Like Spurgeon said , begin early to teach , for children begin early to sin . So when my kids are young , I put a , I lassoed them , if you would , and I kept a very tight leash on them , not allowing them to do a lot of things and each child is different becoming a student of your child , studying them what can they handle , what can't they handle . And then you begin , as they grow up and they begin to mature , you begin to loosen that leash . Leash , you're loosening , you're loosening , you're loosening , until finally they come to an age where they can make all of these decisions on their own . And then you let go of the leash and they're not going anywhere , where they learn to be comfortable receiving from you instruction , wanting to hang out with you , Saving from you instruction , wanting to hang out with you Welcome to the all-new Living Waters Rapid Fire Definition Game , where we define things in a rapid fire manner .
Speaker 2Ray define oh , it's the word that means to calculate . Sorry , Reassemble when ?
Speaker 1put together Mark , recalculate , it's to use a calculator twice .
Speaker 4Oscar , redo To undo something you did and then do it again , Ray reread .
Speaker 2Look at it again , Mark rebuild .
Speaker 1I'm going to build a bigger and better and awesomer Oscar rejoin , it is to come back together .
Speaker 4Mark rebuild , I'm going to build it bigger and better and awesomer . Oscar rejoin , it is to come back together .
Speaker 2Ray retire . I'm not answering that one .
Speaker 4It's to put tires back on your car .
Speaker 3I thought there's some sort of sleek hatch here and that was it . I'm not retiring .
Speaker 2So what in the world is up , though , with the English language ? Because all of those words that I just read have a definition connected with them to like do something again .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 2So what in the world does re ? What are you tiring ?
Speaker 3again , it's when you get really tired and you retire . You have to be tired before you retire .
Speaker 2So , you have to get tired again .
Speaker 3I don't know .
Speaker 2Silliness .
Speaker 3It's like getting your wheels on your car . That's what I thought it was , oh , okay .
Speaker 1Ray will never retire if he doesn't get tired .
Speaker 2I'm doing that tomorrow for Julia's car Retired , yeah , so guys , okay , look , we've talked ad nauseum about how Ray hates the thought , the concept of retiring .
Speaker 3I , how ray , hates the thought , the concept of retiring . I walk my dog around all day . No , the dog walks you around all day . When you retire , oh yeah , it takes you for a walk dog because you got nothing else to do but rake .
Speaker 2What I mean seriously when you think about like okay , so lucy walks you to the park and then you just pick little those little like yellow dandelions that grow in the grass .
Speaker 3Take them back and feed them to the chickens .
Speaker 2Yeah , and then just stare at the wall , watch daytime television those infomercials . I can hardly think Seriously . To me , the definition of earthly torture , home shopping club , is to be stuck at home all day , every day . No sense of time , no breakup of your days . You know how people say . I don't even know what day it is right and you're watching daytime , daytime television like uh soap operas like the way of the master .
Speaker 4Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2Like soap operas and and reruns of whatever Bonanza and hey Bonanza and then , but then filled with those infomercial those infomercials . You know their life miserable and they show someone like they have a Tupperware and they're just crying because their Tupperware is bad quality .
There's some funny episodes that are like . I saw this one of this guy's trying to sell in a uh a ladder .
Speaker 4He's climbing , climbing up the ladder , and he goes it's so easy to use and then it collapses and the guy gets like hurt . Have you seen the one where they can , like they spray paint a a screen door in the bottom of a boat and it floats ? What ? No , it looks amazing . The problem is I don't have boats with screen door holes at the bottom , but it it looks like an amazing product .
Speaker 1Speaking of this , though Ray is a lot like me , I can buy anything .
Speaker 2Anything . If he sees an ad , it's like yep as seen on TV .
Speaker 3The way to get rich on the internet is you copy off something that's famous but make it like a tenth the size so that when people order it they don't know they're getting a tenth the size . That happened to me with a little stool , famous little stool . It's about 18 inches by , about two feet high . I think , oh , they're great stools . Half the price , and I get it , it's half the size .
Speaker 2Seriously , there are so many Flex seal that's what it's called Flex seal . Ray stood on that little stepstone . Who made them ? What ? Five , two ? There's so many gimmicks out there and like deceptive products and oh , drives me crazy . Okay , but I was getting somewhere with all this . Um , so we know , ray , how much you hate the thought of retiring all of us here , the thought of like not the best price serving the lord remember that story the best price ?
Speaker 3no , I don't remember , I've told it . No , you remember ? Oh , I'll tell easy again where I ordered something and the lady said to me , would you like the best price ? And I said oh , yes , please .
Speaker 4And I just ordered a magazine for a year called the best price . I said .
Speaker 3I sent it back , but I remember thinking what a nice lady , she wants to give me the best price and I said , yeah , I'll receive that .
Speaker 2Thank you so much , can you imagine Would you like nothing at all ? Yes , and they send you a package like for $10,000 , called nothing at all , filled with all kinds of evil , worthless things . Yeah , but okay , if Lead balloon , if you had to retire , you had no other choice . I don't like this . No , what would you ? Honestly ? What would you if it had to be something leisure that you did for the rest of your life ? What would you choose ?
Speaker 1Well , I'm not going to collect seashells . Thank you , john Piper . Yeah , look , lord , my shell collection .
Speaker 2But if you had to , though , what is it you would enjoy doing ?
