Have you ever questioned what guides your life choices and beliefs? Join me, Kelvin Newkirk Jr., as we embark on an enlightening journey to uncover the power of convictions in shaping our faith and steering our actions. I passionately dissect the pivotal nature of anchoring our beliefs in Scripture, exploring how these guiding principles should illuminate our path like a roadmap, steering clear of the temptation to use them as bludgeons against others. This episode promises to bring you a fresh perspective on prioritizing God's Word, ensuring that as we focus on His priorities, our own worries are taken care of by the One who knows us best.
As we wrestle with the delicate balance between spirituality and logic, I call upon the gifts of mind, heart, and spirit that we've been graciously given. I tackle the complexities of life, urging you to navigate these waters with both wisdom and faith. This episode does not shy away from discussing controversial issues such as sexual immorality and theological integrity, as I urge listeners to hold fast to our foundational beliefs without compromise from external pressures or trends. We also delve into understanding the fine line between personal opinions and deeply-held convictions, ensuring that our faith stands unshaken amidst the challenges of modern society.
To cap off our exploration, I highlight the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in guiding our day-to-day decisions, from the entertainment we consume to the company we keep. These personal choices, I argue, ripple outwards, influencing not just our own lives but also those of our loved ones and broader community. Stay tuned for our next enlightening discussion, where we'll continue to unpack the transformative power of living a life grounded in divine truth, guided by convictions that stem from an unwavering faith. Join the journey—let's grow in understanding together, bolstered by the certainty that our convictions are built on the solid rock of Scripture.
Have you ever questioned what guides your life choices and beliefs? Join me, Kelvin Newkirk Jr., as we embark on an enlightening journey to uncover the power of convictions in shaping our faith and steering our actions. I passionately dissect the pivotal nature of anchoring our beliefs in Scripture, exploring how these guiding principles should illuminate our path like a roadmap, steering clear of the temptation to use them as bludgeons against others. This episode promises to bring you a fresh perspective on prioritizing God's Word, ensuring that as we focus on His priorities, our own worries are taken care of by the One who knows us best.
As we wrestle with the delicate balance between spirituality and logic, I call upon the gifts of mind, heart, and spirit that we've been graciously given. I tackle the complexities of life, urging you to navigate these waters with both wisdom and faith. This episode does not shy away from discussing controversial issues such as sexual immorality and theological integrity, as I urge listeners to hold fast to our foundational beliefs without compromise from external pressures or trends. We also delve into understanding the fine line between personal opinions and deeply-held convictions, ensuring that our faith stands unshaken amidst the challenges of modern society.
To cap off our exploration, I highlight the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in guiding our day-to-day decisions, from the entertainment we consume to the company we keep. These personal choices, I argue, ripple outwards, influencing not just our own lives but also those of our loved ones and broader community. Stay tuned for our next enlightening discussion, where we'll continue to unpack the transformative power of living a life grounded in divine truth, guided by convictions that stem from an unwavering faith. Join the journey—let's grow in understanding together, bolstered by the certainty that our convictions are built on the solid rock of Scripture.
You are now listening to let's Talk with Kelvin Newkirk Jr, and what's up everybody? Welcome to another episode of the let's Talk podcast. We are now on episode number three, super pump for what God is going to do specifically through this episode. This episode is going to be a little different, but it's going to be something that I believe is very timely for the time that we're living in right now. So, if you really enjoy this episode, do me one really big favor. This is what I want you to do. Share it with someone. Share it with someone because they're really going to need to hear about what this topic is going to be talking about today. So, with that being said, I think for this episode, it would be very, very Necessary to get straight down to business, because this is something I feel very passionate about. This is like one of my passions. This topic is going to be really big.
Speaker 1:So the main theme of this episode is convictions, especially as Christians. The main question that we are going to answer is our Convictions a weapon or a road map? And some will say it's a weapon and some may say the ladder. That is a road map. To start this episode, I have a scenario for you. Let's say you come to a fork in the road, a Decision that needs to be made Do you turn to the left or do you turn to the right? Do you stay where you are and not choose a side? But listen to me, if you have personal convictions, if you have any convictions at all On whatever the matter may be, that's causing that fork in a row, you know what you have to do. You see, a person with personal convictions is convinced that something is true and stands on principle, regardless of what the situation or what the consequences may be.
