August 5, 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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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
We are here live in the studio on this Tuesday afternoon.
We'd love to answer the questions you might have about
the Bible, the Christian faith, how to walk the Christian walk.
We'd love to hear your questions. What's going on in
your life? 888-564-6173 is the number to call. Maybe you
(00:37):
read something in your devotional this morning or heard something
here on the radio or
Saw something strange on YouTube. Let's discuss it at 888-564-6173.
Answering your questions today, we've brought in Richard Cimino. He
is one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa.
How are you, Richard? Doing great, thanks. Great to have
(00:57):
you here, sir. All is good. And Bruce Zachary joins
us once again. He's the senior pastor at Calvary Nexus,
which is in Nexus, California. No, it's in Cam.
California. So if anybody's planning a road trip this summer
up north, and it's going to involve a, uh, weekend stay,
you can, uh, go visit their church there, Calvary Nexus.
(01:19):
How are you, Bruce? Yeah. Doing great. Really looking forward
to spend the time with you and Richard, and, uh,
of course, our guests. Yes, indeed. 888-564-6173 is the number
to call if you're watching us online, Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.
The number's right there on the bottom of your screen.
There's also a QR code that you can scan, and
that'll take you to the page on Kwave.com, where you
(01:41):
can submit a question online. That's not the best way
to get an answer because we prefer to dialogue with you.
So call us, 888-564-6173 is the number to call. You
can also send in your questions using the Pastor's perspective
Facebook Messenger, or by DMing us on the pastor's perspective Instagram.
In fact, I've got one of those Facebook questions right now.
(02:03):
This one is from Dina, who writes, How much protection
during the tribulation will believers have those left behind who
are not deceived and accept the truth, such as, when
the seas and rivers and springs are turned to blood,
will God provide water for the believers? And will believers
during the tribulation die of other causes besides being martyred? Bruce,
(02:27):
what do you say to Dina?
Yeah, first of all, I just appreciate the question. We're
talking about uh tribulation saints, those who come to faith
after the rapture of the church during the Great Tribulation,
and we would liken that to God's protection of Daniel's
three friends, uh, Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego, and the flaming fire,
(02:47):
that God knows how to protect those who are his.
And um in regard to the judgment of turning uh
seas into blood and rivers into blood, bodies of water,
we see that when the first plague was visited upon
the Egyptians, as the Nile was turned into blood, that
God provided water for his people, that God knows how
(03:09):
to protect, and God knows how to provide, and we're
not told all the details in revelation, but we can
have confidence that God is going to protect those who
are his.
In regard to martyrdom, um, we do, we do see that, uh,
there are those who are martyred, tribulation, uh, saints who
are martyred for their faith, but we can also presume
(03:30):
that people will be dying of other causes during the
Great Tribulation. Um, just there's going to be unfortunately, uh,
quite a lot of bloodshed, quite a lot of loss
of life in that time, judgment.
Yes, indeed. Yeah, yeah, I, that's great, Bruce. I agree
with all of it and I was, I was just
thinking about the, the latter, the the the last statement
(03:51):
that you made, um, even as believers today, um, we're
not because of our faith in Jesus, we're, we're not
exempt from suffering and death, um, by pestilence, famine. I mean,
there are Christians that starve to death. There are Christians
who die in epidemic pandemics.
Um, and so, um, we're not given any information that
(04:14):
that would be different during the Great Tribulation. In fact,
it was just the, the brokenness of the planet is
gonna be so radical we can't even begin to comprehend
it and, um, but as you said, God has preserved
his people before and has his ways and means to
do it, and we leave that, I think we leave
that and rest in the sovereignty of God and so yeah, Bruce.
(04:39):
Yeah, we all see, obviously this is not the great tribulation,
but there is tribulation on the planet, and I think
the most recent statistics that I saw from Open Doors,
which I believe was published at the end of 2023, uh,
1 in 7 Christians, uh, were being persecuted on the planet,
which is just a remarkable thought to consider, you know,
(05:01):
of an estimated 2.2 billion believers, 1 in 7 are
being persecuted in diverse places.
Yeah, and you can uh keep up with uh the
persecuted church on the Open Doors website, which is opendoors.org.
It's a great uh resource and the uh world watch list, yeah,
that's something that they publish about once a year, and
(05:22):
uh you can get all the details there.
Yeah. All right, uh, who is that? Dina? Yeah, Dina,
thank you for sending in your question on the pastor's
perspective Facebook messenger. And here's another one that was sent
in that same way. It's from Archie in Roanoke, Virginia.
I wanted to ask if you would please speak to
the theory that Jesus has already come back and we're
(05:43):
actually living in the tribulation or millennial reign.
I've kind of looked at this before, but didn't get
very deep, and I want to start at least having
a good explanation why I know this is not the case,
and I want to get it from the pros. Thank
you all. Bruce, what do you say to Archie? Yeah, um,
it's kind to be thought of as a pro. He
must have thought that someone else was hosting today. Um, Archie,
(06:06):
I appreciate the question. I appreciate Dina's question as well.
In Matthew 24, Jesus gave the Oliet discourse, what we
know as the Oliet discourse says.
He was telling his disciples what would be the signs
preceding his return and trying to address their question when
this was going to happen. And uh during that discourse,
(06:27):
he he tells them that there's going to be false Christ,
false Messiahs, the people will say that the Messiah is here,
the Christ is there, and don't believe them. And the
reason um that
We know that um those prophets are false and they're
false messiahs, is that when Jeus returns his second coming,
everyone's going to see it like lightning filling up the sky.
(06:50):
It's gonna be evident to all. And that is one
way that we know that claims of Jesus.
Making a secret appearance to a particular group, whether it's
a cult or some other uh group engaged in some
form of mysticism, why it's a false crime. Jesus warned
us in that all of it discourse, how we would
know it was false. Um, the other questions uh about
(07:14):
uh the millennial kingdom, uh, that we see described in Revelation.
Uh, 20. We also see it described, for example, in
Isaiah chapter 11, that's where we see the lion lying
down with the lamb in Isaiah 65, some of the
other elements of the millennial kingdom is a restoration of
the creation and and
(07:34):
Currently, we do not see that taking place on our
planet at all. There, there is constant warfare on the planet.
The lion and the lamb are not lying down. And similarly, um,
we're living in an age where there's a lot of destruction, uh,
to the, uh, creation. There's a lot of, uh, destruction
(07:55):
to the environment, and, um, this is not a time
where the creation is being restored yet, so we know
it's not the millennial rain.
Yeah, not only is the the restoration of creation, but
just the absence of universal peace and justice and you know, um.
You know, the, the mill the millennial reign is described
(08:17):
in Revelation 20, like Jesus is reigning on the earth,
Satan is bound, and, and Isaiah, um, chapter 2 and also, uh,
Isaiah 11, peace and justice, um, are gonna be, they're
the foundation of his throne. He'll reign in righteousness forever,
rule and reign in righteousness and for forever, so.
The absence of all of those things that you mentioned, Bruce, um,
(08:38):
and even the, the cosmic upheavals, we, we, we're not
witnessing those as well. So aren't you aren't you just
thankful for like Jesus said, no, this is, you are
gonna hear these things, but let me just tell you
in advance, this is what will be the sure realities
of my return to the earths.
Very true. All right. Uh, who was that? That was Archie.
(09:01):
That's right. Oh, Archie, thank you for sending in your
question on the pastor's perspective Facebook Messenger. Now, let's go
to the phones. 888-564-6173 is our number. That is the
number Arturo dialed from Moreno Valley. He's watching us on YouTube.
We'll wave to Arturo. What's your question for us, Arturo?
Yes, I was just wondering, I know that God made
(09:22):
Adam and Eve, but uh who made the other creations
so they could have a partner besides Adam and Eve
in order to make more children. Like, for instance, their kids,
where did they get their spouse from, where who made them? OK, Richard,
I think Adam and Eve supplied them.
(09:43):
That would be my simple answer. But then the next
question would be, wouldn't those then be siblings? At that time,
they would have wouldn't they, they would be siblings, is
that the reason why they, they, if I'm not mistaken,
is that the reason, uh, somewhere in the Bible, if
I'm not mistaken, correct me if I'm wrong, that, that's
(10:04):
not to be with, go out with none of your
cousins or something like that. I'm not 100% sure, but
I think I heard something like that.
Yeah because it was changed.
Well, I would say the first reason why we can
say that that was reality is the Bible gives us
no other things. It's just as they continue to have
children and their children had children, so because there was
(10:25):
no other um alternative source of having children, that would
be it. I think because there there the fall had
had not taken place uh but recently, you know, from.
It was so it was so short-lived that the kind
of genetic degradation that is hap that that has happened
(10:47):
since then. That's one reason why marrying your siblings is
not a wise idea to do because of the genetic,
you know, degradation that's happened. So I would just say
putting it that close to the fall, um, there and
there was no other recourse, but the Bible just doesn't
tell us. Wouldn't it be great if it said that
Cain married um.
(11:08):
Elizabeth or whatever, yeah we know like, yeah, but later
down it does say it starts to name some of
the some of those families and um daughters of people
in those families and um yeah. How many generations, Bruce,
do you think it went on where
(11:28):
Sibling marriage was allowed, or sibling, yeah. Yeah, I, I mean,
we see that, by the way, Richard, I appreciate uh
your answer to Arturo's question. I, I think it it's
the right answer. So, uh, we see that Abraham is
still saying um that Sarah is his sister and she
is his half-sister, and so, um,
(11:51):
That that's several generations. I'm not sure that the Genesis
record is intended to be a complete record of the
generations or the genealogies. I certainly don't seek to try
to date uh the creation from those genealogies, but I
agree with Richard.
About the genetic condition that sin had just entered into
(12:11):
the universe, and presumably the impact of sin and the
genetic mutations that are caused by sin, the degradation, as
Richard said, was less prevalent, so it was less of
an issue, um.
Arturo mentioned about cousins. Actually, cousins are never uh prohibited
from uh the mosaic law in regard to marriage, um,
(12:33):
but many would make the case, as Richard said, as
far as the genetic pool, it's not necessarily a wise
idea unless you live in Louisiana and just kidding.
Louisiana. Oh great, yeah, yeah, we just lost our Louisiana audience. Yeah,
cousins are, are not, uh, precluded. Matter of fact, Jacob
(12:53):
is told to go to, uh, Laban, the brother of
his mother, in other words, his uncle, to take a daughter,
which would be his cousin. Uh, yeah, anything else, Richard? Yeah,
it just it, you know, Genesis 1:28 says Adam and
Eve had other sons and daughters and how else do
they
When you just start thinking about it, it's not complex,
(13:14):
even though God doesn't give us the specifics, you know,
God said be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth, yeah.
Well, there you go. So be it. Arturo, thank you
for your phone call. Yeah, there is. Arturo, thank you
for your phone call today here on Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173
is the number to call from now until 4 o'clock.
