When Titles Mislead: From Joshua To Acts

What if the names we use for God quietly steer our faith toward pride—or toward surrender? We dig into Joshua, Judges, and Acts to show how titles can sound holy while working against what God is actually doing. Adoni-Zedek and Adoni-Bezek look righteous by label, but their choices reveal fear, judgment, and a sobering lesson: it’s possible to wear the right words and still miss the will of God.

From there we turn to Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8. He believed, was baptized, and followed Philip, yet tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s rebuke slices through every modern pitch that packages gifts, levels, or “activation” as commodities. We contrast that hunger for shortcuts with Philip’s steady obedience—preaching Christ, freeing the oppressed, healing the lame—and explore how contentment in your part honors the Spirit’s design without envy or self-promotion.

Along the way we untangle how “Adonai,” “Elohim,” and “El Shaddai” are used, why substituting human lordship terms can shrink our vision of the Lord Almighty, and how vague God-talk drains courage from our witness. Say Jesus. The New Testament locates authority, salvation, and mission in His name, not in branding or vibes. Depth over levels, roots over rungs—that’s the path to a faith that holds when the wind rises.

https://wofoyo.org/             #wofoyo

Chapters

• 0:00 What’s In A Name
• 0:46 Joshua’s Wars And Adonai Zedek
• 8:24 Meaning In Biblical Names
• 12:12 Jerusalem Not Taken Until David
• 15:45 Adonai Bezek And Justice Returned
• 21:00 Titles For God Versus Human Lords
• 27:20 Tradition, Substitutes, And Adonai
• 34:00 Simon The Sorcerer Enters
• 39:30 Power, Money, And A Corrupt Heart
• 46:10 Gnosticism And Chasing “New Levels”

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:15

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the WoeFoYo Podcast with C Dub and Bones. We're going to talk about what's in a name, what's in a title. And here in the last couple weeks, I uh have been reading through the book of Joshua, went into the book of Judges, and we have a couple things in here that just kind of stood out at me. And then we're going to also get into the book of Acts. Joshua chapter 10. As soon as Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities. And because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. So Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, Pyram, king of Jarmouth, Jaffiah, king of Lashish, and Deber, king of Baglon. So this is the battle that happens. They're coming out against the Gibeonites. And since the Gibeonites have covenanted with Israel, even though it was by deception, they were put to forced labor, but now it's Israel's obligation to defend them. And this is the battle where Joshua cries out for the sun to stand still, and it does until the battle is over. But as I'm reading that, I go, Adonai is Adonai.

SPEAKER_01: 1:55

Zedek.

SPEAKER_03: 1:57

He's king of Jerusalem. Guess who else was king and priest of Jerusalem? Of Salem. Melchizedek. So Zedek, which is real similar in the makeup to Zadok, who was a priest, uh, is righteousness. So Melchizedek was a priest of righteousness or king of king of peace. Adonai means the Lord is righteous. So it just threw me off. And I'm thinking, well, okay, now could this be a blasphemous title? Where he's proclaiming himself as the Lord of the city is righteous, or could this be one of those things where he believes the Lord is righteous? I mean, this caused some serious questions. Because what what what I was wondering, I'm like, well, you know, there are those that claim that there are those that are think they're doing the right thing for God. And I I've had these discussions with people within the body of Christ to kind of bring it home a little bit. And I'm going, how many people due to their theology are missing what God is doing right now?

SPEAKER_00: 3:14

Yeah, the Adoni or Adonai does translate as Lord. Um Zedek also translates justice. They translate either way. Um oftentimes these names and titles are they either given to they're given to someone or someone names themselves uh because of a particular characteristic characteristic or attribute. Uh so I I don't I don't know if there's necessarily any blasphemy here or anything necessarily wrong, but uh we're I I think God's showing us, or at least the script the scripture's showing us, that there is uh trait here that that should be focused on. Uh that's that's a lot of a lot of times when I'm reading, if I'm going through something, or if I've been praying over something, or God has me in a kind of a weird place of scripture, I'm just like, Lord, why you got me here? Um when I start looking at names, uh when I start digging into uh the names and what what uh what what they mean, uh that's where God usually starts giving me revelation is because those those names mean things.

