Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1363 ｜ Female Pastors in the Bible？ Responding to a Pastor’s Take

00:00:01.000 Etsy has announced that they are no longer going to allow the sale of spellcasting and witchcraft

00:00:08.260 on their site. Is that really true? And where did this decision come from? Also, there's been a

00:00:14.040 backlash against the Southern Baptist Convention and their stance against women preaching and being

00:00:19.620 pastors, but the arguments being put forth by other pastors, they just aren't good. We've got

00:00:25.000 all of that, plus a voicemail with a very juicy question, interesting question. At the end of

00:00:31.320 today's episode, it's brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers. Go to goodranchers.com,

00:00:34.540 use code Allie at checkout. That's goodranchers.com, code Allie.

00:00:46.460 Hey, y'all. Welcome to Relatable. Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend,

00:00:51.360 that you've had a wonderful day so far. God's eternal plan of redemption, it is 100% going off

00:00:58.660 without a hitch, completely and totally. There is nothing that has happened that God's like,

00:01:02.880 wow, that was a detour that I did not see. No matter what's going on in geopolitics,

00:01:07.520 no matter what's going on in our country, no matter what's going on in your life,

00:01:12.160 whether it's your own personal trial or you're looking at all of the chaos going on in the news

00:01:16.500 or on social media, God's not surprised by any of it. He's not taking it back. He's not wondering

00:01:20.860 what the heck happened? How did this go on? How am I going to come in there and clean up the mess?

00:01:26.280 Oh my goodness. You got yourself into this trouble. Now you got to get yourself out. That's not how

00:01:30.600 it works. God is completely sovereign. He's not limited by time and space. He's not checking his

00:01:35.120 timeline, wondering what's going on. He's not catching up on the latest headlines or what's

00:01:39.500 going viral. And the good thing about God and his work that he is constantly doing is that it

00:01:45.720 typically doesn't make the headlines. It's typically not what is popular on social media.

00:01:50.000 he is working through the mostly unseen and unsung acts of obedience by his children,

00:01:56.560 not just here, but everywhere in the world. I mean, acts of faithfulness and courage for the

00:02:01.160 faith, for the gospel that we will never ever know about. That is how God accomplishes his work.

00:02:07.280 It advances his kingdom. And we can rest assured that that is going off without a hitch. There are

00:02:12.600 no roadblocks, no obstacles whatsoever. God is seeking and saving the lost and he will accomplish

00:02:19.840 his purpose. His word does not return void. And Romans 8, 28 through 30 is so triumphant for all

00:02:28.100 of us that he is working all things, all means all, together for the good of those who love him

00:02:33.800 and are called according to his purpose. And even those really difficult things that you're going

00:02:38.120 through, that your child is going through, that you're like, I never would have picked that for

00:02:41.200 myself. I certainly wouldn't pick my child to endure that somehow. That is in the life of the

00:02:47.380 believer, creating a far greater glory for us that's going to outweigh all the trouble that

00:02:52.640 we experience here in this life. It's a mystery exactly how that works, but we know it does.

00:02:57.880 And at the very least, it builds anticipation for heaven. This world is not our home. We are

00:03:02.440 exiles, and one day there will be no more sorrow, no more sadness, no more war, no more treaties,

00:03:06.960 no more politics, none of that. Jesus will rule in perfect peace forever and ever. Yes and amen.

00:03:13.560 I like to start out the week on Mondays with that reminder, not just for you, but also

00:03:19.420 for myself. And I've heard from so many of you that that line, God's eternal plan of redemption

00:03:24.140 is going off without a hitch has brought a lot of peace to you. And it's just an echoing of God's

00:03:28.420 truth that he gives us in his word. Read Psalm 37 today, if you haven't lately. All right. If you

00:03:34.760 have not checked out my big interview with vice president, JD Vance, then you should go do that.

00:03:42.440 obviously a lot is happening in the geopolitical world. And my little podcast relatable had the

00:03:48.720 honor of sitting down with a VP, talking to him about faith, his book, and also just the state

00:03:55.180 of our country, the state of the world. And so it really was an honor to get to do that. Go back,

00:03:59.400 watch it on YouTube. Listen, if you have not done that already, also Christian women, you want to

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00:04:47.700 All right, let's get into everything that we are talking about today. We're talking about Etsy

00:04:53.440 and witchcraft. Now, those two things don't seem like they would go together. What the heck does

00:05:00.000 Etsy, what started as this, you know, a place that you could go buy crafts and handmade items

00:05:06.880 and some vintage goods, what does that have to do with witches and people casting spells on others?

00:05:15.080 You might remember several months ago after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, there was a story

00:05:19.800 circulating. Actually, it circulated right before he died that someone had paid a witch on Etsy to

00:05:27.520 cast a spell on Charlie Kirk. And this was apparently very disturbing, understandably,

00:05:33.060 and destabilizing for Charlie and Erica and their family because Christians know that demonic 0.94

00:05:38.640 activity is real and that witchcraft is real because Satan is real. And he works through 0.89

00:05:44.860 these means that might just seem silly and superstitious, but actually are vectors and

00:05:50.880 vessels of his workings and of his power. Now, before we start, I just want to comfort you,

00:05:56.300 and we'll get into this a little bit more. This witchcraft doesn't have any dominion over the 0.99

00:06:01.940 Christian. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the

00:06:07.920 world. Romans 8, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. That does not mean

00:06:14.220 that we should be flipping about it or that it doesn't have any power. Ephesians 2 describes

00:06:18.600 Satan as the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is at work and the sons of disobedience

00:06:24.520 among whom we all once walked. So the working of Satan's power is all around us at all times and

00:06:30.380 obviously can manifest itself in different ways in the world that affects us. And we still deal

00:06:36.200 with sin. However, witchcraft and spells, I believe biblically have no power over us because 1.00

00:06:43.540 we are under the dominion and the protection of Christ. However, because of its evil and because

00:06:50.580 of the effect that it has on culture, the effect that it has on societies, we really have to care

00:06:55.960 when it's becoming popularized, when it's becoming normalized, when it's becoming

00:07:00.080 commercialized, when billions and billions of dollars are being made by people casting

00:07:06.660 spells on others through a seemingly innocuous site like Etsy, we've got a problem. Like we've

00:07:12.420 got a spiritual sickness in our culture and the gospel is the answer. So let's get into it. Let's

00:07:17.780 look at what Etsy is doing and whether or not they're still doing this because there was a

00:07:24.000 recent story in Vice that Etsy actually stopped selling witchcraft. Why? So Etsy is a $6 billion

00:07:29.480 arts and crafts online retailer, um, has a history of showcasing sellers who have offered to pay,

00:07:36.060 uh, offered pay spell work such as love spells, curses, protection rituals,

00:07:43.240 money manifestations, and clairvoyant readings. So like psychic readings. And we talked about

00:07:49.020 this several years ago, it might've been in 2021, the rise of witch talk and these TikTok influencers

00:07:55.820 who claim to be witches and claim to have some access to special power, showing you how to

00:08:01.060 manifest things in your life. Now, if you're wondering, wow, this just sounds a lot like

00:08:06.600 self-help talk, new age manifestation. Yes, those things are very intertwined. Not to say that all

00:08:14.440 self-improvement content is witchcraft, but the through line there really is the belief in the

00:08:20.200 power of the self and that the self has this ability and has this authority to have control

00:08:27.800 over the future, control over other people, control over your fate by channeling some

00:08:33.340 supernatural power that is not only out in the universe, but also exists deep down inside us.

