June 27, 2025 • 56 mins
Pastors' Perspective is a one-hour call-in program where listeners can call in and get answers to questions about the Bible, Christianity, family, and life. The program is live Monday through Friday from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Pacific. You can call 888-564-6173 to ask your questions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
It is Tuesday, the 24th of June, the 2 dozen
day of the month. The year is almost halfway over.
Got a question about the Bible, the Christian faith? Give
us a call. We'd love to hear it. 888-564-6173 is
our number. You can also send in your questions.
(00:39):
Online, but we prefer to hear the sound of your voice,
so give us a call 888-564-6173. And answering your questions today,
we've got Bill Welsh, a pastor at Refuge Calvary Chapel
in Huntington Beach, California. How you doing, Bill? Uh, I'm good.
Thank you very much. Yeah, I just got back from the, uh,
(01:01):
the pastor's conference out in uh Temecula. Nice.
And, uh, Phil Metzger is joining us as well. He
is the pastor of the pastor, not a pastor, the
pastor at uh Calvary Calvary San Diego in San Diego.
What's up, Phil? in the San Diego, in the, yes,
of course. Although there might be one more than one
(01:23):
San Diego, that happens every now and then where there's
like a San Diego and, you know, New Mexico or something,
who knows, but anyway, that's likely.
888-564-6173 is our number, and, uh, we're gonna go to
the phones in just a little bit. As I mentioned,
you can also send in your questions online. You can
do that through the pastor's perspective Facebook Messenger, or, uh,
(01:46):
DM us on the pastor's perspective Instagram, or go to kwave.com,
look for the pastor's perspective page, and you can fill
out the form, and that gets your question to us.
I believe that is what Denise did when she sent
in her question.
Which has to do with Adam and Eve. The story
goes that God created the heavens and the earth and
created Adam from the ground and Eve from his rib.
(02:08):
If you do the math and you look at Homo
sapiens and Neanderthals, Adam and Eve were not the first people.
So my question is, are Adam and Eve real or
are they just a metaphor for the first spiritual being
or something? Phil, what would you say to Denise?
Yeah, thanks, Denise, for the question. I, I didn't hear
(02:29):
how she sent it in, but maybe you didn't say.
I don't know. Uh, was that an Instagram one, Brian?
That was, uh, through Kwave.com. Kwave.com. That's cool. Really cool
that they're sending them in like that. So yeah, Denise,
to answer your question, like, you know, again, it's pastor's perspective,
and we here on the show, we
We believe the Bible is literal. We take the Bible
(02:50):
really seriously. So, as it relates to Adam and Eve,
we believe, because it's what the Bible tells us that
they were the first people.
That they are not, it's not metaphorical, it's not an analogy,
it's not um it literally they are the first two people,
so that God made Adam.
And from Adam, he made Eve. And so, of course,
(03:12):
you know, as you get into looking at, uh, you know,
when you get into the anthropology of bones and all
these kinds of things, sure, there's, there's uh different perspectives
and so on, but we believe that Adam and Eve
were the very first and they were literally the first
two people.
So did Neanderthals and stuff come from Adam and Eve,
would you say, Bill? I, I would say there possibly there,
(03:33):
there were, um, other, uh, animal species that have been
mistaken for Neanderthals and that might have gone extinct, but I,
I totally agree with what Phil just said, that the
very first two human beings were Adam and Eve.
All right, sometimes we think we know more than we
think we know. You know, it's like, I do not
think that means what you think it means, but I
(03:55):
think that's one of them. I've seen some, I've seen
some people that, um, look like Neanderthals. Let's just get
real here, OK? And no, I just mean like, you know,
I mean, we're, we're, we're, we're too quick to be like,
you know, well, this is a different creature or altogether
when to the person asking the question, and, you know,
there's so much we don't know, but we do have
to start somewhere, right?
And for us, we start at the point of saying,
(04:15):
we believe the Bible. So, can I explain every detail
and explain the, the, those issues? No, I, I can't.
I'm sure others that are much smarter could do that.
But I do have to start somewhere. There is a
point where you say, I have to accept something to
be true, right? And so for us, that, that, that
truth is, it begins at scripture. So, yeah, but I,
I've played basketball with some guys that I thought, holy mama,
(04:38):
that's a, that, that guy is a big strong dude. That,
that guy could be a Neanderthal.
And it comes down to a question too of who's
doing the dating and do they have an agenda as
they're as they're dating? I mean, it's, it's not far-fetched
to believe that there's some paleontologists that have a, uh
a very sincere and uh hardcore commitment to proving the
(05:02):
Bible wrong and so messing with the dates. I, so
I don't know. It is true. Denise, thank you for
sending in your question online and Leslie also wrote to
us online.
And we'll go to the phones in a moment, by
the way, 888-564-6173 is the number, but Leslie asks, What
is a wife's responsibility and attitude supposed to be towards
(05:23):
a husband who is in a backslidden state? How can
she continue faithfully serving the Lord and in church while
her husband is an open sin? And does that sin
affect her? Bill, what do you tell Leslie?
Still be the, uh, still be the witness in that
in that marriage and uh and love that person and
(05:43):
what what is the I I can hear it in
my head in the old King James, where it says
basically not just to the gentle ones, but to the
fro word, remember that, that uh that word that was
in there so so to the tough guy husband or
the
Belligerent husband, I guess. You still gotta give them a
a a witness in your walk with Jesus and let
them see the grace and the patience and the kindness
(06:06):
and the honesty and and all that. Is it 1
Peter 2:18? I was looking for it and uh you,
your fingers are fashion online that speaking of slaves, yeah, OK,
that's a little bit different than wife to husband, but
slaves in reverend fear of God, submit yourself to your masters,
not only to those who are good and considerate.
(06:26):
And it just went away. Oh, sorry, that's OK. I
didn't know you might consider it, but also to those
who are harsh. So I mean God puts us in
situations where it's, it's not always the, you know, the,
the perfect situation where you got a, a solid Christian husband,
a solid Christian wife, and, and so I know there's
a lot of, uh, we got a lot of people
in our fellowship that are are living that reality too and, uh,
(06:49):
endeavoring to, to just live for Jesus in a, in
a tough situation, yeah, Phil.
Yeah, I just have so much empathy for the question
and for Leslie asking the question because
Especially when she asks, like, does that sin affect her
and or you know, whether she's reading that for her
or for somebody else, golly, just the idea that like,
(07:11):
you know, when you're in a marriage, how that other person.
That impacts you on so many levels, right? On just
so many levels, and so,
You know, the question, does it affect her? Of course
it does. That's why somebody would write in with the
question at all. On the other hand, it's also important
to remember that like, as much as it is affecting
you in that relationship, you also are your own person
(07:34):
before God. And, you know, you stand before God as you,
not as, oh, you were married to that person. And,
and so to what Bill said there, just being a
faithful witness, being a, a good spouse, a loving, respectful,
caring human being.
It that shouldn't impact, and I hope churches wouldn't say,
oh gosh, you can't serve because of your situation. No,
(07:55):
you stand before God and if you are a faithful
witness of Christ, may God use you and, and bless
you and um.
And eventually bring your spouse into that same deep loving
relationship with Christ. But certainly it does affect us. I mean,
my gosh, we all affect each other so deeply, but
it is important to kind of be able to pause
(08:15):
and say, OK, but I stand in the grace of
God on my own and not be
Because of them, and those are two hard things to,
to kind of put together, but boy, in the situation,
you really have to do that. I am married, this
is my spouse, I'm gonna love them and I'm gonna,
I'm gonna be honorable and respectful. On the other hand,
I stand before God and I am clean and free
(08:36):
in Him.
Yeah, and light always pierces darkness too and if that
person's been living in in darkness for let's say, you know,
most of their life, if not all of their life,
and now they're in that, uh, um, you know, that
relationship where the where the believer is in and and
often it's a husband and not the wife that's the believer,
but where the light comes in and and the darkness
(08:58):
is getting penetrated by that light that keeps shining, yeah.
And I'm I'm with you too, Phil, it's uh it's,
it's hard to hear those stories where you know someone
is not um.
they're with someone who's not sharing their faith, you know,
the most precious part of their life, and um, so yeah.
(09:19):
Yep, Leslie, our prayers are with you, and again, yeah,
just to reiterate this, it's affecting you in the sense
that you're dealing with this, but it shouldn't affect your
ability to serve the Lord and, you know, it's not
like the church should if your church, what if her
church is saying, well, until you get your act together
at home, you can't serve here. Have you guys ever
heard that, Phil?
(09:41):
Yeah, I mean, and you know, it's, I mean, I've
heard it, and then on the one hand, you know,
I wanna say, oh gosh, that's terrible. I can't believe
that happens. On the other hand, I just wanna be
like clear. I, I've expressed almost those words to people
when it's like,
But I, but again, how they understand it, I really
want to be clear, but sometimes we miss it. And here's,
here's my heart behind that. Maybe you're in a situation
(10:03):
in life where having to serve in the church isn't
the top priority right now. That's not a reflection of
who you are or your walk with Christ, or your
ability to serve here. But maybe the best thing we
could do for you is to give you that freedom
to say, now, I'm gonna
Kind of focus on this area of my life. I
think sometimes, you know, you have a mom who's got
a kid that's struggling, and they still want to keep
(10:24):
up serving, but they just need to be given a break.
That might be interpreted as, oh, they don't want me
here anymore, and I would never want anybody to think that. But, um,
you know, and I, I think for churches that struggle
with that, they really have to make sure their, their, um,
expression is clear. It's not about
They're not worthy or capable. You know, none of us
are worthy. It's only by the blood of Jesus that
(10:46):
any of us have any right to stand before God
or people. But on the other hand, I do want
to be careful and thoughtful to the fact that people
might be in a season where they need to not
think that serving is necessary, where they're already serving their
family in really unique ways. So, I don't know. I
hope that makes some sense.
Yeah, uh, you, you know, you wonder, Phil, how, how
long was it before, um, as congregations began to form
(11:10):
and gather, there was a need for, hey, we need
some people to serve, and the context of your serving
was in your social circles with your family and your
neighbors and yeah, so serve Jesus all you can and
keep shining.
And what what was her name? Leslie. Let's pray for Leslie.
Father God, I just pray for our sister Leslie who
(11:30):
is uh feeling the the conflict of light and and
and darkness there. And God, I just pray for her
husband that you would soften his heart and let him
see the light and the love and the truth of
Jesus in in Leslie, and just pray there'd be uh
there would be movement towards that father, even, even very,
very soon in her husband's life, that maybe he'd start
(11:51):
to ask questions or maybe he'd start to go with her.
But, uh, that he would, he would be able to
see what's being demonstrated through his bride in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 888-564-6173,
and we've got another marriage type question here on the phone,
so let's go to that now. This is Carmen calling
in from Anaheim, listening on Kwave.com. Hi there, Carmen, thanks
(12:14):
for calling in today.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Thank you so much for taking my phone call. Excuse
my accent. Um, I have a question. I, um, I
have been a Christian since a long time ago. I
married a person, uh, 3 years ago, um.
We only dated for 2 months. Uh, the situation didn't
(12:36):
work out in a Christian church we married. The situation
didn't work out, or the marriage didn't work out, and
I end up filing myself the divorce. And now we
are divorced, but now we are, uh, we're starting to
talk again. And my question is, is there any verse
that I can rely on the Bible so we can
(13:00):
Um, have, we have to marry again legally because of my,
in my understanding is that
Uh, like, we never, God blessed our marriage, and I
always respect him and he respects me during the divorce process.
But now, in order for us to start living again
(13:21):
on the same roof, do we have to marry legally
because I'm very, very afraid of the consequences, and I
think that God has to um
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Carmen, quick question, what consequences are you afraid of?
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Legal consequences of being married, like, for example, um
When I retire, I'm a low-income person, um, things like
that and like financially not being supported, uh.
That, that, that are the consequences of, of the, of
(14:02):
the legal um
To be, like, for example, that I have to pay
apoa support, things like that, in case that our marriage didn't,
doesn't work out again, because I know both of us
know for sure that our marriages.
