1 00:00:01,463 --> 00:00:07,593 well, hello, um, my name is John Sloan and it's a privilege today to, 2 00:00:07,653 --> 00:00:11,583 um, carry on the, uh, series in acts. 3 00:00:11,973 --> 00:00:16,083 Uh, and I've been allocated Acts seven, 1 to 50. 4 00:00:16,473 --> 00:00:21,423 Uh, but before we look at that, um, I need to tell you who I am. 5 00:00:21,633 --> 00:00:25,683 Um, some of you would've met me before, uh, some of you maybe not, 6 00:00:25,683 --> 00:00:32,163 but, uh, I'm a retired a and e consultant based near Liverpool. 7 00:00:33,528 --> 00:00:34,818 Uh, I'm a husband. 8 00:00:35,328 --> 00:00:41,268 I'm the father of three, uh, and I am a grandfather to nine, 9 00:00:41,748 --> 00:00:43,398 uh, which makes me fairly busy. 10 00:00:43,728 --> 00:00:50,358 Um, I'm also a church leader, uh, and, uh, I always start by telling, uh, 11 00:00:50,358 --> 00:00:53,328 a medical story as people will know. 12 00:00:53,688 --> 00:00:58,218 Uh, but this one is slightly different to previously, um, little girl came 13 00:00:58,218 --> 00:01:03,198 home from school and said to her, mum, um, had a lovely day today. 14 00:01:03,588 --> 00:01:04,848 Her mum said, what did you do? 15 00:01:05,328 --> 00:01:10,048 And, uh, the little girl said, well, at school they taught us how to make babies. 16 00:01:11,748 --> 00:01:13,308 Well, her mum was really shocked. 17 00:01:13,608 --> 00:01:17,448 Um, she ran over to the phone, it was just before school closing time, 18 00:01:17,658 --> 00:01:22,068 picked the phone up and got through to her teacher and said, I, I, I've 19 00:01:22,068 --> 00:01:26,738 been told that today, um, you, you taught the children how to make babies. 20 00:01:27,558 --> 00:01:29,899 Can, can you explain what's going on? 21 00:01:31,278 --> 00:01:32,508 My daughter's only five. 22 00:01:33,468 --> 00:01:37,098 So the teacher said, well, have you asked her what we taught? 23 00:01:37,338 --> 00:01:38,718 Um, and the mum said, no. 24 00:01:39,468 --> 00:01:42,318 Teacher said, well, go and ask her and then maybe call me back. 25 00:01:43,158 --> 00:01:46,428 So mum put the phone down and, and uh, and went back to the little 26 00:01:46,433 --> 00:01:50,778 girl and said, um, what did they teach you about how to make babies? 27 00:01:51,378 --> 00:01:55,158 And the little girl said, well, you take the Y off and add i 28 00:01:55,248 --> 00:01:59,148 e s and it makes babies well. 29 00:02:00,123 --> 00:02:01,443 It's a sort of medical story. 30 00:02:02,133 --> 00:02:05,863 Um, so let's, let's look at, uh, acts 7:1-50. 31 00:02:05,883 --> 00:02:09,183 It's a long passage, so I, I've abridged it and I'll read 32 00:02:09,183 --> 00:02:11,043 it to you and refer to it. 33 00:02:11,583 --> 00:02:13,383 Um, so here we go. 34 00:02:13,773 --> 00:02:15,843 Uh, brothers, listen to me. 35 00:02:16,533 --> 00:02:20,643 The God of glory appeared to our father, Abraham, and God said 36 00:02:20,793 --> 00:02:25,053 they will come out of that country and worship me in this place. 37 00:02:25,563 --> 00:02:29,973 But because the brothers were jealous of Joseph, they sold him 38 00:02:30,033 --> 00:02:36,183 as a slave into Egypt, but God was with him and rescued him. 39 00:02:36,223 --> 00:02:41,893 Eventually, Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 40 00:02:42,963 --> 00:02:44,193 What a elevation. 41 00:02:44,913 --> 00:02:50,693 Then a famine struck all of Egypt and Canaan, and in time Joseph 42 00:02:51,483 --> 00:02:53,093 told his brothers who he was. 43 00:02:53,793 --> 00:02:55,853 And Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. 44 00:02:56,958 --> 00:03:01,308 After this, Joseph sent, sent for his father, Jacob and 45 00:03:01,308 --> 00:03:03,648 his whole family, 75 in all. 46 00:03:04,668 --> 00:03:08,328 As the time during for God's fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number 47 00:03:08,688 --> 00:03:12,888 of our people in Egypt had greatly increased and years had gone by. 48 00:03:13,728 --> 00:03:19,728 Then a new king who, to whom Joseph meant nothing came to power in Egypt. 49 00:03:20,148 --> 00:03:25,158 He dealt treacherously with the people of Israel and oppressed all 50 00:03:25,158 --> 00:03:29,898 of them by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so they'd die. 51 00:03:31,308 --> 00:03:35,688 At that time, Moses was born and he was no ordinary child. 52 00:03:36,578 --> 00:03:40,818 Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 53 00:03:41,568 --> 00:03:45,258 Moses was educated at all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was 54 00:03:45,258 --> 00:03:47,988 powerful in speech and action. 55 00:03:49,353 --> 00:03:54,213 After many years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a 56 00:03:54,213 --> 00:03:59,253 burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai, and when he saw this, he was 57 00:03:59,253 --> 00:04:01,443 amazed at the sight as you would be. 58 00:04:02,643 --> 00:04:06,683 He went over to get a closer look and he heard the Lord say, I am the Lord. 59 00:04:07,413 --> 00:04:11,733 I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 60 00:04:11,943 --> 00:04:15,993 Jacob and the Lord said to him, take off your sandals for the place 61 00:04:15,993 --> 00:04:17,283 you're standing His holy ground. 62 00:04:18,363 --> 00:04:23,163 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and I've 63 00:04:23,163 --> 00:04:25,843 heard they're groaning and I've now come to set them free. 64 00:04:26,163 --> 00:04:29,553 Now come, I will send you back to Egypt. 65 00:04:31,323 --> 00:04:34,143 This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words 66 00:04:34,323 --> 00:04:36,273 "who made you ruler and judge?" 67 00:04:36,873 --> 00:04:40,953 Who was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself. 68 00:04:41,013 --> 00:04:44,923 That's who through the angel who appeared him in the bush. 69 00:04:45,708 --> 00:04:52,038 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt at the Red Sea. 70 00:04:52,158 --> 00:04:56,688 And for 40 years in the wilderness, this is the Moses who told the 71 00:04:56,688 --> 00:04:59,268 Israelites, God will raise you up. 72 00:05:00,048 --> 00:05:04,158 Uh, will Ra will raise up for you, a prophet like me from your own people. 73 00:05:04,858 --> 00:05:07,398 But our ancestors refused to obey him. 74 00:05:07,578 --> 00:05:12,318 Instead they rejected him and in their hearts turned out to Egypt. 75 00:05:12,918 --> 00:05:18,228 However, the most high does not live in houses made by human hands. 76 00:05:18,738 --> 00:05:23,958 As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. 77 00:05:24,108 --> 00:05:28,638 What kind of house would you build for me, says the Lord. 78 00:05:30,018 --> 00:05:31,458 Well, what do we make of that? 79 00:05:33,168 --> 00:05:35,688 Uh, let's just define a few things that we've referred to there. 80 00:05:35,958 --> 00:05:37,368 Um, who is Stephen? 81 00:05:38,058 --> 00:05:42,888 Stephen is first mentioned in acts as one of the seven deacons appointed 82 00:05:42,888 --> 00:05:47,748 by the apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to the poorer 83 00:05:47,753 --> 00:05:49,188 members of which there were many. 84 00:05:49,788 --> 00:05:50,938 Uh, in the early church. 85 00:05:51,258 --> 00:05:56,838 He's described as being, um, honest, full of the Holy Spirit, full of 86 00:05:56,838 --> 00:05:59,398 wisdom, faith, and the power of Prayer. 87 00:06:00,138 --> 00:06:00,948 Quite a man. 88 00:06:02,238 --> 00:06:04,108 Uh, what was the Sanhedrin? 89 00:06:04,158 --> 00:06:05,208 Let's just define that. 90 00:06:05,213 --> 00:06:09,438 The word Sanhedrin comes from the Greek term Sunédrion meaning 91 00:06:09,443 --> 00:06:11,868 sitting together or Council. 92 00:06:12,858 --> 00:06:17,868 The Sanhedrin was both a Jewish judicial and administrative body. 93 00:06:18,288 --> 00:06:23,508 The Sanhedrin was composed of local elites, including members of the high 94 00:06:23,508 --> 00:06:29,148 priestly family, scribes, which were religious experts and lay elders. 95 00:06:29,943 --> 00:06:34,923 It had leading scholars and functioned as the supreme religious, uh, 96 00:06:34,923 --> 00:06:38,163 educational legal body of the Jews. 97 00:06:38,613 --> 00:06:44,523 It also had a political aspect since its head was recognized by the Romans as 98 00:06:44,523 --> 00:06:48,593 the political leader of the Jews called Nasi, meaning prince in biblical Hebrew. 99 00:06:49,383 --> 00:06:53,043 It was a sort of, uh, uh, devolution. 