WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.160 Well, today is a challenge to open your mind. 2 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.280 Either you're going to be open minded or closed minded, 3 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:07.320 and that's what we're going to find here today. He's 4 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:09.800 Chris and I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible guys. I 5 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:12.919 almost said he's Jeff and I'm Chris. That's not true. 6 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:14.759 He's Chris, I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible guys. 7 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:27.039 You wish you were Chris. 8 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:29.839 No, No, I really don't in the back of your mind. 9 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:34.079 Yeah, well yeah, doctor, let's say it. 10 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:35.640 That's so funny. 11 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.840 Okay, So our segment today is two truths and a lie. 12 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:41.560 So you're going to have to come up with two 13 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:43.520 truths on the top of your head, because, after all, 14 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.759 our listeners should know, we don't get time to really 15 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.280 process this, right, These things get handed to us, and 16 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.920 so we're sort of always making it up on the spot. 17 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.039 That's right, that's right. So every day we come in, 18 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:56.679 we know what the passage is. But even then we 19 00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:58.840 didn't bring in a bunch of notes. It's just two 20 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.920 guys talking about the Bible, which is the Bible guy. Yes, yeah, 21 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:05.319 and then in a practical way. And then a lot 22 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:08.760 of times these things too, our producers are our assistance. 23 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:10.439 They handle the hand these things and say, hey, this 24 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.280 is what you're doing right now. Okay, So I'm going 25 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:14.719 to truth in allow We're supposed to say two things 26 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:16.319 that are true about our life and one thing that's 27 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:18.359 not true about our life, and the other person's person 28 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:19.799 has to guess it. Okay, Okay, I got it. 29 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:22.000 This so here is I'm just doing this right on 30 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:22.359 the spot. 31 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:22.719 Okay. 32 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:24.560 I don't even know what I'm gonna say. Okay, Okay. 33 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:34.799 When I was twelve years old, I got fifteen stitches 34 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:40.879 on my skull. Okay, that's the first truth or a lie. 35 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:46.239 I used to own a dog named Stretch who would 36 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:50.280 climb up trees more than twenty feet high. Wow, and 37 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.840 he would get stuck up in trees. We'd have to 38 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:53.159 go get them and bring them down. 39 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:53.519 Okay. 40 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:56.200 The third truth. 41 00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:59.959 Fifteen stitches when you're twelve, Yes, my dog that climbs 42 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.000 trees twenty feet high? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 43 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:10.479 And then the last one is that my brother lost 44 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:17.719 a ring in Pittsburgh and my uncle's found it three 45 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:22.919 hours away in Youngstown on another person's hand randomly. 46 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.199 Fifteen stitches on your skull is the lie? Yes, it 47 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:33.280 is the lie. Yeah, I've had lots of stitches on 48 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.159 my skull. So wow. Yeah, so wow, really yeah, I 49 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:37.680 got it right. 50 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:38.120 Yeah. 51 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:39.680 So you really had a dog that could climb a 52 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:40.560 tree twenty feet high? 53 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.599 Yes, yes, name Stretch, name Stretch. And by the way, 54 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.680 imagine this. So he would he would climb up and 55 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:49.560 then because we had just trees for some reason that 56 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:52.199 were really good for climbing, so it wasn't that hard, right, 57 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.319 But a dog doesn't do that. But this dog would 58 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.400 literally climb the tree and we would say, come on, Stretch, 59 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:59.080 go when he climbed, and then he gets stuck up 60 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:03.479 there and he whined, and so imagine carrying a dog down, 61 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:05.560 going up and having to carry a dog down like 62 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.879 we were definitely afraid we were to drop him. And 63 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:09.759 then sometimes he would actually go on his own and 64 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:10.439 he climb up. 65 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:10.719 Wow. 66 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:11.400 It was terrible. 