This episode introduces the character of Steffan Crossbearer alongside an intriguing new segment titled "God's F*cked Up Story Time." At the forefront of our discussion is Psalm 19, examined through the lens of "The Foul Mouthed Preacher." We delve into the profound themes of divine glory manifested in creation and the restorative power of scripture, which collectively illuminate our understanding of God. The conversation juxtaposes the often oppressive interpretations of righteousness that lead to anxiety and depression against a more hopeful perspective that emphasizes joy and empowerment through faith. Ultimately, we seek to inspire listeners to engage with both the natural world and scripture in ways that foster hope, purpose, and a renewed sense of stewardship over creation.

The introduction of Steffan Crossbearer as a new character propels the narrative of 'The Bible: After-Hours' into uncharted territories, blending elements of humor and serious theological reflection. The episode centers on Psalm 19, presented by the 'Foul Mouthed Preacher', who challenges conventional interpretations of faith and scripture. The discourse begins with an emphasis on the significance of collective worship, positing that the church serves as a sanctuary where believers can gather to experience the palpable presence of God. Within this sacred space, the hosts underscore the necessity of fortifying oneself with divine light to withstand the encroaching darkness of the world, suggesting that true faith transcends the physical confines of the church and resides in the heart of creation itself.

As the episode unfolds, the segment 'God's F*cked Up Story Time' features an engaging retelling of the biblical figure Joseph, illustrating the complexities and often harsh realities of his narrative. The hosts employ a candid approach, shedding light on the absurdities and injustices inherent in biblical stories that are frequently overlooked in traditional interpretations. This segment serves as a poignant reminder that the scriptures are rife with human emotion and struggle, thereby mirroring the contemporary human experience. The story of Joseph's trials—betrayal, imprisonment, and eventual redemption—offers listeners a sense of solidarity in their own life challenges, suggesting that through adversity, hope can emerge.

The exploration of Psalm 19 further deepens the discussion, articulating its themes of divine glory and the restorative power of God's law. The hosts argue that the psalm encapsulates a profound truth: that God is revealed both through the wonders of creation and the wisdom of scripture. They contend that the psalmist's articulation of the heavens declaring God’s glory and the law enlightening the eyes invites a transformative perspective on spirituality—one that fosters joy and inspires individuals to embrace their flaws rather than succumb to guilt. This reimagining of faith encourages listeners to cultivate a relationship with the divine that is characterized by hope, love, and a commitment to stewardship of creation, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling spiritual journey.

Takeaways:

• The introduction of Steffan Crossbearer and the segment 'God's F*cked Up Story Time' adds a fresh dynamic to the podcast, offering a unique perspective on biblical narratives.
• Psalm 19 serves as a central focus, illustrating how creation reflects God's glory and emphasizes the importance of recognizing divine beauty in our surroundings.
• The discussion challenges conventional religious teachings that emphasize guilt and shame, advocating instead for a view of God that promotes joy, love, and hope.
• The episode critiques traditional church practices that neglect environmental stewardship, urging listeners to consider their responsibility towards creation as a reflection of their faith in God.
• The hosts encourage a transformative approach to scripture, suggesting that it should inspire and uplift rather than induce feelings of inadequacy or despair.
• Listeners are prompted to reflect on their emotional responses to both nature and scripture, fostering a deeper connection with their spiritual beliefs and the world around them.

Mentioned in this episode:

Anazao Ministries Podcasts - AMP Network

To hear more shows like this one, Christian Podcasts that aren't afraid of the big questions, check out the website for the AMP Network: https://anazao-ministries.captivate.fm/

I only get you one day of the week. Only one day of the week do we get to be together and see the light of the glory of God in his place of worship.

We have to stock up in God's house all of the light and beauty we can in these four walls to prepare us to be the light in that dark, dark world out there. We know we only see the glory of God in ourselves. So we must hold on to that as we are without God in sight the other six days of the week. Amen.

This is the Bible after hours. Can

you hear me? Is this thing on? Okay, good. I am the foul mouthed preacher and this is the underground church.

