Christian Men at Work Podcast

There is another New Testament writer of just one book, who sometimes seems to counter Paul’s arguments relating to the law. I’m talking, of course, about the book of James, written by the brother of the Master, though I understand his real name was Jacob or in Hebrew Ja’akov.  You make the point that many of James arguments mirror those of the Master, and that James did not have a pharasaical background as Paul did.  Why is this important and what can we learn from James about our understanding of the law?   Your chapter titled “The Sacred Law” begins perhaps ironically with a quote from Paul, Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good”. You then devote about 11 pages to just a portion of the many scriptures that describe the law as good, holy and something we should try to keep. Not to bore our listeners who don’t get excited about arguments based on the original Greek and Hebrew meanings, but you make a fascinating point about the use of the Greek words nomos and entole referring to the law and the commandments.  Walk us through this observation and it’s implications for our understanding.   You are intellectually honest, as they say, in your book, and note that modern Christianity’s understanding of the law is not without reason.  You list several verses commonly used to support a certain viewpoint.  I’d like to read these verses and then ask you to respond.  The first verse is 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” The next verse is Hebrews 8:13 “In that He says a New Covenant, he has the made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” And third is John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”. What is your response to these verses?   When asked for the greatest commandment, Christ said basically to love God and love others.  Why is it a mistake to think of this love as an emotional love?   No debate on this topic is complete without a reference to Acts 15.  Talk to us about what happened in Acts 15 and what we should learn from it as it relates to our relationship with the law?   Another phrase used in this debate is the New Covenant.  Now, I realize we could devote multiple podcast episodes just talking about the concept of a covenant and all its uses in the Bible, but to cut to the chase what is your understanding of what the New Covenant is and how it should impact our faith and our understanding of the law?   You use an interesting analogy of a Rubik’s cube to describe the puzzle of understanding what Christ described as weightier matters of the law, those of justice, faith and mercy.  What is the relationship of these three concepts to each other?    

Q&A: Before we start, I want to say that full disclosure is that I consider you a friend and we attend the same congregation.  I also wanted to say up front that we’re going to talk about a book You wrote called “Apologia for thee Law and the Sabbath”. And in that book you often refer to Christ as the Master.  One advantage of this is that we avoid turning off one group or another by referring to Him as either Jesus or Yeshua, so if it’s alright I’ll try to refer to Him during our interview in a similar way, either as the Master or as simply Christ. You begin that book by stating that the book is not for someone who has already made up their mind that the law has been done away with.  I guess we could say the same thing to our listeners, that if they’ve already up their mind on this topic this interview is not for them. Why do you say that and how would you describe the mindset of the listener who is well suited to hear our discussion today?   You use an analogy of 3 TV sets for sale to describe the acceptable doctrine of Christianity today.  Share that analog with us to help set the table, so to speak, for our talk today.   I don’t want to spend a lot of time on your testimony in this discussion in order to save time for all the arguments from your book, but you talk about how your faith journey included a time spent with what you call other’s centered legalism.  Since legalism is often a knee-jerk reaction or description to what we’re going to talk about today, define for us others-centered legalism as you experienced it and how it differs from the inner cultivation of the spirit.   You start out by asking a question, can we sin without the law, and to make your point you enlist a stop sign analogy.  So what is the answer to this question and explain it to us using that stop sign analogy.   There are many scriptures that challenge us “not to sin” or to be righteous, and yet as Christians we believe Christ’s sacrifice was needed.  How do we rectify these two seemingly incongruous ideas?   Your chapter titled “dead to the law” starts out with a quote from Peter where he states that Paul’s writings are hard to understand, to which I think we can all say “Amen”.  This a big deal since 2/3 of the NT was written by Paul, and many Christian doctrines are based wholly or at least in part on his writings. So let’s address this concept of being dead to the law and what seem to be contradictions in Paul’s writings.  You make the point that when there are apparent contradictions with Paul or anywhere in scripture we need to look beyond the superficial meaning.  So let me ask you the question, did Christ cancel or nullify the law, and how does the Sermon on the Mount help answer this question?   You state that the law is not an obstacle for salvation but its indispensable platform.  What do you mean by that?   Another twist on this same argument is that Christ gave us a new law and it’s called love.  Is this true?   Let’s talk about he concept of a bond servant as described in both the OT and in the NT most notably in an often ignored short book called Philemon.  What can this tell us about our relationship to the law?   So the concept of a bond servant can help us better understand our relationship to the law, but you say that the concept of a school master can help us understand the reverse, the relationship of the law to us.  Talk to us about this.   Now with the concepts of bondservant and schoolmaster as a background, how can we better understand what Paul means when he talks about the law of liberty?

