You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. Gary. Welcome to the
Jesus Christ Show. Oh Hi, Hey Gary, thanks for being so patient.
Welcome. Hi. A theological question, Okay, got a suicide?
Okay? Is there ever a good reason, for example, when it benefits
short immediate family? No? Right, No. Now, there's some people
that might say, well, there's time the instances of martyrdom or things like
that, to murder, to murder yourself, which is what suicide is,
is never going to be condoned by God. And some people might split theological
hairs and say, well, martyrdom, if you know they're going to kill
you, is it okay? Things like that. That's not what people are
asking, And it's not what you're asking. Most people are asking and looking
for excuses to do so or to okay someone else doing so. And there
is all kinds of arguments about quality of life. And I want this point
to hit home that it is a misnomer. Is humanity keeps pushing this quality
of life issue and they pull on heartstrings because it's ugly to watch somebody in
pain, in any type of pain, whether it's financial pain, emotional pain,
physical pain. It's so ugly, that the world has become conditioned by
that that it's okay to put people out of pain, and that's not always
true. It's not always a good thing to put someone out of pain.
And to say the term quality of life is to point to the fact that
life inherently has value and quality unto itself. Otherwise you couldn't say that if
it was lacking something, the quality was changed. For instance, if something
you wouldn't see, say something is that is wrinkled by name, nature has
lost its quality if it's wrinkled more because it's just it's wrinkled by nature.
It's something that is not wrinkled. When wrinkled, you say, well,
the quality is changed. But it has to have value inherently in itself to
even know or to care whether there's damage to it. So life precedes the
quality of life because life is more important than the quality of life. And
people don't get that. They kind of dance around and say, well,
but quality. If life really sucks to have, then it's of no value.
Well, a life to a baby may not be like much to a
baby, or you know, the baby's going Hey, people have to feed
me, people have to bathe me. And then someone might say, well,
it's about the hope that the baby's going to grow into an adult and
have a better life. Well, it's the same with heaven. It's the
same with with the the hope for the things not seen, the belief in
those things that God spoke about. That there is a time for that and
pain. Some pain is necessary for growth in an understanding. So there's I've
heard people ask about, Well, and this may be the path you're going
down, Gary, about if I commit suicide, there's a clause that will
give money to my family. Your family doesn't care about money. Nobody cares
about money, even as much as they complain about it. No child ever
knows the bank book of their parents. As an adult, you have no
idea how much money your parents had in their bank book. None, even
in the best of times. Even in the worst of times, you might
notice a certain change of food or fighting patterns, argument patterns, whatever it
might be, but the children don't know. And so the attitude that you're
going to make things better by applying money to it is ridiculous. So a
lot of the things that humans tend to think are are the salvation or this
is going to make it all they all we need. How many times you
hear this in a relationship, All all I need is for him to do
this, or all I need is for her to do this. No,
that's not necessarily true. Or all we need to be happy is to have
a house, or all we need to be happy is to have more money
or more things, or whatever it might be. And that's not true.
Those things don't bring happiness. The whole purpose of all those things is to
have interaction. Is the way you interact with one another. It's all about
communion and experiencing humanity one another, having relationships is what it's about. It's
not about the other things, all the accouterment, all the It's like saying
that clothes are important. The body is not. Clothes are there for the
body and make no sense and have no purpose outside of the body. And
so when you get caught up in the world about the accouterment and that it
will be happier if you do this, no, it's about you. No
one is happier when someone else is gone. The pain still exists and gets
pushed on to someone else. And that that notion that it's loving or somehow
the kind thing to do. No, now may may there be exceptions to
that rule. You go through scripture and you go point to the Martyrhm thing.
Again, there are specifics to those, but the notion that I've heard
a lot and even seen ugly examples of in the past couple of years because
of finances and the like, and this may or may not be where Gary
was going. But for you, I want you to understand that this that's
not a real solution. That it's not a solution to eliminate all solutions.
It's not a not a choice to eliminate all choice, which is what you
do. Suicide. It's the ultimate act of freedom that abolishes all other acts
of freedom. It in itself is so destructive it can't ever bring good.
And by doing that, by by making those decisions and putting that on to
other people, it's not as noble as it sounds. It's not taking a
bullet for your family. It's not protecting them truly, because there's other options.
In a bullet situation, it's gonna be the only option. If it's
not the only option, then you're being a fool. And it's never the
only option. There is always another exit, but usually it's more difficult strangely
as that sounds that you'd look at something, you'd go gosh, it's much
easier. That's why people refer to it as coward is. That's why it
gets that that moniker, because it is the easier way out, pull the
plug rather than living, learning and understanding even through the ugliest of times.
It's like closing your eyes and plugging your ears and putting your head in the
sand in hopes of it all going away, and it doesn't. Sadly,
it moves on to the other people you love. Tom, Welcome to the
Jesus Christ Show morning, sir. Just to have an odd ball question.
