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All right, this is WB7MAX and we are looking for check-ins to West Coast Marlowe City. I see Brian KJ7PWM showing up on the Utah SDR. Brian, KJ7PWM, come back to me. Good morning, Captain. All is good here. Thank you for having me. All right, copy. All is good here and praying that we'll have a great trip, Brian. I'll be leaving early here today, but we'll hopefully be able to get the viral study started anyway. All right, any other check-ins, please come down. I heard Carol out there, KK7TPO. Good morning, Carol. How are you doing? Okay, I heard Carol say she's doing well. She said some other things. Scott, N7 and PA, do you have a relay for what Carol said? Over. Yeah, they're under a flood watch also, so prayer for Carol's community for a flood watch. And same as Bert there. Over. Copy that. Okay. So, David, KK7PDI, this is Carol, KK7TPO. and they're having a flood watch in their town. Famous bird up there in Troy, Montana. So let's pray for the restraint of these floodwaters, both for Carroll KK7TPO and also for bird W7RKD. Copy? Copy, Max. Got it. Thank you. Appreciate that, David. Good job. All right. I'm looking at my SDRs for a second here, see if I can pick up anybody. There's Peter, KJ7DA. Good morning, Peter. How are you doing? All right, and Peter is doing well. He says good morning to everyone. So, Peter, good to have you with us. You know, Peter, if you ever do have a prayer request, you can always text message that to me. My email address on QRZ is good. And so if you just email me there, we can connect that way, and I will send you my cell phone number. All right. And that way you can relay any prayer requests that you might have. All right, so this is WB7MAX looking for check-ins. Please come down to West Coast By-Way City. *loud I have a prayer request, Bex. Scott, it's 7MP, go ahead. Yeah, we have a dear friend of ours yesterday that was diagnosed with cancer, melanoma. I believe it was a tumor against her kidney. And they're going back in for some more testing. And her name is Bev, Beverly. Also, I could take a stab at what Lee was asking, contemplating a book-selling business. And he's asking for prayer and wisdom and guidance in searching out that business. Lee's the type of a guy, he's got a lot of different things in the fire, all to generate income. And a little entrepreneur, you might say there, Max. and 7 p.m. All right, real good. So, David, KK7 PDI, let's pray for Lee, AL7KG. That's Alpha Lima 7 Kilo Golf. And Lee is thinking about starting up a book-selling business. So let's pray that God gives him wisdom, guidance, and success in that book-selling business. Copy? What's that call sign again on lead? That is Alpha Lima, that's AL7, and then Tua Golf KG, over. Copy, got it. Thank you for that. Roger, WB7BZL, are you out there? All right, not hearing from Roger. All right, we're going to get started with the West Coast Bible Study. We are in 2 Corinthians 11, 1-15. 2 Corinthians 11, verses 1 to 15. Now, as we said yesterday, and as we have been saying throughout the net, Paul is having to defend his ministerial credentials and credibility. And so the false teachers in Corinth have been attacking his legitimacy as a true apostle and as a man of God. So they've attacked his conduct, they've attacked his character, they've attacked his credentials, they've attacked his credibility. And the whole idea is to undermine the Corinthians' esteem of Paul as a true representative of the Gospel and of God, so that they can then take his place in his church and overthrow his teaching and lead them away from Christ to another Christ. lead them away from an understanding of the Holy Spirit to a different spirit, and, of course, ultimately embrace a different gospel. So he's quite strong here in his arguments, and he defends himself as an apostle. He hates doing this, but he's compelled to do it for the sake of the reputation of the gospel. So he asks them to bear with him while he talks about himself. You know, we like to talk about ourselves. We want to talk about others. We want to talk about Jesus. But sometimes we have to talk about ourselves, and we can't have a false modesty when it is essential to the credibility of the gospel that our credibility be established in a situation where we are being slandered to the point that people lose confidence in our gospel message because they've lost confidence in us. due to the false accusations that have been made. So that is the situation here. So we're going to be reading 2 Corinthians 11, verses 1 through 15. But before we do that, we want to open our time together in prayer today. And so, Will, Kilowike 5 Foxtrot, could you please open in prayer for us today? Sure, Dan, 5F. Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and for the blessings of the day and for each and every person that came with me on the net. Lord, we know that each of us has some kind of problem or health issue in our lives. We just lift each other up. We thank you for being able to handle the debt. We ask for your blessings upon him. We ask for your guidance in things that we do. So we would be a blessing to others and bring glory and honor to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you so much for that prayer. May God be pleased to grant each of those requests. All right. I'm going to go ahead and read this section. I will be reading it in the King James Version. And we are in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 1 through 15. So 2 Corinthians 11, 1, Paul says, Would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed, bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity of your love. that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him. For I suppose that I was not a wit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge, but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things. Have I committed an offense? in abasing myself that you might be exalted because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely, I robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do you service. And when I was present with you and wanted, I was chargeable to no man for that which was lacking to me, the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied." And in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore, because I love you not, God knows me. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers. transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works." All right, we will stop there. Any comments on this section, 2 Corinthians 11, 115, please come now if you call, sir. WB7VZL. Okay, we've got a double there. Roger, WB7VZL, you go first. Yes, a couple of verses in other parts of the Scripture jump out as you read that so beautifully, Max. And appreciate the King James, too. I thought of Galatians 1.6. In fact, I went to it as you were reading. And so, yes, he has those that are disguised, as he says, in verse 14. And, of course, that reminds us of the temptations where Satan comes before Christ. and tries to tempt Christ's descent. Over. Yeah, copy that. We are in a spiritual war, and here we are working with Christ and for Christ, preaching Christ's gospel and leading people to Christ. And here's Satan with his ministers doing his level best to lead them away from Christ. Amen. And there's a real tug-of-war going on for the souls of the Corinthians here between Paul who's trying to keep them faithful to Jesus and these ministers of Satan who parade themselves as true ministers trying to lead them away from Christ. And so you're right, that passage in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ. unto another gospel. And so this battle went on at Corinth. It went on at Galatia. It seems like wherever Paul went, he would preach the gospel, lead a bunch of people to Christ, establish a church, give them basic Bible teaching, move on, and then some corrupt guy would come in behind and try to undo everything Paul did. Imagine that. You know, here you are, you're building a house, right? And you put up a bunch of walls, and you're going to come back the next morning and start to put the roof on, and then in the night, someone comes along and tears the walls down. You've got to come back and put them back up again. And next night, somebody tears the walls down. You've got to come back and put them up again. And that's the seesaw that goes on for men's souls when you're a minister of the Gospel, and you're trying to keep people on the narrow way that leads to life, and other people are standing there saying, "No, go over here to the Broadway!" And that's what's going on here. So, Roger, thank you for pointing out that parallel passage. All right, other comments. Come now. PDI. PDI. David, KK7 PDI. Go ahead. I want to follow up there with Roger's comment as well. And that's over in Galatians 1 in verses 8 and 9. Because here he says, but as we... or an angel of heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one that we have preached to you, let him be accursed or let him be anathema. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preached to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. And so Paul is strongly warning the church. And again, whenever the Bible repeats itself in a verse, it would do us well to pay heed to what is being said. Because people out there do preach a different gospel. They do it according to man's will and not God's will. And so that warning is very pointed that we need to pay attention to. If you can't show me in God's Word, just like the Bereans in Acts the 17th chapter, they search the Scriptures daily to make sure when people speak to you and claim to be from God, you need to test that spirit. You need to test it according to the Word of God, not based on what man feels. but rather on what God said. Because Satan does present himself as an angel of light. And the only way you can break through that is through God's word and what the word says, not what man says. Kilo Kilo 7, Papa Delty, and get back to you, Max. David, really well said. And I couldn't agree more. It's sad. But, boy, do we ever have an adversary. And, you know, Paul speaks of that in verse 3. He says, I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, through his deceit, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So this has been going on since the Garden of Eden. where God does the work, Satan comes along and tries to destroy the work. Ultimately, Christ comes back and restores the work. And Christ is going to triumph. Satan is going to be defeated. And that's the encouragement we have as preachers of the gospel, is that, yeah, we've got these false teachers who parade as gospel ministers, and yet they're really the servants of Satan, preaching a different gospel, talking about a different Holy Spirit, and talking about a different Jesus, But we have to be aware, we have to be on guard, we have to know our theology, and we have to call out the false teaching when it's there and protect the sheep from cunning men who are crafty and lie in wait to deceive. So David, great comments there, appreciate that. Alright, this is WB7MAX and Scott, N7NPA, I'm going to turn the net over to you at this point in time. I understand there's some long lines for security up in Portland, so I need to get going. So Scott, N7NPA, I'm turning net control. of the West Coast Bible Study over to you. You take it from here. Appreciate your prayers for me for a safe trip. And I will see you certainly next Tuesday morning, God willing, and we will gather together again around the Word of God. All right, Scott, N7NPA, over to you. Great. We're going to save for it next. Thanks, Coach. Yeah, let's gather around briefly. Our Father in Heaven, as we release Pastor Max to this other ministry