Army, Hair, and Discipline

Ray Comfort

If you join an army , the first thing you do is cut off your curly locks . That's Oscar . If you go to the army , they're going .

Oscar Navarro

That's why I'm not in the army . Go on , yeah .

Ray Comfort

But I mean seriously , don't they like hair ? Well , they don't want you on the heat of battle looking in the mirror and making sure your hair's nice , because there are certain things that matter when it comes to the heat of battle and we're soldiers for Christ and , as Napoleon said , an army marches on its stomach . If you've got a weak army that doesn't eat , it's not going to get anywhere . I like the verse go to the ant . You slug it and consider her ways . Why is it feminine ? Yeah , because women are more studious often than men . Men are lazy often , and so we need to discipline ourselves . And so many people that you're a Christian ? Yeah , I love the Lord , reading the Bible every day .

Mark Spence

And they say I try to ?

Ray Comfort

And I like to say do you try to eat your food every day ? And they don't try to eat their food . They eat their food . Why ? Because it's prioritized . You don't try and eat your food . And you shouldn't try to read God's word . You discipline yourself to read it daily . And I'm not saying read Leviticus before you get out of bed , but just meditate on the words of Jesus , chew them over and soar them into your spirit . Let them become part of you , to energize you throughout that day .

Emeal Zwayne

Rate comfort . You played a soldier and had the perma part in your hair to prove it . Oh , you remember that .

Ray Comfort

There was almost embarrassing things in my life . Talk about a flathead .

Emeal Zwayne

To me it was the most intriguing thing . No , it was embarrassing , but beyond embarrassing . There are certain things in life you look at and you say how can that be humanly possible ? Yeah , a perma part . No matter what you did , do it would not go away .

Ray Comfort

Yeah , yeah , we were filming middle , was it middle Call ?

Emeal Zwayne

it middle . That was seriously the funnest episode we ever filmed .

Ray Comfort

And Kirk and I were in tanks and we had explosions , we had pyrotechnics . So we're filming to the night and it was about 2 am in the morning and decided we'd filmed us with our helmets on for about 2 hours or 3 hours . So we took our helmets off and my hair was flat . It was just insane . Everyone was trying to bring life back to it , to get it to go out , and it would not come back .

Emeal Zwayne

We needed gorilla , glue or something .

Ray Comfort

Yeah , it was really weird , Ray , how much money have you spent on haircuts . Oh , quite a lot . Actually , I haven't spent anything for the last 50 years on haircuts because my wife's always from me .

Oscar Navarro

Does she really ? Yeah , she saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to the last 50 years on haircuts . She's just a shi .

Emeal Zwayne

I make meals for her and it keeps her happy . Mark , you still cut your own hair . No , I don't have time to do so much sense that makes . So much sense .

Mark Spence

So you go turn the zoom . I did .

Ray Comfort

Get the money back from the body . That's funny .

The Ramblings and Stories of Friends

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , Oscar needs a haircut period Always and forever .

Oscar Navarro

Yeah , what happened to you , Oscar ?

Emeal Zwayne

Your hair has evolved over time . Here you came in , you had this nice , clean cut . Do Do you not like it now ?

Oscar Navarro

Go ahead and embarrass me in front of everybody , in front of our new friend here .

Emeal Zwayne

What do you do for your hair Carrie ? You get it . Do you ever cut ?

Oscar Navarro

it Well , first I perm it , and then I pamper it , yeah , and then I curl it , richard .

Emeal Zwayne

And then I put it in a bowl . Sounds like Richard Simmons . Yeah , yeah , that's not out to me .

Ray Comfort

Speaking of tumbleweeds , I was out at a church and I think Hemet , and they had all tumbleweeds behind the church . So I went out and see if I could do something with tumbleweeds . Ever felt a tumbleweed ?

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , they're horrible , they're horrible .

Ray Comfort

I mean , talk about the Genesis curse . There's nothing you can . I thought we could squeeze them into a pillow and make them nice , and there must be something they could be used for . But no , I didn't mean to question that . That's why I was laughing , you're here with tumbleweeds .

Emeal Zwayne

Thank you , I appreciate that Tumbleweeds are bizarro stuff , but they're , I mean , but again , a design of God's creation . They are dispersing seeds as a roll .

Ray Comfort

Weeds , of course , do they really .

Oscar Navarro

More tumbleweeds . I thought they were just there for gunfights . Yeah , to show you .

Ray Comfort

Did you ?

Emeal Zwayne

buy a tumbleweed as a prop . I wonder Sure they ?

Ray Comfort

have it .

Emeal Zwayne

Sure you can . So , ray , there was a point to all of that . You played a soldier . Ray , if you're conscripted to serve as a soldier , could you do it ? Yes , I'd become a chaplain .

Ray Comfort

No , yes , I'd become a chaplain , no , a fighting soldier . I couldn't really shoot anyone . I'd feel terrible . That's what , yeah , you've got to shoot the guy before he shoots you .

Oscar Navarro

But I'd say Ray would shoot him and run over him like do you think you're a good person , Quick , quick .

Emeal Zwayne

I'd start it as foot and work my way out .

Ray Comfort

That's what I do start of the foot , move the way up and say move out of the way please .

Emeal Zwayne

Oh , Ray Ray , you would be kind of like the Hogan's Hero kind of guy . Why did you love that sitcom so much ?

Ray Comfort

Oh , because of Schultz and stuff like that . I don't know how a sitcom with that theme after the war could have become a hit , but it did .

Oscar Navarro

Is that a black and white ?

Ray Comfort

It was black and white , then went color . Hogan's Heroes You've heard of Hogan's Heroes ? I honestly have never heard of Hogan's Heroes . You are kidding .

