Pastors' Perspective-11/13/25

Pastors' Perspective is a one-hour call-in program where listeners can call in and get answers to questions about the Bible, Christianity, family, and life. The program is live Monday through Friday from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Pacific. You can call 888-564-6173 to ask your questions.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Hello. Welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
It's Thursday the 13th, and we are here live in
the studio until 4 o'clock to answer the questions you
might have about the Bible, the Christian faith, just about
anything that's on your mind. We would love to hear
from you. So
Call in. The sooner you call in, the better of
a chance you'll get on. Here's the number to call, 888-564-6173. 888-564-6173.

(00:44):
You can also send in your questions online, but that's
not as much fun as talking to you live and
in person.
So call in 888-564-6173. We've got Pastor Brian Broderson from
Echoesof Mercy.com in the studio. Also Phil Metzger, the pastor
of Calvary San Diego. Yes, Phil is here with us
live and in the flesh. Woohoo. Not, uh, not on

(01:05):
the Zoom thing. No, not today. Not today. Yay, just that.
Just back from celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary. 30th anniversary.
That is incredible. Yesterday, can you believe that? I can't.
I can hardly believe it. But I was, you know,
either you or Joy posted some, put that up and
I kind of shared it a journey from the beginning. Yeah,

(01:29):
I forgot.
What a kid you were back then. I was like, wow,
look at these two. They look like babies. I was 17, yeah, man. Yeah, right.
But when we started dating, we got married when I
was 21 and she was just almost 19, so 1818
and 21. Yeah, so, but we started dating when we
were in high school. So isn't that crazy? Golly, 30 years.

(01:52):
What's your secret?
I don't have 10, OK.
I was trying to think of something great and the
answer is I don't, I don't have one. It's no secret.
I've just been there following Jesus and following my wife
and
There's very few people I meet that have been married
that long. Yeah. Oh, I know. My goodness. I mean,
you're in another, I don't, I'm not trying to, I'm

(02:13):
not trying to say how old you are, but, but seriously,
like there's not as many people. No, I know. I mean,
you know, when, when we tell people we've been married
45 years, they're just like people almost faint.
How, how does that happen? Yeah, yeah, you know, we
look at each other and go, how did this happen?
You still look like kids, you know, we were just

(02:34):
in England, as some know, and the crazy thing is,
you know, everywhere we go because we're seeing people, you know,
from ages ago that were in our church back then
and stuff, and they're like.
You know, they're like, oh, you just, you look exactly
the same. You've never changed. It's amazing. And I'm like, are,
do you see the same when I look in the mirror,
I do not think that what you're saying could possibly

(02:56):
be accurate because uh I don't feel like I look
the same at all. We went out to dinner for
our 30th and
I'm waiting out in the hallway. Joe went into the restroom.
I'm waiting in the hallway and a guy comes out
of the bathroom and he looks at me. He goes,
Phil Metzger.
And it's just this good looking young guy and, and
I'm like, and then I reckon I'm like, he was

(03:16):
in the youth group here when I was a youth pastor,
and he's like, I'm like, how did you reckon? He's like, No,
you look the same. I'm like that's a lie. That
is a bold faced lie. It is because you did
not have a gray beard. Exactly. I did not look
like that at all, but it was a trip like, uh,
and then you see some people who do look like
they did then, and you say, how did they do that?

(03:37):
But we got the silver fox here, you and me, Brian.
Yeah, I mean, oh, and you too, Perez, you get
it too, buddy. When people say that about my wife,
I agree 100%. 0 yeah, yeah, she hasn't changed. She
just looks the same, uh, eternally young, but, um, not me.
All right guys, 888-564-6173. We'll start with a couple of

(03:59):
questions that were sent in online.
Uh, this one here from the Pastor's Perspective Facebook page,
it's Taylor in Running Springs, California, who writes, Hi pastors,
just wanted some help on reconciling 22 passages of scripture.
1 Corinthians chapter 8, about food sacrificed to idols and
our Christian freedom.
And Acts 15 verses 19-20 saying we should abstain from

(04:22):
these things. I know 1 Corinthians 8 has been mentioned
a lot when it comes to celebrating Halloween or eating
food sacrificed to idols or dietary laws in general. Could
you guys just explain your perspective on this? I love
the show and would love to call in with my question,
but I'm always at work when the show airs. And
then Mike in Rancho Cucamonga wrote a question like unto it.

(04:43):
In Acts 15, James said to abstain from food polluted
by idols, but in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul seems to
say it's OK to eat food sacrificed to idols, as
long as our use of this freedom doesn't cause a
fellow believer with a weaker conscience to stumble. Also, Paul wrote,
but food does not bring us closer to God. We
are no worse if we don't eat and no better
if we do. Are James and Paul contradicting each other,

(05:06):
is what Taylor and Mike want to know, right.
Well, isn't it interesting that I just happened to read
that always happens. 1 Corinthians, 89 and 10 and 11
this morning. That never happens to me. It always happens
to him though. It's great. So it's like the Lord

(05:26):
tells him that morning, read these passages, you're gonna need
them later. Yeah, perfect. Anyway, anyway, I was reading over
this passages today. Yeah, yeah, and I think, you know, um, Paul,
there is.
You know, Paul is free. He's, I mean, you know, uh,
FF Bruce wrote a book on Paul and he, he
called Paul the apostle of the heart set free. So,

(05:48):
so Paul has freedom, which is, which is rooted in
Christ and the grace of God and, and scripture obviously,
where not all of his fellow Jews had the same
kind of freedom.
So with James in chapter 15, you know, this is

(06:11):
the this is a decision of the council and the
council is very, I mean it's Jewish, right? And it's
very it's very concerned to uphold everything that would from
a Jewish perspective be what what Gentiles ought to do.
And so you know that that's that's what happens at

(06:33):
the council. But we see that Paul was a little,
he was a little bit freer and he understood like,
you know, look, um, an idol is nothing being sacrificed
to an idol is nothing, but, but he did say
that like was mentioned, he did say that, uh, he says,
you know, if you, if you go somewhere and they.

