Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Tell Me More is a weekly podcast hosted by Katy Reed Hodges and Luke Stehr, where they unpack the Sunday sermon with Dr. Dennis Wiles. This podcast is designed on the premise that Dr. Wiles always has more to say than can fit in a 35 minute sermon - so we have fun discussing it here each week. We hope that in listening you are educated, encouraged and more connected to the pastor and his teaching!
Welcome to another episode of Tell Me More. We have doctor Wiles back in the studio. We're talking about all things Studeeleaf and Mary Magdalene, and we hope that you enjoy getting to listen to your pastor again. Well, welcome back to another episode of Tell Me More. And I'm not saying that to you, the listener.
Speaker 1:I'm saying that to reverend doctor Dennis Wilde. That's right. Welcome back to your chair.
Speaker 2:Thank you. It's glad to be glad I'm glad to be back. It's good to be back. It's good to have you back. And, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's, interesting. So
Speaker 1:Well, before we started recording, you and I were talking about what we talk about on the podcast, and you probably had one of your most unusual study leaves you've ever at First Baptist Arlington.
Speaker 2:I would agree with that.
Speaker 1:And that you really did not leave.
Speaker 2:Hardly at all. Yeah. You know, we left for a little bit. We went to Atlanta Mhmm. To some ascent meetings Yes.
Speaker 2:That we had there and, in Birmingham to see some of our family. But we did had some really good, set of meetings in Atlanta about our missional, investment at Ascent. Our our our main mission entities from Ascent, TMS Global, Restore Hope, and Canadian Baptist Ministries were in a meeting there. So I Great people. Incredible people.
Speaker 2:So I Cindy actually led the meeting, but I actually attended part of it. And then we did some we met with pastors. I met with two pastors, on behalf of Ascent and just talked a little bit more about what we're doing, what we're trying to do. Neither one of them have, one of them has not ever attended an ascent meeting of any kind, and the other one had attended one. But we had a great chance to visit and talk to them about kind of what we're doing.
Speaker 2:And then we got we rushed back here, honestly, because of the Jordanian experience.
Speaker 1:Tell us all about it. I'm gonna pretend like I don't know.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness. You're right in the middle of it like you don't know. But, just so it was funny when I think about how we tried to pick a date just for our church to host something, and we landed on June 27 and just just really random Yeah. Not having anything to
Speaker 1:do with. We were trying to pick a game day Right. That kind of worked with our church calendar. That's just where we landed.
Speaker 2:Had not not really focused on who was playing. Just we knew there was a game that evening, and and it turns out it was Jordan and Argentina. And the next thing you know, we're hosting these Jordanian government leaders that you were part of. And it was just such a fascinating experience.
Speaker 1:Bottles of holy water in
Speaker 2:my office now up in the Jordan River. I I told Cindy the other day, I think I have enough holy water from the Jordan River to baptize somebody by one person by immersion, I think. Maybe if we pulled it all together. And
Speaker 1:If I pour one of my little bottles in the Bapt Baptist
Speaker 2:Street, how long do we think it'll be in I'm not sure. I don't know how that filters. But, oh, man. They were so leaders from Jordan were just so sweet.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2:Generous. So good to work with
Speaker 1:in every possible way.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I was so impressed with them. And, and then, and there were just so many, tentacles, you know, that just grew off of that core meaning.
Speaker 1:Have you told the church how all this started?
Speaker 2:Just briefly. Sunday morning, I alluded to this.
Speaker 1:Well, walk us through it because this is, I think, one of the crazy crazier. I won't say craziest.
Speaker 2:It has to be.
Speaker 1:But the Lord was up to some shenanigans is maybe the best way to say it.
Speaker 2:So Because when we originally chose the June 27, we knew there was
Speaker 1:a game that night. But every time we tried to plan something and just Nothing supernatural.
Speaker 2:When read
Speaker 1:Paul's trying to enter Asia Minor and the spirit blocks the way. Exactly right. It felt like every time we'd start to get traction, oh, well, what if we do this? This the city or the police would just say, no. You can't do that.
Speaker 2:No. It's not good. No. You can't do that. We're worried about No.
Speaker 2:We're worried about security. And and I think, you know, when we were planning it all, we had not had a game yet in Arlington. Correct. And so the city was trying to be helpful, but they were like, so how so tell us, what is it you actually wanna do on the twenty seventh? Well, we got Texas Baptist involved, as you remember, did some training.