Emeal Zwayne

It's iconic , it's a little bit like a little a little label Boy . A little label , I got nothing . Is that the guy at the cross-dresser , or was that Mesh ?

Ray Comfort

No , that's Mesh .

Emeal Zwayne

That was horrible that was crude yeah , and that guy was Lebanese I think too .

Ray Comfort

Yeah , hogan's Heroes was pretty wholesome . It was fun , interesting .

Emeal Zwayne

I mean , it was basically , it was these guys that were duping Silly Nazis and they were pretending they were spies , right or something .

Ray Comfort

They were just , they had everything going inside the camp . I mean everything , it was just , it was just fun .

Emeal Zwayne

They were prisoners no prisoners , but they had like they were spying on them .

Ray Comfort

Yeah it doesn't sound funny at all , but it was Speaking of that . I just watched a video that someone sent me this morning of a golden Labrador very friendly , a golden doodle . Yeah , no , it was a golden Labrador going up to a guy who was getting a bike out of a garage , who was actually stealing it , and the whole thing . The golden Labrador is so friendly to the thief , the thief bends down and pats somebody's wagon as tail rolling over .

Ray Comfort

And then the thief says , hey , where's your master ? You should tell him not to leave his garage door open , and he's no way .

Oscar Navarro

He's with a bike Like a security camera and yeah it's all a security camera .

Ray Comfort

The dog's just wagging his tail .

Emeal Zwayne

I got to see that . Yeah , that was funny . You know , I saw a delightful video today . I saw someone get tackled by a police officer who's trying to steal their second television set and the same day from a target .

Oscar Navarro

They went back into the same target the same day . Yeah , they stole one , went back in .

Emeal Zwayne

Courage . And so they call the police and they tell them I mean , in our day and age that's like refreshing , yeah . And the guy's like let me go , no , I can't go to jail . It sounds weird , what a weird voice , do you remember ?

Oscar Navarro

walking out of Lakewood mall and that dude was wrestling the . The security guard was wrestling that guy , oh yeah , and . I , I went to court , you did . Oh , I didn't know that . Yeah .

Mark Spence

Where I went in there and I was , I helped the guy . Maybe we were talking about a different scenario .

Oscar Navarro

You filmed the guy . I don't remember you helping him .

Mark Spence

Yeah , I got the guy in a headlock . Yeah , so it's a different scenario that's very , very small yeah .

Emeal Zwayne

You didn't get him in a headlock .

Mark Spence

I did , I got him in a headlock First off . This is not a headlock .

Oscar Navarro

This is holding a bullsuit .

Mark Spence

No , I got him in a headlock . The police came and the security was just standing around saying you know , sorry , we can't do anything , we can't help . The police was so livid , so upset at security not not helping out . And so the guy wanted to get inside of a getaway car and that getaway car had hit another car and took off . Motorcycle took after him and I ended up going to court to testify against the guy and right before I testified they called it all off . I don't know what happened .

Emeal Zwayne

So , mark , is that separate from the time you filmed ? There was some time .

Mark Spence

Yeah , that's the one I was talking about . I did both . I filmed and I got the same incident . I'm always trying to film .

Oscar Navarro

And then , like the wife was in the car , like get in the car , hurry they dude was like holding on to him , yeah .

Mark Spence

I didn't speak in English .

Oscar Navarro

I don't know that part . Yes .

Ray Comfort

So , mike , you were filming while you were headlocking . Yes , how many arms do you got ?

Mark Spence

Well , the thing was , I think I think I went while you were , but I didn't hit record . Oh , that's like . I do that or I hit it twice or something happened .

Emeal Zwayne

You should have had Siri help you . I wrecked my shirt that day .

Ray Comfort

I know what I told you guys about . In Australia , a guy walked into a court . He had a white jacket on while court was in session and he put a ladder against the wall , reached up and grabbed the clock and stole it . And no one stopped him because this were in a white jacket . Seriously , seriously , it's a white coat . You can do anything . You go to a hospital , or was that you ? No , you can go to a hospital and operate on people . If you were in a white coat and prove it .

Emeal Zwayne

Well , wait a minute . What was it called ? Catch Me , if you Can .

Oscar Navarro

That's basically all we know . Oh yeah , that's a true story , by the way . Yeah , no , I know .

Emeal Zwayne

He was in high school , I think , and he went and became a doctor . He pulled like the head of all these doctors , a lawyer and a doctor and a pilot . But , ray , that's the kind of thing you would do , isn't that what you ? I would not steal a coat , no , no , no , no , when you want it . Speaking of jackets and coats , when you want to get that jacket , oh , yes , yeah , I wasn't a Christian then , yeah .

Ray Comfort

But I did . I was in a store and there were all these people on the outside and I knew it was going to open at nine o'clock . So I had a suit on , I was carrying a briefcase and they just hit the whole crowd . I move away , please . It's nine o'clock , move away . And they all pardon , like the Red Sea . They opened the door because I thought I was starved and I got the jacket . It was in the window . It was yesterday , right ? No , no , I wasn't a Christian . So you Ray .

Emeal Zwayne

So you All right , friends , we have a comment . This is from a Jed who would go with Jessica Feet . Wow , that's what it says EJJDH .

Oscar Navarro

EJJDH . What if that's actually his ?

Emeal Zwayne

name Miraculous , Amazing . On the last podcast I think it was a moising . Now it's amazing . This podcast is amazing . It's truly helped me grow in faith and made me laugh too . You guys should cover the books of Enoch , book of Enoch , and try and figure out if there True or not . True or not Enoch , Enoch .

