Quirky Reflections on 200th Episode

Emeal Zwane 1:06

My brother was very kind and generous . He gave me this almost brand new Isuzu rodeo back in that time .

Ray Comfort 1:13

I don't know ?

Oscar Navarro 1:14

Yeah , I remember those . Yeah , it was a cool little car .

Emeal Zwane 1:17

I mean , back then I think he paid like 22 grand for it , which back in 91 was a lot of money . This thing was nice , it was black , it had license plate said after dark , afdr dark . I coveted that because I was a covetous individual , yeah , you remember that . So , anyway , one day I was in the gas station . Some guy came to you know pump gas , he gets out of his Jalopy of a Truck or whatever it was . I mean , this thing was just absolutely horrendous . And he starts walking in toward the station and he left it and drive Goop and I'm standing there watching this thing going straight toward my Nearly brand new isuzu rodeo that I really , really , you know , enjoyed , and it just crashed right into it . Ray comfort , you've always lived in your current home since the day I helped you move into it , which , believe it or not , was about 28 years ago . Yeah , you're right . How strange to talk in numbers like that rate . Tell me , how adamant are you about never moving out of your house ?

Ray Comfort 2:20

I don't want to move . We've got a chicken coop . Who want to move ?

Emeal Zwane 2:23

Chicken coop , which is my next question . Yeah , what if they outlawed the ownership of chickens on your property ? I'd move out of the country . Would you move right ? Oh yes , oh yeah what if ? They outlawed the owning of dogs .

Ray Comfort 2:38

Yeah , I'd move too . I love my dog , I'm my chickens , love my wife . Net order .

Emeal Zwane 2:42

What if they outlawed having an Arab son-in-law ?

Ray Comfort 2:45

Yeah , but my net at all . I'm pushing for it .

Emeal Zwane 2:50

You would definitely stay . Yeah , ray , your house is it ? It's a very interesting place . You remember that day I helped you move right .

Oscar Navarro 2:58

It feels like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory . It's all sorts of gadgets and gizmos everywhere .

Emeal Zwane 3:04

Ray , seriously , what , what , what is it with you and and Stuff like that , I mean I I say talking about , I'm a normal human being , everybody else is weird . I cannot believe how many holes you have in the walls of your well that really all in the beds .

Ray Comfort 3:22

That that just shows the holes in the bed . I've got a real and my friendships . I've got a real tolerant wife .

Emeal Zwane 3:32

Boy I wanted .

Ray Comfort 3:33

I wanted to put a hose from our kitchen throughout so the birds could drink Water outside , or something like that . So I just drilled a hole through the wall out the other side . She didn't worry . I cannot believe you , and it's because our treasure is in heaven . All this is just junk .

Oscar Navarro 3:45

Yeah , it's gonna be a burn . Daniel comfort said that you were like this when he was growing up . He said at one point when you sat down on the couch there was like a string and if you pull on the string the TV would turn on .

Ray Comfort 3:55

Yeah , yeah . Well , that's before the times of remotes . We take remote control site . It wasn't string , it was fishing tackle and I could turn the volume up and down and change the channels from about 20 feet away . Yeah , I was that .

Emeal Zwane 4:10

I was the human remote control in my house for everybody , so I was a young , as they'd make me stand at the TV and just do that . That's why you have kids . Yeah , ray , you had that . And then you had you had your bird Avery , which was basically you built a cage around your window and that's why you had the thing , the going the hose going from the sink to the . So you just turned it and you and had to you have to carry water .

Oscar Navarro 4:36

Yeah , and then you had the race . Is no problem with this , by the way ? Yeah , he's like yeah .

Emeal Zwane 4:42

And then you had . You used to have the counter balances on your door . I mean used to . You still have those . Yeah , of course you open the door instead of getting like one of those door closer . And just he put these awaits .

Ray Comfort 4:54

Yeah , so the doors close automatically when you go through them . Stop the mosquitoes getting . Yeah , and then what's ?

Emeal Zwane 4:59

what that ? What's what ? Those like Plastic streamer things that make me feel like I'm walking into it ?

Ray Comfort 5:04

That's to stop mosquitoes getting in , because I've you don't realize this got super quality blood . The mosquitoes Recognize , they love it , and so they'll dive after me yelling woohoo , my only surprise , whenever I go to race houses , that I don't run into an oompa-loompa .

Oscar Navarro 5:21

What ?

Ray Comfort 5:22

Loompa-loompa . I don't know what I'm blue for is yeah , an oomper-loomper .

Oscar Navarro 5:26

No , charlie and the chocolate factory .

Emeal Zwane 5:28

Okay , it was before my day and then the hole in your bed and Look when I'm dead , you look back and say that guy was a genius .

Ray Comfort 5:37

Everybody's adopted the hole in the bed and Kyra practice are out of what's right ?

Emeal Zwane 5:41

The writing on your shower wall , that's normal .

Ray Comfort 5:46

Everybody should do that .

Oscar Navarro 5:47

That's when you get ideas with his dog .

Emeal Zwane 5:49

We found out last time with the head showering with the dog in the shower . What else right you ? What else do you ? Have your prayer , your prayer list , taped to the ceiling of I used to have that yeah . I didn't hear about that one .

