Ep. 15 - God's Goodness Amid An Evil World

We trace evil’s origin from Satan’s fall to Eden’s deception, then move to hope in Christ as the last Adam who defeats death. We wrestle honestly with injustice through Habakkuk and land on faithful masculinity, endurance, and joy that doesn’t depend on circumstances.

• goodness of God in a broken world
• Satan’s pride, fall, and spiritual warfare
• creation, image of God, breath of life
• the fall, deception, and Adam’s passivity
• temptation of Jesus and resisting sin
• redefining evil as good in culture
• hard stats on trafficking, abortion, MAiD, persecution
• why God delays judgment yet promises justice
• Habakkuk’s questions, trust, and rejoicing
• Christ as the last Adam and resurrection hope
• faithful masculinity that stands, protects, endures

If you’re not in the WhatsApp group, reach out and we’ll get you in there. People in that group get first dibs on what we talk about. If you have thoughts on heaven or hell for upcoming episodes, let us know

Transcript

Setting The Topic And Tone

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Men followers in the face, law readers, fathers, standing leaders, standing in a world that wants us to weaken. Welcome to the Brotherhood Podcast.

Craig 0:22

Welcome to another episode of the Brotherhood Podcast. My name's Craig. And I'm Colton.

Colton 0:32

That was fun. We're episodes Friday evening. We're pumped for the weekend.

Craig 0:40

Yep. Yeah, normally we record on Thursdays, if you guys don't know, but it's Friday now. We got way too much other stuff going on. Anyway. Yeah, we're pumped for the weekend. I've got my uh hashtag not sponsored Alani energy drink, so I'm good to go.

Colton 0:57

And I do not, but I should have some. I should.

Framing Evil And The Anchor Verse

Craig 1:02

Um okay, so we are on episode 15 already, which is awesome. Um and we're leaving the Fruits of the Spirit series behind, and we're gonna take a little break from series for a little bit. We're gonna do some individual topics, uh, which is exciting. And this week we're gonna talk about the goodness of God in an evil world. Um, I think it's easy to see when we look around us. We look at our Facebook feed, our Instagram, our the news on TV, the radio, whatever, everywhere. All evil is all around us, and there's no denying it, honestly. Um, so we're gonna dive into that today and kind of see what God's Word has to say about that, um, and why God is still good, even though there's evil around us. Um today we're gonna anchor this episode in First Corinthians chapter 15, verses 21 to 22. And that says, For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. So uh we're gonna talk about um if you are a believer already, you know about the fall of man and stuff like that. Um Adam comes into the world. We'll talk about this, but uh God creates Adam, Adam and Eve sin right off the bat, basically, so they wrecked it for everybody.

Colton 2:42

Um and if they wouldn't have, I think somebody else would have.

Craig 2:47

Yeah, that's the thing. But it's it I feel like it's easy to point fingers and be like, oh, I wouldn't have done that. But I mean, yeah, if they didn't, one of their kids would, or I mean, one of us would, if it would have lasted that long. Oh, yeah. So I think the big idea that I have is that evil, like what I want you guys to take away from this is evil didn't begin with God, that wasn't his original plan. Um, it began with our rebellion against him, and um and that our hope doesn't come from denying that there's evil in the world, um, but it comes from us being redeemed um by Jesus. So we'll get into that. And I know this is a little bit of a heavier episode, um, so we'll try to keep it light. I know the last few I've had uh jokes to share with you guys, but guess what? Today the joke is on you because we're gonna start with the fallen man, so buckle up.

Satan’s Fall And Spiritual Warfare

Colton 3:55

You know, it's funny actually. I was I was looking and reading some stuff this week uh and doing a bit of research on on what we're talking about, and if you think about it, it's interesting because most people know about Satan, and most people know about Jesus, whether you believe or not. Um, you've heard you know, you've heard the stories or know about them in the Bible. And um before Satan was actually the devil, he was actually an angel in heaven with God. So he's been with God, he knows God. Um the problem was that he thought he could be better than God. I read it, I don't remember where I read it, but um it described him as being how did it describe him? I think very beautiful, I think is what it said. Um I think so. Um I should probably find that verse, actually. Maybe we should. I'll tell a bit of a story and then I'll try and find that verse. But, anyways, my point being just that um, you know, at one point Satan was was good, you know, in heaven with God before he decided that he figured he could be better than God, and so God cast him down out of heaven, uh, never to be back in heaven. And so one thing we need to realize, and and one thing I want to say right from the beginning is that the evil that's in the world, it's not because of God. You know, Satan is in the world, and he is trying to lead as many people away from Christ as he can because he knows God and the fact that God threw him out of heaven, Satan wants to drag everybody. I'm just gonna be very honest, Satan wants to drag everybody down to hell that he can. And uh that's that's a big part where the evil in this world comes from. So I just wanted to say that because I think that is also an important part of what we're talking about today as well.

Craig 6:04

Yeah, that makes me think of uh I don't know, have you heard of like the crabs in the bucket uh kind of analogy?

Colton 6:12

I think so. Uh it's ringing a bell. I don't remember 100% though.

Craig 6:17

Okay, so for those of you that don't know about it, so people that um are like crab fishermen or whatever, I don't know. I I think this I assume this is true, but um, they don't have to put a lid on the bucket of crabs, like if you're collecting crabs or whatever, because the crabs will pull each other down, like they'll try to escape, but all the other crabs in the bucket will try to pull um pull on the other crabs to keep them in the bucket. So that kind of like you saying that Satan wants to drag us down with him kind of made me think of that. Um I think um, correct me if I'm wrong, somebody, I don't know, Colton, if you know, but I think a third of the angels in heaven went with Satan. Like they also um rebelled against God and went with him, and I think like now they're demons or something. I don't know.

Colton 7:18

Yeah, that's interesting. I'm you know what? I think that's probably close to this verse that I'm trying to find. So I'm gonna I'm gonna look it up and see if I can uh see if I can find some information on that just so that we are clear. Clear as mud.

Craig 7:40

I don't know. Isaiah 14, 12 to 15 talks about um the fall of Satan from heaven. That's all right.

Colton 8:00

Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah, okay, I think so. Let me take a look. Let me take a look, seepoo. Okay. Okay, Isaiah 14, 12 to 15. Oh, almost one page too far. Okay, right here. Here's the verse I was thinking about. So Ezekiel 28, 15 to 17. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. So kind of like I was talking about uh before Satan thought he could be better than God, uh the Bible says that he was blameless in his ways. Um, Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence and you sinned, so I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian of cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor, so I threw you to the earth, I made a spectacle of you before kings. Yeah, and then on the bottom in my study Bible it says Um seventeen This was part of the sin of pride, which made Satan want to be like the most high. Which is kind of weird, eh? Like you think about hell and you think about Satan and you think about what the Bible talks about on some of that, and it's hard to believe that he was actually with God at one point, like he like he knows God. Yeah, like it's it's weird, but then again, that's why I think sin and evil is so bad in the world because he despises God and anybody who follows him, right?

