Bible Quest Podcast
Discussing the events of today and tomorrow through a Biblical lens.
Bible Quest Podcast
Episode 131 - Buffet Theology Won't Cut It - With Pastor Buddy
Pastor Buddy returns to discuss spiritual maturity and the importance of reading the Bible - our owner's manual for life. Bruce and Buddy explore how biblical literacy protects us from deception and strengthens our faith journey.
• The Bible serves as our owner's manual - essential for navigating life correctly
• "Buffet theology" (picking only biblical parts we like) leaves believers vulnerable to deception
• Spiritual maturity requires reading and understanding scripture in its entirety
• Most Christians have never read the Bible cover-to-cover despite its importance
• True discipleship follows Jesus's two-by-two model for accountability and growth
• Modern Bible study tools make scripture more accessible than ever before
• Heaven will far exceed our earthly understanding or imagination
• Biblical knowledge gives us confidence in our faith and helps us share with others
• Spiritual maturity provides peace during life's inevitable challenges
• Jesus can be found throughout every book of the Bible - it's a unified message system
Join us this time for another conversation with Pastor Buddy as we continue exploring spiritual maturity.
Hi everyone and welcome to the BibleQuest podcast. My name is Bruce and with me again today, buddy Dawkins, pastor.
Speaker 2:Buddy, welcome back. Good to be here. Not like we really laugh, that's true, but I love it.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of episode two with Pastor Buddy. We're talking about spiritual maturity and I had something specific for this one and I wanted to save this one because we could have got into this on the last one and it would have been an hour-long podcast. I just want to do I didn't want to do that you mentioned a few Sundays ago. Sorry, I'm going to dive right into this. If anybody doesn't know who Pastor Buddy is, listen to the other one. We talked about him more, but I'm diving into it this time.
Speaker 1:A couple Sundays ago you talked about reading the Bible and actually I know you talked about geeking out on some of these things. Oh yeah, we went deep that Sunday. It was deep and I'm like that's not. I don't know. To me that's not geeking out. I enjoy that stuff, know digging into you, know history, yeah, where the bible comes from, like all that stuff. But when you were talking about that stuff, it really made me think about if, if you want to grow in your faith, and how important spiritual maturity is, you really need to like that's our biggest, that's our tool, that's our I don't want to say weapon, but it is. It is we as christians. We should know the bible more than we know anything else we should.
Speaker 2:We should. It's our owner's manual. Yeah, think about it when you buy a car and you're trying to figure out how to change the time on the clock and in today's cars there's so many different buttons it's hard to do do. Where do you go to? I know sometimes we go to YouTube or Google, but sometimes you just have to get into the owner's manual. You have to exactly, and that's truly, in my opinion, what the Bible is for us.
Speaker 1:And I think I mean there's an importance to being spiritually mature. I think part of the importance I mean there's lots of ways and reasons why it's important but I think part of a main reason why it's important is so you're not deceived Absolutely. I mean Jesus said in the latter days there'll be a lot of deception in the world. He did. I think it's been since his first coming.
Speaker 2:There's been deception, and before that I mean, we can go back to the start of time.
Speaker 2:Yes, but it's kind kind of wax more and more it has Well to me. When it comes to end times or when it comes to Lord coming back, we know the Bible tells us. Only God knows when that time is happening. However, you can look at certain telltale signs in my study and what I believe is I think you have two things Frequency Jesus mentioned birth pains Things are going to be like birth pains and the second thing is the temple in Israel, where that is, because that's pivotal and plays a large role during tribulation.
Speaker 1:It's right there. Israel is God's timepiece. It is. It absolutely is.
Speaker 2:We don't know the time, but I do believe that God gives a certain I don't know what you want to call it Certain windows, if you will.