00:08:40.240 We talked a lot about this in my first book, You're Not Enough, and That's Okay.

00:08:42.960 Um, according to vice earlier this year, the site began pulling supernatural content,

00:08:47.760 such as spell vendors, despite having a policy in place since 2015 that bans these kinds of

00:08:52.780 listings. Okay. So they've technically banned them, but they didn't really enforce that because

00:08:59.280 for years and years and years, we've had these witches be able to make money by casting spells

00:09:04.600 on other people or at least selling their spells. Now Etsy's policy says metaphysical services may

00:09:10.320 not be sold on Etsy. Examples of prohibited metaphysical services include Reiki and distance

00:09:15.860 healing, spell casting, including attunement, binding, activation, and similar services,

00:09:22.100 prayers, rituals, items that advertise a metaphysical outcome, attracting wealth,

00:09:26.900 love, gambling, luck, more business, employment opportunities, or assistance with legal or

00:09:31.080 relationship situations. And I am sure that there are some legal reasons for this,

00:09:36.420 but when you're selling intangible things and you're kind of commercializing these

00:09:42.060 spiritual abstract practices, it's obviously rife with the potential for fraud and all

00:09:51.600 different kinds of things and can also be very damaging if people don't feel like they got

00:09:56.340 their money's worth. So what actually is though being sold on Etsy? What are the spells and why

00:10:03.880 are people buying these spells? What the heck does this look like? We'll get into that in a second.

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00:11:20.960 Okay, let me give you some examples of things that people are actually buying. And if they're

00:11:25.600 not buying them on Etsy, you see this kind of stuff on Instagram all of the time. The sad thing

00:11:30.940 is a lot of this stuff is by people who claim to be pastors, who claim they might not be selling

00:11:36.560 a spell, but they're saying, if you declare this, if you say this, if you give me this much money,

00:11:42.400 these health and wealth, fake heretic ministers, then you will get this much in return. It has 0.68

00:11:48.100 nothing to do with Christianity and much more to do with witchcraft, but it's really evil when 0.75

00:11:52.520 people pretend that it's Christian. Here's what it looks like on Etsy. Millionaire spell,

00:11:56.940 millionaire dollar spell, wealth spell, abundance spell, same day casting. Okay. So you can pay

00:12:04.480 your $14 and 70 cents and this spellcaster will cast the spell for you to become a millionaire

00:12:12.600 that day. Fast, efficient, and great communication will continue to manifest. So if you don't see

00:12:17.680 that million dollars today, don't worry. One day you will. And remember that $14 and 70 cents that

00:12:22.780 you paid. This worked wonders for me. One review says money came in out of nowhere. I will continue

00:12:28.800 to use. I am sure that that is perfectly legitimate. Next one, avoidant to obsessed

00:12:36.040 love spell because all great relationships start with forcing someone via demonic magic to like you

00:12:44.040 and to not hate you. They're going from avoiding you completely. They see you in the hallway and

00:12:48.340 they're like sick. I'm walking away from this person to just obsessed with this love spell.

00:12:53.880 Okay. Um, $12 and five cents avoidant connections. The description says speaking quiet currents,

00:13:02.100 distance, hesitation, mixed signals, confused about this emotions that pull close and then

00:13:08.560 drift away. This spell by the spell works by tuning into that hidden current, the place where

00:13:13.700 desire sits behind fear and longing hides beneath silence. There are some negative reviews on this

00:13:20.640 one. Okay. I don't know. There could have been some positive reviews too. Some negative reviews.

00:13:26.140 Not only did the spell not work, he actually got with someone else. No way. No way. You're lying.

00:13:34.240 I thought, I thought for sure. Um, and then the next one, he didn't come back sad. And it actually,

00:13:41.220 you know, like you make fun of this stuff because it's so ridiculous that anyone would put their

00:13:46.580 faith or hope, but it actually is very sad. When you think about the desperation that someone

00:13:51.520 has to have and just the longing, the unrequited love that someone has to feel, the purposelessness,

00:13:58.180 the lostness that someone is embroiled in to believe this kind of advertisement and then to

00:14:05.540 pay money for it. And maybe they even paid, you know, for multiple products, um, obviously only

00:14:12.000 to deal with the heartbreak that they could have already tried healing from in the first place.

00:14:16.700 It is very, very sad. And I think all the way from the beginning, because, you know, we see

00:14:21.920 in, uh, we see in the old Testament when God is giving his rules and regulations and laws to

00:14:28.240 Israel, when he's like, don't mess with this stuff. Obviously we have always had basically 0.51

00:14:33.340 since the beginning of time, just a desire for control. Like how can we take this into our own

00:14:39.280 hands? How can we channel the supernatural? I don't want to have to pray to God and submit to

00:14:43.920 his will. I want my will to be done. I want to channel my power to be able to make this happen.

00:14:50.000 It really is just another manifestation of exchanging the God of scripture for the God

00:14:54.400 of self. Okay. So here's another one. Again, very scary things going on in the heart here.

00:15:00.080 curse your enemy's hex spell. Okay. Photo proof. This advertisement says now photo proof of what?

00:15:08.620 That's what I want to know. Fast result. Same day casting. Etsy, which hex your, your ex. Okay.

00:15:17.580 Spell work is something I handle with caution and structure, especially in situations where

00:15:21.360 emotional harm, betrayal, or imbalance has been left resolved. Okay. So one person,

00:15:27.040 A positive review actually says works amazingly, maybe a little too well.

00:15:32.000 Uh-oh, hope he's okay.

00:15:33.940 But nothing wrong with that.

00:15:35.980 10 out of 10, recommend.

00:15:38.780 Wow, how different is this from Jesus who says, you've heard it said, hate your enemies.

00:15:44.540 I say, love your enemies and pray for them.