that you have tapped him into, we just pray that you will put an armor of protection around him and that you keep him, as Jerry says, well and safe. And, Father, I just pray that... what he has prepared for those students, that it can resonate upon them and that their ministries that they're called into, Father, can glorify you and the kingdom. And we sit back and, Father, as one voice around this table, and cry out for this request. And we pray this through Jesus. And all of us say amen. All right, well, safe travels there, Pastor Max. And so we'll pick this up. Max gave an analogy here of this morning's scripture reading of trying to build a house, and then the next day it says tore down. I have a... analogy that's been playing in my mind and a lot of it stems of who I am and the culture that I grew up in in this small community here in Crow which they had for decades a golden calf in basketball. We are a basketball community and for years and years we went to the state tournaments And I don't know if there's any basketball fans there, but we're getting ready to do the March Madness in the college game. And our family does a – we fill out individual brackets. And then we have our own trophy, and it's a golden goat. for the greatest of all time and whoever wins in our family they get the big trophy and they put another mammal in their house. We have a big whoop to do with. All my kids, all my grandkids, the other grandfathers and grandmothers, it's a big deal. So basketball is a big deal in this household. I just went to the state tournament last week and there was members of our community there that had moved away But the culture is so ingrained in this little community that it was fun to see community members that I hadn't seen in 20 or 30 years at the state tournament up in McMinnville. So that was fun. But getting back to the analogy of what this looks like is Macedonia is supporting Paul. And so Paul's the big star on this basketball team, and Macedonia gives him the opportunity the monies for his uniform. They supply his shoes. They supply the game ball. They do everything. But Corinth, they're the opposing team. And if we were in a gymnasium that was all filled in with Macedonians, rooting for Paul, and he went to the free throw line. He would step up to the charity stripe, and the gymnasium, the world, would be dead silent. And they're enlisting to Paul, and they want him to take this basketball and put it through the hoop and score for our Lord and Savior. but in this setting you have the gymnasium full of Corinth remember he's in Corinth now and so he's writing he's he's writing to the Corinthians and so if you've ever seen on television or in real life The star of the game going up to the free throw line. And all behind the backboard, all behind the end point chairs, it's nothing but the opposing fans. They are waving. They are chowning. They are hollering. They're distracting. And that's what's happening here. The Corinthians are trying to distract. And the Macedonians are over there silent, praying that he'll make the basket. So that's a little bit of a worldly analogy that goes through my mind of what we're looking at here. So any thoughts on that or any thoughts of your own, analogies of your own, or we can break down the individual thoughts. versus, please call at 7:00 MPH. Is that XM? Yeah, go ahead, Kevin. Good morning, Scott. Yeah, you know, the interesting comments there. And, you know, what I was wanting to take a look at just briefly here is kind of as he -- introduces this discussion, this portion of the letter here to the Corinthians, and he kind of approaches it as all your foolishness that he's going to have to he's compelled to boast, but this is a a godly boast in that it's important there's a lot at stake here. And he introduces it with the jealousy that he has. Now this, he's kind of referring to the same jealousy that God has for Israel in the Old Testament as we'd see in Exodus 20 and verse 5. And as he presents, talks about his relationship with the Corinthian church as if a father who has a daughter that is being deceived by, you know, someone is trying to influence them. with deception or ill intent and trying to introduce a different gospel. Paul introduces the argument as the father of this church who's betrothed them to Christ as the bride of Christ and that he wants them to be pure, he wants them to be as a virgin to as a bride to Christ. And you know that's really summarizes his love and his perspective because he is a father in the faith of the Caribbean church and he has painstakingly worked nurtured, taught endured much with the passion of love, that they might be faithful and well-founded in the gospel and in the Word of God. And this is not an easy task because, as we most are aware, this area of the country is just saturated with false worship, with worldly philosophies, and a lot of deception. But to be faithful here, we see, too, that the importance of that faithfulness and the perspective of that purity to Christ, to God. And Paul is steadfast in that faithfulness. There's quite a bit more, but I'll stop right there. KB7, is that okay? Yeah, thank you, Kevin, for bringing those points out. And what comes to mind when you was sharing that was for a real-life situation is we've been praying for Zoe. As you recall, we pray for Zoe. I forget what day. She's on the big list. But we pray for Zoe because she ran away from home. She was influenced by a young man. And then the last we heard, she was back with her grandfather and her grandmother, but she's really bouncing around. And so that's a little bit. You can take that template, Kevin. Thank you. with what you are sharing, and we could use that as a real-life template, and then mirror this over what Paul is explaining here in Corinthians 11. Would you like to go further with this, Kevin? Go ahead. Well, Scott, and I appreciate that. And