SPEAKER_03: 4:38

Exactly. I you know, there's so many times that we've talked about it, and you get into it better than I do, and then there's people they just specialize in the names in the Bible, and that they will tell you the names mean things, and I'm going, oh amen, they do. Right. So the fact that you have somebody is called that says the Lord is righteous, or it could be Lord of righteousness or Lord of justice, it's probably a good guy. But he's seeing a threat. And uh again, dealing with people that I know, people that are very liberal in their theology and they think they're doing the right thing, and but they're they are so entrenched in their theology that they know they're doing the Lord's work. And I go, Well, whether you know it or not, one of the reasons we need to hear from God is because God can be doing something, and it doesn't matter how good you think your theology is, you can still miss what God is doing right now, and you'd be like Saul kicking against the bricks.

SPEAKER_00: 5:39

Yeah, there's a lot of times where there can be good intentions with bad judgment. Uh and when it comes down to names and whatnot, um it's not it's not that hard to look out across uh ministry and see the names of ministries that are focused on any particular area of doctrine that they specialize in. Uh, you see different uh ministries that have uh deliverance in their name, uh, probably because that's what uh the the ministry is focusing on, some kind of deliverance. Um there's all kinds of different ministries that have other uh words that that that that that they focus on. Healing is a big healing is a big one. Um just look at Baptist. Uh look at the Baptist denomination. Yeah, that stands out big time because water baptism is a main focus of that particular denomination.

SPEAKER_03: 6:41

And a lot of people don't know this, but bab to baptize baptizo is Greek for not dancing. There you go. It's uh little yoke there. And I and I wonder about this because when you read the accounts of Joshua, when you read the accounts of Judges, you wonder maybe if there's you know Adonai, king of Jerusalem, goes out to meet Joshua and the Israelites in battle. However, when it is time, the Benjamites, they don't take Jerusalem. It's one of the cities, it was in their territory, and they, you know, and and neither was Judah able to do it as well. They they were not able to take Jerusalem until the time of David. Right. So it makes you wonder if God gave a certain amount of grace, if there was an element of righteousness, but they're just like you said, bad judgment, wrong place, wrong time, not discerning what God is doing. But even then, uh the Jebusites remained in Jerusalem as no matter which book says, until this day. So whether it's a Chronicles or whether it's a Samuel, whether it's Judges, until this day. Uh Judges 1, similar thing, verses 5 through 7, they found Adonai Bezek or Bezek at Bezek. So it means the Lord of Bezek. Uh, another translation is the Lord of Lightning, which was one of the early attributes. If you go and look at some of the Proto-Hebrew and all that stuff, is one of the things the lightning was associated with early on, was Yahweh. So they found Adani Bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaites, Canaanites, and the Perizzites. And Adani Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. And Adni Bezek said, Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table, as I have done, so God has repaid me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. So he's affiliated because they bring him to Jerusalem. And again, you have this guy, and he goes, Well, you know, this is what I did. You know, uh the Lord of Lightning, or the Lord of Bezek, you know, associated with lightning, he's thundering down judgment on everybody else, and it comes around his time, and he said, Well, God's repaid me. Heck of a name. Just on the wrong side of an issue. One of the things that I've realized is go, you know, as as we have interacted with all these different uh local bodies and all these different flavors of Christianity, everybody thinks they're right.

SPEAKER_01: 10:07

And we all have room to grow.

