Faith without religion.
Acts chapter 10, Gentiles, Holy Spirit
In a recent discussion on Acts Chapter 10, Shawn McCraney and his daughter Delaney delve into the story of Cornelius and Peter, exploring themes of faith, religious tradition, and the spread of Christianity to the Gentiles. Shawn emphasizes his role not as a pastor but as a father, sharing his beliefs with his daughter and their audience. The conversation highlights the significance of Peter’s vision and Cornelius’s devout nature, illustrating the breaking of traditional Jewish laws to embrace Gentiles into the faith.
The dialogue also touches on the historical context of the early church, the influence of Roman and Greek cultures, and the evolution of religious doctrines over time. Shawn and Delaney discuss the complexities of religious authority, the role of early church fathers, and the schisms that led to the formation of different Christian denominations. They explore the challenges of maintaining doctrinal purity while avoiding the institutionalization of faith, advocating for a return to a more personal and spiritual connection with God.
This engaging exchange offers insights into the dynamic nature of faith, the importance of free will, and the ongoing quest for truth in a world shaped by diverse religious traditions.
Podcast Transcript:
hey Acts chapter 10 we’re here and I
don’t get the Bible I’m Sean mccraine
and I’m sitting here with my youngest
daughter Delaney and you know what I
want to say something I haven’t said
this but um in just to know in my I’m
not here as a pastor I’m here as her dad
and as her dad and as a pastor whatever
I say I want to make sure it’s the truth
to her and to the rest of our family
they’re the most important material
thing I have in my life is my family and
so
I am sharing with her I’m not sharing
with her religion I’m sharing with her
what a dad actually
believes and what I believe I hope is
couched in the truth now I’m going to be
wrong sometimes but I think I’m going to
be wrong about facts and dates and
people’s names like Phillip but I think
we’re going to get the gist of it right
and but there’s no more important
audience for me than this girl right
here right now so thanks for tuning in
thanks
D um all right so Acts chapter 10 is
where we’re at now um I I kind of don’t
have a ton of questions for this but
it’s uh because it’s like one big long
story yeah pretty self-explanatory yeah
so the one basic question just at the
very start was um well sorry the the
story is about Cornelius and Peter
Cornelius this is for the audience I
suppose but um
Cornelius is just a guy he’s a centurion
of the of the band called The Italian
band I didn’t know what that was that
military really great band they’re
almost as good as
Metallica nost of it down yeah yeah
System of a Down you can tell where our
musical tastes Li uh no um you know um
they had bands of army milit yeah you’re
right military Expressions within the
Roman army and he was a leader okay
Centurion of the band is a position
Centurion I think that would be a 100
people right not a thousand no yeah
century is 100 okay um Cornelius is
characterized as devout and he’s the
whole story is he saw a vision that said
to gather a couple guys and go get Peter
and then at the same time Peter had a
dream or a vision about being picked up
or no his was about um food and he’s
saying I don’t
uh that the heavens opened up a vessel
came down like a great cloth let down on
the earth in it were beasts and birds
and a voice saying take these for food
and he’s saying no they’re common and
un Peter said back no they’re common and
unclean can you believe that Peter said
to a voice from Heaven That’s How Strong
religious culture and demands are he
literally told the voice from Heaven no
I’m not eating that stuff yeah diet is
like it’s people’s religion it’s more
important to them than God yeah there
are people who would rather uh not eat a
Cheeto than worship God Peto is the same
way because food was so divisive from
the rest of the world when God created
the nation of Israel no Lobster all
these unclean animals all these clean so
that was their religion that was really
really important and you can tell cuz
Peter the Apostle says no well the other
side of that is that he could it could
be that it’s like a test I feel like
that’s how I would feel if someone said
eat this he I’d be like I’m not no like
what you know did are youing me God no
perhaps do he ever work like that does
he tempt people that’s James says God
does not tempt nor can he be tempted he
doesn’t tempt man but we have learned in
our study of of job that there were
lesser gods that he seems to assign to
do that kind of thing I see who love