Ray Comfort 6:03

And a prayer list tape to ceiling . Now you're starting to make me sound weird . I Wanted gospel of John wallpaper too , but no one picked me up on that . I'm having your whole house . The gospel of John wallpaper so you can read scripture all the time .

Emeal Zwane 6:17

I mean , that's the height of fanaticism you are , you are seriously intelligent .

Ray Comfort 6:22

You're a Nick .

Emeal Zwane 6:23

Naked man . I've never met anyone like you in my life . I were not even . This isn't even the tip of the iceberg of the stuff you've done over the years . My poor wife , hmm , growing up with him painting that , painting the , the pool black .

Ray Comfort 6:36

Well , that's intelligent . It makes the water heater what ?

Emeal Zwane 6:41

What happened ?

Ray Comfort 6:42

alright , Well , it's some two . Two things happen . I did it with black plastic . Firstly , I didn't want to paint it because I didn't want to put paint in the pool . But what happens ? The plastic kept floating to the top . Set up a bricks and all the plastic down to heat the water up , and that didn't work . So I painted it black , and then Paint pieces started coming up and so and I also had a black hose Circling up and down the roof so the water would heat up on the roof . This is before they had solar panels to heat the water up . So we come down to the swim . It's only just little swimming pool . What ?

Emeal Zwane 7:14

is the killer ones right , you know , you know how , when you get your driver's license , they give you the option to donate like your organs .

Ray Comfort 7:21

Mm-hmm , I don't play one .

Emeal Zwane 7:22

Do you put one on ?

Ray Comfort 7:23

I didn't play an organ .

Emeal Zwane 7:27

See , ray , you need to donate your brain to scientific research .

Ray Comfort 7:30

I thought they wouldn't know what to do with that . They just need a small jar . I think it's disgusting . I've got Einstein's brain in a jar . It was horrible . Is it really yeah ?

Emeal Zwane 7:38

it's just disgusting . I'm sure , though , your brain looks different somehow . It'd be nice a little pink , fresh color , because it definitely functions differently . Anyway , I imagine it with a beard . I Was good , I was good . If you imagine it seriously , pull it out .

Oscar Navarro 7:56

It's kind of it's got his beard and it's very short .

Emeal Zwane 8:00

It's like two inches . All right , friends . Enough of that , guys . This is a very , very special episode , and you guys don't know why , but I do . It shows that you don't pay attention . You're not clued into these things , you're not very intelligent , I figured it out . This is because you looked at my screen .

Oscar Navarro 8:12

No , I didn't , this is the 200 that's living waters .

Emeal Zwane 8:18

Podcast episode .

Ray Comfort 8:20

Did you look up Einstein's brain spins ? Yeah , just leave your computer alone .

Emeal Zwane 8:24

This is a time to talk about Einstein . I just said this is our 200th episode .

Ray Comfort 8:27

I know he's going to pull up Einstein's brain on the computer .

Emeal Zwane 8:32

Guys 200 that's wild 200 .

Ray Comfort 8:35

that is incredible , I'm sure what is he who would have believed that we'd last for 200 episodes .

Emeal Zwane 8:39

Seriously , what a what an amazing journey , friends , and thank you all so much again . We don't thank you enough for for listening .

Ray Comfort 8:46

Yes , we do support .

Emeal Zwane 8:49

We need to do every two minutes , right ? That's enough . I like it , it is it is very humbling .

Oscar Navarro 8:53

We are , I would say , like a reflection that I've had over 200 episodes is one I love to hear from you guys and learn from you guys . For those who don't know , we we don't do any planning or prep work together , other than we get a title and then on our own we prepare and Everything's organic . We come to no one's like , okay , you cover this and you cover that . That's probably pretty obvious if you listen to it . But the second thing is is it's been really cool . I know easy you and I have talked about this . It's been really cool To see the relationship grow between us and our listeners . I love it like we reflect on , like for the TV show and for YouTube and even for speaking engagements . There's not enough time to really like get to know somebody . And it's so fun because when we , when we travel now and we meet Somebody that here's the podcast like they share our inside jokes with us . Yeah you know , and they , they know they'll poke fun of you know , poke fun of one another for something weird that we do and it's just , it's so fun . It feels it's weird to say this but it feels very personal , yeah , to have listeners Tune in so often and spend time with us .

Ray Comfort 10:01

I made a call this morning . A mum said a 16 year old boy had it was his birthday when I call him thing because he listened to the podcast . I think of him and his family have listened 180 times and he did one of those things . He did a ray comfort accent and Easy asked how it was and I said it was absolutely terrible , but a thousand times better than what you do .

Emeal Zwane 10:20

Well , I talked to Jeremy this morning as well . It's Jeremy 16th birthday and we want to give him a shout out . Jeremy was such a joy to talk to you this morning and thank you for listening and his mom , tammy , and you know his dad's serving in the military , so it meant a lot and Ken Hammon I asked him gave free tickets to the family because they live in Kentucky together .

Ray Comfort 10:39

Yeah , what are you wanting for Oscar ? They the arc , the arc of the covenant .

