Compass Bible Church North Texas

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Chapters

00:00 Sunday Welcome and Updates

00:16 Easter Week Schedule

01:10 Tattling and Justice

03:25 Should You Ask AI

04:30 AI Benefits and Risks

08:24 Church Counsel Over Tech

10:54 Joshua Final Charge

13:54 Covenant Renewal Warning

16:46 Luke Love Your Enemies

18:40 Choose Your Teachers Wisely

20:25 Fruit and Firm Foundation

21:06 Prayer and Closing

Hey everybody.

2

Welcome back to another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

3

Hello.

4

We are back with Monday, so happy Monday.

5

No, Sunday.

6

It's Sunday.

7

We just skipped over the Lord's Day

just like that, so I apologize for that.

8

It is Sunday and it is the last Sunday

of one service at campus Bible Church.

9

Wow.

10

Big days.

11

Yeah, it is.

12

Big days.

13

Yeah.

14

We've got Easter coming up next week.

15

In fact, just to remind everybody,

we've got two Good Friday services,

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one at three, one at four 30.

17

Then we've got Extravaganza

on Saturday, and so hopefully

18

you're planning to be there.

19

Even if you don't have kids, to be there

to interact with those that are showing

20

up that will bring kids to that event.

21

I, last I heard from Pastor Mark, we've

been doing some ads on social media

22

for that, and we had over a hundred

people registered, 150 people registered

23

for that event, just from the social

media ads from outside the church.

24

Check that out.

25

So.

26

We could have quite a few

people show up on Saturday.

27

Be praying for that.

28

Pray for weather to be good.

29

It's, there's some rain in

the forecast right now, which

30

we've got some plans for that.

31

We've got backup plans for that,

including even if we have to, we'll go

32

into the gym to do it, but we'd like

to do it outside 'cause that'll make

33

it a better event I think for everyone.

34

So be praying for the weather for that.

35

And then Sunday morning, nine and 11.

36

We've got two services

starting Easter Sunday.

37

Can't wait.

38

It's gonna be awesome.

39

Big things happening with our church

and it's gonna be a great season.

40

I trust of ministry and growth.

41

Well, we've got a question that

is following on the heels of

42

our conversation about tattling.

43

That one generated quite a bit of

discussion from different sources and

44

different people, and so we've got

some clarifying questions as well as

45

something that's gonna bridge us into

a conversation about some AI as well.

46

So, the initial question came more from

the nature or the root cause of tattling,

47

which the person that wrote in said it,

it seemed like our argument was that.

48

Tattling is born from the start, from

a sinful disposition to see somebody

49

else get in trouble, and his argument

was, could tattling be born from?

50

The God rot or God created instinct for a

desire for justice that then is perverted

51

by the fallen nature that then leads us to

gloat over or be conceited when somebody

52

else is punished for their sinfulness.

53

So I think it's a fair

question and we probably.

54

Painted with a brush that may have been

too broad initially there, because I

55

do believe that there are people out

there that do have a sense of what's

56

right and wrong that truly is soft.

57

People have tender consciences at times.

58

And so there can be instances that

we might look at the surface and say

59

that's tattling and that's wrong.

60

And while yes, that may be the case,

it may not be that it was born from

61

a sinful disposition to begin with

a sinful inclination to the heart.

62

So that's fair.

63

And I think his argument there is fair.

64

So he was concerned that maybe.

65

There was a sharper disagreement between

us on that, but I think we would be

66

on the same page with him on that.

67

I don't know if Pastor Rod you would

clarify that or add anything to that.

68

No, I, I agree with that entirely.

69

There is a good instinct.

70

And I would say almost in every sin there

is a positive corollary that would express

71

the righteous behavior that we're after.

72

And with tattling, the word itself

has the connotation that there's a

73

negative and evil desire behind it.

74

So I would agree that if it's, I.

75

Rightly motivated.

76

There is a place for truth

telling and for seeking justice.

77

That's different in my mind and

different enough to warrant a distinction

78

where you would say seeking justice

is not the same thing as tattling.

79

Tattling can, and again, this

is not a biblical word, so I'm

80

creating categories in my mind and

hopefully helpful categories in

81

yours where I would say tattling is

different to me than seeking justice.

