Like so often , what happens is we're walking around in our Christian faith and this moment of doubt comes up . We're like what about my friend who just died of cancer ? You know what ? I'm not even going to think about that right now . I'm just going to put that question away and come back to it later . Huh , I wonder what is up with the authority of Scripture . You know what . I'm going to put that one away . Huh , I wonder what is up with the relationship between slavery and the Bible . You know what ? I'm going to put that one away and think about that one later . And what ends up happening is that we walk away from the faith , not because we think too much , but because we think too little about it . So many of us have unanswered questions about the faith that we end up abandoning the faith to go find something new . But again you're walking away . Away not because you thought too much , but because you were thinking too little about the faith . Oh yeah , amen .
Speaker 2You might call it glee , perhaps euphoric bliss . I like to simply call it deluded self-deception , frowns . You're talking about your memoir , mark and Oscar and Eddie and Jen and Brad and . Dave were all late to a 10 o'clock meeting we had scheduled yesterday . Should we ?
Speaker 1play the tape . I've seen the tape .
Speaker 3You sent the tape to me .
Speaker 2And I walk into the room where they weren't supposed to be , in place of the room where they should have been , and there was Oscar Navarro , with maniacal delight .
Speaker 1That's true .
Speaker 2With his phone in his hand , ready to document a false accusation . Ray's seen the tape and to document a false accusation .
Speaker 1Ray's seen the tape and he's a non-biased party .
Speaker 4What are you ?
Speaker 2talking about . I have tape too . I can show the tape of our cameras showing me at the place . We should have been at the right time .
Speaker 4I have the sheet saying where we're supposed to meet . Should I pull that out we ?
Speaker 2don't talk about that . Okay , that's inadmissible , inadmissible evidence . It really was . It seriously was a real weird moment .
Speaker 1If you're new to the podcast listener , you need to know that Easy is obsessed with being on time , which is ironic because he's usually the one that's late .
Speaker 2Well , let's put it this way Easy is righteous . That's a better way to put it he's crazy .
Speaker 3You refuse to die because you're scared . People will say the late , exactly , that's a better way to put it . This is crazy you refuse to die because you're scared people will say the late .
Speaker 4Exactly that's right .
Speaker 2Location studio Weird , I can't see that . I don't know if that's true or not . I can show you ?
Speaker 4No , I can't see it . You have it in your outlet .
Speaker 2Open your eyes , I will not Because I'm the boss , though . I decide where we meet , and that's where I had decided at that moment . I'm sitting in the boardroom , of course , on time , waiting , just waiting for repentance , Well , waiting to judge , waiting to condemn , as everyone would walk in late , and no one showed up . And then I hear voices down the hall what , oh ? And then Mark texts me Are you okay ? You're not .
Speaker 4Are you okay ? It's not . Are you coming ? It's because he's never late , are you okay ?
Speaker 2No , you've obviously died if you're late . Oh , that was a funny moment , but I did feel Oscar . I think this is the first time Oscar ever saw me late and he's thinking wow .
Speaker 1Not the first time , by any search . No , I wasn't late . You were definitely late . It was all your fault . The next time I'm late , I'm like I thought the meeting was on the 91 freeway .
Speaker 2I thought it was at BJ's . That would actually be fun On the 91 freeway .
Speaker 4Can you ?
Speaker 2imagine someone just setting up a table right on the side of the 91 freeway .
Speaker 3Do you know those freeways shake ? Have you ever been on the side of one ? Do you know those ?
Speaker 2freeway shake . Have you ever been ?
Speaker 3on the side of one . Oh yeah , oh yeah , they're frightening . I got a flat one , so I had to change a tire on the side . It was really scary .
Speaker 2Ray , did you successfully change that tire ?
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , I did , but it was one of those ones that are really small wheels that I had to change it with .
Speaker 2Oh , the spare yeah .
Speaker 3They call it A tiny . Now , speaking of that , I've got to share something with you , mark . You're a pain . We're going to a hospital to visit my pastor came . Mark came , what are you laughing at ? My pastor came , pastor Bruce Garner Garner , thank you , mark , who is a brilliant theologian . We're in a elevator . Ah , raymond , we're in an elevator , and as soon as I stepped in the elevator with my pastor , mark and myself , there were four people in the elevator and I thought I should give them tracks . But the lady standing next to me had tattoos . Now , oscar , I immediately thought this lady's got tattoos . She's very violent toward Christian things . She obviously smokes cigarettes , cusses like a trooper , drinks alcohol , she's got a boyfriend who's a biker , who hates Christians , and she's just waiting for some fundamentalist crazy to handle a gospel tract in the elevator .
Speaker 2Non-judgmental Ray .
Speaker 3Yes , and I thought that because there's three other people within about two seconds Now . Mark , who's traveled with me for years , detected my body language realized what I was going through and he leans over and he just says one word chicken . And so I immediately gave tracts to people . They all took them , including the lady with tattoos . And the lady with tattoos this is 10 miles from where we live said you gave one of these to my daughter at Sarita's College .
Speaker 2Wow , Was this before or after she beat you up ? No , no , she didn't beat me up . Oh yeah , Was this before or after she beat you up ? No , no , she didn't beat me up . I was already up , you know some of them will whisper chicken to someone in the elevator that's gone through terror .
Speaker 2But here's the thing right . You would think in a situation like that like wow , mark's got some like deep insight . He's just so intuitive . Ray , you have to understand like you live in , a world where I think in your mind , you think nobody sees what you're doing in your body language .
Speaker 1You almost have no internal monologue . Seriously , because it's not like .
Speaker 2Ray can put on an act where he's just like you know , looking straight . This is where he's like .
Speaker 1Yeah , 100% .
Speaker 2I can visualize you in that element His nostrils just flaring .
Speaker 3I could add something to the mix . What was adding to my fears was also not just the violent lady with tattoos next to me , but my pastor , who was there , and he's going to think oh , ray Comfort , the evangelist look , he's giving out tracks , he's showing me how bold he is in doing this . So I had that in the mix as well . So that's where Mark's chicken really helped .
Speaker 4Oh , that's so good , Mark . And then somebody walked by us and Ray didn't give a track to her and I said no , we're going the other direction .
Speaker 3What ?
Speaker 4about her , ray , you just don't care about her .