Emeal Zwane 10:47

Yeah , yeah , anyhow , thanks again , Jeremy . God bless you and and use this 16th year of life to glorify the Lord all the more . All right , friends . This comment is a friend friends . This is from ash pretty 03 , my favorite podcast of all time Hello Living Waters podcast . My name is Ashley and I'm 20 years old . I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for this ministry and the podcast , especially when I first became a believer around 2021 , I did not have a godly community due to the college I was going to . I would listen to the podcast every day and almost every episode . You guys equip and give biblical viewpoints on many interesting topics that have helped me with my faith . My favorite podcast has to be Christian contentment , because I struggle with being content due to the circumstances of my life . I pray that the Lord continues to use you guys to advance the kingdom and do the

Materialism

Emeal Zwane 11:40

Lord's work . I thank God for a comfort , for creating this blessed ministry , because it has had an impact on a lot of my close friends . You guys will be easy . You guys are all like my father's Oscar , like my great-grandfather in a way , and I'm thankful for you , for the four of you . Thank you , ps . Easy makes me laugh every episode and seems like such a cool friend to have .

Ray Comfort 12:08

I can only call you put it a book just called compliments about me .

Emeal Zwane 12:12

Blessing . Ashley knows what's up . Thank you , ashley . That really made our day and what we're made you was Double made my day . All right , friends , this episode is about to you by a treasure chest . We just call it treasure chest , but it is the wooden treasure chest with 310 commandment coins , guys , a gospel message on a coin . Only Ray comfort Could do something like that . It's got the 10 commandments on one side and a brief gospel message on the other 300 of them and this really cool wooden chest .

Oscar Navarro 12:46

By the way , I have a I have a what sort of word on or a theory . I want to test something here . Yeah , but so I'm a I didn't plan this but for that . So this is the 200th episode . So the next comment that comes up after the 200th episode is posted that mentions either Mark or Oscar or Ray and not easy , I will send them a free mug , or all three of us , and there is no mention of easy .

Emeal Zwane 13:14

Yeah the problem is , I won't read that one .

Ray Comfort 13:18

Is he that that treasure chest they're talking about ? It's one of my favorite products . Every time I pick one up it's so cool , it's such a quality wooden chest and you open it up on all these 300 coins sitting there waiting to be given out .

Emeal Zwane 13:29

It's yeah , you could put it by your door you know yeah . Yeah , all right friends . And don't forget the living waters Mug , and they have it in study Bible . All living waters Dot com . Oh , that was fancy . All right friends . Today we are talking about I don't even know what we're talking about . How to break the bondage of material , material , material , material . Are you material girl ? Right , was that , was that Madonna ?

Ray Comfort 14:04

Yeah yeah , because I'm living .

Oscar Navarro 14:09

And I am a material girl . I think she's just sick of it . I'm not sure who is it ? That's fair .

Mark Spence 14:15

The first concert ever went to before I was a Christian 1984 was Madonna , was it ? Yeah , the man and the Beastie Boys opened up , really yeah boy .

Emeal Zwane 14:24

I can't believe Madonna is seriously still going . She's in the 60s , isn't she ? I think she's 80s , close to 70 , 70 . Yeah really . Well she's still wearing those silly , stupid outfits . And boy she , really . She's a . She's a God mocker , isn't she ?

Ray Comfort 14:39

Yes , we'll look at her name .

Emeal Zwane 14:40

Cabala Donna .

Oscar Navarro 14:42

Yeah , so the way her costume designer is a big fan of the podcast . What ?

Emeal Zwane 14:51

Very nice , very good . That was funny , oscar , alright , friends . So yeah guys , materialism , you guys are very , you guys are probably the most material .

Ray Comfort 15:09

Second Lamborghini that convinced me of that .

Emeal Zwane 15:13

Yeah , boy , life changes , doesn't it , when you come to the Lord .

Mark Spence 15:17

As far as things are Concerned , you know , the scripture that hit me easy when I became a Christian was what would a prophet , a man , if you were , to gain the whole World and yet forfeit his soul ?

Ray Comfort 15:25

Well , would you put it anyway ?

Mark Spence 15:27

Exactly . You know , the 10th commandment about you shall not covet was really the commandment that God Used to get all the me , because that was when I was going to steal a bunch of Levi jeans from my department store in Southern California , and when that preacher had shared that scripture , it just pricked to my heart . Well , I realized what a covetous individual I was .

Ray Comfort 15:45

I didn't know that . Yeah , I knew that we're gonna steal Levi's , but I know that was the scripture you know I knew I was a changed person .

Emeal Zwane 15:51

When this happened many years ago , I was probably 16 or 17 . I was working for for my family , but my brother had a gas station in Huntington Beach and he had . I stole from that .

Mark Spence 16:04

You stole from that . I stole from that gas station man mark .

Emeal Zwane 16:08

You need to pay that back .

Mark Spence 16:09

I don't want to tell Frank . Frank will be .

Ray Comfort 16:14

When , when his easy's brother owned it easy's brother owned the gas station .

Mark Spence 16:18

Yeah Well , what happened was people would come in and they'd pay with a credit card . And my friend worked there , my friend Jason I won't say his last name , but , oh , jason's . Oh yeah , people would leave their credit card and then you go out and you , you pump your gas , but you leave your credit card up with the , with the teller , yeah , and so sometimes people would leave their credit card behind . So Jason would call me up , we'd take the credit cards and we would Go shopping with those credit cards .

