Curt Harlow [00:00:00]:
Hello, my friend, and welcome back to the Bible study pod. I am joined, as always, by the frontal lobe of the Bible study.
Dena Davidson [00:00:09]:
Always. But I've been missing the last two episodes. I missed that.
Curt Harlow [00:00:11]:
Well, you know, it's true. You do have life. It's not just all podcasts in your life, Dena, but, you know, it goes up a notch whenever you're here. So. Dena Davidson of Thrive College and many other things, but we are joined for the first time we have a first timer. Is that right, Dena? I can never remember if. I don't think so first time ever. And we've got Dr.
Curt Harlow [00:00:33]:
Bishop, Senior Leader of Glory Preachers, Preacher of Extraordinariness, Dr. Cameron Wells with us here.
Cameron Wells [00:00:43]:
People call me not the frontal lobe.
Curt Harlow [00:00:45]:
Not the frontal lobe. Maybe the more cr. Magdin love, but you've got. You've got earthiness to you. Cam, give the crew what you do just in case they don't hang around Adventure all the time. What do you do?
Cameron Wells [00:00:58]:
Yeah, I get to serve our Adventure campus and our senior leader, Michael Metcalf, and then get to jump around to some of the other campuses and hang out on the weekend, teach with groups, do a myriad of things. Yeah, but been here a little while.
Curt Harlow [00:01:17]:
And you got your start in Bayside Universe. How?
Cameron Wells [00:01:20]:
Yeah. Thrive School. Thrive College. Thrive College.
Curt Harlow [00:01:25]:
Yeah. When I. We met Cameron, he. He was. He didn't even speak. He was speechless. He literally not a single language. And now he's one of the best communicators.
Cameron Wells [00:01:34]:
Look at me now, Mom.
Curt Harlow [00:01:36]:
It really is true, Mom. He's got a good mom.
Cameron Wells [00:01:38]:
Taught me theology and how to speak.
Curt Harlow [00:01:40]:
Yes, well, enough of the goofiness. I just get excited. We're coming to the Bible, so forgive me if I'm getting a little too excited here. And we are in one of my favorite parts. If you've been watching the Bible study pod, and I hope you have been, we're in Acts, chapter 27, brief context here. Paul went to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey. That did not go well for him. He's arrested because other people created riots.
Curt Harlow [00:02:02]:
He didn't create them. And he spends two years, Dena, two long years. We don't. We. We don't really get the sense of how this plays out by just going passage after passage. But for two years, nothing happens. Finally, Paul says, I'm a Roman citizen, by the way. I demand to be tried before Caesar.
Curt Harlow [00:02:18]:
Felix, the governor says, you can go. He gets on a ship, that ship has a struggle going up from Caesarea by the sea. Get out your map and look at ends up, they switch ships to get a bigger ship. This is an Egyptian ship full of wheat. They think bigger ship. We're gonna handle the storms better. Why? Because we're. Well, we' fall, we're near passover season, which means late October.
Curt Harlow [00:02:42]:
There's no sailing in the Mediterranean in November. Big, huge warm, wet water from the sea collides with dry air from the land and you get these horrible, horrible storms. So they're, they're running out of time. And sure enough, they run into the storm. So we're, we're jumping right into the middle of the story. I hope you'll just read all of chapter 27. When, when you. After you get done listening to this.
Curt Harlow [00:03:08]:
But we're right in the middle story. We're going to pick it up at verse 21. I'm going to go for about five verses here. If you're going to vi this chapter up, it's like watching the storm coming and whether they actually see it. Then you got the midst of the storm and then what I call the wrath of the storm. That'll be next week. Don't miss it. Right now we're in the middle of the storm.
Curt Harlow [00:03:30]:
Okay, let's go ahead and jump in. Verse 21, chapter 27. After they, the they, the pilot, the owner, the prisoners and 200 plus crew members on the ship, after they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said, men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have spared yourself this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage. Because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the Lord God, to whom I belong and to whom I serve, stood beside me.
Curt Harlow [00:04:13]:
He said, do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. And God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you. So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as you told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island. There's so much. See, this is why the Bible study exists. There's so much in here.
Curt Harlow [00:04:42]:
To get the original meaning of this. We've got to understand what it meant to work on a ship in those days, what it meant to sail those waters. They're in the Mediterranean, right around the island of Crete, right there. We've got to understand what it meant for Greeks to be listening to a Jewish prisoner tell them that they were wrong. Because of course, earlier in the chapter he said we shouldn't do this. And none of them listened to him. So I'm going to go right to you, Dena, and say, help me get the original meaning out of this passage, which is always our goal here on the Bible study. How are we to look at this moment where Paul goes, enough is enough.