Speaker 2:And so finally, I just said, well, you know, we just wanna throw a party, make it family friendly. It'll be a fun day. There's a game that night. Then they were like, well, do you wanna broadcast the game somehow? And I and I was like, I I don't know.
Speaker 2:The game's not till 09:00 on a Saturday night. I I don't think so. I think it's going to be more of a day to afternoon event. How many people do you think will come? I have no idea.
Speaker 2:And so and then they said, well, the problem was they just were worried about security because the police and fire were just so stretched so thin with all of their planning for the World Cup. And so finally, they just said, would you wait a little while and then come back with more firm plans? So we can do that. But as we as time progressed, you know, we weren't sure what we could actually do. And so finally, I talked to them.
Speaker 2:It was on a Monday. I called them, and I said, okay. What what could we do that would help? And they were very gracious about it. They said, well, maybe if you just hired private security for your event, and, maybe that would be an option, and then we could kinda plan around it.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And I and they said, we just don't know what else is gonna be happening downtown. I said, okay. So I talked to you briefly about it, and you were a little bit freaked because you were saying, you know, pastor, we we got if we're gonna have volunteers, we need to we've got the clock
Speaker 1:is These were conversations happening in May.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We're we're worried, and I was like, okay. So so that
Speaker 1:was don't
Speaker 2:know if
Speaker 1:I was freaked. Just know
Speaker 2:we had
Speaker 1:to start planning.
Speaker 2:If we're gonna do something, we need to figure out exactly what and all that. And I said, yeah. I know. So Tuesday of that week, the city called me and said, hey. We we think we have an issue.
Speaker 2:We're not really sure yet, but would you just hold on? I said, it's fine. I mean, we're what's two more days? I mean, we're just know? Three or four more days, whatever.
Speaker 2:And then, the Levitt called me and told me that there were some interesting plans they thought that were materialized. Then on so on that Thursday of that week so this is back in May
Speaker 1:I remember that day vividly.
Speaker 2:We, were having an all day MLT retreat. And, the city calls me and says, hey. Can you meet this evening with or sometime today with the Jordanian government? And I was like, I mean, I can, but I don't I said, I'm at church all day. I'm at a retreat.
Speaker 2:I don't really know. And they said, well, we've just we've had a presentation from them. They had they were planning on having a party, some type of a get together for the World Cup in another place in Arlington, but it's not big enough. It's not gonna work for them. And they have discovered the whole downtown, and this is where they wanna have it.
Speaker 2:But we need your property. I wasn't even thinking about the game of when Jordan played. And I said, well, okay. I'm sure we can work with them. I said, when when do they want it?
Speaker 2:And, Jennifer, who work who's a deputy city manager, she was like, well, actually, that's the problem. And I said, and I'm thinking, I was like, is it a Sunday morning or what what I mean, what is the deal? And she said, well, it's June 27. And I said, She said, I know what you're going to say. That's when y'all's party is.
Speaker 2:I said, yeah. But so, okay. Yeah. I said, that's when we're planning on I I thought she was calling me back to tell me, hey. Everything's great, y'all.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Go ahead. Yeah. And said it was, well, they would love to have your property that day. Excuse me.
Speaker 2:I said, well, interesting. I said, don't know. We'll just have to wait. So that's when I let you and Ashley know. Okay.
Speaker 2:Wore shorts
Speaker 1:and a t shirt to the office that day.
Speaker 2:I got on a ranger sweatshirt. I ran.
Speaker 1:I drove home very quickly because I think you told me at, like, three in the afternoon. Yes.
Speaker 2:It was afternoon. Yeah. I drove home to change and came back. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:Told my wife I'm meeting with the Jordanian government.
Speaker 2:To say, we're change here, and I didn't have time to do that. And they show up as we expected in a, you know, tinted window Mercedes, and he's suited up, and he's from the ambassador's office. Very gifts. From from Jordan. And, it was just it was so fascinating.
Speaker 2:And then they as you know, you were sitting there and and, they started sharing with us what they wanted to do. And when we looked at their plan, it was massive. I mean, it took over this whole downtown area.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean, if you came, you saw it. Yes. Crazy.
Speaker 2:And and our parking, and they needed volunteers. And we all looked at it. I finally looked at you and Ashley and said, you know, what if we cancel our party and just host this party? This looks like a much better party than we had planned. And, and they were so appreciative because they even offered, if you remember, they said, we'll set everything up on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday.
