GYC SE 2012: Not Very Far

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

GYC Southeast

Doug Batchelor

Q & A

And Eric and I are going to be trying our best to answer some questions that you have been texting in.

Others may even come in while we're doing the program.

First I'd like to say that I don't have all the answers.

1 of my favorite things is when we do our Bible Answer radio program every Sunday evening.

I don't know, any of you ever catch the radio program out this way?

I don't know what stations we're on out here, but every Sunday nationally.

We're on, by the way, if you've got satellite radio, it's on XM Series Radio every Sunday night, 07:00 Eastern, which I guess is 10 here, which means our church service in Sacramento is not quite done yet.

I could call the pastor preaching right now and see if he has his cell phone on.

But anyway, we really enjoy doing our best to try to answer Bible questions.

I love talking about the Word, but I always like to make it clear, not because we pretend we know all the answers.

And Eric, I don't know, do you have any of your preliminaries or shall we dive right in?

This is the fun part of the service, right?

Pastor Doug, I was wondering, is your cave still available?

No, Well, there's no 1 in it right now, I know that.

I actually went back there, that's probably been 3 years ago or more.

Quick story, National Geographic was doing a special that since his broadcast on Revelation, And they interviewed me along with Tim LaHaye and a bunch of other pastors.

And I don't know what possessed them, but someone gave them the caveman book, and they said, you know, as part of this interview, we'd like to videotape you up at the cave where you used to live.

They flew me from Sacramento to Palm Springs.

They flew me up to the cave, which was great because I hadn't been there in a long time.

It does have a great time because it's now blocked off, the entrance is blocked off, the Indian Reservation that owns the mouth of the canyon has stopped any traffic and so it's cleaner than I've seen it in years.

No one's been up there and I was able to hike down there but you have to take a helicopter so yes it's available if you've got a helicopter.

I don't feel as close to God as I would like to be.

How can I get back that closer relationship?

Well, being a hypocrite means that you're sometimes putting on to be something you're not or wearing a mask.

Haven't we all sometimes pretended to feel or be something that we're not?

I mean, even if someone says, how are you?

And you say, fine, and you're not fine, technically, it's a little hypocritical.

I think all of us at times feel like we're not worthy and just, you know what I found is, if you feel like I'm just gonna quit because I'm not being sincere, I feel like I'm putting on an act.

You know what they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, fake it till you make it.

You are better doing the right thing even if you don't feel sincere or you're doing it for the wrong reason than sincerely doing the wrong thing.

It's always better to do the right thing even if the motive isn't right.

Keep doing the right thing and then pray for the right motive.

Be honest with people and have friends that you can talk to and say, pray for me, I want to be sincere about this and...but still do what you know to be the right thing even if you know that maybe inside you're disingenuous about it.

Press on to live the Christian life because you know it is the right thing.

Even if you're not giving cheerfully, keep giving.

How do you know God's voice and His leading in your life?

We deal with that I think every day in our lives.

I used to wonder when Abraham heard that voice that said, Abraham, take your son, your only son who you love and go off from for me as a sacrifice on the mountains of Moriah.

How did he know that wasn't the devil being a ventriloquist, pretending to be God?

First of all, we need to know that it follows the Word.

Now in Abraham's case there, that must have been a real conundrum because it sounded like human sacrifice.

He just knew the Lord so well, he recognized His voice.

So make sure that God's speaking to you through His word.

Sometimes God will change your schedule and you can see the hand of the Lord in providence.

The Bible tells us in the multitude of counsel there is safety.

God sometimes speaks to us, the voice of God sometimes speaks to us through human instrumentalities.

Look for Christian counsel that can guide you.

And then you're going to have the inner voice of the Holy Spirit.

That spirit will agree with the Word and with the providence and with the counsel.

Now you want to be careful not to make the mistake some people make and they say, I wonder how I feel and then confuse the spirit with your feelings.

It will always be in harmony with the Word, but there is that confirmation of the Holy Spirit.

Since beginning my journey of entering the ministry, I've made some of the most regrettable mistakes of my life.

I often feel as if this disqualifies me from ministry.

Well we've got some encouragement in the experience of Peter, who God called, Jesus called into ministry and then he publicly renounced knowing the Lord and punctuated it with swearing and cursing.

I think a lot of churches would probably have voted to disfellowship him if the story stopped there.

But the Lord kept working on Peter and before 24 hours went away.

He bitterly repented he went bitterly and He was a transformed man and God knew that and recognized it because 1 of the first things that Jesus said when he rises from the dead he tells Mary go tell the disciples and Peter Now he only mentions Peter why because Peter thought I am now disqualified from ministry because I have totally blown it.

Now don't misunderstand, There are things that would disqualify a person from Christian ministry.

I'm not going to enumerate what those things are, but there's some things where you should say, you know, this is not appropriate.

I mean, if you're arrested as a pedophile and say, well I'll just say a prayer and I'm gonna go back and apply to do children's ministry, no, that's not right.

So there are lines that you cross, but most of the things that I think a lot of pastors feel like, you know, my heart isn't right or I've sinned.

How can I teach other people about Jesus?" Or there's days where you just want to quit?

You know how many times I've thought of that?

So God is merciful and I'm so thankful that we can frail though we are.

Now 1 more question, and don't take this too far, but after David made his terrible mistake with Bathsheba, did he still write spirit-filled psalms like Psalm 51, the 1 that recorded his repentance?

Does God the Father have a physical form?

Now what confuses people, the Bible says that God is a spirit, and those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

And you'll find some of that in John chapter 4.

Back to Menu

Q & A

Transcript

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

ECYC 2012: Bible Boot Camp

Characteristics of a Healthy Church, Part 1

46m

Martin Luther’s Views on the Antichrist

32m

AMEN 2013: Plenary Sessions

Following the Lamb

48m

Market Gardening

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! - Resources to Get You Out of the Starting Blocks

48m

Family Health

The Power of Presence

53m

Looking Unto Jesus

56m

The Unveiling

Vision of Christ & the Seven Churches

47m

Apologetics for a Secular Culture

Apologetics for a Secular Culture Part 7

1h 35m

Turning Tomatoes into Profit

Turning Tomatoes Into Profit Part 2

1h

Instantaneous Forgiveness

33m

Jeff Horn Weekend

01 Cause for Confusion

51m

It Was Night

38m

Sound Doctrine