I want this, I want that. And the the thing that brings humanity to a point of sobriety to its proper place is the law of God. When you apply the law to a sinner, you know, biblically, you suddenly realize the only thing he's entitled to is the wrath of God. That brings him to a point of humility that God is not the divine butler that comes running. I don't deserve a blue sky, I don't deserve all the fruits and the foods. Things aren't on time, it doesn't matter. And we realize that we're surrounded by the goodness of God, and that brings us a sense of humility and gets rid of entitlement, entitlements for everyone.
Yeah. Mark, you weren't you're supposed to be backing me up. No, you were supposed to do that. And you blew it. We'll train you. And next to you is the man who can train you, friends. And that was the reason for the Lebanese national anthem.
SPEAKER_00I feel very honored. You feel honored in Habibi? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04It's just the voice was the problem. It's always the problem. It's the voice. Yes, that voice you're hearing. Some of you know it. It's familiar to some. Habibie John Hadith, all the way from the UK. Let's give it up for Tony. Yeah. And no, that's not an applause track. We've got a studio full of Ambassadors Academy Iights. Give yourselves a round of applause. Wow. Pride, pride. So that's pride. Habibi, welcome. Thank you. All the way from England. I know. I am so happy to be here. We're so blessed to have you.
SPEAKER_06Tell us what Hababi means. Habibi.
SPEAKER_04Habibi means my heart, my love, my beloved Habibi.
SPEAKER_00I'm a bit disappointed. You could have said tu'burni. Tubburni. Which means it means what? And that's what I would have said. That's right.
SPEAKER_04What's tubburne mean in Arabic? That means may you bury me. Yeah. See, that's how we show love. It's always violence and death in Lebanon. John, what a joy it is to have you with us, brother. And you're alive by God's grace. Yes. First, Eric Hovind almost killed you. Tell us about that invention. I forgot about that.
SPEAKER_00Tell the people. Well, I think what happened is I foolishly tried to show off in front of my wife how good I am at jet skiing. Having done it for an hour, I was obviously an expert. Oh, of course. So I was ready to show my wife how good I am at this. She arrives to the scene, I said to her, hey, watch me. So I turned around, I did 70 miles an hour, went around the corner, and I fell off. And you know what the worst part is? My wife didn't even see it. She didn't? She didn't even see video?
SPEAKER_04Even worse, it wasn't captured on video.
SPEAKER_00It wasn't even captured on video. Absolutely, you know. What a wasted tragedy. I was willing to break a rib, rip off my arm nearly, take tear off my muscles, my pec muscles were completely torn, and yet my wife wasn't there to see it.
SPEAKER_04I did it all for her. What a shame. True love. Next time be more authoritative in your planning, right? Well, I I I I upped that up a little bit when I had my heart attack.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_06Well, um, we're here to encourage you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00I feel very encouraged already. So I I had a heart attack one day, middle of April, and um such an interesting way to start a story. One day in April started. And uh we ended up in an ambulance, as you would expect to happen. And of course, uh, we were making our way with blue lights and noises and everything. And next thing I know, the ambulance has an uh has an accident. So in the middle of a heart, if I were to tell you the most convenient moment to have an accident would be in the middle of a heart attack. This ambulance, only John Harris can end up needing three ambulances to get to hospital because two more ambulances had to show up, show up in order to take me back to hospital, which is where I was going.
SPEAKER_03So C CDU accident, heart attack, tell us about your rash.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Was the heart attack fatal?
SPEAKER_00Uh probably not. It wasn't? No, it wasn't fatal. But I ended up with a stent or two, and now I'm a brand new man. Could you tell us what a stent is for those who are? Okay, or two. Uh a stent is a thing you put inside your vein to open up the vein so that the blood can get through. So here's the deal, right? Uh I had one stent, and while they were putting that one in, they said, Oh, you have another heart attack ready to go. Two for one! Two for one. He said, You need a second one, and that one is blocked between 95 and 99 percent. They called it the widow maker. Wow. So three days later I had to have a second stent.
SPEAKER_03They say the worst thing to do with somebody who has stents is to scare them.
SPEAKER_00No, it's okay. I'm ready. I can take on most things. I just wanted to show people that there's I'm invincible. You know, you're a little bit.
SPEAKER_06When Oscar did that, you should have just fallen off.
SPEAKER_04I should have. Well, friends, by all indications, this is gonna be the most disastrous podcast we've ever
had. Thanks to John. All right, Franz, a cool, classy comment. This is from Madison Stollings. Greetings from Southern Ohio, Franz. The podcast has been so encouraging, made me cry, laugh, and my whole family loves to hear wheezy easies, funny voices, and singing. And me and my family now regularly say yep, right, randomly to each other in the store at other places. That's probably echoing now all around the world. I often take notes and I think Oscar should write a book. Oscar. Mark Spence really clearly says information in an understandable way, miraculously. And I'm eternally grateful for a few years ago I was uh lead led to repentance and put my full faith and trust in Jesus because my mom listening to Just Witnessing YouTube channel. Keep doing your best for the kingdom and fulfilling the great commission. Sincerely in Christ, Madison Stallings. Came to the Lord. Thank you, Madison, and uh God bless you. Come out here and see us. You've just entered the quality question section. This is from Cameron Bratton, and Mark will answer this. Absolutely love you got your guys' podcast. I've been listening and watching your YouTube videos for more than five years now. I just listened to what does it mean to be loved by God? I like when Mark was speaking on worshiping God in every moment, even when that doesn't make sense to the world. But I was wondering what that looks like. What does it mean to worship God even in the mundane? Mark Spence.
SPEAKER_06Very good, Mark.
SPEAKER_04Good answer, Mark.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, great. Do you want to applaud? You know, there's a saying, you know, if you give a pig all he wants to mark, you dirty rat.
SPEAKER_06Stealing my notes again. Yeah. Sorry, take it back. You're not a dirty rat. You're just a rat. Now stop reading my notes.
