(0:00)If you drag me, I'll drag you back
If you drag me, I'll drag you right back. Particularly if you are displaying the poverty of your spiritual intellect. Uh when God said you should wait for him to give you a wife. Could it still happen even if you are in a house and don't even go out? First of all, did God say you should wait for him to give you a wife? So if God came to you in a dream, in a vision, through a prophecy, my son, wait, I will bring you a wife. Go back to the God who appeared to you and say, should I wait in my house or should I wait at the disco? Unfiltered. Hi everybody. Welcome back to PF Unfiltered. My name is Tund Marola. My co-host's name is Esa Griffin. Griffin. So you ain't know my last name. I knew it but you just said hey everybody not I don't even know your name. We just started y'all. Sorry. Uh
(0:48)Why we are doing this Q&A
PF and obviously our I don't want to say pastor in the Lord cuz it sounds so nice. Pastor Lord. Pastor where if it's not in the Lord. Yeah, but this sounds so like, you know, this sounds like very Anyway, sorry. Let me let me do the honors. I want to introduce a man. Hey, that is Can I Here comes the man. The man that had a plan in one year he would have a million. Whatever, man. My name is Premier Motor. Welcome, welcome. Um, I know we promised we had promised PF we had made promises that we we haven't kept. M the promise that we foreshadowed the next episode was going to be part one was love relation with each other and part two was going to be love relation to God because of your overwhelming questions from church from church which we encourage you guys we're appreciative of we encourage you guys to please you know connect on the podcast on socials and keep putting the comments and questions we have a lot of questions that we figured we're going to we're going to identify select and address. Yeah. So, just a little background, next week on um Sunday, PF did a Q&A at church and um we had a lot of questions that came in that didn't get answered. And so, today we want to use this opportunity to walk through some of those questions so that you can answer those questions. Um and some of the questions are hot fire, hot fire. And I just want to say like uh for those who don't know, for those who know, shout out. Um this church, New Covenant House is one of the fastest growing churches in central Dallas. M um according to a source to an anonymous according to a source unnamed um source who wears round spectacles aka T money at this point we do have two services one at 10 a.m. one at 12. So the church is grown. Back to the part. So yeah, there are a lot of questions. Ask questions. Yeah. And and I really like that's why we do the the the Q&A. Yeah. Right. Cuz there a lot of things on people's minds and usually church can be very one way. You know, a pastor comes and he preaches and he preaches and 365 days uh uh 52 weeks people just keep hearing and you never get to an opportunity to ask some of the questions that are on your mind that you have been unable to resolve by yourself. So every year we try to do at least two or three of those services that are dedicated to just Q&As's and you can ask questions on anything, right? not just on the sermons that you have heard on topics ranging from A to Z and but we we don't get a chance to um to answer all the questions in service. We have a 35 minute slot right and yesterday I think must have had close to 150 questions. Yeah, I think in the service we can answer maybe three four five at a time cuz some of the questions require nuance you know not very few of them are yes or no you know. So yeah, it's cool. I guess I before we jump into the questions, I want to ask something. Do you is PF unfiltered for you a way to kind of connect with the congregation on one of more of a one-on-one level? Because like you were saying, it might be difficult to kind of connect with the pastor at church, right? Because everyone wants to connect with the pastor. But in a way, I feel like this is one of those absolutely we what what I have tried to do as a pastor is create um make myself accessible right to the congregation and to the community right beyond even the congregation. So we have the Q&A Sundays but our Bible study which we run uh topic based Bible study they run for like 7 8 weeks then we take a break then another 8 n weeks and that that kind of um that cadence right they are very interactive what what and what happens is that I've got a topic that we're working on right and at any point in my talking preaching you can raise your hand ask a question you can make a comment we can have a back and forth is not just a one-way street, right? Um it's very so Bible studies are a lot of fun, you know. Um that's one way, but PF unfiltered goes beyond the congregation, right? But the idea is that we can have a conversation, not just, you know, talking. That's why I'm not coming on PF unfiltered and, you know, just telling preaching again. Yeah. It's not another pull bit for another sermon, right? So we have conversations and I really would love if the audience could become a part of the conversation you know through their comments and through their questions you know one of the things that I think is important if you ask me a question I will respect you to answer it yeah so comments questions hey bring it on let's engage I like y'all like all right let's get into it all PF any disclaimers cuz some questions that you want to give them any let me tell you anything I say is my opinion and my interpretation of scripture. If you don't agree, please go and check what the Bible says. Before you go off on a tangent and drag me on social media, if you drag me, I'll drag you right back. Biblical illiterate. I'm sorry. Particularly if you are displaying the poverty of your spiritual intellect. Did I say that? I did. Yeah, don't worry. We'll take it out of the production. Nah, dog. We second that. Um, do you want me to start? You want to start? Yeah. Okay. Question one. Uh, when God
(6:20)Should you wait at home for a wife?
