Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the approximate start time of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.
Prayer:
[02:25] - Q: Prayers of believers vs. unbelievers – when a person that has belief but doesn’t have a daily walk says, “I’ll pray for you,” “Sending prayers,” are they heard the same? How should I respond to them?
[07:10] - Q: What is the biblical response to proclamation prayer or prayer where people pray with the authority to command things? How should we respond to believers who pray or want to pray for us in this way?
[11:45] - Q: How should we view or even practice the “listening prayer”, in which we listen for God’s speaking or answer to us? Is that charismatic Christianity?
The Church:[16:45] - Q: Do the leaders of this church like each other? If so, how do you show it to each other?
[20:40] - Q: What is this church’s strategy concerning choosing worship songs that overuse the repeat button? I am unable to see the benefit of singing the same words over and over?
[22:18] - Q: What does the “gift of tongues” accurately look like in today’s church? Since I’ve only seen the “crazy” – there must be a legit use for it since Paul spent so much time on it in 1 Corinthians 14. And if it is no longer valid, how do you determine what gifts are valid or not?
[27:48] - Q: Can Christian women baptize new believers?
Family/Kids:[29:27] - Q: Do babies go to heaven if they die? Similar Question: “The age of accountability” being made up – or not found in the Bible, what biblical basis is there for understanding what will happen to young children or the disabled when they die unexpectedly or if Jesus returns?
[34:36] - Q: Is it okay for a Christian couple to decide that they do not want to have children or to prevent conception? Also, is it okay for a Christian couple to decide what size of a family they would prefer, or should we let those decisions up to God?
-
00:00-00:02
So we get to lay some ground rules first, right?
00:03-00:03
>> Absolutely.
00:04-00:04
>> OK.
00:06-00:08
It's been a while since we've had Q&A day, isn't it?
00:08-00:09
When was the last one we had?
00:09-00:11
>> It was definitely before we went to two services.
00:11-00:11
>> Yeah.
00:11-00:13
>> Because I don't remember doing this twice in a row.
00:13-00:14
>> You're right.
00:14-00:14
Yeah.
00:16-00:18
And you would have remembered something like that.
00:18-00:20
>> Who knows what's going to happen in the second service?
00:20-00:21
>> Yeah, we'll find out.
00:21-00:23
>> It's not recorded, so we can say whatever we want.
00:23-00:23
>> Right.
00:24-00:25
It's going to get spicy, right?
00:25-00:25
>> It will get spicy.
00:26-00:33
The ground rules, number one, we can only answer the question that we think is being asked.
00:34-00:44
So if you submitted a question and we answered it in a way where you're like, that's not at all what I was thinking, we can only assume what is being asked.
00:44-00:45
And we're going to try our best to that.
00:45-00:47
And we're also going to try to give the short answer.
00:47-00:49
Every one of these questions were fantastic.
00:50-00:53
And we could probably spend an hour on each of them.
00:54-00:56
But I don't think anybody really has time for that.
00:56-00:59
So we're gonna give you the short answer on these.
01:00-01:10
I love Q&A Day because it tells me as a pastor like what people are thinking about and the kind of questions they have.
01:10-01:12
So it's an opportunity to dive into some of those.
01:14-01:25
Yeah, and we have 17 questions that have been submitted and we have, and by we, I mean you guys 'cause I'm just a guy standing here, sitting here with a microphone.
01:26-01:28
have split into sections.
01:28-01:39
So we have prayer, we have the church, we have family and kids, we have creation and the end times, and then just a couple of miscellaneous.
01:39-01:40
Is this like Jeopardy?
01:41-01:41
Yes.
01:41-01:42
We're gonna pick a category.
01:42-01:45
All right, I'll take the church for 200, Matt.
01:46-01:47
Make sure you answer with what is.
01:48-01:48
(laughing)
01:50-01:54
So let's get right to it here, so we can get through as many as we can.
01:54-01:56
Do you wanna set your, Do you have a pack?
01:57-01:59
Was it Pac-Man or was it Mario Kart?
01:59-02:00
Yeah, but I don't have my phone on me.
02:00-02:01
Okay, I'll tell you.
02:01-02:02
I don't know where is my phone?
02:02-02:03
I'll set my boring timer.
02:03-02:05
Yeah, we better set a timer, huh?
02:05-02:06
Yeah, you wanna set a timer?
02:06-02:07
Yeah, I will.
02:07-02:08
Do we wanna do 30?
02:09-02:10
You wanna do 30?
02:11-02:13
Let's do 35.
02:14-02:16
35, oh boy, okay.
02:18-02:18
And it has started.
02:19-02:19
All right.
02:19-02:21
We preach longer than 35, so it'll seem short.
02:22-02:22
Yeah.
02:22-02:23
Yeah, it'll seem, yeah.
02:24-02:25
All right, first question.