100 00:06:54,543 --> 00:06:59,343 This supreme council and tribunal of the Jews was headed by a high priest 101 00:06:59,763 --> 00:07:05,703 who had religious, civil and criminal jurisdiction so quite a powerful body. 102 00:07:06,843 --> 00:07:10,743 And so Stephen comes before the Sanhedrin, and he's charged. 103 00:07:11,253 --> 00:07:12,693 Uh, why was he charged? 104 00:07:13,323 --> 00:07:16,893 Well, Steven's behavior and speech so offended the Jewish leaders that 105 00:07:16,893 --> 00:07:21,783 they accused him of Blasphemy, he was arrested and charged with speaking 106 00:07:21,788 --> 00:07:25,173 against this holy place and the law. 107 00:07:26,643 --> 00:07:30,243 So the background to the charges made against Stephen, we've already looked 108 00:07:30,243 --> 00:07:36,543 at, in Acts six and between verses 8 and 15, we, we see, uh, this being, 109 00:07:36,843 --> 00:07:42,033 uh, uh, stated now, Stephen, a man full of grace and power performed great 110 00:07:42,033 --> 00:07:44,553 wonders and signs among the people. 111 00:07:45,303 --> 00:07:51,363 Opposition arose, however, from members of the synagogue of the Freed 112 00:07:51,363 --> 00:07:57,243 Men, as it was called, uh, Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria, as well as 113 00:07:57,243 --> 00:07:59,963 the provinces of Cilicia and Asia 114 00:08:00,328 --> 00:08:03,138 who began to argue with Steven. 115 00:08:03,198 --> 00:08:05,118 The issue is he had new thinking. 116 00:08:05,148 --> 00:08:07,158 He didn't think like they thought. 117 00:08:07,428 --> 00:08:11,778 They had a way of, of weighing up the world in a religious sense. 118 00:08:12,078 --> 00:08:17,928 And Steven came along with a different way of looking at the world, but they 119 00:08:17,933 --> 00:08:22,128 couldn't stand up to the wisdom of, uh, of Steven As he spoke, the scripture says, 120 00:08:22,368 --> 00:08:27,978 so they secretly persuaded some men to say some bad things about him, and they said, 121 00:08:27,978 --> 00:08:32,208 we've heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. 122 00:08:32,808 --> 00:08:36,528 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. 123 00:08:36,888 --> 00:08:40,758 And so they seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 124 00:08:41,718 --> 00:08:44,448 They produced false witnesses who testified. 125 00:08:44,658 --> 00:08:48,588 This fellow never stopped speaking against the holy place and against the law. 126 00:08:49,158 --> 00:08:54,243 We've heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the place and change 127 00:08:54,263 --> 00:08:56,108 our customs Moses handed down to us. 128 00:08:57,618 --> 00:09:01,458 Well, let's just stop there and have a look at that accusation. 129 00:09:01,598 --> 00:09:07,638 It, it, it's often the case that a 50% truth goes through in the minds of 130 00:09:07,638 --> 00:09:14,028 people, but actually tears down, uh, somebody that actually said that truth. 131 00:09:14,418 --> 00:09:19,248 Uh, in other words, um, they, they were making accusations about him that did 132 00:09:19,458 --> 00:09:24,648 actually have tags into his life, but he didn't actually say those things and 133 00:09:24,648 --> 00:09:27,648 didn't mean what they accused him of. 134 00:09:29,208 --> 00:09:33,418 So, to put it in context, Steven was simply stating that the Jews 135 00:09:33,438 --> 00:09:37,578 had departed from the leadership of the patriarchs who were dedicated to 136 00:09:37,578 --> 00:09:40,338 following God, such as Joseph and Moses. 137 00:09:40,428 --> 00:09:46,278 He was perceived by criticizing them and for the Jewish leaders to hear perceived 138 00:09:46,338 --> 00:09:53,388 blasphemous words against Moses then would be similar to right now speaking 139 00:09:53,388 --> 00:09:58,938 blasphemous words against the Quran or the prophet Muhammad for Muslim leaders. 140 00:09:59,658 --> 00:10:02,568 It was bound to cause a serious backlash. 141 00:10:03,918 --> 00:10:07,668 But to set Steven up, manipulation was gonna be needed. 142 00:10:07,968 --> 00:10:15,078 So setting up false witnesses was regarded as perjury, yet in this case was excused. 143 00:10:15,858 --> 00:10:16,278 Why? 144 00:10:17,868 --> 00:10:23,088 Well, let's exit scripture briefly and enter psychology in which I did 145 00:10:23,093 --> 00:10:24,978 my first degree before I did medicine. 146 00:10:26,058 --> 00:10:30,208 There is something called moral intuitions, which says that our 147 00:10:30,228 --> 00:10:37,278 impartiality can be deceptively absent as soon as we speak of our perceived 148 00:10:37,278 --> 00:10:40,568 group, we lose all impartiality it seems. 149 00:10:40,968 --> 00:10:45,018 The psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, uh, which, uh, I'll just show you 150 00:10:45,023 --> 00:10:49,938 his picture here, showed that when someone we regard as being on our 151 00:10:49,938 --> 00:10:55,638 team, Seems to have some, seems to have said something false we become really 152 00:10:55,638 --> 00:10:58,818 quite distressed and, um, defensive. 153 00:10:59,598 --> 00:11:01,398 The moment we're shown a way out. 154 00:11:01,728 --> 00:11:06,528 The moment it emerges that our man or our woman might have been right after all, 155 00:11:06,768 --> 00:11:12,558 our brains rewards center lights up and pulses of dopamine flood us with pleasure. 156 00:11:12,828 --> 00:11:16,248 In other words, seeing someone from our side winning an argument 157 00:11:16,248 --> 00:11:20,418 stimulates us and no one is immune. 158 00:11:20,598 --> 00:11:24,108 Neither religious leaders, politicians or judges. 159 00:11:24,228 --> 00:11:29,958 Indeed then and today, the most dangerous people are those who 160 00:11:29,958 --> 00:11:35,748 believe they have attained a level of impartiality that alludes the rest of us. 161 00:11:36,858 --> 00:11:37,248 Hello. 162 00:11:37,578 --> 00:11:38,658 You recognize that? 163 00:11:40,308 --> 00:11:45,468 We claim logic and reason, but we're actually acting from gut feelings. 164 00:11:46,558 --> 00:11:47,218 Oh, one level. 165 00:11:47,798 --> 00:11:49,068 We all know as much. 166 00:11:50,133 --> 00:11:55,713 But we had a very interesting example not too long ago, in 2019, momentum supporters 167 00:11:55,713 --> 00:12:00,483 were presented with quotations that they were told came from Boris Johnson. 168 00:12:01,293 --> 00:12:03,063 Hey, that would've been fun, wouldn't it? 169 00:12:03,543 --> 00:12:04,623 To a man and a woman. 170 00:12:04,893 --> 00:12:08,973 They're declared the comments, unacceptable, racist, and 171 00:12:08,978 --> 00:12:11,013 incompatible being an MP. 172 00:12:12,093 --> 00:12:15,513 When they were told that the words had actually come from Jeremy Corbin, 173 00:12:16,053 --> 00:12:17,613 there was a bit of backpedaling. 174 00:12:19,983 --> 00:12:24,603 Let's just look at the claims and the counterclaims regarding Stephen. 175 00:12:25,773 --> 00:12:31,023 Uh, the Jewish people actually failed guard on a consistent basis, yet they 176 00:12:31,023 --> 00:12:33,723 believed their heritage was impeccable. 177 00:12:34,983 --> 00:12:39,513 They were unyielding in believing that they were always right. 178 00:12:40,743 --> 00:12:46,643 Beware Emmett Louie Till was born in 1941 in Chicago. 179 00:12:46,883 --> 00:12:48,443 Here's his photo. 180 00:12:49,533 --> 00:12:53,073 He was visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955, age 14. 181 00:12:53,613 --> 00:12:59,943 And while he was there, he was abducted, tortured, and lynched after being 182 00:12:59,948 --> 00:13:02,013 accused of offending a white woman. 183 00:13:02,613 --> 00:13:03,663 Caroline Bryant. 184 00:13:04,503 --> 00:13:09,483 His killers, including her husband, were subsequently acquitted. 185 00:13:10,473 --> 00:13:15,873 Human beings love to be self-righteous, and this can be so prominent 186 00:13:16,323 --> 00:13:18,843 in racism and white supremacy. 187 00:13:20,103 --> 00:13:23,553 And today we see a steady rise in virtue signaling. 188 00:13:24,213 --> 00:13:26,673 It's usually done in the name of self-righteousness. 189 00:13:27,903 --> 00:13:32,143 It's the same sentiment that was being shown to Steven and to Emmett Till. 190 00:13:33,203 --> 00:13:37,953 This past week, uh, I was at a funeral, um, in Manchester and we 191 00:13:37,953 --> 00:13:41,523 had to take our little dog with us because we were away, uh, too long. 192 00:13:42,708 --> 00:13:45,078 And we found a, a nice sheltered area. 193 00:13:45,078 --> 00:13:49,008 It wasn't hot, it was 16 degrees, um, under some trees. 