WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:03.680 You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.440 couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in 3 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:13.839 practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. I'm Chris, 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.320 this is Jeff, and we are here to. 5 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.000 Serve you and to make it fun and practical. Yes, well, 6 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:22.839 that's what it says we're all about. That is our tagline. 7 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:25.039 We are nothing if we're not fun or practical. 8 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:27.679 That that opening video, if you're watching by video, that 9 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:29.600 opening video was shot how long ago? Two and a 10 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:30.239 half years ago? 11 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:32.039 Oh years and years ago? No more than two and 12 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:34.560 a half it was yeah, four years ago maybe. 13 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.679 Yeah, that's that's a pretty outdated video. 14 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.280 Like a jillion episodes ago. 15 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:41.320 Yeah. Yeah, we need to we need to put some 16 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:42.280 effort into updating. 17 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:44.439 Think we'll get to our we'll get to our thousandth 18 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.280 episode this year. Oh wily, Yeah in twenty twenty six. 19 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:48.880 Okay, yeah, that's fun. 20 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:51.920 Well, hey, what is the one? What's our game today? 21 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.799 What is she saying? Oh? 22 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:55.600 Here it is this is today. We're talking about treasure 23 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:59.600 that lasts. So because of that DESIREE asked us, She said, 24 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.799 ask GPT what fun it can come up with? Regarding 25 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.480 finding treasure. 26 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:07.959 So I love this. So I am a little bit 27 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:14.040 of a treasure hunt kind of fiend. So I watched 28 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:16.159 shows about treasure hunting and all that kind stuff. Do 29 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.439 you do this? I've seen some yeah, yeah, So here's 30 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:21.959 all I did. Chet GBT. I just asked what's the 31 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:24.680 best treasure hunt that Chris Zarba and I could go 32 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:27.319 on right now? And it says love this question. If 33 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:29.879 you and Chris want a real world adventure with mystery puzzles, 34 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.799 hiking history, and a legit treasure hunt vibe, here are 35 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:36.079 the best options, ranked by how epic the experience will feel, 36 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.400 not just the prize. So the first one, and I 37 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:41.680 told you this right before we started it mentions Fenn's treasure. 38 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.040 So Fenn was an art dealer, and this is true, 39 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:47.400 all true. About fifteen years ago he hit a treasure 40 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:50.680 worth millions of dollars in the in the out in 41 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.560 nature north of Santa Fe, in the rocky mountain somewhere, 42 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:55.280 and then he wrote a poem. He had all the 43 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.719 clues in it, thousands and hundreds of thousands of people 44 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:00.840 search it wound up making a Good America and the 45 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.040 Today Show and all this kind of stuff, and just 46 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:06.040 what about two years ago a guy from Michigan found 47 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:10.439 the treasure. It's not any Well, then another guy hid 48 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.719 another treasure in the spirit of Fenn's Treasure, and you 49 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.719 can get that online on Netflix right now. There's a treasure. 50 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:21.319 It's a show called The Golden Greed or something, and 51 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.439 one of the guys on that show hit a new 52 00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:26.319 treasure and it just was released. All the clues were 53 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.400 put out in March of twenty twenty five. So I 54 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.479 think that'd be fun. It's all out in nature, it's 55 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.680 all the clues are pretty transparent clues. You just got 56 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:35.599 to figure out how to start. 57 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.560 I would imagine you'd have to be on that hunt 58 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:38.879 for months and months and months. 59 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:44.400 Well, the guy that found it from Michigan found Fenn's 60 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:49.000 Treasure from Michigan. He did most of his research online 61 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:52.759 and then just went to it. What yeah, yeah, yeah, 62 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:55.719 So he had done a little bit of scouting and working, 63 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.360 but mostly he figured out where it was just doing 64 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.280 the work online and then then went to it. Yeah, 65 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.159 this is kind of neat. Anyways, that's kind of neat, right, 66 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:07.719 And and here's why it says it's perfect for us, 67 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:12.319 you and me, outdoor adventure plus rugged landscapes, deep symbolism 68 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.520 and the story behind it, and you can retrace all 69 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.039 these routes, you meet people who are obsessed with it, 70 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.000 which you would love that part of it. There's endless 71 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.439 YouTube and forms to decode all the clues and this 72 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.240 had turn into a spiritual explorer journey, not just a hunt. 73 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.479 So that's good, huh. And then it tells us to 74 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.719 pick a region and get started. So this is very 75 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:36.280 Bible guys meets Indiana. 