Pastor J: [00:00:00] What a glorious day that the Lord hath made! You’re listening to the SoulFood podcast, and I’m your host, Pastor J.
[Begin Intro Jingle]
Announcer: Everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he’s a child, but solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. This is SoulFood podcast.
[End Intro Jingle]
Pastor J: This is a particularly special episode of the podcast. This is episode one, the alpha episode. This is where it all begins, my brothers and sisters. So, how do I plan on kicking off this shiny new podcast? Well, with a two-part introduction series. This is part one of that series, and during this episode, I’m going to tell you what SoulFood [00:01:00] podcast is all about and where my inspiration and motivation to create it came from. So, stick around and we’ll get to it after this brief message.
[Ad Break]
Welcome back to the SoulFood podcast. This is your host, Pastor J. And I figure, a lot of you are probably wondering, what is the SoulFood podcast? Well, the SoulFood podcast is solid food for a hungry soul. This podcast is dedicated to helping those whose souls are malnourished and craving something more. You know who you are. You sit in church one or more times a week, praising and worshiping, and when you leave that place, you feel like you couldn’t have had even one more bite, but a day or so later, you’re starving again. It’s a lot like a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet in that way, isn’t it? Only, after a while you start [00:02:00] to feel less and less satiated when you leave that place. Many of you begin wondering why you even bother showing up at all, and that’s not good for your soul. You want something that can sustain you more and longer. Right? You’re ready to put aside, what scripture refers to as, milk and start chowing down on solid food. Well, I say to you, welcome to SoulFood podcast. I’m glad you came. Now, there are numerous reasons why your soul may be feeling malnourished. I’ve heard reasons ranging from the pastor’s sermons just aren’t speaking to me anymore, to I’m tired of the politics at my church. There are, uh, the churches, uh, namely the megachurches who are watering down everything, so that worship is weak and the emphasis is being placed on praise so that the entire service amounts out to nothing more than a mini rock concert. Then there are the churches who, instead [00:03:00] of preaching the truths found in scripture, have turned the pulpit into a soapbox from which to spew politics and social justice issues. And while, yeah, there is a place for these topics within a sermon, if the emphasis is not on the Scriptures, not on Christ, then it’s not actually a sermon at all. It’s a political rant and the pulpit is no place for such things. All of these things, these aforementioned issues are troublesome to me. They really are, but there is an issue that tends to grind my gears even more, and that’s when people just go through the motions, but don’t regularly live out their supposed faith by their actions, and this is such a widespread issue within the church-at-large. Let me give you a classic example. So-called Christians who will tell you how wonderful and gracious the Lord is, but then with the same mouth wish should good luck. Huh? [00:04:00] What luck? Where does Scripture ever describe this force called luck? That’s actually a rhetorical question, because I know the answer is nowhere. Nowhere in scripture is there anything about luck! And really, what a slap in the face to our almighty Lord, stealing away his glory for some cliche and non-existent force called luck. As I always say it doesn’t exist and I wouldn’t need it anyhow, I’m blessed. And that’s the caliber of spiritual food you can expect from this podcast. I’m not one of these people who tries to sugarcoat everything to spare people’s feelings. You know, one of these, uh, good-vibes-only people who need to pull their heads out of their bums and say how do to the world. On the other hand, I also don’t go out of my way to make someone’s day miserable, but the truth [00:05:00] is the truth, and we are commanded in scripture to speak the truth, and as a called servant of the Lord, I am going to all the more speak the truth. In fact, uh, in 2 Timothy, uh, what’s it, chapter 2, verse 15, you’ll find that it, it agrees with me on that statement, and this is the ESV translation, quote, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” End quote. I’m here to get you better acquainted with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the Bible. I’m not here to get you better acquainted with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that has been modernized, politicized, made worldly, and, and heavily limited. These, these versions are plaguing the church right now though. They’re, they’re plaguing the church this very moment, but I’m not doing it! I am [00:06:00] not doing it, and I refuse to do it. I will speak the truth, whether or not it amounts out to so-called good vibes. And that will, in turn, come to you as solid food to feed your soul. That, my friends, is imperative for your spiritual maturation and the magnification of your faith. Don’t believe me? Well, go have a look at Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. At verse 13 in chapter 5, he states, quote, “For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” End quote. And by the way, that is the anchor passage of scripture for SoulFood podcast. Now, you want to be able to distinguish good from evil, don’t you? You want to be able to discern truth from lie, right? [00:07:00] Well, Paul has laid out the way to get there. Give up the milk and move on to the solid food. More after a brief message.