(13:36):
And here's another question that was sent in online. It
is from Shawna, who listens in Rialto on FM 107.9
K wave. Shawna writes, I've been walking.
With the Lord consistently for a little over a year.
I've been going through a lot. I was laid off.
I've been having people agree together to come against me
in matters that are unfair. I'm not the victim, but
(13:57):
I just don't understand what exactly is going on. I
always look in the mirror first to try to find
what I could do better. I believe it's spiritual attacks. Richard,
would you agree with Shaunna? I would say in a
very broad stroke, absolutely, and, and let me explain, um.
First of all, what Jesus said in John 16:33, he says,
(14:18):
he goes, these things I've spoken to you that in me,
you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation.
I think the the reason we have tribulation in the
world is cause it's fallen.
And um in in that general sense, if you look
at Ephesians chapter 2, the very beginning there, um, Paul says,
you know, and, and you, he made alive who were
(14:39):
dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked
according to the course of this world. So in other words,
there's been this stream.
Um, of, of humanity that's been walking in a particular
course and behind the course of this world is the god,
little G God of this world. It says, according to
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
(15:01):
who now works in the Sons of disobedience, and I
think all of his efforts in our broken world is
to drive men and women from the worship of the
true and living God.
And so the course of this world, and once you're
made alive, you're no longer floating in that stream, you're
actually moving against that stream. So in that broad sense,
(15:22):
you're facing spiritual opposition continually, right?
And then, and think about this, you know, um, think
of the way Jesus describes the citizens in his kingdom
in the Beatitudes. I mean, who wouldn't want to be
with those people? I mean, humble. They're, they're they're, they're
mourning over the brokenness of the world and the brokenness
(15:42):
of their own lives. Um, they're, they're merciful or compassionate.
Um, they're meek, they don't wanna use power to disadvantage anybody. Um,
they don't want to trample over people. Um, they're willing
to trust God with their successes and with their, with
their gains. But Jesus, then he went on to say,
he says, you, these citizens, uh, in my kingdom, you
(16:05):
are the salt of the earth, and you're the light
of the world, and we are living as light in
the world in a dark world.
And I want you to consider the fact that like
if you're in a very dark room for a period
of time, but your eyes are open, your pupils dilate
to get any little bits of light they can get.
If somebody flips on that light.
It's very uncomfortable. It's literally physically uncomfortable. Usually throw things
(16:28):
in that direction of the light switch, right? Um, and
then when you think about like if you have salt
and you have a wound, salt stings, salts are cathartic.
It's a very good thing that that salt can can cleanse,
but it cleanses, the stinging you feel is the cathartic
influence of the salt. And so if we're salt in
a world that is kind of a festering wound morally
(16:51):
and spiritually,
And we're light in a world that's walking in the
dark concerning God. Um, then that's why that's that declaration is, is,
is so close to Jesus saying, so blessed are you
when you're persecuted, you know, um, and he, he, and
he said even the night before he died.
You know, if the world hated him, it's gonna hate you. Why?
(17:13):
Because we carry his we express his ways and his
person and his nature in a world that doesn't want
to be exposed to that. So that's the broad stroke
I think of of um persecution and yes there can
truly be I, I believe Satan has the a legion,
he has a minions that followed him in his rebellion
(17:35):
against God, and they, they work on us.
Um, they're not omniscient, they're not omnipotent, but they spend
a lot of time and their job is is to
now that we belong to the Lord to keep us
from uh everything God has for us you know with
through and by Jesus, and he will use people.
He'll use, he'll the the influence of the God of
(17:59):
this world in media, all sorts of things work in
terms of spiritual warfare against us. And they never stop
either because there could be someone who, uh, let's just
say the
Let's just say they have a better time of recognizing
when the enemy is coming against them, and so they're
able to, you know, either resist temptation, whatever, and then
(18:21):
they get to this point, like, for example, in their
ministry or whatever, where things are going well or so
it seems from the outside, Satan or his demons never
actually say, you know what, we're never gonna get this guy.
Let's just leave him alone. No, they'll still attack, won't they, Bruce?
They're waiting for an opportune time. Yeah. Yeah, Shawna, um,
(18:42):
first of all, I am so sorry that you're going
through this. Um, that is not fun at all. It's
got to be very frustrating. It's got to be very discouraging. Uh,
you mentioned that you've been walking with the Lord pretty
close for the last year, and I think
It, it takes quite a while, um, walking with Christ, where, um,
(19:05):
you don't get discouraged in, in the midst of difficulty,
even people have walked with the Lord for a real
long time.
can get easily discouraged by circumstances and difficulty. I also
just want to commend you that you've been walking close
to the Lord the last year. I also want to
commend you, uh, and the question was asked that you
said you were willing to look in the mirror, that
(19:26):
that's your MO to look in the mirror.
To ask, you know, is it I? Where am I
at fault? And that's really commendable. I think, um, whenever
I receive, um, some type of, of criticism, I always
want to look for at least a kernel of truth
and then let the chaff blow away and, um, grow from, uh,
(19:47):
the truth. And so I, I commend you for doing
that as well. As, uh, Pastor Richard said, I don't know, um,
If everything that's going on is a direct result of
a spiritual battle, yes, as Richard said, we are in
the midst of a spiritual battle. all of creation is, um,
(20:07):
I try to look and think, is what I'm feeling,
what I'm experiencing, really the physical universe, is it spiritual elements,
is it my emotions, um, a combination of those things, and,
and that sometimes can be very helpful for me. I
think if you have
Um, godly people in your life who can offer you
(20:28):
counsel who are close with you, uh, as to what's
going on, that could be really helpful. But I think
that it also can be really encouraging, um, when you
see that or contemplate the end result. For example, James,
the half brother of Jesus said, count it all joy
when you fall into various trials. He didn't say if,
it was certain when. And he said, falls, it's sudden,
(20:51):
it's unexpected.
And uh James's encouragement to us was that those trials
produce patience, which produces character, which produces hope as an
end result. And I'm also comforted as I think about
uh
Paul's writing to the church at Philippi. He says in
the third chapter at verse 10, that he wants to
(21:13):
know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. And man,
I wish that verse just ended there with an exclamation point,
but it doesn't. He said, I want to know the
powerless resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed
to his spiritual death and and um.
(21:34):
God is using all of these difficulties to mold and
shape you to be more like Him, and that could
be encouragement and a source of hope in the midst
of this.
Shawna, thank you for sending in your question on the
Kwave.com Pastor's perspective page, and everybody listening and watching, please
keep Shawna in your prayers. 888-564-6173 is the number to
(21:57):
call us today. We're gonna be in the studio for
another 35 minutes or so. 888-564.
617-3. That number is good right now if you're watching
on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram as well, so call in,
ask your question. We've got Richard Cimino and Bruce Zachary here. Renee,
calling in from Orange County, California, listening on FM 107.9. Hello, Renee,
(22:19):
what's your question for us today?
Hey pastors, thank you for taking my call. Um, so
as far as I know, God is good and everything
that uh comes from God is good, so nothing bad
can happen that that God created, right? Because he's not
(22:39):
gonna forsake us.
So, along with that, I understand that sin entered the
world through Adam and Eve's eating of the fruit.
But Satan was the one that tempted Eve, um, so
that in itself was sin on his part, and he
(23:01):
fell from heaven because of his pride, which is sin.
So how is it that sin
was in heaven, um, for Satan to become prideful.
Yeah, good, great question, Bruce, what would you say to Renee? Yeah, Renee,
I appreciate the question. Yeah, so we see in uh
(23:22):
the planet Earth, which is a part of God's creation
in our universe, that the very first time that sin
enters into that part of God's creation is a result
of what
See in Genesis chapter 3, the rebellion of Adam and Eve, uh,
where they are, they are just one rule, and, and
(23:43):
don't eat the fruit of that tree, the tree of
knowledge of good and evil, and as soon as they violate,
as soon as they rebel, as soon as um
They neglect this command in willful violation, sin enters into
our world and our creation is marked. But in regard
to when sin first occurs, uh, in God's creation, we
(24:07):
don't know. We know that, uh, Lucifer's rebellion against God precedes, um,
his being cast out of heaven, and it appears from
Revelation 12 that he leads one third of the angelic
coast in rebellion.
Against God, and um that rebellion, that willful failure to
(24:28):
yield to God, and an intentional rebellion is sin, uh,
and it's preceding what happened in Genesis 3. And so, uh,
sin is anytime we are rebelling against God's authority, whether
it is unintentional or willful.
Richard? Yeah, and I, I think that, you know, if you,
if you keep taking that question, try to work it
(24:50):
backwards as far as you can, um, and, and Renee, you,
you kind of say, well, how did that, you know,
how did Satan fall? Like in, in, in the, in
the perfection of God in the presence of God's holiness,
these angelic beings existed.
Where did that idea come? Right, because Satan tempts us.
(25:10):
So who tempts Satan? Yeah, well, here's, here's this is OK,
so I think that's where you're going. I want to
recommend to you a, a, a book called The God
I don't Understand.
And it's by a guy named Christopher Wright. He's a
profound theologian and Irishman. Um, if you like to listen
to audio books, audible books, this is one to get.
(25:32):
It's him. He reads it himself. He reads Irish Irish,
and you just don't wanna stop listening, and he's there's
such a gentleness to him, but such a clarity, and
he says this in chapter one.
He says it seems to me that when we read
the Bible asking God, where did evil come from, how
did it originally get started, God seems to reply, that
(25:56):
is not something I intend to tell you. In other words,
the Bible compels us to accept the mystery of evil.
Notice I do not say compels us to accept evil.
The Bible never does that or asks us to do so.
We are emphatically told to reject and resist evil. Rather,
I mean that the Bible leads us to accept that
(26:19):
evil is a mystery, especially in terms of its origin,
a mystery that we humans cannot fully understand or explain,
so helpful. It's just so, thank you. So I gotta
start with what I do know.
And I'm not gonna start working from what I don't know.
I can't remember who said this once, and Bruce, if
(26:39):
you've ever heard the reference to it and know where
it came from, but it, it's the, it goes something
like this, you don't try to um understand something by
grasping in the in the dark. Like don't start from
the dark and try to work towards light. You start
from light and work towards what's dark. And so what we, when,
(27:02):
when God says, I don't, I'm not giving you that light.
Well, then we're just gonna be groping in the dark
to find some answer to something he hasn't given us
light on. But when he's given we wanna walk in
the light of what we do know. What we, what
we do know about God is everything that needs to
be known about God to have life with him forever.
And so I would really encourage you, it's, it's not,
(27:24):
you're not the first person to ask that question, you
won't be the last one I at times, there's gonna
be times when I when I'll kind of go, I'll
ask questions like that, like, I wonder why we don't
know about that. Where did that really start? But if
we don't know and God hasn't said, then that's the
place where he goes, just trust me.
