Thoughts about Palm Sunday and Public Faith: Biblically Correct > Politically Correct

We get ready for Palm Sunday by walking through Holy Week and the triumphal entry of Jesus in Luke 19:28-40. We also challenge the modern pressure to keep faith private and instead speak with biblical clarity and courage. 

• details on the May 2 event Think Biblical About The Geopolitical at North Valley Church 
• why Holy Week matters for seekers and believers 
• what Palm Sunday means and why the palms matter 
• the triumphal entry as a public declaration of Jesus as King 
• Jesus’ words about silence and the stones crying out 
• the cultural push to privatise faith since the Enlightenment 
• why we aim to be biblically correct rather than politically correct 
• public confession of faith and why baptisms matter 
• the authority question and why Jesus’ works carry weight 
• humble kingship through prophecy fulfilment and the donkey 
• the “silence lie” and why truth will be witnessed 
• signs of spiritual hunger and renewal and a story from a secular expo 

You can check out real life ministry.us 
If you found any of what you heard today helpful, please share it with others who may benefit. And if you would like to support the content that we put out, please consider making a donation at reallifeministry.us. 

Transcript

Welcome And May 2 Event

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Real Life Ministry, where we are dedicated to teaching and encouraging Christians to live free and live strong. Your host today is Ryan Rice, a Bible teacher, a pastor, entrepreneur, and a writer. Join us as we dive into various topics and how they relate to faith, values, and making a positive impact in America. Let's dive into it.

