The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. It's Matt Slick Live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at karm.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick Live for answers. Taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, and welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick, and this is the Matt Slick Live. It works out nicely. If you want, you can give me a call and as always the number is 877-207-2276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call. Today's date is 10-4, 2024. 10-4, 2024. And if you want to give me a call, like I said, 877-207-2276. 7-6 and you can also email me and that is info at karm.org info at karm C-a-r-m dot o-r-g and all you do is Send an email there and put in the subject line put in radio comment or radio questions You're stuck with something like that. We get to them. We've got a kind of hate mail in today which I want to get to because I thought was kind of good and I'd only read a little bit of it. I'd like to be impressed fresh So I don't read all of it. I go. Oh good. I just put it in there in the queue and hopefully I'll get to it all right, so Let's see. I think that's what we're gonna do because today is Friday 10 for October 4th 2024 and for those of you who might be new to the show that's look is my real name and I am a Christian apologist, which means I defend the Christian faith, debate, teach, write books, do radio, website, karm.org, and all kinds of stuff. I've been doing it for a long, long time, and I enjoy it. Now, if you want to be entertained, maybe this is the place. If you want to be irritated, this is probably the place. So we'll just have to see what happens. I'm going to just jump into some of the e-mails, and if you want to give me a call, like I said, 207 2276 and I actually have a hate mail Now, as I have been complaining, I've not had a hate mail in a while. That's a complaint. Because I enjoy hate mail. I really do. I think they're entertaining. I enjoy them. And they're so full of illogic, mistakes, problems. I just enjoy them. And this is going to be no different. All right, so here we go. Here we go. Here we go. This is notes debunking the. whatever, bad words thing. Interesting, this is what he says, I've looked all over the Bible and I can't find the word trinity anywhere. Well see, and I know this person doesn't like the trinity, well the Bible doesn't say the word atheist either, but there are atheists. It doesn't say the word automobile, but there are automobiles. To say the word trinity isn't there is not It's not how you argue about for or against a trinity. It just doesn't work. The issue is the concept type. That's what the issue is. Anyway, he goes on, is petty word games and forked tongue double talk. The best pathetic imagery rebuttal you got. This is awesome. This is good stuff. It's getting right in there. It's becoming insulting right away. And forked tongue double talk. and pathetic imagery. This is awesome. OK, so it says, you're not a Bible believer. Wow. So I didn't know I was not a Bible believer, since I defend the Bible, believe what the Bible says, believe what Jesus says in the Bible, that I assume the Bible is the inspired word of God. But I'm not a Bible believer, apparently. He says, Jesus Christ of Nazareth's parables of the talents and apostles Paul's comparison of salvation to an earnest secular contract debunks the faith alone heresy as you Protestants teach. Oh, so he's probably a Eastern Orthodox or a Roman Catholic. So, you know, it's interesting because when I talk to them, the ABC, the RCEO, or some call them the apostolics because they claim apostolic authority and apostolic successions. I'm referring to them that way. But then there's other groups that call themselves apostolic, this and that, so I will forego using that term, but the RCEO, they say that faith alone is a heresy. So here's my question. This is salvation, right? So what do you do to keep yourself right with God? What do you do to get your sins forgiven? Tell us the things, the list you've got to do. That's what I always ask them. And I actually get lists from them. I do. You know, you've got to keep the commandments, or you can't commit adultery, or you have to be honest, or you've got to take the sacraments, or you have to go to church. All these rules, these things that you have to do and not do in order to keep yourself right with God. And then I'll say, wait a minute, I thought we're justified by faith. And then they make up this thing called initial justification. That's not in the Bible, initial justification. And you gotta be justified later on because you have to do good works. And it's just bonk. They're just false teachers. Anyway, Apostle St. Paul gave you 11 lists of mortal sins in his epistles to the Romans. gave you a list of 11 sins. The Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, Colossians, and Bishop St. Timotheus of Ephesus, evangelizer Apostle St. John gave you three lists of mortal sins in the Apocalypse. Apostles St. John and Paul both say anyone who gets saved then does any of these things doesn't go