Speaker 3A chocolate taster Editing videos , youtube videos . A chocolate taster . A chocolate taster , I think would be great oh .
Speaker 2Ray Editing video .
Speaker 1Roll Ray down the road 450 pounds , Squishing grapes with my toes like I love Lucy . But what would you do , Oscar ?
Speaker 4I'd like to get a flock of sheep . A little flock of sheep Become a shepherd . A little flock Become a shepherd Chicken farm .
Speaker 3Seriously , I could retire to a chicken farm . I could see you doing that yeah .
Speaker 1Chicken farm . Yeah , you mean like killing the chickens and selling them to Costco ? No , no .
Speaker 3Just laying eggs and giving them away to people .
Speaker 4You would lay eggs .
Speaker 2No , I wouldn't lay eggs Ray , eggs Rigs , raise legs . There they are . But guys , help the people get a sense for you a little bit . Oscar , what do you enjoy doing leisurely ?
Speaker 4I like to play basketball . Work out read . I'd read a lot . Probably no , that's it . If you're retired , you don't play basketball . Why not ? Because you can't breathe , yeah .
Speaker 2No , you know what about you , Mark ?
Speaker 1Rap , yeah , yeah , you know what ?
Speaker 4about you Mark Rap .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , you know that's what I'm talking about . If I were retired that's what I do , without a doubt I would rap and rhyme . I do it all the time and I would maybe buy a wind chime . Did you throw a grenade at me , right ?
Speaker 1Yeah , I just pulled the pin out , like to do I . Actually I talked to our chef friend . I said , listen , if something you know were to happen to my wife and my kids and I needed to take like a year off and go relax and just gather my thoughts , I would like to come to your culinary institute and he said you wouldn't get in .
Speaker 4I went . What do you mean ? I wouldn't get in .
Speaker 1I love to cook and he said it was something like $80,000 a year or something crazy . I don't remember the amount that he had said . Is that why they pay you that Like ?
Speaker 2your tuition . That's what you pay to get in To learn to cook .
Speaker 3I don't remember exactly how much it was .
Speaker 1I'll have to look it up . I mean that comes naturally .
Speaker 2I like to cook .
Speaker 1Maybe use a smoker and barbecue .
Speaker 2Don't you come there anyway . Oh , I'd love yeah but I don't have a lot of time . I cook every day , oh yeah I'll make vegetables for season , yeah , yeah , yeah . You know you do easy , you know I uh , but again this is like have to have to um like pluck your monobrow or no I'm . I'm saying like , if you know , if I cause I would hate the idea of just doing that , but you know , I think , man , I would , I would . I love skiing , I love .
Speaker 3You don't ski when you retire . You don't Because you can't breathe Because you can't breathe .
Speaker 2Skydive I love to ski , I love to , but you know , honestly , I'd love to read too . I would love to do a lot of reading . I'd love to do like memory stuff . I'd like to learn things you know , maybe a new language ? No , not . When you retire , you lose your ability to remember .
Speaker 3You lose everything .
Speaker 2What's your name again , but I'll tell you this . The one thing , though , that boggles my mind is people who retire and have no game plan . Like you have to have . You have to have a schedule , you have to have some kind of structure , or else Make your bid , yeah .
Speaker 4Oh I like that . Yeah , I have a good friend who retired and his plan for retirement was he was going to involve himself as much as humanly possible as an elder in his church and he did exactly that . He would tell you he's busier than ever discipling people , preaching , teaching , serving the church in an elder volunteer capacity , and I love that . I think that's great . If you're going to air quote retire , why not make yourself a servant to the Lord ?
Speaker 3That's where you find true happiness . Jesus said that Happy are you if you do these things . Know them .
Speaker 2Yeah , of course , absolutely , you know . And yeah , and that's the spiritual side of retirement , the leisure is , you know , doing things we enjoy . But yeah , I would love to spend time with my grandkids disciple , my grandkids disciple , young men , you know , where you have the time , you could just show up , you could be there and be involved in their lives .
Speaker 4And I'd like to change my answer . I would volunteer pastor a church . Yeah , yeah , that's what I would do .
Speaker 1Yeah , and that's exactly what Arkan Hughes did . You know , when he retired from the pastoral , we had him here , you know , for our Living Waters Equip , which is part of Living Waters TV , which people will need to check out . But we asked so what are you doing now ? And he said he's going to go serve as an elder at his son's church up in Washington-ish area . I think so .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah . It's great what I would do if I couldn't ride a bike anymore because I was too old . I'd get two Great Danes to pull my wheelchair . I can completely see you doing that Wearing sunglasses .
Speaker 2Ray , why don't you get a Great Dane now ? Just put a saddle on it .
Speaker 3I will do it , if you just talk my wife into it .
Speaker 2Imagine Ray riding on a Great Dane to Huntington Beach on a saddle yeah right .
Speaker 1What are those huge dogs ? Mastiffs , mastiffs , oh yeah , they are beautiful , yeah , huge , the Mastiffs .