Ray Comfort

Enoch , true or not , quoted in the book of Jude .

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah Well , thank you , our dear friend . I will not try to repeat your name , but there is another name I will say , and it's our friend Kaitlyn , who's here with us in the studio . Let's give her a big hand , kaitlyn , welcome Round of applause . She is All the way here from Wahahuahu Washington . There's something like that you can say it .

Oscar Navarro

Wah-la-wah-la-wah-la .

Emeal Zwayne

Sounds like a fish . Kaitlyn , welcome . We're so glad to have you , so blessed to have you here in this video .

Oscar Navarro

She was in the bookstore and we walked in and was like hey , do you want to come and sit in on a recording ? And here she is .

Ray Comfort

And she said no , but we forced her to . She's heard the podcast before , but she came . She came anyway . But something more important than all .

Emeal Zwayne

Of that is what Kaitlyn said about what her favorite ministry is and what her second favorite ministry is Answers and Genesis . So we're in first place today . We like that . What are you doing , rick ? I'm for it .

Ray Comfort

Let me pour out a little loud to say that again , Kaitlyn .

Emeal Zwayne

We got proved . We got proved . Yes , this is my favorite organization , and second to it is Answers and Genesis . Kaitlyn , your voice made it onto the Living Waters podcast . You're a legend now forever . All right , friends , this podcast is brought to you by the Starter Kit Boy . That was a buildup for nothing .

Oscar Navarro

You're going to blow out your lungs just thinking what he is the Starter Kit .

Emeal Zwayne

The Starter Kit , friends , 350 gospel tracks . In there we got the million dollar bill , the Tenka Mammon's coin , the comic Are you a Good Person , small version and 101 of the world's funniest one liners .

Oscar Navarro

If you've never handed out track before in your life , the Starter Kit is a great place to start , because you get a variety of packs , some of them are more popular ones and for everybody . The reason why we make so many different kinds of tracks is because everyone feels comfortable handing out a different kind of track , and you should be comfortable with whatever track you have in your pocket . This is a great way of trying the multi-track shop and we've got the Starter Kit .

Ray Comfort

I was thinking of creating the Finisher Kit , but I don't know what . I don't know .

Mark Spence

Speaking of that , ray , do you have any gospel tracks on you ?

Ray Comfort

Of course , you owe me a thousand , prove it Always Wow .

Emeal Zwayne

Prove it .

Mark Spence

That's money what ?

Emeal Zwayne

else Take it off him , so I can ask him .

Ray Comfort

It's because I've said for many years I'll give a thousand dollars to anyone who finds me in public without gospel tracks . But people don't realize . I've got John 316 tethered on my chest with a sinner's prayer underneath it .

Oscar Navarro

Just in case we can't see it behind all the fur , though that's right , ray , but I sense a real lack of confidence in yourself .

Emeal Zwayne

Why isn't it a hundred thousand ? If someone catches ?

Ray Comfort

it . That's right . I should take it off . I should take it off .

Emeal Zwayne

All right , friends . Enough of the silliness , more silliness . Today , we are talking about how to avoid being biblically illiterate . Ill , ill , sick .

Ray Comfort

No , hang on . What's the word Light racy ? He hasn't even said the word yet Illiterate , illiterate , illiterate .

Emeal Zwayne

That's what it should be A sick fool .

Mark Spence

Illiterate .

Emeal Zwayne

Illiterate . Yeah yeah , how to avoid the dangers of biblical illiteracy . Now I got to admit , this was Oscar's idea . Oscar , what are we talking about today ?

Oscar Navarro

I don't remember making this idea up . You know I was thinking about the importance of this and I'm going to equate it to your nutrition Right , Like if you spend five days a week weightlifting and another three or four days a week doing cardio running because you want to build muscle , get in shape , but you're still stuffing your face with chili cheese dogs .

Ray Comfort

Oh , stop it . No , don't go there , I actually love chili cheese dogs .

Emeal Zwayne

Hey , wait , wait , wait . Did you actually go ? We talked about it on the last podcast .

Mark Spence

I didn't . I didn't go yesterday or the other day , because what was it yesterday ? Because I have work to do .

Ray Comfort

Good , that's good , mike yeah .

Oscar Navarro

But listen , if you want to build muscle , get in shape , you don't just work out , you also have to look at your dietary habits , your nutrition fiber . You need fiber to digest food . You need protein to build muscle . You need good healthy fats for nourishment . See , the thing is , the Bible says something similar about our relationship with God's word . No amount of church attendance , of prayer , of podcasting , of worship music will make up for the malnourishment that comes from neglecting your Bibles . And unfortunately we do have an epidemic within the church Only 30% who attend church on a regular basis claim they read their Bible on a daily basis .

Mark Spence

Wait a minute , I want you to finish . But this is exactly . Listen to James Montgomery Boyce's quote here and then continue . He says inerrancy is not the most critical issue facing the church today . The most serious issue , I believe , is the Bible's sufficiency . That's good , right .

Oscar Navarro

We have what we need , but then we avoid it , we're not reading it , we're discarding it and we play games all day and so many people , I think , have the felt need of this spiritual malnourishment , because so many Christians that I hear from and talk to are like man

Importance of Biblical Literacy

Oscar Navarro

. I just want the joy of my salvation back . I want to be on fire for the Lord . I want to feel and understand his presence in my life , and often we'll be like man . How much time , what is your time , reading God's word ? Look like to you and it's little to none . And so if you have that felt need where you're like you just feel disconnected from the grace of God , is it possible that you're experiencing the malnourishment of biblical illiteracy ?

