Deeper Roots

Our body has many needs, and all those needs can be categorized into three sections, the spiritual, the mental, and the physical. When any of those systems in our being are out of commission, we will tend to need external help. For some, it might be church, others a therapist or doctor, but no matter where you go, there is a new pressure from influencers to professionals alike to start using other substances to supplement your mental health. No, we are not talking about the abuse of substances like marijuana or psychedelics, but we are talking instead the prescription of these substances by legitimate and solution-driven doctors. Our listener asks “Should a Christian consider drug-assisted therapy?” You have a question or a topic? We'd love to talk about it. Submit it to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots so you can be a part of the next episode. Also, catch the rest of our episodes and the other platforms we are streaming on.

If we take a look back at history, specifically at the history of the church while it takes over Europe and afterward, you will see that there is a lot of events that seem to be big causes for the growth of the church. This sounds great, until you see that those events are often not great for the people involved. Take for example, the Spanish Inquisition, or the Crusades. These events resulted in the deaths of thousands of people in an attempt to spread the “gospel” (with quotes). But why would there need to be such bloodshed and threats if you are spreading the good news? Today's listener asks “Is Salvation Under Duress True Salvation?” You have a question or a topic? We'd love to talk about it. Submit it to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots so you can be a part of the next episode. Also, catch the rest of our episodes and the other platforms we are streaming on.

It's been a bit, but we have gotten busy here at church after the new year. We are finally back with some more episodes coming out over the next weeks, and today, we are back on the topic of the love and friendship. Valentine's Day just passed a couple days ago and we wanted to talk about what it means to us, and what it means for Christians. One of the things Christ wanted us to do was to love each other, but how does the world define that love today, and how can we maintain Christ's example of love? You have a question or a topic? We'd love to talk about it. Submit it to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots so you can be a part of the next episode. Also, catch the rest of our episodes and the other platforms we are streaming on.

Happy New Year! We made it, you made it, and we are all super happy that we are here together in this new year. New Years mean new beginnings, and unless you've been living under a rock or are from another culture, in which case you should know, we like to do new years resolutions every year, because right about now seems like a good time to let the new year mean a new goal. But is the idea of a New Year's Resolution biblical? Is it something that we should do as Christians? Let's talk about it. You have a question or a topic? We'd love to talk about it. Submit it to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots so you can be a part of the next episode. Also, catch the rest of our episodes and the other platforms we are streaming on.

Its officially Christmas time, and with Christmas coming up in a few days, we wanted to talk about it again, but this time, we wanted to bring our attention directly back to Jesus and the need for his arrival here on Earth. We know that Jesus was born to redeem us for our sins, but was Jesus' sacrifice needed for our redemption?

The famous pacifist and lawyer Mahatma Gandhi once said: “If it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian.” And that statement rings true for so many Americans. Across this nation, we have been plagued with the headlines caused by identified Christians and evangelicals, which makes us question what is pushing people away from God? Today, we are talking about Christian “pride”, and we hope you will listen along as we discuss. You have a question or a topic? We'd love to talk about it. Submit it to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots so you can be a part of the next episode. Also, catch the rest of our episodes and the other platforms we are streaming on.

The days are getting colder, and November's getting older, and the thing on everyone's mind today is Thanksgiving. Who's going to prepare the turkey? Will everyone make it in time? Will a divisive conversation be brought up at the dinner table? All legitimate concerns, but through those worries and fear we find ourselves missing the point of the day, to give thanks. So, today, we will do just that. Join us today as we share the verses that speak to us the most on gratitude. We encourage you to take some time yourself, and find the passage that's spoken to you the most this year, and made you more thankful. You have a question or a topic? We'd love to talk about it. Submit it to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots so you can be a part of the next episode. Also, catch the rest of our episodes and the other platforms we are streaming on. Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

One of the first things or the most common things we hear regarding recovery is the idea of letting go. However, it just “by chance” happens to be one of the hardest things to do when you've been wronged, or you've been hurt. Letting go is fundamentally difficult because you think that you need to hold on in order for this thing you are dealing with to pass and heal. Or because it is just already such a big part of you. Today, we talk about what it means to let go, what it isn't and what role it plays in a Christian's life and choices.

Halloween seems to mark the beginning of the holiday season now in 2022, and that also marks the beginning of the annual debate of which holiday is Christian and which on worships the devil. In today's podcast we wanted dive deeper into the topic of Halloween, and we want to talk about how the holiday is perceived today and how it really relates to us, as Christians, today. We had the great opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming.

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. You are not alone. We are told this many times in our lives, and it feels like as you get older, that statement becomes more of a challenge. People grow apart, relationships become strained, but the place this seems to hit the most is in our faith. Feeling alone at church leads to a severe break down of the principles that we use to strengthen our faith. Like, isn't that the whole purpose of the church? Why is it so easy to feel alone as a Christian? We had the wonderful opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. We have talk on this podcast before that as Christians, we are to be aligned with Christ, not to this world. That means we are to think differently from the rest of the world, and we need to keep Christ as the priority in our decision making. So, does that mean we have a duty to serve as Christians, inherent from our salvation? Do we have to serve and perform these duties just on the basis that we are saved? We had the wonderful opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

If you've been in church for pretty much any amount of time, you will know that there are some behaviors that the church would expect from you in your own personal life. Like, don't put yourself in situations where you can find yourself tempted to sin. You can follow those rules, but sometimes people falter and turn back to sin. But since people will often fail in their own walk in their faith, what can the church do to prevent these failings from happening? Can the church enforce or police its members to prevent them from sinning? We had the wonderful opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming.

So one of the things that we know about heaven is that it is perfect. No sadness, no strife, nothing to divide us because we will be unified in our eternal life with God. Something we also believe about heaven that as we get to heaven, we will still maintain our personalities. Those things that make you “you” will still be there, but in their perfect form. But what does that “perfect” form look like? Will we just be the same as the next person in heaven, or the next? Is there any “leeway” in perfection? We had the wonderful opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming.

We know that God built us to have emotions, because God has emotions and God built us in his image. So, we should probably express those emotions. But one of the ways that people choose to express themselves has become somewhat “controversial”, that medium being dance. So with today's questions, we talk about this listener-submitted topic. “Is it bad to Dance?” We had the wonderful opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming.

Right now, if you were going to ask anyone the question “what do you identify as”, some people would probably automatically say something about their sexuality, some others may wonder but then answer what their favorite things to do are, or their occupation. Most people would be able to give you an answer because we believe that we know who we are, but everyone is still struggling to really find out who they are meant to be. There is this confusion, almost a fog, that covers who we are supposed to become, and you have so many people trying to find that answer. There's gurus, there's movies, but it never points back to God. So today we are going to talk about identity, what it is, and why it's so important. We had the wonderful opportunity to talk about this topic, so if you want to follow up on this, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming.