Craig 10:26

He's uh yeah, he's against him.

Colton 10:30

Yeah, yeah, it's an interesting thought.

Craig 10:36

Yeah, so what I was talking about with the third of the angels, this is in Revelation. Um there's a lot of imagery and stuff here. Uh the woman, this is in the section, like chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12. It's titled The Woman and the Dragon. Um, my commentary says that it's like the woman is referencing to references Eve, um, and the dragon references the serpent, which we'll talk about um a little bit as well with the fall of man, uh, who is Satan. So um so chapter or verse four says his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth um so that when she bore her child uh he might devour it. Uh and then Satan thrown down to earth. That's in verse 7. Uh now war arose in heaven, uh Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven, and the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. So my understanding is that the the stars that it was talking about, his tail sweeping were the angels. I guess it doesn't necessarily say oh yeah, it does say a third of the stars of heaven. So that's where I got that from. And I know I've heard other content creators, like Christian content creators, talk about that as well. So um, anyway, rabbit trail as usual, but it still pertains to a topic. Uh so yeah, Colton, if you want to talk about the creation first, and then we'll head right into Fallow Man and we'll dive into that deeper.

Colton 13:02

Yeah, so I had looked a little bit into uh Genesis 2, Genesis 1, where God creates the world, and so God takes six days to create the world, the seventh day he takes a rest. But what I want to pull from this is when God creates man. Because what it says is um in verse 7, Genesis 2, verse 7, I'm gonna pull it up here. Um, but basically, as God's creating the world, after he's done creating everything, uh the Bible says that it was good. And at the end of creation, God wanted to create somebody who could, I guess, govern or take care of what he had created, and so he creates Adam. And the verse I wanna I want to pull from that is Genesis 2 verse 7, and it says, Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. So my my question, I'm gonna ask you, Craig, okay, is what else in the Bible did God breathe the um the breath of life into? Was there anything else that God ever breathed the breath of life into?

Craig 14:54

I hope I'm remembering right, but I don't think there was anything else that he created that he breathed the breath of life into.

The Fall: Deception, Sin, And Passivity

Colton 15:00

I don't think so. Not not from what the Bible says in Genesis from what I've studied, and uh so that kind of that gives us a special connection with God. He created us in his image, um, first of all, and then he breathed his breath of life into us, meaning that every living person on this earth, every breath you take is the breath of God, which amidst all the evil in the world, that's a blessing in itself that God has given you time to learn to know him and uh and seek him in that way. Um, and then obviously we all kind of know where this leads. It it leads into the fall of man, which uh I think Craig had a few things he was gonna speak on um on that.

Craig 15:56

Yes. So with talking about the goodness of God and evil in the world, I think we need to establish when evil came into the world. Um, and it was pretty early on, chapter three of Genesis. So not much after he created no, we we messed it up pretty quick. But uh so I'm not gonna read it. You guys can read it after chapter three in Genesis, it is titled The Fall. Um, but we'll go through some points here of kind of what happens in the story. So evil enters through the world, or evil enters the world through deception. If you know the story, um God told Adam and Eve that uh every tree in the Garden of Eden was good for food, except the one in the center of the garden, which they were not to touch and not to eat from, which was the knowledge of um good and evil, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Um and as the story goes, uh Eve is there by this tree, and uh the serpent, Satan, um says, Surely surely you won't die, which God said, if you eat from this tree, you will die. The serpent said, Did he really say that? Did God really say that? Surely you won't die. He just doesn't want you to be like him, he doesn't want you to know. If you if you eat this, you'll you'll be like God, you'll know everything, you'll know good and evil, you'll know all that God knows. So I think that um is a big tell for how Satan works in the world. Uh, he's got the same tricks, deception, right? He deceives us into thinking that things that we want uh in our flesh are better than the things that God wants for us. Um and then so sin, I think, starts like evil comes from sin, obviously, but sin starts from us questioning God's goodness. You know, God made everything, it was good, he said it was good, he saw it and it was good, and then he created man, and then um God said that uh all of these things are good, but just don't just don't touch that. Anyone who has toddlers knows you tell your kids don't touch that, they're gonna touch it right away. So maybe it's maybe that's why he did it. He's like, we're just gonna get this right out of the way because I know what's gonna happen. We might as well get it done sooner than later. I don't know. But sin and rebellion against God and evil towards others, I think, starts from our questioning God's goodness, um, as it did with Adam and Eve. Something else I want to talk about is Adam's passivity. Often, like, at least in my faith journey, I was like, why did Eve do that? Eve is so bad. Like, why did she eat from the tree? But further stuttering, studying, stuttering, I do that too, but studying. Stutter, studying, further studying shows that Adam was right there with her. She wasn't by herself. Um, and I think as men, if we just sit idly by and see this, see Satan tempting our wife and attacking our family, and we do nothing about it, that's just as evil as doing the sin itself, I think. Um, and so he, yeah, he was present, but he was silent. Um, he shouldn't have been that way. He should have said something, should have been like, get out of here, Satan. This is my wife, and we're not supposed to do this. God said, my dad said, Don't do this. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, anyway, so continuing on with the story, uh evidently they ate from that tree, they gave in to temptation, and then they saw their nakedness, they were ashamed. Um, and then so God is going through the garden, and then he I mean, I'm sure he knew where they were, so it's kind of funny, but he's like, Where are you? So, and and Adam and Eve were hiding, ashamed of their nakedness. And uh so anyway, he's they say, Well, we were hiding from you, Lord. We didn't want you to see us, we were naked. Um God says, Well, who told you you were naked? How do you know this? Yeah, yeah, so um so and then Adam says, or no, God says, What have you done? And of course, the man right away points his finger at his wife. It was it wasn't me, God, it was the woman that you gave me, it was her fault. And ultimately, I think he's saying also, like, God, this is your fault. You gave me this woman, and she did this. It wasn't me. So, like, you know in an indirect way, he's like, God, this is your fault. Which I think we see a lot today as well. We see the evil in the world, and we think, God, why are you doing this? But it's not it's not God doing it, it's man doing it, and it's because we're fallen. Um, and like our anchor verse says, uh, death entered through Adam. Um, it enters through one man, Adam. And then the redemption is um it's defeated by another man, which is Jesus Christ, which we'll talk about later. So yeah, evil didn't come from God creating something wrong or doing something wrong, because he does no wrong. It came from humans redefining good and evil, twisting um uh even today, twisting scripture just as the serpent did, right? Twisting God's word. Um, I think we see that a lot today as well. And um Satan does that a lot. He did that uh if you think about when Jesus was tempted in the desert, right? 40 days, and and Satan comes to him and says, You can have all like I'll give you all this, like give you the kingdoms of the world, whatever he said. Um like here, jump jump off this. What a what was it, a building, a cliff? I don't know. Jump off this, and surely the angels will save you. Um and 40 days of fasting. I'm sure he was hungry. Here, tone the turn this stone into bread. Like you can just turn the stone into bread. But he didn't give in to temptation.

