Looking at our world from a theological perspective, this is the Theology Central Podcast. Making theology central. Well, if you make one bad decision, you should just go ahead and make another, right? That's the lesson today. When you make one bad decision, don't correct course, don't stop making bad decisions, just double down, make another bad decision. And then when you make that bad decision, then just make another. That's the lesson you should learn from me. When you make a bad decision, just keep making them. Don't correct, don't change, just keep doing. Okay, well, that's not really the lesson I want to teach today, but in a practical way, that is the lesson I'm teaching. I will explain everything after I say, welcome, everyone. It is Sunday, January the 26th, 2025. It is currently 5.34 p.m. Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, what do I mean about bad decisions? Well, earlier today, I did a broadcast. I explained to everyone that I wasn't at church. We were not doing an in-person service. We were doing a live stream. The reason we were doing a live stream in part was because I'm having some major neurological issues, one of the worst headaches I've ever experienced in my life. I'm having all the issues that come from my seizure disorder. I feel like I'm literally on the verge of I don't know how many seizures, all kinds of issues. I'm just having all kinds of issues over the last few days. And it's really, really, I mean, it's really bad today. So what I should be doing. So I told everyone it was a bad decision that I was even trying to do a live stream, but I did it. Yeah. I mean, I mean, I haven't heard anything about it. So that's a pretty good sign that it wasn't very good. All right. I understand that. I told everyone to have a little bit of mercy. So, but I did it anyway. So then what I was going to do is as soon as I got done with that I was going to eat something and then I was going to lay down and then I I thought in my mind I'll slip into a coma, right? I'll just I'll just slip into a coma and be gone for the rest of the day and then wake up tomorrow Hopefully reset my like my brain will reset. I'll be refreshed. I'll be I'll be ready to function. But what has happened? Well, it's what now 536 p.m. Central Time since that time around 11, 30, 12, whatever time it was, I think by the time I said I was going to try to just kind of lay there, I was going to listen to the football game. I had all these plans and I was just going to, that was going to be it. Well, now here's 536 and I haven't slipped into a coma, haven't slept for one second. I keep saying, okay, I'm just going to, I'm just going to listen to the football game and next thing you know, I'm looking at this or I'm looking at this or I'm, oh, let's look this up. Oh, well, what about this? Oh, what about this? Let's look this up. Let's consider this. Let's consider this. and the next thing I know... I find myself, well, working with an AI program. And I'm like, oh, this is interesting. And then I kept working with it. I'm like, oh, this is really interesting. And then I was like, wait, this fits in with everything I've been talking about artificial intelligence. Wait. Oh, let me keep working. OK, no, wait. Oh, I've got to pay some money. I'm going to pay some money for this. OK, let me subscribe. OK, I subscribe. OK, now how do I make this work? And then I'm sitting there working on it, working on it, working on it. course my head is just getting worse and worse because I'm trying to cut and paste and trying to get it to work and then it won't work and then I have to redo it again and then and then but but I I'm trying to get it all to work I finally get it all set I I get everything downloaded and then I'm like okay well that that was interesting Now I should lay down. And then I'm like, no, why? No, no, no, no. The microphone, the microphone is right there. And it's, it's right upstairs. Let me go to the microphone and let's, let's talk about it. So here we are. We're going to talk about this briefly. I'm going to explain everything. And I hope this is going to make sense. All right. I have been talking that artificial intelligence is going to completely change everything. And everyone acknowledges it's going to change everything within culture. Everyone agrees it could possibly change things in entertainment, music. Everyone's looking at all the different areas where it could have a transformative, massive change, a disruptive force in all of society. But I've been putting forth the concept. that not only is it disruptive to Christianity, not only is it going to change everything, and all practical, I know whenever I say this, people get mad, but from any practical perspective, AI makes the church absolutely irrelevant. It's a waste of, I mean, the church can't do anything. If we understand church, not from a sacramental point of view, but the church is there to teach the word of God, preach the Word of God, to equip saints, right? It's to preach and teach. Well, if the church is to preach and teach, AI can preach and teach better than any person can in any way, shape, or form. And how many different ways do I have to put that