Pastor J: [00:00:00] Taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen. You’re listening to SoulFood podcast, and I’m your host, Pastor J.
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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.
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Pastor J: [00:00:07] This is the second episode of the podcast and it’s part two, the final part, of the introduction series. In this episode we’ll be going over the remaining pillars of motivation, if you will, that I am building this podcast upon, including the fact that the world has got love all jumbled up. If you haven’t heard episode one, don’t sweat it. I’m going to begin with a recap. So stick around and we’ll get to it right after this brief message.
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Pastor J: [00:00:50]ย Welcome back to SoulFood. I’m your host, Pastor J. I wanna begin this episode with a recap of episode one.ย [00:01:00]ย Though, I still encourage you to go listen to the full episode and you should be able to find it wherever you found this episode, but just so you know, you can easily find any episode of this podcast along with lots of great articles and more information about the podcast itself over at soulfoodpodcast.com.ย [00:01:24]ย So, what is SoulFood podcast? SoulFood podcast is solid food for a hungry soul. That’s right, solid food for a hungry soul. During Holy Week last year, in 2021, (Correction: I stated that the urging I felt to create this podcast came over me during Holy Week of 2021, but it as actually Holy Week of 2022. This correction is also verbalized in episode 3.) something came over me and I felt the urge to create content that truly feeds the soul in a sustaining manner, and that enables spiritual growth and the magnification of faith by those who yearn for those things, but feel that theirย [00:02:00]ย present praise and worship habits aren’t as spiritually filling as they should be.ย [00:02:07]ย Of course, I knew I needed to select a Bible verse that would summarize the whole podcast nicely, and one immediately came to mind. It comes from 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. So if you’re looking for a milkshake, you’d probably do better going to one of those megachurches where the word is watered down, and they are more concerned with serving you fancy coffee drinks and getting you to shop in the lobby bookstore on your way out. Here on theย [00:03:00]ย SoulFood podcast, I’m serving up solid food, sustaining food, growth inducing food. Praise be to the Lord Most High, and all God’s people said …amen.ย [00:03:16]ย Now the first motivation that drives me to create this podcast is the fact that there’s a lack of attention being given to objective truth. For those of you who’ve heard episode one, I misspoke, and I apologize. I said there’s a, a lack of objective truth among Christians and throughout the church-at-large.ย [00:03:39]ย However, based on what objective truth is, such a statement can’t really be made. So I decided it would be better if I rephrased this point and said, instead, that there is a lack of attention being paid to objective truth. After all, objective truth is constantย [00:04:00]ย truth. It’s that truth that is able to object or refute the input and opinions of others.ย [00:04:08]ย A good example of objective truth, the usual color of the sky is blue. On the other hand, there’s subjective truth. Subjective truth is subject to the input and opinions of others, such as saying that some flavor of ice cream is the best flavor of ice cream. Different people will believe and claim that a certain flavor of ice cream is the best while others will maintain that some other flavor of ice cream is the best. The problem that has arisen is that, in order to customize life to their own liking, and especially in the case of Christians viewing the Lord as the Burger King, desiring to customize him and his word to their own liking, many people have taken to categorizing everything as subjective truth, yet regarding it as objective truth.ย [00:04:58]ย The example Iย [00:05:00]ย provided in episode one is a very common occurrence. Someone reads or hears something from Scripture that doesn’t sit right with them for one reason or another, and instead of accepting it for what it is, or, or even trying to understand why it is the way it is, they opt to just recategorize it as being subjective truth by concluding that it was intended for those people then. I’ve heard it applied to the topic of homosexuality, the discipline of children, and a myriad of other hot-button topics. Christians need to understand that this issue of truth is not only a problem in the secular world, it’s just as big a problem in the church as well. Of course, those people who believe they can customize the Lord and his word to their liking are sorely mistaken because the Lord is steadfast and unchanging. He must be in order to be the very definition of justice. [00:06:00] Moreย after this.