Holy Week And Service Plan

Palm Sunday And The Trumphal Entry

Public Faith Versus Private Religion

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Alright, guys, welcome back to another episode of Real Life Ministry. Ryan Rice in the studio. I want to bring to you some new content about getting ready for Palm Sunday. So before we jump in today, what I want to do is I want to take a little bit of time to share with you about a special event that's coming up on May 2nd. So mark your calendar. It is called Think Biblical About the Geopolitical. It's a uh Saturday morning, May 2nd, 8 a.m. to about 12 p.m. at North Valley Church. So check it out. You can check out all the information at Real Life Ministry and love for you to come and join us. We're gonna have Alan West, Lieutenant Colonel, there. Uh, he is a Christian author, writer, speaker, podcaster, uh, public figure, awesome man who has an extensive background and just a really neat guy. I'll read to you a little bit about him in just a minute. But uh Daryl Del Hussey is gonna be there, uh Pastor Emeritus Scottsdale Bible, Chancellor Phoenix Seminary, served as a president, um professor as well for 20-something years, uh, served in pastoral ministry at Scottsdale for 25 years, unbelievable godly figure, uh, person in my life, and just a wonderful man. He will be there as well. Again, the topic is going to be around this idea about calling Christians to clarity when politics dominates our thinking, we lose our way, and we need the Bible to think clearly. So we're gonna be encouraging Christians and helping churches really that are facing a crisis and confusion for believers to be shaped far more by the cable, uh, by the clarity of scripture than cable news. And so hope that you can join us to do that. You're gonna learn how to think biblically, um, you're gonna apply scripture and respond with faith and and live courageously, live free and live strong as a believer. So um Del Husay will be there, I'll be there, uh Lieutenant Colonel Alan West will be there. He is a Republican congressman from Texas. Uh he served in con he's he is a combat veteran, uh Christian, constitutional, conservative, and national speaker. He served 22 years in the U.S. Army, commissioned um uh well he was a part of the he served uh commissioned uh via ROTC uh at the University of Tennessee with multiple deployments, including Operation Iraqi Freedom. Uh he was known for principled leadership and a bold defense of constitutional values. He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives and continues to speak nationally on faith, freedom, and the intersection of biblical values and with American governance. Twenty-two years in the U.S. Army, retired lieutenant colonel, combat deployed, including Iraq, commissioned, like I said, through uh through ROTC University of Tennessee, multiple military awards and commendations. Uh this guy's awesome. So he was also U.S. Congressman, Florida's 22nd Congressional District, 2011 to 2013. Um, yeah, neat guy. He's got uh all sorts of I think influence that would be really good. Um he's from a family of four generations of military veterans raised in Atlanta, Georgia. So, and then you got me, dun dun dun. Okay. So I'm the founder of North Val uh North Valley. Isn't that a joy? What a joy that is. Uh founder of Real Life Ministry. Uh serve as the president, uh, Real Life Ministry, as you know, dedicated to help Christians live free and live strong in America. I also serve as the president of Arizona Quail Today. And I am an author. Wow, I'm grateful to be able to say that. I've authored a couple of books, and the latest one is Thinking Biblical about the geopolitical Israel, Iran, and America's future. So um wrote another book called Blessed Hope. Uh, and and I host this podcast all the time. So, anyway, here we go. So, what are we talking about? I just want to talk to you about Holy Week. Holy Week is coming up. It is uh the week leading up to uh the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus. It is called the Passion Week. And I just want to highlight to you a passage I'll be teaching. And I, as many churches will around the country, um known as kind of the Palm Sunday. So um Palm Sunday this year kicks off on Sunday, which would be uh March 29th. So depending on when you're hearing this, then you can uh kind of just know the context of this podcast. So I felt like I wanted to drop this podcast out as kind of something that I wasn't planning on doing. I've already have a long schedule of podcast series set, but I just since it's so unique and world-changing event around the world uh that many people come to faith in Christ during this week. Um seekers that have been, you know, um looking for spiritual answers come and respond in faith and and go public with their faith. Um believers get baptized, and so man, I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be cool. Um, in my church, uh, the church where I serve, there'll be a team of teaching pastors teaching. So we're actually doing like like holy week starts for us on Thursday because we have a Thursday night service. So we'll go Thursday, one service, and then three services on Sunday, and I'll be teaching about Palm Sunday. And so, you know, the gist of what I'm gonna communicate, and again, what I share on here on the podcast is a bit different than what lands on in a church service just because of the context and all that. Um, but I'll get to that in a minute. And so then we're gonna do that, and then we're gonna go through as well with we're gonna do um Monday Thursday, and we're gonna um be teaching and outlining kind of the upper room discourse where Jesus tells his disciples about, you know, shares the real really the powerful imagery that we're gonna share about is the foot washing experience. And so um we're actually gonna wash people's feet. That's crazy. And then as well, we're we're gonna challenge our congregation and and church to be uh, you know, living like servants of Jesus, because Jesus commanded us to do that. And it it's like, you know, I've said this so many times before, but it's like it's not like Jesus was maximizing his gifts and washing his disciples' feet. Uh, he was doing this as a massive service illustration to share and to show the love of God and the power there is that we're commanded to go and do likewise, that he's laying down a model for us to to do for others, that the church is is to serve and to serve one another and care for one another. And