Okay, I'll give you an oddball answer. How about that? And it
was actually regarding tattoos, and okay, I consider myself a Christian and I
do what I can, But I was wondering about getting tattoos actually in religious
tattoos, you know, crosses and stuff like that, and if that's against
the Bible or Christianity in general. Okay, well, well, the key
is the content of the tattoo. Obviously, if you get something disgusting or
vulgar or demonic or something like that, there'd be problems with it. However,
what happens is a lot of people misquote or misunderstand Leviticus nineteen and Leviticus
nineteen, particularly verse twenty eight, it says, you shall not make any
cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves.
I am the Lord. Unfortunately this is translated tattoo, but it's really
not talking about the tattoo that you're talking about. This particular concern was dealing
with the Pagans of the day that were doing things under the dead, practices
under the dead. Now, if this wasn't talking about that, then even
an earring a woman wearing an earring, or any piercing to the body would
be a problem of any kind. Also, if you look at verse twenty
seven, it says you shall not round off the side growth of your heads,
nor harm the edges of your beard, And if you shaved, you'd
be committing the same sin. So this is these are religious rites that are
specifically That's why it says unto the dead or for the dead after each one
is because as they were a practice of the Canaanites or the Pagans that were
doing things that the our Jewish brothers and sisters thought were inappropriate and wanted to
set themselves apart by doing things differently than that. So as it stands in
the modern times, No, there's no problem with you having a tattoo as
long as it's not crude or vulgar and you're of age. Norman, Welcome
to the Jesus Christ Show. Thank you for taking my college. Jesus,
my pleasure, thank you for being so Patientuation is that I am recovering alcoholics
twelve years sobriety of recovering homosexual three years if non homosexual activity, and I
get on my hands meads every day and do thanks to you for giving me
one more day of life. I'm fifty six years old. I call it
my business up two years ago because it was just a plity cost prohibited for
me to maintain and keep it up. I got five dogs in my life
with your rescue animals. I'm trying to keep these dogs for the last two
years. Right now, I'm version on uh the borderline homeless person, as
well as struggling to hang on to these animals, which I love with more
than life itself. My question to you is is there any any light at
the end of the tunnel. I just don't see it. I keep praying
and I keep and I've recently actually contemplated suicide for the first time because I'm
it's like every time I take a step forward, to take two steps backwards,
and I honestly don't know what the answer is. I'm trying to live
a whole hearted life. I'm trying to be cognizant and a good person.
I've had two situations that were I've had to go to situations where people find
with finances and stuff where it just don't see why where I'm at and don't
understand it, and and I've probably explained to them that it's because of the
bad decisions I've made in my life. And one of the bad decisions will
to make sure I had someplace else to move to when I close my business
up, because I've always had these animals with me in my business, and
my business now being gone, you can say i lost not only a business,
that I lost a home, and I've been finding it very, very
difficult to find some place to live that is conducive to maintaining and keeping the
dogs and which dolls. One has to be very careful because they are they
are God's creatures. And they are sure there there. They are unpredictable well,
and I have very I've had very many close calls with dolls and some
human beings, and I found that being as far away from human human beings
is the best thing for me. However, I need human beings in my
life in order to generate income. And we'll see, Norman. Actually you're
pointing out some things, and you know, for the sake of all the
limitations we have on the program, I want to focus on that. By
it's wonderful that you have animals, but you have made an agreement with those
animals that you're going to take care of them. And when you can no
longer take care of them, part of that will be to part with them
and give them a home where they can be taken care of. And it's
imperative that they have that opportunity. And then you need to see why you
push away from people. Pushing away from people, it can be a problem.
There are some pay that gets so wrapped up in animals that they have
no more social skills, and that that has become detrimental to you, which
has now become detrimental to the animals. We need to get you focused back
on that hang on the line, because I want to talk to you off
the air, because it can take longer than the time that we have now.
Oh Norman talking with Norman off the air. A sweet, sweet man
who was in a very lucrative industry and he is now knocking on the door
of homelessness. And I want you to hear this story. Norman's not on
the air with us. We spoke off the ear as well, and as
I feared, the time was not going to allow us what we needed.
But he has five dogs. These dogs are his life. As we talked
on the phone, it turns out that these dogs have also been part of
the problem. That he was bringing these dogs to work and they became a
liability. And so now he's not called anymore for that line of work.
And I know that you love animals, and loving animals is a wonderful and
noble thing, and you're commanded to do so in scripture. But there's a
point where you have too much or you're doing it. It's a perversion of
what you're called to. And now unless you do one thing and that has
changed the entire trajectory of your life and say I'm no longer to do this.