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Pastor J: [00:06:02] Welcome back to SoulFood. I’m your host, Pastor J. The next motivation I mentioned in episode one is based on the fact that many people are not regularly living out their faith. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that Christians live perfect and blameless lives, that’s impossible. And even if we could, it would make our Christian faith redundant, since we follow after Jesus Christ knowing that we are sinful and in need of the mercy and grace that is received through the blood that he shed on the cross for anyone who accepts its power and follows after him. What I’m talking about, when I say that people aren’t regularly living out their faith, are those people who will profess their faith with their mouths, but not regularly live it out through their actions in their daily lives. Instead, [00:07:00] people like this tend to live their lives according to the secular world. Let’s say that someone says that they’ve seen and spoken to an angel. The faithful by word only tend to roll their eyes, chalk the person off as being nuts, and then they want that individual to be locked up in a looney bin. Or there’s my go-to example, and it’s something that makes me roll my eyes, Christians who go about wishing people “good luck.” Seriously? How about giving God what’s God’s and wishing blessings upon those people? You know, give them something that actually has some real power to it. How about the next time you feel yourself about to speak the cliche and meaningless words “good luck,” you stop yourself and say, “God bless you.” How about the next time someone says “good luck” to you, you smile warmly and respond, “Thank you, [00:08:00] but it doesn’t exist and I wouldn’t need it anyhow, I’m blessed.” Put your faith into action and not just around the holidays or when you’re feeling guilty about something. Every moment of every day, strive to live your life according to your faith, and by doing so, be that light for the world to see, that light that points back to Jesus Christ. Amen? And I know that scripture agrees with me on this, Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, versus 14-16. Quote. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in [00:09:00] heaven.” And all God’s people said? Amen. More in just a moment. Stick around.
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Pastor J: [00:09:10] Welcome back to SoulFood podcast with your host, Pastor J, wishing you God’s richest blessings because luck doesn’t exist and you’re richly blessed anyhow. The final pillar of my motivation to create this podcast derives itself from an observation I made when I was 16 years old, the world has got love all jumbled up. On the one hand, there’s love as the Creator of love intended it to be, as it is described in Scripture. On the other hand, there’s love as the secular world attempts to define it, often referring to science. And of course, you just have to trust the science. Right? Then somewhere in between, there’s a Frankenstein’s monster made up with [00:10:00] aspects of both of these, and that is love as most of you recognize it. If you’ve ever said something along the lines of, “I like you, but I don’t know if I love you,” then you’re guilty of the love jumbling problem I just mentioned, because scripture seems to suggest that love is given freely, but that we are in full control of who we like or don’t like. These aren’t mutually exclusive terms. They’re separate terms altogether. You can love someone, but not like them, or love them and like them, but if you’re able to say that you like someone, but don’t love them, then you’ve fouled up love. And I know that there are plenty of you out there trying to diffuse this claim I’ve made by proclaiming there are different types of love; I aim to refute that notion in a future episode, but for now I will just say that there [00:11:00] is one type of love, love, and it is the Lord, and it belongs to the Lord, not to us. Love is poured out upon us in abundance by our father in heaven, so that we may share it with everyone around us and also return it back to him who poured it out for us. There’s actually a simile that I like to use to explain what real love is. I explain that love is like a never-ending bottle of the best of the best champagne being poured out over one of those champagne towers, you know, made up of glasses stacked up as a pyramid or some other interesting shape, and that champagne, or love, fills up each glass, or person, until it is overflowing into the glass around it. But not only that, the champagne also flows back up, toward the bottle it came from. Even when the glasses on the last [00:12:00] layer have all been filled up, the champagne never spills out onto the table, but continues flowing seamlessly between the glasses, and to and from the never ending source. Now, of course, if you wanted to nitpick my explanation, you could surely find something wrong with it, but I never meant it to be perfect. I meant it to set the stage for a clearer, more accurate understanding of what real love looks like and that it does quite well. Back in a moment.
