← Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Ep 1373 | Pastor: 'Queer Is God’s Design' & 'Hell Doesn’t Exist.' Let’s Debunk
00:48:57
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Queer is God's design. That is what one preacher from South Carolina is blasphemously saying from his pulpit, as well as all different kinds of things about hell. And this might sound crazy, but chances are your friends, especially the progressive ones, believe some of this stuff. So we will be giving you the responses to some of the things that he was saying in his sermon that is now circulating online in today's episode of Relatable. And as well as answering some of your questions via voicemail about preschool and sleep training and lots of good stuff. We've got all of that and more on today's episode of Relatable. Hey, y'. All. Welcome to Relatable. Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Maybe you heard yesterday at church, hopefully you did something like this, that God's eternal plan of redemption is going off without a hitch. We have every reason and have hope and have joy because we get to spend eternity with him and he's coming back and there's going to be no more wickedness, no more sadness, no more cancer, no more abortion, no more oppression, no more blasphemy like some of the things we're going to talk about today. No more craziness. Everything is going to be in perfect order, in perfect peace, forever and ever. We will get to spend forever with Jesus and with the body of Christ, and we can rejoice in that. Yes and amen. No matter what is going on in your life, no matter what is going on in the world, God is seeking and saving the lost. He is advancing the cause of righteousness. He is advancing the truth of the gospel and his kingdom through the mostly unseen and unsung work of faithful believers around the world. And you were a part of that. By being a believer and living your life every step of the way in a way that glorifies God. No. No matter how seemingly mundane the next step might be, everything done to honor the Lord echoes in eternity. And it advances the caus of Christianity, advances God's kingdom. So we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. And if you ever want to ask yourself, like, what is really going on, the news lies to me. I can't trust everything that I see. What's AI, what's not. If you want to know what's really real, if you want to know what's really going on underneath all of the headlines, what the government is telling you, all you got to do is read the Bible. That's what's really going on at all times. If you want to go down some kind of exciting Detour from the mainstream narrative. Read the Bible. That's never going to be what the mainstream is telling you is going on. Read Scripture, God's eternal plan of redemption and how it is working out every second of every day without hindrance, without interruption, without interfere interference, without a hitch. It's amazing. It's a miracle. God's eternal plan of redemption going off without a hitch. All right, we got some craziness to get into today. It is theology Monday and it is going to be theology. Last Monday we had more of like a newsy episode because I had been off for a week and we had some things that we need to catch up on. But today we're truly going to dive into some theological subjects. Before we do that, just some administrative things. We are hiring, the relatable team is hiring. We are adding to our social media team. There's a lot that's going on there. Our social media extraordinaire is doing a great job, but we need more support in that arena. We also are looking for a video editor specifically for reels for Instagram, for YouTube. And so if you want to apply, apply. Send your resume, send your cover letter, send your portfolio, if applicable, to jobs@alibeth stuckey.com and I just want to take a moment to give you some advice that was given to me early on when I was in college. I learned this. Just some tips that I would say in applying for a job. And this is not meant to be critical. All of this matters and not just for me as someone who accepts applications and interest in jobs all of the time. But for I would say most employers. I can't speak for everyone, but things like this really matter. So when you're applying for a job and you are sending an email, you need a subject line. You need a subject line that doesn't have any grammatical errors, doesn't have any spelling errors, that is properly capitalized and that is relevant to what you are doing application for, you know, x job opportunity, whatever it is. Send an email. Don't just send the attachments. I've gotten emails that have no body in the email and it's just an attachment. That's rude. Don't do that. Say Ally. You could say hiring team. But since you know, I'm the one hiring, I think it's better to address people by name. Don't say to whom it may concern, say Ally. Say a little something in the body of the email and then attach your resume and cover letter. When it comes to the resume and cover letter, this is really Important, the resume should only be one page and it should be a PDF. I can speak from experience that when you are going through so many applications, you kind of develop these really quick filters to say, okay, I'm not even gonna read that resume. Just because you don't have time to thoroughly read every resume. And so there are some things that will just completely discount it right away. If I see a resume that's sent as a Word document, I'm not gonna read it. If I