This is the second Welcome Episode for this podcast and along with it I'm officially changing the name of this podcast from Christian Men at Work to Jacobs Ladder and along with the name change I'm changing the focus and purpose of the podcast. The purpose of the Christian Men at Work podcast, since it first started in October of 2016, has been to inspire you to have joy and purpose in your work.  I've attempted to do that in two ways.  First, I've interviewed men from all walks of life, with varying job titles, who have had one thing in common, they've all chosen daily to live out their Christian faith through their work, and because of that they've been leading, prospering, glorifying God, and finding joy and purpose in their work. The second way I've tried to achieve this goal is through short messages called Selah episodes where I've shared my thoughts, usually pretty closely related to the topic of faith at work. The last episode, which was #220, was Feb 5, 2024, where I interviewed Jason Pierce talking about a Vision for Life.  Up to that point, I had conducted 110 interview style episodes with the other half being Selah episodes. If you've been a listener over the years, you may have noticed a trend in recent years toward more Selah episodes as well as a departure at times from the faith at work focus. I've never gone this long, about 8 months, without producing an episode.  Before I resumed the podcast again, I wanted to be sure I was both mentally and emotionally ready to do so, and I wanted to clarify the focus and purpose for the podcast before moving forward. I felt I needed to do that first so that I could be passionate about it again, so that I would be motivated to pour myself into it, and so that I could be consistent with it. During the last few years I've had two primary changes in my life.  One has been a gut-wrenching, life changing personal challenge which has driven me closer to my Creator and closer to other men in friendship, particularly men that are going through similar personal challenges. The other big change in my life has been that I've changed some of my beliefs and practices which are best described as more Messianic than Christian.  To quickly address that issue, I share the belief with Christians that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the long promised Messiah, and that my salvation comes from faith in Him and His righteousness alone and not my work or good deeds. Where I defer from most Christians is that I believe it's God's will for us to follow His law, including the Torah or first 5 books of the Bible, as well as the Prophets and Writings (i.e. Old Testament) out of love towards Him and not out of obligation or to earn salvation.  In practical terms that means I observe the 7 Feasts rather than Christmas and Easter, I follow the dietary laws, I observe Sabbath on day 7 and not day 1 and other things that are usually practiced by observant Jews. You could say that I differ from Christians by following the the Law and I differ from Jews by following Jesus and I believe we should do both. If you've been listening in recent years you've probably noted those two changes in my life through the messages I've been sharing. When I started this Podcast I had just gone through a major challenge in my life where I had gone bankrupt from chasing get-rich-quick schemes and not having a biblical approach towards work and finances. I had, at the same time, gone through some other personal challenges but I felt led to write a book called Jesus is at Work dealing with the faith at work issue, and write a blog on the same topic. Soon after that, I switched from blogging to podcasting. I still feel passionate about incorporating my faith into my work. I love my job more than ever, and I am very thankful for it. I believe my work at my job is part of my purpose here on earth. I want to continue to weave into this podcast the faith at work theme and I want to continue to focus primarily on men. However, moving forward I will be broadening the focus. What is the new focus? Well, you could summarize it by a Beatles song "All you need is love", but seriously, love is the simplest way for me to summarize where I want the focus to be. Specifically, I want to talk about loving God, loving others and loving ourselves, at work and at home. Without love, having faith at work or in our personal lives doesn't mean anything, in my opinion. It's no coincidence that this is basically what Jesus, who I normally call Yeshua, said summarizes the two greatest commandments, upon which hang all the law and the prophets. It's also a paraphrase of the Sh'ma, which Jewish people in their synagogues and Messianics in their congregations recite every Shabbat. I chose as the new title for this podcast Jacobs Ladder, which was recommended by a dear friend. The intent of that title is to provide an image of an intimate connection between God and man, without which we have no hope of connecting with or loving others or ourselves. Here are a few other changes I'd like to implement moving forward. I want to continue the practice of having both interviews as well as my own personal musings. For interviews, the format will be very similar to what it's been in the past, though the topics will of course be more in line with the new focus of the podcast. For my personal musing episodes, I'm going to call them PPP episodes, which stands for purposeful pondering with praise. I became increasingly uncomfortable over time with my use of the term Selah in the past. The original intent was to invite the listener to ponder on the thoughts I was sharing. However, the musings are just one man's opinions which may or may not be prompted by the Holy Spirit and certainly not inspired in the sense that scripture is breathed from God. Therefore, I no longer want to use that term Selah and to leave that for its hallowed used within the Psalms. Through the new acronym PPP, I want to remind myself to keep my ponderings purposeful, in other words I want them to help you to make a change in your life, if you feel it applies to you, either in your thoughts or your actions. I don't want to just talk for talking's sake. The third P is a reminder to incorporate some form of praise into every pondering and to always try to make it about our Creator and not about me or you. I'm not making any promises at this time as to how often I'll be releasing episodes or how the mix will be between interviews and ponderings. I'd like to commit to both of those so you know what to expect, but at this time I prefer to keep my options open. Wondering about that question has been one of the reasons I've waited so long to bring this podcast back to life and so I don't want that to prevent me from doing so any longer. Whether you're a long time or first time listener, whether you're more focused on work or personal, and whether you consider yourself Christian, Messianic, Jewish or something else, I welcome you to the Jacobs Ladder podcast. I'm excited about this new beginning and I'm looking forward to the adventure we'll be going on together.