Curt Harlow [00:05:23]:
You haven't been listening to me. I'm taking charge. And he gives this Braveheart esque speech. How are you and I here in 2025 supposed to take this passage?
Dena Davidson [00:05:37]:
Yeah, well, a few things jump out. First and foremost, Paul does not just abandon them to their folly and abandon them to their sin. And I mean, we can preach later on what that means, but just first observe it from the text. Paul had every reason to give up on these fools. Right?
Curt Harlow [00:05:54]:
Right.
Dena Davidson [00:05:54]:
He was literally a prisoner on his way to Rome. He had told them the right thing to do. They did not listen to his advice. And he had already heard from God that he was going to be saved, that he had to stand trial before Rome. But instead of seeing a Paul, watch the wrath of God play out on these people, instead it appears that he's had a conversation with God and he said, please save these people. Save these people who in their folly, in their sin, are doing the wrong thing, but they don't know you. Save them. Give them another chance, another shot.
Dena Davidson [00:06:29]:
And I just think I'm just struck by the fact that Paul is so not about Paul in this passage. This is not a let's preserve Paul's life because Paul is so central to the sake of the Gospel. Right.
Curt Harlow [00:06:42]:
Rome needs me to preach.
Dena Davidson [00:06:44]:
Yeah, Rome, like Paul is not about Paul. Paul is not even about himself getting to Rome. He is always about the salvation of those that do not yet know Jesus. And I am just struck by that because I think that's crazy. I don't know if I would have had the headspace if I was in the midst of a storm like that and in the midst of being imprisoned to be praying for the people who are keeping me captive, who are abandoning my advice.
Curt Harlow [00:07:10]:
So you're demonstrating a very, very great hermeneutical principle here. Biblical hermeneutics don't do this when you're reading Shakespeare or Homer. But if you are coming to a piece of literature and going, how should I read this? You do something consistently, Dena, that I really, really love. You read through the lens of grace. And so you're reading through a missional lens. Paul is not just saying, I told you so. I'm right. He's saying, I told you so.
Curt Harlow [00:07:40]:
There is Salvation, the God of whom I serve. And so Paul's in every situation. Paul seems to see the moment where he could share the grace of God. And I've always said this. You've heard me say this to the thrive students almost every single week I teach. The way to determine if someone theologically understands the biblical theology of grace is they give grace. And here Paul is going, this is an opportunity to see you encounter the real and true and living God. So when you go to read your Bible.
Curt Harlow [00:08:14]:
And by the way, some people make the mistake of doing this, Cameron, they will throw their grace glasses on. Okay? Jesus gives us undeserved favor, therefore we should give other people undeserved favor. And they throw it on in the New Testament, but they don't put it on in the Old Testament. And I think that's the entirely wrong way to study the Bible from Genesis, where God says, hey, you sinners, where are you? Where are you? God knew where they were. They were hidden. They were naked and hiding all the way to revelation when he stands at the door and knocks and says, can we have lunch? We are to read the scripture through the context, through the lens of grace. Excellent. All right, Cam, help us out here in all of this.
Curt Harlow [00:08:58]:
By the way, if either of you guys been on a sailing ship at the end of October, in Greek.
Cameron Wells [00:09:04]:
Not in the Mediterranean, but off the coast of Australia, which they say is that part of the world's Mediterranean.
Curt Harlow [00:09:12]:
Okay. I don't know if I believe that. I mean, you proof texting a little bit here? No, I'm just joking.
Cameron Wells [00:09:17]:
So some geographical isegesis.
Curt Harlow [00:09:20]:
Yes, it's geographical iseges. Reading into it, the geography that you. To Cam, help us with all these factors. It's a boat, it's a sea, it's Greek, it's Jews, it's a political prisoner, Dena. And all that sees opportunity for salvation. Help us out. How should we look at this passage for your point of view?
Cameron Wells [00:09:40]:
Yeah, Well, I think it's so interesting because he's on his way to Rome, and this is something that Paul had been talking about almost his whole ministry. Got to get to Rome, got to preach to Rome. Got it. And then all of this stuff keeps happening. And if I'm Paul, this is very frustrating for me, but you never get that sense from Paul. And, and. And I think Paul understood that the interruptions weren't interruptions from the ministry. This was the ministry to Dena's point, like the men on the boat were the ministry.
