Ep 55: Threat Level Midnight

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Well, good morning, I'm Daniel
Dalp and this is for your Sunday

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morning drive.
The short podcast with the goal

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of putting you in a Colossians
32 mindset and providing you

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with motivation, Dr. and
encouragement on those hectic

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Sunday mornings.
We are brought to you in

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I appreciate you taking time out
of your day to make us a party

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of your drive to church this
morning or whenever you listen.

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And if you could, I'd appreciate
it if you would give us a rating

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and review wherever you listen
and share us with a friend.

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Thanks for riding along with us.
This is episode 55, threat level

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midnight.
Let's go to church.

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Are we there yet?
Are you familiar with the

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Doomsday Clock?
If not, it's a figurative symbol

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of how close humanity is to
global destruction at its own

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hands.
Think mass nuclear cataclysm,

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stuff like that.
It is, in their own words, an

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illustration that warns the
public about how close we are to

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destroying our world with
dangerous technologies of our

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own making.
It is a metaphor, a reminder of

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the perils that we must address
if we are to survive on the

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planet.
The idea is that if this

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figurative clock strikes
midnight, then boom, the world

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is over.
And from what I've read, each

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year a group of eggheads that
are on the Board of Atomic

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Scientists meet and reset the
clock based on many different

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factors, including nuclear
disasters, technological

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advancements, climate change,
and a host of other criteria.

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But ultimately, it's arbitrary.
Well, as of January of this

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year, the Board of Atomic
Scientists released their yearly

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statement and set the clock to
80, 9 seconds to midnight, the

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closest it's ever been to
supposed catastrophe, which

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happens to only be one second
closer than the previous year.

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So I guess that's not too bad.
But does that worry you?

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Does that 'cause you fear?
I mean, there's a lot of that

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going around these days, and we
live in some difficult times.

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And I don't mean to discount
those fears or belittle them at

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all.
And things that cause us worry

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and fear aren't always just
those big catastrophic things,

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right?
Sometimes it's just the price of

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eggs.
Sometimes it's just how am I

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going to make it to the next
paycheck and believe me, I

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understand that, but why if we
are saved are we so worried

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about what could, and I want to
emphasize the word could there

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happen to us If we are faithful
and we are washed in the blood

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of Jesus Christ, then we already
know our fate and it's not one

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that concerns the fate of the
physical friends.

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We should be more concerned
about the fate of our souls.

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In Matthew chapter 10 verse 28,
Scripture tells us and do not

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fear those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul, rather

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fear him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.

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Now it's worth mentioning that
in verse 31 Jesus comes back to

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say do not fear period.
But you see the devil wants us

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distracted.
He wants us to fear and to

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worry.
In the screw tape letters, CS

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Lewis pens the following from
the perspective of a demon,

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giving advice on how to best
draw the faithful away from God.

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He says there is nothing like
suspense and anxiety for

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barricading a human's mind
against the enemy.

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He God wants men to be concerned
with what they do.

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Our business is to keep them
thinking about what will happen

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to them.
Romans 838 and 39 says, For I am

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persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor

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principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to

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come, nor height, nor death, nor
any other thing, shall be able

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to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus

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our Lord.
Christians do not fear, do not

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fear even the end of the world
if our salvation is in Jesus

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Christ.
And if it is in Jesus Christ,

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please stop looking for other
saviors.

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We are not to be a people of
fear.

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We are to be a steadfast people
full of faith and hope in our

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God.
And as God commands Joshua as he

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steps up to fill the shoes of
Moses in Joshua one verse 9, I

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think we can take some words of
encouragement away from that as

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well.
God says, have I not commanded

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you?
Be strong and courageous and do

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not be frightened.
Do not be dismayed, for the Lord

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your God is with you wherever
you go.

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You know there's always going to
be disasters, there's always

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going to be dangerous times.
But to the Christian, these

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should not necessarily be a
crisis.

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Right before he is betrayed,
Jesus tells his apostles in John

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1633, I have said these things
to you, that in me you may have

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peace, in the world you will
have tribulation, But take

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heart, I have over come the
world.

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A million different things could
go wrong on this Sunday morning

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drive.
But again, if our hope is in

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Jesus, if our salvation is
secure, and if eternal life

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awaits, why are we fearful of
those possibilities?

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So trust in Him even as that
clock ticks closer to midnight

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and just keep pressing on.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.

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Well, those are my thoughts for
your Sunday morning drive.

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Now it's time to hear yours.
Our discussion questions for

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this week are, why do we so
often choose fear over faith?

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What causes you great concern or
fear, and how can you take peace

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in the knowledge that God is
greater?

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What scriptures do you turn to
when fears and doubts arise?

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And when we do fear, do we turn
to Him in prayer or do we just

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double down in our distress?