00:15:49.240 Okay, so this is very popular.

00:15:51.140 Those are just a few examples that I gave you of these advertisements and people actually

00:15:56.800 apparently purchasing them. But people are really not happy about the ban, the enforcement of the

00:16:05.820 ban that Etsy has now put in place. A lot of these Etsy spellcasters, a lot of the people who have

00:16:12.420 bought their spells are very angry. For example, there's a TikToker. Her name is Carol Joy. She

00:16:17.580 expressed absolute shock at being unable to view her favorite spell vendors page. So a couple of

00:16:23.520 months ago someone asked me who my etsy witch is and i'm a real one so of course i went to go get

00:16:28.800 her link and when i went on etsy her shop was closed i'm panicking because that etsy witch

00:16:35.340 helped me get tickets to ariana grande's eternal sunshine tour we need her i actually just saw

00:16:41.480 that she responded a day later saying that etsy is suspending all spell casting sellers on their

00:16:48.460 platform. What do you mean? Okay. So this is just one of several people who expressed this. I also

00:16:55.600 saw if you type in on X, for example, like Etsy witch, you'll see all kinds of people going back

00:17:01.660 and forth saying like, who's the Etsy witch that you use? Who cast that spell to help you to do

00:17:05.620 that? This apparently is something that happens within social networks. Beatrix, who ran Celestial

00:17:14.260 you'll craft spells on Etsy said this to the New York post on Etsy, which is had a place where we

00:17:20.620 could complete our work without discrimination suddenly and quietly. They've removed us with

00:17:25.280 no real explanations, whether it's an immediate ban or slowly taking down our listings. It feels

00:17:30.200 like persecution. And like we are regressing back to the Salem, which trials really because you can

00:17:36.120 no longer sell your fake spells on Etsy. You could do it through another way if you wanted to. Um,

00:17:43.580 And you know, I say fake spells and I probably shouldn't say that because I do think in many

00:17:48.740 cases, like I said, there's real demonic power at work. For example, that TikToker who says 0.99

00:17:54.220 this spellcaster helped me get Ariana Grande tickets. That might actually, it could actually

00:18:01.360 be true because Satan is a master at giving us a little bit of what we want. Like he will,

00:18:08.240 allow us to be happy as long as it steals our ultimate joy. He will give us what we want now

00:18:15.460 as long as we don't seek something higher in purpose and fulfillment in Christ. And so I

00:18:21.040 actually don't put it past Satan to use this means to get people to have faith in things like

00:18:27.700 witchcraft, even if it gives you something that you want temporarily, as long as he can win the

00:18:33.820 long-term war for your soul. Some spell vendors are still on the platform. Apparently, a lot of

00:18:41.680 sellers operate in this gray area by wording listings carefully. They'll say for entertainment

00:18:47.040 only, or they're selling a candle with a ritual description or framing it as custom art digital

00:18:52.900 files. So they're basically just lying. What I think is probably happening here is that even

00:18:59.380 though Etsy has had this rule since 2015, after they had such bad PR with Charlie Kirk getting

00:19:07.220 assassinated and that story coming out right before he was murdered about this person casting

00:19:13.640 a spell via Etsy, they were like, it's not worth it. I don't think that the people at Etsy who are

00:19:18.600 very anti pro-life and who are very pro-trans and pro-abortion, I don't think they have moral

00:19:24.900 qualms with witchcraft. I think they don't want to be on the hook for the potential of fraud.

00:19:29.700 They don't want to deal with the customer service issues of people not getting the outcome that they

00:19:33.980 want. They don't want to deal with another negative PR campaign. I bet they got a lot of

00:19:38.780 backlash for allowing someone to buy that kind of service and try to curse Charlie Kirk. So they're

00:19:45.500 like, it's just, it's just not worth it. And so that's what I think is probably happening here.

00:19:53.120 there are other sites that sell spells witchly uh fiverr sells spells spell work there's one

00:20:01.440 on fiverr this person says i will do black magic spell removal bad spirits curse witchcraft on a

00:20:08.940 on a monthly basis um you've got all kinds of services that people will sell online tarot card

00:20:15.260 reading and things like that now why is this so successful like we used to you know drive by those

00:20:21.460 psychics in a strip mall. And I would always just think it's really sad. Like it, there's just

00:20:25.960 really sad looking. It just, there was nothing ever appealing to me about that. Maybe because

00:20:31.860 I always understood that there is a real battle between good and evil light and darkness really

00:20:36.740 exists. I was aware of spiritual warfare, but even beyond that, it just gave me the ick to look at

00:20:44.160 these psychics. And it, it made me sad to think of the desperation that someone would feel to try

00:20:49.540 to go to a medium or go to this random person who you have been convinced is endowed with a good

00:20:55.640 kind of power that you want to employ. I just never wanted to mess with, with something like

00:21:00.580 that, but it's extremely popular among Gen Z probably because of TikTok, maybe because of Etsy,

00:21:06.880 but it's kind of a chicken or the egg thing. Why did Gen Z become so interested in the supernatural

00:21:11.360 world? We'll get to that in just a second. Let me tell you about concerned women for America.

00:21:16.460 They have been around for decades fighting for the things that we as moms really care 0.66

00:21:21.760 about, the sanctity of life, family-centered policy.

00:21:26.000 Right now, they are urging the Federal Communications Commission to address an outdated rating system

00:21:31.220 that is operated without meaningful input from parents on places like Netflix.

00:21:36.280 They found that about 41% of Netflix's G-rated, so-called child-friendly movies and shows

00:21:43.700 contain LGBTQ themes.

00:21:45.600 And so CWA just wants transparency and they want the FCC to push for transparency so parents

00:21:52.620 can make the best decisions possible for the content that their kids are watching.

00:21:56.720 And the initial comment deadline for this petition closed on May 22nd, but a response

00:22:04.880 period has now opened until a deadline of June 22nd.

00:22:08.820 So if you want to add your name to this, if you want to make your voice heard when it

00:22:12.980 comes to rating transparency, go to concernedwomen.org slash Allie. Have your voice heard

00:22:19.960 concernedwomen.org slash Allie. So if you look through Witch Talk and Witches of Instagram,

00:22:30.540 it's clear that many young women are still being led astray by influencers glamorizing witchcraft.

00:22:35.760 This is a woman who shared her testimony of supporting Etsy witches. She purchased two

00:22:42.240 spells and said that the outcomes were pretty astonishing, Satu. I paid two Etsy witches to

00:22:49.100 cast spells for me within the past two months, and this is how it went. Within eight days,

00:22:54.680 I received word that I was inheriting money, and it was unexpected. It wasn't an astronomical

00:23:01.840 amount, but it was enough for me to pay off a credit card and put the rest in savings for a

00:23:07.480 delicious rainy day. Literally two weeks later, I received three emails, three emails offering me

00:23:15.680 partnerships and approval of proposals. First two emails were approved proposals that I sent

00:23:22.120 out a month ago that I thought they ghosted. I have two of those meetings set up next week.

