Episode 14
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World". A Sunday Conversation with Pastor Ross Stackhouse
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In this enlightening episode of the Heaven Earth Church podcast, Ross Stackhouse invites listeners into a dialogue that transcends conventional religious discourse. The episode is an exploration of identity, belonging, and the transformative power of faith narratives. Stackhouse articulates the church's mission to serve as a welcoming space for those who may feel marginalized by traditional religious communities. By sharing personal testimonies from congregants, the podcast underscores the significance of storytelling in the faith journey, asserting that each narrative contributes to a collective understanding of divine engagement in our lives. The discussion encourages listeners to reflect on their own stories and the ways they may find connection and purpose within the church community, ultimately reinforcing the message that each individual's experience is a vital part of the tapestry of God's work in the world.
Takeaways:
- Heaven Earth Church was established to embrace individuals who feel disconnected from traditional church structures, reflecting a commitment to inclusivity.
- The conversations at Heaven Earth Church center around personal narratives, highlighting the notion that every human experience intertwines with divine significance.
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of spiritual practices, particularly the observance of Sabbath, as a vital component of faith for contemporary believers.
- A key theme discussed is the inherent desire for autonomy and control, as illustrated by the biblical narrative of Adam and Eve, leading to a discussion on human nature and temptation.
- The hosts encourage listeners to recognize the abundance in their lives and to avoid coveting what others possess, fostering gratitude and appreciation for one's own circumstances.
- The overarching message of the episode underscores the call to 'multiply what is good', a central tenet of living a fulfilling faith-driven life.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
Welcome to Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:My name is Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker A:I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:From the beginning, our heart was to be a church for people who don't fit neatly into church.
Speaker A:Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their stories, to honor their stories.
Speaker A:Because in every human story is God's story.
Speaker A:In this podcast, you'll hear more about the people who now call Heaven Earth Church home.
Speaker A:Their stories, in many cases of misfits who are discovering or rediscovering faith.
Speaker A:If you want to know more about us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org Otherwise, we invite you now into the story.
Speaker B:Hello, good people.
Speaker B:Brad Miller here, the producer of the Heaven Earth Church podcast.
Speaker B:One of the main benefits of being a part of the Heaven Earth Church community is our Sunday morning conversations taught by founding pastor Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker B:You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenerthchurch.
Speaker B:The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on the website, which is heaven earthchurch.org now with the message everybody wants to rule the world is Pastor Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker A:All right, let's pray and have a conversation.
Speaker A:First, I'm going to invite you into a moment of silence, and then I'll pray.
Speaker A:Embrace the awkwardness of the silence.
Speaker A:Lord, help us to be aware of your presence.
Speaker A:Admittedly, it's hard to see you at work.
Speaker A:It's hard to hear you.
Speaker A:It's hard to understand how it all works.
Speaker A:So help us to have a sense of your presence.
Speaker A:Enlighten our minds and enrich our hearts for the sake of your glory and our joy and for the renewal of all things.
Speaker A:In Jesus name, amen.
Speaker A:All right, let's start with some trivia.
Speaker A:We have a song lyric.
Speaker A:First person to get it right gets a prize.
Speaker A:Emily's got a prize that she's gonna give you.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right, ready?
Speaker A:Here's a song lyric.
Speaker A:It's only 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 words.
Speaker A:All for freedom and for pleasure.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Some of you like, this ain't my music anyways.
Speaker A:All for freedom and for pleasure Everlast forever.
Speaker A:Come on, let's do it again.
Speaker A:All for freedom and for pleasure.
Speaker A:Nothing ever lasts forever.
Speaker A:Come on, blast it free.
Speaker A:Who's it by?
Speaker A:Let's go, Katie.
Speaker A:Katie gets a prize.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I swear, this matters.
Speaker A:It'll come in here.
Speaker A:Everybody wants to rule the world all right.
Speaker A:Without cheating.
Speaker A:You May not look at your phones.
Speaker A:You may do this as a group.
Speaker A:I need 10 items.
Speaker A:What 10 items might I be looking for in the church if I were going to ask for 10 things?
Speaker A:A list of 10.
Speaker A:The 10 Commandments.
Speaker A:You cannot cheat.
Speaker A:You may not look at your phone, but you may do it as a group.
Speaker A:So go ahead.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:One.
Speaker A:No murdering.
Speaker A:You got three.
Speaker A:I heard covet murdering.
Speaker A:No other gods before me?
Speaker A:Nope.
Speaker A:Steal.