Contact Jason at j316173@hotmail.com Videos: The Why of It All Alan Watts What do you desire?

For more info contact luke@gravityjack.com Luke Richey began coding software at the age of 14, a foundation upon which he has built a life dedicated to businesses that bring society and technology into the future. His broad understanding of the industry, paired with a passion for both integrity and optimization within the business domain, led him to create many successful startups.         In 2009, after selling his business to a gaming company, he co-founded Gravity Jack with a vision to advance mobile-based augmented reality. With a strong patent portfolio, dedicated research team and a top-tier client roster, Gravity Jack was quickly established as a leader in the industry.        On March 16, 2019, following multiple supernatural encounters with the Lord, Luke surrendered his heart to Jesus Christ. Transformed and fully submitted to his Savior, Luke saw God work many miracles in his life, including the restoration of his health, his marriage, his family and his finances. The impact of his spiritual transformation and new reliance on Christ was so evident to those around him that revival broke out throughout his extended family.    The founders of Gravity Jack, Luke and Jen Richey, are passionate followers of Jesus who are on a mission to help spread the gospel to the 50% of the population that does not have the Bible translated in their heart language by using AI and an AR game. Automatic translation engines like Google Translate only support the top 100 languages (ChatGPT supports 95) and the likelihood of these tech giants supporting any more languages is close to none. This is due to smaller linguistic communities lacking the critical mass of users needed to justify a profitable investment, and they often lack the necessary large datasets for effective AI training. Consequently, corporations claiming to be global connectors are disregarding the economic, intellectual and social potential of half the world's population.    Gravity Jack is aiming to leverage the appeal of the gaming industry and the dedication of its market to bring the other 50% of the world onto the international economic stage that otherwise would never see, hear or read much of anything in their native language. Gravity Jack has a unique opportunity to do something that has not been done before.    The company is currently developing an original augmented reality video game, WarTribe of Binyamin, which creates a multi-world war game with active and passive multiplayer role-playing, featuring revolutionary and patented augmented reality elements and geo ownership while simultaneously economically uplifting people in poverty. The video game bundles AR, AI and play-to-earn into one dynamic mobile app – all while generating what is poised to be the most robust translation service available on the marketplace.   Ken Barun, Senior Vice President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was recently announced as one of the newest members to the Board of Directors at Gravity Jack. Ken is a distinguished leader with extensive corporate and philanthropic experience, including his role as President/CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Worldwide and Director of Projects and Policy on the White House staff to First Lady, Nancy Reagan. His commitment to making a positive impact is evident in his founding of the charity, and his dedication to charitable work and corporate social responsibility reflects his passion for making a difference in the world.

Get and Give Feedback Surveys from Lowe’s to just about everywhere online Why? Because it’s so important to not just work efficiently but to make sure you’re pursuing the right objective and in the right manner I manage projects and critical aspect of my job is defining early and accurately what my customer or stakeholder needs and wants as project deliverables Making assumptions or rushing to the execution phase are two big errors which lead to poor results and damaged business relationships On this topic I recommend recent episode of the Emotionally Healthy Podcast called The Life Changing Skill of Clarifying expectations” This is what emotionally mature individuals do, and one of the axioms on that podcast is that you can’t be spiritually mature unless you’re emotionally mature Asking for feedback Talking too loud Too harsh in a meeting Give feedback (solicited and unsolicited) I've worked where we receive emails from managers asking me to give feedback to their direct reports soon after working with them.  I try to always give that feedback and to make it meaningful not just vanilla and predictable How is very important " Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." - James 4:10 "Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid." - Proverbs 12:1 So provide feedback through surveys when you can as a gift to others, but also seek feedback about yourself and never be afraid to face the music of truth when it comes to our behavior and how our behavior is received by others.

