97. RFP Crossover Event with the Starving For Truth Podcast Part 2

I found my freedom in you I found a joy I can't lose And thank God it's true You wrapped your arms around me And heaven broke through From the moment you found me I found my freedom in you Welcome to the For Freedom Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with everyday issues. Now here are your hosts, John Hollingfield and James Saifert. What kind of shallow person do you want to become? Recovering from fundamentalism or something. They're everywhere. And I think to myself, well you were just stupid to begin with. If there's such a word, you're stupider now. Don't get flubbed up like us. And all you flubbed up people, you come and we'll all flub up together. Or do you have it up? I don't have it up, but I can get it up. What is number three? What does For Freedom mean? James. Tack. Yeah. Let's jump into it. So basic, our premise, our mission statement is, we exist to bring the message of Galatians 5.1, which you read earlier. Christ for freedom, Christ who says, So that is free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit yourself against the yoke of slavery. To those in the body of Christ who have been trapped in the legalism of the IFB. It's our goal to expose legalism, help those who have been abused by legalism, and encourage them to grow in God's grace, and to accomplish all these things through the Word of God by expounding the Scriptures. So that's our basic premise is we want to help those who have been hurt in any form of spiritual abuse, whether that's in the IFB, whether that's in another organization. We want to help those who have been hurt through this abuse. And so often, I was talking to my wife just the other day about this, about how we as people love to be in this, I won't say slavery, but in this yoke of bondage. It's easy for us to live in a life where everyone dictates everything we need to do, because it's an easy accountability system. It's okay, if I'm doing this, I'm living right. If I'm not, I'm not right. And so we fall into this category of slavery. And Christ admonishes us to this and says, Don't be in the slavery of what you were in, but be under the yoke that Christ has given us. And to get off of that slavery and to be under his guiding hand of Scripture. So that's sort of our thought there. John, anything else? I know we've pivoted our podcast a little bit from legalism and spiritual abuse to how we can help those who have been hurt and address specific topics. So John, why don't you talk on that for just a moment? Yeah, and I'd say that still doesn't change with Galatians 5.1 because he is talking to all believers in that. Even whether it's legalism or some type of sin, like James was saying, it's real easy to venture off into being under bondage by something else, but he's given us freedom, and we need to stand firm in freedom. And there's an attitude out there that we need to be sort of soft and loving. We're Christians. We need to be laid down or so. And that's not the language used here. The language used here is stand firm, and it's almost a fight. Yeah. He's like, you know, this is not something. And if you read the whole book of Galatians in chapter 2, you see Paul doing that very thing. Yeah. He's getting in Peter's face. And so this is something that we're called to. Freedom must be contended for. Yeah. And it's one of the – I think that scripturally you look and you find – scripture lays out different purposes for our salvation. The ultimate purpose of our salvation is the glory of God. One is laid out for us, I think, in John chapter 4 with the story of the woman at the well. He says that he has come to create worshipers for him. But I think Paul's given us another purpose here for our salvation, for us to be free. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. So my story and James seems like they're kind of similar where we just came to it almost peacefully. I mean, I look back on my fundamental days, and I have good memories. I don't agree with everything, of course. I have objections, but I don't have – no abuse happened to me personally, like not directly. But there is a need there for those that have been abused because that often pushes them almost off the edge, if not off the edge. And there needs to be people there to catch them and be like, hey, it's okay. There's actually – you can actually use the scripture as a prodding staff and not a sword to beat you with. And it can help us. It can be a comfort, and you all seem to be filling that void where people – catching those people that have been hurt and abused in that type of movement. That's good. Well. All right. You guys are up. Next number. We're asking them a question on, right, John? Yes. Yes. All right. So next, number four, I believe it is where we're at. I've lost count as well. Has fundamentalism negatively impacted your own pursuit of truth? Well, I think I'll take that one. I didn't grow up in the church. I was