you're right. We have a lot of real-life examples here that we can connect to of the deception that can be attacked. And, of course, we know the Word of God is a real-life example. example here too. And we do need to be mindful because there's a lot of influences that will teach a different Jesus. And it may look and sound similar, but there's a lot of knockoffs, if you will, out there. There's some fakes out there. And it's important that we stay within the Word. to know that we've got the real deal and must not be drawn away. And as we see around us, there's religions all around us that will say, oh yeah, well, we're Christian too. But if they teach and preach a different Jesus, as Roger pointed out at the beginning, if they teach and preach a different gospel, well, they're not of the bride of Christ. You know, they're not the bride of Christ. They're not of, God of the Bible. So watch out for the facsimiles and worse. Give me some good examples. Yeah, you're absolutely correct there, Kevin. I know personally, as a young boy, I was tripped up once. introduced to a faith and when they talked about jesus well i knew my jesus but as a as it turned out uh their jesus and my jesus were two different jesus's and i put the brakes on and when they uh they come calling uh again after figuring all this out I wished them well, but I didn't invite them into my home. And they couldn't figure out why they couldn't come in like they were invited in last time. And I had to share with them, you know, well, I'm sorry, but you're a mess-led people, and here's why. And that kind of comes back to what David was sharing with us earlier, scripture will lay upon scripture if it's the truth. And then in Acts 17, we do need to be Bereans, each and every one of us. I'm dealing with a logger right now that is sharing the gospel to me, but he doesn't know scripture. This is all what's been told to him by a false teacher. and trying to unravel this takes time. And so it's one of the things that I do when I'm not here around to study, when I'm out in the field. So you're absolutely right, Kevin, and thanks for putting that out. All right, anybody else would like to chime in? We would love to have your thoughts. Your thought, you may think, well, I don't know. But your thought and your expression may just be the exact trigger that will teach somebody else. So I really encourage everybody to speak up. So please call in 7-N-P-A. K2KJX. Okay, I got two there. I got Mark and I got George. We'll go with Mark first. Go ahead, Mark. KJ7PVT at 7 MPA. Thank you, Scott. I'm looking at, what is it, verse 4 here in chapter 11, and it really gives us the nut that we're... we're talking about, and that is, he says, if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you received a different spirit which you have not received, or if there's a gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it. Thank you. I want to focus in on these two words here. First, the gospel that he's speaking about is the one that he's preaching and the one that we know. And pretty much we have a large body of knowledge. of what that gospel is. And it is the letters from Paul. It gives us a really good grounding to stay in. But there are two words here I want to identify. And that, the first one is, for if he who comes reaches another Jesus, I'm gonna identify in his name Jesus, whom we have not preached. Or if you receive a different spirit, second word. So we have the word Jesus and we have the word spirit, which you have not received. So originally, they were preached the correct Jesus. So they have a starting point. And now someone is coming in who is going to bend that. And the second one is they've received a spirit and they have a starting point there. I don't know if I can identify that. I don't know if he's been there. taking a lot of guidance in that direction, and they have a starting point there, and then somebody's trying to come in and advance that as well. And with those two words in mind, I'm going to flip over to the book of Revelation, chapter 19, where John has just encountered a... An angel, he's about to pray, he's about to just fall down on his face in front of this guy. And the angel says, hey, don't do that. Don't do that. You worship God because, and then he delivers these words. I am your fellow servant and your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God as Jesus does this. This is the definition that kind of brings those two things together. it is in the word spirit. Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is his spirit and prophecy. The point of that is that all prophecy is pointing to Jesus. He's the final end point if you've gotten If you've got something out on the horizon that you're heading for, and you're going to talk about how you're going to get there, your father's life, and how you're going to get there, the end point in this whole idea is Jesus. He is the beginning and the end. And he is, there's a spirit, and there's Jesus. And these are the two unmovable... items here. And if anybody tries to move us off of those, that's the end of the TV. Thank you, Scott. All right. Appreciate that, Mark. And Mark was pointing out in verse 4 that a couple words there where it says another Jesus. We want to circle Jesus and then on a different spirit, and we want to circle spirit. We could also go down a couple more lines where it says different gospel, and we want to... focus on gospel. So Jesus, spirit, and gospel, that's the bullseye. That's where we need to be focused on. But there are those that have a skewed vision, a version of our target, and that they have another Jesus, They have a different spirit, and they have a different gospel. And so we need to stay true. It's kind of like taking a set of field glasses, and you're putting them up there, and you're looking across the canyon, and they're kind of fuzzy. Well, we need to