan, don't live like the Canaanites? Of course we won't God what happens next? They're already in their party and they're drinking, they're melting the gold and making golden cast.
Simon Pinchbeck:Ben Oh, God is the same yesterday down forever. So so we are in exactly the same situation today. And you know, this is interesting, because Joshua said this when he was gone before he died, right? Yeah. What did Moses say before he died? He said, I've put before you life and death. He says Choose life so that your seed will live so that you will seed which is your your children's generation generational issues, life is saying, That's why That's why Ben that the gospel never grows old does it?
Reverend Ben Cooper:Now it's as relevant now as what it was. Because it is always moving. It is always a sharp as a double edged sword. It is more powerful now than it has ever been. And when I say that, what I'm referring to is because of the times in which we live, so God is almost running a highlighter pen around certain areas of our lives and saying, you've got foreign gods,
Simon Pinchbeck:our Gospel never gets dated, never as a sharp and onpoint you know when and here's the thing, this is what we hear from many so called Christian leaders we are we have to change the Adapt. We've got to change theology changed doctrine to adapt for our times. Now we don't
Reverend Ben Cooper:know I keep in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I keep on the Old Testament I keep in Genesis to Revelation. What I need to do is drop my foreign gods and follow Jesus and interest
Simon Pinchbeck:in any interest in Ben when, when Jesus give it about, about picking up your cross daily choosing your cross daily goodness, Emily, people ran away, everyone, but he didn't chase after him did he know? So why are we having to chase after chase after people and say, so Jesus didn't Imagine the rich young ruler when he came to him and said, You know, Jesus knew his heart and he said, he loved him and he said, Give away give away all your all your possessions and, and he had a heavy heart. Jesus didn't chase after him again. Now, I didn't
Reverend Ben Cooper:mean come on, you're given a
Simon Pinchbeck:few quid but they never said that did he know? Now, imagine if that rich young ruler turned around and gone? I'll do that. And Jesus would have gone you don't have to give everything because I know your heart.
Reverend Ben Cooper:That's right. What is your heart your heart isn't it's like and then we we've said quite a few times across this area that we're ministering in is what God and David David had a heart after God is your heart it doesn't matter your lip service it doesn't matter about your your attitude or your thinking. You might dance the you know, the drum, what church and religion and the establishment in the world wants but but Jesus knows Jesus sees right and what God sees right the way through the skin. He sees right the way through and he goes, I'll see your heart. I see I see your foreign gods, I see who you really are worshipping. I see your struggles. But there comes a point when what I'm being very careful. It said to Simon off it I used this word I because it more I use the word higher. It's making an idol and me almost a God. I've got to be very careful about my language and I'm not referring to effing and blinding I'm referring to the way that I speak is it biblical terminology? Or is it ministry terminology? Is it world terminology,
Simon Pinchbeck:where you've got to be careful where the signpost points benefit and if it's continually pointing to you and you're continually see see, we can take encouragement where the Gods got to get the glory every time every time to you know so, so we can we can enjoy being encouraged by people but we've got to point the signpost to the Lord all the time and and he says in James Bennett says he says do not waver do not be like like the the read in the wind I think it's blowing blowing around this way and that way Do you know something? Got a double minded man dinner you know sort of
Reverend Ben Cooper:Yeah, and sometimes I think Am I a double minded am I am I just mad somedays my almost a schizophrenic Christian breaking in this and break it bouncing from one that's backwards and forwards. I'm aware of this. I'm aware of that. I'm scared of this. I'm scared of that. I've made a bad decision.
Simon Pinchbeck:That's why we got to choose this day who will serve Jesus one the talk is dinner you want to talk because he said you know, do not eat because he warned a hypocrites didn't he told him he saw straight through there.
