The Extra Mile Podcast
The Extra Mile Podcast
What is Your Purpose? - Caleb Speer
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Welcoming back founder Caleb Speer to the podcast, he brings a bit of perspective for the weekend visit during our Youth for God meeting. The theme of the visit is Purpose. When looking at the trends of our culture, people are searching for community and meaning.
Looking at the book of Ephesians, the message from Paul explores the transition you take as a Christian of change toward a member of God’s family. God’s love is open to all who themselves love. The path toward joining the family of God is found on the pages of the Bible.
Within is guidance of a change in life, considerations of internal mindset and considerations for your heart. This change of heart leads to a change in behavior in line with who Jesus is. Discipline, orderliness, and order are inherent in your new walk as a Christian.
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The Extra Mile Podcast is a work of Milwaukee Ave Church of Christ in Lubbock, TX. Assembly times:
9:30 AM - Classes for all ages
10:30 AM - Sunday Morning Assembly
5:00 PM - Sunday Evening Assembly
7:00 PM - Wednesday Evening Assembly
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Hi everybody, welcome back to the extra mile. I'm Justin, and uh I'm here with G5. The G5.
SPEAKER_04All right, I'm looking over this way.
SPEAKER_00That's your camera G.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm not usually sitting here. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00I know. We're we're we're mixing it up. And over there in the producer's corner is Caleb's corner. Hey, hey. Caleb's corner. Caleb's corner, cave, dark abyss, whatever you want to call it. There it is. There's Caleb, handsome man. And uh, as always, the Extra Mile podcast is an easy listening for Christians and an interesting listen for those considering Christianity and considering things of the Bible. Uh, a casual listen. And we welcome you to the extra mile. We also have a special guest with us, and an extremely special guest is someone who actually started the extra mile podcast with George, our old friend Caleb Spear. Welcome, Caleb.
SPEAKER_01It's great to be back. Um it's a little nicer than when I than when I was here. I was shooting off like my iPhone 8 or something like that when we were we've still got it in there, I think.
SPEAKER_00Oh. Or an iPhone.
SPEAKER_02There is an iPhone sitting in there right now. Yeah, Apple Touch, whatever.
SPEAKER_00When we first tried to make the jump into video, that was we tried iPhone cameras and hours and hours of post editing.
SPEAKER_01You guys did an amazing job. My favorite part, like I said, online is definitely the Caleb's Corner.
SPEAKER_02Oh, thanks, man. We haven't done it all year.
SPEAKER_01Caleb's corner. I thought we were gonna have a great to bring it back. Yeah, you gotta bring back Caleb's corner. When I was on Zoom, there's Caleb's Corner. And I was like, this is dope. And now you guys are like, we forgot it. At least you didn't forget, Justin. You're doing a great job as a host because you're picking up the G5 action. Good work. You can't forget that.
SPEAKER_00He's the man, dude.
SPEAKER_01I'm pleased to be here.
SPEAKER_04And uh I'm happy everyone's here. This is like we're coming home. Yeah, it is a homecoming. Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01It feels pretty natural to be back in Lubbock. Yeah. Nothing feels like home. Yeah. You never skipped a beat. There's a special group at Milwaukee for sure. No doubt about it.
SPEAKER_00I know the last time we had you on, you were virtual. And so that was the first milestone for us. Caleb is the wizard who's making all these amazing things happen. And that was such a great conversation. We invite you, the listener, to go and check that out. We'll put the link in the description.
SPEAKER_04That was what, our 200th episode? Yeah, it was a milestone episode. And there was a Caleb's Caleb's corner. Yeah, there was.
SPEAKER_00And there was a Caleb's corner then.
SPEAKER_04It was great. All right. Well, that was awesome. Now we're here, and Caleb is doing our You For God weekend, hanging out with the teens, and he's decided to go through the entire book of Ephesians. I was about to make a joke. I was like, thanks, Caleb. You're ready. You're gonna kill it. I want to say CS, but you guys have the same initial.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, when we text each other, I'm like, why am I texting my name?
SPEAKER_01Hey, what's your middle name, Caleb? Jeffrey. Okay, great. We've got Jeff and Luke. There you go. There you go. That's weird. Got weird.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Jeff. Good job, Luke. The physician. It's my dad's name, so it's even weirder. Or like, no, I'm not Jeff. I'm sorry about that, Jeffrey.
SPEAKER_00I don't guess Jeff is the Bible name, though. You've got Bible names.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh double whammy. Yeah, no. Caleb's awesome. A great name, Caleb. Shout out to all the Calebs. 85 years old killing giants. Come on. I mean, that's pretty awesome. Amazing. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. It's pretty sick. It has a pretty good line.
SPEAKER_00He is going to take his land claim.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00God promise me this.
SPEAKER_01That guy's dope.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, George, we're changing something.
SPEAKER_02We'll cut that up.
SPEAKER_04Phew! No, keep it in there.
SPEAKER_02No, Justin always says we cut it out. We never do.
SPEAKER_04So we're just having too much fun. We're having too much fun.
SPEAKER_01Um, but the entire book of Ephesians is the entire book of Ephesians. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay. First of all, we're in the highlights with the teens. We're not doing every single verse. Well, you're making me sound like a psycho.
SPEAKER_04I did finish. No, I mean, you're taking the teens through the journey of Ephesians, but we're not going verse by verse, right? Okay, not going verse by verse, but through the book of Ephesians, which has a lot of uh important message, uh, important things to say. You know, Paul's going in there. Uh, and it touches a lot on purpose, which is our theme for this year and kind of what we're talking about this episode um and what that means. And I think especially a lot when it comes to the broader cultural talk, purpose and meaning has been a big one. This is we've touched on it a few times here. Um other big names have touched on it, and it seems to be maybe an epidemic that we're all looking for a purpose. Um we're all wanting something to do, uh which ironically leads to okay, what is my purpose? Right? What does God want me to do? And it gets um, I even preached on this not too long ago. It gets where it's kind of like we focus on the wrong things. Um and so maybe Caleb can help shed some light on that.