Speaker 1:He talked to the fear, and I've mentioned this before. Sorry to bore people, I've heard this before on podcasts, but when Jesus was here the first time and he was talking to the Sadducees, he's like you know, you can discern the signs of the sky, you know when it's going to rain or when it's not going to rain, but you didn't know the times of the season that might come. Absolutely so I mean, we're not going to know the day. No, but with that, all aside deception of your faith, what you believe in, of even who Jesus is, I think nowadays and I'm not trying to pick on anybody in particular, I don't have anybody in mind but we tend to pick and choose parts of the Bible we like, we do.
Speaker 2:I call that buffet theology. We do Give me a whole lot of the blessings and, oh, I don't want none of the sin or not.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean Exactly? Yeah, no, no, no, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can do you want. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I am a big proponent, but it doesn't quite work that way it doesn't because, but it does and it doesn't.
Speaker 1:I mean yes, yeah, I know, sorry, no, no, no, I'm muddy watered all the time.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, it's good stuff. I think it goes right back to if the Bible is our, then we're going to be okay. So we build on that. So many times in today's world we rely on the pastor or a reel, a TikTok or whatever to give us the little snippets. Youtube absolutely Give us the snippets of things and it's funny you mentioned this end time stuff or being easily misled. Just three recent examples that I gave just this past Sunday was Jim Jones, then you have David Koresh, then past that you have the Heaven's Gate people. These were people who easily swayed Jim Jones swayed 909 people and he started out doing biblical things. But he got off on his theology and so to me it goes back to there's two jobs in a church on Sunday or Wednesday the person expounding God's word and rightly dividing it, as the Bible says, and the audience's responsibility to make sure that what they're saying is biblical and lines up with His word. But we can only do it by reading and studying and applying what His word says, and we need to know.
Speaker 1:We do. We need to know, and I think this was family member or something, and there was a discussion I won't say it was heated, but there was a discussion on when somebody passed away made the comment that they're in heaven, and this was a, I think, a seventh-day adventist, I'm not sure, but their belief was no, they're not there yet, exactly. So sleep, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I can't remember the verse, but it was like they were like no, there's supposed to be a comma there. That doesn't mean you'll be in, you'll be with me in heaven today, it's and I'm like.
Speaker 2:What does the body say? To be absent from the bodies, to be where Present?
Speaker 1:with the Lord.
Speaker 2:For Christ followers, those who have accepted Christ, I know.
Speaker 1:But and their excuse? It wasn't an excuse. Their thought of it was this is what I was taught. I had a weekend, I spent a whole weekend on this subject of where we go when we die. Had they read the Bible? I don't know. I agree, I totally agree, I really don't know, but there's a lot of that stuff out there of one topic or another. There is I learned this Right.
Speaker 2:I mean no disrespect. That stuff out there of one topic or another there is, there is I learned this right. I I mean no disrespect. There are a lot of amazing family members that mean well, that pour into other family members. But where we're at today is sometimes we take that as rock solid theology. And and what if they were a little off in in what they taught? Well, they don't quite remember, they don't exactly. Absolutely it's like a telephone game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a little word in what?
Speaker 2:they taught. Well, they don't quite remember, they don't Exactly, absolutely. It's like a telephone game. Yeah, a little word in there can make a big difference. It can, it can and as a pastor that is some of the hardest things to work through is I call it grandma's theology. Sometimes we have to work through that.
Speaker 1:So I always point it trust in the word you have to your truth. What is truth? You know, jesus said that that's right, it's got to be in something. It has to be. I mean, you have to be rooted and grounded in something. Yes, and that's like you said, that's what you build on. But that is your rock and your foundation. It is. But if you don't't have that, or if that's movable because my truth is my truth and yours is yours, which is the buzzwords of today.
Speaker 1:It is well, my truth is, and then we give our and my jesus wouldn't do that, because everybody goes yeah, what is that grounded on? I know I'm asking you, like you know it's, it's true. I don't understand that thinking, because it doesn't become about the Bible, about Christianity, about Jesus, about God. It becomes about me, exactly Because now it's all about me, because I'm making the rules.
