No Sanity Required
No Sanity Required is a weekly podcast hosted by Brody Holloway and Snowbird Outfitters. Each week, we engage culture and personal stories with a Gospel-driven perspective. Our mission is to equip the Church to pierce the darkness with the light of Christ by sharing the vision, ideas, and passions God has used to carry us through 26 years of student ministry. Find more content at swoutfitters.com.
No Sanity Required
Finding Hope in the Chaos | Tailgate Theology
In this episode, Brody tackles some pressing issues of our time–elections, wars, and natural disasters that may leave us feeling hopeless.
Using Mark 13, Brody reminds us that our hope does not lie in politicians or governments, but in King Jesus. Through the storms we face, the Lord is with us, preparing a greater kingdom for those who endure to the end.
Tune in for a message that encourages us to remain vigilant and active in our faith through the chaos this world brings.
Mark 13
Matthew 24
Finding a Voice for this Generation Podcast
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Today I want to be really serious and I want to be real careful to only say the things that I feel like the Lord is compelled for this episode Most of the episodes we've done since summer have been me interviewing someone or someone interviewing me, and today I just want to do some tailgate theology, some state of the world stuff, and I want to give some clarifying thoughts on John Mark Comer.
Speaker 1:That's turned into a pretty big conversation with a lot of our listeners, from mine and John's conversation a few weeks ago. Consider the flooding that's happened here in Western North Carolina, the election cycle, that we're in multiple wars on planet Earth. I want to take all of that and I want to try to find some hope in the words of Jesus in Mark, chapter 13, which is a text that I've preached this past week at red Oak church. So this tailgate theology here we're going to see what the scripture says for these crazy times we're living in and I hope it'll be helpful to you. So it means a lot that you'd tune in and and, uh, I hope it'll be helpful to you. So it means a lot that you tune in and I hope that, in light of everything that's going on in the world right now that this will be a week where this episode really encourages you. Thanks for tuning in to no Sanity Required.
Speaker 2:Welcome to no Sanity Required from the Ministry of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters. A podcast about the Bible, culture and stories from around the globe.
Speaker 1:Whenever I have a podcast that I've recorded an episode, then I lose it. I just don't worry about it. I'm five hours in here now trying to get this thing recorded and it just I can't get it off the ground and I think it's because it's just weighing heavy and I think everybody is feeling that right now. There's a lot of similar feelings and emotions to this season of life right now that we had in 2020. Now, if you live outside of the flood region of these last few weeks, then it maybe doesn't feel as much to you like that, but I know for us in Western North Carolina it feels apocalyptic. And so you've got floods that have ravaged whole towns and communities. I mean, towns are gone. I've driven around and seen the destruction. It's crazy. Towns are just gone.
Speaker 1:I went on what I call a Mad max bootleg and run a couple different days in the last week where I'm, you know you can't get cash a lot of banks. For a week you couldn't get cash out of banks. Two weeks almost now going on two weeks. Some banks still can't very limited can't use a card. If you buy gas, you got to pay cash, but you can't get cash out of the bank. So if you didn't have cash on hand at the house then it's just tough. So I'm making a bootlegging run. So, taking meat, gasoline, uh took my, took, took the men several men in my family big tubs of dip, because they're big dippers, and and tubs of coffee. Um, I took wads of cash and uh made sure vehicles had gas in them and roads were clear enough to get I mean all the family kind of pitching in with each other. Just crazy, man, it's just crazy. But the the sorrow and sadness of seeing homes that are gone, lives that are gone. My cousin michael, right below his house there was 10 or 11 bodies, I want to say he said 10 and a half bodies pulled out from under one bridge that had broken, crumbled and then became just a dam, a strainer, and bodies were getting hung up as they were being swept down the river. Ten and a half bodies. And he said, yeah, you read that right in a text. That's ten and a half. And it was days before I could talk to any of them because they didn't have phone service. It it was days before I could talk to any of them because they didn't have phone service. She's been crazy, man, I don't know, I don't know that I have words today to put anything into any context.
Speaker 1:But you take the natural catastrophe of Hurricane Helene and then you look at the global situation with wars. The war between Russia and and ukraine is so, it's so confusing. I don't even know what's going on because when you listen to us media you get two different narratives. But I know that we're pumping billions of dollars into that thing and that and so. So when people say this is a proxy war, that makes sense to me. Like, yeah, it does feel like that.
Speaker 1:And then people say, you know, there's the accusation that American politicians and the industrial military complex is all about just lining pockets and making people money, that makes sense to me. You know, when I heard one dude say, well, we've got to fund this war because it creates American jobs in the arms manufacturing facilities, well, that seems like as evil a thing as you could ever do. Let's fund a war so that we can build more guns, which will mean we can hire more people to build more guns, and I mean, how many people are we talking about? A factory of a thousand people. We make sure we get those people some jobs building guns and ammo so that we can fight the wars effectively. And it's just crazy. I don't know if I'm making sense, but that just is crazy to me.
Speaker 1:And then you don't know what to believe about Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. I've always, you know, I was raised to believe that Israel was a. You better stand with Israel and hang with Israel and back them up and support them, and I do feel that way. Then there's people that I love and trust that are saying, hey, it's, it's not quite that simple, I don't know. So you got to drill deep to try to figure out what to believe.