Speaker 2:And then Friday night at midnight, we'll tear everything out down out of your way so you can have your party on Saturday. Well, when I looked at it, I said, y'all, that you
Speaker 1:That's your game night.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. No. We're not doing that. We're not gonna have y'all.
Speaker 2:No. Just let's just leave everything and we will just turn our attention to you all. And, and man, from there, it just just escalated to, well, can we have a meeting, at your church to promote the baptismal side of Jesus? Oh, yes. We we we're actually, we we're very favorably disposed toward the baptismal side of Jesus, which happens to be in Jordan.
Speaker 2:And, of course, we end up then with that Thursday night event with like, flying this archaeologist, you know, who's doing all this research in Jordan, as you know. And and then we have an opportunity to visit with them about some potential future relationships with our evangelical brothers and sisters in connecting to that site in Jordan. Lots of behind the scenes meetings. And then the next Yeah. So I
Speaker 1:The the week that event was happening, I think I was on the phone with the embassy six
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Or eight times a day.
Speaker 2:Unbelievable. I mean, and and we other folks joined from The Middle East and end up making contact with lighthouse media. And then on top of all that, they're wanting to have a conversation about The Chosen and how The Chosen can be further promoted in The Middle East, maybe do some filming in Jordan. So as you know, the next thing you know, on that Saturday, we're at the set of The Chosen with the dignitaries from the government with the princess of Jordan.
Speaker 1:You had lunch with a princess on your anniversary.
Speaker 2:On on our anniversary. Told Cindy, said, one we'll give you for your anniversary. We're gonna have lunch with the princess of Jordan. How about that? And and quite a really actually, an incredible lunch.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 1:It was very that catering company knocked it out the Are you
Speaker 2:kidding me? You know? It was great. Of course, they knew royalty, and they they knew Yeah. What they were doing.
Speaker 2:I mean, the CEO of The Chosen flew in for it. So it was yeah. It was, I look back on it now and I think, in the
Speaker 1:world really happened.
Speaker 2:Did all of that happen in front of us?
Speaker 1:And I would just say, like, through all of that, you know, again, it felt like every time we were trying to plan something for World Cup outreach, which we knew we needed to do Right. Just felt like door just closed. Everything That's we tried to right. And then all of a sudden, this just happens. And then, every It felt like every day, the Holy Spirit just opened up Yes.
Speaker 1:A new
Speaker 2:It like God was showing out.
Speaker 1:In every way.
Speaker 2:That's how it felt to me. In every place. What about this? What about this? You know, you're like,
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness. And then I could not write
Speaker 2:this We were thinking, Okay, what if we could have a thousand people on our property that weekend? That would be awesome. I mean, what a joke that was. What a I mean, how small minded we were when all of a sudden, starting on Wednesday and then Thursday, it was thousands of people on our property. Yeah.
Speaker 2:In for Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I mean, nothing we could have we could have never, we couldn't have produced that. No. Massive concert on the stage of the Levitt. Then and then The watch party.
Speaker 2:Brought the watch party for all the And I'm so proud of
Speaker 1:our church members who volunteered Yes.
Speaker 2:So many people.
Speaker 1:Said, yes. Yeah. Sat in the hot sun. Yes. It was amazing.
Speaker 1:You weren't there this Sunday, but we had people stand who had served just to see people in the choir loft, people in the sanctuary wearing the scarves they'd gotten working the event.
Speaker 2:Yes. People tell me about that, which is awesome.
Speaker 1:It was so sweet.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I it was just it's funny, but so I was, I've had several pastors who've heard about it, reach out to me and say, so so what happened? I'm still not sure. What happened? How how do I even how long do you have?
Speaker 2:What happened? You know? Mean, which piece? What do you wanna talk about? You wanna talk about meeting with the the the Jordanian leadership, having conversations about what church life is like, or you wanna talk about, you know, The Chosen?
Speaker 2:You wanna talk about just the fun activities of being with them and their and and their staff and Well,
Speaker 1:or the impression we've made with the Arab community in our metropolitan area, both Muslim and Christian.
Speaker 2:Yes. So many from beyond Jordan. It was just a Middle Eastern celebration. I mean, I met folks from Nazareth, from all across Syria.
Speaker 1:People flew in from all over the country
Speaker 2:for this party. They did. And what was funny was the Jordanian leaders had spread the word among everyone that church had allowed them to be here on our property and host them and canceled our party and all that. So I'm just walking through the whole place for the three days and I can't tell how many people, just random people would say, hey, you're the pastor. Right?
