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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Overcoming Evil and Serving God

September 6, 2025 | S25 E3607 | 28:35

Allen Jackson - Overcoming Evil and Serving God
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#inActive #Overcoming #Evil #Serving #ServantofGod #SeekGod #Bible #Study #WordofGod #BibleHistory #WorldHistory

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Overcoming Evil and Serving God | September 6, 2025
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  • Cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.aberdeen.io
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  • Allen jackson: hey, i sat down recently with my father to do a
  • 00:00:06.923 --> 00:00:09.259
  • Podcast for my culture and christianity podcast, and it was
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  • So valuable to me.
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  • I mean, it was stories that obviously i'm familiar with, but
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  • As i heard him recount his faith, it ignited something in
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  • Me about the faithfulness of god across generations.
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  • Well, i encouraged my dad to put together a book about his
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  • Experiences with the holy spirit.
  • 00:00:28.945 --> 00:00:30.914
  • It changed his life, my parents' life, ultimately, my
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  • Family's life.
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  • I believe the book will be a real encouragement to you.
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  • I wanna make it available to you right along with unleashing the
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  • Power of the holy spirit.
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  • It's something i put together a while back that's been one of
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  • The most effective tools we've ever had in the ministry.
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  • Together they'll open the doorway for you to not just have
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  • Language around the holy spirit but to have something to
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  • Actually do to invite him into your life on a regular basis, to
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  • Give you the wisdom you need, to help you unlock the problems
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  • That we face.
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  • The spirit of god within us to help us guide us and direct us,
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  • That's invaluable, and these books will help you understand.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: we began a study in a previous session on the general
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  • Theme of overcoming evil, and i wanna continue it in this
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  • Session, and i really want it to be wedded with the idea that we
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  • Overcome evil for the purpose of serving god.
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  • That our greatest service to god is not yielding to evil.
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  • It's not being religious.
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  • It's not changing our vocabulary or our beverage list or our
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  • Dress code.
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  • The the way that we serve god is we overcome evil.
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  • It's the biblical assignment.
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  • Don't be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.
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  • We don't overcome evil with anger or hate or violence or
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  • Belligerence or stubbornness.
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  • It takes god.
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  • He is the only one who's good.
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  • So if you think you're gonna overcome evil with social
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  • Justice apart from god, you're deceived.
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  • God is the only source of justice, but it's our
  • 00:02:06.142 --> 00:02:09.145
  • Assignment, and there's a great deal of confusion in the church
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  • Today about this, a great deal of consternation, a great desire
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  • To be applauded by a secular culture.
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  • The gospel is offensive.
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  • Jesus warned us about this.
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  • He told us we would have to choose him above everything
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  • Else, that our relationship with him would have to be primary
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  • Above all the other relationships of our lives.
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  • And we see how difficult that is because we live in a season of
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  • Unprecedented capitulation on behalf of the people of god.
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  • It's been decades and decades since we've seen the kind of
  • 00:02:37.574 --> 00:02:40.076
  • Falling away that we're walking through right now.
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  • I don't say that with any joy or glee.
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  • The response is in what do you do?
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  • Well, i think a fundamental beginning point comes back to
  • 00:02:48.518 --> 00:02:50.954
  • The word of god.
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  • And i wanna reiterate an invitation that i've given to
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  • You many, many times, and god willing, i'm gonna give to you
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  • Many, many more, and that's to read your bibles on a daily
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  • Systematic basis.
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  • Not randomly, not the verse of the day, not "where does my
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  • Bible open and my finger fall?"
  • 00:03:06.803 --> 00:03:09.439
  • Not "god give me a promise that encourages me today," but the
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  • Purposeful intentional, systematic reading of
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  • Your bible.
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  • It doesn't mean that every day will be an emotional event or
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  • That you'll hear the the halls of heaven thunder with a
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  • Directive portion for you.
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  • It's a reflection of respect.
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  • It's the embracing of a discipline.
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  • It's the pursuit of god and he said, "if you seek me, you'll
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  • Find me."
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  • In fact, in hebrews, he says he rewards those who diligently
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  • Seek him.
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  • And i don't know a better way to build that habit into your life
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  • Than the routine systematic reading of your bible.
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  • We've been doing it together as a congregation now for
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  • Several years.
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  • I'm not submitting to you that we have the best plan or the
  • 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:53.549
  • Right plan or the most correct plan.
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  • We simply have a plan.
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  • So that with about a 15 or 20 minute commitment to day you can
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  • Read through your bible from the table of contents to the maps
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  • Over the course of a year.
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  • And i believe there's a value in reading it together.
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  • That would be my suggestion, and being if you're in the community
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  • Here, to do it with us, because when you get together
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  • With your small group or if you have dinner with some friends,
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  • We're reading the same portions, then it's easy to incorporate
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  • What you're reading in your bible into the conversations you
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  • Have in your normal life.
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  • And if you're not in the habit of doing that, i question the
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  • Authenticity of your faith.
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  • Forgive me.
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  • But the things that really matter to you, they leak into
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  • All your conversations.
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  • They affect all of your decisions.
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  • And if we have proposed that jesus is lord of our lives and
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  • Lord of all that we are and all that we're doing and all that
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  • We're becoming, then that aspect of our lives just inescapably
  • 00:04:49.005 --> 00:04:52.975
  • Leaks into every conversation we have.
  • 00:04:52.975 --> 00:04:55.144
  • And that daily bible reading helps with that.
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  • I brought you a verse.
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  • It's joshua 1:8.
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  • Right now, if you're doing the reading with us, we're working
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  • Through the book of joshua, which means we're headed
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  • For judges.
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  • And my real goal in this session and the next is to try to give
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  • You a bit of perspective on joshua and judges.
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  • The books go together.
