- 5/1/2025
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00:00Welcome everyone we're excited to share some country wisdom with you. King Solomon had a
00:08thing or two to say about the path to wisdom. In Proverbs 4 he wrote, let your eyes look
00:15directly forward and your gaze be straight before you. Keep straight the path of your feet and all
00:22your ways will be sure. Join us now for country wisdom.
00:30I almost feel like I can't introduce this episode without bragging that this fellow is my friend.
00:40Dr. Philip Saman, he's been teaching for years at the university level. He's written, I don't know
00:46how many books at this point, just in the last year, five. And the list goes on and on of his
00:52credits, but the biggest credit of all is he loves Jesus Christ. Doctor, thank you for coming today.
00:58We really appreciate it. I know something Janice and I have talked about is you've written books
01:05on the fragrance of Christ. And I was hoping today, if you have time, you'd address a little of that.
01:09What is the fragrance of Christ? My ministry goes by a title, Christ Way. Christ Way to help our people
01:20do things Christ Way, whatever the subject is. Like praying, Christ Way to pray. Like restoration,
01:28Christ Way to restoration, Christ Way to make disciples, Christ Way to reach people, Christ Way to affirmation
01:35and encouragement. So these are some of the books that focus on how we need to be Christ centered and
01:42follow Christ's example in everything we do. You know, there was a controversy about spiritual formation some
01:48years back. So I wrote a book called Christ Way to Spirituality. And I thought to myself,
01:53isn't Christ the best example to be spiritual? Why should I seek any other specialist if Christ
01:59is the prime example of spirituality? So I have a book about that.
02:03He has it all. And I've got to mention, right now we're on the campus and the lawnmowers are going,
02:08the chainsaws are going, but I hope everybody can just focus on you and what you have to say here.
02:12Yes. I hope, I hope that doesn't affect negatively our interview. I think it's getting less and less.
02:20Jesus is such an incredible subject and wants to be such an incredible friend. How does all that happen?
02:27I mean, it's the most amazing thing that we have the privilege to study and emulate the God of the
02:34universe. It's amazing. I mean, you can study friends, you can study people, you can study specialists,
02:40that Jesus is the ultimate in everything, creator of everybody, creator of the universe,
02:46and someday by God's grace, we'll be able to interview him instead of me. And he could tell
02:51you about the secrets of the universe. Wouldn't that be exciting? Oh, it will.
02:55And how could anybody miss out on salvation? So it's really smart to reconnect with Jesus. And it's not
03:03very smart to veer away from him. Now, I believe that some of our viewers have no idea who Jesus
03:10is. What would you tell them? Well, Jesus is the answer to everything. Because the two biggest problems
03:16this world has, everybody, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, is they need to know how to deal with sin. Sin is the
03:23the biggest problem for everything. And then life. I mean, how do you have life? Many, many prophets
03:32and many religious founders tried to solve the problem of death. They couldn't. And to solve the
03:38problem of sin, they couldn't. And you know, like the Bible says, the wages of sin is death. You see?
03:45Sin results in death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so why,
03:51why is Jesus so important, so vital? It's because he is the only one who's uniquely qualified
03:57to give you his righteousness instead of your sin, his life instead of your death. And everybody needs
04:03that. So it's Christ. It's not just for you and me or the Christians. Christ is for the world.
04:08Doctor, as you were talking, I was thinking of, you know, Terry and I have filmed
04:12in many places of the world. And we, we filmed a piece of Buddha buried here. And a piece of
04:17Buddha in this other location and a piece of Buddha there. But we, we went to the tomb of Christ and
04:23we couldn't find any Jesus. I wonder where he is? You, I think you've got the answer.
04:29Well, I mean, he is in heaven, ever living to intercede for us. He's alive in heaven, ministering on our
04:36behalf. I don't want to degrade any religion. I have respect for all religions. But there's something
04:41unique about Jesus. None of the others had that. And just like in John 3, 16, it says,
04:48For God so loved the world. I'm translating that from the Greek, original Greek, because John wrote
04:52this in Greek. That he gave his, not begotten, the word begotten doesn't exist. He gave his
04:59monogamous son. Monogamous means, mono means one. Genious means kind. One of a kind. Unique.
05:07So it's more accurate to read that for God so loved the world. He gave his unique son. Why is he unique?
05:12That's the blessing. It's found in that unique. He's unique in knowing how to take care of sin.
05:18Nobody else can deal with sin. No psychiatrist, no psychiatrist. You can pay them billions of dollars.
05:22They cannot resolve the problem of sin. Only Jesus could, because he took it upon himself.