SPEAKER_00: 10:11

One thing I think is interesting here is that uh Adonai or Adoni, um, and I'm just kind of speaking off the cuff here, it it's a it is a word that means Lord, but not necessarily Lord God. Um it's a it's it's a title of Lordship. Yeah, it's a ruler. It's it's a ruler, right. And so it can be used uh to it can be used to refer to uh a human, uh a person, uh, and and not be and and and not violate any uh any any religious rule or anything. Um for example, um if we were to refer to uh the Lord God Almighty, that would be El Shaddai, uh not not um Adonai Shaddai or anything. That would be El Shaddai. Uh so uh it's like I said, it's always good to look back and and understand what the uh the names and the titles mean and and how they're being used, because you can find you can find meaning in them and uh you can find revelation. I think the revelation is is the big thing for us. But yeah, the the Adonai is is not necessarily uh referring to um you know the Lord God Almighty. It's a it's a a term for for a earthly ruler.

SPEAKER_03: 11:38

Well, it but it's it's one of those things, and I've never been that big of a fan of Adonai, as far as when they come to the names of God, because it it's a substitute name. Uh that after the return from Babylon, now we're rather rather than Yad He Vaveh, rather than Yahweh, which is probably a mispronunciation in and of itself, but the correct spelling was a Hebrew Yadhevave. Right. Um it was substituted. They that uh even today, observant Jews won't say the name, they will say Adonai as a substitute, and that that's brought up a lot of chris criticism and all that for uh people that have an axe to grind one way or another. I'm not really getting into that. I'm just saying uh why would you mess with what doesn't need to be messed with?

SPEAKER_00: 12:28

But I think that's yeah, it's a lot of religious tradition. Uh that's important though, when we when we start to ascribe to the Lord God Almighty a title that was meant for mankind. That's what to me, that's where that that's where that becomes problematic. Uh, when we start referring to the Lord God Almighty as Adonai, because we're bestowing something upon him that is beneath him. Uh, I think that's that's that can be problematic. Uh another word uh is uh Elohim is another word for God. Um, but it's uh it's a Hebrew word that can that can reference the liturgy God as well as you look to the divine counsel, right? So it's always important to know um, you know what uh what you're referring to, what the scripture is referencing uh you know when you're reading, that way you have a better understanding in your mind and in your heart. Uh it's uh like I said, before we start ascribing to God, uh Lord God Almighty, those titles that are way, way beneath him.

SPEAKER_03: 13:41

Well, it um reminds me of to a lesser degree, probably well intended, but we start to make God in our image rather than us be conformed to God's image. And it's it's the Ricky Bobby praying over the food and talladega nights. Well, I like Jesus this way, I like Jesus this way, I like you know, it it's all these versions of Jesus that people want to make, and it's not a historical or biblical Jesus. Right. And that's one of the reasons I'm bringing these things up because we have these titles, we have these names, and we just know we're right. Well, really, it's just part of our tradition.

SPEAKER_01: 14:29

There we go. So we have those that are naming the name, but yet we we see something's off.

SPEAKER_03: 14:43

Right. We we see something's off, and I was reading today in the book of Acts. You know, Saul has started to wreak havoc upon the church. He's about to get handled in the next chapter. And Philip is one of the ones that goes to Samaria. Yeah, we'll start reading at uh Acts 8, verse 4, and then we'll get into the gist of it. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ, and the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, and when they heard him and saw the signs that he did, for the unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. So he got good things going on. Right. But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip, and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. There's some other commentaries that I'll probably reference here in a little bit, but everything's going good, right? You got Simon the sorcerer, Simon Magus, as some translations will say. Born again, baptized, right? Well, let's see. Maybe. Now, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now, when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, so that any one on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. I'm just seeing a reason I'm going to get back to this verse here real quick. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, Pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. Now when they testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. I think what Peter is saying right here is, buddy, you are in high danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00: 18:14

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 18:15

It's I think that that verse 21 and 22 talking about if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven. You know, this is the same Peter that a couple chapters before is saying, Sapphira, why you're lying to the Holy Spirit. You ain't lying to me. You're putting the Spirit of God to the test. And they fall down and die. But here you have somebody, now, every just to pick, because we've already picked on the Baptist, every good Baptist is going to tell you that Simon the sorcerer is born again. He done got born again and got baptized. It's on the roll. It's recorded in the Bible that he that he answered the altar call, man. He got baptized. He's even continued, he's willing to be discipled with Philip.