[Ad Break]
Welcome back to the SoulFood podcast with your host, pastor J. Speaking the truth so that you can move from milk to solid food. Before the break, I had alluded to a lack of objective truth among Christians and throughout the church-at-large. And when I say the church-at-large, I am, of course, referring to the universal body of believers. This is, according to my own observations, one of the biggest issues plaguing the aforementioned universal body of believers. Now, during my undergraduate days, it was during my freshman year, I had to take the standard entry-level, liberal-arts mandated science course, right? Just the basic, kind of, Science [00:08:00] 101. One of the sections of the course, I think it was actually the first section of the course, was dedicated to understanding what science actually is. So, the professor spent, you know, an entire lecture going over the word truth. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with the phrases, these phrases that are to follow, truth is broken down into two forms. There’s subjective truth and there’s objective truth. Subjective truths are those truths that are subject to the input and opinions of others. You know, such and such food is delicious. XYZ sports team is the best sports team. These truths are rooted in personal preference. On the other hand, objective truths are those truths that are able to object or refute the input, uh, and opinions of [00:09:00] others. Some- you know, things like, uh, the usual color of the sky is blue. Uh, change is unavoidable. Um, there are four primary cardinal directions: north, south, east, west. Right? These are objective truths. Objective truth is that kind of truth that the average person dares not even attempt to argue. Yet, it’s also inherently the form of truth that is most despised and avoided, and that is because it is so difficult, if not impossible, to argue against it. In general, the masses just seem to hate objective truth. Speaking of objective truth, it, it reminds me of, uh, something from my childhood. One of the first pieces of wisdom imparted on me, uh, as a young boy, at least that I can remember, was spoken to me by my maternal grandfather. There was an [00:10:00] instance when I was going to be unjustly punished by my maternal grandmother, and I was so distraught. I was in tears. I didn’t know what else to. Right? So, I ran to my grandfather, who was mowing the lawn, and when he saw that I was upset about something, uh, he had stopped what he was doing and, and he pulled me up onto his lap to inquire, of course, you know, what, what’s wrong? Well, I told him why I was so upset and ended by saying something like, but I told the truth. Well, at that moment I remember that he chuckled and he said to me something like, Jared, in your life you will come to learn that everyone says they want the truth, yet nobody seems to know what to do with it. Grandpa, grandpa definitely wasn’t wrong about that in the least. God, rest his soul. In fact, many people don’t know what to do with the truth, which is why [00:11:00] subjective truth has become the all-encompassing truth. It can be manipulated to better suit the agenda or aim of the speaker or believer of that so-called truth. And in modern times, everything, everything is being categorized as subjective truth and regarded, however, as objective truth. Case in point, you have to trust the science. You have to trust the science! Nevermind that a portion of the science community is coming up with a totally different conclusion. Nevermind that there is more than just anecdotal evidence loudly contradicting the so-called experts. You just have to trust the science! Enough said. The thing is, though, this actually doesn’t stop in the secular world. No, no, no, no, no. It’s leeched its way into the church as well. People [00:12:00] have, more or less, likened the Lord to the Burger King and they order him their way. I’m not joking. Right? Some commandment you don’t like in the Scriptures? Meh, just conclude that that commandment was written to those people then, and not intended for us. And yes, there are people who actually do just that. I had befriended a, uh, a homosexual guy during my senior year of undergrad, but that friendship, uh, actually didn’t last very long because, as with what typically happens when I try to befriend someone who’s homosexual, they grow quite discontent with the fact that I don’t and won’t accept their homosexuality, accuse me of some ridiculous thing or another, and then, uh, cease, uh, to associate with. Although, with this particular guy, we actually did have a conversation about the fact that, while I accept him as a [00:13:00] person, I do not and would not accept his homosexual alignment, especially since it is referred to as an abomination in scripture, but, wouldn’t you know it, he immediately snapped back with, “Yeah, but that, that was written to those people then.” Sure. So our unchanging Lord, who is the very definition of steadfast justice, decided at some point in time that the unnatural copulation of his special creation was a-okay. At that point in time, if God truly was as wishy-washy and ever-changing as we people are, I would honestly suggest you think twice about following after him, because that would be a perfect example of, as the old adage goes, the blind leading the blind. As it goes, God is unchanging and homosexuality is still an abomination in [00:14:00] his eyes. And based on that objective truth, I will continue to accept a homosexual person as a person, but continue to reject their homosexual alignment. Period.