76 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.280 Jones, which is right up your alley. 77 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:39.919 That's exactly that's my life. 78 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:41.080 Yeah, right right. 79 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:42.599 And then the other one is said we could try 80 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.319 is the Oak Island Mystery. That's kind of neat. It's 81 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.400 but I think it's played out in that the brothers 82 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:51.319 that are doing all the search, they're also from Michigan, 83 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.879 from Traverse City, and they own most of Oak Island 84 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:56.800 now and so they've dug it all up. So that'd 85 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:58.120 be hard for us to be a part of it. 86 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:00.400 But that's kind of neat. If you have watch it, 87 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.159 Oak Island is on was it Discovery Channel or whatever, 88 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:05.680 the Curse of oconn h. Yeah, those guys are from Michigan. 89 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.879 But there's another one, and I forgot about this. It 90 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:14.000 is called the Secret Byron Priest buried twelve treasures in 91 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:16.800 twelve different cities, and he had these pictures drawn that 92 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:18.800 had all the clues, and then he wrote a poem 93 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.920 to supplement the clues. And only three of the twelve 94 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:22.959 treasures have been found. 95 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:24.480 And how long ago was this buried? 96 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:26.920 This would have been in the eighties. He hid in 97 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:27.399 the eighties. 98 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:29.800 Oh yeah, so these aren't being found. 99 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:31.920 Yeah, the only ones that had been found so far 100 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:34.560 is oh yeah, it says we're here only three. So 101 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:38.519 I think the only ones that had been found is 102 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.240 one in Massachusetts near Boston, one in Chicago, and one 103 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:45.839 in Cleveland. But there's still Montreal, San Francisco, Charleston, Saint Augustine, 104 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.839 there's these treasures hidden all around the country. Well, and 105 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:53.120 again it's poems and pictures. So this says, go all 106 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:55.360 in for a few days, like Sherlock Holmes and backpacks. 107 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.160 So maybe we should do one of those in the treasure. 108 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:00.680 How much of the treasure's worth this twelve or the 109 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:01.839 nine remaining. 110 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:03.920 Yeah, they're not. They're not at the same level as 111 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:06.879 as like Fends Treasure or this new treasure that was 112 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.120 recently put out. But yeah, it's uh, it's supposed to 113 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:10.680 be worth hundreds of thousands dollars a piece. 114 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:12.079 Oh, that'd be nice. 115 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:14.879 The boys there were it was the first one found, 116 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:17.560 was in Chicago, in Grant Park in Chicago, and it 117 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.399 was three teenage boys figured it out and they got 118 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:24.680 some really big gems that translated into pretty good money. 119 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:26.680 Wow in neat. Well, I'll tell you what. 120 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.279 Let's let's let's take four or five months off a 121 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:31.800 hair to hurt. 122 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:34.519 Do I want to do it? Yes, I want to 123 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:36.519 do it. I just don't think that we'll be able 124 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.079 to do it. I mean think about you have what 125 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:41.160 kind of time you'd have to have. Yeah, it's sort 126 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.079 of a unique spot to be in, right. 127 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:47.839 Watch that, Watch that documentary Golden Greed. Yeah, yeah, and 128 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:49.360 you'll see the kind of people who have time for 129 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:50.079 this kind of Yeah. 130 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.040 Yeah, I bet it's like uh, it's like, uh, you 131 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:56.319 ever see National Treasure where John. 132 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:58.160 Voyce is one of my favorite movies, is it? 133 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:00.600 Where John Void is the dad and he goes, don't 134 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.079 you see just one clue? It's designed to lead you 135 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:04.759 to the next clue in the next clue. Then they 136 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:07.680 finally find those writings and there's the lemon. Remember the lemon, 137 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.279 and he's like and he's like, uh, he's like, oh yeah, okay. 138 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:12.759 He was excited about it, but then he find out 139 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:14.399 it was the Declaration of Independence whatever. 