December 3, 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 (00:17):
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
It is Wednesday, the 3rd of December, and we are
here live in the studio, ready to chat with you
about the Bible. It's one of our favorite topics, so
call in and ask your questions. 888-564-6173 is our number.
You can also watch us on a live stream on Facebook, YouTube,
(00:39):
or Instagram.
Uh, or you can send in your questions through the
Pastor's Perspective Facebook page using Messenger, or you can DM
us on the Pastor's perspective Instagram, or if you're watching
on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram, you can, uh, scan that
QR code there, and that'll take you to the pastor's
perspective page at Kwave.com, where you can fill out the
(01:01):
form and submit your question to us. We may not
see those questions until maybe tomorrow or tonight.
Um, and we also don't answer the questions via those methods.
So if you ask your question on Facebook, we're not
gonna send you the answer on Facebook, but if we
read your question on the radio program, then we will
(01:21):
send you a little note that says, hey, we read
your question on Wednesday's show, or whatever day it was,
and then you can go back and listen to it.
The best way to get an answer to your question
is to call us when we're here in the studio,
like today.
And uh the number to call is 888-564-6173. Answering your
questions today, we've got Richard Cimino, one of the assistant
(01:43):
pastors at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. How are you doing, Richard?
I'm doing great. How about yourself? Good, good, good to
see you. And uh you taught uh church this past
Sunday for chart. I did. I did. It was really
a blessing to be able to.
Um, be asked to do that. Yeah, yeah, always a
treat to, to hear you teaching from the pulpit. And, uh,
also joining us today is Scott Ray. He's a, a
(02:07):
professor at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.
How are you, Scott? I'm doing terrific. Wonderful. Ryan, great
to be here. Good to see you, sir. Thanks for
having me back. Yeah, now Scott and Richard, you guys
have never met each other, so maybe you can, uh,
tell each other something about.
Yourself. So Richard, why don't you introduce yourself? Well, nice
(02:27):
to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Um, my name is Richard, and, um, I have a
wonderful wife. I should turn my ringer off here first.
It's a reminder to all of us coming through my computer, um.
Been married to my wife Valerie for 48 years. We have,
(02:49):
we have, uh, 4 grown children, and, uh, the eldest
lives in Brooklyn, and, uh, she has our only two grandchildren,
so that poses a bit of a challenge for us. Um,
I have, I have a kid in Brooklyn. Really? Where?
I have, I have a kid in Brooklyn as well.
Where about he's Bushwick. My son-in-law owns two big buildings
(03:11):
on Scott Avenue in Bushwick. Yeah, I'll let him know, yeah.
And your name is Scott. You gotta love that. Wow,
this is major serendipity. Yes, it is. So yeah, he,
one of them, it's got like this full-on pool and
spa on the roof and some beautiful dining stuff on
the inside. It's on Scott Avenue, and I can't remember
the address, but.
(03:32):
You should check it out Scott Avenue.
All right, so Scott, tell Richard about yourself. Uh, yeah,
I've been, I've been married quite as long as you have.
I've gone on 42 years with my wife, sadly. Well, congratulations.
Thank you. We have 3 grown kids. Uh, one's in
New York, one's in Indiana, one's in LA, all artists
of one sort or another, and, uh, all, all doing well.
(03:52):
I've been at Talbot for it's my 37th year on
the faculty of Talbot School of Theology, and yeah, they
keep renewing my contract every year.
And I don't ask questions. You don't say no. I
do not. Yeah, what kind of arts are your kids into? Uh,
one's an actor. One is, uh, producing commercials. Another one is, has,
has been an audio engineer in the music business. Great.
(04:15):
My youngest, my younger son is an audio engineer producer.
Very good, yeah. And our oldest is a.
Great guitar player and musician. So we got a lot
in common. Yeah, we do. Nice. Did you know this? No, no,
before arranging this, in fact, no, I didn't even arrange it.
I just found out today that Richard was sitting in
for Brian Broderson. So, uh, Richard came in and I
asked Richard before the program, Have you guys met? Have
(04:36):
you been on the show together? And he said, uh, no.
So I'm like, Oh, this will be good. You guys
get to meet each other and everything, and all the,
all the, all the, uh, commonalities are awesome to hear too.
But, uh, all right, so let's answer some questions. 888-564-6173
is the number to call, and as I said, you
can also send your questions in online. So, uh, let
(04:58):
me read one of those to start us off. This
one is from Josh in Wildemar.
Who writes, According to the Bible, I think it says
the Earth is around 6-7,000 years old. Josh just wanted
me to say 67, so there, Josh, I said it.
How's that? No, he means, uh, 6 to 7000 years old,
but there's fossils that date back billions of years, says Josh.
(05:20):
How would you approach that conversation, Scott?
Well, I mean that's sort of the debate between the
young Earth and old Earth.
Views of origins in Genesis one. And my, my own
view is that uh the, the Genesis account is consistent
with an older Earth view.
(05:40):
Which I think is a lot of what science supports, uh,
and I think, I think it's, it's quite possible that, uh,
that the Earth was created with the appearance of age. Um,
so I don't, I don't have a problem with, with that.
I think you can take the Genesis account literally, uh,
but to, to recognize that the Earth is considerably older
(06:02):
than what the genealogies tell us. There are gaps in
those genealogies. I don't, I'm not sure those were intended
to give us.
An exact age of the earth rather those give us the, the,
the lineage that was important at that time. OK, Richard. Yes,
and I think, um, a lot of people think like
the just the phrase in, in the beginning is like
(06:24):
that's the start point, but that word has a lot
of breath to it. It's like, you know, over in
an indefinite period of time, um, and, and that really
does to me.
That was the one that just made it really like
that opens up the door for an old Earth and
and perhaps young man. So that that's, that's the place
that I wanna camp. But I think one of the
(06:44):
most important things for us is to, is to realize
that there are some things that we hold in an
open hand and some things we hold in a closed hand.
And um some of those open hand issues, um, they,
they don't necessarily contradict what we hold tightly. The one
we hold tightly to is is in the beginning God,
the transcendent, only true God created the heavens and earth
(07:05):
closed hand issue.
How old is the earth? How young is the earth
doesn't undo that, but we can't put it in there
with it as though it should be held tightly, right?
And I think you can, you can hold to a
historical Adam and Eve, which I think the Bible calls
us to, yeah, that, that, you know, that they were
the special creation of God without any living ancestors, while
(07:27):
at the same time holding to an old age for
the earth. I, I agree, yeah.
Very good. Thank you, Josh, for sending in your question
through the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com. Let's do one
more that was sent in and then we'll go to
the phones at 888-564-6173. This is from Nathan, who writes,
I recently became separated from my wife and I did
(07:49):
become closer to God, but recently
I have found myself backsliding on my walks with the
Lord due to me struggling with lustful desires. My question is,
would I need to start again from ground zero on
my walks with the Lord, or how do I ask
God to forgive me and to help me overcome repeated sin?
What do you say, Scott? I would say simply ask
(08:10):
God to forgive you.
They repent of that, express your sorrow with that, but
recognize that, uh, in Christ, there is no condemnation for those,
for those who are in Christ.
And that applies, you know, regardless of, of what the
sin is. Um, now that doesn't mean we have a
cavalier attitude about sin. I think we still feel sorrow
(08:33):
for sin, but we recognize that it's sorrow because we've
hurt someone we love. We've, we've hurt, we've hurt the
God who has, has sent His Son to die for us,
to give us grace, and has given us forgiveness, um.
And, and so I, I mean, I say you, you,
you know, yeah, we, we all sort of are in a,
(08:53):
you know, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.
Uh, spiritual life, um, none, none of us is, you know,
moving ahead in a perfectly straight line, and which is
why we have, which is why the Bible makes it
clear that we have space for forgiveness, because it presumes
that we're gonna need it, at points along the way.
So I, I wouldn't, you know, I would express the
(09:15):
appropriate sense of sadness and repentance, ask God for forgiveness,
and then move on.
I think part of it in Nathan's case he's saying
it's this repeated sin and we don't know what it is.
He kind of hints at it earlier, but we don't
know exactly what it is. Well then, I think to
avoid the repetition part, I would suggest having some sort
of a
(09:36):
You know, group of, you know, small group of people
that you're accountable to who can, you know, who can,
you know, make sure that you stay on track, uh,
you know, people who, you know, you can, you can
be honest with and you give them freedom to ask
tough questions to you about what's going on in your life,
particularly in whatever particular area this is. Yeah, Richard, yeah,
(09:59):
you know, Ray Ortland wrote a great book called Gospel Culture.
And in that he has this, this, this 3 word
um progression gospel plus safety plus time. The gospel element
is we need to be constantly immersed in the gospel,
constantly being on the receiving end and in the meditating, um,
(10:20):
point of view from our personal perspective to the truth
of the gospel, which is not just Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, it's not just John 3:16, it's, it's the
breadth of the truth of God's word. So constantly.
Immersed in an exposure to the good news and then
safety is people need to feel that they're going to
(10:42):
not be like just run out of dodge because of
their failures. They need to feel like I'm safe in
this place. People are treating me um in a way
that I feel like I'm safe.
And then I can actually be honest about my problems
and then the element of time, and I love this,
he said people are complex and change is hard and
(11:03):
I want to encourage um our brother in that like
we're complex.
And change is really hard. It's for some people like
they can come to Jesus and certain massive life controlling
things in their life are just gone and it's magnificent
and it's all glory to Jesus for that. But man,
there's just times when it's like this is a lifelong
(11:25):
struggle for some people this a particular thing, but God
is not impatient, you know, God is on our side
and I love uh even.
The thing about on Sunday I was talking about the
withness of God, you know, and how he is with us. And,
and there's there's
We're never alone in any dynamic of our life and, and,
(11:46):
and I said, and even and this, this is on
top of everything like we're not alone in our suffering,
we're not alone in our aloneness, we're not alone in
when we're betrayed or um deserted by our friends, but
at the bottom I was saying, you know, here's the,
here's what's really important we're not alone in our failures
now in this element Jesus doesn't relate to us, but
(12:07):
what's beautiful is he said, I'll never leave you or
forsake you.
And I really wanna encourage anyone in that position like
Jesus is with you in this. He's not, he's not
condoning his withness isn't isn't a condoning factor or element,
it's a faithfulness reality and he's so faithful, um, he is,
he is faithful and he is true and we can,
(12:30):
we can count on his faithfulness when we are unfaithful
and when we're faltering and I think the apostles, man,
the whole time.
You know, as we've been going through the Gospel of Mark, uh,
it's just, it's notable that the, the guys closest to
him were just up and down, and they were all
over the map. And so I really want to encourage you, and,
and any, anybody, um, listening, like, hey, he's with you,
(12:54):
and change is hard. Don't deny that change is hard. Yeah,
I think something that trips people up too, and you, uh,
alluded to Ed, Richard, is that sometimes.
These major sins or stumbling blocks or whatever they might be,
they disappear overnight, the minute we trust Jesus. We've heard
stories of heroin addicts who are never, who never crave
(13:16):
the stuff ever again, right? For years, decades, uh, but
then there's those other.
that just stay, stay with them and they just feel,
why can't I just let this one go? I mean,
heroin addiction, as major as that is, that went away instantly.