to the test, right? We have taken AI, we've listened to a sermon, let AI take the same text, take it apart. AI does better every single time. AI, when examining sermons, it points out its logical fallacies. it's factual errors, it's hermeneutical errors, if it's eisegesis or exegesis, and every single case AI has destroyed the sermon, right? But what if AI not only can it evaluate the sermon, not only can it examine the sermon, Not only can it analyze it, not only can it produce, like, hey, I need an exegetical study on this passage. Not only can it produce a better study, what if it can actually teach it and preach it itself? What if it can do that? Now, we already talked about this technology being available, but I haven't had a chance to mess with it. Well, I stumbled upon a program. that allowed me, and I've only worked with it, I've been working on it probably for the last, I don't know, 45 minutes, an hour, I don't even know how long it's been. So this is all happening in real time, that's one of the reasons I felt like I needed to broadcast no matter how I felt. I needed to get here in front of the microphone no matter if I dropped dead in the middle of this, because it's all happening in real time and I like to do that. So this is happening in real time, about 45 minutes ago, or about an hour ago. I was thinking about the article that we looked at in the Sword of the Lord newspaper. It was the January 3rd, 2025 edition of the Sword of the Lord newspaper. And there was an article in there entitled, or a sermon actually, a printed sermon, What Do You Do When Trouble Troubles You? What do you do when trouble troubles you? Now we reviewed that and we saw lots of problems with it, we had lots of issues with it, and one of the things it did, oh numerous times, is when it's talking about trouble that we may have and what are we to do when we're in trouble and how should we respond to trouble and all of this, it pointed us to specific verses in the book of Psalms. And whenever we were reviewing it, I kept saying I have some problems and how it's handling verses and Psalms, right? because in many cases it's taking these promises in the Psalms and applying them to us. And I have some grave concern about this, right? Because in many cases, the Psalms are written to specific people in a specific context. And many of those promises given to them in regards to trouble, difficulty, trial, pain, and suffering is related more to the promise in the covenants made by God to Israel. So can we reach into those Psalms and say, oh, this is a promise for us and what we can do in trouble. And so I had some major issues with that. So then I'm like, okay, so we've got this program where AI can actually, you know, not only create better content as far as giving you the text, like giving you a full study of these verses and Psalms, it can also teach it to us. I'm like, let me put all of this together. So I have used AI to examine two verses used in this article in the Sword of the Lord newspaper. In the book of Psalms, I had it examine it. I just basically said, here are two verses. How should these be approached? How should they not be approached? Just basically break down these two verses in Psalms and then not only generate the text, give me, teach it. Teach it to me, right? I couldn't say necessarily preach it. I don't think there's an option for a preaching voice per se. I mean, I didn't have time to mess with all the speech settings, but it gave me an audio file. All of this was generated by AI. So what you are about to hear, I'm going to play it for you. It's only 10 minutes long. It's only 10 minutes and 48 seconds long. Everything was generated and everything was created by AI. Everything was created by AI. Everything all right it was all made by AI I just gave it basic parameters and said there we go I told it basically as a podcast. It's going to be a podcast episode. All right. So it basically created a podcast episode dealing with two verses in Psalms that, well, let me just tell you, AI breaks down these two verses in Psalms way better than this actual sermon put together by a human being. And I could probably take AI and how it handled these two verses and psalms, we could take the Sermons 2.0 app, probably look for sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon preached by humans, and I will bet that we could have AI generate not only an exegetical study of the passage, we could now have AI also generate a spoken teaching of the passage, and it would be better than people. Now just think, if an individual, you could be sitting at home and go, all right so john chapter one okay let me have ai break down john chapter one in an in-depth exegetical study breaking it down interpreting it correctly giving it its basic parameters ai would create it then you just place it into an ai um software that would basically generate it to voice and then you can say okay play and then you basically get your sermon you don't even and it will be better than any church you go to in the local area or even any sermon you listen to online just try to think wrap your mind around the ramifications of that or it will be better than any podcast