The AL PASTOR podcast

When studying religious history, examining how the Pharisees and Sadducees mishandled Scripture reveals dangerous patterns that still plague modern believers. By either adding strict legalistic fences around God's Word or cutting away inconvenient t…

Everybody has traditions. Tamales on Christmas Eve. The same seat every Sunday. Most are good, harmless, even precious. The problem starts when a tradition picks up authority and sits next to the Bible as its equal. Paul was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. His world had two camps. One added to the Word. The other cut pieces out of it. And Jesus answered both of them the same way. He opened the Scriptures. When tradition and God's Word disagree, which one wins? 1. The Source. Paul's

Paul had just called down the curse of God on false teachers. Twice. Then he stops and asks the room a question about himself: do I seek to please men? This is the Bible study companion to Sunday's sermon. We take one verse slowly, hear what the scholars say, and trace the approval trap from King Saul to the Pharisees to the modern church growth playbook... and then to the one approval that is already settled. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro and Opening Remarks 1:50 - The Big Question and Sermon Point

People pleasing is not just an awkward social habit or a harmless personality quirk; it is a form of spiritual slavery that compromises your integrity and distorts your calling. When you live for the applause of the crowd, you inevitably sacrifice t…

Paul had just called down the curse of God on false teachers. Twice. And the very next thing out of his mouth is a question about himself: do I seek to please men? Somebody had called him a people pleaser. In one verse Paul answers the charge, and in answering it he exposes a trap every one of us walks past. The bait is not money. It is not power. The bait is approval. Is the crowd's approval worth it? The Pull. Why the crowd is so hard to resist. It took down a king and silenced men who beli

When the Apostle Paul writes to the Galatian church, he pronounces a severe warning against anyone who alters the core message of Christianity. Surprisingly, the very first name he places on his divine judgment list is his own. In this deep dive, re…