An overused phrase is to give 110% effort. What does that mean when we think of living out our faith through our work Well, I can't spell that out in a cookie cutter fashion that applies to everyone in all circumstances, but I know it when I see it This morning I saw it. I’ll use a different name, Bob. Bob took my biometrics, all good except high blood pressure . I told him I had a lot of stress. He went on for about 10 minutes sharing with me his philosophy. Like extending your arm holding glass of water. Water is like stress. Talk to yourself, love yourself, if you hold Onto feelings and tell yourself you’re feeling something like sadness it helps no one. It certainly doesn’t help you and it also doesn’t affect the person who you’re thinking about. I thanked him and gave him a hug when I left. On my way back to my desk I was light in my feet. When I grabbed my coffee I saw someone who asked me how My morning was. I said I had gotten the biometrics and he asked what they did . I told him that the worker had given me some great tips on managing stress. My friend asked me what they were so I shared and he then told me a story about a 90 Yr old woman who was his neighbor across the street. She used to say to him if something isn’t going to matter in 100 years Then don’t worry about it. I share this story with you for two reasons. One is I hope you benefit front the advice related to worry and stress because at some level I know we all need that advice.  Specifically I want to talk about the advice to love yourself. There was a time when I would have embraced that advice without a faith or biblical context, ie I was all about myself and my goals and was not humbly seeking Gods will. There was also a time in my life when I would reacted To that advice in knee jerk, holier than though fashion, ie I would have said “that’s wrong I should not love myself, I should be humble and repentant”. I believe I’m at a place now where I’m closer to the truth than either of those previous versions of myself. Loving yourself is a command found in both the Old Testament and New Testament, the Torah and the Apostolic Scriptures. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord" - Lev 19:18 Jesus quoted this in 3 of the 4 Gospels, saying this was the 2nd greatest commandment. Paul quoted this in the book of Galatians and Romans, and James quoted it as well.; In fact, I don't know this for sure, but this could be the most quoted command in the Bible. This command shows that God wants us to love our neighbor, but it also shows He wants us to love ourselves, and you can argue, it shows that we cannot love our neighbor if we don't first love ourselves. My second reason for sharing this story is to provide an example of what giving 110% might look like in your work, though at the same time I think it would be better to think of this as 110% relative to what is the norm, but should be the normal behavior for those of us who are believers My third reason is to encourage you to pass along something good that you year, as I did with my friend when I was getting coffee, and be ready to shut up and let the person share their thoughts once you've brought up something of moral significance.