Speaker 1:Got a presidential candidate that in one cycle there's been two assassination attempts on his life, two assassination attempts on his life. I mean, I don't understand how that guy's even alive. And then you've got another candidate who I don't even know how she became a candidate because she did not win a primary. She ran in a primary four years ago but got destroyed, wasn't even close to and then and then got a DEI appointment as a VP and then now somehow has become the candidate, which is just strange, regardless what you think about her. Like what is going on in the political cycle, you know the election cycle, crazy times, y'all. It's crazy times. It's hard to figure it all out. It really is, and I don't know that we can't figure it out.
Speaker 1:But what I want to do is walk you through a passage of Scripture, and we're only going to look at a portion of this. So Mark 13 and Matthew 24, two passages that parallel each other. It's called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus gives this, he gives this sort of TED Talk from the top of the Mount of Olives and it's it's this real intensive discipleship conversation and he's talking to his disciples which, by the way, they're not his apprentices. You know. It's one thing that that you know this John Mark Comer conversation that John and I had. I've had a lot of people chime in on that. A lot of people say, hey, I don't really, that guy makes me nervous, and other people saying, oh no, he's good to go, he's solid. But I did read a Tim Challies report or blog about John Mark Comer, and Tim Challies is a conservative blogger from Canada. He's also a pastor. I trust him a good bit and read that, you know. And he said he's talking about the fact that John Mark Comer uses the phrase apprentice Jesus' apprentices, when they've always just been his disciples. We don't have to come up with new words just to sound cool or trendy or modern or to break the mold.
Speaker 1:I was an apprentice one time. I worked for a guy named Jerry Linker. Jerry Linker is a horseshoer. He's a farrier, a blacksmith. I wanted to learn to trade, so I worked with Jerry Linker and I rode along with him and I would get up at 3.30 in the morning. I was a 21, 22-year-old dude. I would get up at 3.30 in the morning and I would drive two and a half hours to Jerry Linker's house. I would jump in his van at 6 am with him. We would then drive from 6 am to 6 pm, going from barn to barn to barn. He was a high-end guy. He had high-end clientele. We'd go to show barns and race horses.
Speaker 1:I learned how to do the horseshoeing trade, the farrier trade. I was what you would call an apprentice. I rode around with a guy that knew what he was doing and he taught me the trade. That's not what Jesus did. If his disciples would have been his apprentices, john Mark Comer, they would have learned carpentry, construction. They were his disciples. Let's just call them his disciples. That's what they were. He discipled them, he taught them, he instructed them. So anyway, I did side with Chalice on that one.
Speaker 1:But regardless of what you think of John Mark Comer, one thing that I want to say about that, before we get into Jesus' discourse with his disciples, is when John and I talked about who we listen to and who are some voices in this generation, john was very hesitant to drop any names because of the fact that when you drop a name you end up with conflict. You know, john Piper recently came out and said something controversial. I don't remember I had several people reach out to me and say hey, john Piper said this. What do you think of this? And it's like, yeah, I don't always agree with everybody. You know, john Piper also said don't own a gun. He won't own a gun and won't defend his life or family or property. Well, I don't agree with that.
Speaker 1:As a man, I love Sam Elliott in Tombstone and a bunch of other movies, but I don't like that guy in real life. You got to see things with clarity and with some discretion. Sam Elliott is not Tell Sackett, even though he played Tell Sackett the seventies sacket movies. Sam Elliott is a Hollywood actor. So when he does a political ad, I see it for what it is.
Speaker 1:You know, like like you got to use discretion when you're listening to somebody or reading somebody, and so with preachers, we want to, we want to be able to trust preachers. There's something different about that. They're called by God, they've responded to an internal urging to preach the Word of God and so I would just say, regardless of who you're reading or listening to, approach with discretion, especially if you don't know the person. And here at Red Oak Church and at Snowbird Outfitters, our preachers and teachers are all accessible to people that hear from them and that's why I said you know the guys that I like to listen to Jonathan Revis, a board member at SWO and a pastor in Jacksonville, florida, schindler Drive Baptist Church. Michael Talley, pastor of church at 8025 in Denver, in Thornton, colorado, right outside of Denver, also a board member at SWO.
Speaker 1:My buddy, jeff Martin, who I mentioned, pastors in Johnson City, tennessee, at Redeemer, which is an Acts 29 church, I believe it still is. Adam Benson, who pastors in Noonan, georgia. There's guys that I trust and listen to. There's a longer list than that, but I know those dudes. I can text those cats and say, hey, give me some clarity on this point that you made or hey, thanks for the prep that went into the message you did and I listened to it and it was encouraging.
Speaker 1:You know, when you know people and you know their story and their life and behind the curtain, I think that goes a long ways. You got to be careful. So when somebody says, hey, I like to listen to, and they name a well-known pastor or preacher, take that with a grain of salt and drill into it and use discretion. Whether it's John Mark Comer or John Piper, whether it's Douglas Wilson or Stephen Furtick, take it all with some discretion and just know that if you're listening to a preacher, everything he says needs to come straight out of the scripture. I think that the word of God has to illuminate and illumine the message that a person has or the words they write. So anyway, kind of off the rails a little bit there.
Speaker 1:But I wanted to give some clarity on the John Mark Comer stuff. I'm not a John Mark Comer fan really or disciple, but John really has enjoyed his stuff and so I just wanted to give there's some concern in one of the one of the emails I got was that he's he's real big in the contemplative or contemplative prayer practice, which is like some sort of meditation that apparently has some roots in Eastern religion and I don't think Comer's going there, but there is some things he says that I can see. I don't know. I don't know. Just use discretion, just be smart. I can tell you this If you study the Bible, open your heart and your mind to the scripture, ask God to illuminate his word, ask his Holy spirit to move in your heart and your mind and help you to receive it, you'll be fed spiritually.