God bless, God bless our marriage. But legally,
(14:27):
Do we have to marry again to be to live
in the same room?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Like in God's eyes, do you have to remarry. Another
quick question, how long have you guys been talking again?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
For, uh, maybe 2 months? 2
Speaker 1 (14:44):
months. So in those two months, you think you've seen
enough growth to want to get married again? That's what
you're saying?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Uh, yes, the situation about getting back in the same roof, like, uh.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
All right, Phil, what do you say to Carmen?
Uh, Carmen, thanks for calling in. This is a much
more complicated, you know, it's easy to ask the question
on the phone. I'm really glad you did, but also really, really, really,
really want to encourage you to go to a church
and invite a
(15:23):
like a counselor to speak into your guys' situation because
there's more specifics that we don't know, only what has
been shared. So anything I say is related to what
you've shared, and I know there's a lot more in
every conversation, um, including the guy's perspective on all this. So,
let me just say a few things. I got a
lot of like red flags in things that you're saying, Carmen.
(15:46):
And so hear me out as somebody who like,
Actually, you know, I care about people and I wanna
see you do well in the Lord and in your marriage, um.
You know, I, I'm concerned that your concern of remarrying
is that you might not make it again. So you
would be repeating the marriage and then divorce again. And
the reason that concerns me is because I, I think
(16:08):
when you go into any kind of a marriage, when
you go into a relationship with that already, like on
the forefront of your mind, um, it's kind of like
you're dooming something to failure before you've even gotten there.
Especially my concern is that the Lord be the center
of a marriage, and where the Lord's not gonna be
(16:29):
at the center, like, I'm hearing legal concerns and, and, um,
financial concerns, and these are all valid, and I, I
appreciate that. I really, really, really do. But as a
show that's focused on like your spiritual well-being, I'm just
gonna say, as a, as a pastor, I would be
concerned that your marriage isn't
I'm not hearing the language of, we really want to
(16:51):
bring Christ into our marriage this time. I think it's
more like we're talking and we're enjoying conversation and maybe
we want to get married again. Those are red flags
for me of concern, and I think it would be
good to speak to a counselor on that a little
bit more. I would jump back into something you're asking.
Is God blessing it or is God not blessing it?
God blesses the covenant of marriage. He, he is in,
(17:12):
he designed it and he's really behind it. But I
think when, when God's not at the center of that
covenant relationship, jumping back into this, uh, it could be real, real,
real messy. Yeah, Bill, um, Carmen, I was just reading
in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, where there's a section there
obviously about marriage.
Um, and it has this interesting verse that, uh, it,
(17:35):
it might, well, in to, to a degree, it definitely
relates to what you and your husband, former husband have
been through, but says if the unbeliever departs, let him depart, uh,
a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases,
but God has called us to peace. And so if, uh, I,
I don't think you're under necessarily under obligation to, to
(17:55):
get back together because you were married.
Um, if, if, if he's departed and sadly, you know, it,
it didn't work out, I, I think that really applies
there that you're not necessarily under bondage to, um, to say, OK,
I guess we got to go back to court and
get married again.
Yeah, I, I totally, totally agree with what Phil said.
You need to sit down with somebody that would, would
(18:17):
take longer than we have time for on this, this
probably two programs to, to help you sort all this out. But, um,
that you mentioned. That's uh 1 Corinthians 7 verse 15.
But um the whole chapter is is about um.
Well, first half of the chapter is about marriage, so.
(18:39):
But yeah.
Yeah, so we can't provide like legal advice or anything
like that, or, you know, but like Phil and Bill
both said, I mean, what are the reasons you want
to remarry? Is it just so it can be legal?
Is it, you know, when they were married, they made
a covenant.
They were divorced. Does that, does God no longer see
(19:02):
them as married? And now if they were to move
in together or whatever, they're married again, they're married in
God's eyes, maybe perhaps that's what she's we've seen that
happen within the Calvary community, haven't we? Um, was it, um,
was it Mike McIntosh, Mike Mike and Sandy that, uh,
split up before they came to Christ and then they
(19:23):
came to Christ and remarried, was that right?
I think it was Jeff and Karen, or maybe the
others that I was gonna mention, yeah, yeah, it's a
beautiful thing when you see God really turn two hearts, um,
to one another after they've turned their hearts towards Jesus and, uh,
so that, that would be the main thing, Carmen, just
pursue Jesus right now with all of your heart as
(19:43):
a lover of your soul. Phil, any more thoughts from you?
No, I just, yeah, it's so hard when like, when,
when marriage becomes kind of the technicalities of are we
this or are we that that that gets so hard.
So what Bill just said there, it really
You know, marriage in Christ is just like amazing, beautiful
thing where I'm in a covenant with God and my spouse.
(20:04):
But golly, when you get to those like technicalities of like, well,
are we still or are we not? That, that's kind
of those questions of like, who is this woman married
to in the kingdom, you know, that, that was asked
to Jesus. And then, and Jesus even talked about it. Well, that,
you know, the reason divorce even exists is because of
the hardness of man's heart.
And so those things get really tough, but, uh, yeah,
(20:25):
I think I, I like what you said too, Brian man, we,
we're not a, this isn't legal advice, those are different shows.
This is not a, you know, free legal advice today,
you know, we have no idea. Yes, Carmen, thank you
for your phone call today on pastor's perspective. We do
recommend you talk to the pastor at your church or
a Christian counselor or something to, uh, so that they
can get into the weeds of what it is that
(20:46):
you guys are trying to go after.
888-564-6173 is our number, and Brittany wrote in with this
question for us. How can I become all that God
wants me to be without being a Pharisee and seeking
God's approval over everything in my life? I'm finishing my
BA in biblical studies at Colorado Christian University. I'm trying
(21:08):
to grow more spiritually minded with the class.
But I've noticed that I seem to need a term
for everything in the Bible to sound more dogmatic. Am
I wrong in seeking hermeneutical advice every time, or should
I just focus on the message? I'm doing online Bible
studies with books for now and trying to give a
more friendly approach. What would you say, Bill? I would,
(21:29):
I would say let's ask the man with the masters
about that, Phil.
Doctor Phil, what do you say? I mean, I would
say it's at a very, very basic level, who doesn't
overthink stuff all the time, so, but.
That's so true, Bill. Yeah, I mean, golly, I, I, I,
I had so many thoughts just hearing you read that question, Brian,
(21:51):
is like, it starts with the idea that like, gosh, I, I,
I'd hate for anybody to assume that like, if you
want to be all that God wants at the, the,
the logical jump is that you would be a Pharisee. I, I,
I think that would be the exact opposite. That, that,
that to be all that God wants you to be.
I mean, Pharisees weren't trying to be all that God
wants them to be.
They were trying to bring God down to their level,
(22:11):
not them going to his level, you know. And, uh,
so the idea that like, to really go after God
would make you a first. I, I, I'll be honest,
I feel like that's actually what a lot of Christians
think is like, if I'm gonna be really serious, I'm
gonna become super legalistic and a kind of a jerk
for people, you know, in Christ. And I, I just
want to dispel that idea that that's a religious construct
(22:34):
that
that relationship, you know, um, we're in a relationship with Jesus,
and that means it's growing, it's progressing. That doesn't mean
he's growing, it means I'm growing and I'm learning. I'm
learning more of his love and I'm learning to love
him more, and in the process, I'm learning to love
people the way that God loves people. So the idea
(22:55):
about hermeneutical advice every time, um,
I mean, again, I'm, I'm not sure that I see
any distinction between focusing on a message and, and good hermeneutics.
I think good messages come from good hermeneutics, that is,
that we've really looked at the scriptures, we've really looked
at the context, we've really studied it. I, I, I
(23:15):
think bad messages come from bad hermeneutics. And so the
idea that like, um, a message would, that you'd have
to wrestle with either one of those. I see this
with a lot of Bible college students, uh, and that
is like
We get super excited about the things we're learning, and
not everybody likes digging into the Greek or the Hebrew.
So give space for people that they just want to
(23:36):
grow in Jesus. I get that part. If you feel
like a Pharisee because you're telling people about Greek and,
and cultural context, then you can tone that back. That
doesn't make them wrong and it doesn't make you wrong.
We all have different passions and loves. But as it
relates to a good healthy relationship with Jesus, I mean, yeah, like,
Brian said, you know, I've got, I got a PhD
and it, it has not changed. I love Jesus as
(23:58):
much as ever. I was so benefited by my education.
I'd certainly hope that I'd never be a Pharisee. I
have certain nerdy things that I really dig that I
know other people just aren't gonna be into. That has
nothing to do with being a Pharisee, though, not at all.
And you're, you're one of the furthest people I've met
from being a Pharisee in my whole life. I didn't
know that you were a doctor too. Well, but, um.
(24:19):
Uh, I was gonna say something and it has just
escaped me. Uh, but I know what I was gonna say,
you know, the scripture tells us to love the Lord
our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and
the mind is, is, it was, is involved in that.
There's nothing I want to, uh, understand more clearly than
what it is to have a relationship with God and
understand His love for me. So I, I commend that, that,
(24:41):
you know, heart of a, a scholar or heart of
a student to, to dig down deep and then get
out and live the relationship.
Um, you know, my wife, my wife Joy, my wife Joy, and, and,
and I, we, we don't, I mean, you could say
in the 52 years we've been married, 52 years in
3 weeks, is it? Um, we've studied each other, we
know each other well, but I don't think we ever
(25:03):
sat down and it was like, I'm gonna figure you out.
Maybe we should have, but, uh, it, it's worked out
pretty well. Enjoy the relationship and, and keep digging in
with your mind as well.
Yeah, and I think the mind is one of those
things that we don't, I mean, we, we can say
we love the Lord our God with all our heart,
with all our soul, when we're there Sunday morning singing
(25:25):
worship and our hands are raised and everything, but I'm
not saying that you're not using your mind when you're
doing that, but when it comes to studying and getting
into certain things, the longer you're a believer, should you
be more focused on
More studies, I mean, should every Christian aspire to be
(25:46):
a doctor like Phil Metzger?
No, don't do it. Don't do it, everybody. Uh, but
we should aspire to the mind of that is constantly growing. Listen, don't,
don't miss, um, yeah, it's, I'm so glad you said that, Brian,
because people need to understand.
We're all learners. We should be lifelong learners. That should
(26:08):
never end. Some of us, and I'll call myself a weirdo,
some of us weirdos choose formal education as a way
to kickstart and keep, just keep fresh and keep growing.
That was for me. I, I wanted the challenge. It
doesn't make me better. It certainly doesn't even make me smarter. It's,
I went through a
(26:28):
particular process that not everybody can do that, but I,
I know people who have none of that. They love Jesus,
and they're also learners. So I think we need to
make sure that we, we, we clarify that, like, not
because of what you said, but it's, you're kind of
giving the ball on the tee there for me. And
that is to just remind people, you don't have to
do formal education to keep growing, but to not keep growing,
to not be studying the word, to not be growing
(26:50):
in Bible studies, these things are important.
Very good. 888-564-6173 is the number to call us on
this Tuesday afternoon if you've got a question for Bill
Welsh or Phil Metzger, 888-564-6173, and Brittany, thank you for
sending in your question on Kwave.com.
Next up, uh, how about Katy? Katy's question about everything
(27:12):
going on in the Middle East right now. People believe
that the end times are getting closer. Will my children,
ages 2 and 4, be raptured with everyone else who
believes that Jesus died for them, or will they be
left behind? Bill?
Great question. And, and I'm glad you're studying uh end
times because I believe we're living in the end times.
(27:34):
And uh I don't know, I don't know why I
think about that uh that quote from uh Pirates of
the Caribbean, where the, the girl says something about, I
don't believe in ghost stories, and uh the villain uh, says,
well you best be believing in them because you're uh
you best be believing in ghost stories cause you're in one.
And we are in the last days. We are in
the end times, so yes, study the, the prophetic, uh,
(27:56):
the scriptures on on on the prophetic uh aspect of,
of our faith, but I, I believe we're, I believe, man,
we're so close right now, when you see the the
nations lined up right now against Israel, and it's been,
but it's been like that for a long time, a
number of those those uh uh would you say perennial
enemies of of Israel are are still aimed at them.
(28:16):
A couple of them seem to just recently.
Dialed back to say, um, not that they've, you know,
come on, on board with Israel, but they're at least
thankful that uh a regime is possibly about to be
toppled in Iran, but um.