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. In the United States, we have this document called the Constitution, where we have been adding several of these amendments to help develop the reach of the law, one of them being the second amendment. You know, the one about having the right to bear arms. Now if you take a look at the news today, you will see that there are a lot of people in the conservative camps saying that the US shouldn't enact more gun control. And typically you will also see that most of the people in those conservative camps are Evangelicals. So, if you put two and two together, does that mean that Evangelicals are against gun control? These are two clearly separate attributes, but it hasn't stopped the world from connecting Evangelicals to guns. So, today's listener asks the question: How should Christians think about gun control? If you have a question like this one, if you want to follow up on another question, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to hear and talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. When we read through the ministry of Jesus Christ, we see that Jesus was loving and compassionate. We also see that he spoke truth and rebuked those who twisted or ignored the truth. Both aspects of Jesus's ministry can apply to many topics found in today's world, but this week's listener asks “Can a Christian be an LGBTQ ally?” If you have a question like this one, if you want to follow up on another question, or you have a new question altogether, we would love to hear and talk about it. You can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. While you're there, you can also see the rest of our episodes and see where else we are streaming. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. One of the fundamental things we learn about within Christianity is the fact that there will be a rapture, taking up all the saints to heaven before the tribulation, at which point there will be 7 years of suffering on Earth. This prophecy comes from the book of The Revelation and many people use it as something to be hopeful toward. I mean, don't we all just hope that we will be in paradise, never having to worry about pain again? But that creates a whole set of concerns, including the one asked by today's listener: “Why Do We Look Forward to the Rapture?” If you have a question like this one, or about anything that has to do with the Bible or the Christian faith, we would love to hear and talk about it. If you'd like to ask that question, you can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There you can submit your anonymous questions and also see the rest of our episodes, and you can see where else we are streaming. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. When I was a kid, I always thought that the Bible was written in order, and in a sequence, and though there might be different authors, that they all probably knew each other. Over time, I did learn that because of the way that time and age works, most of the biblical authors did not know each other, and that parts were written at different times. This can explain different languages and different historical periods. But what that doesn't explain when a book like Mark gets “updated” over a hundred years after its original writing. So that is what the listener this week is asking, specifically, how was Mark 16:9-20 added after hundreds of years. If you have a question like this one, or really about anything that has to do with the Bible or the Christian faith, we would love to hear and talk about it. If you'd like to ask that question, you can submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There you can submit your anonymous questions and also see the rest of our episodes. Don't be afraid of asking something that you want a refresher on either! Sometimes it is good to revisit a topic so we can go deeper into the subject, especially if your own question wasn't answered. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. If we take a look around the world today, we can see a lot of things happening in terrible ways. We see people are dying, people are suffering. We see people taking advantage of others, hating each other, rejecting each other. Everyone thinks that they are right, but in a world with this many problems, that can't possibly be the case. So what is the source of this pain? How did we get to where we are now? Today's question is “Where does evil come from?” This is our first question that was not from a listener, because we had gotten through our full list of questions submitted. But since the last episode aired, we got a few more questions, so we thank you for submitting them. This also means that there is a lot of availability for your own questions to get answered, so please submit your questions at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There you can submit your anonymous questions and also see the rest of our episodes. Don't be afraid of asking something that you want a refresher on either! Sometimes it is good to revisit a topic so we can go deeper into the subject, especially if your own question wasn't answered. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. You are in control. Maybe, you aren't in control. You don't know if you're in control or if you are not in control at any given point. This is… confusing. But it's a popular conversation today, asking if we people have “free will”. Free will is the freedom to choose whatever we want to do. But a lot of people question our free will, like if we even have any, or if it even matters whether or not we have free will. We talk about all these are things on today's episode. No matter what you think on the topic, there is always options, like the option to submit your own anonymous questions to Deeper Roots. You can submit your own questions online on our form and then your question will get answered right here on the podcast. Just go to www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you will find the form, as well as the rest of our episodes and what platforms you can find us on. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. Due to scheduling conflicts and health concerns, we were not able to record episodes of Deeper Roots for a little while, but now we are back and we are ready to talk about more listener submitted questions. The world is changing, and its changing very quickly, especially in the home. Parents are being presented with issues that have been dealt with in a certain way for a very long time, but are now being presented the option to change the way they solve those issues. Every generation has this opportunity to either keep the cycle going or to break the cycle, but this generation's parents are now facing the subject of their kid's sexuality, and are being scrutinized on how they handle it in today's highly polarized society. Today's anonymous listener asks: What should I do if my kid comes out as homosexual? Before we get started, I do want to note that there may be some sensitive topics in this episode, like abandonment, abuse, and suicide. If you are dealing with something at the moment, do know you are not alone and that God loves you. If you don't have trusted counsel available to help you, we strongly encourage you to call one of these hotlines: The New Hope Telephone Counseling Center has a hotline that is ready to connect you with a trained counsellor either for biblical counseling or suicide prevention. You can give them a call at 714-NEW-HOPE or 714-639-4673. Covenant House provides housing and supportive services to youth facing homelessness. You can give them a call at 1-800-999-9999 Are you struggling with feelings of depression or suicide? Or do you know someone who is? The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255 Please give one of those numbers a call if you are struggling with anything, like depression, abuse, homelessness, suicide, or anything that can put you or anyone else in harms way. God created you with a purpose, and you have a reason to be here. Remember that God loves you and you are important, no matter who you are.  Thank you for joining us here on Deeper Roots. Let's get to the conversation!

This upcoming weekend is Easter, and we want to take an episode to talk about the blessings of Easter and what it means to us. We also want to give thanks for the Christ's sacrifice and for his resurrection, which ultimately paves the way for the salvation He gave us from our sin. We usually answer questions from our audience, so if you want to submit your own questions, there is a free, open, and anonymous form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Once you submit your question, we'll get it and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. So here on the podcast, we've talked about the different versions of the Bible, but something we haven't talked much about is the books within the Bible. What makes this collection of books so special that we call these books God's inspired scripture, and not any of the other books that have been written, found, or uncovered? What makes some books canon, and some not canon? We have had so many of our listeners become part of Deeper Roots through their questions. If you want to submit your own questions, there is a free, open, and anonymous form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Once you submit your question, we'll get it and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. One of the things that Christians are called to do is to reach other people with God's word. Share the gospel, evangelize, expose them to God's love. But not everyone accepts God's word, and sometimes, that rejection comes from the people we care about most, like our friends, our significant other, or our families. We just want to make them listen, or we want to help them agree, but we can't. The listener who asked today's question asks “Have you ever not been able to save somebody”? We have had so many of our listeners become part of Deeper Roots through their questions. If you want to submit your own questions, there is a free, open, and anonymous form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Once you submit your question, we'll get it and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast! Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. Are you in control of the things you do? There is philosophical idea that puts our freedom, free will, and sovereignty into question, and it has been widely debated, now more than ever. As Christians, we understand that God created us with free will, so for us, that argument is an open and shut case, but it still presents us with a lingering question. If Satan introduced sin into the world through Eve, how responsible is the Devil for our sin? Can the devil be responsible for the sins we commit from day to day? We have had so many of our listeners become part of Deeper Roots through their questions. If you want to submit your own questions, there is a free, open, and anonymous form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Once you submit your question, we'll get it and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast! Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

This is our 50th episode! We wanted to take some time to reflect on the past episodes and celebrate the progress Deeper Roots has made. We would like to thank you, our listeners, for supporting us through your encouragement, through your feedback, and through the questions you have submitted. You have supplied over a year's worth of questions so far and we are so happy to see them come in. Again, we thank you. Through the past year, we have had so many of our listeners become part of the podcast through their questions. If you want to submit your own questions, there is a free, open, and anonymous form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Once you submit your question, we'll get it and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast!