05:29And who can solve the problem of death? Nobody. Nobody has life. He is life. The way, the truth,
05:36and the life. And then because he possesses life, he can give us his life and take away our death.
05:44What a great bargain. If anybody lacks bargains, it's the greatest bargain in the world. He says,
05:49if you submit yourself to me, if you trust me, I'll take away your sin and give you my robe of righteousness.
05:56I can take away your death and give you instead my life, abundant life eternal. You cannot find
06:02a better bargain than that. And if we're smart, we would follow that.
06:05Now, excuse me, go ahead.
06:07Yes. Between you two, I really don't have to do anything but just sit here and nod and smile.
06:13We need you. We need you, please.
06:14Scripture says that there is only one way. And it's because there isn't anyone, whether it's
06:21Buddha, Mohammed, whoever, there is no one who can offer us that gift.
06:26It's a statement of fact. It's not like we're boasting or saying we're better than you.
06:30No, no, no. It's a statement of fact. Jesus is life. He is God. He is divine.
06:37And that's the reason he came to help all of us. Other people showed some way or some method.
06:42He is the way. Others try to find a segment of truth. I am the truth. I embody the truth.
06:49Life. I don't show you a way of life. I am life. You receive me, you receive life.
06:55So he says, I'm not going to take you and show you where it is. It's right here in me.
06:59You know, because, you know, Thomas, you know, who doubted said, you know, how do we follow?
07:04We don't know where you are. Where are you going? How do you expect us? He said, listen,
07:09you don't have to find a way. I am the way. If you know me and love me and submit yourself to me,
07:14you already found the way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you have me,
07:17you've got all of these three things. It's as simple as that.
07:23Someone, I'm still concerned about those that are watching right now, listening to you,
07:28and they're thinking about it. They don't know God. Where do they go? How do they get to the point of
07:36meeting Jesus Christ? Well, I mean, God reveals himself. Why does he reveal himself? Why do you
07:44think he reveals himself? Because he loves us. Every time you love somebody, you want to share something
07:50with them about you. So God didn't come to this world silent. He expressed himself.
07:57Okay, how do we hear this expression of God? Look at nature. Look at the things of nature.
08:03I mean, nature speaks to us. There's a designer behind the design. Things didn't come here by
08:08accident. Look at you, Jim, my good friend. This nice hat and the cowboy outfit didn't come by chance.
08:16You understand? Oh yeah. I don't want to exclude you. You have some nice outfit too.
08:20No way by chance. Somebody designed it. And this is a simple thing. Look at the smartphones.
08:27Wow, amazing what they can do. And all the other inventions. Because God is the designer behind the
08:35design. God designed us and he gave us the ability to be creative. In nature, we have to observe nature.
08:41Many people, when they observe nature, they learn a lot of nature. You look at a rose. Who made that?
08:46Who can invent a rose? Okay. Secondly, the other book of God is the Bible. The Bible. Why? Because it
08:54talks about God. God talks to us through the pages of the Bible. I mean, wouldn't you want to read a book
09:02that's written by a famous author? Wouldn't you? That's a good point, isn't it?
09:06But now it's not, you know, I had a student writing a research paper who didn't know much about research
09:12and footnoting. And, you know, so, so, and, you know, at the end of the page, you have footnotes.
09:19You write the, you type the last name of the person, comma, first name and the name of the book,
09:23publisher, Robert. And then she came to the Bible. That's it. I've never seen that before.
09:28Because usually when you quote the Bible, you just open the brackets and you put Matthew 5,
09:3211 and you close the brackets. That's it. Or you might put what version it is, whether it's King
09:36James or the Revised Standard. But nothing really about God. Nothing about God. And she came with
09:41her research paper and there it's, it says, God, the author, that's the last name, God, comma,
09:49the Holy Spirit, comma, the Bible. And when it was published and where? I said, I've never seen it
09:56before. I hope you gave her an A. Yeah, I gave her an A, yes. It was a good paper. And she said,
10:00you know, Dr. Simone, I mean, I don't know much about research, but if they give credit
10:04to John Wilson, to Jim Albrecht, whatever, why not give some credit to God? He's the best author in
10:10the world. That's a great point. Yeah. I mean, I never, I never saw that way. We take it for granted.
10:16He wrote, there's a book he inspired, 66 books. Wow. It's a love letter to humanity. Wouldn't I be
10:24curious to find out what God has in mind? I want to know. I want to know what God has in mind.
