Show Notes: Matt: J.D., our next spiritual discipline is practicing the Sabbath. That’s something that I think a lot of people have varying views on – talk to us about how to “keep the Sabbath.” J.D.: So look, Matt… I’m not very good at this. This may shock you, but I’m a very type-A “Achiever” kind of guy. My wife says I’m an Enneagram 8 to the max, the 8iest 8 who ever 8ted. I do NOT like carving time out of my schedule where I’m not getting something done It just doesn’t come naturally to me at all. But like we’ve talked about, these are spiritual disciplines – they don’t come naturally to us. And in the case of “keeping the Sabbath,” they’re sometimes counter-cultural. We live in a fast-paced world. Every bit of media tells you to utilize every minute of every day to accomplish as much as you can, so that you can obtain as much as you can. And practicing a Sabbath is completely contrary to that – Sabbath is stopping the work that you’d usually do, trusting that God is in control, and focusing on what he wants you to focus on.  So, let’s dig in here.  First, we believe that God has instituted into creation a 7-day rhythm or work and rest/worship. Second, we believe regular corporate gathering on the Lord’s Day is an essential, non-negotiable element in the life of a disciple. Verses such as Hebrews 10:24-25 tell us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Matt: J.D., let me stop you and ask Mackenzie’s question: “The Sabbath is commanded to the Israelites as part of the Old Testament law. So because we’re no longer bound by the OT law, do we still have to Sabbath?” This is where the Sabbath gets confusing for people. It’s true that we’re no longer bound by the OT law… but the design reflected in those laws advises us to set aside a day every week for rest and worship.  It’s built on a principle, the same principle as tithing: one day a week we stop and declare our dependence on God BTW, no other society did this… they all felt they had to work to the max., especially in ancient Israel. Survival was often a day-to-day, season-to-season affair. Crops had to be harvested daily. Water had to be drawn daily. To cut your productivity by 1/7 could make the difference in life and death!  By taking a Sabbath, they said,  God, I’m doing less than I’m able to do because you commanded me to, and so I’m depending on you to make up for what I'm missing here.”   (Same principle as tithing) The OT laws are fulfilled in Jesus, so we no longer are bound to the particulars, but the principle behind is the same. We see this principle of flexibility reflected in the early church, who seem to use Sunday as their primary day of gathering.  Matt: Speaking of, here’s a question from John: “What’s up with the sabbath being Saturday or Sunday? Your thoughts?” Early church took the principle of  But Paul says in Romans 14:5: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”  When the early church changed it from Sat to Sunday they were showing that it wasn’t a particular day that was essential. When non-Sunday might be helpful:  Some people work on weekends, including pastors and many people in ministry, so observing the Sabbath on Saturday makes sense in those cases.  Dubai example Churches with other service times…  I think for most of you it should be Sunday--that is the “standard” set by early church, and practicing that is consistent with 2K years of church history, but what’s important is to set aside one day a week where ...

Show Notes: Matt: J.D., today we’ll cover our next spiritual discipline, and this week, we’re talking about the “discipline” of surrounding yourself with Christian community. J.D.: Yeah, this is a good one. The first two spiritual disciplines we covered – Bible study and prayer – are kind of intuitive. While it’s sometimes easier said than done, most people understand that part of the Christian life involves prayer and Bible study and spending time with God. But a lot of us don’t think of being in community as a “spiritual discipline.” We think “If I show up to church most of the time, I’m all set.” Or, “I got friends. I’m not lonely.” Or, “I go to my small group most times, so I’ve checked the box here.” And I hear a lot of people say, “Well, I love Jesus, and I have a strong relationship with God, I’m just not that committed to the church.”  Hmm. How do I say this? That’s not true. I know that you think it’s true, but it’s just not. You might have great respect for Jesus, but Jesus very clearly said that if you loved him you would be committed to his church. He says it in John 15. You’re to love each other so much that you lay down your lives for each other. You can’t do that for somebody you’re not connected to or in relationship with. Jesus told Peter in John 21, “If you love me, show that by how well you take care of my sheep.”   You can’t say you’re obedient to Jesus if you neglect those he commanded you to love.  The church is the bride of Christ. You can’t love someone and hate their bride.  How do you think I’d react if you said to me, “PJD, we love you. Can you come over to our house for dinner? And here’s the keys to our mountain house, please enjoy it. But… these invitations are not for Veronica. We like you, but we don’t care for her.”  