140 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.199 He stole the Declaration of Independence. 141 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:17.399 Yep. 142 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:19.199 It's so funny, dude, it's so funny. 143 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:20.000 Here's a good movie. 144 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:22.120 Well, hey, talking about treasure. 145 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:22.879 Yeah. 146 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:28.720 So we've been in Matthew chapter five, yeah, and reading 147 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:31.439 the Beatitudes and Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger 148 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.439 and thirst after justice or after righteousness, for they will 149 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.759 be satisfied or they will be filled. And we've we've 150 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:40.560 been unpacking it. Yesterday we talked about Jesus said, unless 151 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.319 your righteousness is better than the Pharisees, you're never gonna 152 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:45.360 make it the kingdom. And what he was highlighting was 153 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:47.600 effect that we can't get it on our own righteousness. 154 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:51.199 We have to have Jesus pay the way. Right. Well, 155 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:55.399 then here's another one then, and it's talking about priorities, 156 00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:01.240 quite honestly, and so in Matthew chapter six, verse nineteen, 157 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:04.639 this is talking about that hunger and thirst, that desire 158 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.680 of your soul. He says, don't store up treasures here 159 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:10.720 on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, 160 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.279 where thieves break in and steel. Store your treasures in heaven, 161 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.680 where moths can and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do 162 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.800 not break in and steel. Wherever your treasure is, they're 163 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.800 the desires of your heart will be also. And are 164 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:25.279 we reading all the way to verse twenty four? 165 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:26.120 Right? Yeah? Four. 166 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:28.199 Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for 167 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.120 your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body 168 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:31.839 is filled with the light. But when your eye is unhealthy, 169 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:33.439 your whole body is filled with the darkness. And if 170 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.680 the light you think you have is actually darkness, how 171 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:40.240 deep that darkness is. No one can serve two masters, 172 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:42.920 for you will hate one and love the other. You'll 173 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:45.720 be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot 174 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:50.199 serve God and be enslaved to money. And so the 175 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:55.040 tie in to the idea of hungering and thirsting for 176 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:59.399 righteousness is directly the opposite, the opposite of us desiring 177 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:03.959 God is almost always desiring stuff. Right, So it's either 178 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:09.959 I worship myself, I worship God, or I worship life 179 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:13.199 and stuff, right, And so he's really taking us on 180 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:16.879 with regard to our other major priority other than God, well, 181 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:18.160 it's usually stuff and money. 182 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:20.040 One of the best comments I've ever heard in my 183 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.639 ministry is people said, the reason why Jesus talked ten 184 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.560 times more about money and stuff is because God knew 185 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.600 that that was going to be the chief competitor for 186 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.240 our affections, right, And it's true and everybody knows it, right. 187 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:37.120 I mean, you know, if we run the risk of 188 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:40.200 putting something before God, chances are it's going to be 189 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:43.679 you know, money and stuff, which is why Jesus points 190 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:44.000 it out. 191 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:47.200 Well, he knows that this is our greatest appetite right right, yep, 192 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.600 our greatest appetite that competes against our appetite with God 193 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.039 is money and stuff. And it's because, for a few reasons, 194 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:59.320 we think that money can bring us satisfaction. We think 195 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:02.919 it can bring us security, We think it can bring 196 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:04.639 us status and acceptance. 197 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:06.960 But it does all those to some degree, and. 198 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.279 Fun and all these things. And so what happens is 199 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:14.240 this longing that we have, this thirst in us, this 200 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:17.360 hunger in us, we're trying to satisfy it with money. 