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Ask a Pastor with JOBY MARTIN | May 2024 (Ep. 596)

May 16, 2024 34m 43s Full transcript available
Ask a Pastor with JOBY MARTIN | May 2024 (Ep. 596)
0:00 / 34m 43s
In this episode of Undaunted Life, Kyle Thompson and Joby Martin tackle tough questions about faith, food, and the nature of God. They dive into topics like dietary choices, the permanence of salvation, and the complexities of prayer, all while maintaining a direct and masculine tone.
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0:50 This is Undaunted Life of Man's Podcast.
0:53 I'm your host Kyle Thompson, let's get into it.
0:56 Joe B. Martin, you're back, but here's the thing, I got a phone to pick with you right
0:59 from the beginning here.
1:00 Okay, are you prepared for this?
1:01 Yeah, let's do it.
1:02 Okay, because you know, we're recording this before it comes out and blah blah blah, it's
1:05 being released in the future, but as of right now, I've officially rolled with our mutual
1:12 buddy, Matt Chandler.
1:14 Matt Chandler and I were on the mats, we had our geese on, we got out there and we got after
1:17 it.
1:18 And so I've known you personally for a whole lot longer than I've known Matt Chandler, but
1:23 you and I have never had a physical dustup, what is the problem?
1:28 Patience grasshopper, patience.
1:29 Why are you avoiding it?
1:30 Come on, man.
1:31 I'm not, I just have a lot, you know, I got a lot going on.
1:34 All right, I know you got a lot going on, but hey, we're going to be seeing each other
1:37 a lot here in the very near future.
1:39 And so just bring your key just in case because I need to feel that that old man used to be
1:45 a college wrestler strength, okay?
1:47 Can we make that happen?
1:48 Yeah, sure.
1:49 No problem.
1:50 Okay, well, let's do that.
1:51 Question to the questions today, again, guys, remember, the only way you can get your question
1:54 answered here on this podcast is one, if you're me, two, if you're on my forging table crew,
1:58 and three, if you are a monthly donor.
2:00 So to the monthly donors out there, make sure you're sending me your questions.
2:03 So we're so happy to get your funds and your support.
2:06 But also don't forget, send me questions through our website and through our DMs on Instagram.
2:10 But the first one comes from me because I'm selfish because I got a DM from a buddy, a
2:14 teammate of mine, a guy that I really respect, high level athlete, does jujitsu, all those
2:19 types of things.
2:20 And he went vegan a while ago.
2:23 And so I'm not sure how long that's going to last.
2:26 And so I posted a picture of a brisket online and he goes, hey, man, you need to go vegan.
2:31 And I'm like, why would I want to be unhealthy?
2:33 And then his response to me, again, I like this guy, but it seems like we disagree on
2:37 this issue.
2:38 He goes, God created men to be vegetarian or God created man to be vegetarians that in
2:44 and so I didn't respond to that, but I have heard the argument before, Joby, that in
2:50 the garden, before Genesis three, right before the fall, that the intent from the beginning
2:56 was not that we would eat animals, but the intent from the beginning is that we would
3:00 get sustenance from everything else that God put in the garden.
3:04 And so what would be your response?
3:06 Because I know you've dealt with this before, especially because you're a hunter and all
3:08 those different things.
3:09 But when someone says God calls us to be vegetarians, what would you say in response
3:15 to that?
3:16 One, I would say read your Bible because Acts 10, 13 literally says, rise up, kill, and
3:21 eat.
3:22 And it was all meat.
3:23 It was animals that Peter received his vision.
3:26 Secondly, also the intent was that we would walk around naked.
3:29 So if he would like to also do that and have him feel free to live in the original intent.
3:35 Yeah, man, there's a new covenant in the new covenant.
3:41 We are commanded to rise up, kill, and eat.
3:44 Now, if somebody personally wants to be a vegan, just own it, bro.
3:48 But if you're trying to do it because you think that's what the Bible says, then you
3:51 are using the Bible as a means to your own end.
3:54 And I would highly caution you to do that because right now it's veganism.