The word vulgar originally just meant to speak the language of the people. It's what Paul did, it's what the disciples did. That's what Jesus did. That's what we're going to do here today.

So if you have children listening, we will be using explicit language in this episode and all episodes of this show except for one so far. So maybe tune in another time. The church above wants you to believe that they are the only way to see God, to see Jesus.

They might teach about the glory of God as in creation, but their actions show really little care for creation, no belief of the beauty of God and their fellow man and a whole lot of emphasis on how we see God in ourselves and our church buildings, that kind of shit, right?

How many times you see them say stuff about, you know, we teach about the gods and the glory of creation, but there's going to be another earth one day. Typically see a lot of these fundamental evangelical churches being against green energy, science, that kind of stuff.

They want to be like, oh, they think they control the world, you know, bunch of bullshit, right? They want to see that they fellow man who believes differently than them, they're against God.

We're debacle, we're you know, evil beings by our nature. You know that whole doctrine of original sin bullshit that's like passed down generation, generation.

And they'll talk about how, oh I can feel God in this place. We'll see.

You hear phrases like that a lot or, or how you know, the man of God has a special place and you know how you need to respect the man of God, the preacher and all that bullshit. And it's not that I don't think God is in our churches or that God's in, you know, the man of God, the preacher. Those things are special.

It's not just all bullshit. What's bullshit is the denial of God in creation through Their actions. They say God made everything and it's glorious.

But you very seldomly see those same churches who preach that shit go on a beach sweep, you know, picking up litter, finding ways to minimize their use of gas, carpooling to church. You know, you see very little effort in those areas, which shows through their action. They don't actually believe that.

What they believe is that the church is where God is and that everything else doesn't really matter. Before we get into our verse today, some of the other important shit.

We have a new member to this show with the same voice actor, new character in a new segment is going to be God's fucked up story. So please welcome to the stage the one and only Stefan Crossbear.

So you guys heard about Joseph, right? How he's supposed to be like the Jesus of the Old Testament, and yet he gets thrown in prison twice. He doesn't get buried once for three days.

What's up with that? The story of Joseph is actually really fucked up.

It's basically, if you're gonna say, hey, to be like God is to be like Joseph, what you're really saying is you gotta get totally fucked, but not literally. God doesn't like people who get fucked literally. And then maybe God will show you some favor later, as long as you're an asshole to your brothers.

So here's the story of Joseph, basically. Basically, God had some chosen people. He had some favorites, right? He was like, I like Abraham. And Abram said a son, fuck Ishmael. He's like, Isaac.

Isaac's cool. Then there'. Jacob. The fuck that you saw, I like Jacob. Jacob had these sons, right? Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. Also God's favorite.

God was like, yeah, Joseph's cooler than the other ones.

I agree.

Maybe he was prettier. Who knows? Maybe better at basketball. I hear God like sports. Joseph has dreams. He's gonna rule his brothers.

All this naturally, he goes and tells everybody about it. And they get pissed off because he also gets a special coat, Pride flag coat, the rainbow. They get pissed off. He got a cool coat, they didn't.

And he's having these dreams as he rules them. And they're like, hey, we could understand that he's a younger little brother with crazy ambitions and tell him that he's insane.

Or we could fucking get rid of him. Throw him in a pit. So throw him in a pit. Sell him as a slave, as all brothers do. You know, just joshing around.

Then Joseph gets sold to this Egyptian guy and he's the best worker ever. Keeps getting promoted.

And yes, he clearly got showed in favor, except for no, a woman lied about him touching her, because women totally do that all the time.

Joseph's boss doesn't really ask a lot of questions, Believes him, and he gets thrown in prison because you got to get fucked twice at least if you're really going to fall after God. Jesus only did it once. Come on, Jesus, be a little more like Joseph. And while Joseph's in prison this time, again, he gets favors.

He has some more of these cool dreams. Eventually, he gets promoted because some of his dreams come true.

Some people remember him, you know, if you know somebody who knows somebody, eventually you can get out of jail for free, break whatever law you want, as long as you know somebody or are rich. I don't know if that last part's in the Bible. We get out. Joseph's out of prison, makes friends with Pharaoh. Big famine comes.

