What is repentance? The answer to that, another question, on this edition of Key Life. Hi, I'm Mike Kellogg and you are now listening to Key Life, where you can find honest answers to honest questions about God's Word. Now, here is Steve. Thanks Pete for coming in. I know how busy you are and I was a pastor one time. You know, your job's never done. You know, but you're busy enough. No, at the end of the day, I do what I'm supposed to do and I can go home. I never in 30 years as a pastor, 25 years as a pastor. I never went home thinking I did it all. That's true. I just never stopped. That's true. Pray for me. I do. I know. I'm praying for your salvation. To be perfectly honest to you. No, I do appreciate you're taking your time. And Pete Alwinston is my pastor and he comes in on Friday to answer questions with me. And we'd love to get your questions. You can send them to Key Life Post Office Box 5,000 Madeleine, Florida, 32794, or Key Life Canada. Post Office Box 32150, Cambridge, Ontario, in 3H5, in 3. Or you can email us at Steve at keylife.org with your regular mailing address if you want a response. And by the way, don't use the 1-800-number key life number to ask questions. You keep trying to do that. And it's just not going to work. You can become a part of our key life. Take family free. Get the booklets free. Subscribe to the magazine free. You can make a contribution. But you've got to write out the questions. And we'd love to get your questions. And you always get an answer from me or a staff member or on the broadcast or the magazine. People want to leave this in prayer and we'll turn to these questions. All right. Our father, we pause for a minute wherever we are right now and we think of you. We're grateful that we can pray. And father, we don't understand always how prayer works. But we know that it is our conversation with you that leads us into your presence. That has an impact in your kingdom and in your world and changes us. Lord, how good it is to be able to come and pray. And we come to you because you are the father who created us. And you sent the Savior who redeemed us and the Spirit who lives inside of us. And comforts us and leads us. And so we worship you. And we need you. We confess that if it weren't for you, we would be nothing. And so thank you for your grace and your mercy and your patience with us. Continue to change us, Lord. We pray and encourage us by worship. We do look forward to Sunday, time to gather with your people. This weekend to worship you and to give honor and praise to you for who you are. And then to listen. We pray, Father, that you would give a message to your leaders, to those who stand before us as priests and pastors. We also pray for the families, pastors' wives and children. So vulnerable, so open and exposed often. Lord, we pray you'd encourage them. Use them though and make us the recipients of your message that we could live for you in this world. And no more about your grace. So Father, now we just commit our time to you. I pray you'd be with Steve. Thank you for him and for how you speak through him so often in our lives. Encourage him, keep him strong and use him. And may the ministry of key life continue to go forward. Answer our questions, Father, because you're our Father and because Jesus is our Lord as we pray these things in his name. Amen. Amen. This from New Hampshire Peak, what is repentance? You know, we were talking about this before we went on the air. Why don't you, I love your explanation, why don't you give it? Well, the reason, it's such an important question to me. As you know, it's from a Greek word metanoia and literally it means a changing of one's mind. That doesn't stop there, but that's what the literal meaning of the word is. But I want you to know for years and years and years I couldn't repent. Because I've been told that forgiveness was what you got when you asked for it. But repentance was, if you spilt milk, you got forgiven for it. But repentance was cleaning up the milk. And you know, there were things, besetting things in my life. And I said, you know, I can't repent because I can't change. I've tried and tried and tried. And so for years, and I believe that Satan did a number to me at that point, because I didn't understand what repentance is. And so this is the definition, and you know this, we teach it in our seminar. Repentance is knowing who you are, knowing who God is, knowing what you've done, and why it is out of kilter with God, and going before Him with it and telling Him. At that point floodgates a power open and then the bulls in his net and he begins to change. There's stuff in my life in those days that I believe stayed in my life because I couldn't repent. Because somebody had told me something about repentance that wasn't true. And the way I became a spiritual giant who sits across the table from you right now is understanding what repentance is. Repentance is the work of God's Spirit in us. And I think Christians are called to live a life of repentance. So it's not just a one-time thing when we get on the faith in Christ. It's sort of a daily deal. It's a daily thing of walking when Bill Bright, and I love Bill Bright. I one time fought over whether he was going to carry my suitcases or not. When I was speaking for a crusade event. But Bill is one of my heroes. But when Bill talks about in the Holy Spirit booklet about breathing out and spiritual breathing, that's repentance. That's what repentance is. It's agreeing with God. And every time we agree with him and don't fight him, then there's tremendous power. You know, I always want to tell. You know, we get a lot of critical letters here and I want to defend myself and go ballistic. And when I go with God's flow, not just there, but when somebody accuses and I find out if that's right, I say, oh Lord, that's true. And when I do that, and