said you should wait for him to give you a wife, could it still happen even if you are in a house and don't even go out? First of all, did God say you should wait for him to give you a wife? Well, that's what the person said. God did not say, "Wait, my son while I bring thee a wife, except if you had a personal revelation about that, God said to you," because that is not in the Bible. Yeah. So if God came to you in a dream, in a vision, through a prophecy, my son, wait, I will bring you a wife. Go back to the God who appeared to you and say, should I wait in my house or should I wait at the disco? Yeah, that sounds really straightforward. You know, it's interesting actually. However, however, if I were you, I would not be in my house waiting. But, you know, God spoke to you. So, can I argue with God? I think a shady person. I actually think a man wrote this so that whoever say men are shady. Wait, I think it was a shady man. The reason why I say that is because he wrote this to maybe a girl like incognito type of thing and then it's like, well, you don't get out the house, so that's why you you're not meeting anybody. So, I feel like this was a shady question. Like reverse psychology type. Yeah. Okay. Ah, I see. Okay. This is what the Bible says. He who finds a wife Yeah. finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. Find implies search. If you're in your house, by the time you search in your kitchen, there's nobody there. Search in your bathroom, there's nobody there. You search in your refrigerator, if she's there, someone needs to call the police. Problem. M so guy and if it is somebody trying to um um do this incognito anonymous trying to reverse it if you're a woman right and you are staying in your house hoping to be found I hope it is not an armed robber that finds you because I don't understand how they're going to find you in your house and they're not stalkers they don't have cameras hidden everywhere come on now come on come on go out meet people go to church go to parties go to weddings go to dinners you said parties what kind of party. Yeah, go to parties. I mean, parties where people are festive and celebrating, not where they are drunk and drug kind of party. The kind of parties you just guys turn water into wine, too. That's a good party. Okay. They were chilling, right? Yeah, they were chilling. I don't know if they were chilling. I think the people were drunk. That's why they were drunk. Next I don't can we were drunk. They said no. They said he was he hung out with drinkers. Yeah. People a wine ber doesn't a wine ber somebody who hangs out with people who sh Exactly. And you hear what PF said earlier on. I said the what was the word the poverty of the script spiritual scriptural prover what do you call it again I said the poverty of your spiritual intellect intellect oh god god is just humbling us next question next question please is it
(9:15)Can you actually lose your salvation?
possible to lose your salvation if so how can one lose their salvation I believe it is possible to get to a point where you don't believe anymore where you stop believing where you choose to ignore the facts and assert your right to not believe I believe I I think that if salvation right and and let's be clear on what salvation is if you get to a point where you say you know what I don't believe Jesus died for me the whole connection to God the whole connection to Christ is the statement I believe he died for me if you can say with sincerity I don't believe he died for me you will be cut off from Christ so you can lose your salvation absolutely And it's not a losing it. They're throwing it away, right? Losing it implies that, oh, you were walking on the street and it fell out of your pocket. Someone stole it from you. No, no, no, no. You can make a decision. Do you know what? Based on the prepundonderance of evidence, I no longer believe. I'm sorry. Say it again. Based on the plenty evidence. Oh, no. That's not what you said earlier. That's not what I said. No, that's not what you said. I guess preponderance. Preponderance. Okay. Um, wait. Do 14. Okay. 14. Yes. It's
(10:25)Does God love you unconditionally?
this piggyback's on that. This this I got his is highlighted. Does God truly love us unconditionally? Plug in the last episode. He does not love you unconditionally. Oh well, let me there's more. Wait, PF, there's more. Okay, I'll rephrase. But go on. Does God truly love us unconditionally? Given that we have to meet a certain requirement to please him. Also, we know that God is all knowing. Why did he put Adam and sister Eve to test knowing they will sin? Okay. Number one, God does love us unconditionally. The Bible says God is love. He cannot not love us. It is who he is. However, interacting with us is a different story. He can love you from afar, right? That is why he sent Jesus, right? So that you can have a relationship with him. Um the second part of that question is
(11:22)If God knew Adam would sin, why test him?
since God is all knowing, why did he put Adam and Eve in the garden to test it? Because because free will requires choice. Yeah. God wants us to choose him. In order for us to choose him, we have to be able to reject him. If we cannot reject him, then we didn't choose him. Right? So he put them in the garden. He knew what they were going to do, right? Because for God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. God dwells outside of time. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all in the same scene for God, right? So, the fact that he knew what they were going to do does not change the fact that he needed to give them free will. Right? If I give you two apples that look exactly the same, have I given you a choice? I mean, two apples look exactly the same, feel exactly the same, taste exactly the same, and I say, "Choose one." Oh, you say, "Choose one." Okay. Sorry. Yeah. Choose. Choose one. Is that a choice? That's not a choice. If I give you an apple and an orange, I say, "Choose one." That's a choice. That's a choice. Cheated though. Sorry. I I still feel a little cheated. I apple one or you like giving me something else like, you know, banana or something. I don't feel that's a choice. I don't like I don't like um Okay, that's a personal problem. No, a seriously personal problem. A deeply a deeply personal problem. A person a problem that we might have to call in. Comment guys comment in the in the the section. Comment in the section. Let's know. Let's understand what's going there other people with problems. Yeah. There are other people because I can't I don't know how I can't be with problems. Sorry. Next question. We gonna go to the next one. I don't know everything. Okay. These questions are easy, man. Bring Are they really
(13:08)Speaking in tongues: Is it faith or doubt?
easy? Softball. Um, uh, do do you sometimes feel like you're just coming up with the words while speaking in tonesues? Rather, do you think there's a right feel when you're speaking in tongues? I think that everything we do that is spiritual is by faith. Which means that for it to be of faith, there is room for our intellect to doubt. Yeah. Yeah. When we say something is 100%. It's not by faith anymore. Faith implies, Bible says faith is defined as the substance of things um hoped for the evidence of things unseen. Hope for is not here. Unseen it is not here. Yeah. Right. You will if you have 100% empirical evidence that what you're doing is is this. That's not faith. There's a bit of blindness to faith. A bit of blindness. But faith really implies that there's no blindness because you are 100% confident of God. Yeah. So when you speak in tongues, if you had a a scientist come and tell you, oh yeah, that language is um is the ancient language spoken by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia between 25 AC and 25 BC. That's no longer faith. That's not faith. Yeah. Right. If I speak in English, that's not faith. You just I'm trying to say there will be an element of it that Are you sure? I'm 100% sure. Why are you sure? Because God says, right? Because God said, because the Bible said. Uhhuh. If there's no because God said or because the Bible said, right? Then you what I'm saying? Yeah. You're differentiating faith from fact. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. To me. Yeah. Okay. Number six. Sorry. Next question.