Speaker 1:That way you can trust that, you can trust the word of God. So what do we make of of the times we're living in? Floods, devastation, tsunamis, earthquakes, death and destruction, wars and rumors of wars? Jesus addressed it in Mark 13. Now, before we dive into this, let me say that Mark 13 is a very controversial passage of Scripture. It's controversial because some people think all the words that Jesus gives in Mark 13 are prophetic words that refer to the end of days. What we would call eschatology, if you ever heard that it means. Eschatology is a study of the things pertaining to the end. So the time when Jesus is going to return and the world's going to be destroyed and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth.
Speaker 1:Some people think that all of Mark 13 and the Olivet discourse is Jesus explaining what that's going to look like. Some people think that all of Mark 13 is Jesus talking about to the because you'll see when we get into this, he's just having this conversation with his disciples up on the up on the Mount of Olives and some people think he's speaking to them, telling them how their lives are going to go and end and like, hey, in your life this is what you're going to see happen. And then some people and I fall into this third category, and I know Rob Conte does and I know probably all of the Snowbird teaching staff and the Red Oak teaching staff does I think some of what Jesus is going to say in his words in Mark 13 were things that were specific to those disciples and apostles that were listening, that would take fulfillment in their lifetime. Some of what he says is yet to be fulfilled. And then I think all of what he says is cyclical.
Speaker 1:It's a pattern of how history runs and flows. So as we're reading Jesus's words, as we're listening to them in Mark 13, you've got these patterns of how history seems to go, and it's normal to see patterns in history. You know. Even you think again back to the fact that we're in an election cycle right now. You know, if you look back, if I just go through my lifetime, the most current president is a Democrat, the president before him was a Republican, the president before him was a Democrat, the president before him was a Republican Democrat, republican, republican, democrat. That's how it goes. So it sort of cycles and ebbs and flows. History is like that. You've got kingdoms that rise and then those kingdoms fall.
Speaker 1:There is not one world power that has existed for a thousand years. There's not one. Closest thing would have been the British Empire, maybe some of the Chinese dynasties that are still in power. You know, to some degree they're still powerful nations, but I mean nothing Like think of a powerful country like Germany. You go back to the Germanic tribes in the days of the Roman Empire. I mean they were almost like barbarians, you know. And now Germany is a world power, but they'reians, you know, and now Germany is a world power, but they're not. You know, they're one of the second tier, I guess, world powers in terms of the size of their economy and their military and the strength of the nation. And no country has existed in power for 1,000 years. You know it just had.
Speaker 1:The Roman Empire was a 1,000-year empire, but not even the real power and autonomy of that empire was much shorter than that. Alexander the Great built an empire that died with him in a decade. I mean, it lingered and the remnants of it lingered, but it was up and it was gone. The Babylonian Empire that carried Daniel and them boys into captivity in the book of Daniel 70 years, 70 years. A world empire that dominated the world stage 70 years and it's gone. The Persian empire a little bit longer, a couple centuries, you know longer, but rise, fall, rise, fall. So when we think about the cycle of history, it's pretty familiar. And so when Jesus is speaking in Mark 13, he's speaking to the immediate cycle that they're in and some things that are going to happen, but he's also speaking to the way history is going to ebb and flow and then ultimately culminate. So I think we look at this through that lens. What it'll do, I hope, is it'll give us some context for the world we live in, maybe a clear word or some clear context for the days we're living in right now.
Speaker 1:Last week I was sitting with some extended family members. I won't say who it was, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus, but the comment was made. Well, if so-and-so wins this election, I think it's going to be bad, we're going to be in trouble. I think this country is. The comment was made well, if so-and-so wins this election, I think it's going to be bad, we're going to be in trouble. I think this country is. You know.
Speaker 1:And then there was this doomsday prediction and I think people tend to feel that way about you know political movements, and there's no doubt we live in tumultuous times, but it's important for the believer to remember that nothing takes Jesus off guard. He's never in a panic, he's never worried about the outcome of an election, he's never freaked out over a flood, a war. Now, I think that Jesus looks at human history and he feels with emotion the weight of sin. That's what drove him in his sovereignty, but drove him to the cross to give us a way out from the brokenness and the darkness. So Jesus understands our pain, our suffering. There's a scene where Jesus looks over the city of Jerusalem and he weeps and he cries out for the city that is so broken.
Speaker 1:But we don't have to look at an election cycle and go oh my gosh, if my person doesn't win, then where do we go from here? Now I will say that as Christians we need to be engaged in as much of the political process as we're allowed to be. I heard a group of young it was some of our institute students apparently had had a conversation recently where they said they're just not going to vote because they don't like the options. Look, I don't believe that's an option. As a believer, there was one election I voted in where I voted for a third-party candidate, knowing that person didn't have a chance to win, and people say well, you're throwing away your vote. No, I voted with conviction.
Speaker 1:But to sit back and do nothing, I think, is really poor stewardship and it's a slap in the face to friends like Gar Bozeman, four-tour combat veteran, four or five tours. My buddy Michael Talley I mentioned earlier, multiple tours, a bronze star Both those boys won bronze stars. My buddy Jay Bird, ellis, james Ellis, who's a red oak guy, who was a seabee attached to seal team six, who did I don't know eight or nine deployments with those guys. These dudes did what they did so we could have the freedoms we have, at least have the decency, to go to the polls on election day.