(06:54):
You know, just eat what is set before you. Don't
ask any questions even about it, you know. Just eat it.
Just eat it. But if they say, uh, hey, by
the way, this, you know, this was part of a
sacrifice down at the local temple, he says, Paul says, then,
then don't eat that for conscience sake. But then he
says this, not for your own conscience, but for the

(07:15):
sake of the other person. So he's watching out.
That we don't um unnecessarily put a stumbling block in
front of somebody else. So for some people this was
like they could not eat uh food that was sacrificed
at a temple with a good conscience it would.
Condemn them. It would drive him crazy. Paul says we don't,

(07:36):
we don't wanna put a person in that, so we
need to be careful there. So I think that um.
You know, and then Paul goes on and as he
gets further into chapter 10, and he does say, now,
you know, we, because it seems like some of the
Corinthians were just like, hey, let's go down to the
temple tonight and get some, they got some great food

(07:59):
down there, you know, and, and others are like, well, do, do,
should you be going to the temple and doing that?
I mean, isn't that stuff bad? And, oh, don't worry
about it, you know. Paul said, now, he said, remember.
The things that they sacrifice in the temple, they sacrifice
to demons, not to God. And so we don't wanna,
you know, just, uh.

(08:19):
Unwittingly associate ourselves with demons. And so it's a, it's
a balance, you know, and I think we need to,
we need a sensitivity. That's what, that's what Paul is saying. Yeah,
I think to that too. I love that. That's a
great answer. I think that, um, you know, Acts 15
is talking about, well, two things. Number one, Acts 15
is describing.

(08:40):
How we collectively see each other, like how we, how
we treat each other like you said, but then you
get to 1 Corinthians 8 and Paul's giving a little
bit more freedom for you personally. So I have personal freedom,
but if it's going to stumble somebody, then, then it's
not even worth that. I think too you got to
consider the fact that um.
You know, Paul's a real theologian, like a real theologian,

(09:01):
like a Pharisee turned Christian, and, you know, this is
maybe sometime after Acts 15, and there's a little bit
more depth of understanding of the scripture and a little
better understanding of even grace than maybe where those guys
were at the beginning. Yeah, yeah. And I do think, um,
you know, I'm just about finished teaching Acts. I've got
4 or 5 chapters left, but

(09:23):
You know, going, going through the whole thing, you know,
when Paul comes to Jerusalem with the gift from the
Gentile churches, and he tells them all about, you know,
what's been going on among the Gentiles, and it says, and,
and they, they, you know, they, they blessed the Lord
and then they said, oh, but we gotta talk to
you about something else. So, you know, this issue, you know,

(09:44):
they're hearing things about you, they're hearing that among the
Uh, uh, among the Gentiles, you know, you're telling people
that they don't have to circumcise their children and things
like that. Now we gotta make sure that you, you know, we,
we gotta get this sorted out because everybody's gonna come
together and they're gonna wanna know. So, hey, do this,
you know, take these guys to the temple, pay their expenses,

(10:05):
you know, and Paul goes ahead because he's, he's seeking
to keep the peace, but
Part of what they were saying about Paul wasn't true.
It was exaggerated or misrepresented, but part of what he
was saying was true. And, but they could, that was
a truth that they couldn't handle at that point. And
we know that even Peter couldn't handle that truth at

(10:25):
a certain point because in Antioch.
Recorded in Galatians when he's in Antioch having a great
time with everybody, eating with the Gentiles and just loving
life and all of a sudden people from Jerusalem, from
James show up. Peter's like, oh.
Can't stop eating that pork. Can't hang out with those guys.
Can't eat with them. And what does Paul do? Paul

(10:47):
calls him on the carpet. Paul says, you know, this
isn't according to the gospel. And you think, wow, even
like somebody like Peter was in a process.
Of understanding grace. He did, he was having to work
through the irony is that Paul's a rabbi and Peter's

(11:08):
a fisherman, but Peter's got more of a hang up
with the Jewish stuff than Paul does.
To whom much is forgiven, right? I mean, Paul, Paul was,
you know, at the foot of a man killed for
his faith, and I think for Paul, this was a big,
and I don't remember who it was, maybe it was you, Chuck,
I don't know who said it, but I loved the
statement that I heard years ago. It's always stuck with me,

(11:30):
the idea that like grace will always be misunderstood. Like
whenever you choose to live a gracious life, people will
misunderstand you. Yeah, they will, and you just have to
kind of accept that, you know, it's just part of
the deal, part of it, yeah.
So is there a modern day equivalent to food sacrifice
to idols? If I were to invite you to my
house for dinner tonight and you're about to sit at
the table and I go, Oh, here I made fajitas

(11:53):
or whatever, and then I go, Oh, but I sacrifice
them to idols, obviously that wouldn't happen. I hope not. No, um,
but is there an equivalent to that where I would say, Wait,
hold on, Phil, I think you should know that blank, yeah, I,
I wanna let him answer that, but I wanna, but
I wanna respond with this first, I think.
Uh, I, I lived through this, so I know exactly.

(12:15):
I think we're, we forget that the practices of the
ancient world go on in the modern world in many,
many places. So when I was preaching in London, I
was trying to kind of find like what's a parallel,
you know, where we could, we could apply this, you know, modern.
Yeah, and, and you know, I can't remember what I

(12:36):
came up with, but I remember struggling through it. But
I remember afterwards, uh, a young Indian guy came up
and he just said, like, forget trying to apply it
in some Western the exact same one. This is my
experience in my home. Every morning we sacrifice to an
idol before we ate breakfast and I'm just like, holy smokes,

(12:57):
this is.
Uh, you know, sometimes we're so stuck in our context,
we just think everything needs to be contextualized because, you know,
but it's still happening today.
I think most, most places in Africa, when you go
into these villages, there's a mound that is a god
that you're that people sacrifice. I think this is still
relevant to maybe 2/3 of the world, maybe more. Seriously,

(13:20):
maybe more so for us then in Western civilization, we
just kind of like do we gloss over it? Do
we just say, oh, that doesn't apply to me and
you just move on? Yeah, we, we kind of try
to find other examples, right? So it just depends, you know,
you have, it's, it's hard because like there's something really
deeply um.
Like I'm struggling to come up with a good example because.
It's not like, like some people will say it's like alcohol,

