You're listening to KFI on demand. De Tours on the road sometimes can be
quite simple. It takes you off of one road and onto another road.
Arrows that are everywhere you look pointing you in the new direction, the direction
that you must go through now to get to where you're going. Interestingly enough,
a detour doesn't really know where you're going. They assume they know where
you're going based on the road that where they caught you that they're detouring you
from. So ultimately their goal is to get you back on that road eventually
going in that direction in a way that isn't a great inconvenience. And there
are detours in scripture as well, and there will be detours in your spiritual
life. And oftentimes this concept of a detour put one into a state of
chaos because it's like, Okay, I had planned for this, I was
going down this path, This was my goal to get to this area,
to do it this way in this amount of time, which is all good,
and the best way to start really is to have that plan, to
have that path. But as a believer, as someone of faith, you
always have to be in that state of whatever you want God Thy will be
done. God and be ready for whatever lesson. This ties into tests,
but it gets you in that mindset that if God wants to teach you something,
then it can come out from everywhere. Now, this concept of a
detour, or when you get off that main road going that main direction that
you had anticipated and prepped for, can take a lot of time because now
you're processing new information. And let's face it, sometimes when you make a
plan to do something, you kind of go into autopilot and now you have
to really be in the moment, be present. It consumes more of who
you are, and that can be frustrating, not just the amount of time
it's taken, not just that it's going to be more difficult, but also
just the energy wise. It just takes your energy that is frustrating onto itself,
but in your life as a person of faith, as somebody who focuses
on their spirituality, you have to allow for God to do this. Christians
would not be where you are today if you didn't allow God to take you
on detours. There are detours throughout the entirety of Scripture, including probably the
most well known one forty years in the desert. So this detour happens to
the children of Israel when they're in the wilderness, and for many different reasons,
lack of faith, not trusting that God had the power to conquer.
But there were those there that accepted the detour by God and found that it
wasn't about leaving this perfect road that they had perceived was the best way,
but about trusting God would find and always put them on the perfect road.
And what seems like a curse or a frustration becomes a blessing. Think about
what Moses learned. Moses would press back a lot. If you remember when
you read the exchanges between Moses and the Father, Moses had a lot of
excuses at times, No, I'm not a good speaker, Maybe you should
use someone else, back and forth. But this detour built something, and
Moses too, didn't it. This detour strengthened Moses, says in Extus three
one. Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father in law, Ja
Throw, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far
side of the desert and came to the mountain of God. The Angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire. Now Moses, this
goes on to talk about the flaming bush and the contact that he had,
and it says that Moses thought, I will turn aside to see this amazing
sight. Why does the bush not burn up? When the Lord saw that
he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush
and said Moses, Moses, to which Moses replied, here I am.
God said, do not approach any closer. Take your sandals off your beat,
for the place where you are standing is holy ground. The exchange going
on here is a point of change for Moses. This is something that he
wouldn't have experienced should he been in a state of rebellion against the change of
path or the change of direction, or any change at all. And your
life is similar. There are things that you have set in your head that
you think, oh, this is the path that I'm going to go on,
this is what I'm going to do. But in life there are detours,
and in your spiritual life there are detours as well, and you should
welcome them. And sometimes they are masked in frustration and ugliness, or something
comes along and you think, this is not what I want to do,
or this is not the path that I want to go down. But God
is always there on the other side of it saying no, honey, I
wanted you to learn something. I wanted you to experience something, and this
is the way to do it. You see, God never gets lost.
These detours are for you reminders of what's important, Reminders that you will get
there with persistence. You will get there with dedication. It may not come
in the time that you thought, it may not come the way you thought,
but with that dedication, with that perseverance, it will come. And
as you plan your paths in life and the path that you want spiritually,
emotionally, with relationships, work, whatever they may be, that as you
plan them, know that somewhere inside that plan, somewhere deep rooted inside that
plan, is a Plan B or more importantly, what my producer likes to
referred to as a Plan G. And that's God's plan. Whether that deed
tour might pop up and show you a different direction, a different understanding,
a different path, all ordained by God to teach you something else, to
teach you something with more depth than you would have learned the other way.
And it's up to you to be attentive, to be faithfully flexible and willing
to be taken on a ryde Eric. Welcome to Jesus Christ Show. Good
morning, Jesus, my pleasure. What's going on? Bear with me?
I have a condition. We have to spit sometime. Okay, okay,
as long as it doesn't involve chew okay. I'm calling about the scripture of
Hebrews six four to six last week, speaking about those who have been enlightened
and the tastes of the heaven gifts of God. My question, my original
question was if a person's in that situation, what can they do well?