to heaven. Well, you know, it doesn't say that, because I know what he's doing. And this is a good example of bad thinking, of really bad thinking. It's pretty shameful when I read stuff. And it says in Romans 5.19, for example, now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, and it goes on. It says, and I forewarn you, Paul says, just as I forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So if you practice those things, we Protestants agree, if you practice them. But if you practice them, does that mean you're a Christian? Or does it mean you're not a Christian? Because, well, do Christians go out committing idolatry and sorcery and fornication and jealousy and outbursts of anger and dissensions? is that what Christians do? Of course not. And I ask Catholics, and these guys are Catholic, I ask them about this. I say, well, why would you say that? We don't teach that. We don't believe in that. But where does it say that they're Christians and they lose their salvation? Where does it say that? It doesn't. They read into it. And what they do is they read into it because they're in these wacko churches that don't let them think critically, let's just say. And look what he says, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified. That means they're set apart for holy use, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these are some of the typical places that they'll go and I'll say to them, well, where does it say that they were saved? And where does it say that they lose their salvation? And then they get mad. There is a, I hope I encountered him tonight online. There's a guy, a particular guy. uh... who hates me i mean real hatred and uh... he gets into the rooms i'm in and he interrupts and then accuses me of being a devil a liar a purposeful deceiver uh... he says i'm of satan and uh... and he says i don't i don't care if you go to hell and he's i mean this is i think he's an eastern orthodox or a roman catholic he's either one of those And it's really amazing to see the vitriolic hatred for the Word of God. These people will say, oh Matt, you teach these heresies. And I say, well, let's go to the scriptures. Let's look at the word of God and see what it says. And they don't like that. Oh, no, no, no. Why? Because they're loyal to their church. Now, let's go on. This guy says, your kind tried to insert themselves into a history which you were either never even part or always on the wrong side of, which is why you don't observe God's calendar. Wow. But instead observe the pagan Julian invalid calendar. Repackaged as the pagan anti-papal Gregorian the eighth invalid calendar and casually called days by and validate pagan names with uppercase letters and without quotation marks and use pagan invalid months And this is all coming from a benjamin judaean israelite. This is this is all one sentence you can tell this guy's record is record skipping, you know, he's turning on and It's a 45 record playing at 33. It's skipping. Now that's for the old folks like myself who know what records are and the speeds. And youngins are going, what? What's he saying? I don't get it. So anyway, let's see. He goes on with, your whole 16th century pseudo-theology was made by medieval northern Wow, this is awesome. By medieval northern Europeans and pre-modern white Americans. Oh, wow. For medieval northern Europeans and pre-modern white Americans. Oh, wow. Who have no concept of what an earnest, what an earnest is in a contract in which both parties have obligation, in which the hirer gives the earnest. Man, this guy just rambles. Apostle Paul constantly says God promises to provide salvation to a Christian at the end of life only if the Christian lives up to his or her vows to the Christian faith until the end of his life. Wow, how's that working out? How's it working out? You know, I like to ask them, how's it working out for you? Are you doing a good enough job to keep yourself right? Are you going to make it? You don't know if you have eternal life now, do you? But 1 John 5, 13 says these things are written so you may know you have eternal life. You can't know you have eternal life if your salvation depends in part on what you do. That's right. You can't know. You can't know if you're saved or not. I'm saved. I know I'm saved right now. And you know why? Because I don't put any faith, any trust, any hope in anything that I do. It's all in what Jesus did. It's all in what he did. So I'm secure in what he did, not what I do. Not in my goodness. This is why these poor people who don't know the true gospel, what they'll do is twist the word of God and say that they're the ones who are able to please God through their efforts and they hope to be saved at the end of their life. Wow, pat yourself on the back. Pat yourself on the back. And that's the hate mail for today. That was pretty interesting. Then here's another one. This is on another platform where I sometimes go and speak. And it's in a clubhouse. And it says, you got cut the cross, Matt Slickness of lies, the wake up call. And it goes on, Matt Slickness of lies, I'm smiling. Matt's slickness of