(13:42):
and I don't think it totally is because this is
about like I used to worship this god and now
I don't. And now can I eat that meat? Can
I not? Like that's a very personal, personal thing. So
I kind of struggle to come up with good examples
of that in the Western context. Me too. And when,
when I was trying to, I realized that gosh, so
many of the things that I would have maybe said

(14:03):
in the past.
And I was thinking, oh, I'll say this, I'll say
this as I really started working through them, I realized
these are cultural things. These are really not issues of sin.
These are issues of cultural taboos among Christians. I, I
think in some ways you can, and again, it's still
a little bit too cultural, but for people that are listening.
wondering like, OK, that doesn't help me at all. I
think you get into like Christmas stuff. You start talking

(14:25):
about trees and you start talking about, and Taylor brings
up Halloween. Yeah, OK, so you talk about Halloween, you know,
Halloween was like a, a Christian holiday that became pagan,
that it's a weird one how only in America is
that so pagan. It's a trip living overseas, like it's
considered like it's more Catholic than it is pagan.
Um, some people would consider Catholic pagan, pagan, right, and I,

(14:47):
I would disagree with them on the, in the sense that, yeah,
but I think that there's like those are good examples,
you know, Easter, you start getting into like, are we
allowed to have Easter egg hunts, you know, with kids
because that's like, is that idolatry, and I think those
are easy ones. I mean, let me say it again,
I think for people that struggle with those things.

(15:07):
Because I don't, I have to be thoughtful to them
because to me it's like, well, what's the big deal?
Like we're trying to reach people. Let's not be silly
about it. But you know what, it's not silly for them.
And so I would have to apply this 1 Corinthians
8 and Acts 15 to say just because I can
do that doesn't mean I have to like make other
people feel that way. And the Bible talks about stronger

(15:28):
and weaker and.
You know, sometimes we over-spiritualize like I'm not going to
do Easter egg hunts, and we over-spiritualize I'm against Halloween.
The Bible says you're actually the weaker brother. You're the
weaker sister because these things are an offense to you.
For the stronger person, it's like none of these things
bother me. I'm not concerned about it. I'm just going
to move forward in the grace of God. So.

(15:48):
I think those are decent examples. Yeah, and I, and I,
you know, I've done this many times, even on this
program is, you know, if somebody calls, like, let's just say,
you know, Halloween was last month, right? So, so we
normally would get a ton of calls and people concerned and, and,
you know, somebody would express like their conviction about like

(16:09):
why they can't engage in, you know, the
Things that people do at Halloween and I would, I
would never try to talk them out of it. It's like, oh,
come on, give me a break, you know, you need
to get out there. You're weak, you know, you're weak. Yeah,
you know, I, I feel like, OK, this is a
conviction that they have, and I need to just let

(16:31):
them have that conviction if
And I would imagine it would be the case, you know,
at some point though, they will probably grow beyond it
and look back and realize, gosh, I don't know why
I had that like I did back then. But for
right now, it, it's fine because it could, you know,
maybe there's something there for them personally that is not
there for me or you. So, and we kind of

(16:53):
all started a little bit legalistic. Yes, and then the
Lord brings us into grace. It's like, well, Peter said
grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. So.
So we, we've hopefully been doing that. Some people, some
people would just say, oh no, you guys are just compromised,
you know, but or I feel like, gosh, I feel
so free in the grace of God. Well, I made
a mistake this Halloween in that, you know, we make

(17:16):
a big deal of an outreach on Halloween night.
But I didn't do enough to make people know, like,
if you're not into that, you don't have to be
a part of that. And nobody said anything, but I
realized later like I could have done better to make
them know like, hey, if this is against your own conviction,
then don't be a part of it. Stay home, do
your own thing. But for us that don't have that
as a conviction, let's, let's reach out.

(17:39):
Oops. But then how do you also do that without,
because there might even be people listening right now who
are thinking, wait a minute, you're calling me weak. How
dare you call me weak just because I don't want
to celebrate Halloween? I think I'm stronger than you are
because I would say to them, first of all, your, uh,
your definition of weak is American, not.
Biblical because we hate weakness. Weakness is like weakness. But

(18:01):
the idea of weak in the Bible, it doesn't, I mean,
as an example, Paul says in my weakness, I'm made strong.
So the Bible actually glorifies human weakness recognized for God's glory.
So to be the weaker brother doesn't mean you're worse.
It just means you have areas that are going to
be a struggle for you that may not be for me,

(18:22):
and that isn't necessarily good or bad, but it is
a thing where somebody's like, I'm not weaker, I'm stronger.
And I would bring them to the scriptures and I'd
show them and say, actually, the Bible says you're weaker
and that's OK, but you have to recognize that, you know,
if I'm the stronger person, but I don't recognize that,
I can bully over other people and you don't want
to bully people. So I think we both have to,

(18:43):
both sides need to know who they are.
And I do think that, you know, probably um alcohol
would be one of those things that you could sort
of drill down into this a little bit, you know, because,
because a lot of it is cultural, you know, the
perspective of Christians in certain context is very strongly against it.

(19:09):
But then the, the view of Christians in other cultural
contexts is like it, they don't even think about it.
It's not like a big deal. Um, so I think you,
you know, in, in considering the weaker person, you kind
of have to take your context into, into consideration, right? Like, OK,
in this context, yeah, this, you know, this is probably

(19:31):
how I need to navigate this. But, you know, the
the tendency of people is to just have one.
Dogmatic position on it and everybody has to conform to it.
And if you don't, then you're somehow compromised. And that's
where we get into trouble as well. It's it's it's unfair. Yeah, yeah,
it's funny because when you, when you think of the

(19:52):
European Christian alcohol isn't their big
They don't have the same taboos that we do in America,
but they're bothered by American gluttony. Like, truly, like they're
really can be offended. Meanwhile, we're having potlucks, right? Where
then we go over there and see them drink and
you're like, what is happening? And they're like, yeah, but
We don't eat the food that you mean, like, you know,

(20:13):
you know, and it's those are contextual issues, but I
think those do apply for 1 Corinthians for sure. Good,
good stuff. Very good. Mike and Taylor, thank you so
much for sending in your questions on, uh, Facebook and
also on the Kwave.com pastor's perspective page. Let's go to
the phones now, starting with Jeff in Fort Lauderdale. By
the way, the number to call is 888-564-6173. Hey Jeff,

(20:37):
watching us on YouTube. Hi, what's your question?
OK, my question is, uh, and, and let's see, hold on,
John 12:1, it says that it was 6 days before Passover,
and Jesus ate at Lazarus's house. What day did Jesus
eat at Lazarus's house and, and what day was Passover?