194 00:13:49,008 --> 00:13:54,198 We opened every window and the roof, and our little dog was happy in the car. 195 00:13:54,408 --> 00:13:56,688 She's always happy when she knows she's near us. 196 00:13:57,438 --> 00:14:01,048 But I was really worried during the funeral to the point that I, I went 197 00:14:01,398 --> 00:14:05,598 out in the middle of the funeral and then came back having, uh, checked 198 00:14:05,598 --> 00:14:10,828 her because I was worried not for her, but that somebody would call the RSPCA 199 00:14:10,848 --> 00:14:12,468 because there was a dog in a car. 200 00:14:12,768 --> 00:14:17,718 Or maybe someone would, um, break the window, uh, like in 201 00:14:17,718 --> 00:14:19,048 this instance to free the dog. 202 00:14:20,928 --> 00:14:24,288 Steven understood the bigotry he was up against. 203 00:14:25,128 --> 00:14:28,428 God doesn't interest himself in our self-righteousness. 204 00:14:29,058 --> 00:14:32,538 Uh, eg man-made buildings constraints or philosophies. 205 00:14:33,198 --> 00:14:35,718 Temples and ideologies are our construction. 206 00:14:36,468 --> 00:14:41,823 His throne is in heaven and his standards are infinitely above ours. 207 00:14:42,483 --> 00:14:46,593 We need to look beyond our narrow worldview. 208 00:14:47,913 --> 00:14:50,433 Let's go on and look at the real deal. 209 00:14:51,483 --> 00:14:55,713 So, uh, what is, uh, the real deal? 210 00:14:57,993 --> 00:15:03,273 Uh, let's just read a bit of Joshua 24, where Joshua contrasts Israel's 211 00:15:03,333 --> 00:15:06,343 unfaithful with God's faithfulness. 212 00:15:07,923 --> 00:15:10,263 This is what the Lord the God of Israel says. 213 00:15:10,713 --> 00:15:17,313 We, we read in Joshua 24, long ago, your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates 214 00:15:17,553 --> 00:15:20,283 River and worshiped other gods. 215 00:15:20,703 --> 00:15:25,053 But I took your father Abraham, uh, from the land beyond the Euphrates 216 00:15:25,113 --> 00:15:29,523 and let him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. 217 00:15:29,703 --> 00:15:32,253 And I said, throw away the gods. 218 00:15:32,253 --> 00:15:38,033 Your ancestors worshiped in the Euphrates area in Egypt. 219 00:15:39,093 --> 00:15:41,043 And serve the Lord. 220 00:15:42,543 --> 00:15:49,563 And Joshua said this, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. 221 00:15:50,253 --> 00:15:55,863 And the people said to Joshua, we will serve the Lord our God and obey him. 222 00:15:58,023 --> 00:15:58,803 And this is it. 223 00:15:59,643 --> 00:16:05,703 Serving God, not our opinions or bias, conscious or 224 00:16:05,703 --> 00:16:09,303 unconscious is very challenging. 225 00:16:10,503 --> 00:16:13,623 And I want to ask you, how are you doing? 226 00:16:14,403 --> 00:16:16,143 This is such an important question. 227 00:16:16,143 --> 00:16:19,923 This is the real deal, and I want to repeat the question. 228 00:16:20,853 --> 00:16:28,083 Serving God not our opinions or bias is very challenging. 229 00:16:29,253 --> 00:16:31,953 How are we doing? 230 00:16:33,183 --> 00:16:35,433 So what can we learn? 231 00:16:36,573 --> 00:16:41,403 My psychology friend Jonathan Haidt, said There are six main moral 232 00:16:41,493 --> 00:16:43,983 intuitions that guide our lives. 233 00:16:44,103 --> 00:16:44,823 Here they are. 234 00:16:45,693 --> 00:16:49,943 The first is justice and care, the desire to protect others, 235 00:16:50,853 --> 00:16:52,143 uh, in all circumstances. 236 00:16:53,553 --> 00:16:59,253 The second is fairness, which is my desire to see rules abate. 237 00:17:00,363 --> 00:17:06,843 The third is loyalty to a group that we stand together regardless. 238 00:17:07,683 --> 00:17:10,533 The fourth is authority or respect. 239 00:17:11,073 --> 00:17:16,113 The, the, the, the desire to submit, uh, at all times, regardless of 240 00:17:16,113 --> 00:17:18,183 my desire to go somewhere else. 241 00:17:19,353 --> 00:17:22,023 The fifth is sanctity or purity. 242 00:17:22,413 --> 00:17:28,723 Uh, the, the we, we abhor some actions or beliefs, and the sixth 243 00:17:28,743 --> 00:17:31,238 was added later, which is liberty. 244 00:17:32,178 --> 00:17:34,528 I choose. 245 00:17:36,003 --> 00:17:41,943 Now some people, according to Jonathan Haidt, uh, judge almost everything 246 00:17:42,693 --> 00:17:46,923 by two or three of these, and don't realize that there are moral 247 00:17:46,923 --> 00:17:48,843 intuitions other than their own. 248 00:17:50,163 --> 00:17:53,833 This fuels on them a sense of anger towards others who see things differently. 249 00:17:55,803 --> 00:18:01,653 Meanwhile, others judge the world by a broader number, maybe all six, 250 00:18:01,653 --> 00:18:07,113 maybe five, which makes them puzzled by their opponents rather than angry. 251 00:18:08,043 --> 00:18:09,303 Do we see this today? 252 00:18:11,553 --> 00:18:16,053 Researchers have found that people's sensitivities to the six moral foundations 253 00:18:16,263 --> 00:18:19,023 correlate with political ideologies. 254 00:18:19,028 --> 00:18:20,223 Surprise, surprise. 255 00:18:20,733 --> 00:18:26,433 This all leads to the challenge, which is this, to what degree is our 256 00:18:26,438 --> 00:18:33,273 worldview opinion-based and general political orientation and an emotional 257 00:18:33,633 --> 00:18:36,048 reaction to the world we see around us? 258 00:18:36,048 --> 00:18:40,938 We claim logic and reason, but we actually act from gut feelings. 259 00:18:41,988 --> 00:18:47,868 We are actually biased choosing an emotive path that suits our hearts, 260 00:18:48,288 --> 00:18:53,028 which we then justify in our heads with a supportive, seemingly rational argument. 261 00:18:54,568 --> 00:19:00,528 Well, for the Christian, this all raises massive issues of integrity. 262 00:19:01,248 --> 00:19:04,638 And this is what I draw from this passage today. 263 00:19:04,638 --> 00:19:11,388 The way the Sanhedrin dealt with Stephen, the way they, they, uh, glided past what 264 00:19:11,388 --> 00:19:20,478 was actually really true to fit in beliefs that just suited their preconceived ideas. 265 00:19:21,288 --> 00:19:26,958 So for us, if we want to be Christians of integrity, let me ask this 266 00:19:26,963 --> 00:19:32,378 question, is our selfish opinion used to justify some things we feel. 267 00:19:33,603 --> 00:19:39,513 Or can we be truly honest about what we see in the word of God and base our views 268 00:19:39,513 --> 00:19:44,883 on that, not on our unconscious prejudice. 269 00:19:45,003 --> 00:19:51,243 Can we be questioning all the time what we are believing based on the word of God? 270 00:19:52,133 --> 00:19:57,933 It's a really difficult call and never has it been more challenging than now. 271 00:19:59,673 --> 00:20:04,983 I would say I've been a Christian almost 50 years, and I would say that 272 00:20:05,073 --> 00:20:10,533 right now with, with our politically correct social media dominant world, 273 00:20:11,433 --> 00:20:15,843 this is the most difficult call that it's ever been in my experience. 274 00:20:16,863 --> 00:20:20,703 But the question is, which world are we called to? 275 00:20:22,053 --> 00:20:26,373 Are we called to serve the culture around us? 276 00:20:26,378 --> 00:20:27,813 Everything we see. 277 00:20:29,313 --> 00:20:33,918 The way we're molded into having to take a certain view. 278 00:20:35,538 --> 00:20:40,938 Do we serve that culture or do we serve the one who made the culture? 279 00:20:42,468 --> 00:20:48,258 In other words, can we be countercultural to serve the master? 280 00:20:49,578 --> 00:20:50,458 I leave that thought with you. 281 00:21:10,128 --> 00:21:10,668 Coming up. 282 00:21:10,673 --> 00:21:11,988 We have Conversation. 283 00:21:11,988 --> 00:21:16,038 Street, but before we get into that, here's a clip from our podcast. 284 00:21:16,038 --> 00:21:21,708 What's the story which you can subscribe to on all your favorite podcast apps? 285 00:21:25,068 --> 00:21:29,448 I opened up this card and she had written these beautiful words to 286 00:21:29,448 --> 00:21:32,508 me, and the five that stuck out where you are so valuable to God. 287 00:21:33,588 --> 00:21:35,598 And I was just stuck on them. 288 00:21:35,598 --> 00:21:38,328 I, I read these words and I couldn't think anything past them. 289 00:21:38,748 --> 00:21:45,288 And the more I, um, found myself dwelling on them, the more clear it became to me 290 00:21:45,288 --> 00:21:48,468 that the Lord has a purpose for my life. 291 00:21:48,518 --> 00:21:51,888 And it's not this, um, I am valuable to him. 292 00:21:51,893 --> 00:21:54,228 He's, you know, he's got something more than this. 293 00:22:07,488 --> 00:22:09,168 Welcome back to Conversation Street. 