SPEAKER_01You mean Jeffrey? Maybe Luke can help shed some light on that. Hey, we have the same we have the same thing. Everyone's going through the purpose epidemic right now. I don't know. Have have you guys talked about Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism on the show yet?
SPEAKER_00No. That's every episode, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01That's every episode? Wow.
SPEAKER_00We highlight those at least. No, we unfortunately.
SPEAKER_01Well, I just bring that up because there's the there's that trend of the last year. People who consider religion and Christianity specifically go those directions.
SPEAKER_04They're one of the fastest growing, right?
SPEAKER_01I don't know the stats. People say that. I've heard it said too. I don't know if that's the application. I don't know. I've never been. Oh they do. But there's at least a trend in that direction, and um even even in Seattle, like it the older people, the fifth the Gen Xers and older in Seattle are the most closed-minded to Jesus. The most open-minded are some even the millennials are kind of a little bit more closed-minded, some are, but it it's like next gen down, Gen Z especially. There, you know, people are you know, 25-year-olds who are in hyper-progressive Seattle are open to thinking about these things. I was telling George the other day, you know, I goof around and play hockey. Great way to meet people. And you know, talk to some teens and other guys who are like my age in their 20s and 30s, who are like, what do you do? It's easy, I'm a minister. And yeah, I don't get the reaction, you know, Fox News would tell you that I get the reaction of in Seattle. I get the reaction of people like, oh, interesting. Hey, I saw on TikTok this thing about Christianity and Islam. Like it's definitely uh a trend, people considering that because there's this, like you said, George purpose thing in the background.
SPEAKER_04I feel like yeah, they're looking for meaning. Why do you think they go to the Orthodox and the Catholic Church? To me, I feel like there's some structure there.
SPEAKER_01I think a structure are comfortable with. There's ironically, I guess we could I don't know if this is more of our other episode or not, but ironically, I think our tradition uh touches on this a lot better than I think our average member knows or should know they do about going back. Our whole thing is going back to the New Testament. But people like the the historicity of it is really grounded, all the creeds and confessions and liturgies. People have been doing it for you know 1400 years or whatever, and they're like, this is something bigger than me. Right. Um, but it's just a trend. Like all trends, it'll go away. There'll be a time again where the community church is super popular again, and I'm sure it's you know, I keep banging this thing, and I'm gonna have to sit on my hand because I keep wanting to just smack this chair right here. So, Caleb, I'm sorry for makeup, Jeffrey. I'm sorry for making your life so miserable. That's fine.
SPEAKER_00Poor listener.
SPEAKER_04I think you're right. I think you're right. Um but where are we going to we're going to Ephesians? Ephesians. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You asked me about purpose, and we started talking about the trends of our culture and Christianity.
SPEAKER_00Are you able to have those conversations with those people? Like at you're obviously playing hockey, you interface with these people. Are they interested in having discourse?
SPEAKER_01At the at the very least, and that the conversation itself, you know, now half of them, that's it. They talk, you might hit them up. But a few other people we'll go get coffee and that sort of stuff afterwards for sure. You know, younger people are especially if they're they'll they lack community. That's the thing. People also lack community, and so they're looking for something. I think that's also why the LGBTQ plus thing, though it's especially in Seattle, still have it, but it had as popular heyday because there was a story, and you get to be on the right side of history, and you get to be part of the community and be a hero and whatever. That's an oversimplification. But no, you're right.
SPEAKER_04People want to be a part of that. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01They're like, hey, here's yeah, here's a movement, here's you know, something to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00That seems fascinating from a generation that's grown up completely connected to everything. Right. I mean, we understand because I'm era, I understand because I didn't have the internet when I was a kid, and I did I saw the development, I saw the interconnectivity, and then the fact that we were able to communicate openly with people across the world. When I was in college, I had to purchase phone cards. Now I can just, you know, to call home. Right. I would go weeks without contact. Now I can text people anywhere in the world for the most part, even in outer space. You know, they were using cell phones on the most recent trip around the moon.
SPEAKER_01That's wild.
SPEAKER_00So it's it's interesting that the generation who's grown up with that is looking for some type of physical community, some kind of interpersonal.
SPEAKER_01It's a testament to the veracity of Christianity. It there's been no religion in the world that has been under the spotlight and criticized through all eras, like Christianity.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And in the the digital age, Islam, Mormonism, a lot of things are getting exposed where it's like, okay, that's out there now, and you got to find a new the apologetics, and like when I was in Utah for a few years, obviously, the best Mormon apologists are those who refuse to define anything. Sorry, Latter-day Saints out there, but in my experience, it's like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. I just can't get same thing for the I've talked to a lot of Muslims now, or a decent amount of Muslims in Washington and the Seattle area. It's pretty similar there, really evasive. Now, I don't think I'm not assuming the I'm not trying to assume the worst of them. I'm sure their hearts are trying to follow God and and what they know, but it's just Christianity's been like, we're going to define things. We're going to define who Jesus is and the Trinity and the church, and you know, and so the fact that you're coming through the digital age and those who've grown up with cell phones into I'm the oldest of Gen Z. Are you Gen Z, George? Are you technically the next one?
SPEAKER_04I'm a Zennial.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we're like blurred. So I'm um I'm on the very oldest end of Gen Z, the father of the Gen Z. I'm at the very end of millennial. It's like right there. See, I do text like a millennial. I drop LOL a lot. That's definitely millennial. So there you go. So maybe I'm more like you than I care to admit, George.
SPEAKER_00For me, it's the chat room. If you ever went into a chat room, you're a millennial.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's true. See, I didn't have I remember getting Facebook and it was still cool for like a second when I was like in seventh grade.
SPEAKER_00If Facebook was cool, you're a millennial.
SPEAKER_01Oh, really? It was really quick though.