Speaker A:There's four.
Speaker A:Don't steal.
Speaker A:Honor the Sabbath.
Speaker A:Keep it holy.
Speaker A:There's five.
Speaker A:Honor your father and mother.
Speaker A:Did you hear that, BO on your father, mother.
Speaker A:Six.
Speaker A:Adultery for seven.
Speaker A:Paul has two of them.
Speaker A:Come on now.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:No idols.
Speaker A:That's separate than the first one there.
Speaker A:The first two have to do with, like, no other gods and idols.
Speaker A:So there's eight.
Speaker A:You missing two.
Speaker A:You got, thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Speaker A:Don't make an idol.
Speaker A:Sabbath day.
Speaker A:Father and mother.
Speaker A:Oh, clicked on an ad for a shoe.
Speaker A:Hold on.
Speaker A:Honor your dad and your mom.
Speaker A:Don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, and don't covet.
Speaker B:Boom.
Speaker A:Michael is such a ringer with trivia.
Speaker A:Like, if you're going to any bar for trivia, take Michael Windsor with you.
Speaker A:One more Lord's name in vain.
Speaker A:Okay, here's my question for you.
Speaker A:What, in your experience, which of those commands God has received the most emphasis either in your religious background or culturally?
Speaker A:What would you say is one?
Speaker A:That, like, man, this one got a lot of emphasis.
Speaker A:Or you could say two.
Speaker A:I guess I'll allow it.
Speaker A:Which one got.
Speaker A:Which one of those got the most emphasis?
Speaker A:Joanna says no murdering.
Speaker A:Got a lot of emphasis.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:The tangible ones.
Speaker A:Okay, okay.
Speaker A:Adultery.
Speaker A:Got a lot of play.
Speaker A:Those are the.
Speaker A:Those are two that Jesus mentions in his Sermon on the Mount.
Speaker A:Because remember, he says you've heard it said, don't commit adultery.
Speaker A:But I tell you, if you're desiring to someone in your heart, you're lusting.
Speaker A:You're committing adultery in your heart.
Speaker A:He says you've heard it said, don't commit murder.
Speaker A:But I tell you, if you harbor anger in your heart against your neighbor, you've committed murder.
Speaker A:So he mentions, too.
Speaker A:He mentions other ones elsewhere.
Speaker A:But what else?
Speaker A:What got into this, Charles?
Speaker A:Idolatry has been very much emphasized.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, we actually mentioned it last week.
Speaker A:We talked about it a lot.
Speaker A:How we.
Speaker A:There's a Bible project video about the image of God.
Speaker A:And this video says, like, God asks us not to make any images of himself because he already has made images of himself.
Speaker A:And those images are you.
Speaker A:Let us make humankind in our image.
Speaker A:That one got used a lot.
Speaker A:Don't use God's name in vain.
Speaker A:Which, by the way, is a reference to the name of God.
Speaker A:Maybe you don't like the actual Hebrew name of God if you're like man.
Speaker A:What does that mean?
Speaker A:There's a moment in Exodus where God asks Moses to go rescue people.
Speaker A:And he says, well, what's your name, pal?
Speaker A:So I can tell them who's rescuing them.
Speaker A:And God responds with this Hebrew phrase that there are four letters that correspond to that phrase.
Speaker A:Y, H, W, H, Yahweh.
Speaker A:That is the sacred name of God.
Speaker A:So when Jesus says, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's referring specifically to this phrase, I am who I am or I will be there.
Speaker A:Howsoever, I will be there.
Speaker A:Moses, go tell them that's the person who's sending you.
Speaker A:Moses is like, repeat that really quick.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:Yeah, what else?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What one's got emphasis.
Speaker A:Okay, which one's got the least emphasis?
Speaker A:Sabbath day.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Not emphasize.
Speaker A:Or I would.
Speaker A:I would argue like distorted.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:That sounds so exciting.
Speaker A:Practice of Sabbath, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Heather says, yeah, it's keeping the Sabbath.
Speaker A:Just go to church on Sunday morning when Sabbath is.
Speaker A:I would argue we'll have a whole other series about this.
Speaker A:One of the most most important spiritual practices that followers of Jesus need in our time is Sabbath.
Speaker A:A reinvigorated practice of Sabbath.
Speaker A:Eugene Peterson, who wrote the message translation, said it was the most radical thing he practiced in his life.
Speaker A:He and his wife would go on like a two or three hour hike every Sabbath day.