(20:57):
Like what day of the week?
Yes.
OK, guys, uh, I'm terrible with dates. I'm terrible with dates,
biblical dates, I'm terrible with dates currently. I move from
Sunday to Sunday. I just remember I've got a Sunday
service coming, so I'm terrible at this, but I'm, I'm
pretty sure 12/1 would have been Sunday.
And then 6 days later it would have been Friday.

(21:21):
Well, that's 5 days unless you count Sunday as day 1, yeah,
as you, you like the, the day before, like the
Saturday evening, yeah, the Saturday evening beginning that day, right.
That's my guess, but I'm not great with dates.
Can I, can I say something? Yeah, so why, why
are you asking this question, Jeff? That's what I wanna ask, because, OK,

(21:44):
because I, I, I've looked at the scriptures, and, OK,
John 12:12 says that the next day was Palm Sunday.
It says, and the next day, and it's call it
Palm Sunday. Therefore, Jesus would eat at Lazarus's house on Saturday.
And therefore 6 days after Saturday is Friday, which would

(22:07):
be Passover and um.
Um, the day before Passover, if you go to John 19,
you would find that, um, John 19:14, it says it
was a day of preparation for Passover, and being Friday
as Passover, that means Thursday was the day Jesus was

(22:29):
crucified and buried.
Uh, before the, before the evening because the evening was
uh uh uh Friday Passover, the high Sabbath, and, and
Saturday would be the regular Sabbath and Sunday night would
be the, um, uh, first day of the week.

(22:53):
Um, which Jesus rose from the dead on Saturday nights,
the first day of the week, actually, that Saturday night
would be Sunday, technically in the Jewish mind. Um, I
think that, you know, it seems like you're, um, you're
trying to figure out the like 3 days and 3 nights,

(23:15):
maybe that that's kind of what's going on here, you know.
And many people have done this. And you know, many,
you know, some people have suggested that Jesus was actually
crucified on Wednesday, believe it or not, and some on Thursday, others,
of course, I mean, the traditional view is Friday, thus
we have Good Friday. Um, but if we understand that

(23:37):
the term 3 days and 3 nights is not uh
72 hours, it's an idiom for, um, you know, just
a period of time.
Which any part of that day would would be sufficient
to identify it as a day. And so, um, I don't,
I don't think we have to labor to figure out

(23:58):
how do we get 72 hours of Jesus in the grave, um,
before he rises again. I don't, I don't think that's
the intention.
All right, Jeff, thank you for your phone call today
here on Pastor's Perspective. Now we'll talk to, oh, Paul
hung up. Where did Paul go? Deborah hung up. Hey,
why are you guys hanging up? We'll get to you.
Call back 888-564-6173. Joseph, thank you for not hanging up.

(24:21):
What's your question for us today? Hey guys, um, great
breakdown of, um,
Acts and, you know, stumbling and all that stuff. So anyway, um,
my question is on the, what does it mean to
pursue a woman of God in, in the context of
uh marriage and relationships. I, um,

(24:44):
I'm kind of lost, you know, and um I could
use some help, some guidance in that.
So tell us about you, Joseph, how old are you?
Um, so I'm 33. Um, I've been, you know, I
was baptized two years at the first Pirate's Cove. I
served at Harvest Riverside.

(25:06):
Um, I do a lot of evangelism, and then it's
funny that you guys are talking about what you guys
are talking about. So, on down, uh, on Halloween, um,
I was part of this organization called Urban Missionary Project, where,
you know, we had several teams go out to all
these city centers throughout the country, and also internationally, but
in the country, and we were all dressed as Jesus

(25:26):
and just praying to other people.
I had convictions about that too, and there were people
who were convicted, and then there's like outright like moments
of just, you know, ministering to people within the team
like I don't feel good about this and you know.
So, so anyway.
That's funny. That's why I'm asking if you can read

(25:48):
in between the lines, but I just want to learn
as much as I possibly can because the question never
was ever even posed to me. I never even thought
about the possibility of like marriage or relationships. I, I
kind of just was like in this long season of
singleness and then.
Hey, uh, I think, I think there's, you know, God's
answering a prayer and also performing several miracles. So that's

(26:08):
why I'm asking. That's, does that give enough context? Yeah,
but you do know that Jesus never married, so yeah,
you got to take off the Jesusume, yeah, you have
to make a choice here.
Uh, you know, Joseph, um, I, I will.
Jump in here. Um, Paul, when he's writing to the Corinthians,

(26:29):
which we're, we've kind of landed there today, um, he
says in chapter seven, at one point, he says, are
you married? Do not seek to be unmarried.
Are you?
Unmarried
He says, do not seek a wife.

(26:51):
Um, and, and then he says, because the time is
short and so forth, and he says, and I'm not
trying to put a restraint on you.
I'm just letting you know what reality is, you know, the,
the married, the unmarried person cares for the things of
the Lord, that they may please the Lord. The married
person cares for the things of their wife or their

(27:12):
husband and so forth, you know, so Paul, so Paul's
basically giving an opinion about this. He doesn't, and then
he goes on, he says, hey, look, if you marry,
it's not a sin. I'm just saying what I think
is actually, you know, probably better.
And so based on that, um,
I, I've always looked at that passage where he says, uh,

(27:35):
if you're not married, don't seek to be married.
And I think by that it, I think the idea
there is that.
You know, seek the Lord.
And if marriage is in God's plan.
He will bring you your marriage partner rather than you

(27:56):
going out and trying to find one. now, that doesn't
mean to say that you can't, you know, do anything
to put yourself in a position.
But, but I just think in a, in a bigger
picture sense, like, you know, people who kind of just,
oh gosh, I want to be married. Oh, I need
to be married. Oh gosh, if I don't be married,
I'll never be happy and being married will be the

(28:18):
greatest thing that ever. So I have got to find
and then they find and then they get married and
then they're like, oh my gosh, what did I do?
Singleness would be the greatest. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So,
so you don't want to get into that kind of
a situation. So I think if you're just like, Lord,
I'm serving you. I'm I'm following you.
I'm dressing up like you and going out on the street.