So how can this other thing, why am I still
battling with that? Yeah, how's the King James say it
(13:36):
in Hebrews, those, those sins that easily beset us. Yeah, yeah.
The heart is deceitfully wicked, and we are, we are
experts at self-delusion.
And sometimes that's, that's tough to break through.
Nathan, thank you for sending in your question online. And
now we're gonna go to the phones at 888-564-6173. And
(14:00):
uh we're gonna begin with JJ who's listening on the
K-Wave app in San Juan Capistrano. Welcome, JJ to Pastor's Perspective.
Hi guys, thanks for taking my call. Um, my question was, uh,
I guess just a simple one with a little bit
of context maybe, but, um, does God have emotions? Um,
(14:21):
I was, uh, arguing with other Christians or like discussing it,
better words, but, um.
They said that, well, I said that God has emotions
and they said that he doesn't. And there's, uh, when
they reference his emotions in like the Old Testament, they
said that those are just like, um, figurative speeches so
we can understand what's going on. So I don't know
(14:43):
what you guys think or what, but I'd just like
to understand the subject more. Now, what did you use
on your side of the argument to say that God
does have emotions?
Well, I was like Jesus wept and he's God. So
it's just like, how does he not, but they, they
insisted that that was because he was incarnate or something.
But to me that's like, well, if God is eternal,
(15:05):
then he always had emotions, right? So I don't know.
All right, Scott, what do you say? I think God
most certainly has emotions. Uh, you know, Genesis 6 talks
about God feeling sadness and regret over the, you know,
the way the earth had gone, the way this creation
had gone.
Um,
You know, I think God, God's heart breaks, you know,
(15:26):
it says God hates divorce in Malachi. God's heart breaks when,
you know, people turn away from him. Uh, you know, God,
God is a, is a jealous God, uh, which I
think means, it means he's zealous, he pursues us zealously.
Out of his love for us, uh, you know.
You know, he's a, he's a compassionate guy. He, he,
(15:48):
he feels compassion for people, uh.
No, I mean, we, I'm sure you've, Richard, you've got
a few more to add to that, I'm sure, but
I think, of course he does. Yeah, I think, I
just think of don't grieve the Holy Spirit. He, he
can be grieved now, but I think the difference is, is, um, the,
(16:08):
the big qualifier is, is I don't think God's emotional,
you know, like we're, we're emotional creatures. Yeah, God's not
ruled by his emotions exactly. He can emote.
I think of him saying, you know, looking down, um,
in the book of Exodus, he goes, I've heard their cries,
I've seen them, and he says, and, and, and he
was just gripped by them. The, the language there is
(16:30):
like he is he identifies with us and again I
think that's, um, you know, if we're, if we're image
bearers of God, we are since, since Genesis 3, we,
we don't cease being.
Image bearers, we're just broken in the way we bear
the image of God, right? But I think our capacity
(16:52):
to feel, to feel deeply, to care deeply, to have compassion, um,
all of those things I think are still the dim
reflections of the image of God in our lives. And
so I, I would start there like where do we start? Well,
we go back to the beginning, in the beginning, and we'll,
we can kind of work forward from there and but
I think, I just think the biggest thing is like
(17:13):
God doesn't lose his temper.
You know, um, he's not like me. Thank the Lord,
he is not like me, and it's so it's that
he's not emotional, I think it's the deal. Got it.
All right, uh, JJ, what did you think of that answer?
JJ, are you there?
(17:35):
We lost JJ. Oh, there he is. OK, I hear, yeah,
I guess we did. JJ, what did you think of
that answer? I like it. Awesome. I like it because I,
I definitely agree. I brought up some points too. It's
like when he exhibited his emotion, it wasn't like he
was emotional like us. It was the perfect form of
that emotion because he doesn't change his mind or.
Things like us, you know, so yeah, thank you. All right, JJ,
(17:57):
thanks for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is
the number to call. We've got Scott Ray from Viola
University and Richard Cimino from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa answering
your questions till 4. And uh now we're gonna go
to Steven and Riverside listening on FM 107.9 K wave.
(18:17):
Hi, good afternoon. Hi Steven, so much for taking my call. Yeah, um,
my question is, um, so in Genesis, when, uh, during
the fall, the, the curse is, is placed on us,
is that curse reversed through Christ, or is, or is
it because we still live under a fallen world that,
you know, that things that haven't been fully redeemed yet? Um,
(18:39):
hopefully that makes sense. Uh, I referenced like Galatians 3:13 if,
if that was helpful. OK, Richard, what would you say?
Well, Paul talks in the book of Romans about creation
is yet groaning, right? Um, and there's a looking forward
to the, the, the all things being made new. So
(19:00):
the truth is, is there's the, there's the already of
the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and there's the not yet, um,
new creation, and we're living in, in the, in between that.
And I think, uh, suffering is a reality as we
live between the already and the not yet. I remember
Paul Tripp said this, I thought it was so great.
(19:20):
He said the language, um, of life between the already
and the not yet is groaning, and there's so much
truth to that. So yes, the, yes, all that is
necessary to redeem us and creation has been accomplished. Jesus
has inaugurated his kingdom.
But it's a now and not yet kingdom, and so
(19:41):
we are still living in a world that is manifesting
the results of the fall. What say you, Scott? Well,
in Galatians 3:13, which, which you reference, talks about Christ
having redeemed us from the curse of the law, which
is the, the curse of the law is what brings
our condemnation before God.
And Christ on the cross has redeemed that in its
(20:02):
entirety so we are no longer under the curse of
of God's condemnation because Christ has paid the penalty for
our sin.
So, I think your, your point, I think is, is
absolutely right. We don't, we don't sometimes feel the full
effect of that, uh, but I think we, we human
(20:22):
beings are no longer under the, the curse as it
relates to God's condemnation because of our sins. That's right.
The creation is still feels the effects of the curse
of sin, and that's why.
groans for its redemption, and that's, I think that suggests
that that all of creation will at some point be,
be finally and fully redeemed. Yeah, I agree 100%. I'm
(20:43):
not exactly sure what that's gonna look like, but I,
I'm quite anxious to see that happen. Yeah, I'm waiting
for the trees of the field to clap their hands.
That'll be cool. Steven, what do you think of the answer?
Thank you. Um, yeah, that makes, makes sense. I guess
if you guys have a minute, I would appreciate prayer
for just, um, protection. I just have had like a
(21:07):
pretty rough last couple of years, so, yeah. What do
you mean protection though?
Um, I just feel like, um,
Well, it talks about infusions, right, we're we're, uh, the
war that's going unseen war going on and just feeling
attacked from the enemy and, you know.
(21:30):
Got it. Like attacks on your mind or?
Um
Within our family of like, uh, I guess I don't
want to take up too much of your guys' time, but, um,
long story short, uh, my wife uh had a miscarriage and,
and then, um, we were in the process of foster
and adopt a teenager, but that, that fell through and
(21:51):
then just had a lot of different like health things
and financial things going on in the last couple of years.
All right, Richard, would you pray for Steven? Absolutely. He
Heavenly Father, we come to you for Steven and for
his wife, and you know.
Everything that is going on around their lives, um, things
(22:13):
that they have been encountering and the disappointments, the heartache, um.
Lord's, just any discouragement, we would ask that they would
really find you to be the lifter of their heads.
Um, we pray that, um, you would keep them body, soul,
(22:34):
and spirit as they follow you and, um, that they
would really know that you're with them, you're for them, um,
that you love them and that you're gonna keep them, Lord,
in Jesus' wonderful name.
Amen. Thank you so much, Steven, for calling into the
program today and everybody listening and watching. If you can
(22:55):
keep Steven in your prayers. I'm sure he and um,
him and his family would appreciate it. 888-564-6173 is our
number and uh now let's talk to Richard, who's listening
to us in Oregon on the K-Wave app. Hey Richard,
thanks for downloading the app and thanks for calling us
today at 888-564-6173.
All right, thank you guys for what you do again. Uh,
(23:18):
you know, I was studying here. I'm a truck driver,
so there was this sister in Christ who called and
got me into a Bible, a Bible teaching class online here.
So when we're truck drivers, we, we discussed the Bible,
and they mentioned something about God's name being Jehovah in
the Old Testament with the law and then the New
(23:38):
Testament being the name of Jesus Christ.
And then when he comes back again, he's gonna have
another name and they were saying something like, well, his
name changes, but his, uh, the, the, the, his, his
nature doesn't change, but his name changes. And I remember
reading something in the book of, uh, oh man, Exodus
(23:59):
3 something where he said this is my name, this
is my name forever for all generations. So I was
getting kind of, uh, iffy on this, and I was
wondering if there's something, and then they started saying something
about uh.
So I kind of said, you know, I, I, I got,
I gotta check into this and see, and I just
wanted to know your perspective. I, I know I read
uh the other verse where it says, uh, if you
(24:20):
know my name and my son's name, what is, what
is our name, you know, what is my name? What
is my son's name?
And that was in, I forget what book it was in,
so I, I, I'm, I'm thinking like.
I don't know if that was what they were teaching
was correct or not. OK, Scott, do you know about
this group.
Well, maybe we can make some sense out of it, uh, because,
(24:44):
you know, God, God has several names in the, in
the Old Testament. Uh, you know, Yahweh is his covenant-keeping name.
Elohim is more of the God of power and might. Uh,
Jehovah is actually a, a mix. It's not, that doesn't
appear in the Hebrew text. That's a, that's, that's a
mix of names of God. Um, so I, I probably
(25:08):
wouldn't use that one.
Um, but, uh, and I'm not aware of, I mean,
Jesus was referred to as Yeshua.
Which means, you know, God saves, um, but I'm not
aware of the name of Jesus. I mean, that's, that's
the Hebrew name. Jesus' name is, uh,
You know, yesu in Greek, uh, so, but those are,
(25:31):
those aren't changes, those are just translations. I don't, I'm
not aware that the name of God or Jesus has
ever changed and, and will never change, uh, but there
are multiple, multiple names in the scripture to refer to
God Himself.
Yes, I agree. And you know, the thing that came
(25:52):
to my mind right away is, you know, from Philippians 2,
where it says that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow, every tongue confess. I think that's very,
that has a lot of eschatology wrapped up in that.
There's like final things there where he's gonna, you know,
he'll be sitting on that great white throne of judgment,
and at the end of the day everyone is gonna
bow to his name reluctantly or gladly, and um I
(26:18):
don't see his name.
I don't see his name changing anywhere other than, yeah,
he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords, right? Like, well, yeah, yeah, those,
those are, I would call those titles titles exactly names, exactly, um,
and I think too, I think what what might be
helpful too is that the, the name of God was, was,
that's was more than just an appellation for, for God.
(26:41):
It was that your name had to do with your
reputation and that, that's, I think the, the important part
to emphasize.
Is it the, you know, when it talks about God,
you know, God's name being proclaimed, it's his reputation throughout
the earth that's being, that's being emphasized. Not so much
a specific name of God.
(27:03):
Uh, Richard, what do you think of the answers given
by Scott and Richard?
Yes, yes, that, that makes sense there and what you
guys are saying. Uh, I understand the translations and then
the titles, uh, but what they were saying was, no,
it's not going to be the same name, it's going
to be different. And then she mentioned a, a, a
quote in the Bible where it says he will come
with a name on his side that no one knows,
(27:25):
but he who has the name.