Speaker 1:You know it's a gift to take part in the process and you might say, well, I don't trust elections, I don't trust the outcome, I think it's all rigged. There's a point where you've got to leave things in the hands of God and just trust his sovereignty, but also take some action and responsibility. There's a balance there. It's important. And so telling these young people hey, do what you can to do your part and entrust the Lord with the results. You know, vote knowing that God's given you that opportunity. We want to steward the opportunities and gifts God's given us. We want to steward those well or you'll lose them. Imagine if you couldn't vote because you lived under a dictatorship. Now that motivates you to vote right.
Speaker 1:And so there's, there's a right approach to the political process. I'm going to vote, let me. Let me just tell you who I'm going to vote for in all these elections state senate, state house, us senate, us house. President. Let me tell you I'm gonna vote for. I'm going to vote for. I'm going to vote for candidates who display a biblical or Christian worldview, or closest to that.
Speaker 1:Now, it may not be a true Christian worldview, but so then, if there's a race where, say, you've got a couple of candidates that are running for your House seat, for the US House of Representatives and neither of them are Christians, which of them has the most principled in terms of principle, which one of them has a worldview that seems to align with Scripture? Because here's what you're going to find All truth is God's truth. And when somebody says, hey, I believe in the sanctity of life, I believe that human life is sanctified, sanctimonious, set apart by God. We're image bearers of God. We need to protect it. I believe that from the womb, from the moment of conception, we need to fight to protect human life and dignity, then that's a person that aligns with the biblical worldview.
Speaker 1:When someone says marriage should exist between a man and a woman and sexuality and sex is to be held within the confines and the bounds of that marriage between a man and a woman, and that children, as much as God will bless and open the womb and bless the fruit of the womb, are to be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And the primary education needs to occur in the home. And even if you're sending your kid to public school, you're educating them in the home, with discipleship and teaching them the things that the Lord would have you to teach them as a parent. What's going to protect that? What's going to protect your choice? What candidate is going to fight to make sure you can educate your children without the state interfering? What candidate is going to fight so that you get to parent your kid? Not the school counselor or the state? You got states like California that are fighting to make sure that parents don't have any say-so in what happens to their teenage sons and daughters. Let me tell you something when your kid is 15 and questioning their gender, the last thing you need is the demagoguery of a state governor or US politician writing policy that empowers a lesbian school counselor or a transgender psychologist to write prescriptions and to give your child puberty blockers, and you don't even get to know about it. Like that's demonic, that's from the devil, that is satanic.
Speaker 1:So any candidate that's fighting for those things, that's the candidate you want to. You want to push back against. So use the voice you've got, use your vote and don't only vote for candidates. Be engaged and active in the process, right To senators and congressmen, and and be as proactive as you can be. So what? What candidates?
Speaker 1:I vote for the candidates who who align most closely with the biblical worldview. Just because a candidate quotes a Bible verse doesn't mean Satan does that. Scripture in James says you say there's one God. You believe that you do. Well, even the demons believe and tremble. So find candidates that align with sanctity of marriage, sanctity of life, limited power of government, because we serve God, not institutions, first and foremost, so that we might render to God what is God's and render to Caesar what is Caesar's. I want a candidate that recognizes that the state is the worst parent and the worst watchdog of religion. So it's important that, as Christians, we vote proactively. Consider that whoever the president is is going to have the opportunity to appoint Supreme Court justices who are going to rule on things that matter when it comes to a biblical worldview. So be active Now.
Speaker 1:All of that to say when Jesus has this conversation with his disciples in Mark 13,. I want to point out, in the first half of the chapter, really, three principles that he gives to them. Three principles that he gives to them, and the first one is this he's going to tell them to be alert, live in this world, be alert and aware. Don't be anxious, but be alert, be aware, listen to what he says. As Jesus was leaving the temple that day, one of his disciples said Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings, look at the impressive stones in the walls. So they're coming out of the temple and the context is this temple's massive. If you ever look at the dimensions of this temple, I mean it's like multiple football fields put together and then it's like 60 feet high. Have you ever been to Swo, our climbing tower aerial park? Those things are like 40, 45 feet tall. Imagine 15 feet higher than that. That's the height of the temple and it's an ancient structure, you know. And then it's multiple football fields stacked together. It's massive.
Speaker 1:There were stones in the foundation of this thing that weighed a million pounds. A million pounds. That's crazy. Imagine how somebody picked that up. Back then. They didn't have no bulldozers, no excavators. So these guys are just, they're looking. They're like this is impressive. Herod had built this temple. By the way, this was not the temple Solomon built. This temple was built for extravagance and ornamentation and in Jewish life, the temple was like the center of everything. And they're like man. Look at this. This is impressive. Well, jesus is bringing the temple age to a close. Remember, just a few days after this, jesus will hang on the cross and the veil of the temple will be ripped in half, symbolizing that the Spirit no longer dwells behind that curtain. He now dwells in the hearts of people. And so there they are, standing in front of the temple and these guys are looking at it, they're taking it in. If you've ever stood beside something like the Great Wall of China or the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore and you're looking at what man has created and you're like this is amazing.