a pagan of pagans, you know. And fundamentalism helped me so much at my conversion to understand the seriousness of trusting the scriptures. You know, so like at my church, that was always reiterated to me is trust the scriptures. Trust the scriptures. Were there hurts from my church? Yeah. That's part of being in a fellowship or a community. Were there weird things or weird doctrines taught? Yes, there was. But I think as a whole, fundamentalism helped me understand that I could trust the Bible. And it actually pointed me to be where I'm at today because I believe the doctrines that I hold to come from the scriptures. And so the great thing about fundamentalism was like being your Bible, even if it was being your King James Bible. I was there, I was reading it, and by the illumination of the Spirit, I was understanding it, and I was growing in the knowledge of Christ. So as a whole, fundamentalism helped me out extremely there to trust what God has said. The negative aspect of the fundamentalism was I became very legalistic because as a young man, when you are given these rules, you want to obey them because this is all new to you. And being converted later on in my teenage years, I was like, I'm going to hold to these rules. However, I had deep-seated, rooted heart issues that I could never get freedom from because I would come to the pastor, and it was more of like, well, just pray about that. Just cover that up, and it'll go away someday. And these were deep sins. These were rooted things. I know God had converted me, yet I wasn't getting freedom from them. And then I started branching out from my Christianity, from just the fundamentalist movement, and I started seeing biblical counselors. I started seeing that I could find freedom, and that freedom came from Christ, and it came from the knowledge of the Scripture. And so I started trusting in that, that Christ has set me free, so therefore I can live free. And I'm not bound to that sin or that slavery of sin. I have a new nature that's now come from Christ, and I can trust in that. And so on one hand, fundamentalism really helped me get to where I'm at because I said trust the Scriptures. On the other hand, they never had the answers with the Scriptures when I would come and ask the hard questions. Like, how does a young man overcome pornography? And they would be like, well, just trust the Lord, and you'll overcome it. And so there was a lot of these deep-seated, rooted things. And, you know, the first time I saw pornography, I was five years old. And it was like every day I would go back and I would find that magazine that my dad had. And so this was a deep-seated thing that was habitual over time. And by God's grace, you know, he's removed that from my life. But I didn't have the answer to that. So fundamentalism helped me out greatly to trust the Scripture, but they never had the answers when I came to them with the heart of repentance. That's – and I don't – I'm not going to try to – I know we could get sidetracked on that whole subject. But, yeah, and I'll tell you one area that I've seen that handled in fundamentalism is let's all lay hands on you. Yeah. Pray over you. And when you get up, God should have given you the victory. Yeah. And when you go back to it, how defeating. Yeah. Well, that's the prosperity gospel. Exactly. That's what it is. Exactly. And I've heard Heath Lambert, who used to be the director of ACBC, now pastor at First Baptist Jacksonville, he said that he believes that there's a lot of young men and women out there today that genuinely want to repent of pornography and lust, but they can't get past that because pastors do not know how to help them. Well, it would be a lot easier if that kid just went out into the woods and had a surreal experience with God and never had that problem again rather than me having to counsel him and hold his hand along the way. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Whether they get into his mess. I mean, that's what it is. When you get into counseling, you're getting into a mess. And some counseling sessions, they're messy for years. Yeah. And you guys know it better than we do. But when you get into those counseling sessions, you're going to the root of the issue. You're not just pruning the fruits. And you know what that takes for pastors? It's work. And I think a lot of times in the fundamentalist movement, pastors don't want to work. They just want to get up and they want to preach on Wednesday and go soul winning on Saturdays, preach on Sunday. And then it's feed me, feed me, feed me. And as pastors, we should want to labor and work for the flock. My brother-in-law, I don't think you'll mind me sharing this. He was in the military, saw a lot of his buddies die on the battlefield, and came back home, went back to the IFB church, and was really battling with depression, some suicidal thoughts, and went to the leadership there truly needing help, needing truth. And he was given the same answers, so