Reverend Ben Cooper:But what's an hypocrite because I'm frightened. I'm an hypocrites. I'm not really get
Simon Pinchbeck:someone who says something. But don't do it. You know. But after I do that, do what I say not what I do. Do you
Reverend Ben Cooper:know? I can put myself in these areas very easily and
Simon Pinchbeck:you better be careful and you can be careful, Lord,
Reverend Ben Cooper:do you know I can so easily put myself in so many circles, but unconscious of the circles that I'm in? Is it because I don't know? Do you know what following God following God is your beliefs and he got me in an atom. You gotta be like an athlete Haven't you got to be trained, you've got to be fit for the battle.
Simon Pinchbeck:So we get this modern day thing you get all these people want to challenge us to climb this to do that might turn your
Reverend Ben Cooper:son or daughter live by the Word. Now I understand what it means about being enduring, enduring endurance. That's like, if you put if you look at an athlete, someone that is a triathlon, you know, they they're swimming, they're running, and they're cycling, the endurance you got to go through to to run and to finish the race. Yeah,
Simon Pinchbeck:yeah. So we've seen it at some of these athletes that we've seen recently in the in the game exhausted but the the time they have to spend well,
Reverend Ben Cooper:this feels away from society. Do you
Simon Pinchbeck:know I don't I don't advise anyone following Alice Cooper, you know, but Alice Cooper said this, he said, Alice Cooper was that sort of glam rock star when he said he said, he said, I've been a rock star. I've done all that sort of thing he said, but following Jesus, that's the toughest gig I've ever I've ever had. And it's the truth that
Reverend Ben Cooper:he's speaking in his language that he understands in his language, so following God, because God makes it clear now fear the LORD, that just the two words in and making me tremble because I'm thinking, I don't even understand truly what it means I can talk about but coming to a place of God, I fear you. I'm scared what I am actually scared. I am scared of God. I'm not frightened of it in it. You know, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, and then serve him so you're doing it is in a way where you got you got to lay it down, you got to lay this
Simon Pinchbeck:you've got laying the world down, I'll tell you what to lay
Reverend Ben Cooper:the world down. You've got to be someone that can really
Simon Pinchbeck:so you go through and the problem is with with this day and age and I guess I don't know if it's previous diner but especially what we know and the environment that we've been in you know Jesus said pick up your cross daily in the unfollow me, which is really is live in the world. That's our cross, I guess. And if you do that, you'll receive the crown, you know, perseverance, which James says, but do you think Ben a lot of people want to cram without across their mind this
Reverend Ben Cooper:day wasn't the crowd, they want the glory, I want to go out the mark
Simon Pinchbeck:without that. That's the trouble of actually getting there. Yeah, we've actually put that
Reverend Ben Cooper:we're in a society where you can be at you can be, you can be the daddy you can be this you can be that without being it's an instant society we want everything can be instant, everything's instant, when actually, I think we started to realize now that nothing is instant, nothing is free. There's a price for following Christ, there is a serious price. And that is laying down what the world is dangling in front of you. Laying it that having Do you have the strength to turn away and walk away from foreign gods, I cannot get away from that scripture. In verse 14, throw away the gods of your ancestors. So it is in the family line. It is in the genealogy of all of us. It is in possibly in our DNA. It is in this there's a generational thing. This isn't a family thing. It's a generational thing. It's coming up to bite us on the backside if we're not careful. Because what my family were in, I was birthed in that. So I think that's the normal run of life.
