“I just said a cuss word. Am I going to hell?”

Steve Brown:
I just said a cuss word. Am I going to hell? The answer to that and other questions, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life, dedicated to the message that the only people who get any better are those who know that if they don’t get any better, God will still love them, anyway. That teaching raises a lot of questions, so here’s author and seminary professor Steve Brown, along with Pete Alwinson from ForgeBibleStudy.com with answers to the Bible, that’ll make you free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hello Pete.

Pete Alwinson:
How you doing, man?

Steve Brown:
I’m doing good. How about you?

Pete Alwinson:
Good, good, good, good. It’s good. And you know, this production area here is different because we now have, we don’t have all the boom mics and everything.

Steve Brown:
I know. It’s amazing.

Pete Alwinson:
It’s lighter and airier in here. I feel more spiritual.

Steve Brown:
The guys around here, John Myers, who’s our IT guy. Did you help him Jeremy? You didn’t get involved in that. He’s also an IT tech guy. And Matthew Porter, who’s the executive producer of our talk show, they all got together. John Myers mostly and redesigned this studio. And if you want to watch our talk show, which is weekly. It’s on about 250 stations and it’s on YouTube. You can look at our new studio and we’re kind of proud of it. It’s got a Johnny Cash poster for a concert. And Johnny Cash is my hero, I’m just waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity.

Pete Alwinson:
Ah. Gotcha.

Steve Brown:
And that’s a joke. Don’t send me letters. And we have a lot of new screens and new microphones and it’s kind of cool.

Pete Alwinson:
Great opportunities. Yeah.

Steve Brown:
I’m glad you saw it.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah.

Steve Brown:
Hey listen, check out ForgeTruth.com. I was just having lunch with one of the members of that ministry, which is Pete’s ministry to men. And he was talking about the amazing growth that is taking place there. So God despite you is honoring your ministry.

Pete Alwinson:
He tends to do that, right?

Steve Brown:
He does. Listen, check out ForgeTruth.com and if you haven’t read Pete’s book Like Father Like Son, you ought to get it. That’s life changing. Pete, as you know, comes in and has been doing that for over 25 years on Fridays and we answer questions together and we love your questions. You can call 1-800-KEY-LIFE, 24 7, and record your question, and you’ll often get on the air. Or you can send your question to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

in Canada, it’s

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

or you could e-mail your question to [email protected]. And all of those places are places where you could help us financially. And after all that Jesus has done for you, it seems to me like you would be willing. No, that’s not appropriate, is it? Listen, we recognize that some of you can’t and some of you can. And we love you both. If you can, be as generous as you can. If you can’t, say a prayer, and we understand. Speaking of prayer, Pete, why don’t you lead us in prayer and we’ll get to these questions.

Pete Alwinson:
You got it. Let’s pray together. Father, what a joy it is to be able to come into your presence today, to stop at the end of this week and remember that you are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Triune God, the one and only, all powerful, all loving, all knowing, you are faithful, merciful, kind. You are the Holy God of the universe. And we bow before you thanking you Jesus, that you did everything necessary to connect us to the Father. Not one thing is left undone. Trust in you and you alone is all we needed. And Lord, that’s all we could do. And the Holy Spirit, thank you for your power that brings the gospel to our minds and hearts and brings us to you. And so, we give you praise. We ask this week-end, that you would continue the process that you started, build us through your pastors and teachers and priests and worship directors, Lord, all those that lead us with great planning into your presence. Holy Spirit, use that time to draw us closer to you. And now, we give you praise and honor, even in this time of Q&A, we commit it to you. In Jesus’ strong Name, we pray. Amen.

Steve Brown:
Amen. All right. Let’s start off by going to our phone lines.

Caller 1:
What if, in anger, I curse? I do not make a habit of profane language, but I am feeling guilty about a time when, recently when I was angry and cursed.

Steve Brown:
You know, I get a thousand ideas that come. I was doing a

Pete Alwinson:
I know

Steve Brown:
I was at a church recently and they were, this group was studying one of my books. And I talked about the book, and then I had a Q&A. And this man raised his hand and said, Dr. Brown, my grandson was killed a month and a half ago. What should I do? And I said, sir, do you know how to cuss? And people were kind of shocked.

Pete Alwinson:
And really, you think?

Steve Brown:
God has given you words, when mercy teacups aren’t enough. And then I said some serious things about his grandson of course, but the truth is that the Bible is a lot more earthy than most Christians.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah, yeah. It is an earthy book, and some of those expressions have changed.

Steve Brown:
That’s really true.

Pete Alwinson:
You’re right. So, we would say to our dear sister, you committed the unpardonable sin and

Steve Brown:
yeah, you probably lost your salvation

Pete Alwinson:
That’s it. That’s it. And once you lose it, you can’t get it back.