(28:38):
But you know.
That you know my heart's desire and so I'm just
trusting you to through whatever circumstance you use, you know,
to bring that person along. Um, I know for me, uh,
I got married when I was 23. I was not,
I wasn't looking to be married at that point. I
was just so excited about what I was doing with Jesus.

(29:00):
It was like I didn't even think about it honestly. Um, I,
prior to that I'd kind of been dating a couple
girls and I just thought, you know what, I'm gonna
just not.
Not at the same time. I wasn't dating them. Got you.
There was a couple different things thanks for clarifying, yeah, um, and,
and I just thought, you know, I, I just wanna
drill down into my walk with Jesus. And, you know,

(29:22):
next thing you know, I'm meeting Cheryl, and who knew
she was gonna become my wife.
I, I would love to come back to this one
if you don't mind, Joseph, maybe we can come back
if you can stick around. Yes, we will come back
to Joseph and we'll try to get to as many
calls as possible here on Pastor's perspective. We're still waiting
for you to call in. 888-564-6173 is our number. Gonna

(29:43):
be here till 4.
4 o'clock, grab an open line, 888-564-6173. If you're watching
on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, thank you. Make sure you
share the page with your friends so that they can
call in and ask their questions at 888-564-6173.

(30:15):
Hey, we're back on Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is the number
to call, and right now we're talking to Joseph who
called in and, uh, wanted some advice on how to
find a wife. And we heard from Brian. Phil, what
did you want to throw in? Yeah, well, I was
kind of just a compliment what Brian already shared from
1 Corinthians 7. you know, you also have to like

(30:37):
consider the, the original kind of first couple, right, where
You know, what, how did Adam pursue Eve? He didn't.
He went to sleep and then God created, you know, woman.
And obviously that's not how God's working, you know, for
all of us today, but in a kind of a figurative,
kind of a
figurative sense, it is important, Joseph, that you like, you know,
you got baptized a couple of years ago, you're growing

(30:58):
in the Lord, just keep growing in the Lord, you know,
keep going after the Lord and then believe that like he,
just like he did for Adam, like God loved Adam
more than Adam loved Adam, and God loves you more
than you love you. And so God will bring the
right person into your life. Now, I want to say
like a couple of practical things though, if you don't mind, um,

(31:20):
for
For people that are in that age, they're like, yeah,
I am praying and I'm waiting, but golly, you know, um,
what can I do? You know, is there anything? Yeah,
here's one thing you can do. Put yourself out there
as a friend, be a friendly person.
If you're like all reserved, hanging out at home, you
go to church and you leave immediate, you're not a
part of any groups, you're not a part of any
like social life, then yeah, you're kind of like shooting

(31:43):
yourself in the foot. Put yourself out there, dude, be
out there, and it sounds like you are addressing. I'm
like Jesus, going out, you're awesome. Uh, I, I have
a feeling there's gonna be lots of people that are
gonna be interested in you, lots of girls that'll be like,
that guy's so cool, man, he's, he's out there doing it. I, I,
I dig it. You're, you're my kind of guy.
Um, but I think like keep doing that. Don't like,
don't just sit back and be like, well, you know,

(32:05):
they just told me that I just have to wait. Yeah,
you can still be a friendly person. You can still
be an outgoing person. You can make friendships that are
of the opposite sex. You can, you know, like that's
what I would say is like, you know, it's not pursuing.
I'm not a big fan of that word pursue. It
sounds like you're on a hunt and you're not. God
is working things out for you.
But make yourself available to like just be present. And

(32:26):
if there's somebody that you're kind of interested in, I,
I'm of the opinion that it's OK to like go
on a date and it doesn't have to be romantic
at all. It can just be friendship. Like we need
to learn to normalize making friends of the opposite sex
and getting to know each other and um I think
these would be good things for you, Joseph.
Now Joseph, if you do meet a woman who thinks

(32:47):
it's cool that you're dressing up like Jesus and you're
still doing it 30 years from now, she may not
think it's at school. So just, you know, keep that
in mind. So, uh, thanks for calling in today to
Pastor's Perspective at 888-564-6173. Danny in Ontario, what did you
want to talk about today?
How are you doing? Yeah, I have a question. I
heard Chuck Smith, uh, teach on it. He said, when

(33:09):
he finished, he said, there it is. I said, well,
there it is, and I didn't get it. OK, the
thing is, the, the predestined, not, not predestined, the Esau thing,
you know, I listened to a pastor called Arnold Murray.
I don't know if you're familiar with it, but he's on,
he's go on this thing that we all existed, and
he said there's 3 Earth ages. This is the first one,
this one is the 3rd 1. He said we all
existed before we, we're here living now because we didn't
follow Satan. But anyway.

(33:30):
What's your main question for us, Danny? OK, OK. All right.
How can God hate something that's, you know, I don't
know what point he starts hating. He starts from conception,
3rd week, 5th month. How do you hate something that's not,
that he hasn't even had the thought yet?
OK, he's talking about Romans. Jacob, I have loved Esau.
I have hated. Is that correct, Danny? Am I, am

(33:52):
I in the right space for you there? That, that
is right. I think I hated him in the womb. Yeah, yeah,
so Jacob, I have loved Esau. I have hated. It's
important to read the rest of the context of Romans 9,
10 and 11, that would really help. But in that context, it's, um,
remember God, God knows all things, and so, um, the
idea of
Hate isn't just directed at Esau, but it's, it, it's,

(34:17):
it's going way back before that. So God is not
hating a child before it's even developed. That's not the idea. Jacob,
I have loved, Esau I have hated, is the idea
that God knows what's going to happen. He sees what's
going to happen, he knows what's going to happen, and
he allows free will, and he already knew what that
free will would look like.
And so it's not just Esau specific, but it's just

(34:40):
that it's the whole people. Um, so don't think of
this as like God is like specifically saying in the womb,
I hate Esau, but that there's a bigger picture here
of like God can't not know what he knows. He
can't not know. He already knows it and he'll always
know it. He cannot change that.