One of the most interesting concepts and parts of the Bible for me, personally, has to be the rapture and the tribulation. The whole book of The Revelation and what the Bible says about the end times has its own area of study that so many biblical scholars study and debate about. But there are people who fundamentally disagree with the whole concept of the rapture, and that is where our question lies in today. “How Biblical is the Rapture as we now it?” Did you know that you can submit your own questions so we can answer them on the podcast? You can go ahead and submit your own anonymous question at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Its anonymous, and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. When this episode comes out, it will be a couple days after Valentines day, but we still wanted to talk about love and friendship and what the Bible says about those things on today's podcast. We will return to the regular schedule of listener submitted questions next week. We talk about what the Bible says about love, and how love is used in today's society versus how God defines love. We delve into that and more topics, and I hope you will join us in our conversation. Even though today's podcast wasn't based on a listener's question, you can submit your own questions so we can answer them on the podcast! You can go ahead and submit your own anonymous question at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Its anonymous, and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast! Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. As an artist, one of the things you want to do the most is put your heart into your work. Otherwise, it will be super obvious that you aren't doing a good job. You know that people like Shakespeare and Michael Angelo had a passion for their crafts because the work was so hard to do and they pioneered their respective arts. You can say the same thing about every other artistic medium, be it photography, digital art, cinema and video art. People put their greatest desires into their art. So does that mean that everything a Christian artist or even business-person does have to be directly related to God? Can Christian artists still make secular art? Because if God is supposed to be “number one” in their lives, shouldn't Christians exclusively make Christian art or run Christian businesses. This is the core of our listener's question this week, and it is a great topic to talk about this week on Deeper Roots. Did you know that a listener submitted this question? That means that you are able to as well! You can go ahead and submit your own anonymous question at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form to submit your questions, but also the places where we have our podcast and the rest of our episodes. Its anonymous, and you'll be able to hear your question answered right here on the podcast! Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. What makes your belief more real than my belief? What is so special about what you believe that makes my belief essentially null and void? What can I say about my belief that can discount your belief? This series of questions is obviously difficult to answer because not only is it one that we have been hurting each other for ages over, but it's one that continues to change and grow as more people become old enough to form their own opinions. And to make it more complicated, people start adding their new beliefs into the system. These beliefs do become quantifiable, and a lot of the time it is divided into two different names: this new belief is either called a religion, or a it is called a cult. Now, we have different connotations to both of those words, and some of you might think that they are one in the same, but that is what this podcast is about. Our listener submitted this question: “What is the difference between Christianity and cults?” Hey, you wanna know a little secret? Just so you know, if you want to submit your own question for the podcast, you can submit it on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. On the website, you can find the form, as well as the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we are on. Funny thing about this secret is that we don't want you to keep it. If you like this podcast, go ahead share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. How old are we? Depending on your background, or your religion, or even how practical you are as a person, that question changes a lot. You can be a bit snarky and say that you are how old you are. You can say that humans have been around for about 10 thousand years, or you can say that the earth has been around for billions of years. But no matter how the answer you give changes, or how the scope of the question changes, everything points back to the beginning, and it implies that there is a beginning to start with. And that beginning is some undetermined amount of time that is debated between people coming from different walks of life. But why is there this question? Some people don't want to associate religion to the beginning of the world, and some people want to connect it directly to belief, purpose, and deities. In Christianity, we have our way of thinking about the question, but even within our own discussions do we have our own theories. Our listener asks “Can the Earth be older than how old Christians say it is?” This is a really interesting question, and we think that you might also have more interesting questions of your own. so if you want to submit your own question for the podcast, you can submit it on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. On the website, you can find the form, as well as the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we are on. If you like this podcast, give it a like and please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