Speaker 1To all of our listeners with tattoos . I invite you to the ministry . Let's just stand there .
Speaker 2No tattoos allowed here , mark , we should carry Mark . We should carry it wherever we go with Ray , we should carry it with us . Remember that chicken that Ken Ham sent Ray . Do we have it ?
Speaker 4oh , where is ?
Speaker 2it . I love that chicken , but carry it with us whenever Ray doesn't give out a track we should get a t-shirt printed with just the word chicken on it .
Speaker 3That would provoke conversations . People would say what's chicken written there ? Well , I should be giving you a gospel track , but I'm chicken . We should get a t-shirt printed with just the word chicken on it . That would provoke conversations . People say what's chicken written there ? Well , I should be giving you a gospel track , but I'm chicken . At least you walk away , yeah .
Speaker 2That is good , ray . Yeah , and we could have egg track , ray , by now , how long you've had chickens and how many you have . You should speak like chickenese . You should understand their every m . I actually can Wait , wait , wait . You know when they lay . This is taking a turn .
Speaker 3You know when there's a big .
Speaker 2Ouch Boy , the life of a chicken man . That's pretty sad Time for a cool , classy comment . This is from CA7AWeCool cool . I have no idea what that means , but the subject heading says inspiring . I started listening to this podcast a few years ago and have finally finished every episode .
Speaker 3Guys , I run into people all the time that tells me , tell me , the heading is , uh , perspiring , perspiring .
Speaker 2Yeah , perspiring Every episode . I came from a very rough upbringing with a very legalistic church and abuse in the home that drove me to drugs and alcohol Tattoos . I was a nut , to say the least . After years of that life and almost completely destroying my life , I asked God to pull me out and he did . Through multiple hardships and circumstances , I finally repented and surrendered to him . I love that , ray . Yes , I love it when people use that . I repented .
Speaker 3Yes .
Speaker 2Because it's usually yeah , I gave my life to God , I believe , but I repented .
Speaker 3That's Jesus into my heart .
Speaker 2Yeah , I repented . I finally repented and surrendered to him and started my real Christian journey . Real Christian journey , Real Christian journey . You guys have played a major , major role in helping me find real truth and explaining tough issues . This podcast has been a major motivator in getting me into evangelism and seeking to bring the truth to others . I've started a YouTube channel telling people stories of transformation and use that as a tool for street evangelism . I also have and will use more of your resources . I read the Evidence Bible , Evidence Study Bible almost daily . Thank you all so much .
Speaker 3God bless you and keep . You Can't keep up the great work .
Speaker 2That's wonderful . I don't know the name . It just says CA7A we Cool . It just says CA7AWeCool Sounds Vietnamese . Thank you so much for that . You've encouraged us today and that's why we do what we do . So praise the Lord . And now a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by Scientific Facts in the Bible , ray . Why , why , why did you write this book ? I love it . I love how you give it out on almost every video . Would you say it's your most well-received book .
Speaker 3Ray . It's your most well-received book , Ray . Oh man , what else do you ?
Speaker 2want him to say I'd like you to say , I want him to say , I'd like you to say he drew a heck of red and rug of bobbins . He who hucked a rake of rake and bug of bobbins .
Speaker 3No , that was pretty good actually . What's that thing you ? Always say that shape A Romadidic Hadron . Oh man , it's a 20-sided figure , yeah .
Speaker 2One of those , yeah , yeah , I want you to say that though , ray , but with a French accent . I can do that I for tell man you need help , Ray , Don't forget .
Speaker 3Speaking of the French accent , we now have a French agency coming up , which we're going to talk about later . Not in this podcast , but Manuel is starting a French agency having .
Speaker 2French million-dollar bills , printed in France but is that , manuel ,
don't forget the Living Waters mug from which you can take a chug , the evidence study Bible . It's liable to bring about revival . Are you scratching ?
Speaker 4Oscar , yeah , I'm scratching . He's got his hand up to his ear like a DJ .
Speaker 2And don't forget Living Waters TV . Join the thousands of subscribers and get exclusive content and watch Ray scratch his eye beneath his glasses , all at livingwaterscom . And don't forget the podcast YouTube channel where you can see videos of us doing strange things . Oh man , that was funny . All right , friends . Today's topic is examining Ray , mark and Oscar's reconstruction journey . No , that's not it Reconstruction . You like that ? Oh ?
Speaker 3I see .
Speaker 2Ah , got you guys . Today we're talking about deconstructionism , the deconstruction movement , and we're going to examine it . Let's begin with a definition . How's that ? You guys like definitions . I love definitions . What's the ?
Speaker 3definition of definition Define definition .
Speaker 2Deconstruction I found this online is a process by which a person critically dismantles the beliefs they once held as part of the Christian faith , often driven by personal experience , cultural influence or offense , typically leading to a rejection or redefinition of core biblical doctrines such as the authority of Scripture , the exclusivity of Christ or the nature of sin and salvation . I like this note here . This is distinct from healthy spiritual growth or theological refinement , because deconstruction often begins with the self as the authority rather than scripture . What do you ?
Speaker 1think .
Speaker 2Oscar Does that kind of sum it up .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's really good , and you're right , I think that distinction is really important and I think the reason why that's really important is because there's a lot of people that enter into season of their life that are struggling with aspects of the Christian faith . And I've walked some friends through what they would otherwise have called the deconstruction process . One who is no longer a Christian , sadly . Another young man grew up in a conservative home and began to struggle but found his way in an Orthodox , historic Christian faith and is now thriving in ministry and et cetera , et cetera . And another young man who struggled with same-sex attraction and began to mix that up with deconstruction . And a common thing that I see is that some people with an attempt to deconstruct , to be frustrated with what I would categorize as American evangelicalism . They begin to get frustrated with certain aspects that they see in American evangelical culture and what they end up doing is throwing the baby out in the bathwater , where I think a healthy understanding of faith , what is the way you phrased it ?
Speaker 2Where was it here ? It says this is a distinct from a healthy spiritual growth or theological refinement , because deconstructionism again begins with the self as the authority rather than scripture . I like that phrase , theological refinement .