That conversation is not going to go well. I’m not coming for dinner! If you love me and want to be friends with me, you have to love and be friends with my life. Thankfully, btw, with my wife, that’s easy. People always like her better than me. People always notice me first because I’m up here, but if we get invited back to someone’s house a second time, it’s always because of her.  Let’s stop for a second and talk about how Jesus demonstrated loving people well. He lived among them  He served them. He spoke personally into their lives  Now let’s walk through those quickly and apply them to our lives… Jesus lived among people.  He walked with them. Gave real time instruction. He commented on conversations he heard them muttering to each other. He confronted them in their mistakes and comforted them in their failures We see this demonstrated in Paul’s life. In Acts 20, when Paul speaks to the Ephesians elders– He says, “You know how I lived with and ministered to you night and day, available to you at all hours” (vs. 31). His speech to them included very specific counsel Secondly, he personally served them.  John 13. He didn’t do that for everybody, but those 12  He spoke personally into their lives…  Me with Paul Tripp on why megachurch pastors fall Living in community has added richness to my life even though it's messy. Prov. 27:10 says “Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away,” and we have an opportunity to be that for people through the church. There’s also a limit to what God can do in your life if you’re not connected to the body. In 1 Cor. 12:25, Paul compares us in the church to members of the body. And at some point he asks, “How does the body care for it’s members?” answer: through other members! 

Show Notes: Matt: Today we want to talk about our second spiritual discipline. This time, prayer.J.D., there’s a lot to be said about prayer, and you’ve written books on it, you have several Ask Me Anything episodes on it, but I want to start with a listener question from Stephanie, who asks, “How does prayer ‘move the hand of God?'”—J.D.: Wow, strong start. Yeah, Matt, I have spoken a lot about prayer Can’t do it enough 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. We always want to be a praying church, but we set aside times throughout the year to really emphasize it in our church and our own lives. So, to Stephanie’s question, why do we do that? Why emphasize prayer? Does it really change things? Let me give you three quick points about why we believe prayer “moves the hand of God.” First, the Bible makes it clear that God’s purposes are unchanging. Verses like Numbers 23:19 are clear: God is not a man. He never learns anything new. He doesn’t wise up with experience or change his mind. He knows the end from the beginning So, it seems clear that God’s purposes are unchanging, but, like I said, we have to hold this in tension with another truth, which is that God’s plans are unfolding. There’s a story in Exodus 32 says that God changed his course of action based on Moses’ prayer. But here’s the irony of the story: God is the one who tells Moses to go down and see the situation (v. 7). Moses didn’t know the people had corrupted themselves. God showed this to him. Furthermore, the very thing that Moses uses to “change God’s mind” was God’s own promise. (And God, of course, hadn’t forgotten his promises.) God had put Moses into a situation so that he would see the problem God already knew about, remember God’s promises, and petition God to change his course of action. Moses’ prayer itself is a result of God’s plan. God wants Moses to ask this, so he sovereignly puts him in a situation where he will ask for it. But here’s the key: Our prayers are instrumental. The text is clear: Without this prayer, God would have destroyed Israel. The prayer was instrumental in getting God to change his course of action. And that’s consistent with the pattern of prayer throughout Scripture. As I’ve heard it said, “Prayer moves the arm that moves the world.” Now, many people might ask at this point, “Well, what if Moses had refused to pray? Would that mean that they would not have been saved, and would that mean that it was not God’s will to save them after all? And what does that mean if I fail to pray for something God wants me to pray for? Does that mean that the thing that I didn’t pray about wasn’t God’s will after all? Or would God have just gotten someone else to pray it?” You may begin to feel your head aching. It’s understandable. Those kinds of questions are the wrong ones to ask about these situations. Scripture never teaches us to think about the will of God that way. The 19th century Princeton theologian A.A. Hodge put it this way (my paraphrase): “Does God know the day you’ll die? Yes. Has he appointed that day? Yes. Can you do anything to change that day? No. Then why do you eat? To live. What happens if you don’t eat? You die. Then if you don’t eat, and die, then would that be the day that God had appointed for you to die? “Quit asking stupid questions and just eat. Eating is the pre-ordained way God has appointed for living.” So, when I wrestle with this, I tell myself to quit asking stupid questions and just pray. You see, however impossible it is for our puny minds to understand, God has sovereignly placed us in certain situations for the express purpose of praying his promises and “changing his plans,” so to speak.