02:25-02:26
We're going to go right to prayer.
02:27-02:30
Prayers of believers versus unbelievers.
02:31-02:39
So when a person that has belief but doesn't have a daily walk says, I'll pray for you, or sending prayers, are they heard the same?
02:40-02:42
And how should I respond to them when they say that?
02:43-02:47
Well, prayer is a very relational thing.
02:47-02:55
And when you look at what Scripture teaches about prayer, We come to God in prayer through Jesus Christ, right?
02:55-02:59
An unbeliever doesn't have that access.
02:59-03:03
And apart from Christ, what access would we have?
03:03-03:14
You know, it's funny, looking through these questions, I saw a reel with John MacArthur that I sent to Pastor Taylor, where he said, he was answering this very question.
03:14-03:18
I'm like, well, just write down his answer, 'cause it's gonna be way smarter than anything I come up with.
03:18-03:21
But he had a line in there that just really hit me.
03:22-03:36
He said, "God does not obligate himself "to answer the prayers of unbelievers." When you look at what his word says, he has obligated himself to answer the prayers of believers, but he does not for unbelievers.
03:37-03:37
Pastor Taylor?
03:39-03:41
As I thought of this question, I thought of an example.
03:41-03:54
Just imagine you take your whole family to go get ice cream, and while you're waiting in line, Some bratty, super rude kid comes over, kicks you in the shin and says, "Hey, get me ice cream." How likely are you to get that kid ice cream?
03:56-04:03
Imagine then your child says, "Hey, Dad, can I please have some ice cream?" You have a different heart disposition towards that question.
04:04-04:12
'Cause you're more tuned in to your kid's needs and wants than some random, rude, bratty kid who doesn't really want anything to do with you, right?
04:13-04:18
And so there's many verses in the Old Testament to talk about God not listening to the prayers of the wicked.
04:18-04:24
Doesn't mean he doesn't hear them, but he views them much differently than the prayers of his children.
04:24-04:30
I would say the one prayer that God always answers from an unbeliever is the prayer of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
04:32-04:34
And that last question, or how should I respond to them?
04:37-04:39
It depends on the situation.
04:39-04:42
I think the safe thing to do is to just say thanks.
04:43-04:49
But I think even better is to ask, hey, I really appreciate your prayers.
04:49-04:50
Do you have a church home?
04:51-04:54
And if they don't, invite them to harvest.
04:55-04:56
There you go.
04:56-05:05
I thought of 1 Peter 3, 7, and I believe that Justin Cady preached about this at the men's conference.
05:06-05:21
And the verse is, "Likewise, husbands live with their wives "in an understanding way, "showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered." What do you think that means?
05:21-05:27
And is that talking about, you know, if you're not doing those things, even if you are a Christian, that your prayers aren't going to be heard?
05:28-05:30
What do you think hindered means in that sense?
05:30-05:39
And that verse in particular, you know, a lot of times you had a situation where there was, one spouse was saved and the other was not saved.
05:40-06:12
And I think in that verse in particular, what he's talking about is, husbands, you're praying for your wife to get saved, and if you're acting like a jerk, you're hindering your own prayers. That's what I think is meant in the context of that verse. Like, you are, you're getting in your own way. You want your wife to come to Christ. You say you're a Christian, and you're acting like a jerk. She's like, "Why would I come to Christ? My husband says he's a Christian, and he acts like a, you know, just an idiot. So, I think that's what's being talked about in that verse.
06:13-06:13
Yeah.
06:13-06:29
I think in general though that if you have a hidden sin life, it does affect your fellowship with God. Not on His end, but on your end. And even in the Psalms it talks about, "If I cherish iniquity in my heart, you would not have heard me." It really does affect your prayer life, even if that specific verse doesn't speak to that concept.
06:30-06:45
Right, yeah, it absolutely does. I mean, we have access to God through Jesus Christ, and we have fellowship with God in our prayer life through spending time in His Word.
06:46-06:54
And I think we can really hinder our fellowship, you know, like the Christians in sin, you know, backslidden. We can hinder our fellowship.
06:56-07:05
But, you know, for the purposes of this question, I don't think God hears prayers for a non-believer the way He hears them for a believer.
07:07-07:10
Okay, let's go to another prayer question then off of that.
07:11-07:19
What is the biblical response to proclamation prayer or prayer where people pray with the authority to command things?
07:20-07:24
And how should we respond to believers who pray or want to pray for us in this way?
07:24-07:30
So I'm sure you guys have run into people or have heard this before, these proclamation prayers.
07:31-07:32
How do we respond?
07:32-07:32
Right.
07:32-07:33
You speak it, right?
07:33-07:34
You have the authority.
07:34-07:37
You speak it and it comes into being.
07:38-07:42
And I have a real problem with that biblically.