Yeah, dig in. I, we're just what we're talking about
with the, the last, uh, the last question. It's a
(28:39):
it's a huge part of our faith. It's the blessed
hope that Jesus will return for his church and, and
the world will once and for all be balanced, the
new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem, and the
new you, Phil.
Yeah, and, and I know our time is coming to
the commercial, Brian, if it gets there, I won't hear
music just a little, uh, no there, so I don't, uh, ramble, ramble.
(29:01):
The question 2 and 4 year olds, will they be raptured? Yeah, I,
I mean, a 2 and 4 year old, we're gonna
say are in that category of children who are not
going to be held accountable at that, you know.
Generally speaking, to like, you know, have you prayed this prayer?
Have you done this? I, I, I, I think we're
talking about kids that are still under their parents and under,
(29:21):
under that. So I wouldn't be worrying like, oh my gosh, if,
if the rapture happens, what's gonna happen to my kids?
God loves your kids even more than you do. And
so it's hard to imagine that he's got them, he'll
take care of them.
Amen. Katie. Thank you for sending in your question online.
We're going to go to a break now and we'll
be back with more of your questions. What would you
like to ask Bill Welsh and Phil Metzger? They're gonna
(29:41):
be in the studio for about another 30 minutes. 888-564-6173
is the number to call, 888-564-6173. If you're watching on Facebook, YouTube,
or Instagram, the number's right there on the bottom of
your screen, so pick up your phone and call us up, 888-564-6173.
(30:18):
Welcome back to Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is our number today.
My name is Brian Perez. We've got about 25 more
minutes to go, and we would love to chat with you.
888-564-6173 is the number. Answering your questions today. We've got
Bill Welsh, a pastor at Refuge Calvary Chapel in Huntington Beach,
(30:39):
or Pastor A.
Maybe I should say that. Pastor, is it Emeritus or Emeritus?
however you spell it, I still don't know what it is.
It's Emeritus, yes, and, uh, Phil Metzger is here too.
He's the pastor of Calvary San Diego, Doctor Phil, and, uh,
he's there by his bookshelf. Look at all those books
that he's read. My goodness, impressive. Talk about, uh, loving
(31:02):
the Lord your God with all your mind.
Is that wallpaper? No, no, it's it's a real book.
It's fake, guys. No, no, no. Oh no, I'm a,
I'm a like, guys, I'm a nerd. I'm a book fanatic.
I love it, and, uh, yeah, there you go. Yeah.
Books are awesome. All right, 888-564-6173 is our number. Here's
another one that was sent in online, and then we'll
(31:22):
go to the phones with Pedro, you'll be up next.
Claudia wants to know. Uh, she says, first of all,
I am not defending Judas, but
Jesus's birth, death, and resurrection were written in the scriptures.
Was was Judas's betrayal also written? Was Judas destined to
be the one who would betray Jesus? Can you give
(31:42):
me scriptures that can put my mind at ease with
these questions, Phil?
Yeah, sorry, I was on muting again. Apologies. Um, I
love that she prefaced that like, I'm not defending Judas. Yes,
you are no, I'm just kidding. Uh, you're not. Um, yeah,
the Bible does talk about, uh, Judas's betrayal. Um, in
Zachariah chapter 11, we, we read about them paying 30
(32:04):
pieces of silver, and Judas was a part of that.
And so Zachariah chapter 11 verses 12 and 13 speak
to that, um.
So yeah, it is. And also there's a, there's an
interesting verse in Psalm 41, where Jesus says, even my friend,
the one I trusted, who shared my food has turned
against me. And so, uh, you know, there's a couple
(32:24):
of verses that really clearly describe that there was going
to be this betrayal, and there's others, by the way,
I'm just grabbing those too. So, good question. Yes, Judas's
betrayal is in the scriptures. But
But does it call Judas by name, or is it
more of a there's going to be someone in the
future who is going to be a friend, etc. and
(32:45):
then this guy happened to fit the mold and so
it's like, OK, it's gonna be him or maybe I
don't know, again, this is a question that was sent in,
so we can't ask a follow up, but yeah, OK, yeah,
that's really good. You're right. It's not by name, but
what you do, so.
So how do we figure out if he fits the mold,
is that you look at all the different things that
the Bible says about that person, and then if, if
(33:06):
he's done one of them, you go, Oh, well, maybe
that's him, maybe not, right? This is the dilemma people
are having with anti-Christ, right? There's been plenty of people
who fit the bill, but they haven't fit all of
the bill. They haven't met all of the criteria. And
so Judas in Old Testament, um, uh, you know, in
The New Testament, he fits the bill perfectly of all
(33:26):
the different scriptures that talk about the betrayal of Jesus.
And so therefore we know that he is that person
that betrayed him. Yeah, that's a great, that's a great point.
He's not named by name. It doesn't say Judas, but
he does fit everything that is described about the one
that would betray Jesus. He exactly to the T, he
fits that bill. And Bill, do you fit the bill?
Hopefully not that bill.
(33:47):
But, um, he's Jesus, in a sense, he prophesized Judas
betrayal at the Last Supper. He doesn't call out his name,
but when he's asked, you know, who is it, he
says it's the one that I, I'll give the bread to,
and he gives that bread to Judas. So he points
him out to his disciples that had the disciple that
had asked the question, but not by name.
(34:10):
And I guess you would have to say he knew
all along, and yet he still invited him in to his, uh,
his inner circle. Claudia, thank you for sending in your
question online. Now we're gonna go to the phones. Here
is Pedro in Pomona listening on FM 107.9 K wave. Hello, Pedro,
what's your question for us today?
(34:30):
Hey, how's it going, guys? Um, uh, I guess my
question is, uh, so, um, I'm a new believer in, uh, Christ, um,
I've been following Christ, uh, passionately for like the year,
last year and a half, um, so, um, you know, I,
I've been working as a nurse now for about 5 years, um, but.
(34:52):
But my plan originally since I was like 5 years old,
you know, all the way up until high school, I've
always wanted to be a uh a police officer. So
I've always had that desire to work in law enforcement
and um ever since, um, you know, I, I gave
my life to Christ and uh
You know, even prior to Christ, you know, that, that,
that drive to to seek a career in law enforcement
(35:15):
always comes up and pretty much my question is I
just want to know if, if that's something that I
want to do or is that something that maybe God
had implanted in me, uh.
You know, to seek that type of career because, I mean,
that's even, you know, before Christ, that just that since
I was a kid, that's all, that's all I wanted
to do. And even now, like me following Christ, me
(35:36):
and my wife, we did a, a fast, you know,
because I just want to make sure we did a
40 day fast just wanting to seek, you know, his approval, uh,
seek his knowledge is, is this something that I want
to do or is it something that he wants me
to do? And I just.
Um, I just want to know if that's, you know,
if it's from, you know, God for me to do
(35:57):
that or, or not. So Pedro, quick question before I
bring Bill and Phil on, um, you decided to pursue nursing.
Was that instead of law enforcement? I mean, you still
have the desire to do law enforcement, but why did
you go off into nursing instead of pursuing law enforcement?
Um, you know, I, I did pursue nursing and, uh,
(36:19):
when I was about 19 years old, um, you know,
I did get married very young and, um, I, it's
something that my mom did, um, and I honestly, I
felt like it was just something that I needed. I
wanted to do something quick to, um, to support my family.
My wife was, yeah, she was pregnant at the time
with my son, and I was like, I need to
(36:40):
do something to um support my uh my my new
wife and my and my son. Yeah, for sure. Bill,
what do you say to Pedro? I think you've, uh,
I think choosing a very noble profession and a tough profession,
especially in the, um, the cultural climate that we're in
right now. Um, Paul talked about that in Romans chapter 13.
I'll I'll, I'll bet you anything you probably have already
(37:02):
read that, haven't you, Pedro?
Where he he talked about those that are in authority
are placed there by God and, and you're in a sense, uh,
really a, a servant of God who is laboring for
peace in in a troubled world. So I think it's
a wonderful, uh, noble thing to to pursue that and
how would you test it? Um, I, I think you're
doing it right now by by calling and asking some advice,
(37:25):
and I'm sure you've prayed this through and just ask
God confirm it, Lord, I.
I don't want to waste time in my life. I
want to go in the direction you've called me to
go and in, um, oh, so many times in, uh,
in my wife's in my life together, our our marriage,
we have placed, um, um, possible situations and scenarios before God.
(37:45):
Show us what you want us to do. I remember
when I was living out in in the in desert
hot springs and just praying, God, do you want me
to pastor a church in this in this area? There'd
been some requests and I said, I have to hear
from God.
And I just went alone and hiked up on the
mountain above desert hot springs, sat down one afternoon and
and prayed and just said, God, I just need to know. I, I,
(38:07):
I don't want to waste time. I want to be
right in line with you, and it'd be too long
of a story to tell you how God just in
without question, put the pin in the map for us
in Desert Hot Springs in 1981.
And that's where we served planning a a Calvary Chapel
out there, but God will, he'll he'll speak to you
in how many different avenues are there through which God
can speak, you know, obviously through the word of God
(38:31):
and and through friends that you, you trust and circumstances
and just say, God, show me and lead me and
rest in that rest in the fact that he will.
Phil Metzger.
I just think Pedro, you and your wife sound really awesome.
You sound amazing. I mean, new believer, fasting for 40 days,
waiting on God. Good Lord, this is awesome. This is like,
(38:54):
you're asking the question, I really wanted this and does
God really want that? Why can't it be a little
of both, man? You know, it's something that's been in
your heart since you were a kid. You, you're not,
you're not in.
You, you have to trust that if, if you're going
down that path and you, you're believing and sensing it
could be the Lord, and you just don't know, what you're,
(39:14):
what you're going after isn't a sin issue. It's not
like there's, it's like sinful, right? You're just trusting and
believing maybe it's the Lord.
Then trust that the Lord could show you if it's
not his will, and you're, you're allowed to like go
after these things, you know, it's a noble thing, as
Bill said, I, it sounds like both of your professions,
nursing and then police work. It sounds like you've got a, um,
a real heart for service, public service. Um, you know,
(39:38):
if your wife is on board and you feel like
maybe God's leading you in that, then you can take
steps forward. Again, I, I don't have a magic wand
and it doesn't work like that, but
How do I know God's will? I really would like
to do something, and I'm, I'm seeking Him and nothing
is telling me that it's a no, then keep moving
forward and just trust God's in that stuff. I think
(39:58):
so often we get confused about God's will. Like, does
it mean I have to turn left or turn right?
And if I was supposed to turn right, but I
turn left, and the more I keep walking, I'm walking.
Further and further away from that intersection where I was
supposed to turn right and then we all freak out
and we wonder, did I go the wrong way, you know,
40 years from now, Pedro might be calling in and wondering,
(40:20):
what do I do? I didn't pursue what I wanted to,
and I think I'm so outside of the will of God.
Does he forgive me? Does he love me, etc. Of course, yeah, yeah.
And, and I would say in 40 years, um, don't
be surprised if you don't have doubts like that, because
you're gonna hit that point where you're like, oh man,
most of my life is behind me. Did I choose
(40:40):
well and we get all like in our headspace about
that stuff. But, you know, God's bigger than that, and
our lives are not consumed by the decades we have
here on Earth. We're gonna be with the Lord forever.
So let's say you, let's say you are 70 and
you say, oh gosh, I, I, I, I, there's so
much more I should have done. What about this and
what about that?
Dude, God is bigger than the thing that we could
(41:01):
have done. Like, I, I can't mess up what God
wants to accomplish. Seriously. We have to be like, sin
can ruin that. But if I'm going after God and
I'm just seeking the Lord, and I'm doing my best, I,
I think we need to think of our lives more
like a GPS sometimes with the Lord, where it's like,
I take wrong turns all the time, and I repent
of those, and God's super faithful to say, OK, then
(41:22):
make a right turn at this point now. Let's, let's, let's,
let's do that. It's no big deal. But I think
as I get older,
I do have those moments where I go, Oh man,
what if I had turned left here? Would that have
been a different path? And, and I think the devil
can use some of that stuff to discourage us. The
truth of the matter is that God loves you. He
loves your family, and you don't have a bad choice
(41:43):
in front of you right now. You follow God, you
serve the Lord, you love your family, and you serve
your community and what you feel called to. You're gonna
finish your life and go to heaven and hear well done,
good and faithful servant. I think, you know, that's gonna
be worth it all. Yeah.