that really truly reflects even the character nature and the heart of God um that Jesus himself did not come to be served, but to serve. And and so he does it as a powerful teaching illustration. And then Good Friday, obviously, that is um a powerful teaching on the cross, as I say, obviously, um, but maybe you don't know that obviously, but it is the time in which the church worldwide um uh observes the crucifixion of Christ. And so it is um his sacrificial, um long-awaited uh prophetic um fulfillment of the sacrificial lamb that was slain for the sins of the world, as the Gospel of John shares, and as Isaiah the prophet prophesied about. And so that that takes place there. And then and we are gonna have this unbelievable experience. I'm grateful for that, um, of being outside in a courtyard, and Pastor Sandy Mason is teaching that one. Thomas Lee, a wonderful brother, um is gonna, he's one of my buddies, and uh another teaching pastor on our team is gonna be teaching the Monday, Thursday, and then Sandy Mason, wonderful Bible teacher, preacher, part of our teaching team is teaching Good Friday. And then um we're gonna pause for Saturday, and then we're gonna go full throttle on Easter Sunday teaching about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so we'll have a sunrise service and then three other main services, and we'll be doing baptisms and those services, and I'll be teaching in those three main services. So, all right, let's jump to it though. What what do we mean by uh palm Sunday? And so, well, it kind of comes around the idea where folks were coming out and laying down palm branches, and it was a very symbolic normal procession for kings of uh old that would do that. And we if we think of in our con our culture or context, we don't think of you know have waving palms or anything, um, but we think of uh perhaps other uh moments within our contemporary culture where you know every four years in America we have these elaborate ceremonies where someone enters into Washington DC as the new leader of the nation, and there is an inauguration. This is carefully staged, every detail is planned, the routes are secured, the crowds are invited, and then what we see in the pages of scripture, there's a king that comes to the capital city, and that is Jerusalem. 2,000 years ago, very different kind of inauguration took place. But instead of there being a motorcade, there was a donkey. Instead of a secret service, there was disciples, dusty, dirty disciples following Jesus in his earthly ministry, and they crowds begin to form, they have uh their garments with them, and instead of a speech with from a teleprompter, there's this powerful declaration that if people don't cry out and worship Jesus and receive him as the king, then the rocks themselves would cry out. Humans cannot stay silent. It's really cool. Um a few weeks ago, I was out hiking and we were on this hike. Um, really cool, and my wife is training for the Grand Canyon, and so we're out on this hike. Uh I'm trying to think of the area. It was North Scottsdale, and we're out on this hike, and uh it's called the Windgate Pass, and it's North Scottsdale. Uh, we climbed a couple thousand feet in elevation, 10-mile hike, and on this hike, uh, it was it's the McDowell Mountains, is where it is. Um, on this hike, I was with my wife who's training for the Grand Canyon. We see this unbelievable cactus, and it just looks like this cactus is like worshiping the Lord. It's like I'll put a picture. I'm gonna put a picture of of this on the podcast if I can. Um, and it its arms are stretched out, and I pause to my wife and I'm hiking, and I'm like, doesn't it look like creation itself is giving glory to God? I mean, it's pretty powerful. And there's this unbelievable statement in the passage that I'll be teaching from that says literally, people have acknowledged are acknowledging Jesus Christ as King as he's coming into town, about to be, you know, uh the days out from being crucified. Um and the Pharisees know that he's being acknowledged as King and they're being he's being worshipped. Jesus isn't refusing this. Pharisees say basically, like, you should you should uh stop this. Literally, the Pharisees say to to Jesus, teacher, rebuke your disciples. And Jesus responds and says, I tell you, if these people these, meaning the crowd, were silent, the very stones would cry out. And so there's this cosmic implication that Jesus Christ is worthy of coronation and worship and adoration because he's supreme and sovereign over all things. And so, you know, you think about that, like we are called to be vocal. We are called as Christians to give praise to Jesus Christ. And so I I kind of want to just lean into a couple of themes. I'm I'm I'm really not gonna do like uh an expository preaching and explanation of the text. I'll just give you a summary, but I want to highlight to you some cultural issues of our day and some things that I see that I think are important if we're gonna live free and live strong as Christians. And as we're kind of preparing for this Palm Sunday, I'm just telling you, like as a preacher-teacher, um, hopefully you're hearing this. You know, I get it. Like, you know, make sure, you know, Lord willing, like are you need to be hearing about the cross of Christ. You need to be hearing about the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus on this holy week. You you and hopefully you're hearing about like this triumphal entry because it's so powerful, so wonderful. So um I've not always done it like this, but we're zeroing in and stretching out and creating lots of multiple services, which we'll tell you how it goes. I don't we're gonna have major space problems. We're gonna be overcrowded, I'm sure, but we're going for it. We got a good teaching team. But anyway, all that to say is that you know, the passage I'm reading from, Luke 19, verse 28 through 40, and and again, this is the triumphal entry, and it's it's referenced as well, this same entry where Jesus at the end of his earthly ministry enters into Jerusalem, like literally like the lamb being led to the slaughter. Um, he's not coming in on a war horse, he's coming in on a donkey, meek and mild. Uh Luke chapter 19, 28 through 40 captures this, but so does Matthew chapter 21, so does Mark chapter 11, and so does John chapter 12. But the only gospel narrative that captures this actual statement that Jesus says about if if if basically if people don't worship me, the rocks are gonna cry out.