TRANSCRIPTDerrick: Hey everyone, and welcome back to Deeper Roots! If you're listening to this podcast, you'll be well aware and acquainted with the fact that we have lots of decisions to make throughout, the span of our lifetimes. Some of these decisions can be relatively small, but a lot of these decisions are potentially life-changing, but more often than not these decisions aren't good at versus bad, they can be nuanced and difficult to decipher the listener that submitted this week's question is facing that sort of decision they ask, how do I desern between what my heart wants and what God has planned for me, we're back from our new year hiatus. We took a little bit longer than we had expected, but we're getting right back into it with our listener submitted questions. If you want to submit your own question for the podcast, you can submit it on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots on the website. You can find the form as well as the rest of our episodes and the stream platforms that we're on. If you liked this podcast. And please share it with your friends, your family, your church, and whoever else you want to. So that way they can enjoy it as well, and they can ask their own questions.Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation.Welcome back to Deeper Roots. We want to thank everyone for joining us again. We're back from our hiatus. We have myself, we have Ester here and we also have Pastor Luis joining us again in the new year. Today, we have a question that was submitted online, uh, by one of our lists. And the question is how do I discern between what my heart wants and what God's plan is for me, the listener also submitted their own question, their own message, which says, I constantly feel like I'm at a crossroads between things and paths in my life or I feel like either way could be what God has in store for me, like serving as a missionary or serving at my local church. How do I figure out what God wants for me without making the wrong decision? Pastor? Pastor Luis: Good, good question. Um, first of all, just wanted wanting to welcome everyone back here to Deeper Roots.I want to thank Derrick and Ester for continuing this ministry as well. And, um, also I know during our hiatus, some people contacted me asking me when we were going to return. So that's good to hear. That's good to hear, to get the there, you're hoping to hear from us again. So I hope that this year as we start 2022, that we're able to be a blessing to your lives as we continue answering questions that, um, you have in your heart. Uh, and also just right now, as we record, we're also going through the midst again of the COVID, uh, surge so just wanna wish everybody's health, uh, that you guys are taking care of yourselves that you guys are, uh, able to heal if you have it and be able to get through this surge real quick in our communities as well. So I'm praying for each of you. All right. So let's get to the question. Uh, the question is how can I discern in my heart? And this is a great question, because especially with the follow up, uh, what you just read? Um, this is a person that's asking about, you know, there's sometimes there's two doors that seem to be just as good, you know, they're both, um, viable doors to walk through, uh, and you're wondering how can I make sure I make the right decision without making a mistake? And I think first of all, that's great, uh, for you to actually stop and ask this question, whoever's asked it is a great step because a lot of people today, they will make decisions, and don't even stop to wonder what God's will is.So just want to encourage you first and foremost, by saying that I'm glad you are asking this question and that you care about not about, uh, making a mistake because a lot of people don't, and that's why they make mistakes. They don't, they don't really care about those things, but when it comes to the word heart, um, What, what are we talking about?There's a couple of verses that come to mind, first of all, but I'll share those in a bit, but I want you guys to contribute Ester when we're thinking about heart. Right? Cause she says, uh, he or she, um, how can I discern between God's will and what my heart wants? What's the heart? Ester: Well, I'm going to talk personally. That's what I can do with my experience. And I being a girl with a lot of emotions, it's big. I've been trained really well to be careful with my emotions, because just because you feel, it doesn't mean it's the right thing. Right? A lot of us, if we felt, you know, we went with what we felt, we'd be eating chocolate and ice cream all the time 'cause we love it. But it's not healthy for us. So I think for me, with my personality and who I am, um, I'm always cautious with my feelings because I don't just, I don't want them to take reign and take over. I've learned with time and with my personality, with who I am, I need to be careful with that and take a step back and really see what the Bible says, and, and then, you know, God's will for me. So when I think when I hear the word heart, I think of emotions that's for me. Um, but just because you feel, it doesn't mean it's the right thing. So that's my, that's my first response to that. Pastor Luis: Yeah, it's a that you hit it right on the nail emotions. Uh, it's the center of our emotions of what we feel and everything. In the Bible, it's interesting because today we have a lot of, um, terminologies that is being, uh, used and thrown around there. You know, like I was teaching the young people on Friday about, uh, mental health and, and emotional wellbeing, you know, in the Bible, it's all wrapped up into one, which is called the inner man, right? So it's the inner man. Um, but the heart, when it refers to the heart, it's, we're talking about that emotional part of our inner man, our, our feelings, but also the inner man is the thoughts, which is the mental part as well, and our thought life and how that relates to the word and the promises and belief and unbelief and stuff like that.So when it talks about heart talking about emotions, right? Emotions, Derrick, um, can emotions lead us astray?Derrick: 100 percent. Pastor Luis: All right. Why would Derrick: 100 percent. Pastor Luis: The question might be obvious, but, uh, just develop that for us. Why? Derrick: When we are using our emotions to lead us, to guide our decision-making and what we want, it can definitely just make us stumble. When, uh, for example, like you use your emotions when you are seeking after a person, right? Uh, let's say the romantic interests, right? And, uh this person might not be the best person for you but your emotions get in the way and then you make, you end up making the wrong decision and it could potentially be that you let this person go because your emotions say you're scared to even make the first move or you end up being with this person and then they cause you a lot of turmoil because they weren't the right person for you. Both of which case were led by emotions. Obviously like your emotions do start off the decision-making process when it comes to this kind of stuff, but eventually you're going to have to move past your emotions and into seeing a God's will, into seeing a compatibility and more of those kinds of things, but emotions might be a good jumping off point, but you need to move, you need to start looking further than your emotions if you're going to start making the decisions. Pastor Luis: Yeah. I think like what you just said as well, so again, uh, there can be both sides of the spectrum also when it comes to the emotions, uh, to making decisions. So like you said, fear is one an emotion. Uh, as well as uh spontaneity and not carelessness is also something just led because I want this I'll do it. It doesn't matter whether I think about or not. And either one is, again, going back to the horse, the first horse of 2022, it doesn't matter which side of the horse you fall off. It's still wrong of you're being led by emotions, whether it's fear or whether it's, uh, not even thinking about what you're going to do and just doing it off of impulse and your emotions. Uh, so let me share a couple of verses. When I think of the word heart immediately, two verses come to mind. First of all, uh, Jeremiah 17:9, um, says "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?" and, and when you talk about unflattering language, I mean, that's pretty unflattering, you know, and the Bible says that we, our heart is deceitful when you know that it is trained in being able to lead us the wrong way to lie to us, to trick us, to make us see things that are not there, believe things that are not true. And then it says desperately wicked and that word "wicked", right, it's just corrupt that it's not able to lead us right. It's not just talking about being deceitful in the sense that okay "it leads us astray" but it's uncapable of actually leading us right, if we're led by, by our heart. And then it says who can know it. And that question is sort of a, sort of like a facetious in a way, because it's saying who can know. It was like, nobody can know it except one person, which is God. And that's why we desperately need his help. Proverbs 4:23 has the other verse. It says, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs, the issues of life". So there, and it sort of goes with that other verse that if, if our heart is wicked,. If our heart is deceitful, then we have to be very careful in guarding it and guarding it in the sense of not just protecting what goes into it, because it also has to do, sometimes we would make the worst of decisions because we're because of the stuff we're watching on YouTube or online, what we're listening to the music we're exposing ourselves to, and it sort of, we were trained ourselves to be more and more led by emotions, by what we see and what we feel and not by what is true. And that's why it says we have to keep it. But it's also the idea of making sure that we deal with it. "Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it springs, the issues of life". If you don't guard it, if you don't, uh, have it under control or what's the other word, when you harness it. If you don't harness your heart, that's where all the issues are going to come out of. Whether good or bad, it's going to be whether it's harnessed or not. So just to start off, then we, the first thing is that we can't trust our emotions. We can't trust our heart to lead us. So then we must trust who?Ester: GodPastor Luis: God. So Esther, what would you advise this person? This young person I'm guessing. Ester: Mhmm. Pastor Luis: What's the first step then if we don't, we can't, we can't trust our heart. We can't be led by emotions. And what should we do?Ester: I think first of all, um, is God's word is number one. I don't know, depending on this decision that they're making out a note, they're making life decisions, like who are they going to marry or they're thinking of what they're going to study or whatever it may be. I think one of the first things I personally do is, you know, look for verses in the Bible that will help me and then prayer is number one after that one, like prayer for God to open or shut doors, especially if there's already two choices. I feel those are a lot easier ones rather than the open-ended like, what am I going to do with my life? It's very different from when you have two choices, but you know, for gone to shut doors, if that's not the right thing for you, even though maybe your heart says, "yes, I want this really badly". Uh, but for him to, to shut those doors and make it very clear what the right choice is. Pastor Luis: And Derrick, you have to, yeah. You have to give a, you have to stop the preacher in me. Because if not, I could take up the whole hour. Derrick: I feel like I, I need to hear the question one more time.Pastor Luis: So basically when we go, when we're talking about the hardest deceitful, we can't trust it. So then the question is what, where do we start off then if we know we can't trust. What's the first thing we should then do when we're facing a very difficult question. Okay. Number one, don't trust my heart, but then what should I do?Derrick: I think that among, I think there are two things that you can do, and both of them are the very usual building blocks that church always tells you, which is to read the Bible and pray. We hear that so often, because like I said, they're the building blocks. You don't get a house without wood or concrete or bricks or whatever you want, you choose to use. You're going to need to pray. And you're going to need to read the Bible because both of those ways are the ways that you both calm yourself down and to get, and detach yourself from the emotions, the prayer, and also learn more about what God actually wants from, from you and your life, the Bible.Pastor Luis: Okay. Very good. I'm going to share two verses and I, and I want you to sort of look at the patterns with any of these verses. That sort of will help our listeners to understand this is, this is a good process to go through when you're facing a decision that you don't know what to do. And especially the one that they propose there where it's two, that seemed good things. I mean, there's, there's not nothing sinful to either one, but you just don't know whether it's God's will or not. So the first one is Proverbs 3: 5-6. We all know those. It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean, not unto your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths". So. You were there, I think on Friday, but I'm not sure if I mentioned on Friday, but anyways, uh, there's two things there, the trusting part and the leaning part. So what's the difference between those two, because that's the "trust in the Lord with all your heart" and "lean, not unto your own understanding". So what does it mean "trust" and "lean"? One is you should trust God and we should stop leaning on our own understanding. Are they the same thing, the opposites of the same thing? Or are, is there a different connotation or Derrick: I think that, Pastor Luis: significance to both?Derrick: One is a very active thing that you can do to trust something, to trust someone, and the leaning is very passive is a trust is something that you need to actively do in order to, uh, uh, to put it into action. Uh, to trust if you're going to trust someone, or if you decide that you trust someone, you're going to let them into something that belongs to you, like, uh, your money or your, your life, right? Uh, whereas when you lean, it's kind of a, it's very passive, it's a lazy thing. It's, it's less effort to lean on something than it is to trust it like I'm going to lean on a wall,Pastor Luis: Which of the two is the action though, the trusting or the leaning? An actual action, not just a thought or an exclamation of something like, uh, I could say, right. I trust someone. Derrick: Well, Pastor Luis: Right? Derrick: I mean, if you lean, you can physically lean on something. That's the action. Pastor Luis: So the is which one is, which is the action? The leaning, right? Derrick: I'm talking about like the more active thing. That's trust and passive is leaning. Pastor Luis: Maybe the cause and effect of what you're saying, right? Because if you trust yeah. If you trust someone, then you will lean on it. Right? So the trust is the trust. The trust is something you say or you feel, or you say I trust someone and trust is also something that you earned through experience. Right? For example, um, I've driven in your car before. Okay. So I know you can drive. Derrick: Yes.Pastor Luis: So I've had enough trust. I trust you that I can, if you had tell me, pastor, do you need a ride? I probably getting your car and I'll make me do the action of actually leaning on you to drive me because I need you, I need to get from point A to point B and I lean on you because I trust that you can drive. Right? And that trust is based off of past experience. And then I know you're a responsible guy and everything. You're not, you're not as speedster. So, uh, because of my, Derrick: You don't know me Pastor Luis: Or at least the times I've been, I've been in your car. Um, so the, the trusting part is more of an inner thing. The the, the, what's it called? The lean, that lean is the action that comes from it. Derrick: When I was saying I kinda got it flipped, but okay. I got it. I got it. Pastor Luis: And, and, and, and my, my question is then let's see Ester, when it comes to, when it comes to the leaning and the trusting part. Um, why is it so important for us to make that difference? Differentiation, I can't say that word in that verse? It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean, not unto your own understanding" Ester: I think from what you were connecting to what you're saying, just because you know what the right thing is, doesn't mean you're going to do it. And that's the thing, that's the step, right? Like, you know, but that doesn't mean you're going to take the action and do what is right. And that's where I feel. Pastor Luis: And then you could also argue then is it really trust? Sorta like a, the, the argument that Peter, I mean, yeah. Peter