And by that name you shall be saved. Yeah, it
does say that in Revelation. So that's in Revelation. Yeah, how,
how can you be saved by a name that you
don't know? I would raised some interesting questions. That's a
good point. Yeah, yeah. It also says that on its
thighs are written the name the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. And if we want to know who,
(27:46):
who is the King of Kings, oh, that would be.
Jesus, yeah, I say that that's good enough for me.
Yes, Richard, thank you so much for calling in today
on Pastor's Perspective, and yeah, we've said it before, I
will say it again. There is so much strange stuff
out there nowadays on the internet, on YouTube, on Facebook,
(28:08):
and people post things that
Sometimes they have no accountability. They have nothing, and, and
people fall for it. And sometimes they use half truths
and everything else, and that's why we are here. Although
I think it's great that he's involved in, in a
Bible study while he's driving his truck on the road.
I can think of a whole lot less productive things
(28:29):
to do than that on the road. Yes, that's for sure. But, uh,
I would just, uh, caution you to be careful that
you don't fall prey to some.
Uh, strange doctrine, as it were. But, uh, thank you
so much for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective. We're
gonna take a quick break and then we'll answer more
of the questions that you have about the Bible and
the Christian faith. If you're on hold right now, stay
on hold. We'll get to you guys, as many of
(28:50):
you as we can, before the program ends at about
4 o'clock. The number to call is 888-564-6173. If you're
watching on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram, you can call in
Number's right there at the bottom of your screen, 888-564-6173.
You can also submit your question online by using Messenger
on the Pastor's Perspective Facebook page, or by DMing us
(29:13):
on the Pastor's perspective Instagram, or scan that QR code
that you see there on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. It'll
take you right to the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com,
where you can fill out the form and submit your questions.
But our favorite way to answer questions is when you
call in and dialogue with us at 888-564-6173. We've got
(29:34):
Richard Cimino, one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel
Costa Mesa here, and also Scott Ray, professor of philosophy
and Christian ethics at the Talbot School of Theology at
Viola University. 888-564-6173. We'll talk to you when we come
back on Pastor's Perspective.
(30:19):
We're back on Pastor's perspective. I'm Brian Perez here with
Pastor Richard Cimino from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa and Scott Ray,
the professor of, uh, philosophy and Christian ethics. Ethics, ethics,
what are ethics? Christian etiquette, yes.
I'll tell you, I think my wife would say he'll
take a hard pass on that one. He's a professor
(30:41):
there at Talbot, at the Talbot School of Theology at
Viola University, and uh the phone lines are open at 888-564-6173.
A quick shout out to Samantha in Southeast Louisiana, who
either watches us on
YouTube or listens to the Pastor's perspective podcast. Uh, either way,
thank you so much, Samantha, for joining us and for
(31:01):
writing in. 888-564-6173 is our number. And now here is Fino,
who is listening on AM 11:10 in Culver City, California. Welcome,
Fino to Pastor's perspective.
Thank you. I, I appreciate you taking my call and
I'd like the voice of that. I really appreciate your
(31:21):
program and all the pastors and speakers you have.
Thanks, man. Appreciate that.
So what's your question for us? Well, I thought that's
all he had to say. 5.
Did you hear me? Mark 5 where, where, where Christ.
(31:42):
Uh, allows the demons to enter the, the pigs. He
gives them permission.
But their plea was to don't send them to the buso.
So was that Christ showing mercy, uh, justice.
Or something else.
OK, what do you think, Richard?
(32:03):
Well, I think their end is, is, is made clear
elsewhere in scripture, um.
Where, um, hell itself is cast into the lake of fire,
and I think, uh, you know, Satan and all the
legions of demons that they are that's their ultimate abode
is gonna forever will be in the lake of fire.
That said, um, I don't think that was compassion on
(32:26):
the part of Jesus. It was for the demons, it
was compassion on, um, on the part of on Jesus'
part towards the man.
That is an interesting take though. I mean, upon reading
it like, uh, like Fino did, is, is Christ is
Jesus answering the prayers of the demons. They're not prayers specifically,
(32:49):
but they did ask a request and, and it seems
on the surface that he might have done that. But, well,
I think of it also in James where it says
the demons believe, but they tremble, and they tremble because
they know, and, and those demons said, you know, they
knew who Jesus is in that moment.
And but there's no, there's no repentance. There's no, there's
no turning back for them. Yeah, Scott, well, and I think,
(33:12):
you know, in chapter 5 verse 1, they came to
the other side of the sea, the Sea of Galilee,
so they were on the eastern shore of the Sea
of Galilee, um, and I, I think it's quite possible
that by sending them off the cliff back into the sea,
he did send them out of the country.
Out of the country that they were in on the east,
on the eastern shore of the, of the, the sea, uh,
(33:37):
so I, I, you know, I, I, I don't see
any place where Jesus shows mercy to demons, uh, because,
you know, they're, uh, you know, they, they're incapable of redemption, uh,
you know, there are lot's been cast, and it will,
as Richard mentioned, it, it will be finally fulfilled.
At the, at the, at the end times for sure. Fino,
(33:59):
what do you think of these answers?
Well, it still doesn't address the fact that their plea
was
And so it wasn't, it wasn't compassion or mercy, was
it justice?
Because if he did that today, with every, with all
these animal rights activists, I mean, that'd be said something.
(34:23):
And like what I mean, why, what, what was it?
Because he did fulfill their request.
Uh, I'm not so, I'm not so sure about that.
I think he might by sending them into the, into the,
to the swine. I think he was sending them out
of the country. So I, I don't think he fulfilled
their request, and nor would he have felt any obligation
(34:43):
to do so. Yeah. And nor did he, nor did
he say, and by the way, I'm just throwing you
in the lake, but you, you're not gonna end up
ultimately judged. He didn't. Their, their end is as sure
as sure can be.
Fino, thanks for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective.
888-564-6173 is the number that Fino called, and you can
call too, 888-564-6173. Here is Mateo, who is listening to
(35:08):
us in Temecula on FM 107.9 K wave. Hey, Matteo.
Um,
Uh,
Hi Matteo, what's your question?
Uh, how did God make the earth? How did God
make the earth? I think that's a question you should
(35:29):
ask your mother about.
And she said you should call Pastor's perspective. That's a
great question. It is a great question. Go ahead.
Well, the Bible says that God said.
Let there be light and elsewhere it tells us, Matteo,
(35:49):
that God spoke creation into existence. So God, the creation was,
was came from nothing. God, um, out of nothing God
created the universe. It's magnificent to think about. There was no.
It wasn't like stars at night before creation. It was
(36:10):
just God, and then he, he spoke them into existence,
and that's a pretty amazing thing to think about when
you put your head on your pillow tonight, yeah.
What do you think, Matteo?
Oh, that's a good explanation.
Well, thank you. I take that as a high compliment
(36:32):
coming from you. You know what, if you can explain
it well to a nine year old, you probably really
understand it.
Mateo, thanks for your phone call today. Yep, 888-564-6173. And
now here's, uh, Daniel listening in Riverside on, uh, well,
it says here FM app. So I'm assuming you're maybe
(36:52):
listening either or FM 107.9 or the Kwave app. Thanks
for calling. What's your question?
Daniel,
Are you there, Daniel?
Did you press mute on your phone?
Daniel
Going once.
(37:12):
Going twice.
OK, let's check on Daniel, see if, uh, he's doing
OK there. In the meantime, I'll answer or ask a
question that was sent in online. It's from Miss Sale,
who is in Tustin. I hope I'm saying that name right.
It's less than 6 months that I have made the
decision to leave behind the world to follow Christ. I
was away for a very long time, and as they say,
(37:33):
it's easy to fall, uh, but harder to get up.
So my wife's family is supposedly Christian, but every gathering
is like a pagan celebration. I can't even tell who's
a follower of Christ and who's not. I know God
didn't necessarily prohibit alcohol, but I know for sure no
matter how small of a portion of alcohol I'm using,
(37:55):
it doesn't make me go on my knees and pray.
So how do I deal with that or what do
I do? So it sounds like, uh, Masso's family just has,
you know, drinking and stuff all over the place at
uh
At their holiday gatherings or any gathering, and uh he,
he can't really, it's hard for him to do it
because maybe of, you know, his past before he became
(38:16):
a believer. I don't know. What do you think, Scott? Well,
I don't, I don't have any problem with somebody who
chooses to abstain, even though I, I don't think the
Bible mandates that we abstain. I think we are, that's
an area where we have freedom. Uh, the Bible's really
clear about drunkenness and intoxication.
Being huge problems and things that result from drunkenness and
(38:36):
intoxication being huge problems, uh, but I, I think, you know,
if you're in these family gatherings, um, you know, you
find something else to drink that, uh, you know, that
you like, and I, I wouldn't stand in judgment on
your family, your family members. Uh, I'd love them, love
them for who they are, uh, because just by, just
(38:58):
by drinking.
You know, a glass of wine or a beer, they're
not necessarily violating any command or mandate of scripture. Uh,
and you, and I think, I think they're, I mean, it's,
I think it's fine when people choose to abstain, and
there are lots of good reasons to do that. Uh,
but I think 11 of the reasons is not that
(39:19):
the Bible mandates.
100% abstention from anything alcoholic because I, I don't, I
don't think the Bible teaches that. In fact it's uh
You know, there's, there are a lot of references in
the scripture to wine, and wine is used as this,
as one of the key components in the central aspect
(39:40):
of the Christian faith, you know, which is in, in communion.
So it, you know, the, the cup of wine, and
it was, you know, in, in biblical times, wine was
just as alcoholic as it is today, probably, probably a
little bit less so, but the idea that it was
not alcoholic at all, I don't think can be sustained, uh.
And it was, it was, it was that and the
(40:03):
bread were the things that represented the central thing of
the Christian faith.
So I find, I find it hard to, I find
it hard to envision that the consumption of wine, wine,
or anything else like that would be intrinsically wrong. Right now, again,
you can have lots of good reasons for saying no
to it, and I totally respect that.
(40:26):
Uh
And, and I, I'm, I'm thinking, you know, there's 2,
there's two, streams in this question, I think one of
them is.
Um, I don't think, let, let's just say they're just
abusing alcohol.
OK.
You, it, you.
To be with them.
(40:48):
Um,
Is is not condoning their drunkenness, um, I think, you know,
Jesus said that he came to seek and save the lost.
And we find Jesus in the proximity of sinners and, and,
and he was accused of it. So Jesus had a
reputation of being a glutton and a drunkard because of
the people he kept company with. Yes, and so I
(41:11):
wanna encourage you, you wanna be the representative of Jesus.
We're we're followers of Jesus. He didn't run from those people.
And but though he pursued them, didn't wasn't his stamp
of approval on, on that kind of behavior, but he wasn't,
he was with them. He is God who became man
and he was with them. And I mean, obviously there
(41:32):
could be some things could get so crazy you're just,
you can just kind of gonna go like, I think
I just need to remove myself here for a bit,
but I, I don't think that's necessarily, I don't know
if I, if that's what you're talking about.
But then also I think you know um to just
go along with what Scott was saying like you know
Jesus was at the wedding feast in Canaan.