I'm going to get in a business where I can make money taking care
for dogs, loving them, whether it's walking other dogs, whether it's watching
them, whatever it might be, working at a kennel, working in a
humane environment for animals, whatever it is, then then you have to shift
yourself because if it's almost like you know, alcoholism or something else, when
it starts to impede on your life, that should be a queue. When
it starts to erode the very foundation of of you know, how people live
in society, then there's a problem with whatever it is. And if you
love animals, but now you've become the weird cat person, or you see
these things on the news where someone their house exudes such a horrific odor that
they call the police, please come. And there's cats everywhere, and what
seems like a noble thing to take in these strays and to protect them has
now become putrid and vulgar, and cats laying next to dead carcasses of cats.
It's no longer loving. And when you have too many dogs that you
or too many animals of any kind for you to take care of, that's
no longer okay. You need to find ways to make sure they get into
good homes. And if it's become a problem with your job, now you've
lost your job. You're not doing them any good. And the image of
the monkey reaching in the you know, the candy jar, and the concept
of grabbing so much everything you can grab and then trying to bring your hand
out and you can't because you're making a fist. Now that's filled with stuff,
and now you're going but I want it, and I don't want to
let go. If I don't let go, I'm not going to be able
to have just one. In Scripture, it says there is he who gathers
yet scatters, and he who scatters yet gathers in proverbs, and really the
imagery there is that there are those that hoard everything in life and get nothing.
It's like everything you're gonna get, you've got, now that's it.
The monkey, all he has is the grip of those candy, those cookies,
whatever they may be, in his hand, that's it. He can't
bring it out of the jar when they filled his grip. And likewise,
there are things that you hold on to in life that will just become a
detriment, will pull you down. Dogs are not bad, is not inherently
wrong to have dogs, but when you get too many of them, or
when they become so prominent in your life that it dictates whether you have a
job or not. Now that a effect to you and the dogs and the
rest of society as you go on welfare or whatever it is that you do.
Now it starts to affect everyone because your decision of rebellion and stubbornness.
And hear these words correctly. I do not want to hear from anybody saying
that I'm telling you it's wrong to own a dog or anything like that.
That is not my point. There is a difference between normalcy and abuse.
And when you take on too many animals that you can't provide for anymore,
or you can't properly give them the surrounding they so deserve, that becomes abuse,
not love. And I was so saddened to hear what Norman's going through,
and what a sweet man and sweetheart, and his desire was to be
with these dogs, but you know what, it was at the cost of
his job. Too many, too much, and not the wherewithal to take
care of them, and it ended up being a problem. And I'm saddened
to hear his situation. I told him the best the best situation would be
for him to work with dogs. If he loves them so much that he
was willing to give up his work and almost become homeless, then it's time
to work that into who you are and make it be a part of your
life in a different way. Because you can't force that on am. You
can't bring five dogs with you to work every day and assume that. No,
you know, no one's going to have a problem with a liability and
the problems that surround that. Can't put that on them. Nicholas, Welcome
to the Jesus Christ Show. Yes, all right. I had a question
about if there was any recorded history whether or not Jesus, and you know,
Jesus is God, the Father's son, if they had a sense of
humor, sure, I mean, well, the duck build Platypus is a
good example. I mean that's a pretty funny looking little creature. But if
you look at scripture, yes there is times. Unfortunately, Nicholas, when
people read scripture, they kind of read it in such a stoic way that
it slows down the narrative. It kind of makes it without inflection. And
if you've ever read an email from somebody and it doesn't have emoticons in there,
or someone smiling or what have you. Then sometimes you read it you
go are they being serious or are they joking? And I think people do
the same thing with scripture. I think a lot of times they'll read something
that inherently has humor in it, but it's lost by the way it's read.
So, for instance, there's a story of I'm sure you've heard many
times Matthew nineteen twenty four where it talks about can a rich man get into
Heaven? And I say this exact line, I say to you, it's
hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Goes on,
and again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom
of God. Now, when you read it like that, you go,
oh, wow, is that profundity? Is that just being profound and deep?
But now hear it this way, and I say to you, it's
it's hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And then
the crowd go allah, you know, the Johnny Carson Show, how hard
is it, and then me coming back with again, I tell you it
is so hard. I'm not going to do Carson. It is so hard.
It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Now that actually has
humor in it. It's profound and it gets the point across, and it's
truth. Now, some people feel that if you put humor or understand humor
in scripture, that it degrades scripture. It doesn't. It shows it brings
scripture to life, and really it just shows that there is much more going
on than meets the eye, and you have to read it. So absolutely,
there are times many times in scripture where there's humor implied or it's a
part of it to prove a point. Just as I used parables and stories
to explain something or get a greater truth across, no humor can be used
as well. There's nothing wrong with humor. It just says in scripture not
to use coarse jesting or ugliness. And I'm speaking to my producer Neil,
Now humor leads a lot to be desired. But to understand that and say
that you know it wasn't exactly like I at the time was going waka waka
waka or anything like that, or you know, it's wild and wacky stuff,
nothing like that. But it does imply that there was humor, and
there's nothing wrong with humor. Benjamin, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show.