67 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:18.240 Wow and cool. Wow yep. Okay, let me see here 68 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.599 on mine, I have sa I'm an adventure guy. I 69 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:26.080 love adventures, that live for adventures. I have let's talk 70 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:31.280 about adventures. Then I have whitewater raft in thepall during 71 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.879 monsoon season in the Himalaya Mountains. On that's the first 72 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.840 one on one of only two rivers that were open 73 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:45.719 during monsoon season. I have cage dived with sharks in 74 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:50.000 the Great Barrier Reef and we had a twenty foot 75 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:54.199 great white that came and hit the cage. And then 76 00:03:54.439 --> 00:04:01.360 I have ballooned through across the Irrawady River and through 77 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.479 several thousand temples, ancient temples. 78 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:09.039 I think I already know this. I think you've already 79 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:11.599 told me that your insurance doesn't allow you to do 80 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.919 anything that crosses the line a threshold of danger. So 81 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.600 I'm going to say that you've never done cage diving 82 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:18.279 with sharks. 83 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.120 Yes, that's true. So I have not done that. One. 84 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:25.040 I did whitewater raft because I didn't say ayth about 85 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:27.959 whitewater rafting during monsoon season in the Himalay Yeah, and. 86 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:30.120 Balloons didn't seem inherently dangerous. 87 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.639 Yeah they're dangerous, but yeah we went up to fifteen 88 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:35.959 thousand feet. Oh wow, Yeah yeah, yeah, that's pretty really scary. 89 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.720 But man, that was an amazing thing. So we took 90 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:41.120 off right near the Irawadi River in Burma, and which 91 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:44.560 is where Rudyard Kimpley wrote a lot of his writings, 92 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:47.839 and then we kind of stayed low right at the 93 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:50.720 top of the trees and went through several thousand temples 94 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.120 all around in that area that are like fifteen hundred 95 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:56.040 years old. That was really amazing with the fog in 96 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.839 the morning and stuff. And then finally he elevated really high. 97 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:01.160 It was cool. That was a neat one. Real quick, 98 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:03.040 Can I just I'd forgotten I told you that I 99 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:04.959 had insurance? Yeah, yeah, let me. 100 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:06.680 Tell you this real quick. So my brother has a 101 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:11.360 party in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at his college. The ring gets 102 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:13.519 stolen and there was like three hundred people of this party. 103 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.439 About a year later, in Youngstown, on the side of 104 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:22.439 town that nobody even normally goes to, two strangers were 105 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:26.279 trying to steal my uncle's hubcaps. And he walks out 106 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.000 of a bar like late at night, and these guys 107 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:32.000 are stealing hubcaps, right, and this is pretty This is 108 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.160 pretty long ago in the eighties, and people used to 109 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.319 steal hug caps, right, And so my uncle gets in 110 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:40.279 a fight with him and punches them and something flies 111 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:42.839 off of his hand and goes into the bushes and 112 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:44.920 he saw it fly off his hand and come to 113 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:46.639 find out, the ring was too big for this kid, 114 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.839 and he had put string on it to make it fit. 115 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:53.199 But it was a diamond ring that my brother won 116 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.800 to when he boiled a three hundred in a tournament 117 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:57.920 and they gave him a three hundred ring, and so 118 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:00.079 it had like a diamond in it. Well, anyway, he 119 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:02.680 punches this guy, it goes into the bushes and he 120 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:04.759 walks over and picks it up, and on the inside 121 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:05.920 it says, al Zarba. 122 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:07.000 Wow. 123 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:10.040 And here it is a year later, two hours, three 124 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:13.920 hours away from Pittsburgh. Wow, on some random guy's hand. 125 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:14.399 Yeah. 126 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.000 Which, who knows how many hands it switched right? And 127 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:19.680 and how it got there? Like was it pond when 128 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:22.079 somebody else got it right? And so my so my 129 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.759 uncle calls my brother Chuck and says, you'll never believe 130 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:27.720 what happened, and this is your ring. So my brother 131 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:28.480 still has it. 132 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.560 Wow, that's crazy, man, What are the odds? Yeah? Yeah, 133 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:34.360 yeah yeah. So just be careful, don't get on Zarba's 134 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:37.279 bat side. He'll send some of his boys to take 135 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:37.639 care of you. 136 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:41.480 Well, I always say, I'll just call my cousins, Like 137 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.920 you want to you have something to take care of you, I'll. 138 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:45.600 