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The Truth Of The Matter Is Episode 34: Interpreting The Times.
25 Plays4 years ago
Some of us look at things from a bird's eyes view, while others elect to see things from a worm's-eye view. Life can be easy or it can be difficult. The beautiful thing about choices in life is that as individuals we get to make them. When we take a look at the modern time we're living in, the question becomes: Are we interpreting it correctly? As a matter of fact, when we take a look at different times in history, did people understand the implications and demands of that specific time? Daniel and Johnathan unpack Luke 12:54-56 and then reflect on the current time we are in. This very well could leave you reflecting in your own time.
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Transcript
Introduction and Listener Engagement
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the truth of the matter is this is podcast episode number 34. I'm your host Daniel and I'm here with Jonathan. We would like to begin by recognizing and appreciating all of our new and consistent listeners.
00:00:27
Speaker
We thank you all in advance for continuing to press play at your own convenience. And we will also like to ask if you enjoy the podcast, please do us a favor and share it with a friend or family member and on your social medias. And if you could, please do us the favor of leaving us a review. So Mr. Jonathan, how are you today?
The Role of Reasoning and Dialogue
00:00:56
Speaker
I'm doing well, Danielle. I'm really thankful that as human beings, we have the ability to reflect upon reflection that allows us to make adjustments.
00:01:11
Speaker
Also, as human beings, there's nothing better, in my humble opinion, than having the ability to change your mind. And that's something that we are entitled to and we should frequently exercise. Another thing, you know, that comes to mind is just having the ability to reason. I think that's very much underestimated as well, sometimes.
00:01:35
Speaker
Reasoning is a tool that we use all the time. It can assist with our decision making and it can help us see the error of our own ways if we let it. So today's conversation should be an interesting one. Let's get started with prayer first. But before we get into prayer, I do have a question. Sure, what's up? Was there any specific instance that caused you to be in a reflective mood or?
00:02:06
Speaker
No, I just think that on a regular basis, when it comes to making decisions, it's important that you utilize all the capabilities that influence that decision. And I think sometimes when it's rushed and it's not thought through completely, you then regret some of the decisions that you make. So I'm just loving the fact that, you know, having the opportunity
00:02:34
Speaker
to reflect, reconsider, think, those are all essential elements that is at our disposal. So why not utilize it, right? You know, in the book of Isaiah, it says, let us come reason together, right? So that reasoning that we do to make a lot of the decisions that we make in life, we should utilize it. It's there, it's there for a reason.
00:03:03
Speaker
And with that, that would allow us not to make any regrets. That's something that I thought was important to start off with, you know? Yeah, I used to hear that in some of the Assassin's Creed games. From a world-worldly perspective, yeah. It's like, come brother, let us reason. Yeah, right? Let us talk, you know?
00:03:26
Speaker
Talking, there's a lot of positive things that can come out of a conversation. The only thing is, is when you're having dialogue with people sometimes. Uh-oh, no. You know, it's not always the best. Sometimes, but you, you have to have a companion. That's, that's reasonable. He's done it. Oh God, he's done it. Okay. More reason for us to get into prayer. Yeah, let's get started.
Prayer and Biblical Interpretation
00:03:52
Speaker
So Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus.
00:03:56
Speaker
We thank you for placing the Holy Spirit within us so that we have access to you and your assistance. We understand the beauty of fellowship and the importance of gathering with one another.
00:04:10
Speaker
We appreciate time such as this where we can sit still and come together as a body of believers, even from our own personal homes, whether that's through online services or something as simple as a podcast such as this.
00:04:27
Speaker
The important thing is having access to you through your word. Though you said anytime two or three are gathered in your name they are in a miss. So as we unpack your word today, please open the eyes and ears and hearts and minds of all of our listeners to understand and then seek to apply what we understand. Please provide curiosity because with that we can start to ask, then seek and eventually find.
00:04:55
Speaker
Lord, you are not hard to find. I know that for a fact. I am a living testimony that you can't be found in your word, which is why we go to it for discussion, instruction, and the final verdict on a lot of things.
00:05:14
Speaker
So we say this with surety and with confidence that you are Alpha and Omega beginning and the end. The creator of all things. And with that we say these things in Jesus name we pray. Amen and Amen. Amen.