you listen to Now, I may not be feeling well, and I may be on the verge of death, but it's hard for me not right at this moment to go, what am I doing? Not because I'm making a bad decision in broadcasting when I probably shouldn't, but it makes me question deeper. There's no point in my existing. There really is no point. There really isn't. You now are going to be able to create your own, if you want, your own podcast about any topic you want. You're like, I want a theology podcast on this. AI can generate not only the text, it can generate the voice. So do you want to hear a completely AI-generated episode of the Theology Central Podcast. I'm just going to assume that everyone... I love the contrast here, right? Because here's what you're going to think. Well, considering how much, considering that your episode this morning was complete trash, considering that you spent over an hour and you gave us garbage this morning, yeah, I would prefer to hear AI. And listen, I'm with you. So we're gonna sit back and for the next 10 minutes and 48 seconds, AI is gonna do this. Now, I didn't, you know, check this to see if there's any mistakes. I was checking it at the beginning and it was doing this weird like, hey, I owe you. It was like just stating some like random numbers and letters. It was weird. It would be like a point, it would be like, Psalm 91, 14 says this, A-I-O-U, behold this. And it was like, well, what is the A-I-O-U? It was like some weird language. It almost sounded like it was a foreign language. I'm like, is A-I speaking in tongues? What is going on here? What is happening? I have no idea why it was doing that. I have no idea. So I had to take the text, cut it, then paste it in Apple Notes. Because it was putting these weird little symbols at the beginning where you would have each paragraph break. It was putting these weird symbols. And I was like, what is this? When I posted it or when I pasted it in Apple Notes, it erased all of those weird symbols, just gave it text. Then I pasted it back into the AI program. and all of that was gone. So I'm assuming it's not there in the speech. So I have not reviewed everything, but that's okay. If we find any mistakes, we'll see. I mean, you know, we're going to find out what it did and didn't do, but AI created this entire episode. It did take a while for my cutting and pasting and adding to remove it, but as far as it took about maybe five seconds for AI to generate all of the text. And then it converted it to voice. That took about a minute, maybe two minutes. So if you take everything, all the text that you're going to hear, all the words, it generated all the words, converted it to voice or converted it to audio, it did everything in about two minutes. Probably, I'll just say two minutes, maybe less than two, maybe a minute and 35 seconds, but it was less than two minutes, maybe right at two minutes. I still think it was less. It did everything. Now, just try to wrap your mind around that, right? I mean, if there's a news story, I mean, literally, this is what I could do. There's a news story. I could be like, huh, okay, AI, break this news story down from a theological perspective. All right, copy, boom. Paste it here. All right, boom. All right, generate audio, download audio, upload it. Boom, go live. And immediately, I can go live with a completely generated AI episode of the Theology Central podcast. Basically, I become nothing more than just the person pushing the button. There's no reason for me to even speak. All right. So, if today's the last day, right, if I was to die right now, at least I know hey, nobody's gonna, I mean, nobody was gonna miss me anyway, but now it'll be like, it'll be even less missing me. It'd be like, who cares? Theology Central Podcast, I can make my own. And it's better than that idiot. It's really kind of depressing when you realize basically you are irrelevant. I don't think pastors are ever going to acknowledge that, but I'm sorry, all of your preaching and teaching, you're irrelevant. I can get better in seconds. You can try to convince people all day, you're chosen by God, you're anointed by God. You can talk the big spiritual game. When it comes down to it, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The church is irrelevant other than its social functions that it can provide. I don't know when we're gonna wake up, but this is gonna prove it. So are you ready? I know I waited 16 minutes. I know I've kept you listening. Here we go. Artificial intelligence is about to teach you about two passages in the book of Psalms, that's sort of the Lord newspaper, utterly mishandled, right? And I bet you we could find a million sermons that probably would handle it in a questionable way. Am I going to agree with everything AI has to say about it? Probably. I don't even know everything it said. I didn't sit there and examine it to get into a discussion, right? But if I broke down the entire discussion, once again, I could have just taken the text uploaded it or pasted it into the text-to-voice converter, and then just had AI do it. But here we go. Here's AI. The volume is probably not as loud as it should be. I probably should have