Cameron Wells [00:10:11]:
And whether or not Rome happens, he's got an opportunity now in the interruption.
Dena Davidson [00:10:17]:
Yeah.
Cameron Wells [00:10:18]:
And. And so I think that's just a beautiful side of Paul in this. But the other thing, too is, you know, being. If you've ever open ocean, and I think you guys have experienced it, but it is terrifying. And. And he says, the. The angel of the God that I belong to and serve stood by me. And I.
Cameron Wells [00:10:39]:
I think it's so cool that you get that picture in that image. But the other thing that jumps out to me is the angel says to Paul, do not be afraid. And this is something that angels say a lot when they show up in scripture, all throughout the Bible. But what's interesting is it's not always in the middle of a storm. Right. The angel said it to Mary, and I think a lot of times we see that do not be afraid, and we think that's circumstantial. But angels were terrifying presence. Like, if you actually get a glimpse of the glory of God, it's terrifying.
Curt Harlow [00:11:10]:
Yeah.
Cameron Wells [00:11:11]:
And so Paul gets this reminder in the middle of this physical storm that there's still a power with several levels above that. And he says, do not be afraid. That's great because I am powerful. Because I am. And when you see that all throughout scripture today, do not be afraid. Not because of your circumstances, but because I am so great.
Curt Harlow [00:11:30]:
We have a very precious moments collection view of angels. So. So honestly, when you're reading this stuff and you see an angel stands so close to him by his bed, this is the exact point you're supposed to think this is a display of awesome power. That as powerful as the scariest storm is, it puts everything in perspective for Paul. So I gotta hear Cameron. Okay. Did you go through a storm when you were in Australia? First of all, what were you doing in Australia?
Cameron Wells [00:11:56]:
We're on our honeymoon.
Curt Harlow [00:11:57]:
Okay. I thought that was true. I thought that was.
Cameron Wells [00:11:59]:
Yeah, we got married.
Curt Harlow [00:12:00]:
Why? Why Australia?
Cameron Wells [00:12:02]:
My wife is from Australia.
Curt Harlow [00:12:04]:
So put another shrimp on the barbie.
Cameron Wells [00:12:08]:
It's easier to take, you know, 10, 20 people from Australia or from America to Australia than she has a huge family. So that kind of decides Right. Things.
Curt Harlow [00:12:15]:
So, okay.
Cameron Wells [00:12:16]:
And it's Australia. So we got married out there, and then we went on a honeymoon. And our honeymoon was essentially an island right off the Great Barrier Reef.
Curt Harlow [00:12:22]:
So this is really paralleling our pass a little bit.
Cameron Wells [00:12:25]:
A little bit. Except I was afraid and had to change my pants after we took a ferry. And you. You kind of follow up this chain of islands, but then to get to the reef, you have to leave the safety of the islands. And you don't really think about it because you're in the open ocean. But as soon as you leave those islands, the waves are just completely different. Like, there's no size boat that would make you feel good about it, and you are just completely helpless. And so, you know, I think, think.
Cameron Wells [00:12:52]:
I think, Curt, that you have talked about the fabilization of the Bible, but this is. This is a very real scary thing. And, you know, there's no. Now we have Starlink and I can basically get cell phone service anywhere. Like, they don't have that. The distance they have to go to wholly and completely depend on God is much shorter than we do. We have so much farther to go because we have so many other resources to exhaust before we've got nothing left but God. But for them, it was very quick.
Cameron Wells [00:13:21]:
All right, we're out of options. This is where we're at.
Curt Harlow [00:13:23]:
Especially in Bible, when you're reading narration, you need to actually do this. You need to exercise yourself from cell phones and from state patrol people and from ambulances and from, you know, aaa. You got to get all of that out of it and go. You know, there's. Why. Why is there a hospitality culture in the Middle East? Because there's no police at night on the routes. So we are the police for each other. We let each other in your home.
Curt Harlow [00:13:56]:
So getting that sense of it, I think is such a powerful thing. Mark was saying this. We usually record this as, you know, right after our sermon prep collectively and all the campuses at Bayside. And Mark was saying, you know, we think of getting on a ship. Oh, it's a Disney cruise. Someone gave me tickets for a Disney cruise to the island of Crete. And after Crete, we're going to that other Greek island with the short pants, Capri. And it's going to be great.