Steve Brown:
No, you can’t get it back. So, you’re in trouble.

Pete Alwinson:
Become a Muslim or something. No. You, I mean no, no. Obviously, to cuss is not to lose your salvation, anymore than any other sin is to lose our salvation because it is a monergistic work of God, our salvation.

Steve Brown:
That’s true. And again, you know, you can get the book, the Cotton Patch Version of the New Testament and that has some words in it that are, that we think are cuss words, but the guy who translated that is a PhD in Greek. And he says he got it right. So, sometimes if you are a cusser and you do that all the time, you need to repent. You need to get a better vocabulary and you need to stop it. But if on occasion there is a situation that is so disturbing and so angry that mercy isn’t going to cut it. It may be that you’re not sinning by using strong words. I, you know who John, most people know who John Frame is. He’s one of the really great theological minds of our time. And I love John. He’s a neighbor, but he was at a Presbyterian meeting one time. Somebody asked him, I don’t even remember what it was, a controversial question, and he said, oh dear. So, after it was over, I went up to him and he really is. I said, Dr. Frame, you’re a revolutionary, but listen to me revolutionaries don’t say, oh dear.

Pete Alwinson:
Oh dear. Yeah. Oh dear.

Steve Brown:
And he wasn’t sure whether I was kidding. And I said, if you want me to teach you how to cuss, I will. And he eventually, he laughed about it, but strong language and that changes with generations.

Pete Alwinson:
It does. It does. You know, I would say that in one level, this lady has got a real sensitivity as a sister in Christ.

Steve Brown:
Yeah.

Pete Alwinson:
And I appreciate that.

Steve Brown:
I do too.

Pete Alwinson:
I think on another level, a lot of men today, and maybe women too in American culture, Christians, I think we are taking liberty sometimes too far.

Steve Brown:
Yeah.

Pete Alwinson:
We’re drinking too much, we’re cussing too much, we’re fitting into the culture too much. So, I appreciate her sensitivity, on the other hand, it slipped out apparently for her. So, what that is, is it’s an opportunity for her to grow in humility that next step, and to let this word, maybe assault her self-righteousness. I don’t know if she has any self-righteousness. We all do, to some extent, but when I sin like unintentionally like that, it’s like, okay, I haven’t arrived yet. And I repent and I say, Hey, Lord Jesus, you know, I still got to grow. It humbles my tendency towards self-righteousness.

Steve Brown:
I don’t ever sin unintentionally. I usually plan it.

Pete Alwinson:
You do it on purpose.

Steve Brown:
Hey let’s, we don’t do this very often. Let’s go and listen to another question from the phone lines.

Caller 2:
My dad was mentally ill, knew right from wrong, but he was really mentally unstable because of the war. And he died when I was very young, when I was seven. Is there a place for him in heaven? That always bothers me. I’m worried. But I can’t let it eat me up, I loved my dad.

Steve Brown:
That’s hard. Yes, he’s in heaven. If he was a believer before all of that. You’d be surprised at how many people who are, and the great thing is when you get home and you see your father again, he’s going to be as clear as crystal. None of that, none of that illness is going to play a part in his heavenly body and his heavenly reside.

Pete Alwinson:
Absolutely.

Steve Brown:
And the Bible, you know, we can, in most of these questions, give Biblical answers. Bible doesn’t speak to that, but it does speak to who Jesus is and who God is, and they’re not child abusers. There was a professor at RTS that wrote a book on the church father’s view about both children. and mentally ill people. And he said, the church fathers said, of course they go to heaven, so rest easy. Jesus knows what he’s doing and he’s kind. And I know you miss your father.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. That’s, and you would not be alone in that category of people who have experienced that. Nor, the same thing of parents that are aging and also losing their capacity now. I was talking with a man yesterday. His dad is losing it, and he’s thinking, where’s that man that was my mentor spiritually. And he’s not that anymore. Well, he hasn’t lost his salvation. He’s still God’s son.

Steve Brown:
Sure. And when you get home, it’s going to be refreshing

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
to see that restored. We had a guy on our talk show a long time ago who had Alzheimer’s. And he was in the first stages and he wrote a book about it. He was a writer. The title of the book was, I’m Beginning To Miss Me. And he said, that before he went into this, he knew what was happening. Jesus said to him, when you go into the mist I’ll go with you. And he says, I’m finding that’s true.

Pete Alwinson:
Wow. That is powerful.

Steve Brown:
So dear, rest easy with your, Jesus loves your father more than you do, and he’s not a child abuser. And of course, and you’ll be pleased when you get home.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s great.

Steve Brown:
Well, we’re out of time, but we still have a few seconds. You want to sing?

Pete Alwinson:
Oh yeah. Right. That’d be a good idea.

Steve Brown:
We have hymn sing in the last 15 seconds. Actually got to go. Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.