(15:14)Why you can't feel God's presence
If I'm growing my relationship with God and it seems like I can't feel him around me or I can't hear his voice, could it be that I'm doing something wrong? First of all, if you were growing your relationship with God, you won't be asking that question because the Bible says that the just by live shall live by faith, not by feelings. Right? Waiting to feel God or looking for a physical sensation of his presence is one of those things that you may wait the whole of your life and your experience. You have to trust what God says. I have I will never leave you nor forsake you. That means that he is here. Whether I feel him, whether I sense him or not, he is here. Again to the faith question, right? If I can feel you, where's the faith? I I'm I'm not looking at Esther right now, but I can feel her presence. That's not faith. That is my That's biology. By the way, you know, human beings have more than five senses, right? We have from what I understand through science, we have maybe like 8 9 10 12 senses that we don't we only talk about the five, right? So, if you are looking to feel God, that's problem number one. When you go to church and they're singing slow songs and you start to feel goosebumps, the ace is probably blowing on you is not necessarily an indication of God's presence. Yeah, it could be a very cold room. Yeah, you might go to church and they singing the most boring hymn you've ever heard and God is there. He says where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there in their midst. If he says it, it is true whether I feel it, whether I see it or not. Right? So as you grow in your faith, you are less dependent on your feelings. You understand that, right? The Bible says Joseph was in the pit, God was with him. Joseph was in slavery, God was with him. Joseph was in uh uh uh prison, God was with him. Ask Joseph how he felt, right? There's no record that Joseph knew that God was with him. Right? There's a second part to that question. Um, what was the second part of it? Sorry. I can hear um or I can't hear his voice. Could it be you're doing something wrong? There's nothing there's nothing wrong. The Bible says my sheep hear my voice and the voice of another they will not follow. You hear his voice, you just don't recognize his voice. Right? And in that sense, yes, in not recognizing his voice, clearly you are looking for physical feedback, right? That is where you might be doing something wrong. Not realizing that this walk with God is by faith. It is based on trust. You trust what he says, not what you see. You trust what he says, not what you feel. You trust what he says, not what you experience. Right? That is the walk with God. I got saved very early. I'm very early in my my journey with God. When I got saved, he said to me, Femy, the just shall live by faith, not by sight. And then the Holy Spirit added for me or by feelings. Right? So I have stopped expecting to feel some type of way in the presence of God. I know he's there. Yeah. So I guess that's my question to my second question would be personally for me. So how do you know he's there? He said he'll be there. He said he'll be there. So, so this person just needs to know that he what he said. What he said and believe it. Not not trying to chase a confirmation from a feeling or from a Yeah. Okay. And I want to add it can show up in different ways. So to add to that, like with work down to sending emails, the Holy Spirit has told me multiple times he would tell me when to go the extra mile. Maybe a couple of times I failed at doing it and I saw the repercussions of that and I was like, "Okay, I need to do better." But then I talked to the Holy Spirit about it. I was like, "Lord, I really want to be better in this area and he was like, "You need to listen then when I'm talking to you." Right? And then when I started to actually literally like I would send a I'll get a response from someone and I'll be like, "I don't want to do this." And I would just hear the voice say, "Send this extra mile. Go the extra mile. Send the email." And then as I started doing that, I realized that some of the pit holes that I would have fallen into, I'm not falling into them as much. But he's not talking to you with he's not sending you a memo or an attachment to the email, right? It's a voice that you hear from within. Yeah. That you recognize from within. Yeah. And over time, you have come to recognize that voice as the voice of the Holy Spirit. It could easily be your imagination, right? And some people choose to say, "This is my imagination." Yeah. Many times cuz they don't want to do what it's saying. Mhm. Right. I mean, you're tired. You're ready to shut that computer down and something on the inside of you saying go the extra mile and send the email. Yeah. Right. Everything within you is going to doesn't want to do that. But you go ahead and do it. Yeah. And every time you do it, you see the you see the results. That that's how people get to recognize the voice of God. Yeah. Right. You you you you you feel you hear, you sense something, you act on it, you see feedback. Another time you feel, you hear, you sense something, you act on it, and there's no feedback. Yeah. that cuz that was my cuz I'm trying to like that was going to be my second question but you kind of address it because sometimes someone someone like me could hear that and be like okay how I know is that I'm seeing the results. Yes. No, I didn't say results. I said feedback. Well, second part was feedback. Yeah. Yes. I said feedback. Results are are let's say feedback and sometimes you will never see the feedback. Right. Because it was not meant to gratify you. Right. Right. It was meant to achieve some other purpose. the the the walk with God is so there's so much of it 99.9% of it is by faith we have to learn to trust what God says period and that's hard because we live by sight and feedback seven other senses yeah more than seven it's a lot um this is a good one I really want to ask this one yeah go ahead Jesus said in Matthew 17 that this kind goes not goes out except goes out well it says I don't know what this is but the one that doesn't go out apart from prayer and fasting are there really spiritual manifestations that we can't attain without prayer and fasting ask that again please are there spiritual manifestations that we can that we cannot attain so he's saying that essentially can we attain one can you attain spiritual man manifestations which I don't know what that is through prayer and fasting. And if you don't pray and fast, can you It starts with like Jesus said in Matthew 17 that this kind goeth not out except through prayer and fasting after casting out a demon. Right. Right. So are there a really spiritual manifestations that we can't attain without fasting