it reminded me, they just told him, just pray about it. Just pray about it. And he said that was no help at all. In fact, it made it worse, because he felt like it wasn't helping, so there must be something wrong with him. So there was no biblical truth given to him. It was just this, just pray about it answer. And I think there are a lot of people that even struggle, we mentioned pornography, but those that struggle with depression and suicide, they need help. They need pastors to counsel with them. And we're not saying that prayer doesn't do anything. Yeah. What we're saying is the actual understanding of what Austin just said, biblical truth, applied to the situation, and proper understanding of how to pray in the situation, even praying scripture in the situation. But like you were saying, that takes work to get in and understand and know how to minister that. It takes shepherding. Yeah. And you just dismiss someone and say, oh, I'll just pray about it. But a pastor, you're right. It takes work. They have to counsel and be there. You think about a shepherd, and he's going out in the flock, and you're walking, like I've walked through pastures with sheep or cow. Sometimes you step in a cow patty. You know, you get a little poo on your shoe. You know, and so it is, he always laughs when I do this stuff. These are my analogies. This is how my brain works. Poo on the shoe. So you're walking through this fold, and you see a sheep that's went astray. Yeah. And you're calling them back. Or you see a sheep that's been battered and beaten up by a wolf, and you're mending those wounds. You see somebody who has struggled over time with this sin, and you see that they want repentance, but they don't know how. And so we operate in the ministry of reconciliation. You know, reconciling people back to their wives or husbands back to their wives, wives back to their husbands. Or the ultimate goal is reconciling them with Christ. And so it's a lot of work. It takes time. Like when I was running the boys home, there was times three or four o'clock in the morning I had a kid call me and say, hey, I'm about to go jump off a bridge. True story. And then I would have to leave, go get this kid. He's detoxing from drugs. I'm getting him off the drugs and making sure he's staying alive. Like, am I going to the ER? Am I not? You know, these things are going through my head. And it's a lot of work as a pastor. And we're called to that. We're called to this work of reconciliation. And we need to step in some cow patties every once in a while and get dirty in the ministry. So there's more. Not only is it work there, Chance, it's time consuming and it's exhausting. Yeah. And too many men just say, you know, it's easy for me just to say, hey, read a passage of Scripture and pray and you'll be fine. Because it doesn't require anything of me to say that. But when you're in the thick of it with someone, it is exhausting and it is what God has called us to do. So. And I do love the analogy of poo on the shoe. And I'll also say, add to this, that in a way it's easier to tell somebody, do this, do this, do this, and have a good day. But you're missing the fact, like, and I think Chance was alluding to this or even said this, but the issue is the heart. If you go through the New Testament, Jesus said, you know, you guys have built a system where you've said, well, somebody's committed murder. They broke the law. I tell you that if you hate your brother in your heart, you've murdered them already. You say, well, if you've committed adultery, you've broken the law. But I tell you, if you've lusted after a woman, you've committed adultery in your heart. Yeah. All through the New Testament, he's pointing back the heart, the heart, the heart. James 4. Why are you guys having conflict? Why are there quarrels? What's strife? Is it not this? Your passions are at war within you. Yeah. It's your heart. I think Paul Tripp, I read this the other day, Paul Tripp said, your horizontal struggle is because you have a vertical problem. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. We should smash the idols of the heart. Yeah. Calvin. All right. Number four. Can you guys tell us some stories of how you have impacted the church with your podcast? James. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, you know, in my life, uh, you know, I've come from a public school background and so I've got some friends from a public school that, you know, aren't Christians. And so that's been a blessing just to be able to share some things, uh, for them. The coolest things that our podcast has done to help, um, is there's a guy that's in Texas and, uh, he reached out to us and said, Hey, we love the podcast. Love what's going on. Can we, can we, can I start a, um, sort of a church service, a small group in Texas in one of the military bases and call it the for freedom, uh, chapel almost. And so that's been great to see, uh, the, the effects of the podcast being able to break down some of these walls of legalism and, uh, be able to impact, uh, some specific people. I know John specifically has had several people from, uh, the area where he's at that have moved to the area and even attended his church now because of the podcast. And so that's been a blessing I know for him. And, uh, so it's been great for me personally. The impact of the podcast has been practically helping my own life out and helping me out in issues where maybe I wasn't fully firm on and been able to study through an issue that John said, Hey, we're going to do an episode on, um, has helped me and helped my preaching style, uh, in a lot of ways. And it's been, been a blessing for me to be able to do this, John. Yeah. Um, I was going to mention you, you mentioned the people we've had some people come to my church, uh, through that. Um, uh, I've actually, um, through the podcast. I've had people reach out to me and started counseling relationships with them. So I've counseled a couple, um, a couple of people that have come through the podcast. Um, there was something else I was going to say, but my mind just went. Left field. Yes. Um, but. Reach out to us and said, Hey, you know, we did an episode on, um, psychology and PTSD. And he said, I've struggled with that. And that I appreciate your guys' thoughts on that. And just the help that that gave me. Yeah. Yeah. And there was one episode that still to this day, the, the, the most listened to episode we had, um, was still in the earlier days, um, was on, um, modesty. Oh, really? And just a biblical take on modesty. And we had a shout out to Amy Miller. Amy Miller, um, was, uh, was our guest on that. And, um, I've, uh, one couple that I actually counseled said that, that she, that episode was so good for her that she has shared that episode to like several different friends of hers that through had gone through fundamentalist circles. And so. Well, you all recorded that. So we didn't have to. Yeah. John, number five, let's go to them. All right. Um, what, what is the result? Okay. So this is sort of a, uh, worldview type of situation question. What is the result when the truth is removed? Or we can say the truth is absent. I mean, I think you just get a trail of bodies. You get Christ or chaos. Like, um, we were talking about it before, how there's churches where that's the case. And you see all these people that are, um, left broken from that church and you, and you're told, oh, it's because they had rebellious, they're going liberal, they're compromisers, whatever the case may be, you don't get the story. And then when it happens to you, to you, you realize, oh wait, there's something going on here. Those people left for good reason. Um, and when you don't have the truth, people still are hungry for it and they look for it. And when they find it, um, often they get blackballed. Um, they get pushed away and, um, the, they save face and keep appearances. Um, but you, it hurts people when truth is removed. It, it's, um, deeply affects others. And we must be vigilant as, uh, if we're in leadership to, to be speaking the truth. I just think of, again, how my wife was like, I, this passage is amazing. Um, and it, it's because they're being fed the word of God. Yeah. Um, and we need to be sure to feed them truth. And we're, we're living in a culture where absolute truth is being attacked. Like what is a woman? You know, what, what is, uh, what is truth and what is not. So when truth is removed and we can't honestly say this is true, everyone is confused. There's no order. There's no, you're going to say something. No, I'm just listening to you. So I think it's when truth is removed, chaos. Yeah. Post-modernism. Yeah. You have a beautiful radio voice, Austin. Yeah. I think it was Wilson who said, uh, you get Christ or you get chaos. And, and I think that's true. And you see that in our culture, it's eroding, um, where we've abandoned truth. You get absurdity, you get chaos, you get drag queen story hour. Uh, you, you get, you get the things that are paraded in the street. I mean, it is June right now. Um, there's an entire month of the rainbow and it doesn't mean what the rainbow was established to mean. And so, so our culture erodes and it erodes because the, the church is not marching on with the truth. We've given fluffy messages, whether they're from Joel Osteen or whether they're from Jack Hiles. Um, and so you have two extremes and what we need to be is balanced Christians, people who submit to the authority of the scripture and the authority of Christ. And we go on and we march on with this truth, whether it costs us, that's okay. I mean, the first century church grew like wildfire when they were persecuted, they were burned at the stake. And, and I, I truly believe that the modern Easter or the modern American church would, uh, be so much better if there was some sort of persecution that we had. And, you know, like I always joke around and say, oh, your persecution, you