SPEAKER_01I resemble that. Yeah, carry on. Um how do you worship God in the mundane? Well, listen, I think that our lives can be just ordinary going to work, going to school, um, raising kids, and it it becomes mundane. Going out on a yacht is mundane to somebody who lives on a yacht. Yeah, I still enjoy it. You still enjoy it then. Uh so it it's the little things, right? We we're called to be faithful with the small things, and I think that God often shows up in those silent times, in those mundane times, in a in a greater fashion than we would expect. And it's not saying that he's he's speaking audibly, but but he meets us where we're at. So whether we're going through a trial or whether we're just going to work, our lives are to be a place of continual worship. You know, this morning my wife and I, we were uh sitting inside the living room and we were just uh taking inventory of our lives, uh dealing with how we deal with issues, how we deal with things that come our way. And and I just reminded her, and she reminded me that that life is not filled with issues. They're they're just stepping stones. And I'm a broken record here, right? You guys know this. That everything we do in life should be an act of worship. This is why whatever we do, we do all to the glory of God. And it's it's a very important thing that Paul puts in here that whether we eat, whether we drink, whether we sleep, whether we whether we grab a pair of socks, that we are in an attitude of fellowship with God, in an attitude of worship because worship is not something that we just do on Sunday mornings. It's what we do continually. I'm worshiping God through when things are good, when things are bad, but in reality, all things are working together for good. I was listening to uh Shane and Shane's morning devo. You guys listen to Shane and Shane's morning devo? Uh they have they have this morning devo that I listened to, you have to subscribe to it. And uh Monday through Friday. And they had this pastor on there today giving a devotion. And I don't remember what he was saying or where he was going with that, so I'll just skip that. Well, anyway.
SPEAKER_02What was that noise?
SPEAKER_06That was what do you call that? When you grab somebody's leg and squeeze it, there's nothing much. It causes you to scream like a girl.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, scream like a girl. Like I said, this will be a disaster.
SPEAKER_07It's proving true.
SPEAKER_01So so we what what he was saying was somebody comes up and says, you know, I'm not into that, I'm not into that worship song. And his response was as a pastor, well, good thing we're not singing to you. Cool. Right. And then he finished it off with the word cupcake. Good thing we're not singing to you, cupcake. And that that's what it is, right? We we think that service is all about us. We think that today is all about us. This moment is all about us. So therefore, we must feel something. No, I mean, we walk by faith, not by sight. And one day our faith will become sight. So in the midst of the mundane, in the midst of the day-to-day actions, we're just lifting up holy hands. We're looking at uh flat tires and red lights and green lights all the same, an opportunity to just put our gaze upward.
SPEAKER_04Amen. He's worthy of our worship. Yeah, I gotta say, I do agree with Mark.
SPEAKER_00And stop reading my notes.
SPEAKER_06Miraculously he's not reading your notes,
good.
SPEAKER_03I would uh I would uh push back on that phrase mundane. Yeah. Like what is mundane about this life? You know, I have a friend who picked up bird watching, and when he told me he picked up bird watching, I thought it was, you know, I poked fun at him a little bit, but uh he goes on to explain like he leaves his phone at home, he drives into the wilderness, he gets out, and he just slowly and patiently listens to the bird calls and the music. He takes his time with his binoculars, he finds them, he he he he watches as they go back and forth in their nests, collect food, flap around, engage with one another. And it's caught, he would say it's caused him in life to slow down in general and consider the lilies, to consider all of the beauty and goodness that is all around us. And so, what like what is mundane? Washing dishes? How about praise the Lord that I have a full home? That I have dirty dishes, you know what I mean? Like putting, folding my kids' socks for them, like praise the Lord that I have children with feet that have a home to live in, that have a washing machine, you know. Praise the Lord for all of these beautiful things. I said recently on a podcast, like I never again want to take for granted being able to wake up in the morning and give my wife a kiss and say good morning to her. Because there's gonna be a day that's coming that one of us isn't able to do that.
SPEAKER_07Wow.
SPEAKER_03And so what is mundane in this life? I'm that's the beginning for me.
SPEAKER_04It's stepping out of the rut, you know, of just not recognizing the miraculous behind even the mechanisms we use, even to even to make that statement, right? I always talk about how atheists are are you know arguing against God's existence while while manifesting that they're a byproduct of his ex of his creativity, you know? It's like taking air into your lungs while denying the existence of air, you know? It's crazy.
SPEAKER_06I was just thinking easy likes going out into the woods, finding birds and shooting them. Yeah, Habibi.
SPEAKER_04I like the one.
All right, get ready for a shout out from the Sheikh of Shawarma, the number one top Christian podcast in Israel. Habibi. They're supposed to be our enemy. They listen, we love them. And then what?
SPEAKER_02It just happened.
SPEAKER_04For Lebanon, they're enemies, but we love them. There are brethren, those that have come to know the Lord there. And number one in Israel, number 96, top podcast in all religion and spirituality in Israel. So shout out to those of you in Israel listening. We love the Lord. And of course, we got two Arabs with a Jew sitting here at the table. See? Habibi. Habibi Habibi. Muzzled off. All right, and now a radically revolutionary resource, this podcast is branding. Why Muslims reject Christianity booklet. Have you ever read that booklet?
SPEAKER_00Never heard of it. Who wrote that?
SPEAKER_04I don't know. Whoever wrote that is a genius. Oh, John, honestly, you know, we we went through quite the process to get that thing done. And so it went through a you know fine-tooth comb to make sure it was accurate and on point. And what a joy to see the response. How how's it been going in in the UK with people getting it?
SPEAKER_00I've got to tell you, it's probably the most popular booklet we have now. And I think it's gonna get worse and and more people would want to have it because wherever we go, even in the place in the town we live in, we hardly see any people, we used to hardly see any people covered up or Islamic, and now it's all over the place. We even have a mosque where we are. So it's happening all over it. And uh I'll find you'll find now that you will uh be hard pushed not to be in a place where there's a Muslim. And in Speaker's Corner in in London, um, well, it's now Islamic mostly. So what do you give them? What do you give people that you meet? You well, you can't give them a book because they don't want to have it. They can't give them material that looks like a Christian material because they don't want to read it. So, what can you give them that they cannot throw away? You give them this is this is an affordable booklet that you can give to every Muslim, and the moment they get it, the reaction we normally have is that they start kissing it because it's got Islamic writing on it and it looks Islamic, and they receive it with great joy, but now they can't throw it away, they have to take it home because Quran verses is considered a holy scripture. So they can't throw it away because they they respect their scripture so much. So now they've got something they have to read, and most of the time they love doing that. So, yes, this is a very useful and necessary.