Speaker 1:For me, growing up not far from the Biltmore House, I remember I was in the fifth grade, my first trip to the Biltmore House, and I know a lot of our listeners would have been to the Biltmore House. It's crazy. You go in there and you think, man, these people built this thing in the 1890s or whenever it was built this thing. In the 1890s or whenever it was, they got a bowling alley in the Biltmore House. They got an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. Hey, 1900, indoor pool, outdoor pool, fitness center, weight room, gymnasium, they called it. That's like old school, you know. But man, that place is impressive, these vaulted ceilings with, you know, murals and paintings.
Speaker 1:So what the disciples are doing here is. They're like Jesus, look at this, this is impressive. And it was. It was very impressive. And so Jesus said, yeah, look at these great buildings, but they'll be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another. So here you got Jesus and the disciples, and they're coming out of the temple and Jesus has been doing ministry he's you know, he's, he's preached and he's taught. And now they're coming out.
Speaker 1:It's Tuesday. I think I think this is Tuesday, I'm not. You might want to fact check me on that. I think it's Tuesday of a passion week, so Jesus is just a few days away from his own death. But anyway, they come out. They're just talking, god's like look how impressive these stones are, you know, and which an interesting study for you would be to go, go do a deep dive into the construction of this temple. I mean, it's impressive, it really is. It's crazy what was accomplished and achieved at this time in history. But anyway, the architecture, the size, it's just massive. And jesus like, yeah, they look great, but it's all going to get destroyed. It's almost like when I read it, you know, I kind of put voice inflection. I imagine how something's being said. Sometimes in my imagination. She's like yeah, there'll be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another.
Speaker 1:He's like it's like I mean, I'm not saying, and there's an exclamation point at the end of the verse. So I guess he's like, emphatic with this statement, I guess it's going to get destroyed. You know, emphatic with this statement, he's like it's going to get destroyed, you know. Well, here's the thing that happened. About 40 years later, in 70 AD, that temple was destroyed. It got destroyed by one of the Roman emperors and what's crazy is this is a little-known fact, I think he did not mean to destroy it. Apparently he was going to burn part of it, but he ended up burning. The whole thing burned to the ground. It ended up being completely destroyed and then it was just destruction and the whole thing got wiped out. So Jesus predicted what would happen, even though the emperor who did what jesus predicted he didn't even mean to initially. So jesus is like he has a mastery and command of all things, past, present and future. So jesus like it's gonna get torn down and that happened. 40 years later it happened.
Speaker 1:And so this is later on they're sitting on the mount of olives across the valley from the temple. Peter, james, john and andrew came to him privately and said when will this happen? What sign will show? So this is later on they're sitting on the Mount of Olives, across the valley from the temple. Peter, james, john and Andrew came to him privately and said when will this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled? And so these guys come up to Jesus a little later. They've been stewing on this. It says it's a little later. They've gone on from the temple. They walked a little ways. They're over at this place called the Mount of Olives, which is like down the roadways, and they're sitting there and they're like what, what, how? We can't. You know.
Speaker 1:You said that temple's going to be torn up and they can't get over this. And it's because this, the temple, represented all things Jewish. It's just a central central like this is the cornerstone of Jewish life. You know, I mean to this day, by the way that temple has not been restored. I mean to this day, by the way that temple has not been restored. I mean it. You know. You got people that go to the wailing wall where that temple was and and they mourn that the temple isn't there.
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying this temple's coming down and he's making an emphatic statement that we don't need to temple anymore. That period, that age, is gone. The new age has come, the age of grace, the age of gone. The new age has come, the age of grace, the age of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God in the hearts of man. The dwelling place of God is with man. The Scripture says Jesus says he gives us his Spirit to dwell in us.
Speaker 1:And so these four guys come up to Jesus. They're like when's it going to happen? When's this going to be fulfilled? So they want to know. They asked Jesus to show them signs of when it's going to be fulfilled. And here's the first point. Jesus says don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming I'm the Messiah. They'll deceive many. So he says one of the signs that the temple destruction is coming is that you're going to have people that come and they really try to convince people that they're the Messiah and y'all.
Speaker 1:This happened a couple of times. You can read about it in Acts. I think it's in Acts 5. And then 66, 67, 68,. Right in there, just a few years before the temple got destroyed, there was a big uprising. You know, a guy tried to lead a revolt and it got squashed and a bunch of people got killed and eventually just brought down Roman oppression into Israel.
Speaker 1:So, jesus, when he makes this prophecy, he nails it. He has a command of the future, and so he says there's going to be false teachers. And so this is where you start to go. Okay, this is not just for Jesus's time, even though he's speaking, but when we talk about cycles in history to this day, think about how much false teaching has occurred, how many false teachers there are. There's a lot of false teachers even today, and for us as Christians, there's some things that we hold fast to that give us an anchor to the true teaching of scripture, but the main and most important one is to believe in the authority of Scripture and the sufficiency of Scripture.
Speaker 1:What Paul writes to Timothy all Scripture is breathed out by God. It's the breath and the Word of God and it guides us, and so when a false messiah or a false teacher comes along, you'll know them, because at some point they're going to deviate. If anybody comes along and preaches the word of god with with fidelity and purity and clarity, they're not a false teacher. A false teacher, by definition, is somebody that adds to or takes away or changes the scripture. So jesus is like. Those people are gonna come along and do this and he says they'll deceive many, so a lot of people will believe these guys.
Speaker 1:You'll hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. So he's like false teachers are going to come along, they're going to claim to be a messiah and then they're going to lead wars and revolts. Then you're going to hear about other wars. There's going to be rumors of wars. It's going to be very tumultuous times, but don't freak out. Stay calm, don don't lose your head. These things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. He said it's it's, it's not over yet when those things start to happen.