lies. I thought that was pretty good. I liked it. And I get a kick out of it. And they're trying to bait me to come into the room so they can ambush. I've been in this room before. I know who they are. And they are rude. And when you ask a specific question, they don't answer it. They just accuse. They're just full of anger and vitriol and things like that. That's all it is with them. Anyway, so there you go. Hey, look, if you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call. We're almost up for the break, and if you don't, I'm going to just do a teaching thing. I got something in mind to teach on, and we'll see. I'm thinking about teaching on the theology of marriage for the rest of the show. And it'll be interesting, I think, because, just so you know, I'll be out of the studio for three weeks, going to Europe, starting on Sunday, and doing a BibleLands tour. So, there you go, all right? And, oh, there's a caller coming in. We'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, we have a couple open lines, 877-207-2276. Let's get on the line with Jim from Raleigh, North Carolina. Jim, welcome. You're on the air. OK, thank you, man. I have a question. I get a little confused. about the scripture. Sometimes I was raised in a Baptist church and, and, uh, we've been to other Protestant churches. My wife's presbyterian, et cetera. But my question really is, do you believe that the Bible is in there? In other words, every sentence stands on its own throughout the Bible or, or not? Well, I don't know what it means to say every sentence stands on it all on its own. Well, let me, let me give you an example. I like to give you one verse, uh, John three 16. uh... we got to know the world you don't have time to have to serve leaks into my parents but have everlasting life do you believe that to be a true statement of course it is okay then then if i'm a catholic uh... them and i'm a roman catholic or or whoever uh... presbyterian lutheran whenever if i believe that that i will have ever let you told truly believe in lord jesus christ your lord and savior you will you are saved and this will make that's the only for a lot of talk about gold in the middle of it if that's the only verse then that would be sufficient but it's not because the bible also speaks about the issue of salvation and not adding any works to salvation which the catholics do so they might believe that jesus is uh... the christ son of god died the cross rose from the dead but they don't trust in his sacrifice sufficiently and completely in what he did because they have to add to it through their baptism, their sacraments, and their good works. So, you know, with the whole, they're wrong, okay? Yeah, I get a little confused sometimes, because I have trouble with judging, you know, judging others and that kind of stuff, and I get all fouled up with that, too. on uh... what what what do you seven twelve seven i'm about seven one and two when judge has been on judge or are we kind of judging them that that when we say they had to do that and i i don't know if that we are informing them we're not judging them we're telling them if you for example if you deny jesus as god in flesh you're going to hell we're not judging them we're telling them but so if if and that's all that's going on and first Corinthians 2 14 uh excuse me uh 15 says but the but he who is spiritual appraises all things and uh you know, yet he is appraised by no man. And so what that is, is the ability to make discernments and judgments, because it's on a crino, and crino is to judge. So we have the right to make spiritual judgments, but we don't have the right, we don't judge them. I'm telling you, you know, I say to somebody, I say to Catholics, if you don't repent of your false gospel, you're going to go to hell if you die in this false teaching. And they go, you're judging me. I'm not judging you. I'm informing you what the word of God says. That's not judgment. that that's a his business but he has already said this is the case and i can show it to them but what what he comes back and says and refers to john three sixteen blaze it leaves it with his whole heart still he thinks the same well you see it's it's The Bible is not simply one verse. We don't look at the Bible as one verse. We look at it for everything. So if someone were to say to me they believe in Jesus, I'm going to ask them, well, what do you mean? What church do you go to? I ask diagnostic questions. They could say they're a Mormon, and they believe in Jesus as a Savior. That means that they're lost because the Jesus of Mormonism is not the real Jesus. Okay. So there's, there's more to it than just a single verse. All right. Yeah, I understand. It just gets, it gets pretty confusing to me sometimes with, with these sort of things. And I think about the second great commandment, you know, and uh, I think about that while I'm doing these things, you know, loving your neighbor as yourself. We love the Catholics too. Do you see what I'm saying? It can be confusing sometimes. no, it shouldn't be. We love everybody and we inform them of the truth. We should be patient and