3:59 And the next thing you know, it might be greed or lust, or you'll figure out some way
4:03 to make the Bible support you.
4:06 Yeah.
4:07 And that's the other thing that I would encourage people because this is one of those issues
4:11 that people create almost like their own religion around.
4:15 So they're not just vegans, like they're super vegans.
4:17 They don't just do crossfit.
4:18 They're like super crossfit.
4:19 Same thing with jiu-jitsu, same thing with anything.
4:21 You can kind of create a little bit of a worshipful posture with all these different things.
4:26 And so again, guys, if you ever get into one of these conversations, just ask the person,
4:29 Hey, if you were wrong about that, would you want to know if they don't respond well,
4:32 then just move on with your life.
4:33 So what I would say though is I do think we need to eat real food though.
4:39 I mean, you know, I think a part of the reason that the carnivore diet works so good for
4:44 some people and some kind of keto diet or even some kind of like when people truly go vegan,
4:50 probably the benefits that they're experiencing is they're taking out all of that hyper process
4:55 food that we were not meant to consume.
4:57 So you should eat the foods that, you know, like God's foods, like just the ones that
5:01 he made.
5:02 Yeah, I would certainly echo that guys, when you're when you're shopping on the internal
5:07 aisles of the supermarket, literally read the ingredients because it's consumable, but
5:13 it's not technically food.
5:15 Like one of my favorite things in the world to eat is an Oreo and Oreos technically not
5:19 food.
5:20 Right.
5:21 Like if you if you read the ingredients, like in the first time I discovered this was because
5:24 one of my good buddies is dairy free and he's like, Oh, but I can have Oreos and I'm like,
5:28 how's that possible?
5:29 He's like, man, I don't know, but there's no dairy in it.
5:32 And so guys, just, you know, buyer beware when it comes to all that stuff, but we're
5:35 going to get into our first donor question.
5:37 This is from Dylan.
5:39 So let's dig in here.
5:40 Could you help me make sense of Hebrews six, six?
5:43 Is this referring to a believer that willfully chooses to turn away from Christ?
5:48 Because I get hung up on the fallen away.
5:50 If God can't lose one of his sheep and I do believe that, then can a believer choose
5:55 to quote unquote fall away from Christ's work of salvation?
5:59 So before you answer that, Joby, I am going to go ahead and read Hebrew six, six from
6:02 the E. V. here and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance since they
6:09 are crucifying once again, the son of God to their own harm and holding him up to content.
6:14 So help us understand.
6:15 Yeah, you really got to read verses one through eight to fully understand it.
6:19 He's talking to immature Christians that may believe they can lose their faith.
6:23 And ultimately what he's saying is, no, you can't lose your faith.
6:27 You can see it illustrated when you get to like verse seven and eight, there's two kinds
6:31 of land.
6:32 They both received the rain.
6:34 One produces fruit and then one produces nothing but thorn and thistles and it's thrown
6:38 away.
6:40 This is, this is kind of echoing what Jesus taught.
6:43 And I think it's Mark chapter four in the parable of the sower that the seed goes out
6:48 lands.
6:49 And there's some that they take it up joyfully at first, but it's choked out by the thorn
6:55 and the thistles.
6:56 So there are people that live amongst the community of fate.
7:00 They go to church and they, they get some of the benefits.
7:04 They've tasted the goodness of the word.
7:07 They have had some of the effects of the spirit of God, like the conviction of sin.
7:11 They have been in community.
7:13 They've been enlightened while God's ways work better, but they have not surrendered
7:18 their life to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
7:21 And you don't even have to submit Hebrews to Pauline letters, Hebrews three, fourteen
7:27 and ten, fourteen talk about basically what saved always saved.
7:33 The way John Calvin, the language he used was that, that the gospel, if we are saved,
7:40 then we will persevere.
7:42 And if we don't persevere, it's evidence of things like this, that it was just a fleshly
7:49 following for a season for whatever selfish gains we thought we may have.
7:56 And then, and then I think the Christ being crucified again, I can't remember the Latin
8:00 term, but there is a, there's a style of argumentation where you take the argument to it's like extreme
8:09 and bitter end.