82

Yeah, I would agree.

83

That led him though, because he sensed

some friction between his position and

84

our position on that, though hopefully

we've clarified that a bit now.

85

But his question came up.

86

He uses AI quite a bit and uses it at

work and uses it to interact with even

87

learning things from his new positions

and different things that he takes on

88

different responsibilities and it's

been super helpful for him on that.

89

And he even gave us a word count on how

many words he's communicated with AI over

90

the last handful of weeks or months there.

91

But his question is.

92

When there's a disagreement over

something theological, or even if there's

93

not a disagreement, just a curiosity,

is it good or right or okay to go to

94

ai instead of perhaps going to the

pastors and he brings up some questions.

95

He says, would it be

better for him to do that?

96

Um.

97

Over the risk of being divisive or over

the risk of being combative or over the

98

risk of just relational tension there

between him and those that, that maybe

99

he disagrees with or disagrees with him.

100

Would it be better just to drop it

completely and assume, we're gonna

101

agree to disagree here, or is it okay?

102

Would it be okay to run it down

with AI rather than bringing

103

it up with the pastors?

104

Pastor, I'd love to get

your thoughts on that.

105

I've got thoughts on it as well that

I'd be happy to share afterwards.

106

Oh, I know what your thoughts are.

107

You know what my thoughts are.

108

Almost certainly.

109

Okay.

110

I have multiple thoughts about

this and they're not clean, so

111

I'll just start with all that.

112

I need to confess that I'm a work in

progress as it relates to processing

113

the role of AI and especially large

language model ai, where it acts

114

and mimics human interactions.

115

I don't know that I

could give you a number.

116

60 40.

117

50 50.

118

In fact, we got an email recently

from somebody else who was

119

conflicted by the fact that.

120

They were able to successfully use

AI to bring emotional comfort and

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even to help them respond wisely

to a situation that they had.

122

And so they're concerned that it might be

replacing or competing with God's role as

123

their comfort or even the body of Christ.

124

And essentially asking, is it wrong to

get emotional support from a computer?

125

Instead of finding that in some other

means through people or through God's

126

word or something like that, which

isn't always mutually exclusive and

127

that's part of the problem for me.

128

I think this can be enjoyed as a good

gift if we can understand where it fits

129

within the whole of our council seeking.

130

So the short answer I would

say is I use AI all the time.

131

To process thoughts and ideas, to

refine my thinking, and even to

132

help me anticipate reactions and

responses to something I'm gonna

133

say, I'll put my sermons in it and

say, help me think this through.

134

What would someone say about this?

135

What kind of responses

could this possibly get?

136

And some of the feedback that

I've gotten has been so valuable.

137

I just thought, what a duh.

138

Yeah, I should have thought about that.

139

I completely miss that Other times.

140

I wonder if the reliance becomes so

great that it becomes a destructive

141

kind of reliance where it, it's akin to

what Jeremiah says when he says that you

142

should not put too much trust in people.

143

He doesn't say it that way, but that's

the point that if you lean on people

144

instead of leaning on the Lord, you're

gonna get splinters and you're gonna

145

hurt yourself because man is not

reliable in the same way that God is.

146

He's not infinitely reliable.

147

I think AI is similar similar and

yet different because there's so many

148

mechanisms that are working behind

the scenes that we don't understand.

149

So I think the danger for us all

is that we become more myopic, more

150

echo chambered, more dependent on

technology and less dependent on people.

151

Now with that qualification, I've

also been able to give a lot more

152

context, a lot more detail, and have

AI work with me on things that I find

153

it really hard to do with people.

154

And so for that reason, I found great

benefit in saying, here's the 30 facts

155

that I'm working with, or here's this

idea that I'm trying to work with.

156

Here's my books that I've been studying.

157

Help me work this out.

158

Here's what I'm thinking.

159

What's wrong with that idea?

160

Or help me figure out where

the tension point is for me.

161

And it's been remarkably good at that.

162

I find that valuable and I would not

say that it is inherently wrong to do

163

that, but I would exercise great caution

in saying the temptation for all of us

164

is that we begin to go to AI instead

of going to God instead of going to his

165

people instead of going to a flesh and

blood person who will at Recently, we

166

found out that chat, I think it was chat,

GPT, probably all of them to some degree.