Mark Spence

Yeah , and I tell kids all the time , when I speak at youth group camps and things of that nature , I say listen , you guys are on a high right now . Think about what you've been doing . You've been fellowshiping in the Word , you've been encouraging each other , you've been listening to good , solid teaching and you've been worshiping the Lord through music . When you come down the camp right , because it's not how high you can jump at , how straight you can walk when your feet hit the ground again Do the same things . Now . You're still going to go to school , you're still going to go to work , but surround yourself with good teaching , with good worship , with good fellowship . When you do that , you're going to have the accountability and you're going to grow in your knowledge , because we are changed continually from precept upon precept . That's what you need to do to grow . That's great .

Emeal Zwayne

You know , the thing that I think should astound us as Christians is the disconnect between what is professed and what is lived out in connection with scripture . I mean , you ask any Christian what do you think of the Bible ? Oh , I love the Bible . It's God's Word . You believe it's God's Word Absolutely . You believe it like the Lord actually gave it to us for a purpose to live our lives .

Emeal Zwayne

This is from God's love letter . I mean , they'll go on and on . How often do you read it ? Oh , I've been struggling lately , brother , brother , you know , and Ray , that's a problem . I mean seriously , like if we believe this is God's word and this is a sad truth and this is not for condemnation , friends , I hope this is an encouragement to like make us say wait a minute . I mean , sometimes we need big boy talk , you know , sometimes we need a little kick in the pants to say what am I doing here ? If you profess to know and love the Lord and you profess to love His word and haven't even read it all , and you've been a believer for decades , there's a problem there .

Ray Comfort

A huge problem . There's no excuse . We've got access to God's word and , as I've said a billion times , no Bible , no breakfast , no read , no feed . It's a matter of discipline . That's all it is . If you join an army , the first thing you do is cut off your curly locks . That's a Oscar . If you go to the army , they can .

Oscar Navarro

That's why I'm not in the army . Go on , yeah .

Ray Comfort

But I mean seriously , don't they like hair ? Well , they don't want you on the heat of battle . Looking in the mirror and making sure you hear is nice , because there are certain things that matter when it comes to the heat of battle . And we're soldiers for Christ . And , as Napoleon said , an army marches on its stomach . If you've got a weak army , it doesn't eat , it's not going to get anywhere . I like the verse go to the aunt you slug it and consider her ways . Why is it feminine ? Yeah , because women are more studious often than men . Men are lazy often , and so we need to discipline ourselves . And so many people that you're a Christian ? Yeah , I love the Lord , reading the Bible every day .

Ray Comfort

And they say I try to , and I like to say do you try to eat your food every day ? And they don't try to eat their food . They eat their food . Why ? Because it's prioritized . You don't try and eat your food and you shouldn't try to read God's word . You discipline yourself to read it daily . And I'm not saying read Leviticus before you get out of bed , but just meditate on the words of Jesus , chew them over and sob them into your spirit , let them become part of you to energize you throughout that day . And this is not a boast , because I thought every Christian did this . I have read the Bible every day without fail for 52 years . Never a day have I gone without reading the Word and I want to do it to the day I die . And every Christian should be like that , because the Bible is God's love letter to humanity .

Ray Comfort

And so often , if we ignore our instruction books , whatever you're trying to put together doesn't work and you won't put things together if you don't put God's word first . Someone says blesses the man who meditates on the law of God both day and night . And it says he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water strong and firm . His leaf won't worthy or retain vibrance and freshness . You'll bring forth fruit in season love , joy , peace , patience , goodness , gentleness , faith , meekness and temperance . And whatever you do will prosper . That's not like the prosperity gospel . It means your marriage will prosper and your vocation and your evangelistic endeavors . If you put God's word first , seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness , and all the other junk will be added . That's a little paraphrase , just a little .

Mark Spence

Or as Martin Luther worded , he said the Bible is alive , it speaks to me , it has feet , it runs after me and it has hands , it lays a hold of me , and that gets a little bit closer to literacy , because one biblical literacy starts with frequency , and that's what we're kind of talking about right now the frequency of reading our Bibles .

Oscar Navarro

Absolutely , if you're not reading it daily , if you're not reading it often , there's an issue . But there's also wrong ways of reading the Bible . You can read the Bible in the wrong kind of ways for every day of your life , and that's where biblical literacy comes into play . It's not just about the frequency of your Bible reading , it's about the also the quality of your Bible reading . Have you come to understand the Word of God ? Do you know what it's like to meditate on the Word of God ? Do you know what the Word of God is ?

Mark Spence

So how do we approach the Word of God If we're going to not become illiterate ? How do we approach it to study it , to be prepared , to be prepped to allow it to change us ? What do we do ?

Emeal Zwayne

Well , I was going to say , yeah , you have a couple of things going on . First , there's the avoidance of Scripture and obviously , when we say biblical literacy , we're not meaning that someone literally cannot read , it's that they will not read . First , you have to consume Scripture in order to do the proper things with it . That will make you literate in it , and I think that's the big key . It's first getting yourself in the habit , and let's camp here for just a moment and then we'll break it down . What are the things we need to know ? How do we understand Scripture , how do we interpret it , what are the different genres within Scripture , and so forth .

Emeal Zwayne

But yeah , first and foremost , I think there's an intimidation on the part of a lot of Christians when it comes to Scripture , especially newer believers . Like what is this thing ? Where do I start ? I mean , I've shared it multiple times . As an unbeliever , I didn't even know how to use the Bible . When there were references given , I'm like what in the world is that Right ? So there's that intimidation factor . What do you guys think causes that ?

Mark Spence

I before I became a Christian , when I was Catholic , you know . I grew up and I was told that I cannot interpret it , that I cannot understand it , that I need somebody else to tell me what I am reading . And that's still what is being propagated today in a lot of different cults and even within the Catholic Church . Today , you need us to help you to understand what you're reading . That's good .