Speaker A:That one got very little emphasis where it was distorted.
Speaker A:What else?
Speaker A:What got.
Speaker A:What wasn't emphasized very much.
Speaker A:Anything else?
Speaker A:Honoring your parents.
Speaker A:Okay, your mom's sitting right next to you.
Speaker A:Paul.
Speaker A:Is that is like a thing?
Speaker A:Is that like a confession or something, man?
Speaker A:No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:Okay, yeah, sure.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Nick.
Speaker A:Coveting.
Speaker A:So honestly, for me, we're going to get back to this.
Speaker A:The one that got emphasized the least in every circle I've ever been a part of is the coveting one.
Speaker A:I would wager that some of our politicians want nine commandments up in school.
Speaker A:Not that one.
Speaker A:Oh, Nick.
Speaker A:Bearing false witness.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Another one that maybe, like, even when it got talked about it, it kind of didn't.
Speaker A:You didn't really capture the beauty of it.
Speaker A:Which, by the way, if you put commandments up in school, it doesn't make you any more righteous just because you put up a sign Somewhere doesn't make you any more favorable in God's eyes anyways.
Speaker A:That was a sidetrack.
Speaker A:Ross.
Speaker A:Come on, man.
Speaker A:Don't do that.
Speaker A:Don't do that.
Speaker A:Here's what I want to talk to you about today.
Speaker A:That last week, I talked about, like, how everything.
Speaker A:We're in a series called Growing what is Good.
Speaker A:We're kind of building off of Easter, this idea that, like, God's glory has broken in in a new way into God's creation.
Speaker A:And the end game of all this, like, where this is heading, as Habakkuk says that the knowledge of the Lord's glory is going to cover the earth as surely as the waters cover the sea.
Speaker A:Like God's glory is making a comeback on Earth.
Speaker A:In the beginning, humankind and everything was made to reflect God.
Speaker A:And we defined how good equals anything that reflects God.
Speaker A:Why do we say that?
Speaker A:Because after every day when God is creating, God sees it and says that it was.
Speaker A:And after the sixth day, when God creates humankind, God said it was, like, supremely good.
Speaker A:The Ninja Turtles will be like, tubular.
Speaker A:Like, awesome.
Speaker A:I want to talk to you today about, like, I want to just step forward a little bit by saying that we are made to multiply what is good with God and with each other.
Speaker A:We are made to multiply what is good with God and with each other.
Speaker A:Like, that is our life's purpose.
Speaker A:Jesus comes to restore the image of God in us, to restore our sense of goodness and to mobilize us and send us out to multiply what is good with God and with each other.
Speaker A:Are you with me?
Speaker A:Sounds too simple.
Speaker A:I want to.
Speaker A:I want to show you really quick, like, how this, like, the poetry of goodness is in the first chapters, first couple chapters of Genesis.
Speaker A:So really quick.
Speaker A:This may seem like a diversion, but one of the things that trips people up in my experiences, our students even asked it.
Speaker A:How do I reconcile what's going on in the Bible with what I read or what I've studied in science?
Speaker A:Well, some of us came from the background that we got told the Bible is a science book.
Speaker A:I want to tell you that.
Speaker A:Shocking.
Speaker A:It isn't.
Speaker A:I know some of you are like, what?
Speaker A:Especially Genesis.
Speaker A:The Bible is a.
Speaker A:Wait, what am I going to say?
Speaker A:There's a phrase I always say, the Bible is not a book, but it's a.
Speaker A:It's a library of books with just as you'd walk into a library and there'd be different sections and genres, and you would read things differently.
Speaker A:You wouldn't pick up barefoot contessa's Cookbook and read it the way that you read Lord Byron.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:What's that gal's name?
Speaker A:Ina Garn.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:What are we doing?
Speaker A:What are we doing?
Speaker A:This is not my notes.
Speaker A:Genesis is like beautiful poetry, and it's poetry about how God speaks and light and all things that reflect God's light are born.
Speaker A:Genesis is not an explanation of how the Earth, the creation, was made in six days.
Speaker A:It isn't.
Speaker A:You want.
Speaker A:I'll.
Speaker A:If you go to Hebrews 11, 3.
Speaker A:If I would have it up on the screen right now.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:My slide game was way behind this week.
Speaker A:There's a section on faith, and it says, by faith, we understand that God spoke and all these beautiful things came into existence.
Speaker A:That person is showing us that Hebrew folks didn't read Genesis as a science book.
Speaker A:They read it as a testimony to how there's this being God who speaks and beauty is born.