SPEAKER_00: 19:09

Yeah, they they'll say that. But I can use their own theology to point out to him that he wasn't saved. Um and I'll tell you how. I see what you're saying. Yeah, he was he was baptized. And for a lot of Baptist churches, that's kind of the the defining measure. Yeah. Uh, you know, you you get saved and you get baptized, and you know, there you are. However, if you stay in a Baptist church long enough, you'll find out that if your life didn't change, if you don't do all, if you don't follow all the rules afterwards, then all you did was get wet. Uh when you got baptized, you didn't really get baptized, you just got wet. Which which means you had To get baptized, wait a little bit longer, maybe a few years down the road, to find out that you really didn't get saved. Not really sure how that works. Um, but the idea of being here, because I would I would stipulate that Simon the sorcerer, sorcerer probably wasn't saved at all. Uh he was yeah, he was playing is is what he was doing.

SPEAKER_03: 20:27

There are some commentaries, but then again, I can't make that judgment. Yeah, no, I I get it. Here's what happens if these commentaries are worth a hoot. Extra biblical commentaries, that's what they are. A scribe. It's it's interesting that Peter and John come down and that John in his epistles, there's a group he really doesn't like, and that's the Gnostics. Simon the sorcerer, or Simon Magus, was considered one of the top Gnostic teachers of the time. This is according to writings over in Alexandria and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02: 21:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 21:32

Now he's blending a whole bunch of mysticism in, and he thinks that this is some it's why another reason, man, and the group I associate with the most, man, they use this. It's another level, it's another level, it's another level. Well, I get it, but I still hate that word. I hate that term. Just because I go, well, you you would be the first one to come against the Gnostics, but it was about achieving a new level of spirituality. A new and oh, if you do this and this ritual and this thing, and you fast this amount, and then it and then you meditate this much, and then you can go to this new level of spirituality. And you're becoming more disassociated with the flesh and uh more profoundly spiritual, and it's a new level, and there's this process to go through to attain this level, and this right to go through to attain this level, and it's one big thing, and and the grace of Jesus Christ really gets lost in that equation, and so uh I'm just saying it to say this that now he got off on on some very, very different theology that John himself rebukes, and I think one of the reasons that John is so passionate about it is I read the Gnostic Gospels and the Gnostic text uh last summer for for reading, and I go, no wonder they didn't make it in. I mean, it's it's just bogus as can be. And anyway, it's none of them should have been included, but I can tell you that of all the gospels they referenced, they took their stuff from John, and John was not happy that that happened. But you have those claiming to be Christians, claiming to be followers of Christ, and man, I at the same time, there's this part of me going, you know, as someone who's been judged by the church folks, I'm a little bit hesitant to start judging the intent of somebody's heart. Because bones, you and I know that man, we've we've had them come down on us and want to proclaim hooga to boo or whatever. It basically try a whole bunch of manipulative techniques and uh Pentecostal voodoo on us.

SPEAKER_00: 24:08

And uh we just don't know there's not enough here in the scripture to tell us that Simon the sorcerer was included in this group uh you know that was uh saved and and baptized when when when uh when John and him showed up. Because really what I see here before the apostles came from Jerusalem, what I see here was something more akin to the recitation or or the reciting of a sinner's prayer and a water baptism. And that was the that was probably the extent of Simon the Sorcerer's Um spirituality. Well, I I I think he's curious.

SPEAKER_03: 24:59

I believe he's curious. Yeah, yeah. He's one that said it said uh seeing the signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. So he's like, Hey, what is this? Yeah, no, is this a shortcut? Is this some new thing to be acquired? It but uh when I read this, it reminds me of uh I'll go ahead and say it, I don't know how long it's been, it's been about five years. But I remember somebody who's got all the credentials and all that stuff, and uh on the president's council and all this stuff. Man, I've seen video of Paula White telling, if you want the Lord to, if you want the Lord to activate your prophetic gift, bless us with a thousand dollar offering, thousand dollar love gift. Now, the the thing is they're schlick in the way they say it. They will never they will never say, if you give a thousand dollars, then you will become prophetic. But if you're believing, if you're believing God to activate your prophetic gift, why don't you sow a thousand dollar seed and I'm gonna believe with you?