00:23:29.580 Okay. A couple of things. She doesn't come across as genuine. She comes across like she's acting.

00:23:33.640 So I actually don't really believe her so-called testimony anyway.

00:23:37.200 But again, even if it is true, that is just proof that Satan will give you a little bit

00:23:43.140 of what you want.

00:23:44.080 I think he's happy to give us some money because we read that the root or the love of money

00:23:48.740 is the root of all kinds of evil.

00:23:50.920 A lot of people, even people who profess to be Christians, assume that all prosperity

00:23:55.540 is a blessing, that all success and all monetary gain is a sign of God's blessing for you.

00:24:03.640 that is not necessarily true. There are a lot of rich, evil people in the world that God does not

00:24:09.700 approve of. You know, I've seen artists before or even, you know, OnlyFans people. I talked about

00:24:15.060 this on social media saying, you know, if God didn't approve of what I was doing, he wouldn't

00:24:19.380 give me so much success. He wouldn't allow me to make so much money. That is absolutely not true.

00:24:25.080 All kinds of things can crowd out our affections and rule our hearts. And that includes money,

00:24:30.760 I would say especially money, and there is no correlation whatsoever between that and

00:24:35.360 God's approval of you.

00:24:36.540 There's no biblical foundation for that whatsoever.

00:24:39.040 Prosperity can be a blessing, but it has to be stewarded for his glory, not used for our

00:24:44.920 own selfish ambition and sin.

00:24:47.080 There was a survey by the Springtide Research Institute that found that 13, their survey

00:24:53.920 was of 13 to 25-year-olds, and they found that 51% of respondents were participating

00:24:58.500 in a tarot card reading and fortune telling, 13 years old. Within that percentage, 17% were

00:25:04.120 practicing daily, 25% weekly, 27% monthly, and 31% less than once a month. The survey found that

00:25:13.100 divination practices were even common among young people who identify specifically as Russian or

00:25:19.640 Greek Orthodox. Not surprising at all. You can be mad at me for this, but there is a lot of voodoo, 1.00

00:25:26.500 a lot of superstition within those traditions because a lot of people, not everyone, but a lot

00:25:33.260 of people who identify as those have inherited those beliefs and really have no true authentic

00:25:40.480 faith to speak of. And there is also something like within the aesthetic, I think, of those

00:25:47.160 traditions that, um, seems to dovetail for some people with witchcraft. And that is also why,

00:25:56.480 um, Roman Catholics in Mexico and, uh, South America also practice witchcraft in the name 0.82

00:26:05.080 of Catholicism. There is a lot of, uh, connection and over an overlap there in those countries.

00:26:13.260 Also Mormons, that was a big group apparently, according to this research institute that also

00:26:19.400 practiced witchcraft and people who identified as Jewish. But Russian or Greek Orthodox the most,

00:26:25.960 then Mormons, then Jewish people also practice these divination practices. And it's like, okay, 0.98

00:26:32.420 Jewish people, you were the first person to get the commandment from God. Do not do this. This 1.00

00:26:37.320 is bad news. Witchcraft is a practice, not necessarily a religion. So it's not exclusively

00:26:43.140 practiced by pagans and Wiccans. However, it is a sin no matter who practices it.

00:26:49.400 Many mistakenly believe that you can be a professing Christian and practice witchcraft.

00:26:53.200 I actually remember when I had my book club going several years ago during COVID,

00:26:57.540 there was a woman who seemed really nice and she left a comment about, you know, one of the books

00:27:02.080 that we were reading saying, I'm a witch and a Christian. You can totally be those at the same 0.96

00:27:06.640 time, I actually apply my Christianity to my witchcraft. No, no, no. That is not the case.

00:27:13.520 I've heard people say they're Scientologists and they're also Christians, that you can be

00:27:17.500 a Scientologist and believe and worship in Jesus Christ. No, no, no, no. What fellowship does light

00:27:22.280 have with darkness? None. One respondent to this particular survey by this research institute said

00:27:27.880 there is such little ownership over a religious belief system that you're just told all the right

00:27:32.360 answers to. These other spiritual ways have a more personal connection. These personal aha

00:27:37.180 moments, this person also considers themselves to be Roman Catholic. Again, that is not something

00:27:42.900 that is very surprising to me. Now, none of the wonderful Catholics I know would ever support 1.00

00:27:48.200 practicing something like this, but in a lot of these traditions, there are a lot of people who

00:27:53.040 are actually just secular and actually just superstitious and still identify loosely with

00:27:58.620 being Catholic or being Orthodox or being Mormon. And I think that's part of the thing there.

00:28:02.960 There's a Vogue article that was titled, I know a good Etsy witch. Why Gen Z is turning to

00:28:07.840 witchcraft. A spiritual coach named Zeta Weber explained the popularity of social media witchcraft

00:28:13.620 like this. People are craving clarity. That is spot on. That is absolutely true and actually

00:28:19.560 extremely insightful and profound because people are craving clarity. That's why we talk all the

00:28:24.620 time, how pastors need to be as clear as possible, what a gift the word of God is, because people,

00:28:31.120 and I think Gen Z especially, they are craving clarity. Like, tell me what is true. That doesn't

00:28:36.480 mean Gen Z or anyone is ever going to like the truth or that they're always going to like the 0.99

00:28:40.980 truth. But I do think people just want to know what is really going on. I don't trust the media.

00:28:46.100 I can't trust my professor. I don't trust what is going on on social media. Everything is filtered.