SPEAKER_04See, those are a couple years' difference. There are a few things like that, like remembering 9-11 that are kind of different. I don't remember between you and myself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, somehow we start talking about 9-11.
SPEAKER_00We'll timestamp the 9-11.
SPEAKER_01I hear that's alive. It's gonna still be in here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's fine.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. But what I what I think too is people are looking for a community, looking for something to belong. And when I'm looking at Ephesians, I read verse four where it says, For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, uh, before him in love, in fact. And I think that's amazing. When I think about being a part of a story, being on the right side of history, why not be on the right side of eternity?
SPEAKER_01Oh, nice. Man, you're good at this. Man, you should be a preacher or something.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's great.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, that's an excerpt. We need to timestamp that. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I think this whole show is being timestamped right now. AI does the work. Good job, Jeffrey.
SPEAKER_04Anyway, as you talk about trying to find something, God is actually choosing you and wanting you to be a part of it. Yes. And I think that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that's why we want to talk this weekend uh with the teens here in Waukia uh about that. You know, Robert last night, uh, we're having late night talks with Robert Johnson, who's helps one of the deacons here and helps out with the teen events and stuff. He has this uh vanilla folder from a different church from I forget how long. It was, he thinks it was around 20 years ago. And anonymously, 20 years ago, he had like his high schoolers and their teen ministry write down like five of like the biggest struggles, temptations, questions, and three things you'd like to talk. He show you this? Isn't it interesting? It is very interesting. Nothing's changed, even though nothing's changed in like the lists and you know, like sex and alcohol and the partying. Uh by the way, I feel like Lubbock more than the average city has a lot of partying problem.
SPEAKER_04I mean, it is it is the Raiders.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's funny. Kendall's co-workers in Seattle, like, oh, I don't drink anymore, and they have like a party, but so bad for you. They'll they'll do all sorts of other stuff, but like, I don't touch that. Like, there's a lot of agnostic teetotalers like popular right now. Don't touch them. But anyway, but like the partying and the the sex and then and then the general questions of does God care and listen to me, loneliness, family issues. There's some hard, there's some funny stuff in those, by the way. People are like, uh, there's one girl was one girl's thing was my uh a temptation for her was to get a different boyfriend because her boyfriend's bad at dancing at school dances, and she was like ashamed of him. And so you get like silly stuff like that. But most of it's like super, you know, serious with purpose and like dealing with depression and questions about all the usual questions we're still asking. Um that was 20 years ago, a group of random teens. And they're for teens, right? They were teens, and so we need it also when you know we're 40 or 90 or whatever, this purpose, but you're so vulnerable as a teenager, obviously. Everything I was talking about with Robert, everything feels way bigger usually than what it actually is, but it's still very much so real to you when you're 16. Um Yeah. Things that even adults deal with. And I was saying in the list of all these big things, I was like, most of these things, like I was pointing out with our agnostic Seattle friends right now, they're like they're 30 something and wish they had a family, or they do have a family and wish they hadn't been divorced and had this addiction and all these things. And by no means health, wealth, prosperity stuff, that's a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but there's God's rules are reason. There's orderliness. All right, the world's made and it's ordered, it's good for us. There's fallen, so there'll be brokenness and sin, but like there's orderliness, that even gets into sexuality and all that kind of stuff. Like, God cares about us, He's not a dictator. But the purpose behind it is is the bigger story that you're pointing out, George George. That before the world was made, there was a plan and purpose from love itself or himself more accurately, and God choosing us in Christ. That's a good story. That's why I wrote in the bulletin. Who does your bulletins, by the way? They did a really nice job. They do. Shout out to I mean Shauna. Shauna? Yeah. She cracked me up because I talked about being vacuumed up to heaven. What's the purpose? If I'm saved, I'm gonna leave. She had a nice little drawing. Yeah, she had like a drawing of a vacuum that said heaven and was like sucking up people, I assume. It was just little dots, though. I was like, is that me down there? Uh but yeah, Ephesians, man, it's the plan and purpose and how to live. There's probably not a cleaner book than Ephesians, where it's like chapters one, two, and three is like, here's the theology. Four, five, and six is the so now what? Paul's letters generally do that, but Ephesians is like really, really clean and obvious in my opinion.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it is. It definitely is. Um But if I'm struggling with loneliness, I'm struggling with um you know, alcohol, even like an alcoholic, you know, father or something like that, I think he has a teen. Even in an adult, right? This applies to adults. How does this story help me in that situation?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, tonight well, this will be released after, but hopefully what's happened by the time you're listening to this was our opening night with the teens and the first verses I'm going to tonight, I think begin to answer what you're getting at, George, Ephesians 1, 9, and 10. Um, where that God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his kind intention, which he purposed in Christ, with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times. That is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on earth in him. That was the old faithful NESB 95 right there. Classic. Yeah, it is classic. It's good. Um But that's like the direction that that's what God has done in Christ and what he is doing through the body of Christ. And so the the storyline with those things, I think it begins to offer hope of there will be redemption with that brokenness. And there the fact that there's redemption means um God has a plan, and God's plan gives us purpose. Uh easy to preach and talk about on the podcast. But that that purpose and hope is what's going to drive us through our own failures and the brokenness of this world. Um, I'm not saying that like that prays away the problems or the feelings or the medical realities. I'm not, we're not saying that. But that's the drive of how we're, you know, going to live. It's like a lot of times the kids hear a story, uh the Jeremiah 29-11 abuse of I have plans for you. Right. You know, that kind of like, okay, fine, fair enough. But you know, the context of like Jeremiah 29 is for Israel. Israel, yeah, who's in exile and they're suffering. And so that actually, when you know the context of Jeremiah 29.11, it speaks even better to us now, like in Ephesians and whatnot, that even in the suffering, the exiles of this fallen world, uh not being our home, we're seeking this city to come, as Hebrews says, um paints hey, there's still a purpose through all of this. God's plan for me individually isn't primarily about where I go to college or what successes or failures. Who am I gonna marry and all that stuff? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Those are important questions. Sure. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It may be part of like the story, but it's not the purpose of the story. Right. Literally, who it sounds trite in some way, but who cares what you do as long as you're within the plan of God, then whatever you do, you can engage it in that way and it's gonna be great. Right.