Speaker A:Genesis is poetry about who, not how are you with me?
Speaker A:And so all of it is about, like, God speaking and goodness is born.
Speaker A:Good, good, good stuff.
Speaker A:And then you get to Genesis 2, and it's still, like, good.
Speaker A:Like, this poetry of, like, of life that is really just spellbound.
Speaker A:It's unbelievable.
Speaker A:Like, look at this.
Speaker A:Did you know that there are two accounts of creation?
Speaker A:In the second one, this is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
Speaker A:And if you're paying attention, you're like, we already heard that account.
Speaker A:Well, this is a different poem.
Speaker A:But look at the poetry, like, the beauty, like, look at how connected everything is in here.
Speaker A:In Genesis 1, I'll tell you, there's a pattern.
Speaker A:If you're like, I'm not much of a poetry person.
Speaker A:When you get to the end of Genesis 1, there's a pattern.
Speaker A:God creates humankind in God's image to subdue or take charge of the earth.
Speaker A:So the end of the poem ends with this order.
Speaker A:Humans, God, Earth.
Speaker A:Genesis 2 reverses starts with Earth.
Speaker A:So human, gods, earth.
Speaker A:Now watch this.
Speaker A:The poetry is so beautiful.
Speaker A:On the day the Lord God made the earth and the sky through a stream rose from the earth and water, all the fertile land.
Speaker A:Look at this earth from the beginning in this poem, God is a sculptor, and God is digging into the earth.
Speaker A:The word for earth is adama in Hebrew.
Speaker A:And the first human is Adam of the earth.
Speaker A:Do you see how everything is connected?
Speaker A:Earth, God, humans.
Speaker A:In Genesis 1, it's humankind in God's image.
Speaker A:Take charge of the Earth.
Speaker A:Genesis 2 starts out Earth God forming the earth.
Speaker A:Human.
Speaker A:God breathes life's breath.
Speaker A:The same Hebrew word for wind and breath and spirit.
Speaker A:It's the same.
Speaker A:And the human came to.
Speaker A:The human came to.
Speaker A:Do you see this?
Speaker A:The glorious connection between things.
Speaker A:Humans sacredly connected to the earth, Mysteriously connected to God's breath.
Speaker A:Humankind filled with the breath of God, Connected to the earth that was formed by God so that humans multiply.
Speaker A:What is good with God?
Speaker A:Are you with me?
Speaker A:It's so beautiful.
Speaker A:And here's the purpose it's outlined.
Speaker A:God planted a garden in Eden in the east.
Speaker A:You're going to need these notes here in a minute.
Speaker A:Pay attention.
Speaker A:In the fertile land, the Lord grew every beautiful tree with edible fruit.
Speaker A:Do you see that?
Speaker A:What God does?
Speaker A:Beauty.
Speaker A:Beauty, beauty.
Speaker A:And also he grew the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden.
Speaker A:And the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
Speaker A:How many trees are in the middle of the garden?
Speaker A:One plus one is.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:There's a tree of.
Speaker A:And a tree of.
Speaker A:Okay, good.
Speaker A:All right, you're with me.
Speaker A:I like this.
Speaker A:This is nice.
Speaker A:There's a river.
Speaker A:Like, there's life flowing through the garden.
Speaker A:There are these rivers.
Speaker A:In between these rivers is a land that's in the middle of the rivers.
Speaker A:That's the word.
Speaker A:Mesopotamia.
Speaker A:You can now go crush it on Jeopardy.
Speaker A:It just means in the middle of the rivers, that little spot, this beautiful fertile spot.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker A:Look at this picture of, like, beauty and humankind existing in harmony with God.
Speaker A:God settled the human.
Speaker A:I want you to read this.
Speaker A:This is your life purpose right here.
Speaker A:Go ahead and read it.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:I feel like I'm in second grade again, and we're all, like, reading this book together.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's our whole life purpose right there.
Speaker A:Did you know you're a farmer?
Speaker A:Emily and I were touring something that we needed to look at, and she.
Speaker A:Emily, got the unique privilege of touring southern Shelby county, like, Bogstown, Indiana.
Speaker A:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker A:And you just look forever, and it's just flat land with grain elevators and silos and farms.
Speaker A:And like, I was.
Speaker A:I had this nostalgia feeling, but it made me think about us.
Speaker A:Like, Jason, you're a farmer.
Speaker A:And you are, too, Josh.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Michael Windsor.
