Pastors' PerspectivePastors Perspective is a one-hour call-in program where listeners can call in and get answers to questions about the Bible, Christianity, family, and life. The program is live Monday through Friday from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Pacific. You can call 888-564-6173 to ask your questions.
Hello and welcome to Pastor's Perspective for Friday, March 21st, 2025, 888-564-6173 is the number to call us today until 4 o'clock if you've got a question.
I'm Brian Perez, and joining me in the studio are the Brodersons, Brian and Cheryl. How you guys doing?
We are doing really well, but it's really amazing. We are in the same country, in the same state, in the same room.
I say again for the first time in months
same car. This has been the first time in what, 667 weeks?
Yeah, wow, it's been a while, of course I've been back on the program, but you.
I have not, so it's so good to be back together
today. Yeah, we both for the first time in a long time. So he was gone for uh February to March.
3rd March 6th March 6th and then I left, um, March 1st and was gone and just got back on Tuesday.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Is that true?
I think when we're away we're fonder minute we see each other it's like, uh, could you clean up after yourself or could you wash this for me?
Could you quit telling
me how to drive. I did just fine when you can you
can you mail these bills and take the dog with you? No, I will mail the bills, but I will not take the dog with me. And so we have these like it's, it's renegotiation time again it's, it's learning to because I think we both get so independent.
You know, and when
we're apart, we're just forgetting all of the little like nitpicky things that we get on each other for and we're just thinking of all the great love. Then we get together and it's like, what are you doing? Why are you doing that? What'd you say that for?
No, I'm like, you could move over now. I mean, we'd only been in the car for like 2 minutes. Like you realize that the San Diego freeway is the right hand lane. Yes, but I like the lane going to Santa.
OK, don't worry, I'll get over when I feel like it. I'm like, OK, but it's getting closer,
of course it is
from the air parking her up at the airport. OK,
yeah, but he was talking and telling me a really interesting story and I thought maybe he was really into the story so much so that we might miss the turn off and you know when you've been gone for 18 days and you've slept in, you know, foreign beds.
Uh, two of those being bunk beds, you're really, uh, and two more being at people's houses, you're really looking forward to your own bed, your own bath, and just the familiarity of home. So I didn't want to go to Santa Monica when we could just go to to and and he made it.
I
never had any intention of going to Santa Monica as you.
Found out I drove
to sometimes we've gotten off the freeway unintentionally because people wouldn't let you move over into the lane you needed to be.
OK,
we'll pick this up, uh, after the broadcast. Uh, we will resume this.
It is not with us.
This is not public discord, we're coming up on 45 years. So this is what you do after
45
years.
But you know, you see all these memes and you realize as a woman I'm not alone. You see he sends me every meme from Instagram that says um I didn't really know how to drive till I married and now I've got a coach and if I see one like that.
I'll also send it to him like the wife that says, when my husband missed those last 3 turns, I tried not to laugh. I bit my tongue and you know, so we send those to each other because we know.
That somehow somebody knew us and put those on the Instagram and that you're not alone. We're not alone we're going through the same stuff. Well, one time I got up and I shared and we were talking about how Brian doesn't like to use the um.
Indicators, the turn signals as we call them here, the indicators as they call him in England, you know, to signal that he's moving over the lane or he's turning, and so he said that's not a law and the majority of men agreed with him, but he did have a uh.
Um, a police officer come to him afterwards and say it is the law, but I forget too, and it's just a man thing. And so anyway, but women were like, I'm going to be moving to the right in 1 mile and I want you to know so you're not surprised by that. So we turned it on way too soon and the man's like, hey, everybody move over when I feel like it. I'll just come over and so.
It's different for men and women, and we found that everyone agreed with us to the point that this couple wrote us and said we don't like your shtick like they thought it was a comedy routine that we did regularly like it's not a routine these things just come to us. It's it's life yeah so anyway.
So much for OK,
yes,
so we are happily back together.
Awesome.
And we're here on Friday. We're we're happily back together with all of the incredible pressures of retirement. It's crazy.
Waitres of retirement. Oh,
you got Medicare. You gotta, you gotta get your tax scheduled together.
Um, there's all these crazy things that you have to do when you retire that we had no idea. We thought when we retired life got easy. We had no idea, did we?
Of
all the requirements. So if
retirement is about paperwork, I'm not gonna retire.
It's so much. Let me warn you. There's quite I don't
do and we're not even really retired. We're just
we just added some paperwork to her. That's what
we did.
Well, you know, everyone is probably right now working on their taxes because they're due April, uh, what is it
15th. So happy
happy April 15th is coming up.
That's also Kwave's 40th anniversary. We'll have more details about that later.
So pay your taxes early so you can celebrate with Kwave and won't be hanging over your
head.
But I heard, uh, President Trump was maybe gonna, um, you know, end income tax for people under.