Um, that's not what you need to know. I want
you to to major on what I want you to know,
(27:45):
and I've given you that in the person of my
son and in the in the pages of my word.
That's such a good point, Bruce, what would you add?
Yeah, I, again, I appreciate the question, Renee, and I,
I commend you for just pondering that and seeking to discern.
It appears that uh God gives human beings uh moral agency.
In other words, uh, the capacity to make moral decisions
(28:08):
that have implications, as well as the capacity to know
right from wrong.
And absent that moral agency, which sometimes gets referred to
as free will, that our love for God couldn't be tested.
In other words, if we were compelled to respond in
a certain way, didn't have moral agency, then our love
would not appear real as a response, uh, as a
(28:31):
result of moral agency. And similarly, it appears that the
angelic beings also have moral agency, uh.
Uh, as a result of that, uh, people and angelic
beings made choices and make choices, and, um, that despite
love for God, worship for God, or rebellion against God,
(28:52):
and that's really the, the essence of the progeny of
sin or rebellion.
Renee, thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective.
The book that Richard mentioned is called The God I
Don't Understand, Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith. It is
by Christopher Wright, W R I G H T. and
uh Richard recommends you listen to it on
(29:14):
An audio book because you'll hear uh Mr. Wright's Irish accent.
I don't listen to audiobooks. They're just not my thing.
They put me to sleep, but this one, I think
I just might give this one a listen to, yeah,
the God I don't some charms.
Perfect. I like that. All right, AAA just dated yourself.
(29:37):
888-564-6173 is the number to call. We are in the
middle of a great episode, and why don't you participate?
We would love to hear your questions. Andrea, you'll be
coming up first after the break, and, uh, we'll be
back with your questions as well. 888-564-6173, Richard Cimino and
Bruce Zachary answering your questions today till 4 888-564-6173.
(30:20):
Now I'm craving a bowl of Lucky Charms. What in
the world? Thank you, Bruce Zachary for that. Bruce is
the pastor of Calvary Nexus in Camarillo, California, and he
joins us today on Pastor's Perspective in the studio here,
Richard Cimino, one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel,
Costa Mesa. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
We've got about 25 more minutes to go. Grab an
open line. What do you want to ask these two guys?
(30:42):
888-564-6173 is the number to call. We're going to go
to Riverside. Here is Andrea. Hi there, Andrea. Welcome to
Pastor's Perspective. What's on your mind today?
Well, my son um kind of presented me with a
with a question that
(31:03):
Kind of hit me a little bit too, and I
had a hard time, um
Explaining to him my size. How old is your son?
He's 13. No, he's 1212, almost 1312 going on 13. Yes.
So, uh, what is that question?
All right. So, my son is well aware that uh
(31:26):
his dad and I are not married. Um, he understands
that
Um, we had him before marriage. So essentially, his question was, um,
so you having me without being married was a sin,
you know? And I said, essentially, you know, and and
(31:49):
he said, well, then how can you convince me that
I'm a gift if I was conceived under sin? And
aren't I just your consequence?
Wow. Now when he asked you this question, I mean,
where does this question come from? Is he
I don't know cause that's very deep in some ways.
(32:09):
It's very, like, is he questioning his existence or anything
like that? I mean, I would hope not. Well there's
there's that. So he does have, he does, he has
had issues or concerns with suicidal ideation. Um, I'm not
a new Christian, but I'm practicing it. We're more new
to it, where I'm practicing, I'm more involved and I'm
(32:30):
learning more. So oftentimes I tell him like, you know, you,
like you were meant to be.
here, you, you were created before I even knew. God
created you in my wom before he created you in
my womb, He knew you. Like, you have a purpose,
you know. And so I always tell him these things. Um,
but he also likes to challenge me in the sense of,
(32:53):
I'm trying to give him biblical pro you know, advice
on how he should do things. And then he comes
back at me with, well, you and dad aren't married,
and well, you guys had me before marriage, so I'm
a sin.
Um, or am I a mistake, and then I tell
him you're a gift from God, he questions that how
can you consider me a gift from God? Why would
(33:13):
God gift you me if you were.
Yeah, essentially. So, uh, Richard, what would you say first
of all to Andrea? Well, there's a lot of nuance here. Yeah,
there's a lot, that's a lot of ground to cover. Um,
first of all, thank you for calling. Yes, um, and
thank you. I, I'm, I'm just for being honest and
(33:37):
sharing this, and um.
We, we surely want to be praying for your son
and with any kind of um suicidal thoughts and ideas
um it's just it's heartbreaking to think that that's pandemic
epidemic in in amongst teens today and so and we'll
be praying for you because you know being the parent.
(34:00):
Um, so let, let's just start with the, you know,
how can I have value.
Um, in, in a world if I was illegitimate.
And um I think the starting point is, is God
alone is the author of life.
(34:21):
And so and any any human being is created in
the image of God and and that didn't stop with
the fall. Um, in fact, it's after the flood where
God um tells Noah, like, like you, you shall not
kill anybody because they, they're they're bearing the image of God.
(34:43):
That's post flood, right? So even fallen mankind still buries
the image of bears the image of God.
And granted in in many ways, um it's, it's, we
don't bear it perfectly. There's we, we, we distort his
image and and some people in some ways, even unbelieving people,
(35:04):
image him well.
You know, with their generosity, with their kindness, um, you
can meet a lot of unbelieving people and you can
see the, the image of God still there in their lives,
though they're not yet born again, and, and they're not
yet adopted children of God, reconciled to God, members of
the household of God, citizens in the kingdom of God,
(35:25):
but yet they still do bear the image of God.
And so what you want to communicate to him is,
is there is not a human being breathing that is
not an image bearer, and that is his great value
that that gives him the value that is so great
that God would say, I will come to rescue you
(35:46):
from the consequences of sin. That's the value. How valuable
is he?
Look at the price that God paid so that he
could belong to God and and and and and that's
for everybody that's walking on the face of the earth.
So that's, that to me is the starting point. Bruce,
I don't know if how you want to chime into that, that,
that layer of this onion, but Bruce, maybe what you
(36:09):
can do is just like direct your answer right at
Andrea's son. Like if he was the one calling, maybe,
maybe Andrea will show this to him on YouTube or
Facebook and I'd love to. So I just want to
encourage you, Andrea. I, I greatly respect your vulnerability, your transparency.
Uh, I greatly respect your son at 12 years of age.
(36:31):
It's just reminding me of Jesus in the temple questioning
the rabbis, and he's, he's deep, and he's thinking existential questions,
philosophical questions that are really deep. I think, you know,
as a, a person of his age, as you, you contemplate, um,
Just life, and you recognize that suffering is inescapable. Uh,
(36:55):
if you were to ask the question as a philosophical idea,
is it right for any parent to bring a child
into the world knowing that that child is going to
experience suffering? And in general, on balance, the degree of
suffering and the degree of pleasure or joy are both
gonna be about the same. Uh, is it selfish for
(37:15):
any parent to bring a child into the world?
And as a philosophical discussion, you could argue both of
those positions. It's wrong, it's right. The thing that changes
that discussion is the gospel, because you can't get into
his world, the world which is to come, without going
into this world first and experiencing suffering.
(37:36):
And I would just remind your son, um, he's at
a time of life that is um likened to a
bar mitzvah age, an age where he is old enough
to understand his own relationship with God. And if you
look at a bar mitzvah as simply a rite of
passage as one is moving to a new stage of life,
(37:57):
you recognize that Jesus' baptism, the beginning of his ministry,
was a rite of passage, and it is there that
the Father declared.
This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
And similarly, at the amount of transfiguration, as Jesus was
making his way to Jerusalem to go to the cross. Again,
it's a rite of passage, and again, the Father's declaring
(38:19):
over his son. Um, this is my beloved son in
whom I am well pleased. And Andrea, I'm confident that
you're doing this, but reminding your son.
That he is well pleasing to you is so important
at this stage in every stage of his life that
you cannot be a a consequence of, of my sin
(38:42):
as though it was judgment. And the way you know
that is because you are a blessing to me, not a, a,
a curse. You are a blessed.
to me and to remind him of that. And to
remind him that God is pleased with him. And as
you mentioned to, God knows his whole life, his beginning
from then formed in the womb. He had worked for
him to walk in that he created before he even
(39:04):
created this universe, and he's gonna have the joy of
discovering those and
That it gets better and not to lose hope, as
he draws closer to God, he's going to discover uh
more that all of us in this conversation, uh, Richard, Bryan, myself,
and I'm sure you Andrea, we all have regrets.
(39:25):
Um, not to have regrets is, is sociopathic. So to
have regrets in life is part of the human experience
as we walk closer to Christ in greater obedience to Christ,
we reduce our regrets and, um, it, it's OK to,
to say to your son, um, yeah, I regret that
(39:47):
I wasn't married, um, or words like that, but I
don't regret that you're my son. That's great.
Anything to add, Richard? Um, are, are we correct in,
am I hearing you correctly when you say you're still
presently not married?
Correct. OK. Well, um, I just unbeliever.
(40:10):
So my son is pretty much stuck in the middle
of a believer and an unbeliever, and he
He, he's primarily with me. His father is on the road, um, but,
so he, he sees me, you know, going to church,
and every so often I try to throw this and
that and, and so he's kind of questioning, he's questioning
me and uh it's definitely my son's more of um
(40:36):
Oh, not, not he's more of, it's, it's definitely, he's
paying attention to what I'm doing. That's a great thing
matches with what I'm saying, you know, that's a great
thing questions come through where he, he challenges me, like,
am I really doing the right thing? And, um, yeah,
so he's just, he's at that stage where
(40:56):
You say this, but are you doing it? No. Well,
I would say that for your witness sake, it would
be really good to sort this out, um, because your
son's asking legitimate questions and we want to have a,
we want to have a continuity between our profession and
our lives as much as possible. And I would um.
(41:22):
I would encourage you, like, um, are you, are you going,
are you, are you fellowshipping any place regularly right now? Yes.
I would sit down and have a talk with one
of the pastors, and just sit down and say,
This is what's going on. My son sees the inconsistencies. I, it,
it hurts me to give him a right answer when
when he's pointing out something obvious that's inconsistent in my life. And,
(41:45):
and you can share with that pastor. I, I would
not even begin to pretend to ask you to share,
you know, with, with however many people are listening right now,
but share with that pastor, like why, why is it
that you're right here? What are, what are your concerns?
What are your
What, what are the things that are preventing you from
(42:05):
um having your life more consistent with what the word
of God says? Yeah, Bruce. Yeah, I just uh agree
with Richard's counsel. And Andrea, um, I would remind your
son that Psalm 127 at verse 3 says that children
are a gift from the Lord, and that he is
a gift from God, and that he's not a gag gift,
(42:26):
that he is a precious gift and a beloved gift.