Pedro, does this help you?
Yeah, so much, thank you so much guys. I really,
really appreciate you guys taking the time to, to, uh,
(42:05):
to speak with me and give me some advice and, uh, yeah,
thank you and uh I just wanted.
Thank you so much for the for the radio uh
this radio station. I've been listening to it a lot
when I go to work and when I come home
from work and it's just, uh, you know, definitely watering
me every single day and uh thank you guys so
much for the advice. In advance, thank you for your service, Pedro. Yes, indeed,
(42:26):
thanks for calling in today on Pastor's Perspective at 888-564-6173.
Here's a question sent in from Audrey, wants to know,
how do I know when a relationship I'm in needs
to be over? He does not want to be married.
He will not compromise about finding a job that will
bring him closer to home. He's currently an on the
(42:48):
road trucker. He's out on the road 4 to 6
weeks at a time, only comes home for 4 days,
then he's off again. Uh, there's no consistent communication with
his son.
Or with me he deflects he gas lights.
So question one again, how do I know when a
relationship needs to be over? Oh man. Oh, what's say
(43:13):
you do we want to answer this? It sounds like
it is. Yeah, that's a hard thing to say, right?
That's a tough thing to say. And I, I'm sorry
that we're saying that and it's, I think I wanted
people to hear if this person had called in, I'd
say the exact same thing first to say, I think
this person already knows that it is over and, and
if you need to hear us to say.
Everything you just described points towards that, then I'll, I
(43:36):
will second you on that. It certainly does. And I'm
sorry for that, and I think that's awful and that's
a huge bummer. Um, but you're asking the question like,
is it over? And I, I have a feeling that
you already know the answer to that, and that's a bummer.
And I'd encourage you to, um,
To to seek a circle of um of believers around
(43:57):
your sisters getting around you and praying with you and
praying for you to stay close to uh hopefully the
church that you're involved in, but uh it, it could
be a very, very rough road ahead for you in
the very near future.
Yeah, Audrey says that, uh, he has, uh, inconsistent communication
with his son. I don't know if that's a son
(44:17):
that you guys have together, but, um, again, Audrey's hoping
for the best that they would get married someday, but
all these red flags, it, it might get worse before
it gets better, right? If he, if he's showing you
this now, may not be an indication that he's gonna
change it anytime soon. But what do I know?
No, but you're right, Brian. When you, and when you
add a kid into that, again, we don't know the age,
(44:38):
we don't know if it's his or not, it wasn't
really clear, but assuming it is and assuming that, I mean,
just not alone, man. I, I, I feel for the
writer because it's like, it's easy for me to say,
I think the relationship's over, but it's not mine. To
be in that and to have a kid together and all, I'm,
I'm seriously, we're sorry for you in that situation and
believe that, you know, God could still bring some healing
(45:00):
in that, but you're right, it could get worse before
it gets better. And that's tough. That's really hard.
Audrey, thank you for calling in today on Pastor's Perspective.
Luis also wrote in, he wants to know if it's
OK to tithe to a Christian nonprofit organization, as I
do not currently belong to a specific church. Bill, what
do you say to Luis? Yes.
(45:22):
It is OK. Yeah, it is OK. OK, Phil.
Yeah, um, let me send you my information and you
can start driving that. I'm just kidding.
Sounds like Phil wants to profit from his nonprofit, uh, no,
I'm joking, yeah, yeah, no, I mean, I think I
agree with Bill on that. I'd also, I mean, I
think we're all free well-beings and we can give and
do as God leads us and shows us. I'd love
(45:44):
to express to that person though that it'd be so
good to get involved in the church. Forget the tithe
part for a second. Let's cut that out a bit.
Don't assume I'm talking about tithe, but I do want
to say.
It's a bummer that you're not like a part of
a church. Um, and I'll say this because not only
do you need the church, but I think that that
local community also needs you. Uh, you know, here, here
(46:06):
you are writing in to say, I have money that
I want to give to a nonprofit. Like, I want
to be a part of the kingdom work. I think
that means that you're missing out on being a real
support to a church, and that church would, you know, uh,
I think you need to be in a home church
as well. So give whoever you want, whatever, but get
into a local church, man.
Yeah, and we don't know why Luis isn't involved in
(46:29):
a local church. Maybe he's new to the area, maybe
he's afraid to try a church, maybe he's experienced church
hurt in the past, but he knows that even though
churches might let him down,
Uh, I don't know. There's just so much here to
this question, which is why we prefer to talk to
you guys. Uh, we do have the opportunity for you
(46:49):
to send in your questions online, but then we read
your question and we're left with more questions. So call
in when you can. We understand that sometimes you can't
call in, but, um, if you're still looking for a church,
I don't know if you've found one.
Since you sent us this email, but you can go
to Calvary Chapel.com. There's a church finder feature there, type
in your zip code and something might pop up that
(47:12):
says near you, and you can go visit that. So
check that out at uh Calvary, yes, Calvary Chapel.com. Stanley
in Huntington Beach, welcome to Pastor's Perspective.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Hi, um, uh, I'm a Christian and I just wanna
be your prospect, um,
Yesterday my
close cousin uh.
He's a sergeant officer. He got killed in the freeway,
tried to helping somebody else. Uh,
Speaker 1 (47:45):
I think I heard about this on the news.
This was your cousin? Yeah, oh my gosh, so sorry, Stanley.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
But, but, uh, uh, the sad thing is famous is
I tried to, uh, give just send a new, new
message you couldn't use they never accept it, um.
Uh, in the funeral, not funeral, in the hospital, my, uh, uh,
his brother.
(48:13):
His older brother, which is my, my young, among the, the,
the cousin, I'm, I'm the older one.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
OK.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
And then there's another older one because we don't have
uncle or my uncle's side only, only left to his father,
but his father is the elderly home and his mother
is in the home with dementia.
so his youngest son, he's been taking care of mother
and his uh wife, supposed to be wife. Uh, they've
(48:45):
been taking care, and then two months ago I've been,
I saw him, so I asked him, Did you married?
Do you put the license in? He said he did,
and he said he did. I don't know if they're
real or not. And then yesterday, they, uh, his father
and all all other.
Uh, my auntie call because we on the upper level
(49:08):
is only at the one my uncle who is at home,
I tell him because of the shock and then, um, the,
my auntie then they all ask me.
Uh, who's gonna take care and do they get married?
And they all want me to ask that question. I said,
(49:29):
In that point, if she loved so much in her
and she's been helping it, it's like she'll be the wife.
Um,
Speaker 1 (49:37):
so you're wondering, so, so what's your actual question though, if, if,
if he married, if he's married, or I, I, what,
what is it that you're wondering?
Speaker 2 (49:47):
They want me to ask him.
Are you married and who's taking the elderly mother?
OK. And who's gonna take care of the body, you know,
the house. And they have a 2 sons too.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yeah. Well, uh, somebody has to begin to answer the questions,
the family questions there, and, uh, you know, Stanley, I don't,
I don't know if it would be you or or
who in the family, but somebody has to begin to
make the phone calls or knock on the door and
show compassion and stand alongside this woman, whether they were
married or not, and
(50:22):
And bring some comfort and introduce Jesus into this, uh, this,
this whole tragedy. I, I, I love the the the
psalm that says, uh, the Lord is close to those
whose hearts are broken and so he's he's with you
in this and with the family in this and, um,
you just take step by step and ask the hard question.
There isn't any way to do it and any easier
(50:45):
way to do it but just pray and step into
it and and bring a whole lot of compassion and um.
Yeah. Now, the question that Stanley asked our screener, uh,
it says that, uh, no one knows if they were
actually married. The family wants me to ask the woman.
They want Stanley to ask the woman if they were married.
(51:08):
Stanley's wondering if he should, because it's more for financial
reasons and like Stanley mentioned, taking care of elderly parents
and things, so.
Uh, Phil, uh, Stanley's wondering if he should do it.
Is there a reason why he should not do it?
I mean, not looking at it sounds like it sounds
like the family elected him, right? Or or last man
standing or whatever, but these are the bummer things that like,
(51:31):
there's no way, there's no way to soften the blow
that when someone dies, there's a lot of super uncomfortable, difficult,
frustrating conversations that have to happen. This is one of them.
Yeah, I mean, you know, and here he is. Stanley's,
you know, obviously, as he's sharing with us, he's grieving
for very good reason. Within 24 hours they're already having
this conversation, so I totally get it, and that's a
(51:52):
real bummer. Um, love to offer a quick prayer for
Stanley and his family, and, um, and obviously for this
officer who was killed and for those grieving. Um, so yeah,
let me just pray, but I think Stanley, honestly, like
my gut tells me, and I'm just, I was praying
and saying, Lord, like, how do you help somebody in
this situation?
You just have to step into some really hard things
right now. That's the reality. There's no way around that.
(52:14):
It's a hard time. Somebody's gonna step into some hard things.
You're at least open to calling a bunch of pastors
to talk about it. So good on you for that.
Trust that the Lord will give you grace to step
into the difficult things. Be kind, be thoughtful, don't be selfish,
be considerate, and I think the Lord will use you.
So yeah, maybe I can just offer a prayer for
(52:35):
him and the family and.
Lord, we're grieved to hear about this LA sergeant who
was killed and, um, the family and just the whole situation.
I pray for Stanley that you would use him to
be a peacemaker, Lord, in moments that are just, they're
so grievous, they're so sad, and, um, there's nothing that
can like just, it just wrecks us so much at
(52:55):
at this kind of a death, and bless him and
help him and use this.
Situation as hard and as difficult and as sad as
it is, that you would bring your the light of
your love into this family in a new and a
fresh way, even as they grieve that you'd be super
present in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Stan Lee, thank
(53:15):
you for calling us today on Pastor's Perspective. Got time
for one more question sent in online. Regina recently saw
a video about the world being flat.
The person who was talking was giving scriptures to back
up their claim. In the Bible, the firmament refers to
the expanse or vault of the sky separating the waters
above from the waters below. I would like to know
(53:36):
the pastor's perspective on this because it's in the Bible,
and now I'm second guessing if what I've learned about
space was not even true. Phil, let's say you, I'm
sure one of your books back there is about the
flat Earth, right?
Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I, let me just
start with like, this is like a cultural phenomenon where
(53:56):
the internet, and I'm not blaming the internet, but like the,
it's interesting that in 2025, there's a larger percentage of
people actually believing that the earth is flat than there
was before. You'd say, well, that's because we have more evidence. Actually,
we have less and less evidence for a flat earth.
I mean, just like unbelievably less evidence. Not only that,
so like that's like just scientifically, there's no evidence for
(54:18):
a flat earth.
Scripturally, you, you can take any verse to make it
say whatever you want to say, but the truth is,
the Bible does not say that. In fact, there are
other passages talking about the currents and so on, and
there's no current without the world being round. It wouldn't,
it just wouldn't happen that way. It's not possible. It's
like scientifically, it's physically impossible. So the idea that, um,
(54:42):
you know, a couple verses, please don't let that confuse you,
don't let that throw you off. No, the world is
not flat.
Again, let me just be clear, this is not some
like Christian like I'm not gonna hang my hat on
this like as a Christian thing, but the Bible does
not indicate a flat earth. Scientifically there's not a flat earth,
so I'm not a flat earther.
All right, very good. Phil Metzger, thank you for being
(55:04):
on Pastor's perspective today. How can people find out more
about Calvary San Diego?
Yeah, well, we, um, our website, CalvarySD.com, also Instagram. We're,
we're we were probably more on Instagram than the interwebs,
but Calvary SD.
And uh yeah, love to love to see people in
our area. If you're listening, come on down. All right.
(55:25):
And Bill is one of the pastors at Refuge Calvary
Chapel in Huntington Beach. If you're listening right now on
Tuesday afternoon on Kwave, uh, in about half an hour,
Bill is gonna be live on Refuge Radio. It's Tuesday.
Bill does refuge radio live on Tuesday, so that'll be
going on here at 4:30. Bill, you ready for us
at 4:30? Yeah, and Phil's gonna be my special guest. Oh, perfect. Phil,
(55:48):
don't go anywhere.