Call I got a couple of cousins to take care 139 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:45.839 of that. 140 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:47.600 And by the way, that's actually true. 141 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:53.439 Okay, So today Paul and Silas get roughed up a 142 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.079 little bit again. Yeah, did they just go from from 143 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.720 town to town and some towns are very open minded 144 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.120 and other towns are very clear minded. And you know, 145 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:03.800 that's a big part of the ministry in general. Just 146 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.680 whether you're you know, we're paid pastors, or you're you know, 147 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:11.319 working in a shop somewhere, working in an office, we're 148 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:14.120 all supposed to be doing ministry, serving and sharing the gospel. 149 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:17.000 And some people are open minded, some people are closed minded. 150 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.240 Don't be discouraged, and you'll see the results like Paul 151 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:23.040 and Silas do. So here you go in next chapter seventeen. 152 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.040 We'll start in verse one. We'll just read through verse fifteen. 153 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:27.079 So go about halfway through the chapter to day so is. 154 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:30.279 Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis 155 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.480 and Apollonia and came to Thessalon Nika, where there was 156 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.120 a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul's custom, he went to 157 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.720 the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row 158 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.279 he used the scriptures. That'd be three weeks in a row. 159 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:44.920 He used the scriptures to reason with the people. He 160 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.480 explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer 161 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.160 and rise from the dead. He said, this Jesus I'm 162 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.639 telling you about is the Messiah. Some of the Jews 163 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:55.800 who listen were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along 164 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.279 with many god fearing Greek men and quite a few 165 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:01.160 prominent women. But some of the Jews were jealous, so 166 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:03.560 they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a 167 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.360 mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, 168 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:10.399 searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them 169 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:12.879 out of the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged 170 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:15.439 out Jason and some of the other believers instead and 171 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.160 took them before the city council. Paul and Silas have 172 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:20.720 caused trouble all over the world, they shouted, and now 173 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.680 they're here disturbing our city too, and Jason has welcomed 174 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:26.600 them into his home. They're all guilty of treason against Caesar, 175 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.560 for they profess allegiance to another king named Jesus. The 176 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:32.840 people of the city, as well as the city council, 177 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.519 were thrown into turmoil by these reports, so the officials 178 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.000 forced Jason and other believers to post bond, and then 179 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.320 they released them the very night. The believers sent Paul 180 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.039 and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went 181 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.120 to the Jewish synagogue, and the people of Berea were 182 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:48.960 more open minded than those in Thessala and Nika, and 183 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.240 they listened eagerly to Paul's message. They searched the scriptures 184 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:54.279 day after day to see if Paul and Silas were 185 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.320 teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as 186 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.120 did many of the prominent Greek women and men, and 187 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.240 some Jews in Thessala and Nika learned that Paul was 188 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:04.879 preaching the word of God and Bria. They went there 189 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.639 and stirred up trouble. The believers acted at once, sending 190 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:10.600 Paul on the coast onto the coast, while Silence and 191 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:13.720 Timothy remained behind. Those escorting Paul went with him all 192 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:15.799 the way to Athens. Then they returned to Bria with 193 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:18.440 the instructions for Silence and Timothy to hurry and join 194 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.600 it now when he gets to Athens. It's pretty incredible. 195 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.720 We're going to deal with that on Monday. But the 196 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.399 man alive. Is this a powerful story. So here we go. 197 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.799 You have Thesalon. Naika's pretty close minded and Bria is 198 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:29.720 pretty open minded. 199 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.879 Yeah, and you know that what stands out to me 200 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:36.159 of almost this entire passage, I think is that some 201 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:39.559 of the thessal and nikens heard that Paul was in 202 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.639 Berea and hear all this good is being done, and 203 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.159 so then they had to go and stir up trouble. 