Rapid Fire Questions

3: If God was all powerful couldn’t He have destroyed Satan?

Simple answer, yes he could have, and he will at the return of Christ it says in Revelation 20:10 that Satan and his cronies will be thrown into the burning lake of fire never to return. So the question is not could have destroyed Satan, it's why didn't he or why hasn't he yet?

For that we don’t really have a clear cut answer for it. What we know is that God’s ways are higher than our ways and high thoughts are greater than our thoughts. Often we try to use human reasoning on a divine topic and we simply can’t know the answer to everything.

But what we know about God is that he is sovereign and everything has been planned from the beginning to time to the end. That means what’s coming to Satan will be the best outcome for God righteousness and Justice onto Satan. We also know that God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose so we can trust God that even though Stan has freedom to steal, kill and destroy right now, it won’t be like that forever. We also have to understand that to question God plan and timing is to question his character and nature. And i don’t know about you, im not going to be the one to question God.

So could God have destroyed satan? Yes. And he will. But in the meantime God’s plan is at work.

5: Why do some people in the Bible get their names changed after an encounter with God?

This is an interesting one, whenever God changed a name it was always for a purpose of slinging their name with the identity God has given them. Abram was changed to Abraham, which means father of multitudes, Sari to Sarah which means mother of nations. Jacob to Israel, meaning having power with God. Simon to Peter meaning “the rock.” A name change always had to deal with the identity God has given them, along with what was to come in the story of God.

So when you believe in Jesus you are also given a new identity, as it says in 1st Corinthians the old is gone, the new has come. You are clothed in Christ, you don’t have a new name, but you do have a new identity and purpose. To live like Jesus, and be like Jesus to others in the hopes they would live like and be like Jesus also.

8: How can we love the sinner and hate the sin?

This is one we get a lot, and this is what non-Christian’s or people who think they are Christian’s will use all the time. Following Jesus is just loving people, not judging them. Because if someone is in open sin, and you as a Jesus follower do not condone their actions or lifestyle whatever it is they will call you judgmental and say things like “Jesus would just love me…” why can’t you. You are attacking me, your words are violence and all that nonsense. Meanwhile they have no regard for how you feel when they bash your faith in Jesus and how you live. So how do we love the sinner and hate the sin? Easy, the same way as Jesus.

First we have to realize that we are sinners also, even though you are saved you are still sinning. Similar to an recovering alcoholic, you're always in recovery. But you are saved and thay does not make you better than someone else, it makes you realize what others who are not saved are missing, and it allows you to love them like Jesus would. I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it, Jesus loved everyone, but compromised for no one. He loved people where they were at and challenged them to be his followers. We see two main stories in John 4 and 8 where one woman had 5 husbands and living with a 6th guy. He has a loving conversation with her and then tells her to sin no more. Another woman is caught in adultery, Jesus loves her, sees her, and then lovingly tells her the truth, go and sin no more.

Love does a lot of things, and in 1 Corinthians 13 we see that, but people often miss the verse that says “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.” Love does not approve of sin, love does not turn a blind eye to sin, love does not rejoice in sin. So we can love people, and still tell them the truth of Jesus and if they don’t listen to it, its not you they are rejecting, but its Jesus they are rejecting. So just love them, be there for them, check-in, but do not compromise to their life or lifestyle, and do not pretend like it doesn’t exist. You have the cure to their ailment, so give it to them.

9: What’s the difference between progressive Christianity and progressing in your faith?

This is a good clarifying question, lets define some terms, here, what is progressive Christianity, it is a new movement over the last few decades, that has a low view of Jesus, he is an example for us to try to attin, not the whole encompassing savior that we are to submit to. Progressive Christian’s focus more on being moral than being saved, progressives have a small view of sin. And progressive Christian’s want Gods love without submitting to God’s truth. They bend the knee to culture so to speak so that they are not offensive to anyone. In doing so, progressive Christian’s are not biblical Jesus followers,They do not belive in the Gospel, they preach a different one. Therefore they are not actually Christians.

