Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Reverend Ben Coopers podcast, offers an inviting space for listeners to explore Christianity and spiritual growth with wisdom, humor, and a deep commitment to biblical truth. Through Rev. Ben's engaging conversations with guests, the podcast not only explores the timeless wisdom of the Bible but also tackles the pressing issues of life, faith, and hope in a way that is accessible, thought-provoking, and enriching. Whether you’re seeking spiritual nourishment, answers to life’s big questions, or simply a place to reflect on your faith, the Rev Ben podcast is a valuable resource on your journey.
In each episode, Rev. Ben guides listeners through profound theological reflections, personal stories, and practical insights drawn from the Bible and the broader Christian tradition.
Reverend Ben Cooper's Podcast
Against All Odds: (#1077 - Elim)
Thank God I Don’t Fit In – God’s Upside-Down Selection Process
Have you ever felt like you don’t quite fit in? Maybe that’s not a flaw—it’s your calling.
In this bold and confronting episode, Reverend Ben Cooper takes us deep into 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, where the Apostle Paul describes a kingdom where God chooses the foolish, the weak, the lowly, and even the despised to shame the wise and powerful. This is more than encouragement for the underdog—it’s a wake-up call to a generation shaped by credentials, conformity, and cultural approval.
With raw conviction and prophetic clarity, Pastor Ben challenges the Church to examine how deeply it has mirrored the world’s systems. “We are being led by CV people,” he declares, “not by theologians, not by evangelists, and not by Holy Spirit-filled pastors.” This message pulls no punches as it questions the motives behind how Christian leaders are chosen and how spiritual maturity is often overshadowed by polished résumés.
Drawing attention to the gravitational pull of “the crowd,” Ben dives into the dangers of spiritual and cultural conformity. Whether it’s in church culture, social media, or the workplace, the call to fit in is strong—but God’s call is often the exact opposite. Using real-life examples and scripture, he exposes how crowd-pleasing leads to spiritual compromise and warns that the cost of following Jesus often means being misunderstood, rejected, or overlooked.
But the power of this message isn’t in the critique—it’s in the revelation of God’s upside-down kingdom. What the world considers a weakness may be your divine qualification. Your background, brokenness, or lack of influence may be the very reason God can use you. “Thank God I don’t fit in,” Pastor Ben proclaims, boldly embracing the role of the misfit, the outlier, the one set apart.
Whether you’ve felt unqualified, too different, or spiritually sidelined, this message will awaken purpose in your perceived imperfections. Join us for this truth-filled journey into God’s radical method of choosing people, and learn how to stand strong in a world that demands you conform.
1 Corinthians 1:26–31 – God chooses the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong
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faith, identity, misfit, purpose, truth, scripture, calling, leadership, church, gospel, kingdom, courage
Christian podcast about not fitting in, 1 Corinthians 1 explained for modern faith, why God chooses the unqualified, Christian leadership and conformity, how to follow Jesus outside the crowd, spiritual misfit encouragement, Holy Spirit-led leadership podcast, being different as a Christian, overcoming insecurity in faith, God uses the weak for His glory
https://www.pastorbencooper.co.uk/
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Welcome to Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast. We are a radio and podcast ministry based here within the UK. Your support is vital through prayer and through sowing a seed of faith. We are so thankful to have so many people around the globe downloading and listening to our podcasts. Downloading and listening to our podcasts, whether you are on Spotify, apple Podcast, google, alexa, amazon Music and so many other platforms. For more information about our ministry, please find us on pastorbencoopercouk. We would love to hear from you as you partner with us as we reach the world for Jesus Christ. Please send us an email through our contact form on pastorbencoopercouk. Also, you can find our latest books on Amazon under hashtag one, hashtag two and hashtag three under Christian Straight Talk hard-hitting, real-life conversations taken from our podcasts.
Speaker 1:Your financial gifts play a crucial role in supporting our radio ministry, helping us share the gospel through these podcasts and providing free copies of the Gospel of John and Bibles around the globe. Please pray for this ministry as we stretch out beyond the boundaries, as we walk by faith. If you'd like to support our mission, please consider clicking the support button on Spotify, apple Podcasts or Buzzsprout. You can give a one-time gift or set up a regular contribution of three pounds, five pounds, eight pounds or ten pounds. You can also leave a legacy by clicking in the links within pastorbencoopercouk. Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry as we spread the message of hope far and wide through this radio ministry. So, whether you are on the daily commute or at home listening to our podcast, grab a cup of coffee back, relax and enjoy.
