Joe White Drive Time Podcast

Do Not Be Misled - Mark 13:4-6;22

"Before the end of Jesus's ministry, He talks a lot about his second coming. In fact, some scholars have suggested that one out of every 27 verses in scripture talks about the second coming of Christ. You know what? The world wasn't ready when he came the first time and the world certainly is not going to be ready when he comes back the second time."

Family Discussions:

1. What has been the most misleading thing you've heard or seen lately in your life?
2. What is a false Christ?
3. What is a cult leader?
4. If someone's speaking, how can you recognize that they're tell him the truth?

Transcription:

00:13          Before the end of Jesus's ministry, He talks a lot about his second coming. In fact, some scholars have suggested that one out of every 27 verses in scripture talks about the second coming of Christ. You know what? The world wasn't ready when he came the first time and the world certainly is not going to be ready when he comes back the second time. But he leaves these signs and he tells us what it's going to look like at the end. And here we are in Mark chapter 13. "So they asked him. Jesus, tell us when will these things be? What will be the sign and when will all these things going to be fulfilled? And Jesus began to say to them, see to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name saying I am he, I am the Christ and will mislead many." And then we skipped down to verse 22 and we read him saying this at the conclusion of this thought. He says in verse 22 "for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders in order to lead a stray if possible, even the elect, even the followers of Christ."

 

01:17          So, there's an old parable and if you'd like to solve parables or riddles, here's a good one. You're going down a road and there's a Y in the road and there's two men standing at the Y, one on the left and one of the right. All you know about is one of them is always going to lie and the other one is always going to tell the truth, but you don't know which one is a liar and which one tells the truth. One other thing, you can only ask one question to either man it and then you have to choose one road. And what I was going to lead to hell and what I was going to leave to heaven. What question would you ask in which man would you ask it? Now you can think about this later, but the answer is you ask either men, what will the other men say and go the opposite. Because you've asked the liar, he will lie about what the other man's going to say. So if the other man goes right, he's going to say, go left. And then you go, right. If you ask the guy who tells the truth, what's the other man? Gonna say? He knows the other man's gonna lie. So he'll tell you the wrong way to go. So go the opposite.

 

02:19          You know, there's a lot of ways to get misled. I know that, you know, the television sets are just filled with misleading commercials. These beer commercials, my goodness, they make beer look like the most wonderful, fun thing in the whole wide world. They never show ambulances. You know, they never show, you know, broken and abuse in the homes and all the things that alcohol causes people's lives. They never showed that. They just make it look like this great inconsequential party and millions are misled by those ads. That's one thing, but be misled eternally would have to be the worst thing of all. You know what time magazine says there's over 1800 religious and mystical cults in the United States of America alone. Recruiting millions of followers.

 

03:28          Let me tell you something. Any man or woman who gets on that TV set or stands in a, some kind of a pulpit in some kind of a religious building and he takes Jesus to less than Jesus said he was or he elevates any man higher than who a man ought to be is a cult. Any man or any religious woman or teacher that says this Bible is less than the complete Word of God. That you have to add anything to it. You have to add other books to it. It's a cult. The Bible is the complete word of God from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus is son of God. He is the complete forgiveness for sins. We go to heaven by grace and grace alone. So don't be misled to do something you'll be ashamed of in this life, but for sure, don't be misled by anyone who will lie to you and cost you your eternity.

 

04:29          Here is the question for today. What has been the most misleading thing you've heard or seen lately in your life? And then what is a false Christ? What is a cult leader? And then the third one is how can you recognize the truth? If someone's speaking, how can you recognize that they're tell him the truth? And here's the great thing about families. This is the thought for the day. Families discern truth together.

The Ultimate High Priest - Hebrews 7:25-28

"I love my church and I love my pastor and every church needs a pastor needs a leader. Uh, but have you ever wondered when you're, you know, at a wedding ceremony or you're in your church, why, you know, your pastor or leader wears a big beautiful, you know, robe? "

Family Discussions:

1. Discuss the role of your church leader. Who is he? What is he and what does he not?
2. Why does Jesus not need any man to connect you to God?
3. Why is he completely sufficient to be your high priest?
4. How does Jesus qualify to be the link between you and God?

Transcription:

00:14 Hey, I love my church and I love my pastor and every church needs a pastor needs a leader. Uh, but have you ever wondered when you're, you know, at a wedding ceremony or you're in your church, why, you know, your pastor or leader wears a big beautiful, you know, robe? Well this passage, they said something about that. It's Hebrews Chapter Seven and just verses 25 through 28 and it talks about the real priest and here's what it says. "Therefore, since we are able also to save forever, those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them, for it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens who does not need daily like those high priests to offer up sacrifices for, for his own sins.