And he basically turned, you know, well he did, he
(41:55):
turned water into wine, and, and it wasn't like, you know,
non-alcoholic wine because the steward of the steward, it was
the steward, the sommelier of the feast went like this
is the best wine I've ever tasted. So if you
wanna know what the greatest vintage wine ever was, it
was that wine.
But, but Jesus like made turned water into wine for
(42:18):
the people who were having a celebration, a party at
a wedding feast that lasted a week long, so just
throwing that out.
Very good, Ms. Sale. Thank you so much for sending
in your question through the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com,
which you can easily access by scanning the QR code
if you're watching us on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram. Let's
(42:41):
see if Daniel's back. Hello, Daniel.
Yes, I am back and thank you for taking my call.
And yes, I just wanna ask if it's if it's
OK to have an altar.
At the house when um my my fiance's son passed away.
You know, today is 2 months that he passed away,
so she's at the cemetery.
(43:02):
And um she's listening on the radio, but I just
wanna know cause they told her to, you know, have
a glass of water, have some salt on the, on
the side and light candles around his, his pictures and she,
she also has the Virgin Mary. I just feel that.
She's praying to him as a god. We are the God.
(43:26):
We only have one God.
And um I just don't want her to get the
wrong impressions about what the Catholic Church is telling her
to do because they tell her that.
You know, he's around her.
And she's guide, he, he's, he's guiding her.
And that he's, he's just taking care of her. I
tell her, you guys, you know, you guys say that
(43:48):
as soon as a person dies, the soul goes directly
to God.
And the body stays
So I want her to, yes, go ahead. Is the
Catholic Church telling her this, or is it maybe some
of her Catholic friends and family that are telling her this?
Catholic friends and family, OK.
All right, Scott, what do you know?
(44:09):
Uh, yeah, I would say it sort of depends on
what you're, what you're doing.
With, with that
Altar. I, I would be, I, I don't think I'd
call it an altar because you, you worship at an altar. Uh,
and so if you are, you know, if you are
praying through this person or praying to this person or
(44:29):
worshiping that person or expressing devotion to that person that,
that ought to be reserved for God.
Uh, then, then I think we, we have a problem.
But I think if you just wanna have a, if
you wanna have a picture of your deceased son as a,
as a memory.
I think that's OK, but I would, I don't think
there's anything.
(44:50):
How can I put this? Anything sort of magical spiritually
happening with a, with quote an altar like this, uh,
because I think, I mean your point, I think is right, Daniel, that, uh,
you know, as soon as somebody's, you know, you know,
has their homecoming, their soul goes to be with God.
The body does remain here, uh, and it awaits the
(45:10):
general resurrection of the dead at, at the end times.
So I think if you wanna have, you know, if
you wanna have a place just to have a memory
of your, of her deceased son, I think that's OK.
But if it goes beyond that, then I think we
start getting a little, I think a little spiritually maybe
off the rails, yeah, and, and, and if your fiance
(45:32):
is listening to us right now, first of all, we
say we're really sorry for your loss, we're so sorry
for your loss, and, um.
You know, I, it, it made me think, Scott, of
like when you sometimes you'll be driving down the road
and maybe a spot where there was an accident and
somebody died, there'd be like flowers that are sitting, and
those are, there's those, there's nothing worshiping than that. It's
just a mem it's remembering them, right? And so if
(45:56):
there's ways, you know, to remember her son, I think
that's not, there's nothing to be worried about there but
to call it an altar to, you know, um, be
at a place where you're somehow.
Um, trying to commune with your, your deceased son, that
would not be, that would not be appropriate.
OK, OK, because he, uh, her family is telling her
(46:18):
that she needs to have that water and that salt
because he needs it for, for his, uh, journey.
That's how they put it, that he's in a journey
at the moment and, and that he's um.
Still here on the uh on earth in earth, just
wondering because she can't stop crying and she can't, and,
and all her crying doesn't let her, let him.
(46:42):
Just go, go, yeah, I'd say he's, you know, he's
no longer on a journey. He's reached his destination by,
by being home with the Lord.
Um,
But also this thinking that
She's, she's still grieving his loss, and they're telling her, well,
because you're crying, it's keeping him from reaching heaven or whatever.
(47:05):
That's just, and, and that just makes people feel guilty for,
for grief. Well, that's just, that's just theologically not, not
the case, um, so again, I, yeah, I, I share, Richard, your, uh,
compassion for, I mean, I, I can't imagine, you know,
losing a child and having the memory of it be
this fresh.
(47:26):
Daniel, thank you for your phone call today here on
Pastor's Perspective, 888-564-6173. Steven and Yucaipa, what is your question
for us today?
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Hey, pastors, uh, thanks for taking my call. I don't
have a question today, just a quick comment. Um, yesterday,
a caller reached out about struggling with, uh, mental health
and feeling unsure about using medication and seeking professional help.
As I, as she was talking, I really felt on
my heart, I appreciated how the pastors handled that yesterday,
(47:58):
and I kind of just wanted to um give my
pers like my word of encouragement. There was a season
of life.
Even though I was serving in a uh non-pastoral role
and teaching youth each week, um, I still dealt with
clinical anxiety. So, as someone who's personally benefited from getting
help and even using medication, uh, which she seemed like
(48:21):
she was hesitant on it, I just want listeners to
know that caring for your mental health is not a
lack of faith, and I personally believe God uses it.
Uh, God can use therapy, medication, wise biblical counsel as
part of healing, and I think in Proverbs it even says,
And the multitude of counselors, there is safety. So anyways,
(48:41):
I just wanted to thank you guys for your commitment
to giving wisdom on topics people often feel scared to
talk about, and I just wanted to share that.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Well thank you Steven for your words of encouragement. Any thoughts, gentlemen?
Couldn't have said it better myself. Yeah, well said. Yep,
thank you for your phone call. Now here's Jack in
Huntington Beach listening on the Kwave app. Hello Jack.
So
Hey guys,
Um, hello, and that's it, and I came with a, uh,
comment on one of your listeners just a few minutes back,
(49:13):
and the pigs, the swine, the spirits being, uh, cast
into the pigs, the pigs going into the ocean, and, um.
Um, I just wanted to make the comment that.
The Lord, knowing, I think at another time in Scripture,
the demons had said to Jesus, it's not our time yet,
(49:35):
addressing Jesus, saying,
Holding him to his limits, to his word, God was
obligated not to cast those demons anywhere but the pigs. Ah,
would you, what would be your thoughts there? He had
an obligation to hold to the word of, um, it
(49:56):
wasn't their time yet.
I'm reading through the passage, and, do you know the
the passage I'm not seeing the reference that you're, you're making. Well,
there's another time in scripture where he said, where the
demons addressed Jesus and said, uh, um, Matthew 8:29.
(50:17):
31, have you come here to torment us before the time? Yes,
before the time. Therefore, based on that time, I know
I'm speaking of two pieces of scripture here, but both
are addressing Jesus is addressing demons. The reply from the
demons is in the other scripture, it's not our time.
(50:37):
He's holding Christ to his obligation to the Father's will.
Well, I don't think demons can hold Jesus to anything. Jesus,
they can't hold him to anything. Well, I agree there,
but Jesus can hold, has to hold himself to his
own obligation, so he is being held.
Whether by himself, and it is by himself, it's by
(50:58):
his own word, he's being obligated. Well, let me, let
me say this to you with those demons, let me
say this to you.
Um, that we have, there's nowhere in scripture where, um,
we would have any assumption that demons know the day
and the moment and the time when their end is up.
There's no, there's nowhere in that. They're not omniscient. They
(51:19):
don't know. They, they, they, all they know is they've
rebelled against God and it's not looking good for them,
and they thought they had Jesus on the cross.
So if we're told in Colossians that Jesus triumphed over
them on the cross, and the language there, it's the
language of a conquering warrior putting his foot on the
back of the neck of the defeated foe, and he
(51:41):
made an open display of them. And so is that
before the time? No, he conquered.
The the demonic realm, and he shows his absolute victory
of it before the time of the final judgment when
death and hell are cast into the lake of fire.
Anything to add, Scott? No, that's well said. All right, Jack,
(52:03):
thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's perspective.
I think we can squeeze in one more before the
program ends. Let's go to Newport Beach. Here is Terry
listening on FM 107.9 K wave. Hey, Terry.
Oh my God, I'm gonna cry. Why? Cause I know
it's God's hand. He picked up the phone for the
last call. Oh, it's OK. OK.
(52:27):
So
Go ahead. OK. I'll try to get my words out
and be like Moses.
So I have, I do a multiple, like, I give
out free samples at different stores, grocery stores.
And now they're asking me to serve alcohol, like give
out free samples of tequila, rum, wine, and
You know, I, at first, when I first started there,
(52:49):
I said no to alcohol, but when that guy called
just prior, he mentioned, you know, a lot of stuff
and
You know, as a Christian, you know, what do I do?
I mean,
So you're handing out just free samples of stuff. So,
I might have seen you when I go to the
grocery store and you're handling, handing me a granola bar
(53:10):
or a new potato chip that's just come out, but
now they're saying, hey, we want you to
Hand out little samples of alcohol and, and when you
took the job, you said that you told them that
you wouldn't do that.
When I, when they asked me, I, I said no,
but there's been changes, so there's a lot of different
schedulers and they're out in East Coast. So it's like.
(53:33):
Um, I haven't came across it and I had sent
him an email and said, no, I don't, but they
haven't responded, but I'm just being patient and talking to
God and, and stuff like that, you know. All right, Richard,
what would you recommend? Well, there's a lot of layers,
I think, but one of the things I would say,
you don't wanna, you don't wanna violate your own conscience.
(53:56):
That's a hard thing to do.
Um, I mean, not a hard thing to do. It's a,
it's a, it's, it's not a good thing to do
because then you're just opening yourself up to a lot
of condemnation and, um, I, I would just would, would
encourage you like just keep pressing towards the, you know,
I would rather please, I don't wanna do this. That
would be my first recommendation for you, Scott.
(54:19):
Yeah, I think, you know, if you have the same
person coming back over and over and over again for
samples and you're contributing to somebody becoming intoxicated.
Then I think you have a problem. But it sounds
like these are very, very small, uh, and I don't,
I don't, I don't see any harm that's being done
in this. I don't think that people drinking alcohol is,
is necessarily sin, though it can be if it's done
(54:43):
to excess. But I think these small samples you're giving out.
I think you got a long way to go before
you're getting to excess, but I think Richard's right. If
you know your conscience is what it is, um, and I,
so I'd be careful about that. But you, you, you know, your,
your conscience is not infallible either. And so I think
there are, there are times when I think where our,
(55:05):
our conscience, I mean, the Bible talks about our conscience
being educated.
Uh, and, and I think this may be one of
those places where your conscience may be a little more
sensitive than the Bible requires it to be. Mm. All right, Terry,
thanks for your phone call today on Pastor's perspective and
That's all the time we have today. Thank you so
much everybody for calling in and participating, and we'll do
(55:26):
it again tomorrow. If you've got a question for us,
write it down so you don't forget it, and then, uh,
call us between 3 and 4 p.m. Pacific time. For
Pastor Richard Cimino and Doctor Scott Wray, I'm Brian Perez.
Thanks for watching and listening to Pastor's Perspective.