I just looked up that passage, Psalm 1273. It doesn't
say legitimately born children or anything like that are a
heritage from the Lord. It says children, all children are
a heritage from the Lord. Andrea, thank you for calling
in today. If everybody listening and watching can keep Andrea
(42:48):
and her son.
Uh, and dad, in your prayers, and, uh, also Andrea, I,
I hope, uh, your son's in some kind of counseling
or something for this, uh, suicidal ideation that he's going through.
All right, 888-564-6173 is our number. Here is Karen, who's
(43:09):
listening on FM 107.9 in Huntington Beach. Hi there, Karen.
Welcome to Pastor's Perspective.
Thank you so much. Thank you for taking my call. Yeah,
how can we help you?
Well, I belong to this online group that like helps
you save money and tips and tricks and things like that.
But there are so many people in the comments of
(43:32):
this group who say, well, no, don't get anything at
a thrift store because, you know, demons or evil spirits
could be attached to the things that were donated or
the people that donated the items could have been into
witchcraft and you'll bring that spirit back into your house. I,
I do see in the Bible that
Demons have the ability to sort of interact with the
(43:56):
physical world. Like they, they were able to throw that
child into the fire, for example, or the man of
the tombs was, they gave him strength to be able
to break chains. So, so I see that, but I
don't see like where, you know, they could be attached
to like a jacket that you buy at a thrift
store or a couch. Hiding in the pockets.
(44:20):
So many people in the comments were so convinced. Oh no, no, no, no,
don't buy any thing in a thrift store. So many
people that were convinced it was true, so I don't know.
All right, Richard, was your stoy hat? Did you buy
that at a thrift store? I got it at a
at a vintage store. Yes, I did, and I checked
inside first. It's not there. OK, OK. Um, well, Karen, I,
(44:43):
I think first of all that you want to be, um,
fiscally responsible and you're looking for ways and hints and you're, you're,
you're engaged in ongoing conversations. That's great. I think that's
really good.
But when you begin to see those kinds of things said,
you have to kind of kind of go, OK, so
some of these people, they are, they've got a line
of thought that doesn't converge with mine or that diverges
(45:06):
from me at at this point because like truthfully, um
my wife and I, we bring stuff and donate stuff
to thrift stores all the time and
There are many more people just like us who are not,
you know, involved in covens or uh anything like that.
They're not worshiping um the devil and they're doing that
(45:26):
and you know, we don't know who's doing what and
everything and whatever, but the idea that, you know, demons
are attaching themselves to articles of clothing.
You know, I, I, you know, I wouldn't want to
pretend to try to answer that thing and with, with
any kind of rational weight, but I would say that
we don't know what anybody's doing who's packaging the meat
(45:46):
that you're buying in the grocery store. Oh no, you know, scared, yeah,
or the people that built your car, right? Or the
people that refurbished the car that you bought or the
people that built your home or any of those things,
you know.
A lot of those people are watching too much Stephen
King or or whatever to to think like no that's
not the road or so many of those that that
genre of movies where you know people move into houses
(46:09):
and all of a sudden demons come around through the
walls or whatever. Like just, just they just need to
take a breath. And you just have got to discount
like whatever's going on there, there's there's, you know, there's
some credibility issues if if that's the.
The thing that you want to be, you know, leaning
hard on. Yeah. Now we know Bruce is OK. He's
wearing a t-shirt right now that you can see on Facebook,
(46:30):
YouTube or Instagram. It says love God, love neighbor, repeat.
So even if he got it at a thrift store,
I mean, it's blessed, right? I still want to tell
you that's brilliant, Bruce. First time I ever saw that,
he had stickers and we had a bunch made for
our church and plastered on my.
My coffee container and everything, that's great. I love it. Yeah.
(46:51):
And during the pandemic, there's two billboards in our whole town,
and we rented one during the pandemic and put this
on Love God Love Neighbor repeat. it was great. Um, Karen,
I am, um, so sorry that you're having to navigate
these issues. I like Richard, donate, uh, clothes to, um,
thrift shops, and I also purchase a ton of clothes.
(47:12):
I have purchased a ton of clothes.
Uh, through the years from vintage stores, thrift shops, and, um,
remember this group you're participating in, you're looking for some
tips and advice related to finance, not related to theology.
And so it's good that if you have a check
in your spirit that I don't think what these people
are suggesting about theology is on point. I, I just
(47:35):
respect you for looking to get some insight and and
calling in, so that's great.
I don't recall any example of demons occupying any inanimate
object in uh the scriptures. We, we do see that
um humans can be possessed. We don't see any example
of a believer in the New Testament, uh, once you've
received the Holy Spirit being possessed by demons, although they
(47:58):
could be oppressed, but I wouldn't associate that with a
household appliance, an article of clothing, or the like, so, um, yeah.
If it's so, it's probably got the Raiders NFL logo
on it, but I wouldn't worry.
And I would say it's safe to shop at a
Salvation Army thrift store for sure. Yeah, yeah, they, they
(48:22):
demon check they demon check everything. That's right. Uh, Karen,
I hope that answers your question.
Uh, thank you, love you guys. Love you too. Thanks
for listening and keep on clipping those coupons. Uh, 888-564-6173
is the number to call. Let's answer a question that
was sent in online. This one is from Buddy in Fullerton.
(48:44):
He asks, Is Israel responsible for the famine-like conditions in Gaza? Bruce,
what do you say to Buddy?
Yeah, so this is a complicated question. I appreciate uh
the question. I would say certainly Israel has some part
in it, um, but it's important to recognize that the
(49:04):
Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, where over 250 Israeli
citizens were taken hostage, is a declaration of
War against the nation state of Israel, and Israel has
declared war against Hamas in response. Israel has consistently asked
(49:25):
for the release of its hostages and has promised a
cessation of the war in exchange. Hamas has refused to
release the hostages. Uh, Israel's decision to attempt to, um,
Liberate hostages and continue to try to eliminate Hamas in
(49:46):
the midst of this war has resulted in horrendous conditions
for uh Palestinians as well as the region, and efforts
by various parties, including the United States, Israel, and Egypt
to um bring in relief, the United Nations, food, and
other relief has been primarily.
blocked by Hamas as a terrorist organization. So yes, I
(50:11):
would say that Israel has some responsibility for what is
going on there in the Gaza region, but I, I
would say that the greater weight of responsibility rests squarely
on the shoulders of Hamas as a terrorist organization that
is dedicated to the elimination of Israel.
I saw a video a few weeks ago of, um,
(50:34):
it was just a video taken underground or something on
one of the tunnels, and it showed a lot of
these terrorists gorging on food, all this food that they had,
everything that they had available to them. Meanwhile, the people
above ground were starving, so that was kind of like,
wait a minute, why isn't this being talked about more,
but
I don't know if you saw I think another aspect
(50:55):
is that um Hamas as an organization wants to create
enough public um bad will towards the nation state of
Israel to force um the creation of a Palestinian state
as part of what is presently the nation state of Israel.
And towards that aim, the destruction of its own citizens
(51:17):
is just a price to pay towards that aim as
far as Hamas is concerned.
All right, buddy, thank you for sending in your question
on the pastor's perspective page on Kwave.com. Caleb, you've got
a comment listening on AM 11:10 Kwave and Tustin. Go ahead, Caleb.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Hey, I was just calling in. Um, it really touched
me when, uh, the lady, she called in and she
had her son, he was questioning his, uh, purpose and
because his mother made a mistake and father that they
had him, you know, outside of marriage. Um, the scripture
that came to me was Jeremiah 15. It said, before
(51:56):
I formed you in the womb, I knew you. So.
You guys said something awesome that God is sovereign, and
he's the author of all life. But I mean, it's
the kind of thing that makes our minds go tilt
like a pinball machine that he knew us. He's outside attorney.
He knew us before and after. So it's, it's a
mystery if I try to think too much about that.
(52:18):
But for him to know that, um, even the scripture
that he works all things together for good for those
who are called, love God and called to his purposes,
that
The kid's not a mistake. There's a deep, deep thing
going on in all life and every person.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
Very true, Bruce, any thoughts on that? Yeah, Caleb, I
appreciate you sharing that. Yeah, Andrea actually referenced Jeremiah 15
without giving the address, um, and it appears that she
has shared that with her son, which is great, and
I agree that God is going to redeem um for
all those who are his and called according to His purpose.
(52:58):
He's in the business of redemption, and so this is
not beyond his power and capacity and his love and
mercy to redeem. Very true. Caleb, thank you for your
phone call today on Pastor's perspective. I think we have
time for one more. This one was sent in on
Facebook from Brittany in Antelope, California. She asks, does it
(53:19):
really matter if a Christian follows the Shroud of Turin
as part of historical research?
Uh, not quite sure exactly what Brittany means by that,
but I, I think she just means is it should
Christians maybe believe that this is true, or should we, uh,
study it, research it? What do you think, Richard? I
think I'm trying to kind of figure out, is she asking,
(53:41):
is it OK for Christians to this thing or is
it like it's a settled matter of historical research so
we it's OK to
To say that's really is the the the image of
Jesus from his blood, um.
It it
I've never really spent a lot of time thinking about
(54:02):
the shroud personally. So, um, I'm gonna bounce this one
to the other side of the table and wait for the, the, the,
the attorney to give me his. Oh yes, yes, in
his perspective. So I, I think uh.
As to the legitimacy of the shot of Turin, there
(54:22):
are some who would argue that it is uh the
literal burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped with. Others would
argue that it is a medieval forgery uh dated about
1300 AD. And if, if your question is, hey, I'm
interested in this, uh, and I want to research it,
there's nothing in the Bible that's prohibiting you from researching
(54:45):
or checking out similar to.
The holy grail. Um, you want to try to avoid
making the shroud or any other object an idol, um,
for example, the burial of Moses. No one knows where
Moses buried, and it appears the concern is that the
remains of Moses would become an idol to the Jewish people.
(55:06):
And so we always want to be cautious about that,
that um any object doesn't become the object of our
uh idolatry.
Brittany, thank you so much for sending in your question.
Hope we answered it. God bless you guys. Thanks for
listening and watching today. We will be back tomorrow from
3 to 4 p.m. Pacific time. We would love to
hear your questions about the Bible, the Christian faith, as
(55:27):
you're reading your Bible this evening or tomorrow mor.
Write stuff down that you'd like to call in and ask.
We would love to try to answer your question here
on Pastor's Perspective. For Richard Cimino and our guest Bruce Zachary,
it's Bruce's 2nd time on the program now. Congratulations, Bruce.
We'll do it again next Tuesday, yeah?
Yeah. Awesome. All right, Bruce is the pastor of Calvary
(55:49):
Nexus in Camarillo. Richard's one of the assistant pastors here
at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I'm Brian Perez. Thank you
for listening and thank you for watching Pastor's Perspective.