All right guys, we'll talk to you tomorrow. Today's episode
will soon be archived on Facebook, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Thanks for listening and watching Pastor's perspective.
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
It is Tuesday, the 24th of June, the 2 dozen
day of the month. The year is almost halfway over.
Got a question about the Bible, the Christian faith? Give
us a call. We'd love to hear it. 888-564-6173 is
our number. You can also send in your questions.
(00:39):
Online, but we prefer to hear the sound of your voice,
so give us a call 888-564-6173. And answering your questions today,
we've got Bill Welsh, a pastor at Refuge Calvary Chapel
in Huntington Beach, California. How you doing, Bill? Uh, I'm good.
Thank you very much. Yeah, I just got back from the, uh,
(01:01):
the pastor's conference out in uh Temecula. Nice.
And, uh, Phil Metzger is joining us as well. He
is the pastor of the pastor, not a pastor, the
pastor at uh Calvary Calvary San Diego in San Diego.
What's up, Phil? in the San Diego, in the, yes,
of course. Although there might be one more than one
(01:23):
San Diego, that happens every now and then where there's
like a San Diego and, you know, New Mexico or something,
who knows, but anyway, that's likely.
888-564-6173 is our number, and, uh, we're gonna go to
the phones in just a little bit. As I mentioned,
you can also send in your questions online. You can
do that through the pastor's perspective Facebook Messenger, or, uh,
(01:46):
DM us on the pastor's perspective Instagram, or go to kwave.com,
look for the pastor's perspective page, and you can fill
out the form, and that gets your question to us.
I believe that is what Denise did when she sent
in her question.
Which has to do with Adam and Eve. The story
goes that God created the heavens and the earth and
created Adam from the ground and Eve from his rib.
(02:08):
If you do the math and you look at Homo
sapiens and Neanderthals, Adam and Eve were not the first people.
So my question is, are Adam and Eve real or
are they just a metaphor for the first spiritual being
or something? Phil, what would you say to Denise?
Yeah, thanks, Denise, for the question. I, I didn't hear
(02:29):
how she sent it in, but maybe you didn't say.
I don't know. Uh, was that an Instagram one, Brian?
That was, uh, through Kwave.com. Kwave.com. That's cool. Really cool
that they're sending them in like that. So yeah, Denise,
to answer your question, like, you know, again, it's pastor's perspective,
and we here on the show, we
We believe the Bible is literal. We take the Bible
(02:50):
really seriously. So, as it relates to Adam and Eve,
we believe, because it's what the Bible tells us that
they were the first people.
That they are not, it's not metaphorical, it's not an analogy,
it's not um it literally they are the first two people,
so that God made Adam.
And from Adam, he made Eve. And so, of course,
(03:12):
you know, as you get into looking at, uh, you know,
when you get into the anthropology of bones and all
these kinds of things, sure, there's, there's uh different perspectives
and so on, but we believe that Adam and Eve
were the very first and they were literally the first
two people.
So did Neanderthals and stuff come from Adam and Eve,
would you say, Bill? I, I would say there possibly there,
(03:33):
there were, um, other, uh, animal species that have been
mistaken for Neanderthals and that might have gone extinct, but I,
I totally agree with what Phil just said, that the
very first two human beings were Adam and Eve.
All right, sometimes we think we know more than we
think we know. You know, it's like, I do not
think that means what you think it means, but I
(03:55):
think that's one of them. I've seen some, I've seen
some people that, um, look like Neanderthals. Let's just get
real here, OK? And no, I just mean like, you know,
I mean, we're, we're, we're, we're too quick to be like,
you know, well, this is a different creature or altogether
when to the person asking the question, and, you know,
there's so much we don't know, but we do have
to start somewhere, right?
And for us, we start at the point of saying,
(04:15):
we believe the Bible. So, can I explain every detail
and explain the, the, those issues? No, I, I can't.
I'm sure others that are much smarter could do that.
But I do have to start somewhere. There is a
point where you say, I have to accept something to
be true, right? And so for us, that, that, that
truth is, it begins at scripture. So, yeah, but I,
I've played basketball with some guys that I thought, holy mama,
(04:38):
that's a, that, that guy is a big strong dude. That,
that guy could be a Neanderthal.
And it comes down to a question too of who's
doing the dating and do they have an agenda as
they're as they're dating? I mean, it's, it's not far-fetched
to believe that there's some paleontologists that have a, uh
a very sincere and uh hardcore commitment to proving the
(05:02):
Bible wrong and so messing with the dates. I, so
I don't know. It is true. Denise, thank you for
sending in your question online and Leslie also wrote to
us online.
And we'll go to the phones in a moment, by
the way, 888-564-6173 is the number, but Leslie asks, What
is a wife's responsibility and attitude supposed to be towards
(05:23):
a husband who is in a backslidden state? How can
she continue faithfully serving the Lord and in church while
her husband is an open sin? And does that sin
affect her? Bill, what do you tell Leslie?
Still be the, uh, still be the witness in that
in that marriage and uh and love that person and
(05:43):
what what is the I I can hear it in
my head in the old King James, where it says
basically not just to the gentle ones, but to the
fro word, remember that, that uh that word that was
in there so so to the tough guy husband or
the
Belligerent husband, I guess. You still gotta give them a
a a witness in your walk with Jesus and let
them see the grace and the patience and the kindness
(06:06):
and the honesty and and all that. Is it 1
Peter 2:18? I was looking for it and uh you,
your fingers are fashion online that speaking of slaves, yeah, OK,
that's a little bit different than wife to husband, but
slaves in reverend fear of God, submit yourself to your masters,
not only to those who are good and considerate.
(06:26):
And it just went away. Oh, sorry, that's OK. I
didn't know you might consider it, but also to those
who are harsh. So I mean God puts us in
situations where it's, it's not always the, you know, the,
the perfect situation where you got a, a solid Christian husband,
a solid Christian wife, and, and so I know there's
a lot of, uh, we got a lot of people
in our fellowship that are are living that reality too and, uh,
(06:49):
endeavoring to, to just live for Jesus in a, in
a tough situation, yeah, Phil.
Yeah, I just have so much empathy for the question
and for Leslie asking the question because
Especially when she asks, like, does that sin affect her
and or you know, whether she's reading that for her
or for somebody else, golly, just the idea that like,
(07:11):
you know, when you're in a marriage, how that other person.
That impacts you on so many levels, right? On just
so many levels, and so,
You know, the question, does it affect her? Of course
it does. That's why somebody would write in with the
question at all. On the other hand, it's also important
to remember that like, as much as it is affecting
you in that relationship, you also are your own person
(07:34):
before God. And, you know, you stand before God as you,
not as, oh, you were married to that person. And,
and so to what Bill said there, just being a
faithful witness, being a, a good spouse, a loving, respectful,
caring human being.
It that shouldn't impact, and I hope churches wouldn't say,
oh gosh, you can't serve because of your situation. No,
(07:55):
you stand before God and if you are a faithful
witness of Christ, may God use you and, and bless
you and um.
And eventually bring your spouse into that same deep loving
relationship with Christ. But certainly it does affect us. I mean,
my gosh, we all affect each other so deeply, but
it is important to kind of be able to pause
(08:15):
and say, OK, but I stand in the grace of
God on my own and not be
Because of them, and those are two hard things to,
to kind of put together, but boy, in the situation,
you really have to do that. I am married, this
is my spouse, I'm gonna love them and I'm gonna,
I'm gonna be honorable and respectful. On the other hand,
I stand before God and I am clean and free
(08:36):
in Him.
Yeah, and light always pierces darkness too and if that
person's been living in in darkness for let's say, you know,
most of their life, if not all of their life,
and now they're in that, uh, um, you know, that
relationship where the where the believer is in and and
often it's a husband and not the wife that's the believer,
but where the light comes in and and the darkness
(08:58):
is getting penetrated by that light that keeps shining, yeah.
And I'm I'm with you too, Phil, it's uh it's,
it's hard to hear those stories where you know someone
is not um.
they're with someone who's not sharing their faith, you know,
the most precious part of their life, and um, so yeah.
(09:19):
Yep, Leslie, our prayers are with you, and again, yeah,
just to reiterate this, it's affecting you in the sense
that you're dealing with this, but it shouldn't affect your
ability to serve the Lord and, you know, it's not
like the church should if your church, what if her
church is saying, well, until you get your act together
at home, you can't serve here. Have you guys ever
heard that, Phil?
(09:41):
Yeah, I mean, and you know, it's, I mean, I've
heard it, and then on the one hand, you know,
I wanna say, oh gosh, that's terrible. I can't believe
that happens. On the other hand, I just wanna be
like clear. I, I've expressed almost those words to people
when it's like,
But I, but again, how they understand it, I really
want to be clear, but sometimes we miss it. And here's,
here's my heart behind that. Maybe you're in a situation
(10:03):
in life where having to serve in the church isn't
the top priority right now. That's not a reflection of
who you are or your walk with Christ, or your
ability to serve here. But maybe the best thing we
could do for you is to give you that freedom
to say, now, I'm gonna
Kind of focus on this area of my life. I
think sometimes, you know, you have a mom who's got
a kid that's struggling, and they still want to keep
(10:24):
up serving, but they just need to be given a break.
That might be interpreted as, oh, they don't want me
here anymore, and I would never want anybody to think that. But, um,
you know, and I, I think for churches that struggle
with that, they really have to make sure their, their, um,
expression is clear. It's not about
They're not worthy or capable. You know, none of us
are worthy. It's only by the blood of Jesus that
(10:46):
any of us have any right to stand before God
or people. But on the other hand, I do want
to be careful and thoughtful to the fact that people
might be in a season where they need to not
think that serving is necessary, where they're already serving their
family in really unique ways. So, I don't know. I
hope that makes some sense.
Yeah, uh, you, you know, you wonder, Phil, how, how
long was it before, um, as congregations began to form
(11:10):
and gather, there was a need for, hey, we need
some people to serve, and the context of your serving
was in your social circles with your family and your
neighbors and yeah, so serve Jesus all you can and
keep shining.
And what what was her name? Leslie. Let's pray for Leslie.
Father God, I just pray for our sister Leslie who
(11:30):
is uh feeling the the conflict of light and and
and darkness there. And God, I just pray for her
husband that you would soften his heart and let him
see the light and the love and the truth of
Jesus in in Leslie, and just pray there'd be uh
there would be movement towards that father, even, even very,
very soon in her husband's life, that maybe he'd start
(11:51):
to ask questions or maybe he'd start to go with her.
But, uh, that he would, he would be able to
see what's being demonstrated through his bride in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 888-564-6173,
and we've got another marriage type question here on the phone,
so let's go to that now. This is Carmen calling
in from Anaheim, listening on Kwave.com. Hi there, Carmen, thanks
(12:14):
for calling in today.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Thank you so much for taking my phone call. Excuse
my accent. Um, I have a question. I, um, I
have been a Christian since a long time ago. I
married a person, uh, 3 years ago, um.
We only dated for 2 months. Uh, the situation didn't
(12:36):
work out in a Christian church we married. The situation
didn't work out, or the marriage didn't work out, and
I end up filing myself the divorce. And now we
are divorced, but now we are, uh, we're starting to
talk again. And my question is, is there any verse
that I can rely on the Bible so we can
(13:00):
Um, have, we have to marry again legally because of my,
in my understanding is that
Uh, like, we never, God blessed our marriage, and I
always respect him and he respects me during the divorce process.
But now, in order for us to start living again
(13:21):
on the same roof, do we have to marry legally
because I'm very, very afraid of the consequences, and I
think that God has to um
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Carmen, quick question, what consequences are you afraid of?
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Legal consequences of being married, like, for example, um
When I retire, I'm a low-income person, um, things like
that and like financially not being supported, uh.
That, that, that are the consequences of, of the, of
(14:02):
the legal um
To be, like, for example, that I have to pay
apoa support, things like that, in case that our marriage didn't,
doesn't work out again, because I know both of us
know for sure that our marriages.
God bless, God bless our marriage. But legally,
(14:27):
Do we have to marry again to be to live
in the same room?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Like in God's eyes, do you have to remarry. Another
quick question, how long have you guys been talking again?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
For, uh, maybe 2 months? 2
Speaker 1 (14:44):
months. So in those two months, you think you've seen
enough growth to want to get married again? That's what
you're saying?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Uh, yes, the situation about getting back in the same roof, like, uh.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
All right, Phil, what do you say to Carmen?