Speaker 1I think there's something healthy and beautiful when someone begins to really dive into the scriptures and distinguish the difference from what I call Hobby Lobby Christianity and what the scriptures actually say Christianity is . And unfortunately , what happens a lot of the times is people end up throwing the baby out in the bathwater . And you're exactly right . I've seen it happen over and over again . It starts with frustration about a cultural issue and then it turns to the inerrancy of scripture and then it becomes quickly about frustrations with scripture's view on sexuality and all of this . You hit it perfectly , all of this . If we approach it from I am the source of truth and authority . I will determine for myself what is true and what is false . Then , ultimately , what you've done is made yourself your God and you start from that premise . And anytime you start with yourself as God , of course you're going to reject the one true God , because you can only have one God and if you're Him , then you're going to end up moving away from your Creator and Oscar .
Speaker 2I think there's a deception in that , because who would really , in an objective or in a concrete way , say oh , I'm God ? But that's the deception . Right With Adam , or with Eve , rather , and by extension , adam , satan's temptation was you will be like God , knowing good from evil . In other words , really you'll be the arbiter of what's good and evil . You'll be the one to make the call on what is good and what is evil , and in essence , that's what's happening . We're just removing God from the equation , we're removing the authority of Scripture and now we're becoming the authority , which means we're usurping God's throne and man . That's destructive . Ray , I want to ask you this you often will pinpoint with atheists what their true motivation is , and that is you just want to look at pornography , sleep with your girlfriend , indulge in the pleasures of sin . What role do you think this plays in those who are deconstructing Versus atheists , where people say I'm a Christian , but I don't hold to this anymore ?
Speaker 3I can't look at this whole issue without looking at true and false conversion and then going back to the false gospel that tells sinners to come because God has a wonderful plan for your life . This morning I was watching two very well-known atheists . One's an atheist , the other's an agnostic . I think he's got long hair and he used to be a singer . He was a very high-profile Christian who turned his back on Christ , etc . And I yelled out in frustration because there is a well-known quote can't remember who it was , from , maybe Wesley .
Speaker 3They said failure to use the law in proclamation of the gospel end up with errors on the right hand and on the left . And it's exactly what happened , this whole thing where he says yes , I used to run around in this booklet , god has a wonderful plan for your life , and we'd go down to Palm Beach . All these kids were partying and every now and then you'd find someone who was miserable with that , with that , and you tell them the gospel , which it's not the gospel . God has a wonderful plan for your life . It's not the gospel . You say oh well , what about the abundant life ? The apostle
Paul had an abundant life . It was filled with shipwrecks , stonings , beatings , martyrdom . He was persecuted many times . How many times was he lashed Was ?
Speaker 4it 39 times .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 4Five , 39 times 39 .
Speaker 2Five times I received . Was it four or five times ? I received Five times Five times 39 .
Speaker 3And there was 39 lashes , because anything more than that would cause death . And so he had that five times . His body must have been an absolute mess . And that's the wonderful plan . No , the promise of Christianity is not happiness but righteousness . And so this guy was saying so .
Speaker 3These ones are the ones that heard our gospel , the ones that were miserable after a night of partying and all it was . They were vulnerable because they had a gospel that promises happiness . Jesus will make you happy and fix all these problems , fix your God-shaped vacuum in your heart . But Jesus didn't come to give us happiness , he came to give us righteousness . So when you change the gospel , you mess up the motive for people making a commitment to christ . Nathan didn't say to david god has a wonderful plan for your life . When he committed adultery and committed murder , he said why have you despised the commandment of the lord ? And then we see the penitent prayer , prayer of Psalm 51 , which is what's lacking in today's so-called converts .
Speaker 3So I've got this tremendous frustration in seeing literally multitudes in the same state of these two young guys , or particularly this agnostic , as being looking back and objectively saying what they used to do and who they used to go for , and he was the fruit of that erroneous gospel . And we have to go back to biblical evangelism and preach the law . Listen to what a well-known preacher once said . He said and evermore the law must prepare the way for the gospel . To overlook this in instructing souls as almost certain , result in false hope , the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience and to fill the church with false converts . So those three things that would happen Give people a false standard of Christian experience and to fill the church with false converts . So those three things that would happen Give people a false hope . So we have multitudes sitting within the church who think they're saved but they've never had a knowledge of sin , and so they've got a false sense of assurance they're saved when they've never truly repented . You've got a false standard of Christian experience , asking Jesus into your heart and finding that he helps you prosper in many things . So we have masses of people that embrace the unbiblical prosperity gospel , and then it fills the church with false converts , just masses of them that don't have the things that accompany salvation .
Speaker 3So it comes back to the straight gate . Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life , and few there be that find it , jesus said . He said strive to enter at the straight gate . That word strive comes from the same root word that we derive , our word agonize . So it's not easy to become a Christian . Let your laugh to be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness .
Speaker 3In addressing sinners , james says and so then Jesus followed up that verse with broad is the path that leads to destruction , and many go in that way . That's not speaking of the world , it's a way of entry . There's a path that's preached . That's a path of false conversion that people enter into . The stony ground hero that persists for a time , or stays the tears among the wheat . The stony ground hero that persists for a time or stays the tears among the wheat . The foolish virgins among the wise , the sheep among the goats and the bad fish among the good fish . They're sitting there until the day of judgment . And so may God give us a genuine revival where the church raises up and doesn't water down the gospel but preaches it in truth . That's my heart , that's my hop man Ray .
Speaker 2so good , mark , we've heard this from Ray so much , and yet we cannot underestimate the damage that has been done because of an unbiblical gospel that's been preached right . I mean , I'd love you to speak to that and to how many we've personally seen who , because they've had this misunderstanding , walk away from the Lord .
Speaker 4Yeah , I remember going inside my parents' vehicle and changing all their preset radio stations to Christian radio stations , thinking I'm sharing the gospel with them . Maybe I'm the only one that has ever kind of done that and not knowing really what I'm doing . And it wasn't birth from a heart of .
Speaker 3It was zeal without knowledge .
Speaker 4Yeah , that's it . It was just zeal without knowledge , not knowing how to reach them . Let me say this Let me back up a little bit here , because if we talk about deconstruction , right , there's nothing wrong with examining what you believe . We should that , right . Paul Little he wrote a book called Know what you Believe and then he wrote a book Know why you Believe what you Believe .