(35:01):
Esau's choice to rebel and reject God is known by
God since before the foundation of the world. And so
in Romans context, he's telling us, I know all things
and I can't change that.
Any thoughts, Brian?
Uh, yeah, I mean that was perfect, but you know.

(35:21):
You probably shouldn't try to add to something we're here
to talk, but, but I will attempt to, you know, Phil,
Phil alluded to it. I mean, you know, this, the
quotation is from the prophets, um, Malachi or Micah, one
of the other, one of the look it up while
you're talking, yeah, and, and I think when you read
it in the context, it becomes clear that he's not

(35:43):
talking about the individual.
He's talking about the nation of people that proceeded from Esau,
the Edomites, who were the enemies of Israel, and they
were opposed to God and the people of God because
it says, uh, you know, Jacob, I have loved, Esau
I have hated and laid his mountains waste. So he's

(36:05):
talking about this people group that have lived, uh, in
opposition to him.
And I'm saying that just because even Esau himself as
a person doesn't necessarily fall into a category where he's
outside of the purposes of God, you know, because we
see Jacob and Esau are um estranged for many years,

(36:26):
but then they're reconciled to one another. We see that
at the death of their father, Isaac, they are together,
and they are um participating in his burial together.
Uh, the, the New Testament, the book of Hebrews does
talk a little bit about Esau in a negative way,
you know, he's fornicator, and, you know, because he took

(36:47):
these wives, you know, from the other nations, and also, um,
that he
He didn't have a genuine repentance. He had just more
of a remorse that things didn't work out his way.
So the author says, don't be like Esau.
Very good, Danny. Thank you for your phone call today

(37:07):
here on Pastor's Perspective, and I will go to David. No,
David hung up. So Melissa, everybody keeps hanging up on us. Melissa. Yes,
888-564-6173 is the number to call. Uh, Melissa, hi, thanks
for calling in. Hi.
What's your question for us today?

Speaker 2 (37:26):
My question is, in the Old Testament, uh, whenever a
stranger would come into town, people would want to have
sex with him, uh, being a male, and the owner
of the home would say, leave him alone, but take
my virgin daughters. Now, I could never do that to
my children. Why would they do that? Why would they
sacrifice their virgin daughters or their spouse over a stranger?

Speaker 1 (37:51):
OK, first of all, let's just be clear that this
wasn't a normal practice. Like every time somebody showed up,
it's like, hey, take my daughter. I twice. It says
it twice. And in both cases, the first case is
in Sodom, and the other case is with uh Micah

(38:11):
and um his concubine and judges that ends up being murdered, right?
Yeah, those are the two places. OK. Well, listen, Melissa,
we agree 100% with you. This was like the worst
possible thing that you could do. So in the judge's case,
we understand that this is just

(38:32):
It's just craziness that's going on because the people have
rejected God, and they're basically doing what's right in their
own eyes. So judges, a lot of judges, it's just
pretty much just showing us what happens when people reject God,
and they make themselves the standard. So that's what's happening
in judges. Um, the Genesis passage is a little bit different,

(38:56):
because lot
Uh, recognizes that the men are angels. He understands somehow
that these are divine beings and so he's like, oh man,
you know, you don't want to mess with these guys.
Now again, take my daughter was really not the right

(39:17):
thing to do either and thankfully the angels intervened before.
Uh, the daughters were pushed out to the men. And so,
but this is where Lot would have, um, been making a,
you know, a foolish and a and a horrible.
Decision to say the least. I think, yeah, sorry, I

(39:38):
was just gonna say people read passages like that, or,
you know, David having multiple wives and, oh, God must
be OK with it. So, yeah, yeah, definitely not. Yeah,
I think, and to Melissa, like to your point, because you're, you're,
you framed your question very well, uh, because we totally
agree with you. This is insanity. And that's why it's
important to remember, it was, this is what's so unique

(39:59):
about the Bible compared to so many other kind of
religious books, if I could use that term.
Is that the Bible rats itself out. It rats out
its own people and says, look at how awful we were.
Look at the things like, if I was writing a
book about me, I would make it like perfect. Like I,
everything I did was great. It's such a rare and
refreshing thing to read that the Bible is so raw

(40:22):
and honest. And it's terrible when you read these things,
and it was meant to be taken that way. It
was not meant to be read and say, oh yeah,
this was kind of normal.
This is so unusual and insanity, and we're supposed to
read it that way. So, when you read that again,
take it for exactly how you feel about it. This
is nuts, it's wrong, and God feels the same way.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
Thank you so much. I appreciate your effort.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Oh
I, yeah, I mean, I she sounds relieved, yeah, yeah,
but I just think like.
Who, who would do that? But, but what we know
about Lot is Lot's radically compromised, right? That's his, that's
the whole problem with Lot. He separated from Abraham, the
one who is in the covenant with God with the blessing.
He says, oh, I'm gonna go do my own thing,

(41:06):
and he goes to a city that's completely given over to.
Depravity and then that that that culture.
It affects him so that he thinks that this is
uh an alternative which nobody in their right mind would
think that that because once you're compromised you have no

(41:26):
gauge you no metric, yeah, your judgment completely off, right? Yeah, yeah. Melissa,
thanks for your phone call today on Pastor's perspective, and
I will speak with Casey calling in from Temecula. Welcome
to the program, Casey. Thanks for calling 888-564-6173.
Hey, um, with the last couple of days, the Bible

(41:48):
translations being mentioned, I just wanted to say I love
that because.
I've been working my own translation from the Hebrew, like
Psalm one, rereading it, like reinterpreting it, because you can
do so much with it. So with like even the
woman that just commented on that, it's just a reminder
that most people.