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Pastor J: [00:12:33] Welcome back to SoulFood podcast with your host, Pastor J. Speaking on the topic of real, genuine love, as the Creator intended it, I can’t help but think of my very dear friend in Romania, because I can remember the first time I told her that I love her. She was some combination of touched and baffled. After all, we hadn’t known each other that long when, when I told her and she was, of [00:13:00] course, accustomed to Frankenstein’s monster and not to love as the Creator intended it. I took the time to explain my understanding of what Scripture says love is versus what the world has falsely been teaching, and I shared my allusion of love being like a champagne tower, and all at once I could sense a light going on in her mind. I witnessed some manner of change overcoming her in that very moment, and what a humbling and blessed moment that was. But that is, to quote Huey Lewis, the power of love. Through this podcast, I aim to share that same real love with each and every episode, and I pray that the Lord will use this platform to touch all of you and to bring about a change in all of you like he brought out in my friend. Don’t hesitate to do away with your understanding of love, as the world has taught you, and to adopt [00:14:00] a new understanding of love, as the creator of love desires you to know it. There are so many references in scripture that I could share right now on this score, but I’m planning on a whole episode dedicated to this topic, just this topic. So, for now, I will share the following verse with you, for you to meditate upon. It comes from 1 John chapter 4, verse 11 . Quote. ” Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” End quote. Now this verse is clearly alluding back to good ol’ John 3:16, and you can feel free to join me in, uh, reciting this one, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” So, in essence, the verse from 1 John [00:15:00] 4:11 is saying if God has loved us, as much as he in fact has, then we ought to be loving each other just as much. We know how much he loves us and that he sent his precious son, Jesus the Christ to pay the penalty for our sins. Now, try to, uh, in your mind, translate that into how much we ought to be loving each other. It’s overwhelming, but it’s what we’ve been called to do. More after this.
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Pastor J:[00:15:35] Welcome back to SoulFood podcast with your host, Pastor J, sending out real love to all of you, wherever you are. Over the course of this episode and episode one, I have explained to you what SoulFood podcast is all about and what my motivation for creating this content is. There is a need for sustaining solid food [00:16:00] for all the hungry souls out there, and that need is only emphasized by a lack of attention being paid to objective truth, especially within the church-at-large. That emphasis also stretches to a lack of faith being lived out to the degree that it is being spoken, and also by the fact that devout Christians are going about loving as the jumbled up Frankenstein’s monster version of love dictates, and not as the Creator of love intended. As such, I am responding to the urging I felt within me and I am going to do my best to let the Lord speak through me and to help each and every listener move from milk to solid food, spiritually speaking, and to witness a magnification of their faith like no other. And even if you feel that this doesn’t apply to, stick around. You’re invited to dine with us anyhow. After [00:17:00] all, we all need to eat. And with that, I hope to see you back around for episode 3 of SoulFood podcast, in which we’ll delve deeper into the notion that Christianity is more about relationship than religion. This is a very important concept for all believers to understand. So important, in fact, that I’ve marked the calendar with this topic being another two-part series, episodes three and four. So, you’ll definitely not want to miss out on that. For more information, more episodes, to contact me with questions and prayer requests, to inquire about advertising opportunities, or to make a financial contribution, log on to soulfoodpodcast.com. And remember, if you’d prefer to enjoy your SoulFood without ads, you can head on over to glow.fm/soulfoodpodcast. That’s [00:18:00] G-L-O-W.fm/soulfoodpodcast. There, you can subscribe and enjoy ad-free content for as little as $5 per month. Not only will you enjoy ad-free content, but your subscription is a contribution to helping this ministry flourish and to help feed hungry souls all around the world.
[00:18:22] One final reminder, this will be a twice weekly podcast, dropping on Tuesday and Thursday of each week. Of course, you can keep up-to-date with all things SoulFood podcast by visiting soulfoodpodcast.com. And now, [Begin Outro Jingle] I offer you this blessing to take with you. The Lord bless you and keep. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. This is Pastor J saying, take care and God bless. See you next [00:19:00] time.
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