Speaker 4There's nothing wrong with saying is what I believe true and accurate ? Remember when Jesus was talking to the apostles , he said the disciples , why do you reason amongst yourselves ? And that's where they went wrong . They're reasoning amongst themselves without a foundation of truth . And Isaiah says come , let us reason together . So if you're going to reason , reason with a foundation of truth . That foundation of truth leads you to more truth . And when you remove God from the equation , you're removing truth from the equation , right ?
Speaker 4So deconstruction is not the same as honest doubt . You can have doubt , but what is that doubt about ? You say I don't know about this . So you open up the Word of God to find the answer . That's what you do . You don't go to the world's methods and the world's philosophies to try to understand something that is transcendent . You still have the same questions that I have . But now you don't have a foundation for truth . Somebody said you can't search for truth while you sit in darkness and you're comfortable to be there , right ? So what do we do ? James 1 , 6 , let him ask in faith , with no doubting , for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea . Right , you're tossed to and fro , right .
Speaker 4Biblical doubt says help me believe I believe . Help my unbelief . Right , it's who we are asking to and we are expecting an answer . You want knowledge . Go to school . You want wisdom . You get on your knees . So we want a greater understanding of God about the purpose of man . Why am I here ? How did I get here ? What's going to happen to me after I die ? When you're left to yourself in a corner in the dark asking these questions without including God in the equation , well then , every man's going to do that which seems right in his own eyes . Biblical doubt says help my belief . Deconstruction says help me leave . Help me , leave my accountability over me . Help me to leave . Who's in charge of me . Help me to leave what's going on so I can do good . What is it ? The Satanic Bible says do good .
Speaker 2Do as thou wilt .
Speaker 4Do as thou wilt . Do as thou wilt . If it feels good , do it right .
Speaker 3It's good that you've got that memorized .
Speaker 2Well , you know , Anton LaVey and I were buddies .
Speaker 4God makes room for doubters , but he doesn't give them a platform to preach . He gives them room for doubters to come and talk to him . We must always go back to the Lord . John Piper worded it like this . He said there is a kind of doubt that is the cry of a broken heart and there is a kind that is a smirk of pride . That's good . Who said that ? I just did just now . You can't hear me , yeah , yeah , you guys heard that , john Piper .
Speaker 1That's good .
Speaker 1I love where you're going with this because I feel like we almost need to have a . We need to rediscover , redefine a theology of uncertainty Meaning . There are so many . I've witnessed firsthand that there are so many churches that have this culture which is like , if you doubt , you're out . This is unspokenly an unsafe space for you to ask questions about your faith . As soon as you start asking the wrong kind of questions , you're not one of us and you start being looked at the wrong way .
Speaker 1Sometimes well-meaning pastors and this happened to me when I first started going to church well-meaning pastors read that one book on apologetics and has that one liner memorized , and so when you come in and ask a sincere question , you can tell they're not giving you a thoughtful response . They're giving you rhetoric that they've prepared beforehand . This is not helpful . The challenge here is that the scriptures actually give us words for uncertainty . The Psalms are filled . Psalm 79 , asaph where are you , o Lord ? I mean , think about that . Asaph writes a poem about questioning about his uncertainty in regards to his faith . God , in his sovereignty , takes that and turns it into his inerrant , authoritative word , meaning God gives us his word to ask him questions regarding our uncertainty of him , and I just the local church and us as disciplers need to be available for the uncertainty in young Christians' mind . And here's one of the things I would say is that I think so often the church endorses a blind faith , but we also participate in that too .
Speaker 1Like so often , what happens is we're walking around in our Christian faith and this moment of doubt comes up . We're like what about my friend who just died of cancer ? You know what ? I'm not even going to think about that right now . I'm just going to put that question away and come back to it later . Huh , I wonder what is up with the authority of scripture . You know what ? I'm going to put that one away . Huh , I wonder what is up with the relationship between slavery and the Bible ? You know what ? I'm going to put that one away and think about that one later . And what ends up happening ? This is good . What ends up happening is that we walk away from the faith , not because we think too much , but because we think too little about it . The best example that I have is we all like the email that we started with that we no longer check . You know , in high school I had like a Yahoo account . After a while it's like the one email account I use to sign up for everything on the internet .
Speaker 1And now there's 10,000 emails in there . I don't even check it Right . And what do you do when that happens ? You end up eventually abandoning the email to start a new one . What I'm saying is that so many of us have unanswered questions about the faith that we end up abandoning the faith to go find something new . But again you're walking away , not because you thought too much , but because you were thinking too little about the faith .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , amen , Well put . And there are times when I'll come across someone who had deconstructed , and then they'll share with me what their qualms were and this was maybe years later and I'm thinking , are you serious ? You didn't have someone walk you through that ? Listen , I can remedy that for you right now . I mean , this is basic , but it's tragic . And you know , one of the things that I've seen is that what people don't realize when they're deconstructing especially when it's on the basis of emotions like I don't like that or it shouldn't be like that especially those that end up in the atheistic realm , which is where a lot of people do end up . They don't realize what they're doing . It shouldn't be like this . Okay , pause , let's just let's box that in , let's hone in on it . What is like this mean ? What do you mean by
this ? Well , you know , this isn't fair , this isn't right , this isn't good . Okay , let's box that in and let's analyze that . What is goodness ? What is fairness ? What is rightness ? Right , mark .
Speaker 4Yeah , where do you get your bigger scope ? Because that's what you're doing . You're having a bigger view , a bigger scope of what should be , what ought to be , and you're recognizing what is to be . So you're saying , hey , this is wrong . By what standard is this wrong ? By what standard are you accusing wrongdoing ? What is going on ?
Speaker 4And there's another picture here when you leave the Christian faith , where are you going ? I mean , he alone holds the words to eternal life . Jesus said to Peter are you going to leave ? Also , and he goes , to whom am I going to go ? I mean , I may not understand everything and I explain it this way to people . I say look , I don't understand exactly how my digestive system works for my small intestine , large intestine , but it doesn't keep me from eating when you come across something . Chuck Smith once said , when you come across something you don't understand , you fall back on that which you do understand . You don't need to understand everything , but is it enough to know that God knows ? Because sometimes that's really all that you have . Well , I know that God knows , that I'm going through this and it is well with my soul that he knows what he's doing . I don't need to raise my fist , I can just say , lord , you know , and while I go through the fire , as I sing Reiner's Fire , I'm going to trust .
Speaker 2Sing it Ray Ray . What's that ? Sing it Ray what ?