I make 150,000 or under, and you think he's going to get that done before April 15th? That would be crazy.
That yeah, I can't see
that.
I'm really excited that he said he's going to end taxes on Social Security. That's like we're really getting excited. That tells you where we're at, doesn't it?
Yes it does.
We're retired.
All right, 888-564-6173 is our number and let's go right to the phones. Here is Mary, who's listening to us in Anaheim on FM 107.9. Hi Mary.
Hi, God bless y'all. I really appreciate all of you, and I especially love Cheryl Broderson.
Mary, I love that. I think I love you back.
You are such a blessing. Oh my gosh, I can't wait to listen to you on Saturdays. Oh, so wonderful. Anyway, my question is,
and I'm sure you've answered this subject before many times, but I feel such a burden to inform others about the history of the cross, um, how its roots go back to ancient, uh, Egypt and Babylon, and how, um, it is a, uh, Roman.
Torture device and that I really don't think that Christ would be happy to see us, um, revering the cross and even kissing it and praying to it. Uh, I mean, I know the crucifix is definitely, you know, I think, I think you're partially right and I partially agree with you because I agree with, you know, it's not to become an idol, right? or.
But on the other hand, because Mary, I've never, I had a really an aversion to wearing crosses for the same reasons that you're talking about right now.
And um it actually goes back to the Persians um and how they used it and the Persians invented it and then it went to the Romans but one of the things that the Lord spoke to me this one day as I was doing my Bible studies is that we're to talk about the transformative power that Jesus, like everything that Jesus touches, he transforms.
And for so many when they look at the cross what they see is salvation. They see that that Jesus took the worst that the world had to offer the most torturous device created by man, and he turned it into the greatest blessing.
And instead of being an emblem of death, it has become an emblem of salvation and of life and so what it does is it talks about the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Um, I read one time DL Moody said that when that spear that horrid Roman spear went into Jesus's side, it was suddenly transformed.
Um, and became a holy spirit as the blood of Christ surrounded it and was pulled out into the blood of Christ. So I have found instead of um you know seeing it as uh you know I would well tell people don't revere it but I want you to know what Jesus did to it.
And that's kind of something that Paul was talking about too as he was talking when he would write about the cross, you know, I am not ashamed of the cross, he would say you know but he said the Jews look at it and say no, no, no, there is no way that the Messiah would allow himself to do a cross and he said the cross to the Jews was, you know, horrific and.
You know, not even a possibility and to the Greeks it was foolishness, but to those of us who are saved, it is the power of God and to salvation. So for those of us who are saved, we can say you're right it you I wanna tell you a little bit about the history. This was a torturous terrible thing, but once Jesus was put up on it, um, he took the sin of the world, and this is what we deserve for our sin.
And he transformed it into the way of life. Um, there's also a really great uh thing too when you look at Isaac and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, um, it said that Abraham laid the wood on Isaac and Isaac was actually taking the wood up to make the um.
You know, that he would lay down on for this sacrifice and he was actually bound to the wood and he says, you know, Father, we have the wood where's the sacrifice? And that's when um Abraham says the Lord himself will provide the sacrifice. So it's interesting as Isaac is a type of Christ is actually taking the wood up to Mount Moria.
Which is the same mountain. So anyway, I think you can use exactly what you're saying. It's a torturous device, but it's been transformed to wow, wow, yeah, yeah. Oh, OK. So you don't wear a cross? I don't, but ever since I, the Lord gave me that revelation about the transformative effect, I thought about it. What I have a problem with is like wearing a diamond cross.
Or like a like a fancy cross. It's like, you know, it is valuable to me and it means a lot to me.
And so I could say, OK, yes, diamond encrusted because it is special and Jesus really transformed it, but um that's just a personal thing, you know, I don't mind it on others, yeah, now what about wouldn't it be better the anchor, the fish, or I think you could do any of them, but again, if you're kissing any of those, you're in the wrong, you know, like a dove, an anchor, and you know what I wanna say Mary, I do applaud you on that because I do think people get too into the icons.
And not enough Jesus. are wearing, you know, you know, all kinds of people that are not revering what he did. You know what? I do kind of see it. It's a symbol of Christianity, right or wrong,
but and around the world that's what people noted for. So if nothing else, it's a good witness
that's right.
Brian, what are your thoughts?
Um, yeah, I, I, you know, get what Mary's saying and, and I agree, of course, with what Cheryl said. I think too, um, you know, there's the irony of the cross is that it's, it's a symbol of a weakness. So Jesus was crucified in weakness, but he was raised in power and it's, it's really a picture of showing how, um, God's victory did not come.