(42:10):
Have like a blurry understanding of the Old Testament because
of a lot of the translations don't really render the
language in a way that we can understand culturally because
Hebrew very different language, rhythmic, um, storytelling culture and so
I guess I just wanted to ask with you guys,
have you guys heard of the First Nations version, the

(42:32):
translation that they've done, it's really incredible.
I did read a sample of this when it first
came out a few years ago, and yeah, let me,
let me read John 3:16 in the First Nations version.
The Great Spirit loves all creation so deeply that he
gave his son, the only son who represents him fully.

(42:52):
All who trust in him and his way will not
come to a bad end, but will share in the
life of the world to come that never fades away,
filled with beauty and harmony. Creator did not send his
son to condemn this world he created, but to bring
all creation back into harmony and balance. So it's read
or it's written from that indigenous, I mean, to, to

(43:13):
minister to indigenous people. So have you guys heard of
this before? One of the, um, one of my friends
who was working on his PhD as well was focused
on First Nations people.
And so yeah, he was always talking about this translation.
It's a dynamic equivalent, so it's not a word for word,
it's a thought for thought. It's a, it, it's especially,
and the reason he was in this particular program is

(43:34):
it's especially geared for oral learners. So people who are not,
we don't just read it, but you use it in
speech and in conversation. And so it's, it's not a
like a Greek or Hebrew word for word, but it
carries the same thoughts. It's cool.
Yeah, what do you, what do you think's the question, yeah.
Were you just wondering if we'd heard of it? I was, yeah,

(43:56):
I wanted to know if you got, because you guys
were talking about the translations the last couple of days,
and my buddy or my brother's really good friends with
Ben Glad. And so I've seen that you guys talked
about the New Testament, the use of the old with
like GK Bill, um, and how you guys were bringing
that up, and I was like, man, I wanna see
if they've read this translation because to me it's beautiful.

(44:19):
Like I said, when you read.
Hebrew or you understand Hebrew, like, especially like for me,
like I'm reworking Psalm one. It's like the modern translations
that say blessed or happy, but really the idea of
like even Psalm one carries the idea of thriving, not
just like you're blessed, it's this idea that you're a
thriving human being on a path on a road. So

(44:41):
when I came across this first translation, they translate like
road path, which is a very Hebraic understanding. And so like.
Tying into like that woman asking the question of.
You know, the, the barbarianism that happens in the Old Testament, the,
you know, people sacrificing their daughters are willing to throw

(45:02):
their daughters out to the, to the wolves. It's,
The, the, the Old Testament's asking the question, who's going
to be the faithful Israelite to maintain covenant and community
with Yahweh?
As opposed to, you know, the questions we're asking, looking
for the most moralistic person, it's a lot deeper than that,
you know, these, these translations bring that out, um, yeah, uh,

(45:25):
you know, I, I would.
I would agree on one level, but I think we
have to, you know, we have to be careful to
not to, I think, I think sometimes, especially, you know,
theological people get sometimes we read more into a passage
than it's actually intended. So I think, I think generally speaking,

(45:46):
you know, when you
And Casey, this is no criticism of you. God bless you,
and it's awesome that you're studying Hebrew and you're working
through Psalm one in it. But you know, we have
to remember that the people, all of the virgins, virgins,
all of the versions of scripture that we have were
translated by the world's best scholars. So.
If there's anything to know about Hebrew, these people knew it.

(46:07):
If there's anything to know about Greek, they knew it. And,
and of course, they have different ideas and, you know,
different opinions. That's why all Bible translations are worked through
a committee. It's not a single individual that's doing it.
It's a committee that's doing it. If you want a
single individual, you get something like the message, uh, Eugene Peterson,
and that's one guy's take on it.

(46:30):
And like you said, Phil, it's, that is very much
a dynamic equivalent that is very much a paraphrase, but
there's some great stuff in it, you know, so I
think we have to, you know, Phil has a PhD.
I have a master's degree, we both went to seminary,
and I love the theological stuff, but sometimes I think

(46:52):
there's a little, people are trying a little bit too
hard to kind of see things that aren't aren't necessarily there.
I took a class with them. I can't remember who
it was with, but they said, there somebody asked a
question about AW Pink, and if you don't know who
AW Pink is, he's a pretty well known commentator, very, very,
I mean, boy, he said a lot. And the guy said,

(47:13):
AW Pink saw more in the Bible than Jesus did.
And he's making the joke like he could see, you know, every,
every thread of the tabernacle meant this, that and the other,
and 100%, you know, and there's a point where you go,
hold on a second. Let's when I, when I was,
when I was first starting out teaching, um.
You know, Pastor Chuck gave me my library and AW
Pink was right there in the on the bookshelf. And

(47:36):
so I, I was teaching the Gospel of John. This
is my first time ever teaching anything in the Bible.
And I, you know, I obviously shared the gospel and
done all kinds of stuff, but I'd never really done
like a study through a book.
So I'm, I'm reading Pink and I'm like, oh my gosh,
I didn't see that. Oh my goodness, how did I
miss that? That is amazing, you know, all of this

(47:57):
stuff it's just like this is the greatest stuff I've
ever heard and literally the Holy Spirit just said, uh,
you didn't see it because it's not there. So.
And it's so fun to read though, right? I mean,
it was, it was a really a lesson for me because,
I mean, right early on the Lord said, look, OK,
you know, this, this is fun. This is fun stuff,

(48:18):
but this is not what I want you to do.
I don't want you to, you know, like, here, here
was the passage. I remember it so vividly. The passage
was the 6 water pots of stone. And you know, Jesus, that,
you know, he's at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee,
and here's the 6 water pots of stone, and what
is 6? 6 is the number of men.
And what is stone? Stone is the condition of the heart,
and what is water? It's the, you know, and it's

(48:39):
just like, wow, amazing. I can see it right now.
I can totally see it. Mind is blown. So I
can't wait to get to my little Bible study to
let everybody know that like this is really what's going
on in the passage, and the Lord's like, no, let's
just pass on that. Let me tell you what's happening. Yeah, yeah.
And it was almost like, yeah, you can enjoy this.
And you know, there's maybe something in it, but let's