Speaker 3are the words . I've never heard it before . Go ahead , say this with all sincerity and love Get behind me .
Speaker 4We trust the God . To whom is that work in us right ? So if somebody were to say , for example , lord , crush me , god does not sit there maniacally putting his hands together saying you said it , I'm going to do it right , I mean , he's a heavenly father . If you need it , he will do it . If you don't need it , he's not going to do it .
Speaker 4What I like to say is , when I am going through the fire , if there's something else in there that just doesn't belong , just remove that dross , let that flow to the top and just get rid of that . It's like that person who we were in a meeting I don't know if you remember several years ago and there was a person being accused of something in a meeting . I don't know if you remember several years ago and there was a person being accused of something and he had confessed it , that he was wrong . But this person wanted it to go before more people and his response I'll never forget . And Rachel was there and the response was look , when you're done accusing me , I have many more confessions I can make as well . I have many more confessions I can make as well , if that'll help you out , but I'm forgiven for the things that I've done .
Speaker 4This is the difference between living in an accusational state of towards God or receiving that accusation . But where am I going to go ? Lord , I've messed up . You alone hold the words to eternal life In 1 John 2 , 19, . They went out from us for they were not of us . Leaving the faith does not set you free . There's not a break . You're not having a breakthrough when you leave the faith . You're not having this aha moment . The light is turning on . Everybody else is wrong . And then where do you go ? Where are you finding truth within this world ? He alone holds the words to eternal life . If you don't run to him , you're running away from him . But every step away from him is a step closer to judgment . Yeah , amen .
Speaker 3Luke 9 , 62, . Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom . That word fit is eutheto . It means ready for use . In other words , the soil has been turned . We've got this little story about two men on a plane . If someone wants to deconstruct , the question to ask them is why did you put the parachute on ? There you go . It's as simple as that . If they say , for the jump I've got to take , I've got to jump out of this plane , nothing will get it off their back . But if they've put it on for a bit of flight , when the flight gets bumpy they'll have some excuse . Someone's kicked the back of my seat and taken this off . So it comes back to motive . If you came to Christ fleeing from the wrath to come , you'll continue to know there's wrath to come and you'll cling to him because he's your life . Richest prophet , not on the day of wrath , but righteousness delivers from death . So you hold the righteousness of Christ , which is your life .
Speaker 2You know , I love , mark , that quote by Piper the broken heart versus the smirk in the realm of doubt . Oscar men like Spurgeon as an example . I like Spurgeon .
Speaker 3Yeah , I do too , and women like Spurgeon .
Speaker 2Yeah , they found a recording of Spurgeon's voice . The law of the Lord is perfect .
Speaker 3There's a lawsuit from his son .
Speaker 2By the way , friends , a little trivia for you . Spurgeon's great , great great grandson got saved through listening to Hell's Best Kept Secret , which Ray got from reading one of Spurgeon's sermons .
Speaker 3And he showed up and showed us his family tree .
Speaker 2Yeah , and he wrote the foreword to a book Ray wrote called Spurgeon Gold . How cool was that ? No doubt Spurgeon prayed for his progeny , that God would save him . Then he took a message . God took a message that Spurgeon preached , used it to bring Hell's Best Kept Secret . And then Ring house was kept secret and then his great , great , great grandson hears it and gets saved .
Speaker 4Amazing , tremendous yeah .
Speaker 2But my point is men like Spurgeon , who were giants , who are still impacting millions , dealt with doubt , but the broken hearted kind of doubt I mean Spurgeon went into deep melancholy and seasons of struggle . Speak , oscar , to the believer who's listening to us now , who's saying I'm riddled with doubt , I'm constantly struggling and battling . Not that they're ultimately doubting God , but just they deal with these things that enter their heart and mind .
Speaker 1Man , I'm so glad you brought that up , and this is something that I'm deeply passionate about , having both been there and seeing people walk through this . Let me remind you that you are not saved by the strength of your faith , but by the strength of the object of your faith , and the object of your faith is Christ , crucified on the cross , and so often our problem is that we have a pinprick understanding of the object of our faith and one of the ways that I explain it .
Speaker 4That is so convicting .
Speaker 1just right there , I have a sermon called Faith and Doubt Doubting Our Doubts . And one of the ways I explain it is like you think about when turbulence hits on an airplane . The FAA would argue that not a single plane has ever come down because of turbulence . Or if not a single plane , then at least it's like nearly impossible for a plane to just fall out of the sky because of turbulence . It's always gravity .
Speaker 1It's always gravity , that's true , here's the point though , is that they can tell us that until they're blue in the face . They can tell us how we're statistically more likely to get into a car accident and die on the way to the airport than actually flying in the airplane . It doesn't matter when turbulence hits and you look out the window and you see the wings bending . Everybody is afraid , right ? Do you think the pilot is scared ? Have you ever been on an airplane and the pilot's like , ooh , this is tough , it's going to be a 50-50 shot here . Pilots aren't afraid of turbulence . Why ? Because they've gone to school . They know something about the engineering of the airplane , they know something about aerodynamics . That they have the confidence
that when turbulence hits , they're like oh , it'll be over soon . You see , we need to be like the pilot .
Speaker 1We need to be like the pilot . We need to study the object of our faith . And here's the good news you , as a passenger of that airplane , your doubt in aerodynamics and engineering doesn't make the plane any weaker . Right , you're not in danger because you don't believe . You're just as safe . And that's what I'm saying is that the strength of your faith doesn't come on how much or how strongly you believe . The scriptures tell us with faith of a mustard seed , we can move a mountain . Nobody I've ever met can move mountains , which means our faith is smaller than a mustard seed . But it doesn't matter , because our faith is dependent on the object of our faith Christ crucified on the cross . One more thing , and I had a season of doubt and uncertainty in my life and I came across the story of John the Baptist in that season and it brought me so much courage because I saw it from a whole new light .
Speaker 1Think about who John the Baptist is . The scriptures tell us that before he was born , he was worshiping Jesus the weird story of him in the womb and Jesus in the womb and they're at like a baby shower or whatever and he starts worshiping the Messiah . He was the first evangelist . He got to baptize the Son of God . He witnessed the Holy Spirit come down like a dove . He heard the audible voice of God . This dude's faith had to have been stronger than any of ours . He was John the Baptist At the end of his life .