The way anybody imagined it would come. So, um, I mean, you, you know, when Jesus was here, the disciples were like, Lord, are you gonna restore the kingdom right now, which meant are you gonna kick these Romans out of here? Are you gonna give them their due? You know, they've brutalized us and now, uh, it's, it's, it's our turn to be on top and, and you're the great king and you need to crush them, and that's not how God did it. Uh, he did it in a way that nobody would have ever dreamed and that's really the symbol of the cross. So in the early
Early centuries of the Christian Church, they began to, um,
You know, use the cross as that symbol of the weak defeating the strong. And, uh, like Paul said, he said he would not glory in anything but the cross. And so, um, you know, because through through the cross, that's our, that's our salvation. So absolutely we don't, um, you know, kiss it or, you know, venerate it or anything like that. But I, but I do think there are times when I
I've seen this many times and I've, I've seen it recently like people who have come out of the world, you know, really, really dark stuff, and then they come to Jesus, man. They put a big old cross on because they want to just say, hey, I'm following Jesus now. I think of somebody like Russell Brand, you know, who, who comes from such a, um, you know, deep dark background, and now he's, he's sporting a big old cross everywhere he goes. I think good for him, you know. Well,
you
know,
I once interviewed this woman who had been a Hollywood star.
And she said she was wearing like a big cross meant nothing to her, and she walked into a yogurt shop in Santa Monica and the girl behind the counter said, oh, you've got a cross. Does that mean something to you? And um the Hollywood star said it's just decorative.
But she said when the girl asked her what the meaning was, does that mean something to you? She said it began to work her and work her and work her and when she gave her life to the Lord, she remembered that little girl in the yogurt shop she said she wanted to go find her and said, yes, it means something to me now and I thought that was really interesting, you know, because at the time.
Yeah, I remember for a time just everyone was sporting them just for decoration and that's what we don't want it just to be decorative,
you know, I mean, you know, like you said, I mean, there's, there's nice little, you know, of course more for women than men, it's jewelry, a piece of jewelry, and there's lots of people that just wear them because they, they like the jewelry piece. But you know, when you intentionally are wearing it because you want to make a statement, I think that's a good thing. Yeah, I agree. Talk about a great.
Seed planting at the yogurt shop there she wasn't even trying to witness quote unquote but uh yeah the things that we
do.
When I was interviewing this woman, she said that was and I mean she got gloriously saved, but she said that never left her mind and it continued to work and work you know I'll tell you one another story. I had a friend who was really into uh dental meditation when I was in high school and she was like one of those people that was a little trippy.
And my friend sat in front of her and um she was always kind of um giving my friend a hard time for being a Christian.
And my friend turned around to her and said, I don't know anything, but I know this, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16, and she kept doing it every day when this, uh, my friend would start, uh, when the
Um, the TM woman would give her a hard time, young woman, she would just turn around and say that. So this friend who went to do TM this one day in clearer mind could not clear mind of John 3:16, could not, and ended up giving her life to the Lord and nobody in in her sphere, not her parents, not grandparents, not anyone was ever saved before and she was the first to get saved and I'm telling you, when she got saved, she bur.
Burst into the kingdom of God and she just shared Jesus with everybody um she ended up working for the Whittenberg door for a time as a writer, excellent writer, but it's just and Chronicles of Narnia were like her all time favorite uh books ever but you just see the transformative effect of knowing that God so loved the world that he sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
And when you just believe that truth that we wouldn't perish just how I mean she knew nothing she didn't even know about the resurrection yet but that truth transformed her and when she said all right I believe in you Jesus everything changed and then of course um my friend Lisa actually discipled her and we brought her to Calvary and man she was here more than we were which is hard to do.
That's awesome. Mary, thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective. And now let's talk to Danielle, who's listening to us in Los Angeles on the Kwave app. So thank you, Danielle, for downloading the app and for calling us today at 888-564-6173. How can we help you today, Danielle?
Hello, good afternoon. Uh, I just have a question. Um,
I have a husband and uh we have 5 kids together and I just wanted to know, are we, am I in the go if I divorce because now he's
Um,
I guess come to realize, I guess I don't really know how to explain it, but I guess he's just, he's just been so lost and now he's realized that he's actually bisexual, and I, I'm really lost for words. I really don't know. When did you find this out, Danielle?
Um,
a couple
of years ago, so we've been separated actually, but I'm just, you know, just kinda, I wanna move forward, just kinda separate myself cause it's just not, um,
You know, you kind of just, you know, wait for somebody to just come to their senses, but I don't think so. um, and you know, I, I'm really traditional and I really don't,
um. Yeah, now Danielle, are you in a church?
I am good, good, because what I want to see is you have um emotional and spiritual support.
And that's, you know, what I'm hearing you, I'm like, oh poor thing. I mean Danielle, this is brutal, but you're going through and you know, obviously you said you've been separated, so you, you've probably had all 5 kids yourself raising them. The burden, oh gosh, Danielle, you're amazing. OK, just hearing this and your kindness so far too, I mean.