01:14 And then for the sins of the people. Because he did once for all when he offered up himself." Of course it's talking about Jesus. The priest of all. "For the law appoints men, as high priests who are weak with the word of an oath, which came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever." You may want to get your Bible and read that passage over a couple of times. You know, some do wore coats and some wear ties and some wear, you know, long black robes and that's okay. And some wear shorts with neatly pressed, you know, white round collars, some appear in shirtsleeves and some have ultra fancy colors in their attire. I just tell my pastor to tuck his shirt tail in, you know, some are PhDs, some are doctors of divinity, some are bishops, cardinals, pastors, preachers, teachers or fathers. You know, one's called the pope, one's the president of a large association of churches.

02:09 One as a church of 20,000 people. One has 52 members, but no matter what their title, and again, I look up to our church leaders, but no matter what their title, no matter what their attire, they only have one thing in common. They're all men. They're all men. They're all born of the flesh and they'll all die in the flesh without Christ, none are divine in and of ourselves. None can go to God alone, all go to God the same way you and I go to God, we all approach God directly on the avenue of faith, paved by the sacrificial blood shed on a Roman cross on a hill called Golgotha by the one the only, the supreme, the divide, the one for all the sufficient high priest named Jesus. Whether you're Protestant, Catholic, evangelical, charismatic American, African, Asian, European, Indian. You know, we all go to God the same way.

03:12 The same way is Billy Graham went to God the same way that the pope went to God. We all go to God. In Jesus's name, we go directly. We all need churches, but we don't need a church to pray. We all need church leaders, but we don't need a church leader to pray. We love our prayer books, but we don't need a prayer book to pray. All we need is Jesus to pray. All we need is to go sincerely reverently with faith in Jesus' name. Hebrews is clear. He is our high priest. He is our intercessor for God. He is our guide to the throne of God himself. And here's some great discussion questions. If you're with somebody to study with, and I hope you're doing these with your family, discuss the role of your church leader. Who is he? What is he and what does he not? Yeah. And then secondly, why does Jesus not need any man to connect you to God? Why is he completely sufficient to be your high priest? And then lastly, how does Jesus qualify to be the link between you and God?

God Cannot Lie - Hebrews 6:13-18

"We look back at the century that proceeded the 20th first century. We looked back at the 50 some of us that are old like me, and it was an age of rock and roll. And then we see the 60s is a decade of drugs. The 70s were the decade of hard rock. The 80's the decade of acid rock and punk rock. But the 90's those of us who remember, uh, it was the, it was the decade where the public learned that lying has no consequences."

Family Discussions:

1. Why does God hate lying?
2. Why is telling the truth so vital in good family relationships?
3. What do you and I need to do just as far as confessing our sins for lies that have been told?
4. How do we need to turn that around and become a dad, become a mom to become a friend who always tells the truth?

Transcription:

00:14 If there's one, three letter word, it has to be the most hated word in all the English languages, it's this one. But there's another side of the coin of this word and the other side of the coin is a word that people love more in relationships than any other. The word of truth. And I want to tell you about that truth today. We're in Hebrews chapter six verses 13 through 18. Listen to this. This is awesome. "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself" Isn't that great? "I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you. If so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise for men swear by one greater than themselves and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end to every dispute. In the same way, God desiring even more to show to the heirs of promise, the unchangeableness of his power interest post with an oath so that by two unchangeable things in which is impossible for God to lie in which it is impossible for God to lie.

01:18 We who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope that is set before us." This is one thing that's impossible for God. And you know, always, we look back at the century that proceeded the 20th first century. We looked back at the 50 some of us that are old like me, and it was an age of rock and roll. And then we see the 60s is a decade of drugs. The 70s were the decade of hard rock. The 80's the decade of acid rock and punk rock. But the 90's those of us who remember, uh, it was the, it was the decade where the public learned that lying has no consequences. We turned on our television and we'd see the famous trials of the great football player who won the Heisman trophy and then we'd see the trials of a president who was caught in, lies with ladies that worked for him and, and you, and you know what?

02:11 These were our heroes. Our nation's heroes in athletics, in politics that we could watch for hours on CNN and Fox and look directly into the camera and through the mouths of their attorneys tell lie after lie and bend truth to the breaking point. And, you know, we thought, man, if our leaders can lie, you know, why are we bound to tell the truth. And folks, before you point your fingers too much at those two people look in the mirror and, you know, we could see the same thing happening in us. I can't point the finger and I hope you can't either, but you know what, in a relationship where love really matters if you don't have trust, you know, you don't have anything. You know what I trust my wife and my kids, you know, and they trust me, you know, they're my best friends and our family sticks together like glue because there's trust in our family.