Speaker 2:And this hug went, thank you so much for doing this for us. Thank you for canceling your party. I'm thinking, I've not said one word to anybody hardly, and they all they all knew it. And they're just getting their photos made with me and Cindy, and it was just, only God could have orchestrated is what I would say. And it's still reaping benefits.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've got news reports that have been in The Middle East about it all. And like I was just telling you, there's another company that's contacted me and wants me today to talk to them about video they would like to produce and, you know, questions like, so why would a Christian church in America partner with the Jordanian government for anything? And, I just said, well, you know The Lord. Was just an interesting thing and they were so sweet. And, yeah, it was just it was pretty overwhelming.
Speaker 2:I was so proud of our church, proud of our people, just how gracious our people were and welcoming. And, I think it was very and plus we it was very enlightening in a lot of ways. But, in fact, the night before the June, July 3, I ran up here to, yeah, to put our chairs out for the fourth of July parade. Cindy and I always sit in the same place. Sometimes I'll just run up here late at night and put my chairs out.
Speaker 2:So I was I was doing that in front of the student building, and this really nice SUV pulls up. And there are already some chairs out on the street. Guy rose his window down and there's some Islamic family, from, Iraq, I believe. And, he and his wife and children, and, and they all got on soccer jerseys. And, he says, excuse me, if you don't mind, what what is why are all these chairs out?
Speaker 2:What what are you doing? And, and I said, well, tomorrow is is the July 4. And he said, yes. We we know that. We we live here.
Speaker 2:And, and I said, well, there's a big parade in Arlington. And they were, oh, okay. And and I said, we're just put our chairs out so we can sit right here. And he said, do you leave them out all night? And I said, yeah.
Speaker 2:We we leave them out all night. He said, and no one bothers them. I said, I don't I don't think they will. We we do it every year. I guess I never have thought about it, but I don't think anybody will bother them.
Speaker 2:And and he said, well, this is really fascinating. And and he said, so so what are so why are you putting them here or something? And I said, oh, I said, I'm the pastor of this church. I said, I'm this is our church right here. And he said, you talking about this right here?
Speaker 2:I said, yes. He said, we were just here, me and my family. And I said and I'm thinking, okay, what? And I've already law I mean, I'm not even thinking about the Jordan thing. I said, oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Were you visiting or something? He said, we were here for the big party. And he gets his phone out. They were at the Jordanian party and he said, these were our cousins. He said, we're Middle Eastern.
Speaker 2:And he said, we came to this. And he started showing me he was at the watch party. He was at the concert the night before. And, and and I said, well, you know, y'all were this part of this was our property. He was like, thank you for hosting this.
Speaker 2:I mean, they were so sweet. And I thought, what a random connection.
Speaker 1:Well, I just
Speaker 2:You know?
Speaker 1:For the people listening in our church, they're like, this is so great, but like, it's cool that we did this, but what's the gospel impact?
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Any Muslim in our community, of which there are many Many. Who came to this party knows that there's now a church in Downtown Arlington that's not against them. That's right. And that is And just foundational step for gospel.
Speaker 2:It was. He was like, so, yeah, this was thank you so much. We had such a good time. That's when he told me, we're not Jordanian, but it's okay. We're we're we're cousins.
Speaker 2:You know? And he showed me a photo of they'd given his wife one of those, you know what mean? The shawl things. And it was a photo of her wearing her little shawl, you know? And, and then the kids were in the back seat wearing Argentine soccer jerseys.
Speaker 2:He said, well, we're big Messy fans, you know? And so anyway, so yeah, who knows the reverberations from the gospel perspective that will come from it all. And it was just it was just a God thing, would say, Luke. And what I loved about it was the it's the fruit of a year's long relationship with the city and, you know, and UTA and all that we've worked all these years. And we bear the fruit of that in something like this.
Speaker 2:And it was just incredible. So it's kind of strange. I was sitting and were laughing because we came back for that and then we had several other things happening here at the church that we needed to be a part of. And so, and then and then, Josiah and Adrian, you know, we were waiting on our new grandson. And so the study leave this year was a little odd just because there was so much that I needed to do here, which is okay.
Speaker 2:It's all it's all good. But I didn't have the pressure of preparing to preach every Sunday, so y'all took that away from me, and y'all all did a great job. I watched every sermon. It was really good. You did a good job.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Know, first person.
