ONE | A Potter's House Church
Episode: Refuse To Be Confused – Dr. Anita Phillips
Date: September 22, 2025
Guest Speaker: Dr. Anita Phillips
Theme: Finding Clarity in a Culture of Confusion
Episode Overview
This episode, delivered by Dr. Anita Phillips, addresses the theme "Refuse To Be Confused." With biblical study, personal reflection, and cultural application, Dr. Phillips unpacks how confusion—especially in environments like "Babylon" (a metaphor for cultural exile or complexity)—can impact spiritual clarity. She challenges listeners to anchor themselves in God’s Word, resist cultural assimilation that dulls spiritual distinctiveness, and to echo God’s voice in every sphere of influence.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Power of God’s Word Over Human Intellect
- Tapping the theme of "Sound": Dr. Phillips shares her initial excitement at the theme and her search for a profound, perhaps scientific, revelation about "sound." Instead, God directs her to listen rather than look for answers she's already familiar with.
- “You're looking for what you want to see instead of listening for what you need to hear.” (02:03)
- Reads Isaiah 55:8-11, emphasizing God's ways and thoughts being higher than ours.
- Takeaway: Don't get stuck in spiritual routines or habits. Be open to hearing what you haven't heard before, rather than clinging to what’s familiar.
- “We have become accustomed to seeing what we see. But we have to always be ready to hear what we haven't heard.” (04:30)
- God often speaks a word to us far in advance of when we need it; don’t discard what you don’t yet understand.
2. Understanding "Babylon" – Culture, Captivity, and Confusion
- Traces the narrative of Israel’s exile in Babylon as context for Isaiah 55.
- Distinguishes Babylonian exile from Egyptian slavery: Babylonians benefited from Israel’s talents but sought to absorb (and restrict) their source—worship of God.
- Babylon as an archetype: A place that values gifts, artistry, and leadership but tries to disconnect them from their divine source.
- “It will be tempting to let your leadership call, your ministry call, your skills and your art to be taken captive by Babylon.” (15:00)
- Babylon literally means confusion, tracing etymology from Genesis (Tower of Babel).
- Sometimes, confusion is divinely imposed to prevent misaligned unity or ambition.
- “Don’t let success be your marker for whether you did what God told you to do, because he said they could do it... Unity will get you anywhere you choose, but that doesn't mean it's God's road.” (22:05)
3. Cultural Assimilation & Source of Creativity
- Living in "Babylon" means exposure to a mix of sources and viewpoints; discernment is critical.
- Drawing from secular leadership, business, or artistic models is not inherently wrong, but every source must be sanctified by God and aligned with His word.
- “Whatever you find out there, you must sanctify on the altar in here. Because if it survives the fire of God's sanctification, you might be able to use it, but it might burn up.” (32:05)
- The key issue isn’t always the content or product—it’s the source. What is fueling your output?
- Describes how confusion ("confounder"—to pour together) makes it difficult to distinguish sources, values, or divine truth.
4. The Nature of Confusion and Spiritual Clarity
- Confusion: Not just an emotional state but an epistemic one—relating to how we know what we know.
- Describes the anxiety and frustration that comes from mingled sources and mixed understanding.
- “Anxiety asks you to search for other information, other truths that might make a future you haven't seen yet possible or not possible. And now I start mixing that knowledge with what God said in His Word, and I'm confused again.” (38:25)
- The antidote to confusion is coherence, a seamless matching between belief, speech, and action:
- “Confusion is the opposite not just of clarity—it's the opposite of coherence.” (35:30)
- Anchoring oneself in the last clear word from God, remaining in the present instead of anxiously searching for future outcomes.
5. Living Coherently in Babylon – The Example of Daniel
- Cites Daniel and his companions as models: skilled, attractive, and wise, they secure favor in Babylon without sacrificing their distinctiveness.
- “This room is full of God's best. You are gifted. You are talented… They will call you. And go—I ain't saying don't go. But remember your source.” (42:20)
- Standing on conviction: Daniel and his friends stay true to their beliefs even when threatened with the lions’ den or fiery furnace.
- “It wasn't their ‘yes’ that got them in trouble. It was their ‘no.’ Do you have a holy ‘no’?” (45:37)
- They didn’t proselytize loudly; instead, they simply refused to be assimilated or defiled by Babylonian practices.
- The importance of remembering your God-given identity and purpose, even when given labels by culture or industry.
6. When God’s Word Returns: Testimony as the Water Cycle
- Analogy: God’s word comes down like rain and snow (Isaiah 55:10–11), but it returns to Him not as it came, but full of life and testimony—as vapor in our breath, worship, and testimony.
- “Because every time you exhale, water vapor comes out of your mouth and it rises back to the heavens... It returns to Him on your lips, in your praise, in your testimony, in your worship, when you say, ‘this is the thing He said He would do, and it has happened and now I'm going to return it to Him.’” (46:51)
- Encourages listeners to actively praise and testify when God fulfills His word, thereby "returning" the fulfilled word full of life.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “You're looking for what you want to see instead of listening for what you need to hear.” (02:03)
- “Hold on to that word… Do not throw away your confidence in what God has spoken to you.” (09:40)
- “Babylon means confusion… not only was it a literal place where they were going to be restricted and used, but it was about being confused.” (15:30)
- “Unity will get you anywhere you choose, but that doesn’t mean it’s God’s road.” (22:15)
- “Whatever you find out there, you must sanctify on the altar in here.” (32:05)
- “The sound of one is the echo of what God said. We preach it, we sing it, we create it, we write it, we act it out… They echo God’s word over us.” (44:40)
- “It wasn’t their ‘yes’ that got them in trouble. It was their ‘no.’” (45:37)
- “If you will be the sound of the echo of his word, everything will change in your life and you will not be confused again.” (47:00)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- God’s Correction: Listen, Don’t Just Look — 02:03
- Context of Babylon and Comfort in Exile — 04:30
- Difference Between Egyptian Slavery and Babylonian Exile — 09:40
- Babylon as Confusion; Babel Story — 15:30
- Unity vs. Divine Will; Spiritual Recalibration — 22:05
- Creative Output – Source vs. Product — 32:05
- Understanding and Handling Confusion — 35:30
- Living Coherently: Example of Daniel — 42:20
- Testimony as the Return of God’s Word — 46:51
- Closing Blessing and Call to Echo God’s Voice — 47:00
Final Encouragement & Blessing
Dr. Phillips concludes with a charge:
“The sound of one is the word He has spoken to go out in this earth… If you will be the sound of the echo of his word, everything will change in your life and you will not be confused again.” (47:00)
Her prayer invites the Holy Spirit to bring Scriptures and promises to remembrance, ensuring the congregation walks in clarity, not confusion, this week.
Summary
Dr. Anita Phillips delivers a timely message on the dangers of spiritual confusion, using the biblical narrative of Babylon as a lens through which to view modern life. She calls listeners to remain anchored in God’s Word, mindful of their divine source in all their pursuits, and diligent to echo God’s voice in whatever sphere they inhabit. Through poignant personal stories, scriptural exposition, and compelling encouragement, she challenges the community to pursue coherence over confusion and live out the divine legacy assigned to them.