kind. I'm patient and kind. I try to be. I'm human. I make mistakes. But we try to be patient and kind with Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and tell them the truth. They're on the road to damnation and they need to know what the truth is. And so we do that. I just need to study more, I guess. Learn more. I have one other question. I don't want to take up too much of your time. Sure, go ahead. It has to do with Mark 3.24 and Matthew 12.25. I just want to get your take on it. i'm i'm old and i've been in my whole life i've never seen our country so radically divide okay we will do it and i think the thing that matthew three twenty four fifty three twenty twenty four mark mark i'm sorry mark three twenty four mark three twenty four twelve twenty five and matthew uh... twelve twenty five twelve twenty five uh... if you're going to buy it yes it's it's basically something that kingdom divided against itself can't stand yes yes yeah funny because we are in our country has been one of these kingdoms i mean it is so incredibly divided now people hate such hatred in politics special yes because they don't have been worried me because they don't have a common goal to honor god so when you don't have god as the one you're honoring and glorifying then you'll honor and glorify yourself or your ideology or your pocketbook and as we see the government that's why we have so much division I truly believe that there are Democrats that are Christians and I truly believe there are Republicans that are Christians. I happen to be independent, but I mean, I think that Both sides have Christians. Yes, both sides have Christians. Does that make sense? Yes, I would say that, yeah. But I'm not a Democrat or a Republican either. I believe the Democratic Party is in the service of the devil, and I believe the Republicans are doing house calls for the devil to some degree. They're not doing what they need to be doing. And so we need to, as Christians, we need to not be loyal to a party, but loyal to Jesus and then move all things towards glorification of him. That's what needs to happen. OK, I totally agree with that. Yeah. OK. All right. I just want to get your take on that. Thanks very much. You're welcome. Well, God bless you, too. OK. All right. Let's get to Carl from Ohio. Carl, welcome. You are on the air. Hey, Mr. Man, how are you? Oh, I'm hanging in there, man. Hanging in there. What do you got, buddy? So I'm concerned about two friends of mine. I'm not trying to be too much of a food inspector. That's the Holy Spirit's job. I'm not trying to pull up any weeds with the week. That's the Holy Spirit's job. But, um, and I really don't think these two friends of mine would even know what John three 16 needs, you know, separation, reconciliation. That's the culmination of the whole Bible is about being separated and reconciled through Christ. And they tell me that they are in the kingdom. And, uh, I know Romans eight, nine, if you don't have the spirit of Christ of God, you do not belong to him. And, and they don't know anything that they have no desire to read the word of God. They know nothing about the Bible. They can say the GD word so very casually. And I asked him questions and I said, does the spirit reside in you? They said, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I have a spirit. I really, and you know, I love my friends. I don't want anyone to go to that place. You know, the other place, um, And I mean, when you zero desire for the Word, very simple scriptures, they can say the GD words so casually. So what do you think about that? Tell them not to call themselves Christians. You don't do that. Oh, OK. Don't don't call yourself a Christian when you're foul. When you contradict scripture, you have no interest in the things of God. Do they even go to church? Do they go to church? One does not. One goes with his wife because she kind of makes him go. Yeah. Okay, we'll get back after the break. We'll talk a little bit more about this, okay? Hey folks, hold on if you wanna give me a call. It's 877-207-2276. We'll be right back after these messages. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, and welcome back to the show. We have three open lines, 877-207-2276. Carl, are you still there? Yes. All right, man. Okay, so when I encounter people who are foul, who have no interest in church, reading the word, and then they say they're Christians, then I told many people, don't call yourself a Christian. because you're not representing Christ as they say you're judging me say the spiritual man can make spiritual judgments 1st Corinthians 2 15 and James 2 is is it if you say you have faith let's see it the James is talking about James 2 14 through 26 what you can say to them is you profess one thing and you do another what does that make you and so just say don't call yourself a Christian that's why I tell them because I love my friends. And I have one more of the question. I have a family member and um, I asked her, she's been out in the kingdom like for years, went to church, you know, sitting there breaking mortar building. A lot of people think