dial that in so we're looking. and uh We're looking at the true Jesus, we're looking at the true Spirit, and we're looking at the true Gospel. And then Mark tied that into Revelation 19 and what he shared there. So good comment, Mark. Would you like a follow-up, Mark, before we go to George? Over. I love the way you use that terminology. I can see everything that you're saying. Like you're getting ready to, you know, dial in the crosshairs on your rifle. You want to make sure of that. your target is and that your shot is going to be true. But I love your analogy there. Thank you. Believe it or not, Mark, I have used that scope crosshair analogy before from the pulpit. So I appreciate that vote of confidence, Mark. And for the next few days, I need a lot of confidence. All right, George, take two. KJX from the flathead. Go ahead. Roger, roger, KQKJX. I think I'm going to be saying pretty similar to what Mark said, but, you know, since we've moved here in the Flathead, we've gotten a lot of knots on the door and people that want to share another Jesus. And whether they call him Michael the Archangel or just a brother of Satan. it really put my antennas up, and I realized, well, you're not talking about the same Jesus I believe in and the same spirit that builds my body to guide me in truth. And it's different for me, not living here out west, but they're there, and I've even tried to ask them, okay, well, I understand where you get your theology from, would you just consider reading the Gospel of John and tell me who you think Jesus really is? And they would come back and they would say, oh, no, we didn't get to it or we don't read that or whatever. And so they pick and choose these verses in their own mind of who Jesus really is. and they're made up in their mind and I don't think, I've talked to them for months and I don't think they ever will realize that Jesus is God in the flesh and that he died on the cross for our sins, although they all believe that. But it's sad that they are so brainwashed that they have a different spirit and they believe in a different Jesus, over. Yeah, well said there, George. That is out there. I know our community is a lot like your community. But they, being we're old-timers here, they know... well, they don't even come around anymore. And it's kind of sad. And it kind of comes, again, I want to underline a couple things of what comes out of verse 4. that you and Mark have pointed out. And it comes right back to what David said earlier. We need to search the scriptures ourselves and do as the Bereans do. And one of the beauties about... The West Coast Bible Study is, you know, we do the whole scriptures, all the books, every word is poured over. Nothing is glassed over. from Genesis to Revelation. And we come through and dig up the little gold nuggets and hash them out and talk about them. And that's what we're doing today. And that's what we do each and every other day. And that's how we grow and learn. And I don't know if it's David or Roger or... or Kevin, someone said earlier that, well, look what it says here. I think it was Roger. Look what it says here, and it's saying the same thing here in Galatians. You know, it lays on top of each other, pointing to... the true Jesus, pointing to the true Spirit, pointing to the true Gospel. It's all doubling down and focusing that. I heard an analogy one time that, and I don't know if they currently do it, but this was back in the Treasury Department. Those that were... working in the counterfeit of the Treasury Department, what they would do to train these folks to identify counterfeit dollar bills or five dollar bills, whatever it is, what they do is they have them consistently look at the true dollar bill. or the true $20 bill or the true $50 bill. That's all they do is look at the true, at the real one. And then when they throw in a counterfeit, they instantly recognize this is not the truth. And this is what we're talking about this morning, in that Scripture, that is the truth, will be laid upon Scripture, that is the truth, that is laid on Scripture, on the truth. The same analogy applies. So, uh... This is what we're doing here, and I just love getting up and getting around the table every morning with you folks and discussing this. I know me for one, I have really grown. since I've come to the West Coast Bible Study. All right, any other thing, anything else that comes to mind? Please call. 7-8-7. KB-7, is that it? Yeah, go ahead, Kevin. You know, Scott, I'm glad you mentioned that illustration. I've used that in the past, and it's a very good one and true one, and that is the illustration of... If you want to identify counterfeit money, you need to examine the real stuff and become very familiar with it and all of the nuances of it because there's some good fakes out there, but there are some distinctive differences. I just wanted to just quickly look at here too the subtlety and the sinister nature of the enemy. You know, you draw the comparison to how Eve was deceived in the garden and how she was seduced. Well, that's how what happens today. A lot of times they won't come out and say, oh, you don't want to follow that Jesus. Oh, you don't want to follow that God. No, they will do it very subtly and come in as if. you're missing out on something. You're not getting the whole picture. And as Lucifer came in and Nahash came into the Garden of Eden with Eve, well, are you sure God said that? Well, you know, God is just trying to keep some information from you. You know, he just doesn't want you to have the wisdom as he has. And this is the subtlety that they were trying to harm Paul with and undermine the true gospel. Well, you know, Paul, you know, he might have good intentions, but he's not giving you the whole story. You know, have you ever considered this? Have you ever considered that? Well, they have deception at their heart and