Shout out to all of the Creasters! I used to be one. That is someone who only goes to church on Christmas and Easter. And while the people you see on Sunday might kiss your butt and tell you how wonderful it is you're there, if I may tell you (and 20 year old me) a different message (what I wish someone told me).
Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thank you for being here. Happy Easter. I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend. I've always wondered this and I've found a good answer to it. So I'll just come out with this little fact. You know, he resurrected, Jesus resurrected. That's what we should be thinking about all the time, but once a year we give an hour to it. But then other people come back from the dead in the Bible too. So I don't quite get that.
Well, check this out. There's several examples in the Bible of people being resuscitated before Jesus, such as the widow's son in the days of Elijah and Lazarus. Each of these was resuscitated from death, but none of them were resurrected. Each of them was raised in the same body they died in and raised from the dead to eventually die again. Interesting. Resurrection isn't just living again. It is living again in a new body based on our old body, perfectly
suited for life in eternity. Jesus was not the first one brought back from the dead but he was the first one resurrected. Those differences make sense to me. I just want to share that in case you've ever been wondering the same. We did a special the other day on the TV about Jesus's resurrection and the word Christer came up and I thought it'd be worth a minute to talk about this. The Christers. I was a Christer, went to church on Christmas and Easter,
my whole life growing up. And I look back at that, I'm not really sure why we did that, but I wanted to think, like as opposed to just not going at all, like, you know what I mean? Like why go Christmas Eve and on Easter Sunday?
I don't, just don't do any. What's the good of two out of 52? I don't understand, you know? But I was trying to think what I would tell myself 20 years ago, who only went to church on Christmas and Easter. What would I say to that person?
Me, what would I say to me? Now people have different motivations and you need to motivate people in different ways. Right now, by the way, I would tell that person you should go to church every Sunday. There's gonna be a lot of people at church on Sunday. You know a lot of people, a lot of Christians showing up. I would tell
them all you should go to church every Sunday. We tend to cater to the softer side of people these days. I think that's starting to end. I think people realize that they really just want to hear the truth. But we're still, we're getting out of this zone where it's all about, Oh, you know, I got to make sure the feeling is going to be, Oh, Oh, you know, it's like on the show today
we talked a lot about the self-esteem movement in America, where that came from. The everyone gets a trophy movement. That came from a California government task force. You're like, oh yeah, of course it did. That makes perfect sense. There was this California assemblyman
who was in the assembly from 1967 to 2004. It's all he ever did. He was a total lunatic wackadoo from Silicon Valley, San Jose. And he came up with this idea that the reason there's all these problems in society, teenage pregnancy and murder and crime and child abuse and spousal abuse, the reason all these things happen is because people don't feel good about themselves.
They don't feel good enough about themselves. When in reality, the problem is people feel way too good about themselves. But anyway, so we had to tell our kids and this report came out in 1990, the problem is people feel way too good about themselves. But anyway, so we had to tell our kids, and this report came out in 1990 called The State of Esteem, and it went to every county in California, and they all embraced it and put it into our schools. And then that turned into, well, everyone gets a good grade, right?
No more red pen when it comes to marking papers, and everyone has to be passed on to the next grade and everyone gets a trophy passed on to the next grade and everyone gets a trophy and all this other nonsense. So this really harmed us in dramatic ways. This isn't just like some sort of gimmicky little side point to make.
This is a big deal. This is where our work ethic comes from. If we wanna be the manufacturing capital of the world again, if we wanna be the strongest military, like we need work ethic. We need people who wanna strive for excellence.
We want people to be self-motivated, not just giving everyone trophies for showing up. Like this is a big problem. The beginning of the self-esteem movement, and it was 35 years ago, well, those kids are now all grown up and they've had kids
and we've been living through this for a couple decades. It's not good. We really have to get rid of this. It's a big problem. Actually, it sounds funny. Like, oh, we'll give everyone a trophy. What a funny segment. No, no, really big deal. We have to stop doing this. So it's also coming to our churches. It's very like, oh, yay, You showed up! I'm so proud of you, you look great in your pastel today. That's what we do now. Maybe that motivates someone, I guess. I would prefer a more direct approach.
I think many people would. So again, I'm just talking to me. I'm talking to me 20 years ago. Been a Christian for 10 years, 11, 12, something like that. So 20 years ago, me, I'd be like, hey man, you should show up on Sunday, next Sunday. Every Sunday, you should come every Sunday
because you should be a better leader of your family. I would say, hey man, you should show up on Sunday. You need to be more connected to your heritage, your roots as an American or Christian nation. This is important to who we are as a country. That's something that's an appeal, not the most important, but I'm just, I'm talking to me from 20 years ago.
I'd say, Hey Slater, you, Hey, Hey you, me, you should stand for something. You should be a man of conviction for once. Okay, maybe a little harsh, but just came across this from John Eldridge. I guess he has a new book out and he wrote this. He said, I don't remember the issue my friend and I were talking about. It had something to do with Christianity, but I remember my friend's response. He said, gosh, I'm not really sure. And I thought it a humble and gracious posture to take.
Only it's been five years now and he's still saying, I'm not really sure. He's landed in that place. And now I see what happened. He has chosen doubt, a posture, very attractive and honored in our day. Doubt is in. So doubt masquerading as humility has become a virtue. See the difference? Humility is a virtue. Doubt is not. But we think they're the same. I just don't know. Oh wow you're so humble. Doubt has become a virtue, a prerequisite for respect. People of strong conviction are suspect. Many
Christians I know have settled for a sort of laid-back doubt, believing it to be a genuine character decision. They think it's a virtue. Now, I appreciate the desire for humility and the fear of being dogmatic. I think those are good concerns, but friends, conviction is not the enemy. Pride is.