Joseph had some dreams about it. So they were prepared because totally trust the dreams of an insane person who's been convicted twice. That's what we should always do.

We're learning things from the Bible pretty regularly, you ask me. So he gets out of prison, second time. We all trust his dreams because he's clearly not a crazy convicted criminal or anything. His dreams come true.

The nation was prepared. His brothers were among the many people who came to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt and were like, hey, we need some help.

And Joseph, as a good brother, said, hey, guys, I know you did me wrong and I forgive you. But first, before he told him that, he was like, let me make sure I'm a real asshole, because that's what God would want.

So he tests them and says, I'm gonna steal your youngest brother. And I don't believe you guys, and I'm not gonna help you unless you jump through all of these hoops. And he really played them for a while. Total burn.

Nice prank, Joseph. Turns out tha h had a change of heart. They liked their other brother better than they liked him.

He liked that they liked their new brother better than him. Rewards them. They all kind of get off scotch free, except for, you know, where Joseph got fucked several times.

And then through the course of all this, Israel ends up prisoners to Egypt. And then you have the whole slave thing, and then Exodus has to happen and God test it.

Yeah, you really got to get fucked a lot if you want to be in God's favor. So get out there, get fucked. This was God's fucked up story time.

So I grew up believing or behaving as if the whole of creation. You know, I was a lot like these other people we're talking about today. That the whole creation existed just to be used to be abused by humans.

Like God made all of creation for us. That was one of my fundamental beliefs. I was never really taught to look for God in nature. I was more God made this for me.

I should appreciate God because he gave me stuff to completely use in whatever way I want. I probably heard something about God being in nature mentioned in passing, but I don't really remember that.

As a kid, I was told that we only see God by living righteous lives. You can't see God if you're not behaving correctly and showing others how simple they are in comparison.

You know, if you're not going out preaching the gospel, telling people they're going to go to hell if they don't change their ways, if you're not like dotting your eyes the right way and crossing your T's and, you know, not liking people you're not supposed to like or voting the wrong way, then you'll see God and maybe in creation, maybe somewhere else. But you got to be living right, doing the right stuff first, right? Today the world just feels dark, I think for pretty much everyone on every side.

Whether you're conservative, fundamental, progressive, liberal, whatever. The world feels dark. Most people I talk to, if you get to the deep shit, it sounds like they feel defeated, depressed.

Anxiety rules so many people's lives. This pressure for righteousness behaving the right way has proven to be too much for many people to bear. And that's not just the fundamentals, right?

They're the ones that use the word righteous. And what they mean is obeying the Bible's laws and not lying, stealing, sex chew, girls that do some shit right?

But this happens on the progressive side. Just without the word righteous, it's, well, you better have voted the right way.

You better be okay with women's choice over, you know, pro life movement stuff. You better believe these things. You better not. Like these celebrities because they believe the wrong things.

And like, there's a whole checklist of how you're supposed to behave and what you're supposed to be for and not for. In the progressive circle as well, they don't use the word righteous, but they still want you to feel like shit if you don't do that. Right? Checklist.

The only difference is they're not willing to admit there's a checklist. You don't even get the checklist. A lot of people can feel anxious that they're not saying the right things, supporting the right actors.

They're sinning unknowingly, or they believe in a God that maybe isn't real and maybe they shouldn't be talking about God at all. You know, like everyone's made to feel so much anxiety, depression, defeat over this shit.

The light of God, though the light of God actually might be able to help rather than shining a light on how evil and fucked up we are. I think if you view the world, the Bible, God, the right way, it's going to shed light on hope.

If your view of the world, of the Bible, God or all the shit, if it doesn't invoke joy in you, I think you might have the wrong view. You might be looking incredible. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see through the Bible that God is joy, love, peace, gentleness, goodness.

These are the things that come with God, not this anxiety and depression shit that fills all of our churches. I think something's got to change. Gnosticism has always plagued the church. There's always been this belief that we need to despise our flesh.

What our flesh desires is evil somehow, right? A lot of our church early church fathers taught sexual desire was sinful.