Curt Harlow [00:14:28]:
And we're going to have, you know, Cam Calamari. And they thought of it as a dangerous, out of control, no satellites to tell me when that storm was going to hit. Deep, dark chasm that swallowed up many of my relatives with zero chance to say goodbye to them or an explanation of where they went.
Cameron Wells [00:14:50]:
Right.
Curt Harlow [00:14:51]:
And so he was making this really great harmonical point that whenever the Bible talks about the sea, it's talking about something, you know, very, very dangerous and mysterious as well. Like, I don't understand the sea. Okay, here's, here's. Like I did this on Sunday in Auburn. I said, as Californians, if we're gonna be good Bible study people, first thing we have to do is decide we don't know what a storm is, because we don't. A couple years ago, I don't know if you guys remember, it rained for 11 days straight here in California. Two years ago, my. And I made national news.
Curt Harlow [00:15:27]:
And my brother from Seattle area called me up and said, are you all right? Are you and Kelly and the kids all right? Did a mudslide kill you? I haven't heard from you. And I said, kerry, oh my gosh, 11 days of rain in Northern California is 367 days of Seattle. Right? It's just where there's nothing we're doing down here. What you guys do all the time and don't even. It does it not even. Doesn't even make the news. It doesn't make your conversation. So what you have to do to study the Bible is you got to take yourself out of Northern California.
Curt Harlow [00:16:03]:
Nice weather. And so I told him this little story about a incredible tornado we experienced in Missouri. For this particular passage, we. I went on vacation with my small group in Italy. And don't. Don't judge Cameron.
Dena Davidson [00:16:21]:
What a great small group.
Curt Harlow [00:16:22]:
Don't judge Cameron And I, yes, the Lord blessed us with some international experience.
Cameron Wells [00:16:26]:
I had to do it.
Curt Harlow [00:16:28]:
So for the sake, I did too. Who would disciple these people in my small group? So anyway, the, the, the, the couple, the Kramers, who were kind of sponsoring the whole thing and, and organized the whole thing, they were like, let's have a boat day. And we had been on another vacation with him in another location. We'd done a boat day, and it was phenomenal. And I said, I don't know. That was a good last time. But. So he's looking for all these boats, and it was the height of the tourist season, so he can't find a boat.
Curt Harlow [00:16:55]:
Can't find a boat. Finally, he finds a boat. We all drive there because all the different couples are in their own little rental car. So on the drive there, we all got boat sec. Because it's like Italy is like this, right? And it's all manual rental cars, so we're all sick on the way there. And then the captain calls one of the cell phones and says, I can't come into the harbor because it's too dangerous, so we're gonna have to ride you out in a dinghy. Now, Dena, as a mom, you'll, you'll like. This is the sort of frame mind you gotta get yourself into.
Curt Harlow [00:17:29]:
We had two women in their late 70s in our group, and we had an infant under six months old and of course, her mother in the group. And so I said, well let me and a couple of the younger boys, we'll get on the first dinghy and we'll get out there. Then we'll be ready to hoist people up. Well, we go out in the dinghy, it's me and three 20 somethings and we cannot get on the boat because the boat. And it turns out we learn later this boat is not meant to be in these waters. It's completely not the boat you rent. And it is just, just like this. And so I finally get on the 320 sums, finally get on a great peril to our life.
Curt Harlow [00:18:09]:
And I try to call in and like, do not bring the elderly or the infants, do not come count this like. And the cell call won't go through. So all of a sudden I see the dinghies going at us and on it is these two elderly women and a couple of the other relatives. Luckily we had one of the son in laws is like a nationally ranked CrossFit guy. And the only way we got on the boat is he threw people, he threw these women. And we had like gotten all the life preservers and caught them on the women. And then this is the point. I know I'm going long here within 15 minutes of being on that boat.
Curt Harlow [00:18:46]:
So they're going around trying to give us beverages and crackers and everything and treating it like a tourist experience. Fifteen minutes, everyone but me. Because I'd taken a handful of. What's that? Motion sickness for pill you take Dramamine. Handful of Dramamine, like four hours earlier, me and the 20 somethings and everyone else was down in the cabin like in a giant pile of coma. And it was the worst level of seasickness. And there was things that can't be described on a podcast happening in terms of things that really bond a small group evacuating. Yes, yes.