Oscar Navarro

I think . To go back to your question , izzy , what is it that holds people back ? You have to realize that God's Word is set apart . It is unique and different than anything else you will ever experience in your entire life . Most people that are going to be listening to this podcast are readers , actually , but they read 5 , 10 , 15 second increments . On Instagram and TikTok , they read , you know , thousands of words every day , every week , but they read them in small increments . God's Word is different , though . While everything else we consume , god's Word has the power to consume us . God's Word speaks to us , so it is unique and it is different .

Oscar Navarro

You're reading , first and foremost , in ancient text , which you are going to need to read If you want to understand it through its depth and length . You're going to need to read it differently than you would read a book that was written 3 , 5 , 10 , 15 years ago , first and foremost , and you also have to understand that you develop a relationship with God's Word because God's Word is so unique and different . We bring with us sin attributes as we read God's Word , and the more we saturate ourselves in the Word of God , the more those things start to fall away and the more we begin to delight in the Word of God . I've said it before on this podcast Delighting in the Word of God takes time . It actually takes an acquired taste , because we have to shed off the old self , we have to allow God's Word to renew our minds . And so I've equated it to taste buds .

Oscar Navarro

Right , like coffee for some people , wine , like when I drink coffee . I know we joke often , but hang on here . When I drink coffee I can taste different flavors in there . I can taste fruits and acidity , I can taste chocolate . And to people who have only ever drank in coffee with creamer , that freedom to taste the goodness that's in coffee is not available to them . That comes with time of drinking black coffee . In that same way , the beauty and the nourishment and the goodness that comes with God's Word sometimes takes time , and so if you're a new believer , if you're someone that's always struggled but you're in and out of God's Word in quick seconds , you're not delighting in it . My encouragement to you is to take your time , allow God's Word to change your spiritual taste buds so that you can begin to taste the notes of God's goodness .

Ray Comfort

Yeah , I've got a lesson from dogs . My dogs each one that I've had eats like it's got no taste buds in its mouth . The taste buds are in the stomach . It just attacks that food that's cost us a lot of money and tastes good and got a lot of goodness in it and it's gone in like four seconds . I think what's wrong with you ? What ?

Oscar Navarro

does it sound like again Like that One more time ? No , no , that's all you're getting .

Mark Spence

That's all you're getting .

Ray Comfort

Anyway , that's how we approach God's Word . I'm going to read three chapters right now . Just consume it . No , take your time , like you're saying , chew it over , meditate on it . And the other thing is , god's Word is called a rock and when you get a rock , you break the rock open and you find the gold within the rock . And that's what God's Word is like . And sometimes I'll stay in a chapter for literally weeks just going over and over the chapter and after a while you go oh , I never saw that Word . And that Word is just like a gem . Like David says , I rejoice at your Word . It's one who finds great treasure .

Ray Comfort

Someone once said in it so wonderful , saying this book will keep me from sin and sin will keep me from this book . And it's a great thing to put in the front of your Bible . Because if you get into sin , any type of sin , sexual imagination , you won't want to open your Bible , because the Bible will read you and it will . It will accuse you , you'll feel guilty when you read it instead of delighting in God's law . So true .

Emeal Zwayne

You know , what you guys are saying has resonated with believers for generations . Once you know the God of Scripture and then you begin to really dive deep into the scriptures that God gave , it just transforms everything and it enriches your heart in ways that are beyond description . I think Jonathan Edward captured it well . He said I had then and at other times , the greatest delight in the Holy Scriptures of any book whatsoever . Oftentimes , in reading it , every word seemed to touch my heart . I felt a harmony between something in my heart and those sweet and powerful words . I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence and such a refreshing food communicated that I could not get along in reading , often dwelling long on one sentence to see the wonders contained in it . And yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders , you know .

Oscar Navarro

Let me try to summarize what we're saying here , because I think , if you listen closely , what we're saying is there's several ways in which you can read the Bible the wrong way . There's , of course , not reading it at all , but there's also reading it as though it's a magic eight ball , where you just kind of open it up and you point your finger and it's okay , what has God got for me today ? Let me get this one verse that better be good . That's treating your Bible like a magic eight ball . That is not how you should read your Bible . Another way you shouldn't read your Bible is , if I'm listening closely , is thinking that it's all about me , right , like how is this going to serve me right now ? But the scriptures are not about me , it's about God . It's about the God who is reconciling the world to himself . And so when I spend time in God's word , it's like spending time in a relationship with someone . I am there to learn about him Exactly , not to be fulfilled for my own self .

Understanding and Growing in Biblical Literacy

Oscar Navarro

And then , thirdly , often we treat the Bible . We expect the Bible to be like and I'm borrowing Jen Wilkins' words here like a debit card . We want to go to God's word and be like all right , give me what I need today . But she says that we need to treat God's word like a savings account . Every time we spend time in God's word , we are investing , and it's building up a type of spiritual savings account that will later pay off in fruits and dividends . It is not a debit card that you get something out of it right away . Sometimes it does that , but that's not the intention every time we read the Bible . It is a savings account , something that would bear fruit later on .

Mark Spence

Yeah , you know I love the scripture concerning that third point that you just brought up there Oscar , in John , chapter 5 . I'm going to read from the amplified version I just like the way it's worded out Start turning it down and obviously you're going to read it louder .