Speaker 1:Now, again, we believe that he's talking about a prophecy that would be fulfilled in 70 AD. So he's saying in the next few years you're going to see an intensified you know global climate. There's going to be wars. You're going to feel the pressure of that. You're going to have false messiahs trying to lead people astray and more Roman government pressure and temple pressure. It's like it's going to keep building, but the end is not here right yet, because he says in verse eight nation will go to war against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines.
Speaker 1:But this is only the first part of the birth pains, with more to come. So he says it's basically like birth pains, it's like a woman in labor. So he's painting a picture here that is similar to what he says in Romans eight, where he says all of creation is grown in under the weight of sin and he says you guys are going to see this really come to fruition, where it's like birth pains. Well, why would he use the phrase birth pains? Why would Jesus use that terminology? And why would he use it again in Romans 8 through the words of the apostle Paul?
Speaker 1:Well, because if you think about childbirth and labor and the pain that's associated with it, all of you ladies that listen to this that have been through childbirth you know, even if it was with the greatest latest modern medicine, you had an epidural and you had a comfortable bed, it's still childbirth. It was brutal, you know. And then you got folks. That man, like my daughter, had her baby back in June, kilby, and she had that baby in a foreign third world country and with no medication and did it natural. And I know a lot of our listeners, a lot of the moms, have been through natural childbirth. Little went through natural childbirth with two of our kids, and so for me, I just witnessed it. You, ladies, you know, you know what he's saying here, you know, and let me tell you a funny story. What little was given birth?
Speaker 1:And I'm there in the, in the labor and delivery room, and our midwife was a gal named Maggie Um, and she was. She was a Vietnam veteran, uh uh uh. She was an Army nurse deployed during the Vietnam War. She was awesome man, she was great. She had a bunch of cows. I don't remember if she was a widow or if she had been divorced from her husband, but she lived by herself and had cows. She's just a tough old gal, I mean tough as nails, and I prayed for her because we lost contact with her. But I think PTSD really started to take its toll on her as she got older. But anyway, she was like family to us.
Speaker 1:And I remember we're in the labor and delivery room and I made a joke and it was and you, ladies, don't get mad at me, I was a 20-something year old dude. You don't know nothing when you're 20-something, not like you do when you're 40-something or 50-something or 70. I just remember making a joke and she looked over at me and said knock it off. No joking right now. I said I don't remember what she said. It was really funny. And then afterwards, later, me and Little were laughing about it. She put me in my place.
Speaker 1:But that, that childbirth, the labor pains, you know how they it starts and and, and many of you ladies that are listening you remember you're, you're like okay, there's, there's the first labor pains, let's go do this. But you're still you're, it's not. The baby's not coming right now, it's going to be sometime later, maybe hours, maybe a whole day, you know. And till those, what, what is it? The contractions have to get a certain time apart and then you have to dilate. There's this whole process that begins with that first labor pain and so once the child comes into the world, all the pain is worth it to that mama. She holds that baby, she looks at that baby.
Speaker 1:I see around, snowbird, we have a whole bunch of little kids. So you got all these mamas, these young mamas. They're in their twenties, you know, 25, 30, just young, young girls, young they're, they're ladies, they're adults, but I mean they're young and they got these toddlers and five-year-olds and their whole life is wrapped up in those children, literally. I mean, all they do is talk about their kids and they get together with other moms and they have all their kids there together and their whole world revolves around. That child gives them so much joy and purpose and passion and mission, you know, and that's the way God designed it. And so, within the curse of childbirth is the joy of child rearing, you know, and motherhood.
Speaker 1:And so I think what Jesus is doing is he's saying it's like that, like the earth and the world and society and the darkness is going to get worse and worse and worse and worse, but it's going to give way to something that's great. He's given us hope and when you look around, like right now in the world, it feels so hopeless. But y'all listen, there is coming a government that will literally be held up on the shoulders of King Jesus, and in that government I'm going to have a pet lion, a pet lion. I'm going to be chilling with my lion, you know, and his best buddy is going to be a lamb, you know.
Speaker 1:And somebody says and I've thought about this, what about we ain't going to get to eat meat? Last week I was out in Colorado and I ate a bison ribeye. It was good. I like a cow ribeye better, but it was good. But like what are we going to eat in heaven if we ain't eating meat? I don't know. Whatever it is, it's going to be better. It's going to be better in an unfallen, perfectly newly created kingdom.
Speaker 1:So whatever's happening now, it's going to give way through destruction and rebirth, judgment and renewal. One day there's coming a greater kingdom where there'll be no suffering, no pain. And so Jesus, that's what I think. That's why he uses birth pains Like the pain is going to give way to something greater. But he says this is the beginning of the first birth pains. It's like that first contraction.
Speaker 1:So he's telling the disciples when you see, when there's wars and unrest and we know from the early Roman history or Jewish history in Josephus that there was so much war and rumors of war and you read through the rest of Mark 13, and you look at and you get down into verse, listen to what he says down in verse 14, he says the day is coming. You'll see sacrilegious objects that caused desecration standing where he should not be, then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down in the house to pack A person out of the field not returned to get a coat. How terrible it would be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers. I pray that your flight will not be in winter, for there will be greater. No, for there will be greater. No, for there will be greater anguish in those days than at any other time since God created the world, and it will never be so great again.