8:11 So what he's saying is, if someone had like could lose their salvation, then the only
8:17 way they could be brought back is that Jesus would have to be crucified again for them,
8:21 which we know is impossible.
8:24 And then in this, he says, but listen, there's something better for you, like I don't think
8:30 you're, you're not going to be able to lose your salvation.
8:33 So this argument, now, if you plug this one line out, it's, it's troublesome.
8:38 But when you read it in the context of Hebrews six and three and ten, he's actually making
8:44 the argument that the question is not, can I lose my salvation?
8:50 The question is, can God lose one of his children and the answer is no way.
8:53 Okay, just real quick, just very briefly, when you're talking about when people follow
8:57 for a time to gain some sort of benefit, could you also extend that same logic to like the
9:02 church camp phenomenon where, you know, you rededicate your life or you get all fired
9:07 up by the, by the music and that you're basically marinating in this milieu of Christian ease
9:11 for a weekend. And then, you know, by Tuesday of the next week, that all kind of falls
9:15 away.
9:16 Is that kind of the same thing?
9:17 Yeah.
9:18 And it's more like the evidence, because that's how I got saved. I mean, I, you know, I get,
9:23 I was crying like crazy at the campfire camp and, and I went home and read my Bible for
9:28 several days in a row and then basically went back to everything I was doing. But I know
9:32 at this point in my life, that was the moment of my salvation. But it's really like the
9:37 proof is in the pudding. Like I still love Jesus. And I know that's when I first loved
9:42 Jesus. So I think it's like, I mean, a modern day application of this is that, is that all
9:51 the deconstruction people never surrender their life to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
9:57 What they are deconstructing from is a culture of Christianity. Because let me tell you who
10:04 does not deconstruct like Peter who had breakfast with Jesus. Never he never was he going to
10:10 be like, well, I don't know about this. Because he ate breakfast with the resurrected Christ.
10:13 Anybody that has been filled with the spirit, purchased by God, lambs, lambs book a life
10:20 member, then you're not going to turn away. In fact, we may stumble and fall, but we still
10:26 come to him. We don't reject him.
10:29 Okay, speaking of members, apparently we need to move on to this next question because you
10:34 are the sole member of the Ryan Horn fan club. That is Ryan Horn from the forging table as
10:38 you have already announced. He is your favorite above all others. So obviously I have to ask
10:43 you a question from the horn. So let's get into a wonderful question from the horn. He
10:47 always does provide me with really good questions all kidding aside. But it's this, because
10:51 a church has a large following and looks to be financially successful. Does that mean
10:55 God is blessing that church?
11:02 I would not connect the blessing of God with finances at all. If you look at, if you look
11:09 at the parable of the talents of Matthew chapter 25, I think the real hero there is the two
11:15 talent guy because he doesn't spend any of his time comparing himself to the one talent
11:21 or the five talent guy. And he gets the exact same reward as the five talent guy that the
11:29 master says well done, good and faithful servant, not good and fruitful servant. So fruitfulness
11:35 is up to the Lord. Faithfulness is up to us. And so I don't think so. I think there are
11:42 some really, really blessed, faithful, faithful churches, faithful men of God, just pastoring
11:48 their church and their praying and preaching and seeing they're doing all the right things.
11:53 And for whatever reason, they reach a lot less people. And so I would encourage them
11:59 to spend zero time comparing like their quote unquote success. I don't success in the kingdom
12:06 is a totally different measure. Paul's measure of success was dying or getting beaten for
12:13 Jesus. That's a different kind of success. Jesus says you want to be first be last,
12:18 you know, if you want to be successful, be a servant, be the least of these.
12:22 Well, I think, well, Joby, I think you can feel that when you walk into some small churches
12:26 and everything feels heavy, and I mean that in a good way, it's like there's a heft and
12:30 health to what's happening there. And I would point to my church, church, faith Bible church
12:34 in Edmond, Oklahoma, where pastor Mark Hitchcock has been leading that congregation for over
12:38 30 years. But the church wasn't like big, I guess you could say until like 2020, whenever
12:44 they finished a building project and then a whole bunch of families left other churches
12:47 to come to that church. And so that would have been one of those quote unquote small
12:51 churches that, you know, didn't have an enormous parking lot and didn't have like a social
12:55 media presence. And you would have been like, Oh, I wonder if God's not blessing that.