Speaker 2:God bless you. Thank you so much for joining us in the house tonight, wherever you are. Thank you to everybody on rb christian radio, whether you're listening, whether you're watching. Wherever you are, we welcome you to the other side of the world and back and beyond, and so we're just going to get straight into the word of god. We're going to have a bit of prayer as well. You know, we're just going to going to take some time out. We're going to break bread together. Thank you to everybody that is downloading all these podcasts, thank you to everybody that is just on the live streams and wherever you are at this moment in time, we're going to jump straight into the Word of God and I'm just going to have a bit of prayer in just a few moments. But I want to just take us to the text that we're going to pick it up in verse 26 through to the end of around about verse 31, just the beginning of chapter 2. So for wherever you are this evening, for those that are taking notes and we know there are a lot of people just want to know what the title of these sermons are, and this podcast will be titled up exactly the same. So it's, against all odds. The title of this podcast, of this service that we're in, is against Against All Odds. So let's just pray, and I'm going to give you that biblical reference again. So we're in 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 26, through to the end of chapter 1, and we'll pick it up in just a few moments.
Speaker 2:Dear God and Heavenly Father, as we come before you, wherever we are across the other side of the world, lord, we thank you for those that are in the house with us tonight. We thank you for those dear God that are on visuals, for those dear God that are in the world of radio with us at this moment in time, scattered across this globe, and for those dear God that are listening to this back, whenever that may be, in the world of audio and the world of podcasts. May God bless them and strengthen them, and let the hand of God be completely with them tonight. So, father, as we come before you, as we rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit, lord, will you lead us in paths of righteousness? Will you guide us for thy namesake? Father, we might be in the valley but, lord, we believe that we're walking through the valley. Lord, we recognize it's just a shadow of death and nothing can take us down. So, father, we thank you that we shall soar on wings as of eagles. Lord, we thank you that all things are possible to those who believe. But, spirit of the Living God, will you make a way in our lives where it seems impossible? Will you close doors of the past and open doors for new beginnings for each and every one of us?
Speaker 2:Spirit of the Living God, we believe that we are healed. Tonight, lord, we pray for the sick. Tonight, we pray for the lame. We pray, lord, that the dead will be raised at the name of Jesus. We pray, lord, for the blind will see. At the name of Jesus, we pray that the lame will walk. We pray that the deaf will hear.
Speaker 2:In the name of Jesus Christ, spirit of the living God, we believe in healing, we believe in miracles, we believe in the power of Word of God. We believe in the love and the glory and the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, will you just open our hearts tonight, lord, as we go into the Word, father, we pray Lord as we read the Word as we see it with our eyes. Lord, father, we pray that we'll see it with our eyes and we'll hear it with our ear gate, lord, and it will penetrate our heart tonight as we read the Word of God together. So, lord, we thank you for those in the house tonight for Bible study. We thank you for those that are in the other side of the world, those that are on live stream, those that are on camera. Lord, we pray for those on radio.
Speaker 2:Lord, whatever means and however, we're listening to this service. We thank you, father, that all of us are in the kingdom of God. So, holy Spirit, will you speak to us tonight, father? Will you send your word to our heart tonight? Lord, will you take away the pain, the worry, the fear? Lord, for those that are suffering with mental health, those that are suffering with fear tonight, lord will you sweep through their lives in the name of Jesus. For those that are worried about finances Lord, take the worry of finances, work pressure, family, children, relationships. Lord, will you strengthen those that feel weary tonight, those that feel lonely, those that feel really down in their boots. Spirit of the living God, we come to you tonight, lord and Father. We thank you that your blessings are over every one of us and we are all Bible-believing believers, spirit-filled, born again. Lord, we thank you that our name is stamped in the Lamb's book of life, in Jesus' precious name, amen, as we said earlier. Good evening to everybody that's in this house with me tonight in the Lord's house. God bless everyone that is on radio. God bless everyone wherever you are at this moment in time. However, you are listening.