Emeal Zwane 16:43

It's evil , evil , evil , evil . Such a wicked man , mark yeah .

Mark Spence 16:46

So when I got saved , though , I went to return the material to the sporting goods store .

Emeal Zwane 16:51

The last sporting goods store . But we knew it was Mark because we would always find all these Wienerschnistle wrappers all around the gas station . But anyway , before I was really interrupted by Mark's story , we had another gas station . You didn't well , you might have gone to that one . The other one was on Beach in Yorktown and Beach . Remember Ellis and Maine , where they split Ellis and Maine .

Mark Spence 17:16

You know the jack in the box there Towards the high school .

Emeal Zwane 17:18

Yeah , there's a jack in the box and then , anyhow , we had a Texaco . It's not there anymore , but I was working there one day .

Ray Comfort 17:24

There's too many details . It's not there because I stole the gas station .

Emeal Zwane 17:27

You stole the whole gas station .

Oscar Navarro 17:29

You should have told stories like old Maine , my brother was very kind and generous .

Emeal Zwane 17:32

He gave me this almost brand new Isuzu rodeo back in that time .

Ray Comfort 17:36

Is this in the car ? I don't know what .

Oscar Navarro 17:38

It's a 91 . Yeah , I remember those cars .

Emeal Zwane 17:39

Yeah , Isuzu rodeo those were cool little cars Back then . I think he paid like $22,000 for it , which back in 91 was a lot of money . This thing was nice . It was black . It had license plates that are after dark AFDR dark . I coveted that because I was a covetous individual , yeah , you remember that . So , anyway , one day I was in the gas station , so the guy came to pump gas . He gets out of his jalopy of a truck or whatever it was . I mean , this thing was just absolutely horrendous . And he starts walking in toward the station and he left it and drive , and I'm standing there watching this thing going straight toward my nearly brand new Isuzu rodeo that I really , really enjoyed , and it just crashed right into it . And I remember I mean I remember like it was yesterday I remember I grabbed my soda can , casually , walked out there , looked at it go , and I just go , oh , all right , no problem . And I remember just distinctly thinking Lord , you have really changed my mind . That's true , I could not have cared less . It was like the things of eternity are what mattered to me . It was just transformational .

Ray Comfort 18:45

Wow .

Emeal Zwane 18:46

And I think that's something that we , as believers , need to ask ourselves , because I can admit , sadly , that as I grew in the Lord , I found that there were times when I didn't have that attitude , you know , when lesser things irritated me , frustrated me and affected me . And I think I had that attitude back then because of the freshness of my conversion , because I was so consumed with the things of eternity , they were so fresh to me . But I mean , you're still like that today , materialistic for sure . Very , yeah , in the grand scheme , yeah , I'm not possessed by the things of life , but there are times when things can grab ahold of me and affect me . And yeah , oscar .

Oscar Navarro 19:32

I think the thing about materialism or greed , which is the root sin of materialism , is that the nature of greed is that it's blinding . It blinds you . You don't realize it , like I heard someone say one time nobody like I . He said he's never had to tell somebody hey , watch out , you might be committing adultery , because everyone knows when they're committing adultery , but nobody realizes when they're greedy , when they're dealing with materialism . Matthew six the eyes , the lamp of the body . If your eye is healthy , your whole body will be full of light . But if your eye is bad , your whole body will be full of darkness . So if the light within you is darkness , how deep is that darkness ? Exodus 23 , verse eight do not accept a bribe , for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the word of the innocent . The scriptures are telling us we are blind to our own greed . And if you think about it like , no one right , like we've all been in pastoral positions before man , I've had guys confess to me that they are looking at pornography . I've had a guy's confessed that they've lied , that they've stolen . I've heard stories of guys confessing sins like that . Never once in my time in ministry has everyone and anybody ever walked up to me and go man , I'm greedy . I have to confess to you that I'm full of greedy materialism because we're blind to it . We all think , well , I'm not as greedy or materialistic as that guy over there . We all can point to a family member , a friend , someone who goes to church with us that we think they are , now that's a greedy person , and so we are all blind in ways to our own greed . But I do think that there are symptoms that helps us realize that we are greedy . And we live in Southern California , by the way , we live in Orange County Like if there was ever a place that dealt with materialism . Oh yeah , you live in LA County , but if there was ever a place that was embedded in the sin of materialism , it is here . Like , where I live , rancho Santa Margarita is a city that I live in . I don't live in Rancho Santa Margarita , but it's a city that's near me and that is one of the safest cities in the world . And yet there's gated communities inside that safe city . People don't buy gated communities in safe cities because they're afraid . They buy it because of the prestige . And you'll hear people say like , oh , I live in Dove Canyon , I live in XYZ . You'll hear people talk about homes , like , oh , my home . They don't just say , oh , my old home , they'll tell you the square footage of their home . Right , see , we like , we , we have to . We just breathe the air of greed Like we are constantly dealing with it . And the worst part is that I think a lot of pastors don't want to preach on this . I used to have this pastor went to a very respected school that you all have , we've talked about on this podcast , and he got up and he talked about greed and he starts by talking about false idols . We live in Orange County and he starts talking about the false idols of Buddha and Muhammad . And don't get me wrong , those are false idols .

Ray Comfort 22:26

Are they real idols or false ?