unknown 18:02

Wow.

Jesus’ Authority And The Silence Lie

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Roch Shazak, be strong and courageous is is the he the the Hebrew phrase I taught our men in the men's ministry. Like that is a rock shazak statement. Like if if if you if people are quiet, the very creation that I created will cry out and worship me. That's pretty powerful. So all that to say is like that's the passage I'm working with, and you know, there's these really kind of cool concepts that I want to pull out. And then the the first is this the first is that I, you know, there's this call to be vocal, and Jesus is not resisting the praise of people because literally it says in the text that as he's coming into town, the whole multitude of his disciples began to uh rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they'd seen. And there's these crowds, and the other other gospel writers say large crowds, and describe very massive crowds of people. And they're literally like laying down their garments and their robes, and some are waving palm branches and then laying them down, and they're all crying out and worshiping Jesus and receiving him as King. What's crazy is it within a week there many are gonna turn, not all, but many are gonna turn on him and not be worshiping him, but actually yelling, crucify him. So it shows the fickleness of the crowd, but it also highlights to us the the desire and the need for the public uh proclamation of faith. And so at real life ministry, uh my the hope and intent has been is to help believers live free and live strong. And so what I want to do in our remaining time, which I'm not gonna take a ton of time on this, but I I want to highlight to you um really just a few concepts that I think that are will be helpful. And the the passage confronts kind of the modern secular assumption of private belief, you know, and versus kind of a public faith. And somehow, you know, we seek to be uh, you know, politically correct, which I think that's incorrect. I think that you need to be biblically correct, not politically correct. Um, that'll preach right there. Like you should highlight that, uh tape it to the brain, I said uh in one podcast. But uh you want to be biblically correct, not simply think to yourself as a PC politically correct. But we live in a time and frame where it's to be tolerant is to be like private or quiet about your faith and just kind of silence your beliefs because of fear of worrying about uh offending somebody else. Um and kind of in this section of scripture, there's this um philosophical consensus of our age that says uh believe what you want, but keep it to yourself. So you can believe whatever you want, but keep it to yourself. And this this passage of scripture just obliterates that. Jesus just obliterates that dichotomy. He he stages the most um public possible demonstration of his identity. He he doesn't whisper his claims in back rooms, he writes. Openly into the capital city where crowds will adore him and declare him king. Religious leaders demand that this public display be suppressed, be silenced. And Jesus responds that the very fabric of creation would rupture into testimony if human voices failed. And so there's these cultural philosophies at play that I just want to highlight. And that is number one, this privatization of faith. Since the Enlightenment, Western culture has increasingly relegated religion to this private sphere. And Jesus just refuses this categorization altogether. His kingship is not private, um, spiritual preference, but it is public truth to be proclaimed. And, you know, you see this kind of like this over-personalization, even guilty in the church, of making Jesus just your personal Lord and Savior. He's not only personal Lord and Savior, he is corporate. Like there needs to be a corporate confession, and that's why baptisms are so important in a public of faith. And you know, so it it there's there's a public matter of faith. I mean, I I think that you know, when Jesus said to let your light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your father in heaven, let your light shine before men, before all to see, like a city on a hill. This indicates that we have a public responsibility to be distinctly Christian, not just with our actions, but with our words as well. And so I don't I don't know, whatever situation you find yourself in, but do not hide your light under a bushel. Don't hide your light. Like let the light of Christ shine. And there's this push to privatize the faith, and that's just not at all the way it goes. Jesus was very public. He said, in fact, if you deny me before other men, I'll deny you before our Father in heaven. In other words, if you're if you're sitting on the sidelines and you don't want to actively declare your allegiance, then you have no allegiance. You're either following and worshiping Jesus or not, one or the other. If your heart is in love with the world and scared to death of what they may think about you if you're say you're a Christian, I don't think heaven is your home, man. I I don't. I don't think Christ is your king. And and so if you follow Jesus, you can't live in the shadows. You gotta step in, step into the light, like let her rip, brother. Let her rip. So I that's one I just think this passage kind of pulls this cultural philosophy out that Jesus is refusing this idea