Speaker A:Did you know you're a farmer?
Speaker A:Did you know Christy laughed at that?
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:Mark, I know you're a ninja turtle, as we've talked about your personality test, but you're also a farmer.
Speaker A:That's our whole purpose.
Speaker A:God says, hey, farm this and take care of it.
Speaker A:God created us.
Speaker A:Everything is made to reflect God's.
Speaker A:Glory.
Speaker A:And God has made you to multiply what is good with God and with each other.
Speaker A:Your whole life is for it.
Speaker A:The three simple rules that Wesley came up with.
Speaker A:John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement.
Speaker A:Do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.
Speaker A:Do no harm, do good and stay in love with God.
Speaker A:That simple and that hard.
Speaker A:But here's the problem.
Speaker A:All for freedom and for.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:Nothing ever lasts forever.
Speaker A:Sing it.
Speaker A:We all want to rule the world.
Speaker A:And so we're like, no, Ross, I actually don't.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You may not want to rule the world, but you want to rule your world.
Speaker A:You don't want to rule.
Speaker A:Maybe rule the world, but you want to rule your world.
Speaker A:Joanna said at the beginning, God lays out these boundaries.
Speaker A:Show you.
Speaker A:Here, look at this.
Speaker A:Eat your fill from all the garden.
Speaker A:Part of your purpose in life is to enjoy what God has made.
Speaker A:I didn't hear that in my Christian upbringing.
Speaker A:Well, I did from some folks.
Speaker A:Like, my dad taught me that life is about enjoyment of things, with people, relationships.
Speaker A:But some Christian circles are being.
Speaker A:They didn't say this explicitly, but implicitly they were like, you look too happy.
Speaker A:You don't feel bad enough.
Speaker A:You need to be a little bit more guilty about your situation.
Speaker A:Look at this.
Speaker A:Eat your fill.
Speaker A:Enjoy this.
Speaker A:There's one thing you can't have.
Speaker A:There's one.
Speaker A:And this has frustrated us from the start, from the very beginning.
Speaker A:The one thing we just can't stand not to know is why is evil in our situation the way that it is?
Speaker A:If God is all good and all powerful, like, why is evil here the way it is?
Speaker A:How do good and evil work out?
Speaker A:God's kind of saying, like, this is mine.
Speaker A:I own this tree.
Speaker A:The rest of the trees, have them.
Speaker A:Have this tree of life.
Speaker A:Eat from it.
Speaker A:Eat your fill.
Speaker A:God creates more connection, creates a help mate.
Speaker A:No, this isn't about how women are submissive and to men, despite what may have.
Speaker A:No, this is about connection, collaboration between this human and the human's helpmate.
Speaker A:Sorry, I'm going down rabbit holes.
Speaker A:What if I told you what.
Speaker A:Last question for today.
Speaker A:This is where.
Speaker A:Well, actually, two, before I read you this, it's called the Fall story.
Speaker A:We're gonna go a little bit into the Fall story in Genesis 3 to talk about, like, how did we get off track?
Speaker A:How do we get off track from living our purpose to multiply what is good with God and each other?
Speaker A:How did we get.
Speaker A:How did we get off track?
Speaker A:How do we get off track?
Speaker A:So I ask you now, what was the very first sin that was ever committed in this garden?
Speaker A:What was it?
Speaker A:Was it.
Speaker A:Okay, I might shoehorn that in.
Speaker A:That might count.
Speaker A:No, no, man, I think I'm gonna count it.
Speaker A:Something related to the ego.
Speaker A:Yeah, dude.
Speaker A:What would you say, though, maybe you're not with that.
Speaker A:What was the first sin?
Speaker A:What happened?
Speaker A:How'd you characterize it for we listening to someone other than God?
Speaker A:And who is that someone?
Speaker A:Who.
Speaker A:Who.
Speaker A:Who.
Speaker A:Who what?
Speaker A:The evil one.
Speaker B:Hmm.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Who was formed into a snake?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:What was the first sin about who.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What they do.
Speaker A:They ate from that.
Speaker A:So how.
Speaker A:How would you describe that sin?
Speaker A:What's that?
Speaker A:Sin of gluttony.
Speaker A:Okay, what else?
Speaker A:I've heard the word disobedience.
Speaker A:She's disobedience.
Speaker A:You're not honoring Father God, your father.
Speaker A:Okay, okay, I like that.
Speaker A:Creativity, disobedience.
Speaker A:Dude, Christians in the west were obsessed with this word pride.