Speaker 2There's something else , there's like the English Mastiff , and different kinds Chihuahua . All right , fran's time for another cool , classy comment . This is from Faith Ruckman . Hey , ray , easy , mark and Oscar , first of all , I want to thank you for your awesome ministry . I've grown up watching Living Waters videos and I've been a fan for a long time . I'm so blessed by your faithfulness to the Lord , your love for Him and your desire to share the gospel . Also , I love the podcast and I listen to it every Tuesday and Thursday . I was listening to the Charlie Kirk show on Tuesday and he started talking about a book that someone had given him at an event he was at in California . He said he looked up the author and it was by guess who ? Ray Comfort . He said that the book is terrific and it explains the correct way to present the gospel . Charlie said he is going to talk more about the book on his show this coming Good Friday . You are kidding
. I thought this was pretty awesome and , in case you guys hadn't heard , I wanted to let you know .
Speaker 3Mark , did you read that ? No ?
Speaker 1Did you make that up easy .
Speaker 2No , this was through podcasts at livingwaterscom .
Speaker 3Boy .
Speaker 1Isn't that cool . Yeah , charlie said that he reads about 120 books a year . Wow , that's a lot . Oscar reads anywhere near that , nothing like that . And listening to him talk , I'm very impressed with his ability to retain and to regurgitate different things . Yeah , to connect . Well , mark , give context .
Speaker 1Well , eddie , our producer said that Charlie's going to be local at Cal State , fullerton , and I said , oh , wow , I'd like to go down there and give him a God has a Wonderful Plan for your Life book , wow . And so I got Ray to sign it and I went down there with one of our little gold coins that you have goldeen coins , ten Commandment coins , ten Commandment coins Very evangelistic . He that you have Goldeen coins , ten Commandment coins , ten Commandment coins very evangelistic . He had like eight bodyguards . Right , well , he's got a huge body , six , five . Yeah , well , he's tall . Is he that tall ? Wow , that brother is tall .
Speaker 1And so I went up to him and I gave him the book and probably about 10 , 15 minutes later I saw him in a different part of the campus and he said are you the author of that book ? And I said , no , ray Comfort is . Have you heard of him ? And he was like I'm not sure you know sort of mentality and I said , well , you're going to , you're going to love , love that book . And then I mentioned that we have a couple of mutual friends . And then he reached out to me through Twitter and we've been kind of texting back and forth . Well , it's so cool , but very encouraging , very young Mark has got a ministry to cooks .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's . True , it was Kirk Cameron too .
Speaker 3That's crazy .
Speaker 2Charlie Kirk and Kirk Cameron . Yeah , mark gave Kirk Cameron How's the Best Kept Secret , and the rest is history . He partnered with us in ministry and it was wonderful , so that's very exciting . Hopefully he'll get encouraged by the book . Maybe exciting , hopefully he'll get encouraged by the book . Maybe have Ray , maybe have you on sometime . That'd be great . All right , friends , this podcast is brought to you by . God has a Wonderful Plan for your Life book . Go figure , did you plan that ? How fitting is that ? I did . Yeah , so that's the book that has impacted Charlie Kirk and that impacted Kirk Cameron in another form , and so we want to get Candace Cameron I mean Candace , you know whose profile was has really been lifted lately . She spoke publicly about how that book , which was another title by another title at the time but how that transformed her life .
Speaker 1It really is an easy read . You can read it in one sitting . Yeah , it's written like at a third grade .
Speaker 2Yeah , a third grade level .
Speaker 4Yeah , this one is abridged Written at a kindergarten level . It's called New Zealand accent Ain't right . Harry and Sally sinned against the Lord , all right .
Speaker 2Green eggs and sin . Yeah , and don't forget , friends to chug from the Living Waters mug and the Evidence Study Bible all at .
Speaker 4Living Waters .
Speaker 2Do it cool , all right , all at Living Waters . Do it cool , yeah , all right . Today we are talking about lessons from the life of Samuel . I like it pronounced Samuel instead of Samuel . What do you guys think ? How do you say it in New Zealand ? Ray Sam , sam , sam , sam , sam I am Mexico .
Speaker 4You say Samuel Samuel , samuel , samuel , samuel , samuel , samuel , hey Samuel , samuel Samuel .
Speaker 3Yeah , have you ever heard that ? Did he ? Sam Sam , the dirty old man washed his face in a frying pan , combed his hair with the leg of the chair and went to bed with a bellyache .
Speaker 4I wouldn't do that . I've never heard it either .
Speaker 3No , it's the was one we learned .
Speaker 2No , wasn't that on Little House on the Prairie Isaiah would always sing it . It's very famous .
Speaker 3I'm just here with a leg in the chair and went to bed with a bellyache . I don't know what it's about these songs that stuck yes , like .
Speaker 1Ring Around the Roses . Yeah , that's about the plague .
Speaker 2Crazy . Yeah , mark , it was about the plague .
Speaker 4I'm sorry , guys Too soon , hey , mark , too soon .
Speaker 2Wheezy , boy Wheezy makes appearances here and there . All right friends . So yeah , the life of we should cast .
Speaker 1Wheezy out and have him never return .
Speaker 2Wheezy . Oh , the other day it was Rachel was tripping out , we were driving somewhere and I was like , but it was like the most tea-kettle-y like ever , like you know , a tea kettle that's been going for like an hour .
Speaker 3Oh yes , it just sounds like you . Why don't we have a little Living Waters toy made that you can squeeze , and it's called a Squeezy Wheezy ?