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  • They're companion pieces in the the larger history of the story
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  • Of the jewish people on our way to a new covenant.
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  • And the better we understand joshua and judges, the better
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  • We'll understand the redemptive work of jesus.
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  • So i was just gonna--it's a little bit of the doldrums.
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  • If you do the bible radio, we just slogged our way through the
  • 00:05:30.446 --> 00:05:32.782
  • Books of moses and leviticus.
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  • You know, i'm not even sure god's read leviticus since he
  • 00:05:35.785 --> 00:05:37.820
  • Wrote it.
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  • I'm kidding.
  • 00:05:40.123 --> 00:05:41.991
  • But some of it can get just a touch dry.
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  • And then you get to joshua and judges, and it's like the lights
  • 00:05:45.528 --> 00:05:48.431
  • Come up and the drama gets big again; we're back into hollywood
  • 00:05:48.431 --> 00:05:51.267
  • Scenes that they make movies about, but understanding what's
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  • Happening is helpful.
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  • In joshua 1:8, he gives us a little clue into the importance
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  • Of god's word.
  • 00:05:59.509 --> 00:06:00.843
  • He says, "do not let this book of the law depart from your
  • 00:06:00.843 --> 00:06:02.578
  • Mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be
  • 00:06:02.578 --> 00:06:06.048
  • Careful to do everything written in it.
  • 00:06:06.048 --> 00:06:07.750
  • Then you will be prosperous and successful.
  • 00:06:07.750 --> 00:06:10.286
  • Have i not commanded you?
  • 00:06:10.286 --> 00:06:11.654
  • Be strong and courageous.
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  • Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the lord your
  • 00:06:12.989 --> 00:06:16.692
  • God will be with you wherever you go."
  • 00:06:16.692 --> 00:06:18.861
  • We'll see this again in a moment.
  • 00:06:18.861 --> 00:06:20.196
  • We're gonna look at it in a larger context.
  • 00:06:20.196 --> 00:06:22.799
  • Joshua is beginning his assignment.
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  • And the commission that he's been given is to not let this
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  • Word depart from his mouth.
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  • Now, if you haven't thought about it consciously, i would
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  • Submit to you the great duty of your life is the pursuit of
  • 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:37.613
  • Almighty god.
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  • I'm not talking about your day job.
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  • We can be butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers, but the
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  • Assignment of our life is the pursuit, the forwarding of the
  • 00:06:44.086 --> 00:06:48.458
  • Purposes of god with our little brief journey under the sun.
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  • Everything else is secondary to that.
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  • Once you accumulate the awards you're given, the
  • 00:06:55.531 --> 00:06:57.500
  • Acknowledgements that come to you--i'm happy for all of
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  • Those things.
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  • They're wonderful.
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  • I'm not trying to avoid them or dismiss them, but they're not
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  • The goal.
  • 00:07:05.341 --> 00:07:07.910
  • Because you're not gonna take those with you.
  • 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:10.480
  • The only thing that will traverse that journey from time
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  • Into eternity with you is your character and what you've done
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  • On behalf of the kingdom of god.
  • 00:07:16.919 --> 00:07:20.156
  • So this notion of investing in god's word--you see, if you
  • 00:07:20.156 --> 00:07:23.726
  • Don't know the word of god, you won't know the character of god.
  • 00:07:23.726 --> 00:07:28.097
  • You may be able to say: "well, this is what we believe at world
  • 00:07:28.097 --> 00:07:30.199
  • Outreach," but that's not the test.
  • 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.069
  • Or you may say: "this is how my family believes."
  • 00:07:33.069 --> 00:07:34.937
  • Well, good for you, but unless you're a part of the trinity,
  • 00:07:34.937 --> 00:07:37.707
  • That's not really gonna be the deciding vote.
  • 00:07:37.707 --> 00:07:41.410
  • And we have all of these deflections and kind of excuses
  • 00:07:41.410 --> 00:07:45.014
  • And ways that we've kind of imagined that we give ourselves
  • 00:07:45.014 --> 00:07:48.150
  • An exit ramp from accountability, and i want--
  • 00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:51.254
  • With all due respect, they're just false.
  • 00:07:51.254 --> 00:07:53.990
  • You need to know the word of god, so you can know the
  • 00:07:53.990 --> 00:07:56.325
  • Character of god, and it will help.
  • 00:07:56.325 --> 00:07:59.795
  • It won't remove you from the arena, but it will help to
  • 00:07:59.795 --> 00:08:02.498
  • Insulate you from a season of tremendous deception, and jesus
  • 00:08:02.498 --> 00:08:06.602
  • Cautioned us that that deception would grow worse and worse as we
  • 00:08:06.602 --> 00:08:09.906
  • Approach the end of the age.
  • 00:08:09.906 --> 00:08:13.409
  • You know, for the most part, i understand we don't
  • 00:08:13.409 --> 00:08:15.878
  • Know history.
  • 00:08:15.878 --> 00:08:17.847
  • Wasn't that important to us; we tend to be more forward-focused.
  • 00:08:17.847 --> 00:08:21.551
  • At least, when i was in the educational system, the people
  • 00:08:21.551 --> 00:08:23.786
  • That taught us history really didn't want to be in the
  • 00:08:23.786 --> 00:08:26.188
  • Classroom; often they were repurposed coaches.
  • 00:08:26.188 --> 00:08:30.226
  • And they didn't want to be with us any more than we wanted to be
  • 00:08:30.226 --> 00:08:32.528
  • With them, and so we kind of had a detente.
  • 00:08:32.528 --> 00:08:35.464
  • You don't teach, we won't learn, but we won't embarrass
  • 00:08:35.464 --> 00:08:37.900
  • One another.