and praying? Yeah. So So this is the thing, right? You have to remember that that that was a very interesting scenario. That guy was possessed by a demon, right? That was not a Christian. that was not a you know just a random person who needed help and Jesus turned to the disciples and some versions don't even add fasting right so fasting is there's some dispute as to the role of fasting in that conver this is in Mark too at the end of Mark some some versions don't have it some of the books who record that story don't have the fasting part of it read out by prayer some people um theorized that the interpreters of the Bible just projected their own sense of what that exercise should be, but let's just take it at the word and say prayer and fasting, right? What prayer and fasting does, right? And I'm intentionally answering it like this to give some content. What prayer and fasting does is connect you with God, right? Prayer is you talking to God. Prayer is a word we use to describe a conversation with God. Right? In the same way that we use gist to as a label for a conversation between friends. Yeah. We use interview as a label for a conversation between you know different categories of people. We have labels for different types of conversation. Yeah. Right. So people should not lose sight of the idea that prayer is not an activity independent of God. Right. You cannot have a conver if you've got a problem go and pray. We should not lose sight of what that statement means. It means go and talk to God about it. So when we talk about prayer like it's lifting weights right or or or you know or or um or or or some exercise devoid of the truth of it. Yeah. It's a problem. Yeah. Right. Fasting suppresses in in at its best suppresses your flesh. Yeah. Removes your mind from the distraction of food and preparing food so you can focus on God. Right. That's what fasting is supposed to be. Focus on that conversation with God. Right? There is no spiritual manifestation that you can attain without focusing on God and talking with God, without a relationship with God in one sense and I'm taking a generous interpretation of the qu of the question. However, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, right, which is what many of us refer to as spiritual manifestations, prophecies, miracles, um speaking in tongues, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, um the gifts of healing, the gift of faith, right? The Bible says those are given by the Holy Spirit as he wills. There is no criteria in scripture other than you being in Christ and having the Holy Spirit dwell in you for the Holy Spirit to give you a gift. Bearing in mind that those gifts are not for you. They are for his body. So there's no way in the Bible that says you have to pray and fast first before you can speak in before you can prophesy. Right. Yeah. That's not a gift. That's a wage. If there are conditions right for God to use me when he has said the Holy Spirit is the decider and there's no way in Bible that says this is the criteria with which the Holy Spirit decides. I have another question. Yes. So to the point around you talked about this yesterday how it is through our faith that it no it's through Christ that we no longer have any of the curses that are that could have been associated with bloodlines and things like that right that's something that you mentioned yesterday to that point then why do you why do we see especially in Nigerian community where we see people praying about a matter that has already been dealt with through the blood of Christ where does that come from like what is that ideology okay comes comes from two things. Number one, ignorance of what the word of God says. And number two, ignorance of what the word of God says. Number three, ignorance of what the word of God says. I can give you 10 reasons and it all comes down to ignorance of what the word of God says. Can I add Exactly. Because I and I'll tell you this, right? I'll tell you this. I had a conversation with somebody about this today, right? There are three things that we talk about in church. We talk about generational curses. We talk about generational trauma. And we talk about generational um um what's the third one? Trauma. Generational behavior. Right. Curses. A curse is you experience a generational curse is you experiencing adverse circumstances and events as a consequence of what someone else did. Not what you did. You didn't do anything wrong. Mhm. But someone else three, four generations before you did something. You are experiencing adverse circumstances because of that. You are a saint. You have done nothing wrong but they did something wrong. Now you are experiencing adverse circumstances. That's a generational curse. Okay. Right. Can you experience that as a believer? Absolutely not. Please elaborate because people think that because the blood of Jesus Jesus said it is finished. If he's like wait am I because answering this kind of question. No. This is why you're answering because people start praying and be saying that I re renounce and denounce any spiritual curse that's associated with my life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We say those things. It makes us feel good. But let me tell you the blood of Jesus. Right. The Bible says, "Though your sins be red as scarlet, you will be white as snow." Right? For me to experience an adverse circumstance in my life, it has to be related to sin that I committed. The Bible says, "The soul that sins shall die." Yeah. The Bible says, "No longer shall the children's taste be set on edge by the grapes the fathers have eaten, but it is the soul that sins that shall die." So for me to experience an adverse circumstance, it must be my sin. Right? So there's a mechanism for there to be a mechanism through which the sins of my ancestors were attached to me as if they were my sin. Mhm. Right. So let's say the stain Mhm. The stain that my ancestors brought, right, is attached to me by my virtue, by virtue of being a part of their bloodline. That stain did not come on me when I was 25 or 35. It comes on me at birth. Right? And then at 30, I meet Christ and he washes me clean, but he leaves that stain. How is the blood of Jesus so weak? But do we need multiple washes? I think it's more so at least I can speak for my it's more so our faith. Our faith is like it's not that our faith is weak. Is that the is our it is us refusing to take the Lord at his word. Right? We have adverse circumstances and we're looking for explanations for our adverse circumstances. Right? It doesn't make any sense that you are struggling with a particular issue in your life. We're looking we have to explain it. There's some things we can't explain. We have to explain it within the context of God's word. Yes, in the Old Testament, the Bible says that