Curt Harlow [00:19:33]:
And I just thought this is probably that storm that day was probably a 2 of what they'd experienced by the time Paul gives this speech.
Dena Davidson [00:19:45]:
It's crazy.
Curt Harlow [00:19:46]:
And so you just gotta unpack all the layers. So you're going through this. And Paul says, all right, everyone gather around. You were wrong about what I said earlier.
Cameron Wells [00:19:59]:
Told you so.
Curt Harlow [00:19:59]:
And what I like to add to our rocking and rolling and throwing up and fear of our lives. My God sent a supernatural being to my bed last night and he's told us what to do.
Dena Davidson [00:20:15]:
Yeah.
Curt Harlow [00:20:17]:
And there's something beautiful when you allow yourself to really actually think about the context correctly and accurately. I think if it was any other problem if it was any manageable problem, they would all said, yeah, whatever, yeah. But the storm produces the faith. These Greek men who worship multiple gods, who have great fear of offending their multiple gods, who serve appeasement gods. If I offend these gods, then my crops, my calories, my compensation, my kids, all of that could be randomly destroyed by these gods. But you know what? I'm in this situation, I've been so worn down by this danger, I'm going to listen to this Paul and his God. So again, just the point of it all being the extra effort it takes to think through the context really does make the passage come alive. And then I got one other point, but I'm just talking way too much, so let me throw it back to you guys.
Dena Davidson [00:21:29]:
Yeah. Just as you were talking, you were literally telling this story and I was thinking of the story of Jonah. And I've never thought about this tie in before, but I feel like Acts 27 parallels the story of Jonah. But this is a chance where Israel got it right.
Curt Harlow [00:21:45]:
Yes.
Dena Davidson [00:21:45]:
Where Israel was meant to display the goodness and the grace and the truth of God to the surrounding nations, but they totally failed and they were just always in battle with them and they were the enemies. Here we have Paul, who's a prisoner of, of Rome, but he is, you know, these people are not. He's not going to be thrown overboard. Rather he's the person on the ship who's saying, hey, I know the way to be saved. It's like this redeeming picture of what God originally meant Israel to do in the Old Testament. And I love how you mentioned that God has always been a God of grace. I think take the story of Jonah. It's a story of God's grace.
Dena Davidson [00:22:26]:
He's always been the God of grace, but here he's doing it again. God is going to save people by whatever means necessary and we get to be along.
Curt Harlow [00:22:35]:
So in that same sermon prep meeting I was talking about one of our great young scholars, scholars mentioned that this is the Jonah success story. Kim, do you remember who that was?
Cameron Wells [00:22:45]:
Yeah, we talked about it being the redemption of Jonah.
Curt Harlow [00:22:50]:
He's being very modest. It was Cameron. Cameron led one of the kids, Cameron, that.
Cameron Wells [00:22:56]:
It's the redemption of that. It's the redemption of. Of Jonah. So Jonah puts all of the sailors at risk. Paul keeps all of the sailors safe. Jonah runs under the deck to hide. Paul is out in charge on top of the deck.
Dena Davidson [00:23:09]:
Wow, that's good.
Cameron Wells [00:23:11]:
There's a bunch more parallels, but basically Jonah caused the storm by running Away. Paul got through the storm by sticking with God.
Dena Davidson [00:23:18]:
Wow.
Cameron Wells [00:23:18]:
So it really is kind of a cool.
Dena Davidson [00:23:20]:
See, that's like the really well thought out said version.
Curt Harlow [00:23:23]:
Here's my question, though.
Dena Davidson [00:23:24]:
This is good.
Curt Harlow [00:23:25]:
Is that. Did God go, hey, we had this Jonah story. It was a big hit. Big hit. Everyone lied it. What if we did a version where. Where the Jonah character does everything right? Is this kind of a deliberate sovereign thing of God to retell that story? Or what's your words? What's your idea on that?
Cameron Wells [00:23:43]:
I think we are all living out the same meta narrative. And I think. I think there's so much truth in this because it's. This is human experience. And I think different people respond differently to God in different seasons. And so I think, you know, we are all Jonah in a sense, and. And Acts 20:7 is Jonah staying close to God instead of running away from God. So I think we're all living out the same narrative, but we all do things differently.
Cameron Wells [00:24:15]:
And here in Paul, you see, I.