got put on Facebook jail, you know, in the light of eternity. What does that even mean? It doesn't. And so, so I think a lot of times where there is no truth, there's chaos. Or I would say, absolutely. Where there is no truth, there's chaos. And, uh, you get Christ, you get chaos. Yeah. I just watched that, that documentary. What is a woman? And I'll be honest with you. I, I, I highly recommend it. It's uncomfortable, but I think Christians need to watch it. Yeah. Um, but think about this, and I, I've told, I've told our church for years, um, you think about the sin that Satan committed. You go to whether, I know if theologically we get a debate on whether Isaiah 14 is actually talking about Satan. I know there's some people that say that's not Satan or Ezekiel, uh, 12, but, but Satan's, it was, it was pride. Yeah. I will be like the most high. Mm-hmm. Okay. And I, I say this, you are no more satanic than when you were letting pride rule your life. Now, when truth is removed, we have a nation that is celebrating the sin that Satan was eat up with that then had him cast out. Wow. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And you see, we're, we're going to get off a rabbit shell here because of his, his, his picture. It is June. And so we have to take a picture of this and send it. We have to throw some stuff in there. Um, but you see what pride does to the culture. What happens when you, homosexuality rages in the culture? There's not a generation to come. It can't sustain itself. Um, so there's so much ramifications to your, your culture. How did Rome fall? I mean, Tyler wants to say something. No, um, you said the, what is a woman documentary. I just watched it as well. And, um, it may be on purpose for him on his part. Uh, he does come from a Catholic Christian worldview. Um, but even in the documentary that the question isn't answered and it can only be answered through the truth of scripture. We have the answers for the truth. Um, and, um, that's all I was thinking about when you were saying that is that, um, we need to, again, be pointing the world to the God of the Bible unashamedly saying, and not giving them, uh, just questions, but giving them answers as well. Yeah. So we could just say the truth is in the beginning, God created male and female, two genders. That's what Jesus said as well. So, yeah. So, and God doesn't contradict himself from the old to the new. Exactly. Yep. It wasn't assigned at birth. It was assigned in Genesis two. Yes. Or Genesis one. Exactly. Yeah. All right. We're on number five now. Um, how has good theology impacted your practical life? James, you want me to go first or you go first? I'll go first and then I'll be short. I'm not long-winded like you are. Practically speaking of my life, uh, I, the, the, one of the first moments in my life that this happened was, um, about six years ago when I went to the, my first together for the gospel conference. And, uh, John was there and I went with my pastor, um, who invested so much theology in me and just challenged my thinking as John said in his same way as having a pastor in him. And I remember sitting there and, you know, just one of those first aha moments in theology where you're just like, holy cow. I didn't, I didn't realize how, how to forsake about a word, how starving I was, how hungry I was for truth. And Kevin, the young got up and he preached a message called the mute is the immutability of God. And I remember sitting there and taking notes and writing things down and I got done and I thought, holy cow. I don't understand almost a word that he said. It was so far above where I was at. And in that moment, I realized I've went through Bible college. I'm a pastor and I'm, has been a pastor for, you know, six, seven years now. And I am so far behind theology wise where I need to be at. And I'm so unversed and unread on some practical areas of who God is, what I, what I believe in the basic areas of, of Christianity. And that, that right there was a moment where I said, things have got to change in my life personally. And things have got to change in my life, practically speaking in my preaching. Um, and so that, that's a one, one main area in my life where theology has greatly, greatly, uh, changed. John, go ahead. Well, James and I like to rag on each other quite a bit. And, um, and so I, I just want to say this, uh, watching him and being close friends with him through, I was there with him whenever, whenever I remember that message and, um, even to today and there, it has impacted him. I mean, he's not the same person he was in 2018. He, he has, I mean, it's, it's so cool whenever you're working close with somebody and then you stop for a moment, take a look back and see, man, look how Christ has formed him. Yeah. You know, and it's, it's so encouraging that, that question, how has theology impacted practical, my practical life? It's, it's, it is, it is my practical life. I mean, theology is, I say it this way, what you believe