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Episode 638: In this episode, we introduce a fun game called "Guess the Word," where I provide clues related to biblical themes, leading us into a discussion about judgment, visions, and the prophetic messages in Amos. We explore Amos chapter 7, where God reveals a series of visions to Amos, including locusts, fire, and a plumb line. Each vision serves as a warning to the people of Israel about impending judgment due to their sins.
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You're listening to the Bible guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Good morning, good morning, we talk thing that through. Good morning, Good morning to you and you. Good job, thank you, thank you. Man. I just had to sing long a little bit, did you? I did? You did? It was so much. You know, we did say last week that you can sing. And people want to hear you, Jeff, there is a longing for people who want to hear you sing. Well, then we're just gonna leave that right here. We go sometimes sometimes and sometimes that longing is better than the actual you know, wanting a thing is better than actually getting it. Sometimes, Come on, you you can sing? Yeah, what did Shakespeare say about longing? Weren't you a worship leader at your church? I was fifteen years fifteen years. I have a degree in music, and so I'm the only person on her staff that has a degree in music. Wait, our worship leader trade doesn't have a degree in music. No, I'm not what does he have a degree in? I don't know, not music. Wow, he's just a great singer. Yeah, he's a singer and a really good Christian. He has a degree in life. He's a better worship leader than me by far. So here's a question. So when you were a worship leader, you sang, yeah. A little bit, a little bit. He was also a trumpet player, but you weren't the primary singer. Oh yeah, I was the primary singer. Yeah, okay, So you're just trying to avoid it. Yeah, that's no things are gone and the new things have come, trying to avoid saying that. Yeah. So I so I at my first church, I was the worst leader for three years. Yeah. Yeah, and the reason why I was there seven and a half years. But but the they kept on, you know, toying around with like paying a guy part time, and and then we kept on losing guys. There was a really small church and paid him a hundred bucks a week and that kind of thing. So it was just it was just hard to maintain worship leader, right, and it's a small church, you know, limited people. So so the last three years he asked me to step in and then I guess, you know, he didn't have to pay anybody, and I get I did a good job, I guess, so he just let me carry the load and work. Twice as hard. People love it when you sing. Well, I don't play an instrument, and I don't read music, and I have no degree in music. So you know, I was leading worship in the old Baptist churches. So it was you know, Victory and Jesus and playing my trumpet, you know. So I would play along a lot, so i'd get the song started. I'd play along a lot, do all that kind of stuff. So it was yeah, yeah, but I've been I've been lead pastored longer than I was a worship leader. Right, how long you've been a lead pastor? Eighteen years? It'll be nineteen in just a couple weeks, okay, So yeah, it's my old life in my new life. I got you. I got you. Somebody asked me, They're like, hey, why don't you ever sing a solo at church or whatever? Because I did sing one? Remember that one? That one that I sang. It was it was a funny kind of a song. But I said, I said why would I? Why would I? I said, I could barely keep a tune. And I said, we have all these great singers that are phenomenal, right, like in my old church. I understand why because I was the best one there. I have a very strong feeling about just a statement, isn't it. Beware of worship leaders who sing, who preach, and preachers who sing. There you go, yeah, yeah, okay, all right? And why is that. Usually preachers who want to sing all the time. There's a little bit of a look at me. And it's the same thing with the singers who want to then just educate you and and preach at you whatever. So I really don't like the Jeff show. Right, So man, let's let's let those that are gifted and have been preparing and working hard at it, let them do that, and then I'm going to come out with the thing that I prepared for. But for me to prepare to do both when there's highly skilled people around, yeah, so I just try to leave it alone. I try to go. I love it, but I try to leave alone as much as I wouldn't mind it. If Trey found some brass stuff and decided you wanted to add some brass into a song or something like that, you know, that'd be fun to do. It take me several weeks, have probably a couple of months to get back in shape. Yeah, it takes me years to get back to where I was right, But it'd be fun to play play a little something. But yeah, that's it. That's the only reason I just I want to stay in my lane. My lane right now is teaching gotcha? All right? Very cool? Yell A little side message for those who are wondering. Yeah. Yeah, So so today we are doing a guess the word. It's kind of like taboo, you