Speaker 2:Exactly. It's your moral center, instead of God's moral center, which is spelled out to us in his word, and his word is not movable. Word is always true. His word is what's right. He created the, the heavens and the earth. Right. It's still valid today it is 100 absolutely it is. I mean it's more valid today, in my opinion, than it ever has been it's just amazing.
Speaker 1:this is just yeah, sorry, I was going to go off on something there. Uh, it's just amazing. It's still like, very relevant, and some things are like man, that's today. Yeah, that's talking about today, and it was. Yeah, sorry, I was going to go off on something there. It's just amazing. It's still very relevant, and some things are like man, that's today, that's talking about today, and it was true 2,000 plus years ago. Absolutely so. To me, that's one of the ways you know there's something different about this book versus a New.
Speaker 1:York Times bestseller and something.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I know me and you both have had these experiences where you're reading along and all of a sudden it's like he's speaking to me. Yeah, that's the amazing thing about it. It truly is the living word of God.
Speaker 1:It's amazing how many times you read through it. There's something different that you pick up and you know, you read that.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely yeah. Or you start to make connections oh, yeah, and, and. And you start realizing that when you read through 1 and 2 Chronicles and then you've wait, hold on. I've read that 1 and 2 Kings now. Well, it's because it's just describing the same event from a different perspective, but it's not a mistake, you just got to put it together.
Speaker 1:Like the Synoptic Gospels Absolutely, yep, yeah, apostles, absolutely they're, yep, yeah, yeah it's. And I think that's the problem that a lot of people do have with it is they do not want to believe that. They don't want to believe in the bible. They want to believe it's true, they don't want to believe it's inherent word of god, but you can't separate out the bible from christianity no you can't have this piece.
Speaker 1:I don't want the god of the old testament, I want jesus and I don't want to study the bible. I don't want the God of the Old Testament, I want.
Speaker 2:Jesus and.
Speaker 1:I don't want to study the Bible. That's only part of the story. It's part. Is it enough to save you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And then some, and then to give us hope it is.
Speaker 2:It's so much more. I mean this book. I tell people all the time if they will just take the time to read, study and apply His Word to our life, it's everything for us, it's our hope and it does. It does.
Speaker 1:And if people it sounds like a lot of work, it sounds like man, that's a daunting task, never going to get through that, never going to read it once. And, to be honest with you, I think most Christians have not read the Bible no Once. Nope. Statistically, no, yeah. So I agree with that. No, they should. I mean, that's our thing, that's what we should be the most comfortable with, that's what we should know the most. I agree, that's what we should be the most comfortable with, that's what we should know the most, I agree. But to grow in your faith, to get I know this sounds kind of cheap to get the full benefits, oh, 100%. You need to grow in your faith you do.
Speaker 2:You have to Because life is going to. Jesus said it many times in this world you will have many troubles, but behold, I am with you always. He's always with us. Can I let me circle around about that? I think a lot of the reason for that and I'm a big proponent of discipleship and you know Matthew 28, 19 and 20, jesus says go, therefore, into all the nations, baptize, preach, spread. You know all these things. We've gotten away from that model and and and it's become more of a or, excuse me, less of a personal model into more of a commercial model, and and you talk about growing.
Speaker 2:I remember being 14 years old and reading what Raymond was and being confused. In the King James version I was like what is that? And I didn't have Google back then. You know this is 52 years ago and I didn't have Google back then. This was 52 years ago, we didn't have that kind of stuff. 30, some years ago, whatever. But it's like I had to stop and think of or figure out and I would just put a pin in it and then eventually I was able to come back to it and understand these things. But we are to one-on-one, disciple one another. We are to go have another brother or sister, depending upon where you are. Me personally, I believe a man should have another man to walk it out with, same thing with a woman, because we're going to have questions or experiences that we're going to have wonderings about and to be able to ask someone that you trust, that you're walking this faith out with. What does the Bible say in this situation, or even what's your experience in in this situation.