12:58 So I, you know, you introduced me to your pastor, which was awesome. We spent like a
13:03 half hour or something in his office just chatting. Man, he's a perfect example of just
13:08 yeah, he's just a faithful guy. I mean, he's a seminary professor. He's been the pastor
13:12 of that church for decades. And I mean, you know, he wants to reach people with the gospel
13:18 which which pastor doesn't. And so they just they focus way more on health than they did
13:25 growth. And if you do that long enough, then a lot of people like you are bringing your
13:30 friends to that church because you know that that Christ is priests and every in every sermon
13:35 that, you know, God's glorified. And I mean, now it's a big church with a lot going on.
13:41 When you can feel confident that the roots are strong and deep as well, because the same
13:45 thing, I mean, I've been told by your staff and I've also been told by you that when people
13:49 come to the church of 1122 for the first time, and which by the way, I do want to give you
13:52 a compliment, I love the fact that you hold court after you preach. So guys with my own
13:56 eyes, I've seen you preach on stage. And then you walk your happy little tushy right out
14:01 to the lobby and you stand there and you're surrounded by your staff and your assistance.
14:05 And there's a line of people that want to talk to you some just want their books signed,
14:08 some need serious help. And you are immediately getting them help and assistance. But I've
14:14 heard from your staff and I've heard from you that, you know, there's a significant number
14:18 of people that come to your church because of what they've heard on my show because they've
14:22 heard you on my show or they've heard me kind of talk about your church. And that would
14:25 be one of the things is some of these guys, Joby, they would be turned off just by the
14:30 size of the parking lot and the size of the sign on the building, right? That they may
14:34 otherwise be like, look, too big, no, no way it could possibly be healthy, which goes back
14:39 to one of our first connections whenever you were like, Hey man, you need to be careful
14:43 with how you talk about big churches because it could come off like, Hey, that you think
14:47 all the big churches are bad. But again, it's about the roots. Because if the roots aren't
14:51 healthy, the plant and the tree, like whatever, it can't be healthy as well.
14:55 Yeah. And Cal, I mean, people every week now that have come to us through Undaunted Life,
15:00 which is so great. But the real reason, I mean, I stand out there in the lobby just to meet
15:06 with people and pray with people first and foremost, man, I'm a servant in the ship or
15:09 not a celebrity. So the, the like green room culture, I think is weird. So I don't really
15:14 do that. I do, I do lock down before a sermon because it's like going out to pitch the world
15:20 series. You know, I got to get my mind right. And so I wouldn't be good with people before.
15:23 So that's also who I don't want to, you know, come off as a loop. And then one of the biggest
15:29 things that happens out, you know, like when I'm hanging out after the services, man, it's
15:33 like the ministry of referral, you know, we talked about this before, uh, when people
15:37 are like, I need you to help me. And I'm like, do you need help or you need me? You don't
15:41 need me. So the reason my whole staff is like right there on my right and left is man,
15:47 I'm spending a few minutes with people praying and then, and then, you know, you need to
15:50 talk to this person or this ministry. And I'm just trying to connect people as fast as
15:54 I can because we're not, we are, we have a big church, but we are not in the crowd business.
16:00 We are trying to make disciples and make disciples and make disciples and you have to be connected
16:04 in the local body. Absolutely. Amen to that. All right. Next question is from this is a
16:08 really, really smart question because it's from yours truly. Here we go. Next question.
16:13 How can we know that deism is wrong? So, uh, for, for anyone in the audience that isn't
16:19 like super familiar with deism because maybe you only know about deism because people are
16:22 like Thomas Jefferson was a deist. But that is essentially saying that natural law rules,
16:29 that it's in us from the beginning, we can use reason and rationality to come to some
16:33 semblance of ultimate knowledge. We don't get there through revelation. We don't get
16:38 there through, through the church or any of that type of stuff. And also a lot of people
16:42 that are deists, they kind of, they believe that there is a God, but they don't believe
16:47 that he is a God that intervenes, that he basically set things in motion, created things
16:51 from the very beginning, set them in motion and then kind of like wash his hands of the
16:56 results from there. So how can we know that deism as a worldview or philosophy is incorrect?