07:44-07:48
And you know, it's fresh on my mind because we just covered the Lord's Prayer recently going through the Sermon on the Mount.
07:49-07:52
What are the first two words in the Lord's prayer?
07:54-07:55
Anybody remember?
07:56-07:57
Oh, it wasn't that long ago.
07:59-08:00
Yeah, our father, right.
08:02-08:05
So how should we address God in prayer?
08:08-08:10
Like a child addressing his father.
08:11-08:16
Okay, parents, how does it fly in your house when your kids start making demands?
08:17-08:22
when your kids start walking around going, "I have the authority to get what I want." Does that fly in your house?
08:23-08:26
That doesn't fly in our house, right?
08:26-08:32
So I have a real problem with that, praying to command things.
08:32-08:38
We don't see anywhere in scripture where we have that kind of authority.
08:38-08:40
Where does that come from, do you know?
08:41-08:45
I think scripture does call us to pray confidently and boldly.
08:45-08:54
Like in Hebrews, we're told to come confidently before the throne of grace to ask for help in time of need on the basis of Jesus Christ, not my own authority, but on his authority.
08:55-09:00
So we're called to pray with boldness, expectation, but also with submission.
09:01-09:01
Right.
09:01-09:08
We ask God for things, but also trust that he knows better and he may answer our prayers the way that we want him to.
09:08-09:13
Right, and I had that verse open right up here that you referenced, you know, Hebrews 4.16.
09:14-09:25
"Let us then with confidence "draw near to the throne of grace." Right, so yeah, we do come confidently because of Jesus, but what are we doing when we come to the throne of grace?
09:25-09:27
Commanding things?
09:27-09:34
No, he tells us that we may receive grace and find mercy to help in time of need.
09:35-09:38
Receive mercy and find grace, excuse me, I just switched those words.
09:38-09:43
Same point, receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
09:43-09:46
So yeah, we have confidence, but not to command things.
09:47-10:02
We have confidence to have access to God, but everything I see in scripture is to come praying as a dependent child on the Lord, trusting in His sovereignty and asking, you know, also in the Lord's prayer for His will to be done.
10:02-10:16
I just, I really, I'm not big on the, on the commanding things, but this question, How should we respond to believers who pray or wanna pray for us in this way?
10:19-10:20
I just can't.
10:21-10:29
I look for opportunity to lovingly say, well, you know, I appreciate your prayers and I'm trusting in God's sovereignty.
10:29-10:32
You know, I know what I want, but I'm more concerned with what God wants.
10:32-10:40
And I try to steer the conversation more towards submitting to the will of God versus demanding that God cash in what I want.
10:40-10:42
Pastor, what do you think about that?
10:42-10:46
I think instead of lecturing someone and critiquing their prayers, ask them questions.
10:46-10:48
Like, hey, when you were praying, you said so-and-so.
10:48-10:49
Could you explain what that means to me?
10:50-10:52
Or even ask, hey, I'm really fascinated by people's church backgrounds.
10:52-10:54
What church background did you come from?
10:55-10:59
Questions tend to open up conversations, not shut them down.
10:59-11:01
Yeah, yeah, that's a good point.
11:03-11:18
All right, we'll do one more on prayer, And I guess we should say, too, before we go too much further, that if and when we most likely don't get through all of these, right, all 17, you guys are going to answer them on the blog, Harvest Pizza-- Or maybe in the next service.
11:18-11:18
Maybe.
11:20-11:21
Just stick around.
11:23-11:24
Skip lunch, whatever you need to do.
11:25-11:26
Maybe we should just do that.
11:26-11:27
Just do them in the next service.
11:29-11:29
We'll see.
11:30-11:30
We'll see how we feel.
11:31-11:33
We've got time to think about it.
11:33-11:35
Clearly we pre-planned this.
11:35-11:41
If people throw rocks at us for any of the ways we answered these questions, then we'll definitely do different questions in the next service.
11:41-11:43
We'll see how the rest of this one goes.
11:44-11:53
All right, how should we view or even practice the listening prayer in which we listen for God speaking or answer to us?
11:53-11:55
And is that charismatic Christianity?
11:56-11:59
Pastor Taylor, what do you think about that listening prayer?
12:00-12:15
I certainly don't want to nullify subjective experience, inclinations, promptings, 'cause I felt an internal call to ministry years ago, but it was then validated by other people who saw something within me as well.
12:15-12:20
And so you can have subjective feelings from the Lord, but you always check it by scripture.
12:21-12:24
Objective truth always wins out over subjective feelings.
12:25-12:32
I think so much in our society, people are looking for an experience, whereas we're called to submit ourselves to the word.
12:32-12:33
Right, right.
12:34-12:39
We encourage, and we've been teaching the youth group this, right, to pray God's word back to him.
12:40-12:49
And I absolutely think that we should quiet our hearts before the Lord and take time to be silent before the Lord.