201 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:26.360 And what's the guy who made the the the richest 202 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:28.320 man in the world at the time, back in the thirties, 203 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.799 for Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes when he died. Before he died, 204 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:35.080 he had become a recluse. He was afraid of people, 205 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:37.440 he was afraid of disease, he was terrified of dying, 206 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:42.600 and he became really an odd duck. But a reporter 207 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.759 interviewed him and asked him, mister Hughes, how much is enough? 208 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:49.720 And he supposedly he said, one more dollar? One more 209 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.120 dollar isn't He was at the time the richest man 210 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.480 on the planet, and he was saying, one more dollar 211 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:55.039 will be enough. 212 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:56.799 By the way, when he died, do you know how 213 00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:59.320 much money he left behind? All of it? 214 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:03.320 Oh? Yeah, that's truth. It's truth. 215 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:04.000 It is true. 216 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:06.519 So isn't it interesting he was hungering and thirsting for 217 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:09.919 something he never actually got. And so this is what 218 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:13.440 Jesus is challenging us on, is man, don't waste your 219 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.120 life laying up treasures here on earth. It's just, you know, 220 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.840 he's not saying it's wrong to prepare for the future 221 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.720 and invest. The Bible says wise people make a preparation 222 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:25.240 for the future, and they leave inheritance to their children's 223 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.720 children and all those kinds of things. But it shouldn't 224 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.759 become an obsession. Just understand you're never going to satisfy 225 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:33.480 that appetite ly Jesus can. And so he says, you're 226 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:34.639 wasting your time otherwise. 227 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:38.240 Yeah. And you know, when you come across sort of 228 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.039 the middle of this chunk, when he talks about the 229 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:43.840 eye is a lamp of your body, it could seem 230 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.799 a little out there, a little confusing, like why would 231 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.720 Jesus pivot from talking about treasures in heaven and you know, 232 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:52.240 everything else, And then all of a sudden, he says, 233 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.519 the eye, your eye is a lamp that provides life 234 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:56.960 for your whole body. What he's talking about is in 235 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:00.360 the first century, it was an idiom that it was 236 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.240 referring to how your eye is the way you see things, 237 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.159 or your perspective what you're looking at. Yeah, and so 238 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.600 it's really it's your view of That's really what he's saying. 239 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:11.960 So he's saying, hey, the eye is a lamp that 240 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.480 provides life for your whole body. And he's referring to 241 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:18.240 the idea of like, your perspective on money versus treasures 242 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.720 in heaven will either fill your body with good things 243 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.440 or bad things. Right, you'll either be filled with enlightenment 244 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:27.360 or you'll be filled with darkness. And that's really what 245 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:27.840 he's saying. 246 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.360 Well, I said, one of the most powerful things is 247 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:32.279 when he says, if the light you think you have 248 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:35.080 is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is? What he's 249 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.240 saying is what a devastating thing for you to get 250 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:39.519 to the end of your life and find out you 251 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:40.080 wasted it. 252 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:43.200 That's right, because you thought you perceived things correctly. 253 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.600 Yeah, you thought what you saw in life was if 254 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.480 you just had more money, you're gonna be happy, right, 255 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.039 You're gonna have everything you need. And then if you 256 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:54.600 find out you spent your whole life pursuing something that 257 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.600 was never going to fulfill he says, how sad is that? Right? 258 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:03.000 How how deep that darkness is? 259 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.000 It's like that saying that says you spent your entire 260 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.879 life trying very hard to climb one more wrong on 261 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.039 the ladder, only to discover at the end of your 262 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:13.080 life your ladder was leaned up against the wrong building. 263 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:13.440 Yeah. 264 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.120 Yeah, So it's like, yeah, it's like you work really 265 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:17.919 hard and then you get to the end. You know, 266 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.440 if the light you have in your body is actually darkness. 267 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:23.240 How great is that darkness? So yeah, it's it's your 268 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:26.600 perspective or your view. And so that's why Jesus is saying. 