294 00:22:09,348 --> 00:22:10,518 Uh, it's great to have you back. 295 00:22:10,938 --> 00:22:16,288 So what a talk by John and, um, I don't, if you're regular to Crowd 296 00:22:16,288 --> 00:22:18,898 Church, I apologize because for whatever reason the scriptures weren't coming 297 00:22:19,188 --> 00:22:20,478 up on the first part of the screen. 298 00:22:20,508 --> 00:22:24,438 But I think we got a point of what John was talking about, didn't we really? 299 00:22:24,738 --> 00:22:26,478 Uh, we definitely did get into that. 300 00:22:26,478 --> 00:22:28,728 So we are gonna get into that in Conversation Street with John. 301 00:22:29,148 --> 00:22:31,638 Uh, but quick shout out to Sadaf. 302 00:22:31,698 --> 00:22:34,038 What's the story episode, which you just saw the clip from? 303 00:22:34,128 --> 00:22:37,448 That was a great conversation actually with Sadaf, who, um, has 304 00:22:37,728 --> 00:22:44,058 hosted on Crowd and she talks, um, in that episode about abuse and 305 00:22:44,058 --> 00:22:45,798 being in an abusive relationship. 306 00:22:46,338 --> 00:22:50,688 And so when she said, um, When she, when she said, you know, those five 307 00:22:50,688 --> 00:22:52,488 words, uh, you are valuable to God. 308 00:22:53,118 --> 00:22:55,308 Um, and God had a plan for me, and this is not it. 309 00:22:55,338 --> 00:22:56,658 That's what she was talking about. 310 00:22:56,658 --> 00:22:59,868 So definitely do check out such an honest, brave story. 311 00:23:00,408 --> 00:23:02,058 Um, and so do check that out. 312 00:23:02,063 --> 00:23:04,368 It is on, uh, the website. 313 00:23:04,368 --> 00:23:07,708 You can see that at Crowd.Church, www.crowd.church. 314 00:23:07,948 --> 00:23:08,248 Sorry. 315 00:23:09,098 --> 00:23:11,568 Anyway, Dionne. 316 00:23:11,588 --> 00:23:11,808 Yes. 317 00:23:12,768 --> 00:23:15,858 uh, just the reason you were laughing when we came back was because before 318 00:23:15,858 --> 00:23:19,998 we went back on live, um, I asked you if you were dry, which might sound 319 00:23:19,998 --> 00:23:22,633 as a bit of an odd question, but apparently during the talk, you went 320 00:23:22,633 --> 00:23:23,838 and threw coffee all over yourself. 321 00:23:25,188 --> 00:23:28,308 I, I did, I, I dunno what I was doing. 322 00:23:28,308 --> 00:23:32,658 I was fiddling and just whacked like half a cup of cold coffee, which is 323 00:23:32,658 --> 00:23:35,148 now down one leg all over the floor. 324 00:23:35,208 --> 00:23:38,778 I think in every single one of my filing cabinet drawers. 325 00:23:41,658 --> 00:23:42,348 Wow. 326 00:23:43,368 --> 00:23:45,798 I've got some cleaning to do when we're finished here today. 327 00:23:47,358 --> 00:23:48,288 Yeah, I'm sorry about that. 328 00:23:48,738 --> 00:23:53,778 Uh, that's, I shouldn't laugh, but, uh, this, I'm sorry, I, Dionne actually 329 00:23:53,778 --> 00:23:57,348 sent me the photograph during the, uh, during the talk so I can see it. 330 00:23:57,948 --> 00:24:00,258 It's just, it's, yeah, I'm just glad it's not me. 331 00:24:00,288 --> 00:24:00,858 I'm not gonna lie. 332 00:24:00,858 --> 00:24:01,888 It's It's not great. 333 00:24:02,218 --> 00:24:02,788 It's not great. 334 00:24:02,788 --> 00:24:03,668 No, no. 335 00:24:03,668 --> 00:24:10,638 So let's dig into John's talk about challenging our biases and, um, I mean 336 00:24:10,638 --> 00:24:15,588 he, uh, as you would expect with John, great talk, um, he brings in both the 337 00:24:15,648 --> 00:24:17,778 scriptural aspect and the medical aspect. 338 00:24:17,958 --> 00:24:20,388 Did not know John had a degree in psychology. 339 00:24:20,628 --> 00:24:22,528 Um, I just thought he was an, a&e consultant. 340 00:24:22,548 --> 00:24:24,108 Apparently he is got another degree somewhere. 341 00:24:24,558 --> 00:24:25,308 I'm sure he is told me. 342 00:24:25,308 --> 00:24:25,968 I just forgot. 343 00:24:25,968 --> 00:24:27,948 But you know, this is, this is just John, isn't it? 344 00:24:28,038 --> 00:24:28,788 Uh, Mr. 345 00:24:29,598 --> 00:24:30,078 Mr. 346 00:24:30,108 --> 00:24:31,398 Medical Man now, 347 00:24:31,778 --> 00:24:32,068 Yeah, 348 00:24:32,958 --> 00:24:37,623 um, One of the things that he said right at the end there, John, which 349 00:24:37,623 --> 00:24:40,323 I thought was really interesting, we posted in the comments, I think, 350 00:24:40,953 --> 00:24:43,563 uh, was can we be counter-cultural? 351 00:24:43,563 --> 00:24:46,623 He talked about how in his 50 years of being a Christian, 352 00:24:47,698 --> 00:24:47,988 Yeah. 353 00:24:48,753 --> 00:24:49,653 what, what was it he said? 354 00:24:49,713 --> 00:24:54,393 Uh, it has never been more challenging than now, I would say in our politically 355 00:24:54,393 --> 00:24:56,763 correct social media dominated world. 356 00:24:56,763 --> 00:25:02,673 This is the most difficult call, which is as Christians to, um, be 357 00:25:02,673 --> 00:25:06,963 truly honest about what we see in the word of God and put aside our 358 00:25:06,963 --> 00:25:10,593 selfish opinions used, used to justify some of the things that we feel. 359 00:25:11,143 --> 00:25:15,333 Um, because it's probably fair to say that as Christians, we 360 00:25:15,333 --> 00:25:17,463 are not immune from bias, right? 361 00:25:19,293 --> 00:25:27,723 no, I would say that it's a, um, a, a human inevitable in that in some way, 362 00:25:27,723 --> 00:25:30,663 shape or form, we all have biases. 363 00:25:30,853 --> 00:25:35,013 Um, and I think John's correct when he says, um, when there's those, 364 00:25:35,073 --> 00:25:41,073 is it six, um, intuitive biases that, that have been identified? 365 00:25:41,448 --> 00:25:42,018 Yeah. 366 00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:48,138 Whether it's how we were raised, our education, the people we hang out 367 00:25:48,138 --> 00:25:52,428 with, the country we were born in, the culture that we were raised in. 368 00:25:52,758 --> 00:25:56,028 I think we all have, have biases. 369 00:25:56,088 --> 00:26:02,048 And I think as a Christian, it's really important that we reflect on those, um, 370 00:26:02,118 --> 00:26:08,148 potential biases to ensure that they're not influencing the way we behave, the way 371 00:26:08,148 --> 00:26:11,388 we treat people, our thought processes. 372 00:26:11,898 --> 00:26:16,878 Um, I've just spotted Andy's put a little comment, um, in the chat there. 373 00:26:17,058 --> 00:26:20,888 It says, um, isn't looking to God and not looking within to 374 00:26:21,108 --> 00:26:24,268 fix ourselves, countercultural? 375 00:26:25,638 --> 00:26:28,328 Um, I would say yes and no. 376 00:26:28,948 --> 00:26:31,698 Um, One. 377 00:26:31,998 --> 00:26:33,198 We do need to look to God. 378 00:26:33,408 --> 00:26:36,828 That's, I mean, that's for sure, definitely looking to God and to the 379 00:26:36,828 --> 00:26:40,938 Bible, to find the ways that we should be thinking about things and the way 380 00:26:40,943 --> 00:26:42,798 that, that God thinks about things. 381 00:26:43,248 --> 00:26:47,358 Um, but actually looking within, that's part of that process. 382 00:26:47,363 --> 00:26:50,599 God helps us to look within ourselves to identify those 383 00:26:50,604 --> 00:26:52,428 things that need to be changed. 384 00:26:53,088 --> 00:26:57,378 Um, I put, wrote a little note here that I didn't get a chance to post onto 385 00:26:57,378 --> 00:27:01,608 the, onto the comments that says we can be, um, we can be easily outraged. 386 00:27:01,668 --> 00:27:05,568 And I think as Christians, that's something we do really well, 387 00:27:05,718 --> 00:27:10,708 is that we're easily outraged by this, by that, by the all. 388 00:27:11,178 --> 00:27:15,258 And the Bible tells us that everybody has done something wrong. 389 00:27:15,888 --> 00:27:16,178 Yeah. 390 00:27:16,578 --> 00:27:17,748 That includes ourselves. 391 00:27:18,318 --> 00:27:21,018 It tells us that everybody deserves mercy. 392 00:27:21,168 --> 00:27:23,908 It says God's mercies are new every morning. 393 00:27:24,888 --> 00:27:25,178 Yeah. 394 00:27:26,778 --> 00:27:28,228 Our Bible say that Grace is free. 395 00:27:29,613 --> 00:27:30,663 And that we should forgive. 396 00:27:31,773 --> 00:27:37,773 And actually, if we are leading with those truths, it does lead to less bias. 397 00:27:37,803 --> 00:27:43,713 Because I, I know from my, just from my own biases, I have a tendency to 398 00:27:43,713 --> 00:27:48,763 think that if I do something wrong, then it's, it's somehow justified. 399 00:27:49,323 --> 00:27:52,203 I was pushed to it, I had no choice. 400 00:27:52,563 --> 00:27:56,643 Whereas if somebody else does something wrong, they are bad, they 401 00:27:56,703 --> 00:27:58,833 are wicked, they should be punished. 402 00:27:58,863 --> 00:27:59,723 I want justice. 