  • 00:08:37.900 --> 00:08:40.336
  • And because of that, we've attached very little value to
  • 00:08:40.336 --> 00:08:42.838
  • History in general, but there are times and places where i
  • 00:08:42.838 --> 00:08:44.941
  • Think it helps a great deal, and for you and i to have access to
  • 00:08:44.941 --> 00:08:48.244
  • The bible, the word of god has been a very sacrificial journey
  • 00:08:48.244 --> 00:08:52.682
  • Throughout the history of the people of god.
  • 00:08:52.682 --> 00:08:55.384
  • And we've arrived at this point where the bible is just almost--
  • 00:08:55.384 --> 00:08:58.220
  • For us at the moment it's so easily available that we argue
  • 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:00.957
  • About which translation to read.
  • 00:09:00.957 --> 00:09:03.326
  • You understand there's a tremendous degree of pettiness
  • 00:09:03.326 --> 00:09:05.761
  • In that.
  • 00:09:05.761 --> 00:09:07.496
  • I mean, there are differences in the translations.
  • 00:09:07.496 --> 00:09:09.131
  • I will readily admit that; there's some that i think are
  • 00:09:09.131 --> 00:09:11.734
  • Stronger and some that are not, but the best translation of the
  • 00:09:11.734 --> 00:09:14.570
  • Bible is the one you will read.
  • 00:09:14.570 --> 00:09:18.908
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:09:18.908 --> 00:09:22.545
  • And we shouldn't imagine because the bible is so available to us
  • 00:09:22.545 --> 00:09:26.015
  • That we can quibble about which translation is best, that we
  • 00:09:26.015 --> 00:09:29.352
  • Should treat it casually.
  • 00:09:29.352 --> 00:09:30.686
  • It's available to us digitally; with a few keystrokes now you
  • 00:09:30.686 --> 00:09:33.689
  • Can get to original languages and meanings.
  • 00:09:33.689 --> 00:09:35.725
  • It makes it much easier to manipulate as well, and i assure
  • 00:09:35.725 --> 00:09:39.061
  • You they're manipulating the text.
  • 00:09:39.061 --> 00:09:40.529
  • It's important that you know your bible.
  • 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:43.265
  • But the history of that journey, i thought it was worth just a
  • 00:09:43.265 --> 00:09:45.901
  • Moment or two.
  • 00:09:45.901 --> 00:09:47.536
  • I've been to bethlehem dozens and dozens and dozens of times
  • 00:09:47.536 --> 00:09:50.573
  • And one of the oldest churches in the land of israel was
  • 00:09:50.573 --> 00:09:53.976
  • Sponsored by constantine, the roman emperor who turned the
  • 00:09:53.976 --> 00:09:56.879
  • Roman empire to christianity.
  • 00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:58.247
  • Constantine, his mother visited the land of israel, and she
  • 00:09:58.247 --> 00:10:01.150
  • Sanctioned, commissioned three churches, one of which was the
  • 00:10:01.150 --> 00:10:03.686
  • Church of the nativity in bethlehem.
  • 00:10:03.686 --> 00:10:06.656
  • It's where jesus was born.
  • 00:10:06.656 --> 00:10:09.558
  • And beneath at least that traditional site, there's a
  • 00:10:09.558 --> 00:10:12.161
  • Series of caves.
  • 00:10:12.161 --> 00:10:14.864
  • And it's where jerome lived for almost 30 years of his life.
  • 00:10:14.864 --> 00:10:20.803
  • He had been the secretary to the pope.
  • 00:10:20.803 --> 00:10:24.473
  • Now i don't want to offer a dialogue on the catholic church.
  • 00:10:24.473 --> 00:10:27.743
  • I know there's great emotions all across that spectrum.
  • 00:10:27.743 --> 00:10:31.013
  • Let it suffice to say there have been some wonderful
  • 00:10:31.013 --> 00:10:33.282
  • Contributions to this journey of our faith by the catholic church
  • 00:10:33.282 --> 00:10:37.853
  • And there have been some very dark chapters.
  • 00:10:37.853 --> 00:10:41.524
  • That would mirror our own personal journeys.
  • 00:10:41.524 --> 00:10:45.061
  • So, let it be said that in the late 4th century jerome spent 30
  • 00:10:45.061 --> 00:10:50.966
  • Years of his life translating the scripture into latin, which
  • 00:10:50.966 --> 00:10:54.537
  • Would have been the lingua franca, the language of what was
  • 00:10:54.537 --> 00:10:59.608
  • Left of the roman empire to make it more available to a broader
  • 00:10:59.608 --> 00:11:03.179
  • Group of people.
  • 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:04.547
  • He translated it from the original language of scripture,
  • 00:11:04.547 --> 00:11:06.749
  • Hebrew and greek.
  • 00:11:06.749 --> 00:11:08.684
  • And he did it very sacrificially.
  • 00:11:08.684 --> 00:11:11.954
  • I've stood in those caves; three minutes in those spaces is
  • 00:11:11.954 --> 00:11:16.125
  • Enough for me.
  • 00:11:16.125 --> 00:11:17.493
  • I can't imagine 30 years of my life.
  • 00:11:17.493 --> 00:11:21.030
  • Now if we step forward about 1000 years.
  • 00:11:21.030 --> 00:11:25.067
  • In the late 14th century, a man by the name of john wycliffe
  • 00:11:25.067 --> 00:11:30.139
  • Translated those latin scriptures into english.
  • 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:35.377
  • Because there had been changes in society and culture and there
  • 00:11:35.377 --> 00:11:38.614
  • Was a need for the bible to be again in the language of the
  • 00:11:38.614 --> 00:11:42.451
  • Common people so that it was more accessible to a broader
  • 00:11:42.451 --> 00:11:45.921
  • Group of people.
