From Skeptic to Believer: Faith, Theology, and Politics in Today's World

My transformation from a life entrenched in skepticism and waywardness to one of devout leadership sets the stage for a riveting discussion that will challenge your perspectives on hot-button theological issues. Brushing off the dust of misinterpretation, we firmly reject the scandalous assertion that Jesus was transgender, reinforcing the sanctity of Scriptural truths. As we navigate through these deep theological waters, we'll share personal accounts of faith, highlighting the significance of exegesis in understanding the Bible, and how it shapes our views on sexual ethics as aligned with God's original plan.

As the weight of these discussions settles, we'll uplift spirits with some holiday warmth, reminiscing over cherished family traditions and the seasonal staple, "Mary, Did You Know?" Yet, the conversation doesn't end there. Brace yourselves for an intriguing preview on the divisive notion of being "trans-abled," and prepare for a chuckle or two with our satirical nod to current politics. Through the lens of faith, we scrutinize President Biden's policies and their alignment—or lack thereof—with Christian values, all while fostering a community that's both informed and engaged. Join us for a journey that promises laughter, introspection, and a hearty dose of reality.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Faith and Failure Podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:04

What is up everybody? So already out of the gate. I see some people right here who are upset and they try to use Matthew. Jesus was transgender. Okay, let me squash that right now. No, he wasn't. All right, that was easy, let's move on.

Speaker 2: 0:21

So that even saying that is just blasphemous and completely against Scripture. So I don't know where you're getting your theology, or actually, yes, I do. Let me explain this. Just a way to open up. First of all, welcome everybody to the Faith and Failure Podcast and live stream.

Speaker 2: 0:39

I knew probably some of the title that some of you saw would get somebody heated pretty quick and guess what? That's okay, because I am a person, I am a pastor, who desires to have open dialogue and to show you up against Scripture. Now, we have two different ways of reading text and reading the Word, and I appreciate, elijah, for you know your comment, even though I think you are 100%, completely wrong. Now, how can I do that and still love you? Well, I understand, as all of us have, at some point we can read a text or a passage from Scripture and we read into what we want the text to say from our perspective and how we see life. That's called Isa Jesus. A way to remember. That is I. You're putting I in the text. Now, exegesis is you are bringing out what is actually in the text and what God had to say in the text. You're not putting in what your two cents is. You're not adding what you want the Scripture to say or what you believe. What you're doing when you really study the Scripture and you want to hear from God. You set what you believe and what you think aside and say Lord, what does your Spirit say? What does your Scripture say? And that is called exegesis. You are studying the Scripture according to the original text, the intent of the text, and looking at it in context, instead of coming from where you are and reading Scripture. So that's okay. The fact that you actually are citing Scripture means you are reading it. I hope you continue to read it and I hope the Spirit of God begins to pour out on you in such a real way that you cannot in any fashion or way say what you're saying now, because the Spirit of God will convict you. I believe that's how it works.

Speaker 2: 2:27

At one point in time, I was a person who didn't believe. I was a person who was on drugs. I was a person who womanized and people try to dissect transgender and homosexuality. But the Bible says that sexual immorality if you are guilty of that, no matter what little branch you are part of, you will not enter the kingdom. It's not just one little part, one little thing. If you do this, I as a pastor can't have someone to come in and counsel and say well, you're sleeping together and that's okay, to follow your feelings and do what you want to do. No, I'm not going to say that. So why would I bend and conform? If someone chooses homosexuality, it's sin. It's against God's design, it's against God's nature of how he designed us to be. So that's what that is on the front end of that.

Speaker 2: 3:18

Now that we got that out of the way, how y'all doing today? Y'all doing okay, everybody excited for the show. So I wanted to start the show off today with something. So my wife, y'all know if you're watching right now live. It is the holiday, christmas season, and one of the I don't know the stats on it, but one of the most overrated not overrated, that may be a little strong one of the most overplayed songs. I think. It was written by a guy named Mark Lowry and he's also a standup comedian, christian comedian. He wrote a song called Mary, did you Know? My wife does not like that song, not because of the context, not because of the words. It is a little dumb because, yes, she knew she was told by an angel. But anyways, mary Did you Know? Okay, so I am going to next week.

Speaker 2: 4:10

So the week of the 20th, on the 21st, we leave to go up north. We go every year for Christmas break to see my side of the family, because Jesse's side of my wife's side of the family is around here. And so we go and we look, we visit my side of the family. So my parents hold on just a second, let me check my levels just to make sure and so we go and we perfect, all right. So we go and we visit family. We actually have a new baby. She's just over a couple of months old and some side of my dad's side of the family hasn't seen her yet, and then some side of my mom's side of the family hasn't seen her either. So we're gonna go make our rounds. It's our first Christmas. We're gonna go kind of just show her off to everybody, because everybody needs to see her. She's amazing and beautiful. So, that being said.