In fact, it wasn't until some of the early church fathers that some of the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah became more about sex. For a long time, it was mostly read about as a problem with hospitality and how we treat others, not sexual desires.

It's been interpreted that way and there's reason to interpret it that way.

But that wasn't the emphasis for most of the history of how that's been interpreted until some of these early church fathers who were like, sexual desire maybe not great, right? It has to do with our flesh. Our flesh is bad. And so many of these views also would say that Jesus wasn't really flesh, he was just spirit.

And we know that that's heresy, but we let some of this, like, energy, you know, the leftover energy from that heresy still slipped into the church where we're like, well, we still despise the flesh. We still think to the extent that a lot of Catholic believers follow the Immaculate Conception idea that like Mary also was with never born.

She was just created that way. She didn't come from a line of flesh because flesh bears evil through this original sin doctrine bullshit that someone made up at some point, right?

Because that had to be the case for her to birth Jesus. And Jesus be without sin because otherwise our flesh itself is sinful. Some of the stuff that came with nauticism.

Even though we denied it as a heresy. A lot of this leftover guilt about our own bodies still crept into the church and still lives there today. And that's.

It's leading so many people to guilt, to darkness, a darkness that God has called us out of.

The church that claims to be his body is keeping people in four walls with no light because they think that just fucking having a body, something about that is evil. I think looking at Psalm 19 is going to help a lot with this and see why I think this is so problematic.

Psalm 19 CS Lewis called one of the greatest poems in the Psalter, and also one of the greatest lyrics of all time. Old Testament scholar and theologian Arthur Weiser compares the beauty of these lines to the works of Beethoven.

This psalm that we're about to read, it shows in three voices. It goes through experience, through creation, and then through scripture.

And it shows that God is great and that God is a light to us where we are right now.

And not a light to show us how shitty we are, but a light to show us the way and to give us hope so we see experience, creation, and then scriptures and how God is shown through these things. I'm gonna go ahead and read Psalm 19 out of the NASB. The heavens tell of the glory of God, and their expanse declares the work of his hands.

Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are their words. Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out into all the earth in the words to the end of the world.

In them he has placed a tent for the sun, which is like a groom coming out of his chamber. It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.

Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing in the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure and lighting the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgment of the Lord are true.

They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, your servant is warmed by them. In keeping them there is great reward who can discern his errors. Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep your servant back from presumptuous sins.

Let them not rule over Me, then I will be innocent and I will be blameless of great wrongdoing. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Okay, so verses, this whole psalm, it's just poetic. It's beauty again. You see that the beginning. We're starting the heaven sold you glory. Day pours for speech. Night reveals knowledge.

There's no words that need to be spoken, no voice needs to be heard. For the creation itself is telling about how great God is. Right?

And then we go into the law and it talks about how the word, the scripture, it's restoring the soul, it's making us wise, it's helping our heart rejoice and help making us endure through all the. That this world might throw at us. Finally we get to that experience. He's like looking at his own faults.

And instead of being like man, I may just feel shilty, he's like, look, look at my faults. And I reminded how good God is that you won't let them rule over me.

That your will make me blameless and I will be acceptable in your sight because you make me so. Praying to God, like God takes our shit and turns it to gold.

Takes the bitching that we pour out of our mouths like half our beer is just us bitching to God. And he takes those words and turns it to honey from sweets, honeycomb. He takes our up lives and makes it whole.

I'm going to reread verses one through six and talk a little bit more about that. And then I'll do 7 through 11 and 12 14. So we're going to break it up that way. Verses one through six. I'm going to read again.

The heavens tell of the glory of God and the expanse declares the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are their words. Their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out into all the earth in their words, to the end of the world. In them he has placed a tent for the sun, which is like a groom coming out of his chamber. It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.

Its rising is like one end of the heavens, its circuit to the other end of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. I'm a Florida boy. I. I love suns. I love the heat. I live in the South. I've always enjoyed summer.

So you think of like God's presence. His love is like the heat of summer. And it's like Especially if you live in the South.

Like, you step out that door, boom, you're not hit with it, you're engulfed in it. That's God's love. Like. Like it's just so noticeable. When you really feel God's presence in his love, it's just like, boom.