Uh, Carmen, thanks for calling in. This is a much
more complicated, you know, it's easy to ask the question
on the phone. I'm really glad you did, but also really, really, really,
really want to encourage you to go to a church
and invite a
(15:23):
like a counselor to speak into your guys' situation because
there's more specifics that we don't know, only what has
been shared. So anything I say is related to what
you've shared, and I know there's a lot more in
every conversation, um, including the guy's perspective on all this. So,
let me just say a few things. I got a
lot of like red flags in things that you're saying, Carmen.
(15:46):
And so hear me out as somebody who like,
Actually, you know, I care about people and I wanna
see you do well in the Lord and in your marriage, um.
You know, I, I'm concerned that your concern of remarrying
is that you might not make it again. So you
would be repeating the marriage and then divorce again. And
the reason that concerns me is because I, I think
(16:08):
when you go into any kind of a marriage, when
you go into a relationship with that already, like on
the forefront of your mind, um, it's kind of like
you're dooming something to failure before you've even gotten there.
Especially my concern is that the Lord be the center
of a marriage, and where the Lord's not gonna be
(16:29):
at the center, like, I'm hearing legal concerns and, and, um,
financial concerns, and these are all valid, and I, I
appreciate that. I really, really, really do. But as a
show that's focused on like your spiritual well-being, I'm just
gonna say, as a, as a pastor, I would be
concerned that your marriage isn't
I'm not hearing the language of, we really want to
(16:51):
bring Christ into our marriage this time. I think it's
more like we're talking and we're enjoying conversation and maybe
we want to get married again. Those are red flags
for me of concern, and I think it would be
good to speak to a counselor on that a little
bit more. I would jump back into something you're asking.
Is God blessing it or is God not blessing it?
God blesses the covenant of marriage. He, he is in,
(17:12):
he designed it and he's really behind it. But I
think when, when God's not at the center of that
covenant relationship, jumping back into this, uh, it could be real, real,
real messy. Yeah, Bill, um, Carmen, I was just reading
in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, where there's a section there
obviously about marriage.
Um, and it has this interesting verse that, uh, it,
(17:35):
it might, well, in to, to a degree, it definitely
relates to what you and your husband, former husband have
been through, but says if the unbeliever departs, let him depart, uh,
a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases,
but God has called us to peace. And so if, uh, I,
I don't think you're under necessarily under obligation to, to
(17:55):
get back together because you were married.
Um, if, if, if he's departed and sadly, you know, it,
it didn't work out, I, I think that really applies
there that you're not necessarily under bondage to, um, to say, OK,
I guess we got to go back to court and
get married again.
Yeah, I, I totally, totally agree with what Phil said.
You need to sit down with somebody that would, would
(18:17):
take longer than we have time for on this, this
probably two programs to, to help you sort all this out. But, um,
that you mentioned. That's uh 1 Corinthians 7 verse 15.
But um the whole chapter is is about um.
Well, first half of the chapter is about marriage, so.
(18:39):
But yeah.
Yeah, so we can't provide like legal advice or anything
like that, or, you know, but like Phil and Bill
both said, I mean, what are the reasons you want
to remarry? Is it just so it can be legal?
Is it, you know, when they were married, they made
a covenant.
They were divorced. Does that, does God no longer see
(19:02):
them as married? And now if they were to move
in together or whatever, they're married again, they're married in
God's eyes, maybe perhaps that's what she's we've seen that
happen within the Calvary community, haven't we? Um, was it, um,
was it Mike McIntosh, Mike Mike and Sandy that, uh,
split up before they came to Christ and then they
(19:23):
came to Christ and remarried, was that right?
I think it was Jeff and Karen, or maybe the
others that I was gonna mention, yeah, yeah, it's a
beautiful thing when you see God really turn two hearts, um,
to one another after they've turned their hearts towards Jesus and, uh,
so that, that would be the main thing, Carmen, just
pursue Jesus right now with all of your heart as
(19:43):
a lover of your soul. Phil, any more thoughts from you?
No, I just, yeah, it's so hard when like, when,
when marriage becomes kind of the technicalities of are we
this or are we that that that gets so hard.
So what Bill just said there, it really
You know, marriage in Christ is just like amazing, beautiful
thing where I'm in a covenant with God and my spouse.
(20:04):
But golly, when you get to those like technicalities of like, well,
are we still or are we not? That, that's kind
of those questions of like, who is this woman married
to in the kingdom, you know, that, that was asked
to Jesus. And then, and Jesus even talked about it. Well, that,
you know, the reason divorce even exists is because of
the hardness of man's heart.
And so those things get really tough, but, uh, yeah,
(20:25):
I think I, I like what you said too, Brian man, we,
we're not a, this isn't legal advice, those are different shows.
This is not a, you know, free legal advice today,
you know, we have no idea. Yes, Carmen, thank you
for your phone call today on pastor's perspective. We do
recommend you talk to the pastor at your church or
a Christian counselor or something to, uh, so that they
can get into the weeds of what it is that
(20:46):
you guys are trying to go after.
888-564-6173 is our number, and Brittany wrote in with this
question for us. How can I become all that God
wants me to be without being a Pharisee and seeking
God's approval over everything in my life? I'm finishing my
BA in biblical studies at Colorado Christian University. I'm trying
(21:08):
to grow more spiritually minded with the class.
But I've noticed that I seem to need a term
for everything in the Bible to sound more dogmatic. Am
I wrong in seeking hermeneutical advice every time, or should
I just focus on the message? I'm doing online Bible
studies with books for now and trying to give a
more friendly approach. What would you say, Bill? I would,
(21:29):
I would say let's ask the man with the masters
about that, Phil.
Doctor Phil, what do you say? I mean, I would
say it's at a very, very basic level, who doesn't
overthink stuff all the time, so, but.
That's so true, Bill. Yeah, I mean, golly, I, I, I,
I had so many thoughts just hearing you read that question, Brian,
(21:51):
is like, it starts with the idea that like, gosh, I, I,
I'd hate for anybody to assume that like, if you
want to be all that God wants at the, the,
the logical jump is that you would be a Pharisee. I, I,
I think that would be the exact opposite. That, that,
that to be all that God wants you to be.
I mean, Pharisees weren't trying to be all that God
wants them to be.
They were trying to bring God down to their level,
(22:11):
not them going to his level, you know. And, uh,
so the idea that like, to really go after God
would make you a first. I, I, I'll be honest,
I feel like that's actually what a lot of Christians
think is like, if I'm gonna be really serious, I'm
gonna become super legalistic and a kind of a jerk
for people, you know, in Christ. And I, I just
want to dispel that idea that that's a religious construct
(22:34):
that
that relationship, you know, um, we're in a relationship with Jesus,
and that means it's growing, it's progressing. That doesn't mean
he's growing, it means I'm growing and I'm learning. I'm
learning more of his love and I'm learning to love
him more, and in the process, I'm learning to love
people the way that God loves people. So the idea
(22:55):
about hermeneutical advice every time, um,
I mean, again, I'm, I'm not sure that I see
any distinction between focusing on a message and, and good hermeneutics.
I think good messages come from good hermeneutics, that is,
that we've really looked at the scriptures, we've really looked
at the context, we've really studied it. I, I, I
(23:15):
think bad messages come from bad hermeneutics. And so the
idea that like, um, a message would, that you'd have
to wrestle with either one of those. I see this
with a lot of Bible college students, uh, and that
is like
We get super excited about the things we're learning, and
not everybody likes digging into the Greek or the Hebrew.
So give space for people that they just want to
(23:36):
grow in Jesus. I get that part. If you feel
like a Pharisee because you're telling people about Greek and,
and cultural context, then you can tone that back. That
doesn't make them wrong and it doesn't make you wrong.
We all have different passions and loves. But as it
relates to a good healthy relationship with Jesus, I mean, yeah, like,
Brian said, you know, I've got, I got a PhD
and it, it has not changed. I love Jesus as
(23:58):
much as ever. I was so benefited by my education.
I'd certainly hope that I'd never be a Pharisee. I
have certain nerdy things that I really dig that I
know other people just aren't gonna be into. That has
nothing to do with being a Pharisee, though, not at all.
And you're, you're one of the furthest people I've met
from being a Pharisee in my whole life. I didn't
know that you were a doctor too. Well, but, um.
(24:19):
Uh, I was gonna say something and it has just
escaped me. Uh, but I know what I was gonna say,
you know, the scripture tells us to love the Lord
our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and
the mind is, is, it was, is involved in that.
There's nothing I want to, uh, understand more clearly than
what it is to have a relationship with God and
understand His love for me. So I, I commend that, that,
(24:41):
you know, heart of a, a scholar or heart of
a student to, to dig down deep and then get
out and live the relationship.
Um, you know, my wife, my wife Joy, my wife Joy, and, and,
and I, we, we don't, I mean, you could say
in the 52 years we've been married, 52 years in
3 weeks, is it? Um, we've studied each other, we
know each other well, but I don't think we ever
(25:03):
sat down and it was like, I'm gonna figure you out.
Maybe we should have, but, uh, it, it's worked out
pretty well. Enjoy the relationship and, and keep digging in
with your mind as well.
Yeah, and I think the mind is one of those
things that we don't, I mean, we, we can say
we love the Lord our God with all our heart,
with all our soul, when we're there Sunday morning singing
(25:25):
worship and our hands are raised and everything, but I'm
not saying that you're not using your mind when you're
doing that, but when it comes to studying and getting
into certain things, the longer you're a believer, should you
be more focused on
More studies, I mean, should every Christian aspire to be
(25:46):
a doctor like Phil Metzger?
No, don't do it. Don't do it, everybody. Uh, but
we should aspire to the mind of that is constantly growing. Listen, don't,
don't miss, um, yeah, it's, I'm so glad you said that, Brian,
because people need to understand.
We're all learners. We should be lifelong learners. That should
(26:08):
never end. Some of us, and I'll call myself a weirdo,
some of us weirdos choose formal education as a way
to kickstart and keep, just keep fresh and keep growing.
That was for me. I, I wanted the challenge. It
doesn't make me better. It certainly doesn't even make me smarter. It's,
I went through a
(26:28):
particular process that not everybody can do that, but I,
I know people who have none of that. They love Jesus,
and they're also learners. So I think we need to
make sure that we, we, we clarify that, like, not
because of what you said, but it's, you're kind of
giving the ball on the tee there for me. And
that is to just remind people, you don't have to
do formal education to keep growing, but to not keep growing,
to not be studying the word, to not be growing
(26:50):
in Bible studies, these things are important.
Very good. 888-564-6173 is the number to call us on
this Tuesday afternoon if you've got a question for Bill
Welsh or Phil Metzger, 888-564-6173, and Brittany, thank you for
sending in your question on Kwave.com.
Next up, uh, how about Katy? Katy's question about everything
(27:12):
going on in the Middle East right now. People believe
that the end times are getting closer. Will my children,
ages 2 and 4, be raptured with everyone else who
believes that Jesus died for them, or will they be
left behind? Bill?
Great question. And, and I'm glad you're studying uh end
times because I believe we're living in the end times.
(27:34):
And uh I don't know, I don't know why I
think about that uh that quote from uh Pirates of
the Caribbean, where the, the girl says something about, I
don't believe in ghost stories, and uh the villain uh, says,
well you best be believing in them because you're uh
you best be believing in ghost stories cause you're in one.
And we are in the last days. We are in
the end times, so yes, study the, the prophetic, uh,
(27:56):
the scriptures on on on the prophetic uh aspect of,
of our faith, but I, I believe we're, I believe, man,
we're so close right now, when you see the the
nations lined up right now against Israel, and it's been,
but it's been like that for a long time, a
number of those those uh uh would you say perennial
enemies of of Israel are are still aimed at them.
(28:16):
A couple of them seem to just recently.
Dialed back to say, um, not that they've, you know,
come on, on board with Israel, but they're at least
thankful that uh a regime is possibly about to be
toppled in Iran, but um.
Yeah, dig in. I, we're just what we're talking about
with the, the last, uh, the last question. It's a
(28:39):
it's a huge part of our faith. It's the blessed
hope that Jesus will return for his church and, and
the world will once and for all be balanced, the
new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem, and the
new you, Phil.