Speaker 2Squeezy Wheezy , that's good , right , kind of like your Ken Ham chicken behind you over there . That's right , yeah , all right . So , samuel guys ? Tyndalecom summed him up well , I think . It said Samuel lived at the end of the period of the judges and ushered in the period of kingship . He was Israel's last judge and first prophet . Isn't that interesting , guys . Last judge , first prophet . He functioned as a priest and was a great man of faith . Samuel was born in response to his mother , hannah's , prayers . Samuel's parents traveled annually from Ramah to the Shiloh Sanctuary . While at the sanctuary , hannah , who was infertile , prayed for a son and promised him to God for full-time service . God answered the prayer and Samuel was born . When Samuel was weaned , hannah took him to serve in the sanctuary with Eli , the high priest .
Speaker 3Boy , you know . Think about that how giving up a child at two years old would be so difficult for a mother to do , because that's the age that a child becomes human .
Speaker 4They're not human until then , yeah , it's interesting .
Speaker 2Are you guys that way ? I mean , is this like a universal male thing ? Because I really do feel like I start connecting with whether it was my own kids , my grandkids yeah , like at around two you're able to start to .
Speaker 3Well , they're just screaming eating machines before then .
Speaker 2And then they suddenly become human and look at you and say daddy , and it's and they're teaching you things and putting things together and you're like okay , haddon , my grandson Haddon , is about to turn three in like a week , and it's it really is . It's hard to believe you know , to watch him grow and he is like he's memorizing the names of the books of the Bible , he's memorizing the planets , he's memorizing the months of the year . I mean it's so cool to , and I have . You know , I keep a file in my phone of pictures and videos from start . Every time summer , matthias will send them over .
Speaker 4I'll add them to the file and just to go from the beginning and to scroll real fast and see where he's at now . I like that , you know , it's really amazing . I uh to go to answer your question . I had a different experience . I like I mean I don't know if I've talked much about this on the podcast , but I didn't . In my 20s I didn't want to have kids , I didn't want to get married , that that was not on my radar .
Speaker 4My friends all knew Any reason for that . I think back then you know I'm still trying to think through that because blind spots , right Like . I think back then I just wanted to have . I think , looking back , I was selfish . I wanted to have my own time , my own way . I wanted to do things . I loved to snowboard . I was gone every weekend . I remember when friends would get married , I loved to snowboard . I was gone every weekend . I remember when friends would get married it was like what you were for surfing , I was for snowboarding . And so when friends would get married I'd be like , hey , let's go . It's like , oh , I can't , you know , I gotta . You know I'm , I'm , I'm married . Now I'm like , oh , it sounds so miserable in my mind . You know , I remember being in a church service and the pastor started talking about singleness and everyone kind of looked at me because they knew like I didn't want to get married , you know , and the Lord had different plans .
Speaker 4Thankfully , he softened my heart and I remember . And I didn't want to have kids either , even though I always loved kids .
Speaker 3They're a good idea .
Speaker 4They are a good idea . And I remember being being in the hospital room hearing the heartbeat for the first time , and that was the moment I became a father , like I mean , I know I became a father when you know , but that moment is like it hit me and I was like my life will never be the same . I knew that that was my child .
Speaker 3We can reproduce after our own kind . How incredible .
Speaker 1I remember , with my first born , with Noah , he had a dirty diaper . We're there inside the hospital and I called the nurse . You got to clean this up . And the nurse came in and just said okay , let me show you how to do this again , but this is you from here on out . At that point the responsibility hit me that I'm a dad .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's crazy . You know , I clean this up .
Speaker 1You got a mess here on your hands .
Speaker 2You're like , wait , I have to clean this , clean up on aisle three . Yeah , no , but I , you know , I had that inclination to want to be a dad since I was a little boy Like I desired it very badly and I think , cause I always wanted a little brother and never had one . And so that thought of like I don't know , just nurturing and leading a small life , you know , so , even as a kid , I would think about , like I was always observing the way kids were disciplined and raised and I was always thinking this is what I want to do with my kids , you know . But the thought here of what happened with Samuel you're right , ray like giving your child up , especially when she had had no children and God gives her one , it's like , okay , lord , I'm going to give this child to you .
Speaker 3That's when it's cute too when they're two years old . Yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 3Then again could have hit . Terrible too . She's . This is it . Take him , lord .
Speaker 2Here you go , Eli , A gift to the Lord Wink wink .
Speaker 1Wink wink .
Speaker 2Yeah right , yeah so , but man , what a life Samuel had . You know , I think oftentimes he's not given enough attention in terms of impact . You know , when you think about the influence that he had , you know when you think about so dim that he could not
see . And before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord , where the ark of God was , and while Samuel was lying down , that the Lord called Samuel and he answered here I am . So he ran to Eli and said here I am , for you called me . He said I did not call lie down again . And he went and lay down . Then the Lord called yet again Samuel . So Samuel rose and went to Eli and said here I am , for you called me . He answered I did not call my son , lie down Now .
Speaker 2Samuel did not yet know the Lord , nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him , and the Lord called Samuel again the third time . So he arose and went to Eli and said here I am , for you did call me . Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy . Therefore , eli said to Samuel go , lie down , and it shall be , if he calls you , that you must say speak , lord for your servant hears . So Samuel went and laid down in his place .
Speaker 2Now we'll just pause there for a second . But , man , you think about that First of all . You know , first of all the fact that it says he did not yet know the Lord . And I love the fact that it says that , because I don't know about you guys , but in my upbringing and in the Catholic church it's always assumed everybody knows God , you're baptized and you're , you know , you're good , and there isn't this thought of . You must come to know the Lord , you must come to repent and understand him . And , ray , you saw that contrast . Before and after you did not know God and in an instant you became his child and you knew the Lord .