Honestly, um, I just wanna make sure that you're in a church that is supporting you and you have a pastor that's, you know, listening and someone that you can talk to if there was a women's prayer meeting just to have them even pray for you, you know, for the wisdom um to go for it because, you know, divorce is expensive.
And it's, you know, it.
You're gonna need a lot of support.
So, Danielle, my my question is, are you, are you kind of asking like for permission in the sense like is God OK with this if I make this decision?
Um, if that's what you're asking, OK, yeah. And the answer is yes. Um, you know, your husband has been unfaithful to you and
he's not in the house
and he's not there with you, and you know, the, the scripture doesn't really bind.
Bind you in a situation like that, you know, there's a passage in uh, First Corinthians where Paul is talking about the unbeliever and the believer, and he says, um, if the unbeliever departs or if the unbeliever is is not pleased to live with you, then let then let them depart. And, and then he says, and the, the believing person is not under bondage in such a situation or you're not, you know, you're not bound to try to stay in that situation.
So I think you have um you have the freedom to move on with your life in the Lord, and um.
But like Cheryl said, it would be great if you could have some support around you through a local church that, you know, people can kind of walk with you on that journey. How old are the kids, Danielle, and do they know?
And what did they say? They, well, we're not together like in house, but do they know, like, um, no, in detail, they just know that we're not together anymore. Mm. And so did you guys, I mean, obviously you're a Christian, so was your husband uh confessing to be a Christian at a certain point and then Yes, and that is the crazy part. Um, it was like
almost like.
Um,
Like a whole identity crisis and.
Uh,
I don't know,
the way
he
portrayed
himself, uh, I think, uh, as a Christian and, you know, walking as, you know, a God-fearing man, and now just
I guess I don't, I really don't know. I really don't know. I don't have the answers. What does he say? Are, are you in regular contact with him?
Um, no, because he doesn't really support, so it's, and I'm not, I'm not one to ask for
help. I
already know there's
responsibility.
Can we pray for you?
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah, Father, I just want to thank you for Danielle. I wanna thank you that she's staying with you no matter what, that she is loving you, that she is seeking your will even at this hard time. Father, you know the um.
Disappointment, the depth of disappointment, the depth of, uh, disillusionment, Lord, you know how she's on her own. I pray that you would bless her, that you would give her all the finances that, um, she needs to raise all five of these children. Father, I pray that you would give her the gift of all her children's lives, loving you, walking with you because she has chosen to walk with you, and Lord, that you would sanctify.
Each one of these children, I pray that each one of these children would rise up and call, uh, Danielle blessed as a mother to say that she was the biggest blessing and stability in their lives. Father, I pray that you would give Daniel favor wherever she goes. I pray that her church would surround her with such love and with such favor and such support.
That she would know that she is wanted, that she's accepted, that she is loved, that Lord, that it would be like a second family and second home to Danielle and her children, um, at church, Lord Jesus, and Father, this your daughter and you understand all she's going through. I pray that you would just, um, surround her with um your loving wings that you would just spread your wings over Danielle and her children and be their protection.
And Lord, that you would be their father and their benefactor, Lord, thank you for Daniel. Thank you that she loves you and she's holding on to you and we thank you for her life, her faith, her children and her, her desire to seek you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen, Danielle, thank you for calling us today here on Pastor's Perspective. 888-564-6173 is our number and now here's Oscar and San Bernardino. Thank you, Oscar, for calling in today. What's going on?
Yeah, I, I just got a question, like a deep question that I just wanted to, just wanted a little bit of answers on.
OK, let's hear it. Yeah, um, um, when you hurt somebody, when you hurt somebody that you love mostly in the world,
But you were in a, when you were in a dark and bad, bad place, how would you, how would you help them to heal?
Are you guys still together?
Yeah, we're uh we're uh basically married together, and we have one child that's autistic. OK.
You know, I know this is gonna sound a little um crazy Oscar, but there was a movie years ago called Fireproof and it starred Kirk Cameron and it's a Christian movie and it's about a man who really hurt his wife and he was into pornography and how he um gave it up and really sought the Lord.
And really sought the Lord in wisdom on how to love his wife and because she's got to learn to trust you again and trust that you won't be hurt and that's gonna take time. It doesn't happen overnight and there's not a magic word that you can say. She's just got to see it day after day, hour after hour consistently you loving her.
Um, you being kind to her, your responses being um kind and not sharp to her, and there's no slow way, uh, to making up to her, no fast way, right, exactly, no fast way, um, for her, um, to get to that point and that objective, but I would if I were you, I think I would really see if you could watch it on Amazon or, you know, whatever way possible that you could watch Fireproof.
And you know, that would, that would
be great.
Yeah, that'll that'll help you because you know, Kirk Cameron kind of sets a standard for this.