403 00:28:00,933 --> 00:28:03,753 Um, and I think that kind of measuring. 404 00:28:04,503 --> 00:28:08,253 The fact that we measure people's wrongdoings or what we perceive 405 00:28:08,253 --> 00:28:12,933 to be wrongdoings and it's always worse than ours, um, that's a bias. 406 00:28:13,728 --> 00:28:16,158 Yeah, it's a really interesting point. 407 00:28:16,158 --> 00:28:18,888 There's a great, uh, phrase that I've heard a lot. 408 00:28:18,888 --> 00:28:22,248 I think I've mentioned it before on Crowd, but there's this phrase, um, 409 00:28:22,278 --> 00:28:27,438 that I, I've heard that we judge others by their actions, but we 410 00:28:27,438 --> 00:28:29,478 judge ourselves by our intentions. 411 00:28:31,083 --> 00:28:31,203 Hmm. 412 00:28:31,428 --> 00:28:37,698 And that's, and that is so true, uh, in the church, in Christian circles, right? 413 00:28:37,698 --> 00:28:42,678 Because as Christians, we, we sh we in theory should know better 414 00:28:42,678 --> 00:28:45,558 because we do have, like John talked about the word of God. 415 00:28:45,558 --> 00:28:46,218 We have scripture. 416 00:28:46,223 --> 00:28:48,138 We know what to measure things up against. 417 00:28:49,188 --> 00:28:55,113 Um, and so we can tend to excuse ourselves a little bit because of our intentions 418 00:28:55,113 --> 00:28:58,893 behind the actions, but when it comes to others, we don't see those intentions. 419 00:28:58,893 --> 00:29:02,133 We don't know them, and so we judge them just purely by their actions, 420 00:29:02,283 --> 00:29:03,313 which is what you're saying, right? 421 00:29:03,828 --> 00:29:04,308 Yeah. 422 00:29:04,548 --> 00:29:07,038 And I think we don't take the time to find that out. 423 00:29:07,043 --> 00:29:12,288 And so John did raise, or the two things he raised, one was that Steven 424 00:29:12,378 --> 00:29:18,618 was, um, at, at least at one point, he was part of that group that were 425 00:29:18,618 --> 00:29:22,698 piece persecuting him and, and lying about him to you, into, to get him 426 00:29:22,698 --> 00:29:24,618 into this, into this court situation. 427 00:29:25,218 --> 00:29:30,698 Um, I found that really interesting because we do like to distance ourselves 428 00:29:31,368 --> 00:29:33,078 like, oh, I would never do that. 429 00:29:34,593 --> 00:29:39,273 When, when actually, you mean they may have just been making 430 00:29:39,273 --> 00:29:43,383 excuses as we just discussed about Well, that wasn't our intent. 431 00:29:43,388 --> 00:29:45,093 Our intent wasn't to kill Stephen. 432 00:29:45,093 --> 00:29:50,583 Maybe our intent was, you mean to defend God's honor, defend God's name. 433 00:29:50,913 --> 00:29:52,323 Um, we didn't mean it to go this far. 434 00:29:53,193 --> 00:29:56,763 And I can see how, I can see how that happens. 435 00:29:56,763 --> 00:29:58,743 So I think John explained that really well. 436 00:29:59,193 --> 00:29:59,853 Um, in the. 437 00:30:00,263 --> 00:30:00,463 Two. 438 00:30:00,488 --> 00:30:04,323 Can be part of the Crowd, uh, not realize it. 439 00:30:04,383 --> 00:30:07,133 We can be the persecutors and not realize it. 440 00:30:07,443 --> 00:30:07,513 yeah, 441 00:30:07,643 --> 00:30:09,603 We can be very harsh judges 442 00:30:10,893 --> 00:30:11,343 yeah. 443 00:30:11,433 --> 00:30:12,293 I'm saying that as Christian. 444 00:30:12,663 --> 00:30:15,173 I think Christians can be harsh judges sometimes. 445 00:30:15,963 --> 00:30:19,233 Um, because of that blindness, about our own biases. 446 00:30:20,043 --> 00:30:21,633 Yeah, that's a very fair point. 447 00:30:22,113 --> 00:30:29,223 Last week in the livestream we talked about how, um, with the, the guys from 448 00:30:29,223 --> 00:30:31,173 the Sanhedrin, there's a, there's a means. 449 00:30:31,563 --> 00:30:33,378 Means the means justifies. 450 00:30:33,548 --> 00:30:35,763 The end justifies the means philosophy here. 451 00:30:35,763 --> 00:30:36,093 Right? 452 00:30:36,483 --> 00:30:40,953 So, um, because you have in theory blasphemed and because you are 453 00:30:40,958 --> 00:30:47,943 doing all these things wrong, then what we are doing here justifies, 454 00:30:48,423 --> 00:30:53,313 uh, We are justified in our action because this is gonna stop it, right? 455 00:30:53,313 --> 00:30:55,623 This is, this is our bias. 456 00:30:55,623 --> 00:30:57,363 The means versus justification. 457 00:30:57,368 --> 00:31:00,843 And we talked about this last week, that actually the means, um, or 458 00:31:00,843 --> 00:31:02,553 the ends doesn't justify the means. 459 00:31:03,243 --> 00:31:07,813 And in a world where we have biased thinking, 460 00:31:08,633 --> 00:31:09,053 Mm-hmm. 461 00:31:09,323 --> 00:31:15,333 it's easy to fall into this, and the end justifies the means thinking, right? 462 00:31:16,968 --> 00:31:17,808 It's really hard. 463 00:31:17,808 --> 00:31:19,188 It's really hard. 464 00:31:19,308 --> 00:31:24,888 Um, especially if you, if you've been wronged or you feel like you've 465 00:31:24,888 --> 00:31:30,168 been wronged, it's very easy to, to knee-jerk, react to people. 466 00:31:30,173 --> 00:31:33,868 I mean, we see it on the internet all the time, you know, and 467 00:31:33,968 --> 00:31:34,233 we do. 468 00:31:34,323 --> 00:31:34,653 Yep. 469 00:31:35,148 --> 00:31:39,858 it means the same one person can be anti-bullying one day, but then the next 470 00:31:39,863 --> 00:31:43,668 day bullying somebody on the internet because they've got a different opinion to 471 00:31:43,673 --> 00:31:48,618 them and saying mean things, badmouthing them to a bunch of other people, you know, 472 00:31:48,798 --> 00:31:50,508 saying things that might not be true. 473 00:31:51,138 --> 00:31:55,968 Um, and it's, it's such an easy trap to fall into. 474 00:31:56,508 --> 00:32:00,078 Um, yeah, it's a very easy trap to fall into. 475 00:32:00,978 --> 00:32:03,228 No, it is, it's funny because Jesus talks about this, isn't he? 476 00:32:03,228 --> 00:32:06,468 He said, you've gotta learn to take the plank out of your own 477 00:32:06,468 --> 00:32:09,258 eye before you go and remove the speck out of somebody else's. 478 00:32:09,978 --> 00:32:14,238 And I think the thing with bias and discrimination, one of the things for 479 00:32:14,238 --> 00:32:16,638 me that's come up over the last few years, because there's been a lot of 480 00:32:16,638 --> 00:32:21,288 press coverage hasn't there, about, um, I mean, John touched on racism for example. 481 00:32:21,288 --> 00:32:23,538 There's been a lot of press coverage, quite rightly so about some of the 482 00:32:23,538 --> 00:32:24,768 things that's been going on there. 483 00:32:25,728 --> 00:32:29,838 And actually, I can look at things, you know, like there's a lot of 484 00:32:29,838 --> 00:32:33,588 conversation, for example, around, um, black Lives Matter and the campaigners 485 00:32:33,588 --> 00:32:34,998 and the institution behind it. 486 00:32:35,873 --> 00:32:36,163 Yeah. 487 00:32:36,288 --> 00:32:40,518 And I, I can get into those arguments either way, and I, and I I, but that, 488 00:32:40,518 --> 00:32:44,178 the point for me in all of this is actually God, what are you saying to me? 489 00:32:44,178 --> 00:32:47,838 What's the plank that I, I need to take out of my own eye? 490 00:32:47,898 --> 00:32:50,688 What is the Holy Spirit pointing on and highlighting? 491 00:32:51,258 --> 00:32:52,488 What's the world viewer? 492 00:32:52,518 --> 00:32:56,448 What's the lens I'm looking at the world through here and does 493 00:32:56,453 --> 00:32:58,698 something need to change in my heart? 494 00:32:59,088 --> 00:33:02,088 And that first and foremost, that's got to be the primary thing 495 00:33:02,088 --> 00:33:03,228 I think, in all of this, right? 496 00:33:03,488 --> 00:33:03,708 Mm. 497 00:33:05,373 --> 00:33:06,573 Yes, definitely. 498 00:33:07,083 --> 00:33:11,733 I, uh, I mean the whole Black Lives Matter thing I found really difficult. 499 00:33:12,423 --> 00:33:22,733 Um, one as a black person, um, but also being around, um, Christians who 500 00:33:23,523 --> 00:33:25,253 had very strong opinions either way. 501 00:33:25,433 --> 00:33:31,563 So that was really, I found that really difficult and it became very, very 502 00:33:31,833 --> 00:33:37,293 polarizing and it meant that it was difficult then for, so things like me 503 00:33:37,293 --> 00:33:40,413 trying to talk about, um, racism in church 504 00:33:41,523 --> 00:33:41,853 Hmm. 505 00:33:42,013 --> 00:33:46,203 having, you mean very few questions, willing to have that 506 00:33:46,203 --> 00:33:50,283 conversation because their, their bias was, well, we are not racist. 