Speaker 3You give me the warm fuzzies . Remember that . Yeah , absolutely . It just about brings tears to my eyes . I was just thinking the other day my whole life is a thank you . That's all it is . It's Lord . I can't put into words , but I'm going to put into works just to serve you . Speak , Lord , for your servant hears . That's really what the prodigal son said to his dad you speak , I hear . I'm your servant . Wow , make me your servant . And that's what a christian is a servant of god . That's what paul built himself as as he wrote the epistles , servant of jesus christ yeah , okay , give me ears to hear what the spirit is saying .
Speaker 1lord , say what you must , but give me me ears on my heart that are long enough and big enough and clear enough to hear what you're saying and change me . God , search me and try me . See if there be any wicked way in me . Lead me in the way everlasting . I absolutely adore this passage . Speak , for your servant is listening . Whenever some sort of hardship or difficult thing or whatever it may be , I just want to have that attitude of you . Have my attention , lord , it's okay , you do what you need to do .
Speaker 2You know it's interesting how different all of our paths were in coming to the Lord . You know , ray , you were kind of Handsome and intelligent . What's your problem ? The opposite of that . You grew up in a context where you had no religious upbringing . You know your mother was of Jewish descent , didn't even know who Moses was right , we've talked about that but you had no religious . I know it's unbelievable .
Speaker 3It's like a diver not knowing what the ocean is .
You had no real religious upbringing , mark . You and I both we had a religious context . We grew up Catholic , but you and I both we had a religious context .
Speaker 1We grew up Catholic , but did you have a communion , first communion I ?
Speaker 2did .
Speaker 1I didn't have that so you're a little deeper .
Speaker 2Yeah , I did my first communion , never got to catechism and confirmation , but did my first holy communion at eight . They didn't accept you . No , I was the outcast . But Oscar , you , on the other hand , right . So , on the other hand , right . So , mark and I had some religious context . You , on the other hand , were the exact opposite . You weren't just like , you didn't have a religious concept , but you were against God . You were an atheist . But even when you were younger .
Speaker 4No , when I was younger , I just had no concept of God . Like I have a very specific memory . It was first or second grade . We're sitting around outside . What age ?
Speaker 4is first second grade Because other countries would have been sixth grade maybe six years old I've been like six years old , um , and I remember having this really weird conversation . You know where it was . Like the kids were like are you Christian or Catholic ? And like this kid was like , oh , I'm Christian , I'm Catholic , I'm Christian , I'm Christian , I'm Catholic . And it got to me and I go what is that ? Wow , I just had no idea what the difference between the two things were or what they were , because I didn't . You know some people that grew up with a Bible in their home . I , I'm not kidding , I do not ever remember seeing a Bible in their home . Wow , in America you grew up even if you don't go to church . Some people go Easter , christmas , mother's Day . We didn't even do that .
Speaker 2There was no , it just was not on our radar in any way Did you have any concept of what the contents of the Bible even were ? Not at all .
Speaker 4When I when I I mean when I first became an atheist was my first time interaction , interacting with the Bible , but from the other side . And so I started hearing I'm using air quotes here the stories of the Bible in my mind , in the form of mockery oh sure , somebody gets swallowed by a fish . Oh , you know , in mockery I mean , it feels blasphemous to remember those thoughts . But truly that was my first interaction with God's word , was , as a mocker , thinking how foolish it was . And and I mean to you know , just to to round that out , man , when the Lord saves , it's just like everything , the things that I hated and mocked . I cherish God's word , you know . That is like it is the cornerstone to my life . It's how I pursue marriage , it's how I raise children , it's how I chose what I do with my job , like it's everything to me , the transformation it's only by the Holy spirit and that's why we were always saying you know , conversion is the greatest miracle , absolutely Because , and especially , especially in light of the fact that we know that it's it's monergistic .
Speaker 2You know it's God who does the saving and it's not attached to us trying to earn it . We are saved , we've received everlasting life , so it's there's no motive . And now like , let me get to heaven . We're sealed and secured , but your life is revolutionized , like everything that you hated , you now love . Everything you loved , you now hate . And you know the true and living God .
Speaker 3It's like four blind men stumbling from different directions and then suddenly seeing the sunrise all together . They have the same experience , but from different backgrounds .
Speaker 2And I mean , look , we're all just kind of exalting over God's goodness and salvation . We're all different , different backgrounds , different places in life , and yet we're all confirming that experience . It's true when your eyes are open and you come to know the Lord . And so Samuel hadn't . He did not know the Lord . He was involved in a religious activity , he was living with the high priest right , being trained in the temple , still didn't know the Lord .
Speaker 2And then it says now the Lord came and stood and called , as at other times , samuel , samuel . And Samuel answered speak , for your servant hears . Then the Lord said to Samuel behold , I do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle . And that day I will perform against Eli and all that I have spoken concerning his house , from beginning to end , for I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows , because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them . And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever . Wow .
Speaker 3So the first message Samuel got wasn't really a gospel message .