Simon Pinchbeck:Well, that's very interesting. You say that, because we can trace your family all the way back to Adam and Eve, Ben, and they they made a wrong decision, didn't they? Perfect. So they weren't that Ben, they weren't robots were they they weren't. God didn't make robots he made us with a wheel that can choose.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And straightaway, after four breaths they went, were out of their god did I mean, before they before the tree of life probably come into full blossom, they was picking off of it. It's like, straight away straight away. But straight away,
Simon Pinchbeck:as you quite rightly said, we've all chosen sin. Anyway, we've all chosen it. And we've all practiced it. We've all enjoyed it. For what it is, for, for the for the note book for the no free lunch, it gives us gentlemen for the for the shallow set, sat there vacation, sat satisfaction, it gives us we you know, end up been the Bible, which is the more I would advise anybody who's listening to this to really look at a bar because the more we get into it, we'll Revelation the more it comes out and,
Reverend Ben Cooper:and you comes alive. And also I start to realize as Paul right, how much of it is a mystery, because you actually can't work this god out. You can't work him out through science and reason in you can't work him out. His ways are higher than our ways his thoughts are beyond our thoughts. We get an A I think we get a glimmer of God, we get a grain of sand, we got all this information, because the Bible is information and and obviously God turns into Revelation and through the power of the Holy Spirit. God is revealed through His Word. And so we've got to be careful that we don't try and work things out in our own mind and our own senses and our own perception of what the scripture is saying. But to follow God to follow God, the more you want him, the more I will say this about myself, the more I want him. And the more I want to do what this is telling me to do lay down the gods in my life and in the circle of my life, and my gods, of the ancestors of my family of my generation and everything that I've literally got to do a turn around, I've literally got a turn and about turn, turning around and putting the world behind you on keeping across in front of you. But all the distractions are like pulling, pulling, pulling you back to the left pulling you to the right, you see focus on the cross focus on
Simon Pinchbeck:this Christian life and this way of life. My friends, this is an amazing victorious life. The powerful in a one off thing is is to pick up your
Reverend Ben Cooper:heartbeat, isn't it? It's every second year brief. It's not two hours on a Sunday. It is every second of every heartbeat that I'm on this earth and I'm starting to realize the more I want this power of God not for me. I've said that completely wrong, the more I want this Holy Ghost God and the more I want the God of Israel and the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the more I long and the more I yearn and the more hungry I am for him, I realize that my flesh is so corrupt and so far from him. But I'm close at the same time.
Simon Pinchbeck:But it's clear in it. It's life and death. Jesus says, the wide is the road. Yeah. And narrow is a word wrote the distraction on. Jesus said, I have NO WAY TO LIFE and the TRUTH, didn't you? So? And the Bible tells us Benny says it says, don't say that there was a way that seems right to man says Done. Yeah, there's a way that seems right to man. But it leads to destruction, then, uh, yeah, that's correct.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And I also think that we're at a point also in the book of Judges, the end of judges where it says, each man is doing what he sees right in his own eyes for his no king in Israel.
Simon Pinchbeck:That's interesting. You know, interesting. You said each man is right in his own eyes. Because, you know, if you speak to someone, they will say, Well, I'm a sincere person. Well, you know, you, you can be doing the wrong thing. Sincerely, Kanye, do you know, I this week, an athlete say, someone said to him, of course, you've got a practice because practice makes perfect. And she said, she said, No, she said, I don't say that. I say practice makes permanent. And it's a truth. Because if we, what we practice becomes permanent. And so we're practicing getting into the Word
Reverend Ben Cooper:of God, we stay, we stay, we stay, we stay, we stay, we can practice
Simon Pinchbeck:the wrong stuff. And
Reverend Ben Cooper:I'm really good at that one. Yeah.
Simon Pinchbeck:You know, and, you know, we can say, someone will say, Well, yeah, but I'm a good person. I'll give a few quitter. Charity, and I do this, that and the other. But the Bible clearly tells us but that that is not by our works. Because if it was our works, we come back to what you were saying again, you said I've done this, I've done it. I've,
Reverend Ben Cooper:I've done I'm writing I've done, I've done I've achieved, look what I've done. So to lay down your gods
Simon Pinchbeck:is to lay down self in itself, is to lay down self lay down the eye. Not my will but your will without lay down the garden of Gethsemane yet.
Reverend Ben Cooper:And when and also the power of the Garden of Gethsemane is, is God prepare me for when I've got a walk out of the garden? Because there comes a point when I got a walk out of the garden?