SPEAKER_00: 26:04

Well, I was just getting ready to say there are plenty of Simon sorcerers uh behind the pulpit in in today's ministry. Uh that's definitely not limited to her. Yeah, definitely not, yeah. But they're doing just that very same thing. They're pimping the gospel, yeah. Um, you know, promise you a great many things uh for for a little bit of seed, um, which was what Simon a sorcerer was doing. Um and I think there's a big part of us that want to believe the intent of the heart, want to believe that there's some uh some uh some genuineness there. But I think there's the other side of us that has to look at it and say, man, if they were if they wanted to be real, they can because the Holy Spirit wouldn't deny them. Yeah. So I don't know. I don't know. Uh I all I got the scriptures uh to to stand on. Um all I know here from Simon the Sorcerer is that he it appears that he was pimping the gospel. He saw how he could monetize it, yeah, and wanted more of it for that specific purpose. And I know that's pretty dangerous.

SPEAKER_03: 27:19

Well, that's exactly what I saw. I I go, he's looking for a new ability, a new level, so he can market this new level.

SPEAKER_01: 27:33

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 27:36

Exactly. And and I'm I'm always cautious of language like that. When anyone starts talking to me about uh another level, a deeper level, uh, this kind of experience or anything like that, because the Bible doesn't speak like that. Um matter of fact, Jesus um the only level that he talks about really is is is a base level, getting more base, uh, and not necessarily on another level spiritually, like uh like like Moses uh most of us are are are used to hearing. Um Jesus and Paul talk about becoming as as base as you can, I mean having little uh and becoming servants, uh, and and living a life of servitude. Um and when I hear folks talking about going to another level of spirituality, and and I look at how they're living and what they're driving and what they're wearing and all these all these other things, I they don't, it don't, it just doesn't line up with what the scripture says. And that's you have to hold everything up to the the light of the gospel. Uh when you're when you're when you're judging those things.

SPEAKER_03: 28:49

Jesus talks about, you know, the the kingdom of God is in you.

SPEAKER_00: 28:55

Yep. There's no uh deeper this or higher that. Um if there's if there is, of course, maybe some of that's just our earthly way of looking at things, uh, because we just have this fleshly way of seeing things uh on on levels and through pie graphs and charts, and so there's we just that's the way our way of um um quantifying things, uh for lack of better words. But uh, I'll tell you what, John's a pretty good example of what it looks like when someone's close to the Lord. Uh he's a very, very humble apostle, um, won't even refer to himself uh uh by his own name, other than the apostle whom Jesus loved. Talks about his talks about the way he loves Jesus, talks about the way Jesus loved him. Um I love that in him. Uh compared to Peter, who constantly referred to um, you know, going the other way, how much I love Jesus, I'll I'll do this for you, I'll do that. Which, you know, God worked, uh, you know, God worked with that too. But uh yeah, there's I think maybe that's just our way of quantifying things sometimes, is because we have to use words like level and things like that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03: 30:22

Well, the whole thing about I had a new level with God, going to new levels in God. Well, the only level you need to worry about is the depth of your relationship.

SPEAKER_00: 30:35

Amen.

SPEAKER_03: 30:36

Amen. How how deep do the roots of your relationship grow? Yeah. Because if faith is a seed, then it has to take root. Roots need to go deep, they need to drink deep, they need to anchor in that good soil so that when trying times come, you're able to withstand it. It's the same as building your house on the on the rock, on the solid foundation. How do you do that? He who hears these things of mine and does them, it's obedience, it's relationship, and not not that there won't be new experiences, not that you won't walk in a newer aspect of authority as your obedience is tested and as you pass those tests. But this idea of I'm this level and you're this level is complete and utter horseshit, is what it is.