amplified it, but I didn't. But here we go. For the next 10 minutes, you're going to hear AI basically give you a Theology Central podcast episode. Here we go. Today on the Theology Central podcast, we are going to examine specific verses in the Book of Psalms to see if they can be applied to us or if they should only be applied to the original audience. Psalm 6011 says, Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. KJV. To determine whether this verse can be applied to us today, it's important to consider the verse within its context. Psalm 60 is a lament and prayer of David during a time of military distress. It reflects Israel's national struggle, a cry for God's intervention, and an acknowledgment of the insufficiency of human strength or alliances. David's plea for God's help comes in the context of covenant promises to Israel and God's relationship with his chosen people. Key Considerations 1. Immediate Context The verse reflects a historical moment where David, as the leader of Israel, acknowledges that human efforts and alliances cannot secure deliverance in battle. It is a plea rooted in Israel's covenant relationship with God, where their victories depended on his favor. 2. Timeless Principle The verse expresses a universal truth, the limitations of human effort and the necessity of relying on God for ultimate deliverance. This truth can resonate beyond the historical and covenantal context of Israel. For Christians, it aligns with the broader biblical teaching that God is our source of help and strength, for example, Psalm 46, 1, John 15, 5. Three, application to us, today. While Christians are not under the same covenant as Israel, the principle of trusting God over human means applies to all believers. However, care must be taken not to misapply the verse, for instance. Spiritually, it can be rightly applied as a reminder of our dependence on God for salvation and spiritual sustenance, as human efforts are inadequate for these. Physically, we must avoid misapplying it to guarantee material deliverance or success. The New Testament does not promise believers freedom from trouble, but assures God's presence and sustaining grace. For example, 2 Corinthians 12, 9, 10. Conclusion Psalm 60 11 contains a truth that can be applied to us in principle. Reliance on God is essential because human strength is limited. However, its specific application should be understood in light of the original context, David's plea for military deliverance, and the broader teachings of Scripture. While we can use this verse to remind ourselves to trust in God's sovereignty, we should avoid directly equating it to our personal situations in the same way it applied to Israel under the Old Covenant. Now let's consider Psalm 91.14. Psalm 91.14 says, Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name, KJV. To determine whether this verse can be applied to us today, we must examine its original context, meaning, and theological implications. Context of Psalm 91. Psalm 91 is a poetic declaration of God's protection for those who trust in Him. It speaks of deliverance, safety, and God's faithfulness. The psalm likely reflects the experiences of those who seek refuge in God during times of danger. Verse 14 transitions to God speaking directly, promising deliverance and exaltation to the one who loves and knows him. Key considerations. One, immediate context. The verse refers to God's promises to the faithful individual who loves him, set his love upon me, and knows his name. This reflects an intimate relationship with God marked by love, trust, and recognition of his character. These promises are rooted in the covenant relationship between God and His people, particularly Israel. 2. Covenantal and Christological Fulfillment While Psalm 91 has a general application to those who trust in God, it finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. For example, the New Testament cites Psalm 91 during Satan's temptation of Jesus, Matthew 4, 6. And Jesus' perfect obedience and trust in God embody the psalm's promises. 3. Principle for Believers Today, The promise of deliverance for those who love God is consistent with the broader biblical theme of God's care for his people. Romans 8, 28, John 14, 21. However, spiritual deliverance, the New Testament emphasizes God's ultimate deliverance from sin and eternal separation. Colossians 1, 13, 14. Physical Deliverance. While God may intervene to protect believers in specific circumstances, there is no guarantee of physical safety in this fallen world. John 1633 to Timothy 312. 4. Conditionality of the Promise. The promise is tied to setting one's love upon God and knowing his name. This implies an ongoing faithful relationship with God. For Christians, this love and knowledge are expressed through faith in Jesus Christ. Application to us today. Spiritual Deliverance. This verse can be applied to us spiritually, as God promises deliverance and eternal security for those who love and trust Him in Christ. John 10 28 29. Physical Deliverance We should not misapply this verse to claim guaranteed protection from all earthly harm. Christians may face suffering, persecution, and physical death, but God promises His sustaining grace and ultimate deliverance in eternity. 