Speaker 2:Know, some Josiah said, Luke just preached on some random stuff today. And I thought, really? It was his comment. He said, yeah. He said, you know, just he said, when's the last time I sat down and read Philemon?
Speaker 2:And I said, well, I don't know. And he said, well, that was pretty cool. And Titus and I said, Well, you know, they are in the Bible. He started laughing. He said, I know that.
Speaker 2:And he said, But it's just He said, I don't know that I've ever heard a sermon. He said, I don't know that I've ever heard you preach on Philemon. And so I thought that was pretty cool. So I think this series It's
Speaker 1:a great
Speaker 2:little book. It's been fun. Watch it all and everybody did. Y'all are all so different. Connor is very different in his style of preaching and Katie and Brad.
Speaker 2:All of y'all have different voices, you know, which I think is good for the church.
Speaker 1:It's fun.
Speaker 2:Great job.
Speaker 1:I think I'm the first person to ever preach in a soccer jersey.
Speaker 2:You was about to say. I was about that you had your soccer jersey on, which was completely appropriate.
Speaker 1:We did discuss that
Speaker 2:Yes. Yes. Beforehand. Yes. And and got to present the mosaic to the church Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, from the Jordanian government and Which we had some guests
Speaker 1:that day. And I think while the minister of tourism wasn't there, the picture got shared with him. And I think it was very meaningful Yes.
Speaker 2:To all
Speaker 1:the Jordanians we've
Speaker 2:worked I've heard back from them that that that they know that we've done that, and it's beautiful. And, and the artist that I've I had a chance to visit with, he was so proud that we liked it, you know?
Speaker 1:How could we not?
Speaker 2:Met so much. Oh, my goodness. And he he wanted to make sure I knew the, you know, the lamb and the dove. These are symbols of the you know, of Jesus. I said, we know.
Speaker 2:Thank you. You know? But I thought it was just so sweet because this is a Muslim man
Speaker 1:A Muslim artist.
Speaker 2:Making this for us, realizing that we see Jesus as the lamb of God and the story and the baptism is the spirit of God descending like a dove and he puts all that, he displays that for us. I mean, what a sweet gesture. I mean, do you say about it?
Speaker 1:Holy God could pull all of this together. Absolutely. Man. What a week.
Speaker 2:And then just the summer, I mean, it's been so busy here. And just after I've gotten back, you know, just with, man, Wow Camp, my my grandkids are so involved in everything here and, you know, sports camp and it's just
Speaker 1:been All the summer trips Yes. Are
Speaker 2:And Kinder Bible School, which I've It I've to see was the week of the, you know, of all these conversations
Speaker 1:with did a great job.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, yeah, there's just been a lot happening. And then all the mission trips, you know, we've sent out so many, particularly our students that have More students than we've
Speaker 1:ever sent before.
Speaker 2:Yeah. All over the world. You know? Truly. And, I've heard from some of them, and I heard testimony Sunday.
Speaker 2:One of the students, he said he was at church and he had on a t shirt from camp that says, from grave to the garden. Isn't that what it was? Grave Grave
Speaker 1:to I think, yeah.
Speaker 2:That was the theme of youth camp. And he said he was at the coffee bar in the welcome center, sanctuary, off the sanctuary. And one of our church members said, hey, what's your what's your t shirt mean? And and it caught him a little bit off guard, and he said, I don't I don't know. What do mean?
Speaker 2:He said, the back of your t shirt says, you know, from graves to garden. And, and he said, well, that was our theme at camp, but we didn't talk about it a whole lot. I'm I don't I I don't know. I mean, he said he was just a little bit he wasn't quite sure how to respond. And so this church member said, you know, here's here's just a suggestion.
Speaker 2:If you're gonna wear that t shirt, you might ought to figure out exactly what it means just in case somebody asks you about it. And he kind of kind of laughed it off, and they they were kind of joked with each other. Well, this teenager said, you know, so we talked to one of the other teenager boys, there's two boys in our group, we probably ought to figure that out. So those two boys got into their Bibles. They looked at the song, Graves to Gardens, and they got in the Bibles and started researching about what does this really mean and why would you phrase it this way?
Speaker 2:And they talked to each other about it. And so on this last, I guess, mission trip to the border, they ended up somewhere in some kind of place with with folks they didn't know that were part of the trip or whatever. And he and his friend were sitting by each other and this man behind him said, hey, excuse me. What does this t shirt mean? What does this graves to garden mean?