Simon Pinchbeck:Well, let me ask you this thing. Can you lead this Christian life without the Holy Spirit? No. We've got we've got no chance. We ain't got no chance. I've
Reverend Ben Cooper:got no chance. I've got no way. No way, whatsoever. And then just keep I keep coming back to this Scripture. I just keep coming back to this. It says whether the gods of your ancestors served before the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites are we? I know we're not we haven't got the Amorites around us brothers and sisters. But when you look at that text, are we living in a land that is foreign to us, but we think it's our land and I'm not referring to all cultures, what I'm referring to, is the gods of this land, because that's what it was referring to the gods of the Amorites, the false gods, the idols, the towers of Babel, that when you look at London, the towers that have been built? Well, there's a Masonic building.
Simon Pinchbeck:Yeah, no, no symbolism, isn't it? tymberlee listen to the spin. Yeah, there are two spiritual fathers, the whole series, our spiritual fathers, God, there's a spiritual father, who's the enemy, who's the devil,
Reverend Ben Cooper:who wants to be God, who wants to be God and parade around and tries to mimic
Simon Pinchbeck:because Jesus said in in John 844, he says, You are like your father. Yeah, the devil. He says down. So who's
Reverend Ben Cooper:whose side? Am I on? Are you following? Are you forming are against me?
Simon Pinchbeck:Are you following? Are you following? If you're not following me, then you're following him? Yeah, but
Reverend Ben Cooper:Lord, go away from I didn't know you. But Lord, I, But Lord, I was I was I was I,
Simon Pinchbeck:I knew I know the Bible inside out and back to front in Greek, Hebrew and that in here, but your heart was so far away from me. He's not stung. You never got to know me.
Reverend Ben Cooper:We're living in a nation and way that
Simon Pinchbeck:you will know me if you seek me before your heart. You're what you're
Reverend Ben Cooper:saying that the nation doesn't know God does it know he's knows the foreign God. Spiritual. Guru is growing. Sports is growing, materialism is growing. The issue was that the stores everything, the symbolism, even when you look at certain coffee houses the way they brand things, you know, it becomes an idol. It becomes an idol. I will wherever I go the trend of my life, the trend of my life, the mapping of my life, I've
Simon Pinchbeck:been very, very important that we have idols in our lives that we are $1 tree so, so you you hear many times saying, Oh, the football ground is my church. Yes. That's, that's my idol.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Isn't it interesting. Now, the football ground is a very powerful place. And it's not taking anything away from football, not talking about the football. I'm talking about the chanting and the rhythm, and you can feel the power in any Stadium in any music venue. You can feel this rhythm you can feel this very strong rhythm, can't you? So? So are you worshiping the man are you worshiping? What are you worshiping? Because there's power. And we are living in a world possibly of the Emirates and looking across the Euphrates River. And we possibly are living in a land Canaanites.
Simon Pinchbeck:We are eating never women's of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yeah, we are really we've all you know.
Reverend Ben Cooper:As we said before, look at that window over there. And you'll see the towers of bow across the city. City. Yeah, you'll see them lit up at night.
Simon Pinchbeck:But look look at what we've got on a TV. We've got this love island but there was a thing
Reverend Ben Cooper:I've got back watch that I've recorded it
Simon Pinchbeck:on one of the channels never what is the thing called Naked attraction?
Reverend Ben Cooper:I see you that on the other day?
Simon Pinchbeck:Did you actually recognize she's crazy in it believable? It's
Reverend Ben Cooper:absolutely believable. What more can you go? And you're watching it. Oh, come on. It's come around and watch the telly
Simon Pinchbeck:so the TV itself is an idol. Yeah, so you people come into Sheesh, I'm watching I'm watching I'm watching becomes an idol in our lives. We got to be so careful
Reverend Ben Cooper:because we're in a culture isn't it where technology and the Western eyelid way of living we think it's progress don't we when actually it's an entrapment is an entrapment because we're not really free are we we get caught in society, we get caught in the robotic way of going to work. We drive the same way. We park in the same car park, we walk across the same bridge, we buy a coffee from a certain coffee house, we read this we do this. That's not how we're meant to be freedom. Free, you're free to fill room fill the air, and there's so many people that are being robbed. I mean the robbed.