that puts them in the kingdom. And um, so I asked her, I said, um, how are you reconciled to God? Like how? Like if you ask me that, I'm going to immediately say on Christ righteousness immediately. And she said, well, I love people and, I said, oh, okay, that's what she said. She didn't mention Christ at all, but she says, and then my other family member said she was defending her. She said, well, she watches the Chosen. I'm like, well, what does that mean? So what? You know, when I asked her how she reconciled to God, like how? It wasn't through, Christ's name didn't even come up. She just said it's because she loves. So I know that's based on works. So what do you think of that? Here's one of the things you can ask. You can teach her, but you can ask. If love is how you claim to be Christian and all this, then why did Jesus need to die? If you're made righteous by what you do, and your love, which is good, and your sincerity, and your helping of others, which is good, then why did Jesus need to die on the cross, if that's how you get there? Ask the question, you can talk, then give her the gospel. Okay, just give her the gospel. Okay, because that is, that's Galatians 2.21, I believe, 2.21. You are awesome, dude. Righteousness came through the law, Christ died for nothing, I believe. You're right. Good, I'm surprised. Yeah, if righteousness comes through the law, loving God, loving our neighbor, then Christ died needlessly. Why did he die? Yeah, very good. Okay. I'm actually impressed. I'm actually impressed. You got it right. Exactly right. You applied it right. You nailed it. And I just don't see that very often. So good for you, brother. Good for you, man. Give yourself a high five. But here's where I'm wrong. Here's where I am wrong. I'm always so scared to offend these people because they're ready to argue. And that's where I have to have, uh, You know, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Let me help you out. All right. So let's just say, you know, yes. Why did Jesus why Jesus die? And they give you whatever reason. It doesn't matter what it is. We can make something up right now. He did it because he didn't want to. People killed him. And that was it. That's why. And God just decided to use it. Let's say something like that is said. There's all kinds of stuff there. So you ask questions. Are you saying that God was surprised by this? I just want to know. I mean, I'm kind of curious. Is that what you think? You just ask questions based on what it is that they've said. Okay, okay, so he's going to lead them into that, okay. So picture yourself, not with a bulldozer, but with a survival shovel. You know, the folding up kind you can carry with you. And you can get just as big a hole as a bulldozer, but it's going to take you a lot more work and a lot more time. And so you dig down and find their foundation, and you undermine their foundation. So what is it that they're saying and why are they saying what they're saying? This principle applies to anybody and everybody. You talk to an atheist who says God is wrong about whatever. You say, well, how do you know he's wrong? So I'm just asking a question based on what they said. You have a universal standard. I ask questions. And I do this a lot with people because I want to find out what they know and where they're going. So I want to dig down to the basis of what it is that they have upon which they build all their complaints and assertions. And then I want to take that basis apart. That's what I want to do. Okay. And one more quick thing. I have another family member. She would always ask me, um, well, um, do they go to church? Do we go to church? I'm like, okay. I said, so he said in the brick and mortar building, like, what does that mean? But she thinks that they go to that brick and mortar building that they are in. And I'm like, really? So I don't know. Just say, well, good. Be positive. Good. I'm glad you're going to that church. It's a good church. But, you know, I'm glad you're going to that church. That is a truly visible manifestation of how God works in churches. And then you go into those churches and then you hear what God is saying through the preaching of the word. That's the thing. You go there. That's OK. Go there. you know, and then you point them to, and what's he saying? What's the pulpit saying? What's going on? And you can ask them, is there anything that you've heard while you've been to that church that was interesting? Maybe we can talk about it. I'd like to know. Now, all of a sudden, instead of challenging them, now you're working with them, focusing on what the preaching is and asking them what they thought of something. And now they're going to give you information and you work. You see? Okay. Cause you know, it just always makes me think of Matthew seven, you know, 21, 22, 23. And you know, I am, you know, where they actually meet him and they like, well, you know, I went to church and. I paid my tithes and I did this, but he didn't know him. He's just doing these things, you know, so, uh, yeah, well, then you do, you went right. You're right. Glaciers two 21. Okay. That's