269 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:30.279 He's saying, like, you know, you have to understand you 270 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.639 can't serve both God and the word mammon is the 271 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:39.080 word in Greek. Well it's it's not the word in Greek, 272 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:42.120 but we re translated into mammon. Right, it's not a 273 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:45.120 Greek word, is it? Man? I don't know, but the 274 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:49.480 word mamon literally means stuff, right, So, and some translations 275 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:51.679 say money, but it's money and stuff. 276 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.480 But more accurately translation says you cannot serve God and 277 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:55.559 be enslaved to money. 278 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:58.519 Yeah right, yeah right, So a better translation I think 279 00:12:58.600 --> 00:12:59.000 is stuff. 280 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.720 Yeah it was, Oh, go ahead, finished, No, that's it, 281 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.320 that's it. I was in a conversation with a guy 282 00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:09.360 who is very enthusiastic about the Timothy Initiative, and he 283 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:11.639 gives a lot of money to the Timothy Initiative, and 284 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:16.000 he he has made just a crazy, insane more money 285 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.240 than you and I can fathom he's. 286 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.120 Made and I can fathom alive. 287 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.320 I'm serious, it's crazy money. And he was talking about 288 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.440 he's an old man now. I'm assuming he's still alive. 289 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:28.799 I talked with him a couple of years about this, 290 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.559 a couple of years ago, but he talked about the 291 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.279 majority of his life. He was talking about how he 292 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.399 became shifted into this generous thing. He said, you know, 293 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.039 twenty five years ago, I would have never thought about 294 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:45.960 writing big checks and giving money away and all these 295 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.200 kinds of things. He said. He was. He was obsessed 296 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:52.440 with more. He literally he said, you know that there's 297 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:54.840 a passage in the Bible where Jesus warns the rich man. 298 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:58.519 Rich man goes out and he's being so blessed and 299 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.120 he's overrun with wealth, and he decides he needs to 300 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:02.879 build more. He's gonna tear down his old barns and 301 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:06.200 big build bigger barns so he can store more stuff. 302 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.799 And Jesus said, what a fool he is, because he 303 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.639 doesn't know that his soul's gonna be claimed tonight. He's 304 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.600 gonna die right right, and ultimately doesn't matter how bigger 305 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.279 barns are, we're all gonna leave it rightly. Bell stuff. 306 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.399 And he said. The craziest thing was one of his 307 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.759 last things he did before he became a Christian is 308 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.279 he built these giant barns. He has one of the 309 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:31.879 largest private car collections. And he bought a an old 310 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:37.080 fifties like diner, one of those metal diners. Oh yeah, 311 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:40.960 and he built it's a drive through drive in diner. 312 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.919 And he built it a barn big enough to put 313 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.360 that entire diner in and then park all of his 314 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.240 nineteen fifties car collection all the way around it. Good, right, right, 315 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.200 there's millions of dollars just he said, just for a 316 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.440 barn for my toys. Right. 317 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.279 So he built a drive in theater for his car. 318 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:01.480 A drive in restaurant. I was driving a restaurant, got 319 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:04.480 it right, one of those old metal driving restaurants, right 320 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:07.399 with the little bell hops and the girls on the 321 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:10.000 roller skates kind of thing, the red seats and you know, 322 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.039 all that kinds. That's what he did for all of it. 323 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:14.159 Just as nineteen He said, that was just where I 324 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.320 parked my nineteen fifties cars. He said, I did the 325 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.039 same thing in another barn for my nineteen sixties cars, 326 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:22.919 and I did another thing for my nineteen seventies cars. 327 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:25.480 He said, I built all these barns just for toys, 328 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:29.399 just toys. And then he said, God changed his life. 329 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:31.080 Hey, by the way, I think you're right. Maybe it 330 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.440 is more money than I can fathom, because I can't 331 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:35.440 even imagine. 332 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.559 So then he was talking about it. We were sitting 333 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:40.759 at lunch in a diner by the way in Naples. 334 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:43.440 We're sitting at lunch, and he said, and then Jesus 335 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.279 got a hold of my life. And he said, it's 336 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:48.679 not that I don't enjoy those things. He said, they 337 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.679 just don't mean anything. He said, but I'll be honest 338 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.679 with you, I was becoming aware that they didn't mean anything. 