Simon Pinchbeck:Listen, listen to us. Listen. Look, the TV's okay other stuff, okay, but don't put it number one in your life. It was number one in your life, you're in trouble.
Reverend Ben Cooper:You said the balance the balance actually, I shouldn't use that word should either balance because there ain't a balance we've got that balance where my following so if I follow him, number one, and as I follow him, I come under conviction to know what to watch what to listen to where to go out to eat for food of the family, there's all choices so that first choice is no choice. Really, because I believe that most of us are like Jonah we know that we got to deliver what we got to deliver and we got to live the way that he wants us to live. But you know what, I think God is breathing over this nation and there's a storm that has frightened the church because we haven't delivered the message to Nineveh
Simon Pinchbeck:is the truth and but it's it's it's across all the Western world then it's across all this across the states is across Europe is even some of it is even worse than than what we're seeing it Yep. And and you said something a little bit earlier. And this is a thing that no one else can help you know God do it yourself. And yeah,
Reverend Ben Cooper:when you when you think about that as quiet Hang on. No one else is inner inner man. It's me. I can be surrounded by the family, the friends that are great work colleagues, great family, great friends, husbands, wives brothers, I can be surrounded by these, these really strong characters that want to help me and bless me and guide me. But at the end of the day when the lights go out, it's going to be me and Jesus. They won't be there. The choice lands
Simon Pinchbeck:at my feet choice lands our feet individually, you know like going left or right your spiritual director went out we have to help you that Archbishop's not even you know anywhere to be seen they're running for Cover, don't chokes on it, Rainbow, all that sort of stuff.
Reverend Ben Cooper:So the Gay Pride stuff, Scott Ellis. So that is the biggest thing drive into the church. And we are going to see leaders in this nation that are going to bow down to the rainbow,
Simon Pinchbeck:more and more compromised when and what the beginning what you said was about warriors rising up. And I think there's men and women out there that have gone. You know what I've had enough of this. I've had enough of this, it's like to want to challenge and I want to follow Jesus,
Reverend Ben Cooper:that there's a desert, there's something being pressed in my spirit. And I really believe this. If as as we look across this nation today, and whatever the date is, it's the 12th of August, it's quarter past 12. This nation is dry, as dry as dry. With no rainfall, we've had the hottest days we are parched. And that's I believe what God is using to get hold of us. Look at the weather structure, because the weather structure is telling you how we sit as the UK, spiritually, we are dry, and we are parched, and we are in a famine.
Simon Pinchbeck:And we're in trouble. We're in trouble.
Reverend Ben Cooper:But But rains come in now. Gotta be very careful where we speak about rain. Yeah, you gotta be careful. We talk about rain. The latter day rain rain is going to fall. Now, when that great profit prayed for rain, after the three or three and a half years, it felt like steroids. And they was he was soaking wet. And they ran down Mount Carmel. And he said Run for your life. I believe God is going to move so powerfully across this nature not referring to revival. I'm talking about repentance, where what we've been praying for we will see. But as we run in the miracle, the messenger from Jezebel is coming strong to
Simon Pinchbeck:very interesting running in your miracle. Very, very interested in what you're saying, Ben, because we've, we've all got one pass, then we but yes, there are many futures. There are many futures and we got to choose me. Yeah. And what you said about, you know, the rain and whatever. Well, there's only one thing that cleanses our sin, and that's the blood of Christ. And we've spoken about it, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the forgiveness of cleanses as clear, clean and we want a future we want to victorious future we sticked on the narrow path and do something radical. Put God first in your life. It's a radical thing.