Show Notes: Matt: J.D.,  we’re going to do something we’ve never done, and we’re going to take that question and camp out here on Ask the Pastor for the next several episodes, because you feel like this one is worth unpacking. Like we mentioned at the end of last week’s episode, we’re going to spend the next 8 weeks unpacking something I think a lot of Christians have heard about, but they may not know a ton about: the “spiritual disciplines.” What are some important spiritual disciplines to focus on as we attempt to grow in our faith in 2024?   J.D.: Yeah Matt, the “spiritual disciplines” – or the practices that every disciple of Jesus should follow and work into their lives – are definitely worth talking about, and rather than giving a short answer with a “checklist” of spiritual disciplines, I wanted to go in depth on a few different spiritual disciplines for the next few weeks here on Ask the Pastor, and we’re going to incorporate some of the many great questions we’ve received from our listeners on this topic.  So, starting today, we’re going to dive into an eight-episode series on the spiritual disciplines. Along the way, we’ll be sprinkling in a few different listener questions we’ve collected from you, our listeners. By the way, you can always email your questions in to requests@jdgreear.com. Or you can even message them to me on Facebook or Instagram. So to start, I want to talk about one of the most foundational spiritual disciplines: Reading and studying your Bible. This may seem elementary to some of you, but I’m a pastor… and I have a real sense that the practice of opening up your Bible, reading and studying it, and truly understanding what it says – and even why we read it at all – is unfortunately RARE. We know from the example of Jesus and the Apostles this was a big deal. And Jesus himself would go off by himself, early in the morning, to spend time with God. He used Scripture against Satan Acts 2, devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching Acts 17:11 commends the Borreans for not taking Paul’s word for something, but “examining the Scriptures daily” Matt: Let me stop you right there to ask a question sent in by a listener named Dalton who asks, “What time of day is best for Bible reading? Is there a time of day that bible reading ‘sticks better?’” J.D.: That’s a good question, and I personally have found that the morning is the best time to read your Bible. First, when i don’t, i find the day gets away from me and i just run out of time or feel too tired.  I also feel SO much more prepared for my day when I’ve spent time with God in the morning.  Orders my day. I can pray through my cal, and also hear from the HS about anything Orders my mind, sets my mind right. A way of giving God my first and my best But one of godliest men I know liked do it better t night, maybe right before bed. So there’s no “right answer,” but Dalton, I’m partial to studying the Bible in the mornings. Matt: Here’s another from Josh: “Does not sticking to a consistent daily quiet time mean I am being disobedient? Great question. My answer would be: MAYBE. It’s clear that we’re commanded to spend time with God. To neglect that is to sin. But don’t go and beat yourself up if you missed a day. Look, this question leads me to something pretty important, which is that I want to make sure that we all understand the WHY behind reading you Bible every day. Yes, reading it will help you understand more about God, about biblical history, and it’ll make you more biblically literate. Yes,

Show Notes: Matt: Welcome to Ask the Pastor with Pastor J.D. Greear. I’m your host, Matt Love. You might be thinking… “What happened to Ask Me Anything?” Well, I’m glad you asked. We’ve decided to really reinvest in this podcast, keep it growing, and we’ve decided to add a new format, a new structure, and a new name! Ask Me Anything is now Ask the Pastor, and the pastor we’re asking is none other than J.D. Greear. J.D.: Yes, we’re very excited about the new name, new format. But there is one drawback: Matt has a face for radio and podcasts, so that’s the only downside to this and I know all of you watching on video will have to just overlook that.  Matt: J.D., let’s get right into it. Here’s a listener question from Madeline. She writes: “A friend of mine is a Swiftie. She has a Swiftie necklace she wears all the time, her lock screen is of Taylor, she wears Eras shirts, she brings up Taylor Swift any time she can. And she recently went to a concert…it is turning into an obsession. How can I help her see that as Christians, Taylor Swift is not someone we want to emulate?” — J.D.: Here’s what I want to say first and foremost: I am not anti-Taylor Swift. So, Swifties, don’t hate on me, OK? My family—my daughters, especially—listens to her music from time to time. I took them to see the ERAS movie. I DO NOT think there’s anything inherently immoral about being a fan of hers. We’ve talked before on the Ask Me Anything podcast about whether or not Christians should listen to any secular music at all. You can go back and listen, but the bottom line is that that’s an area where every disciple of Jesus needs to use their own conscience. I know people who do not listen to ANY secular music at all. That’s a conviction they have for themselves, and I can’t blame them for that. Some of them even make pretty compelling arguments about why they choose not to do so. There are many others (and I’d put myself in this camp) who do listen to secular music--the Apostle Paul seems to have, too, FWIW, based on how he quotes some of the poets of the day—and to you I’d say (and this applies to movies and TV shows as well), you HAVE TO keep your guard up for what gets past your “filter.” There’s a difference between music that is not inherently Christian and music that is inherently “Anti-Christ”/”Anti-God.” That celebrates the things that God hates and centers the theme.  