The condition is you have to be aware of it. If you're aware of
it, you're not really in that condition. It's like saying, um,
the old saying that only crazy people think they're saying saying people question their sanity
all the time. So in that particular case, when you're reading U,
and just as a way of reminding people, it says, for in the
case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift,
and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then
have fallen away, it is impossible to be renewed to renew them again to
repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the son of God and put him
to open shame. The question of that always comes up, Well, does
this mean that people once saved always saved? That people can fall away from
salvation? We said with the last caller last week. No, And that
the word taste there is important because it's only talking about bringing it to your
lips, but not really consuming it. If you look a little earlier in
chapter five, verse nine, it says, and having been made perfect,
he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation. So
if you put these two together and you think about them, like, can
you fill the glass of somebody who already thinks their glass is full? No,
they won't ever accept anymore. They'll say, no, it's already full.
That's what it's talking about. There is that hubrist, that that pride,
that thinks that that they've already consumed it all when they've only brought it
to their lips. That you can't convince them that they haven't consumed that.
Therein lies the problem. So they end up rejecting God in their ignorance.
But as we know in scripture you're not judged on ignorance. So this is
a willful act of rejecting any further understanding about God. So that's where it
lies. It's it's it's like, can you change the mind of someone,
Yes? Can you change the mind of someone who thinks that they're so much
smarter than you that you can't teach them anything? No, So in this
case, the fact that you would pick up the phone to even ask the
question, Eric, shows me you're not in that category, because someone in
that category wouldn't even ask the question. They'd already think, well, I
already know everything. I'm already in there. But the that you even question,
going, oh I want anybody questions their salvation even or questions how does
this work? Or can I lose something? And I amn't going to do
something that offends God or so greatly that he turns away from meet. Those
types of things are from people who care and that if you're in that place,
Eric, then that would pretty much cast you out of the category of
somebody who is just kind of breezing along on the surface. It's like somebody
who comes to class is they're always on time, has the book open sits
in class, gazes over the words. All those things. Doesn't necessarily mean
they're a good student. They're just kind of you know, we talked about
integrity today and that steadfastness and that consistency and how you know, in Hollywood,
it's very easy just to put up a facade or the front of something
to make it look like it's a building, because they know there's no real
need to build the entire building for the use that they have. But in
life you can't get away with that. You can't just have a facade.
You have to be through and through. That integrity has to be through and
through. And what chapter six of Hebrews, chapter six, verse four,
five and six is talking about is that somebody has the facade of Christianity.
They don't. They don't really, it's not part of who they are truly.
It's just that facade and that that you know that they're in lives major
major problems. Rick, welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Yes, thanks
for being patient. How can I help you? That's all right? Well,
my question is regarding marriage and then later of life. I understand supporting
a marriage by having younger people go through the ceremony, in front of the
church and in front of society to support their bond and the union before God.
When you're in later in life and coming from failed relationships and you meet
someone who you connect with on a by heart and mind, body and soul
and commit to them for the rest of your life, basically, why does
society still expect you to jump through all those hoops and do the foo for
aw with the ceremony and the legal aspect of it when it's a commitment between
two people that we know in our hearts is true. Without giving too much
specific you don't need to give me a bunch of personal information. What do
you do for a living? I'm a truck driver? A truck driver?
Okay, and so do you work for a company or do you work on
your own independently? Work for a company, but I'm gone from the house
five to six days a week. We're connected by phone. And okay,
Well, do you did you reach an agreement with that company when you came
to work for them of some kind? It was an application of some kind?
Or okay, did you sign a contract of any kind? No?
Do you think they signed contracts with the companies that are have you shipping things
for them or of course why because of the legality involved. And I understand
the legality part to bind persons to an agreement. Honestly, Rick, it's
not jumping through hoops, it's not. It's a part of the process.
It's a part of being committed. And no matter what you say, there's
a part of you that's not committed, because if it's not a big deal
to you, then why not just do it? Why not just do it
and get committed because that's what God wants. The whole process of doing those
things are symbols. I get it, but there's a lot of symbolism in
scripture as well. Baptism is symbols, is a symbol. Some people think
that communion is a symbol. There's a lot of things that seem like symbols,
but their outward showing of an inward faith or goal or process. And
part of that is is being in fullness going through the process of marriage,
doing it in front of friends and family, and being committed. If you're
hiding from that by not doing that or saying some people make make excuses and
say, well, gosh, you know it, it's a lot of money
to have wedding. I get that. You know you can. You can
whittle it down there and do it very inexpensively. And if the world's putting
pressure you on you for that, I get it saying no, I'm not
going to bend to that. But you can go and have a sweet simple
service before you and God and make that commitment and make it solidify it because
right now, I mean, there's people say, oh, well, I'm
getting older, and I you know, it costs too much money to get
married, or our taxes will change, we won't get the same amount of
and all these excuses just become practical reasons not to stand before God and man
and make it legal. Because scripture says you're to obey the laws of the
land and as long as they don't contradict scripture, and in this particular case,
the law of the land is, if you're going to be married,
be married. And right now, if you're not married, you shouldn't be
having relations, and that would God would frown upon that. And trust me,
the process, the scriptural process of marriage two thousand years ago, you
know, took a whole heck of a lot longer than you know, a
ten minute ceremony. Nowadays, you're talking weeks, you're talking a year or
two of betrothal prior, and then sometimes the wedding took weeks and you had
to feed everybody, including every single person in the town. That's why first
miracle, the wedding at Cana was so was such a big deal and not
a parlor trick. Is because making water into wine and it was about feeding
and having enough drink for the entire town. Otherwise you would not save face.