SPEAKER_04And now in this, if I'm looking at this textually, he's talking about the mystery of his will. Um that ties later on into the book, right? The mystery of Christ and the church and the bride of church. And so I imagine a part of that purpose is walking amongst other members of the people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we'll point out with the teens how the Jews and Gentiles who had a lot of ethnic and social reasons to not like each other, and they weren't really liking each other, even though they both said we like Jesus and we're following him, the uniting of things on earth, I think first and foremost, is um us, the image bearers of God broken but redeemed in Christ. And if there, if if if all of the cosmos, if you will, cosmos of heaven and earth is culminating and summed up in Jesus, if he made it for himself, if if there is right coming heaven and restoration, so to say, as the scriptures point to, then that means there's gonna be unity amongst his people. This is part of all of creation. It's like Philippians 2. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. If that's the case, and you are gonna be on uh team Jesus, so to say, if you're following him as king and obeying him as king, well then you are going to lovingly submit to him and one another, and you we will be unified. If you if you don't get on board with that, right? If we're not on board with God's plan for the world, you know, he's not gonna force us to, but you're like you said, with history, you're gonna be on the wrong side.
SPEAKER_00You're choosing to separate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're on the wrong side. I love Peter's second sermon and Acts three, the less famous in Acts two, though I was just telling George, Acts two, so good. But Acts three, where he's preaching uh the of repentance and the resurrection of Jesus. He calls him the prophet from Deuteronomy 18, like Moses, he's the one you must listen to. So you should repent and turn back, so times of refreshing may come, and that God may send Jesus and bring about the restoration of all things. Like the future of the resurrection, not bodily escape, by the way. The future of resurrection and wholeness is right, redemption, restoration, and the the total. We experience it now spiritually, of course, and and what salvation really is. And that's something I really want to hit with the teens is salvation's not a one-time prayer or baptism, even, or they're like, that's part of it. But like salvation is experienced in a very tangible way right here and now, which to your point, Justin, probably gets at why do we have Gen Z who's on the phones and mass media and social media who want something tangible? Like there's a hole there in their agnostic uh you know screen only world. They're tired of that.
SPEAKER_00Which which they I mean, I'm in the arts, and so when that shift was happening and pushing everything into the dig into the digital realm, we had talked about that. Oh, it's gonna it's gonna cycle back and they're gonna want to come back into the theater, they're gonna wan want the community again. But I didn't think that it would be this soon. But that's exciting.
SPEAKER_01It is exciting.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, and you see the price of Netflix. I mean, this has happened in 10 years. Everything was really affordable, everything shifted. We got rid of cable. We got rid of so now we everything is starting to creep up, the value of the dollar's tanking. And so it seems like the cycle is very quickly happening, which is good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, even people who I I think Christianity is what gives the consistent and even the better emotional, emotionally satisfactory story. But even people who aren't following Jesus, like I've been some some trends and and strangely enough, the more materialistic places like where I am in the Pacific Northwest, where there's some trends among people to get flip phones and stuff and like get off right you guys. Yeah, yeah. You guys seeing that here in West Texas? Okay, so it's everywhere. Yeah, it's everywhere. And uh so you're you're seeing that trend of something people wanting something you know tangible and and and real, and as great as like you were pointing out, Justin, the advancement of tech and and now AI being here, as great as all that is as a tool, um it's pretty unsatisfactory when it just takes away all of my actual experiences or or or purpose, I suppose you could frame it.
SPEAKER_04That makes sense. I'm trying to think of it being tangible. I feel like the fact that I have brothers and sisters, that's what makes it often tangible. That's what often makes my hope willing to continue, right? Because I'm hoping not just you know, not how things are, but how things will be. And um when I think about God's plan of salvation, eternal salvation, um I want to be a part of that plan. And like you said, sometimes we go, all right, I'm baptized, I'm good, I don't have to do anything else, but it doesn't really it's not an act of change that's gonna help fix and change my life. Totally. And that's kind of how he starts off with chapter two, right? He's like, Oh, former things, former ways of life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you were dead. Yeah, actually you're dead. I think what you're getting at, uh, since Justin has the beautiful voice. Justin, would read you read go down uh verses eight through ten of chapter two of Ephesians? Yeah. I think this is I mean, this is Ephesians 2 10 is our theme verse for you for God, but I think this sums up what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_00I'll be reading in the Greek into linear. Oh Tegarchati este. So oh, sorry. I'm gonna go to the English. That was yeah, that was great.
SPEAKER_04I know exactly what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01Are you gonna are you gonna produce for us not just a ministry of reading in English, but also in coin Greek?
SPEAKER_00So I am honestly trying to learn Greek. That's awesome. Um that's cool, which has been a repeated New Year's resolution. We always come and talk on New Year's. This oh, what do you and I think I'm gonna learn Greek this year. I think I'm gonna learn Greek. So I think this is year five. I think I'm gonna actually have dualingo for Greek, yeah. And so coin in Greek. Ancient Greek. The most recent I've I've heard and studied is that it is helpful to do modern Greek just to get into the language and learn the alphabet.
SPEAKER_01Oh, what? They didn't do that for me.
SPEAKER_00Well, I don't know. Y'all are the ones who went to like seminary and stuff, but uh Bible college. I didn't. Sorry, Bible college. Well, I I mean y'all are smart, and I'm I'm just some scrub from East Texas, but I only know enough to be dangerous. But that's that was kind of my thing, is the context now that I I very heavily lean on the wisdom of people who've gone before me, but uh it is sort of a goal of mine. I would love to be able to do it. Okay, so Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. 10. Perfect. This is Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
unknownAmen.