  • 00:11:45.921 --> 00:11:48.124
  • Wycliffe did it largely to challenge the growing privilege
  • 00:11:48.124 --> 00:11:52.128
  • And power of the catholic church which had morphed far beyond
  • 00:11:52.128 --> 00:11:55.798
  • Religious services and become the most powerful and potent
  • 00:11:55.798 --> 00:12:00.035
  • Political influence in a good portion of the world at
  • 00:12:00.035 --> 00:12:03.873
  • That time.
  • 00:12:03.873 --> 00:12:05.474
  • And they plunged into many expressions of ungodliness and
  • 00:12:05.474 --> 00:12:08.444
  • Wickedness, and he wanted the people to once again know the
  • 00:12:08.444 --> 00:12:11.614
  • The character of god, so he began to translate the bible
  • 00:12:11.614 --> 00:12:15.651
  • Into english, making the bible available to a far greater group
  • 00:12:15.651 --> 00:12:19.989
  • Of people, and for his efforts he was burned at the stake
  • 00:12:19.989 --> 00:12:24.460
  • In 1384.
  • 00:12:24.460 --> 00:12:28.864
  • You may not know him, but he was really, by many historians,
  • 00:12:28.864 --> 00:12:32.268
  • Church historians, acknowledged as the first of the reformers.
  • 00:12:32.268 --> 00:12:36.372
  • His message was very similar to the message luther would
  • 00:12:36.372 --> 00:12:39.408
  • Deliver--martin luther--would deliver some 200 years later.
  • 00:12:39.408 --> 00:12:44.680
  • It doesn't stop there.
  • 00:12:44.680 --> 00:12:46.081
  • We could go on and on, but william tyndale, i'll give you
  • 00:12:46.081 --> 00:12:48.217
  • One more, he too translated the bible into english.
  • 00:12:48.217 --> 00:12:51.954
  • By the time he did that, in the 16th century, the printing press
  • 00:12:51.954 --> 00:12:57.560
  • Had emerged.
  • 00:12:57.560 --> 00:12:59.161
  • So now we're no longer just hand-copying scripture.
  • 00:12:59.161 --> 00:13:03.032
  • The printing press gave us the ability to print copies that
  • 00:13:03.032 --> 00:13:05.835
  • Could truly make it something distributed to a much broader
  • 00:13:05.835 --> 00:13:09.538
  • Group of people.
  • 00:13:09.538 --> 00:13:10.906
  • If you could read, you could have access to scripture.
  • 00:13:10.906 --> 00:13:14.210
  • And for tyndale's efforts, he was strangled to death.
  • 00:13:14.210 --> 00:13:19.481
  • And then just to be sure they'd been effective, they burned his
  • 00:13:19.481 --> 00:13:22.151
  • Body at the stake.
  • 00:13:22.151 --> 00:13:24.553
  • That was 1536, and there was so much hatred in his efforts and
  • 00:13:24.553 --> 00:13:28.991
  • His desire and his intent to let the common people have access to
  • 00:13:28.991 --> 00:13:32.895
  • The word of god, that the church very aggressively sought to find
  • 00:13:32.895 --> 00:13:36.932
  • All the copies, and to the best of our knowledge, only there are
  • 00:13:36.932 --> 00:13:40.436
  • Only two copies of tyndale's translation still in existence.
  • 00:13:40.436 --> 00:13:46.208
  • See, the word of god has not come to us cleanly and neatly
  • 00:13:46.208 --> 00:13:49.979
  • And easily, so our indifference towards it, our ambivalence, the
  • 00:13:49.979 --> 00:13:55.117
  • Fact that we're too busy, our lives are too crowded, there's
  • 00:13:55.117 --> 00:13:58.153
  • Things we wanna do and movies we wanna watch and places we wanna
  • 00:13:58.153 --> 00:14:00.856
  • Go and trips to be taken, is an expression of indifference
  • 00:14:00.856 --> 00:14:07.096
  • Towards the lord that is almost unforgivable against the context
  • 00:14:07.096 --> 00:14:10.966
  • Of the history of the people of faith.
  • 00:14:10.966 --> 00:14:16.472
  • Allen: hey, i sat down with my father recently, did a podcast,
  • 00:14:20.676 --> 00:14:23.846
  • He told the story how he came to faith, how god transformed
  • 00:14:23.846 --> 00:14:26.415
  • Our family.
  • 00:14:26.415 --> 00:14:27.783
  • They started a home bible study, all the way up to the beginning
  • 00:14:27.783 --> 00:14:29.585
  • Of this church that i've served now for decades, and as i
  • 00:14:29.585 --> 00:14:32.755
  • Listened, the heart of it was the work of the holy spirit in
  • 00:14:32.755 --> 00:14:35.357
  • His life and through his life.
  • 00:14:35.357 --> 00:14:37.293
  • I asked him to do a book around the topic, and we have it, so
  • 00:14:37.293 --> 00:14:40.763
  • That you can invite the spirit of god to be the dynamic
  • 00:14:40.763 --> 00:14:43.599
  • Presence of the power of god to bring change in life and hope,
  • 00:14:43.599 --> 00:14:47.803
  • No matter what the circumstances.
  • 00:14:47.803 --> 00:14:49.571
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:14:49.571 --> 00:14:51.373
  • Female announcer: experience the holy spirit in a deeper way with
  • 00:14:51.373 --> 00:14:53.442
  • This new book by pastor allen's dad, the eternal breath of life.
  • 00:14:53.442 --> 00:14:58.013
  • Request your copy when you donate any amount today, and
  • 00:14:58.013 --> 00:15:01.016
  • When you get $50 or more, you can also request unleashing the
  • 00:15:01.016 --> 00:15:05.087
  • Power of the holy spirit.
  • 00:15:05.087 --> 00:15:06.755
  • It's a collection of pastor alan's sermons that will help
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  • You understand the holy spirit in new ways.