Temptation Of Jesus And Resisting Sin

Colton 23:20

So we were talking about this, I think it was at youth group the other day, and there was a point made that I had never thought about about that story. Is that that 40 days with no food is like on the cusp of death, like that like you are right on the edge of dying because of the lack of nutrition you've had. So that puts it into perspective a little bit. Um, how tempting this would have been or could have been for Jesus in that time after 40 days with no food. Like, that's a that's a long time with no food. I don't think I could last two days without food.

Craig 24:07

I can't last two minutes, no.

Colton 24:12

Right, but it's interesting. I've never thought about it that way until it was brought up, and then you think about it, and like being right on the verge of death and being tempted with that. I mean, I only wish that we could resist temptation like Jesus did. Right.

Craig 24:33

So you've asked me a question, I'm gonna ask you a question. Oh boy. Uh since this is the Brotherhood podcast and we want to talk to men, um, with Adam being passive and silent, um how do you see that same passivity playing out in men today? Or you have any examples or that's a good question.

Modern Evil: Redefining Good And Evil

Colton 25:05

I I think I would say in the direction that the world is going with um man, there's a lot of different ideas or a lot of different um I guess situations I can think of that would apply. Like I think about the amount of kids that you hear uh who are committing suicide because of bullying. In my opinion, I think I think a lot of that starts with the men because not not not necessarily um I I don't mean the people you know who take their life because of bullying, but these kids who are doing the bullying, if you had a father figure in your life that taught you, that treated you right, that didn't stand back and be quiet, or didn't leave, if if men took their position as men the way God intended it to be, I think um I think this world would be a better place, right? So I I mean that's just one example. You look at um even kids trying to find just peace in all kinds of different things, getting into drugs, getting into alcohol, um you know, wives. I I feel like this is gonna be a very touchy subject, but I feel like women kind of have a pedestal in this day and age where they want to be equal to men in in all I guess in a roundabout way, they want to be equal to men in every area that uh a man is, right? But the thing is, God didn't create man and woman to be the exact same. Uh a woman has a specific place in this world, as does a man. After the fall of man, God said that childbearing was going to be painful for the woman, and I think um a woman or a mother's job is to care for the child, to take care of the family. The man's job is to provide for the family, but also support his family and be there to guide them as um Jesus guides his people. Uh, what's that verse that talks about um how does it go now again? We're supposed to how does that go, Craig? We're supposed to love our wife the way God or the way Jesus loves the church, but it's worded different.

Craig 28:17

Yeah, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, and that he laid down his life for her. Is that what you're thinking?

Colton 28:24

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and so I think that would be my answer, just in the fact that there's there's all these things going on in the younger generation where growing up I I didn't see as much of that, but now you hear about you hear about a lot of suicides because of bullying. You hear about people who think they're a cat, like you you gotta be kidding me. Like, I don't I don't understand that. Um and I think like I say, I think a big part of that is because of men not standing up and speaking out and being bold the way we need to be. So yeah, I think that would probably be my answer. I like it.

Craig 29:07

Yeah, that's kind of I mean, kind of a long there's so many examples, I think, like the the fatherlessness or even the passivity of fathers, like you said.

Colton 29:20

Mm-hmm. And that's more family-based, too, right? Like I guess for me, it's hard not to go there because I'm a dad myself. But you look at single men too, and a lot uh a lot of what the world teaches us is to find what your heart desires, right? Yeah, sleeping around, drugs, alcohol, um, not standing up and and preventing people from doing what's wrong, but encouraging it, and and you see it everywhere. I mean, it's not that people don't, and there's men out there who do try to do the right thing, but I think if it was all men in the world, man, the world would be a different place. That's right. I agree. Yeah, um, and that goes for me too.

Craig 30:07

I'm a lot of work there. Yeah. Um, well, with you saying that uh what exactly did you say? Encouraging it or like um saying that these these things are good to be attained, like the the women and the drugs and the alcohol and stuff like that. Um that leads me into what I want to talk about next, which is uh touching on Isaiah 520, which says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Um so I think this is something that we see in the world today as well is so many instances of things that I mean morally, if you think about it, they're evil things, but people call them good. And I'm probably gonna ruff ruffle some feathers here with the things that I list off because some of the things, some of the things that I'm calling evil, some people are gonna disagree with me. Um that's okay. Um we're here for a discussion, that's what we want to do. Yeah, that's right. Um, but uh so yeah, just like the serpent did in the garden, humanity wants to define good and evil in our own ways. Um I think modern evil is often I put washed down, justified, that's a good word, or even celebrated. That's the other word I was looking for when you were talking. I don't know if you said that, but that's what I was thinking. No, I don't think I did, no. So some examples I have are, and I have some stats for these as well that I'll share. But um, so human trafficking is a big one. It's it's framed as an industry, and I think it's one of the biggest illegal um industries in the world. Um, we have this one people are gonna disagree with abortion, framed as compassion or health care, and uh violence reduced to just statistics, just is what it is. There's murder in the streets, there's people getting away with things like that uh that definitely should not be. And then uh this is another one that people are gonna disagree with me on, but medically assisted dying framed as dignity, like letting people go out how they want to go out. I think that we should not be playing God and deciding when people die. Um, so anyway. Uh, I would say it's yeah, I think you'll agree with me on these points, but there's other people that like aren't quite sure where they stand, they might disagree with me. Um I mean that's okay.

Colton 33:30

I've done my studying and my research, but and if there are people who disagree, like we are a hundred percent up for for a conversation on it. We're not here to make things heated, but we would love to talk about it and you know, maybe dig deeper into what the Bible talks about it, but yeah, exactly.

Craig 33:52

Um so some stats for you guys. Human trafficking, this is in North America alone. There's over two million people living in modern slavery. Um, one just over one million in the US, 850,000 in Mexico, and 69,000 in Canada, and 25% of those are children. Um there's an estimated uh 150 billion dollars, like US dollars in illegal profits annually worldwide, and roughly 99 billion of that comes from commercial sexual exploitation. So it's just absolutely disgusting. It it like I think everyone can agree that that is absolutely evil, except for obviously the people partaking in that. But it's um I seen another stat that it's uh I think it's the second largest illegal um enterprise, uh, second only to drug trafficking.

Colton 34:52

So that's insane. You gotta think even the people involved in that, like there's gotta be some sort of sense of evil in them that they know that it's wrong. You would think so. With something like that.