see a resume that is more than one page, I'm not gonna read it. Same thing with COVID letter letter. There's no reason for these to be more than one page and you make sure it's concise by keeping it to only the most relevant information. So I don't need to know what GPA you got in high school. I don't need to know what classes you took in college. I don't really need to know about your extracurriculars. I don't need to know that you were an intern and youth group. Not that those things don't matter. Those things are wonderful, but they're not relevant to the position I'm hiring for. All I want to know is do you have the relevant experience for this role? All of the other things, are you like minded? Are we on the same page? I can assume a little bit just from you reaching out, but that will come out in later conversations and interviews and things like that. What the they need to know initially is do you have the relevant experience for this job? Can you write a proper email? Are you good at communication? Do you seem like someone who has it together? So that's the advice that I would give to you. And I would also say do not apply for a job that you do not have relevant experience for. I remember doing that when I was out of college. I'm like, maybe just by chance, or maybe God is just going to like connect me to this job that I have no business applying for whatsoever. But I'm just going to take a shot and of course anything is possible. But it is not a good idea. It's not a good idea. It actually demonstrates that you probably didn't listen to the person who was saying that they are looking for a particular job and that's never a good foot to start on. So only apply for jobs that you have relevant experience for. When we're looking for a social media manager, I'm looking for someone with social media experience. When I'm looking for a video editor, I am looking for someone with extensive video editing Especially with that role, there's not going to be any training involved. You got to already be able to do it. Social media management great to be a quick learner, but you gotta have the relevant experience in that space. We're potentially hiring for lots of new roles as we grow and we've got some things coming down the pipeline this fall that I'm super excited about. I warned you on Instagram, do not be competent around me in the next few months because I will try to hire you. So if you are a competent like minded person that has any relevant experience in the social media realm, but in the media realm in general, then feel free to send me an email jobs bethsucky. Com and I hope that those little tips will help you no matter what you are applying for out there. All right, let's get into it. Let's get into some of this craziness and then I'll get into our first sponsor a little bit after we introduce what we'll be talking about. So there was this pastor and his sermon, if you can even call it that, going around online woke preacher clips. He is always circulating some of the crazy things that so called progressive Christians are saying. The reason why I think this is relevant, I mean this person might seem kind of obscure. What do we care what a Lutheran preacher is saying in Greenville, South Carolina? But it is important for us to know that wokeness did not die. It might have seemed like that after Donald Trump became president that they are fading into obscurity. But understand that the mentalities that are in, I say so called progressive Christianity because I think that's an oxymoron. There are people who identify as such, but I actually don't think that those two things can go together at all and that this mentality is prevalent and that it's going to get more prevalent as people are looking for some semblance of meaning in religion and some things about Christianity that they like without actually having to die to self without actually having to give up their worldly values. You'll remember Jubilee when I sat in the middle of 20 professing liberal Christians and we went through all the claims on gender and sexuality and abortion and things like that. And so I, I feel very, very familiar and by the grace of God equipped to handle these kinds of arguments. And today we are going to be talking not just about the sexuality aspect, although we will that's a huge one when it comes to those who identify as progressive Christians, but also the existence of hell and the definition of sin. This particular pastor says that Hell doesn't really exist as a physical place except for the manifestation of anti LGBTQ discrimination here in America. That that is actually what makes hell. So let's go through some of his claims about homosexuality not being a sin, hell not existing, and I want to try to help you think through these and give you words and tools so that you can respond to similar arguments in your own life. Let's go ahead and place out for
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who had the nerve to tell you, or any of us or this world for that matter, that being queer makes for an awful person. What in the he decided to buy a pet rock, paint it like a poodle, name it Percy, and take it for walks because he was too lazy to own a real pet. Was he thinking when he told you this? And I assume that it was a man, because in most cases it always is. Why has Christianity, the religion of a humble brown skinned immigrant from Nazareth, become the religion of bigotry? Who had the nerve to tell any of us that we would be going to hell for the way God created us to be?