  • 00:15:09.458 --> 00:15:12.361
  • Request yours today at allenjackson.com or by
  • 00:15:12.361 --> 00:15:15.597
  • Calling...
  • 00:15:15.597 --> 00:15:19.034
  • Allen: so i'm inviting you to a few minutes a day to say: "god,
  • 00:15:22.004 --> 00:15:24.506
  • I'd like to know you better.
  • 00:15:24.506 --> 00:15:27.676
  • I don't even know what that means.
  • 00:15:27.676 --> 00:15:30.145
  • But i'd like to know you better."
  • 00:15:30.145 --> 00:15:32.948
  • You see, unless men and women were willing to challenge the
  • 00:15:32.948 --> 00:15:35.284
  • Status quo, to face the threats of civil and religious
  • 00:15:35.284 --> 00:15:38.687
  • Authority, we would not have bibles to read.
  • 00:15:38.687 --> 00:15:44.259
  • It's really a relatively new idea that the christian faith is
  • 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:48.063
  • Only pursued for a few minutes on the weekend in some special
  • 00:15:48.063 --> 00:15:52.935
  • Place and it has no implications outside of those gatherings.
  • 00:15:52.935 --> 00:15:58.640
  • The notion that our faith is practiced in the safety of a
  • 00:15:58.640 --> 00:16:01.076
  • Sanctuary is a matter of polite etiquette.
  • 00:16:01.076 --> 00:16:04.346
  • And the observance of music that is pleasing to our personal
  • 00:16:04.346 --> 00:16:08.017
  • Taste is farcical.
  • 00:16:08.017 --> 00:16:11.520
  • Our faith has lived out on the muddy fields of human struggle,
  • 00:16:11.520 --> 00:16:15.624
  • Where we're asked to confront evil, to grapple with our own
  • 00:16:15.624 --> 00:16:18.193
  • Inconsistencies, and to dare to believe that almighty god is
  • 00:16:18.193 --> 00:16:22.264
  • Involved with us.
  • 00:16:22.264 --> 00:16:24.767
  • Tragically, we have accepted the seductive potion of a timid
  • 00:16:24.767 --> 00:16:29.104
  • Faith, the cowering church, and social kindness.
  • 00:16:29.104 --> 00:16:35.210
  • The gospel--be very clear on this--is a call to radical
  • 00:16:35.210 --> 00:16:40.182
  • Transformation of life.
  • 00:16:40.182 --> 00:16:43.252
  • And if you'll allow me, i don't believe you should even imagine
  • 00:16:43.252 --> 00:16:45.954
  • Yourself a christian if you practice ungodliness.
  • 00:16:45.954 --> 00:16:50.759
  • There is a hope of change for any repentant person.
  • 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:54.830
  • But there is no hope for those who choose stubborn indifference
  • 00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:58.267
  • To the lordship of jesus.
  • 00:16:58.267 --> 00:17:01.370
  • And we have perverted the gospel into a sloppy agape.
  • 00:17:01.370 --> 00:17:07.876
  • And i believe god, in his great mercy and kindness, is beginning
  • 00:17:07.876 --> 00:17:11.480
  • To awaken us.
  • 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:13.615
  • And i think reminders from the history of the church, the
  • 00:17:13.615 --> 00:17:16.552
  • Sacrifices that have been made are important.
  • 00:17:16.552 --> 00:17:18.687
  • Without the voice of scripture there are many things we simply
  • 00:17:18.687 --> 00:17:21.857
  • Do not know.
  • 00:17:21.857 --> 00:17:23.225
  • We wouldn't understand the sanctity of human life and why
  • 00:17:23.225 --> 00:17:25.294
  • It's wrong to kill our babies.
  • 00:17:25.294 --> 00:17:27.963
  • Without the word of god, we wouldn't understand that
  • 00:17:27.963 --> 00:17:30.165
  • Marriage was biblically defined by god himself between a man and
  • 00:17:30.165 --> 00:17:33.635
  • A woman.
  • 00:17:33.635 --> 00:17:35.704
  • Without the insight of scripture, we wouldn't know the
  • 00:17:35.704 --> 00:17:37.739
  • Significance of truth.
  • 00:17:37.739 --> 00:17:40.342
  • We would have no way of discerning or defining sexual
  • 00:17:40.342 --> 00:17:43.245
  • Morality or immorality.
  • 00:17:43.245 --> 00:17:46.482
  • Without the scripture, we would have no hope beyond time.
  • 00:17:46.482 --> 00:17:50.352
  • We would be completely abandoned to the pursuit of hedonism:
  • 00:17:50.352 --> 00:17:53.655
  • "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, you may die."
  • 00:17:53.655 --> 00:17:59.094
  • Without the council of scripture, we'd be totally
  • 00:17:59.094 --> 00:18:01.697
  • Unprepared to meet our creator, and it's an appointment we
  • 00:18:01.697 --> 00:18:05.067
  • All hold.
  • 00:18:05.067 --> 00:18:08.270
  • So i wanna step into joshua and judges with you.
  • 00:18:08.270 --> 00:18:11.140
  • If you haven't been doing the daily bible reading, this would
  • 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:13.976
  • Be a good week to begin.
  • 00:18:13.976 --> 00:18:16.979
  • We're in the middle of the book of joshua, come on in.
  • 00:18:16.979 --> 00:18:20.883
  • You won't know how to pronounce every name; neither do i.
  • 00:18:20.883 --> 00:18:24.386
  • In fact, i give you permission to make it up.
  • 00:18:24.386 --> 00:18:29.992
  • You won't understand everything you read.
  • 00:18:29.992 --> 00:18:34.263
  • Every time you get an update on your new your phone--on
  • 00:18:34.263 --> 00:18:36.965
  • The software?