Oscar Navarro 22:28

idols . Well , the scripture is called false idols . But here's the thing . He lives in Orange County . Why didn't he talk about the Mercedes Benz that everyone's pulling up in the obsession over Teslas , the obsessions over bigger houses , the fact that we all have garages and that we all , on top of the garages , some of us even have storage units to store the stuff that we can't store in our garages because we've run out of room . You see what I mean . Like we are all materialistic , we are all greedy , but we're all also blind to the greed that is within us .

Emeal Zwane 23:00

Yeah , yeah , there definitely is a blindness to it , and I think that it's also important to know that sometimes people who don't have can be the greediest you know . Sometimes we'll look at the materialistic realm as belonging to those that have a lot that you have , those that are poor , but they're still greedy and covetous and wanting and they're more materialistic than even people that have a lot

Contentment and the Love of Money

Emeal Zwane 23:25

.

Ray Comfort 23:25

I think you're talking about Timothy , where he says they that would be rich fallen to a temperature .

Emeal Zwane 23:29

Yeah , in fact , let me read that for us . I have it here . First , timothy 6 , beginning of verse 6 , now , godliness with contentment is great gain , for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out . And having food and clothing , with these we shall be content . But those who desire to be rich fallen to temptation and a snare and the many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition . For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil , for which some have strayed from the faith and their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows . Mark , it really does come down to a love of money , doesn't it ? We both know people that are extremely affluent and they're very non-materialistic . Thank you , in terms of their attitude , their heart , and it's really the love of money that is the problem .

Mark Spence 24:24

Yeah , it's often misquoted , isn't it that money is the root of all kinds of evil ? But it really isn't . It's the love of money , jim Carrey . He said I wish everyone could experience what it's like to be rich , so they can see that it doesn't bring the happiness that they think it does . Try me . To which one person responded with well , maybe you're shopping in the wrong places , jim Right , our friend Thomas Partel . He said some people are so poor that all they have is money . It's what are you doing with the resources that God is entrusting to you ? I want to live my life in such a way . I had an old pastor friend that said let nobody know whether or not you have a dime in your pockets or a million dollars , you're not living in a way that you can be accused of mishandling God's money , because it's his . Everything we have belongs to him . Rich Mullins I know that he had some really crazy theology but he had some really beautiful music . Way back in the 80s when he died and they went inside of his apartment , they saw a little mattress that was on the ground , no table , no chairs , no other furniture . He had lived off of 10% of the money that was coming into his life and he was given away 90% to the mission field to reach the field . But he wanted to live in such a way that when he died there wasn't the ability . If he was asked the question , what do you want to take with you ? He goes well , I have nothing to take with me because I gave it all away , I sent it forward , I pushed it upwards , so good .

Ray Comfort 25:57

That's really good . Sidney Postel . Paul was a tent maker .

Emeal Zwane 26:02

If you look at the word content , con was and Paul's dwelling place , yeah , and Hebrews 13.5 , I think , really nails it Let your conduct be without covetousness , be content with such things as you have , for he himself has said I will never leave you nor forsake you . We've done a podcast episode on contentment before and we talked about this passage here . But , ray , ultimately freedom from materialism comes down to contentment , specifically in Christ . I mean , we often will hear right , for he himself has said I will never leave you nor forsake you , but we forget the context . I mean the first part of the verse is let your contact be without covetousness , be content with such things as you have , for he himself has said you have Christ , which means in him you have all that you really need .

Ray Comfort 26:50

Yeah , it's really hard to be without covetousness , and I just say covetousness . But America says covetousness , covetousness . Okay , I've got the chess , I'm down with it . Because everywhere , everywhere we look , there is our advertisers advertisers trying to get rid of our contentment . Are you happy with your car that you got last year ? It's trash , you need the next one . Are you happy with your iPhone ? No , no , the next model , everything , the whole money industry is run on discontentment , trying to make us discontent . So we've got to be very careful what we look at , what we listen to , because it's going to take away our contentment . I think comparison is the fuel that fires jealousy . Yeah , that's true , and if you compare yourself to other people , that's when it's going to stir up discontent . So you just got to be very careful who you can pay yourself to and what you can pay yourself to .

Emeal Zwane 27:38

Yeah , and I think another element of discontentment and that leads to materialism and wanting more is losing kind of a sense of what it is we really deserve , where we really should be . We should be consumed in the eternal flames of hell and we're not . And then you look at what we do have and then you know it's always looking everywhere else . Like you said , ray , you could be content with something that you're enjoying and then you look at what someone else has and suddenly you almost forget about that thing .

Mark Spence 28:13

Yeah .

Emeal Zwane 28:13

And then it's like what you know I mean even to me , even pausing to remember the simple things .