SPEAKER_04And really, it's so it's just so tactfully done that you look at it and a Muslim could look and think, oh, maybe if it's like you said, something Islamic and so you're an agent in the UK.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so where could they get that book?
SPEAKER_00And the US Well, they can get it obviously from our ministry, they can get it from there. They can in this country they get it from Living Waters US. Oh, website, ah, yes, that's right. It's a great moment to mention our website, wasn't it? LivingWateseeu.com. That's where you get it from. Livingwaterseu.com from Europe.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And uh John, you've been such a blessing directing Living Waters Europe, and it's been a joy to see what God's done and is doing. Even the YouTube channel is really growing, and you guys are being effective. So great.
SPEAKER_03Uh should we stop and pause? I think maybe many of our listeners don't know what we mean by an agent.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so Living Waters has uh several real ambassadors uh all across the world. Uh John Harris is responsible for all of Europe. And what that means is, John, you do quite a bit of work training and raising up evangelists, both pastors and lay Christians, to proclaim the gospel. You also uh enable them to get access to resources. You know, if if if it wasn't for John, if you're listening in London, for example, and you wanted to buy our tracks, you have to get them in the United States, and good luck getting them shipped over there for under $10,000, you know, or whatever it is. And so John's website makes it available for everyone in in Europe to be able to get access to those incredible tracks. And by God's grace, we also have uh people like John, many Johns in Australia and other parts of the world. But you definitely, I'm I'm always impressed with how active and faithful you are through the academies and all the other ways that you're you're equipped and does it.
SPEAKER_06And our London Outreach was very successful because of John's importance. Yeah, that's right. It's wonderful.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much. God has been very gracious, and now more and more people in in the UK and Europe are finding out about the ministry, and they call us to train them. And uh, we do academies like we do here, and uh a lot of people show up, and it's been a great blessing. The ministry has been growing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Amen. All right, friends. So check it out why Muslims reject Christianity booklet. Don't forget the Living Waters mug, David Study Bible, Living Waters TV, all up. Living waters that come. Habibi. All right, and don't forget the podcast YouTube channel.
All right, today we are talking about how to respond to entitled people. Mark, Oscar, John, and Ray. Are we talking about how we respond to you? No, you're entitled people. So, guys, uh look, I I know every generation unquestionably has had its entitled people. But I I would I would bet that it's increased and has reached like the apex in our generation. I think that a lot of times when you have more, you expect to get more. And uh and it it it's it's crazy. The stuff that I just hear uh about what people say and do. But here here's the thing though that I had to do as I was preparing for this. I had to look in the mirror. Because it's easy to look and say, oh, look at these entitled people. I wasn't realizing how you looked in one of your mirrors. Yeah, one of my millions. I'm entitled to mirrors, okay, right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And you know, I just I had to pause and and experience conviction because I realized I am an entitled person. I do live with that mindset, and I'll tell you where it's proven by how I complain, by how I murmur and grumble. Are you complaining about it?
SPEAKER_06Like you're doing like you're doing about yourself. Yeah. I'm just such a horrible person.
SPEAKER_02Are you complaining about how much you complain?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's it. That's the only proper complaint, is complaining about how much you complain. So, yeah, guys. So let's kick this off. Um, you do you guys observe the same thing in in society and in yourselves? Here we go.
SPEAKER_06Max Dad.
SPEAKER_03Uh I do. You know, you know where my mind went. I I like that you brought that up because you're right, you are very entitled. No, I I did the same. You know, it's so easy when we look at those words to to reflect on others before we reflect on ourselves. And so I think that's super important. But I also recognize culturally, one area where I see entitlement is among Christians in America. And here's what I mean by that is that we are moving into or have moved into post-modernity. We are post-Christian. And for so much, since basically the 80s, we've grown up with the moral majority where we had the moral high ground, where we had authority, control over culture. And for the first time in our collective memories, we are not the moral majority. And so what we what we what entitlement sounds like here is like persecution. We we act like we're being persecuted because we're no longer w respected when we say, well, the Bible says this, and people kind of like shun us away. This is why I love learning from the early church, because the early church was birthed in a culture that was antithetical to Christianity. They were ready for it, they were used to it, and they responded through service, sacrifice, and humility, where we often act like a little kid whose ball's been taken away. And we scream and have a fit because we're entitled, we act entitled to a culture based on Christianity, but we live in a post-Christian culture now, and we haven't gotten used to that. Our language and disposition, especially in evangelism and apologetics, hasn't yet changed. We often sound very entitled.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's true. And and I mean, John, it's no different. Like the human nature is the same everywhere. That's one of the things we often talk about in terms of the use of the law. That's what's so beautiful about it, is that it's not just confined to sinful Americans. Anywhere you go, any person has a sinful nature, and so it resonates. So I'm sure you see this same thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. I feel I think that it's a form of pride. A form of that you deserve more than you're getting. And to be honest, we all do deserve respect and acknowledgement. But I think once you go past that and you add pride to it, it becomes a right rather than a gift that you're entitled to. It becomes a right that I want to have. And uh rather than being something that you uh receive in a in a gratuitous way and being thankful for what you have, you become entitled for it. And now you can't have entitlement and thankfulness living together. You can't have them being at the same place. And we I I've before I was involved with Living Waters, and even even in the beginning, whilst I was involved with Living Waters, I I was running a business. And people come through the door all the time feeling they're entitled for something. And when they literally are not entitled for the thing they're asking for. And I remember one person once walking in and they were making all these entitlement claims that for to which they well for which they didn't um deserve to receive any of those things that they were asking for. And apparently I responded in such a way that uh diffused the situation. And my wife came and she said to me, How did you do that? How did you deal with that attitude of strong entitlement and reverse it in such a way? A way that you were able to handle it without getting angry and without responding harshly. And I said, you know what? I did something, I exercised something that I told myself I will do no matter when and what situation I'm in, to always speak to the person with an attitude that I care for them and I love them. And the moment I spoke to them in an attitude of I care for them and I love them, it changed my demeanor and changed the way I would respond to them to such a way they responded in in a similar manner. So they were diffused and suddenly they felt uh cared for then loved for.