destruction. Right. You know, they're liars and murderers from the beginning of their father. And so they come, the enemy comes very subtly, and oftentimes you'll see those that preach a different Jesus, the same thing. Oh, the Gnostics or the Jehovah Witnesses as we know them today, oh, you don't know the whole picture. Let us fill you in. Did you know? You know, you don't have the complete picture or LDS or whoever it is. You know, here, you don't have the whole picture. Well, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We have the Word of God. We, you know, there is some extra-biblical text that is interesting, but we got, we ought to keep it in perspective. What we know is the true Word of God. we have available to us by the providence of God. And let us become very familiar with the gospel and the truth revealed therein. And then, as you pointed out, Scott, then we can hold anything else up, any claims, against what we know the Bible to actually say and proclaim about our Lord and Savior. KP7, ZXM. Yeah, very well said, Kevin. And what comes to mind when you're talking about subtle, let me share with you folks around the table here this morning what this can look like, and it's extremely interesting. deceiving, just like Kevin was saying. It's deceiving. And I shared earlier about this community that I grew up in and their love of basketball. And I shared that it was this community's golden calf. Well, when I was a young boy playing basketball, that's what we did in the wintertime. We played basketball. Well, you fast forward in my junior and senior year of high school, well, in order to be competitive and continue to go to the state tournaments that we were accustomed to, all the other schools were having summer league. And so we had to start playing basketball during the summer in order to hone our skills and get better and better. to be competitive to try to make it to the state tournament. See, this is part of the golden cat. Well, you fast forward to today in my grandkids' lives, there's warehouses up around where David lives. KK7 PDI in Salem, big warehouses. Well, people buy these warehouses or they lease them or they rent them, and then they put in basketball courts. And so these warehouses will have six or eight basketball courts in them. Well, in order to make their income, they will have tournaments on weekends. You know, whether it's Saturday, the Sabbath, for those that seek their spiritual walk on that day, or whether it's Sunday for others, regardless, these basketball tournaments are going on every weekend of every month during the winter season. And I walk into this warehouse... And there's multiple ones around Salem. There's not just one. And they're full of kids. And I cry. It breaks my heart because my thinking is that these kids need to be in Sunday school grooming their spiritual walk. Now, a lot of these are Christian kids. Yes, I'll give you that. But they're not getting the teaching that they need because... Satan has come in there and developed these big warehouses, and it's a big moneymaker. They charge you to come into these games, and everything costs money. It ain't just a little bit. And it's a big thing. And then they have these tournaments, and then it gets bigger and bigger. When does it stop? And these kids, when they grow out of this, they can go back and pick up their spiritual walk, but there's a big void here. And this is what it's like when you pick up a counterfeit bill and you start using the counterfeit bill. And so this is what's happening in our society today and I for one, even though I'm a big basketball fan, I believe it needs to be all in check, all in balance and it's getting completely out of balance. So that's kind of my little soapbox story. Any other thoughts before David leads us out in prayer? - TDI? - Yeah, go ahead, David. - Yeah, I just wanted to point one thing out again about the importance of checking the structure or testing the stairs. I think the one that comes up every year during the holiday season, And people talk about Matthew 2, verses 1 through 11 that deals with the Magi that came around Jesus and brought the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And when you ask a normal person out there that has religious beliefs, how many wise men were there? And they will tell you right off the bat, there were three. And I said, "Can you show me in the scripture where it says there was three?" It says there was wise men. It could have been two, it could have been four, it could have been six or seven, but it doesn't say three. But that's where man puts in what they think it is based on what they see, the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and so they say three. But that's incorrect. And so it's important to speak where the scriptures speak and be silent where it's silent. Keep with 7th Papa, Bill, Timmy, back to you. I appreciate that very much, David. David just put a beautiful frame around the discussion picture that we were shared. And I think that's something to ponder on, exactly what David laid out in front of us. So I'm going to encourage us to ponder on what Max read today. I would encourage you to ponder on... what was said, the different analogies, and then put that all in the framework of do as the Bereans do and don't allow the world to insert something that isn't theirs. That's a counterfeit, and so we've got to be really, really careful. All right, we're going to go to prayer time now. And so, David, go ahead and close us out in prayer. And 7 a.m. Okay, copy. Peter, Peter, 7, Father, Delta, Indy, let us bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, the God of mercy, the God of grace, We pray as we put these petitions before you this morning that you would answer each and every one of them according to your will and not ours. Our petitions may be for what's right, but sometimes you say no. We need to understand that