God visits the iniquity of the fathers to the third and the fourth generations. Right? But when they said that there was no interruption by the blood of Jesus the you say when the blood of Jesus comes into a bloodline, right, it cuts off sin. I don't understand how the blood of Jesus cannot remove the stain of my greatgrandfather's sin from my name. Yeah. But he removes everything else. I I think and maybe is the word I'm using. I still think it really is rooted in a lack of faith. But if you cuz if to your if you know the god you serve like the example I've used in my own personal life is for example like if I found out that Dangote was my father like all the war is associated to seriously. But again, yeah, all the worries to money would go away. Faith comes faith comes from knowing. That's that's right. If you So So if you if you don't know, you can't have faith. That's what I'm so ignorance. Ignorance is a lack of knowing, right? That leads to a lack of faith. Because they read they don't. They really don't. Or I mean, we read the word. No, no, we don't. We actually we actually do let me tell you what we do. We listen to sermons, right? We don't sit down and take the Bible, right? Genesis to Revelation. This is what we do. We'll read a book of the Bible and it will validate and affirm everything, our personal biases and what we believe. But we don't go further. Certain things were true from Genesis. No, not from Genesis. From Exodus, right? And by the way, I hope we know that the Bible is not listed in chronological order. Okay. From Exodus, from the book of um from when God gave the Ten Commandments. The fact that you have to say that, I'm sorry. No, some people think there was first of all Genesis, then there was um was way back. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's don't actually know. Yeah. The the order the chronological order of scripture, but this is the point, right? after Exodus, right? When God gave them the Ten Commandments, up until the death of Christ, certain things were true. Let me rephrase that. From when God chose Abraham Mhm. until Moses Mhm. certain things were true. Yeah. Right. Certain things were God dealt with people in a particular way. So, if you are paying attention, you'll notice that Abraham never got punished by God. Right? He lied, slept with uh Hagar. God did not answer. Even Sarah laughed and God didn't do anything. In fact, she still had her baby when God said. Then Moses comes ten commandments and then God is like, "Ah, no, no, no. We have laws now. We have rules now." And when you mess up, you feel it like a ton of bricks. And that goes on until when Jesus died. And once Jesus died, this is so good. Once Jesus died, right, the righteous requirement of the law which was given at the ten commandments was fulfilled. Say that again. The righteous requirement of the law, the law demanded blood. Yes. Certain behavior. Yeah. And if that behavior was not produced, blood must be shed. Yeah. When Jesus Christ died, the blood was shed and the law has now been fulfilled. All who are in Christ have fulfilled the law. And because we are in Christ, the Bible says Christ has redeemed us from the curse, the punishment that comes from the law. Right? Okay, good. If Christ has redeemed us from the curse that comes from disobedience to the law, cuz there are plenty of curses. Read Deuteronomy 28, the part we don't like to read. Since Christ has redeemed us from the curses, right? And the Bible says, "A curse without a cause shall fly around like a sparrow and find nowhere to perch." Christ has wiped away the cause for which curses are released. Yeah. What is the role of a generational c? There's no cause. There's no cause. Do you get my point? There's no cause. Your explanation I know we got to move to the next question, but your explanation I believe actually helps. I I think would help a lot of people. I I hope so. I hope so. Curses are not arbitrary. There has to be a cause. Now the basis of generational curses is that the cause came from your great greatgrandfather. Absolutely. But now Christ has redeemed you from the cause. There's no cause again. When they go to court, there's no crime. There's no evidence case. I have a question. Yes, ma'am. Uh Elizabeth's husband, what's his name? I'm sorry. Who's Elizabeth? Zechariah. Uhhuh. So I thought we draw Bible every day. Elizabeth's husband. Um, Abraham's husband, I mean Abraham's wife, didn't they do the exact same thing technically in terms of laughing or like chuckle at God. Yeah. One was punished, one wasn't. Yeah. There you go. And I'm going to lead to my question. That's so that's that that is you see that is a clear example a clear example of the difference between grace. So the difference between when there was law Yeah. and when there was no law. Abraham to Moses, there were no laws. If Jacob had done half of what he did, there were laws addressing what Jacob did about cheating your brother, God would have smoked that guy like dust. But there was no law. It's I mean it's difficult because then even ties, right? Even tithe was that was a good does this mean I'm I'm part of the reason why God didn't kill him. What did God say? God put a mark on him that nobody will touch you. That was the punishment, right? We're going to do nothing with you. We're not even going to let you die. We're just going to leave you under the law. Nah, man. That guy is going to die. I had a conver today. Somebody sent me some somebody sent me um a YouTube clip video of some pastor somewhere who was feeling really intelligent and talked about how um tithing is a sin. What? And I know another episode and no let me just quickly address say this. Tithing is a sin and and I looked at that thing just the title tithing is a sin. And I was like, "This is clickbait." Because what he then goes on to do is basically do what I just said. Describe what I just said. Pre-law and post-law. Tithing means two different things. Pre-law, Abraham tithe to MelkiseDC. Mhm. Post-law and pre-law tithing was just if you want it was an act of worship. M there was no there was no consequence to not tithing post law there is punishment if you don't tithe God will deal with you because now you're stealing from him post law right what era do we live in as Christians post Christ pre-law pre-law pre-law we live as if we're like Abraham that's why the Bible says Abraham is the father of faith the Bible says that God accounts our faith God credits our faith as righteousness in the same way that he did for Abraham. Yeah. Right. So as a Christian, there is no gun to your head to tithe. But you tithe, you give God a percentage of your income, whether it is 1%, 2%, 10%, 25%, whatever, as an act of worship, not out of fear, right? To someone say tithing is a sin. It is so irritating because you're not you don't