  • 00:18:36.965 --> 00:18:38.534
  • And it gives you six pages of microprint.
  • 00:18:38.534 --> 00:18:42.504
  • How many of you read every word of that?
  • 00:18:42.504 --> 00:18:45.340
  • Understand it fully and totally?
  • 00:18:45.340 --> 00:18:48.944
  • Diagram the sentences, break them apart to be sure there's no
  • 00:18:48.944 --> 00:18:52.481
  • Interrelationships that you missed?
  • 00:18:52.481 --> 00:18:55.584
  • No, you just check "i accept" and keep on going.
  • 00:18:55.584 --> 00:18:59.888
  • And you know, when it comes to the bible and the authority of
  • 00:18:59.888 --> 00:19:02.457
  • Scripture in our lives, so often we go, "well, you know, i just,
  • 00:19:02.457 --> 00:19:04.893
  • I can't explain it."
  • 00:19:04.893 --> 00:19:06.895
  • Oh stop. read your bible.
  • 00:19:06.895 --> 00:19:12.201
  • Joshua and judges. joshua and judges.
  • 00:19:12.201 --> 00:19:16.505
  • Let's work on a bit of a timeline for a minute.
  • 00:19:16.505 --> 00:19:18.407
  • The bible is confusing; 66 books.
  • 00:19:18.407 --> 00:19:21.009
  • They're all pushed together.
  • 00:19:21.009 --> 00:19:22.344
  • They're not arranged chronologically.
  • 00:19:22.344 --> 00:19:24.646
  • There's a whole host of different authors, there's
  • 00:19:24.646 --> 00:19:26.481
  • Different styles of literature, there's history and poetry,
  • 00:19:26.481 --> 00:19:29.785
  • There's prophecy.
  • 00:19:29.785 --> 00:19:31.420
  • I mean, it truly is--it's not a simple book to unpack
  • 00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:34.122
  • Or understand.
  • 00:19:34.122 --> 00:19:36.391
  • But i don't believe god intends for his truth to be
  • 00:19:36.391 --> 00:19:39.595
  • Easily understood.
  • 00:19:39.595 --> 00:19:40.929
  • He said he's the rewarder of those who diligently seek him,
  • 00:19:40.929 --> 00:19:43.365
  • Not the casual inquirer.
  • 00:19:43.365 --> 00:19:45.901
  • All the best things in life are on the other side of difficult,
  • 00:19:45.901 --> 00:19:49.438
  • But i can help a little bit with just the general timeline of
  • 00:19:49.438 --> 00:19:52.174
  • Where joshua and judges fit in in relation to noah or isaiah or
  • 00:19:52.174 --> 00:19:57.613
  • King david or the apostle paul.
  • 00:19:57.613 --> 00:20:01.984
  • The book of genesis closes.
  • 00:20:01.984 --> 00:20:03.652
  • It's the first book in the bible.
  • 00:20:03.652 --> 00:20:04.987
  • It concludes with joseph and his extended family all moving
  • 00:20:04.987 --> 00:20:09.091
  • To egypt.
  • 00:20:09.091 --> 00:20:10.425
  • There's a famine in the middle east, and because of joseph,
  • 00:20:10.425 --> 00:20:12.894
  • There's food in egypt and genesis concludes with joseph
  • 00:20:12.894 --> 00:20:16.431
  • And his family in egypt.
  • 00:20:16.431 --> 00:20:19.368
  • The next book of the bible is exodus.
  • 00:20:19.368 --> 00:20:21.236
  • It's the 2nd book, and it's an important point on the timeline.
  • 00:20:21.236 --> 00:20:25.107
  • Exodus opens and says, "a pharaoh arose who did not
  • 00:20:25.107 --> 00:20:28.477
  • Know joseph."
  • 00:20:28.477 --> 00:20:30.912
  • And he was threatened by the hebrew people.
  • 00:20:30.912 --> 00:20:33.081
  • They were flourishing and so they were made slaves.
  • 00:20:33.081 --> 00:20:37.719
  • And we're told for generation upon generation upon generation,
  • 00:20:37.719 --> 00:20:41.356
  • The hebrew people, the descendants of abraham, isaac
  • 00:20:41.356 --> 00:20:43.859
  • And jacob, joseph's extended family as they grew, were slaves
  • 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:47.529
  • In egypt.
  • 00:20:47.529 --> 00:20:48.864
  • Now you know the purposes of god can't be fulfilled if they stay
  • 00:20:48.864 --> 00:20:51.066
  • Slaves in egypt, so they're gonna leave.
  • 00:20:51.066 --> 00:20:53.268
  • That's the exodus.
  • 00:20:53.268 --> 00:20:54.636
  • It means leave.
  • 00:20:54.636 --> 00:20:56.605
  • It's the great exodus from egypt.
  • 00:20:56.605 --> 00:21:00.142
  • And you know the central character of that because
  • 00:21:00.142 --> 00:21:01.910
  • Hollywood has helped a great deal.
  • 00:21:01.910 --> 00:21:04.546
  • Cecil b. demille did it some years back with charlton heston
  • 00:21:04.546 --> 00:21:08.950
  • And yul brynner.
  • 00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:11.553
  • Every time i see the word moses, i hear yul brynner
  • 00:21:11.553 --> 00:21:14.156
  • Going, "moses."
  • 00:21:14.156 --> 00:21:19.094
  • Then disney got involved and they did the prince of egypt and
  • 00:21:19.094 --> 00:21:21.830
  • We got an animated take on it; in whatever generation, we know
  • 00:21:21.830 --> 00:21:25.467
  • Quite a bit about the book of exodus because hollywood
  • 00:21:25.467 --> 00:21:27.836
  • Liked it.