know, yep, And I'm going to give you some clues to see if you can guess the word without me saying any of the italicized words. So I have five words that I'm not allowed to say. Okay, and if you're watching on video as opposed to listening, hopefully Desiree and the crew will put the words that you are not allowed to say on the screen. That's right. Okay. So in the first one, the first one, the first word is this Amos is warning the people that God is going to bring what judgment? There you go, judgment. I was allowed to say decision, court, opinion, law, or verdict. All right, okay, I'll get that pretty quickly. Yes, that's right. You pick it and eat it? Apple? Oh almost, yes, their fruit? There you go. I wasn't allowed to say food, tree, sweet plant, or apple, Okay, that's right, that's okay. Uh. In the old days, after a convicting message, we would go down to. The river to your baptized. No no, no, no no, we go down there to pray. Uh. The pastor will be up at the front. Oh, the altar, the alter. Yes, yes, right. So I wasn't gonna say religious ceremony, church sacrifice or worship. Okay, Oh man, I should have got that. Okay, I said the river to your baptized. You said olden days, and I was My mind went with ye yeah yeah all the way back. Okay, I stacked some wood and I light a match. Oh fire, there you go, flames, hot, burned, smoke and heat. I wasn't allowed to. Say, is there is there like a oh? Is this is this indicative of what we're about to read today? I think so? Yeah, I think so too. And then I need glasses because this is getting worse. Vision vision there you go, eyes, sight, see, future, and dream. You nailed it? And how many points? Well you got five there? So uh you got five extra points. That's the make up for ROST week where you're like you have one hundred thousand points each question. Now I got five points. You got five points. All right, so man, you add up last week and this week you have like one point one million, three hundred thousand and five points. That's so funny. That's really funny. Yeah, there you go. That's great. That's fantastic. Well, speaking of judgment and visions and fire, oh wow that transition, yea, as Amos is bringing it in this Yeah wow, and fruit I guess. Yeah, Well, when you're gonna talk about a plumb line when. The game, when the game is built around the passage, it's easy. Yeah, that was an easy one. Thanks for that. So this is a really interesting passage to me, uh, this one and the next one. So he's going to talk about fire, he's gonna talk about plumb line, he's gonna talk about locus, he's gonna talk about fruit, He's can talk about an altar. Right. He thinks these are all visions. Yeah, these are really interesting visions. I love how Amos decides to deal with these things. So we're reading in Ams chapter seven and it says Sovereign Lord, the Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. And this was after the king's share had been harvested from the fields, and as the main crop was coming up, in my vision, the locusts every green plant in sight. And then I said, oh Lord, oh Sovereign Lord, please forgive us, or we will not survive, for Israel is too small. So the Lord relented from his plan. I will not do it, he said. Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land. And then I said, oh, Sovereign Lord, please stop, or we will not survive, for Israel is too small. Then the Lord relented from this plan too. I'll not do that either, said the Sovereign Lord. Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line, and he was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. The Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see, I answered, A plumb line. The Lord replied, I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins, the pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined and the temples of Israel be destroyed. I will bring the dynasty of King Jereboam to a sudden end. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jereboam, King of is Is. Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your own very doorstep. What he is doing is intolerable, or what he is saying is intolerable. He is saying jerobol and will soon be killed and the people of Israel be sent away into exile. Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos, get out of here, you prophet. Go on back to the land of Judah and earn your living by prophesying there. Don't bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king sanctuary and the national place of worship. But Amos replied, I am not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I'm just a shepherd take care of sycamore fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me go and prophesy to my people Israel. Now, then listen to this message from the Lord. You say, don't prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people. But this is what the Lord says. Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will be killed, your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land, and the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile far from their homeland. WHOA, Yeah, that's a rough one. Yeah, and well there, and we're talking about he's giving this message to a king to the king, and that is a pretty strong thing to say, which means like he really truly has confidence that this is from God. So so he is like, well, God, if you're if you're having me say this, I guess I'm just going to say it. Think about the fear. I mean, you and I can't even comprehend it. We don't know the culture of kings, right, we don't know that. You know, what did you say before you kept on referencing months ago? You said that like King David used to kill messengers. Yeah he killed a couple of them. Yeah, I killed a couple of them. And so it's like, if you go before a king, like you don't really know how the king is going to react. You know, the story of Esther is pretty famous. Uh. You know, every time we preach Esther, we talk about how Esther went before the king and h if and if he didn't reach out his scepter and accept her, then she wasn't even allowed to live. She was she was the queen, but she could be executed if the art Exerxes didn't the. Right because because she walked in unannounced, without an appointment. So, I mean, the kings, you know, were pretty absolute authority, absolute authority, right, And so I think about all the times when when a prophet or a man of God has confronted a king. You know, remember Nathan when he confronted David. You know, we just referenced Esther, right, who God just used she was a queen and then and here we have this, you know, and then Elijah. I mean, goodness, I mean just the list goes on and on and on, right, I mean, just about every prophets. The boldness of a prophet, yeah, is unbelievable. There's a note for verse seven that says prophets like Amos were often seen as traders and conspirators because they spoke out against the king and his advisers, questioning their authority and exposing their sin. The kings often saw the prophets as enemies rather than as God's spokesmen who were really trying to help them in the nation. Yeah, you know, sometimes I've had this happen. I've had people get mad at me. They come in and ask for advice, right right, come in and ask for some advice, some guidance, whatever. And then I'll say, can I can I speak bluntly, just tell you what the Bible says. Yes, that's why I'm here, okay. And then you tell them stop doing this. What you're doing is wicked. And then they get mad at. You, right as if you wrote the Bible. Yes, And then they tell their friends pastor Jeff's so judgmental, And I'm like, I didn't write it right, and I'm not being judgmental. I asked you, can I tell you the truth from the Bible, and you said yes, you wanted me to tell you the truth from the Bible. Then when I tell you the truth from the Bible, then I'm being judgmental, right. And God, All's God is doing with his prophets is saying, wake up, dangers coming because of your bad behavior. If the king had heard him, right, if Amazia had heard Amos and listened, he would have avoided all of these horrible things, right, and so it was. It was a blessing from God that he sent amous. But sometimes when we're living in our sin, we don't want to hear the truth. Yeah, there's a note from a life application study Bible, which we love, by the way, and it said that people had no appetite for God's word when profits like Amos brought it. Because of their apathy, God said that he would take away even the opportunity. To hear his word. We have God's word the Bible, but still we still look everywhere except in scripture to answer life's problems. That's exactly what you just said. You can help them by directing them to the Bible, showing them the parts that speak into the special needs and questions. God's word is available to us. Let us show people, let us help people. Nope, oh yeah, let us help people know it. I don't know why I couldn't comprehend that before a time comes when they cannot find it. So, yes, before they can't find it. That's right there you go. So, yeah, that's exactly what you just said. And yeah, I've definitely had that too. I've had my share of people who get mad. And uh recently I made a comment from the stage and I didn't mean to say it flippantly, but I said it flippantly. But but all I was really trying to do in my heart was just make reference to what the Bible says, right, you know, it's like, this is what God says, and so I made it. You know, it's spoken to it, you know, a controversial issue and and people said, oh, you just didn't take time to explain it, you know, because it's such a sensitive issue in society today. Uh. Well, I wasn't trying to treat it with flippancy. I really wasn't. I felt really bad about it, I told you, right, Ye, I felt bad about it because, uh, I don't want to I don't want to ever disrespect people's sensitive. Issues in their lives. Right. So, like, you know, if somebody, uh you know, votes a certain way, or somebody has a preference of what they believe the Bible says and doesn't say, or whatever it is, all these all these hot topics in society today, right Like like I like, I know what the Bible says in a lot of these areas and uh, and I unapologetically will stand up and say this is what the Bible says, right, I didn't write it. Well, there's a little peek into the