Mark Spence 28:24

I think of you a lot , but aimless . I remember being at Bible College and reading the scripture in Mark , chapter six . Therefore , I say to you , do not worry about your life , what you'll eat , what you'll drink . And then he goes on to say look at the birds of the air , consider the lilies of the field . And I remember reading that . I remember I was on my knees right next to my bunk . I was reading that text and my jaw just hit the ground that God takes care of the birds of the air . And this is one of the reasons why , to this day , when I wake up early in the morning and I hear the birds singing , it just brings joy to my heart that God's going to take care of them . He's going to take care of me . And what do we do with the scripture like this ? We underline it . Do not worry about your life . We underline it . Some people color it and it's been said that some people's Bibles are nothing more than an adult coloring book . Right , that we become hears and not doers . We underline , we highlight and then we walk away and we worry about our lives when we have the greatest authority on the subject . He has said that he's going to provide for all of our needs . Listen , you do not want that thing . If God does not want you to have that thing , you do not want to hit the lottery . If God doesn't want you to hit the lottery . Listen , stop playing the lottery . You don't need to play the lottery . You did Oscar , oscar , stop it . $100 a week . Oscar away , he goes .

Oscar Navarro 29:58

It's coming guys , it's coming a day and then you will be laughing .

Emeal Zwane 30:04

We'll suddenly become Oscars best friends .

Ray Comfort 30:06

Yeah , we love you , Oscar .

Mark Spence 30:07

But JD Rockefeller . During his time he was worth more than $900 million In today's equivalence . I looked it up as something like more than $26 billion by today's , with inflation , everything else . But he was asked the question how much is enough ? And his response is the response of our hearts . It's famous . Just a little more , just a little more .

Oscar Navarro 30:27

Well , and going back to what I said earlier , like I love where you're going with this , because to own a nice home isn't the sin , to have a nice car isn't the sin . What happens is we get a case of the ifonelies and that's what you're alluding to . That if only it starts when you're young . If only I can graduate , then I'll be happy . If only I meet my spouse , then I'll be happy . If only we have kids and get married , I'll be happy . If only I buy a home . And then anybody who's ever bought a home , especially in Orange County , they know right around the two to four year marker that if only is keeping again . If only we had an extra room , only had a bigger yard . If only you know , if only is . Make it so that you're never satisfied . Ecclesiastes 510, . Whoever loves money never has enough . Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income .

Ray Comfort 31:13

We have a case of these . Only Roger Whitaker , you've probably never heard of , had a song called I don't believe it if anymore , and it was really powerful song because it had that whole thing . That if is ridiculous , it's an illusion and it never brings what it should . What ?

Mark Spence 31:28

is the scripture that says just as hell and destruction are never full , sort of the eyes of man , never satisfied , you'll never be satisfied . So , right now , where you're at , pause , and give thanks , this is the will of God in Christ Jesus . What is the will of God ? Pause , give thanks .

Emeal Zwane 31:43

This is the will of God Give me thanks always for all things I mean . That's what the scripture says .

Ray Comfort 31:49

At all times

Materialism, Generosity, and the Gospel

Ray Comfort 31:50

.

Emeal Zwane 31:50

It should cover every aspect of our lives and , like I was saying a little bit ago , you know , when you think about just pausing and contemplating the simple stuff that we take for granted , which really isn't simple , I mean eyesight , the ability , to hear .

Oscar Navarro 32:07

I thought you were talking about Ray when he said simple .

Emeal Zwane 32:10

The ability to speak , the ability to remember , the ability to enjoy good food . I mean , we don't need anything outside of ourselves to have more than we could even imagine to give thanks for and to become content and grateful for . You know , and even those of us that are able-bodied , I mean I love the saying that says a man who had no shoes complained to tell him that the man had no feet .

Ray Comfort 32:32

you know , just even being able-bodied , being able to get around , and the man who had no feet complained to him that he met a man without legs and the man without legs complained to tell him that the man without a head Oscar didn't get that one Go ahead .

Oscar Navarro 32:45

Oh , I got it .

Mark Spence 32:45

He'll get a head .

Oscar Navarro 32:48

The thing , too , is that our lives , it's like we are fixated on all of the things that make us unsatisfied , to make us long for more , and our phones have a big part of that , and we even ourselves like if you think about the way people post on their social media and the way we scroll on our social media social media Did you ?

Ray Comfort 33:06

realize what you subconsciously did then what you pointed to your phone . I looked at your phone and you pulled it closer to you . I hit it . Yeah , I hit it .

Oscar Navarro 33:15

My precious materialistic Oscar . No , but you know , social media is designed to make us want . It's designed by organizations that want you to be materialistic so that you consume , and we play a role in that . When people post online , they're posting all their best things , all of their favorite moments , all of the places they visited , all the things that they own , and what it makes you do is it makes you desire , it makes you want , it makes you wish that you also had that thing . I went to , I was in Singapore recently and we you know , my wife and I got to sit down and just experience and enjoy this amazing view . And people like we're traveling from all of the world . They show up with their phones , they take their pictures and they'd leave . It's like they themselves are not even being able to experience the satisfying joy that comes from delighting in God and His creation , because they're obsessed with taking the picture and then moving on to the next thing that they need to take the picture so that they create envy in the people that follow them . It's like this ongoing struggle that we all live in is to create in us a desire to consume , which is what moves our economy .