Mark Spence

I'll probably read it a little bit louder . So in John , chapter 5 , verse 39 , it says you search and keep on searching and examining the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life , and yet it is those very scriptures that testify about me , and still you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life . What happens is we approach the word of God as a textbook to just learn about life , but in reality the word of God points back to God . Let him , who glories , glory in this , that he knows me , that he understands me . When we approach the word of God , we want to do it in such a way to where we learn about him , where we know him intimately and passionately .

Mark Spence

It says that God knows us , and that word knows is the same word that Adam knew his wife and conceived a child . It speaks of intimacy . When we approach the word of God , god wants to be intimate in a way where he can search us and try us and see if there be any wicked way inside of us and lead us in the way everlasting . When we approach the word of God , I want to do it in such a way Lord , show me great and marvelous things about you that I know not of , and lead me in the way . Everlasting Amen .

Emeal Zwayne

No , it's really good . I love the verse in 2 Timothy 3 , 14 to 15 , but , you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith , which is in Christ Jesus .

Emeal Zwayne

Isn't that awesome , the thought of knowing the holy scriptures from childhood and he references his mother and his grandmother , eunice and Lois and just growing up in the word , being rooted in the faith . My encouragement to us who are listening , who are parents , is to have a multi-generational vision . This concept of yes , god's word is important in the development of my own spiritual depth , but it goes beyond that . There are ripple effects . My kids are watching me .

Emeal Zwayne

One of my favorite things when my kids were growing up was doing my devotions in the living room . I remember especially Julia . She'd get up . She was like I think maybe three or four and she'd come and she'd sit on my lap and I'd be reading the word or I'd be reading , like morning and evening , by Spurgeon . We do this thing called big words and I'd point out words to her and what I was reading . That was so sweet that my children were seeing their father get into God's word and seek after the Lord . Our kids watch us .

Emeal Zwayne

By contrast , they can watch us too get in the flesh and not live out God's word , as my kids have seen at times being a fleshly , sinful man , and that can be a contradiction . There has to be a connection between God's word transforming our own life , thinking about the ripple effects into the lives of successive generations , but then connecting what we're doing and taking the word with living out the word and having that testimony , like Timothy . And then the next verses 2 Timothy again , 3.16-17, . All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , for instruction and righteousness . That the man of God may be complete , thoroughly equipped for every good work . We oftentimes groan about the prosperity preachers and profiting off God's word . There is a good profiting off God's word . God wants us to profit from his word . It's profitable and it's profitable in all of these ways .

Mark Spence

In fact , somebody once said if you want knowledge , go to school , but if you want wisdom , get on your knees with God's word .

Oscar Navarro

So we've talked about frequency , we've talked about how not to read God's word , but what about growing in biblical literacy ? What are practical ways our listeners can grow in their biblical literacy , of understanding what the Bible actually says ?

Emeal Zwayne

Well , I think , first and foremost , a key component I remember first learning of this when I was just a couple years old in the Lord , when I was at a Christian university , in one of my Christian thought classes , I believe and that is that there are different genres within scripture and that's important to understand . There are different types of literature within scripture and this is a good one , kind of a good list , given by Mel Lawrence on Bible Gateway . He said there's first narrative , second poetry , third wisdom , fourth prophecy , fifth gospel , sixth epistles and then seventh apocalypse , and these are different types of texts within scripture Genres within scripture and so it's important to understand those .

Emeal Zwayne

You have to be careful Like , for example , you can drift into maybe the wisdom literature . You might get into proverbs or Job or Ecclesiastes and you'll read stuff in there . For example , there are things in Ecclesiastes that don't align with what is doctrinally right , but they are things that someone is pondering or thinking or saying . There are things in Job that we'll see maybe his comforter saying that don't align scripture and God rebuked them for that so you could grab those verses they said and think this is true .

Ray Comfort

And sometimes that's done .

Emeal Zwayne

People will use some of those as proof texts out of context , right , because they don't understand the genre to say look at this , or we've talked about it before . You could take again the wisdom literature like proverbs and you could read a verse like bring up a child in the way that he should go , and even when he's old he won't depart from it , and you'll take that as a promise when in reality it's a truism right , yeah , ecclesiastes is also wisdom literature .

Oscar Navarro

I think so practically . Why is that also important ? I mean , you think about it when you understand the genre . So , first and foremost , the right way of reading God's word is to understand that it is God's story about reconciling the world to himself . That's the big narrative . It's a narrative in creation , fall , redemption and reconciliation . In that you've got your as you pointed out , you different genres , literary genres . Why is that important ? Because I read poetry different than I read history . I understand that poetry often speaks in medical force , even though it has true things to say . And I read history different than I read poetry . I read the prophecy different than I read history . And so for you to be able to understand the context of the literary genre as you're reading it and , for that matter , the context of where it fits in redemptive history , right , like what covenant is happening in that period of time , to help you see the grand narrative in the story .

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , yeah , that's huge . I wanna get into hermeneutics for a little bit . But Herman who ? Herman who ? Our good buddy Todd Freel will get you set straight on that . But Ray Hebrews 412 , for the word of God is a living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword , piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow , and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart .

Ray Comfort

Speak to that that , yeah , I often use that first , when I'm a little bit discouraged because some atheist said I'm not listening to anything you're saying and I'm not even gonna think about it . And I say to him too late word of God's quick and powerful , it's gone right between the marrow of your bones and you can't fight it .

Ray Comfort

And I just thinking what Mark said . The word of God points back to God . God's word shapes our view of his character and his will and , without scriptural verance , of the deception of idolatry . That's what happens within the Catholic church because of its ignorance of God's word . They don't esteem God's word as they should and they get a wrong view of God's character and nature and thus you get works righteousness fed into their pews . Without the knowledge of the word , you lack knowledge of God and his will . And , like Oscar was saying about the whole plan of redemption , once we understand that the reason Jesus came is because God was not willing that any should perish , and when you understand God's word and get a grip of it , as we should , you align yourself with that will . We shouldn't be willing that any perish but all come to repentance . And I don't think anything unifies a local church greater than setting its eyes on the lost . You want a church to be unified and not argue , and have one mind , one spirit . They should strive together for the faith of the gospel .