2 Corinthians 4.17.18 Relationship with God. The focus on setting love upon God and knowing His name emphasizes the relational aspect of faith. For believers, this means growing in love and trust through Christ, who reveals the fullness of God's name. John 17, 6. Conclusion. Psalm 91. 14 can be applied to us in principle, particularly in its spiritual promises of deliverance and exaltation through Christ. However, care must be taken not to apply it directly to guarantee physical safety or material blessings. The verse ultimately points us to the deeper truth of God's care for those who trust in Him, culminating in eternal deliverance through faith in Jesus. Summary of what we can learn from Psalm 60, 11, and Psalm 91, 14. 1. Dependence on God Both verses highlight the necessity of relying on God for deliverance, protection, and help. Human strength and wisdom are insufficient for ultimate deliverance, and our dependence should be rooted in a faithful relationship with Him. 2. God's Faithfulness These verses assure us that God is faithful to those who love and trust Him. His care is grounded in His covenantal character and promises, which remain applicable to His people. 3. Spiritual Emphasis While these verses may reflect physical deliverance in their original context, for example, military victories or safety from danger, their deeper application points to spiritual truths, trusting in God for ultimate salvation and finding refuge in His character. 4. God's Relationship with His People The promises in these verses are relational, tied to knowing and loving God. They remind us that God desires a deep, intimate connection with His people, marked by trust and obedience. Warnings and Cautions when Reading, Studying, and Teaching the Psalms 1. Avoid over-spiritualization or over-literalization. The Psalms are poetic and use imagery, metaphors, and hyperbole. Care must be taken not to over-literalize promises—for example, guaranteed physical protection—or over-spiritualize them in a way that disconnects from their original meaning. 2. Consider historical and covenant context. Many Psalms reflect the unique covenant relationship between God and Israel. Promises made to Israel may not directly transfer to individuals today, but can still point to principles about God's character and faithfulness. Three, beware of misapplication. Avoid using the Psalms to guarantee specific outcomes, for example, health, safety, victory in life. While they contain timeless principles, applying them as blanket promises without considering their original context can lead to disappointment and theological error. 4. Interpret in Light of Christ The Psalms often foreshadow Christ and find their ultimate fulfillment in Him. For Christians, understanding how the Psalms point to Jesus helps us apply them correctly to our lives. 5. Balance Encouragement with Reality The Psalms contain both expressions of trust and lament. While they provide comfort, they also reflect the challenges of life. Teach both aspects to avoid presenting a one-sided view of faith. 6. Account for Genre Recognize that the Psalms are songs and prayers meant for worship, reflection, and encouragement. They are not systematic theology or direct promises to all people in all situations. 7. Teach Humility and Submission to God's Will Emphasize that God's ways are higher than ours, and while He is faithful, His deliverance may not always align with our expectations, for example physical deliverance versus eternal deliverance. Key takeaway for teaching the Psalms When teaching or studying the Psalms, emphasize their poetic richness, theological depth, and spiritual application. Focus on God's character and His relationship with His people while cautioning against reading them as personal guarantees of specific outcomes. Always interpret them through the lens of Christ and the whole of Scripture to avoid misapplication. Thank you for joining us for this Artificial Intelligence Created and Hosted episode of the Theology Central Podcast. Who needs humans when AI can do things better? And there you have it. Who needs humans when AI can do it better? I mean, AI, I was going to say she. It's a female voice. AI broke down Psalm 61 and Psalm 91. I believe it's Psalm 61 and 91. Broke it down far better than any other person could. And it gave the warnings of, don't misapply this. Hey, these aren't blanket promises. Hey, don't do this. Hey, be careful about applying them to this. Don't do this. Here's the warnings when preaching and teaching and reading the Psalms. Make sure you do this. Make sure you balance it with reality. Make sure you do this. Check all of this. Hey, and it gives the original context, breaks it down. What is it saying? What are the principles highlighted? It, I guarantee you, in that 10 minutes, AI broke down those two verses and the Psalms better than I bet you most sermons that you can find will do. Now, you may like the sermons because you like the preacher's pacing. You like the sound of their voice. You like anything. But just look at that. AI, there was no mistakes. It didn't mispronounce anything. There