Yes, Hi, Jesus, Hi Benjamin. How can I help you?
Yes? I like to know the origin of your name because I find it
that when when someone knows the the original pronunciation or the origin of one's name,
they can truly know that person. So I like to know what is
the origin of your name? Because this planet is in trouble. I mean,
it's seriously in trouble, and I find it that we need to know
all of the truths that has happened in history and know the reason why they
were translated. So, oh, what is the origin of your name?
Okay? You know it's Do you know the origin of your name? Yes?
What does it mean? It means it just slipped your mind? Doesn't
it like a middle name? From what I've been what I've been told that
it's a middle name and Jesus and you know it's Hebrew Bejamen Benjamin. It
means uh, son of my right hand or favorite son. So that's what
your name. It means like a very important favorite son. Now, Jesus
is a little different the name Jesus, and scripture absolutely has importance. However,
the word Jesus, the name Jesus doesn't really exist, not in scripture
because it's not a that's not a Jewish name. The name that's in scripture
that's translated Jesus is actually Uh Yeshua. So that's the name. That's My
actual name is Yeshua. It's pronounced people pronounce said Jesus because and I'll explain
that in a second. But the Hebrew word Yeshua means God is salvation.
Yahweh is salvation. Now this Hebrew name specifically given to me because it's referring
to the fact that I will bring salvation. So that's what it means.
Okay. I got another question, Yes, sir, and what is the
Hebrew name for Joshua? Same thing. Yeah, Yeshua is Joshua. Here,
here's why, here's why, here's why. It's kind of mutated a
little bit. Yeshua is the actual name in the normal English translation of that
should be Joshua. However, in scripture there's so many different Joshua's or Yeshua's.
Actually that to make me stand out so that you can understand that it's
speaking about the Messiah and not just another Joshua. It refers to me as
Jesus, which is a variation. So really it's dealing with the different languages
that the scripture has been translated into and using a form of that in the
Greek. So that's how you get Jesus is kind of a modification of that,
but ultimately it means the same thing, and the purpose is still there.
It's just to make it stand out, similar to you know, in
a household when you have a you know, a bunch of like could you
imagine George Foreman's household. Oh boy, every single one of his children named
George. They're they're bound to have nicknames for everyone so that you know who
everyone is. And Jesus ended up being the placement name in scripture so that
you knew that it was talking about me and not another Joshua. I want
to say something this comes up. It's interesting. I usually mentioned this and
didn't mention it this one time. Inevitably, I leave something out due to
time, someone will write or say, well what about this, And we
get this a lot from skeptics. You sit there with their pad and pencil
that listened to the show and try and nitpick. And I'm fascinated by the
amount of garbage that still is out there, you know, like people saying,
oh, you know, the Red Sea is mistranslated. It wasn't the
Red Sea. It was the Red Sea, which is only about six inches
deep, and so the Red Sea didn't part. It was the Red Sea
that parted, and therefore it's not that much of a miracle that it parted,
to which you pause and you go, okay, well, maybe it's
not very miraculous for six inches of water now the Red Sea to have parted.
However, it is pretty miraculous to drown hundreds of thousands of Egyptians and
six inches of water. So now that becomes more interesting. Well, when
I was talking about the eye of a needle, someone written and incorrectly.
Again. There are two other theories that circulate. One that camel is so
close in the original language to the word rope, depending on the placement of
the vowels and such, that it's really saying rope. No, it's not
saying rope. Doesn't say rope, and it's not translated into rope for a
reason. And then they'll say, oh, but the eye of a needle
is actually the gateway. And what happened was the town would be walled off
and at a certain time of night they would shut it down and there was
only a small gateway that you could get into after hours that was you know,
manned at. They would try and get the camels in. Well,
the camels had to get down to all fours and they'd have to wiggle through,
and this was called the eye of a needle. And that's why no.
Oukham's razor is the belief that you don't overcomplicate something. If you hear
hoof, you know, galloping outside, don't assume that's a zebra. It's
probably a horse. Likewise, when I say specifically about getting a camel through
the eye of a needle, it shows the humor of things, and isn't
You don't need to go running about saying all these things. Even in early
biblic Bible encyclopedias they print the alleged eye of the needle gateway. It's all
false, it's not true. And this stuff continues to perpetuate today because people
think it's interesting rather than seeing the simple explanation, which is right there in
front of you. I hope that you enjoyed the show. Thank you for
joining me every single Sunday. And remember, more importantly are these words,
I am with you Always. KFI AM six on demand