Speaker 2:Come on, let's turn into the word of God tonight. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 26, and we're going to go from verse 26 and we're going to go down to the end of that chapter. There, and for those that are making notes, for those that require some form of a title for your journaling and everything that goes along with that, it's titled, titled up Against All Odds. We understand that as Paul, this beautiful apostle, this great writer, this great writer, as he writes this great epistle, as he writes this great piece of literature, as he writes the word of God, as he writes this powerful, anointed, beautiful text, you know, when you look at this scripture, this is really encouraging, because when you in verse 26, what it tells us? It tells us what God does with the ones that the world rejects and the ones that the world casts aside, and the ones that the world laughs at and the ones that the world just says there's no way, there's no way in this way, in this world, there's no way that you'll be able to do this. So we want to encourage you, wherever you are never give up in your dream, never give up in your vision, never give up in hope, never worry about your academic understanding, never worry about the lack of money, never worry about society and culture around you. As we've been saying a lot lately and we've been studying that word, the crowd.
Speaker 2:The crowd is very, very important. We've got to make sure that we are not found in the crowd of society and the crowd of life. We've got to make sure that we are outside of the crowd. We are outside of that situation because the crowd has such a powerful drawing. Outside of that situation, because the crowd has such a powerful drawing, whatever that crowd is doing, you will find, you know, and we get drawn into the crowd. You know, the Bible is extremely clear Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but have your mind, you know, transformed, renewed by the power of God, by the love of God. So it's critical that we test and we check what WhatsApp groups am I in? What groups am I in on social media? What groups am I in at work? You know certain circles that I walk in. I've got to be careful because of the power of the drawing, of the gravity of the vast numbers of people, even in large ministries, even in large churches, the crowd. You get lost in the crowd. We shouldn't be lost in the crowd. There is freedom, and I love this text that Paul writes.
Speaker 2:So let's read from verse 26. It says brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Hallelujah, not many of you were wise by human standard. That's me, lord. Not many were influential, thank you, that's me, jesus. Not many will have noble birth. That's certainly me, lord. Verse 27, it says but God chose the foolish things. Hallelujah Jesus, hallelujah, lord, thank you for choosing me a fool to the world. When you look at these scriptures, let me read it again through its entirety.
Speaker 2:Verse 26 of 1 Corinthians, chapter 1,. It says brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Then he goes on and says not many of you were wise by human standard. Not many were influential. Not many of you were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become from the wisdom of God. That is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts boast in the Lord. How many attributes can you put next to your name? Well, I'm going to take me as the guinea pig of this and I'm going to run through this. And it says think of what you were when I was called. Well, not many were wise. That was me. I was not wise. You know, when you look at that, not many were influential. No chance. Noble birth, there's no chance of that. He chose the foolish things. I was a fool. I was a fool in the world and I thank God for this scripture.
Speaker 2:And it's not about, you know, blowing smoke up someone's chimney. It's not about bigging someone up. It's about showing that God chooses the complete opposite to how the world functions. You know, the church would not choose me. The church and the world look at me for this and I'm not fit for purpose in their eyes, I'm not fit for this calling. In their eyes, I'm not fit to do what I do in the eyes of the worldly church, the establishment and the business church. When you look at the church, it is business orientated, it is business focused, it is money driven, it is driven by numbers, by the size of the congregation, by the size of the audience, because that's what church has become. It has become an audience, it has become a show, it has become all this. You know, we got to make sure that we cut ourselves away from certain areas of church.
Speaker 2:Now I am not talking about the early church, I am talking about the West church, the church within the West, the church that is so woke, that is so weak, that has no power. The church in this nation is powerless. There is no fire in its belly. There's a lot of noise. We've got a lot of drumming going on. There's a lot of drum beats and a lot of drum rolls. There is no fire. The fire where is the fire? Where is the hunger to be a Jesus follower?
Speaker 2:Because this is what the Bible is all about, from Genesis to Revelations. It is about being a Jesus follower, because this is what the Bible is all about, from Genesis to Revelations. It is about being a Jesus follower, about following Jesus. Nothing to do with following the church, but being part of the kingdom of God. And God chose me, a fool. God chose me someone that was weak. God chose me someone that was lowly. God chose me, god chose you. But what is the first thing that he chooses us for? What does he choose us for? What is all this about? Well, as you look at the text, it is. It is in verse 30 that we get an understanding and it says that he who became sorry, he who become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, our holiness and our redemption. It is all about redemption. That is prime. That is first. We are redeemed. God chose the lowly ones to be redeemed.