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
We are here live in the studio on this Tuesday afternoon.
We'd love to answer the questions you might have about
the Bible, the Christian faith, how to walk the Christian walk.
We'd love to hear your questions. What's going on in
your life? 888-564-6173 is the number to call. Maybe you
(00:37):
read something in your devotional this morning or heard something
here on the radio or
Saw something strange on YouTube. Let's discuss it at 888-564-6173.
Answering your questions today, we've brought in Richard Cimino. He
is one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa.
How are you, Richard? Doing great, thanks. Great to have
(00:57):
you here, sir. All is good. And Bruce Zachary joins
us once again. He's the senior pastor at Calvary Nexus,
which is in Nexus, California. No, it's in Cam.
California. So if anybody's planning a road trip this summer
up north, and it's going to involve a, uh, weekend stay,
you can, uh, go visit their church there, Calvary Nexus.
(01:19):
How are you, Bruce? Yeah. Doing great. Really looking forward
to spend the time with you and Richard, and, uh,
of course, our guests. Yes, indeed. 888-564-6173 is the number
to call if you're watching us online, Facebook, YouTube or Instagram.
The number's right there on the bottom of your screen.
There's also a QR code that you can scan, and
that'll take you to the page on Kwave.com, where you
(01:41):
can submit a question online. That's not the best way
to get an answer because we prefer to dialogue with you.
So call us, 888-564-6173 is the number to call. You
can also send in your questions using the Pastor's perspective
Facebook Messenger, or by DMing us on the pastor's perspective Instagram.
In fact, I've got one of those Facebook questions right now.
(02:03):
This one is from Dina, who writes, How much protection
during the tribulation will believers have those left behind who
are not deceived and accept the truth, such as, when
the seas and rivers and springs are turned to blood,
will God provide water for the believers? And will believers
during the tribulation die of other causes besides being martyred? Bruce,
(02:27):
what do you say to Dina?
Yeah, first of all, I just appreciate the question. We're
talking about uh tribulation saints, those who come to faith
after the rapture of the church during the Great Tribulation,
and we would liken that to God's protection of Daniel's
three friends, uh, Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego, and the flaming fire,
(02:47):
that God knows how to protect those who are his.
And um in regard to the judgment of turning uh
seas into blood and rivers into blood, bodies of water,
we see that when the first plague was visited upon
the Egyptians, as the Nile was turned into blood, that
God provided water for his people, that God knows how
(03:09):
to protect, and God knows how to provide, and we're
not told all the details in revelation, but we can
have confidence that God is going to protect those who
are his.
In regard to martyrdom, um, we do, we do see that, uh,
there are those who are martyred, tribulation, uh, saints who
are martyred for their faith, but we can also presume
(03:30):
that people will be dying of other causes during the
Great Tribulation. Um, just there's going to be unfortunately, uh,
quite a lot of bloodshed, quite a lot of loss
of life in that time, judgment.
Yes, indeed. Yeah, yeah, I, that's great, Bruce. I agree
with all of it and I was, I was just
thinking about the, the latter, the the the last statement
(03:51):
that you made, um, even as believers today, um, we're
not because of our faith in Jesus, we're, we're not
exempt from suffering and death, um, by pestilence, famine. I mean,
there are Christians that starve to death. There are Christians
who die in epidemic pandemics.
Um, and so, um, we're not given any information that
(04:14):
that would be different during the Great Tribulation. In fact,
it was just the, the brokenness of the planet is
gonna be so radical we can't even begin to comprehend
it and, um, but as you said, God has preserved
his people before and has his ways and means to
do it, and we leave that, I think we leave
that and rest in the sovereignty of God and so yeah, Bruce.
(04:39):
Yeah, we all see, obviously this is not the great tribulation,
but there is tribulation on the planet, and I think
the most recent statistics that I saw from Open Doors,
which I believe was published at the end of 2023, uh,
1 in 7 Christians, uh, were being persecuted on the planet,
which is just a remarkable thought to consider, you know,
(05:01):
of an estimated 2.2 billion believers, 1 in 7 are
being persecuted in diverse places.
Yeah, and you can uh keep up with uh the
persecuted church on the Open Doors website, which is opendoors.org.
It's a great uh resource and the uh world watch list, yeah,
that's something that they publish about once a year, and
(05:22):
uh you can get all the details there.
Yeah. All right, uh, who is that? Dina? Yeah, Dina,
thank you for sending in your question on the pastor's
perspective Facebook messenger. And here's another one that was sent
in that same way. It's from Archie in Roanoke, Virginia.
I wanted to ask if you would please speak to
the theory that Jesus has already come back and we're
(05:43):
actually living in the tribulation or millennial reign.
I've kind of looked at this before, but didn't get
very deep, and I want to start at least having
a good explanation why I know this is not the case,
and I want to get it from the pros. Thank
you all. Bruce, what do you say to Archie? Yeah, um,
it's kind to be thought of as a pro. He
must have thought that someone else was hosting today. Um, Archie,
(06:06):
I appreciate the question. I appreciate Dina's question as well.
In Matthew 24, Jesus gave the Oliet discourse, what we
know as the Oliet discourse says.
He was telling his disciples what would be the signs
preceding his return and trying to address their question when
this was going to happen. And uh during that discourse,
(06:27):
he he tells them that there's going to be false Christ,
false Messiahs, the people will say that the Messiah is here,
the Christ is there, and don't believe them. And the
reason um that
We know that um those prophets are false and they're
false messiahs, is that when Jeus returns his second coming,
everyone's going to see it like lightning filling up the sky.
(06:50):
It's gonna be evident to all. And that is one
way that we know that claims of Jesus.
Making a secret appearance to a particular group, whether it's
a cult or some other uh group engaged in some
form of mysticism, why it's a false crime. Jesus warned
us in that all of it discourse, how we would
know it was false. Um, the other questions uh about
(07:14):
uh the millennial kingdom, uh, that we see described in Revelation.
Uh, 20. We also see it described, for example, in
Isaiah chapter 11, that's where we see the lion lying
down with the lamb in Isaiah 65, some of the
other elements of the millennial kingdom is a restoration of
the creation and and
(07:34):
Currently, we do not see that taking place on our
planet at all. There, there is constant warfare on the planet.
The lion and the lamb are not lying down. And similarly, um,
we're living in an age where there's a lot of destruction, uh,
to the, uh, creation. There's a lot of, uh, destruction
(07:55):
to the environment, and, um, this is not a time
where the creation is being restored yet, so we know
it's not the millennial rain.
Yeah, not only is the the restoration of creation, but
just the absence of universal peace and justice and you know, um.
You know, the, the mill the millennial reign is described
(08:17):
in Revelation 20, like Jesus is reigning on the earth,
Satan is bound, and, and Isaiah, um, chapter 2 and also, uh,
Isaiah 11, peace and justice, um, are gonna be, they're
the foundation of his throne. He'll reign in righteousness forever,
rule and reign in righteousness and for forever, so.
The absence of all of those things that you mentioned, Bruce, um,
(08:38):
and even the, the cosmic upheavals, we, we, we're not
witnessing those as well. So aren't you aren't you just
thankful for like Jesus said, no, this is, you are
gonna hear these things, but let me just tell you
in advance, this is what will be the sure realities
of my return to the earths.
Very true. All right. Uh, who was that? That was Archie.
(09:01):
That's right. Oh, Archie, thank you for sending in your
question on the pastor's perspective Facebook Messenger. Now, let's go
to the phones. 888-564-6173 is our number. That is the
number Arturo dialed from Moreno Valley. He's watching us on YouTube.
We'll wave to Arturo. What's your question for us, Arturo?
Yes, I was just wondering, I know that God made
(09:22):
Adam and Eve, but uh who made the other creations
so they could have a partner besides Adam and Eve
in order to make more children. Like, for instance, their kids,
where did they get their spouse from, where who made them? OK, Richard,
I think Adam and Eve supplied them.
(09:43):
That would be my simple answer. But then the next
question would be, wouldn't those then be siblings? At that time,
they would have wouldn't they, they would be siblings, is
that the reason why they, they, if I'm not mistaken,
is that the reason, uh, somewhere in the Bible, if
I'm not mistaken, correct me if I'm wrong, that, that's
(10:04):
not to be with, go out with none of your
cousins or something like that. I'm not 100% sure, but
I think I heard something like that.
Yeah because it was changed.
Well, I would say the first reason why we can
say that that was reality is the Bible gives us
no other things. It's just as they continue to have
children and their children had children, so because there was
(10:25):
no other um alternative source of having children, that would
be it. I think because there there the fall had
had not taken place uh but recently, you know, from.
It was so it was so short-lived that the kind
of genetic degradation that is hap that that has happened
(10:47):
since then. That's one reason why marrying your siblings is
not a wise idea to do because of the genetic,
you know, degradation that's happened. So I would just say
putting it that close to the fall, um, there and
there was no other recourse, but the Bible just doesn't
tell us. Wouldn't it be great if it said that
Cain married um.
(11:08):
Elizabeth or whatever, yeah we know like, yeah, but later
down it does say it starts to name some of
the some of those families and um daughters of people
in those families and um yeah. How many generations, Bruce,
do you think it went on where
(11:28):
Sibling marriage was allowed, or sibling, yeah. Yeah, I, I mean,
we see that, by the way, Richard, I appreciate uh
your answer to Arturo's question. I, I think it it's
the right answer. So, uh, we see that Abraham is
still saying um that Sarah is his sister and she
is his half-sister, and so, um,
(11:51):
That that's several generations. I'm not sure that the Genesis
record is intended to be a complete record of the
generations or the genealogies. I certainly don't seek to try
to date uh the creation from those genealogies, but I
agree with Richard.
About the genetic condition that sin had just entered into
(12:11):
the universe, and presumably the impact of sin and the
genetic mutations that are caused by sin, the degradation, as
Richard said, was less prevalent, so it was less of
an issue, um.
Arturo mentioned about cousins. Actually, cousins are never uh prohibited
from uh the mosaic law in regard to marriage, um,
(12:33):
but many would make the case, as Richard said, as
far as the genetic pool, it's not necessarily a wise
idea unless you live in Louisiana and just kidding.
Louisiana. Oh great, yeah, yeah, we just lost our Louisiana audience. Yeah,
cousins are, are not, uh, precluded. Matter of fact, Jacob
(12:53):
is told to go to, uh, Laban, the brother of
his mother, in other words, his uncle, to take a daughter,
which would be his cousin. Uh, yeah, anything else, Richard? Yeah,
it just it, you know, Genesis 1:28 says Adam and
Eve had other sons and daughters and how else do
they
When you just start thinking about it, it's not complex,
(13:14):
even though God doesn't give us the specifics, you know,
God said be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth, yeah.
Well, there you go. So be it. Arturo, thank you
for your phone call. Yeah, there is. Arturo, thank you
for your phone call today here on Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173
is the number to call from now until 4 o'clock.