507 00:33:50,373 --> 00:33:51,423 That doesn't happen here. 508 00:33:54,063 --> 00:33:56,313 And it was kinda like, oh, okay. 509 00:33:56,373 --> 00:33:57,603 So, and it. 510 00:33:58,023 --> 00:34:02,643 It, it genuinely was very, very difficult to have those conversations, and I 511 00:34:02,643 --> 00:34:06,723 think we have to be open sometimes that, no, I don't think anyone's running 512 00:34:06,723 --> 00:34:09,513 around being, you know, overtly racist. 513 00:34:09,513 --> 00:34:14,343 I said, well, actually there are some, you mean procedures, cultural ways that 514 00:34:14,348 --> 00:34:20,658 we work that exclude people or there certainly have been, um, And being in a 515 00:34:20,658 --> 00:34:25,968 position where we're open enough to have those conversations without, um, you 516 00:34:25,968 --> 00:34:31,368 know, doing that thing where we, where we assume ourselves to be holy and righteous. 517 00:34:31,368 --> 00:34:32,628 And that would never happen. 518 00:34:33,333 --> 00:34:33,783 Yeah. 519 00:34:34,308 --> 00:34:35,448 Um, but it's, it's hard. 520 00:34:35,508 --> 00:34:37,368 It's, it's really, really hard. 521 00:34:37,368 --> 00:34:41,628 And even for someone like, you know, John Sloan, who's been a Christian for 50 522 00:34:41,628 --> 00:34:45,108 years, acknowledges how difficult it is. 523 00:34:45,618 --> 00:34:50,658 Um, and I think all we can do is continue to be honest with ourselves, but also 524 00:34:50,663 --> 00:34:53,088 allow other people to be honest with us. 525 00:34:53,628 --> 00:35:00,288 Um, and I think the community, it's really important that we have good friends and, 526 00:35:00,288 --> 00:35:05,523 you know, good Christian brothers and sisters who can say, Hang on, Dionne, I, 527 00:35:05,523 --> 00:35:10,803 you mean I've seen this and have you had a little think about how that's impacting 528 00:35:10,803 --> 00:35:15,633 somebody else, or, you know, you need to maybe have a little reflect on that. 529 00:35:15,693 --> 00:35:18,873 Um, and I do think it's, it's important, but it's, it's really hard. 530 00:35:18,873 --> 00:35:19,683 It's challenging. 531 00:35:20,793 --> 00:35:21,993 Yeah, it is, it is. 532 00:35:22,443 --> 00:35:26,013 Um, and is putting the comments here, um, does Satan care about 533 00:35:26,103 --> 00:35:28,973 our morals as he does our faith? 534 00:35:29,673 --> 00:35:33,333 Um, Andy, I, I don't know, Dionne, if you've got any thoughts on this? 535 00:35:33,393 --> 00:35:38,403 I'm, I'm, I'm not sure I understand the question, but, um, so if you can 536 00:35:38,403 --> 00:35:40,493 maybe give us a bit more information. 537 00:35:40,893 --> 00:35:42,013 I have a thought. 538 00:35:42,543 --> 00:35:43,623 Um, I 539 00:35:43,773 --> 00:35:44,283 Of course you 540 00:35:44,313 --> 00:35:44,423 that, 541 00:35:44,423 --> 00:35:45,293 do. 542 00:35:46,673 --> 00:35:48,273 Hey, stop being cheeky. 543 00:35:52,143 --> 00:35:57,153 I think that morals are, can be a barrier to faith 544 00:35:58,003 --> 00:35:58,163 Hmm. 545 00:35:58,743 --> 00:35:59,583 is what I think. 546 00:35:59,673 --> 00:36:01,953 And I think that Satan can use. 547 00:36:02,478 --> 00:36:08,088 You mean our, if we believe that we are of good moral standing, that I don't do bad 548 00:36:08,178 --> 00:36:11,388 things, that I'm always good to people. 549 00:36:11,568 --> 00:36:15,948 It's actually a barrier to faith and believing in God and coming to that place 550 00:36:15,948 --> 00:36:18,798 of repentance and reconciliation with God. 551 00:36:19,218 --> 00:36:22,758 So I don't think it's it that Satan doesn't care about morals. 552 00:36:22,848 --> 00:36:26,958 I think that morals can be a tool to keep us from God. 553 00:36:28,098 --> 00:36:29,508 That's a really interesting viewpoint. 554 00:36:30,978 --> 00:36:32,148 Really interesting viewpoint. 555 00:36:32,153 --> 00:36:33,438 It's one of those things, isn't it? 556 00:36:33,438 --> 00:36:39,738 Where, um, you are right that, uh, we call that in the church, self-righteousness 557 00:36:39,863 --> 00:36:41,123 don't we in a lot of ways. 558 00:36:41,238 --> 00:36:48,318 Um, and a lot of times self-righteousness is very understated, or very 559 00:36:48,648 --> 00:36:49,668 understated is the wrong word. 560 00:36:50,248 --> 00:36:52,368 I think it goes unrecognized in ourselves 561 00:36:53,038 --> 00:36:53,328 Yeah. 562 00:36:53,478 --> 00:36:55,188 because we think we're being virtuous. 563 00:36:55,818 --> 00:37:01,818 Um, but it's actually, it's actually interesting, isn't it? 564 00:37:01,818 --> 00:37:03,168 Again, coming back to the bias thing. 565 00:37:03,168 --> 00:37:03,618 So how do you. 566 00:37:04,653 --> 00:37:08,973 Um, how do you deal with bias in your own life? 567 00:37:09,393 --> 00:37:12,323 Um, Dionne, how, how do you stay on top of all of that, do you think? 568 00:37:13,953 --> 00:37:14,463 Right. 569 00:37:14,523 --> 00:37:16,263 So my, it's funny actually. 570 00:37:16,263 --> 00:37:19,503 So my, I've, I've, I've recognized my biases in different 571 00:37:19,503 --> 00:37:21,233 ways than John talked about. 572 00:37:21,453 --> 00:37:25,233 So John talked about kind of like political leanings and, and culture. 573 00:37:25,803 --> 00:37:27,793 My biases have come about through trauma. 574 00:37:30,033 --> 00:37:39,423 So having a particular dislike for a certain sort of person, um, ha has 575 00:37:39,453 --> 00:37:43,323 come about through my own, kind of like personal trauma and, and like 576 00:37:43,983 --> 00:37:45,363 bad things that happened really. 577 00:37:45,363 --> 00:37:51,243 And I think a lot of people have had that in one, in, in, um, some way or other. 578 00:37:51,933 --> 00:37:58,248 So, That is where I've had to really dig deep. 579 00:37:58,308 --> 00:38:06,048 And I'm not gonna lie, I, I did therapy to get, to get a handle of some of my biases. 580 00:38:06,048 --> 00:38:12,958 Cause those biases were, um, embedded in trauma and then they were 581 00:38:13,548 --> 00:38:16,818 reinforced by my own poor thinking. 582 00:38:18,198 --> 00:38:23,478 Um, and actually in order to undo that, I had to go to therapy to 583 00:38:23,483 --> 00:38:25,428 try and, you know, work that out. 584 00:38:25,488 --> 00:38:26,238 I didn't do that. 585 00:38:26,388 --> 00:38:28,068 Um, you mean without God? 586 00:38:28,068 --> 00:38:31,068 So I, I obviously, I prayed and I've shared in groups 587 00:38:31,068 --> 00:38:32,898 and had support from church. 588 00:38:33,258 --> 00:38:40,803 Um, but that they, but I also needed that help with my, um, With my broken thinking. 589 00:38:40,803 --> 00:38:44,103 And I did have a lot of broken ways of thinking. 590 00:38:44,133 --> 00:38:48,783 And so I needed, therapy was about teaching me new ways of thinking and 591 00:38:48,783 --> 00:38:54,813 about being able to be impartial and remove my own pain and trauma out 592 00:38:54,813 --> 00:38:59,133 of my responses, out of my thought patterns and things like that. 593 00:38:59,613 --> 00:39:03,693 Um, a and again, I think it's something we don't really talk about 594 00:39:03,813 --> 00:39:05,883 in Christian circles enough that 595 00:39:05,883 --> 00:39:05,973 Mm 596 00:39:05,973 --> 00:39:14,193 sometimes our biases can stem, stem from pain, can stem from, you know what I mean? 597 00:39:14,193 --> 00:39:17,203 Life-changing incidents and things like that, that we, we 598 00:39:17,203 --> 00:39:18,803 need to bring all that to, to God. 599 00:39:18,903 --> 00:39:22,683 We, we do, we need to bring all that to God, get the help that we need to 600 00:39:22,863 --> 00:39:24,633 challenge and remove those biases. 601 00:39:24,633 --> 00:39:26,283 But that could be a lifelong journey. 602 00:39:28,008 --> 00:39:29,178 That's super powerful. 603 00:39:29,268 --> 00:39:30,438 I mean, super powerful. 604 00:39:30,443 --> 00:39:36,608 You, you know, that bias here is not just something that I was taught at school. 605 00:39:36,678 --> 00:39:37,328 It's not just. 606 00:39:38,193 --> 00:39:41,103 Um, I mean, it can be, you know, bias can come from that. 607 00:39:41,103 --> 00:39:44,493 It can come from your upbringing, it can come from your family, it can 608 00:39:44,493 --> 00:39:47,073 come from the neighborhood you grow up with and the friends that you had. 609 00:39:47,883 --> 00:39:53,313 But also it can come, like you say, from the hurts and from the experiences and 610 00:39:53,313 --> 00:40:00,873 from the trauma and the abuse and from all these things that happen to us, um, 611 00:40:01,413 --> 00:40:05,103 we can start to see things with a bias. 612 00:40:05,133 --> 00:40:09,633 So it's, it's not just because I think sometimes people hear the 613 00:40:09,633 --> 00:40:13,743 word bias and think if you accuse me of being biased, which is probably 614 00:40:13,743 --> 00:40:16,473 what happens in the church, we don't like to be told we're wrong. 