Speaker 2:And this teenage boy turns around with his friend and shares the gospel with this guy and explains to him that the whole message of the gospel about Jesus, you know, dying in the in the on the cross being resurrected in the garden and the idea that we're moving toward the we started in the garden of Eden. We're moving toward the ultimate end of time where, you know, the Garden of Eden I mean, this is one of our teenagers.
Speaker 1:Well done.
Speaker 2:Yes. And we were not sitting there listening to him Sunday afternoon going, okay, y'all. This this is actually working. You know? And, he was he was so humbled.
Speaker 2:He's but here's what he said. He said, I'm so glad that random church member said something to me at church Sunday a couple weeks ago. He said, because I would have not I would have I would have had the same answer for this guy on this mission trip that I had for him, but I actually did my homework. And, so all the adults in the room were like, Where'd it go, young man?
Speaker 1:Well done.
Speaker 2:So I need to tell Ashley that story. But in fact, Ashley heard it. I think she was there with us. So but anyway, I just love all of that, you know? And, so yeah.
Speaker 2:So we're we're glad to be back.
Speaker 1:It's good to have you back.
Speaker 2:You know, it's good to be back at church Sunday in our church. I mean, I visited several churches while I was away. All of them ascent connected churches. They just happened to all be Methodist churches. And Well, what what would know?
Speaker 1:What would you share that you have gleaned from a month of worshiping in the Methodist world?
Speaker 2:Well, several things I would say. One is
Speaker 1:they I know you're a John Wesley fan.
Speaker 2:I love Wesley. They they do have, now one of the things that they do in every church that we visited, they do recite the Apostles' Creed, you know, and they they have like a at least everyone we went to, there was like a brief introduction to why they do that. You know, just the the statement of the traditional orthodox theological position represented by the Apostles' Creed. And they all prayed the Lord's prayer together out loud, in worship. And Katie and I have talked about that in the past.
Speaker 2:And when she was growing up, she said, you know, every Sunday, my church prayed the Lord's prayer together.
Speaker 1:The American Baptist Church I served in New England prayed the Lord's prayer every Sunday.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, but I love the I will say this. There was a certain, would I call it? Certain warmth that
Speaker 1:I felt. Would you say your heart was strangely warm? I wouldn't
Speaker 2:say that, but I would also say, one of them in particular was and I don't think it has anything to do with Methodism per se, it's just their church, was very, just very intentionally child focused, you know, for worship. And so when you when you when we went in at the front of the sanctuary going into the sanctuary, there were these stations. There were like three of them. And Cindy and I had been visiting with the pastor, and so we were just turning to head into the sanctuary. And we noticed there were young families at all three of the stations.
Speaker 2:I hadn't even told Casey this yet. But anyway, I thought it's interesting. And and in each station, there were, I think they call them doodle pads. I think that's the the what they're called. There were just stacks of them kind of on the on the bottom shelf.
Speaker 2:And then there were, all these coloring books that were biblically themed, and then just colors and crayons, I mean, and, I don't know, just just it was just and so the children were just the parents were all coming in, but all the children were at these
Speaker 1:Going to get their supplies.
Speaker 2:Just getting their stuff. And so we kinda stood there and watched it for minute. Actually, I kinda snuck a photo because I thought it'd be kinda weird. Don't wanna you know, these are children. I wanna be really careful, but I just wanted to show it to Casey.
Speaker 2:So then I thought, okay. So when the service was going on, I was just kinda watching. Well, the children were everywhere. There were a lot of young children in that service, and they all had their little either crayons or, you know, the little doodle pads or whatever. And, and there were a couple of things in the service that kind of connected them.
Speaker 2:But then when it was over, I I told Cindy, said, alright. I'm gonna run out there to the to the crayon station. I just wanna see, you know, are you gonna have to have a bunch of deacons go through the church and clean the church up? Or how how does this work? I was shocked that those kids leaving, I mean, all of them, just about, nude.
Speaker 2:They all came back. They all returned. They'll put them in the little slots, stacked them in the stacked little doodle pads. So, obviously, this was their thing. But that really impressed me.
Speaker 2:I love that that those kids felt so, at home, and they were responsible. You know? Brought So, their stuff it was pretty cool. So but, yeah, it was it was just a sweet time. I knew two of the pastors I'm friends with.