(13:36):
And here's another question that was sent in online. It
is from Shawna, who listens in Rialto on FM 107.9
K wave. Shawna writes, I've been walking.
With the Lord consistently for a little over a year.
I've been going through a lot. I was laid off.
I've been having people agree together to come against me
in matters that are unfair. I'm not the victim, but
(13:57):
I just don't understand what exactly is going on. I
always look in the mirror first to try to find
what I could do better. I believe it's spiritual attacks. Richard,
would you agree with Shaunna? I would say in a
very broad stroke, absolutely, and, and let me explain, um.
First of all, what Jesus said in John 16:33, he says,
(14:18):
he goes, these things I've spoken to you that in me,
you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation.
I think the the reason we have tribulation in the
world is cause it's fallen.
And um in in that general sense, if you look
at Ephesians chapter 2, the very beginning there, um, Paul says,
you know, and, and you, he made alive who were
(14:39):
dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked
according to the course of this world. So in other words,
there's been this stream.
Um, of, of humanity that's been walking in a particular
course and behind the course of this world is the god,
little G God of this world. It says, according to
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
(15:01):
who now works in the Sons of disobedience, and I
think all of his efforts in our broken world is
to drive men and women from the worship of the
true and living God.
And so the course of this world, and once you're
made alive, you're no longer floating in that stream, you're
actually moving against that stream. So in that broad sense,
(15:22):
you're facing spiritual opposition continually, right?
And then, and think about this, you know, um, think
of the way Jesus describes the citizens in his kingdom
in the Beatitudes. I mean, who wouldn't want to be
with those people? I mean, humble. They're, they're they're, they're
mourning over the brokenness of the world and the brokenness
(15:42):
of their own lives. Um, they're, they're merciful or compassionate.
Um, they're meek, they don't wanna use power to disadvantage anybody. Um,
they don't want to trample over people. Um, they're willing
to trust God with their successes and with their, with
their gains. But Jesus, then he went on to say,
he says, you, these citizens, uh, in my kingdom, you
(16:05):
are the salt of the earth, and you're the light
of the world, and we are living as light in
the world in a dark world.
And I want you to consider the fact that like
if you're in a very dark room for a period
of time, but your eyes are open, your pupils dilate
to get any little bits of light they can get.
If somebody flips on that light.
It's very uncomfortable. It's literally physically uncomfortable. Usually throw things
(16:28):
in that direction of the light switch, right? Um, and
then when you think about like if you have salt
and you have a wound, salt stings, salts are cathartic.
It's a very good thing that that salt can can cleanse,
but it cleanses, the stinging you feel is the cathartic
influence of the salt. And so if we're salt in
a world that is kind of a festering wound morally
(16:51):
and spiritually,
And we're light in a world that's walking in the
dark concerning God. Um, then that's why that's that declaration is, is,
is so close to Jesus saying, so blessed are you
when you're persecuted, you know, um, and he, he, and
he said even the night before he died.
You know, if the world hated him, it's gonna hate you. Why?
(17:13):
Because we carry his we express his ways and his
person and his nature in a world that doesn't want
to be exposed to that. So that's the broad stroke
I think of of um persecution and yes there can
truly be I, I believe Satan has the a legion,
he has a minions that followed him in his rebellion
(17:35):
against God, and they, they work on us.
Um, they're not omniscient, they're not omnipotent, but they spend
a lot of time and their job is is to
now that we belong to the Lord to keep us
from uh everything God has for us you know with
through and by Jesus, and he will use people.
He'll use, he'll the the influence of the God of
(17:59):
this world in media, all sorts of things work in
terms of spiritual warfare against us. And they never stop
either because there could be someone who, uh, let's just
say the
Let's just say they have a better time of recognizing
when the enemy is coming against them, and so they're
able to, you know, either resist temptation, whatever, and then
(18:21):
they get to this point, like, for example, in their
ministry or whatever, where things are going well or so
it seems from the outside, Satan or his demons never
actually say, you know what, we're never gonna get this guy.
Let's just leave him alone. No, they'll still attack, won't they, Bruce?
They're waiting for an opportune time. Yeah. Yeah, Shawna, um,
(18:42):
first of all, I am so sorry that you're going
through this. Um, that is not fun at all. It's
got to be very frustrating. It's got to be very discouraging. Uh,
you mentioned that you've been walking with the Lord pretty
close for the last year, and I think
It, it takes quite a while, um, walking with Christ, where, um,
(19:05):
you don't get discouraged in, in the midst of difficulty,
even people have walked with the Lord for a real
long time.
can get easily discouraged by circumstances and difficulty. I also
just want to commend you that you've been walking close
to the Lord the last year. I also want to
commend you, uh, and the question was asked that you
said you were willing to look in the mirror, that
(19:26):
that's your MO to look in the mirror.
To ask, you know, is it I? Where am I
at fault? And that's really commendable. I think, um, whenever
I receive, um, some type of, of criticism, I always
want to look for at least a kernel of truth
and then let the chaff blow away and, um, grow from, uh,
(19:47):
the truth. And so I, I commend you for doing
that as well. As, uh, Pastor Richard said, I don't know, um,
If everything that's going on is a direct result of
a spiritual battle, yes, as Richard said, we are in
the midst of a spiritual battle. all of creation is, um,
(20:07):
I try to look and think, is what I'm feeling,
what I'm experiencing, really the physical universe, is it spiritual elements,
is it my emotions, um, a combination of those things, and,
and that sometimes can be very helpful for me. I
think if you have
Um, godly people in your life who can offer you
(20:28):
counsel who are close with you, uh, as to what's
going on, that could be really helpful. But I think
that it also can be really encouraging, um, when you
see that or contemplate the end result. For example, James,
the half brother of Jesus said, count it all joy
when you fall into various trials. He didn't say if,
it was certain when. And he said, falls, it's sudden,
(20:51):
it's unexpected.
And uh James's encouragement to us was that those trials
produce patience, which produces character, which produces hope as an
end result. And I'm also comforted as I think about
uh
Paul's writing to the church at Philippi. He says in
the third chapter at verse 10, that he wants to
(21:13):
know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. And man,
I wish that verse just ended there with an exclamation point,
but it doesn't. He said, I want to know the
powerless resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed
to his spiritual death and and um.
(21:34):
God is using all of these difficulties to mold and
shape you to be more like Him, and that could
be encouragement and a source of hope in the midst
of this.
Shawna, thank you for sending in your question on the
Kwave.com Pastor's perspective page, and everybody listening and watching, please
keep Shawna in your prayers. 888-564-6173 is the number to
(21:57):
call us today. We're gonna be in the studio for
another 35 minutes or so. 888-564.
617-3. That number is good right now if you're watching
on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram as well, so call in,
ask your question. We've got Richard Cimino and Bruce Zachary here. Renee,
calling in from Orange County, California, listening on FM 107.9. Hello, Renee,
(22:19):
what's your question for us today?
Hey pastors, thank you for taking my call. Um, so
as far as I know, God is good and everything
that uh comes from God is good, so nothing bad
can happen that that God created, right? Because he's not
(22:39):
gonna forsake us.
So, along with that, I understand that sin entered the
world through Adam and Eve's eating of the fruit.
But Satan was the one that tempted Eve, um, so
that in itself was sin on his part, and he
(23:01):
fell from heaven because of his pride, which is sin.
So how is it that sin
was in heaven, um, for Satan to become prideful.
Yeah, good, great question, Bruce, what would you say to Renee? Yeah, Renee,
I appreciate the question. Yeah, so we see in uh
(23:22):
the planet Earth, which is a part of God's creation
in our universe, that the very first time that sin
enters into that part of God's creation is a result
of what
See in Genesis chapter 3, the rebellion of Adam and Eve, uh,
where they are, they are just one rule, and, and
(23:43):
don't eat the fruit of that tree, the tree of
knowledge of good and evil, and as soon as they violate,
as soon as they rebel, as soon as um
They neglect this command in willful violation, sin enters into
our world and our creation is marked. But in regard
to when sin first occurs, uh, in God's creation, we
(24:07):
don't know. We know that, uh, Lucifer's rebellion against God precedes, um,
his being cast out of heaven, and it appears from
Revelation 12 that he leads one third of the angelic
coast in rebellion.
Against God, and um that rebellion, that willful failure to
(24:28):
yield to God, and an intentional rebellion is sin, uh,
and it's preceding what happened in Genesis 3. And so, uh,
sin is anytime we are rebelling against God's authority, whether
it is unintentional or willful.
Richard? Yeah, and I, I think that, you know, if you,
if you keep taking that question, try to work it
(24:50):
backwards as far as you can, um, and, and Renee, you,
you kind of say, well, how did that, you know,
how did Satan fall? Like in, in, in the, in
the perfection of God in the presence of God's holiness,
these angelic beings existed.
Where did that idea come? Right, because Satan tempts us.
(25:10):
So who tempts Satan? Yeah, well, here's, here's this is OK,
so I think that's where you're going. I want to
recommend to you a, a, a book called The God
I don't Understand.
And it's by a guy named Christopher Wright. He's a
profound theologian and Irishman. Um, if you like to listen
to audio books, audible books, this is one to get.
(25:32):
It's him. He reads it himself. He reads Irish Irish,
and you just don't wanna stop listening, and he's there's
such a gentleness to him, but such a clarity, and
he says this in chapter one.
He says it seems to me that when we read
the Bible asking God, where did evil come from, how
did it originally get started, God seems to reply, that
(25:56):
is not something I intend to tell you. In other words,
the Bible compels us to accept the mystery of evil.
Notice I do not say compels us to accept evil.
The Bible never does that or asks us to do so.
We are emphatically told to reject and resist evil. Rather,
I mean that the Bible leads us to accept that
(26:19):
evil is a mystery, especially in terms of its origin,
a mystery that we humans cannot fully understand or explain,
so helpful. It's just so, thank you. So I gotta
start with what I do know.
And I'm not gonna start working from what I don't know.
I can't remember who said this once, and Bruce, if
(26:39):
you've ever heard the reference to it and know where
it came from, but it, it's the, it goes something
like this, you don't try to um understand something by
grasping in the in the dark. Like don't start from
the dark and try to work towards light. You start
from light and work towards what's dark. And so what we, when,
(27:02):
when God says, I don't, I'm not giving you that light.
Well, then we're just gonna be groping in the dark
to find some answer to something he hasn't given us
light on. But when he's given we wanna walk in
the light of what we do know. What we, what
we do know about God is everything that needs to
be known about God to have life with him forever.
And so I would really encourage you, it's, it's not,
(27:24):
you're not the first person to ask that question, you
won't be the last one I at times, there's gonna
be times when I when I'll kind of go, I'll
ask questions like that, like, I wonder why we don't
know about that. Where did that really start? But if
we don't know and God hasn't said, then that's the
place where he goes, just trust me.