Speaker 1He is imprisoned , he's waiting to be beheaded by Herod and he writes Jesus a letter and he says are you the one or should we look for another ? At the end of his life , the man with all of that faith began to stumble . He had uncertainty Are you the one or should we look for another ? And Jesus gets this letter and I , like I always picture it . This is totally extra biblical meaning . This is not in the scriptures . But the way I imagine this is like his disciples probably looked over his shoulder , saw the letter and they're like oh man , jesus is going to be really upset . You know , I wonder what he's going to say about John the Baptist . And he gets up and it's like what ? Six , seven verses later , jesus says you guys know , john the Baptist and his disciples are like here we go , he's going to smash him . And he says greatest , born of a woman . That is the faith , that's the person in which we have faith , and while your faith weakens , he holds tightly to you .
Speaker 2Amen . Good word , oscar , so well put , brother . And we need to remember that , you know , because it's true , like our conduct is going to correlate with the steadiness of the object of our faith and it's remember there I like the way it's put it's not great faith in God , it's faith in a great God and we need to remember that . And you know , sometimes you get people who try to enter into the intellectual realm and they use that as their reasoning for no longer believing in God , in this deconstruction journey that they might take . And I love the way this one apologist put it . He said it's almost like people begin to really examine Ford's Model T and they're just looking at it and they start to understand how it works and how it functions and all the amazing things about it , and then their conclusion is there's no such person as Ford , because now we understand how it works , so therefore there must be no Ford . How stupid is that ? The examination of Ford's Model T is evidence that Ford existed . It should cause you to be more in awe of his genius and what he did and what he invented . So we need to remember that .
Speaker 2And I like that title , oscar , doubting Our Doubts , like to look at them and say what are these Like ? What am I building my case on ? Connect that to what we talked about earlier that it makes no sense to have moral absolutes by which you're judging God and the faith when you have no foundation for those moral absolutes . I mean you become that foundation and the faith . When you have no foundation for those moral absolutes , I mean you become that foundation . And who are you ? You're in a world of doubt yourself . So what kind of stability is that ?
Speaker 4John Piper concerning the text , the verse that Oscar just mentioned , he said , yes , John the Baptist was doubting John's in prison . He's likely discouraged , confused , because the Messiah wasn't bringing the kind of judgment he had preached about in Luke , chapter 3 . Jesus was healing and teaching , but not delivering justice in the way that John had anticipated . Then he said the greatest man born of woman struggled with doubts in prison and Jesus didn't rebuke him , he honored him right . So he uses the story to encourage people , just like as what was just mentioned there . And I just want to kind of underline this for just a moment before we go on , because this is big , we come across a lot of people who have doubt , who are discouraged , who are depressed , and you begin to think well , where is God ? I faithfully served you , where are you ? And we have these unmet expectations and we're putting an expectation in our circumstance and not in God . Well , our circumstance will always let us down . They have to let us down because they're not designed to fulfill . So we have to always find ourselves being fulfilled in Christ , regardless of our situation and our circumstance , our monetary possession , our position , our promotion . We go to Christ , we reason with Him , we run to Him because there's no other place to go .
Speaker 42 Peter 1.5 . It says make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue , and it goes on , with knowledge , self-control and godliness . As these doubts come in , we don't deconstruct them , we develop them . And now , when we engage in conversation , we know how to lead other people . But we have to reiterate and go back to the idea . We don't reason amongst ourselves because we have flawed thinking . We reason with Him , who is transcendent , dwells outside of time , who has revealed everything we will ever need to know , not want to know , but everything we need to know , found within Scripture , From Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21 , everything is found right there .
Speaker 4Let's run to Him and not to our own imaginations , which are vain .
Speaker 2Yeah , and I think that cry of Lord , I believe , help my unbelief . You know , to be honest with God and also to not dwell by yourself with your doubts , right , I mean , I know Mark you're alluding to like make sure to inform yourself of Scripture , but also to bring other brethren in who will pray for you , encourage you and give you insight , who maybe are a little further ahead of where you're at and who may be gone through it themselves . You know , so important yeah .
Speaker 1Easy . I think an important part of that and something where we need to confess and I'm confessing this as a pseudo evangelist , a wannabe evangelist to confess and I'm confessing this as a pseudo evangelist , a wannabe evangelist is that apologetics could only take somebody so far , and so when people are questioning things and we have the right answer , we can solve the riddle for them . It's like oh well , I just I provided the answer . Why aren't they now believing ? I love CS Lewis's way of looking at it . Remember , he was an atheist , became a Christian and he said becoming a Christian was a lot like falling in love . And what he's alluding to is the reality that we don't doubt because we have a head issue . We don't doubt because it's something we're thinking and knowing . We doubt because there's something wrong with the heart .
Speaker 1We have disordered loves in our heart , and I mean this is so important because so many of us , we try to treat the human condition as though we are brains on a stick . This is David Hume , the French philosopher , and all we need to do is rein in our emotions to be able to figure out what is true , but fast forward one that disagrees with scripture . Scriptures tell us that we are primarily loving things . It's what Augustine said . Sin is an issue of disordered loves .
Speaker 1And then even modern philosophy , the righteous mind , jonathan Haidt , in his book the Righteous Mind . He is an atheist . He admits that we are not brains on a stick . We are primarily lovers , that we decide what is true based on our affections , and then we use our brains to defend that with air quotes . Truth . And the best example that he gives in that is that our hearts are like the president .
Speaker 1The
president comes out and he makes a statement . This is the policy , this is the procedure , this is the direction the nation is going . And then he leaves and the press secretary comes out , and the job of the press secretary is to defend the position the president has already made . And so Jonathan Haidt says our heart is like the president , it falls in love , it chooses something to believe in , and then our brains are like the press secretary it gathers data , it gathers information to defend the belief the heart has already chosen . How can this inform us as apologists , as disciplers ? It can inform us this way is that providing answers isn't enough . We need to aim for an expulsive power of a new affection , pointing them to Christ and once they see the beauty and goodness and affection of Christ , then the head stuff starts to become , starts realigning itself with the direction of the heart of the person .