339 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:57.039 Like I would walk through and I hadn't been in 340 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.039 one of those barns for three months, and everything just 341 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:01.799 covered in dust. What's the purpose? I got all this 342 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:03.639 money tied up in this for what? What reasons? Just 343 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.559 to have it? And then and then he said, I 344 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:09.159 started realizing my adult kids don't want it. And he said, 345 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:13.639 I thought I've wasted my life. And that began his 346 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.120 journey of looking for purpose and looking for meaning. He 347 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.840 winds up meeting Jesus. Jesus radically transforms his life. He 348 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:22.519 wound up making some really good investments. He's giving away 349 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:25.200 all the interest off of all of his big investments, 350 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.840 he's made to only things, and he said, I find 351 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:31.360 so much more satisfaction doing stuff that matters, because I realized, 352 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:33.879 when I invest in getting the Gospel places that's never 353 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:37.159 been that matters. It's never in two thousand years been 354 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:39.879 the Gospel, never made it to that part of India before, 355 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:41.720 and I'm investing and make sure he gets there, never 356 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:43.440 made it to that part of South America, never made 357 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:45.200 it to that part in the Middle East before, And 358 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.200 I get to be the part of helping make that happen. 359 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:50.559 He said, that matters, and then he started talking about 360 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:53.720 children's hospitals and all these other beautiful things that he's 361 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:58.000 doing around the country, and he said, using my wealth 362 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:00.840 to help other people, really, I feel like I'm just 363 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:03.480 doing God's work, whereas before I was just doing my 364 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.680 work and collecting, and he said, I just would feel empty. 365 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.039 I thought it should make me happy. The project made 366 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.839 me happy because it gave me a focus. Once the 367 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.599 project was done, I was sad that it didn't bring 368 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.680 me the happiness I thought i'd bring me. And so 369 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.119 I think it's interesting that what he's comparing here is 370 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.640 what if And this is what I learned from that gentleman. 371 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:23.920 I'm not saying his name because I don't have his permission. 372 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:28.680 What I learned from that gentleman was he hungered and 373 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:33.160 thirsted for stuff and what money could buy, and he 374 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.920 was never satisfied. But when he began to hunger and 375 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:40.799 thirst after Jesus and his kingdom, he finds so much satisfaction. 376 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:43.559 He has the same hunger and thirst now for changing 377 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:46.920 the world as he did just collecting stuff. And I 378 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.519 think that's why Jesus talks about this. You can't serve 379 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:52.759 both God and money, choose one or the other. What 380 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.559 would be best is if you chose to serve God 381 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:57.720 and then have your money serve you and God. But 382 00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.279 what happens is a lot of times we wind up 383 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:01.079 serving our money and then we don't find any joy 384 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:04.079 of saispects. So there's it's really I felt like I 385 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:07.960 looked into the window of somebody who actually lived these 386 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:08.720 verses out. 387 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:13.200 Well, that's amazing. I remember Annie Stanley talking about buying 388 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:17.079 like a really old, like broken down rust bucket of 389 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:18.880 a car, and he goes, you know it was when 390 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:20.839 I did that, He goes, It dawned on me that 391 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:22.160 when I was a kid, he goes, this was my 392 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.079 favorite car, and he goes, So he goes, Really, what 393 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:28.799 that means is you can really buy any single car 394 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:31.200 that you want. All you have to do is way 395 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:35.359 long enough, right yeah right, He's just by an old 396 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:39.799 russ bucket rundown version of it, right, So yeah, it is. 397 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:45.759 It is interesting how uh this, these simple verses can 398 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:48.480 turn lives upside down because it gets to the heart 399 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:50.400 of you know, a lot of us in the room. 400 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.319 It means something different for everybody, right, So are you know, 401 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:57.039