says, no, sorry. James says faith without works is dead. Is it really faith? If you are not have no works to accompany it. So is it really trust if you're not willing to lean on it? All right. That kind of thing. Right? So it's like, um, that's important for us as human beings to sort of look at, because it's so easy to say. I trust God, I it's so easy. I trust him. I trust him, but the question that's better served for us is to see our actions and see if my actions really show a dependence on God. That I am truly depending on him. And I'm truly believing that he will show me the path and that says so trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean, not unto your own understanding. Uh, and then in all our ways acknowledge him. So that's the sort of part where we have to examine our lives and seeing is my life really one that honors God in, in trust, in my financial life, in my love life, in my marriage if your married, in my uh studies and my work ethic in my, uh, ministries at church. Derrick: And that kind of, uh, refers to the verse that talks about in everything that you do, do for the Lord. Pastor Luis: Do it for the Lord. Amen. And, and, and, and so when we do that, and if we're trusting and we're really learning to trust and lean on on God, then that's where the promise comes in is this, and he shall direct thy path because yeah, I agree. There's decisions that they're like, whoa, Lord, which one is it for me? And either one could be good, but you just like, like our listener said, I share that I fear, and I think it's a good thing. It's a good fear to have of making a mistake. You don't want to make a mistake. Uh, so that's where you start. And then the other passage is Romans 12: 1-2, and you sort of see the same kind of pattern there of surrendering of making sure that trust is established in God before you, then he's able to show you his will, could you read it for us, Ester? Ester: Romans 12: 1-2 " And beseech you, therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God". Pastor Luis: So again, there's an element of surrender of saying, you know, surrender your whole life, give it all as a lifted living sacrifice. And then. it says: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. There's the leaning part where I say, look, I'm not going to lean on what my, my friends say, I'm not going to lean on what society thinks I should do. I'm not going to lean even on maybe your best friends say, uh, I'm going to lean on you. And I want to you to transform my thinking to be whatever it isn't. It, it takes a lot of, uh, a lot of courage to say, Lord, um, Please change my thinking, if I'm wrong about this, change my thinking about that. That's a good prayer to start and say, show me your path. Cause that's the promise at the end, it says: and so that you may prove what is good and perfect with the good and perfect will of God. And that's worth mentioning right there that God's will, is always going to be good. And it's always going to be perfect. And, even if the things let's be honest, uh, Derrick I'll ask you, even in the things that we know to be God's will, do we always obey?Derrick: No, we don't. Pastor Luis: Why? Why don't we obey them? If we know it's like, for example, there's some things we don't even have to pray about. Like, for example, should I tithe? Should I forgive my offender? Derrick: I think we don't have, because we don't want to. Pastor Luis: Exactly. So we don't want to, why don't we want to? Derrick: Because it either we either don't trust it or, uh, we, uh, is not within, uh, the desires of our own hearts to do so.Pastor Luis: Let's use the let's use, let's use the example of forgiveness. I know I should forgive, but I choose not to. We used to, like you said, I don't want to, right? Derrick: YeahPastor Luis: I don't want to, but if God's will is perfect and God's will is good. What is my disobedience claiming or what is my disobedience manifesting about me? Derrick: What I want is more important than what God wants. Pastor Luis: What do we always want, what is more important to us? Do we want harm? Do we wantDerrick: No. Pastor Luis: bad? So what we're really saying at the end of the day is I don't think God is right. And if I obey him, I'm going to end up on the losing end. Derrick: Yeah. Pastor Luis: If I obey him, I'm not, it's not going to be good for me and it's not going to be perfect. So my way is going to be, what's going to bring me what I want, right? Which is good and perfect. According to me. So we have to trust and lean completely for him to then guide us, for him to be able to show us the things. So this is where I would also give this very practical advice to our listeners, uh, when you're facing a decision like. Our person who asked the question is going through right now. Um, make sure you are in obedience in all the known will of God. Make sure you are living a life of obedience and the things you know God is wanting you already to do, that you don't have to pray about these things that are obvious in the word of God. And then he will guide you in the specifics will of God. Then there's the revealed one, and then theres the specific one, which is different for everyone. Derrick: And you don't need to be a, uh, like a Bible scholar in order to do this, like in the, all the known will of God. It's what you know, and you know what, you know, uh, you're not going to, uh, if there is something like in the Bible that you haven't read yet, and you didn't know that this was a sin, that's obviously something different, but that is also your responsibility to know as much as you can, but yeah.Ester: I also believe that if it's a big decision or maybe it's your first time, you know, taking these steps, I also advise checking in with your leader because there are, hold your hand through it, like baby steps. There'll be like, okay, did you get. And you pray about it. And did you and and they'll hold your hand as you go through it and help you maybe ask the questions you need, so you can reflect and take it to prayer, you know, in your studies, whatever you're studying. I think that that could also be support for you as you make a decision.Pastor Luis: I love that advice. It's a practical advice, um, include people to pray for you as you're making that decision. Um, and ask them to remind you of truth in those scriptures that will maybe lean you one way or another, right? And it's, it's very important to take that step, I think, to share decisions with other people so that they can pray with you and help you know exactly what God's will is for your life. Another practical thing I would also add is you mentioned open doors and closed doors. Uh, you and. There's two other elements. I would say too, when, when trying to discern God's will, if you're already leaning on him, trusting him in all your ways, you're letting him renew your, your mind according to his will. And then now you're facing this decision. Look for two things, like you said, open and closed doors, number one, and then peace. Peace in your heart about the decision. Um, when it comes to open and closed doors. My advice always is this, when you're facing choice A and choice B, be honest with yourself and ask yourself, is there one that my heart is leaning towards? You know? And that means is there one that I desire more than the other? And be honest about it, maybe it's do I go to this school or do I go to this school, which is God's will for me. And maybe you say, well, "I'd really like to go to this one because of the friends and blah, blah, but this one has this" But, and you have this decision and maybe you already know which one your heart wants, but you want to make sure that God approves, right? So then my advice is start praying against that one. And what I mean by that is just saying, Lord, you know, I want this one. For example, I want to go to Yale, but Stanford's here too, you know, but at Yale is really the one I want, but God, if it's not your will, please block it. Please do something. Show me something that will show me that this is not for me, even though I want it. I ask you Lord to please block it. I, maybe some people use the word I give you permission God, you know, that sounds weird. But what you're saying is God, please, I'm asking you to interfere. I'm asking you to interfere some way or somehow just show me, this is not the place for me. And that takes guts because we don't like to pray against things we want. We we'd like to pray for the things we want. Right. But it's a good, healthy habit to do. And then the second thing when it comes to, uh, peace, um, that's another thing that you can say, "Lord, please take away my piece about one of the other". You know, don't give me peace. Even if it's the one I want and things keep going, but there's no peace. Maybe that's the way God is leaning. And those are two very good indicators at where God is leading you. Derrick: I did want to address a couple of things that I noticed about the question. So this person was also talking about specifically, like, missionary or serving at my local church. This is something that I've actually been dealing with a lot myself, because I've been thinking, do I want to stay here at my local church? Or do I want to go serve at Wolf mountain? Right. It's not necessarily the same thing as missionary work, but it does involve going away for a mission field. So one of the things I do want to bring up is, is there other parts of your life that are affecting this decision? Like, is it your home life that makes you want to go away? Or is it your comfort here that makes you want to stay? Is it the fear of leaving home or leaving your home church that prevents you from going to the mission field? Or is it the fact that you're comfortable here at home? Uh, or, yeah. So are you comfortable here at home, and you don't want to go out to the mission field or the other way around. I can't come up with the opposite of that situation, but I think you understand what I mean, analyze it your life, you know, your life. I don't know your life. We don't know your life, but take a look and take a good, honest, look at yourself and see, is there something else in my life that is affecting this decision? And can I isolate this decision on its own? It's much easier said than done. You're going, if you're anything like me, you're going to start saying, oh, I want this. Oh no, but this, but this, but this, but this, I mean, you can say that about both sides and it's something that I'm actually still struggling with myself. So this question actually really resonates with me too. So just remember that you, you're not as simple as this decision. You have a whole bunch of things going on in your life that you in your best interest need to address, and God is going to be there. And he's going to be the one guiding that decision and opening the doors and closing those doors. And if you really want to go to be in the mission field, pray against it. If you really want to stay home, pray against it. And then God will open and close those doors as He sees fit. Pastor Luis: Yeah. And that's, um, there's one more point I want to touch on, but what you're saying there is true. That's why we don't, we can't lean on our feelings.Right? Cause it's like, uh, everything you mentioned, fear of leaving home or comfort. It's all centered in the emotions. It's all centered to that. And that's why we can't lean on them. We have to surrender that to the Lord. When it comes to, to that specific question that she's saying, I think there's one more point worth mentioning because you don't try to answer it a very broader sense for so that it would apply to most listeners. But there's one more thing I would add. If God is calling you to a missionary to be a missionary, to be a pastor, a youth pastor to be a, something in the full-time ministry. Let me tell you something. It's a calling. It's not a choice. So for our listeners specifically, let me tell you one advice that when it's God calling, it's not going to go away. It's only going to grow. When it's really God calling you to a ministry. It's not something that's just gonna be a momentary feeling and fleeting, fleeting emotion that, oh, I wish I, maybe this is something I want to do. It's going to be something that's going to be nagging at you and nagging at you and nagging at you. And you going to, that's going to be part of how you're going to know it's God's will for you because it won't go away no matter what your home life is going through. No matter what changing seasons come. It's kind of keep coming up and keep coming up, keep coming up because it's God, won't leave you alone. And then this is another thing I wanted to throw out there. I don't know if all the ministers listening might agree, but when normally when someone approaches a Pastor, which to Ester's point, you know, we need to ask someone to walk with us. When it comes to ministry most times pastors will try to discourage you from it. And the reason is because of that, cause that's sort of like, if it's not for you, you should not be in it. And if it is for you, no matter what the pastor says, you're still going to have that nagging feeling of wanting to give yourself over to that ministry. Because it's very important that when it comes to being a pastor, a missionary, a full-time, whatever thing in ministry, it's not a profession choice, it's a calling. And then you have to make sure it's God's will, or else you're going to be miserable in the ministry. Ester: I just wanted to add really quick. I don't know the situation of this person, but if they're saying serving in the local church or missionary, you should be serving in the local church. I don't know if that's, if that's a situation or not, because then usually, you know, connected to what Pastor was saying, God uses pastors to be like, Hey, so-and-so part of the calling, right? Uh, to use other people. If this person is not connected to their local church, that's like the bootcamp sort of, right. Like that's where you develop your gifts and talents and you know, other people around you the leaders may see the calling before you do sometimes.Pastor Luis: But that's a great observation right there. Cause you're mentioning something that we really well, something that we know for sure everybody should be serving in the local church, but what this person might be struggling with is if God, did God called me to serve to this passion, I feel for serving the Lord, is it meant to be in the local church as a lay person, as a Sunday school teacher, as a youth worker or whatever, or is God calling me to be a missionary, you know that's the part where that's a specific will part, you know, that not everyone's called to missions field, and that's has to be something that, you know, for, for sure God is calling you. And, and like I said, most of the time, that's how God will do it in your life. Um, for me, that's how it's been. God always calls me to things I don't want, but then he doesn't leave me alone about them. So then that's where I know, okay, that's that's as. Will you know? And I know it's it's his calling on, on me and, and usually that's how then he will prove to your, your obedience, your trust in him. And then he will guide you to match your feelings, to, to match his, his will for you. Cause feelings do count. I mean, they do count, but they just have to be surrendered to the Lord so he can change them so that then you can enjoy what he's calling you to. So you can be happy in what you're doing, you know, and, and not the other way around when you're just being led by what you think is going to make you happy and then just to find out it's empty, a void, or like Solomon would say vanity of vanities, you know, like air trying to capture the wind. So that's my, my advice. And I thank you so much to the listener for this awesome question. Derrick: Yeah, I agree. Thank you for this awesome question. It's uh, it's something I can definitely look into for myself. It's definitely something that more people, definitely more people are out there who are trying to figure out this question. So, yeah, we'd like to thank you again. And if you have, if any other listeners they have your own, you have your own question that you want to ask. Please go ahead and ask it. We have a website and we have a form on the website. The website is www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can find a form and you can also find where else we also are streaming our podcast, whether it's YouTube or Spotify or Apple Podcasts, just take a look there see which one is most convenient for you wherever you want it, go ahead and listen. So we want to thank you again. We hopefully can, hopefully you'll hear from us next next week. And the next, next episode. Thank you.Thank you for listening to Deeper Roots. If you want to submit a question, follow up on something we talked about on the podcast, or you want to find us online, you can go to our webpage, which is ibbvn.org/deeperroots. Deeper Roots is a ministry of Iglesia Biblica Bautista Vida Nueva, which is a local church in Castro Valley, California. And you can learn more about us and our church by going to our website, ibbvn.org.