00:28:51.700 Everything is PR-ified. Tell me what is actually true. And people believe that they need to access

00:28:58.600 something that they cannot see, something underneath the surface to really give them

00:29:03.480 that clear insight. And so I get it. I think that's a desire that all of us have. But we also

00:29:09.400 have the desire as we read about in the garden with Adam and Eve and the serpent to be like

00:29:14.560 God. Do this and you will be like God. You'll know the things that God knows. You'll have the power

00:29:19.080 that he knows, you will have the knowledge of the difference between good and evil. That has

00:29:24.140 always been a temptation there. And so, yes, I do believe people want clarity, but they want divine

00:29:30.300 like power and knowledge too. It goes all the way back to the garden. The intention to seek an

00:29:36.500 alternative point of view has always existed. We all grew up knowing the eccentric aunt who went

00:29:42.220 to the psychics. Thankfully, I did not. Thank you, aunts, for not being that way. But what's changed

00:29:48.620 is the level of uncertainty people are facing, particularly since COVID, but also economically,

00:29:53.200 it's pushed people to explore guidance that feels deeper and more intuitive. They want to feel

00:29:58.560 connected to something that can help them make sense of what they're experiencing. I think that's

00:30:02.400 true. Like she's not writing from a Christian perspective, but I think that's true. This 0.99

00:30:06.560 reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3.11. God has made everything beautiful in its time, and he has also

00:30:12.020 put eternity into man's heart yet so that he could not find out what God has done from the beginning

00:30:19.760 to the end. And yet we want to. And so many people, instead of reading the word of God,

00:30:24.780 which gives us the best roadmap for that, which gives us the best understanding of who God is

00:30:29.400 and where everything comes from and why we're here, people want something else. And I think

00:30:33.360 one of the reasons why people will turn to psychics or to witchcraft rather than the word

00:30:38.860 of God rather than to Christianity, which offers true insight and wisdom and peace and understanding 0.64

00:30:44.580 is because we have to die to self in Christianity. And a witch tells you, or a psychic tells you, 0.94

00:30:52.240 do what you want to do. I'm here for you. I'm here to manifest your dream. I'm not here to tell you

00:30:58.180 that your desires are wrong. I'm not here to tell you to repent from your sin. In fact, everything

00:31:02.060 that you feel is just an indication of what you really want. And I'm here to give you what you

00:31:06.660 want. Who else tells us that throughout scripture in our lives? It's Satan. And so Christianity to

00:31:13.840 a lot of people, they think that it's a bigger burden that I have to, you know, I have to live

00:31:17.780 a certain way. I have to, um, I have to do all these things. I don't, I don't want to do that.

00:31:21.940 I don't want to give that up, but really it's the sin that's the burden. And you don't realize that

00:31:26.420 it's your constant distraught desire to want to be your own God. That's really burdening you.

00:31:31.980 Jesus's burden is light. Being a slave to sin is actually what's really hard. The choice to

00:31:38.460 participate in witchcraft is an act of rebellion against and rejection of God. So it's not possible

00:31:45.040 to be both at the same time. It's not possible to weave your witchcraft in to any semblance of

00:31:50.040 your Christian faith. Superstition has no place in the kingdom of God. It has no place in the heart 0.93

00:31:56.600 and the mind of the Christian. And this is why I'm also so adamant about things that sound 1.00

00:32:02.300 Christian, but are really more new age and witchy. Like, oh, I looked at, I found this thing outside 0.99

00:32:09.140 and I knew that it was God telling me this one thing because that doesn't foster peace and

00:32:14.440 clarity. It fosters anxiety because you are putting yourself in the driver's seat of determining

00:32:20.700 what God's specific will is in that situation, that's God's job. It's God's job. And he has

00:32:27.460 given us his word and his Holy Spirit to guide us. And we have to do the best that we possibly

00:32:32.720 infallibly can without relying on superstition in ourselves to try to figure that out.

00:32:37.180 So what does the Bible say about magic and witchcraft? It could not be more clear because

00:32:42.580 God loves us so much and he wants what's best for us. He says, don't mess with this at all.

00:32:46.660 We'll get into that in a second. Let me pause. Let me tell you about our next sponsor.

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00:33:01.220 saw it. It was really great, but there are things in that story that you may not know that you may

00:33:06.860 not have noticed. Maybe you never learned in church. Maybe you never saw in depictions of

00:33:10.580 this story that this is really a story. Yes. About the, uh, one of the precursors to Christ,

00:33:17.080 but also a story about fatherhood and sin and repentance and courage and what happens when

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00:34:23.460 So when God is giving his laws to Israel, there are lots of laws that draw distinctions between

00:34:30.040 how Israel, God's people, how they're supposed to act and how the outside world acts. Leviticus

00:34:36.700 1931, do not turn to mediums or necromancers. Necromancers, people who try to talk to the dead

00:34:42.400 or to seek out the dead. Do not seek them out. And so make yourselves unclean by them.

00:34:49.120 I am the Lord, your God. Okay. Long Island medium, these TLC shows, or they used to be on TLC when I

00:34:56.620 was younger, these podcasts that claim to be able to talk to the dead. Don't mess with those. It's

00:35:03.200 not that they're always wrong. They may be sometimes right. That's the scary part of things

00:35:08.540 because it is a satanic power. Don't do it. God doesn't say, oh, there's no power in these things.

00:35:15.180 He says, it's bad for you. It makes you unclean. He says to his people, Israel, don't seek them

00:35:22.300 out. Don't try to conjure up dreams of the dead. I see that a lot by Christians. Like they're

00:35:28.380 wanting to be visited by the dead in their dreams. And like, I understand the feeling of loss and

00:35:34.720 wanting that connection and wanting messages from the other side, because again, you think it's

00:35:39.300 going to give you insight or it's going to give you comfort. And I believe this verse is telling

00:35:44.300 us don't seek that out. And yes, this is old Testament law. We're not under all the old

00:35:49.160 Testament laws as Christians today, but we have to look at the principles in each law and ask

00:35:54.800 ourselves, is this still true today? Is the reasoning that he gives still true today?

00:36:00.240 Deuteronomy 18, 10 through 12.

00:36:02.400 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering

00:36:06.240 that was inextricably intertwined with those who practice these pagan practices of witchcraft.

00:36:12.280 Anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or a sorcerer or a charmer

00:36:18.880 or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things

00:36:25.120 is an abomination to the Lord.

00:36:27.320 And because of these abominations, the Lord, your God, is driving them out before you.

00:36:31.920 So this is sickening to God.

00:36:33.980 He hates it because of channeling a power that is not good and that is not his.

00:36:39.960 We also see in 1 Chronicles 10, 13 through 14,

00:36:43.380 So Saul died for his breach of faith.

00:36:44.940 He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord

00:36:47.620 and also consulted a medium seeking guidance.

00:36:51.100 He did not seek guidance from the Lord.

00:36:52.500 Therefore, the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.

00:36:57.700 That's how serious God is about this.

00:37:00.220 How dead serious God is about this.

00:37:02.580 Don't seek guidance from anyone else except for me.

00:37:05.460 We see in Malachi 3, 5, then I will draw near to you for judgment.