Curt Harlow [00:24:17]:
Just add only one thing to that. We're all Jonah. And at times, by the grace of God and the redemption of God and the teaching of the Holy Spirit and the truth of, we're all Paul. We all have moments where we hear from God, do the right thing, and it miraculously works. I do not think. I do not think God went, you know what this. You know what this book I'm writing needs?
Dena Davidson [00:24:40]:
Bookends.
Curt Harlow [00:24:42]:
Yeah, callback. I think there's two principles at work here, which I'm completely in agreement with you, Cam. I think it's two principles. One, we're so much more alike than we want to think. We're vastly different in language and culture and appetite and customs and background. But the beauty of the book of Genesis, the beginning, literally the book called the beginning, is I see myself in every one of those families and every one of those characters, and I see the family of humankind. I am the heroic, brave Noah wants to live, and I am the Noah who planted a vineyard and got too tired to do the right thing and drank too much wine. And I am the Abraham who wants to rescue monotheism from the clutches of deceptive pagan, bad, idolatry, polytheism that I get in my first fix.
Curt Harlow [00:25:47]:
And I don't tell all the truth and lie a little bit. And I'm both those people and all those people. I'm David. I want to be heroic and take on Goliath for the name of God. And I'm also not faithful to my closest and best friend and do unspeakable things. So, number one, we're more alike than we think. Which is a beautiful part about when you're reading and studying the Bible, try on every character in the story, Try them on and say, what can I learn from Paul's experience? What can I learn from the Greek crew member here? Then I think also this principle is even more true.
Dena Davidson [00:26:25]:
True.
Curt Harlow [00:26:26]:
God treats them and. And he treats us the same. The way he treated them is the way he treats us.
Cameron Wells [00:26:33]:
Yeah.
Curt Harlow [00:26:33]:
So he doesn't kind of go, well, you guys got the Internet now, so there's a lot of temptations. You're not going to be able to survive. I'm going to give you some grace. He doesn't look at them and say, you know, there's no state patrolman. So if a few people get mugged on the. In the middle of the night, I guess we're going to have to let that happen. No, he is completely and entirely without the ability to have favorites. He's completely and entirely without the ability to allow consequences in those he loves.
Curt Harlow [00:27:12]:
So he's perfectly just and he's perfectly loving, and it's going to get me in a lot of trouble. This is part of the reason why. I just think. Think dispensationalism is overstated. Certainly there are parts of God's plans of salvation. He's nurturing. He's trying to get monotheism established during Abraham's time more than he is during our time. Certainly there's some truth to that.
Curt Harlow [00:27:32]:
Obvious. But I don't think that extends to these giant different reactions to humans and families and individuals. So of course we're going to get the positive example of Jonah.
Dena Davidson [00:27:48]:
Yeah.
Curt Harlow [00:27:49]:
And there's a million, maybe a billion other positive examples of Jonah didn't make it into the word of God because in the sovereignty of God, those people did what was right and how the Holy Spirit empowered them in that moment. And there's thousands and billions of Jonahs that got it worse than Jonah. Yeah.
Dena Davidson [00:28:06]:
You know what the difference between Paul and Jonah was? Jonah thought the Ninevites didn't deserve God's mercy.
Curt Harlow [00:28:13]:
Paul knew there's the lands of grace for you right there.
Dena Davidson [00:28:16]:
The people on the boat didn't deserve God's mercy, and neither did he.
Curt Harlow [00:28:20]:
Yes.
Dena Davidson [00:28:21]:
And that was all the difference. He knew it's mercy for all. It's grace for all. What Jonah thought that he deserved from God, Paul understood I don't deserve that from God. And so who am I to try to condemn the person next to me? I'M going to fight for their salvation.
Curt Harlow [00:28:36]:
The wrong thinking about being the chosen one, which was Jonah, is something that plagued the teachers of the law and the Pharisees in Jesus time. I can make. I can make descendants of Abraham out of these rocks. Jesus said so there is a right way of thinking about being the chosen one. I am the ambassador by God's grace to bring the the truth of God to the nations. And there's a wrong way. I'm more favored than the Ninevites. Paul knows he's the worst of all sinners.
Cameron Wells [00:29:08]:
Yeah.
Dena Davidson [00:29:08]:
Y.
Curt Harlow [00:29:09]:
Therefore, the. The. The poorest shipmates. That's so good, Dena. Okay, we're getting to the practical, and I'll go first. Here we go to the application. So we've decided you got to really understand what a storm is and really understand how scary angels are and really understand what it would take for polytheistic Greeks to go, I'll listen to this Jewish guy that had a visitor from an angel. Yeah, all that's good.