Speaker 1:As People who believe, believers, christians, our convictions should be based on the Bible. I Said it like our convictions should be based on the Bible. I understand there's a lot of things out there that tell you Other stuff, but let me tell you something, man Our convictions should be based in the Bible. Right now. What grandma says, now what mama says, not what dad says, not what our uncle Barry or our aunt Sally says. I don't have an uncle Barry or aunt Sally, but just using those, for example, you know, sometimes we can get into the into the Habit of listening to everyone else, except for what God has to say about a specific thing and this is the thing that God has been speaking to me for this year is this is if you prioritize what God prioritizes, he will prioritize what you prioritize Like. That's the truth of the matter, and most Christians don't want to hear that, but that's real, and I believe that Right now is the time where we have to stand up for what we believe in.
Speaker 1:I Believe that even within this podcast, there's a lot of stuff that's going to be changing very soon with the way that we attack certain topics. Because here's the thing, because let's a good way to work this, because we don't have much time to waste. We don't have much time to waste right, the world is changing, right, and so and some things is not changing for the better, and so, as Christians, I believe we have to stand up and we have to stand strong on what our convictions are, but we have to first cover what we should be standing strong and firm on and some of the things that we should just not even pay that much attention to, because there are some things, as Christians, that we put a lot of energy towards, where we put energy towards things that really matter Instead of the things that don't really matter. Man. I can only, and I can't imagine how many people will come to know Jesus because of that. But, like I said before, our convictions as believers, as Christians, should be based in the Bible. Should be based in the Bible, because this is what it says in Psalms 119, verse 105. This is what it says, psalms, chapter 119, verse 105. It says your word is a lamp from my feet, a light on my path. Your word, right, his word, his written word, the Bible, and we're gonna do an episode about that.
Speaker 1:Also, talking about the, the validity of the Bible. Can I trust the Bible? And can I just tell you, yes, you can, yes, you can. Was the Bible pinned by man? Absolutely, the Bible was pinned by man, but it was inspired, it was breath on by the Holy Spirit. And, I'm sorry, I believe that you cannot be a Christian and Not believe in the Bible is not a this or that it's a this, and that if you're going to be Christian, if you're gonna put your faith in Jesus Christ, you have to believe in the Bible. Don't let anybody fool you, don't let anybody tell you that that's wrong, don't let anyone tell you that it's not true, because Let me tell you something because the Bible is valid. The Bible is Valid and you know there's, there's so many People and so many movements going around saying that, hey, that we shouldn't trust the Bible, we shouldn't believe the Bible, and I don't know where that's coming from, man, because we can't be Christians and believe that God's word is not true, is not true.
Speaker 1:Second, timothy Versus I mean chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. It says all scripture is God breathe. That's God breathe. That means God has breathed on it. That means is living. It's a living word. The same breath that God gave Adam and a garnet of Eden right, the same wind that got breathed on the disciples in the upper room. It acts to. This is the same breath that God has Breathe on this word, on the scripture. It's a living word. It says all scriptures God breathe and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be. So it says all scripture is breathed on by God. It's a living word that's useful to teach, that's useful to rebuke, that's useful to correct, that's useful to train and equip in righteousness so that we may become more righteous and so that we may be true servants of God. This is what it's saying, and so we have to be careful about who we listen to and what we believe.
Speaker 1:So let's go back to Psalms 119, verse 105, and this is what I want to read it just one more time. It says your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. And so whatever the word of God promotes we should be in favor of, and whatever the Bible forbids we should be against. And with that, everything should be simple, right. We think that, hey, you know that should be simple. It should be the perfect world. It would be.