17:04 Uh, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I mean, that is the foundation of all that
17:10 we believe in. Now I would point you to, uh, like C. S. Lewis and mere Christianity. So
17:17 deism is not altogether true, but it's not as wrong as atheism. It's at least a step
17:22 in the right direction that there is something behind the something. Um, but the enemy is,
17:27 uh, he's real crafty at taking, uh, a thing that is true. There is a God that is true.
17:35 And then twisting it to corrupt people and confuse people. And so the reason that we
17:42 can know that we have a God that is personal and loving is because of the incarnation,
17:50 the life, death and the resurrection of Jesus, that this Jesus who rose from the grave sat
17:55 down with his friends before this and said, I call you my friends. This is a God that
18:01 has intervened and not just has like a clock maker to judge, but he has intervened as a
18:07 personal savior. Hey guys, real quick, if you're anything like me, you are constantly
18:12 on the lookout for high quality products that are actually made here in America by American
18:17 hands. The problem is that a lot of American companies have outsourced their labor overseas.
18:22 So it's an American company, but it's supporting people that don't live here. So I've always
18:26 went to partner with an American company that prioritizes America, American workers and
18:31 making all of their materials here in this country. That's why I want to remind you that
18:35 we are partnered with Origin. Origin is an apparel company based in Maine and they are
18:40 focused on getting as much manufacturing back to the United States as they can possibly
18:44 do. What do they make? They make the best jujitsu giz on the planet. And these are the
18:49 only jujitsu giz that are made completely in America. They also make jeans. Yes, they're
18:53 stretching and awesome. They also make amazing hunting gear. And I know you guys love your
18:57 kuyu and your sicka, but those companies use overseas labor and they don't do that to help
19:02 you guys out. They do that to increase their profit margins. Origin also makes boots and
19:07 work boots. And yes, that does include still toe boots. And in the fall of last year, they
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19:14 they are just especially phenomenal. They also make other outdoor clothes and workout
19:18 clothes and they're launching new apparel stuff all the time. If you haven't already,
19:22 you need to check them out and support a company that supports America and America's workers.
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19:44 Okay, very good. Yeah, I know that can get a whole lot deeper, but this is kind of like
19:48 our own version of quick hitters with these questions back and forth. So we need to move
19:51 on to the next one. Another one from a donor again. Thank you to Matthew for being a donor.
19:55 This question is addressed to me, but the question does end up for you. So let me read
19:59 it here.
20:00 I've heard you mention your hesitation with the tulip in Calvinist theology and specifically
20:04 with the L of limited atonement. I just started going to church that also believes in that.
20:09 Having grown up in an assemblies of God church, I have never heard that before. And it gave
20:13 me the same hesitation. Could you ask Joby being a former Baptist, his thoughts on limited
20:19 atonement, briefly what it is, issues with it, et cetera. Now, I want to attach this Joby
20:24 to a comment that you made. I think I can't remember if it was Matthew 27 or Matthew 28
20:28 when you were on the forging table here in Oklahoma, where you talked about, you know,
20:31 if you bought Chick-fil-A sandwiches for the folks of Jacksonville that you only bought
20:36 them for the people that took them, I guess my response and where my mind went is like,
20:41 okay, right now God has purchased through Jesus eight billion, right? Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
20:48 There are eight billion Chick-fil-A sandwiches available because that's how many people
20:52 there are on earth. They were bought for everyone to have, but only those that will take them
20:59 will get them. So the only limits to God's purchases are the number of people currently
21:05 alive, right? And then the number of people that are willing to accept it. And so I promise
21:10 I'm not trying to muddy the waters. I am just like fervently trying to understand because
21:14 this is another guy and I've gotten a lot of messages similar to the one that Matthew
21:18 sent me to where they're just like, okay, Chick-fil-A sandwiches got it. You know, it's
21:23 only bought for the people that accept it. It makes sense, but there's still some things
21:26 there to where it's like they start kind of getting out into the, did he cause them to
21:30 come and grab them like those types of things. So if you could maybe refer to that and clear
21:35 that up maybe a little bit.