12:51-13:00
But I guess this is one of those questions where I'd like to talk to the person who submitted it to see how far are you taking that?
13:00-13:00
You know what I mean?
13:00-13:03
Like, yes, you should quiet yourself before the Lord.
13:03-13:06
Right, you should pray God's word back to him.
13:06-13:11
And if you have something in particular that you're wrestling with, yeah, I think you should be silent.
13:11-13:19
But you know, I do believe God still speaks to us in that still small voice, right?
13:19-13:24
But it's always through his Holy Spirit working through his word.
13:24-13:34
So again, I'd like to hear how far this is going, what exactly is meant by that before I just slap a charismatic label on it?
13:34-13:38
Because I think there is a lot of validity to being quiet before the Lord.
13:38-13:41
You mentioned the phrase, God speaks to us.
13:43-13:49
How have you seen, in what ways I guess, does God mostly speak to you guys in your lives?
13:50-13:52
How do you see that show up most?
13:52-14:20
I've seen it so many times in my life when I've been praying for something and he's revealed, well, it's always through the word, but like through the word, there have been times, and I don't even have time to get into it all this morning, but there have been times I've been seeking the Lord in something in particular, and I've heard like somebody preaching a sermon, you know, where that very thing is being addressed, and I was like, wow, that sort of answers the question that I've been bringing before the Lord.
14:21-14:25
A lot of times the Lord will work through other believers, right?
14:25-14:32
That's part of the beautiful thing about being a part of the body of Christ, is God speaking through other believers.
14:33-14:40
So, yeah, God absolutely does still speak to us, but He doesn't write it in the clouds in the sky.
14:40-14:42
He doesn't scream it from heaven.
14:43-14:52
He does still use that still small voice, but the Word of God absolutely has to be the final authority and standard on that.
14:53-14:54
Yeah, prayer is a two-way conversation.
14:55-14:59
You talk to God in your prayer, and He speaks back to you in His Word.
14:59-15:05
And that's why last week in my sermon, I really encouraged everyone to pray through Scripture, especially the Psalms.
15:05-15:07
That gives you a vocabulary for how to pray to God.
15:08-15:15
And I can't tell you how many times God has blessed me and really spoken in a specific situation in my life through His Word.
15:15-15:16
Right.
15:16-15:17
Right.
15:17-15:22
And praying Scripture is like the greatest and easiest thing in the world to do.
15:22-15:26
You just read a passage and pray those concepts back to God.
15:26-15:29
And you just, I like to read it out loud.
15:29-15:35
I'll read a verse and then I'll say, "God, you said this, therefore I wanna thank you.
15:35-15:37
"Therefore I'm crying out for help.
15:37-15:42
"Therefore I praise you." But you just read a verse and pray it back to God.
15:42-15:50
And if you take some time to do that, you'll find yourself praying in ways that you've never prayed before.
15:50-15:51
We've talked about this so many times, right?
15:52-15:56
We get bored with prayer because we pray in the most boring way possible.
15:57-16:07
God bless grandma, God heal grandma's gout and traveling mercies and hedge of protection and boring.
16:07-16:14
But when you pray God's word, now we're using God's language back to him.
16:14-16:17
God, you said this, therefore, I'm praying this.
16:18-16:19
This is why I'm praying what I'm praying.
16:20-16:22
And you'll see your prayer life take off if you commit to doing that.
16:23-16:30
Yeah, I feel like the times when I've done that is when I almost, I don't know what or how to pray.
16:31-16:44
And like, I just have a couple of different things going on that I can't, I don't know, there's times where I just can't even put it into words exactly what I'm even praying about, or you know, how I want God to, you know, to hear me or to help me.
16:45-16:51
So it's just kind of like, all right, this is, this is a time where I can just pray your word back to you. 100 % Yeah.
16:52-17:12
All right, that'll wrap up the prayer questions, at least for now. So we'll move on to the church. And this question made me literally lol whenever I saw it earlier this week. And I would love to know why this question was asked.
17:12-17:15
I would. I would too. Yeah, lay it Stay honest, Fulsey.
17:17-17:19
Do the leaders of this church like each other?
17:22-17:24
If so, how do you show it to each other?
17:25-17:26
Private hugs?
17:27-17:28
Hang out?
17:28-17:31
I was going to say on the weekends, but you already hang out on the weekends.
17:34-17:34
Not by choice.
17:37-17:38
Here, Jeff, take my wallet.
17:39-17:40
I love you, I care about you.
17:41-17:43
I really appreciate that, Taylor, thank you.
17:43-17:45
He actually is gonna take it too, look at that.
17:46-17:47
Times are tough.
17:49-17:51
See, he likes me, he really likes me.
17:52-17:53
So Taylor, what do you think?
17:53-17:55
Do leaders of this church like each other?