that they need to shut up, that they need to be canceled or silenced. He's like, forget it. You don't get it. Heck no, I'm not gonna silence these people from worshiping me and calling me king and worship, you know. I'm telling you, if they didn't, the whole, all of creation would declare it. It's essential. And then, you know, secondly, I'd just say this authority question. Our culture asks the question by what by what right or do you have as a believer to to say your faith is correct or whatnot? I mean, people want to know. I mean, we have an anti-authority culture right now. And Jesus answers his identity by tying it back to works. Um, really interesting. The multitude praised him, saying, literally, the quote is, for all the mighty works they had seen. Uh Luke, the historian, notes that they'd seen the works, and authority that can be demonstrated in reality, not merely just asserted, carries a different kind of weight. And Jesus is the authority, he has the ultimate authority. Nobody like Jesus has ever existed. Somebody who lived a sinless life, died a brutal death, was buried, and then rose again. Uh, he didn't uh shoe people off from worshiping him. He called himself the exclusive claim uh to salvation. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, nobody gets to the Father but through me. There's nobody like Jesus. And what's cool is that he doesn't come in with this crazy author uh uh uh uh authoritarian uh uh dominance that we see in culture that's celebrated today. He comes in meek and mild, riding in on a donkey, and this is prophecy fulfillment. Zachariah spoke about it. Um he would ride on a donkey that nobody had ever touched. This was also uh a sacred act, a sacred purpose. It was a cult. Uh, Numbers 19, Deuteronomy 21, Samuel 6, 7 talks about these consecrated animals for that. Uh the Zach in Zechariah, I believe it is 9 9, says that the king will come um riding in on a cult. And a cult could is a young uh donkey or young horse. Just recently, where we bought our horse, there's a baby cult that was born. His name is Surprise, because he is was a surprise. Nobody was expecting him, and uh just a beautiful little horse, and Jesus comes not as a conquering king, but as a a gentle, um uh meek and mild lamb that will is king, but he'll be conquering uh not through his conquest, but through a cross. He will secure success and he will not come to defeat his enemies, but actually die on a cross for his enemies, or another way to say it, he comes um not in this manner of uh coming to conquest his enemies or conquer his enemies, but he actually comes to the cross uh to die for his enemies. So anyway, I'm thumbing through the pages that I've taken notes on. So the king wins not by crushing his enemies, but by dying on a cross for them. So it answers that authority issue is one of the things I was wanting to get at. And then, you know, this and it highlights as well the humble authority, too. So, you know, he is substantial. You can look at his life. I think the authority question is answered in Jesus, just study Jesus. Um, and that's one. And then we also talked about the privatization of faith. That's two. And then the third thing I want to point out before we wrap up is that, you know, the silence lie. Um, we live in a time when tolerance often means silence about convictions. And Jesus declares that truth cannot ultimately be suppressed. And so if humans' voices go quiet, creation itself becomes the witness. And so what do you see? The world is crying out for Jesus, man. I mean, here's the cool news that we are in a season of somewhat of revival, and so uh you see it all around the country with young men and women uh come into faith in Christ, specifically young men, and God is at work, and people, um, mankind cannot stay silent. There's a spiritual fervor that is happening, and I would say ride the wave, jump on it, get going with it, encourage young people to come know and follow Jesus Christ. Um, God's at work, trust in that. Um, recently we did an event, Arizona Quail Today was at a secular event, uh hunting expo or uh whatnot. And my buddy was repping Fathers in the Field, a wonderful ministry that we run and uh run through our church, and he was handing out books that I had written for quail hunters, and it's called Bible Readings for Bird Hunters. And he told me, he said, Man, the books were a big hit. People were wanting them. I'm like, that is so cool at a secular event, Bible readings for bird hunters. People wanted to pick that up. And uh it's just a testimony. God's at work in this generation, and and so you cannot remain silent. There needs to be no privatization of the faith. Let let your faith be as public as possible. And the authority question is answered in Jesus. He is king. All right. Well, that's it for today, guys. Hope you enjoyed listening in and stay tuned for more information and content. You can check out real life ministry.us, and we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Thank you for listening to Real Life Ministry. If you found any of what you heard today helpful, please share it with others who may benefit. And if you would like to support the content that we put out, please consider making a donation at reallifeministry.us. While you're there, check out some of our episodes. And together, let's continue to educate and encourage Christians to live free and live strong.