00:37:09.000 I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who

00:37:13.420 swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker and his wages, the widow and

00:37:18.420 the fatherless against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me says the lord of

00:37:24.060 hosts i think it's very interesting the category there that those who practice witchcraft those

00:37:29.980 who are adulterers having sex outside of marriage liars those who mistreat the hired worker don't

00:37:39.360 pay him what he's owed that is just as just as much it seems an abomination to the lord those 0.80

00:37:45.120 who oppress the widow, those who oppress the orphan, the vulnerable without a father. Makes

00:37:51.940 me think of the forced fatherlessness that we are pushing upon children today in the name of

00:37:57.520 love is love against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says the Lord of

00:38:04.580 hosts. Those are evil in the sight of the Lord. And it's not just the Old Testament. We can go

00:38:08.960 to the New Testament. One example, Galatians 5, 19 through 21. Now the works of the flesh are

00:38:14.380 evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,

00:38:22.160 fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

00:38:28.620 I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom

00:38:34.480 of God. Again, so interesting, all the things that he lumps together. Sexual immorality,

00:38:39.280 enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy.

00:38:47.440 I just want you to take stock of the people that you follow.

00:38:50.980 If any of the people that you follow, the podcasters that you listen to, the authors

00:38:55.140 that you read, if they are defined by those things, not the fruit of the spirit, enmity,

00:39:01.960 strife, jealousy, whether or not it's true sorcery or necromancy, calling upon the dead

00:39:07.560 in dreams, don't follow them. They're leading you down a bad path, an evil demonic path.

00:39:15.620 And God is really clear that people who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

00:39:21.680 Scripture also shows us examples of believers repenting of witchcraft publicly as a testimony

00:39:27.040 of the power of the gospel. Acts 19, 18 through 20. Also, many of those who are now believers came

00:39:32.860 confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts

00:39:37.700 brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of

00:39:42.840 them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and

00:39:49.620 prevail mightily. And so people who came to the Lord, they repented. They had to give those things

00:39:56.680 up before following Christ or because they were following Christ. So witchcraft, Christianity, 1.00

00:40:04.480 they can't go together. Christians are protected from the power of witchcraft. 1.00

00:40:10.240 We are not under the authority of Satan. So we don't need to be paranoid there,

00:40:15.200 but we do need to be really clear. And we need to make sure that the things that we are consuming,

00:40:20.620 whether it's called new age, whether it's called self-love, whether it's called self-help,

00:40:24.300 whether it's called manifesting, that we're not playing around with that. It's really serious to

00:40:29.220 the God who loves us and the God who created us. If you are a parent allowing your kids to be

00:40:35.520 entertained by a Ouija board or entertained by tarot cards, it's not innocent. And I think we're

00:40:41.560 seeing more and more of this in literature, teen literature, teen entertainment. We're seeing it

00:40:46.500 all across social media and it is a danger. It is a danger to the heart and to the soul. It's

00:40:53.700 certainly something that destroys societies. If you look at the nations that are, um, filled with 1.00

00:40:59.900 voodoo and witchcraft, like Haiti, like many countries in Africa, you see their fate. Those 1.00

00:41:06.040 things I believe are very connected. I believe that Haiti's obsession with witchcraft and voodoo, 1.00

00:41:12.020 I'm not saying that it is like all of the despair that they're going through is necessarily a

00:41:17.180 judgment from God because of that. Like, I don't think that the children who are suffering and all

00:41:22.340 of that, that they're bearing the consequences of the adults, but they are the natural consequences 0.98

00:41:28.700 to be in a pagan nation that is following these evil practices. It just leads to disorder. It 0.94

00:41:35.860 leads to chaos. It leads to hopelessness. It leads to immorality and violence always every time. And

00:41:41.680 God wants something better for us. If you want to know what's really going on, if you want real

00:41:45.800 insight, if you want real wisdom, go to the word of God, because he has given us those things.

00:41:51.400 in the book of James, we are promised that if you ask wisdom of God, he's faithful. He's going to

00:41:57.460 give it to you. Okay. And maybe there are some things we just don't need to know. Have we

00:42:01.880 considered that? Like maybe there are just some things that we are really trying to know, just

00:42:06.440 some things that we're really trying to control that we don't need to try to know or control.

00:42:10.580 Because if we knew those things, if we tried to control those things, it would be really bad.

00:42:15.980 It would give us anxiety. The outcome actually wouldn't be good. We don't always know what God

00:42:20.560 is up to. I remember reading this analogy by Tim Keller in Reason for God, that like if a child

00:42:26.000 can't understand, you know, your child, you're trying to give your child medicine, maybe it's

00:42:29.580 antibiotics or something that they need. They fight you. They don't want to do it. Or you got

00:42:33.620 to take a splinter out of their finger and they're freaking out. They're running away.

00:42:38.260 They can't even be reasoned with when you're telling them, hey, this is good for you. It's

00:42:43.580 going to hurt for a second, but I promise you want this splinter taken out of your foot.

00:42:47.860 you really can't reason with them at a certain age when they're say two or three years old,

00:42:52.920 you just got to hold them down and take the splinter out. And sometimes I think that it's

00:42:58.720 like that with, with God and us. And if there is that much of a difference in understanding between

00:43:04.280 two finite beings, an adult and a child, and we know we can't explain and give them all the

00:43:08.960 knowledge of what's going on because it couldn't, it wouldn't help anyway. Like, I think the same

00:43:13.540 thing is true between an infinite God and us. We have a much bigger understanding between God and

00:43:19.360 us. And I think he knows that if we knew and could control all the things that we think we

00:43:23.440 want to know and control, it actually wouldn't help. It would just make things worse. And we

00:43:28.060 can't always see the purpose and the reason behind what he's doing. And I think necromancy

00:43:32.660 and witchcraft is a desire to try to know that, but we just have to trust the Lord and his

00:43:36.940 sovereignty, that it's his eternal plan that's going off without a hitch. And it's not our

00:43:41.580 burden to carry. And witchcraft makes us carry a burden that was never ours and actually ends up

00:43:46.900 crushing us in the end. All right. We've got a couple more things on the docket. Let me go ahead

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00:44:54.540 All right. I wanted to quickly address the backlash to the SBC voting in favor of a

00:45:00.460 constitutional amendment, which would ban female pastors from the denomination. Um, not only the

00:45:08.360 role of the pastor, but also really the function of the pastor, which is exercising biblical

00:45:14.020 authority over men by teaching scripture in the congregation, in the local church.

00:45:19.680 This was already a part of the Baptist faith and message.

00:45:21.940 This is making it a constitutional amendment put forth by Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern

00:45:27.260 Baptist Seminary, and it has to be voted on again next year in Indianapolis for it to

00:45:32.160 actually pass, but I'm guessing it will.