that kind of thing and he gives them
their free will to go and tempt that’s
what they do I think tempt yeah wow I
didn’t know that tempt and try and test
and Shameless plug that’s in the verse
by verse teachings at verse byv
teaching.com
yes which is a part of the great news
network Sor you can new thing we just
released the great news network just go
to that site and you can get access to
everything yes we’re starting to
Shameless plug ourselves aren’t we it’s
required for people to understand
because it’s really hard to understand
what we’ve done so yeah it’s just to
explain
um so there are there are other gods
that do tempting so Temptation
isn’t like specifically correlated to
evil or like the devil it means to try
to test so yeah and there are passages
that says that God will allow quote
unquote I’m putting allow there uh
things to happen in order to prove to
test now what does that say to Free
Will that there is Free Will yeah yeah I
mean the the calvinist and a heart hard
core atheist does not believe in Free
Will there’s no such thing and I think
throughout the scripture you can see God
is giving us the chance to choose yeah
yeah yeah there’s a point in a couple
chapters where I realized acts in
particular is so like um it’s like
people flying literally by the seat of
their pants like
just things just they don’t know what
they’re doing they’re going from one one
step to the next yeah God’s involved in
that and it feels like it’s very
circumstantial and not
orchestrated so let me ask you isn’t
that how your life is that’s how it
feels when you are un when you’re with
God yeah I didn’t I think I was brought
I have been brought to God through that
uncertainty but before knowing him I
thought there was some sort of certainty
where you can play I think people do
that they do people plan yeah but and
there’s two sides to that people plan
and God laughs yeah true yeah but it
does definitely feels like the closer
you get to him the more you have to the
the more like step by step it is and out
of your control and it is scary and
that’s why he is pleased when you decide
in that fear to trust him instead of
your own power
yeah um so I love Peter when he does
that me too it’s funny it’s it’s um and
what’s with the net that lowers down a
bunch of animals in a in a cloth I it
wasn’t even I just decided I didn’t
understand what that meant but I don’t
know get it it’s like a it was at the
corners like it it I just see every time
I’ve seen a picture of it oh cuz it
looks like it’s like a big like what you
a basket kind of because people just
depict it that way yeah I don’t I don’t
I know Heaven’s open up vessel comes
that’s my notes how does it actually say
it I don’t know
but Peter went up to the top of the
house it’s interesting too cuz he had
this dream cuz it says he was in need of
food but while they’re getting it ready
a deep sleep came came on him and he saw
the heavens opening up and he dreamt
about food yeah is that sounds like he
was hungry it was lunchtime he went up
on the roof top that’s kind of what I
mean by like these it feels
circumstantial like he’s hungry and so
he’s dreaming about food sort and like
maybe that’s how God works yeah I’m
sorry I’m kind of talking a lot but
there is this
idea that we get from even the tanaku
Old Testament where he God can only work
in Windows of opportunity in a world
that he’s given his creation’s Free Will
so it seems like he will kind of slip in
when it’s opportune we have the idea
that God is like I’m doing it now here
it is and everything is that way I think
to give us free will he’s like looking
for ways to get in there and give us and
so maybe this was the time yeah it feels
like just by experience that feels
correct like you allow him or you don’t
allow him and also
by like like reading like it just really
does seem like that but um okay
so it’s unclear I think to both Peter
and Cornelius like why this is happening
right like
Cornelius just knows he’s supposed to go
get Peter and Peter just knows he had
that dream and that men came right after
and picked him up yeah and to the point
where he go he knew in advance and he
said he goes down and says I’m who you
want why are you here yeah and doesn’t
that coincide with what we talked about
I think in one of our last ones where uh
the inspiration doesn’t just work one
way with God yeah there’s an example
says I I got a word from God about you
or something we need to get married oh
really I haven’t had that yeah yeah
that’s a big one in like Mormonism yeah
you’re going to be my wife yeah men you
know they love pulling that one on
religious
girls yeah not just Mormons right it’s
it’s everybody nazarin there you go for
sure