Speaker 2Amen and look . I would encourage those of you who are listening now , who struggle with doubts , pause for a moment and again analyze what doubts are and what they're connected to . The fact that you can doubt means that you're a rational , reasonable thinking , breathing , articulating human being . All of that has numerous marvels and miracles attached to it Because , ultimately , you're going toward well . Is there even a God or is there any meaning ? But think of what you're doing . What are you ? Why would you ask that Exactly ? And the fact that you have the faculties and features that allow you to do that , it should blow your mind and cause you to step back and say like wow . And then , additionally , let me say that what I've shared before , remember what James says show me your faith without your works . I'll show you my faith by my works , which means that faith is not this elusive sort of kind of mystical , cosmic thing that you're trying to grasp like wind in your hand . It's concrete in that you can demonstrate you have it by what you do , despite what you feel or think , and have enough to say okay , well , who is it I'm placing my faith in ? Who should I ?
Speaker 2Let's just go there , of anyone that's ever lived , who is the most valid person to place my faith in ? Would it not be the man that split time ? Would it not be the man who revolutionized the world ? Would it not be the man who spoke words that , when we truly sincerely look at them , we're dumbfounded because of their profundity , Like we need to pause there and then ask yourself what is it ? I'm doubting . What book , of any book in the universe should you trust ? Wouldn't it be the most published , translated , sold , read , studied , proclaimed book in history that contains prophecies that are undeniable ? I mean , you know what I'm saying . Like these are the doubting , your doubts , things like stepping back and saying wait a minute , ray , the Bible is Ray the devious one .
Speaker 4Before you switch , are you switching subjects ? Because ?
Speaker 2I just want to add something to what you said because it's so beautiful , dl Moody .
Speaker 4he said I prayed for faith and I thought it would strike me like lightning , but faith didn't come . It wasn't until I opened my Bible that faith has grown ever since . We're praying for faith . We're praying for a lack of belief , we're praying so that we can believe bigger , greater . And then how do you expect that to come ? So therefore , moody is saying I opened up the word of God and then my faith grew . It's not a blind faith . Go down this alley and hope you make it . And you've never been to this part of town . No , it is substantive , right , it is actual , evidential in its nature , given by him who cannot lie , alistair Begg . He said the Bible is not given to us simply to inform us . It is given to transform us Amen , Amen , Ray .
Speaker 2The Bible is axiomatic Hedabah . Explain that to us please .
Speaker 3Hedabah . Well , let me go back to the Hedabah in a minute , but just talk about what you were talking about , because what you're talking about was so good . I would like to put out a Bible called the insane version , because when you read the words of Jesus , they are insane if he wasn't God .
Speaker 3Yeah , he said . The Pharisees rebuked him and said tell your disciples not to cry out in praise of you . He said the stones will cry out . If they don't , the stones will cry out . The inanimate objects that God created would cry out . And man refuses to give God glory . You think how many you try it . The humble shall hear . My soul shall make her boast in the Lord . The humble shall hear and be glad . You want to see a proud heart . Just go up and say I want to tell you what God did for me , that will offend them , they'll say no , no , that was a coincidence .
Speaker 3That's nature . Anything , but give God glory , for the humble will hear and be glad . Deconstruction is a subtle form of self-destruction . That's what it is . I mean , you think about what people are doing , and that's why I love saying to someone who says I doubt this , I doubt that , say , look , it's not God's existence . We're're talking about you having sex with your gorgeous girlfriend , aren't you ? And up goes the mouth , the corner mouth and the edges . And I've had so many people say you're right .
Speaker 2Ray's become a body language expert , Seriously from witnessing . Oh , it's just wonderful .
Speaker 3I mean if someone goes , pulls in their lips , they're going to get angry any minute . I saw a lady do it the other day . I thought she's going to walk off and she did . Within two minutes she walked off and she was angry and those lips showed me where she was going . But yeah , men love darkness rather than light , because their deeds are evil and that's usually the problem .
Speaker 3How can anyone doubt the existence of God to think that all we look at happened because of an explosion of nothing caused by nothing ? It's just insane . Just take one part of God's creation hummingbirds . Just say the word hummingbird to yourself and watch it flap its wing what ? 50 times a second , and look how far I mean .
Speaker 3When I see a hummingbird I get real excited , but I can't watch them for more than two seconds because they're off , they go and they're gone . And there's no helicopter that can do anything like what the hummingbird does . It flies backwards all over the place . So we see the genius of God's creative hand in his creation and so we can have doubts when we go through a Job experience that's legitimate . You know , where is God in this ? I can't see it . You've got a friend that just lost his wife and a horrific thing . We pray for him and his family every day because he went through such a terrible experience and I can imagine doubts coming to him , not doubting God's existence or what Jesus did on the cross , but just why did this happen ? And that's understandable and people are like we need to weep with him .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , it's so good . And look , I would say to anyone listening right now who's struggling man , sit with the Word for a while . Sit with the Word , just go through the Sermon on the Mount , just read the words of Christ and it's impossible not to be moved if you're really broken and repentant and open and genuine , because his words are just , they're beyond . They're beyond which , oh yeah , ray , axiomatic .
Speaker 3Axiomatic , self-evident . What was the analogy Touch ?
Speaker 2the heater .
Speaker 3Yeah , if you've got a little kid looking at a heater bar and his dad comes in and says , son , don't touch that heater , it's hot , the kid intellectually believes the heater's hot . But dad walks out and the kid says to himself , I wonder if it really is hot . So he reaches out and grabs the heater bar in his little pinky fingers and as he hears he stops believing the heat is hot . He now knows it's hot . He's moved out of the realm of intellectual belief into the realm of personal experience . And that's what happens when you come to Christ . We all believe in God , we believe in Jesus intellectually , but when we obey the gospel we reach out and touch the Hidabarba's love and his mercy and that's an experience where you become a new creature in Christ and nothing will take that from you . Ooh , so good .
Speaker 2Mark .
Speaker 4What .
Speaker 2I'd love you to talk a little bit about what your thoughts are regarding our modern era social media , the Internet , how much this plays a role in people heading toward deconstruction .