Hard Stats: Trafficking, Abortion, MAiD, Persecution

Craig 35:10

Absolutely. And I don't know, like on that note, I mean, just to keep us kind of relevant, the uh a bunch of Epstein files, like Jeffrey Epstein, those files are getting released um a little bit at a time here. Obviously, names are redacted and stuff like that, but some of the things that are said in those emails that I've read absolutely horrifying, absolutely disgusting. There's so many children, underage kids that were affected, and it's just it's evil. And there's so many, it seems like there's so many high-profile names that are on those lists of people that partook in that, and um I mean I think they all need to be outed and they all need to be dealt with accordingly. That's how I feel. Um, execution by firing squad. Anyway, uh 600,000 to 1 million abortions every year in the United States alone. Um this varies by reporting uh sources and by year, so that's just uh average, but that is a lot of that's a lot of babies being murdered. Um I heard another stat, I didn't write it here, but uh I don't know what the years are, but Gen Z, um with with the amount of abortions that have happened in that generation, I think about a third of them um were never born. A third of Gen Z that was conceived was never born. So that's absolutely insane and sad. Just out of convenience. Yeah. In the name of convenience. I don't know. I don't understand. These people that are fighting for things like this, I don't know how I don't know how they don't understand they're on the wrong side of history. Like you look back at different things that happened in history, slavering, slavery, the Holocaust, things like that, and just like just think about it. You're on the on the wrong side of history. You're gonna look back 20, like 30, 50 years from now and go, oh, I was wrong. So, I mean, hopefully, hopefully you realize before that, but um, I guess I'll say too, like, we will talk about abortion and stuff like that, uh, and kind of what the Bible says about um the value of life and stuff like that, eventually in its own episode, because I think that's a heavy topic. But yeah, know that yeah, if if you're listening and you've had an abortion, there's um God will forgive you if you ask him. And uh just know there's hope for you, and uh you're not you're not too bad. So there's no such thing as too bad. No, I just know that's a very touchy subject, especially with people who've had them, and many of many people regret it and think that oh now I can't, you know, I'm too too evil, I can't come to the Lord, but that's not true. So um murders, I don't have an exact stat for that, but there's uh a lot of stuff you find is in the US. I don't know why, but tens of thousands of homicides every year. I'm sure that's similar in Canada. Um medically assisted dying. Uh so this is a Canadian stat. In 2024, approximately 16,499 Canadians died through medically assisted dying, um, representing about one in every 20 deaths in the count in the country that year. So that is a huge percentage of people that again are being killed in the name of convenience and in the name of compassion, but I think it's fake compassion. Um yeah, and then I have some like martyrdom stuff as well. Christians killed in Nigeria, that's a fairly recent weird, we're it's been ongoing, but it's a fairly recent event um in the news lately. So uh in 2024, 3,000 to 3,500 um Christians were killed. Some reports estimate that 7,000 plus were killed um in parts of 2025. Um that's the highest Christian death toll in the world. Um so our faith is being attacked, uh, and just goodness in general is being attacked. Satan is at work, and he's got his foothold um in people's lives, then it shows just absolutely crazy.

Colton 40:36

It does, yeah. And it's easy to see how the world would look at it as goodness not existing, as God not being a part of the world, but I think sometimes it I think sometimes we just need to look at it from a new perspective, right? If you're because I'll give you an example, so and I might have talked about this in some earlier episodes, but um I was working here about a year, year and a half ago, and I I ran into a guy who told me he didn't have a whole lot of time left. He had a I think he had a pacemaker, and um and so we started talking about Christianity and and what he believed. Um and he told me that he was a hundred percent atheist, uh, kind of along the same lines as what we're talking about here. Um basically he said, How can there be a God when there's so again, so much evil in the world, you know, kids who don't deserve to be going through um slavery or a lot of this, you know, sexual sin or being raped and all this stuff. Yeah, that's not goodness. That doesn't come from that doesn't come from God. That's something of the devil's work. And one thing we need to remember is that God is with us in every situation. Um we were never we were never promised an easy life here, but we are promised that if we follow God, we will have an eternity of peace and joy with Christ in his presence. And I think for people who are looking at it as how can there be a God when all this is going on? Maybe you just need to look at it from a different angle, you know. I I disagree with the evil in the world too, absolutely, but I can't speak on that because I'm also sinful and will never I will never be perfect. Um, it's because of our sin that those things happen, um, but it's because of God sending his one and only Son Jesus to die for us that we have any hope at all. Right.

Craig 43:04

Um I watched uh I wish I could remember his name at this point, but I can't. Um I think it's the guy that does cross cross-examined, I think is the YouTube channel. Okay, anyway, uh, I think he's also a pastor, if I'm not mistaken, but he uh I watched um a little bit of a sermon that he did kind of on this topic, and he said, um, like if like a lot of times even the atheists are like, well, if there's a God, why doesn't he do something about the evil in the world? Well, Colton just said is we're all sinful and we're all evil. So we're always pointing our finger at, hey, why don't you do something about that guy over there? But if if we ask God, hey, do something about the evil in the world, what

Why A Good God Allows Suffering

Colton 44:00

if he starts with us because because we don't deserve anything other than eternal separation from him because we all have sinned um yeah what is it all have sinned all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god and yep um yeah so we all we all deserve eternal damnation but there's hope in christ um so i think we need to look at it that way and start with ourselves rather than pointing the finger at others as well so there's a verse that talks about that in the Bible it says uh look at the plank in your own eye before you pick this or look it's not worded exactly like this but um look at the plank in your own eye before you look at the sliver in your brother's eye basically meaning that you know we are full of sin so like Craig said start with yourself you know focus on maybe the things that you need to change um there's a lot of things we can't change before you start judging other people for what they're doing right and I think that's kind of maybe this is going a little far but I think a lot of people almost kind of have that judgment in their heart towards God too. I don't know if you'd agree with me on that Craig or not but I I think yeah when they talk about it the way they talk about it it's like well how why is God doing this why is he letting this happen they're like judging him because God says he's good but then people are like well if he's good then how can what he created be evil right and I think there's judgment towards God in that um in a sense yeah I think so too and I think that's the first place people go is blaming God but um I think uh I mean for those of you that are um are believers now and maybe weren't earlier in life you think about back to when you weren't all the things that you did what if he dealt with you then instead of now after you've been redeemed um so he gave you time and you were uh me too so this is you and me he gave us time um to be rebellious but he still called us to him and we answered that call so I think we need to be gracious with the people like yes we need to there is injustice and there is evil in the world that needs to be dealt with accordingly but we also need to offer grace to people that do wrong against us as Christ has offered grace to us as well yeah I like that that's very well put thank you um so um and I think we're my notes go into Habakkuk and his wrestling um with God and why there's so much evil um and then there's hope at the end so I we're kind of doom and gloom right now but we'll get there there's light at the end of the tunnel um but uh just ride the roller coaster yeah that's right just we're at we're kind of coming to the bottom and then there's we're on our way up here shortly but uh uh let me see I have a few questions wrote down I am just gonna read them again and decide which one I want to ask you unless you have something else or I guess I can ask you and then you can go into whatever you have next uh um yeah maybe I'll go with that one why do you think in today's culture we feel the need not us but the culture in general feels the need to rename or redefine evil instead of just admitting that it exists like Isaiah um 520 says calling evil good and good evil why can't you just recognize that evil is evil and good is good and there we're on our way I think there's a few different um aspects to that answer one and just thinking about myself I would say pride would be part of that answer I think um I uh again for myself I can be very prideful and so I would say with not maybe not wanting to recognize evil as evil would be a prideful thing. I don't want to admit that I was maybe wrong in something that was evil or that you know making excuses for the fact that um what I did was evil and and it was wrong. I think I don't know if that kind of answers that question but I think that would be that would be a big part of my answer um I would say probably probably because it's become so common too there's a lot of uh little things that you can twist to make them seem like they're the truth but they're not um you know things like something as simple as cheating on a timesheet and guys this is just I realize it's basic maybe it's nothing you know super in depth but I still believe that to be a sin but the thing is you look at the world and it's like okay well most of the world does it this way like it can't be that bad right that can't be evil that that's a good thing if the world is doing it if this guy's doing it then it's a good thing um I think that's a big part of the problem too that would yeah I think that's how I would answer that question.

