What Are You Carrying

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Every minute carry something. Are you carrying what God gave you to carry? Or are you carrying something you are never meant to even hold? Get ready to lock deal with your brothers in Christ and take up your cross and follow him. This is Everyday Carrie. A daily word for men. Let's carry

Week Four And A Resource Plug

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Welcome back, brother. It is Monday again, and we are kicking off week four here on Everyday Carry. I am your host, Brian Crumb, and of course, before we get into this week, uh I've gotta give a shout out because men's ministry.online is an amazing resource for you, and uh, I've got word that they are actually making some big updates to the site, getting ready to add some really cool content in there for you, uh, specifically to take on a certain challenge that a lot of men address in life. So I'll let you figure that out on your own, but uh, you gotta go to men's ministry.online because if you're a man looking to deepen your walk with Christ, whether you've been walking with him for years, or if you're just starting to figure this whole thing out, they've got the resources for you. So check out men's ministry.online.

What A Healthy Church Looks Like

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Alright, so let's get back into the content because last week we built the picture five days out of scripture uh on what healthy church actually should look like. Devoted to the teaching, fellowship, the table, and prayer, led by men qualified by character, preaching that heralds the word in season and in out when the people want it and when they don't, equipping you for work instead of entertaining you, and of course, men provoking each other toward love and good works. And this week we're gonna pick up the ruler.

Berea And Testing The Teaching

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So, how do you tell whether the church you're sitting in is leading you well or if it's drifting? And what does a man actually do about it once he figures that out? Well, I want to say something up front here, and I want you to hear it very plainly. This week is not permission to become a critic, right? Because some men are gonna take this and they're gonna turn into the guy in the parking lot that has opinions about everything, and yet somehow, miraculously, responsibility for nothing. Don't be that guy, okay? We spent all last week putting the weight on you for a reason. That includes me, don't worry about that. Check me too. I'm not a pastor, I'm a man with a Bible and a microphone, and if I say something this week that doesn't match the text, the text wins, okay? So open the book behind me. That's not false humility, that's actually the whole lesson today. Acts 17. Paul and Silas have been run out of Thessalonica, and they show up in a town called Berea. Verse eleven. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. More noble. That's Luke's editorial judgment, and he tells you exactly what earned it. Two things. The first, they received the word with all eagerness. They weren't cynics, they weren't sitting with arms folded looking for something to be wrong. And number two, they examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. The Greek word there is anakrino. It's a courtroom word and it means to investigate or to cross-examine, to put a claim under scrutiny until you know whether or not it holds. Now, sit with who they were cross-examining here. Paul. Like the Apostle Paul, a man who was at that moment in the process of literally writing scripture. And Luke doesn't scold them for it. He doesn't say those Bereans had a spirit of suspicion. No, he calls them more noble than the town that took Paul at his word. God, through Luke, commends the congregation that fact-checked an apostle. They didn't just hear it and accept it. They fact-checked him. Brother, that ought to settle something for you and me permanently. Testing your teacher is not rebellion, it's not arrogance, and it's not a lack of respect for authority. Luke actually calls it nobility. And notice both halves are required. Because we usually pick one, right? If we're honest, eagerness without examination is gullibility. That's Thessalonica. And examination without eagerness is just cynicism with a Bible open. The Brians were hungry and rigorous at the same time. That's the man we're after this week. Then I want you to look at the word daily. This wasn't a one-time audit, it was a habit. Every day the teaching they heard got measured against scriptures they read, which means they were reading scriptures. See, you can't cross-examine a claim against a book that you haven't opened. That's the part that lands on most of us. You see, because most of us have never tested a sermon in our lives, not because we're forbidden, but because we couldn't. You can't check a man's handling of a text if you've never read the text. We outsource the whole thing and then we call it trust. Well, that's not trust. Trust is what the Thessalonicans did. Nobility is what the Bereans did. So that leads us to today's charge.

The One Month Cross-Examination Challenge

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Alright, so here's the carry for today. Alright, you you brought a pen to church yesterday, at least I hope you did, because if you're listening on Friday, I told you to. And this is what it was for. I want you to take your notes from yesterday's sermon, and I want you to pull out every scripture reference that was given. Then I want you to open your Bible and read each one, not just the verse, the whole paragraph around it, and ask one question of each. Did the text mean there what he said it meant there? That's the entire assignment. You're not grading him, you're reading. Do that for a month, and you'll never sit through a sermon passively again. But here's the deal that's gonna take you work. And I know I can hear some of you guys right now, psh I don't have time for this. You don't have time not to do this. The mission is that critical, and if it is that critical for you, you don't have an excuse to not cross-examine it. So, that's all the time we have for today, brother. I hope that you have taken notes yesterday, and I hope that you will go back. If you haven't taken notes on your own already, go back and listen to your sermon online if it's online. And take those notes, cross-examine it with scripture, and I'll see you back here again tomorrow. Carry on, brother.

Wrap Up And Share The Show

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Thanks for joining us for today's episode. Share today's episode with a brother in Christ that needs to hear this too. And be sure to leave us a five star rating and review to help spread the word to more men just like you. This has been Everyday Carrie. A daily work for men. Stand firm. Carry on.