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah, so let's open up. This should be no surprise to those who have been following us. But let us open up to the book of Luke chapter 12 verse 54 to 56. And we're going to read this in the ESV today. Okay. Jesus said to the crowd, when you see a cloud rising in the West,
00:05:56
Speaker
immediately you say it is going to rain and it does and when the south wind blows you say it's going to be hot and it is hypocrites you know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky how is it that you don't know how to interpret it this present time cool
00:06:20
Speaker
Now I want us to understand four words. Now, there are two words that can be paired together, one by itself, or they all can be looked at individually. So we look at interpret. So interpret is to explain the meaning of information, words, or actions.
00:06:39
Speaker
Signs is an object, quality, or event who presents or shows an occurrence that indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. Wonders, a feeling of surprise mingle with admiration caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.
00:07:07
Speaker
Time refers to the amount of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, decades, centuries, millennium, and so on. This word is uncountable.
00:07:25
Speaker
And finally, times, just add an S here, refers to the number of occurrences, the number of instances that something happened. Now, the reason why I decided to define these words is because Jesus only chose outright to mention two of the words in this context of scripture and said nothing about the two other words that could have been obviously said, but wasn't purposely.
00:07:55
Speaker
Now usually signs come first and wonders follow. And examples we have of that all over scripture and the New annual Testament text. Now let's look at the first portion of what Jesus says here in Luke 12. When you see a cloud rising in the West, immediately you say, it's going to rain. And it does. And when the South wind blows, you say, it is going to be hot. And it is.
00:08:26
Speaker
This is what I would call recognizing the signs during their time. No one does here, just signs. One can say this because Jesus said they have gotten good at interpreting the signs. Now listen to the last part of this, verse 56. You know how to interpretate the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpretate this present time?
Understanding Jesus and Messianic Expectations
00:08:52
Speaker
Interesting thing about the earth, the sky,
00:08:55
Speaker
and time. They are always changing. The important question Jesus is asking here is why are we focusing on the earth and the sky but not the present time? Time is believed to be a man-made construct, right? That's what most people say. But it is in time that things change and Jesus is questioning the Pharisees. Why isn't the focus on our time the time that impacts us much more on a personal level?
00:09:24
Speaker
The present time meaning the period of time now, occurring. Now notice how Jesus is addressing their attention which seems to be much more fixated on the times, which we already defined as the number of occurrences, the number of instances that something happens. What Jesus is calling for the Pharisees to notice is something currently and publicly happening.
00:09:49
Speaker
which cause our attention to a significant change. It causes our attention to a significant change that is taking place in the world.
00:09:58
Speaker
So in the gospel of John, we see Jesus interacting with people and yet people did not recognize him. This is the time that I'm speaking in regards to him pointing to the time, right? Let's look at John and what he says here in the gospel of John chapter one, verse 11. We're going to look at this in the new King James version.
00:10:25
Speaker
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. Now let's look at the same verse in the Amplified Version, which explains the verse much more. He came to that which was His own, that which belonged to Him, His world, His creation, His possession. And those who were His own people, the Jewish nation, did not receive and welcome Him.
00:10:52
Speaker
The issue was they didn't recognize him. But more importantly, they claimed to be experts and have knowledge of the Lord. And yet they didn't interpret the time they were in. They didn't realize that he was the Messiah. Now let's look at the Gospel of John chapter chapter 10. And we're going to look at verses 22 through 27. The festival of dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's
00:11:22
Speaker
Tommy The Jews who were there gather around him, saying, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly. Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my father's name testifies about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
00:11:49
Speaker
My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. Yeah, so Jesus showed them plenty of signs and wonders, followed whether it was turning the water into wine, healing the sick, feeding the 4,000, the 5,000, bringing someone back from the dead, fulfilling the law. Jesus also at one point told them this in the gospel of John chapter five, verse 39 through 40.