um okay so I did a lot of paraphrasing
because it I don’t you know
um so Peter goes down I’m who you want
while are you here they say Cornelius
had a word to send for you Peter
takes them in and then the next day they
go to
cesaria is that how you say it mhm
sure it’s probably queria if it’s if
it’s a Greek thing like Killian Murphy
but we don’t say that we say Caesar not
Kaiser oh true yeah Kaiser yeah yeah but
it’s probably cesaria I don’t know I
make up how to pronounce that stuff and
Cornelius sees Peter when they get there
and he falls down to worship Him Peter
says get up I’m just a
man
um yeah I kind of wondered how common
that was like were these men like being
worshiped by this point they were like
known very common for humans to but
remember the word there for worship is
Pruno and it means to prostrate oneself
and they did it before Kings
Lords as a sign of respect okay Peter
just like saying you know that is only
worthy for God okay so many gathered
there and he said
um Peter made the point that like you
guys know it’s against the law to be in
my company someone of another nation’s
company and I just wanted to clarify
that that’s like Nation meaning Jew and
Gena like the so which is implies then
cuz I didn’t realize this that later it
talks about how they’re Gentiles but
that implies there that they were
Gentiles yeah and but Cornelius is a Jew
like why would they well Cornelius um
yeah he’s a Jew I think he could have I
don’t no no wait what am I talking about
Cornelius is not a Jew Cornelius is a
gentile this is when Peter is going to
use those keys to open up the doors for
the gospel to go to the Gentiles to the
Gent I did realiz that well we’re going
to get there but I didn’t realize that
Cornelius himself was a gentile he was
an Italian and God gave him a vision
yeah wow and it says he it calls him a
devout man fearing God with all his
family he gave much money to the poor he
prayed he made prayer to God at all
times yeah wow yeah so and what that
says to me is that there are people with
and without religion who are devout and
good Cornelius was one of them he had a
heart for a a power that was bigger than
him he didn’t know the uh Jesus and he
didn’t know all that but he was still
devout and so that’s the point is we
want to reach to people who are devout
and seek and have a heart for this we
don’t care about people playing religion
there’s no sense in wasting your time on
a Sunday going to a church if your heart
is not
devout um I’m realizing this is so dumb
but we talk about Jews and then we talk
about Greeks but then we talk about
Romans and Romans are Italians like I I
think of them as distinct from Italians
for some reason but oh they’re Italians
obviously how are Greeks in this area if
it’s Italy they’re in Rome or where I
don’t they’re in
cesaria and he was over a 100 men that
were represented the Roman
government and he was a man of power but
he was also a man who had Faith okay so
there’s there’s Jerusalem yeah which is
Jews yeah there’s
Rome way far away way far away in Italy
they’re very far but this whole time
like like the Jews in Jerusalem must be
un like we’ve talked about this they’re
under Roman rule
yeah almost the whole world was under
Roman rule okay okay okay however when
Alexander the Great came in and he
started to dominate he helped henize or
turn the culture of Rome more toward
Greek things too so you have Italians
who could be
heniz more and more toward Greek
thinking why
Greek like Greece like Greece feels
feels like an arbitrary thing here right
now I’m real I’m like that’s the thing
I’m trying to identify is how Greeks
come in this because it was the lingua
franka of that area they were speaking
Greek and they Romans proba Jew and some
Jew some Latin yeah it’s a mix it’s like
this you know and there’s this like
Confluence of different cultures coming
in and he happened to be a Roman soldier
who believed in God uhhuh although the
Romans they allowed in their empire your
right to worship Gods whatever kind of
gods you wanted that’s how open and
liberal they were okay so uh he was
considered a gentile but everybody was a
gentile who was not of the House of
Israel by Blood okay yeah
so
so like if
someone’s you know I’m just thinking
about
different parts of the Bible that I do
know and trying to piece them together
so like
Jesus like the story of Jesus’s
crucifixion everyone talked about there
is Romans like if they aren’t Jews
they’re Romans rans because they’re
soldiers or what but there could have
been Greeks around there could have been
Greeks there too and there could have
been people from uh Ethiopia and there
could have been because remember they
all the Jews came to Jerusalem every