Arrogance is. But not conviction. I would say, so I would say to myself 20 years ago, like be a person of conviction. I would say, so I would say to myself 20 years ago, like be a person of conviction, believe in something, stand for something. And the Bible is a pretty good thing you should stand for. And I would say to myself, Hey man, you're choosing football and brunch and sleeping in. And you think those things are good, they're comfortable, they bring you pleasure or something.
But hell sure sucks forever. Excuse my language. But we don't talk about hell. I think a lot more people would show up to church if they thought hell was an option when they die. But if we and Satan get people to forget about hell and never think about
it, then it's a lot easier for people to make choices about the me and the now and the pleasure and the present. I think I'm making it one of my missions of this podcast. This is where our ratings go to zero. Our number of views go to zero to talk about hell because no one else ever does. No one, you never hear about it anywhere. Certainly not church. I think it's important to talk about it, know about it. John Edwards, he said, almost every natural man that hears of hell flatters himself that he shall escape it. Jonathan Edwards was one of the men who ushered in the Great Awakening in America in 1730 and he did it by talking about hell
and how you are hanging by a slender thread over the fire of hell right now. How do you feel when I say that? I don't want to listen to this at all. This is a major downer. Yeah that's the problem that's the problem we don't want to hear it but it's true and while you're here in this pew enjoying Easter brunch and Easter egg hunts and having fun because that's what we do we think about how we can make church more fun for everyone you're hanging by a thread
that can be cut in an instant where you going Jonathan Edwards he said there's nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God. The bow of God's wrath is bent and the arrow already made on the string and justice bends the arrow at your heart. Any church going to preach that on Sunday? Probably not.
So I'm just adding some balance. That's all. Just give me one more minute. I just want to add a little balance here right so we get a little bit of everything nice little assortment when he has a platter here one more quote from sinners in the hand of an angry God that's his most famous summer it's not nearly his best but it's his most famous this how he ended he
said therefore this is the end of the sermon therefore let everyone that is out of Christ now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let everyone fly out of Sodom. Haste and escape for your lives.
Look not behind you escape to the mountain lest you be consumed. Thanks so much for coming. Everybody Easter egg hunt begins in the back... He said unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight. Honestly that would have helped me come back to church next Sunday because of a couple
reasons first of all these people are not afraid of telling the truth and I'm interested Honestly, that would have helped me come back to church next Sunday because a couple of reasons. First of all, these people are not afraid of telling the truth and I'm interested in the truth, but also it knocks me out of talking about me and thinking about me all the time. All we ever do is we think about ourselves all the time, constantly. So to go back to the self-esteem movement and the everybody gets a trophy movement, actually, gosh, this ties in perfectly to yesterday's show about Ezekiel 27 and 28. The Prince of Tyre
thought he was God and so many people today do too. So this whole self-esteem movement was based off the fact that people need to think better things about themselves and if they just think good thoughts about themselves and they won't beat their wives and they won't use drugs and they won't abuse alcohol they won't do all these terrible, pathological things anymore.
We just need people to feel good about themselves. We're just gonna tell everyone, you're great, you're amazing, you're wonderful. And I would argue that people already feel too good about themselves. You're thinking, oh, people feel bad about themselves.
Well, maybe the argument is people are just thinking too much about themselves. Whether it's good or bad, we're thinking too much about us. Pride was the reason for Satan's fall, wasn't it? So you name it, arrogance, the things we see today, arrogance, selfishness, narcissism, you're the center of the universe, the world revolves around me, focusing on my pleasures, my comfort, what's best for me, unwilling to sacrifice.
All of this is pride. What's in it for me? Serve me. I'm entitled. Give me this. It's all pride.
It's everywhere.
We all have it.
And even if you don't love yourself enough, you're still obsessed with yourself. But that's not, you go to the bookstore and there's sections of self-help books, very few books on helping others. It's all about helping me. It's thinking about me all the time.
And then also the other problem with self-help is, you know, it's me, me, me,
me, me.
And then it's the idea that you can change yourself as opposed to it's all God. We need to focus on Him. Set your mind on things above and also, Hebrews 12, fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. C.S. Lewis said, if anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that you are proud and a biggish step too. At least nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you're not conceited it means you are very conceited
indeed. I remember a friend of mine it's very early in me becoming a Christian, I don't even know if I was at this point, but this is my mentality and he had it too of I'm good. Like I don't, God you're busy, you got a lot going on. I got it together, like I'm pretty capable, I'm good. If I need you, I'll call you, I'll you know, set up a flare or something, but you go worry about other people. I'm good.
How wildly arrogant is that? But I would hear that and be like, well, no, I'm not conceited. That's like my humility. Actually. It's like I'm not conceited at all. Like I'm being generous by saying, God, saying God go spend your time with other people who need help that's great that's great gosh I was just like that guy at the temple she's got thank God I'm not like that guy I'm alright if you think you're not conceited it means you're very conceited indeed first Peter 1 8 for you know that it was not with
perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." Lamb, reference to the Passover as well. The point of today's rant is that if you are a Christer, if I may, you should go to church every Sunday. You should also be baptized and born again. Then you get to go to heaven for all of eternity and not hell.
We'll get back to politics on Monday. Hope you have a great Easter. Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Transcript commercial free. Transcript commercial free. Mike Slater dot locals dot com.