Speaker 2:One of them I'd never met before. So it gave me a chance to just talk some about what we're doing at Ascent and celebrate that with them. And so but I will also say it made me miss my church. I think sometimes we don't recognize the quality of music and worship that's offered here just every Sunday. And I'm and I'm not denigrating where I went at all, but I'm just saying
Speaker 1:we've got some great, great
Speaker 2:We really do.
Speaker 1:Godly, talented, gifted worship leaders.
Speaker 2:We do. And it was a good word to me that, yeah, they our group, they do an outstanding job. And Cindy, who's much more musically, inclined than I am, Cindy's a trained musician. She took piano and all that for years. I mean, you know, she knows quality.
Speaker 2:And that was one of her comments was, you know, you need to be grateful for what you have at First Baptist Arlington because they're really talented people. So that was good for us. And, but it was refreshing just to be in a place where, you know, I don't go very often and actually, I'd never been to any of them for worship. So, it was good. But, but also made me ready to come home.
Speaker 2:So and it was great to be back Sunday and, be a part of it. And and I'm I'm enjoying this series that we're in. I love the the way that we're taking the approach we've taken with the fruit of the spirit. Of course, you were part of that, kind of helping plan it all. And I like the way we did that.
Speaker 2:I like the characters that we've chosen. And it's very informative. Yeah. Hopefully, inspirational for our people. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know?
Speaker 1:Well, we have talked a lot about the summer. Do we wanna talk a little bit? Let's talk about Mary Magdalene.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I love Mary Magdalene. I don't know that I've ever preached a sermon on Mary Magdalene in particular till I
Speaker 1:think that's been one of the good things about this series is there are lots of truly significant people Mhmm. In both the Old and the New Testament that we really don't talk about a lot, And you especially when it comes to women like Mary Magdalene, I think kind of the history of interpretation.
Speaker 2:Next thing I'm gonna do Ruth. So but yeah, Mary Magdalene, know, it's fascinating how influential a sermon can be. So when Pope Gregory I mean, obviously, he was a pope, but still, the sermon was preached in May, and he's the one that basically decided that Mary was that sinful woman in Luke seven. And so now the next thing you know
Speaker 1:for over Fifteen hundred years.
Speaker 2:All this time, the idea is and it's been somewhat taught, I think, by people well meaning people without really even thinking, well, you know, Mary Magdalene was prostitute. I heard that growing up as a kid.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah. It's
Speaker 2:it's so and there's absolutely Not in the scripture at all. And there's nothing in the New Testament even remotely suggests that. But, just so happens that's what Pope Gregory thought, and and I'm not dogging him. That was his he thought you go from Luke seven to Luke eight. Well, some of these women have been healed.
Speaker 2:Well, this is one of them. And, and so, yeah. But, 1969, the Vatican issues a statement to say, well, actually, these are three different women. You know? By then, it's so ingrained, you know, in people's minds.
Speaker 1:But That's just a good word of caution too. When you come to scripture, assess if it's are you reading it because culture has shaped that reading? Or is that Right. Is it what's in the text? You know, was an English major in college and I took a class on John Milton.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Well, Milton is who originates that evade an apple. Exactly. And it's not a big theological detail, but But The bible doesn't tell us
Speaker 2:what fruit
Speaker 1:she ate.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So if you ever think, oh, well, Eve ate the apple. Well, that's John Milton.
Speaker 2:That's
Speaker 1:right. It's not the bible.
Speaker 2:And look how pervasive it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And it's everywhere. And so just be Yeah. When you read scripture, be mindful. Am I Right.
Speaker 1:Reading how much am I reading through the lens of what I've received through culture
Speaker 2:Correct.
Speaker 1:Versus what's in the text?
Speaker 2:And we may have more beliefs about hell because of John Milton than actually what the scripture teaches.
Speaker 1:That would also be an accurate statement.
Speaker 2:So yeah. I I loved the the for me personally, just the time I spent studying Mary Magdalene. It and it I just to be honest with you, I got very, just inspired by her example and what the Lord chose to trust her with. I mean, trust her with the initial message of the resurrection, you know?
Speaker 1:That's no small thing.
Speaker 2:It's unbelievable, really. And if you're attention
Speaker 1:She's there the whole time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And and to a first century, you know, testimony to come from Mary Magdalene in that culture, that just says volumes to me about what what was intended and why it happened and, yeah, and her faithfulness. You know, I I love I'm so proud of Luke and Matthew both for telling us. Matthew puts it a little differently, said that she was taking care of the needs of Jesus, which if you didn't know any better, you would just assume that's financial, but then Luke just tells you point blank. They're sharing from these women out of their resources, supporting the ministry of all not just Jesus, but all of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, and that's why I'm glad that Dallas Jenkins and The Chosen has these women traveling with the apostles.