17:57-18:01
Well it's funny 'cause even if I say yes, everyone's gonna, of course I'd say yes.
18:01-18:03
But I do believe that answer, I'm not just saying it.
18:03-18:10
You know, every time we have a meeting, it always goes longer than we thought because people wanna stay, chat, joke around, have fun.
18:10-18:14
I think that's a great sign of the leaders loving each other and caring for each other.
18:14-18:17
Typically you don't wanna hang out with people you're not big fans of.
18:17-18:20
And when a meeting's over, you wanna get out as quick as possible.
18:20-18:23
But our meetings tend to spill over a little bit and people wanna hang out and have fun.
18:24-18:26
I really do love the leaders of this church.
18:27-18:29
But I think it would be so funny if I didn't.
18:29-18:31
We had to answer that now.
18:31-18:32
That's what I was gonna say.
18:32-18:34
Like it would have been really interesting if you would have said no. - That would be.
18:35-18:36
Like I genuinely do.
18:36-18:38
I genuinely love the leaders in this church.
18:38-18:40
But I was just sitting here thinking how funny it would be if I didn't.
18:41-18:41
Like no.
18:42-18:47
I like some of them, like, yeah.
18:47-18:49
I would say I like most of them.
18:50-18:53
Or just to watch you kind of squirm and dance around that question.
18:53-18:55
Right, right.
18:55-18:56
Speaking generalities.
18:56-19:03
Yeah, I don't know the reason why that question was asked, but maybe a reason could be that there's so many churches where the leaders don't like each other.
19:04-19:07
There's fallouts and there's frustration, there's church splits.
19:07-19:14
You know, most people in this room have experienced a church hurt of some kind, And church hurt is one of the worst hurts to have.
19:14-19:22
And so it can be hard when you see leadership that's unhealthy, to see pastors that are fighting, to see elders that can't stand each other.
19:23-19:25
So there could be a big reason for that question is why I don't know.
19:26-19:36
Yeah, and I guess a follow up question to that is, yeah, how do you balance loving each other well and also dealing with some potentially hard things, some business things?
19:36-19:42
You know, we've got the campaign right now for a new building, and I'm sure there's a ton of conversations around that.
19:43-19:44
Yeah, there absolutely is.
19:46-19:55
Speaking for the elders, usually the first part of the elder meeting, it's front loaded with an extended prayer time.
19:56-20:01
And I think that sets the tone because we're not all coming in like, this is what I want and here's what I think.
20:02-20:09
But we're coming in saying, God, this is your church and we're here to glorify you and we just want what you want.
20:10-20:20
And I'll tell you what, when you spend like a half hour or whatever praying that and concepts around that, that sure shapes the tone of the meeting, wouldn't you say?
20:20-20:22
Yeah, and studying God's word as well.
20:22-20:35
We always do that in the staff meetings, the elder meetings, ministry team leader meetings, always studying the word together because that also shapes our discussion that we're not just coming to share our opinions, we're coming to submit ourselves to God's authoritative word in all that we do.
20:36-20:39
All right, we've gotten through four questions in like 20 minutes or so.
20:39-20:40
We're on a good clip.
20:40-20:41
Let's kick it into gear here.
20:41-20:42
All right, speed round.
20:42-20:43
All right, here we go.
20:43-20:48
What is the church's strategy concerning choosing worship songs that overuse the repeat button?
20:49-20:53
Am I unable to see the benefit of singing the same words over and over?
20:54-21:02
So it's my understanding this is not about like picking the same songs, but using songs that just repeat and repeat and repeat.
21:03-21:06
Worship is such an emotionally charged issue.
21:06-21:15
And I mean, you get five Christians in a room, you'll get six different opinions about worship, right?
21:16-21:20
Taylor, you had a good word about this when we were talking about this earlier.
21:21-21:27
Well, Psalm 136 repeats the phrase, "His steadfast love endures forever" 26 times.
21:27-21:29
The Psalms are very repetitive.
21:30-21:32
I think it's all just a matter of what are you repeating.
21:33-21:34
Is it worth repeating?
21:34-21:35
Is it glorifying to God?
21:35-21:36
Is it biblical?
21:36-21:37
Is it edifying?
21:38-21:39
That's the biggest question.
21:40-21:41
Right.
21:41-21:42
Yeah.
21:42-21:49
You see a lot of that repetition in the Psalms, like Pastor Taylor said.
21:50-21:54
It's not vain repetition, but it's purposeful repetition.
21:55-21:57
I think the Bible uses that too, right?
21:57-21:58
Outside of the Psalms.
21:58-21:59
Yeah, even outside of the Psalms.
21:59-22:00
I wrote down a verse.
22:01-22:02
Look up...
22:03-22:03
Where is that?
22:04-22:04
Oh, yeah.