wasn't any having to swallow, wasn't any weird sounds with the voice, wasn't anything. Nothing was mispronounced, nothing was read, everything was at an even pace. Now, you may say it was very monotone, doesn't have the inflection and maybe excitement. Yeah, some of that will be missing currently, but that sounds like a human being to me. That doesn't sound like artificial intelligence. So if it's already that good, and I didn't even mess with the settings, I could have slowed it down a little bit. I could have sped it up. There's all kinds of settings I could mess with. I probably could have fine-tuned it to even be a little bit better, a little bit slower, maybe a little bit more pausing to make it even more lifelike. But if you listen to that, it sounds like a person breaking down two verses in the Psalms better than preachers, better than preachers. Look, we're in January the 26th. We're at January the 26th. We really started our focus on AI, you know, all of January. We haven't even reached the end of the month. And I said, you know, AI is going to be the focus all of 2025. I think we've already proven AI can do anything, can do everything better, can do everything. Why? You don't need people. It can do things better. Now, I know it'll be interesting to see the reactions, but I think people are, I prefer listening to people. Oh, okay. Now, you may prefer to listen to people, but maybe people can speak better. Maybe people can be more engaging, but you almost want those people to then speak the words that AI gives them because AI breaks down the text better than people. I don't think I've ever heard any pastor that cautious about, okay, be careful with these passages. Make sure we don't over-spiritualize them. Make sure we don't misapply them. Make sure we place them in their original context. Oh, we can't make these blanket promises. It broke down two passages and then gave you a summary of what we can learn and what we need to be careful of in regards to reading, studying, and teaching the Psalms. And it did all of that in 10 minutes. All right, I just wanted to do this really quick, just so that you could hear it, since I just put it together. And there you have it. AI can now... Now as a tool, I mean, I could use it all kinds of different ways, you know? Hey, here's today's news. Far as I know, there's no copyright on it, right? Now, it could be taking news, I would just have to say, I would ask, I would take news articles, give it to news article, give the news articles to AI, then ask AI to summarize, outline, you know, break down these news articles, okay, from a factual perspective, then analyze it, critique it from a theological perspective, put it all together, copy it, boom, hand it to the AI, you know, basically podcast episode maker, boom, there we go, download the audio, and I can say, good afternoon everyone, here's your latest news from a biblical and theological point of view, hit the button, sit there for 15, 20 minutes, there we go, AI just gave you the news. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Theology Central Podcast. I mean if you really think about it, if you're willing to do the work – now I would have to spend a whole lot of money because I did like the starter package to really be able to do everything that you want where it's just like unlimited. You can just convert, convert, convert, convert, convert. You basically – there would be no reason you couldn't almost basically broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There would be no reason. If I did any Bible teaching, then I could have AI, hey, give me an in-depth, an in-depth, see, I can't even speak right, exegetical study of Genesis 14, verses one through seven. Okay, whatever, okay, all right, good. All right, hey, and then just play it. Just let it play everything. Hey, welcome everyone to this episode of Theology Central Podcast. Today, we're going to be looking at Genesis 14, one through seven. All right, boom. And then just sit back and let it go. When it finishes, go to another AI-generated episode. You could do like seven hours of AI-generated episodes. Then you could come back in. You could do 15 hours of AI-generated episodes. You could just basically broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And it could be a mixture of you and AI. You and AI. AI could give you devotionals. AI could create Bible quizzes. AI could create, I mean, you basically could create a radio station of AI-generated content that would be 24-7. And I guarantee you the AI-generated content will be better than the actual people preaching sermons. I don't even know how to wrap my mind around that. But all right, thank you for listening. Everyone have a great day, great evening, night, morning, week. I don't even know what time it is. I don't know anything currently, but let's hope, hoping that now somewhere over the next few hours, I will slip into a deep coma and you will never hear from me again. Okay, now I wanna wake up from the coma, but yeah, let's hope and then I can be reset, but yeah. All right, thank you for listening. I don't know what to say. The future is here and I don't know what to make of it. God bless.