Emeal Zwane 34:26

And you know , I think the ultimate solution to materialism is to be a generous and giving person . Paul , when talking about not being a person who loves money , and he talked about being content with what you have , in the same chapter he addressed those who do have a lot . So that means that , look , god does bless believers with material things , and at various different levels and for different reasons . But I love what he said in verse 17 of 1st Timothy 6 . He said command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who gives us richly , all things to enjoy" . So I mean right there . He could have said command those who are rich to no longer be rich and to get rid of it . All right . But he's saying look those who are rich , command them not to be haughty and don't trust in your riches . They're uncertain , right . Trust in the Lord . He's given you all things to enjoy . God does that for His people . He gives them things to enjoy . That's okay . Let them do good that they be rich in good works , ready to give , willing to share , storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may . May they hold a paternal line . So that's the call to those that have and look , all of us sitting around this table probably everyone listening to me today is extremely rich when you compare what we have compared to what other people have . And the call is to be generous . The call is to give , to be a person who isn't possessed by things . We possess things for the purpose of being a generous people who give and who share and who love . I love what Randy Alcorn said . He said another benefit of giving is freedom . It's a matter of basic physics the greater the mass , the greater the hold that mass exerts . The more things we own , the greater their total mass , the more they grip us , setting us in orbit around them . Finally , like a black hole , they suck us in . We think we own our possessions , but too often they own us . Every item we buy is one more thing to think about . Talk about clean , repair , rearrange , fret over and replace when it goes back .

Ray Comfort 36:42

That is so true . You know you get an ornament , I love this . You put on a mantle piece and about 10 years later you think that thing looks dusty .

Emeal Zwane 36:49

I mean that's all it is .

Ray Comfort 36:49

It's just gathering dust . What did it get that for ? There are some things that are treasure , like the plastic chicken that Ken Ham sent me . That goes oh , that's about it .

Oscar Navarro 36:59

I think about that every time I start to want a new car is I think , okay , wow , I really like that car right there . But then I'll think , okay , look at that 15 year old version of that car . And then I'm like , yeah , I don't really want that car . You know what ? Here's the thing . I like what you're saying , zee . I also think that there's a step between the two , because we can't just replace one action with another action . That's just like stapling fruit onto a tree that's not producing good fruit . Right , we cannot replace the action of materialism and greed with the action of generosity , or we'll just be whitewash tombs , and the temptation is that then we will use the little bit of generation that we have to keep us blind from all the stuff that we actually consume . So what needs to happen between those two gaps is true deep repentance . What do I mean by deep repentance ? Deep repentance is when we repent of the underlying lies or idols that we believe , and so that gets at like how we use money . I think that people use money in things for one of two reasons either for approval they want to have the approval of other people or because they want to feel important . I was actually at this backstage show . I have a friend who's in a band . I was at a backstage show and there was this person who's a pretty sought after public speaker and not a Christian . She started talking about the writer . She's like I won't show up for anything less than X , I won't go anywhere . That is X . And I just thought , like you use money to make yourself feel important , you have a desire to feel approved or important . So , first off , do we use it to make us feel important or approved ? Another one is some people use money to feel safe , to have control . This is , I will tell you now . This is my confession . That is where my temptation is . I grew up , you guys know , I grew up poor , far below the poverty line , and before I'm generous , I'm always like do we have enough saved ? Because if something happens , will I keep control , will I keep my control , will I keep my family safe and control ? And there's prudence behind that , but there's also the temptation to maintain control rather than give it over to God in the context of generosity . And so what we need to do you know what I love in regards to this is ultimately the question is what is most precious to you ? I love Lord of the Rings . In the middle of the Lord of the Rings story there's this ring that has power . And anytime somebody gets that ring , eventually they start calling it the precious , my precious , and they obsess over keeping it . So the question is in order for you to go from consumer to truly generous it's not just a matter of action . The question is what is most precious to you ? And here's the gospel , because we got to have the gospel . In all of this , what was most precious to Jesus ? Isaiah 53 , which we just talked about Jesus . It talks about the suffering servant being satisfied with the results of his suffering . In 1 Peter 2 , it calls those who are saved by his blood his prized possession . In Deuteronomy , it calls us the apple of his eye . In all of creation , everything that God has ever created , all of the worlds , all of the plants and animals that are here on earth . Out of all of that , his prized possession are his saved people . You are God's precious and that should release us from having these other preciouses in our lives . To cling to the God who calls you precious through his blood . That's the gospel , freedom that will truly remove ourselves from materialism into generosity and ultimately , becoming generous is becoming more like our Savior . Yeah , Amen

The Importance of Love and Giving

Oscar Navarro 40:55

.

Emeal Zwane 40:55

Yeah , it really comes down to what we're told in 1 Corinthians 13, . You can even give away all of your possessions to feed the poor , you can give your body to be burned , but if you have not love , it profits nothing . And love is really at the heart of it all . Right , I mean the two greatest commandments upon which all the law and the prophets hang to love God with all your heart , mind , soul and strength . To love your neighbor as yourself . And that's really what needs to be the fuel behind why we give and why we're generous . And really at the heart of it , true love is a genuine care for the supposed object of your love . Right , I mean again , you're giving all your riches to the poor , but you're not doing it because you care for them . You're doing it for your own glory or for your own reputation . You're not walking in obedience because you love God . You're doing it because you want to maintain your own standard of holiness and righteousness , for your own spiritual reputation or whatever . Genuine care for the supposed object of your love , demonstrated in action and , like you're saying , having Christ at the center of it all .