they they have to sit down and listen to your 38 or 45 minute sermon to understand what you're saying. Somebody's going to walk away with that with seen that title and based off of whatever reputation you have. Right? So the person who sent me that video, I wonder if they had watched it because that's a sermon I have preached multiple times. So I'm like why do you send me a video about a sermon that I have preached over and over and over right it's it's majority of YouTube um or social media to be honest I guess just to the next question is specifically asks how can you strengthen your discernment to differentiate punishment from discipline from the Lord or are they one and the I don't understand that question. The Bible says The Bible says Mhm. Yeah. God chastises or disciplines those whom he loves. Yeah. A chastisement or discipline, right, will always cause pain. Punishment has no redemptive value. Punishment is just to inflict pain for no cause. Right? You struggling to discern between punishment and discipline in my opinion is an exercise in futility and it's very unnecessary. The Bible says count it all joy where you fall into diverse challenges. Call it discipline, call it punishment, call it tribulation, call it whatever you like. Because you know that this momentary challenge is working for you a far greater weight of glory. Yes sir. The Bible also says in the book of Romans chapter 8, "And we know that in all things God is working for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose." So trying to discern between punishment and discipline for me undermines the very basis of that statement. Everything that happens to me whether whatever label you give it ultimately is working for my good. So if God punishes me, it's a label that you have chosen. Some people say God is blessing me. If ultimately his punishment is going to elevate me, is it really punishment? Can I add to like I think also with the question is like you have to look at God as a father, right? Like in Matthew it compares how like God does not um the birds don't have to worry about what they would eat and um look how beautiful the liies of the field are. And so in the same way it's like if God is better than the human father and you think about some of y fathers a little sketchy just like mine but uh God is better than him than them right so when I think about that I'm like god really loves me and he wouldn't compared to my earthly father he's way better than that yeah so so the concept of punishment honestly when I hear that question I am transported back to the old covenant right where God's interactions with people were not necessarily as focused on redemption, right? God punished people and he disciplined people. Yeah. Under our dispensation, if you are in Christ, so this is interesting. Let's talk about punishment for a quick second. What is it punishing you for? The sins that Christ have paid for or the sense that like let's say you actually know that you did something wrong that Christ paid for. Mhm. As you were sinners, as he died for you. Yeah. Did Christ only pay for accidental sins? He didn't. He paid for that. So he paid for all sins. Yeah. So what is God punishing you again for now? It's guilty conscience that's doing that properly. And so God is not the one punishing you. And and and but but to because if God has punished Christ, then God will be unjust, right? To punish you for the sins that he has punished Christ for. But but PF for whatever reason most people don't most of us don't again we go back to the same thing we hear it you've been preaching for a long time you've been actually consistent in your message thank you very much what is why for whatever reason is even for the the the verse you quoted in Matthew where you know the birds of the air they neither turn nor spin and the of the valley today go them how much more so you will fit once but we women and what I hear is is a human tendency which is true but if you if if we stops there at least for me how do we know that we're just not doing the same thing we're saying all these things it sounds good but in actual practice there's nothing do you know why can I tell you why right and and this is hard the Bible says labor to enter into my rest that labor requires two things number one finding out what God says. That's the labor. That's what you have to work out. Yeah. Find out what God said at one and believe in it. That's it. Believe it. We are finding out, but we're not believing it. We're not really finding out. Let me explain what I mean. We're just coming to church. Let me explain. For the last I've been I have been a Christian since 1993. Effectively, it's 1993. Damn. Right. I'm sorry. Were you born then? I mean, it's a long time ago. I'm born in '92. You're born? God. I graduated from college in ' 92. Wow. Mercy. And And technically I got saved in ' 92, but I didn't really start living it out until 93. Yeah, actually 92. Ministry was 93. Okay. Now, every day, every Sunday, right? For the last um um 32 years, right? Let's say 28 years, I have been hearing the same thing. You got to earn it. You got to pay the price. You got to work for it. Yeah, you got to, you know, you you got to you got to do this. You'll be God will punish you. Be afraid. Be very afraid. 52 * 28. I've heard a sermon every week. And when I'm feeling really spiritual, I listen to sermons throughout the week. Right. Then for the last 5 years, I've been hearing something else. It's going to be hard to transition in my mind from what I've been hearing for 32 28 years. And it's not just in church. When I go to work, it is validated. Guy, you haven't done the assignment. No promotion for you. You haven't done the work, no raise for you. Yeah. In every area of my life, that principle is validated. What about the principle of like you um uh what you sow is what you reap. You think they're they're manipulating that verse to meet this ideology? The Bible says as long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest time Mhm. will remain will not pass away. So what you sow, you will reap. However, however, however, when you are in Christ, what you sowed, Christ has reaped. Sit down. Sit down. Every action has a consequence, right? the way I make right is factual that every action has a consequence literally speaking right um it makes to me it makes sense that there's nothing we can do to earn grace right how do we unlearn so we can stop to earn what has been given stop trying to earn what has been given that's the question yeah and it's not hard in the sense that the answer is not hard sorry it's it's a simple answer, but it's hard. Let me tell you what the answer is. Read your Bible. Yeah. Pray every day. Read your Bible. Pray every day. Pray every day. Pray every day. Read your Bible. Pray every day. If you want to