Curt Harlow [00:29:33]:
How do we apply it to life? Here's my thoughts. Very simple. In this story, there's such a beautiful, wonderful balance of the practical and the supernatural. And I think we tend to be on one side or the other. There are those of us that are like, oh, no, don't give me any of that supernatural hubbub. You know, that's all craziness, and you're getting into weird territory. Just, let's eat all eight of our essential vitamins and read our Bible every day and keep a nice tight schedule and let your yes be yes. And there's some beauty in that.
Curt Harlow [00:30:07]:
There is a lot of truth to that. And then there are those that are like, I think I heard the Holy Spirit. And he said, not Life cereal, but Cracklin Oat Bran. And we are not as practical. And there's some beauty in the openness and flexibility of the spirit. Of course there is. You don't see this dichotomy in Paul. At one point, he's saying, I got the weather report.
Curt Harlow [00:30:30]:
I've been in the Mediterranean before. This is stupid to make this trips journey on two different occasions. He says, y' all haven't eaten enough. You can't get more practical than that. And then the pinnacle that is, by the way, I like you to get a more balanced diet as we go through the storm. And an angel came to me last night and said, y' all are gonna make it. Yeah, I just think I strive to be that person. I want to go and say, if I'm leaning on the supernatural side too much.
Curt Harlow [00:31:00]:
Can I get more discernment and practicality in my life? And if I'm so close to the interruption of the Holy Spirit, can I get more open to that? But can I walk in both and see them as part of what it means to follow? Christ is embracing both. Okay, that's my application.
Dena Davidson [00:31:17]:
So good. Mine is, who's getting saved in your storm? I think when I'm going through a storm, I am thinking about how I can save myself and my family and put the pieces of my life back together, and I obsess over that, and I ask God to intervene and save me from this, and da, da, da, da. And I just want to be more like Paul. Paul was like, I'm, I'm gonna be safe from this storm. Like, God is already guaranteed my safety on the other side of this whether I die or whether I go to heaven. But I'm gonna save some people. Like, I'm gonna earnestly plead with God that out of this storm there will be salvation. So I want to be the type of believer that is like, okay, I'm in the midst of a battle.
Dena Davidson [00:31:56]:
I'm in the midst of a storm. Well, who's getting saved in this storm? Who am I praying for? Who am I pleading on behalf of? Of not just for my own safety, but for theirs?
Cameron Wells [00:32:07]:
Yep, mine would probably dovetail with that. Verse 25, he says, take courage, men, because I believe somebody needs your faith in, In Mark chapter two, these friends bring a paralyzed man to Jesus. And it says, in Mark, chapter two, when he saw their faith, he forgave and healed the man. It doesn't even have to be your faith. And I had seasons of life where somebody had faith for me, and that got me through my storm. But somebody else needs your faith. So, like, who are you having faith for? Who are you giving your faith to? Who are you believing for? Because we can't save people. We can only see people.
Dena Davidson [00:32:45]:
That's good.
Curt Harlow [00:32:46]:
Amen. I, I, I always said, who needs to see you be courageous? It's certainly happening here. All right, my friends, if you made it to this point in the Bible study podcast, you're a wildly successful human being and way better than anyone else who ducked out at the five minute mark. I'm just saying, God doesn't play favorites, but I do, so good job. And can I encourage you? Seriously, all kidding aside, I'm very grateful. When we study the Bible and when we ask these hermeneutical questions, it just benefits everyone first us and everyone around us. So to that end, would you do me a favor? Would you like share and subscribe a bunch of you you are liking on there? It's growing every single week. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Curt Harlow [00:33:31]:
Write some comments in there. Let us know what you didn't understand, what you want us to address. Is there a question? Next week we're going to talk about the end of the storm. I call it the wrath of the storm. We've gotten three weeks in a row here. The storm's coming. We're in the storm. And then I listen this this how God actually fulfills his promise.
Curt Harlow [00:33:51]:
Gets absolutely worth worth your time and energy and a few people that you would invite into this experience. Also, I always say this. Check out all the other podcasts on the Thrive Network podcast. Mark Clark's and Ray Johnston's. Kevin Thompson's is great. Leslie and Morgan, you'll see them all on there. The Thrive Network of podcasts. Anyway, thanks for watching.
Curt Harlow [00:34:16]:
We'll see you next time.