Speaker 1:I think that's important, because you're going to have questions about something absolutely all the time in the faith or you know what, even just even if it's not in the faith, but you have somebody, they're walking through life that maybe had that same experience or something, and to know you're not alone right right or that you haven't.
Speaker 2:You're not the only one experiencing that same yeah. Yeah, maybe a little different, but same thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think that's huge and I don't obviously I don't know if that's what happens that much anymore but we well and I threw myself under the bus a couple of Sundays ago Most churches don't talk about discipleship. You go to a big church. What do they talk about? Small groups? They talk about life groups or whatever it is. That is a part of spiritual maturity, but that's not discipleship. It's a part of discipleship, but discipleship in my opinion, in my view, in reading the scriptures, when Jesus sent them out, what did he send them out Two by two, because, again, you develop a close relationship, because when you get in front of three or four or five people, you're not going to be as open and honest as you would, just another brother or sister. And to me, I think that's what Jesus was talking about, that's what he's looking for.
Speaker 1:And I definitely think discipleship is huge for spiritual maturity. Yeah, absolutely Growing in your faith, right, because I mean how many people are like man? I don't know what that means. Keep going, keep reading or I'll get back to that later or I had a question in church, but I don't really know what that was.
Speaker 2:Or I'm too afraid to raise my hand because I'm going to feel stupid, or they're going to think whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, we all are, or I think I know what this is, but is this what you?
Speaker 2:mean Right. And the other thing about it is it's perspective. True, I mean I have thought, wow, this is what this means, and then somebody else will give me their perspective on it.
Speaker 1:It's like wow that'll preach both ways. I never thought about it that way, yeah exactly True.
Speaker 2:So it's like when you take a passage you can have three different people preach on it and it be perfectly line up cultural history and all the cultural context that goes along with it and be spot on, but just somebody is looking at it from a different viewpoint. It's huge, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I know and I've harped on this before but there's so many helps nowadays to learn to read the Bible. I mean, your phone, Huge the Bible app yeah, If you're a fan of it or not, and there's so many different versions, translations in there. Pick a good one.
Speaker 2:I mean a common one.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Don't get way out in the weeds on something that you don't know where they're coming from. Right, right, exactly, exactly. It will read it to you. It wouldn't go on a Bible plan, of the whole Bible in a year and it can go from Genesis on and just you know every day you got a reading and play it and it's something you can listen to on the way to work. It just gets it and you'll be surprised what gets in your head just hearing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, You'd be like, wait, that was also here, or and you do, and it's great and you know. And when you really want to get down in the weeds and get nerdy, you and I both went to seminary. We both had to take greek and hebrew right and and it's like there are websites out there that will break it down, interlinear, to where you can know exactly what the original language was, which, i'm'm sorry, was not King James, it wasn't ancient English. No, you know, jesus didn't speak. We're out there, but uh, but I mean, there's just, there's a lot of good helps out there and resources for sure, yeah, and I do like I like the blue letter Bible because it has that interlinear and strong and everything right there.
Speaker 1:It's just right there, absolutely. It's just nice, yep, easy. I'll put it that way. I have books, but man, I don't know, I know. Exactly, yes, yes, I feel you, that's easy. I'm sorry we still do easy. Yeah, that's right. That's right. There's just a lot to spiritual maturity and, and again, I think it just comes down to just growing in your faith it does.
Speaker 2:It comes down to, in my opinion, discipline. We have to discipline ourselves. That's a tough word.
Speaker 1:That's a bad word nowadays.
Speaker 2:Well, yes, it is. I mean what?
Speaker 1:discipline I don't want to eat what I'm supposed to eat, or exercise when I'm. It's hard to apply to our lives. It is. It is not just in the Bible.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, I mean I need to go to the gym every day. Lord knows I don't go to the gym every day. But I mean, there are certain things that we should do. And going back to what you said, as a Christian, as a Christ follower, the Bible is number one. It should.