you are the ultimate sovereign authority and we do submit to your will over ours. So we have these requests we put before you this morning. Ed N6HOH Eric is over there in Israel and we pray for his safety. And Father, many of the places there in Israel, I remember too when I was there and it was safe, but the bombs weren't dropping. And so we pray for Eric's safety while he is there in Israel. Kevin, KB7DXN, he's still having issues, Father, with his voice. And we pray, whatever those issues are, that you may resolve those for him, that he may speak more clearly and not be able to have these interruptions that he's experiencing. He also has prayers for a brother that's in the congregation where he attends that's struggling, and he needs prayers. We don't know who he is, Father, but we know that you do. And so we pray on this brother's behalf that he might be lifted up in the most holy faith. And we pray, Father, as well for Gary, AE7ER, having shoulder issues. We pray that you would help him with that as well. George, K2, KJX, his wife is doing better after a visit to the dentist. And so that's a word of praise, Father. We pray that you would continue to heal her fully. Max, WB7MAX, our neck control is leaving now and he's getting on a plane to travel to do some work. We pray for his safety and we pray for his return and looking forward to getting a good report on his efforts as he's away from us. We pray for Burke, W7RKR, and the flood watch that is going on in his area. We pray that he would be safe and the people in the community there. We pray for Scott N7NPA. He's asked that Beverly, that he's aware of his cancer, melanoma on the tumor, tumor on the kidney. And we pray that the doctors, as they assist her, will be successful in doing that as well. Lee AL7KG. is asking for his book business, prayer for a new book, that he could have success in that. And so we pray, Father, if it be your will, that that might take place as well. We pray again for Kevin, WB7RKR, his wife, Ronnie. is going in for brain surgery this morning to deal with the brain bleed. Father, we know how serious these kind of surgeries are, and so we would pray that the doctors, that their hands, that they administer, would be able to help to deal with this brain bleed and help his wife Ronnie during this time of need. Brian, JA7ZIP, J receiving chemo for prostate cancer, has five more treatments to go. And that's going to end in June. And he's having severe nausea. Father, please be with him as well. I've mentioned many times about our safety of the troops in the Iran war. We pray for success in that. and we pray that there would be peace in this world in which we live, Father. And we know that with men there's always going to be disagreements and war, but we pray for peace that we can better serve you and that more will come to you as well. We pray for the two-year-old baby May. We've mentioned her out here before. She has cancer. And she just went through severe chemo therapy yesterday. And she came through it okay, but now over the next two to three days, or two to three weeks, she'll start losing her hair. And seven to ten days, she's going to experience a lot of pain. So we pray, Father, that you would be with this little baby, May, and that the harmful side effects of this chemo will not be too severe for her. We pray for Jeff, AK60K. Traveling back east March 26 for meetings with people and ministries to obtain funding for the operation worship. Pray for that the need for the Bible and chapel installation on ships would be met. Ron, W-A-O-J-A-E, his wife Dorcea is declining tort steps. Father, that's a road we all have to go down and we pray for Ron as he deals with this with his wife. And only you, Father, can give the peace that passes all understanding. And we pray that for Ron. Pete, W6NOX, his 98-year-old aunt, Marion, is improving. And I talked with Pete today. No new updates. She's still healing. And we just pray for her continued healing. Carol, KK7, TPO, child custody arrangements for a seven-year-old. Alice, that will be the best for her. Custody arrangements are currently in litigation, and also Carol is experiencing in her community a flood watch. So we pray for both of these situations and that your will be done. Lee AL7KG, safety in his travels on the 21st, to work with his church camp for a few days. Pray that that goes well for Lee as well. Craig KG5BST, pray for Sandy that the biopsy will come back negative. And Father, again, your will, we pray for your will be done. And then Steve, W6YSI, is not with us today. He's out enjoying time with his son on the water fishing. But he's praying and asking for prayer for his daughter, Lisa Medina. Upper back and neck pain. Has returned to part-time work at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. So we pray for her to continue healing with her. Howie, AI6J. His sister Taryn had a bone marrow transplant February 10th. She currently has two separate infections. And we pray, Father, for healing for her with these infections. Also pray for her salvation. Will, KF5F, Tisha needs a liver transplant. And so we pray for her salvation as well. Glenn, KJ7UMW, healing for he and his wife, Vicki, from chronic pain. And so Glenn talked about it again this morning, and we do pray for Glenn and his wife and the healing there that needs to take place. And then Ed, N6HOH, Ted's niece Ruth and her three children, Macy, 3 years old, and Sherry. Male formation disease and proper management of her diabetes. Brother Mika, five years old, all the heart valves malfunctioning and surgery in the future. And then premature newborn baby, McCabe, problems with his vision. Mother Ruth needs wisdom and strength in caring for her children. And Father Thomas is back in the military reserve receiving job training. So many issues there, Father. But you know them all. You know the trials of life. We pray that they can come through them. They'll lean on you to help them get through the trials of this life. Eldon, K7. 