204 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:47.360 And you know what it reminds me of. It reminds 205 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.120 me of that there are some people in our lives. 206 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:52.679 This probably is no application other than the venting. There 207 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:54.320 are people that just love drama, don't they. 208 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:55.720 Oh they do. They just they can't help it. 209 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:59.080 Oh, drama kings and drama queens who just everything that 210 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:04.799 surrounds them. There's always strife, there's always tension, there's always turmoil. 211 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:09.240 Yeah. So the kind of person who when they get 212 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:11.120 mad at somebody, they do a deep dive on their 213 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:14.480 Facebook page and just get mad at every post and 214 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:18.120 every quote and every statement or whatever. Or they're they're 215 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:20.360 constantly showing up. They're just trying to figure out where 216 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:23.159 they are and then they try to you know, ruin them, 217 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:27.559 or they go on some page, you know, give a 218 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.919 review about a business that the person owns, and just 219 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.519 talk bad about the person rather than about the business. 220 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:36.440 It just, yeah, people love a certain segment of society, 221 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:40.879 A large segment of society love drama and sometimes man, 222 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:42.919 it's so we're saying, have you've had people just kind 223 00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:45.559 of follow you around, pop up in the weirdest places, 224 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:47.559 harassing you and giving you trouble, haven't you? 225 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:47.799 Oh? 226 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:51.480 Yeah, yeah, for sure, So I it just happens. Man. 227 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:54.120 So they're in every town. And it turns out humanity 228 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.399 is not very different, right, We've always been this way. 229 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.799 Yeah, It's it's so funny, how that's that's why I 230 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:03.600 love the Bible because obviously so many things have changed 231 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.240 in two thousand years, But yet the condition of the 232 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.159 human spirit, that our tendencies are the way that God 233 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.159 has wired us. You know, the tendencies that we have 234 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:14.519 that are both bad and good, they're all the same. 235 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:14.840 Yeah. 236 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.720 We see ourselves in the scripture all the time time. 237 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.679 Don't you have something better to do? Right? Do you 238 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:26.000 ever read Teddy Roosevelt's The Man in the Arena poem 239 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.480 or thing? So he has this great he was giving 240 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.720 a great speech, and you know he was this masculine, 241 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:38.320 manly man, fighter warrior, safari guy, you know, really really rugged, 242 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.080 and he's kind of getting put out. So in this 243 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:43.360 speech that he gives, the man in the arena speech 244 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:47.000 he talks about it's not the critic and it's not 245 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:49.919 the armchair quarterback kind of person that makes any difference. 246 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.240 It's the man in the arena that makes a difference. 247 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.279 So don't worry about what all the complainers and the 248 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.720 others do. Right, it's just brilliant. If you've never never 249 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:59.559 read that, it's probably two or three paragraphs long, but 250 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:04.200 it's such an aspiring speech. You know, you shouldn't be surprised. 251 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.000 You're gonna have critics that have nothing better to do 252 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.799 than to hound you, to keep chasing you, and oh 253 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:11.240 well they just kept moving forward. 254 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:13.559 Hey, just for fun, I do have something that most 255 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.840 of our listeners probably don't even know. The invention of 256 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:20.000 the teddy bear. Do you know this, yes, so it 257 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:23.240 actually came from Teddy Roosevelt's right, So a stuffed bear 258 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.559 we call Teddy bear, And I bet you that ninety 259 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.879 five percent or more of our listeners have no idea 260 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:32.759 that before Teddy why we call it a Teddy bear? 261 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.320 But before Teddy Roosevelt the Teddy Bear, they were just 262 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.159 called bears. They were just called bears stuffed and only bears. Right. 