00:45:34.320 it passed with a 75% vote. But then you had a lot of people, a lot of people who are Christians

00:45:39.560 pushing, pushing back against this. Here is a pastor who, um, says, look, you know, in response

00:45:47.800 to this, yes, women can be pastors. His position is, and he claims it's the Bible who, uh, that

00:45:55.640 gives him the support of that position. It's up for, for the record, I do believe that women can

00:46:01.500 be pastors. And the reason I believe that is because scripture shows me that. I studied the

00:46:08.240 scriptures and I actually see that Apollos, who Paul compares himself to later, was actually taught

00:46:13.440 by a woman. Read Acts 18. In Acts 21, four unmarried women prophesy in church. And Colossians,

00:46:21.620 Nimoha was the pastor of the church and it met in her house. Chloe, same thing in 1 Corinthians 1.

00:46:26.100 Romans 16, 1 and 2. Phoebe is a deacon. 1 Corinthians 11. Women prayed and prophesied

00:46:31.600 in the church. Okay. Not a single one of these examples is of a female pastor. 0.95

00:46:37.140 And I see this a lot. Oh, this woman taught this person, or this woman corrected this person's

00:46:43.400 theology, or this woman shared her testimony, or this woman was told by Jesus to go share what he

00:46:48.700 had done for her. I do believe that women are called to preach the gospel. I do believe that

00:46:53.960 women can correct someone's theology. I think women can talk about theology. I think women can 0.95

00:47:00.120 love the Bible and teach Bible studies. I think women can have podcasts talking about, you know,

00:47:05.360 biblical ideas, but none of the examples that were given were of a woman leading a church as

00:47:14.000 a pastor. Even the passage about women prophesying or the Holy Spirit coming upon men and women to

00:47:22.460 prophesy has nothing to do with women being pastors. Now, in another part of this sermon,

00:47:31.220 he talks about the verses that command women to be silent in churches or to not preach in churches.

00:47:38.800 And he says that those don't really apply to today. Here's the next clip.

00:47:44.380 They take two verses out of context, 1 Timothy 2, 11 and 12, and 1 Corinthians 14. Here's the

00:47:48.960 problem I have with that, just so you know. In 1 Timothy 2, you have to understand, they're

00:47:52.600 worshiping a goddess named Artemis, who is the goddess of fertility. What happened, if you continue

00:47:57.980 and you go to read Acts 19, they actually declare in Ephesus, great is Artemis of Ephesus. What was

00:48:04.480 happening? Why did Paul give that instruction to Timothy? Because they were worshiping a goddess

00:48:09.020 who said that women were greater than men, and they were disrupting the church service and trying

00:48:13.040 to exercise authority over the one preaching. Now, 1 Corinthians 14 says women should be silent in 0.89

00:48:18.820 the church. What's he talking about? Same thing. Women were interrupting and trying to take over

00:48:23.540 the service with empty philosophy. How do I know that? Paul just said in 1 Corinthians 11 that 1.00

00:48:28.800 women prophesied, preached in the church. Last time I checked, scripture doesn't contradict itself.

00:48:36.900 Okay, there's so many things to respond to in that one clip. I do just want to say what he says

00:48:43.080 the end that in first Corinthians 11, we read that women are preaching. I read first Corinthians

00:48:48.880 11 and I don't see that. I mean, what I do see for, um, uh, for example, but every wife who 1.00

00:48:55.680 prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head since it is the same as if 0.92

00:49:02.300 her head were shaven for if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short.

00:49:07.460 Um, and then it goes on and on and we can have another conversation about head coverings. I 0.99

00:49:11.380 don't see anything in first Corinthians 11 about a woman preaching in a local church. Now let's 1.00

00:49:18.520 look at first Corinthians, um, first Corinthians 14. So in first Corinthians 14, it says, as in

00:49:27.540 all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. So that's the verse 0.99

00:49:32.660 he's referring to, but they are not for, they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission

00:49:38.860 as the law also says, if there's anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at 0.98

00:49:44.800 home for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Okay. So when we're looking at a verse, 0.95

00:49:50.100 we have to say, what follows it? What follows the command? What is the why that is being given?

00:49:54.380 Because there are some dictates in scripture that do seem to be culturally exclusive based

00:49:59.320 on the reasoning given. But Paul does not say here in this one particular church,

00:50:04.840 this strange thing is happening. It says, as in all the churches of the saints, every single

00:50:09.140 church, no matter the culture, no matter the pagan worship around it, not just the church in

00:50:13.500 Corinth. He says, as in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the 0.99

00:50:17.960 churches for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission. Why? Because they 1.00

00:50:22.560 are doing something weird with their theology and this pagan God and Artemis. No, as the law also 0.53

00:50:29.320 says, if there's anything that they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home for 0.99

00:50:34.040 it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. There's nothing here about disruptions. There's 0.97

00:50:39.500 nothing here about pagan worship. There's nothing here that says, because they are acting in this 0.99

00:50:45.620 way, they must not speak. He goes all the way back to the law. He says, this is universally true

00:50:51.360 in Christendom, that women should keep silent in the churches. And then also he references 0.94

00:50:58.660 first Timothy, first Timothy two through 11, Paul writes, let a woman learn quietly with all

00:51:04.300 submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather she 1.00

00:51:10.960 is to remain quiet. Now, what this pastor could have done is he could have highlighted that Paul

00:51:16.360 is saying, I do not permit a woman to teach. I've heard some egalitarians try to make that argument

00:51:21.560 that that caveat somehow, you know, allows for women preaching within, within the church. But

00:51:28.280 again, this passage has nothing to do with interruptions or disruptions or anything

00:51:34.280 culturally going on at the time. How do I know that? Because of the verses that follow for Adam

00:51:39.980 was formed first, then Eve and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became

00:51:46.000 a transgressor. So there's a lot there that we could unpack. But the point is that Paul goes

00:51:51.160 all the way back to creation. If it was cultural, he wouldn't go back to creation. He's going back

00:51:57.240 to something that is true. And that is always true that Adam was formed first, then Eve. So

00:52:03.100 if it was something specific to that time in space, then he wouldn't have given the

00:52:08.180 creational reasoning. That is what we see actually in every example. Even when Jesus

00:52:12.540 goes all the way back to creation, he's saying, this is true. This is always going to be true 0.61

00:52:16.400 because it's been true from the beginning. So I'm sorry, but people who make this kind

00:52:23.380 of argument. You are banking on your congregation, not reading the passage for themselves. That's it.

00:52:30.680 It's not even, I saw someone in these comments say, oh, that was so textual. That was so scholarly.

00:52:35.240 It's not at all. It's banking on you not reading scripture for yourself. Okay. So that's what,

00:52:42.360 that's what's going on here. And you can think that that is somehow oppressive or that is, um,

00:52:48.700 anti-woman. The truth is, is that women are just as made in the image of God as men,

00:52:53.800 is that we have been given gifts. We have been given talents. We have been given a voice. We

00:52:59.000 have been given the opportunity to be a part of the body of Christ, to minister to the saints.