grow for us, he's Let me tell you, let me tell you. Let me tell you this. Uhhuh. I I keep saying this. You can't sit down in the parts of scripture that you like. The stories of David, right? And they're nice, right? The the Psalms are very poetic. Songs of Solomon. Borderline. That's the mostated book. Spiritual if you understand sorry old English. That thing is borderline soft porn. I read it for you. So, you know, so you know the story about Sarah and Abraham, you know, lovely stories. It's a good one. But then when you now choose uh to sit in Isaiah cuz all those curses, you know, let their children's head be dashed against the stone. Let their name be blotted. The Lord will give you the neck of your enemies. Those very game of thrones you you those things they resonate Holy Ghost fire killed all the prophets of Baal. Now go and talk to listen we the one where the the the apostle that was sent to tell the Gentiles how the gospel works. You want to know how the gospel works? Listen to the person that wrote the book on how it works. We don't know. We don't want to do that. to because when you read Romans sometimes understanding how that whole cleansing thing happens it can get it can sound a little technical right he talks about how you know uh uh uh uh how Christ has redeemed you they use words that we don't like propitiation justification sanctification can you say that what was that word again propitiation I don't like this pro I don't see honestly it's in the Bible it's in the Bible it's in theible So if you've never encountered it, have you read that? Have you read it? Different version is not that propation. Can Google version does not have that propetition version doesn't have it. That's too much. King James version. No, actually I know we're running short on time. We can maybe do two more questions. How convenient. We have two two more juicy questions. Two more questions. But but I wanted I want to shout out shout out to everyone listening. Thank you for the for the Why are we shouting out to the people listening? Because I mean, are we talking to No, but why we shouting shouting out to somebody when they've done something? No, but we shout out just letting I'm just messing with you. Shout out to all the people who are using their ears for good for uh uh again, right? So, they can catch us in socials, right? There's a video component to this as well if you want to see PF's fit, obviously. Um Oh my god. I don't know if PF is fit in the day, though. Thank you, Joe. I'm just wearing my sneakers and my Yeah, if I'm dressed like that, I'll be proud of myself. You was fitting on them. You was fitting on them. Did I just chill? Grandpa vibes. We got We got two more questions. Fired. We got two more questions. By the way, there are a lot of questions and we'll try our best to get to them in the episode as well, but yeah, I think I I'll answer some of the questions as well and put them on my um on my IG. I want to do this one. Oh, yeah. Which one? IG. Instagram. I have Instagram. Yeah. What's it called? Tell you don't know that cuz I don't have I don't have social media. You follow me on IG? I do. Mhm. Wow. Who Who handles your page? Who manages it? I do. I I followed you myself. I followed you myself. It's not him. What does it say? Please, producer. Atonement is not What version is that? That's the question. What version is it? I said NIB is not doing all of that. Let me drop. It's not. Okay. All right. So, next question. Use your Bibles, guys. I pray. I recently found out my husband cheated on me with a man. As a Nigerian, I don't want to bring shame to the family. What should I do? Wait, where are you reading this one for? Please, let me ask and see you. Where are you from? Is that Oh, you just skipped the Oh, okay. Yes. All right. But ask again. I'm I'm still I'm still shook. Oh, no. Actually, no. Let's do this one. We'll come back to that one. How do you handle friendships where someone believes their relationship with God is stronger or weaker than yours? And if and it affects how they treat you. I don't think that person is your friend or or that person is not as mature as they're trying to purport to be. Right. I think that one of the hallmarks of a mature Christian is understanding that you have a responsibility to help those who are not as knowledgeable as you. You understand that everything that you are and everything that you have, you did not earn. Yeah. Right. Was given to you by God. So therefore, you have no right to look down on anybody or treat anybody some type of way. Yeah. I should not be able to I should not feel less than because you are mature. I should feel like all I should get from you is love and patience and warmth and grace. Yeah. Yeah. Especially as a friend. Well, I have a know. Let's move on. Okay. Because if if if if I know more than you to you and by the time I'm done with you Yeah. you feel somehow right your ability to absorb from me diminishes. Mhm. The lack of the trust is gone. I guess the angle I was going here with not even the where angle I was going from is it would be it would not be fair in my opinion of me to put the vessel on a pedestal. So if you showed up in my relationship and you are deter me spiritually God bless you. Yeah. Exactly. Because doesn't make sense. We're all vessels. Yeah. So I'm not going to put you on the zero because you said you quoted seven scripture and now all of a sudden and the fact that I quoted seven scripture doesn't mean yeah it doesn't mean you just have a good memory sensitive to maybe someone feels like someone else is I do want to encourage that person the last shall be the first and the first shall be the last I don't I don't there we go again competition competition no that's what the scripture says no next question in order to boost their confidence that's the truth though like let them get that Jesus and die for you what no covenants with I'm just saying the first shall be the last and the last shall be the first and that was a prophecy about Christ the and he was speaking about the first Adam the second Adam don't we we shall even production saying no no no because next they already check us we losing 21 21 should my husband continue to have conversations with what happened to the gay affair Oh. Oh, yeah. Okay. We can do that one again. All right. So, it say I'm just curious because you just skip that one. Sorry. And then the person will now know that I skipped watch out for Okay. I recently found out my husband cheated on me with a man has a Nigerian. I don't want to bring shame to the family. What should I do? Would this have brought less shame if it was with a woman? Like, does it make does that make it better? It doesn't. But this person doesn't see I told you in our society it makes it worse. It makes it worse. Okay. worse because you want to download