10:30My kids once came across a bundle of old love letters from their dad to me. They thought they
10:38were hysterical, but those letters still mean something to me. They're concrete reminders of
10:44just how much I was and still am loved. The Bible is full of love letters to us from God. This little
10:55tract has dozens of them. If you need some concrete reminders of just how much God loves you,
11:03get your free copy of a love letter from Jesus. Go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org
11:10and request offer number 122, a love letter from Jesus.
11:19Hey, Janice, how are you doing? Hey, you wrote another book. I did. I had a burden on my heart,
11:24and God helped me get it done. So the plan of love, what's it about? Well, it's really about God in
11:32eternity. Saw everything that was going to happen here. And his amazing love, he says, I'm going to take care of
11:39the problem. I'm going to take care of the situation by giving my own life. He did all that, but we've
11:45been lied to so much, we don't see what God has planned for us, what God is doing for us. Matter of
11:51fact, the angel came down to Mary and said, you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
11:57from their sins. Notice it wasn't in, but from. Where can people get the book? Hey, I'm glad you asked.
12:04Folks, if you'd like your own personal copy, log on to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org.
12:08And please, if you would, send us a donation of $12. Or more. Or more. And we'll get you the book,
12:14and I'll be happy to sign it for you too. Thank you so much.
12:20I mean, you've taught the Bible and all these things so many years. Unpacked the Bible a little
12:26more for us, for people to help them fall in love with God's word. Because I think especially people who
12:31who don't know God, who might just be flailing around in life going, where do I turn? The Bible
12:39can seem intimidating. I was an English major. I love reading Shakespeare. But for your average
12:47American nowadays, it would be, they can't get through Shakespeare. They wouldn't even open it,
12:53because I can't understand that. I wouldn't know what he's talking about.
12:56And when I mentioned Shakespeare to my students, they asked me, where does he live?
13:02Oh, so sad. They have no idea. And I thought the Bible was written
13:06by a bunch of ignorant fishermen. You know, before I became a Christian, that's all I thought it was.
13:11But you know, to answer your question, is the Bible now is written in simple English.
13:17Right. There are so many versions that are made for the way you speak, so that you can understand it.
13:26And so, you know, if somebody is not familiar with it, choose the simplest version. Just common English.
13:32And the other thing is, is the Bible, to answer your question, Jim, the Bible is like the history
13:41of how God dealt with people like you and me. How does God work with people? That's it. You know,
13:49it tells you how did he deal with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and dealt with Ishmael. People like you
13:55and me, John, Peter. How did Jesus deal with them? The Bible tells you how Jesus works with people.
14:02And that's what we need. How does God relate to me? And the Bible tells you by many stories that we
14:09can identify with. The first time I picked up the Bible, I thought God was impressing me to read it.
14:14I read Matthew and I, okay. And I read Mark and I thought, that's the same thing I just read. And I
14:20read Luke and I thought, well, this is funny. Did they mess up? You know, it's got the same thing.
14:24And then I read Jonathan. This is really strange. It's got all the same thing.
14:28Yeah. I was such a baby, you know, but God just took that.
14:32Yes. He reached you where you are. And, and they're telling their, they're telling their stories.
14:39They're giving their witness for what they saw. And that's why sometimes it's different
14:43because they saw things at different times. And maybe somebody told them later, like,
14:47for example, with Mark, I mean, he is a companion of, uh, of Peter. And you could see Peter coming
14:54through the gospel of Mark because he was his missionary companion. And Peter told him
14:58many exciting stories. Yeah. I mean, the story about Jesus healing his mother-in-law. I mean,
15:05why would Mark talk about that? Because he was very familiar with Peter and he presented his mother-in-law
15:10in a very positive way, even though many people don't think highly of mother-in-law. So you see
15:14what I'm saying? And like with John, John was modest. You know, he's a very humble person. He said,
15:19the disciple whom Jesus loved. Yeah. He never said me. Yeah. He never said me. The third person singular,
15:26the disciple whom Jesus loved. But if you look at the Greek and the tense in Greek,
15:31it says, it doesn't say literally, the disciple whom Jesus loved, past tense. It says, disciple whom
15:36Jesus kept on loving. Which changed your whole meaning. In spite of you. It's not like saying,
15:42John, you're better than everybody else. No, no. But in spite of you and your shortcomings,
15:46I keep on loving you. To help me out, doctor. That's linear in the Greek. I've forgotten.
15:51Is that linear? You mean linear? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. From now until the end. Yeah. Which changes you?