SPEAKER_06Was that because you're a Christian then?
SPEAKER_00Um I was, yes, indeed. I was a Christian then, of course. Yes, I've been a Christian for a very long time. Yes, it was specifically because of that. I kind of looked at that person and I said, You're made in God's image. And because of that, you deserve love and kindness. And there's a way of doing that without feeling a victim of their attitude. And the response that I gave them was uh it came with an attitude of I care for you so much that I'm gonna tell you some things. And that changed the situation so they received it well. So there's a way of responding to those, but yes, uh, all the time we meet with people who are like that, but it's becoming a more pandemic issue right now that most people have that attitude rather than some.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah it's interesting, John. You you you share that because what happens is it's kind of like you know, a saying I have to deal with sin sinfully is sinful. And so someone comes up and they're acting entitled, and we don't recognize that what's happening in our heart and mind really is reflective of us now feeling entitled, that I deserve this and the other. Now, of course, in the ultimate sense, there's appropriate behavior and someone should be respectful and kind. And but at the same time, I think we need to go even deeper than that and say, what do I really deserve in place of what this person is giving me right now? I deserve to be in the flames of hell. And I'm I'm called to be a servant to this person with the gospel. I mean, we've talked about it before where we have to keep the gospel prime, right? People who don't know Christ are lost. We need to reach him with the gospel.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, let me comment on that. Um, you know, in Mark 1, 33 to 39, we have the story of great, great passage of uh Jesus. He it says he enters into the community and he starts uh healing people and it says the whole town had gathered around. And then it says that he healed many. Interesting terminology that the whole town is there and he healed many, and then he goes to bed, and he wakes up and he prays inside in the middle of the night, and then he goes out and he's found, he he ushers in the sun through his prayers. And then it says, the whole town has gathered before you. No, what why not? Of course, right? There's more people, undoubtedly, that need to get prayed for, that need to get healed. And what does Jesus say? Let's go into the next town. Why? Why, Ray?
SPEAKER_06Uh, but because it's unsaved people there.
SPEAKER_01Because there's unsaved to preach the gospel, right? For this reason I've come. So he didn't come primarily to bring healing, right? So the people are looking for something, but what they were really needing is the reason why Christ came. He came to seek and save that which was lost. So he could have gotten sidetracked with a side ministry of all he did was heal people. But to your point, Easy, he came to preach the gospel, the good news. So we deal with entitled people. We deal with people, and we think, well, they think that what they need is this, but what they really need is the gospel. So we need to keep the main thing, the plain thing, and the plain thing, the main thing, as we deal with people. Amen. Give them the gospel. Well put not.
SPEAKER_04That's good, Mark. Yeah, and and Ray, what John spoke to in terms of how he responded to that person, how it diffused it. I mean, that's huge because that's tied into our witness too. You had an incident, didn't you, with someone that got mad at you for cutting them off or something? Like, always. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. He came back to you. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Uh I was it was a guy in a van who was right behind me, and I I pulled into a park, and I didn't mean to cut him off, but I cut him off, and he parked his van about probably 60 feet in front of me, but he parked it angrily. I mean, really angry. Yeah, like that. And he got out of his angry van and he opened up his door and he stomped across the road to come and see me. I thought, boy, this guy's really angry. I better get out and stand up. But I thought it won't make any difference. So I wound the window down and he just walked up, he says, That was a very stupid thing to do. And I said, Yes, it was. Please forgive me, I'm sorry. And he says, Oh, have a good weekend.
SPEAKER_01Soft answer.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, soft answer turns away wrath. And it's just wonderful that God has given us incredible secrets to make life work in the book of Proverbs and so many other places. Amen. It's wonderful.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you know, Oscar, I'd love you to speak to something John touched on, which is which is pride.
I want to read this quote by R.C. Sproul. He said, The person who is truly thankful is a person who has come to realize that God owes him nothing. Everything he has is a gift of grace. The more deeply we understand grace, the less room there is for complaint, bitterness, and entitlement.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think uh entitlement even shows up in our worship, in our um, in our pursuit of righteousness. It can it can show up. We can expect things from God in a particular way. I think of Luke 7, verses 1 to 10. Great passage. Uh yeah, you know, the the the Roman centurion, he's a uh servant, is dying, and uh he he goes, you know, the the people go to Jesus and they're like, man, you gotta heal this guy's servant. He, talking about the Roman centurion, he is worthy. In other words, the people, mind, you gotta think about this. Okay, Roman centurions were not liked by the Jewish people. Because a Roman centurion, they were being occupied by Rome. It would be like, it would be like a Jewish person saying, hey, you see that Nazi soldier? He is worthy of, he's worthy to be healed. So this Roman centurion must have had just a high degree of virtue amongst the Jewish people for the Jewish people to advocate for him. This Roman Cemeturian, Jesus, he is worthy. Okay, this guy has done something morally and religious right. He must be going to church every Sunday, he must be tithing his 10%, he must, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The Roman centurion's response is I am not worthy for you to even step into my home. That is the Roman centurion's response. And of course, Jesus' response to him is to heal him. And he says later on, uh, he says, Not even in Israel have I found such faith later on, verse 10. He says, So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done what is our duty. To see our response to grace as simply an outpouring of affection to God is to prevent us from experiencing self-righteous entitlement. God owes me. He owes me a good life, he owes me health, he owes me prosperity, he owes me recognition amongst the people about how smart and wise and righteous he owes me a following on social media. God owes you nothing. And when you recognize that, it prevents you from becoming entitled.