00:12:18
Speaker
You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Now this is an obvious indication that they have not interpreted time correctly. I can understand that throughout history their leads
00:12:43
Speaker
you know there leads us to have us wonder you know what are some of the leaders that we've seen that gave off a certain distinct style that had them believe
00:12:57
Speaker
that they were sent from God. So we think about warriors like, you know, Joshua, who was called into power as soon as Moses was taken, right? We saw who, we recognize that soul who was their first king because they wanted to be just like the other nations. So he was elected by the people. David, who God chose right after that, was a man after his own heart.
00:13:27
Speaker
All those men that were leading were all men of war. Never, I, never, I would never, I mean never would they have ever thought, Jesus.
00:13:41
Speaker
who came to bring the kingdom mindset and address sin would be their king to lead them and establish an earthly kingdom, which is still in plain, just not right now. So to this day, many Jews believe the Messiah has not come yet, which is why they hold on to their tradition. So this is what we're seeing here. We're seeing men of war consistently in the Bible be the leader
00:14:11
Speaker
Israel. Then Jesus comes in with a completely different approach, a different mission. They don't know what's going on. So I want us to see how a certain way in the Texas of the Bible there was one narrative that was going on for a period of time.
00:14:37
Speaker
And once that narrative changed, because that's the beautiful thing about God, is that his ways are forever changing and never finding out. He then came in a virgin stomach of Mary, popped up in the world, and his approach and everything was completely different. And that's why they didn't have any idea. But it's amazing how all the prophets
00:15:06
Speaker
You know, whether it was, it was mainly Isaiah who prophesied of his coming. People weren't listening. People weren't paying attention. Now this got me thinking about our presence.
Learning from History and Modern Interpretations
00:15:20
Speaker
modern time are we interpreting the times correctly you know a lot has changed from the year 2000 to the current time 2022 it's been two decades right with the new time there are certain at least some adjustments we have had to make about plenty of the things in my opinion without question the old testament is history repeating itself
00:15:48
Speaker
And if we are careful, it offers a range of projects that help demonstrate the value both of learning history and of continuing to uncover and analyze clues from the past. You know the saying that those who do not learn history are doing to repeat it or those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. So Daniel, have you done your homework? Of course. I want to let our people down like that.
00:16:17
Speaker
Okay, so let's talk about what has it evolved in the last 22 years and what has that meant? Let's interpret time.
Technology's Impact on Skills and Priorities
00:16:27
Speaker
What are some things that became easier, but at the same time has had a negative effect? So you have the floor. So the first one that really came to mind was how we navigate.
00:16:42
Speaker
A lot of us use GPS now. Most of us don't really use things like, you know, maps. It's funny that you even mentioned that because you remember back in the day you had the map in the glove compartment. Yes.
00:16:57
Speaker
And even if you want to get to certain places, like especially here in New York, you really had to understand the train system. And most of the time I know here at home, all we would have to do is maybe ask somebody who's been to the place. A lot of it was by either word of mouth or kind of walking around and figuring out how to get there. Or the monuments and area, right? Yeah.
00:17:20
Speaker
Yeah, you needed to know the landscapes and it's funny you even mentioned that because a lot of the times the way I personally get familiarized with things is by looking at the landmarks because that's kind of how I learned how to navigate to get to certain places. But now, even for things like job interviews and things of that nature,
00:17:41
Speaker
Most of the time, I just look it up on my phone, and I could just literally without even having to recognize the landmarks or anything. I can go to places and just kind of be there just for me to looking up at Google Maps or, you know, just hearing a voice in my ear telling me where to turn and where to go. So.
00:18:02
Speaker
I feel like it's had a pretty big positive impact in that in terms of that. But the negative impact is most people can't read a map now. And also it's I feel like it doesn't make us as critical of thinkers or as aware of our environment. So that's one thing. Okay. That really came to mind. What do you think about that? I agree with you 100%. I definitely agree with you that
00:18:29
Speaker
With technology, the attention span of what would take a lot more work and a skill set, you no longer have to have the skill set. You just have to have the possession of the technology in order to operate. What it is that you need to operate to have access to it. So I agree with that.
00:18:47
Speaker
So what's next? Another thing that came to mind was the way we write. I noticed a lot more assignments in schools and the way we hand in assignments is usually done now on the computer. And I remember, you know, back in the day, having like floppy disk and USB drives and everything is kind of uploaded by either email or upload into the server.