You're encompassed in this heat, the southern humidity. Imagine you enjoy it because some people find it gross, but, like, it's engulfing in that way.

What the psalmist is talking about, it's, oh, man, God is glorified in nature. So verse two says our fourth. It denotes spontaneity. So it says day to day, pours forth, pours out.

It's talking about how, like, the day, the night, all this. Look, it's spontaneous. If you've been out in nature, you know that it's not, like, organized exactly. Here is sunrise, here is sunset.

Every day, like, it changes throughout the year. There's a little bit of a rhythm to it, right? But, like, even, like, storms might mess with it.

If you've ever been to the beach, gone sailing, been on the ocean, gone surfing, who knows what kind of wave you're gonna get today, right? If you've gone camping, you're not guaranteed there won't, right? Like, nature is spontaneous.

God exists in this spontaneous spontaneity, in this vastness of space. The heavens and skies, these are Hebrew synonyms. If you see heaven, skies, they're the same word. So that's what he's talking about.

We're talking about the heavens. He's talking about, like, the sky. Like, is it going to be rainy? Is it going to be clear sky? Is it going to be whatever?

Like, God's power is in the thunder. God's beauty is in that clear sky on a spring day or fall, whatever, whatever kind of shit you like. The sky tells of the glory of God.

The word el is used here to denote God's transcendence, quality, transcendent qualities, the glories and wonders of God is spoken for in the silence of creation in a way that's even greater than creation itself. The alteration of night and day. It shows God's constancy.

So even though he's spontaneous, like I said, like, there's a rhythm to the seasons, to the day, to the night. So it's showing his consistency and at the same time showing his power and his spontaneity and how his love will just smack you and embrace you.

Like a hot summer day in the south. Think about the sun's reliability, radiance, heat, passion, and when you think about it, think of the God's power, God's glory, God's wisdom.

Now God can just smack you in the face like that. And how everything can change in an instant when you open the door to God's love for you.

Now I want to look a little bit deeper in verses 7 through 11. I'll read them again here. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true.

They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, your servant is warmed by them. In keeping them there is great reward. We see God's Word primarily. The first thing that it starts off with, revitalizing is giving life.

You shouldn't feel defeated, depressed, you shouldn't feel dead inside. When you read God's Word, it shouldn't make you feel so much guilt. It should make you feel more alive.

We have to change our view, like what God is saying in His Word. So when we pick it up, it doesn't make us feel like shit, but rather makes us want to go through the shit of our day.

We see again in verse 8, it stresses that God's Word is not restrictive, but is constructive to our joy and happiness. We're not meant to be like, oh, gonna make sure I do all the rules and get really anxious about it.

We're meant to be constructing, like, how do we live a better life, full of joy and happiness, of flourishing. God's Word should be bringing joy to us. If it's not, we're either living our lives wrong maybe, or maybe we're reading poorly.

Here we see the repetition of your servant when you talk to God is to show our willingness to do God's will, brought about by our observation. Because if you truly live how God is asking us to, in His Word, we're loving our neighbor, we're loving ourselves.

We're trying to be the best to the world around us and making a better world. And that should give you joy, give you purpose, bring you happiness and light, not defeat anxiety, depression.

There are six or seven occurrences of the term Yahweh Y H W H are following the first use of el in this in this chapter. Depends how you do it.

Because there's like, yeah, onto the always when you just want to say, and this is supposed to show this personal connection to Yahweh, with his people. So first we're talking about L, this transcendent God, the God that's even bigger than creation.

And then we go to his name, talking about how he's personal with us. So we see through like the sun, like, boom, through a hot southern Southern day. Boom. God smacks us in the face.

He's embracing us with his passion and power. But then we see through His Word.

He's also getting to our heart, revitaling us, make us alive again, giving us constructive way to have a more flourishing and joyful life. So not only is he transcendent, and he's powerful in passion and glory itself. Or if we're going to go Doctor who, fire, ice, rage.

He's also this personal, loving God, a friend with a tender touch, a mother. According to some places in scripture, God is personal. God has transcended. God loves us.