Emeal Zwayne

Amen . Yeah , you know , mark . I think a big problem today in the church is that God's word is not given the supremacy that it should have in the worship of God's people , and Ephesians 6 , 17 makes it clear that , as it's talking about the armor of God , that the word of God is the sword of the spirit , and that sword is not often wielded appropriately within churches , either because God's word is given very little time or it's not exposited appropriately .

Mark Spence

And so , yeah , and when you don't do that , right , so you can either exegete a text or you can isegete a text .

Mark Spence

Isegeting a text means you are going to put into the text what you want it to say and what you think it may say , without any proper preparation or study . When you exegete a text , you're going to extract from the text that which the original author intended for the original audience , and to do that we have to study culture and customs and tradition and languages of the time . I had a dinner with my pastor , philip , last night . Our pastor and he was talking about the way the church should be , that he has to minimally labor in the word 20 hours a week , opening up commentaries and lexicons and helps and look at what other people that have gone before him have said concerning the text . And if you don't do that , what are you left with ? What are you left with Some speaker who can connect with an audience and tell neat little stories that can make people feel good about themselves ? Nobody needs that . You are giving poison to your people if you do not labor in the word of God before you give them the word of God .

Oscar Navarro

Well , and now you're leaning into what tools and resources can help with biblical literacy , and you mentioned commentaries . I think Bible study , bibles and commentaries are huge help . I would argue that pastors often make poor commentators . Pastors just don't have the time , capacity or discipline to understand both the nuances of theology and God's word . And so to me , scholars and theologians , when they write commentaries , they bring some meat and potatoes to the table right , and so most often , people rely on YouTube , google searches to try to understand what the Bible says and what it means , or to formulate their opinion on a subject . The problem with that is that reading it's been proven that it increases your critical thinking , your empathy , your reflection , your understanding of the thing that you're trying to understand . In other words , if you're not studying God's word and all you're doing is relying on sermons or on YouTube videos or Google searches or AI , you're simply just not gonna understand God's word .

Oscar Navarro

Commentaries are great . One of the things that commentaries do is it's people way smarter than us come before us and often , if you're reading an old commentary , they're bringing different perspectives outside of our own cultural narrative to the text , which helps us understand the text well . For those of us , there's some commentaries that are thick and heavy and hard to read . But the Good Book Company is an organization , a company that has done a really good job of making approachable commentaries for the everyday lay Christian that wants to start to get into that . And so what do you do ? You open God's word let's say you're gonna read through Romans . You buy a $15 , $20 approachable commentary , you put it right next to God's word and as you read the passage , you read the commentary and allow it to help you to understand the backstory of what's happening .

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , and friends , we don't want you to also be intimidated . We talked about intimidation of God's word , but intimidated by what we're discussing so far . I mean , hermeneutics in and of itself is a word that makes people kind of step back and say , whoa , what in the world ? I don't need that , I just need to know God's word . Don't make the mistake of those who say , oh , I just need to know God and not know things about God . How can you know God and not know things about him ?

Ray Comfort

Did we define hermeneutics or just use the ?

Emeal Zwayne

word . Well , yeah , I'm about to define it . So , yeah , ray , yeah , so when we talk about hermeneutics , we're talking about the science of proper biblical interpretation . So in other words , you're reading scripture but you're mining out the meaning of it so that you understand it , because without knowing the significance and the meaning , then you're gonna apply it in a way that could be even harmful , and we've seen a lot of people do that . And so we don't have time . We're almost out of time already on this

Principles and Importance of Hermeneutics

Emeal Zwayne

episode .

Emeal Zwayne

But Daniel Aiken lists some great principles of hermeneutics . I'll just share a few of them . And this again , friends , is to wet your appetite so that you can go deeper and you can research . We mentioned our friend Todd Freel . He has a great audio called a hermeneutics and that'll give you the basics , so you could check that out . You can go to wretchidorg and find that there . But here are a few principles .

Emeal Zwayne

The Bible is the inspired , infallible and an errant word of God . That's a foundation . So you have to begin with understanding the nature of scripture . It's inspired , it was given by the Lord , breathed by the Holy Spirit . It's infallible and an errant in all of its content .

Emeal Zwayne

Another one is the primary goal of hermeneutics is the discovery of the author's intended meaning that's so important . You're trying to get to the meaning of what the author intended . It's not this open sort of thing . Oh , this is what it means to me . It's something we often hear people say it doesn't matter what it means to you . What matters is what it means , and God has connected his word with the intention of the author . The author's intended meaning is conveyed through the different layers of context . Context is huge , so you have to understand the context of what's being discussed . The author's intended meaning in every biblical text is always discovered within its own unique context . So you have layers of context , you have the unique context that's connected to it and so on . So again , we don't have time , but those are just a few again to wet your appetite and get you excited about that . Ray you mentioned earlier when certain portions of scripture hit you or strike you in a certain way and the whole kind of strength connected to that is through meditation , right .

Ray Comfort

Yeah , it's a hard thing to put into words , but it's just a sense of excitement comes . It's kind of like being in love . You know , when you look at your wife , it's just gives great instant joy to your heart when you understand scripture and rejoice at God's word . It's one who finds great treasure . Understand that this is the most precious gift God's given to man outside the cross . It just thrills your heart when you begin to understand it . I was just thinking you can see biblical illiteracy reflected in these shallow lyrics and contemporary worship music .