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. Today, we are taking some time to talk about Christmas, not only what it means for us Christians now, but also what it should mean to us Christians. Christmas has taken a lot of different forms just through these past few years due to a lot of things changing throughout the world, but we want to reflect on the holiday and talk about how it resonates through our lives. The topics on the Deeper Roots podcast are entirely listener submitted, and if you want to submit your own question for the podcast, you can submit it on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. On the website, you can find the form, as well as the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we are on. If you like this podcast, give it a like and please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions. This is a good opportunity to tell you all that Deeper Roots will be taking a break for the rest of the year and will be back in January. We want to thank you for your continued support, and for all the questions you've asked throughout 2021. We look forward to hearing more questions form you in the future, and we are praying to God to lead us to the future of Deeper Roots. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. One of the most difficult topics to talk about is the death. It gets more difficult when you talk about the death of a loved one, and even more so when they have already been suffering for a long time. That's why the discussion on euthanasia, or medically assisted suicide, is so difficult to have, but also is so important to address, especially in a society that is constantly trying to legitimize death as a solution to our problems. Today's episode is about medically assisted suicide, but also about how God's importance on life is to be addressed within the topic as well. The topics on the Deeper Roots podcast are entirely listener submitted, and if you want to submit your own question for the podcast, you can submit your question on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. On the website, you can find the form, as well as the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we are on. If you like this podcast, give it a like and please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. Today we are talking about the IFB Model, a popular model that many churches use to structure the organization of the church and the ideals the church follows. We talk about what it is, how churches got to the point of using it, and where it stands today. We also talk about these traditions that the IFB model, and many other church models, fall into — which kind of coincides with some of our previous topics, like in our idolatry episode. If you've been to any number of churches, you'll start to notice that they tend to follow a certain pattern. There is the pastor, there might be an elder board, and a membership process. But how much of that is biblical? How much of any schedule or process is biblical at all? This is where the IFB model lies. Today's listener not only asks “What is the IFB Model?” but also “Why do we use the IFB model? Could it be considered the best model for churches to use? And are there other Models?” Did you know that you can submit your own question online using the form on our webpage? Well, you can, and we will read your question and we will try to answer it biblically right here on the podcast. You can submit your question on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. That link will be in the description. There, you can find more than just the form! You can find the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we are on. If you like this podcast, give it a like and please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanksgiving is a holiday where we all come together and both spend time with family and friends, and also be thankful for our lives and the things within our lives. But nowadays, we can often forget about the things we are thankful for. We can start being more pessimistic about even the great things in life, and that leads to suffering, worry, anxiety, depression, just a general lack of ability to appreciate our lives. So this episode, we are taking a short pause on questions, but just this week! We will be back to questions next week. We just to take the time to be thankful and to also talk about thankfulness. It's something we all need to take the time to remember to do, to be thankful and to appreciate each other, our circumstances, and most of all, God's role in our lives. If you are inclined to, leave a comment on Facebook and/or YouTube and tell us something you are thankful for! If you want to share, but in private, you can also submit your thanksgiving on our form at our webpage. If this is your first episode with us, did you know that you can submit your own question online using the form on our webpage? Well, you can, and we will read your question and we will try to answer it biblically right here on the podcast. You can submit your question on our form found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. That link will be in the description. There, you can find more than just the form! You can find the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we are on. If you like this podcast, give it a like and please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Last week, we talked about how Christian relationships should be different from how relationships are understood within the secular world. You can actually find that podcast by going to our podcast page and listening to last week's episode. Of course, how someone handles their relationships vary from person to person, but one of the primary groups of people that aren't as often as they should are the teens. Dating while you are young is a whole lot different from when you are older, both for the actual ability to date and go out, but also on the spiritual side and the mental side. But teens and dating are often just taboo, where the answer is usually that dating shouldn't happen, and whenever something does happen, there are consequences at home. We aim to talk more about young relationships and the risks associated with “falling in love” at such a young age.