determines how you behave. You can say with your mouth that you believe this, you believe this, believe this. Let me watch your life and I'll tell you what you believe. Yeah. And whenever you believe certain things about deep theology and you are committed to the truth of scripture, it shows up with how you respond. It shows up with that. Now it's, it is a process. It takes time to put things off and to put things on. But, oh yeah, it, it changes how you respond to situations, to people, to, um, you know, you have a robust, just an example, you have a strong, robust grasp and hold of the theology of the sovereignty of God. And then watch what happens when you get a phone call that shakes your world. Yeah. It affects you. Yeah. Yeah. You're not, you don't end up just coming to be, is it hard? Oh yeah. Does it, does it, does it hurt? Oh yeah. Are you in despair? Oh no. Yeah. Because it's not random happenstance. It's in God's hands. Yeah. You can, you kind of walk through it knowing that the creator of the universe is going to guide you through it. Yeah. How about this? How does theology affect your practical life? Ask Job. Yeah. Yeah. He's, he's, he's the prime example of how theology outworks his practical life. Yeah. Yeah. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Shall, shall we accept good from God and not bad? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a guy who had a robust theology. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think what you were saying about your theology impacts your practical life, your practical living. We have a, I would be careful on how I say this. There's a, there's a gentleman here that was converted a while ago and he's going through probably the roughest time of his life. And I've seen him curse that time at the beginning. And now I see him trying to seek reconciliation of, of those things. And so you see this gospel just transforming his heart. Every time I talk to him, he'll have a tear in his eye and he'll say, God's working on me here. And when the gospel really gets a hold of you, it's transformative. It's not just a simple profession, but it's, it's a sanctifying work of true justification leads to sanctification. And in, in our world, we only focused on justification, get them to do this so they can say that they are justified. But what we're going to say is your faith will produce works like what James says. And so practical theology or how, you know, good theology has impacted me. It's the same thing. It's like when I see an issue and I know that I have the tool or the toolkit from the scripture to address it, I'm like, I can bank on this and I'm going to trust God's providence. I'm going to trust God's sovereignty and I'm just going to go forth and I'm going to live. Absolutely. James, we're on our last one with, for them. Yeah. Yeah. So if you stayed with us this long, if you're still holding on to the podcast, we want to give two last questions, one for them, one for us, just sort of to practically apply these things, practically apply how this looks like in your life. And so, man, does the pursuit of truth provide hope in an everyday life of someone's life? Yes. I would kind of mirror what Chance was talking about with that man in our church. I first met with this individual last fall. And at that point in time, there wasn't hope. No. He was crushed. But since then, he's been growing in the word, pursuing truth. And to see him now, he's full of hope. Yeah. It changes everything. Yeah. I sat in this office a couple days ago and just made me want to weep as he just living out the Christian life. Yeah. I think of the passage in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 26. It says, At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. And then it says, this phrase, yet once more, indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is, things that have been made, in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. And it just makes me think like, if you're not grounded in Christ, you're going to be shaky. Yeah. And even to the point, if you are not in Christ, you will be shaken off, be cast off. Yeah. When we, our hope is Christ and we're grounded in truth and we have that intimate relationship with our Lord, even the hardest things that come that seem to shake us, the world is being shaken all around us. We know that we're receiving something that cannot be shaken no matter what happens. And I think that's the hope that we have in Christ and being grounded in him. Yeah. Amen. And I think our hope also helps with our practice. So like, we build for the future kingdom to come. And so we're building with a hopeful kingdom. You know, I know MacArthur says we lose down here, but I don't think we do. We're advancing the kingdom. We're winning the hearts of God's elect. And so my hope and what we do is not to build a social gospel or a good Christian school or a good social club on Sunday morning. My hope is that God gathers the elect