15:59That's the same thing with us. Jesus keeps on loving us no matter what. As if he were telling Peter,
16:06Peter, Peter, I know you stumbled a lot. You even betrayed me. You know, denied me, I should say,
16:16three times. But Peter, I want to assure you, if you stick with me, you're going to make it. And if
16:22we stick with Jesus, we're going to make it. He made it. We'll make it by the grace of God. It's one
16:26thing I love about scripture. If those stories were all made up, I read an interview or watched it where
16:35an atheist was saying, well, you know, it's like Israel needed a hero. They built a mythology.
16:42So they came up with David. If I was building a mythology, building a hero, I wouldn't have
16:48mentioned the mistakes they made. You know, if everybody in the Bible were as perfect as Daniel
16:54comes off, for instance, I can't think of anything in the whole story of Daniel where he ever blew it.
17:00Yeah.
17:01But I love the ones who blew it more than once.
17:04Gives all this hope.
17:05Yeah, exactly.
17:06And then, you know, the Bible is a real book. It's a real book. It tells it like it is.
17:13And it increases your confidence in the Bible because it's an honest book.
17:18What about those people who say, oh, there's so many mistakes in the Bible, you can't believe it?
17:23Yeah, I meet people like that once in a while. And that's, I mean, because the devil is trying very
17:32hard to help people focus on some minutia. You know, just he wants to do everything he can to stop
17:40people from being saved. Okay. The purpose of the Bible is to help you be saved. I mean,
17:45should we be stuck in minute minutia that we ignore or we miss out on salvation? That's the
17:54purpose of the Bible. The greatest course we can take in this life. No course we take is perfect.
18:00The greatest course we take in this life is to learn how to be saved. That's the greatest course,
18:07to know how to be saved and be saved. Why? Because when we get to heaven,
18:11we will have limitless knowledge. Our minds will function so many times better.
18:18And our minds will be able to comprehend the vastness of God's might. You know what I'm saying?
18:25So why be stuck here and miss out on the real answers up in heaven? Just because maybe a story
18:32in Matthew doesn't correspond exactly to the story in John. You know, like for example, Judas,
18:38somebody passed by and he was hanging from a tree. Then later on, somebody else passed by and he was
18:45down on the ground. Oh, this is not true. How could they, excuse me? If some witness in the court of law
18:53said the same thing exactly, the judge won't believe him. The next guy who gave the story about Judas,
19:00probably by that time, he came down from the tree. The branch broke. So it is not as big a
19:06promise we will make it to be. I read the greatest book by a former police detective. It's called Cold
19:13Case Christianity. And he says just that if you get three or four witnesses who are all saying exactly
19:19the same thing, they know they were colluding. Yes, exactly. So it's, it's sensible. It's real to life.
19:27It is, it doesn't gloss over people's mistakes. Look, why would God allow the story of David to be told the
19:36way it was? A man after my own heart, the greatest king in Israel. Jesus came from his seed. And after he said,
19:43a man after my own heart, why would he say he was a killer, a murderer? And not only a murderer,
19:49he was adulterous. Can you imagine? I mean, I wouldn't mention that. Who would want to mention that?
19:55Cover it up. But the guy, in order to cover his sin of, of, of, of having sexual relationship with
20:04Bathsheba, the wife of his faithful general, took advantage of his absence to do this with his wife.
20:10What kind of a, what kind of a jerk is that? And not only that, to cover his, he couldn't cover his
20:16mistake. He wanted Uriah to go to bed with his wife. So then people would say he was with her,
20:22and that's her son. He said, no, I would not dishonor you, dishonor you or my fellow soldiers
20:29by doing this. I'll stay outside the house. I want everybody to pass by to see me. I didn't go in
20:36to be with my wife. And so David gave up. He said, look, I can't cover this up. So the way to cover
20:41it up is kill the man. I mean, can you imagine? Would you have a friend like that? Just because
20:47I'm being loyal and I'm being right with you and, and your people. By the way, he wasn't a Jew.
20:53He was a Hittite. You are a Hittite. So what does he get rewarded with? Death. Take your own death
21:03sentence in your hand and hand it to one of my generals and he'll read it and put him in front of
21:08the Bible. Let him be killed to cover it up. But nothing can be covered before God. God, the old seeing
21:14God knows everything. You're the man. But yet it's mentioned in the Bible. This increases my confidence
21:22in the Bible. It's a real authentic book. Amen. Amen. Now, doctor, our program is called Country
21:29Wisdom and I've kind of taken both around the barn here. I kind of want to hear before. Well, I mean,
21:35looking at you both, I feel I'm in a barn. We only have, we only have a few minutes left. I want to bring
21:40you to 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 14. It says, Now, thanks be to God, which always causes us to
21:47triumph in Christ and make manifest a savor of his knowledge by us every place. Kind of bring it back
21:54a little to that, you know, sweet smelling savor of the Rose of Sharon. Yeah. Well, Jim, bless your heart.