  • 00:21:27.836 --> 00:21:29.304
  • And moses is kind of the central character, and then moses walks
  • 00:21:29.304 --> 00:21:33.642
  • Into pharaoh and says, "we're gonna have to let these people
  • 00:21:33.642 --> 00:21:35.711
  • To go."
  • 00:21:35.711 --> 00:21:37.446
  • Well, joshua is moses's aide de camp.
  • 00:21:37.446 --> 00:21:43.118
  • He's his assistant--
  • 00:21:43.118 --> 00:21:45.020
  • If you prefer, his understudy, his apprentice.
  • 00:21:45.020 --> 00:21:48.357
  • We meet joshua in the brick pits of egypt.
  • 00:21:48.357 --> 00:21:51.393
  • He's a slave.
  • 00:21:51.393 --> 00:21:53.628
  • He's moses's helper.
  • 00:21:53.628 --> 00:21:56.064
  • So the exodus takes place and they leave egypt, and when they
  • 00:21:56.064 --> 00:21:59.034
  • Get out of egypt they have a problem; they have nowhere
  • 00:21:59.034 --> 00:22:01.036
  • To go.
  • 00:22:01.036 --> 00:22:02.404
  • I mean, they have a promised land, but they've never really
  • 00:22:02.404 --> 00:22:04.539
  • Lived there.
  • 00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:05.874
  • They don't have a capital city there.
  • 00:22:05.874 --> 00:22:07.242
  • They're dumped into the wilderness, and the season when
  • 00:22:07.242 --> 00:22:09.811
  • They're there is the off season and costco is closed.
  • 00:22:09.811 --> 00:22:15.951
  • Sam's isn't open.
  • 00:22:15.951 --> 00:22:17.285
  • Publix doesn't take their credit card.
  • 00:22:17.285 --> 00:22:20.355
  • So there's hundreds of thousands of people and there's no food,
  • 00:22:20.355 --> 00:22:24.059
  • There's no water, and they're in the negev desert, one of the
  • 00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:27.129
  • Most brutal places on the planet.
  • 00:22:27.129 --> 00:22:29.798
  • And god sovereignly intervenes with manna, food, and water,
  • 00:22:29.798 --> 00:22:35.036
  • When it's necessary.
  • 00:22:35.036 --> 00:22:37.906
  • And they come to the end of moses's life and they still
  • 00:22:37.906 --> 00:22:40.041
  • Haven't made it into the promised land, and god taps
  • 00:22:40.041 --> 00:22:43.011
  • Joshua, his successor.
  • 00:22:43.011 --> 00:22:45.414
  • And he says, "i want you to do what moses couldn't," and i've
  • 00:22:45.414 --> 00:22:47.482
  • Often said i think it's one of the most difficult job
  • 00:22:47.482 --> 00:22:49.785
  • Descriptions in the bible.
  • 00:22:49.785 --> 00:22:52.220
  • Who wants to succeed moses?
  • 00:22:52.220 --> 00:22:56.391
  • Dude spent so much time in the presence of god, his face glowed
  • 00:22:56.391 --> 00:22:58.860
  • In the dark.
  • 00:22:58.860 --> 00:23:00.996
  • He went on a prayer walk and came back with ten commandments.
  • 00:23:00.996 --> 00:23:05.700
  • I mean, he was connected.
  • 00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:08.470
  • He got the blueprint for the tabernacle.
  • 00:23:08.470 --> 00:23:11.540
  • But god said to moses, "you can't take the people into the
  • 00:23:11.540 --> 00:23:14.376
  • Promised land."
  • 00:23:14.376 --> 00:23:15.744
  • And he said to joshua, "you will."
  • 00:23:15.744 --> 00:23:18.747
  • Intimidating?
  • 00:23:18.747 --> 00:23:20.816
  • Just a little...
  • 00:23:20.816 --> 00:23:23.585
  • So after the exodus and the journey through the wilderness,
  • 00:23:23.585 --> 00:23:26.254
  • We have the conquest: we have to conquer the promised land.
  • 00:23:26.254 --> 00:23:30.992
  • That's the book of joshua, and then the book of judges is how
  • 00:23:30.992 --> 00:23:35.130
  • They lived in the promised land.
  • 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:37.599
  • There was no central government.
  • 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:39.000
  • They had 12 tribes.
  • 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:40.335
  • There was no capital city.
  • 00:23:40.335 --> 00:23:41.803
  • There was no central authority.
  • 00:23:41.803 --> 00:23:43.605
  • When there was a need for a corporate response from the
  • 00:23:43.605 --> 00:23:46.107
  • People of god, god would raise up a leader.
  • 00:23:46.107 --> 00:23:49.377
  • Those were the judges.
  • 00:23:49.377 --> 00:23:50.846
  • You know them: samson, gideon, barack, deborah.
  • 00:23:50.846 --> 00:23:55.550
  • The last of the judges is samuel and the tribal leaders
  • 00:23:55.550 --> 00:23:58.487
  • Say to samuel, "we want a king."
  • 00:23:58.487 --> 00:24:02.190
  • And we have the beginning of the monarchy.
  • 00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:04.726
  • We'll talk more about that when we get a little further into the
  • 00:24:04.726 --> 00:24:06.962
  • Story, but joshua and judges fit right into this window of time
  • 00:24:06.962 --> 00:24:10.866
  • Between slavery in egypt and when the kings began.
  • 00:24:10.866 --> 00:24:15.370
  • So they're gonna be ahead of all the prophets that are at the end
  • 00:24:15.370 --> 00:24:17.706
  • Of your old testament.
  • 00:24:17.706 --> 00:24:19.074
  • They're before isaiah and jeremiah and habakkuk.
  • 00:24:19.074 --> 00:24:22.310
  • Then amos the farmer.