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective. I'm your host, Brian Perez.
It is Wednesday, the 3rd of December, and we are
here live in the studio, ready to chat with you
about the Bible. It's one of our favorite topics, so
call in and ask your questions. 888-564-6173 is our number.
You can also watch us on a live stream on Facebook, YouTube,
(00:39):
or Instagram.
Uh, or you can send in your questions through the
Pastor's Perspective Facebook page using Messenger, or you can DM
us on the Pastor's perspective Instagram, or if you're watching
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QR code there, and that'll take you to the pastor's
perspective page at Kwave.com, where you can fill out the
(01:01):
form and submit your question to us. We may not
see those questions until maybe tomorrow or tonight.
Um, and we also don't answer the questions via those methods.
So if you ask your question on Facebook, we're not
gonna send you the answer on Facebook, but if we
read your question on the radio program, then we will
(01:21):
send you a little note that says, hey, we read
your question on Wednesday's show, or whatever day it was,
and then you can go back and listen to it.
The best way to get an answer to your question
is to call us when we're here in the studio,
like today.
And uh the number to call is 888-564-6173. Answering your
questions today, we've got Richard Cimino, one of the assistant
(01:43):
pastors at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. How are you doing, Richard?
I'm doing great. How about yourself? Good, good, good to
see you. And uh you taught uh church this past
Sunday for chart. I did. I did. It was really
a blessing to be able to.
Um, be asked to do that. Yeah, yeah, always a
treat to, to hear you teaching from the pulpit. And, uh,
also joining us today is Scott Ray. He's a, a
(02:07):
professor at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.
How are you, Scott? I'm doing terrific. Wonderful. Ryan, great
to be here. Good to see you, sir. Thanks for
having me back. Yeah, now Scott and Richard, you guys
have never met each other, so maybe you can, uh,
tell each other something about.
Yourself. So Richard, why don't you introduce yourself? Well, nice
(02:27):
to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Um, my name is Richard, and, um, I have a
wonderful wife. I should turn my ringer off here first.
It's a reminder to all of us coming through my computer, um.
Been married to my wife Valerie for 48 years. We have,
(02:49):
we have, uh, 4 grown children, and, uh, the eldest
lives in Brooklyn, and, uh, she has our only two grandchildren,
so that poses a bit of a challenge for us. Um,
I have, I have a kid in Brooklyn. Really? Where?
I have, I have a kid in Brooklyn as well.
Where about he's Bushwick. My son-in-law owns two big buildings
(03:11):
on Scott Avenue in Bushwick. Yeah, I'll let him know, yeah.
And your name is Scott. You gotta love that. Wow,
this is major serendipity. Yes, it is. So yeah, he,
one of them, it's got like this full-on pool and
spa on the roof and some beautiful dining stuff on
the inside. It's on Scott Avenue, and I can't remember
the address, but.
(03:32):
You should check it out Scott Avenue.
All right, so Scott, tell Richard about yourself. Uh, yeah,
I've been, I've been married quite as long as you have.
I've gone on 42 years with my wife, sadly. Well, congratulations.
Thank you. We have 3 grown kids. Uh, one's in
New York, one's in Indiana, one's in LA, all artists
of one sort or another, and, uh, all, all doing well.
(03:52):
I've been at Talbot for it's my 37th year on
the faculty of Talbot School of Theology, and yeah, they
keep renewing my contract every year.
And I don't ask questions. You don't say no. I
do not. Yeah, what kind of arts are your kids into? Uh,
one's an actor. One is, uh, producing commercials. Another one is, has,
has been an audio engineer in the music business. Great.
(04:15):
My youngest, my younger son is an audio engineer producer.
Very good, yeah. And our oldest is a.
Great guitar player and musician. So we got a lot
in common. Yeah, we do. Nice. Did you know this? No, no,
before arranging this, in fact, no, I didn't even arrange it.
I just found out today that Richard was sitting in
for Brian Broderson. So, uh, Richard came in and I
asked Richard before the program, Have you guys met? Have
(04:36):
you been on the show together? And he said, uh, no.
So I'm like, Oh, this will be good. You guys
get to meet each other and everything, and all the,
all the, all the, uh, commonalities are awesome to hear too.
But, uh, all right, so let's answer some questions. 888-564-6173
is the number to call, and as I said, you
can also send your questions in online. So, uh, let
(04:58):
me read one of those to start us off. This
one is from Josh in Wildemar.
Who writes, According to the Bible, I think it says
the Earth is around 6-7,000 years old. Josh just wanted
me to say 67, so there, Josh, I said it.
How's that? No, he means, uh, 6 to 7000 years old,
but there's fossils that date back billions of years, says Josh.
(05:20):
How would you approach that conversation, Scott?
Well, I mean that's sort of the debate between the
young Earth and old Earth.
Views of origins in Genesis one. And my, my own
view is that uh the, the Genesis account is consistent
with an older Earth view.
(05:40):
Which I think is a lot of what science supports, uh,
and I think, I think it's, it's quite possible that, uh,
that the Earth was created with the appearance of age. Um,
so I don't, I don't have a problem with, with that.
I think you can take the Genesis account literally, uh,
but to, to recognize that the Earth is considerably older
(06:02):
than what the genealogies tell us. There are gaps in
those genealogies. I don't, I'm not sure those were intended
to give us.
An exact age of the earth rather those give us the, the,
the lineage that was important at that time. OK, Richard. Yes,
and I think, um, a lot of people think like
the just the phrase in, in the beginning is like
(06:24):
that's the start point, but that word has a lot
of breath to it. It's like, you know, over in
an indefinite period of time, um, and, and that really
does to me.
That was the one that just made it really like
that opens up the door for an old Earth and
and perhaps young man. So that that's, that's the place
that I wanna camp. But I think one of the
(06:44):
most important things for us is to, is to realize
that there are some things that we hold in an
open hand and some things we hold in a closed hand.
And um some of those open hand issues, um, they,
they don't necessarily contradict what we hold tightly. The one
we hold tightly to is is in the beginning God,
the transcendent, only true God created the heavens and earth
(07:05):
closed hand issue.
How old is the earth? How young is the earth
doesn't undo that, but we can't put it in there
with it as though it should be held tightly, right?
And I think you can, you can hold to a
historical Adam and Eve, which I think the Bible calls
us to, yeah, that, that, you know, that they were
the special creation of God without any living ancestors, while
(07:27):
at the same time holding to an old age for
the earth. I, I agree, yeah.
Very good. Thank you, Josh, for sending in your question
through the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com. Let's do one
more that was sent in and then we'll go to
the phones at 888-564-6173. This is from Nathan, who writes,
I recently became separated from my wife and I did
(07:49):
become closer to God, but recently
I have found myself backsliding on my walks with the
Lord due to me struggling with lustful desires. My question is,
would I need to start again from ground zero on
my walks with the Lord, or how do I ask
God to forgive me and to help me overcome repeated sin?
What do you say, Scott? I would say simply ask
(08:10):
God to forgive you.
They repent of that, express your sorrow with that, but
recognize that, uh, in Christ, there is no condemnation for those,
for those who are in Christ.
And that applies, you know, regardless of, of what the
sin is. Um, now that doesn't mean we have a
cavalier attitude about sin. I think we still feel sorrow
(08:33):
for sin, but we recognize that it's sorrow because we've
hurt someone we love. We've, we've hurt, we've hurt the
God who has, has sent His Son to die for us,
to give us grace, and has given us forgiveness, um.
And, and so I, I mean, I say you, you,
you know, yeah, we, we all sort of are in a,
(08:53):
you know, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.
Uh, spiritual life, um, none, none of us is, you know,
moving ahead in a perfectly straight line, and which is
why we have, which is why the Bible makes it
clear that we have space for forgiveness, because it presumes
that we're gonna need it, at points along the way.
So I, I wouldn't, you know, I would express the
(09:15):
appropriate sense of sadness and repentance, ask God for forgiveness,
and then move on.
I think part of it in Nathan's case he's saying
it's this repeated sin and we don't know what it is.
He kind of hints at it earlier, but we don't
know exactly what it is. Well then, I think to
avoid the repetition part, I would suggest having some sort
of a
(09:36):
You know, group of, you know, small group of people
that you're accountable to who can, you know, who can,
you know, make sure that you stay on track, uh,
you know, people who, you know, you can, you can
be honest with and you give them freedom to ask
tough questions to you about what's going on in your life,
particularly in whatever particular area this is. Yeah, Richard, yeah,
(09:59):
you know, Ray Ortland wrote a great book called Gospel Culture.
And in that he has this, this, this 3 word
um progression gospel plus safety plus time. The gospel element
is we need to be constantly immersed in the gospel,
constantly being on the receiving end and in the meditating, um,
(10:20):
point of view from our personal perspective to the truth
of the gospel, which is not just Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, it's not just John 3:16, it's, it's the
breadth of the truth of God's word. So constantly.
Immersed in an exposure to the good news and then
safety is people need to feel that they're going to
(10:42):
not be like just run out of dodge because of
their failures. They need to feel like I'm safe in
this place. People are treating me um in a way
that I feel like I'm safe.
And then I can actually be honest about my problems
and then the element of time, and I love this,
he said people are complex and change is hard and
(11:03):
I want to encourage um our brother in that like
we're complex.
And change is really hard. It's for some people like
they can come to Jesus and certain massive life controlling
things in their life are just gone and it's magnificent
and it's all glory to Jesus for that. But man,
there's just times when it's like this is a lifelong
(11:25):
struggle for some people this a particular thing, but God
is not impatient, you know, God is on our side
and I love uh even.
The thing about on Sunday I was talking about the
withness of God, you know, and how he is with us. And,
and there's there's
We're never alone in any dynamic of our life and, and,
(11:46):
and I said, and even and this, this is on
top of everything like we're not alone in our suffering,
we're not alone in our aloneness, we're not alone in
when we're betrayed or um deserted by our friends, but
at the bottom I was saying, you know, here's the,
here's what's really important we're not alone in our failures
now in this element Jesus doesn't relate to us, but
(12:07):
what's beautiful is he said, I'll never leave you or
forsake you.
And I really wanna encourage anyone in that position like
Jesus is with you in this. He's not, he's not
condoning his withness isn't isn't a condoning factor or element,
it's a faithfulness reality and he's so faithful, um, he is,
he is faithful and he is true and we can,
(12:30):
we can count on his faithfulness when we are unfaithful
and when we're faltering and I think the apostles, man,
the whole time.
You know, as we've been going through the Gospel of Mark, uh,
it's just, it's notable that the, the guys closest to
him were just up and down, and they were all
over the map. And so I really want to encourage you, and,
and any, anybody, um, listening, like, hey, he's with you,
(12:54):
and change is hard. Don't deny that change is hard. Yeah,
I think something that trips people up too, and you, uh,
alluded to Ed, Richard, is that sometimes.
These major sins or stumbling blocks or whatever they might be,
they disappear overnight, the minute we trust Jesus. We've heard
stories of heroin addicts who are never, who never crave
(13:16):
the stuff ever again, right? For years, decades, uh, but
then there's those other.
that just stay, stay with them and they just feel,
why can't I just let this one go? I mean,
heroin addiction, as major as that is, that went away instantly.