SPEAKER_04You know, we we we've referenced this so many times on the podcast, but it can't be referenced enough because it's like, you know, I've talked about how when you have a crease and a pair of pants that have been to the cleaners thousands of times, you can take that pant leg and stretch it, and it looks like the crease is gone, totally disappeared. But the second you let it go, it goes right back. You need the hot searing uh temperature of that iron and and the pressure to get rid of it, you know. But we always go back to that. We really do think that God owes us stuff. That's why we revert back to that, you know. And so we really have to think on that. But John, you know, we've heard the illustration of, you know, how can a fish know it's wet, right? It's submerged in that in that whole environment, it exists in it. And I think that there are many listening and they're asking the question Am I an entitled person? I I don't know. Do do I live that way? What are some of the signs you would say uh that that really give an indication that we're being entitled or acting entitled?
SPEAKER_00The uh I think the best way of knowing whether you're behaving as somebody who feels entitled is to look at examples from the Bible. In the Bible, we see plenty of examples. Sometimes it's so obvious, but we miss it. Like, for example, the brother of the prodigal son. Right, he acted in a way that was entitled. Do we act like that sometimes? So we stand up and say, Well, you did all these things for my brother, who obviously took your riches and and wasted it, but I'm here with you all the time. He didn't appreciate being the son. It wasn't enough just to be the son of the father, but he felt entitled to more. And we see that also happening with the um with the workers in the vineyard. Uh, they felt they were entitled for more because there were others who came after them and received uh just as much as they did. Well, suddenly they felt entitled to receive more. That's the kind of entitlement we have. So we go around feeling more entitled. John and James, John and James did it. They want to sit on the left and right hand side of Jesus. That's an entitlement because they felt they felt example.
SPEAKER_06Just a little.
SPEAKER_00Um the we have we have other examples. Peter felt entitled when Jesus was telling him about the cost of following him. The first thing that Peter said, instead of saying, look at all the um uh the the the the kind of the suffering that he's got to go through, rather than looking at that and looking at how he's gonna serve Jesus, the first thing he said is, What about John? What is he gonna get? Is he gonna get more? And and Jesus said, but I'm talking about what you can do with me, what you can do for me, follow me. That so the focus was taken away to become entitled-based. And I think we do that. We walk through life and suddenly we feel like, look, Lord, I serve you in many areas, and I do these things for you. Maybe I deserve more finances or more health or more success in my ministry. And we behave that way without realizing that it all belongs to him and we do it for his glory. Wow, man, John, those are great examples.
SPEAKER_04I wasn't expecting that brilliance from you, John. I do surprise people. You shocked me, you shocked me so much. Okay, but man, that is that is so good. And um, you know, and we don't we don't realize that. Like, think of guys what what people often say, God, why is this happening to me? I'm so glad you you highlighted that, John. Why is this happening to me, God? I've been faithful to you. I've been, I mean, Mark, isn't that an indication? We're entitled. God, give me something because look what I've given you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then we get upset at God when things go awry.
I received a text uh this morning from a friend who said, I'm having trouble with the love of God. Does God love me? And so I uh called up this person immediately and I said, Well, where did God demonstrate his love?
unknownSo good.
SPEAKER_01He demonstrated his love at the cross, right? So if he's gonna die for me, what would he not do for me? And if he's not doing something that I think that he should do, it's because it's not the best thing for me, right? We think that what we need is a hundred million dollars in the bank, and God says that would ruin you, perhaps.
SPEAKER_04No, I would be all right. Lead me into temptation, then I will give 10%.
SPEAKER_01Bad example, Mark, sorry. And so I said, look, if we begin to raise our fist at God when things don't go our way, when a loved one dies, when the cancer snooze comes, when our child goes wayward, uh when the financial difficulties arise, uh it's easy to raise our fist at God because we now uh are guilty of breaking the second commandment with idolatry, and we think that God should be a certain way, he should respond a certain way. And and God is altogether different. So no wonder if let him who glory is glory in this, that he knows me, that he understands me. And John 17, 3, this is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you sent. So the the greatest uh wisdom will be found in always knowing God and knowing who he is, and sometimes it gives us a little glimpse into why he does what he does. But we have Romans 8:28, that all things are working together for our good, that we need not raise our fist, and we can always lift up holy hands and we can worship God in the midst of what seems to be crazy, but things are always under control. You know, we fly a lot, and it's interesting, and it doesn't matter how tumultuous the clouds are, no matter how crazy things are with a storm. But when you take off, you'll always go above those clouds. Well, God's always above the dark clouds inside of our lives, in that he sees what's going on, but he's always there in the midst of it, of the fire with us as well, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abinago. He's there in the belly of the great fish with us, leading us, guiding us, directing us. And uh he wants to be our portion when things are difficult. Wow.
SPEAKER_04Oh, sorry. Yeah, I was gonna say, Mark, you quoted Romans 8 28. We love that. And uh one of the best parts of that verse is is it goes on to talk about how as he conforms us into the image of Christ later on down. And I I you know, I was watching a video I came across, and this young lady had met the famous soccer star Ronaldo, and she was besides herself, like she was she couldn't even talk, she was crying, and she was just like she couldn't believe she was meeting him, and she's a soccer player, and and she talked to him about what an inspiration he's been to her. And I I would and this this analogy just came to mind. I would wonder for for someone who's a soccer player, and you take the greatest soccer player, you know, let's say it's Ronaldo, and they go through hardships and difficulties in their life, but every time they go through a hardship, they become more like Ronaldo. Suddenly, they have this new skill, suddenly this ability, every time, until they're gonna one day be exactly like him. How excited would they get when they go through challenges? That's what scripture is telling us. We're becoming conformed into the image of Christ. Whatever happens, it's working for the good because we're becoming like him.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's a good analogy.