  • 00:24:22.310 --> 00:24:24.212
  • They're gonna precede the apostle paul, but they're after
  • 00:24:24.212 --> 00:24:26.748
  • The book of genesis, so they come after noah.
  • 00:24:26.748 --> 00:24:30.018
  • They come after cain and abel.
  • 00:24:30.018 --> 00:24:32.787
  • They come after all of those genesis characters.
  • 00:24:32.787 --> 00:24:35.056
  • Joshua and the book of judges, they fit right into this period
  • 00:24:35.056 --> 00:24:38.727
  • Where god's people occupy the land that he gave them and he
  • 00:24:38.727 --> 00:24:42.898
  • Watches over them.
  • 00:24:42.898 --> 00:24:45.367
  • God's intent.
  • 00:24:45.367 --> 00:24:48.003
  • So understanding joshua's journey i would submit will help
  • 00:24:48.003 --> 00:24:50.739
  • You and me understand ours a bit.
  • 00:24:50.739 --> 00:24:52.707
  • He led a very extraordinary life.
  • 00:24:52.707 --> 00:24:55.277
  • Joshua begins his life as a slave in egypt.
  • 00:24:55.277 --> 00:24:58.179
  • He has no imagination of anything ever beyond that, no
  • 00:24:58.179 --> 00:25:00.882
  • Opportunity for that.
  • 00:25:00.882 --> 00:25:02.217
  • There's no power to help him.
  • 00:25:02.217 --> 00:25:03.585
  • There's no education to help him.
  • 00:25:03.585 --> 00:25:04.920
  • There are no resources to help him, but god intervenes.
  • 00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:08.990
  • His story concludes with the former slaves of egypt occupying
  • 00:25:08.990 --> 00:25:12.594
  • The promised land.
  • 00:25:12.594 --> 00:25:14.663
  • And joshua was the leader of those slaves.
  • 00:25:14.663 --> 00:25:18.767
  • High drama; it's a very dramatic life.
  • 00:25:18.767 --> 00:25:21.303
  • It's filled with soaring victories, red sea parting,
  • 00:25:21.303 --> 00:25:26.474
  • Amazing things and impossible difficulties.
  • 00:25:26.474 --> 00:25:30.645
  • Allen: there's a lot of fear in the church these days because we
  • 00:25:30.712 --> 00:25:33.048
  • Recognize intuitively, if we haven't recognized it
  • 00:25:33.048 --> 00:25:35.817
  • Consciously, that the world has changed.
  • 00:25:35.817 --> 00:25:38.386
  • The way we practiced our faith two or three years ago isn't
  • 00:25:38.386 --> 00:25:40.789
  • Sufficient for what's before us right now.
  • 00:25:40.789 --> 00:25:43.258
  • Don't be frightened by that.
  • 00:25:43.258 --> 00:25:44.926
  • Ask the lord to give you an understanding heart.
  • 00:25:44.926 --> 00:25:47.295
  • We've got to learn to see in some new ways so we can respond
  • 00:25:47.295 --> 00:25:50.265
  • With boldness and courage.
  • 00:25:50.265 --> 00:25:52.067
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:25:52.067 --> 00:25:53.401
  • "father, i pray you'll give us new courage, new eyes to see,
  • 00:25:53.401 --> 00:25:56.204
  • New understanding hearts that we may respond with great faith to
  • 00:25:56.204 --> 00:25:59.874
  • What you're doing in the earth.
  • 00:25:59.874 --> 00:26:01.476
  • I thank you for it, in jesus name, amen."
  • 00:26:01.476 --> 00:26:07.282
  • Allen: hey, i got a question.
  • 00:26:10.952 --> 00:26:12.287
  • What's the eternal breath of life?
  • 00:26:12.287 --> 00:26:14.956
  • Well, the answer is a new book my dad just wrote.
  • 00:26:14.956 --> 00:26:17.225
  • When i sat down to do a podcast with him and i was listening to
  • 00:26:17.225 --> 00:26:20.195
  • His story about how god had moved in his life and my
  • 00:26:20.195 --> 00:26:23.098
  • Family's life all the way up to the beginning of the church that
  • 00:26:23.098 --> 00:26:25.467
  • I've served now for several decades, i was so reminded of
  • 00:26:25.467 --> 00:26:29.070
  • The purpose and the power of the spirit of god in our lives, i
  • 00:26:29.070 --> 00:26:32.040
  • Asked him to put it in a book.
  • 00:26:32.040 --> 00:26:33.675
  • That's what we're sharing with you.
  • 00:26:33.675 --> 00:26:35.377
  • We all need god's help; we all face challenges.
  • 00:26:35.377 --> 00:26:37.879
  • Life's not easy no matter who you are, but the spirit of god
  • 00:26:37.879 --> 00:26:40.882
  • Is present within us to bring the power and purposes of god to
  • 00:26:40.882 --> 00:26:45.320
  • Bear in our lives.
  • 00:26:45.320 --> 00:26:46.988
  • I believe the book will be a blessing for you.
  • 00:26:46.988 --> 00:26:49.791
  • You'll pair it with unleashing the power of the holy spirit.
  • 00:26:49.791 --> 00:26:52.761
  • It's one of the most effective tools we have.
  • 00:26:52.761 --> 00:26:54.696
  • It'll give you a pathway that i believe will bring god's best
  • 00:26:54.696 --> 00:26:58.199
  • Into your family.
  • 00:26:58.199 --> 00:26:59.534
  • You may not plant a church, but you have been given the
  • 00:26:59.534 --> 00:27:01.703
  • Assignment as an ambassador for the kingdom of god, and we need
  • 00:27:01.703 --> 00:27:04.773
  • The help of the holy spirit.
  • 00:27:04.773 --> 00:27:06.541
  • Enjoy the book.
  • 00:27:06.541 --> 00:27:08.743
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:08.743 --> 00:27:08.743