If you listened to last week’s podcast, you heard us talk with Mr. Mark Sandor about the U.S. Constitution, and we noted how the freedoms our governments provide shouldn’t prevent us from restricting ourselves based on God’s laws and desires, and how a “return to the Constitution” is not enough to save the U.S.—we need real repentance and a turning to God’s laws, not man’s.
As I thought about it, I was reminded of a recent sermon by Mr. Jonathan McNair in which he made a very similar point. The video below is cued up to the moment in that sermon where he explains a major reason why those of us who are Americans currently live “in a land that is being torn apart [and] ripped apart.” It’s a reason that illustrates a key difference between man’s approach to government and God’s.
It’s worth a listen, and the video below is cued up to that specific point in the sermon.
https://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.png00Wallace Smithhttps://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.pngWallace Smith2022-03-14 08:22:002022-03-10 00:31:11Sermon Snippet: Rights vs. Responsibilities
Many in the world want to distract you from what God wants you to do with your life by pointing you to their political causes, and some of those causes can seem attractive and can pull us away from Jesus’ standard, stated when He explained “My kingdom is not of this world.” People are throwing around words like “freedom” and “liberty” out there, but how do you think about those words and ideas biblically? We hope this episode of the podcast can help with that.
On this second podcast recorded during Mr. Mark Sandor’s visit (well, second attempted, first recorded), we spend time reflecting on the U.S. Constitution, our relationship to it as Christians in America [which is hopefully helpful to our non-American brothers and sisters, as well!], whether “getting back to the Constitution” is really sufficient to save the country [Spoiler Alert: It’s not. But why not?], and viewing the freedoms we have through the lens of our responsibilities before God.
As mentioned in the podcast, part of the spur for this discussion was Mr. Gerald Weston’s excellent article “The Bible vs. the U.S. Constitution” in the March-April 2022 Living Church News. If you don’t have the print version, you can click on the title there to read it.
https://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.png00Wallace Smithhttps://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.pngWallace Smith2022-03-10 07:47:442023-01-09 09:55:19Podcast: Christians and the Constitution
You know, when you throw out a suggestion in services, you have to be careful, because someone might take you up on it! At the Feast in Lake Geneva last year, I mentioned to the crowd at the Friday night Bible study that I’d always hoped someone would model Ezekiel’s Temple for me in Minecraft so I could walk around, and, lo and behold, someone did! At the recent Merrill Family Weekend, Allen Wilson showed me the version of the Temple he and his brothers, Jonathan and Benjamin, built their model of the prophetic Millennial Temple in Minecraft, and it looks great.
There are some details where their build differs from what others have done, mainly in some of the heights—which is an area of the description most open to question. I actually plan on touching on that in the Ezekiel 40–48 Bible study that Mr. Jonathan McNair has asked me to do for Living Education, so hopefully I can get my act together and do that soon.
There are two videos are embedded below, and then below that is a gallery of images, including Allen showing it to some of us at the family weekend.
Thanks, Allen, Jonathan, and Benjamin, for your hard work and for being willing to share it!
https://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.png00Wallace Smithhttps://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.pngWallace Smith2022-03-07 16:12:002022-03-04 17:17:57Ezekiel’s Temple modeled in Minecraft by the Wilsons!
The second podcast with Mr. Mark Sandor should be up next week after it’s been edited and prepped for uploading. In the meantime, this week’s podcast is about Proverbs 26:4–5, based on a question we’ve received: Are we supposed to answer a fool or not answer a fool? Listen and find out!
https://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.png00Wallace Smithhttps://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.pngWallace Smith2022-03-03 17:43:382022-03-03 17:43:41Pics from the Merrill Family Weekend!
Howdy! On our way back from the Merrill Family Weekend, which was wonderful! Our thanks to everyone who pitched in to make such a fantastic weekend event. The food, fellowship, sledding, football-in-the-snow—all of it was so enjoyable. Again, thank you!
This is a quick post about how we do prophecy in the Church. I know it can seem intimidating sometimes when you are young, but when you get the basic idea, it all starts to make sense. I hope this quick video (recorded in the car, so apologies about the quality!) is helpful. For the interested, the BBC article I mention can be found here.
P.S. My thanks to the early viewer who saw my mistake about the Merrill Family Weekend festivities! Definitely Saturday night, not Friday night. Friday night was my thrilling Bible Study.
P.P.S. UPDATE, 3/4/22: If you want to see an example of this in action, click here to see Mr. Weston’s most recent TW Update, in which he talked about the situation in Ukraine and reports this same fact. When you know the basics of what the arc of biblical prophecy tells us to expect, then you know what to look for in the news. Don’t let prophecy intimidate you!
https://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.png00Wallace Smithhttps://www.livingyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo2-300x138.pngWallace Smith2022-03-01 11:47:462022-03-07 22:25:08How We Do Prophecy in the Church—A Quick Example
Tomorrow’s World
Sermon Snippet: Rights vs. Responsibilities
/in Uncategorized/by Your Friendly Neighborhood EditorsIf you listened to last week’s podcast, you heard us talk with Mr. Mark Sandor about the U.S. Constitution, and we noted how the freedoms our governments provide shouldn’t prevent us from restricting ourselves based on God’s laws and desires, and how a “return to the Constitution” is not enough to save the U.S.—we need real repentance and a turning to God’s laws, not man’s.