SPEAKER_01So I a lot there. Yeah, I what I wrote in the Bulletin and what I want to emphasize, one of the things I want to emphasize with the teens this weekend, and for the adults for that matter, is that salvation uh it changes tangibly the here and now, which means the future here again at George's is hope, obviously. But what I'm experiencing now, despite the suffering and the brokenness, if it is in line with God's plan, that means I'm experiencing salvation right now in some extent. We know it's not the full extent extent. I mean, Paul speaks of you were saved, are saved, you are saved, and you will be saved. You'll see all those ideas of, hey, remember like he Romans 6, he's like, Hey, don't you remember when you're baptized into Christ, you're baptized into his death, you're walking in this newness of life, and then so you were saved. You are saved, hey, you're you're saved. Well, I mean, isn't that what we just read? Yeah, you have been saved through faith, right? It's a total gift, can't earn it. And then you will be saved. Hey, persevere, endure to the end. Jesus will return. Yes. Right. There will be a coming judgment day, which is good news for the follower of Jesus. There will be justice, there'll be eternal life. Um, so Ephesians 2, 8 through 10 really sums it up. We're created for good works. We're not we're not earning it going back. It's free gifts. You're not earning nothing, but you're living out the salvation. You're experiencing it right now. Because yes, we are saved from death and hell. Those are real things we're saved from, but you see it right now, right? There's a reason why people say phrases like I've been through hell or something was hellish or whatnot. There's a reason why. Right? Whether it was something more physical like a car wreck or something more emotional like a broken home, like this was hell. Well, it was.
SPEAKER_00The horrible works that people can do to one another.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yeah, the bro the the physical, spiritual death can't separate those two. They're all interrelated. The physical tells the story of the spiritual, just like baptism. Yes, which I appreciate about us. It's it's a symbol, but it's not only a symbol. There's a spiritual reality by faith, right? And putting on Christ and receiving forgiveness, the gift of the Holy Spirit. I stand for the Lord's Supper, right? All the all these kinds of ideas. You gotta marry these two. And that includes what I do day to day. Includes a high schooler and my marriage, like the way I'm treating others and viewing the world, including my failures, is telling a story of am I living the blessed life as Jesus would say? Am I living a heavenly life or right, fleshly worldly temporal life?
SPEAKER_04I think sometimes though we can get in a loop, especially as teens, and we can think, why am I doing these things, right? Why do I keep messing up? And looking at this text here, you can tell Paul is keeping with the thing of beforehand, before knowledge. I've you know, I've had this plan for you, um, and I've created you. Like now he's saying I want you to see yourself not as someone who's created and just always messing up. You're not created to always mess up. You're actually created to do good works. And that actually gives me a submission. Um it gives me a sense of purpose. Like God had a sense to create me and not just create me and say good luck, but actually say create me and and and go go do something good. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Be a reflection of who I am in the world.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01And it's not we have a decision in the matter, but it's not on my ability. You can't earn anything. Right. I can't wipe away my own sin. Right. But in that way, of we'll talk about what this Ephesians 4 says, you need to walk worthy in the sense of representing. I'm representing God's kingdom, Christ. When you guys, you sometimes represent your family or your kids at school or your work, like you you have a certain set of expectations as to how I'm going to walk worthy and representing, you know, um my boss or whatever in this meeting or my kids at the PTA meeting or whatever. Like you're representing, right? That's what we do. That's what he means by walking, by walking worthy of those things. But that's what's going to drive purpose, but it we're not left alone. I really like in Ephesians chapter three, where Paul is again coming back to them being uh united and his ministry and reaching even the most outsiders of Gentiles with the good news of Jesus. And he prays before the Father in verse 14 that every family in heaven and earth is named. The Father made Jew and Gentile. And uh he talks about this riches of his glory. And into verse 16, he prays that the Christians in Ephesus that they'd be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being person. Yeah, that's not like apostolic authority, take up your bed and walk. We're not talking about that here. We're just we're talking about it. I think we conflate supernatural with miraculous. It is supernatural in the sense of if you're going to submit to God, to his written word and following Jesus, there is strengthening from the Spirit Himself. If you have God in you, that's supernatural. Yes, that's what I mean by that. People, I understand there's abuses and whatnot, but we we gotta speak where the Bible speaks. Here we go. This is this is what it says. And and you can see that the next thing is that Christ would dwell in your hearts, right? You can't separate the Godhead, of course. He says that later, right? Yes. Christ dwells in your hearts, and again, just like Ephesians 2, we were saved by faith. Christ dwells in us, and we're strengthened by the Spirit of God through faith. And we believe the promises, right? That's scripture. And the reason for this is that we'd be rooted and grounded in love, and that we could understand or comprehend with all the saints. It's it's not me in my Bible at home. There's a community, it's not me in YouTube, it's about all the saints. What is the breadth and length and height and depth of what? Right? To know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, or you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
SPEAKER_04So I was gonna ask, like, specifically, maybe you could define what strengthened means so that we're not falling into the pitfalls of like, oh, we're talking about, you know, Samson, and we're talking about do you think Samson was a scrawny guy and he like bulked up like the Hulk, or was he always ripped?
SPEAKER_01Or did you just look like an average Joe and could like throw you a critical?
SPEAKER_04In my mind, because of cultural, he's always ripped, but it is fun to think of him as super scrawny.
SPEAKER_02Like look, looks like Jeffrey. Yeah, or either Caleb.
SPEAKER_01But both the Calebs, both Jeff and Luke are a little scrawny.