three times a year as commanded so they
had this influx coming into that area so
you had a mixture and those when you say
all the Jews come that means Jews could
be like we talked about before they
could be Ethiopian Jews they could be
Roman Jews yeah Roman Jews sure okay and
then also piecing something where it
says like jewers and also for the Greek
so Greek is a term of saying everybody
else okay and just to let you know a
Roman Jew
was Paul a Roman Jew oh wow he’s from
Tarsus Roman Jew and he was a under the
Roman Empire he was protected by their
laws I Tarsus is near Rome no I don’t
think it’s near Rome but it was part of
the Empire and he was a citizen he was
natur he was born you know you can
become adopted into a citizenry he was
born into it so he uses that defense
later to say hey you can’t do this to me
I’m a natur born citizen of this Empire
wow
okay wow I didn’t I’ve never thought to
like question that yeah it’s pretty you
got to really be a historian to get all
of it and I’m not but you know no but it
was just weird to read it as Italian
like you would think it’s Ro I know like
Italian seems separate I know reason
know those darn Romans are all Italian
they’re
Italian which is so and Greek they’re so
different from Jews or Judea So
Different yeah and now Peter he hasn’t
been called to the Gentiles so he’s in a
Jewish area he’s in Israel he’s in uh
cesaria so he’s still reaching out to
Jews right so this is really new for him
he’s only been I mean they couldn’t even
touch a gentile they were unclean so for
him to go into their home and all this
this is big for Peter okay yeah and he
that’s what what he’s saying in whatever
verse that is
so okay
um so Peter is there he he says that
like you guys know this is against the
law and but he says but I but I had this
dream or God made it clear to me and so
I came without question
and then he asks Cornelius why did you
send for me um and so yeah again they’re
basically both there unaware of like why
this is happening and Cornelius tells
the vision and Peter’s reply to that is
just to tell this group about the great
new the good news yeah and that’s verses
34 to 43 of chapter 10 if okay which I
don’t someone can read that if they want
want but it’s the whole synopsis of
Jesus’s life and what he
did um and then it ends with saying
while Peter said this the Holy Spirit
came down on those who were hearing the
word no laying on of hands no laying on
of hands no baptism yeah and baptisms
brought up but the Holy Spirit came onto
them first yes and Jews of the faith
were full of wonder because it fell on
Gentiles say and those people talked in
tongues and gave glory to God and then
Peter said will any man say that these
men may not have baptism who has been
given this Holy Spirit as we have yeah
um and he gave orders for them to have
baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and
they kept him with them for some days
again not in the name of Father Son and
Holy Spirit and and notice that
um we talk about boxing God in and here
we have an instance everyone so religion
today they’ll say you got to be baptized
then you receive the Holy Spirit then
you speak in tongues the Mormons say you
have to be worthy to be baptized then
you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
by men giving it to you but they’ve
gotten rid of the tongues part here we
have the Holy Spirit falling first and
then them speaking in tongues and then
they get baptized so you can’t box God
in the spirit goes where it wants and
that’s something we emphasize in in what
we do is that you you are led by the
spirit you are and so am I and we go our
ways we don’t judge each other we let
that freedom and liberty go and we’re
getting a first example of it and so we
can see that Peter believe that they
needed to be water baptized
right water yeah because he says what is
there anything stopping them from being
baptized right yeah yeah
um
correct dang I had a question and now
I’m forgetting it sorry
dang it you got me off track it’s my
fault sorry everybody you see what it’s
like being a
dad I got her off
track no that was that was really
critical of course
um all right well we can conclude
chapter 10 with that all right so this
now uh Delaney this is big because now
Peter is offered it to the world yeah
okay I think that was my question you
mentioned this is Peter turning the keys
like he was prophesied to do
and my question is if that’s like a your
interpretation or is it like commonly
understood that way Protestants see that
okay yeah Catholics they see Peter as
the first pope who had the keys for
everything and he then led the church
until he laid hands and gave that power