Um, that's not what you need to know. I want
you to to major on what I want you to know,
(27:45):
and I've given you that in the person of my
son and in the in the pages of my word.
That's such a good point, Bruce, what would you add?
Yeah, I, again, I appreciate the question, Renee, and I,
I commend you for just pondering that and seeking to discern.
It appears that uh God gives human beings uh moral agency.
In other words, uh, the capacity to make moral decisions
(28:08):
that have implications, as well as the capacity to know
right from wrong.
And absent that moral agency, which sometimes gets referred to
as free will, that our love for God couldn't be tested.
In other words, if we were compelled to respond in
a certain way, didn't have moral agency, then our love
would not appear real as a response, uh, as a
(28:31):
result of moral agency. And similarly, it appears that the
angelic beings also have moral agency, uh.
Uh, as a result of that, uh, people and angelic
beings made choices and make choices, and, um, that despite
love for God, worship for God, or rebellion against God,
(28:52):
and that's really the, the essence of the progeny of
sin or rebellion.
Renee, thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective.
The book that Richard mentioned is called The God I
Don't Understand, Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith. It is
by Christopher Wright, W R I G H T. and
uh Richard recommends you listen to it on
(29:14):
An audio book because you'll hear uh Mr. Wright's Irish accent.
I don't listen to audiobooks. They're just not my thing.
They put me to sleep, but this one, I think
I just might give this one a listen to, yeah,
the God I don't some charms.
Perfect. I like that. All right, AAA just dated yourself.
(29:37):
888-564-6173 is the number to call. We are in the
middle of a great episode, and why don't you participate?
We would love to hear your questions. Andrea, you'll be
coming up first after the break, and, uh, we'll be
back with your questions as well. 888-564-6173, Richard Cimino and
Bruce Zachary answering your questions today till 4 888-564-6173.
(30:20):
Now I'm craving a bowl of Lucky Charms. What in
the world? Thank you, Bruce Zachary for that. Bruce is
the pastor of Calvary Nexus in Camarillo, California, and he
joins us today on Pastor's Perspective in the studio here,
Richard Cimino, one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel,
Costa Mesa. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
We've got about 25 more minutes to go. Grab an
open line. What do you want to ask these two guys?
(30:42):
888-564-6173 is the number to call. We're going to go
to Riverside. Here is Andrea. Hi there, Andrea. Welcome to
Pastor's Perspective. What's on your mind today?
Well, my son um kind of presented me with a
with a question that
(31:03):
Kind of hit me a little bit too, and I
had a hard time, um
Explaining to him my size. How old is your son?
He's 13. No, he's 1212, almost 1312 going on 13. Yes.
So, uh, what is that question?
All right. So, my son is well aware that uh
(31:26):
his dad and I are not married. Um, he understands
that
Um, we had him before marriage. So essentially, his question was, um,
so you having me without being married was a sin,
you know? And I said, essentially, you know, and and
(31:49):
he said, well, then how can you convince me that
I'm a gift if I was conceived under sin? And
aren't I just your consequence?
Wow. Now when he asked you this question, I mean,
where does this question come from? Is he
I don't know cause that's very deep in some ways.
(32:09):
It's very, like, is he questioning his existence or anything
like that? I mean, I would hope not. Well there's
there's that. So he does have, he does, he has
had issues or concerns with suicidal ideation. Um, I'm not
a new Christian, but I'm practicing it. We're more new
to it, where I'm practicing, I'm more involved and I'm
(32:30):
learning more. So oftentimes I tell him like, you know, you,
like you were meant to be.
here, you, you were created before I even knew. God
created you in my wom before he created you in
my womb, He knew you. Like, you have a purpose,
you know. And so I always tell him these things. Um,
but he also likes to challenge me in the sense of,
(32:53):
I'm trying to give him biblical pro you know, advice
on how he should do things. And then he comes
back at me with, well, you and dad aren't married,
and well, you guys had me before marriage, so I'm
a sin.
Um, or am I a mistake, and then I tell
him you're a gift from God, he questions that how
can you consider me a gift from God? Why would
(33:13):
God gift you me if you were.
Yeah, essentially. So, uh, Richard, what would you say first
of all to Andrea? Well, there's a lot of nuance here. Yeah,
there's a lot, that's a lot of ground to cover. Um,
first of all, thank you for calling. Yes, um, and
thank you. I, I'm, I'm just for being honest and
(33:37):
sharing this, and um.
We, we surely want to be praying for your son
and with any kind of um suicidal thoughts and ideas
um it's just it's heartbreaking to think that that's pandemic
epidemic in in amongst teens today and so and we'll
be praying for you because you know being the parent.
(34:00):
Um, so let, let's just start with the, you know,
how can I have value.
Um, in, in a world if I was illegitimate.
And um I think the starting point is, is God
alone is the author of life.
(34:21):
And so and any any human being is created in
the image of God and and that didn't stop with
the fall. Um, in fact, it's after the flood where
God um tells Noah, like, like you, you shall not
kill anybody because they, they're they're bearing the image of God.
(34:43):
That's post flood, right? So even fallen mankind still buries
the image of bears the image of God.
And granted in in many ways, um it's, it's, we
don't bear it perfectly. There's we, we, we distort his
image and and some people in some ways, even unbelieving people,
(35:04):
image him well.
You know, with their generosity, with their kindness, um, you
can meet a lot of unbelieving people and you can
see the, the image of God still there in their lives,
though they're not yet born again, and, and they're not
yet adopted children of God, reconciled to God, members of
the household of God, citizens in the kingdom of God,
(35:25):
but yet they still do bear the image of God.
And so what you want to communicate to him is,
is there is not a human being breathing that is
not an image bearer, and that is his great value
that that gives him the value that is so great
that God would say, I will come to rescue you
(35:46):
from the consequences of sin. That's the value. How valuable
is he?
Look at the price that God paid so that he
could belong to God and and and and and that's
for everybody that's walking on the face of the earth.
So that's, that to me is the starting point. Bruce,
I don't know if how you want to chime into that, that,
that layer of this onion, but Bruce, maybe what you
(36:09):
can do is just like direct your answer right at
Andrea's son. Like if he was the one calling, maybe,
maybe Andrea will show this to him on YouTube or
Facebook and I'd love to. So I just want to
encourage you, Andrea. I, I greatly respect your vulnerability, your transparency.
Uh, I greatly respect your son at 12 years of age.
(36:31):
It's just reminding me of Jesus in the temple questioning
the rabbis, and he's, he's deep, and he's thinking existential questions,
philosophical questions that are really deep. I think, you know,
as a, a person of his age, as you, you contemplate, um,
Just life, and you recognize that suffering is inescapable. Uh,
(36:55):
if you were to ask the question as a philosophical idea,
is it right for any parent to bring a child
into the world knowing that that child is going to
experience suffering? And in general, on balance, the degree of
suffering and the degree of pleasure or joy are both
gonna be about the same. Uh, is it selfish for
(37:15):
any parent to bring a child into the world?
And as a philosophical discussion, you could argue both of
those positions. It's wrong, it's right. The thing that changes
that discussion is the gospel, because you can't get into
his world, the world which is to come, without going
into this world first and experiencing suffering.
(37:36):
And I would just remind your son, um, he's at
a time of life that is um likened to a
bar mitzvah age, an age where he is old enough
to understand his own relationship with God. And if you
look at a bar mitzvah as simply a rite of
passage as one is moving to a new stage of life,
(37:57):
you recognize that Jesus' baptism, the beginning of his ministry,
was a rite of passage, and it is there that
the Father declared.
This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
And similarly, at the amount of transfiguration, as Jesus was
making his way to Jerusalem to go to the cross. Again,
it's a rite of passage, and again, the Father's declaring
(38:19):
over his son. Um, this is my beloved son in
whom I am well pleased. And Andrea, I'm confident that
you're doing this, but reminding your son.
That he is well pleasing to you is so important
at this stage in every stage of his life that
you cannot be a a consequence of, of my sin
(38:42):
as though it was judgment. And the way you know
that is because you are a blessing to me, not a, a,
a curse. You are a blessed.
to me and to remind him of that. And to
remind him that God is pleased with him. And as
you mentioned to, God knows his whole life, his beginning
from then formed in the womb. He had worked for
him to walk in that he created before he even
(39:04):
created this universe, and he's gonna have the joy of
discovering those and
That it gets better and not to lose hope, as
he draws closer to God, he's going to discover uh
more that all of us in this conversation, uh, Richard, Bryan, myself,
and I'm sure you Andrea, we all have regrets.
(39:25):
Um, not to have regrets is, is sociopathic. So to
have regrets in life is part of the human experience
as we walk closer to Christ in greater obedience to Christ,
we reduce our regrets and, um, it, it's OK to,
to say to your son, um, yeah, I regret that
(39:47):
I wasn't married, um, or words like that, but I
don't regret that you're my son. That's great.
Anything to add, Richard? Um, are, are we correct in,
am I hearing you correctly when you say you're still
presently not married?
Correct. OK. Well, um, I just unbeliever.
(40:10):
So my son is pretty much stuck in the middle
of a believer and an unbeliever, and he
He, he's primarily with me. His father is on the road, um, but,
so he, he sees me, you know, going to church,
and every so often I try to throw this and
that and, and so he's kind of questioning, he's questioning
me and uh it's definitely my son's more of um
(40:36):
Oh, not, not he's more of, it's, it's definitely, he's
paying attention to what I'm doing. That's a great thing
matches with what I'm saying, you know, that's a great
thing questions come through where he, he challenges me, like,
am I really doing the right thing? And, um, yeah,
so he's just, he's at that stage where
(40:56):
You say this, but are you doing it? No. Well,
I would say that for your witness sake, it would
be really good to sort this out, um, because your
son's asking legitimate questions and we want to have a,
we want to have a continuity between our profession and
our lives as much as possible. And I would um.
(41:22):
I would encourage you, like, um, are you, are you going,
are you, are you fellowshipping any place regularly right now? Yes.
I would sit down and have a talk with one
of the pastors, and just sit down and say,
This is what's going on. My son sees the inconsistencies. I, it,
it hurts me to give him a right answer when
when he's pointing out something obvious that's inconsistent in my life. And,
(41:45):
and you can share with that pastor. I, I would
not even begin to pretend to ask you to share,
you know, with, with however many people are listening right now,
but share with that pastor, like why, why is it
that you're right here? What are, what are your concerns?
What are your
What, what are the things that are preventing you from
(42:05):
um having your life more consistent with what the word
of God says? Yeah, Bruce. Yeah, I just uh agree
with Richard's counsel. And Andrea, um, I would remind your
son that Psalm 127 at verse 3 says that children
are a gift from the Lord, and that he is
a gift from God, and that he's not a gag gift,
(42:26):
that he is a precious gift and a beloved gift.