SPEAKER_00: 31:40

Yeah. Instead of instead of constantly striving to attain to a new level, you'll just realize that wow, I have I have attained a different level. Um, it's not something that you you you you attain to, you strive for. Yeah, it it's not quantifiable. Yeah, it's just it's it's just something that you you if it is something that that really exists, it's it's something you realize once you've got there.

SPEAKER_03: 32:08

We can make the mistake of thinking that we're all this and we're all that because we're at this level. And really, if you look at it, Philip is preaching, Philip is praying for people, and there's healings, there's paralytics that are walking. Philip is preaching the word, and demons are coming out of people. There isn't but one thing that doesn't happen while Philip is out there preaching in Samaria. And Peter and John come down for that, and really all it records them doing is laying hands and people receiving the Holy Spirit. And you know what? If you're being obedient to Jesus, if you're being obedient to the Holy Spirit, maybe part of the lesson is learning to be content and your part to play. And the fact that he's using you, no matter how, we're not to be jealous. You know, be be zealous for spiritual gifts, Paul said. It doesn't say be jealous, it says be zealous. But we're not to be jealous and envious, and whatever he apportions our part to be, we're be the most faithful we can be with those.

SPEAKER_00: 33:34

Look at all the things you know you just said about Philip and all the things that he's doing. Compare that to how much time he gets in scripture versus how much time we get we see Peter and John and Paul and Philip, Philip's rarely talked about, really.

SPEAKER_03: 33:53

Uh there's this chapter, and then there's one other where he's yeah, there's not much him and Stephen are made basically your deacons. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 34:02

Philip doesn't get a lot of air time. Um, he doesn't get a lot of airtime in church. Uh uh, but when you look at his his acts, his actions, um he is he's fulfilling the great commission. He he's doing exactly what the Lord Jesus said, go ye therefore and do. Um so yeah, I like what you said. Maybe our lot in life is to simply be happy with what God has us doing uh without being jealous of everyone else around us. It's not a bad way to be. It is amazing as the obedience grows.

SPEAKER_01: 34:40

When everybody's trying to be a be like Paul, Philip ain't looking too bad either. No. You know? Yep.

SPEAKER_03: 34:52

It's Paul just had the biggest 180 out of them all.

SPEAKER_00: 34:58

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, he did. He really did. Um Paul just speaks to us on so many levels because there's we we can I guess because we know his backstory. Uh we don't know much about Philip. I mean, we don't know. Philip might just be a good kid from the day he's born. You know, he might have got like uh like any person today who was saved at a very young age and and doesn't have uh the backstory that some of us do. Uh who knows? But uh yeah, Paul gets a lot more airtime because of the backstory. We you know, we can't uh we can't ignore that either.

SPEAKER_03: 35:36

What the appearance is it's easy to put on the appearance of somebody that follows Christ, right? Well, one of the reasons when when I was going to uh church over in Colorado Springs and I was stationed over there, is a bigger church. And guess what? As much as I grew there, I also went there because it was easy to hide. And so there's a lot of this other stuff that rather than use the word level, how about maturity? And so I was a Christian that was on fire for God, but yet I definitely had my shortcomings and still do. There's there's just a bunch of things at that time I really wasn't convinced of. Right. Uh I had it all in head knowledge, and don't get me wrong, I had some experiences due to being part of that congregation based upon some things that happened to me. Um, maybe not in that congregation, but you know, while I was attending, it might have been out in the desert of Egypt. I would say some of the teachings that I received, you know, played a part in me being open to open to certain experiences with the Holy Spirit. That being said, it was real easy to hide at times. And when I wasn't one to do right, not one to get called out because I knew I'd messed up. The thing was, uh, it wasn't until later that the Lord just pulls me away and goes, okay, now you and I are going to talk.