22:00Even though you make me feel like I'm in a barn, there is good smell coming through. Thank you. Which we
22:08need, by the way, don't we? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We really do. Well, you know, the apostle Paul
22:12here is using a powerful analogy. What's the analogy? An analogy of a victorious Roman general
22:21over his enemies. That's why he used the word triumphal procession. So then what happened
22:28during the time of the Roman Empire, when a Roman general was victorious over his enemies,
22:32victories over his enemies, what happened? He rode into the city on his chariot, his head,
22:40a wreath of victory. In his right hand, a scepter of authority. And then he was welcomed from the heart
22:48of the city, the capital of the empire, by musicians, trumpeteers, senators, VIPs,
22:56and others who carry sensors, burning with incense, report in ancient history that the sweet fragrance
23:07of the incense would fill the city and waft beyond the city walls. And everybody within the city,
23:11outside city, smelled the fragrance of victory in the air. And now the apostle Paul is applying to Jesus
23:18and us. And he's saying, Jesus, our victorious general. Okay. And we are riding with Jesus in this
23:27triumphal procession. And we are diffusing the fragrance of incense, the fragrance of his knowledge,
23:35the gospel. Where? Everywhere. When? Always. It says, actually, the two words are always,
23:44and every, it's a way of life. And also it says that we experience that we are in Christ.
23:52Okay. And then Christ, because we are in Christ, we're united with Christ, then Christ diffuses that
23:59fragrance through us. So you have the in proposition and the through, the now and, I mean, the now and
24:07always. Four words. So diffusing the fragrance of the gospel of Jesus is a way of life.
24:14You know, if you smell good, Jim, why do I talk about you smelling good? Because you,
24:20and you go to church on Sabbath, do you say, you know, I smell good on Sabbath only,
24:23but Sunday I smell awful? If Jesus is in your life, he projects his life. You know,
24:29if Jesus fills your life, what happens? He fragrances your life with his fragrance. So therefore,
24:36like one of my best authors said, when you feed on Jesus, and when you fill your life with Jesus,
24:45then he breathes out his fragrance through you. So people know clearly, you don't smell like self,
24:53because we don't smell good without you, but we smell like Jesus.
24:57Yes. And so, I'm using a little summary of the text.
25:03Hey, everyone. Jim Mayer here for Talking Donkey International. You can rest assured that when
25:12you follow Talking Donkey, we're going to take you someplace in the world, not in a stuffy old studio.
25:17But if you missed one of our programs, although we broadcast all over the world,
25:22you can go right to our website, talkingdonkeyinternational.org,
25:25and check out some more programs right there. And thank you so much for your support.
25:35My kids once came across a bundle of old love letters from their dad to me. They thought they
25:41were hysterical, but those letters still mean something to me. They're concrete reminders of
25:48just how much I was and still am loved. The Bible is full of love letters to us from God. This little
25:59tract has dozens of them. If you need some concrete reminders of just how much God loves you, get your
26:07free copy of a love letter from Jesus. Go to talkingdonkeyinternational.org and request offer
26:14number 122, a love letter from Jesus. Now, we only have about a minute left, but right at that camera
26:27is your classroom, and the students have been listening. What would you tell them to about
26:33accepting Christ in their life right now? Got about a minute. And getting that fragrance so they have
26:39something to diffuse to other people. Why do you both gang up on me and like put me on the spot like
26:45that? I mean, now I have to perform. Because I know you can handle it. Oh, you know, you have confidence
26:49in me. You know, that's what I tell my students. You know, many of you get A's. Some A's, but you have
26:58good grades in my past. I wanted to continue to be smart, intelligent, and get to know Jesus.
27:05Because when everything is said and done, comes down to the wire, we take nothing with us. We don't
27:10take any grades or degrees. We take with us our relationship with Jesus, our saving relationship
27:14with Jesus. So this is the first and foremost priority, is to open your heart to Jesus. And
27:20then He fills you with His presence and His fragrance. Because Jesus smells good, by the way.
27:26Okay? And so He can fragrance your life with His aroma. So when you mingle with people everywhere,
27:32then people can look at you and say, you know, I smell Jesus in you.
27:38Amen. Thank you so much. I hope you come again and do another program for us.
27:42You know, I know we will be, did I do okay, you think, by the grace of God?
27:51Thank you for watching. Join us again for another exciting Country Wisdom. See you next time.
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