If you've grown up as a Christian, or have been responsible over your kids and are trying to raise them the right way, you might have heard of the concept of courting, instead of dating. You might have heard of this book called “Say Goodbye to Dating”. You might also heard that dating is wrong and you should only find love in a specific way (perhaps by courting). But as a Christian myself, I don't know what “courting” is, and how it is different from dating. Today's listener asks the question: “How is Christian dating/courting different from what the world says dating is?” This question has been on the top of our list for a while, so I'm really happy that we get to talk about relationships like this today. Sometimes it seems that the church has somewhat mixed messaging about relationships and dating, but today we will clear it up a bit. This question was submitted online, and you can submit your own question online using the form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can find more than just the form! You can find the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we're on. If you like this podcast, please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions.

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. So, if you are saved, that means that there was a point in your life where you were unsaved. Meaning there was a point in your life that when you got saved, you were young in your faith and uncertain of the road ahead for you. But as you grow, and you learn more about God, you come to understand more and more truths about people, about God, and about the world around you. But it seems that so many people forget that they started from somewhere, just like you did however long ago that was. That is where I believe the listener is coming from this week when they've asked the question “Am I Less of a Christian For Not Growing Up As A Christian?” This question was submitted online, and you can submit your own question online using the form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can find more than just the form! You can find the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we're on. If you like this podcast, please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions.

One of the things that gets on people's nerves about Christianity is how centered it is on men being the leaders of the church or the household. If you aren't familiar, the Bible talks about how women aren't supposed to lead in the church context, and even goes as far as saying that women shouldn't even speak in the presence of the man. So what gives?! Are we supposed to ignore this part of the Bible, or are we supposed to just suppress women, or is there really a third, true option that God wants us to take? We did have a podcast about this, with a full women's cast, but that conversation was more oriented about the woman's role in the home. Today, our listener asks “Why Can't Women Preach?”. I think both conversations are insightful, so if you want to get more perspective on the role of the woman, and how God's role for them doesn't mean inferiority or suppression, I suggest listening to this conversation and our other conversation. https://www.ibbvn.org/deeper-roots/ep16

If you know a little about the Christian church, you'll know that there are different sects that are called “denominations”, each with their own set of traditions and core beliefs that set them apart from other denominations, all hopefully unified under than banner of Jesus Christ. For example, you have a church like ours, which is a biblical first, baptist second church. You also have people who are in Calvinist churches, pentecostal churches, etc. All these are denominations. Recently, one denomination has been taking headlines more than the rest: that would be the fundamental denomination. We see this denomination neighbored by words like “hateful”, “bigoted”, and “extremist”. But how did it get this way? What is the fundamental church supposed to be, and why would churches use the name? The question our viewer used was “What is fundamentalism and why do churches prescribe to this ideology?” This question was submitted online, and you can submit your own question online using the form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can find more than just the form! You can find the rest of our episodes and the streaming platforms we're on. If you like this podcast, please share it with your friends, your family, and your church, that way they can enjoy it as well AND ask their own questions.

There is this practice in musicals where if a character in the play or movie has too much emotion during a scene, they will go from talking to singing, and if the moments gets even more intense, they will go from singing to dancing. While emotions in the real world might work differently, it is a good simplification. Our emotions and feelings can grow and intensify depending on the moment we are in, and because of that, we can decide to do various things, make various decisions. Will I break into dance and song, or will I make an outburst in another way. Its clear that God created us with emotions, but sometimes our emotions get the best of us. Most of the time, we will make decisions based on our feelings and emotions, and most of the time, those decisions will be wrong. Or at least sub-optimal. And at the same time, Jeremiah 17 also says that the “heart is deceitful above all things”, which is what prompted our listener to ask their question: “Growing up in and attending church we are often told that the heart is wicked, not to be guided by our feelings, and don't follow our emotions. What are our emotions and feelings for? How can we use them to glorify God?” A listener submitted this question online using the form on our webpage. You can submit your own question too, either with your name or anonymously by filling out the form at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll also find all our episodes as well as where else you can find the podcast. If you want to help spread this ministry to others, please share it with your friends or your church, so more people can have the opportunity to ask their own questions!