here at his church and God's kingdom advances through reigning on the hearts of the believers. And so good theology and hopeful theology is best practice as you proclaim the gospel, knowing that it's going to convert people. Yeah. Knowing that the truth of God is going to march on, regardless if we're burnt at the stake or we live fat and happy all our life. God's truth will march on. Yeah. Yeah. What they're asking Voddie Balkan one time in a Q&A, like, what is your hope in, you know, reformed theology? And he said, guaranteed success. Amen and yes. So yes. Yeah. Produces hope. Well, and I was, the Bible is just, the truth, the scripture is just filled with hope. Yeah. It's, it's, it's every other verse is a hopeful verse. Yeah. And I'm, this one has been on my mind lately in Philippians one. And you talk about, go back to our, we were discussing a little bit about people that are struggling with sexual addiction, pornography. I mean, you're working through somebody that's struggling with that. And what is, what is one of those lies that they feel? I'll never be able to conquer this. I'll, I'll always be a slave to this. Well, Philippians one, six, Paul says, I am sure of this. That he, Christ, who began a good work in you. Yeah. Salvation, sanctification, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus. That is a hopeful promise. Amen. You are not going to stay there. Yeah. And that's not, that's not prosperity gospel. No. It doesn't say that it's going to be easy, but it's saying, listen, he's not leaving you where you're at. Yeah. He will finish what he started. Absolutely. Yeah. So we have a hopeful gospel. All right. We're on our, our last question for you guys. What does being free in Christ look like from a biblical perspective? Being free in Christ from a biblical perspective, I believe is, is walking a life that is biblical. That sort of sounds circular, right? But being free in Christ is, is having a, a, a walk, a state of mind, a heart. It's, it's contentment. It's okay. Let me go back to Philippians. Sorry. Sorry. I'm using my phone here. We're going to go. 27. Philippians four. Rejoice. Verse four. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. All right. What was the question again? What is freedom in Christ look like in a biblical perspective? Verse six. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is any worthy praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. That is freedom in Christ from a biblical perspective. You are walking a life following the biblical principles, following in the shoes of Christ, walking with Christ, and you're letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly, and he is transforming you. You want to tell me that having the peace of Christ reign over you is not freedom? Yeah. And verse 27 says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, side by side, for the faith of the gospel. Oh, yeah. So. Yeah. And you go back to the work that you guys do, especially Austin here at this church. I mean, people are starving for this, and they're not getting expositional preaching going through those passages, like going through the entire book of Philippians. Yeah. What? And you're seeing, you guys are seeing this in this church. You're seeing the impact of whenever you are unpacking the scripture that way, the impact that it does on people. Yeah. And whenever they're getting that. And it is free. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's in Corinthians where it says the washing of the water of the word, how we're to sanctify our wives. And I think that's probably, there's applicableness of the word washing. I can't even say that right now. Worshing. Worshing. Worshing. Worshing the hearts of the congregation. I fit in right around here in Kentucky. So, it's such a beautiful thing to see the word of God just make clean the hearts of the sinners. Yeah. James? In preparation for this, I came across this quote. It said this. I think it sums up what John was trying to say very well. It says that freedom is not a matter of doing what you want without restraint, but cultivating the right wants and living in obedience to God's will. In other words, freedom results when our wants align with God's will. Right now, I'm studying through the book of Habakkuk with our youth, and we're going to finish it up next week. But looking through Habakkuk chapter 2 and the waiting that Habakkuk has to do in order for God's will to be done. And he makes that famous verse that we know of, that one of the only verses we know out of Habakkuk is the just shall live by faith. Freedom in Christ is living by faith. Freedom in Christ is making our wants line up with God's will and saying, God, no matter what happens, I'm going to live in a way that's according to what you want me to do, in a way that is only honoring you. No matter the outcome, no matter what happens in the end, I know I'm doing this because it's what you are wanting me to do with my life. And I think