Reverend Ben Cooper:He's talking to individuals throw out the foreign gods of your ancestors. I am the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Throw out the gods throw out the ones that you're relying on, throw out the the idols throw out. Gosh,
Simon Pinchbeck:not sure. Listen, if you're not sure now I understand. If you're not sure if something's in either we'll just spend a bit of time with the Holy Spirit. Just pray and saying, you know, what is? What is what is in my life that Lord, you want to take out because I'm putting it before you? Anything? You know? One Timothy 610 says, you know, the love of money is the root of all evil. And anything really before you put before the Lord is an idol and anything you put before it, even your family, you know, yeah. Yeah. Could be an idol and, or you look at the Bible, Ben, there's, you know, we got Joshua II chose to serve the Lord Moses chose in the you know, Joseph, you know what, we're a character. Wow. It's you know, David, I'm telling you, Ben, I'm not sure if part of his wife got older me. I'm not sure whatever. I would say. I'm not so sure I'd run off. Do you know, I'm saying I think
Reverend Ben Cooper:that goes for shows a lot of us. Yeah, many, many, many, many, because we're in a, in a world that is very sexualized, and we're told it's normal. And with the gay pride thing coming so powerfully, everywhere. You can go and do what you want, you can
Simon Pinchbeck:do what you want. And with the funds been there, you know, people are sending pictures across the across the, you know, all that sort of stuff. We're seeing that but, Ben, all the people in the barber they chose a lot and the disciples chose Jesus except for one. Paul chose Jesus didn't you know we got we are, I would appeal to anyone out there, choose Jesus, and choose laborers. 12
Reverend Ben Cooper:Keep your eyes on the author the person factor of your faith. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Simon Pinchbeck:Keep your eyes on God only why keep your hands to the plow? Seek first the kingdom of God.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Come on. We love the church we love. We love the church of Jesus Christ, the biblical church. And I want to be part of the biblical church, I want to be in that church, I want to see that church move in powerfully. We're tired of the establishment, we thank God for what God is doing through all pastors or leaders, because that's not for us to worry about. But we never, ever been a servant,
Simon Pinchbeck:that this book, the Bible, never ever think that is not relevant for today, because we aren't changing. We have just done an old podcast on on something a guy said, and 20,000 years ago, and it's as relevant today as it was that moment in time,
Reverend Ben Cooper:making my heart beat hard. And that that is probably around about 3000 3400 years old.
Simon Pinchbeck:And it's relevant today. There in
Reverend Ben Cooper:May off this higher pad, like God is writing it now to my spirit, and it's making me tremble. So actually, I do know what it's like to feel a lot. We do know, we don't.
Simon Pinchbeck:And it's such a shame and such sadness to us that the world is the majority of the world is forgotten the fear of the Lord, the holiness and the fear of holiness and the mightiness. Who could destroy this
Reverend Ben Cooper:with a one, one nostril, yet one breath out of his nostril would wipe the earth,
Simon Pinchbeck:because we can't take our next breath. We've heard my father saying, can we do you know,
Reverend Ben Cooper:we've made it? Have we made it?
Simon Pinchbeck:Was that 40 odd minutes we've been talking about? I know. It's been another powerful straight till 37 minutes where we've been straight talking about, you know, straight toe. Yeah, you kind of what you're going to choose today. Yeah,
Reverend Ben Cooper:I'm gonna choose Jesus. But as I choose Jesus, it's tough. I'm not gonna lie. It's the toughest decisions I've ever had in my life.
Simon Pinchbeck:The decision to choose Jesus walk and the word of God, the decision to choose Jesus is something that we all have to make individually. But I would say surround yourself sort of with just a couple of decent saints that can help you along that journey. Yeah. But the decision to choose and serve, and we haven't even got into law as we've been. That's the truth. Yeah. Come on. Now. Have a great day.
Reverend Ben Cooper:Do something po Jesus first. Yeah, thank you so much, where ever you are, wherever you love you. May God bless you and strength you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Simon and myself. And it's a privilege to be able to record this and to share or to push all this stuff out across the platforms that we are using Amazon music, I Heart Radio, Buzzsprout, Spotify, and so many other places in the social networks. You can find us at#Christian straight talk. And please, please continue continue to share this stuff out. May God take the full glory in your life. May God take the full glory, right? We're walking with your sisters and brothers, and we love you lots. God bless. God bless