Speaker 1:Y'all listen, the time that Jesus is describing it came to fruition. Josephus writes of how horrible this this time was. When the Roman government came down with an authoritative vengeance on Jewish people and Jewish life, over a million Jews died in the fulfillment of what Jesus is describing here. From the time Jesus said this, around 30 to 33 AD, until the destruction of the temple in 70, a million Jews were executed. I don't know how many Christians were executed, I don't know, but Josephus says a million Jews and the Roman army came into Israel and Palestine and Jerusalem and just brought down the boot of the Roman war machine. So when we think about how terrible the world is today and Christians are being persecuted, man in places like Nigeria and Niger and much of Central Africa, there's great persecution, the Horn of Africa.
Speaker 1:But Jesus said the anguish in those days is greater than any other time in history. He said if the Lord hadn't intervened, not one person would have survived. And he now, this is where he also, I think, starts to transition into. As the days come to an end, at the end of time which we could be living in, we don't know, there's gonna be greater anguish and destruction and difficulty. So this is where you've got some of this being fulfilled in the time of Jesus's disciples' lives, and some of it yet to be fulfilled, because it's cyclical, it's the ebb and flow of history.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, because he's going to go on eventually and tell them hey, I'm going to come back one day, listen to how he describes that Then everyone will see the son of man coming on the clouds with great power and glory, and he will send out his angels together as chosen ones, from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. That's in verses 26 and 27. So he jumps and he begins to speak of future things. But for the disciples right here he says look, it's going to be rough, man, this birth. Pains are beginning, but this is where they're going to culminate Later. He's going to say it's going to get to the point where the son of man is going to come. Jesus is going to come on the clouds of glory. But for them, he says, you're going to see the beginning of birth pains Verse nine when these things begin to happen, watch out. You'll be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You'll stand trial before governors and kings because you're my followers, but this will be your opportunity to tell them about me. So he says, you're going to be persecuted. You're going to have to stand before judges and police officers. You're going to be persecuted as Christians, government officials, army soldiers and officers military rather officers are going to. You know, the Roman military is going to come, take over and you're going to have to give an account. But it's going to be an opportunity for you to preach the gospel. Now we know that these guys, some of them.
Speaker 1:This happened and definitely it happened with the Apostle Paul Before 70 AD. The Apostle Paul speaks before local kings, regional kings, and he goes all the way to Rome to speak and testify before Caesar. God uses the persecution to advance the church and give voice to the church and he says when you're arrested and stay in trial, don't worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Here's the second principle. So he says be alert, pay attention. There's going to be false messiahs, the days are going to get dark.
Speaker 1:And he's going to say the second principle is don't lose hope, because the Holy Spirit's going to be with you. You're going to go through hard times, but I'm not going to forsake you. Y'all listen. For those of you that live in Western North Carolina and this storm and the floods and the death and destruction, the Lord is with us. In the storm, those of you that are freaked out about the election cycle, the Lord is as with us right now, as he will be on November 10th just days after it's over, you know and as he will be with us come next January and February, once the next president is inaugurated. He's with us, no matter what if the economy continues to collapse. And February, once the next president is inaugurated, he's with us, no matter what If the economy continues to collapse and crash. He's with us and he's preparing us for a greater kingdom. That's what we can rest and rely on.
Speaker 1:And he says this is terrible to think about because he says a brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. He said people are going to turn on their own family members, but there's that promise my Holy Spirit's going to be with you and you will endure till the end. Everyone will hate you because you're my followers, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. He says if you endure and hold fast and don't recant your faith and don't turn away from Jesus and you keep his name on your lips and you be willing to die, if that's what it means, you take your lashes, your clubbing, your stoning, your beating, your imprisonment and you keep the name of Jesus on your lips. He says to these men these guys were cowards y'all. Just a few days after, he said three days after he tells them this, they all abandon him, but eventually they're all willing to die because they have an encounter with the resurrected Lord and he gives them that promised presence of his spirit and Jesus goes with them to the end.
Speaker 1:Listen, I'm not saying you don't need to go on Instagram and post your favorite political ad. I'm not saying you don't need to wave the flag of helping Israel or patriotic American sentiment. I'm a patriot. I like to think that if I was called on to fight for the defense of freedom, even as a middle-aged now moving beyond middle-aged man, I'd do it. God has shed his grace on this country and I'm proud to be an American. I have no regret or, like I am not embarrassed, to travel anywhere in this world as an American. There's a lot of people that are ashamed of this country when they go other places. I'm thankful for people like my papa, who fought on the shores of Normandy shores of Normandy, who fought to liberate St Lowe and Paris itself, and who, who, who almost paid the ultimate price and was friend, close friends, with those brothers that did. I'm thankful for my friends like Ben Honaker and Kyle Huth, combat veteran Marines, dustin Chapel special forces officer who was in a terrible explosion that literally has altered his life, a buddy Jaybird that I mentioned earlier, gar Bozeman and a host of other listeners of ours that are veterans. I'm thankful.
Speaker 1:Listen, y'all. Our hope is not in this government, this military. It's going to all come to an end. Maybe America endures till the end and when it all comes crashing down. But it's just hard to believe that the end of days is going to come, with America as a nation under God worshiping King Jesus. It seems like it's going to get worse, but what I'm saying is Jesus is telling us here it's okay, his spirit is going to be with us and he has a plan that will outlast all the kingdoms of the earth. Our job is to endure. Endure it your candidate doesn't get in. Endure it Pro-abortion candidates take over. The Supreme Court is flipped. Roe v Wade becomes the law of the land. There's a wholesale, a large scale attack on marriage and sexuality and your sons and daughters Listen, let's endure, no matter what comes, because Jesus says he'll be with us and it's worth enduring. So let's do it and let's trust what Jesus says here. He says I'm going to stop there, at verse 13,. But in the next 13 verses he gets down there to verse 26 and he says the son of man is going to come on clouds with great power and glory. I'm going to tell you something, guys our hope is not in the candidate of your choice. Our hope has got to be in King Jesus.