Speaker 1:Because they did.
Speaker 2:They did. That's what the Bible actually says. Yeah. And, so, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the things I think about, this is not Mary Magdalene, but one thing I noticed this Easter in rereading, you know, the road to Emmaus kind of after Easter is, you know, in John's gospel we read that at the cross we have Mary Magdalene, but there's also Mary the wife of Clopus. Well then in Luke's story of the road to Emmaus you have Clopus and an unnamed
Speaker 2:person And who, walking yeah.
Speaker 1:But we know that if Mary, his wife, is at the crucifixion, then likely, this road to Emmaus narrative is a husband and a wife.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And so Which really reframes how a lot of people view that. They just assume it's two men. Right.
Speaker 1:And it doesn't say that it's marry the wife
Speaker 2:of I love Thomas on the That's
Speaker 1:a much more logical leap.
Speaker 2:It would make complete sense, wouldn't it?
Speaker 1:And so, don't underestimate the role of women in Jesus' life and ministry.
Speaker 2:And it's funny that we're in this interesting context right now in some of our broader denominational connections. I'm having this conversation about women. What I love about the scripture is that it's teaching us and informing us and it's not, it's not like we're addressing a cultural moment. We're just being biblical. That's really all we're trying to do here, you know, is just say what the Bible says and for Mary Magdalene, her faithfulness to me.
Speaker 2:I mean, and even, you know, when Matthew says, so they they get the body of Jesus and they take him to the tomb and Mary is sitting across from it, Mary Magdalene, Well, I mean, think about that, that Mary Magdalene follows Jesus. I mean, when she became a follower of Jesus. She didn't quit. That's right. She followed him the whole time.
Speaker 2:I mean, all the way to the tomb and then to the empty tomb and
Speaker 1:And then Reasonably is in that group of a 120 people
Speaker 2:in the center she be?
Speaker 1:Of course, she's there. I would I would Yeah. I think it makes perfect sense for her to be present at Pentecost.
Speaker 2:Of course. Yes. So and if your sons and daughters are prophesying, well, she's already done that. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:She's already proclaimed the gospel to them and, you know, whoever it was said she's the apostle to the apostles. What a great designation for her. So yeah, she was very inspirational to me. I'm already studying, getting ready for next Sunday thinking about Ruth and just the gentle, just just demeanor of Ruth and how patient she was and how faithful she was, you know, to her mother-in-law and, you know, when Naomi releases her. And and what's crazy, Luke, is who who could have orchestrated all this?
Speaker 2:The Jordanians live in the land of Moab. And Ruth I'm gonna preach on Ruth, honey, is she's a Moabite. You know what I mean? She's a Jordanian. It's something you can't You just can't make this stuff up.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's like God just kind of must have all of these threads were
Speaker 1:all In the line of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. So, yeah, it's just a really fascinating set of events that all of it is just tying together in my mind. And then, you know, I've been thinking about the future and I'm pretty excited about where I believe we're headed as a church. And, you know, the whole call to prayer that I want us to participate in in August and then later starting in September, actually coming to prayer on Wednesday evenings in a more concentrated way. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm just watching it all unfold in front of me and it's interesting because it feels to me like we're on this wave that the spirit is produced that you don't create, you can't conjure it up. But when you get it, you need to ride it.
Speaker 1:You do.
Speaker 2:You need to be in on it. And that's where I sense that we are. And I'm very excited about that and hopeful. Yeah, I'm looking forward to what's ahead of us.
Speaker 1:Me too. It's been one heck of a summer.
Speaker 2:It has.
Speaker 1:It's not over.
Speaker 2:And I was gonna say, it's early July still. Right?
Speaker 1:So yeah.
Speaker 2:It's been good.
Speaker 1:It's been a great great summer. We're glad you're back.
Speaker 2:Well, it's good to be back. Awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Thanks for listening everyone. We'll be back next week. Katie should be back. She's on vacation this week.
Speaker 1:K. We love when our staff take their vacation days. That's good for you. So But we'll be back next week.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to the Tell Me More podcast today. You can subscribe to this podcast on your app of choice, or you can visit us at fbca.org to find out more information about the podcast and our church. Thanks for listening. Have a good day.