Speaker 1:But unfortunately, we make it hard. We make it hard. Right, however, is not all our fault. It's not all of our fault. Sometimes we make it hard because we we like to put logic in the way of things that are spiritual and they don't work together. They don't work together. If you're gonna work, act a hundred percent off logic, then you know your spirit has no room to speak to you. But if you're acting 100% in spirit, right, you're not using your common sense and you're not thinking logically. So I think is a balance.
Speaker 1:God has given us a spirit and A mind and a heart. He's given us a Spirit. To do was right, right to lean towards the things of God. God has given us a a mind to be able to think, to use our common sense. All right, like some, some Christians, forget about that, like we forget sometimes that God has empowered us with the mind for us to be able to think and for us to be able to act. And so for us to be able to think, man, we have to be able to use some of our logic to be able to put things in right. I believe, honestly, that you know, as a Christian, that you can both live spiritually and logically in your life, right, but you have to have the right balance. And God has given us a heart to feel. He's given us a heart to be able to feel, a heart to be able to have Compassion for people and empathy and sympathy and all and all these different things. But we have to be aware of that, right.
Speaker 1:But also, we live in a confusing world. We live in a world that's Constantly changing and constantly moving, and that's why I believe we can't listen to what everybody else says About the God that we serve, because if we listen too much to culture, if we listen too much to what's going on in the world is always changing. It's always changing. There's always things going on, and I don't know about you and I may sound a little old-fashioned this but I don't like leaning on things that are always changing. I want to lean on something that is stable. I want to put my faith, to put my hope in something that is stable. And can I tell you something? Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So, because he's the same, his word is the same yesterday, today and forever, and so we have to lean on that.
Speaker 1:We have to lean on that, but because we live in a very confusing world, some things that should be seen as convictions are now seen as opinions, and what our opinions are now deemed convictions. Because of that, we can have the tendency to force our opinions on other Christians as Convictions, and we can also stay silent and lay back on convictions as if they are opinions. Right, I believe that the Holy Spirit speaks to each and every person, each and every Christian, and I believe that, as they speak to each and every believer, I believe that it lays on that person's heart what their Convictions should be, what they should be convicted about, certain things in their life they should be convicted about. And so here's what I mean by that. I mean that, you know, there are some things that we call saving grace issues, right, saving grace issues. These are issues that or topics or or things that that lean towards hey, like you know, can I trust Jesus as my savior? Did Jesus really down the cross? Like all those different things. Those are saving grace issues, right, but there's also opinion issues where, hey, you know, as a woman, should I never wear pants? Right? Or, you know, as a man, should I have a beard? Should I not have a beard? Right? Should I use instruments in church? Right? Should I use Tamberies in church? Should we require robe? Should our church do gospel music or praise and worship contemporary music? Should our church have pews or chairs? Should we have a stage or an actual traditional pulpit? Should we have a screen in the back or a choir stand? Should we do baptisms in a river or in a baptismal pool or in a baptism chapel, or should we do it in just a regular baptism pool that we roll out, you know, during church service? Right there, you know, should we dress up for church or not dress up for church? You know, those are different things that are just personal opinions Right, and I would even say this and this is gonna rub a lot of people one way even in the holidays that we celebrate, we have to be careful about what's a conviction and what's an opinion right, and everybody has, like personal convictions. But what I'm saying about convictions are, is that convictions that, in general, that we should all have as Christians? Right, there are some convictions we should all have as Christians, and I'm just laying out some examples, and an example of that would be sexual immorality, all types of sexual immorality. We should be convicted, we should be very convicted About, about, you know, the different laws and different things that are going to be passed in our country. Right, and I don't want to sound super political because I'm not trying to even go that way, but I'm saying is we should be convicted about certain things. We should be convicted about, um, saving grace issues. We should be convicted about the Bible and what the word says about certain things, and if people try to twist the word, we should be convicted. And this is a really big thing.