Speaker 1:I'm going to vote for the candidates that represent my worldview. What I believe is the biblical, judeo-christian ethic, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage. What is a candidate? How does he view life in the womb? How does he view marriage? How does he view parenting? I'm going to vote for those that align with Scripture. How does he view gender? But no candidate is ultimately my Savior. It's Jesus that's going to come on clouds, the great power and glory, and he'll send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. That's me. I'm going, I'm going to be in that, I'm going to be on that. And Jesus closes the the Olivet discourse. Let me just point out this one last thing he says that I think is helpful and we'll be done.
Speaker 1:The coming of the son of man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. Now people get real upset when they see slavery in the scripture. What, jesus, the point of this story is? We're the slaves, we are slaves. We are slaves the Greek word is doulos. We are slaves to Christ, slaves of righteousness. So the coming of the Son of man, jesus' return, can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. You too must keep watch, for you don't know when the master of the household will return, in the evening, at midnight, before dawn or at daybreak. Don't let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone watch for him. So for us, let's not sleep.
Speaker 1:I believe that last part of the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13 refers to the end of days and Christ's return. If we're alive, when he returns, let's be found working and laboring and advancing the gospel. The disciples were faithful in their time. Those first 13 verses, I believe, were fulfilled with the collapse of the temple in 70 AD, the conquest and the crushing of the Jewish people by the Romans. But for those of us that are in Christ, we know that there's coming a day where persecution will probably intensify. It's intensified right now the world over, and some of us are going to face it it's going to happen.
Speaker 1:But let's endure till the end and know that we're going to one day see King Jesus coming on the clouds of glory and we're going to rule and reign with him forever and ever and ever. And that's where our hope's got to lie. That's something to be hopeful about. You've got a son or daughter that's gone before you. You're going to see them. You've got a mom or dad that's gone before you. You're going to see them. It's wonderful to think about. The best thing we can do is be ready, like the parable of the 10 virgins. Five of them had their lamps ready, the wicks trimmed, the lamps were full of oil. They're ready. We got to be ready because Jesus is going to return and we get to go and be with him forever. It's going to be awesome.
Speaker 1:So lots going on, a little tailgate theology for y'all this week. I don't know if that's what you needed. I think maybe I needed to just say it and hash it out. Took me five or six tries. I think I've been sitting here now for five or six hours. It's funny, but we got through it and hopefully it'll be an encouragement to you.
Speaker 1:Pay attention, filter everything through the lens of Scripture. Let the Word of God, illuminate everything. Don't let anything inform or illuminate the scripture Work to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed. It rightly divides the word of truth in your own heart and your own mind and keep your eyes up and look for the coming of Christ. It's going to happen, y'all, and I'm ready and I hope you are Last thought. In closing, I do want to just say our prayers are with those of you that have been devastated by this storm. I got a lot of family members that have been and we're praying for you. And if there's specific ways that we here at NSR and at SWO can pray for you, please email us or reach out to us and let us know. And for the many, many, many, many people that have reached out and said, hey, what's SWO going to do for relief? How can we partner with y'all? Right now we don't have a plan. We're kind of waiting to see how things are going to shake out. I think there's a lot that still has to happen. So just we'll keep you posted.
Speaker 1:If you don't follow us on social media and you're a social media person, follow Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters on Instagram and our YouTube channel. There's not a lot that goes on on YouTube, but it's there Instagram and Facebook obviously. Just follow all things SWO and make sure you've got the app, the Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters app. That app is really cool because even if you're not here maybe you only get to come once a year, maybe you never get to come you can see what's going on here each week, like like uh, this coming weekend we'll have a fall retreat. Even if you're not coming to that, you can look at the schedule for that retreat and kind of follow it. It's kind of cool to follow along. And then we've got tons of media content and, um, you can keep up with what's going on.
Speaker 1:But if we end up trying to work to create some sort of relief effort, we'll let you know. But I think there's reputable organizations, the North Carolina Baptist men, like the Southern Baptists of North Carolina. They have a great disaster relief program. Samaritan's Purse is literally headquartered in the flood zone, I mean right here in the middle of it all, and so they're going to be. They're already boots on the ground and there's some strong organizations that are plugged in and get it done. So but if we end up doing something specific, we'll let you know. We have a good, strong church partnership in states for a church called South River Baptist that does a lot of community outreach work with food distribution, clothing distribution, stuff like that Might link up with them, I don't know.
Speaker 1:They're in the thick of it too, so I don't know what's. We're still trying to just figure out how we can most faithfully serve others and be faithful to the Lord. So we'll keep you posted. But I do just be faithful to the Lord, so we'll keep you posted. But but I do just I. I want you to to, to trust and have hope um that that the church has the opportunity to be allied in this dark season, um, with, with, with all the destruction from the storm, and in this dark season politically and globally, um, let's be, let's be what Jesus has called us to be, all right. Thank y'all so much and yeah we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to no Sanity Required. Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a rating. It really helps. Visit us at SWOutfitterscom to see all of our programming and resources, and we'll see you next week on no Sanity Required.