00:53:05.120 There are many women that Jesus recognized in his ministry, that are recognized and honored in the

00:53:12.780 epistles. Even in the Old Testament, the genealogy of Jesus includes these incredible

00:53:18.160 and faithful women. The Bible is not an anti-woman text, but it is an anti-egalitarian text.

00:53:26.860 It is an anti-men and women are the same text and are called to the same function and purpose. We 0.97

00:53:33.480 are not. Men and women are not interchangeable. And because we're not interchangeable, because

00:53:37.840 there is something innately different about us and have been since creation, we're not called

00:53:42.000 to the same things. We might be capable of some of the same things, but we are not called to

00:53:48.100 the same things. I'm a communicator. I like to communicate. I love scripture. I am capable

00:53:53.960 technically if I wanted to of delivering a sermon, but I am not called to do that because I'm a woman

00:54:00.000 because I'm called to different things. I don't see that as, um, as stealing something from me

00:54:07.260 because it was nevermind. God is the one who gives rights and God didn't make a mistake when

00:54:11.180 he made me a woman and he has chosen to allow me to channel my communicative skills in other ways.

00:54:16.800 and it's not from leading a church. It's how I feel about Ephesians 5, that wives submit to 0.91

00:54:21.120 your husbands as to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives. Husbands have the much harder calling

00:54:25.800 in that. Husbands have a much higher and harder role. Pastors, men have a much harder, higher, 1.00

00:54:31.920 and more sacrificial role in being the shepherd over a flock that I think, God, that I'm never

00:54:36.660 going to have to have. So I don't really understand the desire as a Christian for women 0.76

00:54:46.720 to vie for the same roles and responsibilities that men have, instead of just being grateful

00:54:52.140 for the calling that he has placed on our lives, which is different, no less valuable,

00:54:57.300 but different. So read the Bible for yourselves. That's what I want to say. Read the Bible for

00:55:03.280 yourselves and don't allow a pastor like that to bank on you not reading the following verses.

00:55:09.880 All right. Um, wanted to address that. Let me answer one voicemail and I will tell you about

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00:56:13.900 code Allie. All right. We really only have time for one voicemail today. And so I am going to

00:56:24.600 play voicemail number two hi Allie my sister is a professing Christian and is about to get engaged 0.97

00:56:31.860 to and marry a Mormon I've spent many hours explaining to her why this is wrong and she

00:56:36.720 seems to understand but she now just asks me to respect her decision should I attend the wedding

00:56:42.260 my thoughts so far are that I will attend but not be a bridesmaid if she asks and not attend

00:56:48.160 the bridal shower as those to me are celebrating her decision thank you

00:56:54.600 Well, thanks for your question. This is a tough question because I know you want to be there for

00:56:58.760 your sister and marriage is wonderful. And I know that you're happy that she is happy. And I

00:57:04.640 understand the distinction you're making. You feel like as an attendee, you're going there and

00:57:08.900 supporting her, but you feel that as a bridesmaid going to the bridal shower, that you are celebrating

00:57:13.420 the union and you don't want to celebrate the union. This is what I'm going to say. And this

00:57:18.000 might be hard to hear. I would assume that your sister is not a believer. I would assume that

00:57:23.640 your sister is not a believer marrying another non-Christian. And the reason I would say that 1.00

00:57:29.800 is because someone who is indwelled by the Holy Spirit would have a very, very difficult time

00:57:37.220 via the Holy Spirit convicting her and dating someone who does not believe Jesus is God.

00:57:43.800 Now, having strong affections for someone, being very attracted to someone can override

00:57:48.660 all kinds of convictions. And so I'm not trying to say, um, the eternal destination of your,

00:57:56.440 of your sister. I am saying that it is very difficult for me to believe that she is walking

00:58:03.360 with the Lord and has no conviction over marrying someone who has added to the gospel and his

00:58:10.340 belief system when it comes to how to get to heaven and how to attain salvation. That should

00:58:14.500 be something that breaks her heart. That should be something that the Holy Spirit is just nagging

00:58:19.280 her about saying, do not do this. This is, this is not what I want. This is unequally yoked. And

00:58:25.680 the fact that that apparently is not there right now means to me that there's, there's something

00:58:31.620 wrong there. There's something very wrong spiritually. So that is the first concern.

00:58:35.440 The first concern is not the marriage. The first concern is that there is something deeply wrong

00:58:40.060 on a spiritual level within your sister's heart and soul, I would address that first. That's the

00:58:46.300 first conversation I would be having. And then it is the Holy Spirit's job to continue to convict.

00:58:51.560 You keep speaking the truth in love. You said that she's about to get engaged and then she's

00:58:55.680 going to marry. You got time. You got time. And if the Holy Spirit is convicting you, then I would

00:59:00.760 continue to speak the truth in love. Now, if it comes down to it and she has no conviction about

00:59:05.920 this and she decides to marry this person, then I would assume that the Holy spirit and the

00:59:10.800 conviction is just not there. Then I don't think that it is a sin to attend the wedding of two

00:59:16.600 non-Christians. The wedding itself between two non-Christians is not a sin. Like men, a man 0.85

00:59:23.920 marrying a woman is not a sin. A man trying to marry a man is a sin. The marriage itself, 0.71

00:59:29.080 the union itself, the attempt to call that a marriage is a sin. Any marriage between a man 0.97

00:59:34.580 and a woman is not a sin. It obviously is a problem if you have a true believer marrying 1.00

00:59:39.820 a non-believer unequally yoked, but I would assume that that's not what's happening here.

00:59:44.200 Something much, much deeper than she's just attracted to this guy is going on in this case,

00:59:49.840 and you can continue to be kind and you can continue to love her and you can continue to

00:59:54.660 support her as an individual, as your sister, as her sister speak the truth and love to her.

00:59:59.900 doesn't mean that you have to be rude or, and, or anything, um, in any sense, but you should

01:00:06.400 continue to be really clear about this because it will probably be true that she will end up

01:00:12.920 going his direction rather than the other way around. And that's going to be very difficult,

01:00:17.420 not just as a sister, but also as a future aunt. Um, and so do whatever you can to continue sharing

01:00:22.820 the gospel with both of them and just praying, praying, praying for the conviction of the Holy

01:00:27.700 spirit. Um, all right, that's all we got time for today. We will be back here on Wednesday.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - June 22, 2026

Ep 1363 ｜ Female Pastors in the Bible？ Responding to a Pastor’s Take

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