to another Pope orthodoxies Russian
Eastern orthodoxies Greek they believe
the same thing but they diverge on who
were being led whoa yeah so they all
have the same origin Peter and they all
claim to have an Apostolic line of
authority that they live by but they
they split on how that Authority went
and where their Schism was so they fight
with each other I’m real like when did
that happen there’s I imagine that Greek
Orthodox comes from like Greeks at that
time figuring out their own it sounds
like that but no what is it what
happened was
uh the Catholic Church got its legs by
men trying to play religion that was
formalized and systematized by a guy
named
Constantine and he made it like the
religion of the state mandatory
which you know Christianity yeah and you
know that doesn’t work you can’t impose
faith on people well he did that and
then from that we have uh these
different meetings where they decide on
what’s heresy and what’s not this isn’t
good this isn’t good and will vote and
they had all kinds of controversies and
then they established Creeds and the
Creeds State this is what Christians
believe I don’t believe the Creeds I
don’t believe what they did with them
all the way out
1054 1054 that was a unified body of
Believers in the Catholic church when
was constan he was in the 300s oh yeah
that wasn’t that long after 700
years yeah 105 no 300 isn’t far I mean
300 years after oh no it wasn’t far they
were falling apart with the early church
fathers before Catholicism ever came
together all you got to do is read the
early church fathers stuff and you’ll
see they contradict each other they
don’t agree and they always insert some
sort of false Doctrine oh my gosh what
do the Protestants and the Catholics and
orthodoxies look to the early church
fathers to substantiate their Traditions
but they never agree and they’re always
off because men are off it’s in the
hands of the spirit the early sorry the
early church fathers are Constantine
time before way before like you’re
talking in the uh uh
polycarp early church fathers aren’t the
apostles no the apostles all died Jesus
came back as he promised took his small
bride of pure people and from there
those who were left were left to to
share what they believed and they were
all they weren’t taken so to me they
weren’t yeah that’s what left this in
the mess that we’re in God get light
came on light came on isn’t that
amazing yeah these the early church
fathers were uh alive in the time of 70
AD uh some were alive but they weren’t
there to witness it and they obviously
uh there was nobody there to record it
yeah so they just kept going on the
tradition that we have to keep this
church moving forward materially yeah
and so they started Idol not idolizing
they started lifting up men yeah early
church fathers polycarp and tulon and
all these different people right okay
there’s a whole bunch of them and they
all kind of symbiotically incestuously
create this body of Doctrine but it
automatically had error in it Paul when
he was alive said we’re already falling
apart the enemies are here in the gate
it just got worse and worse but the
argument could be that
like we obviously still believe God or
the spirit Works after Jesus’s return
abely so like early church fathers could
have had the spirit in them could have
but the spirit with the with the
recorded word Old Testament is how we
determine the Canon of the faith they
started to create their own canon
meaning their own scripture their own
interpretation of scripture no
differently than the nation of Israel
did with the law so this is just like a
historic repetition of what people do
with religion when God made it clear
Jesus made it clear go to Jerusalem wait
the holy spirit will fall it fell on
3,000 souls and there was no Bible to
guide them there was no Traditions to
guide them they were the the bride and
they were the select group that uh Jesus
Took we can’t go into the proofs of if
he took him or not it’s a 400 day
discussion but I would suggest strongly
that it was taken and what was left
behind were good men bad men and they
all thought we need to keep this church
Jesus started
going but they started to throw all
kinds of crazy stuff and by the time we
get to
Constantine he says okay you ear the
church fathers all your ideas and
everything we’ve got this fighting and
we got this Schism they didn’t believe
in a trinity there was no Trinity before
Constantine none wow yeah this is my
argument against it they concocted it
because because Constantine said we have
to be United if we’re going to make this
a state religion and if we’re not United
on the makeup of God we’re not United so
we’re going to take this heresy and this