Speaker 2:Religion look who religion chooses. When you look who religion has chosen for Catholicism. When you look at their CV, look at their past, look at their attributes as human beings. When you look at the Church of England, do you see someone from BR87DX leading the Church of England? No, when you look at their educational background, you won't find anyone from shopping trolley land, pound stretcher land, leading the Church of England You'll find very fine sounding, very educated leaders. They are leaders of education because church is an educating place when actually it has lost all power. It has lost all power because it's choosing its leaders the opposite to how God chooses. How God chooses. God chooses the lowly things. God chooses the ones that the Church of England reject. God chooses the ones that Catholicism rejects. God chooses the ones that are found in the highways and the byways, the smugglers, the thieves, the cutthroats, the tax dodgers let's be real the ones that fill their forms in a little bit wonky, those that are doing a little few strange things on the path of life. God chooses the odd one, the one isn't completely wired, the same as those down the road. He doesn't choose us in fine suits, he doesn't choose us and gets us to that position.
Speaker 2:The Church of England. When you look at the Church of England, in certain areas of ministry and pastors that lead church, they are leading these churches. If you look at Holy Trinity, brompton, if you look at these big areas, if you look at Hillsongs, if you look at the majority of these big organizations, even in certain areas of Elim, certain areas of AOG, certain areas, especially the Church of England and Catholicism. We are being led by educators. We are being led not even by theologians. We're not being led by evangelists. We're not being led by preachers and we're not being led by holy spirit filled pastors. We are being led by cv people people that have a great cv, that have been in business, that have a great business ac. People that have a great CV, that have been in business, that have a great business acumen, people that have been in banking, people that have been in areas of sales, people that can build a business.
Speaker 2:What we want is to be. We want to follow pastors that have been brought up by the scruff of the neck and just live life to the raw end of the stick. Because this is what the Bible says he chooses the lowly, he chooses the despised things. He chooses the things that are not. I've had that pushed in my face all of my life. Cooper, you're going to come to nothing Out of school.
Speaker 2:Get out of this school. You're nothing. Get out. You're a joker, you're a clown, you're an idiot. You didn't get nothing when you sat in your exams. You just sat there. You couldn't even read properly. You got nothing. I sat in every exam and I couldn't do anything. I come out with zeros, nothing. You're a fool, cooper. Who do you think you are? You're a clown. You're the class clown. You're an idiot. You're not even wise. You can't even do your shoes up.
Speaker 2:God chooses the despised things. There are many people in the circle of life that despise you and me. There are many people in our close circles that want to see us fail. There are many people in the close circles of life that are waiting to get that whip and to crack us on the back. Waiting to get that whip and to crack us on the back. People don't like it when God starts to elevate the Davids.
Speaker 2:The classic story is King Saul and young David. King Saul loved David all the time he was in nappies running around his palace. King Saul was okay all the time with David when they was playing Skeletrics with his son Jonathan, when they had the train set out, when they was playing the Lego and they were just kicking the ball around the palace. But as soon as let me tell you this as soon as God starts to shape you into the woman and the man that he wants you to be. But we've got to remind ourselves.
Speaker 2:I am not referring to ministry. I am referring to being the person that God has called you to be as a Christian, as a Bible-believing believer. This pulpit is an add-on. We are talking about the calling. This pulpit is an add-on. You know we are talking about the calling. You know, if the church, if the power sat within the high church and the mainstream church to decide who got saved, there's no chance that a mass amount of us would ever get a look into salvation from the church. If you don't walk a certain way, if you ain't got a few quid coming out your pocket, if you ain't got a certain label on your car, if you don't live in a certain area and you don't fit the criteria, you can't come in. Church is like a club.
Speaker 2:When you look at the majority of how pastors are chosen for churches and what they go through, they are chosen and they are depicted and they sit in front of a council, they sit in X amount of people and their CV is spoken about. Their CV is read. They're achievements in the world. I don't want to be led in a hellhole of a nation by someone that has a great CV, that may be good at mathematics, that can spin a few fine sounding words off their lips. I don't want to be under someone that gives a great story, as in. I want to be under listening to someone that has gone through hell and high water. I want to be listening to someone that has come through the very pain of life, that has got to where they've got on their hands and knees, pulling themselves on the carpet of life. I want to be around someone that has got there not because of the people around them, but because of the spirit of life. I want to be around someone that has got there not because of the people around them, but because of the spirit of God that is in them.