263 00:12:40.759 --> 00:12:43.639 But the reason why is because there was a story 264 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.840 where they wanted to they wanted to show that Teddy 265 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.159 Roosevelt was a great hunter, and they wanted him to 266 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:53.240 kill a bear. And so they had arranged it where 267 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.879 they actually tied a bear up and they and they 268 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.039 wanted to get a picture of him shooting a bear, 269 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.639 and so they caught a bear, tied it up, gave 270 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:03.279 him a gun, set up a photo shoot, and he 271 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:06.639 was like, I'm not going to shoot the bear that's 272 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:09.360 tied up, and so he told them no way, and 273 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.159 so he had them cut the line and let let 274 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.440 the bear go because he said this wasn't sportsmanship. Well, 275 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.759 then they said, fine, we're going to change the article 276 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:20.480 to compassion. Look at the compassion that Teddy Teddy has 277 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.639 our president. And then then they decided to start selling 278 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:28.559 what they labeled as Teddy Bears, and it became extremely popular. 279 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.519 And so then did you also know this part of 280 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:31.960 the story. 281 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:32.840 I did that. 282 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.600 Actually the next president that came along, they tried to 283 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:39.600 sell otters. Oh no, and I forget the next president's name, 284 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:41.320 but it was it was crazy. It was like Oscar. 285 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.720 It was like Oscar Otters or whatever. And they tried 286 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:45.600 to sell it and it didn't catch on. But the 287 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:46.600 bears have lasted. 288 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:48.440 Okay, well, there you go. That's your little bit of 289 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:49.279 history for today. 290 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:50.480 Yeah, and wasting of time. 291 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.679 Sorry, yes, So basically what it comes down to is, 292 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:58.919 in the big picture, Paul is continuing his same pattern. 293 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:01.960 He go to the synagogues for but many of the Greeks, 294 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:04.519 and the prominent Greeks and the prominent women. It says 295 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:08.039 quite a few became followers of Jesus and Thesalonaika. Later 296 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:09.919 he writes a couple of books to the church in 297 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:15.720 Thesalonaika's right, yep, so this Thessalonia, yeah first, and second Thessalonians. 298 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:20.440 So this is in Greece. And then they leave there 299 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:23.080 because they're about ready to get arrested. And it's okay, 300 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.159 it's okay to move on. But do you see some 301 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.840 of his associates wind up getting in trouble. Jason just 302 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:32.840 hosting them, right and understand there are consequences, and that's okay, right, 303 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.879 it's okay, And they Postpond and then they able to 304 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:38.039 move on. But then Paul and Silace they go on 305 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:40.559 to Berea, and I love this. It says that the 306 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:44.279 people in Borea were more open minded than those in Thesalonika, 307 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.559 and they listened eagerly to the message, and they searched 308 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:49.120 the scriptures day after day to see if Paul and 309 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:51.840 Silas was teaching the truth. So they were open minded, 310 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:55.279 but they were also trust but verify, right, So they 311 00:14:55.320 --> 00:14:57.720 were digging in scriptures. And I hope our listeners and 312 00:14:57.720 --> 00:14:59.679 our viewers, I hope that they do the same thing. 313 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:02.159 You know, we were talking. There's so much in every 314 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.000 one of these passages. We could take every passage we've 315 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:08.519 read over the last two months and spend days on 316 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.279 each one. But we're just kind of hitting the surfaces. 317 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:13.840 And I hope that other people come back in that 318 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:15.960 our listeners and our viewers, and they want to spend 319 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.399 more time. We're just trying to wet your appetite, right, 320 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:20.759 And that's what's happening here, is that they're eager and 321 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:23.360 they're open minded, but they go back and they study 322 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:26.080 to make sure that what Paul insidists say it is true. 323 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.039 Well, you know, it's a great encouragement for any believer 324 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:33.440 to go back to the scriptures and to verify what 325 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:38.440 any religious person says. So it's a reminder for all 326 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.559 of us that says, hey, just because somebody says it's true, 327 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:44.519 you know, if you google something, what does the Bible 328 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.440 believe about this? And then all of a sudden, you know, 329 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:48.519 if it's on the first page of Google, all of 330 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:49.399 a sudden we believe it. 331 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:50.039 Right. 