03:08 You know, I know when I look into their eyes that I could see trust personified. You know, I trust them with everything I've got, you know, uh, when we've had problems, you know, in this area, in our relationship, maybe we've corrected them and then we moved on. Because without truth that a family, a family doesn't have a family, you know, and by the grace of God, that's why our family's tight. Integrity is in everything. Secondly, man, you know, God is our only true hero in if he sets the standard for truth, you know, he could build or destroy the universe with a word. He could mold a man out of, out of a lump of clay and he can mold a woman out of that man's rib but there's one thing that God cannot do and you can do anything but God cannot lie.

03:55 And when he says your sins are forgiven, you can take it to the bank. When he says you're his child. You can bet your life on him. When he says that he has a wonderful plan for your life and you can count on it. You know, there are 8,000 promises in the Bible for you as a child of God. And all 8,000 are coming and will come true. He gave his son to prove that he gave his son to prove that he's a person of his word. You know what? And telling the truth is our response to that, the most incredible truth ever told. And here is the questions for the day. Why does God hate lying? Why is telling the truth so vital in good family relationships? And then the last question today is what do you and I need to do just as far as confessing our sins for lies that have been told? And then how do we need to turn that around and become a dad, become a mom to become a friend who always tells the truth?

Never a Busy Signal - Hebrews 4:14-16

"I got to tell you about my mom. She is in a class all her own. Never have I known a woman, so consistently serving, so consistently encouraging, so consistently saying with her big, broad Texas smile, "Hey, what can I do for you?" If you ever met someone like that?"

Family Discussion:

1. What are you going to do with the cell phone that connects you directly to God's throne of grace?

Transcription:

00:14 Hey, what would you do if you had a cell phone? And every time you open the lid, it was God on the other end. Would you use it very often if God was listening every time you picked up the phone? Well, Hebrews chapter four verse 14 through 16 says something about that, and here's what scripture says, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are and yet without sin. Therefore, therefore, therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

01:11 What a great passage! And speaking of greatness, I got to tell you about my mom. She is in a class all her own. Never have I known a woman, so consistently serving, so consistently encouraging, so consistently saying with her big, broad Texas smile, "Hey, what can I do for you?" If you ever met someone like that? And you know, on the other side of the coin, we know one of my brothers and I used to swear that she had eyes in the back of her head and ears, like a deer in the forest. You know, with puzzled smiles on our mischievous faces. You know, we call her Sherlock Holmes behind her back because man, that woman knew everything. She could tell us before we try to do something sneaky and exactly just what it was we were trying to get by. We couldn't fool my mom in anything.

01:59 But mom's goal was simply this, do whatever it took to serve her family and to raise good boys. You know, I know some days she had to wonder if we're even gonna make it. But she was an amazing shadow of the god for whom I would someday grow to marvel. You know, in his word it points out my shortcomings. He corrects my false, he strengthens, you know, my weaknesses. And if I've ever tried to rationalize a wrong, my daily Bible study quickly sets, you know, my feet back on track. You know, God's intentions are simple. Just be, just be like my son and do what he would do. And then you, you turn the pages and you see God's great big father's lap. You see his shoulder to crown, you see our refuge in a storm. You see our confidant in a time of trouble.

02:50 You know, you see his constant guidance at a time of question. You see confident access, confident access in a time of need. He keeps me from falling on my face. He's there to pick me up when I don't listen well, you know, and with Jesus in your heart with the guidance of his word in your life, it's like being a blind man and having a seeing eye dog without a flaw. With Jesus as your Lord. You can go straight to God and you can open your heart to him in prayer. Like there's only one phone line and there's never a busy signal. My question for you is this today, if indeed it's true, and I believe with all my heart in dozens of places, scripture says, call upon me and I will answer you. Ask for anything in my name and I will give it to you, whatever you ask the father in my name, Jesus says, I will give to you if you ask according to God's will, if that is true, what are you going to do with the cell phone that connects you directly to God's throne of grace?

Jesus Calls the Dependable and Steadfast - 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

"What great selection skills Jesus had. Don't you think that's why he chose you?"

Family Discussion:

• Can you name two or three adjectives that would describe your grip on God's word, and two or three adjectives that God would describe with you?
• How does a young Christian become steadfast and dependable?
• Why are people who have a steadfast grip on God's word so admirable?

Transcription:

00:06 You remember back in kindergarten when you would draw your hand on a piece of paper with a pen? Well today we're going to do that again, and then we're going to show you something really cool about that. But first I want to read from Second Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 1-5. It Paul says this in this amazing little book: "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did also with you and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men. For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct our hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."