And, and Oscar, obviously the point, you know, of the movie is that, um, you know, here's a person who, like Cheryl said, and you know, like you're asking about, it's done real damage to somebody else and they, but there's healing that comes, but the healing comes through the commitment to Jesus and continuing to grow as a Christian and continuing to
To want to, you know, follow the Lord and please the Lord and, um. Yeah, like, like I've been really like committed to the Lord like, like on, on Saturdays, uh, I go and I feed the homeless. I'm part of a street team that we, we go and we close and we feed the homeless. Awesome. Um, I go to church on Saturdays, I mean on Sundays and Wednesdays. Yeah, good for you. Um, is she, is she with you on that stuff? Are you guys going to church together or?
Yeah, like we go to church together and stuff. We both parent together. We both live in the same house, you know, it's just, it's like it's just kind of hard. It's just kind of hard because, like, you know, I, I see her go through the pain and then sometimes I end up, I end up crying like, you know, or
like.
I kind of look at myself like, why did I do this to her?
Yeah. You know what, you could even watch Fireproof together and you could say that's how I feel and maybe that would help her even too. And I mean, it's just something that you can
do
and you know you can pray just, you know, you can pray for the Lord to heal that in her, she's she's gonna, you know, see the transformation in you, which will be a huge factor.
But there's also a place where the the Lord himself has to touch her heart too,
and she's still with you, Oscar, so that's hope. I mean obviously she loves you, she hasn't left, you know.
Oscar, thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective, and we've got to take a break now. We'll be back with more of your questions. We've got Brian and Cheryl Roderson in the studio for another half hour. What do you want to ask them? 888-564-6173 is the number to call. If you've been watching us for the past half.
Hour on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Stop watching. Participate. 888-564-6173. OK, you don't have to participate, of course, you can continue watching without participating, but we would love to hear from you. 888-564-6173 is our number, and we'll talk to you in a little bit.
Hey, welcome back to Pastor's Perspective. I'm Brian Perez, and Brian and Cheryl Broderson are here to answer your questions. What do you want to talk about? 888-564-6173 is our number. And don't forget, Pastor Brian will be teaching at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa this coming Sunday night. It's part of the new Back to Basics Live study that happens on Sunday nights at 6:30. Yes. Excited. Acts chapter two, which is one of the
Uh, most thrilling chapters in the Bible. So, yeah, can't wait. Yep, that'll be good. Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. More details at back to Basradio.com/live. Let's go to Pasadena. Here is Steve listening on AM 1110 Kwave. Welcome, Steve, to Pastor's Perspective.
Hey, thank you very much for taking the call and kind of an embarrassing question to ask, but I was just wondering what the pastor's perspective is on if it's a sin or even possible to lust after your own wife or to fantasize about your own wife.
Um, you're asking for yourself, Steve.
Sure.
Sure, OK, Brian. Well, I, I mean, I think it in, in some ways, the answer is no, um, you know, but lust, let's not, let's take that word out of it for a moment. I mean, it could be the appropriate word, but, you know, lust is a word that it speaks a little bit about an inordinate desire, you know, something like that's beyond like a normal uh desire, passion. So, um,
I think it is perfectly normal and acceptable that you would be attracted to your wife and that you would want to be romantically involved with her. That's
That's great. Um, if it crosses over into a place where you're bringing in, you know, sort of additional types of things that would not be associated with just the purity of that relationship between you and your wife, you know, I, I mean,
You know, we live in a in a.
In a pornographic world, Sheryl is pointing something to, oh, and you're pointing about the marriage bed. Yes, in Hebrews, uh, chapter 13, it tells us there that, um, the, in the context of marriage, the bed is undefiled. So you have freedom in your marital relationship sexually to, you know, enjoy one another to the fullest extent. Um, and
And yet, there is the the warning attached along to it, um, adulterers and sexually immoral God will judge. So he's contrasting the two things. In other words, he's saying the sexual relationship is to be in the context of marriage. So, yes, it's great to be passionate desire passionately desirous for your wife. I think for your own heart though, you just want to check and make sure.
You know, like you're talking about visualization or imagining things, um, you know, I think that that could go to a place that is unhealthy, and so you wanna make sure that, um, whatever you're imagining, um, or or doing that your wife is on board with you. You know, I've I've heard many times of husbands who are asking their wives to do things.
Sexually that they do not feel comfortable with. And I think that when when you get to that point, then I think you're crossing a line.
What do you think, Steve?
I appreciate the honest response and thank you. Yeah, it's a really
Embarrassing, kind of hard question to ask is, um, but I thanks for, you know, really articulating that well. If I'm being totally honest, it's, it's like
It's, it's, it's not a lot of what was just mentioned there, nothing like crossing a line or anything like that, but more like that to be very specific with the question when it's an even harder question to ask is if you have needs that are normal male needs, for example, and you think about your wife while you take care of your own needs.