I don't always, when I do that, there's great power in that. Because you're letting go of who you are and you're saying, God, I want to do things your way and be your way. That's good. Yeah, repentance is a daily thing. There was a lady. And I remember I never read her book. The name of the book was not very creative. It was called repentance. And it was written by a mother Vasilya who was one of the founders of the sisters of Darmstadt in Germany. It was a Lutheran sisterhood. And they lived with vows of poverty. But that book sat on my shelf, Repenet's. And I looked at it. And every time I looked at it, I thought, guilty. I can't do this. And if I'd just gone and read the book, I would have understood it. And I really think that what we just talked about is really true. That's good. Great stuff. Is it possible to bind Satan or demon from Arizona? That's one of the most common things that is talked about among many segments of Christianity today. I bind you in the name of Jesus or I cast you out. But if so many angles to come at this, I would say be careful. The first thing I'd say is be careful to understand that we can't do what Jesus did just because Jesus did it. We're not Jesus. You could point. I'm glad you've come to one Messiah per universe and you're not yet. I learned that. And so the reality is we can't. We can't pray. We can't pray, I think, with power that God would bind a demon or bind the power of darkness. The Lord's Prayer. Deliver us from evil. It's really delivered us from the evil one. That's right. So yeah, that's not a problem. But I think to recognize that we're not the one, you know, we don't have the spiritual power inherent in us to do all that. And that's what prayer is for. You remember that time when Jesus disciples could not heal somebody and somebody asked why? And they said, well, this Jesus said this goes out by prayer and fasting. So some sit you, some encounters with darkness are more intense than others. Yeah, they really are. And I don't think there's a pastor listening to us who hasn't come across them on occasion in their ministry. Do you think, when you were saying that and boy, that's profound, your answer, do you think that sometimes if we don't get it theologically right that God refuses to add? I mean, like, what do you mean, bind, Satan? I'm not. Go ahead and let him get you because you didn't say it right. So you're saying God got honors the prayer of the heart. Yeah. And the faithful, the teaching of the people. Yeah, sure. God does a whole lot. You know, we're children and we don't ask right. We don't even know what to ask. Yeah. Good stuff. Since we're talking about the devil, my eyes just, what we have is a list of questions. We don't have the letters but the staff compiled these questions. We have thousands of them. And we just, so I don't know, this is an email. No, it's from Ohio. It says, how could Satan have rebelled and fallen if there was no sin in heaven? At one time, RC Sproul said, you know, the amazing thing, the most difficult question to answer is why did Satan fall? Yeah. I would agree. Being in the presence of a holy guy. Oh, man. Having everything right, how could his heart turn? Well, I think that's one of the most difficult questions perhaps in all theology. It is a difficult question. Is that one? And I, but I see God sovereignly in that too. And I think it has to do with how we view these kinds of issues. If we give Satan too much power, again, Satan has his purpose. He was not just created for the funer, because God said, well, that'd be cool to create an angel. I think God created Satan knowing all of the implications, all of the repercussions of that and knowing that even that fit into his plan. That's right. That's right. He created Satan with that capacity to fall and to fall into sin. And so he wasn't surprised, boy, but this is a big deal. Yeah, it is. It's a good question. And a lot more panel. Lots been written on that. But I think what we said was quite cogent and deep and deep. I don't know where else to go with the phrase. All right. This is from, you'll like this from Kansas City. What does the Bible teach about church membership? Do it. And do everything your pastor said, right? The pastor sitting at his desk with a t-shirt on that says, because I'm the pastor, that's why. You know, I used to not make a big deal on that. It's people would say, I don't join in church. I'm not a Methodist and I'm not a Christian, I'm not a Lutheran. I'm a Christian. And I want to say no conviction, huh? Or something like that. I think it's important to show who side we're on that we be a part of a church and formally do that. I agree. And you made it a good point. We were talking earlier. You said one reason why you didn't emphasize it so much as a pastor is because there's so many manipulators out there. You know, and you didn't want to be a part of that. Your ministry was one of grace. And I agree that. But I think what you said is right. That we need to go on a record and to take, take boughs of membership is, is, is, is consonant with what it means to be a Christian. I'm trying to find with this body where I'm joining this mission. I want to be a part of it. Not the pastor's the best preacher or everything's perfect about this church. But I'm going to link arms and be a part of a mission. And I'm going to formally associate with that. I'm perfect. Well, we start a little bit of time, but not enough time to start another question. Now, why don't you tell us your three greatest sins and then we'll close them. No, we are out of time. I, man, I appreciate you. And you're coming in each Friday with us. Next Friday? That's great to see you. Hey, thank you. Guys, whenever you're right or call, he might be sure and give us the call letters of this great station. One other thing before we go. Key life is a production of Key Life Network.