I just looked up that passage, Psalm 1273. It doesn't
say legitimately born children or anything like that are a
heritage from the Lord. It says children, all children are
a heritage from the Lord. Andrea, thank you for calling
in today. If everybody listening and watching can keep Andrea
(42:48):
and her son.
Uh, and dad, in your prayers, and, uh, also Andrea, I,
I hope, uh, your son's in some kind of counseling
or something for this, uh, suicidal ideation that he's going through.
All right, 888-564-6173 is our number. Here is Karen, who's
(43:09):
listening on FM 107.9 in Huntington Beach. Hi there, Karen.
Welcome to Pastor's Perspective.
Thank you so much. Thank you for taking my call. Yeah,
how can we help you?
Well, I belong to this online group that like helps
you save money and tips and tricks and things like that.
But there are so many people in the comments of
(43:32):
this group who say, well, no, don't get anything at
a thrift store because, you know, demons or evil spirits
could be attached to the things that were donated or
the people that donated the items could have been into
witchcraft and you'll bring that spirit back into your house. I,
I do see in the Bible that
Demons have the ability to sort of interact with the
(43:56):
physical world. Like they, they were able to throw that
child into the fire, for example, or the man of
the tombs was, they gave him strength to be able
to break chains. So, so I see that, but I
don't see like where, you know, they could be attached
to like a jacket that you buy at a thrift
store or a couch. Hiding in the pockets.
(44:20):
So many people in the comments were so convinced. Oh no, no, no, no,
don't buy any thing in a thrift store. So many
people that were convinced it was true, so I don't know.
All right, Richard, was your stoy hat? Did you buy
that at a thrift store? I got it at a
at a vintage store. Yes, I did, and I checked
inside first. It's not there. OK, OK. Um, well, Karen, I,
(44:43):
I think first of all that you want to be, um,
fiscally responsible and you're looking for ways and hints and you're, you're,
you're engaged in ongoing conversations. That's great. I think that's
really good.
But when you begin to see those kinds of things said,
you have to kind of kind of go, OK, so
some of these people, they are, they've got a line
of thought that doesn't converge with mine or that diverges
(45:06):
from me at at this point because like truthfully, um
my wife and I, we bring stuff and donate stuff
to thrift stores all the time and
There are many more people just like us who are not,
you know, involved in covens or uh anything like that.
They're not worshiping um the devil and they're doing that
(45:26):
and you know, we don't know who's doing what and
everything and whatever, but the idea that, you know, demons
are attaching themselves to articles of clothing.
You know, I, I, you know, I wouldn't want to
pretend to try to answer that thing and with, with
any kind of rational weight, but I would say that
we don't know what anybody's doing who's packaging the meat
(45:46):
that you're buying in the grocery store. Oh no, you know, scared, yeah,
or the people that built your car, right? Or the
people that refurbished the car that you bought or the
people that built your home or any of those things,
you know.
A lot of those people are watching too much Stephen
King or or whatever to to think like no that's
not the road or so many of those that that
genre of movies where you know people move into houses
(46:09):
and all of a sudden demons come around through the
walls or whatever. Like just, just they just need to
take a breath. And you just have got to discount
like whatever's going on there, there's there's, you know, there's
some credibility issues if if that's the.
The thing that you want to be, you know, leaning
hard on. Yeah. Now we know Bruce is OK. He's
wearing a t-shirt right now that you can see on Facebook,
(46:30):
YouTube or Instagram. It says love God, love neighbor, repeat.
So even if he got it at a thrift store,
I mean, it's blessed, right? I still want to tell
you that's brilliant, Bruce. First time I ever saw that,
he had stickers and we had a bunch made for
our church and plastered on my.
My coffee container and everything, that's great. I love it. Yeah.
(46:51):
And during the pandemic, there's two billboards in our whole town,
and we rented one during the pandemic and put this
on Love God Love Neighbor repeat. it was great. Um, Karen,
I am, um, so sorry that you're having to navigate
these issues. I like Richard, donate, uh, clothes to, um,
thrift shops, and I also purchase a ton of clothes.
(47:12):
I have purchased a ton of clothes.
Uh, through the years from vintage stores, thrift shops, and, um,
remember this group you're participating in, you're looking for some
tips and advice related to finance, not related to theology.
And so it's good that if you have a check
in your spirit that I don't think what these people
are suggesting about theology is on point. I, I just
(47:35):
respect you for looking to get some insight and and
calling in, so that's great.
I don't recall any example of demons occupying any inanimate
object in uh the scriptures. We, we do see that
um humans can be possessed. We don't see any example
of a believer in the New Testament, uh, once you've
received the Holy Spirit being possessed by demons, although they
(47:58):
could be oppressed, but I wouldn't associate that with a
household appliance, an article of clothing, or the like, so, um, yeah.
If it's so, it's probably got the Raiders NFL logo
on it, but I wouldn't worry.
And I would say it's safe to shop at a
Salvation Army thrift store for sure. Yeah, yeah, they, they
(48:22):
demon check they demon check everything. That's right. Uh, Karen,
I hope that answers your question.
Uh, thank you, love you guys. Love you too. Thanks
for listening and keep on clipping those coupons. Uh, 888-564-6173
is the number to call. Let's answer a question that
was sent in online. This one is from Buddy in Fullerton.
(48:44):
He asks, Is Israel responsible for the famine-like conditions in Gaza? Bruce,
what do you say to Buddy?
Yeah, so this is a complicated question. I appreciate uh
the question. I would say certainly Israel has some part
in it, um, but it's important to recognize that the
(49:04):
Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, where over 250 Israeli
citizens were taken hostage, is a declaration of
War against the nation state of Israel, and Israel has
declared war against Hamas in response. Israel has consistently asked
(49:25):
for the release of its hostages and has promised a
cessation of the war in exchange. Hamas has refused to
release the hostages. Uh, Israel's decision to attempt to, um,
Liberate hostages and continue to try to eliminate Hamas in
(49:46):
the midst of this war has resulted in horrendous conditions
for uh Palestinians as well as the region, and efforts
by various parties, including the United States, Israel, and Egypt
to um bring in relief, the United Nations, food, and
other relief has been primarily.
blocked by Hamas as a terrorist organization. So yes, I
(50:11):
would say that Israel has some responsibility for what is
going on there in the Gaza region, but I, I
would say that the greater weight of responsibility rests squarely
on the shoulders of Hamas as a terrorist organization that
is dedicated to the elimination of Israel.
I saw a video a few weeks ago of, um,
(50:34):
it was just a video taken underground or something on
one of the tunnels, and it showed a lot of
these terrorists gorging on food, all this food that they had,
everything that they had available to them. Meanwhile, the people
above ground were starving, so that was kind of like,
wait a minute, why isn't this being talked about more,
but
I don't know if you saw I think another aspect
(50:55):
is that um Hamas as an organization wants to create
enough public um bad will towards the nation state of
Israel to force um the creation of a Palestinian state
as part of what is presently the nation state of Israel.
And towards that aim, the destruction of its own citizens
(51:17):
is just a price to pay towards that aim as
far as Hamas is concerned.
All right, buddy, thank you for sending in your question
on the pastor's perspective page on Kwave.com. Caleb, you've got
a comment listening on AM 11:10 Kwave and Tustin. Go ahead, Caleb.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Hey, I was just calling in. Um, it really touched
me when, uh, the lady, she called in and she
had her son, he was questioning his, uh, purpose and
because his mother made a mistake and father that they
had him, you know, outside of marriage. Um, the scripture
that came to me was Jeremiah 15. It said, before
(51:56):
I formed you in the womb, I knew you. So.
You guys said something awesome that God is sovereign, and
he's the author of all life. But I mean, it's
the kind of thing that makes our minds go tilt
like a pinball machine that he knew us. He's outside attorney.
He knew us before and after. So it's, it's a
mystery if I try to think too much about that.
(52:18):
But for him to know that, um, even the scripture
that he works all things together for good for those
who are called, love God and called to his purposes,
that
The kid's not a mistake. There's a deep, deep thing
going on in all life and every person.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
Very true, Bruce, any thoughts on that? Yeah, Caleb, I
appreciate you sharing that. Yeah, Andrea actually referenced Jeremiah 15
without giving the address, um, and it appears that she
has shared that with her son, which is great, and
I agree that God is going to redeem um for
all those who are his and called according to His purpose.
(52:58):
He's in the business of redemption, and so this is
not beyond his power and capacity and his love and
mercy to redeem. Very true. Caleb, thank you for your
phone call today on Pastor's perspective. I think we have
time for one more. This one was sent in on
Facebook from Brittany in Antelope, California. She asks, does it
(53:19):
really matter if a Christian follows the Shroud of Turin
as part of historical research?
Uh, not quite sure exactly what Brittany means by that,
but I, I think she just means is it should
Christians maybe believe that this is true, or should we, uh,
study it, research it? What do you think, Richard? I
think I'm trying to kind of figure out, is she asking,
(53:41):
is it OK for Christians to this thing or is
it like it's a settled matter of historical research so
we it's OK to
To say that's really is the the the image of
Jesus from his blood, um.
It it
I've never really spent a lot of time thinking about
(54:02):
the shroud personally. So, um, I'm gonna bounce this one
to the other side of the table and wait for the, the, the,
the attorney to give me his. Oh yes, yes, in
his perspective. So I, I think uh.
As to the legitimacy of the shot of Turin, there
(54:22):
are some who would argue that it is uh the
literal burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped with. Others would
argue that it is a medieval forgery uh dated about
1300 AD. And if, if your question is, hey, I'm
interested in this, uh, and I want to research it,
there's nothing in the Bible that's prohibiting you from researching
(54:45):
or checking out similar to.
The holy grail. Um, you want to try to avoid
making the shroud or any other object an idol, um,
for example, the burial of Moses. No one knows where
Moses buried, and it appears the concern is that the
remains of Moses would become an idol to the Jewish people.
(55:06):
And so we always want to be cautious about that,
that um any object doesn't become the object of our
uh idolatry.
Brittany, thank you so much for sending in your question.
Hope we answered it. God bless you guys. Thanks for
listening and watching today. We will be back tomorrow from
3 to 4 p.m. Pacific time. We would love to
hear your questions about the Bible, the Christian faith, as
(55:27):
you're reading your Bible this evening or tomorrow mor.
Write stuff down that you'd like to call in and ask.
We would love to try to answer your question here
on Pastor's Perspective. For Richard Cimino and our guest Bruce Zachary,
it's Bruce's 2nd time on the program now. Congratulations, Bruce.
We'll do it again next Tuesday, yeah?
Yeah. Awesome. All right, Bruce is the pastor of Calvary
(55:49):
Nexus in Camarillo. Richard's one of the assistant pastors here
at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I'm Brian Perez. Thank you
for listening and thank you for watching Pastor's Perspective.
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