the whole principle, right? So you just want to get down to what they're saying. And, and sometimes I'll say, well, are you telling me, are you saying, that the reason you're going to go to heaven is because you're loving people. And that's a good thing to love people. I'm not knocking that. Is that why you're saying that? Okay, well then I have a question. Why did Jesus have to die if your own ability to love is what makes it possible? So go back to the cross. Okay. There you go. It's all about him. And you can ask questions in such a way that cause people to think about what it is they're assuming. Well, you see, Jesus is love and God is love and supposed to love people. That's what makes you go down. You can't hate him now, can you? Well, no, I'm not saying to hate him or anything like that. But then you go right back in. But I'm saying, if you say that love is what makes you right with God, Then why did Jesus have the diamond cross and you keep saying the same thing over and over again? So an analogy I give is that we have nobody waiting, so we'll talk about it a little bit here. Say you have a piece of plywood, whatever, that's about three feet by three feet square, and there's like 500 nails just tacked in a little bit, and there are two inches of a nail sticking up all over you, 500 of these. Well, what you can do is you can take your hammer and you can tap one and go over there and tap another one, go over there, tap another one, and you go all over. Okay, and you can do that as apologetics witnessing all over the place or You find one nail and you tap tap tap on that one nail till it gets taken care of Then you go to the next okay And this is what I talk about because focus on the point on the main point and try and bring them to the main point Which ultimately is who Jesus is and what they've done, okay? Because my one family member I mean I know that though. I I know God's love is reciprocal. I mean, you accept it, then you give it out. But I think she wants to give it out without except. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. God's love is receptacle. OK, so I'm going to offer a little bit of a fine tuning. God's love, his love isn't reciprocal. It's one way. Well, no, no, no. God, God's love is he gives and he doesn't expect us to give back. But that's what true love really is. That's we have to understand, judge it by God and teach him that and say, and you love, is it because God is working through you? And you know, well, that's good. Do you think that's enough? Cause I'm saying that she's trying to be justified by her loving, but she has not received the love. She has not received the gift. Yeah, and just say you've got to receive what Jesus did, because if righteousness comes by what we do, then Christ died needlessly, Galatians 2.21. And then what I'll often do is repeat the same verse over and over and over and over again, because they accidentally memorize it that way. Okay, well, I'm going to stop being a chicken hawk and get into a casual conversation, because I don't like to tick people off, you know, people get ticked off. Look, if you want to learn how to witness properly, I would suggest that you don't listen to me. I would suggest you find a really humble person who is in prayer all the time and has a light out of heaven directing them to go to a place and witness God giving the word. Then go try it on your own and be ready to make lots of mistakes. Then I'd say, come with me and you want to see mess-ups, come to watch me. I blow it all the time. But it's the power of the word of God that you have to understand is true. Always trust the word of God. Isaiah 55, 11. There's a break, buddy. If you want to hold on, hold on. Go ahead and hang up, hang up. We've got nobody waiting. We'll be right back, okay? Hey, folks, there's the music. We've got a last break. And may the Lord bless you. Be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. So, let's go. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Alright, welcome back to the show. We have nobody waiting right now. I'm just going to let you know that I will be off radio next week, the week after, and the week after. I'm going to Bible Land's tour of the footsteps of Paul. so this has been in the works for about a year and So here we are and that's what I'm gonna be doing. So I'll be flying out You know and so I won't be on the radio for those three weeks and we can do Recorded sessions past shows for those three weeks period to be the longest time I've ever had recorded things for my radio, which I've been doing for 21 years and you know, it's a blessing to be able to go and and and go to these places, it really does make a difference, at least in my understanding of scripture, when I get to be in those places that the Bible spoke about. I've been to Masada, I've been to the Dead Sea, I've been in Qumran Cave 1 where they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, I've been to Capernaum, in fact I've even preached in Capernaum, in the location. been to all seven churches of Revelation, been on an actual road that Jesus walked on, been to Golgotha, the