SPEAKER_04I'm gonna lock that one in. That's enough to make your eyes bulge.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I need to I need gospel. I need to know why. How can how can I have confidence? How do I know that it's true that God's not gonna leave me or forsake me? Because I think what we're realizing here is that the pit that entitlement shows up in the pig styes as much as the pews. Like the person who's running from God, doing life his own way, thinking nothing of God, not showing up to church, deciding for himself what's morally right and wrong, living his own way, he believes he's entitled to live his life his way. But the person in the pews who is using God's moral laws, who's obeying God like the older brother, just to get what he wants to get out of God, thinks he's entitled because of his moral behavior and his self-righteousness, right? So we are entitled in the pig sty just as much as we are in the pews. And so, how do I, where where do we go? We go to the one person who actually was entitled. Right? When like God created the universe, he spoke it all into existence. The scripture tells us that he sustains it in the palm of his hands. It is that God who lays aside his crown and steps into human history, not to be served, but to serve, to wash feet, which is an and act lower than that of a bond servant, to go not to a throne but to a cross. And and him, like the one person that deserves it all, that actually is entitled, sits there in the garden Gethsemane and says, God, take this cup from me, take the fullness of your wrath being poured out on me. And yet he gets what he doesn't deserve. Why? So that I would get what I don't deserve, the grace of God.
SPEAKER_04Wow. I mean, you just basically expounded Philippians 2, you know, 11 through 15. And and what's the key there? Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God, a thing to be held on to, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, coming in the likeness of men and being found in obedience as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. Like you're taking extremes there. The extreme is God, and the extreme, for what we know on this earth, as the worst consequence is death, and God said, I don't have to, I shouldn't, but I'm gonna take death unto myself to give these people life. I mean, he's our example. Ray, how how how much has the lack of the prominence of the law given people in this world that sense of entitlement? I mean, don't you see that as a big part of the problem?
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. I was uh at the age of five, um, very entitled as a kid. My mom was very faithful in making dinner for us. Every every night, she's dinner at five o'clock. And I was about five years old, and one time I came home from messing around, playing in trees, playing huts. Go home at five, and dinner wasn't ready. I was seriously angry as a five-year-old. And you know what my mum said to me? You used to have to learn patience, weren't you? And I've never forgotten that.
SPEAKER_04Maybe you've never learned patience.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, just hurry up. Anyway, so imagine someone's born at the age of 20. He's not born as a baby, he's just the age of 20, blam, he's here. Suddenly he looks up at the sky and he goes, What's that stuff? That blue stuff.
unknownWhoa!
SPEAKER_06And you say, Well, it's the glory of God. It declares his glory. It's called the sky. It's one of those big puffy white things there. Well, they're clouds, they're filled with rain. They've got 350,000 tons of rain in them. They come down and they water the earth. You say, Well, come with me, I'll show you something great. Come to a supermarket. Now, you guys take for granted what supermarkets are in America. When I came to America in 1986, first time in Hawaii, I think it was. Sue and I went straight to a supermarket and we filmed all the fruits and vegetables. We had never seen an array like it in our lives. I sent the video back to New Zealand. See, in New Zealand, we only had three cabbages and an apple here and there. But it was just awe-inspiring. And so we take these things for granted. What happens is that with the 20-year-old doesn't happen with us as human beings. We're suddenly in life and there's a blue sky every day. There's a sense of entitlement. Why isn't the sky blue? It's cloudy today. You know, where's the where's my food? I want this, I want that. And the the thing that brings humanity to a point of sobriety, to its proper place, is the law of God. When you apply the law to a sinner, you know, biblically, he suddenly realized the only thing he's entitled to is the wrath of God. That brings him to a point of humility that God is not the divine butler that comes running. I don't deserve a blue sky, I don't deserve all the fruits and the foods, things aren't on time, it doesn't matter. And we realize that we're surrounded by the goodness of God, and that brings us a sense of humility and gets rid of entitlement, entitlements for everything.
SPEAKER_04Oh, amen. Ray, did you say you had you were taking pictures of the the video? I was taking videos on your phone. Yeah. And you said you had never seen an array like it. Yeah. And no one had seen a Ray like you filming vegetables at a store.
SPEAKER_06That was a big build-up. Array. Yeah, yeah. Let it go.
SPEAKER_04Okay, happy bee. Um, so here's my question for you.
Uh 1 Thessalonians um 5.18. And everything. My favorite. Yeah, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I'd love you to comment on this, John, because like we always talk about wanting to know the will of God. And sometimes we'll do something, we'll make a decision. Lord, was this your will? Was this not your will? If we want to be a people who live in the will of God constantly and know that we are, yep, I just did God's will, give thanks always. How important is that? A thankful heart to combat that whole issue of entitlement.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, I think the first thing we need to do to get that right, I mean, um, Romans 12. It's uh one of my favorite. What's wrong with the rest of the Bible? Yeah, John. Uh-oh. Okay, John. Fine, John. Don't like the rest of the Bible, John. And the rest of them are also my favorite one. Romans 12, 1 says, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. If you really want to give glory to God in everything that you do, you've got to transform your mind and get it renewed. Um, and also to live a life, uh, live a sacrificial life, because that's what Romans 12 tells you about. Live your life as a sacrifice. And I think most of the time when you don't recognize how much God has done for us or uh or uh think of Him when when things are when you're living your life, is because I think C.S. Lewis covers that very well. So I'm gonna just read that quote because that might help here. It says humility, which is basically the opposite of um entitlement, is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. And then he goes on to say something which is very profound, which will more or less sum up everything we said. A proud man is always looking down on things and people. As long as you're looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. Wow. So our problem the reason why we don't look above and look at him is because we're too busy looking at ourselves and other people. And I think the moment we remove that focus from ourselves, that's The time when we recognize that everything is for him and for his glory. Wow, that's good.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you know, Mark, I was thinking about um the disciples, right? We we alluded to it already, how they were arguing amongst themselves who's going to be the greatest. I would have loved to have just witnessed how that was happening. Well, you would have you would have been arguing with that. I am the one of God. But but isn't it telling that um they knew what they were doing was wrong? Because when Jesus asked them, what were you discussing on the way? They all went quiet. Right? Like we know, we know that there's something wrong with advancing ourselves and putting ourselves on the pedestal.