21:36 Yeah, all I want to do is make sure people are understanding what the words mean. Atonement
21:43 just means to pay for. So did Jesus pay for everybody's sins when he died on the cross?
21:50 If your answer is yes, it was unlimited, then you're a universalist. You believe you're
21:55 Rob Bell. You believe everybody goes to heaven because of Jesus. Well, is that what I believe?
22:01 I bet he doesn't. But what people do though is they jump from limited atonement to election.
22:07 Like, how do you believe? Those are just two, you're talking about two different things.
22:13 Now, Calvin would say in me that the how you can believe is a gift from God. It does not
22:20 originate with you. It originates with God. That's just what the Bible says. Then people
22:26 begin to add on to that the human implications of what that could mean in the most extreme
22:34 cases. Are you saying that some people are born screwed? Is that what you're saying,
22:38 Calvin? So that's a long leap from limited atonement. Limited atonement means that when
22:45 Jesus says it is finished, that counts for everyone who would believe. So it doesn't count
22:52 if you don't believe there. Therefore, by definition, it was not unlimited. It was limited to the
22:59 believers in Christ that his death and resurrection was only sufficient in salvation for people
23:07 that trust Christ for their salvation. Okay. So are some people born screwed? That's not
23:14 how I would say it. How would you say it? I would say that fate is a gift from God and
23:19 it comes from God. It does not originate with you. It originates with him. But he only gives
23:25 that to certain people. Apparently so. It's what the Bible says. All right. Well, for
23:31 those of you that love my once a month check-ins on Calvinist theology, Bada Bing, Bada Boom,
23:35 there you got it. But we're going to go ahead. I mentioned this on the 14 table. Okay. Yeah.
23:41 Every conversation around the nature of salvation when you're going to bottom out in Romans 9.
23:48 Okay. So whether you can get your mind around or not, some people tend to get their mind
23:52 around and love it. Some people tend to get the right around it and hate it. Yeah. I don't
23:57 care how much we argue about this or you argue about this or whatever. Right. So you're going
24:02 to get to this place where you find yourselves in Romans 9 and the Paul's argument is who
24:10 is the clay to say to the potter how he is made? That's just where it like, that's where
24:16 it ends. Like who are you to look at God and say, I get to tell you who I am. You don't
24:23 get to tell me who I am. So I don't know that makes you feel better or not, but it is like
24:29 all roads understand is end up in Romans 9. And that's the question. What's that clay?
24:35 Like God's looking at you going, what's that? Well, Joby, you know this, I'm all about feelings.
24:39 And so when I don't feel good inside, obviously I need to challenge anything that is trying
24:43 to make my feelings, not what I want them to be. Okay. So let's just keep that in mind
24:47 as we continue to plug through these questions. This next question is from, you know, a lesser
24:52 forging table or this one's from Eric, but no one cares about Eric because he's not
24:55 Ryan Horn. Right. So let's get into this question from Erica. Love this question. When
24:59 is it all right to lie? And can you do so without sinning? Yes. Ray have hid the spies.
25:10 And so apparently, so it's kind of that thing. It's like when the, when the authority right
25:16 over you is anti God and you need to subscribe to a higher authority. For instance, the underground
25:25 missionaries that we send in the Muslim countries, they are dishonest within their like applications.
25:32 They're going, they're like, we're teachers. Now that's not untrue. But that's not actually
25:35 why they're going. They're going to share the good news of the gospel. So I think in
25:40 service to the Lord, that's when it's okay. So with that also be like, I'm trying to remember
25:46 when the midwives didn't do what Fayro told them to do, like obviously they weren't, you
25:51 know, people would be like Romans 13, like they have to respect their authorities. It's
25:55 like not the authorities are telling you to do that. Yeah, there's also revelation 13.