I was participating in a wedding there. If I thought it was just
you know, hubbub and no big deal, why would I even be gracing
it with my presence or being a part of it In that sense, I
understand that. Yet, on the legal side of it, the law does
allow for what they call common law depending on where you live. You're in
Vegas, yeah, depending on where you live, there's there's but that's just
part of the legality. So if you've been with this person for six years,
what's common law in Las Vegas? Seven So what are you going to
do? Then? Well, it's not much of what we do. I'm
more concerned about how other people pers see, and not that I'm looking for
their validations, but their comments. Sure, we should be concerned about God.
Yeah, but you know people are gonna make comments. People are often
wrong, trust me, and so I wouldn't worry about that. However,
scripture does talk about the appearance of evil and if you there's something, does
the woman you live with does she have any interest in having a wedding or
to be married in that context? Uh, it's yes and no on both
of our parts. Well, I'm not sure what the know is. I'm
not what is the no if you're just talking about Oh, well, it's
structure and it's the way the world wants it. No, it's the way
it is still in financial situations. Okay, So legal and financial situations that
you guys are in keep you from pretty much. Yeah, and what are
those legal or financial situations? Um, social Security and you know income and
we're later in life and on minimum you know sten films kind of thing.
Sure, I've heard that on more than one occasion. Well, there's and
there's some people that would be more lenient on this. I just think that
you're cheating your guys self. And the whole point of being partners is not
just not just living together and not just being a part of it. In
that sense, but really solidifying it by having that that marriage and not cheating
yourself of that experience. And the financial thing, I realize is can be
frustrating, but it's it's about the two of you. If it's just about
finances, it might be chippera. You know, then you just get a
roommate. You know, it's not about just being a room at I feel
that deep down inside you, whether you think that it's it's just a bunch
of garbage or not, that deep down inside you you know that what you're
doing is not kosher. Otherwise you wouldn't have called. And it's there's something
about validating that and screaming that from the rooftops and letting people know that that
I think is an important part of the marriage. But this sadly is becoming
more common. Rick. I'm getting more calls from people who say they're later
in life and because of social security and such, they don't want to get
married. But you know, God doesn't say do this because it's convenient and
it's easy, says do this. You know this, this is the purpose
and these are the laws currently And if you're going to look through scripture and
try and find a specific type of marriage or the laws or anything like that.
You're not going to find it in that sense, not going to find
it. You're not find anything. This is rick. This is how you
need to get married. But you definitely see my seal of approval on the
marriages and the things that took place. Those ceremonies become very important, and
it's not just for the ceremony's sake. It's for the sake of the individuals
in the ceremony to explore those and to really lock you in. If there's
humanity, and this is I'm sorry men more on you than it is on
women, although that those numbers sadly are changing. I like to have at
least one toe on the dock at all times. You know that kind of
attitude where it's like, well I always have an out, or you know,
she doesn't own me in this sense, or what have you. And
I think that that that kind of tentative attitude towards um, you know,
towards the relationship, I think is more detrimental than it is helpful. Tom.
Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. All right, Jesus, hi you
Tom? How can I helpen? I just had a it may seem like
a big deal, but maybe because it concerned Yeah, well, I'm not
traveling for my job and listener show. I go to a small little church
and we're real laid back and we just wear like flip flops and shorts and
a T shirt and sometimes we go outside and the weather's nice. I'm in
North Florida and I was at a party and somebody asked them what a church
you go to. The the guy said, oh, you go to that
hippie church. I'm like, well, I the hippie church because of because
of the way we were just so laid back. And he alluded to the
fact like it was like almost disrespectful because we don't dress up like his church
does. And I'm like, oh, I'm cool with that, man,
if that's what y'all want to do. I mean, but my question is,
I guess, is is it disrespectful because we don't dress up and I
don't even have a suit. To tell you the truth, I just tom,
I would be broken hearted if you weren't in church because you felt you
needed to wear a suit. And it sounds like a silly question. No,
it's I mean, it's not, and I'm telling you right now that
there are many people listening that are glad that you called um, I'll tell
you what I'm concerned about, Tom. I wanted to be a Bible teaching,
Bible believing church. Is it a Bible teaching, Bible believing church.