SPEAKER_00Fantastic hair.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, oh yeah. This that was awesome. When I was here at VBS, we made one of good old Philip Bowman be Samson since he's quite literally he's shredded. That's how people usually picture Samson. You're welcome, Philip. And uh but we gave him the wig, sorry, Philip, we gave him the wig with the bulb life. That was perfect. Great story. It was right the lily nail haircut. Yeah, I was surprised how strong kids are. We had like eight, what age were those kids? Like sixth graders? I don't know how old. It only took like five or six to take down 230 million pound man. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of like Bug's life where the ants realize they outnumber together. We are strong. Yes. But but anyway, Samson, yeah. What are we talking about with strengthen? That's what you're getting at? Yes. Yeah. So here is to understand the love of God, which is what's going to unite me and in their context, Jews and Gentiles, for us, it's all our cultural, social, political, whatever differences you could think of. That's gonna be together in unity in the truth of Jesus, as Ephesians 4 is gonna lay out the seven ones, which we talked about in the past on that Zoom episode. So it's in truth, make no mistake about that, on those things. But so Bug's Life is a little true. Bug's life's a little true. Yeah, it's a good movie. Shout out, really good movie. But in in those things, uh this this strengthening and understand that God's love is like Ephesians 1, where he's talking to people who are already in Christ, already saved, and he prays for them that the spirit would enlighten their eyes again to better understand and and and act. So that it seems to be like the like Romans 8 and Galatians speak of like Romans 8 says, if you put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit, right, you'll live. And so we're clearly from the in accordance with the scripture, we're clearly getting strength and wisdom in accordance with the Bible, but we're getting strength and like moral strength and courage and wisdom, all the fruit of the spirit that we bear out. We have a choice if we're going to walk and step with the spirit or not. But he's going to, as Jesus says, like in John, he convicts the world of sin and he teaches and strengthens us. Um, so I I I'm just really seeing it like how like when I think of the most extreme example of like martyrs being faithful to the end, like I'd be praying in those kinds of moments. And then on a smaller level and fighting temptation in my day-to-day life, I'm be praying for the promises of God.
SPEAKER_04Being strengthened in the way that I can handle those things, I can endure those things, I can persevere.
SPEAKER_01I got a choice in the matter. You'd be more like Christ, essentially. Right?
SPEAKER_04That's what Paul literally says in the Romans as well, right? That you are able to do as as Christ did. Yeah. Um, yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense.
SPEAKER_01There's a lot more, I'm sure we could talk about the details. And but I I think when we try, like we we should be able to, like in we're talking about definitions earlier, define and understand. But when we're talking about people that fully understand, even if they believed what Jesus was doing or what you know the Lord God is doing in the old testament. And I think that's why we ended up trying to box God up really neatly with the Holy Spirit, because we see abuses and we have questions. Um I also got questions, but pretty plain here in Ephesians 3 that this like this prayer is for me even today, that God and me would strengthen me for holy living and to better understand Christ's love. That's what immediately here is understanding the love of Christ, which of course isn't just intellectually, but the whole thing he's been talking about leading up to this is Jew and Gentile having being united. And he picks back up on that in chapter four, of course. Right, you know.
SPEAKER_00What you were saying about community and how it's not necessarily a Gen Z thing, it's every it's every generation. Sure. What I have always found amazing is Ephesians 2 at the end, verse 17 specifically, where he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were nearer. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. And so later you're no longer strangers and foreigners, you're no longer an outsider, you're no longer unclean, you're no longer forbidden. You're a fellow citizen with the saints and are of God's household. And then in synergy with what Peter says later, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. That's the whole building, it's all fit together. We are the growing and we are the container of the of the God, of the Holy Spirit, God inside of us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, which is why you there must be. We talked about this in Ephesians four months ago. This is why there must be unity. We're not creating it, we're maintaining it. This is what God has done. So, yes, there are moments in the New Testament where people, you know, remove themselves from the situation where I can't have unity of someone who denies Jesus Christ as Lord. But uh, those in those seven ones, like we talked about, that's God has done that. Who are we to you know break that up? But I love this Ephesians 2, 17 and onward, like you're pointing out, Justin. Man, that's so crazy in their cultural context, because it must have been really hard not to. You see it in the book of Acts, you see it with Jesus. Like you're saying the temple's gonna be destroyed? Why would God judge us, the chosen people? Uh Gentiles have full inclusion, just the same as first it was Samaritans, those who had intermarried with Gentiles. So to put it, they would say it derogatorily, you know, half-breed type of stuff, kind of getting pretty uh racist against their yeah, the Samaritans and Jews. And then one more ante up, let's go to the Gentiles. And this is Acts 1.8, where Jesus says you're gonna go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, all the ends of the earth. That's where Acts goes. And telling the Jews that actually not only are Gentiles included in God's family, but like the Gentiles by faith in Christ have the promises of Abraham that you guys know oh so and dear, and that the very temple, they would not say Yahweh in Jesus' day, they would have said Kirios coming from you know for this Lord, but Yahweh, the God of the Hebrew Bible, is dwelling by his spirit in Jew and Gentile. Gentile.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that that's why it's super offensive. Uh and even today, like the today, those who are um the Jews today, right? That you have the the wailing wall in Jerusalem and going all the way back to those stones signify Jesus as a prophet from God. He said this place is gonna come down right for rejecting the Messiah. And I know people can turn that and can get really strangely anti-Semitic with it, but these are Jesus' words. Jesus is Jewish, Apollos is our fellow Jews, right? And there's this message of we've gone from the temporal physical things to the eternal spiritual things. Ephesians, you see it. The Jew and Gentile, the Lord God is dwelling in. That's true for us, obviously. Well, not so obviously. We hear that all today, and I don't think we we understand the gravitas of that as of what it would have meant for the original hearers. Right.
SPEAKER_04No, it's taking something that's special to me, something that belongs to only me. It's supposed to be a part of my identity and who I am, and then you're just giving it to the world and not making it less special in my mind. Like, what are you doing? Totally. Um, I thought God wanted this, and now you're just telling me to just go and throw it away, you know. It kind of makes uh makes it less special, but that that's not really what Paul's saying.