00:19:14
Speaker
But on the downside or even back in the day when you had to turn in a paper, it was usually handwritten, at least in grade school. But a lot of kids nowadays on the negative side don't know how to write script. And I feel like the thought process that you kind of get from writing things out.
00:19:33
Speaker
and being able to physically see it and apply it and memorize it that way. That's our art that's being lost. Remember the five times each? Yep, yep. And that helps solidify information in your mind, really. Yeah, I don't think people know anything about that. That used to help us, apparently, on how to spell certain things. So, yeah, that was homework. Make sure you write these words five times each. Yeah. For sure.
00:20:03
Speaker
Okay, what else? What else? And also like, take that a little further even kind of a stuck affects people's study patterns too. Because like I said, writing just does so much being able to write something out and well, there's a goal or writing something out five times each. I really do feel like it helps to let fires information in your head.
00:20:26
Speaker
Okay. And of course, the next one would be, let's move to something more popular, I would assume, would be media. How we interpretate media and how we get our information. Most of it is now is done online. Back in the day, it was either newspapers or the TV. Yeah.
00:20:46
Speaker
And that has had an extremely negative impact, I believe, but also a really good impact. Let's start with the negative so that we can look at the more positive things. The negative effect is that it's really allowed for people to not get the whole story. It's allowed people to become easily judgmental about topics without being fully aware of all the details or
00:21:15
Speaker
getting a full handle on the situation that's the lead to, you know, cancer culture and impacting people's careers negatively. It's ruined people's good name. And we talk about the importance of reputation here on the Truth and the Matter is podcast. And it's allowed a lot of people to get prejudged without getting a fair shake of the stick. But on the more positive side, it has allowed us to receive more information about things we would have never known was an issue beforehand.
00:21:46
Speaker
and has allowed us to have a greater impact politically, if you're a political person or not. It does draw the world's attention towards certain issues that have before may have not been a concern to somebody who's in America to hear about something that's going on in Libya or in Pakistan or in Middle Eastern countries in the world. So I think I agree with that. Definitely. Mm hmm.
00:22:14
Speaker
Definitely had a lot of impact. Any more thoughts on that? Yeah, I agree exactly with what you said about the media and the social media outlets.
00:22:23
Speaker
that a lot of us, unfortunately it's a bad habit, we tend to believe much more in the news that we see on Facebook than we do if we actually go to Google and we look up what article was written about the actual topic to know if it's true, if the source is real, Facebook has become the ultimate platform that people go to.
00:22:48
Speaker
Not just that. Remember we had this little snow storm that transpired. Remember when we were young? For us to know whether school was going to be open or not. At the bottom of the screen of the news it would tell us whether school was open. People now have access to go on social media and immediately if it's said that people already got the news.
00:23:09
Speaker
is moving at an all time fast rate that is amazing in a lot of senses, but also it's detrimental because technology is evolving and growing faster than the human mind can conceive it. And I say that respectfully because
00:23:29
Speaker
We're starting to see how technology is sort of not just being viewed as a manipulation tool to those who don't have the ability to compartmentalize when they should be going on and when they shouldn't. But now they're allowing the technology to kind of rule over how they prioritize their day, their week. You know, they're sort of putting their responsibilities in the back burner.
00:23:57
Speaker
and their entertainment and what amuses them seems to be what's their prior focus. And that has a lot to do with lack of discipline and lack of understanding of what comes first. And that's what happens when you provide some people with leg room and leisure to have access to a lot of things that especially we didn't have, you know, the whole aspect of what we did when it came
00:24:24
Speaker
to our priorities, remember ironing clothes, showering, cleaning up before we had access to go play video games and watch TV. We had some sort of structure put into place to protect us from ourselves, but to understand that there's a time and place for everything.
00:24:43
Speaker
And if you understand that there's a time and place for everything, then you understand that there's a reason for the madness. So yes, I agree with you 100% the importance of media and how a lot of us, when it's not going in our direction, we point the media out to be the bad person, but we don't realize that it's all in the character of how you utilize the media, how you utilize technology.