22:05-22:37
Galatians 2.16. Just jot that down and look it up later. But in one verse Paul says the exact same thing three times. So there you go. All right next one. What does the gift of tongues accurately look like in today's church? Since I've only seen the crazy, there must be a legit use for it since Paul spent so much time on it in in 1 Corinthians 14, and if it is no longer valid, how do you determine what gifts are valid and which are not?
22:37-22:38
This'll be quick.
22:38-22:42
Yeah, this is a great question, Taylor, let them know.
22:43-22:44
(audience laughing)
22:46-22:48
I thought you were excited to answer this one.
22:51-22:53
Oh dear, this is a big question.
22:57-22:58
Should've saved it for next service.
23:00-23:01
It's too late, we'll do it.
23:01-23:03
All right, here's the thing.
23:05-23:09
The gift of tongues is so misunderstood.
23:11-23:17
So let me, the first thing I wanna say is, speaking in tongues is not normative.
23:18-23:19
It's just not.
23:20-23:27
The other thing is, when the Bible talks about speaking in tongues, those were actually known languages.
23:28-23:29
It wasn't gibberish.
23:29-23:31
They were actually known languages.
23:31-23:32
And what was the purpose?
23:33-23:38
Why did God have the early church speak in tongues?
23:39-23:49
Well, you only see it in the book of Acts and it's only mentioned in one epistle and that's 1 Corinthians because it's one of the earliest epistles.
23:50-24:01
And the reason you only see it there is because in that time, there was a transition happening from the old covenant to the new covenant, right?
24:02-24:21
And part of that was, and this was prophesied in Isaiah actually, because Israel by and large, not totally, but by and large, because Israel rejected her Messiah, God said, "I'm going to move on to other people," represented by other languages.
24:21-24:26
So tongues was actually a sign of judgment against Israel.
24:26-24:29
God says, "You don't want my Messiah?
24:29-24:37
"All right, I'm gonna move on to other people." And they were known languages.
24:37-24:57
I think it's so interesting that Paul writes what he wrote in 1 Corinthians to correct how misused and abused it was, and people sort of use that as a proof text to use it in the way that is inappropriate in the church today.
24:58-25:04
So, Lord willing, I do have a draft of the preaching calendar for next year.
25:05-25:13
It does not have elder approval yet, but spoiler alert, this is a big part of that, is I want to address this issue in depth.
25:13-25:16
But do I believe tongues happens today?
25:17-25:18
Yes, but it's not normative.
25:19-25:25
I've heard stories of missionaries, you know, in places where they don't speak the language, they were asked to share.
25:25-25:29
They spoke what they thought was their own language and people heard it in their language.
25:29-25:32
And like Taylor said earlier, I can't discount somebody's experience.
25:33-25:35
I wasn't there, but I've heard that story a few times.
25:36-25:37
I believe that's this.
25:38-25:47
But I personally do not believe in the gibberish, ecstatic, babbling language.
25:47-25:49
I don't believe biblically that's a thing.
25:49-25:58
When the Bible talks about tongues, They were actual, real languages that people were speaking that they didn't know but had to be interpreted.
25:59-26:04
Or, like we saw in Pentecost, people heard in their own language.
26:04-26:07
So, we could spend a lot more on that.
26:07-26:08
Is there anything else we should?
26:09-26:10
I think you answered that really well.
26:10-26:16
The alarming issue for me is there's so many churches that make it an essential of your salvation to speak in tongues.
26:16-26:19
If you're a Christian, you will speak in tongues.
26:20-26:22
And the New Testament makes no such claim at all.
26:23-26:28
And so a guilty burden is laid upon people that they are not expected to carry.
26:28-26:34
And I've known many people who've said, yeah, I just pretended like I could because I wanted to fit in and not be thought of as a non-Christian.
26:35-26:39
So it's very unbiblically carried out in a lot of ways.
26:39-26:39
Oh, it is.
26:40-26:44
I knew a guy who was part of a charismatic church.
26:45-26:46
I'm just gonna call him Joe.
26:46-26:51
But they were having a service and the pastor said, We're not leaving until Joe speaks in tongues.
26:52-26:53
And I said, what'd you do?
26:53-26:55
He goes, I faked it.
26:56-26:58
He wasn't gonna let anybody leave until I did it.
26:58-27:02
He said, so I just spouted off a bunch of sounds and stuff.
27:02-27:03
And he goes, I faked it.
27:03-27:07
And they're like, all right, we can go now because he's been anointed by the Holy Spirit.
27:07-27:10
I just, I don't see that biblically.
27:10-27:17
I do think tongues was a real thing as a sign of judgment against Israel.
27:17-27:22
1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14 dives into that.
27:22-27:28
And like I said, Lord willing, I'd like to spend more time really diving deep on that subject, but that's the short version.
27:28-27:30
Yeah, and you mentioned interpretation too.