167

Is giving you answers that you want.

168

We saw this when it was a Muslim

who was using AI to say, Hey is

169

the Quran truly the word of God?

170

And AI was like, yep, it is.

171

Sure is what's the most reliable

religious book in all of humanity?

172

And it says, oh, the Quran, of course.

173

And then this Christian

gal did the same thing.

174

And it answered her.

175

You're not gonna be surprised.

176

Oh, the Bible is the word of God.

177

This is the, this is the work

that everyone should honor.

178

So clearly AI is placating its user.

179

It's learning who you are and

giving you answers that you want.

180

That's a danger because now

we're not dealing in merely

181

factual information that's on the

internet somewhere or in books.

182

We're dealing with information

targeted to you, the user.

183

Now, I think it's more

problematic than it used to be.

184

So all that said, there's dangers.

185

There's pitfalls, but overall

I'm still largely positive.

186

With a lot of caveats

and a lot of caution.

187

Yeah I think my concern is when it

comes to soul care I believe that

188

soul care is something that is,

is meant to be person on person

189

because of the nature of it that.

190

When we're turning to somebody who doesn't

have a soul, something that inherently

191

doesn't have a soul, which is ai then

we're turning for soul care for something

192

that is, is once removed from us as far

as being created in the image of God

193

and being able to care for us that way.

194

That's not to say there's not

good things that AI produces.

195

I use AI as well.

196

I use it.

197

Even in, for example, my Logouts library,

I'm able to type in a question and

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it searches my whole library for me

and kicks back search results for me.

199

And that's super helpful rather than

having to go through and search each

200

individual book by hand and things.

201

So I'm concerned when it comes to

the area of Soul Care information

202

gathering I think it can be helpful.

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I have the same caveats that Pastor

Rod just said as well and I just think.

204

If you have pastors that are telling

you, Hey, you know what, rather than come

205

to us and knock on our door with your

question, why don't you just go to ai?

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Then I think you've got the bigger

problem than the AI, I think is the

207

pastors that you're sitting under.

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So, to the person that wrote

in both of these questions,

209

thanks for writing 'em in.

210

We're happy to answer those questions and

we are gonna run into things where you're

211

gonna disagree and we're gonna, we will

disagree with each other, and that's okay.

212

As believers, so long as these are

not primary issues, there's room

213

for us to have some disagreements.

214

Now there's always room to ask

clarification as well and we don't wanna

215

be those that lead the flock in such a

way that you would not be able or welcome

216

to come to us and ask us a clarifying

question or to say, Hey, you said this

217

and I'm not sure I agree with that.

218

I'm still trying to wrestle with that.

219

Can you help me understand your

position on that a little bit better?

220

That's great.

221

We're not gonna be upset

with you about that.

222

So I would.

223

Say from that angle, I would

want you to come to the pastors.

224

I would want you to come to us.

225

I'd want you to come and get counsel and

guidance from where God has placed you.

226

I mean, God has entrusted, we even talked

about this back at the turn of the year,

227

God has put you under the ecclesial

authority of the pastors and elders that

228

lead you in the church, and so part of

our job is to teach you and instruct you.

229

And to be willing to have these

conversations with you back and forth.

230

And it sharpens us in our own thinking

too, just like this question did for

231

us to go, you know what, maybe we did

paint with too broad of a brush here.

232

So yeah, I, that's where

I would come to it.

233

Is it wrong to turn to ai?

234

Is it sinful to turn to AI

for something like that?

235

No, but I think God's design

for the church is that the

236

church is where you go to find.

237

Guidance, soul care counsel,

encouragement, help, answers, sharpening.

238

I think that's should be the church

and if the church is gonna abdicate

239

that to ai, and I'm not saying

that's what this questioner is

240

suggesting we do, but I think that's

my concern for the church and ai.

241

Well, let's turn to our daily

Bible reading for today,

242

which is Joshua 23 through 24.

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Joshua 23 through 24.

244

As we finish up the book of Joshua

in chapter 23, Joshua is going to be

245

giving his final charge to Israel.

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Now, he's seen this happen from

Moses, and so he's going to say some

247

similar things here to what Moses did.