Speaker 2: 4:59

Speaking of Elijah, if you're still watching, I don't know if you checked out or not but you tell them my transgender and Jesus was transgender. Okay, before we ever saw a baby, the doctors were able to tell by blood what the gender of the baby was. Okay, I'm no biologist, but that should tell you something. Not bashing anybody, but we're gonna watch it. Later down the road we're gonna watch a video and it's a victim mentality and it's trans-abled is what they call themselves. So stick around for that.

Speaker 2: 5:30

At the end of this, end of this live stream today, because it gets weird and so because it's a holiday season, it's Christmas time, I wanted to watch this. So if you've ever heard of the Babylon Bee, I highly recommend. They're extremely funny. They're Christians. As far as their theology, we're not gonna get all into what exactly they believe, because I think they are a multiple or a mix of, I think, presbyterian, you know whatever they got a bunch of different genres of belief, but they all believe that Jesus is the one true son of God. So it's not really a salvation issue, it's more of a preference. So I wanted to start today's live stream off. You know I like comedy. You know, like we've actually watched some of the videos before. This is extremely hilarious and it fits both the Christmas holiday spirit and the 2024 election spirit, which we're gonna touch on some of that today.

Speaker 2: 6:24

Some of y'all have asked me specifically in person, face to face of people that I know, and you've also. Some of you have emailed me and you've asked hey, what do you think about Trump, what do you think about the election, what is your opinion and how do you see things? So today I'm gonna kind of dive in deeper on that From my church and my perspective. I don't teach politics. I actually instruct my leaders to not get they can have a political opinion, obviously but to demonize a certain political views and it makes the body become very messy very quickly. So I don't really endorse that.

Speaker 2: 7:02

There's a special condemnation from God to all who deny the foulest creative purpose for men and women. They're. You know it's sad, but there is several verses in the Bible where it talks about God gave them over to their lustful desires and I feel like in these last days we're seeing more and more and more of things that are pointing to Jesus is coming soon and that's, I believe, that's why there's such a perversion on truth, because truth will have to be so perverted and so twisted for the antichrist to actually take over. Because if we're all believing good, we're all believing right, we're all living right, we believe we're a godly nation. You know, everybody's on the side of God and everybody believes the Bible. There's no room for the antichrist because people would recognize that evil and I really think a lot of the churches down South are plagued by not recognizing actually what evil is which will be on another live stream I got that one cooking, anyway so I wanted to scary how perverted the truth has become. Yeah, like it's seriously, truth has become something that's more subjective instead of something that is a constant standard. That's why it's so important, as Christians, to know the word of God, so that you can measure up what you're hearing and measure it up to the word of God.

Speaker 2: 8:29

I've actually been doing a series on the gifts of the Spirit and prophecy is one of those, and the Bible tells us that when we hear prophecy because you're gonna be made a post the other day on my Facebook, feel free to go follow All the links are down in the description that there's gonna be a lot of profits in 2020, at the end of 2023, in the new year of 2024, saying this and that, and a lot of them are false prophets that just are just trying to be in the limelight, trying to be on social media, trying to get likes, trying to get money. Anyways, we're not diving into that. So, for the holiday season, I thought this video was very fitting and it made me laugh, and so I wanted to give that to you. Let me get my camera right. Let's play this.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Biden, did you know that your policies would drive a sonder water? Biden, did you know that your policies would trans our sons and daughters? Biden, did you know that your policies will punish what is true?

Speaker 2: 9:44

Yes, Lord.

Speaker 1: 9:45

The church that you subscribe to does not subscribe to you, biden, did you know? Did you know that your baby boy made shitty deals in Ukraine? Biden, did you know that your baby boy loves parmesan and cocaine? Did you know that you shouldn't touch these women like you do when you sniff that little girl's hair? It's borderline, me too. Oh my gosh. The law will cease, the debt increase and the debt will vote again, and yet the money will be right. I split up. Well, it's been a police day. Come on, I'll learn you better, know what I am.

Speaker 2: 11:09

Yes, Lord.

Speaker 1: 11:12

Biden, did you know that your policies would bring about inflation? Biden, did you know that your policies would one day rule the nation? Did you know that your policies make herits reign seem glad? One day you'll have to answer to the great.

Speaker 2: 11:59

Bro, they just like put him in hell.