Phil 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things" During my self-help days, I often heard "You are what you think about all day long" or as it says in proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" What should we think about, or focus on, in this life? Our highest priority should be the unseen holy, set apart things, namely God and the things of God. The word for holy spirit or set apart in Hebrew is Kadosh Col 3:2 says "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Joshua 1:8 says "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night" Psalm 119:97 "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" I used to think that when the Bible talked about meditating, or thinking, about His Word all day long, it didn’t literally mean all day, but now I’m not so sure. I’m finding the more I focus on God the more I’m truly living. In the Torah it encourages us to think about His word throughout our day In Deut 6:6-9 says "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Number 15:39-41says "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.” Lesser in value than the set apart kadosh things that are unseen but still having great value are those things that are seen but also set apart. What we experience with our 5 senses. You could say our natural reality. Traditions in Judaism include saying prayers the moment you wake, when you walk to the bathroom, etc By doing so we are making our natural world set apart or kadosh, not totally of course, since we are in a fallen world. Gnosticism was a set of beliefs focused on knowledge and considered things natural to be avoided. I believe by coming to earth and taking on flesh, in addition to the important work of providing the necessary sinless sacrifice, Jesus also demonstrated the importance of us living in our natural reality. Also God wanted the tabernacle and then the temple to be made by human hands, and for us to it holy, even though they were types of the temple in the unseen realm. There a number of Songs with the theme “this is not my home” or "this world is not my home" which capture this idea. I've also heard of the hotel analogy.  Our life here is like staying in a hotel room but our true home will come after our death. That hotel room still has a purpose for us and is to be used and appreciated. If you want to go deeper on the concept of the unseen realm check out the book "The unseen realm" by Michael Heiser who died last last year. Also the Naked Truth podcast. So what are lesser thoughts or things we should avoid focusing on? Things of this world that do not honor God, that Satan has twisted and perverted. This can include things we might consider wholesome and good and G rated, but if focus on them too much, relying on them or making an idol of them, they become unholy and forbidden. There is another category of things to avoid, in my opinion even worse than the things of this world. Those are the unseen things that are not holy, set apart, that do not glorify God. This of course includes overtly evil practices like witchcraft, divination, going to a palm reader, playing with a ouige board, but it also includes things that most believers dont' think are a big deal but are also wicked and to avoided strongly. I’m talking about using your imagination to take you to a place that does not glorify God. This can include pornography as well as imagining images and activities that do not glorify God. Jesus raised the bar when it came to what is considered sin when he said that looking with lust and hating someone was the same as committing adultery and murdering someone. God cares about what we do but He seems to really care about what we think about or more specifically what is in our heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” If you have taken solace with your hands being clean but your mind being dirty, you are at risk of being hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees who in Matt 23:27 Jesus said were "like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness." The line can blur between the seen and unseen both with things that are holy and things that are unholy. Just take this one verse as an example So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 1Pet.2.1ESV In that one sentence is a mixture of unholy things that are tangible actions as well as our thoughts. I used to freak out over this idea of controlling my thoughts, thinking I could not control them. I now know enough about God to know He would not ask me to do something I could not do, and in His love gives me the Holy Spirit to help me. 2 Cor 10:5 says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," 1 Cor 10:13 says "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" John 14:16 Jesus says "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever" Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” I think of my thoughts as I do all of the commandments, they are ways for me to show my love for my heavenly Father, not a bunch of don’t’s I have to avoid out of fear. On the other side of obedience is a closer relationship with my Crestor and a life of joy and shalom. So to summarize, two things to focus on are both holy, one is unseen and perfectly holy, the other is seen and a type or foreshadow of holiness, or you could say a little slice of heaven. This is similar to the two commandments which is a summary of the law and prophets, to love God (unseen) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (seen). Note the second one has two parts to love our neighbor and ourselves. The two things to avoid, or to put more strongly to rebuke, hate and reject, are the unholy things, both seen and unseen. Another verse which captures this is Rom 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This is part of our human existence and Gods plan for us, at least as I’m beginning to understand and appreciate though will never fully comprehend since His ways are greater than my ways if you're looking for an application for your work, remember that you spend so much of your waking hours at your job, if you're going to focus on holy things all the day, you have to do so at work.  Your work is a great example of where the unseen and seen come together in a beautiful way.

52 minutes.  One measure of a man and his life.   Red was the name he went by, from the color of his hair, but his name was Roger.   I met Red early on in my current job.   Our paths crossed due to our work, but we connected and enjoyed our time together based on our common love for God, for family, and for conservative politics. While my shift away from focusing on politics change in recent years and I haven't been assigned jobs that had me working with Red as often, we still had a bond and I always enjoyed seeing him and even more so talking with him. Red worked for a contracting firm that did work at the factory where I work.  Because of the constant need for repairs, maintenance and new equipments installations, Red was what was considered a resident contractor, meaning he wasn't an employee of the company but was there every day just as if he was one.  Just about everyone who knew him at work though of him as not just an employee but as family to some degree. That's partly because of what he did, but more because of who he was. What he did was do mechanical work at a level of excellence I haven't seen with anyone else I've worked with.  Red combined a high work ethic with skill, dedication, patience and a gentle spirit.  He never blamed anyone.  He took responsibility and he focused on what needed to get done not who got the credit. He worked for his company for over 50 years and worked at our plant for over 20 years.  He was committed to his wife for life and to his kids and grandkids. Red was a constant in a changing world.  He was often being assigned a partner with much less experience than him. With each one, I saw him intentionally try to pass along his knowledge to the less skilled person, along with patience and kindness. Red recently died tragically.  The visitation and funeral were not far from the plant where I work so I decided to at least attend the funeral and pay my respects. As I entered the funeral home I instantly heard the quiet buzz of chatter and hushed tones.  Then I saw the line.  I stretched throughout multiple hallways and was the path to meet and greet Red's family.  While in line I enjoyed sharing stories with others who appreciated Red.  No-one was there out of obligation.  They were there because they loved, at some level, the man everyone knew as Red. 52 minutes I waited in line to share with Red's wife, brother and children how much Red meant to me. Red more than anyone else exemplified glorifying God through his work, while also cherishing his family.  He also demonstrated having convictions while not being divisive more than perhaps anyone I know. The world and my workplace is not the same, and won't be the same, without Red.  I look forward to being with him in the glory that is to come, and cant' wait to see the great work the Father has in store for Him there.