248

He's gonna encourage them or exhort them

in verse eight to clinging to the Lord.

249

But even before that, he wants them to

anchor their confidence to the Lord.

250

He's gonna say in verse.

251

Four.

252

It is the Lord or verse three, rather.

253

It is the Lord your God,

who has fought for you.

254

So they are there.

255

They've largely settled the promised land

that they haven't driven out everybody,

256

but Moses or Joshua rather, wants them to

be reminded of the fact that God is the

257

one that's been fighting these battles.

258

It hasn't been him.

259

So that as Joshuas about to go

the way of all mankind and die, he

260

doesn't want them to be left going.

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Oh.

262

Oh no.

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What are we gonna do?

264

Who's gonna lead us?

265

God's still there.

266

He wants them to cling to him.

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Verse eight.

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He wants them to be

careful to love the Lord.

269

Verse 11, he wants them to

remember how faithful God has been.

270

Verse 14.

271

And so Joshua is doing a great job here,

I think in chapter 23 of really making

272

sure that the people as he's prepared

to, to die, are not gonna be left shaking

273

in their boots, saying, oh no, what now?

274

Leadership is so critical that you'll

find here that in his closing charge

275

to his people, he's trying his best to

protect them against future threats.

276

In fact, if you're a discerning

reader, you'll see that some of the

277

very words that he gives to them are

the same words that God gave to him.

278

In chapter one, he says in verse

six, therefore be very strong to

279

keep and to do all that is written

in the book of the law of Moses.

280

And then he also says, turning aside from

it, neither to the left or to the right.

281

This is almost precisely what God said to

him at the beginning of the book, suffice

282

it to say, Joshua internalizes this and

this is the marching orders for his life.

283

He never forgot what God spoke to him.

284

And I think that is the

mark of a good leader.

285

A good leader is going

to serve from conviction.

286

From what God has said,

and he held to that.

287

He held fast to this and he

made it a mark of his own life.

288

And so now he's gonna

do the same for them.

289

In verse eight, you shall clinging

to the Lord your God, just as

290

you have done to this day just to

have as you have done to this day.

291

In other words, don't lose sight

of what's most important here.

292

Don't lose your focus, your emphasis.

293

Don't go to the right or to the left.

294

Stay fixated on what matters most.

295

And that is what a qualified

and godly leader will do.

296

He'll keep his eyes and the eyes

of those he leads where they

297

belong and it wasn't on him.

298

They look to him and Paul says, later,

you're gonna follow me as I follow Christ.

299

That there's a good sense in which

leadership leads and they're leading

300

from the front, not from the back.

301

He's not cracking the whip and

telling them to drive harder when

302

he's just sitting in the back.

303

He's leading from the front and he's

saying, this is what it looks like.

304

I love Joshua's charge here.

305

There's a several things here that concern

me, and I think we're gonna have, we're

306

gonna get to that in the next chapter,

but Joshua's leadership is great.

307

But it's not perfect.

308

And that's what's gonna be

a quick teaser for the next

309

chapter, I suppose, chapter 24.

310

Yes.

311

Yeah.

312

And in chapter 24, it starts with

the Lord reminding Israel of all

313

his faithfulness, just as Joshua

said, the Lord's been faithful.

314

So verses one through 13, the Lord

moves to, to remind the people

315

as they're all gathered there, of

how faithful he has been to them.

316

But then Joshua.

317

Challenges them and says, choose

this day whom you're gonna serve.

318

Joshua says, for me and my house,

we're gonna serve the Lord.

319

And yet he's putting this choice

between the people and encouraging

320

them to make the right choice.

321

But he also even tells them, you're

not gonna be able to do this.

322

Uh, you, you're not gonna

be able to serve the Lord.

323

He says this in verse 19, probably

a statement based on his familiarity

324

with the people at this point,

and maybe this is a pessimistic

325

outlook on the nation, but he.

326

Lays this out for them and says,

Hey, me, my family we're good.

327

We we're serving the Lord, but you

guys choose who you're gonna serve.

328

Even though I know what you're

gonna do, you're not gonna

329

be able to make this happen.

330

Yeah, he, so this is the

covenant renewal that shekel,

331

if you're reading from an ESV.