615 00:40:17,193 --> 00:40:20,973 Um, if you, if you accuse me of being biased, then something's wrong 616 00:40:20,973 --> 00:40:27,453 with me rather than saying actually, um, if I am biased in some way. 617 00:40:29,103 --> 00:40:32,958 Is that, That's something that I need to understand, and that 618 00:40:32,958 --> 00:40:36,048 might not be something that's necessarily wrong with me. 619 00:40:36,048 --> 00:40:37,788 It might be something that has happened to me. 620 00:40:37,788 --> 00:40:41,808 It might not be something that has been a conscious choice on my part, but it's 621 00:40:41,808 --> 00:40:45,978 now my conscious choice to sit down and unpick that with the help of the 622 00:40:45,978 --> 00:40:47,418 Holy Spirit and go, Lord, what are you? 623 00:40:47,448 --> 00:40:48,618 What are you saying to me here? 624 00:40:48,618 --> 00:40:48,619 Right? 625 00:40:50,498 --> 00:40:53,898 I think there is a, there is like a, a psychological term that they use 626 00:40:53,903 --> 00:40:56,418 called, um, emotional intelligence. 627 00:40:56,928 --> 00:41:00,108 And it's something that I didn't really understand, but it's that, 628 00:41:00,228 --> 00:41:05,898 that process of coming to the realization that I might have issues. 629 00:41:06,273 --> 00:41:11,568 I might have biases, and actually those are things that I, within myself, 630 00:41:11,568 --> 00:41:16,638 without judging myself harshly, but ju just understanding that because of 631 00:41:16,698 --> 00:41:19,938 something happened to me or because of the home that I grew up in, or 632 00:41:19,938 --> 00:41:24,858 because of the place that I was raised, whatever the reason is, we can, we 633 00:41:24,863 --> 00:41:27,528 all have things that that's a fact. 634 00:41:27,528 --> 00:41:30,978 We all have things, but actually being mature enough to acknowledge 635 00:41:30,983 --> 00:41:33,618 that, okay, that I've still got things I need to work on. 636 00:41:34,428 --> 00:41:37,818 Um, and it's okay to have things, we still need to work on. 637 00:41:38,118 --> 00:41:43,758 This whole notion of a perfect Christian who is completely unbiased. 638 00:41:44,268 --> 00:41:48,018 Um, it's, it's funny, I was actually praying about this last week, um, 639 00:41:48,018 --> 00:41:50,478 and I was thinking, oh, I should, I should write something about this. 640 00:41:50,478 --> 00:41:51,648 I wanna write something about this. 641 00:41:52,268 --> 00:41:55,488 Um, trying to aspire to be the perfect Christian. 642 00:41:56,238 --> 00:42:02,538 Um, and actually it's, it's a journey, um, becoming unbiased is a journey, um, in the 643 00:42:02,538 --> 00:42:07,518 natural sense, but also in our walk with Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit. 644 00:42:08,478 --> 00:42:11,168 Um, and like the Holy Spirit is gentle with us. 645 00:42:11,228 --> 00:42:15,408 It mean he'll help us to acknowledge things without it being a judge. 646 00:42:15,768 --> 00:42:18,378 Judgey, finger wagging, you are so bad. 647 00:42:18,798 --> 00:42:20,508 So the Holy Spirit doesn't work like that. 648 00:42:20,598 --> 00:42:24,108 We do that as people, as human beings. 649 00:42:24,663 --> 00:42:26,433 But Holy Spirit doesn't do that. 650 00:42:26,973 --> 00:42:30,243 Um, so yeah, it's, it's, it's a journey. 651 00:42:30,243 --> 00:42:31,443 It's a challenge. 652 00:42:31,533 --> 00:42:36,933 And I, I, I think that as we grow and continue to grow, that you 653 00:42:36,933 --> 00:42:39,063 mean, I, I hope we get better. 654 00:42:39,303 --> 00:42:40,323 I, I hope we get better. 655 00:42:41,043 --> 00:42:41,823 I believe we do. 656 00:42:41,853 --> 00:42:42,483 We do get better. 657 00:42:43,383 --> 00:42:43,893 Yeah. 658 00:42:43,893 --> 00:42:50,373 I think, you know, again, um, I think it's been an interesting few years, hasn't it? 659 00:42:50,378 --> 00:42:55,113 For our society, for our culture, and I think as Christians we also 660 00:42:55,713 --> 00:42:57,333 have the help of the Holy Spirit. 661 00:42:57,843 --> 00:43:02,493 And the Holy Spirit has part of the deal is the Holy Spirit has 662 00:43:02,493 --> 00:43:04,653 a love for everybody, right? 663 00:43:04,683 --> 00:43:09,723 So fundamentally, um, every person on the planet, man, woman, child, regardless of 664 00:43:09,728 --> 00:43:13,773 who they are, where they live, how they were brought up, are all equally valuable 665 00:43:13,778 --> 00:43:20,373 before God and part of the Christian journey is allowing the Holy Spirit to, to 666 00:43:20,373 --> 00:43:23,463 breathe that love for people inside you. 667 00:43:23,793 --> 00:43:26,913 And part of that love for people is being willing to acknowledge that 668 00:43:26,913 --> 00:43:28,923 actually maybe you are slightly biased. 669 00:43:29,643 --> 00:43:32,973 Um, and you know, just cuz you give them tea and a hot chocolate on a 670 00:43:32,978 --> 00:43:34,413 Sunday doesn't mean you're not biased. 671 00:43:34,503 --> 00:43:36,603 And let's just be, you know, real about that. 672 00:43:37,353 --> 00:43:39,363 Um, but no great conversation. 673 00:43:39,513 --> 00:43:42,423 And um, yeah, andy's just put that in the comments. 674 00:43:42,423 --> 00:43:43,113 We are God's children. 675 00:43:43,113 --> 00:43:44,643 We are absolutely God's children. 676 00:43:44,643 --> 00:43:48,933 And I think, I'm not saying, uh, if you are not a Christian watching 677 00:43:48,933 --> 00:43:53,673 this, um, you know, I'm not, we're, as you can tell, we're not saying 678 00:43:53,673 --> 00:43:54,993 the church is perfect in any way. 679 00:43:55,053 --> 00:43:58,533 We serve a perfect God in an imperfect way. 680 00:43:58,743 --> 00:44:00,003 We are imperfect people. 681 00:44:00,453 --> 00:44:07,653 Um, but it's, I'm really, I, for one, I'm really grateful for the conversations like 682 00:44:07,653 --> 00:44:11,103 this, you know, that actually churches are starting to talk about this and 683 00:44:11,108 --> 00:44:13,084 asking Holy Spirit, how can you help us? 684 00:44:13,233 --> 00:44:13,564 How can you. 685 00:44:14,763 --> 00:44:16,353 Where do I need to go here with this? 686 00:44:16,833 --> 00:44:18,783 Um, but that's been awesome. 687 00:44:18,833 --> 00:44:21,963 Dionne, any closing remarks from you on this whole topic as we near 688 00:44:21,983 --> 00:44:23,603 the end of Conversation Street? 689 00:44:24,408 --> 00:44:31,248 Um, I think my only comment would be that I think, just to reiterate 690 00:44:31,248 --> 00:44:39,963 that acknowledging our own biases is not a, it's not a harsh criticism 691 00:44:40,383 --> 00:44:40,803 Mm-hmm. 692 00:44:41,583 --> 00:44:46,383 not to go away, go away and be, you know, hating on yourself because, oh, I may have 693 00:44:46,388 --> 00:44:47,763 been biased in this, that, and the other. 694 00:44:48,363 --> 00:44:53,343 And understand that actually as part of growing, as a human being, growing as a 695 00:44:53,348 --> 00:44:58,353 Christian, that inevitably we identify things in ourselves that need to change. 696 00:44:58,533 --> 00:45:04,143 And that's actually, that's a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit that is, you know, 697 00:45:04,293 --> 00:45:08,883 bringing out good fruit, bringing us, uh, you know, it's causing us to change and 698 00:45:08,888 --> 00:45:10,983 become more and more like Jesus every day. 699 00:45:10,983 --> 00:45:14,973 So don't be afraid of, you know, identifying things in 700 00:45:14,973 --> 00:45:16,443 yourself that may not be great. 701 00:45:16,893 --> 00:45:17,673 That's okay. 702 00:45:17,703 --> 00:45:21,963 God's done that in order to sh to bring us to a place of change. 703 00:45:22,458 --> 00:45:23,748 Yeah, absolutely. 704 00:45:24,228 --> 00:45:24,378 Yeah. 705 00:45:24,378 --> 00:45:27,198 Bring it to God and let him help you, uh, through the whole thing. 706 00:45:27,468 --> 00:45:28,338 Uh, definitely. 707 00:45:28,908 --> 00:45:29,778 That's awesome. 708 00:45:29,818 --> 00:45:30,028 Dionne. 709 00:45:30,048 --> 00:45:31,728 Thanks for joining me for Conversation Street. 710 00:45:31,728 --> 00:45:33,138 I enjoyed that conversation. 711 00:45:33,318 --> 00:45:37,218 Uh, it's, um, I appreciate these things aren't always easy to talk about, but I'm, 712 00:45:37,223 --> 00:45:38,748 I'm, like I said, I'm glad we're doing it. 713 00:45:38,808 --> 00:45:41,268 You know, that's what we like to do here at Crowd we like to talk 714 00:45:41,268 --> 00:45:43,728 about things that maybe we shouldn't necessarily talk about, cuz we can. 715 00:45:45,243 --> 00:45:45,703 Why not? 716 00:45:46,353 --> 00:45:46,803 Why not? 717 00:45:47,253 --> 00:45:47,643 Why not? 718 00:45:47,703 --> 00:45:49,983 When you do it with amazing people like you, it becomes easy. 719 00:45:50,133 --> 00:45:52,533 So, uh, it's, it's great. 