Habakkuk’s Questions And God’s Answers

Craig 50:32

Okay I had now that like you the way you said that made me think of a conversation I had with my oldest today. So our kids have been kind of sick off and on and you know kids I mean if you don't have kids you don't know but kids like to pester each other anyway so our second oldest is laying on the couch and um anyway the oldest you know comes by and like pokes at her and then like kicks at her and like leave her alone let her rats and then my wife is like you didn't want people bugging you when you were trying to rest when you were sick she's like yeah but they do it anyway and I'm like that doesn't give you the right to do it just because someone else does something wrong does not give you the right to do the same wrong thing. It's like so then I broke it down I'm like well do you like like well she's like well sometimes they like it I'm like do you think she likes it when she's obviously tell she's sick she's trying to rest no like okay well do you think that was kind no but sometimes people like it I'm like she definitely didn't and neither did you isn't that the excuse of all kids trying to make it look like it's okay yeah exactly so anyway yeah the the example of like oh the mass populace does it this way so it must be okay right no in fact I would venture to say that in today's world it's the exact opposite if the mass populace does it it's probably not okay yeah well we're meant to be different we're supposed to live like Jesus not like the world that's do you think okay here's a question for you then do you think along those lines so when you're talking about um noah's time or you talk about like Lot before um before the city got destroyed do you think that's maybe kind of what happened there too is that people followed what the rest of the population was doing or what the rest of the world was doing do you think that's a a a reason why they could have gone that far evil I think that's probably that's probably part of it and like you just see that even now like it's almost like history is repeating itself you look at the sexual deprivation of society today it's like we are just going so far like what is even life like this is crazy oh yeah it is but like it also like the Bible also says that God gives us over to our sinful desires so just I think just like he hardened Pharaoh's heart right um if we push back against him so many times he's gonna be like fine have it your way right and and then I think those people um right now I might I might be corrected or I might find it differently somewhere else but I think those people that are given over to their sins I think this might be hard to say I don't know if I want to but I I think though like you talk about oh no one's too far gone I wonder if those people are too far gone I wonder if they're like they're totally depraved and they're given over to their sin and there is they're just done um we we can share the gospel with them but ultimately they're gonna choose their own desires over what God would have them do.

Colton 54:32

So I don't know that's a theological uh rabbit hole we could go down at some point too I was gonna say in a few weeks we're gonna be doing uh an episode on salvation I think that would be a good time to talk about some of that because the more I've read the Bible the more I the more I see things that I have questions about. So that's again an another episode I'm looking forward to because I think there's some big questions that can be answered in there but I won't go any further down there and more questions to be had uh yeah that too yeah I agree but I was gonna say too even in Noah's time so the world was really evil but God Noah found favor in God's eyes and so um I most people know the story of Noah and the Ark. Those of you that don't I would highly recommend reading it it's a pretty cool story but basically Noah found favor in God's eyes um God asked him to build an ark and so Noah built an ark. God protected him and his family he sent rain on the earth and it talks about water coming up from the ground and flooded the whole earth and killed everything other than Noah's family and the two pairs of animals that came onto the ark with him. The really cool part about this story again I think is a big part of the goodness of God is that God only did that once and he promised that he would only ever do that once so when you look in the sky okay so you read the Bible you see what the rainbow tells you what the sorry what the Bible tells you um that the rainbow represents yeah and next time you look in the sky and you see that rainbow that's not just by chance God put that there that is a promise from God himself that the world is never going to flood again but I think that's also a reminder to us why God allowed the world to flood in the first place and that we need to be kept on the straight and narrow and not fall into sin and evil and sexual sin like the people of Noah's time did.

Judging God Versus Trusting God

Craig 56:54

Right. Yeah and that's that's why God did that he wiped everyone out because everyone was so messed up and there was so much evil in the world so he's like alright back to the drawing board let's start over yep yeah but it's scary too like you look at our time you gotta wonder when God is gonna get to that point again like isn't that a scary thought it is and it it's it seems like the time is drawing near even though it said that in the Bible times but when you look around you're like oh my goodness this feels like end times kind of stuff sometimes it does yeah yeah it does um now I like next I will go into some like a couple talking points about Habakkuk and I have like I technically have like three segments on that um so I don't know what you have what else you have yeah just go for it just wing it okay dokie we'll find some talking points along the way yeah uh let's see kind of to bring it back around here we we talked about all sorts of kind of evil in the world and it's looking kind of gloomy and um life is terrible but uh I want to talk about Habakkuk a little bit who's a prophet and uh there was some evil stuff happening in his time too and he questions God the same I think the same way we do sometimes and the same way atheists do like how how can a good God let these things happen um so I won't read much of this but if you I think it's only three chapters if I remember right um the whole book of Habakkuk the whole book of Habakkuk so um I did a study on this uh I put it in the um in our WhatsApp chat there and uh so if you guys are in there I suggest you go through it it's pretty good um but I think like Habakkuk chapters one and chapter two are kind of about Habakkuk questioning um he's got honest questions for God uh and I think it's important to note that he questions God but God doesn't reject him or get angry with him um but God admits that his his plan won't make sense to us in the moment doesn't make sense to Habakkuk in the moment Abac like there's so much evil like why are you I can't even think of the the verse right now but uh maybe I should just find it um where is he it's so little yeah um I'm in there right now do you know what chapter you're thinking about I'm thinking it's just the first chapter I'm not a hundred percent sure like the first kind of question is the first complaint there yeah um because mine says in verse two how long Lord must I call for help but you do not listen yeah or cry out to you violence but you do not save why do you make me look at injustice is that the one you were thinking of yeah that's I was thinking of so that's his first cry like how long must we endure this evil basically that's all around us. Why are you making me look at this? Why are you making me go through this? Why are you making us as a people go through this? Um so uh yeah I think Habakkuk shows that uh evil is real um like God also he also explains in there that it's temporary um he's got a plan to deal with the evildoers um he also says that the righteous shall live by faith um so we don't get through hard times and and evil being done towards us or evil being done around us by denying that it's happening like just putting on blinders like no it's uh no everything's good it's through faith and endurance through faith that we get through those things um and then also in those chapters um it shows that God sees every injustice he knows what's happening and he's got a plan um to deal with that as well and I think um Habakkuk also I mean I didn't totally dive too deep into it but um the people I don't I don't know what town or anything or city or area that this happened in but um the people were being dealt with as well because they were rebelling against God and um there was another group of people that were coming to basically attack them and uh they were attacking them and God was allowing it to happen as a kind of like a punishment as well.