Speaker 2:What we have? We find that we have pastors in positions that they're in simply because they have been chosen, because their ancestors and their family and this, and that People think that this house has been handed on a plate to me. Let me tell you something now. This has been the hardest journey I've ever had in my life when the keys were handed, when the baton was handed over to me. The 27, 28 years I've been in this ministry of this church, let me tell you this clear there's been bloodshed, there's been sacrifice in areas that you would never believe. There has been things that has happened that you would never grasp. I was never given this with a handover of great. Where we are today is literally a miracle. I've got to tell you right now if you are in the valley, you're in a great place. If you are in the valley of the shadow of death, you are in a great place. If you feel like this great writer is writing, if you feel lowly, if you feel like you're a fool, if you feel you just feel weak, you're not matching up to this human standard that the world.
Speaker 2:Look at social media. When you look at social media, you work out really, really fast what a human being should look like. On social media, it is impossible to get to that look because it's almost AI generated. To a degree, it is an artificial look. Pastors and leaders they are so crisp and clean and clear. They squeak when they walk. They are so rubberized. It's crazy. It's crazy what we get drawn to, but it is the influence of the crowd. You don't see anyone with their backside, hanging out of their trousers and shoes, hanging off their feet, preaching the message and hardly dressed in the way. When you look at the preachers on social media, when you look at some of them preachers what they wear. You know. I won't say who it is, but I was reading an article just a few weeks ago. They took this gentleman from across the other side of the pond and they depicted what he was wearing the clothes and the shoes and the belt and the trousers and the jumper and the jacket. It clocked up to over 7,000 pounds just for that one performance. Because that's what we got. We have performing arts before our very eyes across the majority of the globalized church.
Speaker 2:What I want is to follow someone that has got their shirt ripped off their back and telling me that Jesus is real. I want someone to tell me that I've come through so much debt, I've come through absolutely war zones, and when I've come through debt, when I've come through the fight of life, I want to tell you that Jesus showed up in my life. Jesus ain't showing up. When you're wearing 7,000 pounds worth of clothes, you know reciting a simple, weak, woke message. Sisters and brothers, who are you following? Who are you following?
Speaker 2:We've got to be careful of the social media crowd. We scroll when we look at social media and we're on our own. When we scroll and we think that we're just on our own, but there are vast amounts of human beings across the world watching the same, and social media is one of the most dangerous herding mechanisms that we have, because it's herding you to a certain color t-shirt. It's herding you to a certain haircut. It's herding you to a certain car you drive. It's herding you to a certain festival. It's herding you to a certain pub, a certain eatery, a certain pair of shoes, a certain school, a certain look, a certain way that you have to dress. You have to be careful of the herding that is behind the camera. You are unique. You are unique. Whatever way you see the social media robots going go the opposite way. Whatever way you see the church the mass of the church doing go the opposite way. See the church the mass of the church doing go the opposite way.
Speaker 2:In Joshua, in the book of Joshua, chapter 3, from verse 3 and verse 4, it is very clear. We was in it this morning in Coffee and Prayer Online and it was very clear what God was saying. When you see the ark of the covenant starting to move, move out from your position. Don't follow the crowd, but follow the ark. See what happened was God gave them instruction. The instruction was for the individual. The individual followed Jesus, followed Christ, followed the Holy Spirit, followed the Torah, followed the God of Israel, following the ark of Covenant.
Speaker 2:Do not follow the crowd on social media, do not follow the crowd in large churches, do not follow the crowd that is out there in the world. Remind yourself. You are unique, find your own you. You will lose yourself in the crowd. You will lose yourself in the crowd. You will lose yourself in the mega ministry. You will lose yourself in the ivory tower at work and you will be expected to be molded to the shape of the drumbeat of where you go. The more people where you hang out, the more people there are, the more danger it is for you to be shaped into that cultural trend.
Speaker 2:Church, socializing, religion, workplace, school, social media will shape you and try to characterize you, and it will to that certain level. But God chooses the opposite to social media. God chooses the opposite to church. God chooses the opposite in life and in business, because it's for what it's? For God's glory. God will get his glory. When you look at this text, it's all about redemption. You are redeemed and God is calling you. The church would not call me to be saved. The church would not give me salvation if it was down to the church. And how many would be in the church in the kingdom if it was down to the religious leaders? If you take the leaders in Catholicism, the evangelical movements, if you take the leaders in the Church of England, would they give you the breath that is required to choose you? They wouldn't. It would be a certain walk that the person would have. It would be a public schoolboy way. It wouldn't be someone that was being brought up in pound stretcher land that when the insurance companies type in a certain BR870X it flags up and suddenly the insurance starts to radar be careful of that street.