SPEAKER_00: 37:10

Yeah, that that's that's the funny thing. With Simon is Simon the sorcerer back here, to everyone around him that didn't know what a true believer looked like, what uh what a Christian looked like, he probably looked like the real thing. Okay, probably would look like until uh until the apostles showed up. And and I tell you what, we're we can be like that sometimes. Um, like you said, sometimes you just want to hide, you just kind of want to sit off to the side and and do your own thing and be left alone. Um and and I get that 100%. Uh, and then there's some times where you think you've you've made it. You know, you you've you've got to this point, I can relax a little bit. Um, and that's about the time someone with a deeper faith shows up and you realize that wow, okay, I really ain't really, I really ain't attained anything. Uh I'm shallow. I'm shallow because this person just showed up on the scene and for lack of better words, is making me look bad. Uh which really the only person making me look bad yourself. But what what's happened is the Holy Spirit's convicting you. Yeah, the Holy Spirit's convicting you. Uh, and you realize that uh, you know, here's someone else that's that's arrived on the scene um and uh has got better pudding, so to say. We say the proofs in the pudding. Um man, go back and look at Job. Uh, you know, everybody wants to be a believer until there's believer stuff to be done, you know. You know, uh Job, man, Joe had it rough, um, especially when you get towards back, you know, around about the 33rd, 34th chapter, you know. Uh, but uh that's just kind of the way it is sometimes. You you're you think you're doing well, you and you are doing well, you know, if you're comparing yourself to yourself. Um but then God has a unique way of bringing somebody around you. Partner either he partners you with somebody, or maybe that person just walks by briefly in your life or whatever, just to show you that, hey, um, I know you're complaining. Uh, you're you're down and out, you're complaining about all this stuff, but look at this person over here. They've got so much more to complain about. Maybe your faith ain't as deep as you think it is. So we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna learn about that.

SPEAKER_03: 39:45

Yeah, you you mentioned Paul having a story. We know his story. We don't know you know Phillip's story, we don't know a lot of the other things that are happening. But, you know, I I was thinking as you were talking about that, uh, there was a guy very prophetic. Gifted, has big time healing ministry and all that. And all let me just be honest. There's some things about the way the ministry is conducted that just ain't my cup of tea. I don't have to answer for the way his ministries operate. He does. That's between him and the Lord. Right. You know, I ain't that judge. He don't answer to me for sure. Wouldn't want him to. But there's a dude named Tracy Cook. Man, prophetically gifted. Word of knowledge, big time. And healing ministry, you hear big things about that, you know. But at the same time, I go, same anointing. When I first heard him talk, I'm going, this is William Branham. Which William Branham is highly criticized. He was also highly effective. And you'll have that, you know. My hope is for every one of us that we live our faith sincere enough that we actually get criticized. Right. Because if you live your faith, then you're going to get some criticism. But everybody go, oh man, this guy's, man, there's miracles happened at this service, and there's this word of knowledge that he had about this person and this and that. And I go, like I said, and and actually respect the guy, just it's the logistics of the ministry that kind of kind of eat at me sometimes, and I go, eh, that's the same old, same old. But when you learn from William Branham and you learn from um R.W. Shambok and stuff, you're gonna do stuff like they did. Right. And for for in all the good and all the not so good. But everybody goes, Oh, how prophetic. Oh, what a miraculous ministry. And you don't know that despite all that, he had a young daughter that died.

SPEAKER_01: 41:53

You willing to do that, willing to have to endure that?

SPEAKER_03: 42:00

And I'm not saying that was the price, but it's amazing that people that maintain their integrity through things like that, how often that depth of the walk of faith with Jesus is, and then you see the fruit in it.