As I thought about it, I was reminded of a recent sermon by Mr. Jonathan McNair in which he made a very similar point. The video below is cued up to the moment in that sermon where he explains a major reason why those of us who are Americans currently live “in a land that is being torn apart [and] ripped apart.” It’s a reason that illustrates a key difference between man’s approach to government and God’s.
It’s worth a listen, and the video below is cued up to that specific point in the sermon.
Podcast: Christians and the Constitution
/in Podcast/by Wallace Smith & John RobinsonMany in the world want to distract you from what God wants you to do with your life by pointing you to their political causes, and some of those causes can seem attractive and can pull us away from Jesus’ standard, stated when He explained “My kingdom is not of this world.” People are throwing around words like “freedom” and “liberty” out there, but how do you think about those words and ideas biblically? We hope this episode of the podcast can help with that.
On this second podcast recorded during Mr. Mark Sandor’s visit (well, second attempted, first recorded), we spend time reflecting on the U.S. Constitution, our relationship to it as Christians in America [which is hopefully helpful to our non-American brothers and sisters, as well!], whether “getting back to the Constitution” is really sufficient to save the country [Spoiler Alert: It’s not. But why not?], and viewing the freedoms we have through the lens of our responsibilities before God.
As mentioned in the podcast, part of the spur for this discussion was Mr. Gerald Weston’s excellent article “The Bible vs. the U.S. Constitution” in the March-April 2022 Living Church News. If you don’t have the print version, you can click on the title there to read it.
Ezekiel’s Temple modeled in Minecraft by the Wilsons!
/in Uncategorized/by Wallace SmithYou know, when you throw out a suggestion in services, you have to be careful, because someone might take you up on it! At the Feast in Lake Geneva last year, I mentioned to the crowd at the Friday night Bible study that I’d always hoped someone would model Ezekiel’s Temple for me in Minecraft so I could walk around, and, lo and behold, someone did! At the recent Merrill Family Weekend, Allen Wilson showed me the version of the Temple he and his brothers, Jonathan and Benjamin, built their model of the prophetic Millennial Temple in Minecraft, and it looks great.
There are some details where their build differs from what others have done, mainly in some of the heights—which is an area of the description most open to question. I actually plan on touching on that in the Ezekiel 40–48 Bible study that Mr. Jonathan McNair has asked me to do for Living Education, so hopefully I can get my act together and do that soon.
There are two videos are embedded below, and then below that is a gallery of images, including Allen showing it to some of us at the family weekend.
Thanks, Allen, Jonathan, and Benjamin, for your hard work and for being willing to share it!
Video 1: Walking around the build.
New This Week!
/in Uncategorized/by Wallace SmithIt’s easy to miss everything that gets posted over the week, so here’s what’s new this week:
Check them out below, or click/tap the item in the list to go straight there. And have a wonderful Sabbath!
Podcast: Proverbs 26:4–5 — Answer or Don’t Answer?
/in Podcast/by Wallace Smith & John RobinsonThe second podcast with Mr. Mark Sandor should be up next week after it’s been edited and prepped for uploading. In the meantime, this week’s podcast is about Proverbs 26:4–5, based on a question we’ve received: Are we supposed to answer a fool or not answer a fool? Listen and find out!
Pics from the Merrill Family Weekend!
/in Uncategorized/by Your Friendly Neighborhood EditorsBelow are a few pictures from the Merrill Family Weekend! These are all from the sledding and football activities on Sunday. It was a blast!
Read moreHow We Do Prophecy in the Church—A Quick Example
/in Uncategorized/by Wallace SmithHowdy! On our way back from the Merrill Family Weekend, which was wonderful! Our thanks to everyone who pitched in to make such a fantastic weekend event. The food, fellowship, sledding, football-in-the-snow—all of it was so enjoyable. Again, thank you!
This is a quick post about how we do prophecy in the Church. I know it can seem intimidating sometimes when you are young, but when you get the basic idea, it all starts to make sense. I hope this quick video (recorded in the car, so apologies about the quality!) is helpful. For the interested, the BBC article I mention can be found here.
P.P.S. UPDATE, 3/4/22: If you want to see an example of this in action, click here to see Mr. Weston’s most recent TW Update, in which he talked about the situation in Ukraine and reports this same fact. When you know the basics of what the arc of biblical prophecy tells us to expect, then you know what to look for in the news. Don’t let prophecy intimidate you!