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Okay, there's a lot there. We're just gonna ignore Percy and the pet rock thing for a second and we're gonna move on to more of his substantive claims. We'll get to that in a second. Let me go ahead and pause. I'll tell you about our first sponsor for the day, and that is Fellowship Home Loans. Quick question. Do you remember the day you closed on your house? The exact date? Most people don't. That is the problem. Because if you close in the last few years, you're probably sitting on a rate that made sense back then, but doesn't actually make sense anymore. Equity has grown, rates have moved. Nobody has looked at any of it since the day you signed the papers. But that's not true at Fellowship Home Loans. They are changing that. They have what's called your mortgage anniversary. So once a year you'll actually sit down with a real person at Fellowship Home Loans who knows your situation and ask the same questions you'd ask in any good relationship. Are we still in the right place? Could we be doing better? For 20 years, that's what Mike and Brian have been doing. They have been helping families catch the things most homeowners miss. A better rate, equity ready to be put to work, debt that could be consolidated. You wouldn't skip your wedding anniversary, so you shouldn't skip your mortgage anniversary either. Go to Fellowship Home Loans.com/Allie. Get $500 back at closing. Fellowship Home Loans Mortgage lending by the book, Nationwide Mortgage Bankers DBA Fellowship, Home Loans, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS Number 819382. Okay, let's deal with some of these claims. We're gonna play another clip of that, another part of a sermon in just a second. But we gotta break this down. Who had the nerve to tell you or any of us or the world that they're. That being queer makes her an awful person? I assume it was a man who had the nerve to tell any of us that we would be going to hell for the way God create us to be. Here's the answer. Who told us that it's possible for us to go to hell? Who told us that hell exists? Jesus did. And it's not just people who have who are gay. As Romans 3:23 tells us, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That said, we'll circle back to the question of homosexuality as a sin in just a second. Let's talk about the existence of hell. The Bible explains that hell is eternal fiery punishment for sin. One misconception is that Jesus never talks about eternal punishment. But Jesus himself actually refers to how multiple times in the New Testament, he refers to hell far more than he refers to heaven. Matthew 23:33 to the Pharisees, you serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? And one thing I just want to say about the Pharisees, because I see another misconception a lot, especially among those who call themselves progressives, is that while the Pharisees were the religious people, and that's why Jesus didn't like them, Pharisees were in authority. And so that's why Jesus backed against them. They were keepers of the law. And that's why Jesus had a problem with him. Because them. Because he was some kind of rebel. Jesus didn't care about religion. He didn't care about law. He didn't care about rule rules. He cared just about relationship. That is a misconception of what Jesus came to do. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law. Yes. And so we are not bound to the cleansing and ceremonial law of the Old Testament that has been fulfilled in Christ. But he doubles down upon the moral law. What he points out with the Pharisees and with the Sadducees and some of the religious leaders at the time is not that, hey, you're too good at keeping the law. The his problem was the hypocrisy. His problem was that they didn't understand that the law is also about your heart posture, that obedience to God starts On the inside. That's why he if you look at a woman lustfully, you have already committed adultery. That is not Jesus saying, oh, you're keeping the law too well, you law keepers. He's saying, no, you are law breakers down to your heart. You don't even understand the spirit of the law. And so I just want you to understand that, that his message to the Pharisees is not a message to religious people, it's a message to rebellious people. It's a message to people like the Pharisees who are not truly following God. They might be honoring God through lip service, through their external appearances, or saying that they are, but in their heart they don't believe in his authority. Mark 9:43 through 48 and if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life crippled with two hands than to go to hell to the unquenchable fire, Jesus calls it. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to send her it out, it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two to be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And so this preacher, when he mocks the idea of hell and the existence of hell, like he is mocking Jesus's own words, Jesus calls hell the unquenchable fire. Luke 12:4 5 I tell you my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Fear God. Of course there is also good news is that yes, there is a hell and there is also a heaven. John 3:16 tells us that whoever believes in him and Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. We get reconciliation to God. We get spared from that eternal punishment not because of anything we do, but because of what God has done for us through Christ. We read that in Ephesians 2 as well. And so yes, there is a hell. And the hope that we have to escape the flames of hell, the just punishment that we deserve for our sin is found in Jesus. That's the mercy. Not in glossing over hell's existence or the existence of sin. The next claim that he makes Christianity has become this religion of bigotry. He says, why is Christianity the religion of a humble brown skinned immigrant from Nazareth become their religion of bigotry. So here we see the intersectionality. If someone is brown skinned, if someone is an immigrant, that they must also be accepting of homosexuality and transgenderism and all of these things. This is critical theory, queer theory being projected onto the Bible. This is not Christianity. This is not someone who loves God and his authority and wants to read the Bible, asking, how can I glorify God? This is someone who wants to use a religious text to justify sin, to justify and to downplay what God calls an abomination. That is blasphemy. Okay? His problem here is not with Christians. It's with Jesus. It is Jesus who says in Matthew 19:4 through 5 that God created us in the beginning, male and female, and joined us together in marriage as one flesh. It is God in his word that calls homosexuality depravity. As we read in Romans 1, this preacher is confusing biggest bigotry with the establishment of right and wrong, which God establishes, not us. And if God is love, first, John 4. 8, then nothing he says or does can be hateful or bigoted. He goes on to say more interesting things about hell because of how America treats LGBTQ people. Apparently America is hell. He says, here's five.