Speaker 2I mean , imagine that you don't know the Lord . Suddenly he calls out to you . You come to know the Lord . Here's the message that I have . And , guys , I think this is a good place to camp out here for a minute , but the message was heavy , the message was serious and yet , man , it wasn't that . It wasn't that , eli . You're in trouble because your sons were wicked . You're in trouble because you didn't restrain them . Wow , you did not take the proper steps to speak truth into your son's lives and , of course , as a high priest , he had authority to hold them back , but these guys were wicked man .
Speaker 2They were doing some , some evil things , abusing their authority , abusing the people , abusing women . And you know , ray , you and I have talked often at how many parents will not restrain their children , they will not speak truth in their lives , they won't start early on and then , even as they grow , they just continue to allow them to live in wickedness , and that's displeasing .
Speaker 3Yeah , that saying is so true . Give a pig everything it wants , you create a good pig . Give a child everything it wants , you create a bad child . You've got to restrain them . You've got to teach them self-control . They can't have everything they want . Where have everything they want , where would you put it ? That's exactly what was coming next .
Speaker 4I did a perfect pause , then you can't have everything . Where would you put it ? You guys are always finishing each other's sandwiches .
Speaker 3Mark you're crazy , yeah , so restraint is something a parent needs to do , because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child and the rod of correction will drive it far from them . If you don't drive it far from them , you're going to reap a child that's uh , a monster that's my kid's uh favorite verse grown up , spare the rod , spoil the child we love that dad can we memorize that .
Speaker 2First dad , yeah , uh , but man , that that's
huge . And , mark , there are a lot of parents that just have a misunderstanding of what love really looks like with your kids . I just saw , in fact I just saw , a brother that I haven't seen in maybe 20 years , and I just saw him at a church , had no idea he was going to be there . But years ago I spoke at a retreat and he was asking me about parenting . And he goes , man , he goes . You know , when I'm home with the kids I'm rarely home , I work so much . He said I don't want to have to discipline them , I want to love them . Whoa , I remember saying that . I said , brother , the thing you have to understand is discipline is the greatest form of love when it's needed . And I reminded him of that .
Speaker 2He goes , oh yeah , and you recommended a book Shepherding a Child's Heart . He's all . I still have it . It really impacted us . I said , praise the Lord . But , mark , a lot of parents have this misconception . Oh , I don't want to alienate my kids , I don't want to create a bad relationship because I say no to them or confront them on something , even as adults .
Speaker 1But , man , that's what love does . The idea is , like Spurgeon said , begin early to teach , for children begin early to sin . So when my kids are young , I put a , I lassoed them , if you would , and I kept a very tight leash on them , not allowing them to do a lot of things and each child is different becoming a student of your child , studying them , what can they handle , what can't they handle . And then you begin , as they grow up and they begin to mature , you begin to loosen that leash . Right , you're loosening , you're loosening , you're loosening , until , finally , they come to an age where they can make all of these decisions on their own . And then you let go of the leash and they're not going anywhere , where they learn to be comfortable , receiving from you instruction , wanting to hang out with you .
Speaker 1Now , this is the opposite of the way the world works . Right , what the world does is no leash . You have full ability to wander as far as you want to go and do as much things as you want to do . And what happens ? You're going to reap the consequences of that . You sow to the flesh , you're going to reap corruption . So now these kids begin to hit into the adolescence and into the teenagers , teenage years , and they start making crazy decisions . And what happens ? The mom and dad ? They throw a leash around their child and now they're trying to pull them in and rein them back in when the child has tasted of the world and they can't think of anything better than to fly the coop , the chicken coop , and to get out of the situation in which they're in .
Speaker 4I don't know if you guys remember this , but we were doing , the four of us were doing a Q and A together and somebody was like , what about ? What about ? Like how do you preach the gospel to children ? And we were like use the law . Like what difference does it make , you know ?
Speaker 4And I recall the story where there was like this , this you know young couple with this rambunctious child , I mean shin kicking people in Sunday school and jumping on things and throwing things , and they would just like kind of awkwardly giggle and it say something like you know , oh , he's just like so expressive . And I wanted to be like , yeah , no , he's kind of a jerk , like your little kid's a punk , you know , and he needs to be disciplined . Like it's in his favor . And it's interesting that you brought it up , the fact that we have this disposition to separate love from discipline . I would go as far as arguing that there are many people in the church that are raising kids in an expressive , individualistic way , in a way where they do not realize they're actually denying the gospel to their children rather than applying the gospel to them in the midst of their child rearing .
Speaker 2Yeah , and we have to be careful of that , you know .
Speaker 2And so , anyway , that account wraps up , and then Samuel you know Eli's like hey , you better tell me everything God told you , because I know God told you something last night , and you know what a heavy message that was delivered to Eli . Hey , there's judgment coming because you failed to restrain your kids . Now here's the thing . That's interesting , though . In 1 Samuel 8 , beginning when it says now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel . The name of his firstborn was Joel , the name of his second was Abijah . They were judges in Beersheba , but his sons did not walk in his ways . They turned aside after Unbelievable Right .
Speaker 2So I mean , think about that Like he watched what happened with Eli and now Samuel is raising up his own sons A little bit of nepotism going on there as judges when they were corrupt , you know . And then we see this happens right . But it says corrupt , you know . And then we see this happens right . But it says then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him look , you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways . Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations . So even though that desire was not right , we know that wasn't pleasing to the Lord , but look at what led to it . It was his sons , who were corrupt , that he allowed to be raised up , and he was kind of repeating Eli's sin in a sense , you know .