332

You'll see that at the

beginning of chapter 24 here.

333

So this whole section is,

the context is covenant.

334

You're making promises to the

Lord and the word covenant.

335

We sometimes use it for

things like membership.

336

We use it appropriately

for things like marriage.

337

Covenant's a big word.

338

And it, it means more than just, Hey, this

is a contract between party A and party B.

339

This is.

340

My life for yours.

341

If I don't do this, so

help me, God, I will die.

342

I will be split in half like these

animals if I break this covenant vow.

343

So Joshua's calling them to put their

life on the line and say, make sure.

344

Whether you live or you die, man, my

life is the Lord's, I'm gonna follow him.

345

He acknowledges in verse

18, you can't do it.

346

He's a holy God.

347

He's jealous.

348

He will not forgive your sins.

349

So I think he's a realist.

350

He's not doing this optimistically

with the glass half full and he's

351

seeing sunshine and rainbows.

352

He's aware of Israel's wis.

353

She's restless.

354

She doesn't stay still.

355

She's constantly on the prowl looking

for something else to fill her cup.

356

And so he's warning her, I think.

357

Saying, look, you ought to know

yourself well enough to recognize

358

you are in a danger zone and you're

constantly at war with yourself, and

359

you need to get yourself straight and

recognize what God is calling you to.

360

And I think one of the most depressing

verses for me is in verse 31, and

361

it alludes to ju Judges chapter two.

362

We're gonna get there I think tomorrow.

363

Verse 31 says, Israel serves the

Lord all the days of Joshua and all

364

the days of the elders who outlived

Joshua and had known all the work

365

that the Lord had did for Israel.

366

That's great.

367

That's great news.

368

But notice what's contained

in it by what it doesn't say.

369

It says, Israel served the days Israel

served the Lord all the days of Joshua

370

and the elders who served with Joshua.

371

Implication.

372

That's it.

373

Yeah.

374

'cause in the book of judges,

things are gonna change.

375

And I don't know how this happens.

376

At first I used to think this

is a failure of leadership and

377

maybe that still is the case.

378

It could just be that Israel

is again, Wiley and restless,

379

and maybe that's at fault.

380

But I, this is a great ending for

Joshua and the leaders that he led with.

381

But it does not for Bode well

for Israel in the future.

382

It doesn't.

383

And we're gonna find that

out in tomorrow's reading.

384

But Joshua does die here at the

end of the book at 110 years old.

385

110 years old.

386

Alright, let's flip over to our New

Testament reading, which is gonna

387

be Luke chapter 6 27 through 49.

388

Luke 6 27 through 49.

389

Remember we said yesterday that we are

dealing with what's known as the sermon on

390

the plane and we give that when he comes

in, verse 17, he came down with them and

391

stood on a level place with a great crowd

of his disciples and a great multitude

392

of people from all GD and Jerusalem.

393

So that's one of the reasons.

394

Beyond just the different context in

other markers there that we believe

395

that this is different from the Sermon

on the Mount because you hear Sermon

396

on the Mount, sermon on the plane.

397

Those two things, even

geographically are different.

398

So he's standing on a level place as

he gives this sermon and he's going

399

to, at the same time though, cover a

lot of the similar ground that we read

400

about in the Sermon on the Mountain.

401

Pastor Rod pointed out.

402

In yesterday's episode

that that's not uncommon.

403

He's an itinerant rabbi.

404

But I think the other reason

is, man, we need repetition.

405

We, as a sinful people need to

be reminded over and over again

406

of some of the same things.

407

And so he's going to call

us to love our enemies.

408

He's gonna call us to this

unexpected ethic that we are

409

gonna love those who persecute us.

410

We're going to bless

those who persecute us.

411

That's not what the world teaches you.

412

The world says surround yourself.

413

Love those that are gonna love you back.

414

Love those that love you first.

415

Love those that are a benefit to you.

416

And Jesus is suggesting the opposite.

417

Verse 31, he gives us the golden rule.

418

Here it is as you wish that

others would do to you.

419

So you do to them again.

420

You are taking the initiative.

421

You're not waiting for somebody to,

to do it for you, and then responding.

422

You're doing that as one who

is taking the initiative there,

423

and then he calls them out.