01:14 Our theme for the day is steadfast, so solid, immovable, dependable, loyal, steadfast. If you could outline your hand on a piece of paper, kind of like we used to do once upon a time, and write one adjective on each finger and on your thumb to describe your grip on God's word, what would the adjectives be for you? How would God describe your lifestyle in following him? Would the indications be, wishy-washy, hypocritical, undependable? Or would they be courageous, focused, and strong? A while back, a hero of mine, a 17 year old friend of mine, made a super difficult decision to break up with his gorgeous girlfriend because he knew that she wasn't what she needed or he needed to be spiritually strong and the relationship wasn't leading to a godly future. It was good for both of them. My friend has done so many decisions like that. He steadfast. He's walked away from countless parties where alcohol and drugs showed up and he's even led some of his friends to Christ by being a solid example on the high school campus. Out on the Texas ranch or on an Ozark rural form where words are few and character is measured by the work you do and the way you walk your talk, the biggest compliment you can receive is when an old cowboy tells someone that he could turn his back on you and never give it a second thought. Jesus had hand-picked 11 guys that he knew he could leave with the high calling of telling the world about him when he left; although they had fallen in the past, he knew he could turn his back on them and they wouldn't let him down. What great selection skills he had. Don't you think that's why he chose you?

03:26 And here's the questions for today. Can you name two or three adjectives that would describe your grip on God's word, and two or three adjectives that God would describe with you? And then secondly: How does a young Christian become steadfast and dependable? And then thirdly: Why are people who have a steadfast grip on God's word so admirable? And the lifeline for today is this: as you make decisions and hard choices this week, describe those choices with an adjective that depicts your character as you decide which road you're going to take.

Trust Through the Trials - 2 Thessalonians 1:1-3; 11-12

"Trust and Thanksgiving for whatever circumstance you're in will stop everything."

Family Discussion:

• Who are you trusting today?
• How do you give God thanks even when you feel like your life is being persecuted.
• How do you think God feels when you give him all the glory?
• How do you think God reacts when you give him Thanksgiving no matter what kind of circumstances you're in?

Transcription:

00:06 I want to tell you today about one of the greatest encounters with a college student I've ever had in my life. But first I want to read from second Thessalonians chapter 1. I'm going to read two or three verses in this. Skip down to verse 11. This church is getting severely persecuted and boy, I don't know if you feel persecution, if you feel lack or wont, or you just feel like you can't trust anything or anybody. If your faith and your trust are getting challenged today, this one's for you. In verse 1 Paul says this: "Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians of God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are always to give thanks to God for you brethren, as it is only fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged in the love of each one of you, toward each other grows even greater." In verse 11, he says: "to this end we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire of goodness and the work of faith with power so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in him according to the grace of God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The question I want to ask you today, whatever you're going through; and you know what, you and I are probably going through a lot, but, who are you trusting? I'm telling you what man, everybody's got to trust somebody.

01:47 We were at the University of Southern California and we were doing one of our campus outreaches and the kids literally rushed into this theater in the middle of the campus, packed the theater out, and I built that cross and then hundreds of students came down to the cross to give their lives to Christ. But the most interesting part of the night for me was this: after the event, I went to the middle of the campus to wait for a ride. And this student came riding up on a bicycle. He was an Asian student. And the spirit of God inside of me said, "this guy needs to talk to you." He was carrying one of the books that we give away at the events. And I knew he had been there, and he got off his bicycle and he wanted to talk. And I said, "how'd it go for you tonight?" And he said, "man, I can't trust anybody." This guy had received persecution in his home I found out later. And his dad had broken his trust and he said, "I can't trust anybody." And I took this guy in my arms and right there in the middle of campus, he just began to weep in my arms. And I said, "you know what, you've got to trust somebody. We trust Jesus with your life." And he did. He trusted Christ with his life, gave his life to Christ. But then later that night we went to In-and-Out burger to get a burger and a milkshake before I flew back to Missouri, and you know what? The Guy who took me there also couldn't trust, he also had been persecuted and he couldn't trust. And I told him about Proverbs three, five and six that you can trust in the Lord with all your heart, that you can lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways you can acknowledge him. Proverbs three, five and six, you can trust God. Believe it or not, the cup of the milkshake that I was drinking had a bible verse on the bottom because the owners of In-N-Out burgers are Christians. And they put a verse in the bottom of every cup. And I said, "did you know there's a verse in the bottom of every cup?" And he said really? And I turn the cup up after I finished the drink. And the verse was, proverbs three, five and six. It's a true story. He said, I give up. He said, I will trust God if you'll put that verse on the bottom of that cup for me, no matter what's going on in your life. Trust and Thanksgiving for whatever circumstance you're in will stop everything.

03:55 And I'm going to ask you this. Who are you trusting today? And secondly: How do you give God thanks even when you feel like your life is being persecuted. And then this one: How do you think God feels when you give him all the glory? How do you think God reacts when you give him Thanksgiving no matter what kind of circumstances you're in? The lifeline for today is this. God has been so gracious that our joy should overflow with thanksgiving and our trust should be in him no matter what.