that's what being free in Christ looks like. It's not just the freedom to just live any way that I want to live, and there's no repercussions. It's living a way that lines up with what Christ wants us to live up with. You're freely bound to Christ. It's what you love is being a servant to Christ. I think I don't remember who gave this illustration of this. All right. Is a person more free when they sit down and they just look at a piano and they just start hammering at keys? Oh, I'm not bound. You can't tell me how to play the piano. It's like, oh, that's terrible. But if they are going through the chord structures, the notes, and they are just following that, and you just let them go on the piano, they're making beautiful music. And that's the freedom. James brought up that aspect, and this is what I've been preaching in our church, just a short series until our other pastor gets back and preaches through Amos. And the Westminster Confession of Faith, I think, summed up the purpose of man from Scripture so eloquently about 450 years ago, the chief end of man or the purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And then a dear pastor and saint of God in the 80s, I think, sort of took that. And I really do believe that God was helping him sort of sum up these things for us today. And he said that the outflow of that is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. That's John Piper. Yeah. Okay? In Desiring God. Psalms 37.4. I think I got that right. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of the heart. What do we always do with that verse? We always, our minds, our eyes always go right to the second part of it, the desires of my heart. Yeah. And even somebody might get combative and say, well, I've done all the things. I've lived the way I should, but I still don't get what I want. That verse is not true. But you're missing the first part. Delight in who? God. Yeah. Is God your delight? Now watch this. If God is the desire of your heart, you're delighting in him, and you have the desire of your heart. That's good. If you have God as your delight. Yeah. Are you satisfied in him? And that's when he's most glorified. And you're fulfilling your purpose. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, guys, it has been 79 minutes. This has been a great episode. Enjoyed having you guys on. James, thanks for joining us. And John, it's been good hanging out with you this week. Chance, we've got some closing announcements. Yeah, we have a few announcements. So we're going to have the Starving for Truth conference. It's going to be next year. It's going to be July 8th and 9th. June. June 7th and 8th, right? June 7th and 8th. I'm sorry. I was thinking of something else. That's when I'm going to be in California picking up somebody. That's how my brain works. Scratch that. It's going to be June. 7th and 8th. 7th and 8th. Yes, there we go. Thank you, Tyler. Friday and Saturday. Friday and Saturday. So JC's going to be here. Nathan's going to be here. John's mic's about to explode. John's mic fell over. It's right. He's off air now. And then we're going to be seeing some more of the RFP groups to be a part of it as well. So that's developing. If you have any questions, please shoot us a text or shoot us a message. And we have hotels that will be cheaper, things of that nature. And then the ladies are planning something for the ladies as well because the men have a secret spot that they're going to that we can't talk about. And then also Chance and my wife are starting a podcast. Chance? Chance. Chance's wife. And my wife. Our wives. Oh. I was like, no, I'm not. Did I say that wrong? You said Chance and my wife. So it sounded like. I have your attention now. So that worked. They're starting a podcast soon called Feminine Faith. And they're going to be launching in July. And so we're looking forward to them jumping on here. And it's kind of the same void. You know, there are also ladies that are starving for truth. So I'm excited for them to start that. I'm glad I got your attention now. Yeah, I think they're going to do one a month. We also just launched our website. And we have a membership perk there. It's $10 a month. It helps with just the podcast equipment and running the podcast. But also, I want to offer the ability to help you set up your own website, your own podcast to kind of build a bigger network. So if you want to be a part of that, please join up. But I think this is going to collude. We got to end the episode, guys. Go over. Check out For Freedom Podcast. So good having them on here with us. Make sure to listen to them. And we'll see you guys next week. See you guys. I appreciate it. See you. You guys continue. See you. Thanks for listening to the For Freedom Podcast. If you enjoyed the content of the podcast, please do us a favor by liking, subscribing, or sharing the podcast on whatever podcast platform you listen to. Thank you.

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