SPEAKER_00: 42:16

There's always someone out there who who has a deeper relationship, who can teach you uh who you can learn from, who has something to pass on to you. Those people are always out there, and when you come across them, you do well to not let your ego and your pride get in the way, uh, which is easy for me to do, um, because I like to think I know it sometimes. Um but the Lord likes to send those people into your path just to see uh sometimes not to see whether or not you know it or not, but just to see where your ego is at. Yeah. That that can be a that can be a kick in the nuts sometimes. There's something something in a name. Yeah. Uh there's something in a name. Um it's always good to pay attention to these things. A lot of times I think God is trying to reveal something to us when He points us in in the direction of a particular passage. I know, I know for me anyways, when I get into a particular passage and I'm thinking, what does this got to do with anything that I'm doing in life right now? You know, uh, it's usually when I start dissecting those verses and start looking at the meanings of names, the meaning of words. And I'm talking about verses I've read a hundred times, you know. Uh, but start looking uh at a at things a little bit closer, start doing a deeper dive. That's when I start seeing, that's where God starts saying, okay, this is what it means for you right now.

SPEAKER_03: 44:01

Yeah. I I've probably read over that verse, you know, that passage probably 50 times in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 44:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03: 44:08

But this time that name popped out. And it just goes to show you kind of the common theme here is, you know, it there's a lot of people say that they worship God. A lot of people say they believe in God, a lot of people say they believe in Jesus. And really Oh boy, you're gonna get me on it. Really, though, rather than arguing doctrine and all this other stuff, which people love to do to prove that the other folks don't believe in Jesus, man, just look at the relationship. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 44:38

A lot of your a lot of your newer progressive hip churches today will go a whole church service without saying the name Jesus. Oh man. Because everything is God. You know, we're gonna worship God, we love God, God this, God that. You know, what is your God's name? And that's that's why names are important. Um so you know, and then you as you was talking there, I that was starting to get on me a little bit because I've been in some of those um hip churches. We have a couple in our area. All the young people love them because they're so hip. You know, the you know, the the the the pastors wear skinny jeans and you know, and I was getting ready to say pastor fancy pants. Oh, pastor fancy pants with the man bun, and you know, and but you you just don't hear the name Jesus in there. Uh if if it is if you do, it's by accident. But uh, and and some would say, well, that's not a big deal. Well, yeah, it is. The hell it ain't. It is a big deal. Um now to you it may not be a big deal because you're not thinking that way. To you, Jesus is God, God is Jesus, so on and so forth. But no other name. To Satan, Satan knows if he can get you to omit that name and simply use God, you're then he knows that he you're uh you're omitting the power, you're leaving out the power. He knows that.

SPEAKER_03: 46:16

So all all authority is being given unto me. Under who?

SPEAKER_00: 46:21

Under Jesus Christ. Under Jesus Christ. That's right. So so pay attention when you're in in church. Um listen to what you're listening to what's being talked about in church. Are they talking about Jesus or are they talking about God? Or are they talking about church? You know, have a relationship with church, a church experience, a worship experience. How about a Jesus experience?

SPEAKER_03: 46:41

You can't limit God because a lot of times when they when they won't say Jesus and they're talking about God, they're limiting it to good feelings, right? Some kind of emotional mumbo jumbo that gives you the warm fuzzies but produces no fruit.

unknown: 46:58

Right.

SPEAKER_03: 46:59

The reason that it's warm and fuzzy is because it's got mold growing all over it. And you know that the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at thy right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Yeah, this is a Jesus with authority. This is a relationship with a king who is not only the son of God, but the word was with God and the word was God. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 47:29

A church that can't say Jesus in church can't say Jesus in the community. Amen. Just won't be able to do it. Won't be able to do it. I don't care how how much you fluff it up, how much you flower it up, it it's you won't be able to do it. If you can't say Jesus in church, you can't say Jesus in your community. You won't say Jesus at work, you won't say Jesus at the store, you won't say Jesus anywhere. Um, you'll you'll you'll walk around leaving the power out of your life every day. Amen.

SPEAKER_03: 48:04

Hey everybody, thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow. You can always check us out at wofoyo.org. Find out how to contact us there, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Audible, or even check us out on YouTube. Remember, folks, if you're gonna grow, you got a Wofo Yo. Get in the word for yourself.