Speaker 1:About theology, can I tell you something? Theology and doctrine matters. People say, oh well, it doesn't matter what Denomination you're a part of, or it doesn't matter like it does. Can I be honest with you? It does, because doctrine matters. We have to stay true to the word. We have to stay true to what the word says, not to what a denomination says, not to what an organization within our, within Christianity, says. We, or within the Christian community, we should be Focused on the word of truth and the doctrine that supports that, the doctrine that best supports that right, you don't always have to agree with, you know certain doctrines all the time. But but your litmus test, your, your um, your kind of the, the test to tell whether a denomination or whether a organization is biblical or not, it's through the lens of the Bible. Does it match up with what the word of God says? And if it does, then Then go for it and do it. But we should have.
Speaker 1:What I'm saying is that we should have convictions and opinions about certain things. Right, and I don't want to ramble on and I don't want to get too far in left field, because you know that's dangerous territory. We should be very careful with the way that we see certain things. We absolutely should be. So today I'm gonna lay out three different scriptures that are going to describe how we should handle our convictions and how we should handle our opinions. These are gonna be scriptures that are going to Answer the question that I asked earlier with whether our convictions are a road map or a Roadblock. Like which one are they? And so I'm not gonna read through each and every like scripture just because it's a lot of scripture, but this is what I encourage you to do.
Speaker 1:I'm I'm laying out these scripture texts in this podcast. I want you to follow along and I want you to go back and read these scripture texts. I'm gonna kind of paraphrase it a little bit, and the only reason why I'm gonna paraphrase it a little bit is because I have to be very careful with time and not, you know, going crazy amounts of time. I'll just reading through scripture, number one because I encourage you to do it, and number two because, like I said before, they're just kind of long and so sometimes you could get in the habit of just reading it out, and sometimes I feel like as the listener. Sometimes it's hard for you to because you can't see me. Sometimes it's hard for you to follow along with me just reading over a screen right? You got the Bible app for that to read that to you. I don't want to constantly like be reading, I don't want to sound like the Bible app, you know, but However, I Do want to lay out these scripture texts for you. So, with that being said, let's jump into it. So the the first scripture is acts chapter 17, verses 22 through 34.
Speaker 1:So, to sum up this story, paul is is coming to an area. It's an area in in Greece, or modern day Greece, shall we say. I could be very wrong about that, but from my studies, that's what I've kind of came to kind of interpret is that is that is kind of in Greece. It's in like Athens, and you know Athens is is very big in In, or Greece just generally. Ancient Greece is really big in like mythology and different things like that.
Speaker 1:And so Paul is walking through this area. So, as he's walking through this area, he sees like all these, you know All these, you know these, these gods that they're worshiping, and it's like a. They have a God when it's like, just in case, like we forget the other gods, is that unknown God. So they have a shrine, they have a, they have a something built for an unknown God, right. And so Paul is using an unknown God to preach the gospel Right, and this shows that. This shows that we can use the things of darkness to show Jesus to the world around us.
Speaker 1:Notice this, though, in this scripture when you go back and read that, notice that Paul did not worship the unknown God or even affirm the unknown God. He didn't say, hey, it's okay for you to worship the unknown God. No, he didn't do that, right, instead, he used the unknown God to speak of the power of the one true God and his only begotten son. So we have to be careful, right, because we live in a world today when it's very easy to affirm what is not right, to affirm the things of darkness. Can we use the things of darkness to show the light of Jesus? Absolutely, we absolutely can, right, I believe we shouldn't be scared to do that. But at the same time, we have a standard that we, that we live by as Christians, and we have to uphold that standard. We cannot drop our standard to convert other people to Christ. Because here's the question that I ask for you, for a lot of people who may say that is this is If you're making people leave, if you're not making people, but if you're convincing people to leave Everything that they, that they knew to be true in their life.
Speaker 1:Right, which can be intimidating for a lot of people. If you're asking them to leave those things to follow Christ and if the Christ that you're following Right isn't good enough for you to uphold that standard, for you to like, you feel you got to drop that standard to get someone to follow you, if that's the case, why should they follow that God? Why should they follow that God? Why should they follow that Jesus that you're telling them about? Right? Because, can I tell you something? Because when you're truly following God and when you're really doing what he's called you to do, you don't want to drop that standard. Because you know something that the unbeliever does not know and because you know something that the unbeliever does not know, it's through that standard that you set for your life that the unbeliever sees the power of God moving through your life. You have to understand that. That is a big point, man.