Oh yeah? And the other is just a koutraman. It's just stuff,
and it's it's not disrespectful as long as you come respectful. People were wearing
sandals in the first churches. I'll tell you that. So it's more a
matter of you know, the first churches were homes. We met in homes.
There weren't buildings with stained glass investments. There was on the Jewish side
of things, there were in temple. They had formalities, but if you
remember, I mocked a lot of the formalities in Scripture and was upset with
the fact the formalities tended to supersede the truth that was being taught. So
if it's so laid back that it's not even really teaching anything and it's really
about getting together and hanging out and having donuts afterwards, I have a problem
with it. But if it's a church that says, hey, come as
you are, We're all about the message and getting this message to you,
and we don't want you to wait till you have a suit. We don't
want you to wait untill you have time to do X, Y and Z.
You come as you are. Then I think that's glorious. I think
it's beautiful. But that's exactly what it is. Yeah, we're not hanging
out for the donuts, that's for sure, but we're I mean, it's
a it's it's just like what you just said. And by the way,
I tell everybody about your show that I think, oh, that's very nice.
I appreciate it. And keep in mind that you know, we grow
because you do things like that, and when you tell people about it,
I really really appreciate it. But you as well, Tom, be at
peace, because the core of the church is scripture and what scripture is teaching,
and there are traditions that go along with it that are important, very
important. But I don't ever want you to lose sight of the purpose of
why you're there. And there's so many churches have gotten have lost their focus
and gotten on this hype about the appearance. And now there's stages. It's
not even you know, the standing behind the pulpit. Now it's like the
stage and there's this big show and there's a place for that. There's a
place for that. You want to reach as many people as you can,
and you know, modern day you have to be able to strike the same
chords or a chord that they can understand and they being the people in the
church, and there has to be different flavors. There has to be,
but as long as it's always you know, ice cream is a particular formula.
It's a particular thing that makes ice cream and otherwise it becomes frozen custard.
Otherwise it becomes frozen yogurt or these types of things, or a gelato
if you're Italian. Do that for you, Tony sitting in the other room.
So there's a specific formula it makes something ice cream, but the flavor
of the ice cream doesn't It doesn't keep it from being ice cream. It
just changes its flavor depending on the palette of the you know, the individuals
that are consuming it. So when it comes to church, I think that
it's very easy to get wrapped up in what you like and make that the
standard. Well, this is what I like to do. I like to
dress up. Some people like to um My producer Neil likes likes it split
down the middle. He likes to dress up and the formality of certain things,
and then on the other side, if he if he's not available to
do that on the very very very rare occasion that he steps into a church,
Yeah, I'm talking to you, um that that there's likes to be
casual as well, And there's just different flavors and things out there and you
should experience those as they speak to you. Some people like simple acoustic music
at a church. Some people like, uh, you know, electric guitars
and keyboards and full drum sets and all of those things. And that's fine
as long as it doesn't take away from the message, as long as it
doesn't take away from what's being taught and what's being said, because that's the
gathering. And when a church becomes what am I wearing? What are you
wearing? When it becomes those things, that becomes idolatry, and it stops
being part of the church, and it starts stops being reverence and respect for
God and becomes a show of a class system. And this is what I
make, and this is how much I'm worth. And look at the fancy
clothes I'm wearing. And that becomes a distraction of God too. So don't
you know people are gonna like it, and some people aren't. There's a
church that might not be you know, everybody's taste. It's a very artsy
church, and in this particular church, there's a lot of creativity going on.
They encourage and people sit at tables rather than in pews or chairs,
and there's encouragement of drawing or writing during the service. There's also painting that
goes on that may not be your cup of tea. But if there's if
the Bible's being taught there and they're trying to find ways for people to express
themselves in that context, great. If it becomes a distraction or a problem,
then then it takes away from God. And you don't have the right
to take away that the spotlight from God. And some people don't like the
more relaxed churches. Broke my heart to hear Tom say, I don't even
own a suit. Could you imagine not experiencing God? Because you think that
away cloth is tailored, cut and sown is going to make a difference to
God. The important thing is the effort and the desire to seek God and
the showing the importance and the value of God. There. You can get
more suits, you can get more clothing, but I'll tell you the one
commodity you can't make more of his time. And to give God your time
to go and to show that I'm here and I'm showing up and I'm with
you and I love you, and I want to hear about your love letter
called the Bible, and I want to listen to the things that you taught
and the things that you said. That's that's the beauty of it. Don't
get caught up in the other things and and lose sight of the importance of
being in that place and connecting with God's people and connecting with God. It's
not a silly question, not a silly question at all time. You're listening
to kf I AM six forty on demand.