00:25:13
Speaker
I guess it wouldn't be appropriate to not mention social media because it also spreads news and allows us to be more connected than ever. But on the downside, it's made us very disconnected as well because it's affected us in our in-person social interactions. There's a lot more people nowadays with anxiety or social anxiety. Some people don't know how to communicate correctly.
00:25:43
Speaker
it's kind of even affected the dating market where like you can't really I don't want to say you can't because it's actually possible as possible just not it's definitely possible but even small things like knowing how to approach a woman or knowing how to act somebody on a date now it's just swipe right or swipe left and you know most people get their interactions through that way it's made people's
00:26:13
Speaker
interactions when it comes to face and rejection when it's just a normal part of
00:26:19
Speaker
being a human being, learn how to accept rejection. It's allowed us to protect ourselves in that way on the downside. And it's also made us like less socially competent to how we talk with one another. Or there's a lot more people who are more socially awkward or don't want to always go outside. You know, a lot more people have become more introverted than extroverted. And that is not really a good or a bad thing, I think.
00:26:48
Speaker
were introverts and you know it allows them to play more to their strengths and then extroverts you know it could impact some some ways in which they communicate with introverted people it's made a lot of people more um just the way they interact with each other it's just been very different even i noticed now back in the day i'm doing the quote fingers like
00:27:10
Speaker
trying to go hang out with with maybe it's because I was younger too, but trying to go hang out with people was a lot more easier than it is nowadays, because more or less if you're like talking and texting. Mm hmm. Remember, they used to have this initiative more comfortable there. They used to have an initiative called Play 60. Remember that where they would try to encourage people to go out and, you know, you know, interact amongst your friends and be active now.
00:27:38
Speaker
Dave actually brought technology where you can do that on games. So they're trying to combine the two for those who don't want to lead.
00:27:48
Speaker
that you can still get your exercise through a video game, right? They're trying to hide in the convenience. They have mirrors that show you how to exercise at home, load treadmills and stuff that show you how to exercise at home. Some people don't even want to go out to the gym or go work out in the park. I did that when I had my treadmill instead of going to run.
00:28:18
Speaker
social media and just media has really changed the way we interact incredibly. To move it to something a little bit more on the internet set of things.
Online Learning and Technological Innovations
00:28:34
Speaker
Okay, I put the internet as the whole because I feel like that has been like the biggest impact. But
00:28:42
Speaker
I wanted to talk about YouTube and sites like Skillshare. It's allowed us to become more educational, like more, you can self-learn a lot easier now. Hey, YouTube University. YouTube University. I really like Skillshare too, not that we're sponsored or anything by them because, you know, probably hear that on many YouTube videos where this video is sponsored or this podcast is sponsored by Skillshare. We're not sponsored, but
00:29:09
Speaker
There's a lot of tools for you to teach yourself how to do things now. You could have always done those things with books and things like that back in the day. But I feel like mentors and stuff were more prevalent. But now you have more access to people who are just masters in their crafts just by a simple YouTube video or some type of video tutorial right there online where you can pretty much learn about anything.
00:29:39
Speaker
clean a shoe like that was the thing our father told us but didn't have like a father figure in your life YouTube University became your father figure and taught you how to like clean your shoes or groom yourself or our mother like she's really good with doing things like cannon and storing food and stuff all self learned from YouTube. Yeah, so yeah.
00:30:03
Speaker
have more access to learning how to teach yourself to do anything and pick up any particular skill that you may want to learn about. And in terms of like not needing like physical mentor, even though those people and coaches and stuff, definitely have their place. For example, you could go learn chess from the world champion himself.
00:30:23
Speaker
like magazine scarves and you couldn't do that back in the day from like Gary Kasparov without buying like a book or something or gonna go see them in play like you can do that type of stuff now so you know seeing you doing that maybe testing oh yeah definitely learn so many stuff from that no more mr. rusty to teach us teachers chess yeah um yeah what else got quite a few things written here okay
00:30:53
Speaker
You could do your taxes now.
00:30:56
Speaker
by yourself, online, get all your information from the previous year, upload it, instead of going into the tax place. Bad side is, of course, is eliminating some jobs. Transportation. There's cars that can self park now, or there's cars that show you exactly the angle as to where you need to go in order to park correctly. So you got a lot more people who can't park a car without that feature.