Speaker 2And so we just have to be careful and , like we talked about in the previous podcast , you know , we have to be wise to to learn from other people's mistakes and , ray , that is a huge lesson book of life looking at the mistakes other people have made and noting those and recognizing it . Doesn't matter how they've been praised by others or lauded by others . Those sins are displeasing to the Lord . We need to avoid them .
Speaker 3That's why it's so important to soak your soul in the word of God , so you know the principles expounded in scripture . Because the reason we discipline our kids is because we know what Scripture says of the human heart . The kids go astray right from the womb . The first thing a kid says is I want mine , you know , mine , mine . What's that ?
Speaker 2Mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mine , mineo Mine mine , mine , that's what kids learn from us .
Speaker 1That's enough . Mine that's it .
Speaker 3That's enough . Yeah , so you've got to see what the Word of God says . That's our instruction book . I want to mess the worlds in because it mocks God's Word instead of obeying it .
Speaker 2Yeah , I want to look at one more I think account that we can learn from . Connected to Samuel , mine I think account that we can learn from .
Speaker 3Connected to Samuel , mine . I hope that you're going to the choosing of David . Are you going there or not ? Why don't you take us there , ray ? Yeah , well , he went to look for the king after Saul blurred , because Saul was too tall , and that's the problem with tall people is they just get all puffed up and proud and it just shows us that short is beautiful and we see this confirmed . When he chose David , he passed over all those sons that were tall and handsome and went for the nice little shepherd boy out the back .
Speaker 2You know that archaeologists found David was taller than Goliath .
Speaker 3No , no , no , he was on his knees no . You didn't know that , ray , so that's what I get out of the passage . That short is beautiful .
Speaker 2Thank you . That's all Ray wanted to say .
Speaker 1That was what you wanted to bring out , of course , nothing else .
Speaker 2No , but I added that , noted here the account with David , of course , and , wow , what a moment that must have been for Samuel . Yes , I mean one of Jesse's sons after the other . No , I've not chosen that one . No , I've not chosen that one . No , not that one . No , no , and he's like all right , we're done . Oh , do you have any more ? Oh , yeah , I have this little one , david . He's out in the field , he's kind of the asterisk son , the Ray Comfort . Yeah , he's just like we don't even consider him . But you remember when David went to his brothers and brought the supplies and the battles went on . They're like what are you doing here ? Who have you left , those few sheep ?
Speaker 3with , so how consoling that is , though , because in this world you get a place . If you've got talent , if you can sing , you're going to make money . If you've got a great voice , if you can play a guitar really well , you're going to make money . I couldn't play guitar . I actually took out the banjo when I was about 12 . Banjo was just horrible . I couldn't even learn it . No talent .
Speaker 4I couldn't jump , but God uses the nobodies without talent , and that's tremendously . I come from New .
Speaker 1Zealand , with a banjo on my knee R-A-Y-C-L-N-F-R-E-T Great comfort .
Speaker 2Yeah , but man , how powerful that lesson was for Samuel to hear what God told him . God does not see as man sees . Man looks at the outward appearance , god looks at the heart . And Mark , I think Ray touched on that right Instrumental value . You can do this , that and the other , but it's that intrinsic value , and then God's sovereignty and what he decides to do with a human life . So , yeah , that was great . So let's wrap it up with yeah , that was great , so let's , let's wrap it up with yeah , that was great , okay , moving right along .
Speaker 1Nobody has any input , he's just looking around . Anybody got anything ? Nothing , nothing Can
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Speaker 4I comment on their desire for a King .
Speaker 2No , no , first Samuel 15 .
Speaker 3We'll see if you can .
Speaker 2No , go ahead , Oscar . No , it's fair , it's fair .
Speaker 4No , I think it's a fascinating moment in the old Testament where God had this desire for them to trust and to follow him , and they demanded a king . They demanded something early on which ended up becoming consequential to them , and I think that that speaks true to a desire in our hearts today , like we all , are so quick to not trust the guidance , provision and sovereignty of the Lord , and so we will demand strong leaders and we fall into the temptation of celebrity pastorism , of policies and politicians . We demand a strong leader to deliver us when God means to deliver us through his sovereign hand . And you see , this begin to happen here in Israel . Amen , amen .
Speaker 2Yeah , all right , so we'll wrap it up with 1 Samuel 15 . So we touched on this account when we talked about Saul's life , but , man , it's worth revisiting it here as we're talking about Samuel . But you guys remember , god had told Saul to destroy the Amalekites , to kill Agag , to destroy all the livestock , everything right . And of course Saul didn't do that . And I love Samuel's first words to Saul . First , samuel 15 , beginning of verse 14 , he said but Samuel said what then is this bleeding of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear ? And Saul said they have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord , your God , and the rest we have utterly destroyed . Then Samuel said to Saul be quiet . And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night . And he said to him speak on .
Speaker 2So Samuel said when you were little in your own eyes , were you not head of the tribes of Israel , and did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel ? Now the Lord sent you on a mission and said go and utterly destroy the sinners , the Amalekites , and fight against them until they are consumed . Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord ? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord ? And Saul said to Samuel but I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me and brought back Agag , king of Amalek . I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites .
Speaker 2But the people took the plunder , sheep and oxen , the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed , to sacrifice to the Lord , your God , in Gilgal . And this is like , basically , saul saying hey , I mean , come on , what's the big deal ? Just a few animals ? Yeah , they should have been destroyed , but we're going to sacrifice them to the Lord . So Samuel said has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold , to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams , for rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry . Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , he also has rejected you from being king .
Speaker 4Wow , and we talked about this in a previous podcast . You can easily look at that moment and be like man . Samuel seems to be a little harsh . You know he , like Saul conquered , did everything the Lord wanted him to do and he's holding a little bit back and he's trying to offer that to the Lord . How could he accuse him like , or compare him to , witchcraft ? That seems harsh . And yet , at the end of of Saul's life , what does he do ? He turns to the witch of Andor to ask her for something . In other words , it's like it's prophetic , it's a proclamation of a curse , it's a warning . A little leaven unleavens the whole bread , as we talked about before .
Speaker 2Leavens the whole bread .
Speaker 1That's what I said , you said unleavens .
Speaker 4Oh , I did , did , I say unleavens .
Speaker 1No , you did .
Speaker 4Let's rewind it A little bit of leaven , leavens the whole bread . That's it , as we talked about before . Like sin is crouching , it's hiding , it makes itself seem safe . Just a little bit . We talk about all the time . You know guys in the gym , just one more . Look People with gossip . I just wanna talk about it with one person . I mean over and over and over again . We compromise one step at a time , and where does it lead us to ? It leads us to destruction , Right ?
Speaker 2Yeah , and Ray to obey is better than sacrifice . People don't realize the context . We hear that quoted often . Or disobedience is as an act of witchcraft , but this is the context . We hear that quoted often . You know , or you know , disobedience is as an act of witchcraft , but this is the context of that and I'm glad we see that context , because it would almost seem justified that Saul didn't destroy all the livestock , or you know whatever . It almost seems justified and it goes to show us how serious sin is in even its smallest form .
Speaker 3Absolutely , and I can't help but think of Jesus , though he were a son . Yet learned he obedience by the things that he suffered . Being made perfect , he became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him , and so being a Christian means having an obedient heart to the Lord . That's what the Lord means . He's your boss , and what he says goes yeah .
Speaker 1Spurgeon worded it like this it is not for me to rise up and go in rebellion against his wishes . If he be a father , let me note his commands and let me reverentially obey . If he has said do this , well then let me do it , not because I dread him , but because I love him . And if he forbids me to do anything , let me avoid it wholeheartedly .
Speaker 2Wow , mark , I heard you preach last night at Jack Hibbs Church . Yes , and that was a powerful , powerful , powerful sermon and in it you mentioned Spurgeon and you talked about that whole incident of Spurgeon crossing the street . Can you relate that real quick ?
Speaker 1Yeah , spurgeon was seen crossing the street in the late 1800s and in the middle of the road he just stopped , he paused , he looked down and then he looked up and he smiled . The story goes got to the other side of the street and one of his congregants recognized and went up to him and said Mr Spurgeon , what was that all about ? Why did you stop in the middle of the street ? And Spurgeon's response was well , I realized that something had come between me and my Lord and I didn't want to take another step until it was resolved .
Speaker 2Wow , that's crazy . Did you talk about the part where he got trampled by horses ?
Speaker 3I was gonna say that First day in the most beautiful the 18-wheeler got me .
Speaker 2We're reconciled , lord , but I'm dead now .
Speaker 4Now , we're fully reconciled , you know I love when we go through these stories of these men , specifically in the Old Testament , but I also feel like I'd be leaving something on the table if we didn't talk about this beyond just Samuel's morals , because , again , as we've said before in other podcast episodes , when we talk about men , we cannot leave these to be just Aesop's fables , more of Aesop's fables , where it's like , hey , samuel was great , look how great he was , you can be great too . Samuel was loyal to the Lord . Look how loyal he is , you can be loyal too . It would be missing , and I would encourage anybody who's reading their Bible at home . Anytime you read these stories , it's so good to see how God is moving his story of reconciliation along . The entire Bible is God's story of how he means to reconcile the world to himself , and all of these moments and all of these characters is moving that narrative forward . And so you might ask yourself well , where does Samuel fit in that and how does he remind us of Jesus ? And I would say one like .
Speaker 4Samuel was born to a barren mom . His birth was almost a miracle . Jesus was the greater Samuel in that he was born to a virgin . Samuel was a faithful servant that served in the temple . He was a faithful priest , jesus was the great high priest , and that not only did he offer sacrifices for our sins , but he was the once for all sacrifice for our sins . Samuel is the judge and anointer . He anoints Saul and later anoints David as the king of Israel , but those kings fail us and Jesus anoints himself as the king of kings , the ultimate king that brings his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven , by saving sinners and reconciling them to himself . And we get to be a part of that kingdom when we submit our lives over to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords .
Speaker 2Wow , great , great summation , oscar . And yeah , well , we hope you've been encouraged , friends , by all of that and we wanna remind you again , god has a wonderful plan for your life book the Living Waters Mug , the Evidence Study Bible . Alllivingwaterscom , thanks for joining us . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast , the one podcast you can't wait to turn off .
Speaker 1Wow , you like that , you are normal .
Speaker 2You like that , yeah , no , you don't . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the living waters podcast the one podcast , of course you can't wait to turn off .