(49:01):
just keep to the text, you know, so good.
Casey, thanks for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective. And
now here's Lisa in San Marino listening on FM 107.9
K wave. Hi, Lisa.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
Hi. My question for you is, well, first of all,
let me give you a little background. Um, I have
a 20 year old son who I raised to be
in church, and we do attend Calvary Chapel. And as
of the past year, he has met a girl at
church and, um, they were going to the same church, and, um,
they have a different belief on the whole, um, rapture,

(49:37):
which they don't believe we will be raptured, um, before
the seven-year tribulation.
And um I have raised him to like believe the
same thing as I have and now he believes what
she believes, which is mid-trip and as far as that, they,
he says that he's not receiving from the church that
we also attend and he's now changed churches. My question is,

(49:58):
do I continue to tell him right from wrong, or
do I let him like.
Find his way as he's growing or because I feel
like I'm constantly hoovering over him, telling him right and wrong.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
Well, that's what we do as parents, Lisa, we hover,
we hover a little bit too much, let's be real. Yeah,
it's a great question, and thank you for calling in
and thank you for asking. I'm sure a lot of
people will kind of resonate with your, your concerns. There's
a couple things, I, I, I'm gonna flip and flop
back and forth, and I'm doing it on purpose just
to try to make, make this a bigger issue for you.
First of all,

(50:33):
How great that your son is still following the Lord.
Let's just start there, because how often do we get
calls that my son met this girl and she's an
atheist and now he doesn't believe in God anymore. Like
the biggest issue is they believe a different time of
the rapture. So, and I don't want to minimize your
asking the question, but I do want to just for
your own sake to remember, take a deep breath and

(50:54):
say thank you Jesus, that my son is walking with
the Lord. That's a huge, huge thing.
Now, um, I, I, I, I would say I don't
think that you have a ground to stand on as
it relates to right or wrong. Let, let me be clear, we, and,
and you said you're going to a Calvary chapel, we
do have a perspective on end times. We do have
a perspective about when the rapture takes place, but

(51:17):
But, you know, if we're, if we're handling ourselves wisely, we,
we acknowledge that there are different perspectives, and this doesn't
put people outside of the faith at all. It just
simply means they have a different perspective now.
It sounds to me, Lisa, and we won't be able
to do it right now, but this is something for
you to consider. I have a feeling, it sounds to
me like there's maybe more going on besides just the

(51:39):
view of the rapture, you know, he's maybe, you know,
he's jumping to a different church. Is there, there might
be other things that are happening, so I don't want
to like, but if it's only your question is related
to the rapture, I would not press that, I would
not make that an issue.
Um, you know, people have different views on the rapture,
and we love them and they love Jesus, and so
I wouldn't, I wouldn't press that too much, but if

(52:00):
there's other things going on, those are things you can,
you can work out with your son. Have you noticed
anything else, Lisa?

Speaker 2 (52:07):
Yeah, there are other things, I guess that first started
with the whole rapture, uh, belief, and then there are
other things that come along where, um, you know, like
just he doesn't want to attend Calvary Chapels at all anymore,
so he's just like disconnected himself from there and, um,
it's just like, uh, we always tell him your history
starts at home with your family and you're not married yet, so, um,

(52:30):
he doesn't get.
That, but it's just like all about, I guess his girlfriend,
you could say, and I, I understand that he's young,
but I'm still trying to like tell him like lead
him the right way only because he lives in my house.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean, I, I, I don't want
to make this sound rude, but like been there, done that, that's, yep,
you're in a tough one. They're like pulling away from you,
but they're still in your home. Those are hard things,
but
Um, again, and I pastor a Calvary chapel, and I'm
going to say like, just so you know, Lisa, like
I think you should lean in more that your son
walks with the Lord. Let's hold on to that for

(53:01):
my kids, and I'm sure Brian would probably say the
same thing. I'm sure Brian praises you would say the
same thing. I just want my kids to walk with
the Lord. If they go to a different church than
the one I'm at, as long as they walk in
with Jesus, I'm so thrilled. So I wouldn't make too
much of that. I get it. He's probably not cleaning
his room like he should. He's probably not doing this
like he should. I totally get it. I totally get it.

(53:21):
And one day when he's going to get a little
bit older, he's going to be like, dang, Mom, you
were so right and I was ridiculous, but you just
got to hold on. He's 20 you'll get there. Don't
let this view of the rapture, or even if he
doesn't go to your church, if he's still going to
a church, a Bible teaching, a Bible teaching church, be
thrilled with that. Don't, don't worry about him going to
a Calvary. And I'm saying this, and I'm a Calvary pastor,

(53:43):
so let him, let him go to there. Let him
go where he's going. Any thoughts from you, Brian?
But Lisa's son met a girl. She's not. Philly needs
to go to a Calvary. I mean, it has to
be or attend Echoes of Mercy. Echoes of Mercy is
not a church. It's not. You're right. You're right. Um, no, I,
I agree 100%. And I, I, you know, I've always

(54:04):
said that, and I think, I think most.
Thinking people would say the same thing. I want my
children to know Jesus and to be plugged into a
good community of believers who, uh, you know, stand on
scripture and believe scripture is the final authority. That's what
I want. I don't care what the church is called.

(54:25):
Uh, that's where I want. And for Lisa, it was
an issue of um his girlfriend like has a different
view of when the rapture happened, oh, we got to
let that go. That's not, it doesn't. I mean, we
got a different view of the rapture in our own church. Exactly, exactly, exactly.
And the rapture is not.
Although we, as Calvary Chapel guys, uh, we believe that

(54:46):
there is a rapture, but not, not all Christians do.
And not all Christians, of course, agree on the timing
of the rapture. But they love the Lord. Yeah, it's
a secondary thing.
Does this help you, Lisa?

Speaker 2 (54:57):
Yes, it does.

Speaker 1 (54:58):
Awesome. Thanks for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective, and
that's all the time we have on today's episode. We
will be back tomorrow between 3 and 4 p.m. Pacific time,
so call then and especially if you called in today
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Tomorrow, so call then, all right? And we're gonna archive

(55:20):
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(55:42):
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God bless you guys for Brian Broderson and Phil Metzger.
I'm Brian Perez. Thanks for watching and listening to Pastor's Perspective.