720 00:45:52,533 --> 00:45:55,893 So what we got going on, the comments here, just a reminder, 721 00:45:56,133 --> 00:45:57,633 there's no zoom calls this week. 722 00:45:57,633 --> 00:45:58,623 So Matt Crew is on it. 723 00:45:58,623 --> 00:45:59,343 You must have put this. 724 00:45:59,823 --> 00:46:03,243 So, uh, for those of you new to crowds, we have midweek community 725 00:46:03,248 --> 00:46:06,393 groups, like on Zoom, but this week, uh, the community groups take a 726 00:46:06,393 --> 00:46:08,463 break, um, because it's half term. 727 00:46:08,853 --> 00:46:10,203 Uh, here in the UK it's a holiday. 728 00:46:10,203 --> 00:46:14,823 So, uh, yeah, we, we uh, we're taking a break, but if you would like to join our 729 00:46:14,823 --> 00:46:17,133 community group, if you would like to find out more about how to get plugged 730 00:46:17,138 --> 00:46:20,103 in and connected to what we're doing here at Crowd, do head over to the 731 00:46:20,103 --> 00:46:24,813 website if I can find the little, um, I've not got my usual tools with me, 732 00:46:24,813 --> 00:46:26,433 so I dunno where anything is anymore. 733 00:46:27,633 --> 00:46:28,263 Normally have buttons. 734 00:46:28,413 --> 00:46:28,833 There you go. 735 00:46:28,833 --> 00:46:31,463 Put the website on the screen www.crowd.church. 736 00:46:31,533 --> 00:46:33,633 You can reach us on social media @Crowd Church. 737 00:46:34,383 --> 00:46:38,133 Um, and we would love to help you get plugged in, uh, and connected. 738 00:46:38,523 --> 00:46:41,433 Uh, but more information is available on Crowd Church about 739 00:46:41,433 --> 00:46:44,343 the community groups, about, you know, about the Christian faith. 740 00:46:44,348 --> 00:46:47,823 If you wanna find out more about the Christian faith and how Jesus helps us 741 00:46:47,823 --> 00:46:50,643 live a more meaningful life, you can, there's all kinds of stuff on there. 742 00:46:50,733 --> 00:46:51,933 It's a brilliant resource. 743 00:46:52,533 --> 00:46:56,673 Um, even if I do say so myself, not perfect, but brilliant, bit like me, 744 00:46:56,733 --> 00:46:58,113 really not perfect, but brilliant. 745 00:47:01,563 --> 00:47:04,173 So, what's happening next week? 746 00:47:05,603 --> 00:47:05,953 Right. 747 00:47:05,953 --> 00:47:08,343 You're trying, you're trying to pick my brain now here. 748 00:47:08,343 --> 00:47:13,653 If I remember, next week is the wonderful John Farrington who will be, 749 00:47:14,013 --> 00:47:14,673 but close. 750 00:47:15,633 --> 00:47:16,773 is it Pete Farrington? 751 00:47:17,133 --> 00:47:17,893 Yeah, it is he. 752 00:47:18,828 --> 00:47:20,208 Oh, okay. 753 00:47:20,538 --> 00:47:22,808 There's some guy that coming next week. 754 00:47:26,068 --> 00:47:26,288 Mr. 755 00:47:26,298 --> 00:47:31,818 Farrington will be you next week giving us the next installment 756 00:47:31,878 --> 00:47:33,958 of the story of Stephen. 757 00:47:33,983 --> 00:47:38,898 So this will be post court case, um, to you will we'll be discussing the 758 00:47:38,898 --> 00:47:41,968 outcome of the court case, so tune in. 759 00:47:42,843 --> 00:47:43,053 yeah. 760 00:47:43,053 --> 00:47:45,573 Tune in next week, maybe come make sure you do come join us. 761 00:47:45,963 --> 00:47:48,303 Um, the final part by Mr. 762 00:47:48,403 --> 00:47:51,633 Farrington, and if my daughter, uh, or children are watching 763 00:47:51,633 --> 00:47:53,553 this live stream, they see Mr. 764 00:47:53,553 --> 00:47:56,163 Farrington as Mike Farrington, who in fact is Pete Farrington's 765 00:47:56,163 --> 00:47:58,353 dad who teaches at their school. 766 00:47:58,503 --> 00:48:03,753 So, uh, so even the kids go, Mr. 767 00:48:03,753 --> 00:48:05,068 Farrington's coming on Crowd. 768 00:48:05,068 --> 00:48:07,833 Well, I think it's pretty clear to see. 769 00:48:07,833 --> 00:48:09,823 I have no idea who this person is. 770 00:48:18,078 --> 00:48:19,038 That's really funny. 771 00:48:19,278 --> 00:48:19,548 Yeah. 772 00:48:19,548 --> 00:48:22,428 I'll, I need to get you to meet Parrington and so, uh, we 773 00:48:22,428 --> 00:48:23,508 can get all that sorted out. 774 00:48:23,508 --> 00:48:24,258 But that was brilliant. 775 00:48:24,408 --> 00:48:25,068 That was brilliant. 776 00:48:26,178 --> 00:48:30,288 Well, listen, thank you so much everybody for joining us today on Crowd. 777 00:48:30,293 --> 00:48:31,878 Thank you for your comments. 778 00:48:31,938 --> 00:48:34,528 Um, join us next week at 6:00 PM. 779 00:48:34,538 --> 00:48:37,278 Sorry, I'm laughing cuz Matt has literally wrote it in the comments. 780 00:48:37,818 --> 00:48:43,218 Um, join us next week, uh, for 6:00 PM for, the next installment of Stephen's 781 00:48:43,218 --> 00:48:46,308 story, uh, with, uh, Pete Farrington. 782 00:48:46,313 --> 00:48:46,878 I know him. 783 00:48:46,878 --> 00:48:48,688 That's the main thing. 784 00:48:49,548 --> 00:48:50,223 He's gonna be great. 785 00:48:50,223 --> 00:48:52,443 Pete's been, uh, on Crowd before doing some teaching 786 00:48:52,443 --> 00:48:53,403 before, so he's gonna be great. 787 00:48:53,403 --> 00:48:57,573 We're gonna close this sort of mini chapter on Stephen, uh, next week. 788 00:48:57,573 --> 00:49:03,633 So I think Dan Orange is hosting next week, uh, with John Harding, so I 789 00:49:03,633 --> 00:49:04,953 think you've got those two as well. 790 00:49:04,953 --> 00:49:05,973 So it's gonna be great. 791 00:49:06,163 --> 00:49:06,873 I'll be watching? 792 00:49:07,233 --> 00:49:08,313 Uh, I think next Sunday. 793 00:49:08,453 --> 00:49:12,063 I'm in Portland, Oregon, so I'm getting about, so yeah. 794 00:49:12,123 --> 00:49:13,323 We'll, you know, we'll see you. 795 00:49:13,353 --> 00:49:14,073 It's, it's great. 796 00:49:15,033 --> 00:49:17,013 Have a fantastic week, boys and girls. 797 00:49:17,073 --> 00:49:21,063 Uh, been great to speak to you and Dionne thank you so much for doing this with me. 798 00:49:21,153 --> 00:49:22,143 It's been great fun. 799 00:49:22,188 --> 00:49:23,658 No thank you. 800 00:49:23,663 --> 00:49:25,608 Other than spilling coffee all down my leg. 801 00:49:25,608 --> 00:49:26,538 It was fantastic. 802 00:49:28,743 --> 00:49:30,693 Yeah, don't, don't do that. 803 00:49:30,753 --> 00:49:33,753 I said when you send me the text message saying I've spilled coffee or done 804 00:49:33,753 --> 00:49:36,213 myself, I said my response was okay. 805 00:49:36,303 --> 00:49:37,893 I thought you were supposed to drink it, but Okay. 806 00:49:40,428 --> 00:49:44,178 Whatever floats your boat. 807 00:49:44,348 --> 00:49:44,818 Brilliant. 808 00:49:44,888 --> 00:49:45,378 Alright. 809 00:49:45,618 --> 00:49:48,118 God bless, boys and girls, and ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. 810 00:49:48,118 --> 00:49:48,378 Okay. 811 00:49:48,408 --> 00:49:49,368 Goodbye. 812 00:49:49,848 --> 00:49:52,188 Bye for now. 813 00:49:52,213 --> 00:49:56,013 Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church. 814 00:49:56,313 --> 00:50:01,183 Now if you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit the subscribe button as well 815 00:50:01,183 --> 00:50:07,293 as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live. 816 00:50:07,323 --> 00:50:11,493 And of course, if you are listening to the podcast, uh, the Livestream podcast, 817 00:50:11,493 --> 00:50:14,913 make sure you also hit the follow button. 818 00:50:15,213 --> 00:50:19,263 Now by smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review 819 00:50:19,473 --> 00:50:21,543 on your podcast platform. 820 00:50:21,693 --> 00:50:25,413 It helps us reach more people with the message that Jesus 821 00:50:25,413 --> 00:50:30,333 really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life. 822 00:50:30,423 --> 00:50:35,253 So if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our website, 823 00:50:35,303 --> 00:50:41,883 www.crowd.church, where you can learn more about us as a church, more about 824 00:50:41,883 --> 00:50:46,803 the Christian faith, and also how to connect into our church community. 825 00:50:47,583 --> 00:50:52,923 It has been awesome to connect with you and you are awesome. 826 00:50:53,043 --> 00:50:55,383 It's just a burden you have to bear. 827 00:50:55,623 --> 00:50:58,113 And hopefully we'll see you next time. 828 00:50:58,263 --> 00:50:59,163 That's it from us. 829 00:50:59,163 --> 00:50:59,883 God bless you.