Speaker 1:And you know, if you do make like you fall off the wagon, you don't read the Bible for a week jump back in Exactly, exactly, go right where you left off and just start up again and I tell people, too, like there are some amazing reading plans and stuff out there.
Speaker 2:I'm a big fan of the one year Bible If you're trying to set a goal and stick to it, but I'm also a big proponent of read until something catches your eye. And when something catches your eye, just marinate in it and just really pray over it. God, what are you trying to show? What was you? What was you going at?
Speaker 1:Why did I get?
Speaker 2:stuck there Exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Why is that? There's a reason for it Always is Always. So, yeah, no, I I love it. I love the Bible. I intend to always be a learner of His Word and just to help as much as I can with helping others to develop that passion for it. And again, I can't make anybody be thirsty for His Word, but I'm darn sure going to do what I can.
Speaker 1:And I mean part of that is the Holy Spirit giving people the you know he's always there, always pushing that like not pushing, that's a bad word uh, encouraging, there you go.
Speaker 2:Loving nudge, as I like to say in the church, yes, a loving nudge. Yeah, sometimes it's a living kick, but yeah, he, that's, that's what he's wanting.
Speaker 1:Yeah To for you to know him and and and God better.
Speaker 2:That's right To you know our whole existence is to know him and make him known that that is if you want to know who Jesus is, who God is, who the Holy Spirit is you have questions on the Trinity and, to be honest, and we know this and it's everywhere.
Speaker 1:There's not one chapter on this or that. It is, it's sprinkled throughout, and that's what I don't know. It was Chuck Nusser, I think, who said it's a unified message system. Absolutely. It's just the gospel, and Jesus is spread to the whole thing, every single one, every single one.
Speaker 2:And there's a YouTube's a youtube. I talk about youtube and reels and stuff. But there's a little boy who talks about where jesus can be found in every book of the bible and it's a great little blip of what it is and it's cool. Yeah, he does such a good job. I mean, he doesn't even look like he's reading off anything. I don't know how he can remember all that, but he does such a good job with it. And it's true, because you can see Jesus, you can see the cross, if you will, in every book of the Bible, because Jesus, that was his plan all along, that was God's plan, it was Christ.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's just cool.
Speaker 1:It is cool. It is cool and there's a lot of people who don't want to even dive into the Old Testament anymore. But he's in there, so much he is he is we look at when we read the Bible.
Speaker 2:I think this is just me personally. I think we try to look at it through the lens in today's world 2025, from an American point of view. And you can't. It's hard not to, it is it is, but we've got to realize this was 2,000 years ago.
Speaker 1:If the Bible was written today Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yes, I mean, they referenced and knew what they knew. If the Bible was written today, there'd be Facebook references or social media references in there, wouldn't there? Because that's what we know and understand, and so that's the cool part is, when you take the extra time, when you really want to get nerdy and you learn some of the cultural context and and the historicity of it, it's, it's amazing, it's eye-opening some of the parables even, yeah, and there's some jewish idioms and stuff that absolutely I really don't get.
Speaker 1:Probably 90 of them, but the but the ones I do get. I'm like, ah Right.
Speaker 2:It opens the scripture up, or that verse or passage. It's deeper than you think it is.
Speaker 1:Absolutely is. So, yeah, it's well worth your time to try to learn more about your faith, to try to grow in your faith and increase your spiritual maturity, to become more mature. So not threatening or anything, but you know your eternity is kind of counting on this, it is. It is so we get really wrapped up in this world and this life. We do, and it's hard not to.
Speaker 1:It is we're here we are, we are and life will hit you hard, and usually when you're trying to get something else done, it's when things come up and it throws you off course and all that, and before you know it you're 60.
Speaker 2:You are, that's right or 70 or 80.