heresy and this thought and aryanism and
all this and we’re just going to say
what do you guys all agree on and they
have these councils that created
Creeds and uh so long story short I know
we’ve gone on after Catholicism reigned
for a thousand years literally they they
controlled the narrative they controlled
the scripture it’s in history known as
the Dark Ages you know uh there was an
Eastern group of Believers Eastern
meaning Greek meaning Greek speakers and
they said we don’t agree with what
you’ve done oh wow we’re breaking off
and it’s called the great schism from
Catholicism from Catholicism and they
became the Eastern Orthodox
representation where you find examples
of it in Russia and Greek and anywhere
where the Eastern influence comes
through that’s what we had that in in uh
1510 out maybe a little bit before
there’s been other real Christians
coming along but in the 1500s this dude
named Martin Luther said I’m reading
this Bible and you Catholics don’t have
it right and you Orthodoxy don’t have it
right and that started the Protestant
Reformation and then from there after
that in we have what’s called uh uh
restorationism that’s what Joseph Smith
was part of and LG white and Russell M
Taz and all these people who founded
these churches like Seventh Day
Adventist Jehovah’s Witness Mormon
they’re all trying to restore it what
Jesus originally started wow yeah
because they couldn’t see Catholicism
being right they couldn’t see Orthodoxy
being right and they couldn’t see
protestantism being right Joseph Smith
said these guys just fight with each
other yeah but instead of going to what
the Bible says as the holy spirit’s in
charge he tried to reformat another
material religion and none of them have
escaped scrutiny and that so that’s why
people liken your attempts at what we’re
doing yeah at toward to um Joseph Smith
being another Joseph Smith like there
hasn’t been an a a independent religious
thinker before him or after him it’s so
unfair would you say what you’re doing I
wouldn’t say it’s similar to any of
these people cuz they all made it
material but Martin Luther did the the
same thing as Joseph Smith in some
Martin Luther did the same thing okay so
that’s right Joseph Smith did it we’ll
accept it if we’re Mormon I mean
Constantine did it Constantine did it
did it all they all did it the the
orthodoxies broke off from their line of
authority and did it but if you do it
today the first thing they’ll say is
you’re just trying to be we’re not
trying to do anything original we’re
just trying to say it’s it’s done yeah
that’s the the difference is that they
all were trying to a
Doctrine be institutionalize it
see
uh prolong it and you’re trying to end
it end it and like not perpetuate more
material absolutely we don’t need
another religion we need to get back to
Everybody’s Free in him because of his
death and then his resurrection leave it
alone yeah and that’s a really tricky
spot cuz people
who
like that is is based in Doctrine your
position so people can’t hear something
that’s doctrinal and not think you’re
trying to start a sect but then because
anyone that’s wait sorry and then on the
other side anyone that is trying to end
things it’s not doctrinal and it’s
completely un-based and just
preferential so like you’re in between
that both arguments and so we please
nobody yeah yeah and then the aist hate
all of it so you when you are trying to
get to the truth of something you’ll
always be hated by everybody yeah yeah
you’re not see the see the difficulty
yeah yeah yeah the atheists hate it too
because you it’s so rooted in God like
it’s only about God it’s not about they
are
fine yeah anyway wild wow that’s really
interesting oh we have gone long um um
but that was super good that was super
good I I have more questions about how
the early church fathers before
Constantine did things but maybe for
another episode another episode we can
talk about it you know who’s really good
at it is Grady oh I gr rizley who has
posts with Adnan on our Yuan site yesu
and. Faith yesu Network he’s a man uh
Adan lives in Southern California he was
never raised in any religion but he came
to know the truth he studies and he
knows his stuff Grady has been cut his
teeth on uh organized religion he knows
the Bible like mad he can tell you about
the early church fathers wow I read a
few things and saw that they were off I
just threw them away other people really
want to know yeah yeah oh he should
teach something on that he should Grady
Grady get off your butt put the beer
away and start teaching something that
we can I’m just kidding gry does more
than anyone he really
does uh okay yeah we’ll see you at the
next episode
okay if I can end it on
time