7, FIA has back pain. Pray that you be with him during his back pain. That will be remedied quickly for him as well. JR, W6LBP, Gary at W6JLP, states for cancer, receiving immunotherapy. He's improving, but we pray for more improvement. And then Mike, W7TWO. Mike, Sister Barbara needs salvation. We pray for Barbara's son, Darrell, to fully recover from heart surgery as well. Father, we are just so thankful for all the goodness and mercy and grace each one of us received through your son, Jesus Christ. And as we're around this roundtable this morning, Father, we offer up all these petitions to you, and we say in your son Jesus' name, amen. Back to you, N7MPH. All right, appreciate that heartfelt prayer very much, David. I love you to pieces, as all of us do around this table. All right, well, that's the conclusion of the West Coast Bible Study Net for Wednesday, the 18th. Tomorrow, you can jot this down. We'll pick up our study in 2 Corinthians 11. Verse 16. Verse 16. So that's where we'll pick up tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll be leading out, leading the prayer. And so for you prayer warriors, I'm the next on the list. So I'll be doing it tomorrow. Wishing everybody a blessed day. and ponder on the items that was laid out before us today. And everybody have a safe and uneventful day and we'll look forward to everybody grabbing a chair and coming around the table in the morning. So with that, 73 from 7 NPA, and I'm gonna turn it over to Beck with the joke of the day. Go ahead, Beck. - Well, thank you, Alfalfa 5 Yankee. Roger, are you there? Okay, I have one that's musically, uh, that relates to music things. I wanted to share that, make sure Roger got it. So I'm gonna change today's joke. Uh, let me see. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a dog? Oh, and a dog. What do you get when you cross a snowman and a dog? Anybody bite? No idea. You already got half of it, Scott. You get frostbite. That's funny. Everybody have a blessed day. Alpha Alpha 5 Yankee. Thank you for the grin there, Beck. I want to thank whoever it was that said that there were, uh, there's no number associated with how many wise men there were. I never knew that. And they caused me to look it up, and that's exactly what it states, is that they came from the East, and not who they were, what their names were, and only that they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And I can only assume that since there's three different things, They are associating that those three different things were abundant in three different areas. So they tied all of it together and said there were three men, and those three men had three different names. Where the names came from, I don't know. But what they had was associated with the areas that they lived in. I want to assumption. Alpha Alpha 5 Yankee. Yep, and that was a key theme today about assuming and not stopping and analyzing. Really, really important. And yeah, David pointed that out, KK7PEI. And really, really good stuff. That is a snapshot, Beck, of iron sharpening iron. 7MPA. PDI? Yeah, go ahead, David. Yeah, I got a couple more of those. I'll share in upcoming Bible studies that are assumptions that are made that are widely accepted throughout the religious world that are incorrect. and the Bible doesn't say it at all, but men repeat it over and over and over again. And because they repeat it, it's taken as gospel and it's not. I'll give you a couple more in upcoming studies. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it, David. Thank you. Alpha Alpha 580. Yeah, as I have, as the rest of us, David. Yeah, I really appreciate that. I don't know about you guys, but I am getting a huge influx of box elder bug, which is like a stink bug. They're referred to as box elders. And you talk about a distraction in the shack this morning. I think I've -- I bet you I've picked up 12 of them. What a distraction. Sounds like a stinky situation to me. Yeah. They tell me that you don't want to smash them because they'll put out a odor that attracts more. And so I try to pick them up in a paper towel and dispose of them that way. and so they won't stink. Uh, but man, I don't know what the deal is, but they're... I'm getting bombarded with them this morning. Sounds like I'm gonna be busy. ♪♪ I had a joke that my grandkids made up and told me. Oh, well, share it. And you said, I don't know why. You almost might have made an accident. Stay calm. There's quite a lot of them growing across the road. You'll get it. Did you get that? No, all I heard was "to get." Yeah, what's the rest of that phrase? "Then not on the other side?" Okay, thank you. I was gonna ask Scott for a relay. - - I was gonna ask for a relay on that one. - Yeah, a lot of times they'll go out on the other road and they'll do it one way and they'll do it the other and they'll do it the other and you're trying not to hit 'em. Yeah Roger, he got ran over You know, I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I feel bad because I always check my side view mirrors or my rear view mirror to see if they made it. Sometimes they don't. You're not alone. I've got to go tackle a big old gold tree across the road, so I need to slide down the fire pole and head out the door. So you guys all have a blessed day. I appreciate each and every one of you guys around the table this morning and gals too. And we'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, the Lord willing, in the creek as it rises. And 7 and P.A. Have a blessed day, Scotty. Have a good day, Scott. Thanks, Scott. Have a blessed day, Mark. I'll file for 5 Yankee QRT. Yeah. Thanks a lot, Scott. Kilo Kilo 7, Papa's healthy, and it will be QRT. Bye, David. Good day, all. Kilo Kilo 7, this is QA. I'm out. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.