Ray Comfort 41:59

It's also moved . Yesterday I mentioned to you guys individually what I experienced at the local college where I asked college students if you were God for a day , how would you change things ? And it's just so provocative the question and it made them think . But one young guy said something that blew me away . I didn't expect it . I said if you were God for a day , what would you do ? And he said I'd make everyone empathetic . I thought , boy , how profound that is for a non-Christian to say everyone empathetic , because if we've got empathy , we will give , we'll be the good Samaritan , we'll be good and kind to other people .

Emeal Zwane 42:30

So that's really good .

Ray Comfort 42:31

Humanity can't get that level of empathy towards other people until we come to Christ , and then we've got a genuine empathy that comes from God .

Emeal Zwane 42:37

That's good , all right . Here's a quote by Augustine . Wow , listen , listen , that's empathy Quote , close quote , fitting , because Augusta never existed . Now listen to this quote by Augustine God is always trying to give good things to us , but our hands are too full to receive them . Mark , that reminds me of something you've said for a long time , and that's that if our arms are full right , we can't fully embrace Jesus . We have to drop everything in order to be able to wrap both our arms around Him . You know , and that's so true , alsterbeg said hold material goods and wealth on a flat palm and not in a clenched fist . Mark , how key is that to recognize that nothing really belongs to us .

Mark Spence 43:31

That's right . You know , christina Partel sent me a picture of a plaque that she has up inside of her house and it says I still remember the time I prayed for all I have today , right , yeah , we have to understand that everything we have belongs to the Lord . And that's not to say that it's easy to give things out , right . I mean , it may not be easy for a firefighter to run into a burning building , but he still does it . You don't have to wait for this weird unction to feel an amazing amount of joy in order to do something . And that reminds me of a text with Jesus canceling the rich young ruler . Remember he had all of these great possessions . He says if you want to be perfect , go and sell what you have and give to the poor . You'll have a treasure in heaven . Then come and follow me . But then in verse 22 of Matthew's Gospel here it says but when the young man heard the saying , he went away , sorrowful , for he had great possessions . We need to note something here . We don't know what he did . Yeah , we don't know if he went and sold or if he went and kept . We assume that he still hoarded everything to himself . Listen , this guy and what he did is not the narrative of the story . Jesus and his dealings with mankind is the narrative of the story . So when we deal with text like this , we have to also remember that that is us , that at any given moment , god requires different actions from us , and we don't have to feel amazing when we respond in the affirmative to what he is calling us to do . Sometimes we just need to do what is right because it's right .

Emeal Zwane 45:09

Yeah , that's right , that's good . Let me draw to a close here with a couple quotes by John Piper . I don't even know how to follow him up , because they're so one one by one , by pretty close one , at her quit , being satisfied with little 2% yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rest of death . Invest in the blue chip , high yield , divinely insured securities of heaven . Giving your life to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole , but a life invested in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending Right . What do you say after that ? And then listen to this one says if you don't see the greatness of God , then all the things that money can buy become very exciting . If you can't see the sun , you will be impressed with a street light . If you've never felt thunder and lightning , you'll be impressed with fireworks . And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God , you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short lived players so what do you say after that ? After that man yeah , amen , that's it Right , and I love that image , you know , if you're not , if you're not content , I mean , if you're not blown away by the sun , you know you can't see the sun yeah , street light Whoa , you know , I mean , fireworks are pretty amazing . We had 4th of July not too long ago . It's like , oh he's , what are you ? You've seen lightning and thunder , man , you know , and that's just good . And then this is this little poem by an unknown author . I counted dollars . I counted dollars while God counted crosses . I counted gains while God counted losses . I counted my worth , my things gained in store , and he sized me up by the scars I bore . I counted honors and sought degrees . He counted the hours I spent on my knees . I never knew , until one day , by the grave , how vain are the things that we spend life to save . You got to put those quotes down in the description . Those are amazing . Yeah , there's a . Yeah , I don't know who . This is an unknown author , but but yeah , friends , that's , that's it .

Ray Comfort 47:30

He writes quite a lot . I've seen him around Unknown .

Emeal Zwane 47:34

The most prolific author ever .

Ray Comfort 47:38

He's my son , he's my son , unknown .

Emeal Zwane 47:40

Yeah . So anyhow , guys , I'm I'm refreshed personally just to to step back and say , lord , are there things that I'm allowing to possess me ? How do I react when something is misplaced ? How do I react when something gets damaged ? How do I react when I can't have this or that , or the funds are shorter ? Am I eternally minded ? Am I concerned with the things ?

Ray Comfort 48:02

of your day . You can't just got written off on that in the parking lot .

Emeal Zwane 48:04

Yeah , so all right , anything else to add guys ? Evidence Bible oh yeah .

Oscar Navarro 48:13

One thing that's not materialistic is owning your own evidence .

Emeal Zwane 48:17

Don't be content until you can be friends , yeah , and get that wooden treasure chest . Oh , there you have it .

Ray Comfort 48:29

Anyway , get those things , friends , that's probably the funniest thing that this podcast has ever said . It's really good .

Emeal Zwane 48:37

Well , thanks for joining us . Friends , make sure again to email us at podcast LivingWaterscom and to keep subscribing and giving us those ratings and comments and telling people about the podcast . Thank you for joining us . We'll see you here next time on the LivingWaters podcast . The ultimate cure for insomnia .

Ray Comfort 49:04

Like a whistling pig .