Speaker 1:That's right. So it is a big deal to learn more about your faith so you can be confident in your faith, so you know where you're going right, you know that you're going to have I think people still think heaven is like floating on clouds all day long, playing a harp and you know, or an endless church service, and they're going to be bored to death. No, I don't think we have a clue how amazing it's going to be. We don't. No, I don't think we have a clue how amazing it's going to be. We don't. It's going to put this this is going to be nothing compared to that.
Speaker 2:Oh no, not at all. I mean, you know, my happy place, if you will, is a beach or the mountains, or sitting in a tree stand sometimes, or on a lake fishing. I mean that's, my happy place is just me and God and I'm by myself and just able to reflect and look at his creation and I think that same thing. It's like man. I think this is pretty awesome, but heaven it's going to pale in comparison.
Speaker 1:You know when you see a beautiful sunset, all the colors, the green trees. You see there's a blue sky here and the pinks and all that, and you're like that's nothing, probably compared to what it's going to be like Exactly.
Speaker 2:But when?
Speaker 1:you know what you when you when you're, when you know what you believe in and you know why you believe in it. Um, you're, you at least feel secure in where you're going. Well, and you're in.
Speaker 2:and when somebody else has a question, yeah, yeah, Because to have the confidence to know, I mean, let's be honest, every single one of us, I tell people all the time I know where I'm going. I'm just not in a hurry to get there, and I mean that in that I want to continue on and join my wife, my grandkids, my children and spread the gospel as much as I can, Because I know when that day comes, like yeah, unless it's instantaneous, we're going to have questions, we're going to have wonderings. However, I go back to what God's word has told me and given me, and when I was doing hospice and those type of activities with people that were taking their last breath, I was able to take God's word and assure them or reassure them. This is what you have looking forward to. I know there's an unknown portion of this, but man listen to what his word tells us and it's something that we can look forward to as morbid as that sounds.
Speaker 2:Exactly it is. It's just, it's a piece, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And you know we're supposed to give an account for the reasons, the hope that we have too. When somebody asks like why, why do you feel that way? Whatever, I mean, I don't like going well, I just do. I don't want to be able to give them an answer Right, it's a testimony, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's exactly what it is, and let me show you why. And then we go into and I tell people all the time, when it comes to testimonies and such, we don't have to bombard them, we don't have to give them a sermon in 30 minutes. Just give them little snippets of what God has done for you in your life. And, going back to what you said earlier, the peace and the calm that only he can bring in those terrifying situations.
Speaker 1:To me that's huge. Yeah, there's been a few times in my life that I'm like I don't know why I'm so at peace where I am.
Speaker 2:Because I should be stressing a lot.
Speaker 1:Yes, and that is just one of the benefits it is.
Speaker 2:Just one of the many You're exactly right, that's a great point. Just one there's so many benefits about being a Christ follower.
Speaker 1:What was that meme I put on Facebook? I don't remember how it goes, it was something about this world but the retirement benefits are awesome.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, absolutely, that's exactly right. That's right, exactly. Yeah, ministry's tough. It's not easy being a Christ follower, being a Christian, is not easy. It's not. I think one of the biggest fallacies we have are when people think well, I'm going to be a Christian, my life's going to be perfect. Now, it's not.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I heard a lot of times growing up is like you know, that's your crutch. Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, you don't have to worry about this and that. I'm like it's not easy.
Speaker 2:No, it goes back to again. Jesus said in this world you will have many troubles, but behold, I'm here. All right, I'm holding on to that, no matter what comes my way.
Speaker 1:Jesus is right here with me. There's a whole. I'm sure there's other areas we can get into with spiritual maturity and doing different things and all that, but probably for this one we'll stop it there.
Speaker 2:Okay, that way we don't go on too long and maybe we'll do another one with pastor buddy, sounds great.
Speaker 1:I'd be honored. Thanks. Thanks for coming on, thanks for talking to me, thank you all right. Everybody have a great night and we will talk to you on the next one. Bye.