27:31-27:33
That's a big part of it, right?
27:34-27:36
Right, yeah, that was an essential.
27:37-27:41
And that's something a lot of churches that practice this don't have interpretation.
27:44-27:46
All right, I think we can move on past that one.
27:46-27:46
That was a good one.
27:47-27:49
Last one on the church.
27:50-27:53
Can Christian women baptize new believers?
27:57-28:02
You know there had to be a gender role in the church questions submitted, right?
28:03-28:08
So, can Christian women baptize new believers?
28:10-28:31
Again, when the Bible's your authority, what does the Bible say about baptism and who baptizes, the only examples that we have biblically are men in spiritually authoritative roles, like pastors, elders, baptizing people.
28:31-28:35
I don't see any example biblically of a woman baptizing.
28:35-28:36
I mean, have you seen anything?
28:36-28:37
I haven't, no.
28:37-28:42
So I wouldn't say the Bible explicitly condemns that or encourages it.
28:42-28:43
Right.
28:43-28:53
Yeah, the Bible doesn't say, you know, a woman is forbidden to baptize, but we see zero examples of that.
28:53-28:56
And it seems to me to be a pastoral function.
28:56-28:57
You spoke on that a few days ago.
28:58-29:04
Yeah, I believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are essential elements of church membership.
29:04-29:07
That baptism is an entrance into the church.
29:08-29:09
And the Lord's Supper is for believers.
29:10-29:17
And pastors and elders are called to shepherd over the souls of their congregation, and baptism and Lord's Supper are essential for that.
29:18-29:22
So I think it is safest for pastors and elders to be responsible for those two things.
29:23-29:23
Amen.
29:25-29:37
All right, let's go to the family and kids section here of our questions and see how many we can get through of these, we've got less than 10 minutes here, so let's try to not fly through them, but let's see how many we can get through.
29:38-29:42
First one is, do babies go to heaven if they die?
29:42-29:43
Yes.
29:44-29:46
Next. - Similar question.
29:47-29:47
(congregation laughing)
29:48-30:01
The age of accountability being made up or not found in the Bible, what biblical basis is there for understanding what will happen to young children or the disabled when they die unexpectedly or if Jesus returns?
30:03-30:17
The whole age of accountability thing, There's not a hard age like for us today to know when a child developing, growing, maturing is able to accept or reject Jesus Christ.
30:17-30:19
There's no magic age for that.
30:20-30:32
The principle does come from, I write this down, numbers 1429, you know, God had told Moses that those who were 20 and up were not allowed to enter the promised land.
30:32-30:32
Why?
30:33-30:37
Because the younger people didn't know better, but 20 and up, they did no better.
30:37-30:41
They were held accountable for the rebellion and the sin.
30:43-30:44
That's a guideline there.
30:44-30:47
That was, Moses is dealing with how many people here, right?
30:48-30:52
Some scholars guess over a million people were involved in the Exodus.
30:53-30:57
That, you know, that was a guideline that the Lord established.
30:58-31:03
So I think there's a principle there, but we don't know because people mature at different rates.
31:03-31:10
We don't know when somebody gets to the point in their life that they are able to accept or reject Jesus Christ.
31:11-31:14
So is there a hard age of accountability?
31:14-31:15
I don't think there is.
31:17-31:20
I think the biggest scriptural evidence for this comes from the life of David.
31:20-31:22
We talked about this a couple of weeks ago, Psalm 51.
31:23-31:27
As a result of his affair and the murder of Uriah, his son died.
31:27-31:29
It was a result of the affair with Bathsheba.
31:30-31:31
And we see David weeping.
31:32-31:41
He's mourning, and then he says in 2 Samuel 12, I was 12, 23, "But now he is dead, why should I fast?
31:41-31:42
"Can I bring him back again?
31:42-31:54
"I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." So he knows the baby's not gonna come back to life in the present, but he has a confidence that he will see his son again someday.
31:55-32:00
And later on, he goes to comfort Bathsheba, I think he comforts her with that truth.
32:00-32:03
Is that part of the reason why you were so confident with the first question?
32:03-32:03
Yeah.
32:04-32:18
Oh, for sure. Yeah. David knew emphatically. He goes, you know, that, that child's not going to come to me, but I'll go to him. He knew that child was in heaven and David knew he was going to heaven because of, you know, the Lord's promise. So yeah, a hundred percent.
32:19-32:27
I think another example is from Numbers and Deuteronomy, the ones who, all the adults who decided not to go in the promised land and not listen, they died in the wilderness.
32:28-32:49
got to go into the promised land? Their children. So I think infants, unborn babies, young children, those with severe mental disabilities, they are not able to make a decision for Christ or against Christ. So I think it's very clear that they are covered by the grace of Jesus Christ and they're bound for heaven, the ultimate promised land.