Speaker A:This is a sin of pride.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm going to throw out a theory today about what the sin is, what got us off track, and what gets us off track from.
Speaker A:From what?
Speaker A:Temptation.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Temptation's part of it for sure, Paul.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:Yeah, man, it is the temptation.
Speaker A:Specifically, here's what I want to show you.
Speaker A:My primary mentor.
Speaker A:Her name's Amy.
Speaker A:Jillian.
Speaker A:My New Testament teacher was an Orthodox Jewish woman.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Fabulous.
Speaker A:Help me see Jesus in a fuller light like I'd never seen, because Jesus was shocker Jewish.
Speaker A:And she said, you know, Christians have missed this just a little bit because I want to show you how the snake was the most.
Speaker A:Say it again.
Speaker A:The snake was the most.
Speaker A:First of all, this is just a snake.
Speaker A:This is poetry.
Speaker A:Remind you, this is a story with a talking animal in it.
Speaker A:Now, later, Christians said that this snake is, as my father said, the evil one.
Speaker A:Like, so, since it's May the fourth be with.
Speaker A:You know, this is like Darth Vader in a snake or Palpatine or whatever.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The snake was the most.
Speaker A:Jesus once said, hey, when he sent out his people, I want you to be as gentle in his innocence, innocent as a dove, and as wise as a.
Speaker A:As wise as a.
Speaker A:In Hebrew tradition, the serpent is a symbol of wisdom.
Speaker A:The snake was the most.
Speaker A:The serpent is a symbol of.
Speaker A:Now, here's my next question really quick.
Speaker A:Who.
Speaker A:Who lied in the garden?
Speaker A:Who lied in the garden?
Speaker A:Adam and Eve.
Speaker A:There's blame.
Speaker A:Who distorted the truth?
Speaker A:Technically, they could all be true.
Speaker A:That was a little bit of a trick question, but I want to show you how.
Speaker A:The answer is not as Easy as you think.
Speaker A:See where this serpent does?
Speaker A:I will give you this.
Speaker A:The serpent is a little bit like Satan or the devil.
Speaker A:The Hebrew word hasatan just means like the accuser in the Bible.
Speaker A:Satan is basically like a prosecutor who's cross examining you and using the facts of the case to mess with you.
Speaker A:The prosecutor doesn't lie, but the prosecutor uses the facts of the case to get a verdict or result that the prosecutor wants.
Speaker A:For example, I watched the O.J.
Speaker A:simpson.
Speaker A:I'm obsessed with the O.J.
Speaker A:simpson trial.
Speaker A:Like, how did this happen?
Speaker A:The defense, they said all we did was use the facts of the case.
Speaker A:That's all they did.
Speaker A:That's all that, like the serpent does in this story.
Speaker A:Watch.
Speaker A:It's so fascinating.
Speaker A:Snake.
Speaker A:Wait.
Speaker A:The snake was the most.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Okay, I want to make sure we got that.
Speaker A:The woman said to the snake asked, did God really say that you shouldn't eat from any tree in the garden?
Speaker A:Is that a lie?
Speaker A:Michael, is that a lie?
Speaker A:What is it?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:It's not trick question.
Speaker A:It's a question.
Speaker A:It's just a question.
Speaker A:All day, every day in our lives, do we not have questions that are just entering our.
Speaker A:There's a voice with a question like, hey, isn't it true that this is on your record?
Speaker A:Isn't it true that this is what you've actually been up to recently?
Speaker A:Isn't it true that you've been projecting this image to people, but this is really what you're doing?
Speaker A:Isn't it true that you're actually an imposter?
Speaker A:Oftentimes?
Speaker A:It's not like the devil who knocks us off course.
Speaker A:It's us.
Speaker A:We hear the question from the prosecutor and then we get knocked off course with what is true and what is good.
Speaker A:Did God really say that you shouldn't eat from any tree in the garden?
Speaker A:And what does this person said?
Speaker A:We may eat the fruit of the garden's trees, but not the fruit of the.
Speaker A:In the.
Speaker A:How many trees are there in the middle of the garden?
Speaker A:Is she right?
Speaker A:You can eat the fruit of the tree in the middle, in the middle of the garden.
Speaker A:Just one of them.
Speaker A:You can eat the fruit from the Tree of Life all day long, all day, every day.
Speaker A:The prosecutor just asked a question.
Speaker A:The serpent just asked a question and the human was like, now wait a minute, wait a minute, let me go back over this.