332 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:52.879 But it's like, well, we have to decide for ourselves, 333 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:54.600 we have to go back to the scripture. And so 334 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.759 I tell you what, I'm a skeptic by heart, you know, 335 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:02.960 at heart, and I don't believe hardly anything. There may 336 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:06.639 be amazing things about people, like like like faith things, 337 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:09.240 like major faith things, and they say, oh absolutely, I've 338 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:12.159 seen this, and I always think is that true? Is 339 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.279 that really true? And and and I'm just I'm just 340 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:18.159 a skeptic. God has wired me that way. And and 341 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.559 even when people come to me and they say something 342 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:22.559 to me and they say, hey, I'm angry at you. 343 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.320 God has wired me in such a way to where 344 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:27.440 I don't even hardly ever get angry at them. The 345 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:29.840 first question I asked is, huh, I wonder if that's true, 346 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.840 because it's like, if it is true, I probably need 347 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.320 to change that about myself, you know. But that's just 348 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.559 the first question that I always ask, is is that true? 349 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:43.000 And that's really what the people of Berea were asking. 350 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.000 And it is true to the only source of truth 351 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:46.559 that they really knew for sure was true. 352 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.240 Yes, And but more importantly to your point, they're asking 353 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.559 the question, maybe it's true. I'm open. I'm open to 354 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:54.519 the fact that it could be true. And if it 355 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.720 is true, it has implications. 356 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.039 Because Paul and Silize were teaching something that was diametrically 357 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.200 opposed to what they fundamentally believed, but they were open 358 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:05.160 minded enough to go explore it. They didn't just dismiss 359 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.160 this thing. So the Brions did not believe what Paul 360 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.759 and Silas were teaching at the beginning. They were teaching 361 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:13.880 them something it was different from what they believed, but 362 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.279 they were open minded enough to say, all right, I'll 363 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:18.720 look at scripture. They didn't go out and look at culture, 364 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.920 they didn't look at tradition, they didn't go try to 365 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.359 find out somebody's opinion. They went to the Bible and 366 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.000 tried to find out is this consistent with what the 367 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.559 Bible says. And in that context, they found out what 368 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:33.599 Paul and Silas were saying about the Bible was consistent 369 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.000 with scripture, and so now they chose to believe it. 370 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.440 Many of the prominent people in Berea decided to join 371 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:42.480 him as well. Right, But of course the troublemakers show 372 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.799 up and they decided to cause trouble, and so Paul 373 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.599 and Silas they have to split up. You know what it. 374 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.000 Reminds me of you? And I went to down to 375 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:54.119 Naples and we went to a TTI conference. 376 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:55.799 Right, yeah, so t Timoth Initiative. 377 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:59.000 Yeah, the Timothy Initiative. And they told a story there 378 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:02.440 where this guy went into the bush of Africa and 379 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.559 set up a van and put up a movie You 380 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:06.720 remember that they put up a movie screen and they 381 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:08.880 were showing Was it the Passion of the Christ? 382 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:10.920 No, it was the Jesus Film. 383 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.559 The Jesus Film, and but they were showing and. 384 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.440 Jesus Film is the most viewed film in the human history, 385 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.960 and it's been translated into like hundreds of languages, and 386 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.240 you know, billions and billions of people have seen it. 387 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:29.279 But it's really fabulous because people are seeing the Jesus 388 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:31.440 story for the first time and hearing it in their 389 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:32.720 in their local languages. 390 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:35.920 Okay, so it's very much a tool. So anyway, so 391 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:40.000 they're playing this film and these Roman soldiers are beating 392 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.960 on Jesus, like, you know, whipping him and beating him. 393 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:47.319 And there was a man who you know, who's He's 394 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.319 a man who didn't know even. 395 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:50.799 Know what a film was, right, I had never seen it. 396 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:53.319 I had never even seen him from the tribe. Yeah. 397 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:55.319 So then he stands up and he gets. 398 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.000 A rock, throws. 399 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:00.000 It at the movie screen in an attempt to get 400 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:01.359 these men to stop beating Jesus. 401 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:03.200