I always compare it with going to a secular party. You can go to a secular event with secular people and sometimes while you are there, they sin. That’s different from going with someone when the expressed purpose is to sin. To get drunk or do drugs or watch pornography or visit a prostitute, obviously. In the same way, If the express purpose of the song, the theme, is sin, I wouldn’t touch it. And then there’s also an awareness of which temptations you’re just particular susceptible to; ones you can’t get out of your head It could a certain kind of sexual temptation that you know you are just particularly susceptible to. It could be materialism or even violence or focus on body image. Luther, if your head is made of butter Then there’s just the saturation question.  Proverbs 4: "As a man thinks in his heart…" Colossians 3 tells us to “Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  Again, I don’t personally take that to mean we should never consume any secular content. But the question is, what are we setting our minds on? What is consuming the majority of our thoughts? Is Taylor Swift someone you should listen to? I can’t answer that for you—you need to make that decision on your own – but I can tell you for me and my family,

We have a VERY special surprise for you today. Next Monday, Feb. 5, we'll be back with a whole new name and format...

Each week, we'll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths--A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear Show Notes:  Can you remember the last time you went through a period of intense doubt? In this episode of "12 Truths & A Lie," Pastor J.D. talks about the most famous doubter of all time-Thomas-and shows us how we can deal with our doubts. Many of us think that our doubts disqualify us spiritually. But doubt is like a raised foot: It can step backwards in unbelief, but it can also walk forward in faith. You'll learn what to do with your doubts, as well as what God says to you in the midst of your doubt. Like Thomas, you may not get all of your questions answered. But you may get something even better-a love too wonderful for words. Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We'll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year. As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast! Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Each week, we'll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths--A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear Show Notes:  Do you ever feel stuck in your sin? Do you ever wish you were more able to kick old habits and overcome old temptations? In this episode of "12 Truths & A Lie," Pastor J.D. walks us through the temptation of Jesus, showing us how Satan brings his battle against Jesus-and against us. He doesn't begin where we might expect, enticing Jesus to do sinful things. He begins, instead, with identity. You'll learn to spot the three traps Satan always uses, and you'll hear about the one truth that enables you to withstand any attack. Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We'll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year. As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast! Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Each week, we'll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths--A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear Show Notes:  Do you remember the first time someone had "the talk" with you? Chances are, they didn't pick up their Bible to walk you through God's view of sex. In this episode of "12 Truths & A Lie," Pastor J.D. walks through 1 Corinthians 6, showing us that sex is more than just biology, but a deeply spiritual reality. In our day, with so much confusion about sex, we need this teaching more than ever. You'll learn how God designed sex, where our society gets sex wrong, and what we can do with our own sexual guilt and shame. Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We'll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year. As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast! Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Each week, we'll be posting a special short version of each 12 Truths and a Lie podcast on Ask Me Anything. To listen to the full version and subscribe, just visit AccessMore at www. accessmore.com/pd/12-Truths--A-Lie-Podcast-by-JD-Greear Show Notes:  When was the last time you had a political discussion with another believer? (Did it go well?) In this episode of "12 Truths & A Lie," Pastor J.D. teaches about the four myths Americans believe about politics-myths that are just as active inside the church as outside it. These four myths tend to turn political discussions into raging arguments, so it's important that we recognize them and learn to avoid them. You'll learn how to navigate political differences without compromising your convictions, setting your hope not on the stars and stripes of our flag, but in the scars and stripes of our Savior. Want to ask J.D. a question? Head to our Ask Me Anything hub to submit your question. We'll pick Ask Me Anything back at the end of the year. As always, don’t forget to rate and review this podcast! Find Pastor J.D. on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.