00:31:26
Speaker
Just even how we get around too. Got like electric bikes and scooters and, you know. Before you just had regular bikes. So, there's been a lot of changes now, a lot. A lot.
00:31:46
Speaker
I don't know if that was exactly 10, but... Oh, that's... Oh, it was done. Okay, so I'll touch on a few things. Everything wireless. Yeah, exactly. That's another one too. That's been a big change, right? No more of the folding. You got to fold your headphones in a certain way with a rubber band to prevent the damage in the wires. That was always an interesting one when you talk to people, right? Or you don't want to wrap it like that. You don't want to fold it.
00:32:17
Speaker
That's been a good one too. That's been a great one in terms of a positive way. But in the negative, sacrifice a sound call, just saying. Yeah. Put it out there for people. The connection is not always great. I can tell you that truthfully when I'm walking from my car to the house. Sometimes it's cutting in and out.
00:32:35
Speaker
So, yeah. So, you know, I think about cars when it comes to me, right? I remember when I drove my mom's car in 1999 Kia Sevilla to Albany. It had manual locks, man.
00:32:50
Speaker
right, it had manual locks. And I remember having the troubles I had with that, especially when it snowed, they will freeze within and you have to go get a de- I think a de-icer to put inside a lock to hopefully loosen it up. And it don't always work. So it went from there to now having automatic locks to having cold locks, right, to then, you know, other things like
00:33:18
Speaker
Now the dashboard kind of tells you a lot of different things. It tells you about your tire pressure. It tells you about whether or not you're lacking air in certain tires. You have a camera now.
00:33:30
Speaker
that assists you in your parking. And I say this all the time to people and I understand, you know, people don't understand, but that kind of takes away the ability to learn how to park correctly without the assistance, right? Because when you go, I don't know now, but when you go get your drivers, you go take the driver's test, not the red one, but the actual one.
00:33:50
Speaker
You can't really use that. Some of them will complain and say that you're not technically supposed to use your mirror because they want to see you physically put the car in reverse, lean back, look at the back, look at the front to park the car. A lot of those skills are going, right? Like you don't no longer have to deal with that anymore.
00:34:10
Speaker
you know, taking it back even a little bit further manual cars, you know, yeah, without the automatic. So a lot of I like what you say, yeah, the GPS, right, that helps so much. Some of them are actually built into the cars and
00:34:26
Speaker
Some of them, well, everybody has access to it to view it on their phone. When there's a downside of that. Okay. Your Uber driver could sometimes try to avoid traffic too much and find alternating routes that actually take longer. Yeah. If you just got on the highway. If they're not familiar with the area. Speaking of Uber, right? We have Uber and Lyft services now.
00:34:51
Speaker
And for what I understand, Uber does a helicopter service. Right. That's up there. Yeah, that's happening. And speaking of transportation, you don't need metric cards anymore. You just need your phone with a debit or credit card information there. You can army pay, right? Yeah, you can swipe your phone. Yeah. Here's another one. And this is this one I was going to say for last. OK. Auto correct.
00:35:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. Completely mess your spelling up. Yeah. Speaking about phones, you remember we had the flip phone, then it went to the Blackberry, then it went to the sidekick and now everything's touchscreen, right? Google saving your phone numbers. No longer have to memorize. I mean, you still know the house number.
00:35:40
Speaker
Do you know my number by heart? I don't know your number, but I know the house number. I know the house number, right? This is something I was talking about recently. iTunes. iTunes is not really popular anymore. They have streaming services. The streaming service grants you access to library music. Let's not say that because people do like Apple Music.
00:36:05
Speaker
But yeah, they have their own little connection now. What is it, Spotify? Then they have something, Jay-Z has a specific one. Oh, a title. Title. It's like $20. Title and it's Apple Music. Yeah, so, you know. Pandora. Yeah. So now on a more serious note, right? We've spoken about the advantages and positivity of the time and how things have changed. But I want to talk about something a little bit more on a serious note to kind of tie this all
Cyberbullying and Moral Implications
00:36:31
Speaker
in. And I want to relate it in a biblical sense.