He wants us to have constructive ways to have a more flourishing life. Not constructive scripture that makes us feel like shit. That wasn't ever the point of scripture. I want to look at verses 12 through 14.

We're going back to experience here and how our own faults can actually help us see God better rather than see ourselves as shitty. Who can discern his errors? Equip me of hidden faults. Also keep your servant back from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me.

Then I will be innocent and I will be blameless of great wrongdoing. Be the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer sins mentioned.

Or when it talks about, since here it's using the same word that's, that's meant for like unintentional sins. Like I, I, maybe I fucked up and did something I didn't mean to do. Supported something I shouldn't have supported, like the wrong celebrity.

You know, maybe I lied, but I didn't know it was a lie. Maybe I said something really hurtful to my neighbor and I didn't realize it was hurtful at the time.

So these unintentional sins, rather than making us feel shitty, we're often taught, like the Bible says, oh, hey, you need to ask forgiveness. You need to ask forgiveness. Maybe you fucked up, maybe you fucked up, maybe you like, he still, he asked for forgiveness here.

But it's not like, oh, I hope God forgives me. It's this assumption God's going to, I'm going to Be innocent. I'm going to be blameless of wrongdoing because God's going to make me good again.

Even if I accidentally bought a chocolate bar from a company that does something shitty that I didn't mean to support, even if I accidentally said something that was untrue, even if I accidentally used a slur that I didn't realize was a slur and I hurt my neighbor. So after we see what God's scripture says about God, the Psalter views what the world reveals about himself.

He's like, oh, what does the Bible say about me? And then what does the Bible say about God in comparison? He's comparing this and he uses this word redeemer. This is familial language.

That's the one who inherits you.

So like a godparent or in this culture, you know, a wife was married to a man and the man died, the brother would then be the redeemer who came to God. It's like, this is very personal thing of, like, who will take care of you?

Even in the shittiest of times, we see God is familial, as personal, as loving, as transcendent and powerful in a summer day, and as loving and personal as one who give you his word. His word so we could see our own shittiness. And rather than feeling worse about ourselves, we turn to him so that we are made innocent.

We're made to feel better about ourselves, not shittier. Because that is the kind of personal, familial God that we have.

We go in this, in this chapter, from this transcendent God to this personal conversation between the Psalter and God. What we learn about this is like. Like how do we see God through our own flaws? Or not?

Like, because we are so good, we are righteous, the world needs to see us as light and be more like us. But rather like we see God through our own shit and realize that God's going to get us through the shit. That's joy. That's real joy.

Not thinking I'm better than my neighbor because I saw the Bible told me not to do these things and I didn't do them, but rather I see the Bible pointed out the shittiness in me and instead of feeling defeated, I turned to Christ who has already won the victory. And God, instead of making me feel shitty, got me through the shit.

And yeah, sometimes prayer is going to just be bitching to God and he's going to take that bitching and turn it into honey, that sweet drips of the honeycomb that The Psalms talk about here. So when we view the glory of God, the truth of scripture, when we do that, we have to see our own smallness, we have to see our own fuck ups.

But rather than feeling down, we know that God is with us, that we are inspired through the glory and wonder of God. That summer day power of God that just engulfs us, we are inspired by that.

We are made to feel hopeful that there is something better that we can be better. Rather than feeling shitty, we are made to feel hope to get through our shit.

When we read about our sins, how people failed God in our Bible stories, how Jesus came for us, how are we reading it? Do you read guilt upon yourself or do you read inspiration and hope of a God who will get you through it?

If you're reading guilt upon yourself, spend more time in prayer. That is not the point of scripture. But if you're reading inspiration, hope, love, joy, keep reading, keep reading.

Don't forget to spend time in your Bible. Yes, that's a conservative fundamental talking point. Whatever. It's meant to give you inspiration and joy. And if it is, why would you stop?

Spend as much time in it as you can. Because this is a dark shitty world and we need God to get us through the we have not been given a spirit of fear.

So many in our world around us anxious, oh maybe I'm doing the wrong thing, supporting the wrong person. So many our churches feel so bad about themselves. We're not given a spirit of fear or depression, we're given a spirit of power.