site of the crucifixion, the skull, been to the garden, Apollo Garden, been there, been to David's foundation of his castle, the castle of his palace, seen down into the valley where Bathsheba would have been, been to the place where Judas hung himself, I've walked through Hezekiah's tunnel, been able to, I've been to En Gedi, been to Ai, been to Bethlehem, I've even drank water out of the very same well of John chapter 4. So going to these places is awesome. When you get to see them and be there and you have a great tour guide and they just give you so much valuable information, it is just awesome. I've been to Ephesus, Laodicea, Jerusalem. Yeah. I've been to Nazareth. I'm just remembering and smiling. And it's good. And one of the neatest things is the bus rides. Because you meet people that you've never met before. They have the same interests. And it's a lot of fun. We go to different hotels. I enjoy the food. In different places, different countries. And it's just enjoyable. And this one we set up about a year ago. And I won't talk about how much it cost and how we're able to afford it, but by God's grace we're able to go and looking forward to it. So what we're going to be doing this tour is following Paul's missionary journeys and goings. We're going to be going to Turkey. We're going to be seeing the seven churches of Revelation, the locations. and I always have trouble pronouncing this one thing, it's Pamukkuleme or something like that. Ponds here are stunningly beautiful. It's the only place I've ever seen in the world. It's right there in Turkey. We're gonna go there. And it's amazing. It's truly amazing. Laodicea was amazing. Ephesus was, oh my goodness. Oh wow, I can't believe what you're seeing when you go to Ephesus. And we're going to be going to Greece and looking at the footsteps of Paul where he was going to Athens, which I'm particularly interested in. I think we'll be going to Corinth as well. I'm not sure. Pompeii, where the people were buried by the volcanic ash. We're going to be going there as well. And then we're going to go over to Italy. And man, I want to go there. I am hoping we get to see the Vatican. I so want to see the Vatican. I really do. And we're going to be spending time in these three countries and just follow where Paul went, where he was, and then we're going to come home. And I'll give an update and take pictures and I'll do some Facebook things with the Karma.org Facebook account if you want to watch, watch or follow, whatever, during that time. That's it. So please, if you would, pray for our safety, for everybody's safety as we go. We've always been safe. There's never been any problems. It's just been delightful every time. It's been great. Once, however, our bus broke down just once. And I remember that. Everything was good except for this one time it broke down. Things happened and we stayed on the bus for a little bit. Then we had to walk about half a mile, three quarters of a mile to a location where another bus was going to meet us because where we broke down was in the middle of a road. We couldn't So we walked, and I got to help some of the people who were a little older and less able than I am. One laid on each side, grabbing my arms, we were walking up a slight grade of hill, and I enjoyed that. It was a lot of fun, being able to help people and stuff like that. So, um, like I said, it'll be out of the studio. I won't be on the air for live. I won't be on till roughly the 27th, 28th, and come back from October. So today's the last show for that period of time. But I do want to also let you know that we have certain needs at CARM. And if you'd be so kind as to consider, first of all, praying for us. It's a spiritual battle, and the spiritual temperature has been increased lately. There's just stuff we have to go through as a ministry. This stuff that happens is normal stuff, and I'm not going to say like a lot of ministers have done in the past, you know, oh, woe is me, and if you don't give $100,000, then all of this is going to fail. I don't believe in that kind of stuff. I just tell people we trust our Lord and our Savior and we ask that He would put upon people's hearts the opportunity to support us and that's it. We don't ask that anybody Take away from anything else. We don't ask that they hurt themselves in the process of supporting us We just ask that if they would at the very least pray for us that we would be able to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and that We were able to expand the the footprint of the gospel truth that goes out into the world That's our job is to get that word out and a lot of people can't do it Like like we can't do or I can do a lot. I go online write books, do radio, write articles, do interviews, do debates. Only a few people can do that kind of stuff. Most people are, you know, they're mechanics and doctors and moms and waitresses and students and all kinds of stuff. and that's not their calling. That's fine. But you can't support those like myself or I should say this ministry and other ministries where we, these parachurch ministries, where we do