Emeal Zwayne

Yep , so it's true .

Ray Comfort

And you go back to those old hymns from 200 , 300 years ago . And can it be that I should gain interest in the Savior's blood ? Just powerful . Powerful looks based in scripture . Worship comes in ministry to your spirit and soul that you worship .

Oscar Navarro

Oh , so good . Let me go back to something you said , izzy , because I think it's really important and I want to pass over it , which is that some people are like oh well , you know , I don't need to know these things . One of the common phrases is like I don't need to know theology , just give me Jesus . That in and of itself is a theological statement , but , as you just pointed out , theology is simply- .

Ray Comfort

Who's you when you're listening ?

Oscar Navarro

I'm sorry when they listen . As you , ray Comfort , just pointed out , theology is knowing God . If you're in a relationship with somebody , as you pointed out as well , if I'm in a relationship with my wife , to love her is to know her , and as the years move on , I get to know her more and more and more . And so theology reading the biblical literacy is about knowing your savior .

Ray Comfort

It's like getting a text from your wife with a little uh that little heart yeah .

Oscar Navarro

And I love the way John Piper has an illustration that actually has a story about when he was in school . A teacher had a goldfish in a bowl and he asks the students walk up to the bowl and make an observation and write it down . And so the first time they walked up to the bowl it was like , alright , what observations ? There was a goldfish in it . Okay , go back , because all there was was a goldfish in it . Right , there was nothing else .

Oscar Navarro

So he's like okay , go back and make more observations about the goldfish . They went back and it was like okay , it's got two eyes , it's got fins and it's blue . And he's like , okay , go back and make more observations . And they start to go back and he starts to say you know , the observations for round three or four is like ah , there's dirt , particles in the water , the colors of the scales changed based off the lighting . And the point that Piper makes is that the more we slow down just on one text as an example , the more it begins to become illuminated to us . We start to mind those single texts , for all of the beauty and goodness , but if we just pass by , all we're going to see is a fish . Yeah .

Ray Comfort

And if the goldfish is blue , it's dead .

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , and you know it's important for us to recognize that there are different things we do in connection with scripture . I mean , we read it . Obviously we got to be there , we got to read it first , like we talked about initially . We memorize it and that's a lost discipline . But you know you want to hide God's word in your heart . Psalm 119 talks about that to keep your way pure , to not sin against the Lord . We study it , we open up , like we talked about commentaries , you get word helps .

Emeal Zwayne

There are concordances , lexicons that help you to understand the language , and it's so beautiful to examine certain words and plumb the depths of what they really meant and the richness of the original language . It's super powerful . We get to meditate on it . Yeah , we meditate on it , and it's like chewing the cud where it gets integrated into your life and then we obey it . We're not merely hears of the word , like scripture talks about in James , but doers also . Like Jesus said , if we know it and don't do it , we're like a man who built his house on the sand and the storms will come and it will crash . But , mark , I want you to finish us off on the richness of sharing God's word . There's something special about taking the word that we have read , memorized , studied , meditated on , obeyed , and now we can share it with others , having connected with it .

Mark Spence

People do not need our opinions . What they need is the word of God , as you guys were quoting earlier with Hebrews 412, . It is living and powerful , sharper than any two-edged sword that listen . It is going to accomplish what God wants it to accomplish . So the more we can get the word of God in us , there will be ample opportunity to get it out of us . Remember someone said that if we do not meditate on God's word as truth , we're going to believe . Lies are true .

Mark Spence

What people need and what they're hungry for , whether they realize it or not , is God's word . That's what they need . If they're a non-believer on the way to hell , they need to have that continual reminder that they will face a holy God on judgment day If they are on their way to heaven . What they need is God's word because it sanctifies them , it sets them apart , it prepares them for every good work , it reminds them of who they are and who God is . It stamps eternity on their eyelids that , whether they're awake or whether they're asleep , god is real and we have to give an answer to him that he is a very present help in time of need . What people need is God's word . So you get it in you . There will be ample opportunity to get it out of you , and when that opportunity comes , jump at it to be able to share it .

Emeal Zwayne

Amen and Ray , god's word in evangelism . Oftentimes in your videos , you'll just give people scripture after scripture . And how important is that integrating God's word into the proclamation of the gospel ?

Ray Comfort

Because my illustrations , my anecdotes and my thoughts and ideas don't do what God's word does . God's word doesn't return void . That's the promise . So thoroughly feed scripture into what you're saying and you don't need to quote the verse .

Oscar Navarro

like Jack , what's his name ?

Ray Comfort

You don't great that he did that . It was very , very interesting . But you don't need to quote chapter and verse when you're talking to ungodly people , because it means nothing to them and the original wasn't even in chapters and verses , so it doesn't matter . So just get God's word when you're witnessing to people and you can just say oh , this is a Bible verse I want to share with you , and it goes right to the heart .

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , let the sword of the spirit do its work . Amen . Well , friends , there you have it . I hope you've been encouraged . I've been stirred more than ever for God's word this week by what we discussed . Don't forget the starter kit . Make sure to get it , along with the evidence study Bible , the Living Waters podcast , mug and all other good things at livingwaterscom .

Oscar Navarro

Oh really .

Emeal Zwayne

Oh sorry At livingwaterscom .

Oscar Navarro

You're getting more creative .

Emeal Zwayne

Yeah , and friends , remember podcastatlivingwaterscom with your thoughts , comments , ideas for podcast topics , and also remember to rate and give us your comments . Thank you for joining us . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast . The ultimate cure for insomnia .