SPEAKER_01It's been said that you move from, we all move from prodigal to Pharisee in 30 seconds. Well, when the moment we think that uh we've done something or we were used uh by God, we're we're ready to ask for a raise. Yeah, you know, and we we don't see everything else behind that. You you can see how entitled you are when the person in front of you is taking the maple donut and it's the last maple donut at church, or there's no more creamer. You know, your your favorite. That's serious. It becomes a serious thing. Wait a minute, that's too far, Mike. Right. But but we really do live our lives, you know, entitled. You know, and the apostles, the disciples, they were no different. They were just normal people like you and I who dealt with the same issues, same sort of things that you and I dealt with, who had the same sort of fear and same sort of desires. And they all put their pants on, everybody puts their pants on one leg at a time.
SPEAKER_06They were firefighters, and there we have firefighters put their pants on two legs at a time because of the urgency, and that's what we should be like as Christians. Did the apostles wear pants? You think so? Was it more of like a skirt?
SPEAKER_01They had long kilts. Yeah, right. So, but they didn't start off that way, right? Firefighters, they they didn't start, they had to go through training. And that and life is one big training camp for tomorrow. The trials and the things that we're gonna go through today, we became ready for it because of what happened yesterday. And we would not have been able to handle what we're going through today if we were given that yesterday. So we don't worry, we don't need to think about tomorrow. Today, this is all we have. I'll share it with my my wife today. I said, babe, what live today to the glory of God, that this is all we have. We're not promised tomorrow. So if we're waiting for a biopsy to return, or we're waiting for our child to call us because they haven't called us since they went away to school, we we will never find our contentment inside the Lord. So you look at the apostles, these disciples who walked with God, uh, and they were able to experience things that we would never be able to experience. John listened to the heartbeat of Jesus. None of us can say that we've ever done that. Peter walked on water, but he sunk. Yeah, but he still walked on water. That's not on any of our resumes. So that there was something beautiful about the disciples able to see the first hand touch of Christ, and they were still blowets. How much more us, right? We're in love with a God we've never seen, we're in love with a voice we've never heard, and we're homesick for a home that we've never been to. And until that time, we occupy and we are pre-appointed by God to live in this place for one reason that we may grope for him and yearn for him, though he's not far from any one of us. This is why we live now and not 2,000 years ago and not 2,000 years from now. We live right now because God knows that this is the perfect time, perfect place to walk in the work which he's prepared beforehand, to be his poema, his poetry, and that we would lift up hands to God and extend hands for God to the lost. This is it. This is why we are here.
SPEAKER_04Amen. Yeah, our pastor this past Sunday, he's in a series on the life of Joseph, Genesis 39, such a good, good series. And he was saying, you know, look, our problem is we're always focusing on what's happening to us. And what we should really be focused on is what's what is happening inside of us through what God is allowing to happen to us. You know, and when we think that way, it it changes things. He gave this really powerful uh illustration, obviously not a true story, but you talk about how a farmer had a donkey of his fall into his well. And he looks down the well and he sees a donkey, and he's like, ah, ah, it's gonna be a lot of work to get it out. It may be injured, it's probably gonna die anyway. You know what? We can't use this well anymore anyway. Let's just bury the donkey in it. So the donkey's down there, they're shoveling dirt on the donkey and it's falling on it. Donkey's shaking it off. They throw dirt shaking it off, shaking it off. Next thing it knows, it could feel earth beneath its feet. It's like, wait a minute. And they kept throwing it, it kept shaking it off, and it kept saying, shake it off, step up, shake it off, step up. Before it knew it, it was all the way up and it walked out of the well. And so we need to have that attitude, you know? Someone disrespects us, someone doesn't give us what we wanted, someone is rude, whatever. Shake it off and step up, right? He's conforming you into the image of Christ. Yeah. Be a donkey. Be a donkey. Yeah. Um,
yeah. So so, Oscar, for for people that are listening now, what would you encourage them in in terms of like, all right, here are some of the things you can start doing, like turning off your phone for a podcast. What fun? Yeah. We're entitled to no phones ringing on this podcast, right? Uh, how do you how do you encourage them? What what when they're asking, what do we do? How do we break free of this? What would be your biggest encouragement?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think, I think reflecting on your Lord and Savior, you know, going back to to recognizing our need for grace, uh, repentance is is is the first step of understanding that we are in desperate need of grace. And then transformation, John mentioned it. Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I think transformation, we're so used to quick fixes that I even see people nowadays use their Bible as like a placebo effect. You know, I need, I need to have a good day today, so I'm gonna read one Bible verse. Um, I I need that we just we use it as like a self-help guide. Often we go to the, I've said it before that often we go to the Bible as an ATM machine where we want to withdraw for the day when actually we should be treating the Bible like a savings account, where we invest in it daily so that it will yield its return in time. And so do not conform to the patterns of this world is setting your mind through daily disciplines on the goodness and glory of God, what he has done for you, and how he has loved you. And when you set your mind on Christ, like it is in our nature to be like the thing we adore most. So adore Christ, adore Christ through your daily disciplines of reading, of meditation, of prayer. Uh, stick to that. It's it's like Nietzsche's, you know, frustration that what we need in modernity is a long obedience in the same direction. That is a daily sacrifice for every single one of us, a long obedience in the same direction. What direction is that? To follow in the footsteps of your Savior Jesus.
SPEAKER_04You know, Ray, this morning uh I was upstairs and one of our staff members was asking me about something this weekend, and I commented on it. And and um and then I said, God is kind, you know, and it's amazing how quickly God can do something in your heart. Like something you've said so many times, and and yet He just instantly I walk in my office and I just begin to tear up because I I realize like how so little I think on the reality of that. And and I was just flooded with like, wow, God, you're so kind. Like we're talking about how much we deserve uh God's wrath and what we we don't deserve anything, but but how big is the kindness of God uh in in in the believer's life of meditating on that?