32:49-32:53
Right. Here's a personal question off of that.
32:54-32:55
What will they look like in heaven?
32:56-32:57
Thirty.
32:58-32:58
You think?
33:00-33:02
I believe everybody looks thirty in heaven.
33:04-33:06
There's biblical reason for that.
33:06-33:06
Was that your peak?
33:07-33:09
Was that your peak in this life? Thirty?
33:10-33:10
Thirty.
33:13-33:13
That's...
33:15-33:17
If that's what I peak, boy, I'm in trouble.
33:20-33:21
No, that's a whole other study.
33:22-33:26
But yeah, I personally believe everybody in heaven looks 30.
33:27-33:30
When did the Levitical priests start their job function?
33:31-33:32
30.
33:32-33:34
When did Jesus start his ministry?
33:35-33:35
30.
33:35-33:37
There's a whole, you can trace this out.
33:37-33:44
Do a little Bible study on all the people that God used at that exact age and how he ordained that.
33:44-33:45
It's a fascinating study.
33:45-33:54
So that's, like I said, I'm not, that's not a, "Thou sayeth the Lord." I'm just saying when I studied the Bible, It's like, huh, seems like there's something about that age.
33:54-33:57
So when people say, how old will my resurrected body look?
33:57-33:58
30.
34:00-34:02
I looked better five years ago, so I'm good with that.
34:02-34:04
Yeah, I know, I'm a year off.
34:04-34:05
Is there anybody here exactly 30?
34:08-34:08
JT.
34:09-34:14
JT, there is what-- - There he is, that's the picture of heaven right there, JT.
34:14-34:17
There is a peak physical body right there.
34:18-34:20
JT will never get better than this.
34:21-34:28
And I promise you, I promise you someday when I receive my glorified body and I look like JT Dean, I will be happy.
34:30-34:33
He is one step off from glorification right there.
34:35-34:37
All right, let's do another one here.
34:39-34:46
Is it okay for a Christian couple to decide that they do not want to have children or to prevent contraception?
34:46-34:54
Also, is it okay for a Christian couple to decide what size of a family they would prefer, or should we let those decisions be up to God?
34:56-35:00
Well, that is a really, really good question.
35:01-35:10
And obviously it's hard to answer this one without an emotional element behind it in saying it and in hearing it.
35:12-35:14
But at Harvest Bible Chapel, Bible is our middle name.
35:15-35:16
And what does the Bible say?
35:18-35:20
The Bible says be fruitful and multiply.
35:21-35:28
So I encourage married couples, if you can have kids, I think you should have kids.
35:28-35:36
Because I don't see any prohibition in the Bible, I don't see any language telling married couples not to have kids.
35:36-35:38
All I see is you should have kids.
35:38-35:42
So I would say, yeah, have as many as you can.
35:43-35:52
Right, but Taylor, you had a really, we talked about this before, you had a really good piece there about motives that I wanted you to lay out.
35:53-35:55
I think as with everything, the motive really matters.
35:56-35:59
Is the motive self-centered or is it actually selfless?
36:00-36:04
For example, is it self-centered in the way, look, I don't really want my life to be impinged by a child.
36:05-36:07
I wanna be able to travel, go do what I want.
36:07-36:09
I don't want, I wanna be able to get-- - Kids are expensive.
36:09-36:12
Right, I think those are self-centered reasons that don't hold water biblically.
36:13-36:19
But for example, let's say a couple's a missionary, they wanna go travel to a dangerous part of the world and share the gospel.
36:19-36:22
Like we don't wanna worry about our children's safety.
36:22-36:24
I think that's a godly good rationale.
36:25-36:30
But I think again, in our culture, in our society, more and more people are having less and less kids.
36:31-36:40
Some people are having no kids, but it's because of that self-centered piece of I just want to enjoy my life and live unimpinged from children.
36:40-36:41
So that's a self-centered motivation.
36:41-36:46
And I think another one, too, is if there's a serious health issue, right?
36:46-36:52
Because I've known couples that they have said the woman can't carry a child and be healthy.
36:52-36:57
Like, it would risk-- it would severely risk the mother's life if she were to carry a child.
36:57-36:59
So the couple couldn't have kids.
37:00-37:05
I think-- yeah, I don't think you should put the Lord to the test if that's an issue.
37:05-37:08
But that's going to boil down to a matter of conviction.
37:08-37:11
But the bottom line is God wants your heart.
37:12-37:15
And like Pastor Taylor said, it boils down to motive.
37:16-37:23
If you're saying, "I don't want kids," then I would have to say, "I can't say it." Yeah, I can't.
37:24-37:26
I would have to say, "Why?
37:27-37:34
"What's the motive behind it?" I think that's a good word, because biblically we're called to be fruitful and multiply.
37:35-37:35
Thank you.
37:37-37:38
(applause)
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another!