Ever since our creation, God gave us the free will to make our own decisions. In the beginning, we could have loved God and trusted God, then we would have lived perfect lives within the Garden of Eden. But we know how that turned out and now we are in an imperfect world, with people who aren't perfect and argue over everything. Seemingly, that freedom to choose backfired and now we are stuck with the repercussions of that freedom. But none of us asked for this. None of us asked for sin to enter the world, and I am sure that if we had to choose between perfection and chaos, we would choose perfection on our own free will, right? … right? On this episode, we talk about the question “Did God set us up to fail from the beginning?” “Why did God punish us for Adam eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?”. A listener submitted this question online using the form on our webpage. You can submit your own question too, either with your name or anonymously by filling out the form at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll also find all our episodes as well as where else you can find the podcast. If you want to help spread this ministry to others, please share it with your friends or your church, so more people can have the opportunity to ask their own questions!

In the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, God shows anger when he is not pleased or honored with what people were doing. God was angry with Moses when he struck the rock, and Jesus was angry when the people were using a synagogue as a marketplace. God gets angry at us sinful people sometimes, and when Jesus is angry, it has been used as a model for what righteous anger actually is. However, there's an inherent problem when we try to flip the conversation around. Today's question is “Is it OK to be angry at God?” The listener clarifies “Sometimes we can be bitter towards the Creator. We want to blame someone, something else besides ourselves. Can I blame God for the things that happen in my life and be angry, if not just for a little while?” Actually, we find a similar question in an extremely popular question as well, that is “If we can give God all the credit, can we also give God all the blame too?” We talk about both questions in today's episode. This question like the other questions we've talked about were submitted online using the form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form, but also all our episodes as well as where else you can find the podcast. If you want to help spread this ministry to others, please share it with your friends or your church, so more people can have the opportunity to ask their own questions!

Have you ever found it difficult to get started at something? Maybe you wanted to start exercising or maybe learning a new skill, but everything pretty much was seemingly going against you? That is something we all remember feeling at some point. No one is born great at something, and we all know that habits aren't formed after trying out something once. Good habits form after many times of trying and learning. Well, the same can be applied for our spiritual lives. As new Christians, we may find it difficult to start forming a relationship with God. You might find it difficult or even impossible considering your past relationship with faith or your past mistakes, but God calls everyone to him, not just the healthy or the righteous, but the broken and the sinners too. This difficulty, however, is what pushed a listener to ask this question: “Is building a relationship with God supposed to be hard?” This question like most of the other questions we've talked about were submitted online using the form on our webpage, which is found at www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you'll not only find the form, but also all our episodes as well as where else you can find the podcast. If you want to help spread this ministry to others, please share it with your friends or your church, so more people can have the opportunity to ask their own questions!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. One of the great things about today's society is the fact that we now have an understanding of what mental health is and how our psychological well-being can effect the way we handle our lives and the situations our lives drag us through. This understanding however leads to this assumption that we can fix everything which is often the nature of mankind. We see something we don't like, so we fix it. It wasn't until recently where people started talking about things like ADHD, ADD, anxiety, and depression. And it also wasn't until recently where we are able to medicate for it. But considering that we don't actually fully understand how our brain works, should we consider medication, or is there other steps to helping people? That is what a listener asked: “Should we use medication to treat anxiety?” This is quite specific, but we are going to be addressing this as a whole with other mental illnesses like the ones I mentioned before. This great question, along with the other wonderful questions we have received, were all submitted online, and if you want to ask you own question, you can at ibbvn.org/deeperroots. On that website, there is a form where you can submit a question, follow up on a question, or even just give some feedback. We would love to hear it. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Deeper Roots. At church, we can often see some things that aren't necessarily mandated in the Bible, but are instead a bit of tradition that doesn't interfere with the gospel, namely things like an American flag on the stage to the left of a Christian flag. But there are some things that stem from these traditions or ideals that can end up becoming more than just traditions, and more than just convictions. This week's question was submitted online, asking: “Why do we like war so much?” While the Bible does use the idea of war to illustrate some points, American Christians seem to have taken the concept and ran with it, bringing some political undertones along for the ride. This great question, along with the other wonderful questions we have received were submitted online, and if you want to ask you own question, you can at ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There is a form there where you can submit a question, follow up on a question, or even just give some feedback. We would love to hear it. Thank you for joining us today. Let's get to the conversation!

One of the things that we are taught in Sunday school was about how the pharisees in Jesus' time were very strict with their traditions. So strict even that it potentially conflicted with doctrine, or that it even prevented them for being able to see that Jesus was indeed their messiah. They held their tradition over God's law sometimes, which is basically what we are talking about today. “At what point does reverence become idolatry?” We know that we have things in our lives that must be honored and respected, but at what point does that become more than just a respect, when does it become an obsession, or something we worship? This question was submitted online, and if you would like to submit your own question, you can visit our website: www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can see where we publish our podcast and you can submit your own questions using the form on that page. Asking a question online is anonymous, that way you aren't afraid of asking anything that is on your mind.

People are difficult, and we all know that. People make things weird, and sometimes there can be tension between people. This tension is what makes relationships hard, and not just romantic ones, but every relationship we have with each other. We can disagree on a load of things, or we can say one thing and then not follow through. Such is the complexity of being with people. But despite these difficulties, people are inherently social. God designed us in that way, so despite the difficulties of life, we can look to each other and find some help within the people we know, our brethren. But unless you live in a place where there is only perfect people, there is no exception to the fact that we are going to have relationship problems. We might fee like someone did something unfair and so we become bitter or angry with that person. And this includes with brothers and sisters within the church. So, the question a listener submitted for today's podcast is “How should Christians deal with bitterness and resentment with other brethren?” If you like this podcast and want to see it grow, you can also visit our website: www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can see where we publish our podcast and you can submit your own questions using the form on that page. Asking a question online is 100% anonymous, so you don't have to worry about asking a question you might be afraid to ask. And, it can really be a great blessing to have someone have a conversation about your question through a biblical lens.

Ever since we were kids, those of us who grew up in church have heard of “the prophecy”, which is pretty much all of the book of revelation, where the Christians will be taken up and the tribulation will begin. And since then, we have heard that “Christ is coming soon” by both pulpit pastors and street preachers alike. And considering today's events, it feels like Christ can come at any moment. But this same feeling has been felt by our generation multiple times, and has been felt by past generations many times before us. So, the listener-submitted question for today is “Is the Rapture More Possible Now Than in the Past?” This week we are able to have Jon Moore on as our guest on a second episode, since we recorded this episode and the last one while up at Wolf Mountain. Mr. Jon is the director of the Wolf Mountain Christian Camp, which is where our church's youth group goes every summer to give our teens a week away from the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area. Wolf Mountain serves the northern Californian region and dedicates itself to be a place of decision for the teens. It isn't a church, it's a home missions ministry that uses the unique aspects of camp to reach out to young people, strengthen families, and serve local churches. You can learn more about Wolf Mountain and also find out how you can support them and their ministry by going to their website: www.wolfmountain.org. If you like this podcast and want to see it grow, you can also visit our website: www.ibbvn.org/deeperroots. There, you can see where we publish our podcast and you can submit your own questions using the form on that page. Asking a question online is 100% anonymous, so you don't have to worry about asking a question you might be afraid to ask. And, it can really be a great blessing to have someone have a conversation about your question through a biblical lens.