Yeah, and, and I know our time is coming to
the commercial, Brian, if it gets there, I won't hear
music just a little, uh, no there, so I don't, uh, ramble, ramble.
(29:01):
The question 2 and 4 year olds, will they be raptured? Yeah, I,
I mean, a 2 and 4 year old, we're gonna
say are in that category of children who are not
going to be held accountable at that, you know.
Generally speaking, to like, you know, have you prayed this prayer?
Have you done this? I, I, I, I think we're
talking about kids that are still under their parents and under,
(29:21):
under that. So I wouldn't be worrying like, oh my gosh, if,
if the rapture happens, what's gonna happen to my kids?
God loves your kids even more than you do. And
so it's hard to imagine that he's got them, he'll
take care of them.
Amen. Katie. Thank you for sending in your question online.
We're going to go to a break now and we'll
be back with more of your questions. What would you
like to ask Bill Welsh and Phil Metzger? They're gonna
(29:41):
be in the studio for about another 30 minutes. 888-564-6173
is the number to call, 888-564-6173. If you're watching on Facebook, YouTube,
or Instagram, the number's right there on the bottom of
your screen, so pick up your phone and call us up, 888-564-6173.
(30:18):
Welcome back to Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is our number today.
My name is Brian Perez. We've got about 25 more
minutes to go, and we would love to chat with you.
888-564-6173 is the number. Answering your questions today. We've got
Bill Welsh, a pastor at Refuge Calvary Chapel in Huntington Beach,
(30:39):
or Pastor A.
Maybe I should say that. Pastor, is it Emeritus or Emeritus?
however you spell it, I still don't know what it is.
It's Emeritus, yes, and, uh, Phil Metzger is here too.
He's the pastor of Calvary San Diego, Doctor Phil, and, uh,
he's there by his bookshelf. Look at all those books
that he's read. My goodness, impressive. Talk about, uh, loving
(31:02):
the Lord your God with all your mind.
Is that wallpaper? No, no, it's it's a real book.
It's fake, guys. No, no, no. Oh no, I'm a,
I'm a like, guys, I'm a nerd. I'm a book fanatic.
I love it, and, uh, yeah, there you go. Yeah.
Books are awesome. All right, 888-564-6173 is our number. Here's
another one that was sent in online, and then we'll
(31:22):
go to the phones with Pedro, you'll be up next.
Claudia wants to know. Uh, she says, first of all,
I am not defending Judas, but
Jesus's birth, death, and resurrection were written in the scriptures.
Was was Judas's betrayal also written? Was Judas destined to
be the one who would betray Jesus? Can you give
(31:42):
me scriptures that can put my mind at ease with
these questions, Phil?
Yeah, sorry, I was on muting again. Apologies. Um, I
love that she prefaced that like, I'm not defending Judas. Yes,
you are no, I'm just kidding. Uh, you're not. Um, yeah,
the Bible does talk about, uh, Judas's betrayal. Um, in
Zachariah chapter 11, we, we read about them paying 30
(32:04):
pieces of silver, and Judas was a part of that.
And so Zachariah chapter 11 verses 12 and 13 speak
to that, um.
So yeah, it is. And also there's a, there's an
interesting verse in Psalm 41, where Jesus says, even my friend,
the one I trusted, who shared my food has turned
against me. And so, uh, you know, there's a couple
(32:24):
of verses that really clearly describe that there was going
to be this betrayal, and there's others, by the way,
I'm just grabbing those too. So, good question. Yes, Judas's
betrayal is in the scriptures. But
But does it call Judas by name, or is it
more of a there's going to be someone in the
future who is going to be a friend, etc. and
(32:45):
then this guy happened to fit the mold and so
it's like, OK, it's gonna be him or maybe I
don't know, again, this is a question that was sent in,
so we can't ask a follow up, but yeah, OK, yeah,
that's really good. You're right. It's not by name, but
what you do, so.
So how do we figure out if he fits the mold,
is that you look at all the different things that
the Bible says about that person, and then if, if
(33:06):
he's done one of them, you go, Oh, well, maybe
that's him, maybe not, right? This is the dilemma people
are having with anti-Christ, right? There's been plenty of people
who fit the bill, but they haven't fit all of
the bill. They haven't met all of the criteria. And
so Judas in Old Testament, um, uh, you know, in
The New Testament, he fits the bill perfectly of all
(33:26):
the different scriptures that talk about the betrayal of Jesus.
And so therefore we know that he is that person
that betrayed him. Yeah, that's a great, that's a great point.
He's not named by name. It doesn't say Judas, but
he does fit everything that is described about the one
that would betray Jesus. He exactly to the T, he
fits that bill. And Bill, do you fit the bill?
Hopefully not that bill.
(33:47):
But, um, he's Jesus, in a sense, he prophesized Judas
betrayal at the Last Supper. He doesn't call out his name,
but when he's asked, you know, who is it, he
says it's the one that I, I'll give the bread to,
and he gives that bread to Judas. So he points
him out to his disciples that had the disciple that
had asked the question, but not by name.
(34:10):
And I guess you would have to say he knew
all along, and yet he still invited him in to his, uh,
his inner circle. Claudia, thank you for sending in your
question online. Now we're gonna go to the phones. Here
is Pedro in Pomona listening on FM 107.9 K wave. Hello, Pedro,
what's your question for us today?
(34:30):
Hey, how's it going, guys? Um, uh, I guess my
question is, uh, so, um, I'm a new believer in, uh, Christ, um,
I've been following Christ, uh, passionately for like the year,
last year and a half, um, so, um, you know, I,
I've been working as a nurse now for about 5 years, um, but.
(34:52):
But my plan originally since I was like 5 years old,
you know, all the way up until high school, I've
always wanted to be a uh a police officer. So
I've always had that desire to work in law enforcement
and um ever since, um, you know, I, I gave
my life to Christ and uh
You know, even prior to Christ, you know, that, that,
that drive to to seek a career in law enforcement
(35:15):
always comes up and pretty much my question is I
just want to know if, if that's something that I
want to do or is that something that maybe God
had implanted in me, uh.
You know, to seek that type of career because, I mean,
that's even, you know, before Christ, that just that since
I was a kid, that's all, that's all I wanted
to do. And even now, like me following Christ, me
(35:36):
and my wife, we did a, a fast, you know,
because I just want to make sure we did a
40 day fast just wanting to seek, you know, his approval, uh,
seek his knowledge is, is this something that I want
to do or is it something that he wants me
to do? And I just.
Um, I just want to know if that's, you know,
if it's from, you know, God for me to do
(35:57):
that or, or not. So Pedro, quick question before I
bring Bill and Phil on, um, you decided to pursue nursing.
Was that instead of law enforcement? I mean, you still
have the desire to do law enforcement, but why did
you go off into nursing instead of pursuing law enforcement?
Um, you know, I, I did pursue nursing and, uh,
(36:19):
when I was about 19 years old, um, you know,
I did get married very young and, um, I, it's
something that my mom did, um, and I honestly, I
felt like it was just something that I needed. I
wanted to do something quick to, um, to support my family.
My wife was, yeah, she was pregnant at the time
with my son, and I was like, I need to
(36:40):
do something to um support my uh my my new
wife and my and my son. Yeah, for sure. Bill,
what do you say to Pedro? I think you've, uh,
I think choosing a very noble profession and a tough profession,
especially in the, um, the cultural climate that we're in
right now. Um, Paul talked about that in Romans chapter 13.
I'll I'll, I'll bet you anything you probably have already
(37:02):
read that, haven't you, Pedro?
Where he he talked about those that are in authority
are placed there by God and, and you're in a sense, uh,
really a, a servant of God who is laboring for
peace in in a troubled world. So I think it's
a wonderful, uh, noble thing to to pursue that and
how would you test it? Um, I, I think you're
doing it right now by by calling and asking some advice,
(37:25):
and I'm sure you've prayed this through and just ask
God confirm it, Lord, I.
I don't want to waste time in my life. I
want to go in the direction you've called me to
go and in, um, oh, so many times in, uh,
in my wife's in my life together, our our marriage,
we have placed, um, um, possible situations and scenarios before God.
(37:45):
Show us what you want us to do. I remember
when I was living out in in the in desert
hot springs and just praying, God, do you want me
to pastor a church in this in this area? There'd
been some requests and I said, I have to hear
from God.
And I just went alone and hiked up on the
mountain above desert hot springs, sat down one afternoon and
and prayed and just said, God, I just need to know. I, I,
(38:07):
I don't want to waste time. I want to be
right in line with you, and it'd be too long
of a story to tell you how God just in
without question, put the pin in the map for us
in Desert Hot Springs in 1981.
And that's where we served planning a a Calvary Chapel
out there, but God will, he'll he'll speak to you
in how many different avenues are there through which God
can speak, you know, obviously through the word of God
(38:31):
and and through friends that you, you trust and circumstances
and just say, God, show me and lead me and
rest in that rest in the fact that he will.
Phil Metzger.
I just think Pedro, you and your wife sound really awesome.
You sound amazing. I mean, new believer, fasting for 40 days,
waiting on God. Good Lord, this is awesome. This is like,
(38:54):
you're asking the question, I really wanted this and does
God really want that? Why can't it be a little
of both, man? You know, it's something that's been in
your heart since you were a kid. You, you're not,
you're not in.
You, you have to trust that if, if you're going
down that path and you, you're believing and sensing it
could be the Lord, and you just don't know, what you're,
(39:14):
what you're going after isn't a sin issue. It's not
like there's, it's like sinful, right? You're just trusting and
believing maybe it's the Lord.
Then trust that the Lord could show you if it's
not his will, and you're, you're allowed to like go
after these things, you know, it's a noble thing, as
Bill said, I, it sounds like both of your professions,
nursing and then police work. It sounds like you've got a, um,
a real heart for service, public service. Um, you know,
(39:38):
if your wife is on board and you feel like
maybe God's leading you in that, then you can take
steps forward. Again, I, I don't have a magic wand
and it doesn't work like that, but
How do I know God's will? I really would like
to do something, and I'm, I'm seeking Him and nothing
is telling me that it's a no, then keep moving
forward and just trust God's in that stuff. I think
(39:58):
so often we get confused about God's will. Like, does
it mean I have to turn left or turn right?
And if I was supposed to turn right, but I
turn left, and the more I keep walking, I'm walking.
Further and further away from that intersection where I was
supposed to turn right and then we all freak out
and we wonder, did I go the wrong way, you know,
40 years from now, Pedro might be calling in and wondering,
(40:20):
what do I do? I didn't pursue what I wanted to,
and I think I'm so outside of the will of God.
Does he forgive me? Does he love me, etc. Of course, yeah, yeah.
And, and I would say in 40 years, um, don't
be surprised if you don't have doubts like that, because
you're gonna hit that point where you're like, oh man,
most of my life is behind me. Did I choose
(40:40):
well and we get all like in our headspace about
that stuff. But, you know, God's bigger than that, and
our lives are not consumed by the decades we have
here on Earth. We're gonna be with the Lord forever.
So let's say you, let's say you are 70 and
you say, oh gosh, I, I, I, I, there's so
much more I should have done. What about this and
what about that?
Dude, God is bigger than the thing that we could
(41:01):
have done. Like, I, I can't mess up what God
wants to accomplish. Seriously. We have to be like, sin
can ruin that. But if I'm going after God and
I'm just seeking the Lord, and I'm doing my best, I,
I think we need to think of our lives more
like a GPS sometimes with the Lord, where it's like,
I take wrong turns all the time, and I repent
of those, and God's super faithful to say, OK, then
(41:22):
make a right turn at this point now. Let's, let's, let's,
let's do that. It's no big deal. But I think
as I get older,
I do have those moments where I go, Oh man,
what if I had turned left here? Would that have
been a different path? And, and I think the devil
can use some of that stuff to discourage us. The
truth of the matter is that God loves you. He
loves your family, and you don't have a bad choice
(41:43):
in front of you right now. You follow God, you
serve the Lord, you love your family, and you serve
your community and what you feel called to. You're gonna
finish your life and go to heaven and hear well done,
good and faithful servant. I think, you know, that's gonna
be worth it all. Yeah.