So how can this other thing, why am I still
battling with that? Yeah, how's the King James say it
(13:36):
in Hebrews, those, those sins that easily beset us. Yeah, yeah.
The heart is deceitfully wicked, and we are, we are
experts at self-delusion.
And sometimes that's, that's tough to break through.
Nathan, thank you for sending in your question online. And
now we're gonna go to the phones at 888-564-6173. And
(14:00):
uh we're gonna begin with JJ who's listening on the
K-Wave app in San Juan Capistrano. Welcome, JJ to Pastor's Perspective.
Hi guys, thanks for taking my call. Um, my question was, uh,
I guess just a simple one with a little bit
of context maybe, but, um, does God have emotions? Um,
(14:21):
I was, uh, arguing with other Christians or like discussing it,
better words, but, um.
They said that, well, I said that God has emotions
and they said that he doesn't. And there's, uh, when
they reference his emotions in like the Old Testament, they
said that those are just like, um, figurative speeches so
we can understand what's going on. So I don't know
(14:43):
what you guys think or what, but I'd just like
to understand the subject more. Now, what did you use
on your side of the argument to say that God
does have emotions?
Well, I was like Jesus wept and he's God. So
it's just like, how does he not, but they, they
insisted that that was because he was incarnate or something.
But to me that's like, well, if God is eternal,
(15:05):
then he always had emotions, right? So I don't know.
All right, Scott, what do you say? I think God
most certainly has emotions. Uh, you know, Genesis 6 talks
about God feeling sadness and regret over the, you know,
the way the earth had gone, the way this creation
had gone.
Um,
You know, I think God, God's heart breaks, you know,
(15:26):
it says God hates divorce in Malachi. God's heart breaks when,
you know, people turn away from him. Uh, you know, God,
God is a, is a jealous God, uh, which I
think means, it means he's zealous, he pursues us zealously.
Out of his love for us, uh, you know.
You know, he's a, he's a compassionate guy. He, he,
(15:48):
he feels compassion for people, uh.
No, I mean, we, I'm sure you've, Richard, you've got
a few more to add to that, I'm sure, but
I think, of course he does. Yeah, I think, I
just think of don't grieve the Holy Spirit. He, he
can be grieved now, but I think the difference is, is, um, the,
(16:08):
the big qualifier is, is I don't think God's emotional,
you know, like we're, we're emotional creatures. Yeah, God's not
ruled by his emotions exactly. He can emote.
I think of him saying, you know, looking down, um,
in the book of Exodus, he goes, I've heard their cries,
I've seen them, and he says, and, and, and he
was just gripped by them. The, the language there is
(16:30):
like he is he identifies with us and again I
think that's, um, you know, if we're, if we're image
bearers of God, we are since, since Genesis 3, we,
we don't cease being.
Image bearers, we're just broken in the way we bear
the image of God, right? But I think our capacity
(16:52):
to feel, to feel deeply, to care deeply, to have compassion, um,
all of those things I think are still the dim
reflections of the image of God in our lives. And
so I, I would start there like where do we start? Well,
we go back to the beginning, in the beginning, and we'll,
we can kind of work forward from there and but
I think, I just think the biggest thing is like
(17:13):
God doesn't lose his temper.
You know, um, he's not like me. Thank the Lord,
he is not like me, and it's so it's that
he's not emotional, I think it's the deal. Got it.
All right, uh, JJ, what did you think of that answer?
JJ, are you there?
(17:35):
We lost JJ. Oh, there he is. OK, I hear, yeah,
I guess we did. JJ, what did you think of
that answer? I like it. Awesome. I like it because I,
I definitely agree. I brought up some points too. It's
like when he exhibited his emotion, it wasn't like he
was emotional like us. It was the perfect form of
that emotion because he doesn't change his mind or.
Things like us, you know, so yeah, thank you. All right, JJ,
(17:57):
thanks for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is
the number to call. We've got Scott Ray from Viola
University and Richard Cimino from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa answering
your questions till 4. And uh now we're gonna go
to Steven and Riverside listening on FM 107.9 K wave.
(18:17):
Hi, good afternoon. Hi Steven, so much for taking my call. Yeah, um,
my question is, um, so in Genesis, when, uh, during
the fall, the, the curse is, is placed on us,
is that curse reversed through Christ, or is, or is
it because we still live under a fallen world that,
you know, that things that haven't been fully redeemed yet? Um,
(18:39):
hopefully that makes sense. Uh, I referenced like Galatians 3:13 if,
if that was helpful. OK, Richard, what would you say?
Well, Paul talks in the book of Romans about creation
is yet groaning, right? Um, and there's a looking forward
to the, the, the all things being made new. So
(19:00):
the truth is, is there's the, there's the already of
the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and there's the not yet, um,
new creation, and we're living in, in the, in between that.
And I think, uh, suffering is a reality as we
live between the already and the not yet. I remember
Paul Tripp said this, I thought it was so great.
(19:20):
He said the language, um, of life between the already
and the not yet is groaning, and there's so much
truth to that. So yes, the, yes, all that is
necessary to redeem us and creation has been accomplished. Jesus
has inaugurated his kingdom.
But it's a now and not yet kingdom, and so
(19:41):
we are still living in a world that is manifesting
the results of the fall. What say you, Scott? Well,
in Galatians 3:13, which, which you reference, talks about Christ
having redeemed us from the curse of the law, which
is the, the curse of the law is what brings
our condemnation before God.
And Christ on the cross has redeemed that in its
(20:02):
entirety so we are no longer under the curse of
of God's condemnation because Christ has paid the penalty for
our sin.
So, I think your, your point, I think is, is
absolutely right. We don't, we don't sometimes feel the full
effect of that, uh, but I think we, we human
(20:22):
beings are no longer under the, the curse as it
relates to God's condemnation because of our sins. That's right.
The creation is still feels the effects of the curse
of sin, and that's why.
groans for its redemption, and that's, I think that suggests
that that all of creation will at some point be,
be finally and fully redeemed. Yeah, I agree 100%. I'm
(20:43):
not exactly sure what that's gonna look like, but I,
I'm quite anxious to see that happen. Yeah, I'm waiting
for the trees of the field to clap their hands.
That'll be cool. Steven, what do you think of the answer?
Thank you. Um, yeah, that makes, makes sense. I guess
if you guys have a minute, I would appreciate prayer
for just, um, protection. I just have had like a
(21:07):
pretty rough last couple of years, so, yeah. What do
you mean protection though?
Um, I just feel like, um,
Well, it talks about infusions, right, we're we're, uh, the
war that's going unseen war going on and just feeling
attacked from the enemy and, you know.
(21:30):
Got it. Like attacks on your mind or?
Um
Within our family of like, uh, I guess I don't
want to take up too much of your guys' time, but, um,
long story short, uh, my wife uh had a miscarriage and,
and then, um, we were in the process of foster
and adopt a teenager, but that, that fell through and
(21:51):
then just had a lot of different like health things
and financial things going on in the last couple of years.
All right, Richard, would you pray for Steven? Absolutely. He
Heavenly Father, we come to you for Steven and for
his wife, and you know.
Everything that is going on around their lives, um, things
(22:13):
that they have been encountering and the disappointments, the heartache, um.
Lord's, just any discouragement, we would ask that they would
really find you to be the lifter of their heads.
Um, we pray that, um, you would keep them body, soul,
(22:34):
and spirit as they follow you and, um, that they
would really know that you're with them, you're for them, um,
that you love them and that you're gonna keep them, Lord,
in Jesus' wonderful name.
Amen. Thank you so much, Steven, for calling into the
program today and everybody listening and watching. If you can
(22:55):
keep Steven in your prayers. I'm sure he and um,
him and his family would appreciate it. 888-564-6173 is our
number and uh now let's talk to Richard, who's listening
to us in Oregon on the K-Wave app. Hey Richard,
thanks for downloading the app and thanks for calling us
today at 888-564-6173.
All right, thank you guys for what you do again. Uh,
(23:18):
you know, I was studying here. I'm a truck driver,
so there was this sister in Christ who called and
got me into a Bible, a Bible teaching class online here.
So when we're truck drivers, we, we discussed the Bible,
and they mentioned something about God's name being Jehovah in
the Old Testament with the law and then the New
(23:38):
Testament being the name of Jesus Christ.
And then when he comes back again, he's gonna have
another name and they were saying something like, well, his
name changes, but his, uh, the, the, the, his, his
nature doesn't change, but his name changes. And I remember
reading something in the book of, uh, oh man, Exodus
(23:59):
3 something where he said this is my name, this
is my name forever for all generations. So I was
getting kind of, uh, iffy on this, and I was
wondering if there's something, and then they started saying something
about uh.
So I kind of said, you know, I, I, I got,
I gotta check into this and see, and I just
wanted to know your perspective. I, I know I read
uh the other verse where it says, uh, if you
(24:20):
know my name and my son's name, what is, what
is our name, you know, what is my name? What
is my son's name?
And that was in, I forget what book it was in,
so I, I, I'm, I'm thinking like.
I don't know if that was what they were teaching
was correct or not. OK, Scott, do you know about
this group.
Well, maybe we can make some sense out of it, uh, because,
(24:44):
you know, God, God has several names in the, in
the Old Testament. Uh, you know, Yahweh is his covenant-keeping name.
Elohim is more of the God of power and might. Uh,
Jehovah is actually a, a mix. It's not, that doesn't
appear in the Hebrew text. That's a, that's, that's a
mix of names of God. Um, so I, I probably
(25:08):
wouldn't use that one.
Um, but, uh, and I'm not aware of, I mean,
Jesus was referred to as Yeshua.
Which means, you know, God saves, um, but I'm not
aware of the name of Jesus. I mean, that's, that's
the Hebrew name. Jesus' name is, uh,
You know, yesu in Greek, uh, so, but those are,
(25:31):
those aren't changes, those are just translations. I don't, I'm
not aware that the name of God or Jesus has
ever changed and, and will never change, uh, but there
are multiple, multiple names in the scripture to refer to
God Himself.
Yes, I agree. And you know, the thing that came
(25:52):
to my mind right away is, you know, from Philippians 2,
where it says that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow, every tongue confess. I think that's very,
that has a lot of eschatology wrapped up in that.
There's like final things there where he's gonna, you know,
he'll be sitting on that great white throne of judgment,
and at the end of the day everyone is gonna
bow to his name reluctantly or gladly, and um I
(26:18):
don't see his name.
I don't see his name changing anywhere other than, yeah,
he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords, right? Like, well, yeah, yeah, those,
those are, I would call those titles titles exactly names, exactly, um,
and I think too, I think what what might be
helpful too is that the, the name of God was, was,
that's was more than just an appellation for, for God.
(26:41):
It was that your name had to do with your
reputation and that, that's, I think the, the important part
to emphasize.
Is it the, you know, when it talks about God,
you know, God's name being proclaimed, it's his reputation throughout
the earth that's being, that's being emphasized. Not so much
a specific name of God.
(27:03):
Uh, Richard, what do you think of the answers given
by Scott and Richard?
Yes, yes, that, that makes sense there and what you
guys are saying. Uh, I understand the translations and then
the titles, uh, but what they were saying was, no,
it's not going to be the same name, it's going
to be different. And then she mentioned a, a, a
quote in the Bible where it says he will come
with a name on his side that no one knows,
(27:25):
but he who has the name.