if you want to be if you want to like men like men in in the open and let them know that you're liking men but you're trying to but I'm not talking about the person who likes the men I'm talking about the person who is talking about how so if it was a woman you would tell your family that I I don't understand yeah but you're right PF there will be more society speaking the question is what should I do my husband had an affair with a man doesn't matter who yeah but the question should be what should I do my husband had an affair Yeah, full stop. But you're right. That's what that's what the question should be. Really this I know I I get this I get right because what you then do right is you create a double standard. You just I'm saying and and that's the problem with the church. That's what you're trying to break from us. From me I mean yes everybody you particularly because white can't white is a problem. K's a problem. Invariably we actually start to elevate and diminish certain things. Yeah. So we say homophobe being being a homosexual is worse than being an adulterer. So we feel very comfortable with stoning the gays but not the dogs right and and it doesn't work like that. Somebody for context, somebody back there said, "Gee, just is that mentality that um that's why I keep saying so would this have been different if it was a woman, right? Because it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be, but it would have." So, what you're trying to teach us is that it should not be. Yes. It should not be because a sin is a sin. Yep. God does not weigh adultery with a man worse than adultery with a woman. Yeah. Right. So your reaction to it because in in like and I know you've kind of spoken about this in the past like the scripture about the one that commits adultery or thinks about a woman blustfully in their heart or the one that doesn't murder but has anger in their hearts and guilty of the same sin. The problem with us is at least with me as human beings for whatever reason there's still the hierarchy of morality because if I'm angry I feel like you guys can kind of forgive me kind of speak I'm not saying you guys can if I murder or different. Yeah. But see that's the problem. You see so so I don't I don't mind if somebody who is new to the faith operates in that kind of mentality. But when the church as an institution adopted it adopts it and that is why we have the world we have today where our ability to witness to the whole world is constantly being compromised by our creating a hierarchy of sin. And invariably what we then do is we segment a section of the society aside for vilification. Right? So people who are gay, even though the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, Mhm. in the same way it says adultery, murder, a murderer has more grace from the church than a homosexual. The church is going to um prisons, visiting death row. That's a good point. Advocating for murderers on death row that they have changed. Let them out. We give them stuff. We look after them. We pray for them. But somebody who is a homosexual or who is practicing homosexuality, whatever, same sinner. Mhm. Why does one deserve compassion and the other one revulsion? That I struggle with that. It's a great great point. I struggle with that. Great point. And it has diminished our witness. We don't realize it, but we will. It's almost a great enough point for us on Right. Like for us to reflect on that. Why as a church? Can we get one more? Yeah. Cuz I don't want to like rush over these things, but we can. We can. I feel like it was so good for us to reflect on that one. Yeah. One more. Okay. And we can reflect on the one more. Yeah. Okay. Why is doing his nose like somebody can smell something? No. No. No. So this is it. Should my husband continue to have conversations with me? Ah, that's right. That's right. Even after being married. I have told him not. I have told him I'm not comfortable with it. He tells me it's nothing but deletes some of their text messages. is a play. So, so this is this is what I would say. This is what I would say to that, right? Two things. Number one, I think that if your wife is uncomfortable with a relationship, whether it is with an ex or or even a friend, right? I think you have to take her discomfort into consideration, right? And if you don't take her discomfort into consideration, are you willing for her not to take your discomfort into consideration? Right? Because if you say to your wife, this is as a leader, the fact that this person is my ex should not impact my relationship with them. Is it okay for her ex, right, to be in communication with her? Cuz why is he deleting messages? And that's that. No, but but but no, but blood. But that but but seriously, but but seriously, if you're deleting messages, the implication is that there's something you do not want to be seen. Yeah. Right. Which again raises the question if this is so innocent right then why are you deleting messages I think honestly it's possible that this person is deleting message because they know you don't like it doesn't mean funny business not necessarily not necessarily you see and this is the problem again right we're trying to read people's minds and jump down their figure what's in their minds without fully knowing the facts but this is but I got you sis that but this is I got you this but let me let me after having spoken let me also say be careful that you don't make it a habit right to try and cut people out of your partner's life out of your insecurities yeah that's good we we just because because because that's a hook right there very quickly you will lose credibility M that's good. You know the cat the kid who cried wolf? Mhm. When there was no wolf, the day there was wolf, nobody showed up. That's true. So So please sis tell sis tell sis get to know her. Get to know her. Get to know her. Go on brunch day. They friends invited to me, you know. Um that's with friends like that. Who needs enemies? Who needs enemies, man? Well, EF, as always, we thank you. We appreciate your time everyone listening and watching. We appreciate we appreciate your time as well. There were a lot of questions. We couldn't get to all of them. Well, PF has promised that you'll personally text us promised that you'll find a way to get to and then we can also use this for more content as well. So, uh like, subscribe, um if you're enjoying this, if there's someone you don't like, share it with them too as well. It's fine. Yeah. Um and yeah, see you guys next time. See you guys on the next episode. And thank you for joining us, listening and joining her. Peace. Like, subscribe, follow, follow. You know, I don't have social media. I should be doing this. Follow, share. You know, I was born in 1973. Just I know I don't look at 73. Yes. Unfiltered. [Music]