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Who in the world had the nerve to tell us that hell is actually real? It is not a real place. It is not in the Bible. It is not of God.
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It is.
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It is not a real place. Except for the literal reality being enacted in 2026 against all number of people who don't fall into the right category, a literal hell of flames is 100% completely absurd. More absurd than the dumb pet rock joke I just made. So who had the nerve to tell any of you that you're too queer? That you're too masculine, too gay, too feminine, or simply too much? Don't they know? Look at your bulletin cover. Queer is God's design.
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It's so interesting to me that the people who are attending that church and these. All of these churches, like James Talo's church down in Austin, that they're old. Sorry. Not anything against older people, but I just think it's strange. Like, we see progressivism as something that is younger, but they're always very sparse, elderly crowds in these mainline progressive churches. I just find that. Yeah, see, you can see right there. You. I just find that so strange. Okay, we'll get into my response in just a second. Let me pause. Let me tell you about our next sponsor. It's We Heart Nutrition. You know, that's where I get all of my supplements. I just Started adding back in some supplements. I mean, it's a lot, but I realize how important magnesium and omega 3s are, so I've added those back in for a while. And I was just taking my prenatals, my iron supplement. I always have to take that. And then also my probiotics. Those are like my main ones. My go to every night. I never miss. But now I'm like, okay with pregnancy. I've started having the calf cramps. I need more magnesium. I know Omega 3 is good for my brain, baby's brain. And so I'm always adding on more We Heart nutrition products. And I just know that I am safe with every single one because they are all safe ingredients. They are bioavailable ingredients. So it's good for me. It's good, good for a baby. That's why my nails, look how long my nails are, guys. It's because of We Heart nutrition and all of the nutrients that I'm getting from their incredible prenatal vitamins, their pro life. They're Christian. Jacob and Kristen are incredible parents of five beautiful kids, and they are glorifying God in everything they do, especially through this company. Go to we heart nutrition.com use code ALLY. You'll get 20% off we heart nutrition.com code ALLY. Okay, let's talk about this claim. Hell is not of God, he says. Furthermore, who in the world had the nerve to tell us that hell is actually real? It is not a real place. It is not in the Bible. It is not of God. Okay, again, his problem here is with Jesus. Hell is of God because it is his judgment. Now, it's not of God in that it's good and wonderful. And it's. It's not that. It is that. It is a place that exists because of his justice and because of his judgment and because of his wrath. Matthew 25:41. Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. That's Jesus. 2nd Thessalonians 1:6 8. Indeed, God considers it just to repay thee with affliction, those who afflict you, Christians, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven and his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And for those who are like, gosh, this just seems so terrible. I want you to think about all of the horrible things that go on in the world, all of the injustices the crimes that happen against children. I want you to think of the sweet Christians, their babies, their children who are being beheaded, who are being dismembered in places like the Sudan, in Nigeria. I want you to think about horrors of things like the Holocaust, all of the terrible things that go on. And I want you to listen to that feeling that you have inside of you that wants things to be made right, that wants the bad guy to be exposed, to be caught, and to get his comeuppance. That is natural. We feel that when we're reading a book. We feel that when we're watching a movie. We feel that when we turn on the news, like, when will the evildoer get his recompense? Hey, I think that is natural in all of us because it is a longing for something that will manifest itself in eternity. That one day everything will be made right. That the enemy that those who wage evil, those who hurt the vulnerable, those who are exploiting, those who can't help themselves, that one day they will be punished. If not for the grace and the coverage that is given to them by Jesus, they will be punished. Satan, his minions, all of those who practice those works of darkness that have caused so much bloodshed and oppression for years and years and years. God will do away with it. All of us want that. You want that. You want the bad guy to lose and you want goodness to win. Now, progressive, conservative, you could disagree on who that is. Ultimately, it's not up to us. It's not about our political enemies or our politics at all. It's about who God calls unrighteous. And so if at all you feel like a struggle with that, think about the worst things that go on in the world. Don't you want those people to pay? You want them to repent? Yes. But if not that, you want them to pay. Evil is not going to be tolerated forever. And that's actually really good news. That's hope that we have. Hebrews 12, 28, 29. Therefore let us be grateful receiving, for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence. And offer our God is a consuming fire. And that's just to say that's not saying that. In that case, we're talking about hell, but we are talking about fear of God. We are talking about a God who doesn't tolerate unrighteousness, who won't tolerate evil forever. Romans 5:5. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself. On the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. God is holy. God is just. God is righteous. He is a doer of punishment in the most just way possible. And that is why the gospel is such good news. That he has sent us a way to escape the judgment that we deserve. By sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sin, to pay the price of our sin. That whoever believes in him by grace through faith will not perish but have everlasting life. Then he goes on to make a very strange claim, this preacher. America is hell. Hell is not a real place except for the literal reality being enacted in 2026 against all number of people who don't fall into the right category. The truth is America is the one of the most prosperous, free and legally protective societies in history. Is America perfect? By no means. Unfortunately, we still have babies inside the womb who are not legally protected. And so there are all kinds of things that we as Christians want to work toward. More justice, a better future for vulnerable people like babies inside the womb. I have a feeling that this pastor is not including those babies who don't have equal rights under the law, but legally can still be murdered in the United States. I have a feeling that he's talking about something very abstract. He's talking about how America is such a horrible place for so called queer people, for immigrants, and yet those people never move. They never move. In fact, you've got people migrating here by the millions every year because there's nowhere else to go. America is one of the most prosperous, the greatest country in the world. No matter what your background is, there's no better place, no better place for you. We have all kinds of federal laws that prohibit different kinds of discrimination that have been written into law for decades. Millions of people. That is part of why millions of people every year flock here. And so this idea that we are some bastion of evil or hate or bigotry, it's just not mirrored in reality. Then he makes this horrific claim. Queer is God's design, he said. Who had the nerve to tell any of you that you're too queer, that you're too masculine, too gay, too feminine or simply too much? Don't they know? Look at your Bulletin cover. Queer is God's design. I think it's telling that he has to point to the Bulletin cover and can't actually point to the Bible. God's design from the beginning was marriage as a union between a man and a woman. And we read this earlier, we paraphrased this earlier and we were talking about Jesus and how he defines marriage. But he is answering questions about divorce. And he goes all the way back to the beginning and decides to define marriage according to the creation account. Jesus says, have you not read? Have you not read? That's how you answer. Progressive, by the way, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning, made them male and female, and said, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. And I just want to point out something, because I do meet people who profess to be Christians, who really discount the importance of Scripture, of memorizing Scripture. That's why I'm so thankful for my evangelical upbringing from a very early age. You are learning scripture, Scripture, scripture, scripture memorization, memorizing the books of the Bible, memorizing John 3:16, memorizing Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:27. So many pieces of scripture. You guys ask me all the time, how do you recount so quickly and recall these Bible verses? It's because I went to Christian school. It's because I went to church multiple times a week. Of course, I had Christian parents, too. But Bible memorization in the evangelical world is emphasized from such an early age. And I see people, especially from other traditions, kind of discounting that, like it's not really important. But do you read the words of Jesus? If you read the words of Jesus, you will see so many times. Have you not read? Have you not read? And how does he rebut Satan? When Satan tries to twist God's Word the way that this pastor does, he cites God's Word. He cites his. The Word of God. Jesus cites the Word of God back to Satan to declare God's authority. Jesus knew the Word not only because he was the Word himself, but because he had also, in his human form, studied the Word. And that's a model to us. The way you know how to rebut, the way you know just intuitively how to get to the answer to these very strange statements that progressives make. Some are. Which are a lot trickier than this is. Have you not read. You read the Word of God? You know the Word of God. There's no other way to do it. Homosexuality is, by definition, against God's design. Scripture describes it as an abomination, unnatural. Explains the penalty for persisting in this sin, justice. Persisting in other sins in rebellion to God is hell. That is the result. Of course, the Old Testament says this it was so forbidden that it was called an abomination in Leviticus 18:22. And then we see, of course in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah that they were destroyed because of this sin, not the sin of a lack of hospitality, but because of this sin, because of this form of sexual immorality. Jude 7 emphasizes that just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, that's also what homosexuality is referred to in Romans 1 serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Romans 1:26 through 27, God through Paul, makes clear that homosexuality is actually against God's order. First Corinthians 6, 9 through 10 emphasizes that the unrighteous, which includes all manner of sin, the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy drunkards, revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Okay? And so God takes very seriously sin. He takes very seriously sexual sin because it's a sin against your own self. It is a sin against the body that God created for you. And it is a distortion of God's created order. And in that way is unnatural. Even if someone feels that they were born this way, even if someone feels it is innate and intuitive, it is still unnatural and it is against God's order. People will say, oh, you act like it's so much worse than everything else. Or they'll say, what makes you what? Why does this make you an awful person? I had this kind of confrontation when I was on Jubilee. It's no, no, no, it's not that. It's that we are all awful people apart from Christ. Like, no matter what you've done, whether you've only told one white lie in your sin, that sin is big enough