The word abomination being used to describe homosexuality actually first appears in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. My, uh, former friend attempted to change up that description, though. Yet, there are so-called churchgoing Christians who attempt to drop the old Testament from the biblical cannon all together. In fact, I more recently had a conversation with a woman I know, and she tried doing just that. Of course, I put the breaks on the conversation and, and I rebuked such a blatantly wrong notion. [00:15:00] Okay, so, the Law, right, the Law, which is a primary component of the Old Testament, is still in full-force and Jesus Christ, himself, confirms this in the words of Matthew’s Gospel, the fifth chapter, verses 17-19. Quote, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an, not a iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” End quote. So, if the Law is [00:16:00] still in full force, and the Law is documented within the Old Testament, then it can be concluded that the Old Testament is still a valid component of the biblical cannon. So why do people try to just do away with it?
Well, because they don’t like objective truths. They don’t like the objective truths it lays out in particular, the commandments it prescribes. See, these are a lot of things that people ought not to be doing. Right? The commandments. The laws. But they don’t agree with that, so they believe they can just cook up some half-baked explanation, such as that was written for those people then, and be exempt from having to be bound by such truths and commandments. Wrongo! Even though they disregard those truths, they are still entirely subject to them. Now, of course, being washed in the blood [00:17:00] of Christ, if they have been, they are in an infinitely better position, but they are still subject to them nonetheless. Back in just a moment.
[Ad Break]
Welcome back to the SoulFood podcast with your host, Pastor J; helping you discern between subjective truth and objective truth. For those of you I haven’t managed to scare off, I want to say thank you for tuning into this special first episode of the SoulFood podcast. As I am hoping you’ve picked up by now, this podcast is all about speaking truth, dispelling myths, and otherwise providing you with the solid food your soul needs to mature and magnify your faith. In all my years of ministry, the one thing that has particularly caused me to grit my teeth is when people [00:18:00] fail to regularly practice what they profess to believe. It is weak and it is hypocritical. It is my primary motivation for creating this podcast for you. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not about being a perfect Christian. After all, such a person doesn’t exist, and then there’s the factor that Christ came to the earth for the sake of the sinner. It’s also not about going to church. Sure, Scripture tells us we ought to meet together, but that can be a phone call with a friend or, uh, it could be a home-based group Bible study. Go to church. Don’t go to church. It’s your decision. Just don’t neglect to meet together, as Scripture instructs. Christianity is more about relationship than it is about religion. More about relationship than it is about traditions and things you do. [00:19:00] Practices. Going through the motions. It’s not about that. It’s about your relationship with your Lord and Savior, your relationship with your fellow man. And actually, you can verify this as well, in scripture. There’s a point in the Gospel of Mark, the 12th chapter, in which Jesus is asked, which of the commandments is the greatest. His response, quote, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” End quote. That said, you should also commit to seeking truth, objective truth, and to routinely living out your faith. Remember, in Paul’s letter to the [00:20:00]Hebrews he specifies the need for constant practice, in order to train one’s powers of discernment. Do not be one of these people who professes one thing, but then lives out another. Consider the example it sets for those around you. Not to mention, how it comes around full-circle and impacts your own faith in the end. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t do anything productive for it.
And that will do it for me for this episode of SoulFood podcast. Tune in next time to part two and the conclusion of this introduction series. For more information, more episodes, to contact me with questions and prayer requests, to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, or to make a financial contribution, log on to soulfoodpodcast.com. Now, before I forget, I neglected to mention, uh, before, but for the time being, this will be a twice-weekly podcast dropping on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. And [00:21:00] again, you can keep up-to-date with that by visiting soulfoodpodcast.com. Until next time, take this blessing with you: [Begin Outro Jingle] The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace. Amen. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll get together again for more soul food in the next episode of SoulFood podcast. This is Pastor J saying, take care and God bless.
[End Outro Jingle]