Speaker 1:If you're asking people hey, leave all those things that you know, leave all those things that you've done before and go to something new, right, which change can be intimidating, even for Christians, even within Christianity, change can be intimidating. You want an example? Take where you are right now and the Lord says, hey, I want you to go play in a church in Wichita, kansas, in the middle. Right, I don't know what's in Wichita, I've never been there before. Right, but I see it being like a Wizard of Oz type town, right, where there's hardly nothing there, nothing but just tornadoes. Right, if you live in Wichita, kansas I'm so sorry that that sounded kind of mean, but, for example sake, let's just say that.
Speaker 1:So we have to be very careful with the way that we, with the expectations that we have for other people. If we're not living life by the standard that God has set for our life, we're not showing the power of God in our life through the standards that we set for our life and that we follow. Right, because it's the power of God that changes you and that allows you to keep moving towards God's glorious standard. But can I tell you something? It is also a testament to how good God has been to you and is a testament to what salvation has done to you. That is, that is a testimony that everyone can see, before you even open your mouth. It's if you're living life by the standard that God has set for your life by the word of God. So we have to be careful about that. So let's move on to the second scripture.
Speaker 1:The second scripture comes out of 1 Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 19 through 23, and I'm going to read through that real quick. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna read through that, because that was a little shorter, and this is what it says. It says, though I am free and belong to no one. I have made myself a slave to everyone. To win as many as possible. To the Jews, I became like a Jew to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law, though I myself am not under law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law, though I am free from God's law, but I'm under Christ's law so as to, when those not having the law to the week, I became weak to win the week. I became all things to all people so that, by all possible means, I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings. Man, that's powerful.
Speaker 1:And right there we see that Paul is writing to the church in Corneth. He's explaining his motivation for submitting himself to the life that he was living. Paul had relinquished his rights to be married at this time. He also relinquished himself of the right to draw a salary from the church. Paul had completely abandoned himself to the purposes of Christ. Part of Paul's purpose was to preach the gospel to everyone, and that required him to change elements of his approach when needed.
Speaker 1:What this does not mean is that we are to compromise with the world to fit in. We should keep God's moral standards. However, we should be willing to forgo tradition and familiar comforts in order to reach any audience. So this is the important part. I'm going to read that one more time. I'm going to read that one more time. This is just a part of my notes right here. This is what it says. It says what this does not mean is that we are to compromise with the world to fit in. We don't have to compromise with the world to fit in people. That's good, because there's a lot of Christians right now who believe that we have to compromise with what the world says and what the world is doing to fit in. We don't. We don't. Can we forgo traditions? Yes, we can forgo traditions and familiar comforts. We absolutely can, but we cannot lose sight of God's moral standard that he set for our life. We can't lose sight of that. We can't forget about that. We can't forget about that.
Speaker 1:And then the third scripture is this. It comes out of Romans, chapter 14, verses one through 13. And, like I said before, that one is very long, so I'm not going to read all of that one, but I just want to give you a little bit of context. So in this scripture, paul draws attention to the tension created between Christians because of conflicting ideas, issues that do not deal with salvation. You see, not every issue in our lives is given an explicit boundary in the Bible, but the Bible does apply to every area of our lives as Christians. When it comes to the convictions we have as Christians, we should be careful to not force our convictions on others if it is not a saving grace issue or an issue that does not deal with salvation.
Speaker 1:So In this scripture, paul is writing to, to, to, to one of the churches, and, and he's saying that, hey, this, how he starts it off, is welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions. Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in faith eats only vegetables. He didn't say that in a offensive way. He's saying that, hey, they don't have the revelation yet to understand that they're free to do certain things and that their personal opinion does not mean that it should be a general Christian conviction, right? So this is what it goes on to say a little bit later on.