Colton 1:03:15

It's like you have to endure this um but then uh he also had a plan for those people doing the injustice um but it wasn't necessarily God that sent them um to do the evil it was just that he allowed it to happen uh yeah so um oh this is good we kind of talked about it so I'll ask you another question what do you think the difference is what do you think the difference is between questioning God like a backup did and judging God I feel like that's a deep question or it could be it could be yeah I think questioning God would be more so you know kind of like in this day and age um I for again for me I'll tell you kind of a question I have that maybe I I guess maybe I haven't directly asked God but it's like why is there so many people that seem to prosper but they're doing things that are wrong or they're like they're not following you God but how come they prosper? So I think it's okay to ask a question like that. I think where it would be wrong is when again for myself where it gets prideful right so where you'd be kind of like judging God it'd be like okay God like why are these people prospering or why are these people so far ahead that should be me like why are you letting them do it I think that's kind of where it would be wrong. If you're just asking God like maybe I I don't understand why this is happening or that's happening that should be me in that place. I should be the one getting all of those things I think there is where the switch would happen where it would become judgment um towards God if that makes sense.

Craig 1:05:52

Right yeah or even kind of like um thinking that you know better. It's like Saying, like saying that, yeah, why are you doing this? You should be doing this. Yep. Um rather than just simply asking, like, why God? Why is this happening? I know like people that lose you know, lose children early and um lose family members even uh that that's a hard thing. Um I haven't had to go through the loss of a child, but I know people who have. Um it's a tough situation, and I there's definitely a question that goes on there. Why did you allow this to happen? Um the people that I'm thinking about, man, have they been a testament to um to me and and like just seeing their faith. It's almost like their faith grew in that they had to draw closer to God to get that peace beyond understanding, right? Yeah, and so they're not. I mean, I'm sure there was a point of anger, I can't speak for them, but I'm sure there was a point of anger, like, why did you let this happen? But also not saying like you should like you should have let me keep my child, or you should have let me keep my mom, or like whatever, different things like that, right? Yeah, or you should have let me keep keep my wife, like we were supposed to grow old together and like all that kind of stuff. Um, I have not had to go through any of that. I I mean I've lost loved ones, but not a parent yet, and I've you know my family like my close family is still around, so um, just grandparents at this point, but so I can't speak to all that, but I can just say say what I've seen in the ones around me. So I think that's uh that's good. Yeah, you uh you said it pretty good there. Um you have Habakkuk open still. I never got there. Uh I do, yeah. Okay, you want to read Habakkuk 2.14? Yes.

Colton 1:08:34

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Just 14?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:43

Yeah.

Craig 1:08:44

Okay. Um so here we we see God's goodness proven through judgment and promise. Uh we shift from despair to a long-term hope. Um so I mean, not just there, not there exactly, but God names evil clearly and promises judgment. Um He says, like, there is no injustice forgotten or not dealt with from him. Um and God's glory outlasts empires, ideologies, and um any kind of violence or anything that we see around us. So I think um what did that say again?

Colton 1:09:44

I should just find it. Uh for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Craig 1:09:54

Okay. I wonder if I'm missing some piece of that.

Colton 1:10:22

I was gonna say too, I I mean, this might be a little bit off topic, but um talking about like losing loved ones and stuff, there's this story that came to mind um growing up. We well, I didn't have a tea this teacher, but my younger brother did, and he was a Christian too, and he got diagnosed with cancer, and it was probably I don't know what year that would have been. I don't think I had graduated yet, so probably 2011 or 2012. Um, I believe he was in his 50s, a really fit kind of person, and uh anyways, he got diagnosed with cancer and he ended up passing away. But before he passed away, I remember going to see him in the hospital because my parents knew him pretty good. My mom worked with him in the school and stuff, and we went to see him in the hospital, and I will probably remember this for the rest of my life because even though he knew he was dying, he was still cracking jokes and talking like I don't even know how to explain it. Like he just it's like he had this peace about him, you know. And so, with us talking about the goodness of God, it's like man, I think he in a way understood what that meant. The fact that the goodness of God was allowing him to pass on from this life into eternity, and just uh just the peace he had. Like, I have never seen that um my whole life. I and I don't think I will ever forget it. It just yeah, it was just different, you know. Like he just had this trust in the goodness of God. I just I don't know. I just wanted to share that. I thought that was so cool.

Craig 1:12:25

No, that's that's good. Yeah, in a situation like that, when you can be he has every right to be angry with God, like why um why are you letting me go through this? Why are you making me go through this? Um yeah, why am I dying now?

Colton 1:12:43

Like, yeah.

Craig 1:12:45

Um I think I did miss putting in a section there. So what I'll just read from twelve to fourteen. Uh woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity. Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire and nations weary themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. So that makes more sense. That paints a fuller picture. Um, sorry about that, guys. We're still learning too, guys.

Colton 1:13:27

It's okay.

Craig 1:13:27

We're getting there. Um so yeah, like I said, he names evil clearly uh and promises judgment, and his goodness will um uh the knowledge of the glory of the Lord um will prevail. And um I think uh recognizing through Habakkuk that judgment is delayed, it's not denied. Um judgment is coming for people who do evil, and uh though it may not come in the timing we think should happen, um, like we said earlier, if he dealt with us in a timely manner, um, we wouldn't be here. So yeah, um people as evil as some people can be, they still uh there's still that opportunity for repentance and grace.

Colton 1:14:32

Um so and I do want to say too, like our hope and prayer, even for people who don't know God or people who maybe aren't on um the right path, our hope and prayer for you is that your eyes would be open to Jesus and the love that He is offering you and the hope that He's offering you. Um you know, it's pretty easy to get upset about things in the world and and the evil in the world, but at the same time as Christians, we do, as the Bible says, love your enemies. You know, we we hope that one day we can be together in heaven, um, even with the people who have done wrong and and with the people who are still doing evil. Um that's uh that's a hope that we have for you is that you would get to know Jesus too. Yes.