to separate you from God. Now, I'm not going to say that this kind of sexual sin is the exact same as every other sin because it is a sin against your own body. It has different, bigger consequences than some of the other sins. But spiritually, every single sin separates you from God. It's not to say that people who are same sex attracted can't also have other wonderful characteristics that we admire in them. It's not that. It's that it is a sin. All sin separates us from God. We are all called to deny ourselves. We are all called to deny the sins that we struggle with, take up our cross and, and follow Christ. And God gives us the grace to do that. So you actually have to hate someone. You have to hate someone to be a Christian and not tell them this truth. If you know that God is love and you know that God is the authority, the most loving thing that we can do is agree with God. This pastor doesn't agree with God. This pastor is guilty of self idolatry and is leading himself and others to hell. That's the unfortunate truth. Let me pause. Let me tell you about crowd health. So crowd health is an alternative to health insurance. And if you have been bogged down with the complications of health insurance, you know how important an alternative is. Health insurance is so complicated and expensive, especially when you finally need real care. You need to know that someone is in your corner and that is crowd health. It's what we use. It's been great. I've experienced how empowering it is to have real advocates on your side. Crowd health is a community of people who have decided to stop letting profit driven insurance companies call the shot. So instead of networks and restrictions, you get freedom. Personal care advocates who fight for you, build negotiators who slash what you owe, prescription discounts and a database to help you find great affordable doctors if you need them. No one ever pays more than their set maximum members. Crowdfund eligible bills with a 99.9% funding success rate, usually in only seven days. Together, crowd health members have already saved over $56 million. Be part of a community focused on advocating for your family's health. Join Crowd Health to get started today for $99 a month for your first three months using code ALI adjoin Crowd Health.com that's join CrowdHealth.com code ALI Crowd Health is not insurance. Opt out. Take your power back. This is how we win. Join Crowd Health.com code Ali. You know, I think it's interesting to also just to look at what other people think about Hell and what people who profess to be Christians think about Hell. Lifeway did a 2025 state of theology study. Many Americans believe hell exists, but far fewer have an orthodox idea of what sends people to hell. 62% of Americans believe there will come a day. 62%. That's actually higher than I would have thought when Jesus returns to judge everyone who has ever lived. And 50% believe hell is a real place where certain people will be punished forever. Again, more than I would have thought. This is down quite a bit from a few decades ago. Barna's 2003 study on the subject show that 71% of Americans believed in Hell. Belief in a literal hell is Especially common among black Protestants and evangelical Protestants. Compared with Catholics, only 64% of professing Catholics believe that there is hell. And mainline Protestants 59. Not surprising at all. Mainline Protestants, very liberal. Most Catholics, sorry, but very liberal at the same time. Relatively few Americans believe that all people deserve hell because of even the smallest sin. Only 23% agree that even a minor sin merits eternal condemnation. That does not surprise me. We have been told that we are innately good, that we are all born good, that we have to learn bad things. Of course, that's not true. If you have been around children, you can see that there is. You don't have to teach anyone to lie. You don't have to teach someone to be selfish. You don't have to teach someone to try to get their own way before they, you know, put the needs of others before themselves. You have to teach someone those things. You have to teach them virtue if you. You have to cultivate selflessness. And them. And so we've been taught the opposite, however. And so only 23% believe that a minor sin merits eternal condemnation. 71% disagree. Even among Christians, that doctrine is held by a minority. Only 38% of evangelical Protestants. Oh my gosh. We have a doctrine and discipleship crisis in the church. 34% of black Protestants and 19% of mainline Protestants and Catholics affirm this idea that sin merits hell. Wow. The Bible is clear. Even sins that we may think are minor are enough to keep us out of heaven because. Because God is perfectly holy, so he can't tolerate sin. James writes, for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. James 2:10. Similarly, Paul writes to the Romans, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. But the good news is that we can be forgiven of our sin in Christ. That is the only way to escape hell. Romans 6:23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So that is the very, very good news. All right, now we just have time for some voicemails. And I do have two ads to do. And so I know that they're kind of close together with the last ad that we did. But let me tell you about Adele Natural Cosmetics, and we'll do some voicemails. Adele is an incredible family owned company. They're in Central Texas. They're hand making all of their cosmetic and skincare items. And I have been using their products for years. I've been using their essential cleanser. Their essential moisturizer daily for years has made a big difference in my skin. I also love their moisturizing blush. I use that their bronzing stick. It is also good. I love that they're unapologetically Christian. Pro life. Everything is holistic and natural. It's amazing. Support this company. So many of the cosmetic companies out there support abortion things that we do not believe in. So make sure that your money is aligned with the values that you hold. Go to adelenaturalcosmetics.com use code ALI. You'll get 25 off your first purchase. Adele naturalcosmetics.com code ALI. Okay, let's do some voicemails. Let's do voicemail number one.