Progressing in your faith is growing in your faith. Similar to playing an instrument you progressive at the level you put into it. Growing in your faith means you are walking deeper with God, have a closer relationship with Jesus and being changed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit. You should never remain where you are in your faith, you should grow in your understanding of scripture, be transformed in your thinking, and help others in thier faith as well. Progressing in your faith does not have a mountaintop. It’s life long. Paul says in Philippians that it is not something to attain, rather we have to forget what is behind and strive for what is ahead. Progressing means living a life that reflects Jesus, and submitting your life and lifestyle to the ways of scripture.

11: What is Journey’s opinion on abortion and contraceptives?

This is a question we got in different forms a lot especially with the amazing news out of the supreme court when it came to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We as a church celebrate that decision because it is a great first step in protecting the life of the pre-born babies. Don’t tune me out now, lean in and see what God says on the matter. But this will be the longest answer. As a church we do not have an opinion on these topics, we have the truth of God’s word on this topic. Our stance isn't rooted in How we feel, it's rooted in what God has said. God’s truth is greater than man or woman’s opinion, God’s truth takes precedence over anyone's feelings. Many church’s and pastors you may know, apologize to people or preface with an apology on these topics. My friends this is the time more than ever for unapologetic truth telling in the church, and we need men and women boldly speaking truth in a fallen world.

Be ready. So I will start with the latter first, contraceptives. Some of you may ask if I am the right guy to answer this seeing as I have 4 kids under 7, you might ask Cam do you even know what contraceptives are? Yes I do, and I know the stats, condoms and birth control work 99% of the time, however, for the first time in my life, I am a part of the 1%.

So where does the church stand on contraceptives, a sexual relationship within the confines of a marriage between a man and woman, the way that God has created it and commissioned it, we say use them. Condoms and birth control and forms of contraceptives like it are ok and should be used, I cannot find in scripture a great argument against using such things. But once again, any and all sexual activity, in the view of God and scripture is only seen as sacred in the confines of a marriage between a man and a woman. All others aren't sacred but sinful.

God doesn’t hate sex, he created it, in the garden he tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, then after the fall he says to eve that child birth is going to be painful, but afterwards you are still going to desire your husband. Proverbs 5 has a whole portion focused on loving the wife of your youth and even says let her breasts always satisfy you. And all my married men said…, and Solomon wrote a love letter in Songs of Solomon to his first wife that says some pretty out of pockets stuff if you're a prude. Now why I am focused on sex here, the reason is becasue how we view sex and the sanctity of it determines, our views, on all of the different “expressions” of sex. This is what we call a watershed moment, the idea that when water hits a roof it either goes to the left or to the right and it then informs and determines where the water goes. In the same way, what you belive the point of sex is, informs and determines what you believes about the many outcomes of sex. So what’s the point of sex, its from two things, 1: Reproduction 2: Pleasure.

Reproduction is an easy one, Gods design for sex inside of a marriage between a man and a woman is #1 for reproduction purposes, be fruitful and multiply. And all throughout history, when there was a strong family nucleus, and people have followed the sexual ethic as outlined in scprture, the family, community and nations have been strong. And it is for pleasure, God wants you to have fun and enjoy your spouse.

The problem lies in the fact that when cultures and nations disregard Gods sexual ethic, the degration and downfall of that culture, nation or empire always follows. When sex is no longer viewed as man and woman, and only viewed for personal pleasure culture becomes perverted, families are weakened and nations crumble. We are seeing it in our culture here in America, the perverted views of sex and sexuality are making their way into kindergarten classrooms. Our culture views sex as for my pleasure so I will use who I want, when I want to fulfill my need, and any destructive sexual fantasy thier heart desires. And that thought process on sex informs and ultimately determines our views on contraceptives and aboriton. And in our culture and in our nation, we don’t view condoms, birth control or other methods as our only view of contraceptives, in fact 65 million deaths would contribute to the fact that we believe that aboriton is a form of contraceptive. And here is the reality friends, there is major difference between preventing a pregnancy and ending a pregnancy.