reality of being a pastor, you know, speak a public speaker from stage. Yep. So you and I on a weekend, we'll say fifteen thousand words every message, and then you preached four messages that Sunday, right, right, right, So you probably said fifty ten thousand. No when I when I write a message, I thought it was twenty two hundred one. Yeah, but you don't. You say way more than what you write. You think it's that much works? I bet it's at least ten thousands. You're trying to say. Are you trying to say I ramble? No? No, no, no, no, no, no, no no, that's what it's like. Well, if you know what if the Hostpery is convicting you, Chris. But let's say you say ten thousand words, but it's either is ten thousand words on Sunday. Right, You're saying way more words than everybody else in the room. Right, And so things come out in ways we don't always necessarily mean for them, right, And so on occasion we'll make a little mistake here there. And so you know, you and I were always working on we have meetings in between services to make it better, meeting, right, and we're always trying to figure out how to refine a thing or to make it make it a little bit better. On occasion, though, we say a thing that is true, but we say it in a way that people can't swallow it, right, They just can't take it in. And so that's one of the challenges for us is to make sure that we bring God's word in a way that is prophetic and respectful, but direct and clear. Right. But on occasion we'll say it in a way that comes off a little bit more flippant or whatever. And sometimes that can just be our own slight discomfort with the topic. Sure, right, it's slightly discomfort uncomfortable, and so so you and me both will use humor to kind of cover up when we're not comfortable with the thing. And so sometimes we'll say a thing a little less delicate than we could have. But it's because of our own discomfort. That's why when you read these prophets like this, and this dude walks right up and goes, let me tell you king, you're telling me to quit telling you what God has to say. Your wife's going to be prostitute, your kids are going to all get killed. How about that? Right? I'm guessing he didn't make a joke there, right, right, right? And so there is a lot of difficulty in being And this is why even you and me we look at this. We're public speakers all the time, We're bringing God's word all the time. But the boldness of these prophets going in front of a king who could execute them is the next level. Think about that. I don't know if. People really take the time to think about this, but like think about the idea that God created the church and that God wants people to give to the church, right, so like you know, to give their money, yeah, right, And the standard that God set in the Old Testament was a tithe and so we use that standard, you know, that's what we say. Hey, there's a standard that we use, and so we talk about that. Well, think about this. If a person makes you know, three hundred thousand dollars, like a really rich person, right, the word of God suggests that they should you know, you could argue and say commands thirty thousand dollars. And so then then it's like you sign up to be a preacher and all of a sudden, it's like, Okay, go ahead and stand up on stage and say something that translates to that person that they have to write a check over the course of a year. That they don't have to, but God expects them to write. And so think about that difficult assignment. Right, And by the way, not to mention that the system that God set up is that the church for full time ministry workers, we get paid by people's generosity. Right, And so that is so uncomfortable. So you're talking about like a pastor who is uncomfortable to preach what we believe truly is what God says. And yet it's a little uncomfortable. That's one of the most difficult assignments for any pastor, I believe, which is why most preachers that are you know, that are on the up and up, they actually avoid the money, the topic of money a lot. They are uncomfortable with it. Or or popular sins, or there's all kinds of things pastors don't want to talk about, right. Right, right, yeah, yeah, And it's not it's not as if we're afraid to talk about it. It's just that we need to be if. We're gonna if we're gonna open a can of worms, we need to dedicate the minutes that is that are that are required depending on the sensitive topic. Right, Or we can say a thing directly without being flippant about it, that's right, right, just confident. We don't always have to there's not time to unpack every single idea we bring up, but. Which would translates into respect. And yeah, there's another thing I want to mention one. I love the plumb line solution. Illustration here. If you don't know what a plumb line is. A lot in the old days, in order to make sure a wall was level or straight, uh, they would have a heavy weight at the bottom of a string and then you'd let this let let the string go down, and then that will always go straight, and then you can build your wall straight next to it. Right. And so God's saying, I hate it when my people are crooked, and the only way they can know their crooked is if there's a plumb line to point it out, right, So the plumb line proves that it's crooked. Have you ever made a thing and you thought it was straight? Until you put a level on it, right, right, that's what he's doing so every other day. So this is an ancient version of a level. This is what he's doing here. So I love that. But the most powerful thing in here. Which by the way, they still use plumb lits. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the most powerful thing in here that I love is God goes, all right, stand back, Amos. I'm going to send a bunch of locusts, and Amos goes, God, if you do that, you're going to wipe us out because we're just a little Israel. Yeah. And the Bible says God relented from his plan, and then God says, all right, I'm going to show you another vision. I'm going to send fire and it's going to evaporate all the water and burn the entire land. And Amos says, oh, Sovereign Lord, please stop, or will not survive because this was too small. We're just a little Israel. Yeah, And he repents again on behalf of the nation. And there's something about this idea. I think moms and dads repenting for the family, leaders repenting for the nation. Right. The Bible says that the prayers of a godly person accomplishes much right, and we don't realize how much it accomplishes. But here this is one of the times it happens with Abraham, it happens with Moses, where God says, okay, because my man is praying, I'm going to hold back my hand a little bit more on this and extend mercy. And I think that it doesn't matter what you think. The state of the nation is right now, be begging God for protection in our nation, be begging God to hold back his hand on our families. And all those who was the. King just recently where he said this judgment is going to happen, and then that king repented and he said, okay, because you repented, it's not going to happen in your lifetime. Oh he was wicked, really wicked, but he said, God, I'm sorry for this one. And guessys, okay, it's not going to happen in your lifetime. The judgment is coming, but not in your lifetime. So in other words, there's evidence that God can be persuaded, you know. And it's not just the super elite like Amos or the super elite by Abraham or Moses, you know. So you know when it. Says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much or it accomplishes much. Certainly, that is true. It's it's for those who love and seek God. Just don't ever forget that your prayer matters, that prayers change things. Well, this is what's so great about Amos is Amos isn't one of the super elite prophets, right, right. Amos literally says, that's exactly right, dude. I'm just a shepherd take care of sycamore fig trees, That's what I do. God just sent the message to you. And he's a righteous man, but he's not the elite. Yeah, yeah, he's just a godly man. He's a man following God. But Israel's not following God, but he is. So God goes, well, okay, then you go tell the king. Yeah, And so he's just a shepherd who watches, who takes care of fig trees. So God is persuaded by all three of these classes, right, the elites, the godly who are not the elite. And then even even the wicked God will hear. And so so when we repent and when we pray and we go to God, just know that it is possible. I mean, after all, doesn't Jesus even say. He says, the Kingdom of Heaven is like and he gives an illustration about the guy knocking, and he says, hey, hey, get up and give me some bread. I have some neighbors that are coming into town. And he says, go away, for we're all sleeping right, And then he says, Then he knocks again and says please, And he says, but because of your persistence, And he doesn't say, because you're righteous. He doesn't say, because you know of the things that you've done in the past. He says, because of your persistence of coming to me. He says that he will get up and he'll give the man some bread. And he says, and that is what it's like to pray to your heavenly Father. So Jesus himself even gave us a formula. And what it's really saying is prayer matters. It's saying that go to God. And so yesterday morning, our good friend had surgery on our staff and I woke up and I said, Okay, God, I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna pray on his behalf. I told him I would, so I had to do it. So as soon as I woke up and I was like, ah and off, and I said, I gotta pray, gotta pray for Chris. He's having surgery to day. So I prayed. And I don't believe that it's something just to say, oh, I prayed for you. It's it's something that actually is Like God, I pray that you will do these things right, you know, guide the doctor's hands, restore him to full health. I pray everything goes well. And and I'm and I'm hoping, and I'm believing that that prayer is going to matter in his surgery, because that's what God tells us, right, That's why we pray for others. Yea, the prayers of a righteous person accomplishes much. That's great. Hey, there's a couple of sermons in there, good one. I like it. There's there's a bunch of favorite favorite verses in the prose. Hey, we'll see you next time I'm on the Bible. Guys, H