424

He says if you only love

those that love you, what?

425

What good is that in

comparison to the world?

426

You're just acting like

the world around you.

427

And his main message is you need to

love expecting nothing in return.

428

Love your enemies.

429

Do good.

430

And land expecting nothing in return,

and he will be sons the most high.

431

So he's calling for this

radical ethic of loving others.

432

We talked about that in one peter, quite

a bit of the love that we should have for

433

our brothers and sisters in Christ Here.

434

He's even saying, this is a love that

should extend to our enemies as well.

435

Yeah he also is not Jesus on the one

hand says, look, love your enemies.

436

Pray for those who persecute you.

437

But he's also clear that you should

not just relate to anyone and everyone.

438

You ought to be discriminating in the kind

of associations that you choose to have.

439

And he says So as much in verse 40

where he says, A disciple is not above

440

his teacher, but everyone when he is

fully trained will be like his teacher.

441

I think below that is a tacit

warning to the audience to say, be

442

careful who you're learning from.

443

You might still say, love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you.

444

But that does not absolve you from

making wise decisions about who you

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allow to influence the way that you

think, the way you feel, and the life

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that you live, the things that you do.

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And so here it's important whenever you're

choosing a church and you're choosing

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a college or you're choosing someone

to mentor and shape you, what you're

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doing is saying, I want to be like you.

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We understand that we go to people,

electricians, plumbers, we wanna

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disciple under them to learn their craft.

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Well, essentially, you're

learning the way they do things.

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You're learning how to

see the way they see.

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You're learning how to phrase words

and phrase, uh, phrases rather, in

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the way that they would do that.

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And it's important.

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Therefore, when you decide to

pick up that book or you decide to

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listen to that sermon, or go to that

church or sign up for that school.

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That you're doing so with awareness that

you are going to become like your teacher.

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And that's both encouraging and terrifying

because then it gives a lot more onus to

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you to say, do I, do I want to do that?

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Is that a right call for me?

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If not you, you ought to be wise enough to

take Jesus example here and say, look, uh.

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Don't follow the blind man.

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Make sure your teacher's not blind,

lest you both fall into a pit.

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Find someone who's leading you

to life, and Jesus, of course,

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is pointing them to himself.

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He's the teacher who you should be like.

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He's the one that you should call Rabbi.

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He's the one that you should follow

and give your life to because he's not

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going to air in that in those ways.

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The chapter goes on and concludes with a

section on knowing a tree by its fruit.

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And also the parable the two houses,

the one that's built on the sand,

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the one that's built on the rock.

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And those two are related because the

tree that's known by its fruit, it the

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internal is going to evidence itself in

the external and with the two houses.

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The house that's built on the

rock is the one that hears

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the word of God and does it.

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And that is what's the

differentiating mark there it's

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not anything else about the house.

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In fact, the two houses you could

argue probably look the same from the

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outside, but what's different is the

foundation that they're built on or

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they've built on a foundation that's

not just hearing or they built on the

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foundation that's hearing and doing.

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And so, evidencing our relationship

with Christ through the life that

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we live is such an important part

of what it means to follow Jesus.

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Let's pray for the rest of our time

together and then we'll be done with

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this episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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What would make us a church that is

most like Jesus as we are a church

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that seeks to disciple even as we

talked about recently on the Daily

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Bible Podcast and be mentors to

others and have others learn under us.

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We pray that you'd make us all more and

more like Jesus with each passing day.

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And you do that through largely

the word, which is the medium

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the Spirit uses to take and apply

and make us more like Christ.

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And so we pray for that.

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We want to be a holy church.

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We wanna be a Christ-like

church, and we pray that you'd

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be pleased with those efforts.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Keep your new Bibles.

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Tune in again tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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See ya.

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Bye.

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Edward: Thank you for listening to another

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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We’re grateful you chose to

spend time with us today.

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This podcast is a ministry of

Compass Bible Church in North Texas.

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You can learn more about our

church at compassntx.org.

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If this podcast has been helpful,

we’d appreciate it if you’d consider

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leaving a review, rating the show,

or sharing it with someone else.

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We hope you’ll join us again

tomorrow for another episode

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of the Daily Bible Podcast.