Pedro, does this help you?
Yeah, so much, thank you so much guys. I really,
really appreciate you guys taking the time to, to, uh,
(42:05):
to speak with me and give me some advice and, uh, yeah,
thank you and uh I just wanted.
Thank you so much for the for the radio uh
this radio station. I've been listening to it a lot
when I go to work and when I come home
from work and it's just, uh, you know, definitely watering
me every single day and uh thank you guys so
much for the advice. In advance, thank you for your service, Pedro. Yes, indeed,
(42:26):
thanks for calling in today on Pastor's Perspective at 888-564-6173.
Here's a question sent in from Audrey, wants to know,
how do I know when a relationship I'm in needs
to be over? He does not want to be married.
He will not compromise about finding a job that will
bring him closer to home. He's currently an on the
(42:48):
road trucker. He's out on the road 4 to 6
weeks at a time, only comes home for 4 days,
then he's off again. Uh, there's no consistent communication with
his son.
Or with me he deflects he gas lights.
So question one again, how do I know when a
relationship needs to be over? Oh man. Oh, what's say
(43:13):
you do we want to answer this? It sounds like
it is. Yeah, that's a hard thing to say, right?
That's a tough thing to say. And I, I'm sorry
that we're saying that and it's, I think I wanted
people to hear if this person had called in, I'd
say the exact same thing first to say, I think
this person already knows that it is over and, and
if you need to hear us to say.
Everything you just described points towards that, then I'll, I
(43:36):
will second you on that. It certainly does. And I'm
sorry for that, and I think that's awful and that's
a huge bummer. Um, but you're asking the question like,
is it over? And I, I have a feeling that
you already know the answer to that, and that's a bummer.
And I'd encourage you to, um,
To to seek a circle of um of believers around
(43:57):
your sisters getting around you and praying with you and
praying for you to stay close to uh hopefully the
church that you're involved in, but uh it, it could
be a very, very rough road ahead for you in
the very near future.
Yeah, Audrey says that, uh, he has, uh, inconsistent communication
with his son. I don't know if that's a son
(44:17):
that you guys have together, but, um, again, Audrey's hoping
for the best that they would get married someday, but
all these red flags, it, it might get worse before
it gets better, right? If he, if he's showing you
this now, may not be an indication that he's gonna
change it anytime soon. But what do I know?
No, but you're right, Brian. When you, and when you
add a kid into that, again, we don't know the age,
(44:38):
we don't know if it's his or not, it wasn't
really clear, but assuming it is and assuming that, I mean,
just not alone, man. I, I, I feel for the
writer because it's like, it's easy for me to say,
I think the relationship's over, but it's not mine. To
be in that and to have a kid together and all, I'm,
I'm seriously, we're sorry for you in that situation and
believe that, you know, God could still bring some healing
(45:00):
in that, but you're right, it could get worse before
it gets better. And that's tough. That's really hard.
Audrey, thank you for calling in today on Pastor's Perspective.
Luis also wrote in, he wants to know if it's
OK to tithe to a Christian nonprofit organization, as I
do not currently belong to a specific church. Bill, what
do you say to Luis? Yes.
(45:22):
It is OK. Yeah, it is OK. OK, Phil.
Yeah, um, let me send you my information and you
can start driving that. I'm just kidding.
Sounds like Phil wants to profit from his nonprofit, uh, no,
I'm joking, yeah, yeah, no, I mean, I think I
agree with Bill on that. I'd also, I mean, I
think we're all free well-beings and we can give and
do as God leads us and shows us. I'd love
(45:44):
to express to that person though that it'd be so
good to get involved in the church. Forget the tithe
part for a second. Let's cut that out a bit.
Don't assume I'm talking about tithe, but I do want
to say.
It's a bummer that you're not like a part of
a church. Um, and I'll say this because not only
do you need the church, but I think that that
local community also needs you. Uh, you know, here, here
(46:06):
you are writing in to say, I have money that
I want to give to a nonprofit. Like, I want
to be a part of the kingdom work. I think
that means that you're missing out on being a real
support to a church, and that church would, you know, uh,
I think you need to be in a home church
as well. So give whoever you want, whatever, but get
into a local church, man.
Yeah, and we don't know why Luis isn't involved in
(46:29):
a local church. Maybe he's new to the area, maybe
he's afraid to try a church, maybe he's experienced church
hurt in the past, but he knows that even though
churches might let him down,
Uh, I don't know. There's just so much here to
this question, which is why we prefer to talk to
you guys. Uh, we do have the opportunity for you
(46:49):
to send in your questions online, but then we read
your question and we're left with more questions. So call
in when you can. We understand that sometimes you can't
call in, but, um, if you're still looking for a church,
I don't know if you've found one.
Since you sent us this email, but you can go
to Calvary Chapel.com. There's a church finder feature there, type
in your zip code and something might pop up that
(47:12):
says near you, and you can go visit that. So
check that out at uh Calvary, yes, Calvary Chapel.com. Stanley
in Huntington Beach, welcome to Pastor's Perspective.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Hi, um, uh, I'm a Christian and I just wanna
be your prospect, um,
Yesterday my
close cousin uh.
He's a sergeant officer. He got killed in the freeway,
tried to helping somebody else. Uh,
Speaker 1 (47:45):
I think I heard about this on the news.
This was your cousin? Yeah, oh my gosh, so sorry, Stanley.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
But, but, uh, uh, the sad thing is famous is
I tried to, uh, give just send a new, new
message you couldn't use they never accept it, um.
Uh, in the funeral, not funeral, in the hospital, my, uh, uh,
his brother.
(48:13):
His older brother, which is my, my young, among the, the,
the cousin, I'm, I'm the older one.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
OK.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
And then there's another older one because we don't have
uncle or my uncle's side only, only left to his father,
but his father is the elderly home and his mother
is in the home with dementia.
so his youngest son, he's been taking care of mother
and his uh wife, supposed to be wife. Uh, they've
(48:45):
been taking care, and then two months ago I've been,
I saw him, so I asked him, Did you married?
Do you put the license in? He said he did,
and he said he did. I don't know if they're
real or not. And then yesterday, they, uh, his father
and all all other.
Uh, my auntie call because we on the upper level
(49:08):
is only at the one my uncle who is at home,
I tell him because of the shock and then, um, the,
my auntie then they all ask me.
Uh, who's gonna take care and do they get married?
And they all want me to ask that question. I said,
(49:29):
In that point, if she loved so much in her
and she's been helping it, it's like she'll be the wife.
Um,
Speaker 1 (49:37):
so you're wondering, so, so what's your actual question though, if, if,
if he married, if he's married, or I, I, what,
what is it that you're wondering?
Speaker 2 (49:47):
They want me to ask him.
Are you married and who's taking the elderly mother?
OK. And who's gonna take care of the body, you know,
the house. And they have a 2 sons too.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yeah. Well, uh, somebody has to begin to answer the questions,
the family questions there, and, uh, you know, Stanley, I don't,
I don't know if it would be you or or
who in the family, but somebody has to begin to
make the phone calls or knock on the door and
show compassion and stand alongside this woman, whether they were
married or not, and
(50:22):
And bring some comfort and introduce Jesus into this, uh, this,
this whole tragedy. I, I, I love the the the
psalm that says, uh, the Lord is close to those
whose hearts are broken and so he's he's with you
in this and with the family in this and, um,
you just take step by step and ask the hard question.
There isn't any way to do it and any easier
(50:45):
way to do it but just pray and step into
it and and bring a whole lot of compassion and um.
Yeah. Now, the question that Stanley asked our screener, uh,
it says that, uh, no one knows if they were
actually married. The family wants me to ask the woman.
They want Stanley to ask the woman if they were married.
(51:08):
Stanley's wondering if he should, because it's more for financial
reasons and like Stanley mentioned, taking care of elderly parents
and things, so.
Uh, Phil, uh, Stanley's wondering if he should do it.
Is there a reason why he should not do it?
I mean, not looking at it sounds like it sounds
like the family elected him, right? Or or last man
standing or whatever, but these are the bummer things that like,
(51:31):
there's no way, there's no way to soften the blow
that when someone dies, there's a lot of super uncomfortable, difficult,
frustrating conversations that have to happen. This is one of them.
Yeah, I mean, you know, and here he is. Stanley's,
you know, obviously, as he's sharing with us, he's grieving
for very good reason. Within 24 hours they're already having
this conversation, so I totally get it, and that's a
(51:52):
real bummer. Um, love to offer a quick prayer for
Stanley and his family, and, um, and obviously for this
officer who was killed and for those grieving. Um, so yeah,
let me just pray, but I think Stanley, honestly, like
my gut tells me, and I'm just, I was praying
and saying, Lord, like, how do you help somebody in
this situation?
You just have to step into some really hard things
right now. That's the reality. There's no way around that.
(52:14):
It's a hard time. Somebody's gonna step into some hard things.
You're at least open to calling a bunch of pastors
to talk about it. So good on you for that.
Trust that the Lord will give you grace to step
into the difficult things. Be kind, be thoughtful, don't be selfish,
be considerate, and I think the Lord will use you.
So yeah, maybe I can just offer a prayer for
(52:35):
him and the family and.
Lord, we're grieved to hear about this LA sergeant who
was killed and, um, the family and just the whole situation.
I pray for Stanley that you would use him to
be a peacemaker, Lord, in moments that are just, they're
so grievous, they're so sad, and, um, there's nothing that
can like just, it just wrecks us so much at
(52:55):
at this kind of a death, and bless him and
help him and use this.
Situation as hard and as difficult and as sad as
it is, that you would bring your the light of
your love into this family in a new and a
fresh way, even as they grieve that you'd be super
present in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Stan Lee, thank
(53:15):
you for calling us today on Pastor's Perspective. Got time
for one more question sent in online. Regina recently saw
a video about the world being flat.
The person who was talking was giving scriptures to back
up their claim. In the Bible, the firmament refers to
the expanse or vault of the sky separating the waters
above from the waters below. I would like to know
(53:36):
the pastor's perspective on this because it's in the Bible,
and now I'm second guessing if what I've learned about
space was not even true. Phil, let's say you, I'm
sure one of your books back there is about the
flat Earth, right?
Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I, let me just
start with like, this is like a cultural phenomenon where
(53:56):
the internet, and I'm not blaming the internet, but like the,
it's interesting that in 2025, there's a larger percentage of
people actually believing that the earth is flat than there
was before. You'd say, well, that's because we have more evidence. Actually,
we have less and less evidence for a flat earth.
I mean, just like unbelievably less evidence. Not only that,
so like that's like just scientifically, there's no evidence for
(54:18):
a flat earth.
Scripturally, you, you can take any verse to make it
say whatever you want to say, but the truth is,
the Bible does not say that. In fact, there are
other passages talking about the currents and so on, and
there's no current without the world being round. It wouldn't,
it just wouldn't happen that way. It's not possible. It's
like scientifically, it's physically impossible. So the idea that, um,
(54:42):
you know, a couple verses, please don't let that confuse you,
don't let that throw you off. No, the world is
not flat.
Again, let me just be clear, this is not some
like Christian like I'm not gonna hang my hat on
this like as a Christian thing, but the Bible does
not indicate a flat earth. Scientifically there's not a flat earth,
so I'm not a flat earther.
All right, very good. Phil Metzger, thank you for being
(55:04):
on Pastor's perspective today. How can people find out more
about Calvary San Diego?
Yeah, well, we, um, our website, CalvarySD.com, also Instagram. We're,
we're we were probably more on Instagram than the interwebs,
but Calvary SD.
And uh yeah, love to love to see people in
our area. If you're listening, come on down. All right.
(55:25):
And Bill is one of the pastors at Refuge Calvary
Chapel in Huntington Beach. If you're listening right now on
Tuesday afternoon on Kwave, uh, in about half an hour,
Bill is gonna be live on Refuge Radio. It's Tuesday.
Bill does refuge radio live on Tuesday, so that'll be
going on here at 4:30. Bill, you ready for us
at 4:30? Yeah, and Phil's gonna be my special guest. Oh, perfect. Phil,
(55:48):
don't go anywhere.
All right guys, we'll talk to you tomorrow. Today's episode
will soon be archived on Facebook, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Thanks for listening and watching Pastor's perspective.
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