Romans 8 speaks of our inspiration and how creation has awaited our ascent to glory even after we mistreated creation. And now we are raised new creations in Christ.

Which means we now have a new chance to care for and live in harmony with creation, to take care of the world around us. Not because I feel shitty, I know this I'm going to die one day and create. No, this is going to matter because it all matters.

It's all made in the like we are made in the image of God and creation is meant to reflect the beauty and the power of God. We are called to take care of God's planet. God of scripture. The God of creation is still creating. He's creating in us in a process to be better.

She's creating this world like the the Bible talks about it being like in pains of birthing, that it the world having birthing pains in the process of being what God made it to be. This scripture talks about how nature speaks multitudes in silence, how creation waits our transformation into Christ to care for creation.

Scripture's not telling us to be afraid, afraid to live a certain way and constantly being anxious for doing the wrong thing. Creation isn't here for us to use and abuse, but rather to see God through it. Creation awaits our transformation of Christ.

Not for our eventual demise or destruction, not for our eventual demise or destruction, but for our new lives where we will be stewards, the stewards that God called us to be in the beginning. God didn't start in Genesis. Take care of the planet. That's all we mess up. Said, don't worry, I'm going to destroy this place. We'll start over.

No, no, he's going to start over with people who are going to take care of the shit. It's like a parent giving, you know, an expensive toy to a kid and then they break it.

They're not going to give it back to him unless they know he's going to take care of that. Right, like you're not going to just waste your time and your money.

What God is waiting for is people who are made new in Christ who are going to take care of his shit. So when there is a new creation, a new heaven, it's going to be filled with people who will be good stewards of it.

You don't know if you're going to be a good steward until you're a good steward of what we have now. That's what God's calling us to. I know that's a lot.

God's calling us to be good stewards so that we can be good stewards of the new earth in scripture.

God's calling us to see how shitty we are so that we are inspired to be better and to know that God makes us blameless and is going to get us through the shit.

Not so that we can feel anxiety and live these fucked up, depressed lives, but rather so that we can bitch to God and he can turn our bitching into sweet honey dripping off the honeycomb. So go plant a tree, go on a hike, visit the beach, go look up at the stars. Read the Bible. Evaluate your emotional response to these things.

To the sun, to the vastness of creation, to what God's word says about you when you're going out in nature, when you're reading your Bible, what I want you to do, I want you to stop and ask, what's this making me feel? And why does it make me feel what it does? I'm serious. This is. You need to stop and do this.

Whether it's just to go On a walk today to open your Bible outside, whatever it is, do something where you're observing the greatness of creation, even what the Bible says about you, and truly evaluate, not just because of what I said, but like, think about, like, what are you actually feeling in that moment? Really think about it.

And if you do, if you reflect on this and you realize you're meant to feel inspiration, to feel hope and joy, not to feel shitty, not to feel defeated, not to feel anxious, if you realize that and you can turn your perspective and see creation, to see the Bible the way that God wants you to see it.

And we're going to be more in harmony, we're going to be more inspired, and we'll continue to become that which we were made to be in the first place.

Good stewards, new creations, images of Christ on earth today, people who help other people get through the shit, not people who make themselves and others feel shitty. Please take the time, reflect. Do these things? Take the time to bitch to God, knowing that he's going to turn your bitching into sweet honey drops?

I don't want you to share this on your public social media account if you think it's going to offend somebody. You know, we use strong language here and we don't do that to offend people, so please don't share it.

If you think it might offend someone, that's not the point of this. If you think you can share it without affecting people, please go ahead.

But what I really want you to do, find one friend, a family member who you think might benefit from this message, who might benefit from taking time outside to take a time to read the Word and see. Does this make me feel shitty or does it make me feel inspired? Invite other people to reflect with you.

Listen to this podcast, share it with somebody.

And maybe as we evaluate these things and we try harder to find the joy and inspiration, rather than reading guilt upon ourselves, I think we'll have a better world and we can be that what Christ made us to be. So I just want to invite you all to do that with me. Let's bring the church back to the common people. Thank you for listening.