- [36:53]
C
Hi Ali, I was wondering what your thoughts are on about reading other churches or religions books of scripture like the Qur' an or Book of Mormon specifically so I can maybe talk to my friends of other faiths and like understand their perspective better because sometimes I feel like we use the same words but maybe they mean different things to, you know, to people in different faiths. So is that okay? Yeah. Just want to know your thoughts. Thanks.
- [37:24]
A
I don't think it's wrong to read the Quran or the Book of Mormon as a Christian to try to really understand like a primary source for what these people believe. I wouldn't do it alone and I wouldn't do it without your Bible. I wouldn't do it without supplemental resources from Christians who really have studied and understood these texts text. Because I think it would be easy in the Book of Mormon to be like, oh yeah, well you know, that kind of makes sense. But we have to be reading it as a brand. We have to be comparing it to the Word of God to make sure that everything totally aligns. We know the Word of God is our standard. And so again, I don't think it's wrong to read those texts to understand where they are coming from. But a lot of scholars have done a lot of work, understand the historical context, have cross referenced these texts and that would they would probably be better equipped than you or I to be able to explain the meaning of these books and how they align with scripture. So I don't know necessarily that you have to go to the primary source to understand their perspective and again, do so in community. Do so with the leadership and mentorship of other mature Christians. Do so alongside your Bible. I think if you do all of those things prayerfully, then it can be okay. Also don't think it's necessary though to evangelize to Those people in your life. Okay, let's do voicemail number two.
- [38:56]
C
Hi Allie. I'm a first time mom and I absolutely love being a mom. But I am currently staying at home. That's not the plan forever. I am going to find a job, hopefully work from home job to be with my baby. But my husband is working and so because I'm nursing, I'm the one getting up with him at night to feed him. And the nights are just really hard when I'm the only adult awake in the house. I'm just kind of struggling through it and you know, I spend time reading my bible and I have shows that I watch and things to listen to. But I was just wondering if you had any advice for how to get through the nights because they're just a little bit hard as a first time mom to be the only grownup. Thanks.
- [39:41]
A
Yeah, it is really hard and just sleeplessness is really difficult in general. But certainly when you're up at night and you feel lonely, you don't want to waste your time or fry your brain just scrolling on your phone. You want something that's redemptive and good. Obviously podcasts and sermons and all of those things. Listening to the Bible can be really helpful. I think watching TV is fine. Although that could keep you awake, that could keep your baby awake. It's probably not actually the best thing for you to have that blue light coming into your eyes. Prayer, all of that. If there's a friend who is also nursing throughout the night is can y' all send each other encouragement? Those are just some practical tips I would give you. But then I would go beyond that and maybe tell you something that's slightly controversial, which would be at a certain point when you are comfortable to try to establish some kind of routine so that your baby will start sleeping through the night. I know some people are super anti sleep training. They think it's cruel. They think the only thing that sleep training is is making your baby or allowing your baby to cry for hours without comfort. That is so not the kind of sleep training we did in our house. But we did try to establish independence. We did put in place routines. We did taking care of babies. I love taking care of babies. Not a sponsored ad. I just think that her courses are great and really helped us to allow your baby to start falling asleep and falling back asleep independently. When that happens, that will be a game changer for your life and for your mentality and all of that. Some people just think that exhaustion has to be part and parcel with being a Mom of a baby. And part of that, yes, in the very beginning. But it doesn't have to be like that forever. We actually waited too long with our third to start establishing those routines. I was waking up four to five times a night by myself feeding her because I was nursing and it was miserable. I was sick all the time. I felt awful. I was mentally foggy. It wasn't good for me as a mom of three kids. It wasn't good just in general for my like, relationships and friendships and my ability to do this podcast. And it was really me just not wanting to do the discipline of like, of doing the proper sleep training. So when it comes time for that, I don't know how old your baby is, I would just really, really encourage you to do that. It is really important for you to sleep through the night as much as you possibly can. I am so not about the co sleeping until your kid is five. Like, I know that in some crunchy circles, like they, people think that's beautiful and awesome and great. I don't, I don't, I don't think it's good. I don't think it's good for you. I don't think it's good for your marriage. And so just as soon as you can start to establish those practices, disciplines and routines to try to get your baby to sleep through the night. If your kid is chunky, by the way, if your baby is chunky. My babies have been chunky. They're fine. They're fine. They don't need to feed, you know, like three to four times a night. They just don't. They'll be okay until the morning, I promise. Okay, let's go with voicemail number three.