00:36:34
Speaker
bullying has progressed and carried over into other places, right? That looks better. Yeah, I remember in school when we were younger, it wasn't so serious. It didn't take such a leap and bounds. It takes now. You know, we had the mama jokes and the daddy jokes and it didn't go much further than that.
00:36:54
Speaker
And as time went by, the offense of it and the punishment has went up because of the impact, right? It's just plain wrong to do those things. So you remember the saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words would never hurt me. You know, I think the popularity of that phrase has lost its benefits now.
00:37:12
Speaker
right it's supposed to encourage you to pay the person no mind but to some degree if those things somehow are true to the person that's hearing it it really doesn't do that right we spoke about the impact of technology and how it has grown but guess what bullying has made its way into the cyber world and now we have cyber bullies as well on all levels right
00:37:37
Speaker
That's sort of the reason why the need to address mental health has gone up tremendously, right? So technology has helped us tremendously, but now people you've never heard of have been given a platform and they use it to assassinate people's character. Now, the reason why I say that is if we look at things from a biblical standpoint, you know, we dig a little deeper.
00:37:59
Speaker
I think we can go to 1st John chapter 3 because verse 15 says anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer. And you know that no murderer can inherit or get or have eternal life. That doesn't reside right now.
00:38:20
Speaker
So we understand to murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. However, murder goes deeper than that. Another definition is to injure or destroy unexpectedly, tremendously assassinating a man's character or woman's character to be transparent.
00:38:40
Speaker
So it's the slandering of a person, usually with the intent of destroying public confidence in that person, which is a form of hate under several different reasons. If we dig a little deeper, I believe it's in the book of Proverbs chapter 6, I think 16 to 19, it tells us that there are 16 since the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him.
00:39:05
Speaker
Right? Holdy eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil or false witness, who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Cyberbullying has at least four of those things that are happening. A lying tongue. We know in the book of James it tells us, I believe it's chapter three, that the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts.
00:39:30
Speaker
Right? Consider what a great forest is set by fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course on fire, and in itself is set fire by hell. No human being can tame the tongue, but it's a restless evil full of deadly poison. A heart that devises wicked schemes. We see the things that are told online.
00:39:57
Speaker
and how it makes people feel bad and feel less than a false witness who pulls out lies that happens telling different things that aren't true but people come on there and they think it's a joke and it blows out of proportion and that's why we have suicide rates that go up that's why we have so many things that go up
00:40:18
Speaker
And it's kind of hard attainment. I think that's why Facebook has done, you know, some different things to sort of help that help the people out there that are in need, right? A person who stirs up conflict in the community. I don't have too many communities online, but I'm pretty sure there are plenty different ones. Like I believe one is called
00:40:42
Speaker
They call it house, a tree house or a climb house. I'm not sure, but it's an opportunity with people who come into these spaces to have some great conversations. And you do have people that go there with the potential to do some things that aren't so nice. You know, aren't the best things, right? So it's clear also we go to first John two.
00:41:06
Speaker
verses 9-11
00:41:27
Speaker
So we just don't, we just get an idea, an indication that some people are operating with the intent to harm people, right?
Spiritual Influences and Modern Church Practices
00:41:39
Speaker
And the true intent is usually masked with the ultimate desire to create destruction in the minds of those who are just coming online to enjoy themselves, coming online to be part of a community where they can interact.
00:41:54
Speaker
And remember what I spoke about last week about the two types of spirits, a benevolent spirit and a benevolent spirit, just to review. A benevolent person is very intentional, positive driven. They present themselves as kind individuals. They are helpful, friendly, warm, charitable, selfless, loving, so forth and so forth. A benevolence person is deliberately looking to divide, cause confusion, worry, very negative, hostile, argumentative, stubborn, and rude. So when it comes to interpreting the times,
00:42:24
Speaker
right the Bible can help you unpack how you know the devil sometimes is moving he's undercover he's setting tension within a lot of things right when we think about John 10 10 the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy I came that you may have life and have it abundantly that's Jesus speaking
00:42:46
Speaker
understanding how the devil is destroying people, he's undercover, putting things in motion, sparking the curiosities of human beings to do their work, to do his work for them. Well, they're doing his work for him, right? We understand in 1 Corinthians 1433 that God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. So where truth is, that's where God is.