25:59 And you should always read Romans 13 and revelation 13 together because Romans 13 is
26:03 about submitting to godly authorities and revelation 13 is like, what do you do when
26:08 the whore is riding the beast and they're in charge? No, you fight. So got to keep those
26:13 two things in tension. So that's, that's one of the cases where I mean, lie might be technically
26:18 right. Like, you know, sometimes with your children, even there's make believe that's
26:25 not lying. Sometimes there's surprises. Like, Hey, man, we're going to do a surprise party
26:31 for mom and her present is hidden in the garage. Don't tell her. And so that's different.
26:38 That's not, I mean, I guess technically you're not saying the truth, but it's for a, it's
26:42 for a godly reason. It's not for your own. It's not for your propagating yourself.
26:47 Well, for me, it's like surprise, Thompson boys, Santa is not real. So that's what surprises
26:52 are going to be like here in our household. And so it's like, Hey, we're not, we're not
26:55 going to believe any of that nonsense. But don't worry guys, I'm not going to kill Santa
26:58 until later on this year. We need to get to the next question here. This one's from
27:01 William again. Thank you so much, William, for being a donor to undaunted life. Here's
27:04 his question. Will and does God change his mind if we ask? And if so, are there certain
27:12 conditions that need to be met by us in order for him to do so?
27:18 So God is immutable, which means he doesn't change. However, there is this conversation
27:25 about sodoming the more where there seems to be a negotiation going on. So, you know,
27:31 how do you explain that? I guess those things can simultaneously be true that God could
27:36 say a thing knowing that he's trying to lead his people to a place of contrition. But that's
27:47 not a dodge. I just, because the thing that you want to do when you're answered, when you're
27:52 asked these kinds of questions is not lead with. So here's what I think. Who cares what
27:57 I think. I try to take my mind to what does God's words say? So it says, God is the same
28:02 yesterday, today, tomorrow, but yet also Jesus is God and Jesus got taller between 12 and
28:08 20. So what does that mean? Well, both of those things can be simultaneously true and
28:12 not in contradiction with one another. So for instance, when Jesus teaches his own prayer,
28:19 it seems to imply that we have, there are some things that won't happen in the universe
28:30 if we don't beg God to move in that way. And yet God is sovereign over all things. It
28:36 gets circular real quick. Yeah. And Roman says we don't know what to pray. Like he tells
28:41 us what to pray. If we don't pray, it stuff doesn't happen. We come to him over and over
28:46 and over, like knocking and seeking and finding, you know, just over and over and over. And
28:50 then he moves in respect. He moves as we pray, even if he initiated them, and he is sovereign
29:00 over all the things. Okay, wait, so you had a little, little
29:03 consternation there that may have just been gas, but it was, it does relate to the next,
29:09 I guess kind of my next thought here is I've said before, and I'm, I'm okay with being
29:13 corrected that how I said, I want to be careful with my words as well. It's like, because
29:20 I struggle with prayer, I have told people before I was like, ultimately, it doesn't
29:26 matter if I let me actually back up. Okay, so let me back completely up. One of my worst
29:30 jobs I ever had, I was selling coupon books door to door, right? And so this particular
29:34 day we were selling coupon books to Texas Rangers games in Oklahoma City. And so beforehand
29:39 all of our dopey managers are like, Hey, how's everybody feeling today before we go
29:42 out there and full suits and ties in August and go door to door and sell these coupon
29:46 books. And I was like, well, you know, it's going to be a little bit harder of a sale
29:49 today. Yesterday was a, you know, a salon that's right down the road. This is, you know, a baseball
29:54 stadium that's three and a half hours away. And if you're not a baseball fan, maybe you
29:57 don't want to go down there. So I was just trying to get through some of the objections
30:00 that I knew I was going to be hearing in the field, like before anything started. And my
30:05 manager freaks out, he goes, well, you might as well just stay here today because you're
30:08 already defeated. I was like, or on the contrary, I'm already thinking through what I'm going
30:13 to have to deal with. And you know, I went out there and sold more than anybody anyway.