And by that name you shall be saved. Yeah, it
does say that in Revelation. So that's in Revelation. Yeah, how,
how can you be saved by a name that you
don't know? I would raised some interesting questions. That's a
good point. Yeah, yeah. It also says that on its
thighs are written the name the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. And if we want to know who,
(27:46):
who is the King of Kings, oh, that would be.
Jesus, yeah, I say that that's good enough for me.
Yes, Richard, thank you so much for calling in today
on Pastor's Perspective, and yeah, we've said it before, I
will say it again. There is so much strange stuff
out there nowadays on the internet, on YouTube, on Facebook,
(28:08):
and people post things that
Sometimes they have no accountability. They have nothing, and, and
people fall for it. And sometimes they use half truths
and everything else, and that's why we are here. Although
I think it's great that he's involved in, in a
Bible study while he's driving his truck on the road.
I can think of a whole lot less productive things
(28:29):
to do than that on the road. Yes, that's for sure. But, uh,
I would just, uh, caution you to be careful that
you don't fall prey to some.
Uh, strange doctrine, as it were. But, uh, thank you
so much for calling in today to Pastor's Perspective. We're
gonna take a quick break and then we'll answer more
of the questions that you have about the Bible and
the Christian faith. If you're on hold right now, stay
on hold. We'll get to you guys, as many of
(28:50):
you as we can, before the program ends at about
4 o'clock. The number to call is 888-564-6173. If you're
watching on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram, you can call in
Number's right there at the bottom of your screen, 888-564-6173.
You can also submit your question online by using Messenger
on the Pastor's Perspective Facebook page, or by DMing us
(29:13):
on the Pastor's perspective Instagram, or scan that QR code
that you see there on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. It'll
take you right to the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com,
where you can fill out the form and submit your questions.
But our favorite way to answer questions is when you
call in and dialogue with us at 888-564-6173. We've got
(29:34):
Richard Cimino, one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel
Costa Mesa here, and also Scott Ray, professor of philosophy
and Christian ethics at the Talbot School of Theology at
Viola University. 888-564-6173. We'll talk to you when we come
back on Pastor's Perspective.
(30:19):
We're back on Pastor's perspective. I'm Brian Perez here with
Pastor Richard Cimino from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa and Scott Ray,
the professor of, uh, philosophy and Christian ethics. Ethics, ethics,
what are ethics? Christian etiquette, yes.
I'll tell you, I think my wife would say he'll
take a hard pass on that one. He's a professor
(30:41):
there at Talbot, at the Talbot School of Theology at
Viola University, and uh the phone lines are open at 888-564-6173.
A quick shout out to Samantha in Southeast Louisiana, who
either watches us on
YouTube or listens to the Pastor's perspective podcast. Uh, either way,
thank you so much, Samantha, for joining us and for
(31:01):
writing in. 888-564-6173 is our number. And now here is Fino,
who is listening on AM 11:10 in Culver City, California. Welcome,
Fino to Pastor's perspective.
Thank you. I, I appreciate you taking my call and
I'd like the voice of that. I really appreciate your
(31:21):
program and all the pastors and speakers you have.
Thanks, man. Appreciate that.
So what's your question for us? Well, I thought that's
all he had to say. 5.
Did you hear me? Mark 5 where, where, where Christ.
(31:42):
Uh, allows the demons to enter the, the pigs. He
gives them permission.
But their plea was to don't send them to the buso.
So was that Christ showing mercy, uh, justice.
Or something else.
OK, what do you think, Richard?
(32:03):
Well, I think their end is, is, is made clear
elsewhere in scripture, um.
Where, um, hell itself is cast into the lake of fire,
and I think, uh, you know, Satan and all the
legions of demons that they are that's their ultimate abode
is gonna forever will be in the lake of fire.
That said, um, I don't think that was compassion on
(32:26):
the part of Jesus. It was for the demons, it
was compassion on, um, on the part of on Jesus'
part towards the man.
That is an interesting take though. I mean, upon reading
it like, uh, like Fino did, is, is Christ is
Jesus answering the prayers of the demons. They're not prayers specifically,
(32:49):
but they did ask a request and, and it seems
on the surface that he might have done that. But, well,
I think of it also in James where it says
the demons believe, but they tremble, and they tremble because
they know, and, and those demons said, you know, they
knew who Jesus is in that moment.
And but there's no, there's no repentance. There's no, there's
no turning back for them. Yeah, Scott, well, and I think,
(33:12):
you know, in chapter 5 verse 1, they came to
the other side of the sea, the Sea of Galilee,
so they were on the eastern shore of the Sea
of Galilee, um, and I, I think it's quite possible
that by sending them off the cliff back into the sea,
he did send them out of the country.
Out of the country that they were in on the east,
on the eastern shore of the, of the, the sea, uh,
(33:37):
so I, I, you know, I, I, I don't see
any place where Jesus shows mercy to demons, uh, because,
you know, they're, uh, you know, they, they're incapable of redemption, uh,
you know, there are lot's been cast, and it will,
as Richard mentioned, it, it will be finally fulfilled.
At the, at the, at the end times for sure. Fino,
(33:59):
what do you think of these answers?
Well, it still doesn't address the fact that their plea
was
And so it wasn't, it wasn't compassion or mercy, was
it justice?
Because if he did that today, with every, with all
these animal rights activists, I mean, that'd be said something.
(34:23):
And like what I mean, why, what, what was it?
Because he did fulfill their request.
Uh, I'm not so, I'm not so sure about that.
I think he might by sending them into the, into the,
to the swine. I think he was sending them out
of the country. So I, I don't think he fulfilled
their request, and nor would he have felt any obligation
(34:43):
to do so. Yeah. And nor did he, nor did
he say, and by the way, I'm just throwing you
in the lake, but you, you're not gonna end up
ultimately judged. He didn't. Their, their end is as sure
as sure can be.
Fino, thanks for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective.
888-564-6173 is the number that Fino called, and you can
call too, 888-564-6173. Here is Mateo, who is listening to
(35:08):
us in Temecula on FM 107.9 K wave. Hey, Matteo.
Um,
Uh,
Hi Matteo, what's your question?
Uh, how did God make the earth? How did God
make the earth? I think that's a question you should
(35:29):
ask your mother about.
And she said you should call Pastor's perspective. That's a
great question. It is a great question. Go ahead.
Well, the Bible says that God said.
Let there be light and elsewhere it tells us, Matteo,
(35:49):
that God spoke creation into existence. So God, the creation was,
was came from nothing. God, um, out of nothing God
created the universe. It's magnificent to think about. There was no.
It wasn't like stars at night before creation. It was
(36:10):
just God, and then he, he spoke them into existence,
and that's a pretty amazing thing to think about when
you put your head on your pillow tonight, yeah.
What do you think, Matteo?
Oh, that's a good explanation.
Well, thank you. I take that as a high compliment
(36:32):
coming from you. You know what, if you can explain
it well to a nine year old, you probably really
understand it.
Mateo, thanks for your phone call today. Yep, 888-564-6173. And
now here's, uh, Daniel listening in Riverside on, uh, well,
it says here FM app. So I'm assuming you're maybe
(36:52):
listening either or FM 107.9 or the Kwave app. Thanks
for calling. What's your question?
Daniel,
Are you there, Daniel?
Did you press mute on your phone?
Daniel
Going once.
(37:12):
Going twice.
OK, let's check on Daniel, see if, uh, he's doing
OK there. In the meantime, I'll answer or ask a
question that was sent in online. It's from Miss Sale,
who is in Tustin. I hope I'm saying that name right.
It's less than 6 months that I have made the
decision to leave behind the world to follow Christ. I
was away for a very long time, and as they say,
(37:33):
it's easy to fall, uh, but harder to get up.
So my wife's family is supposedly Christian, but every gathering
is like a pagan celebration. I can't even tell who's
a follower of Christ and who's not. I know God
didn't necessarily prohibit alcohol, but I know for sure no
matter how small of a portion of alcohol I'm using,
(37:55):
it doesn't make me go on my knees and pray.
So how do I deal with that or what do
I do? So it sounds like, uh, Masso's family just has,
you know, drinking and stuff all over the place at
uh
At their holiday gatherings or any gathering, and uh he,
he can't really, it's hard for him to do it
because maybe of, you know, his past before he became
(38:16):
a believer. I don't know. What do you think, Scott? Well,
I don't, I don't have any problem with somebody who
chooses to abstain, even though I, I don't think the
Bible mandates that we abstain. I think we are, that's
an area where we have freedom. Uh, the Bible's really
clear about drunkenness and intoxication.
Being huge problems and things that result from drunkenness and
(38:36):
intoxication being huge problems, uh, but I, I think, you know,
if you're in these family gatherings, um, you know, you
find something else to drink that, uh, you know, that
you like, and I, I wouldn't stand in judgment on
your family, your family members. Uh, I'd love them, love
them for who they are, uh, because just by, just
(38:58):
by drinking.
You know, a glass of wine or a beer, they're
not necessarily violating any command or mandate of scripture. Uh,
and you, and I think, I think they're, I mean, it's,
I think it's fine when people choose to abstain, and
there are lots of good reasons to do that. Uh,
but I think 11 of the reasons is not that
(39:19):
the Bible mandates.
100% abstention from anything alcoholic because I, I don't, I
don't think the Bible teaches that. In fact it's uh
You know, there's, there are a lot of references in
the scripture to wine, and wine is used as this,
as one of the key components in the central aspect
(39:40):
of the Christian faith, you know, which is in, in communion.
So it, you know, the, the cup of wine, and
it was, you know, in, in biblical times, wine was
just as alcoholic as it is today, probably, probably a
little bit less so, but the idea that it was
not alcoholic at all, I don't think can be sustained, uh.
And it was, it was, it was that and the
(40:03):
bread were the things that represented the central thing of
the Christian faith.
So I find, I find it hard to, I find
it hard to envision that the consumption of wine, wine,
or anything else like that would be intrinsically wrong. Right now, again,
you can have lots of good reasons for saying no
to it, and I totally respect that.
(40:26):
Uh
And, and I, I'm, I'm thinking, you know, there's 2,
there's two, streams in this question, I think one of
them is.
Um, I don't think, let, let's just say they're just
abusing alcohol.
OK.
You, it, you.
To be with them.
(40:48):
Um,
Is is not condoning their drunkenness, um, I think, you know,
Jesus said that he came to seek and save the lost.
And we find Jesus in the proximity of sinners and, and,
and he was accused of it. So Jesus had a
reputation of being a glutton and a drunkard because of
the people he kept company with. Yes, and so I
(41:11):
wanna encourage you, you wanna be the representative of Jesus.
We're we're followers of Jesus. He didn't run from those people.
And but though he pursued them, didn't wasn't his stamp
of approval on, on that kind of behavior, but he wasn't,
he was with them. He is God who became man
and he was with them. And I mean, obviously there
(41:32):
could be some things could get so crazy you're just,
you can just kind of gonna go like, I think
I just need to remove myself here for a bit,
but I, I don't think that's necessarily, I don't know
if I, if that's what you're talking about.
But then also I think you know um to just
go along with what Scott was saying like you know
Jesus was at the wedding feast in Canaan.