Is that a sin and, and I guess the overall question too is, is it a sin to take care of your quote unquote own needs by yourself, you know what I mean? Well, I mean, that's a, you know, that's a thing where I think, uh, you know, like, like Paul says in here, here's a passage I think could be relevant to it in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. He talks about, um, you know, uh, a man and a woman who are not.
Married, but are um passionate toward one another. And you know, there you might have heard the term, it is better to marry than to burn. And so Paul's talking there about that, that passion, you know, for the sexual relationship and you're, um, you know, the way the way you deal with that is you get married. And so,
Um, I think when you, you know, you get into the realm of self-satisfaction, you know, that, that sort of thing, um, I think
I, I think that the issue there becomes more of an issue of sort of self.
You know, you're talking about self gratification. Yeah, put, put self in all capitals and the Christian life is reducing self to small letters, not big letters. So it, it, it's like you're putting yourself in a place that.
You know, you, you don't need to gratify yourself that much. We, we're actually called to deny ourselves. So I think that, you know, you look, I think you look for that satisfaction with your wife and if, you know, for whatever reason at whatever time that's not happening, you just learn self control. That that's what I think.
Steve, thank you for your phone call today on Pastor's Perspective at 888-564-6173. Now we go to Fountain Valley. Here is Tanya, who's watching us on Facebook. Let's wave to Tanya. Thanks so much for calling in today, Tanya, what is your question for us today?
Hello,
good afternoon. Um, first time caller.
I've been listening
since, uh, to every man and answer days.
It's been a while. I was gonna say, wow. What took you so long to call in?
I know. So back then.
Cheryl took a call from a woman that was grieving. Someone had died.
And she wanted to know what heaven was like.
And Cheryl painted a beautiful picture of what heaven was like, and I even went and got the cassette.
Went to the chapel store and got the cassette and I passed it out.
Um, my daughter passed away in February, and I was just wondering, Cheryl, if you would.
Comfort me and just paint me a picture of how beautiful heaven is because I know that's where she is and I know she's singing at the feet of Jesus, but you really need to be comforted.
OK, first of all, Tanya, I totally understand and um.
You know, I just, uh, I was just with my friend who lost her husband after 48 years of marriage and we were in um New Zealand together and.
Uh, last time she was in New Zealand, he was with her and we just had to keep going back um to where he is and what he's doing and that there's a life. You know, this is not our real life.
This is just the precursor to our real life. Our real life is in heaven, and I read this book a long time ago a friend of mine gave me this book called Peace Like a River, and I remember reading it just like, OK, this is an interesting story, but it's getting a little strange, but the last chapter.
Is all about heaven and in the very last chapter it talked about how the grass was such a deep green that you could feel the color and you could feel the grass tickling your toes and how the air you was so um strong that when you breathe it in you could feel it just resonating throughout your whole body.
That every part of your body was more alive than it had ever ever been before and I remember reading that description just thinking this is the most beautiful thing I've ever read and it was talking about heaven but I had a a friend who um went to be with Jesus right um after my dad.
Her I got a call like saying she wants to talk to you and so I called her up and I said hey Chris, how are you doing? and she said, I, I don't know and I said, well Chris, let me tell you a little bit about where you're going. I said you're going to the most beautiful place with the most vivid colors that you've ever seen and I said there's gonna be just this huge lake that is so crystal clear.
That you're gonna wanna jump in but it's you're already gonna feel the refreshing of it just as you're on the edge of it and I said, and then you're gonna see the most beautiful throne of all and it's going to be covered and surrounded by like an emerald rainbow, but there's every type of shining green, uh, just symbolizing all the life that comes from the throne.
And on that throne will be your heavenly Father who beams with constant love toward you. You will feel more at home, more at ease, more yourself and more alive than you have ever felt before. And I said, and you're going to see my dad up there. And I said, Please give him a big, big hug, and then you're going to turn around and you're going to see my mom.
And my mom will not have any of the weaknesses. Her mind will be strong and alert, and she'll be more wise than she's ever been.
And I said you're gonna see such beauty, you know, CS Lewis said if we saw people now in their glorified state, we would be so tempted to worship and fall down at their feet because of their beauty.
And you know we have the the story in Revelation chapter 4 where all of heaven is surrounding God's throne we have the elders with their beautiful crowns casting them on a sea and unimaginably beautiful characters that are um.
That are praising God together and they have these beautiful wings and they're flying around just saying holy holy holy and there's just this incredible procession in heaven there's order and there's beauty and there's music and there's praise when all of a sudden everyone looks and they see a scroll in the hand of God and all of heaven stops.
Because this beauty can't go forward, this is all gonna end, and suffering will be the last note and death will have the last say unless somebody is able to take that scroll from the hand of God.