SPEAKER_01No, and then when it it is just like Ephesians 1, 9 and 10, it is all things being joined together in heaven and on earth, right? Right. Underneath King Jesus, right, uh underneath the Messiah reigning. And so that the picture for us today with with with unity and being full of of the spirit, you talk about purpose. Again, it's not individual. Yes, exceptions don't make the rule. I could be saved like on an island somewhere. But like that the idea is all all y'all, as you'd say in Texas, right? Y'all, yeah, all y'all, right? Y'all uh first Corinthians three are the temple of God because God's Holy Spirit dwells in first core three sixteen and uh Corinthians, first Corinthians three sixteen. Um, I was being mocked for my first and second coring last night at dinner by the elders, by the way. I'm persecuted. It is a Caleb thing, yes. It just makes sense. Just look at it. I I I I do it now too.
SPEAKER_00Every time I say first core, I get a bad taste in my mouth. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_01First Corinthians chapter three, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00I when you say it, it's endearing because I remember Caleb Fondley.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. I love Jeffrey too. What the the nothing, Jeffrey. Nothing, Jeffrey went over my head.
SPEAKER_00It's time for a round two of Cora. First core. He would instead of saying Corinthians, because it's like 25 syllables. He understands.
SPEAKER_01Caleb, his name's Caleb, you understand.
SPEAKER_00He's a sharp cookie. He does.
SPEAKER_01But the the message with y'all to the temple of God is again the community that that we all want. Um, but I think youth are definitely you know seeing um what started as just mere screen time, which by the way, I see a lot of old people spending just as much on the screen time as the young people, but or more. Yeah, or more. But it's youth weekend, not uh older people weekend, and uh but youth weekend with the teens, like they're they're seeing that. Well, we want something tangible and like real life experience. Yeah. And so when we see that when we understand that you and I, we both have God's Holy Spirit, where else would I want to be than with and in the temple of God? It's a very much a communal reality.
SPEAKER_04What I find interesting is that as you as he just told us to be strengthened, and then he tells us in chapter four, he uses an interesting he does he d he does something interesting just verbally. And it says in chapter four, verse one, you're actually prisoners. And when I think about our purpose, especially I think about younger people who, you know, to me when I was, you know, a teen, freedom was a big thing. Like I wanted to be able to do what I want when I want, however I want. And now you're telling me, hey, you're strengthened, but you're also a prisoner, kind of goes, it's a like a dichotomy.
SPEAKER_01Um well, I I go like Ephesians 2, 1, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. What what felt like freedom, um, you quickly realize is trapping me, right? I'm a slave to these things. And we're gonna be by slave or prisoner is saying you're going to subscribe and submit to some worldview and action. Everyone is. You're a a prisoner or a slave to someone or something or some ideology. Right. Right. And so the picture today, you know, we picture incarceration in the context, and they might they would picture a little bit of that. For them, right? They're picturing more like a slave master relationship, right? Here's the good master who actually cares about you. Right? He laid down his life for you, right? The good shepherd. That's the master.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's showing that look, you are not really in control as much as you think you are. Right. Which is good news. Which is good news.
SPEAKER_01Which is good news. If you admit that and love I'm gonna be a prisoner or slave, then I should want to be a prisoner of God than of anyone else, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh I should want it to be actually an imitator of God, which is how he opens up chapter five. Uh and then continue with how living throughout the rest of the book should look like. Um as a it says there, a sacrifice a sacrificial and fragrant offering, little nod there to um Romans 12.
SPEAKER_00Um let's say we hook somebody and let's say, you know, our great appeal to for people to come to Christ, they find this community, they join, they they come to a church where they're showing the love of God and they join God's family. Now what?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's the that's the kicker, ain't it? And that we're we're in it, and I'm not saying it's sin or wrong. We're uh all of us are the product of history and culture for better and for worse. Uh and so where are we at in uh everyone jumps back fair enough to the first century? There weren't church buildings in everyone met house to house, true. That's just a practical reality. Right. But even through most of church history, the idea that you could just prop up publicly your own building and do whatever usually was met with less than kind words and actions for a variety of reasons. I'm not gonna get into and bore everyone with, though I love all that stuff. But like where we are now, if the with the church building model, yes, I th I think it's right in the sense of like God approves of it, like it's uh a necessity in order to gather it. But but the church is you know what we'll preach on Sunday in Ephesians 4, the church is made for more than mere attendance. Amen. And worship is good, commanded, beautiful, right, and holy and awesome for us. It benefits us. Uh, but it's we've used these analogies. I don't know how well I and we live up to it. We talk about it's a refuel station, so to say, and we've all heard of or maybe been a part of a church where all of it was in the four walls, all of it. There were, you know, thank Milwaukee Ava does a good job as helping people move and meal trains and stuff like that. And that's not the totality, but that certainly is you see, yeah, yeah, you see the chunk of like this is a real, tangible, actual, practical family that loves each other. But you know, beyond that, including in the the spiritual disciplines, like we'll we'll talk about with the teens and and what's it mean to be trained and discipled? Is that only Bible class? So that's part of it. That's part of it. But being, you know, as Titus says, the older women training the younger women, older men training uh the younger men, is not talking about um where to go when you hand out the Lord's supper trays, right? That's not what that's not those are those are just practical things. Sure, it could be about you know how to pray in the assembly or whatever. We're just so building focused. And and what I'm getting at, Justin, is to trying to make us ask and answer the questions maybe for ourselves about what's the now what's supposed to look like, which is what I'm asking with the teens of like, okay, so I'm saved. Do I just am I just supposed to come, make sure I don't uh skip out as Hebrews 10 does say nothing's new, don't forsake the assembly, but make sure I come to the assembly and we do it the right way, and that's it. And this is why I was talking about the the vacuum cartoon. What the lady drew, which is like, why not just cut to the chase? The purpose here is just to uh to go to got go to heaven or whatever, and and why not just cut to the chase? Well, and so that's this is the question Justin's at, which is well now now what?