And he basically turned, you know, well he did, he
(41:55):
turned water into wine, and, and it wasn't like, you know,
non-alcoholic wine because the steward of the steward, it was
the steward, the sommelier of the feast went like this
is the best wine I've ever tasted. So if you
wanna know what the greatest vintage wine ever was, it
was that wine.
But, but Jesus like made turned water into wine for
(42:18):
the people who were having a celebration, a party at
a wedding feast that lasted a week long, so just
throwing that out.
Very good, Ms. Sale. Thank you so much for sending
in your question through the pastor's perspective page at Kwave.com,
which you can easily access by scanning the QR code
if you're watching us on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram. Let's
(42:41):
see if Daniel's back. Hello, Daniel.
Yes, I am back and thank you for taking my call.
And yes, I just wanna ask if it's if it's
OK to have an altar.
At the house when um my my fiance's son passed away.
You know, today is 2 months that he passed away,
so she's at the cemetery.
(43:02):
And um she's listening on the radio, but I just
wanna know cause they told her to, you know, have
a glass of water, have some salt on the, on
the side and light candles around his, his pictures and she,
she also has the Virgin Mary. I just feel that.
She's praying to him as a god. We are the God.
(43:26):
We only have one God.
And um I just don't want her to get the
wrong impressions about what the Catholic Church is telling her
to do because they tell her that.
You know, he's around her.
And she's guide, he, he's, he's guiding her.
And that he's, he's just taking care of her. I
tell her, you guys, you know, you guys say that
(43:48):
as soon as a person dies, the soul goes directly
to God.
And the body stays
So I want her to, yes, go ahead. Is the
Catholic Church telling her this, or is it maybe some
of her Catholic friends and family that are telling her this?
Catholic friends and family, OK.
All right, Scott, what do you know?
(44:09):
Uh, yeah, I would say it sort of depends on
what you're, what you're doing.
With, with that
Altar. I, I would be, I, I don't think I'd
call it an altar because you, you worship at an altar. Uh,
and so if you are, you know, if you are
praying through this person or praying to this person or
(44:29):
worshiping that person or expressing devotion to that person that,
that ought to be reserved for God.
Uh, then, then I think we, we have a problem.
But I think if you just wanna have a, if
you wanna have a picture of your deceased son as a,
as a memory.
I think that's OK, but I would, I don't think
there's anything.
(44:50):
How can I put this? Anything sort of magical spiritually
happening with a, with quote an altar like this, uh,
because I think, I mean your point, I think is right, Daniel, that, uh,
you know, as soon as somebody's, you know, you know,
has their homecoming, their soul goes to be with God.
The body does remain here, uh, and it awaits the
(45:10):
general resurrection of the dead at, at the end times.
So I think if you wanna have, you know, if
you wanna have a place just to have a memory
of your, of her deceased son, I think that's OK.
But if it goes beyond that, then I think we
start getting a little, I think a little spiritually maybe
off the rails, yeah, and, and, and if your fiance
(45:32):
is listening to us right now, first of all, we
say we're really sorry for your loss, we're so sorry
for your loss, and, um.
You know, I, it, it made me think, Scott, of
like when you sometimes you'll be driving down the road
and maybe a spot where there was an accident and
somebody died, there'd be like flowers that are sitting, and
those are, there's those, there's nothing worshiping than that. It's
just a mem it's remembering them, right? And so if
(45:56):
there's ways, you know, to remember her son, I think
that's not, there's nothing to be worried about there but
to call it an altar to, you know, um, be
at a place where you're somehow.
Um, trying to commune with your, your deceased son, that
would not be, that would not be appropriate.
OK, OK, because he, uh, her family is telling her
(46:18):
that she needs to have that water and that salt
because he needs it for, for his, uh, journey.
That's how they put it, that he's in a journey
at the moment and, and that he's um.
Still here on the uh on earth in earth, just
wondering because she can't stop crying and she can't, and,
and all her crying doesn't let her, let him.
(46:42):
Just go, go, yeah, I'd say he's, you know, he's
no longer on a journey. He's reached his destination by,
by being home with the Lord.
Um,
But also this thinking that
She's, she's still grieving his loss, and they're telling her, well,
because you're crying, it's keeping him from reaching heaven or whatever.
(47:05):
That's just, and, and that just makes people feel guilty for,
for grief. Well, that's just, that's just theologically not, not
the case, um, so again, I, yeah, I, I share, Richard, your, uh,
compassion for, I mean, I, I can't imagine, you know,
losing a child and having the memory of it be
this fresh.
(47:26):
Daniel, thank you for your phone call today here on
Pastor's Perspective, 888-564-6173. Steven and Yucaipa, what is your question
for us today?
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Hey, pastors, uh, thanks for taking my call. I don't
have a question today, just a quick comment. Um, yesterday,
a caller reached out about struggling with, uh, mental health
and feeling unsure about using medication and seeking professional help.
As I, as she was talking, I really felt on
my heart, I appreciated how the pastors handled that yesterday,
(47:58):
and I kind of just wanted to um give my
pers like my word of encouragement. There was a season
of life.
Even though I was serving in a uh non-pastoral role
and teaching youth each week, um, I still dealt with
clinical anxiety. So, as someone who's personally benefited from getting
help and even using medication, uh, which she seemed like
(48:21):
she was hesitant on it, I just want listeners to
know that caring for your mental health is not a
lack of faith, and I personally believe God uses it.
Uh, God can use therapy, medication, wise biblical counsel as
part of healing, and I think in Proverbs it even says,
And the multitude of counselors, there is safety. So anyways,
(48:41):
I just wanted to thank you guys for your commitment
to giving wisdom on topics people often feel scared to
talk about, and I just wanted to share that.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Well thank you Steven for your words of encouragement. Any thoughts, gentlemen?
Couldn't have said it better myself. Yeah, well said. Yep,
thank you for your phone call. Now here's Jack in
Huntington Beach listening on the Kwave app. Hello Jack.
So
Hey guys,
Um, hello, and that's it, and I came with a, uh,
comment on one of your listeners just a few minutes back,
(49:13):
and the pigs, the swine, the spirits being, uh, cast
into the pigs, the pigs going into the ocean, and, um.
Um, I just wanted to make the comment that.
The Lord, knowing, I think at another time in Scripture,
the demons had said to Jesus, it's not our time yet,
(49:35):
addressing Jesus, saying,
Holding him to his limits, to his word, God was
obligated not to cast those demons anywhere but the pigs. Ah,
would you, what would be your thoughts there? He had
an obligation to hold to the word of, um, it
(49:56):
wasn't their time yet.
I'm reading through the passage, and, do you know the
the passage I'm not seeing the reference that you're, you're making. Well,
there's another time in scripture where he said, where the
demons addressed Jesus and said, uh, um, Matthew 8:29.
(50:17):
31, have you come here to torment us before the time? Yes,
before the time. Therefore, based on that time, I know
I'm speaking of two pieces of scripture here, but both
are addressing Jesus is addressing demons. The reply from the
demons is in the other scripture, it's not our time.
(50:37):
He's holding Christ to his obligation to the Father's will.
Well, I don't think demons can hold Jesus to anything. Jesus,
they can't hold him to anything. Well, I agree there,
but Jesus can hold, has to hold himself to his
own obligation, so he is being held.
Whether by himself, and it is by himself, it's by
(50:58):
his own word, he's being obligated. Well, let me, let
me say this to you with those demons, let me
say this to you.
Um, that we have, there's nowhere in scripture where, um,
we would have any assumption that demons know the day
and the moment and the time when their end is up.
There's no, there's nowhere in that. They're not omniscient. They
(51:19):
don't know. They, they, they, all they know is they've
rebelled against God and it's not looking good for them,
and they thought they had Jesus on the cross.
So if we're told in Colossians that Jesus triumphed over
them on the cross, and the language there, it's the
language of a conquering warrior putting his foot on the
back of the neck of the defeated foe, and he
(51:41):
made an open display of them. And so is that
before the time? No, he conquered.
The the demonic realm, and he shows his absolute victory
of it before the time of the final judgment when
death and hell are cast into the lake of fire.
Anything to add, Scott? No, that's well said. All right, Jack,
(52:03):
thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's perspective.
I think we can squeeze in one more before the
program ends. Let's go to Newport Beach. Here is Terry
listening on FM 107.9 K wave. Hey, Terry.
Oh my God, I'm gonna cry. Why? Cause I know
it's God's hand. He picked up the phone for the
last call. Oh, it's OK. OK.
(52:27):
So
Go ahead. OK. I'll try to get my words out
and be like Moses.
So I have, I do a multiple, like, I give
out free samples at different stores, grocery stores.
And now they're asking me to serve alcohol, like give
out free samples of tequila, rum, wine, and
You know, I, at first, when I first started there,
(52:49):
I said no to alcohol, but when that guy called
just prior, he mentioned, you know, a lot of stuff
and
You know, as a Christian, you know, what do I do?
I mean,
So you're handing out just free samples of stuff. So,
I might have seen you when I go to the
grocery store and you're handling, handing me a granola bar
(53:10):
or a new potato chip that's just come out, but
now they're saying, hey, we want you to
Hand out little samples of alcohol and, and when you
took the job, you said that you told them that
you wouldn't do that.
When I, when they asked me, I, I said no,
but there's been changes, so there's a lot of different
schedulers and they're out in East Coast. So it's like.
(53:33):
Um, I haven't came across it and I had sent
him an email and said, no, I don't, but they
haven't responded, but I'm just being patient and talking to
God and, and stuff like that, you know. All right, Richard,
what would you recommend? Well, there's a lot of layers,
I think, but one of the things I would say,
you don't wanna, you don't wanna violate your own conscience.
(53:56):
That's a hard thing to do.
Um, I mean, not a hard thing to do. It's a,
it's a, it's, it's not a good thing to do
because then you're just opening yourself up to a lot
of condemnation and, um, I, I would just would, would
encourage you like just keep pressing towards the, you know,
I would rather please, I don't wanna do this. That
would be my first recommendation for you, Scott.
(54:19):
Yeah, I think, you know, if you have the same
person coming back over and over and over again for
samples and you're contributing to somebody becoming intoxicated.
Then I think you have a problem. But it sounds
like these are very, very small, uh, and I don't,
I don't, I don't see any harm that's being done
in this. I don't think that people drinking alcohol is,
is necessarily sin, though it can be if it's done
(54:43):
to excess. But I think these small samples you're giving out.
I think you got a long way to go before
you're getting to excess, but I think Richard's right. If
you know your conscience is what it is, um, and I,
so I'd be careful about that. But you, you, you know, your,
your conscience is not infallible either. And so I think
there are, there are times when I think where our,
(55:05):
our conscience, I mean, the Bible talks about our conscience
being educated.
Uh, and, and I think this may be one of
those places where your conscience may be a little more
sensitive than the Bible requires it to be. Mm. All right, Terry,
thanks for your phone call today on Pastor's perspective and
That's all the time we have today. Thank you so
much everybody for calling in and participating, and we'll do
(55:26):
it again tomorrow. If you've got a question for us,
write it down so you don't forget it, and then, uh,
call us between 3 and 4 p.m. Pacific time. For
Pastor Richard Cimino and Doctor Scott Wray, I'm Brian Perez.
Thanks for watching and listening to Pastor's Perspective.
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