And all of heaven begins to cry, and the deficit is felt.
And John begins to fall to his knees, saying who is worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals thereof to put death completely to death, to put suffering completely, you know, um, into annihilation. Who can do this? And he begins to cry because they feel the deficit, but somebody says don't weep and points to the Lamb of God who is coming.
And he says, look, there is the Lamb of God who has prevailed to take away the sin of the world, and John looks, and it's Jesus. It's it's Jesus, but he looks like a lamb that was slain and sacrificed.
And he comes up to the throne of God and he takes the scroll. He's allowed to hold it and then he begins to break off the seals and with each seal death dies a little more suffering dies a little more. It's all.
Under annihilation and soon heaven will be able to go to earth and you know I, I remember my dad used to love to teach that portion and he said, I want the job where I tell people don't cry look, it's the Lamb of God and what's really interesting about that.
I was in um Austria at the castle that you know my dad had purchased years ago where we have the missions conference and behind me there's a beautiful lake and I'm kind of in this room all by myself with just a few other people. It's the overflow room and we start singing that song Holy holy holy is the Lord is the lamb um who is on the throne and it's all about heaven and it's about that time when Jesus takes the scroll.
And all of a sudden I thought.
That's my dad. He's gonna say, don't weep. There's a Lamb of God. He wanted that job. He wanted that job so the Lord took him early.
So he could prepare for that job because my dad's favorite thing to say was don't cry always all my life, don't cry, don't cry. I can't hear tears. Don't cry. And I thought right now he's prepared and we're all going to be in heaven together and we're going to feel that deficit.
And see how much we needed Jesus and then when Jesus takes that scroll, we're all going to realize corporately together how great what Jesus has done for all of us. It's every nation, it's every tribe, every language, and we will sing together worthy is the lamb.
Um, to take the scroll and open the seals, um.
For he has redeemed us from every tribe and nation, and we'll just sing that song of the lamb together, and that's just a little bit, a little bit of heaven, but I know that all of the creation that we know today and we love will pale in comparison to the beauty and the senses all truly alive when we're in the presence of Christ and
I think for a really good picture of what your daughter is like now you could turn to Luke chapter 24 when Jesus is with the disciples and he says to them, Look, you know, I'm not a spirit. Flesh, I have flesh and bones, you know, does anyone have anything to eat? And they bring him honeycomb and fish, and he appears and then he just disappears in their mids.
And he's superior he's superior and it says that he's the first fruits in fact Jesus has gone before us to show us what we will look like, what we will feel like, what we will be able to do, and that's gonna be heaven.
What do you think, Tanya?
Praise God.
But Tanya, you and I are going to be there and we'll, we'll be the huggers. We'll just go in hugging, right? And we'll find your daughter. What was her name? What is her name?
Her
name,
uh
Karen, with a T,
T A R T A R Y N.
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful name.
Yeah. And, you know, I, I think just to add one final thing here, I, I just think of the words of Jesus. I, I love these words in Revelation chapter one where he says, um, behold, I am he who was dead.
And I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of the grave, and basically the keys, you know, are symbolic of authority and you know, here's Jesus saying, I was dead, but I'm alive and it's almost like what we're talking about right now like um.
You know, they're not dead. They're alive. They're very and like Cheryl was saying and Luke, you know, where Jesus is like, look, hey, it's me, I'm alive. And I think of our loved ones, we can think the same thing. They're, they're alive. They're just not in this dimension, but they're very much alive, more alive than ever,
actually. You know, um, Ray Bentley, who's gotten to be with Jesus, um.
He,
his brother was hit by a police car and died and Ray told me he couldn't get any comfort over it just because of the violence and everything and then he said,
One night he went to sleep and he prayed.
And he said he was there at the same scene. He saw the car coming, he saw his brother coming out of the um.
Like I think it was like a 7-11, and he saw the impact, but he saw these angels swoop down and take his brother, and he said, I saw my brother's corpse fall to the ground, but I saw his spirit rise with these angels and becoming more handsome and more alive as the angels took him to heaven. And when Jesus talked about, uh, when he gave the parable about a man named Lazarus, he talked about the angels coming and taking Lazarus to heaven.
And um after my dad died I was, I was um praying and this one night I went to sleep and I saw my dad in a dream and he had a full head of hair and he looked more handsome than I've ever seen him in his life. I mean, he looked like my dad, but he looked really um.
Like, what do I want to say like well buff, I don't, can't think of a better word, but he looks so buff and you know my dad was always, always on a diet and there in this he just his muscles he looks so toned and so handsome and yet I knew he was my dad and he had, he had age but he had youth and vitality at the same time and he was trying to give me a message like Cheryl, look, I'm alive and I'm.