Speaker 1:This is what it goes on to say later on. This is what it says. It says right, this is what it says. It says those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God. We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord, for Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead.
Speaker 1:You then, who only eat vegetables, why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything, why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him, for the scripture says as surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me and everyone will confess that I am Lord. Every one of us, then, will have give, will have to give an account to God. So, then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that will make other stumble and fall into sin. That's the point about it, right? Our job is to not do things to break God's moral standard, what he explicitly lays out in the word that he wants for us to do, and through that, if we stay careful to that right, then we don't have to worry about judging people for the certain things that they do.
Speaker 1:Right, I'm 100% a, you know, I'm Pentecostal, right? I believe holiness is right. I believe in modesty. I believe all these things. I really do. However, this is what I also believe.
Speaker 1:Also believe that modesty doesn't mean that women should wear pants, right, I mean. I mean that women shouldn't wear pants and that men, you know, shouldn't wear, you know, tailored, fitting clothes, right? That's not modesty, in my opinion, that that has nothing to do with being modest. I don't believe a woman is cross-dressing because she's wearing pants. Right, because because Jesus didn't wear jeans. So I don't, I don't understand where that came from, right, I don't think a woman is not modest because she's wearing makeup, or because she wears nails on her finger, or because she dies her hair, or because she wears her hair down or in certain styles.
Speaker 1:I don't think that's a bad thing and the only reason I'm using that is because you know there's certain people out there who believe that only women women should only wear. You know only women should wear. You know dresses and you know they shouldn't wear makeup and different things like that, and there's nothing wrong with that. If that's how they see modesty, then that's how they see modesty. It's not my place to judge them, because they said their standard in that way.
Speaker 1:Some of them may deal with sexual sin, some of them may deal with lust and different things like that, and so that's their form of modesty, because they don't want to fall back and stumble into sin again and I respect that and I will honor that, because that's their conviction. That's, that's their personal opinion of what modesty means to them, and it's not for me to judge. But also it's not for them to judge me because my girlfriend wears, because I'm in a relationship with my girlfriend and you know, and she wears jeans, or because I wear tailor-fitting clothes right, it's not for them to get mad at me about that. Or because I have earrings, or because I have a tattoo or tattoos right, it's not up to them to do that, right, because it's not a saving grace issue.
Speaker 1:However, however, it's still something that we can agree to disagree on. Hey, I believe you know, my conviction should be this my conviction is leading me this way, your conviction is leading you that way. That's 100% okay. We can still come together and agree. We can still walk together and agree, and we have to see that and we have to understand that together and we have to be aware of those things, right? So, based on the question asked, are convictions a roadmap or a weapon? The three scriptures you know that that laid out these things. The answer to the question is both. They could be both a road map or a weapon, depending on which conviction and how it's applied to their lives. Our convictions can be a roadmap when it leads us to grow in our spiritual walk, but our convictions, likewise, can be a weapon when we use them to tear down other Christians and to close this.
Speaker 1:Here's the best advice that I can give you. This is the best advice that can give you. And if you hear nothing else, hear this we have the Holy Spirit that lives in each believer, right, the Holy Spirit lives and everyone who has made the decision to believe in Jesus, and with that, the Holy Spirit speaks to us. So as the Holy Spirit speaks, you listen. With the Holy Spirit speaks, you listen.
Speaker 1:If the Holy Spirit is convicting you to do something in this certain area of your life, you do it. If the Lord has convicting you not to watch something, not to take part in something, not to hang out with those people, you do it. But that's between you and your house. You, god, your house, the people that you're leading, the people who you have influence on. That's between you and them. That's between you and them. So, go as a Holy Spirit leads you to go. Go as a Holy Spirit leads and you listen as he speaks, you listen. So, with that being said, this concludes episode number three. Do me a favor if you really enjoyed this episode, share it with everyone you know, be blessed, and I will talk to you again next week. And this next conversation we're gonna be having oh, it's gonna be so good. I can't wait. But that being said, be blessed and stay tuned for our next episode next week. You.