Craig 1:15:30

Um and I guess before yeah, we can let's see. Um I can just move on. So um with you saying that, that brings us to the second atom.

Colton 1:15:59

I was wondering what you were gonna talk about on that. Okay, so that's here.

Endurance, Faithful Masculinity, And Hope

Craig 1:16:06

Lay it out for us. All right, so our uh second Adam is Christ. If we go back to our anchor verse, um let's see here. I'll just read it again for you guys. For as by a man came death, um, so that's talking about Adam. By a man has come also the resurrection of uh falling asleep. For as by a man came death, Adam, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead, Christ. So, um so death entered through Adam, because in the Garden of Eden, there God's plan for us was not to die, it was eternal life, and eternal life in the garden. But we messed that up pretty quick. Um as death enters through Adam, life enters through Christ in the defeat of death. Um death def or Christ defeated death by um being raised on a third day. So I don't have verses for that, but many of you know that story already. But if not, then um read one of the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Um God defeats evil, um which he did through through the death and resurrection of Christ. Um if we go back to the fall of man and the curse, um Colton touched on the childbearing, um, for the women would be painful. Um for the men, we would eat by the sweat of our brow and breaking of the fields. Um and for the serpent, um, so what it says, I'm gonna paraphrase. Uh, I don't know if I'll get it exactly right, but um so it says that uh for man the serpent will bite your heel. Um and then, but for the serpent, uh the the son of man will um crush your head. So um the defeat that played out um on the cross. So the cross proves God doesn't stand distant from suffering. Um he confronts it with the sacrificing of um his one and only son, um, who is a perfect lamb. And so resurrection, I think, means that evil doesn't get the final word. Um Christ defeated death with resurrection and love won. So uh note I have here is so if you're not if you're wondering, like if you're not a believer yet and you're just kind of searching, I think it's important to know that Christianity does not deny that there's evil in the world, but um, but it says that it's been conquered because Christianity, in its definition, is being a follower of Christ. We believe that Christ is um the Son of God, um, born of a virgin, lived a perfect, blameless life. Um died on the cross and was raised again on the third day, um, and then ascended into heaven. So he he's not dead, he's alive. Uh yeah.

Colton 1:20:35

I think that's kind of all I think. That'd be crazy to be alive during that time. Like, can you imagine? Yeah, and then and the thing is too, like, Jesus spoke about it before he died, too. This might be a bit of a rabbit trail again. I just figured I'd bring it up, but I think it'd be so cool to know because a few days before he died, he was talking about well, for a while he talked about how on the third day he would rebuild the temple, but he wasn't talking about the actual temple, you know, he's talking about himself and like to go to the tomb and see the stone rolled away and his body removed like that would be crazy.

Craig 1:21:20

Yeah, and I think like if you think about other religions, um if you look at the apostles um and the disciples, they they died for their faith. So, like, I mean, if this was fake, if this was all fake, and I mean our whole faith rests on the death and resurrection, ultimately the resurrection of Christ, and there has been no evidence of a body found. There's eyewitnesses accounts of seeing him in person, like by the hundreds or thousands um before he ascended into heaven. There's eyewitness accounts that are documented in the Bible of him ascending, and um, yeah, if you think of like doubting, we he gets a bad rap, doubting Thomas, right? Um, yeah, Christ, like Jesus tells him, Well, like, put your finger in my side, like it's me. I'm not a ghost, I'm alive. So, um, yeah. Uh, I mean, do some deep dive on that. It's pretty insane. Um, I think it's Lee Strobel's case with Christ. If you it's a pretty I think there's a movie on it, but it's a book as well. Um, if you guys are curious, I'd check that out. Um, because Lee Strobel was an atheist, like hardcore atheist, did not believe in Christ at all. He did all the research and talked to scientists and historians and stuff like that, and he's like, Yep, 100% this happened. So, anyway.

Colton 1:23:08

That's so cool. You hear a lot of stories like that. People try to disprove the Bible and the the life of Jesus Christ just to come to realize that it's true. Yeah, that's pretty cool.

Craig 1:23:22

Um, so I guess I do not have where I think it says somewhere where it calls in the second item.

Colton 1:23:41

Uh uh, that I do not know off the top of my head.

Craig 1:23:52

I'm just gonna see if I can find a quick and then uh how do you sorry, I'm not even gonna ask that.

Colton 1:24:03

Google.

unknown 1:24:06

Okay.

Colton 1:24:08

First Corinthians 15 verse 45.

Craig 1:24:14

45 to 49, it looks like hey, that's what I see.

Colton 1:24:19

Oh, okay. Mine says 45, 47, but I think it the first K. The first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. So not the second Adam, it calls him the last Adam in my Bible.

Craig 1:24:40

First man became a living being the last, yeah, last Adam. So not not second Adam, but last Adam, I guess. I stand corrected. That's okay. That's basically what I meant. I just heard it, I've heard it said second Adam, but I mean, if you've listened to the other episodes, there's things that I've heard that are not true, also.

Colton 1:25:04

So uh yeah, we're here to learn too. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

Craig 1:25:15

Uh okay, so uh let's see. Okay, so um moving on from that, like with Christ being the last Adam, um, he's the hope of the world. He is the way, the truth, and the life. So um now, if we look at uh oh, I closed it. Habakkuk again. I got it. Uh that was all the Lord, not me. Finger found Habakkuk. Not of my own will. Um Habakkuk 3, 17 to 19. So that is the very end. This is the last hurrah in the book of Habakkuk. So this section is actually called Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord. So the it says, Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the deers, he makes me tread on my high places. Um and then I also wanted to read the footnote or commentary, whatever you want to call it here. Um anticipating great destruction at the hands of the here it is, the Babylonians, uh Habakkuk has radically changed. He began by informing God how to run his world and ended by trusting that God knows best and will bring about justice. Though the fig tree should not blossom, verse 17, contains a frequently quoted list of materials uh material disasters, in which all crops and livestock are lost, and as a result it is unclear how there will be food to eat. Yet even amid suffering and loss, Habakkuk has learned that he can trust God, and with that trust comes great joy, not in circumstances, but in God Himself. Uh yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Uh Yahweh has become Habakkuk. Strength. So that's the the hope of it all. And I think that is kind of where we also kind of want to end up with this episode. Like that's the main picture, right? Though things do not go well for us, there's evil in the world, we're being attacked from every direction. We will rejoice in the Lord of our salvation because he is good. Not because there's evil in the world, but because he is good. Um like that. Um yeah. Again, it says uh yeah, so faith does not depend on circumstances improving. Habakkuk is looking forward, and like there is destruction coming. Like there's not gonna be figs on the trees, you know, no cattle in the stalls, no food to eat. Um but um God is the strength. Um so as men, I think we're called to stand, protect, and endure, not retreat. So even when things are going rough, we stand our ground and uh yeah. Um let's see. So the the goal isn't to escape the world, it's to remain faithful in it. So yeah, even like if you just look at politics in general, um I don't know if there's some well, either way, there's people that disagree with what's happening in the States or in Canada. I definitely disagree with what's happening here. Um but uh we can't I mean you feel like you want to escape. We've talked about let's just take off, move to Texas. I don't know if that's better, but um, sometimes we need to just remain faithful where we're at, I think. And um God is faithful to us and faithful in where he's put us. Um I will so that's uh before closing, that's kinda that's my last stop here. So I will um I'll ask you one more question. Um do it what what does faithful masculinity look like in a broken world?