30:17 And so I guess the problem is, is like, I've told people before, like, your posture towards
30:22 prayer doesn't change the outcome of what's going to happen. And so if that person was
30:26 going to die of cancer, they were going to die of cancer, regardless of if you pray
30:30 for it or not, you were going to get the job or you weren't going to get the job. And
30:33 so again, I'm open to being wrong about that. But it's just like, I just don't think I
30:38 have a whole lot of input on the outcome just because I've prayed and asked, because you
30:44 know, sometimes the answer to prayer is no, not now. It's not for you, those types of
30:49 things. Does that make sense?
30:50 Yeah, except for Jesus says you have not because you asked not.
30:53 Oh, there is that. That's what I mean. You got to root it in like, just what it says.
30:59 So I am not a pre-determinalist, like, that it's all been mapped out that way. Somehow
31:04 God is sovereign. He is in control. He's never surprised. Somehow God is at work and all
31:10 things. And yet he created us as image bears in such a way where he is a good dad says
31:16 to his kids, just keep asking me and keep asking me. And there are some things that
31:21 won't happen if you don't ask. I mean, that's what he says, you have not because you asked
31:25 not. So we should ask because we're dependent on
31:29 you. Okay. All right. Very good. Well, this is going to be the last question of the day.
31:34 This one's a doozy, man. Like this is going to be one of those ones where you wish I would
31:37 have asked you at the beginning. So you had got more time to chew on it before I went
31:40 in. So are you, are you prepared? Is your heart and soul prepared for this next question?
31:44 I am ready. Okay. This one's for me. Would you rather fight three 16 year olds or 16
31:54 three year olds? 16, three year olds. One thing I didn't tell you is the three year olds are
32:01 armed. Okay. They've got pointy sticks. Some of them have hammers. And so it's like you
32:07 got three 16 year olds or 16 armed three year olds. I think I can win either way, but maybe
32:13 yeah, I guess the armed puts it over the age. Okay. Maybe three 16 year olds, no problem.
32:19 I didn't call for a bunch of years. So I've virtually done this. Hey, well, that was kind
32:25 of a derivative of another question for someone. I think someone asked me for my AMA, like,
32:28 how many squirrels do you think you could kill? Like if they attacked you? Like, what is the
32:32 number of squirrels? But I'm like, dude, I've seen people get attacked by one squirrel and
32:38 they look really uncomfortable. And so it's like, yes, that's like a seven ounce animal
32:42 or something like that. But they seem insane. I mean, they're basically a rat with a bushy
32:46 tail. Dude, if they get coordinated, you'd be screwed. I mean, if they like come up with
32:50 a plan like, Hey, eyes and ears and crotch and ready go. I mean, it'd be a tough battle.
32:56 I'm just saying like, I got a three year old right now. And I think if I got him at 15
32:59 of his friends, armed him and gave him a little bit of a game plan that you might be in trouble,
33:04 I'm just going to say like you might need more than that denim jacket. But Joby, that's
33:07 all for me. Is there anything else where we get you out of here?
33:09 No, man. Thanks. Good to see you. All right. See you next time. Thank you for listening
33:12 to this podcast. Wherever you're listening to this, please subscribe, rate and leave us
33:16 a positive five star review. If you want me to come speak live at your event or on your
33:19 podcast, shoot me an email to info at undonton.life. That's I N F O at undonton.life. Follow us on
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33:29 how to donate to keep more content like this coming your way. Just go to www dot undonton.life.
33:33 And as always, we want to thank the band Holy Name for allowing us to use their music for
33:37 our content. The music on this podcast is our song Perpetua, which is off their self titled
33:41 debut album on Face Down Records. The links are in the description. I'm your host, Kyle
33:46 Thompson. Remember, keep pushing back darkness, keep forging spiritual, mental and physical
33:52 resilience. Keep seeking the lion of Judah.
34:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Key quotes
2
Joby Martin
If you're trying to do it because you think that's what the Bible says, then you are using the Bible as a means to your own end.
Kyle Thompson
Your posture towards prayer doesn't change the outcome of what's going to happen.
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