SPEAKER_04Well, it seems like we go back to the envelope that you received of all the things that envelope. Yes, the envelope of uh oh oh the the team struggles from twenty years ago. Yeah, Roberts. We go back to those things and what I'm saying is that you don't keep them hidden in an envelope. Right. But rather you share them with older and wiser and stronger Christians.
SPEAKER_01So when it's billing only and an assembly only, this could happen in a house too, I suppose. But when it's building only and assembly only, and this is where you get the quintessential hypocrisy, church going stereotypes that may be earned on some degree, you know. Sure. Um you know, you see the worst of that. Who is going to confess to a struggle with pornography or things like that? If I do have, if it means I'm not saved and forgiven, because that that means I'm not accepted or or loved or I'm gonna get kicked out of the community. Now obviously, if if someone's like, I just want to live in sin, that's a whole different thing. But we're talking about someone who's like, I want God, I want to know more and understand more now, and I'm struggling with A, B, and C. Uh yeah, we're not that's not gonna happen in a you know two-hour service.
SPEAKER_04Like that's gonna happen in the meaningful relationships of other people who are also spirit-filled.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yeah, and yes, you you get some of that at the church building. And I know churches, our church does some groups for accountability and different things at the church, but it's not about the building. I'm just saying the model, the culture around it. Right, I know what you mean. The culture around it um is just so building centric that anything outside is considered bonus. Secondary, secondary bonus. Those are for people who are like really feeling it. That's for the core, yeah. Or that's for the core of the you know, there's the deacons and their families. That's kind of their thing, you know, not my thing. Real Christianity is for the minister, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Talk more about that. And even even in Lubbock, though, it's uh like I say, it's on steroids in Seattle, but all of America, the busy, busy, busy, busy. Everyone's on to the next thing. True. And yes, you take care of your family first. There's an order of things that are spiritual right things, sure. But uh man, if there's if there's no sacrificing to be discipled and disciple others, there's no love. We're talking about love. Right? This is what Jesus does with his disciples, and it's not gonna look the same for every church, every individual, every culture, but it has it has to happen. It doesn't cut it to show up on Sunday, hear a sermon, go back home and and keep doing your thing without the community and that and that stuff. And the teams see that. You're not dumb. No, no, they do. I I saw that growing up at a church context.
SPEAKER_04Like they need a place and a people to comfortably go to. Uh they're the future in that we need all need to grow. And uh place by people, purpose. Exactly. Perfect, yes. But I think that also it kind of stems to the end of the book, right? Ephesians six. And it's the I think it's the famous one where you put on the armor of God. And we're all doing that. And we all find ourselves in God's army in in that sense.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. And again, we're back to God strengthening us too. Be strong in the Lord and the strength of his mighty. I mean, chapter three, right? Strengthen in the inner man by his Holy Spirit. Right. That's not and it's not some sort of mystical experience necessarily. I don't think like it's it's in the the tangible things when you put on this this whole armor. Um I mean, so so we could talk all day about Ephesians, obviously, for the rest of our life, probably. But uh how do you want to wrap this thing up, Justin? You're the host, aren't you? Aren't you in the host chair?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think um my question, it it seems to resolve for the Christian into a practical changing. And I think, you know, Paul's point at the end of Ephesians 4, where you have to put away the old man, the old self. You have to put it so there is a change that's implied, especially if you've come to Christ. You can't be the same person, you can't be the Ephesians 1, still dead to sin, you know, still enslaved to all of your desires and all the temptations. So there's an implied change that the the family of God helps, it helps strengthen you. And my favorite illustration that you can draw from Ephesians 6 is once you have the armor on, if you if you imagine a phalanx, a Greek phalanx, if everybody has their shield and their spear and they're all lined up together, a formation that's much stronger against fiery darts. If ever if you're standing with people and not just alone, that the the people of God were not meant to be alone. They were meant to have God inside of them and then to be surrounded by the family.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, those are the tangible ways that we put off that old self. It's just even if you didn't have explicit verses about what happens in the assembly at the Lord's Supper or the famous Hebrews 10, don't forsake the assembly. And there's a reason why they're in there. They should be in there. They're inspired by God. But even if in this dumb theoretical, you didn't have those verses, it's just dumb. But every single letter just assumes the fact that the letter is written to a group of people and just assumes the reality and the plan of God that the church is right, it's an assembly, it's a group of people with spiritual family. It just assumes that, right? That's how we we live all these things. I like that, I like that visual you're giving me there, Justin. It's a good one.
SPEAKER_00It's yeah, military history. But I I think that for the purposes of this conversation, that there's a lot to unpack here. And I think that your efforts here this weekend are gonna be uh well blessed. And I'm glad you're back, and thanks for rejoining your podcast that you started. And uh I I hope that we've we've done a good job uh continuing it on because uh I it is one of my favorite things that I do uh is praise God and having conversations with George and Caleb on the regular and um even Bryce when he's able to join us, uh, it really is one of those strengthening aspects of my life. It's made me a better Christian. Um and even putting on like when we were doing the cameras, it's it's one of those things where though this isn't uh necessarily as popular as other podcasts, it is one of those works that has benefited me, and I know that it is benefiting those who are able to really tune in and enjoy. And I hope that this weekend in person, you coming back and speaking to the youth, uh, you're a great man for it. And so uh thanks for coming back. Thanks for joining us on the podcast.
SPEAKER_01That's sweet of you, man. I'm really, really grateful to be back.
SPEAKER_00Well, uh, anything else for the good of the order?
SPEAKER_01Jeff.
SPEAKER_00Okay, that's kind of Jeffrey's corner. Go go soon this out one more time.
SPEAKER_04Go so.
SPEAKER_03If you want to know more about the Bible or you have any questions, our email is in the description below. You can DM us. We'd love to hear from you. And if you're looking for a church family or you're in a Libbook area, we invite you to come visit and hang out with us in Milwaukee. We love for you to find a church who practices the love of Christ.