SPEAKER_06Well, like I mentioned before, we tend to take things for granted. Familiarity breeds contempt. It's a f it's uh an old saying, but it's very, very true. The more familiar with something, the more we're contemptuous for it. And we're familiar with our eyesight. How many people, non-Christians, atheists, thank God for their eyesight? And they don't think about their eyesight until they go blind. And then suddenly, where is God? Or hearings, so we can enjoy good music. We're surrounded by the goodness and kindness of God and so many things. The apple, the banana, the uh all sorts of wonderful fruits. That's what's that? Plums. Plums, yeah, and peaches, yeah. And coconuts. Coconuts. Ever think about a coconut? Coconuts are incredible. You can be on an island with nothing to drink, and there is a cooled drink that's preserved for years up a tree. You just have to climb up and get it. But all around us, is to the goodness of God. Why did he die? You couldn't climb the tree. Yeah, God's kindness surrounds us in so many ways.
SPEAKER_00I think one of the um one of the ways of remembering God's kindness, apart from everything that Drace said, is to uh share the gospel. It's one of the ten reasons that I can think of. One of the ten reasons is to be reminded continually of the greatest sacrifice that was given every time I'm giving the gospel and say what God has done for us. He stepped in and died on the cross, a horrible death, rose on the third day so that I can have life. If the more I say it, the more I share that, I realize, wow, God has really been gracious to me. I am so thankful for what he's done. I am sorry for all the times when I made this not the priority of my life. When I when I haven't remembered, you know, when I'm going through struggles and difficulties, now I haven't remembered the greatest price that has been paid for. That probably is one of the best ways to continually be reminded of God's graciousness and love and um and and uh and and his amazing grace. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Sorry, you're saying you're a joke. I was gonna say Ray was your joke.
SPEAKER_04Ray was offended that you encouraged people to share the gospel. Oh, yes. Sorry about that shame on it.
SPEAKER_06Um this is really dumb, but the word wow kind of pictures what we should be like as Christians. Mouth open, the zero, and then hands raised, the two W's each side. Because everything around us makes us go well, especially the cross. Wow. How incredible.
SPEAKER_03That's good. Wow.
SPEAKER_06That's good. Let's all wow together.
SPEAKER_03Wow. I have a question. Uh John, why are you holding your screen like a sacred cow? You are very fine.
SPEAKER_00I am protecting myself. I thought I just had to protect myself against Mark, but it looks like he has destroyed my notes at least three or four times.
SPEAKER_06I said to John, it says, be careful, Marco just touched delete when you got your notes in front of you.
SPEAKER_02I was pushing buttons and he lost his note for a second. And now every time I move my hand, he likes I'm sitting here looking terrified.
Um Mark, I'd love you to comment on this quote from our brother Vodi Baccom, who went to be with the Lord um not long ago. In fact, we were we were Ray, myself, Ken Ham, we were at uh John MacArthur's memorial service. Vodi was sitting next to us in our row, and a few weeks later he went to be with the Lord. But this is powerful. One of the greatest evidences, he said, that the gospel has taken hold of a person's heart is that he becomes a servant. He no longer asks, Who will serve me, but whom can I serve? The cross dethrones self and enthrones Christ.
SPEAKER_01You know what kind of a servant you are when somebody treats you like one. Right? It's not original. It's it's it's so true though. You know, you think of when Jesus on on the the night before he was betrayed, he took off his uh outer garment and he had uh stooped down and he washed uh the feet. But not just the feet of his disciples and those who are going to obey him, but even Judas. Right? You think of that. That that that's that's such a a crazy thought. That he stoops down and he he washes the feet. And here we have you know such a remarkable story that um if you want to be great in God's kingdom, you you have to be a servant. And this is what the world doesn't understand. The Bible is not filled with contradictions, but it's filled with what seems to be uh a paradox, a seeming contradiction. You want to be great, you must be the least. You the two shall become one. Um and it's over and over and over again. It's the exact opposite of the way the world adds and the world multiplies. You know, with God, the greatest in the kingdom really are the servants. And I and I like something that you that you say. Some of you say, Ray, or uh Easy, you're you're you're the president. What does that mean? You're the president of Living Waters, and you say, Well, that just means I'm the head usher, I'm the head uh janitor, I'm I'm the one who needs to lead by example to to clean up and to do what really people don't want to do. And all of us here at Living Waters, we we all kind of started by answering phones and packing orders and doing stuff, and that's there's nothing wrong with that. And we we would do anything like that, whatever needs to get done. But that but we never graduate from that moment of serving. It is your responsibility, you know. So I mean I I know somebody who every time he goes inside of a bathroom, he makes it his responsibility to clean the bathroom before he leaves. Whether it's at an airport, whether it's at a restaurant, whether he's at home, he he he's he cleans the restroom. And it kind of keeps your your feet on on level ground, knowing that uh the greatest in the kingdom are the servants of all. So you know what kind of a servant you are when somebody treats you like one.
SPEAKER_04Wow. Well, John, wow, wow, John, um brother, I I just want to say as we wrap up here that uh you've been a great example of a servant. Uh you and Danny, what you guys have been doing for years now in in Europe and the UK has blessed so many people, and it means a lot. You know, we we know we know the sacrifices very well here uh behind the scenes. And I just want to say thank you, brother. Yeah, amen. It's a great pleasure. So Danny is John's wife. Yeah, yes. Daniela, yes. That's right. And may the Lord continue to bear fruit through your life and um may you eat a lot of tabuli. Habibi. We have to eat tabuli. Thank you so much. That's a great encouragement. We uh we follow your example. Well, praise God. Well, we uh we look forward to having you uh back with us. In fact, we're gonna have you on the next podcast. Can't wait. Spoiler alert. Yeah, you know, spoiler alert. Um so don't forget, friends, the why Muslims reject Christianity booklet. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. We want your thoughts, your questions, your insults toward Ray Mark and Oscar, all at podcast at livingwaters.com. Thank you for joining us, friends. We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast, where everyone here except for Jamon has no idea what they're doing.