And we can have all sorts of conversations as to who’s choice it is, and say yeah, but what about scenarios, and I have had those conversations, and I have been called every evil name in the book for taking this stand, and people have wished the most heinous actions on me and my family for my views. As it turns out people don’t want to hear your views on the matter, they want to hear their opinion coming out of your mouth. The reality is statistically 98% of all abortions happen for the sake of convince. We view sex only as pleasure and then are shocked when a woman gets pregnant. And most people would think, “I never thought this would happen to me.” In a similar scenario, imagine i'm going skydiving, and i have my parachute on and I jump out of a plane, and I’m falling and I go to deploy my parachute and it doesn’t deploy…so I try my backup, doesn’t either, and then I smack the ground and I somehow live. And you come and visit me at the hospital and I tell you, “you know friend i didn't even realize this was a possibility.” You’d be standing there thinking, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO JUMPED OUT OF THE PLANE! How did you now think this was a possibility.

Same goes for sex, its purpose is reproduction. You run the risk when you engage in the act. And interestingly enough the same people who yelled on TV and virtue signaled on social media all throughout the pandemic and shouted and yelled, follow the science, follow the science, follow the science, have turned a blinded eye to the scientific fact that life begins at conception. The baby is an autonomous, and separate human being who has a soul at the moment of conception. Connected yet separate to his or her mother. A person is a person no matter how small.  And they will yell and shout, it’s your body, your choice. Except for the fact that it isn’t a choice for their body, they are making a choice for their child’s body and life. They will say you're a man, no uterus no opinion. Unless of course in the instances where they say a man can get pregnant. It’s a woman’s issue, but they can’t tell us what a woman is, so stay out men. Except for the fact it isn't a women's issue, its a human rights issue.

That would be like someone coming up to me and saying, “hey, you are not a sex trafficker, and you are not being trafficked, so you have no say on the matter.” That is a garbage argument. I find backwards that people believe I and we are on the wrong side of history when we say killing innocent babies is wrong. As a church we will not call evil good and good evil. The church has to speak on this topic because when the church loses its voice culture loses its conscience.

I will say this as a chruch we belive that abortion, kills a person, that abortion is evil, and abortion is sinful. Abortion is a leading cause of death in America and it’s not even close. Abortion isn’t immoral because certain politicians and people call it wrong, abortion is immoral because it takes a picture that God is painting and rips it and tears into shreds and it takes a person formed in the image of God and unjustly denies them the opportunity of life. We will fight for the things God fights for and all throughout scripture God fights for those who cannot fight for themselves. Unborn babies are innocent and do not have a voice to speak, so we will speak for them.

I will also say, that abortion is not the unforgivable sin. You might ask yourself if you’ve had an abortion, or know someone who has had an abortion do they have a seat at the table of God. The answer is absolutely yes, Because even your father in heaven knows what it’s like to lose a son. And your action is no Match for God‘s great grace. Here at Journey you have a seat at our table. You are welcomed here and you will be loved here and there will be no shame from us. Just as if you are a single woman who is pregnant you are welcomed here, loved here and you will find no shame here, you will find people who love you, care for you and are willing to come alongside you and serve you however we can.You can find forgiveness, healing and restoration in Christ Jesus when you repent of your sin and find life and life to the fullest.

Lastly, I would say, if you are a Christian, it is impossible to be pro-choice and still think the way God thinks when it comes to life. To think that God forms and knits babies in the womb, knows them intimately before they are born, plans out their years and, knows every hair on their head, the God that when the unborn Jesus was in the womb of his mother marry, visited her aunt Elizabeth it was the unborn John the Baptist who first leapt at the presences of his Lord. Life does not begin at first breath, it begins at the moment of conception. Jesus said let the little children come to me, that children are a blessing from the Lord, so that anyone who believes in him would have life and life to the fullest; you can’t have life to the fullest in Jesus the life that christians know and understated to be true if you are aborted before you had the chance to breath. I don’t know how someone can reconcile the differences between believing in a pro-life savior, and have a pro-choice mindset without bending the knee and compromising the truth of God to the lie of culture.

As always, everyone has a seat at our table, and love and care for you, your loved ones, and anyone who walks into our church but hears us because we have such a high view of God and his ways and because we have submitted our lives to Jesus and the Holy Spirit and we will talk about anything but compromise on nothing. That is where we stand.