Speaker A:Don't eat from it and touch it.
Speaker A:You will die.
Speaker A:The snake actually tells the truth.
Speaker A:You won't die.
Speaker A:They don't drop dead, like right on the spot after eating the fruit, they don't.
Speaker A:The snake is actually telling nothing but the truth.
Speaker A:So help you God.
Speaker A:And what?
Speaker A:Ooh, here it is.
Speaker A:Here's the first sinner.
Speaker A:You ready?
Speaker A:You'll see clearly.
Speaker A:The snake says, the woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide.
Speaker A:What's the next word?
Speaker A:The woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide.
Speaker A:What's the serpent a symbol of?
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And this serpent is the most.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:So it would appear that this woman wants something that she does not possess.
Speaker A:What sin is that?
Speaker A:Thou shalt not.
Speaker A:She wants what she does not have.
Speaker A:She has everything.
Speaker A:She and Adam have everything.
Speaker A:All these trees, they can eat from every fruit.
Speaker A:God says, eat your fill.
Speaker A:Take charge of this.
Speaker A:Work the land, farm it.
Speaker A:You have all these things abundantly from me.
Speaker A:Work with me.
Speaker A:Be with me.
Speaker A:There's only one tree.
Speaker A:I'm asking you not to eat.
Speaker A:The serpent comes along super wise, very intelligent, says, when you eat from that tree, you'll see things clearly like I do.
Speaker A:And the woman's like, this serpent's right.
Speaker A:If I eat this fruit, I will be wise like the serpent is wise.
Speaker A:And so what does she do?
Speaker A:She creates her own kingdom to get what she does not have and wants so desperately.
Speaker A:She creates her new kingdom with new boundaries, new rules.
Speaker A:She puts the crown on her own head.
Speaker A:Oh, by the way, Adam does it too.
Speaker A:Hello.
Speaker A:She becomes her.
Speaker A:Her.
Speaker A:And she becomes all for freedom and for pleasure.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:Everlast forever.
Speaker A:Every.
Speaker A:You maybe don't want to rule the world, but you want to rule your world.
Speaker A:One of the things that's killing us is we see nothing of the abundance that God has already given us.
Speaker A:We do not notice what we have in God.
Speaker A:We do not see the abundance.
Speaker A:We're not finding our joy in what God provides.
Speaker A:We see and we lock into what we do not have and we want so desperately.
Speaker A:And then we create our own kingdom with a new set of rules of which we are the rulers, to get what we want but do not have.
Speaker A:And then we get off course with our purpose.
Speaker A:And look at the fruits of this decision.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:If Brene Brown describes vulnerability as the willingness to be seen.
Speaker A:Before they ate the fruit, they were happy to be a nudist colony.
Speaker A:I'm not saying like that.
Speaker A:We're not going to be doing that.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:But before this happened, they were perfectly dandy and happy to be seen.
Speaker A:No shame.
Speaker A:They enjoyed who God had made them to be.
Speaker A:They enjoyed the fruits of all These trees, the tree of life.
Speaker A:They enjoyed each other's company.
Speaker A:They enjoyed God.
Speaker A:They enjoyed farming and taking care of this plot of land.
Speaker A:And then they ate this one.
Speaker A:They coveted this.
Speaker A:Let me have that.
Speaker A:Let me have what I do not have now.
Speaker A:Shame, hiding.
Speaker A:Ooh, and ego.
Speaker A:I want what I want.
Speaker A:Look at this.
Speaker A:God's trying to find them.
Speaker A:They're hiding.
Speaker A:The man's like, oh, God, I didn't know you were there.
Speaker A:How's it going?
Speaker A:Deception, self deception.
Speaker A:God's like, what's been going on?
Speaker A:What you been up to?
Speaker A:Did you break the one rule?
Speaker A:Oh, shame, hiding, disconnection, self deception and blame.
Speaker A:Brene Brown, I'm quoting a lot of Bernie Brown.
Speaker A:She says, blame is simply a discharge of pain.
Speaker A:Like, I just want somebody else to take.
Speaker A:To take my pain.
Speaker A:I don't want to deal with my own pain, so I'll put it on somebody else.
Speaker A:This man's like, I don't deal with this.
Speaker A:I'll just put it on her.
Speaker A:Where was he when she was being.
Speaker A:When this snake was slithering around?
Speaker A:Why wasn't he there to support her?
Speaker A:They're help mates.
Speaker A:They're meant to be connected.