these kind of things and we promote the gospel in areas and ways that you can't. And that's not one is better, one's worse, because the people who go out there and do it need to be supported by others. They need that support. They need a place to sleep. You know, if you have an evangelist like Paul, when he was going around, he needed houses to stay in. He needed food when they would go, and he was the one out there preaching and teaching and doing these great works of God, but not everybody could do it like he was doing. They weren't called to it. but they could help him do what he was supposed to be doing and that's one of the blessings that Christians have is that they can bless those who are called by God and enabled by God to work in different capacities. And one of them is doing apologetics, like Karm. And there's other websites, not just mine, but there's other websites out there. There's other ministries that have great, great worth before the Lord. And we have that opportunity and that blessing to be able to support those ministries. And we don't do it for our glory. We don't do it for a tax deduction. We do it because we want to further the kingdom of God. that he has given to us and he has blessed us. In light of that I want to go to a verse. I think this verse is really a good verse and I've loved this. This verse of First Chronicles 29.14 I love how it's said, and so David is praying, and what they're doing in the context is they're talking about the offerings to build his temple, and doing things there and here in this place of 1 Corinthians 29, getting gold and silver and bronze, I'm reading through it, wood, onyx stones, inlaid stones, various colors and things like this, bringing to the house of God. And they they want to overlay the buildings. They want to do this stuff. This is for the temple of God. Okay, and For the service of the house of God they gave 5,000 talents 10,000 Derek's What was a Derek Derek's of gold and 10,000 talents of silver and then there's brass and it goes on so David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly and And David said, blessed are you, O Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. Indeed, everything that is in the heavens and the earth, yours is a dominion, O Lord, and you exalt yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all, and in your hand is power and might, and it lies in your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name. Here's this verse I love. But who am I? And who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from you and from your hand we have given back to you." I love that. And that's how we should look at it. From His hand, we're able to give back. From His blessing, we can in turn return the blessing to God. This is why you should be tithing in your churches. This is why you should be supporting the ministry of the church that you're in. The pastor, the elders who preach and teach need to be able to work at the work of ministry to be able to be supported so they can take care of their families. And this is why it's so valuable to provide for them if possible. That's why you should be tithing to your church. You don't have to. You're free to. Remember, all things come from you, Lord, and from your hand we've given back, given you, given to you. And that's 1 Chronicles 29.14. I love that verse. So, I'm just saying, we have our needs, we all do, and if you'd be so kind as to consider supporting us, we would like that, and you can do that very easily. All you have to do is go to karm.org forward slash donate, and you can help us out, and it'd be great. In the meantime, please pray for us. We do need that as well. We don't ask very much. Maybe $5 or $10 a month is what we need, what we ask for, so that we can pay the missionaries and keep the lights on, keep the website going, and be able to write more articles and hopefully get into videos. All right, there we go. So we've got about one minute in the show. for your support that you already have given. May the Lord bless you greatly. Please pray for the tour that we're going on this weekend. We're going to go to Europe for three weeks, a little bit less, but I'd say three weeks. And then we'll get back and continue to preach and teach and do, hopefully, the will of God. So please pray for this ministry. And I hope you can, for those of you, I've already been told, People are saying, I'm going to go through slick withdrawals. So it's funny. So I'm just hoping that everything works out great. And may the Lord bless you greatly while I'm away. And we'll just trust God to provide in the areas that he will. So there you go. I love that verse. I'd like to review it. That was 1 Chronicles 29.14 for those who want to know where that was. 1 Chronicles 29.14. The music's going to start. May the Lord bless you. And by His grace, in three weeks, we'll be back on the air, and we'll give you an update on what happened, how we were out there on the Bible Lens Tour. And by God's grace, we'll see you then, talk to you then. So have a great time, everybody. God bless, bye. Another program powered by the Truth Network.