- [42:51]
C
Hi, Ali, I am calling from a small town in South Georgia where my three kids attend the most precious little preschool we have here. My older two daughters have graduated and they're no longer an issue here. But my son still has two more years at this precious preschool. However, it's at a Methodist church and the Methodist church just hired a new pastor who is a woman. I am feeling conflicted about what to do and the message I'm sending to my son and to a school where the preschool sometime affiliate, sometimes affiliates with the pastor of the church. Please help. Thanks.
- [43:32]
A
It's a no for me, dog. Like I'd be saying no. I wouldn't, I wouldn't be sending my kid to a Christian preschool that has a woman pastor because that typically has a trickle down effect on everything else they teach. And I just care about those doctrines. At least that are underneath the doctrines that they're teaching my kids. I highly doubt that they'll be teaching kids about, like, female pastors about LGBTQ stuff and all of that. It probably is a precious preschool. And I also understand just wanting to stay there for another year. I really do understand that. We have had a Christian church preschool that we have absolutely loved. We have absolutely loved for years, and I just will always hold those teachers so, like, closely in my heart. So I do understand the emotional and even spiritual attachment that you have to the institutions that have loved your children. However, if that church hired a female pastor, we'd be, like, raising a respectful ruckus for a lot of different reasons. But it just wouldn't. It wouldn't align anymore. It just. It wouldn't align. And so I'm. I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say no. I'm gonna say there's probably a Baptist. A sweet Baptist preschool in your area that is just as precious and would be just as good for your child's socialization and education and doesn't have that issue of compromising on a significant doctrine. So that's my belief in that. My other controversial, like, opinion, I guess, advice that I give some parents is that I think that Christian preschool is great. Some people are anti preschool altogether. This is just an aside, by the way. Obviously this caller is agrees with me on this, but I think that Christian preschool is awesome. I think it's great for your kids. Every individual kid is different. Maybe your kid doesn't go to school till kindergarten. They're perfectly fine. That's great. It has been so good for my kids and forming friendships and, like, routines and all different kinds of things. And I love to teach them at home, but they learned a lot there too. And so, like, I just think it's really important to find teachers and schools that align with your values, that will love your kids and shape your kids and help your kids grow. Grow. I'm a big fan. I'm a big fan of sweet Christian church preschools, but not one with a female pastor. All right, I got one more sponsor, and then we'll close out, and that is good Ranchers. July is National Grilling Month and is also the anniversary, the birthday of America, the 250th birthday. And so why are you eating meat from other countries when you could be eating meat from American farms and ranches? That's the guarantee that you get with good ranchers. They'll ship it right to your front door on dry ice. They've got seed oil free chicken nuggets which are so good. They're also gluten free which is amazing. They've got better than organic chicken breasts. We have that almost every night. It seems like in some form or another in our home. And if we don't, then we have ground beef chief related, bro. We'll make steaks from good ranchers. They've got seafood, they've got all kinds of stuff. It makes a great thoughtful gift for the griller in your life but also just a gift to your family, gift to yourself so you don't have to worry about going to the grocery store and picking out cuts of meat every week when you could just get this sent to your front door every month. Go to go to ranchers.com use code AL you got $50 off. Go to ranchers.com code alley. Okay y' all come to Share the Arrows if you are a woman. If you're a Christian woman, go to sharethe arrows.com get your tickets today y'. All. It is going to be a day of refreshing encouragement. I could not be more excited. We are like two months and some change away. That's crazy. Crazy. Like two and a half months. We've got Rosario Butterfield, Kosti Hen, Elisa Childers. We've got Shane and Shane, Audrey, Brogey, Gracie and a Castleberry. It's going to be amazing this year. It is brought to you by our friends at Range leather. Share the arrows.com get your tickets today. I will see you there. Share the arrows.com and that's all we have time for today. Okay. We will be back here on Wednesday. We've got news. So tell me what you want to talk about on Wednesday. The things that you want covered that you want me to address. We're always taking your suggestions. And don't forget if you are looking for a job in this realm. Jobsleybathduckey.com all right. We will be back here on Wednesday. Sam.