Colton 1:30:46

Standing apart from what the world thinks you should be. Yeah.

Closing Scriptures And Community Invite

Craig 1:30:52

I think I agree. Yeah, and uh and being um like we've talked about it before, but like Jesus was the epitome of a godly man, and if we are living like him, I think that is the kind of masculinity that we need to um exhibit, especially in today's world, we're called to be a light in the darkness.

Colton 1:31:25

So yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um along the lines of what you said there just before we close here, I I wanted to share this last verse because I think it kind of touches on this pretty nicely, too. It's John 16 33. I've told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Um, I just want to leave you guys with that, just knowing that uh life was never promised to be easy, but we are promised an eternity in heaven with peace if we choose to follow him, and so God's goodness does exist um regardless of the sin and evil in the world.

Craig 1:32:22

Yeah.

Colton 1:32:24

Um you were breaking out for me, but I saw I was glitchy there for a second. What's that? You were uh getting a little glitchy there for a second, too. Okay. Oh, and there it is again.

Craig 1:32:41

Um there it is again. Uh I know once we have this, the recording is done, it'll all be good. Uh, but uh whatever you said, I'm sure is great. I also read one more. Uh technical difficulties. Yeah. Um something I wanted to share as we finish up here um is Psalm 37 7 to 9. That says, Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices. Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not yourself, it uh it tends only to evil, for the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. So um as we are in the world, like Colton mentioned earlier, um, that's something that we can ask ourselves is why why are these people prospering uh and they do evil from it? Like you think about these uh the human traffickers and the drug runners and all that kind of stuff, like they're profiting from evil. Um but uh the Bible says that they will the evil ones will be cut off, and um, for us who wait for the Lord, we will inherit the land. Or I believe that's referencing um the kingdom of heaven. So there's some hope for you. Um not to worry about it, not to get angry, but justice is coming for evildoers, and we just want to make sure that we're on the right side. We want to make sure that we are we are the faithful ones waiting for the Lord, um, yeah, so that we inherit his kingdom. Um yeah, so uh note to end, just kind of recap evil entered the world through one man, Adam, and it will uh end through another. Uh and Adam all die, and Christ all will be made alive. So that's our hope for you guys, our prayer for you guys that if you don't know him, that you would um seriously contemplate it, search uh your own heart, um read, read the Bible and do some searching, and um you can either put your hope in yourself or you can put your hope in Christ and uh be made new. So um, yeah, I think that's a wrap for our first episode out of the Fruit of the Spirit series.

Colton 1:35:47

Yep. So I think we have a few weeks kind of set up as to what we're gonna talk about. The next few weeks are topics that are going to take uh a bit more studying, I think, um, just understanding and stuff. Um, so if you guys have some input on maybe what exactly you'd want to talk about, I think the next one is we are speaking a little bit about heaven and what the Bible says about heaven. Um for those of you who are in the WhatsApp or those of you who are um kind of talking back and forth. If you do have some thoughts or some ideas or whatever on this topic, feel free to let us know. Um, maybe we can incorporate that into our next episode. Um, but yeah, let us know kind of what your thoughts are and and what direction you'd like to see us go, or maybe what part of heaven you would like us to talk about.

Craig 1:36:43

Right, yeah, actually that's a great idea. Yeah, if you guys um listening, if you're in the group, yeah, tell us give us your thoughts on heaven, and and then we'll move to hell too. So if you have some thoughts on that, let us know too. Um but uh yeah, these like Holden said, these are gonna take a little bit more studying. So um we're not I think we're not gonna promise that we'll release another episode next week that because this might be a little more in-depth. Um but um we'll at least it'll at least be two weeks. Um we might get it on, we might get it done for next week, but we we might have to take an extra week on these ones just to make sure that we're you know we're kinda saying the right things and and sharing with you things that are accurate. So yeah, 100%. Yes, all right. Um, you wanna close us out?

Colton 1:37:46

Yeah, let's do it. All right, all right, thank you, Father, for this day. Uh, just for the time that we can spend together, Lord, on this um episode and just studying about your goodness, even in the world with all the evil that there is, Lord. I pray for those who don't know you, Lord, um, those who are maybe asking the question, how can you exist with so much evil in the world, Lord? I pray that you would make yourself known to them, that their eyes would just be open to the truth, Lord, to your love, and that they would just experience the Holy Spirit for the first time in their life, Lord, that they would choose to turn from the evil in their in their life, Lord, and turn to you and realize that there is still goodness that exists um uh within you, Lord, and and what you have planned for our life. We thank you again for this episode, Lord. I thank you for the listeners. I pray that you would bless each and every one of them. I just ask that this episode would touch somebody's life, Lord, who needs to hear it at the right time, and uh help Craig and I to continue to seek you. Um help us to just be led by uh you, Holy Spirit, to speak about what needs to be spoken about and that uh in our studies you would just guide us to be able to learn the right things and to talk about the right things as well. Um we pray for just uh a good evening this evening and um just a wonderful weekend and next week. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Craig 1:39:26

Uh, and then we uh kind of mentioned it, but if you guys are not in the WhatsApp group, we got a private community um growing there of men that uh want to um grow in Christ together, and so if you're looking for something like that, um some community um built around seeking Christ and becoming uh a godly man in your life, then we'd love to have you reach out to us, we'll get you in there. Um and yeah, I'm excited to see what God does with that group. Um, also people in that group get kind of first dibs on what we talk about. So if you want any uh kind of clout on what direction we go uh moving forward about things we want that you want us to talk about, get in the get in our WhatsApp group there, and uh we'd love to have you. If you're a man, if you're a woman, sorry, you're out. We love you too. Yeah, we love you too, but this is this is dudes only, yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely bros before uh ladies.

Colton 1:40:40

Yeah, exactly. Well, thanks again for listening in, guys. Um, I hope you guys have a blessed week. If you do have questions, if you have concerns, whatever you want to talk, again, we're not always available. We have been very busy, both of us, the last few weeks. So we do apologize if it doesn't work to go for coffee. But um, if it does work, we would love to be be able to make something happen and and uh have a chat if that's what you guys are looking for. So um definitely let us know, and uh we will see you guys again within the next couple weeks sometime.

Craig 1:41:22

Yeah, exactly. We'll uh all right, we'll say goodbye. See you guys next week.