I'm asking him and all I can say is, Dad, how did you get out of the coffin? How did you get out of the coffin? And he had so much to tell me but I just couldn't believe, you know, like how is this possible because you are so, so alive and I woke up and I really believe the Lord gave me a glimpse of what my dad looks right now, right now in heaven. I really believe that's what I was seeing.
And my dad always said, when you see me in heaven, I don't look for a bald guy. I've got a full head of hair when I get to heaven, kind of like Brian Perez's hair, you know, he's got the full head of hair when he gets to heaven. That's what he wanted that curly dark hair. Well,
mine's not dark anymore, but yeah,
but anyway, so, uh,
beautiful. Tanya, thank you for calling in today on Pastor's Perspective. Jennifer and Pomona, you're next. Thanks for listening to Pastor's Perspective on the Kwave app. What's going on?
Hi, oh my gosh, I'm so happy I'm able to come through. I've been listening for years and I'm glad I finally have something to ask.
Good.
And we're glad you called.
Um,
thank you. So, um,
Yeah, um, my husband and I have become
Pretty submitted to God as of recently, and we feel like we're on the road to chase God and
The elders at work are at work at the elders at church have, we, they've been constantly telling us that God is chasing us, and I kind of want, I've been praying about it. My husband and I have both been praying about it, and um maybe you can give us some sort of sense to it, and possibly prayer over it.
So when they, when they're saying, you know, God's chasing after you, but it like, in what context are they saying that? are they talking about like God's, you know, calling you to more um active service to him or to some mission or do you know what their
Referring to when they say that?
Um, well, my husband and I have put it bluntly, we had a revival with God here at home and, um, That's great. He, he delivered us from a lot and we're, you know, he put it in my husband's heart that he's, he's possibly going to become a pastor himself. And so we've just been becoming more involved with the church, um, learning more and
Just following whatever God puts in our path and keep, you know, the elders at church have been the ones coming up to us without us even knowing them, just telling us that God has great things for us, God is chasing us. Yeah. And we, we kind of look at each other and we're like, we're chasing after.
God too is we're kind of concerned in a way saying like God, are, are we, are we deterring? Yeah, I, yeah, I, I'm just gonna guess here. I, I think maybe just the terminology is, is probably not exactly accurate.
Uh, because God's already got you, you know, so he doesn't have to chase you unless you're running away from him. So it doesn't sound to me like you're running away at all. Sounds like you, you're chasing after him. Like you said, you guys have run to the Lord. He's doing all kinds of new and exciting things. So maybe they're just using this as a way of saying like, the other thing they're saying, you know, God's got big plans for you. And so that's great. Just keep, just keep doing what you're doing, keep going in the direction you're going and, um,
Uh, Cheryl wants to butt
in. Well, you know,
I understand what that phrase means because I, I think that we think that we're chasing after God and we've got to catch him and I think what they're trying to say is God's got you now and he he's not gonna let you go and you know there's a scripture that says drawn near to God and he will draw nigh to you and I think the thing that they're saying is as you draw nigh to God you're gonna find that he's already drawn close to you.
And that he's more excited about you being with him than even you are, you know, we're told that David was a man after God's own heart, and people say, well, David was a man after God's own heart because he was after the heart of God, and I think.
David was chasing. Yeah, but there you go. But that God, God is, as you draw near to God, he is drawing near to you.
And I think that's what they mean and so the more that you seek after the the Lord, the more you'll find that he is seeking after you and for you and with you. There's a great scripture they probably been given a whole bunch of times, but I want to give it to you anyway. There's uh Jeremiah 29:11 excellent and.
And the other one would be um Ephesians 2:10. They're just great scriptures about the intentions and the things that the Lord has for
us.
And it's kind of like what you're saying. It's kind of like it's not that we love God, but that God loved us.
Exactly. And I think that's what they're saying that God loves you as much as you're loving God and going after God, he loves you so much.
This reminds me of the controversy from several years ago when you know the seeker friendly movement and everything. Is God seeking after us or are we seeking after him and all that.
Well, even I found it movement remember people got mad when they were doing this, you know, I found it and they're like, you didn't find it. God found you but it's like, OK, OK, you know, apples, oranges, whatever we've been found by God, you know.
Plus I think of all those worship songs that talk about chasing after you or chasing after me. I don't even remember what
goodness is running after me. Yes, yes,
yes. OK, Jennifer, thanks for calling in today on Pastor's Perspective. We are out of time. Elizabeth, Diana, everyone else that we couldn't get to today.
So sorry, we'll be back on Monday though, and we would love to hear from you then. We open up the phone lines about 7 minutes before 3. If you want to hear today's program again or share it with a friend, we archive on Facebook, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, and we'll see you at church this Sunday. Don't forget Pastor Brian Broderson's Back to Basics Live Bible study at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Sunday night at 6:30. More details at back to Basicsradio.com/live.
So be there. We'll talk to you soon. God bless. Bye bye.