Speaker 4You know , that's a good question , because what is social media ? I think the purpose of social media really is designed to stay in touch . I think that's kind of where MySpace started off at to stay in touch with old friends , to collaborate on different projects , things of that nature . And then it's kind of evolved or devolved , however you want to look at that , and it's gotten into a very unsafe place . Because what do we post ? We post only the best . We post the best angles , the best thoughts . We post things to get purposeful here . We post in order to get likes and follows , to get individual clout . We are posting now to make ourselves look different than we actually are , perhaps , perhaps . And what is happening is we have people that we respect , and we respect them because they are TikTok famous or they're YouTube famous or they're Instagram famous , and we see people pull that card when they're pulled over by police . Don't you know who I am ? And the police officer responds why Did your mom never tell you ?
Speaker 1And we have these .
Speaker 4But Instagram reels have replaced news outlets , and we can only handle reading 280 characters . That's where we're at , and
so we have . Now , with the onslaught of ChatGPT , it becomes even more dangerous to be able to fit things in . We are following people who should never be followed . We are following these movers and shakers who have never been moved or shaped by Christ . They've never been shaped by Christ . They've never been molded into His image . There's a form of godliness , but they deny Christ altogether .
Speaker 4And so what happens ? We have somebody asking a question , a legitimate question . Maybe it's on a story , maybe it's Instagram Live , maybe it's something that they're just trying to work through , and then they never come back for the answer because , quite frankly , they don't care about you . They don't For whatever reason . They are doing what they're doing , or they're reading something and they're asking things amongst themselves , and they're never coming to Christ . We just need to be careful , not what we take in , but how we take in . What is the scriptural reference , ray ? I hear you say it . You know , concerning , like the news , it's not what we take in , but how we take in . What is the scriptural reference , ray ? I hear you say it . Concerning the news , it's not what we Be careful of , not what you take in , but how you take in . What is the reference ? I don't remember , ouch .
Speaker 3You just punished me . God will chase me in his time .
Speaker 4But it's what we take in . It's ouch , he pinched me back . It's how we take in . It's ouch , he pinched me back . It's how we take in what we take in . We have to take things in the world through a grain of salt . So when we see some sort of a celebrity or musician who's asking questions , or we see these people that are so friendly and so happy , so outgoing , there's a price tag attached to it and you don't know what price tag they're going to pay and how . You are in a pain as well by what they're going through .
Speaker 4So , social media plays a huge part because we look up to these people and we really shouldn't . We don't know anything about them and we idolize them and that becomes idolatrous .
Speaker 2Yeah , and I think it's an issue of , you know , following that example or being influenced by that example . You know , I've often talked about how , in this , you know , transgender age . How many of these young people would have ever even thought of like , oh , maybe I'm not a man , maybe I'm not a woman , but it's that . It's just that accessibility and that constant example . It's like the world's bully pulpit , you know , and so you're influenced and impacted by that . Yeah , you said it better than me .
Speaker 1That's perfect , let me say , because you guys are both onto something really important here and three books Habits of the Heart , rhythms of Grace and we Are what we Love . They all talk about the same thing , which is kind of what I was alluding to before Our beliefs are shaped by our hearts . And then these books go a step further and say our hearts are shaped by our habits . And so , if you think about it , this is something that many people have been talking about online , which is that the church has a discipleship issue , and that is this is that most people are not involved in gospel community . They would call themselves members of a church , but they show up for 45 minutes to an hour and a half on Sunday , listen to some music , listen to a sermon , and then leave . And then Monday they get up and they listen to Joe Rogan , and Tuesday they get up and listen to XYZ . And Wednesday , thursday , friday , saturday In other words , they've got six days a week five , six , seven , eight hours a day of being discipled by someone not a Christian right , and so what ends up happening is so what can we do ?
Speaker 1This is important , especially for the deconstructionists . You have to recognize if what you believed is shaped by your heart , and your heart is shaped by your habits . What are your habits ? As someone once said , show me a man's habits and I'll show you his heart . Like if , if , if , every morning you wake up and the first thing you do is scroll Instagram , that is heart shaping habit Number one . If the last thing you do before walking into bed is watching Fox news CNN , if the last thing you do before walking into bed is watching Fox News , cnn , whatever , that is heart shaping habit number two .
Speaker 1Every single one of us have rhythms , liturgies , a personal liturgy . That's shaping our heart , which is shaping our loves . And so , in this season of uncertainty , of deconstruction , we just need to be brutally honest . What are our habits , how are they shaping our hearts ? And if you are a follower of Christ , in a season of uncertainty , sure , ask your questions . As we mentioned before , like , christianity is a thinking man's religion , but also be brutally honest . What are your habits and how are they shaping your habits ?
Speaker 3Boy , you've convicted me . Every morning I've got a habit of going straight to Ken Ham's insult for the day . Oh boy , it's daily insult .
Speaker 2Yeah , friends , I have one final bit of advice for you , octopus , powerful , powerful . Go on YouTube and just look up octopus videos . It's amazing . Watch those octopi , watch them octopi until I come watch them take all sorts of different shapes that emulate the scenery around them in the ocean . Watch them change color . How many hearts do they have instantly ? I don't know I think it's three watch .
Speaker 2Watch them pulsate with light that vibrates across their bodies and tell me that there is not a god of design and of order and of intentionality then batter them and then put them with marinara sauce .
Speaker 1That's where you were going , and then tell me there's not a God .
Speaker 3I was just going to get a pet octopus . A pet octopus .
Speaker 2That'll draw a crowd right . Can you imagine an octopus taking the form of Ray ? That'd be funny . Right size .
Speaker 4Yeah .
Speaker 2But , friends , look , god is real . Remember what Scripture says 2 Timothy 4 , 3-4, . For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires , because they have itching ears , they will heap up for themselves teachers
and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables . Doubt your doubts , because when you examine them against the backdrop of God's ultimate reality , they are fables . He's the prime reality . Colossians 2.8, . Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit , according to the tradition of men , according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ . Turn to him , let him transform you , and I love these words by Votie Bauckham .
Speaker 2The modern deconstruction movement is not about discovering truth , it's about justifying rebellion . There you have it , friends . Don't forget the scientific facts in the Bible book Living Waters Mugged Evidence , study Bible Living Waters TV all at livingwaterscom . Remember the podcast YouTube channel . Join us there . Podcast at livingwaterscom . Remember the podcast YouTube channel . Join us there . Podcast at livingwaterscom . With your thoughts and insults toward my beloved friends , mark , don't throw paper across the table , it's your paper . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast Sound like a sick chicken .
Speaker 2Bark , bark , we're raised chickens have no idea what they're doing .