00:43:11
Speaker
Where the devil is, we understand destruction, chaos, division. That's where he's operating. And I just want people to understand that times have changed. Daniel so eloquently placed a lot of different positive things has happened, a lot of negative things have happened. One thing that we should add on is I think the way that we have church, I don't think Jesus would recognize it.
00:43:36
Speaker
He also has said that he appreciates the worship for more people, right? So there's different forms of worship. I know that in the book of Acts, gathering in homes and having a conversation about God's Word was the church. That's what church should look like. The church now can also be, take place within the individual.
00:44:00
Speaker
right all these different ways God appreciates and when Jesus decides to come back what I know for sure is there will be some things that will be uprooted and there will be some things that remain so a lot of the different things that man has created I'm pretty sure will remain and some of the things will have to go but the most important thing
00:44:26
Speaker
then I think we can get out of something like today. It's to understand that interpreting a time allows you to operate wisely, make wiser decisions, do things with a reason, understand that certain decisions that once were okay is no longer okay anymore. You have to be sensitive to people. Sensitive, I know Daniel spoke a lot
00:44:53
Speaker
about you know how you approach women how you are much more methodical and the things that you say because now there are certain things that can lead down a path that you don't want it to go so now we have to be much more careful much more intentional positive
00:45:10
Speaker
mindful of how there are some things that hurt people, you know, we want to make sure people also know that there's opportunity for you to get therapy now. So use that to use that to your, you know, use that to use these different things that are available to help you out. Because this is the time now, where there's a lot of self help.
00:45:34
Speaker
There's a lot of people that have a willingness to see you in a much better light than you probably see yourself. And I think without question, that should be the focus and the aim. So is there anything else you want to add, Daniel, before we do devotion? No, I think we're set.
00:45:55
Speaker
Okay. So remember, when it comes to interpreting the time, see, do a reflection and see how much things have changed and make sure after doing that, understand that maybe at one point this would be okay, but now it's not okay. Maybe at one point this was how it was, but now it's not. It's important that you interpret the time and act appropriately.
00:46:24
Speaker
Don't be lost like the Pharisees when Jesus said, you know, you know, you know how to interpret the obvious, but how about what's going on in your current time right now? Do you know what's expected? Do you know what you should do? What you shouldn't do? Where are you now? Have you made the adjustments to do things in a positive way?
00:46:50
Speaker
heard. So let's move on to devotion today.
Reflection and Encouragement
00:46:57
Speaker
And the main thing with this one is try your best to speak joyfully. Jesus has promised you abundant life here on earth as well as an eternity in paradise.
00:47:14
Speaker
in Psalms, chapter 40, verse 3. This is out of the NIV version. It says, he puts a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. He has promised you joy, both in this life and in the next. Those who follow him have more reason than anyone to think thoughts and speak words that reflect joy.
00:47:41
Speaker
But do you know a professing believer who always seems to be complaining? A person who, on the outside anyway, seems mostly devoid of the joy of the Lord? Or are you yourself sometimes that kind of Christian? Do you have that kind of relationship with God?
00:48:04
Speaker
The Bible is filled with examples of men whose life situations weren't exactly reasons for happy or joyful attitudes. But instead of spending their time moaning, they focused on what God was doing in and through them, and they meditated on their eternal rewards. So remember, even when life throws difficulty in suffering your way, you can have God's joy fill you so that you can't help but let it out when you speak. And I will also pray this out as well.
00:48:34
Speaker
Lord, thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me the tremendous hope of heaven. Thank you for supplying my needs day after day. I promise you for your goodness, God. I want to say thank you. And I ask that you fill my heart with joy. And I also ask that you fill our listeners with plenty of joy in the days to come.
00:49:02
Speaker
In your holy name we pray, in Jesus name we say, Amen. Amen. And have a blessed week. And I just realized it was Clubhouse. I was like, man, I was trying to figure out what it was. It's Clubhouse. All right, everybody have a blessed week. Be safe. And remember, interpret the times, understand the appropriate way to respond to things, and you'll be all right. Use wisdom.