Speaker A:She was left alone by him.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And so on.
Speaker A:There's the story.
Speaker A:And then it continued all from there.
Speaker A:First Samuel 8, fast forward.
Speaker A:In the Old Testament, God is the ruler of the Israelites.
Speaker A:The Israelites say, hey, Samuel, we don't want this situation anymore.
Speaker A:We want a king like everybody else has.
Speaker A:What's that a sin of coveting?
Speaker A:All these people have something we want but don't have.
Speaker A:We want it like they have it.
Speaker A:And Samuel's like, this stinks.
Speaker A:I don't like this.
Speaker A:God says, why are you mad?
Speaker A:They're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me.
Speaker A:They don't enjoy what God has given them.
Speaker A:They don't trust God.
Speaker A:They don't look for what God provides.
Speaker A:They want what somebody else has.
Speaker A:So they create their own kingdom with a new set of rules where they get to be the ruler so they can go get what they want but do not have.
Speaker A:And that's why we're at the end now.
Speaker A:That's why Jesus came.
Speaker A:Jesus came to restore us to God's definition of goodness, to God's glory.
Speaker A:God said, hey, though you've been, you're in this legacy of generations of coveting and creating your own kingdom and becoming the ruler of your kingdom.
Speaker A:Ironically, God actually created you, Charles, to be a ruler.
Speaker A:And you too, Angie.
Speaker A:Dad, you've been created to be a ruler.
Speaker A:Patty, you've been created to be a ruler too.
Speaker A:But guess what?
Speaker A:You don't get to make the rules for how you rule.
Speaker A:They've already been made.
Speaker A:They've already been made and the rules are presented so clearly in one person's life.
Speaker A:His name is Jesus.
Speaker A:He comes to so he comes to bring us back to the garden to help us farm and take care of it again.
Speaker A:So that's what we're talking about next week.
Speaker A:How does Jesus rule and how do we rule?
Speaker A:Likewise My so what for today it goes back to the spiritual practice of wonder.
Speaker A:I understand that everything isn't well in your life.
Speaker A:I know that both two things can be true.
Speaker A:Life can be very hard.
Speaker A:You can be in a hard season right now and you can still search for God in it and see how God is showing up in a way that maybe you're not seeing because you're locked in to the control that you want to exert over your own kingdom.
Speaker A:So I invite you this week to turn from this to this and say a simple prayer every day, as often as you can see it.
Speaker A:God, help me to see your abundance.
Speaker A:Help me to see your abundance and be joyful.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean that you're saying you have no suffering going on.
Speaker A:Two things can be true.
Speaker A:You can be going through suffering and you can see God in the midst of suffering.
Speaker A:Pay attention to it this week.
Speaker A:Don't covet.
Speaker A:Don't want what other people want.
Speaker A:They may look like it's glamorous and wonderful, but behind closed doors it's not.
Speaker A:You know that.
Speaker A:Stay in your little plot, look for God in it and be grateful and rule the world the way God asks you to, not the way you want to.
Speaker A:Let's pray.
Speaker A:Lord, help us with just that.
Speaker A:Whatever trials that we may have going on, help us not turn to our own numbing techniques.
Speaker A:Help us not to turn to substances.
Speaker A:Help us not to start kingdom building and empire building so we can be the rulers we want to be.
Speaker A:Help us not to keep our attention toward anything.
Speaker A:But that is not the tree of life that you've given us, the tree that became a person in Jesus.
Speaker A:Help us to spend time with him, to see him and to see you in all things in Jesus name.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker B:Thank you for participating in the conversation happening at Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker B:Your next opportunity to do so live is this Sunday morning, 9:30am a.m.
Speaker B:eastern Time, either at the main campus at 309 East Main in Whiteland, Indiana, or online at YouTube Live.
Speaker B:That's at YouTube.com heavenerthchurch the audio podcast is always available at Apple Podcast and on Spotify.
Speaker B:You can help others find out about the Heaven Earth Church podcast by going to Apple Podcasts and or Spotify and leaving a five star rating and your review.
Speaker B:Instructions on how to do just that and links are in the show notes.
Speaker B:You can always find out more by going to the church website.
Speaker B:Heavenearthchurch.org.
Speaker A:We want to thank you for spending time with us today.
Speaker A:My name is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church, and you may think out there that your story is over, but in fact your faith story may just be beginning.
Speaker A:If you want more information about our church or you're interested in the next step, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org Otherwise, we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth Church Podcast.
Speaker A:It.