Speaker 2:It's very, very interesting how a postcode determines how the world views me and views you. The postcode determines what the world thinks of us. The church that we go to is also the same. You look at certain areas, you look at certain ones. When you go to certain churches in the smoke of London. When you look at that, you will find there are very it's very true that there are class layers.
Speaker 2:I would not be welcome in certain churches within London itself because of the way I speak, the way my hands have been decorated, the way that I am, the way that I walk, the way that I speak, the way that I preach, the way that if I walked in with my cap on on a Sunday morning, looking like I look outside of this framework, I would be rejected and probably looked at as a bit of a strange, odd one in that congregation. I've done that before. I've put things to a test. I've experienced it. I know what it's like, because the way you dress, the way you look, the way you speak, the way you walk, your persona, the way you are, will determine if you're allowed into the club. So church has become a club. Church is a socializing place. When you look at a lot of church, they put more effort in the croissants and the tea and the coffee they serve and what goes on, rather than the word of God.
Speaker 2:Yes, I understand there has to be a community connection, but before the community connection there has to be a community connection. But before the community connection there has to be the fundamental points of Christianity. The church has to be recognized for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church has to be recognized that the doctrines are in the church. The church has to be recognized that it is not part of the world. But what we have is the world has influenced the church. The world is influencing and shaping the church. I don't want to be a part of that church. That is shaped by the world. The music that we listen to within church is very secular. The way things are, the way things are, you know, it's really, really important to understand that if you don't fit into the world, that's the best place to be.
Speaker 2:Have you ever been in certain areas Like for me? I'll give you another example. I'm very open about the ministry and the calling Churches together. Never fitted in, never fitted in, always felt rejected on the outside, could never get in, could never feel like I was accepted the way I was.
Speaker 2:And a bit again, always that foolish healing preacher. There's that born again one. There's that one that believes in the scripture. He doesn't dress in gowns, he doesn't wear all that, he's not carrying a staff, he hasn't got a silly hat on his head. So we can't allow him into the club. He doesn't speak a certain way he struggles a bit to verbalize his pronunciations. We won't let him in. We won't let him in. Thank God that they didn't let me in to that degree. Thank God that God was lifting up the barriers. Ben, you're not meant to be here.
Speaker 2:The years that I have wasted, I'm telling you, wasted in certain ways hanging around dead graveyards, like churches together and certain areas of ministry. And be careful for those that are in ministry, that are in churches together, unequally yoked, that's fact. We look at that and think that's down to relationships. That actually comes down as well to the ones that we sign, who we are kin with when we ministry, when we agree. So if I'm in churches together and I agree with a certain minister and a certain persona a certain way that they might be doing down the road and they erase the word marriage out of the Bible and they're living a certain way and they're walking road and they and they erase the word um marriage out of the bible and they're they're living a certain way and they're walking us and they got a certain flag above their, their bedpost. If I, if I, if I'm in that I'm kin to, I'm partnering with that. Be careful what you partner with. And it's the same with multi-faith.
Speaker 2:I've worked in chaplaincy many, many years and I know what it's like working in these worldly organizations and going into the environment where we've got to be multicultural. We've got to be this multicultural chaplain. You've got to be able to be like, be able to weave in and out and to agree with all these other faiths. God said to the Israelites when you go into the promised land, when you go into the land of Canaan, when I take you to these places, do not mirror, image what they are doing. Do not serve foreign gods but churches together and chaplaincy in a roundabout way, very, very powerfully. What they're doing is they're becoming kin to world religions. We got to study these world religions, we got to adapt our christian faith so it fits into them and we can't talk about jesus as the savior of the world in this chaplaincy group, because it's got every other group, it's even got someone who's a humanist that don't even believe in life after death.
Speaker 2:When you die, you become nothing. How can you have a humanist chaplain, how can you have that Giving spiritual care, guidance, when you're sitting around the bedside of someone and they say, chaplain, what's going to happen when I die? And the chaplain says nothing, you're dead, all hope. See what this is, what religion and this is what multi-faith, this is what chaplaincy is coming under attack in many areas of life, see. So it is very relevant to what we are looking at in this scripture.
Speaker 2:God chooses the lowly things. God chooses the despised things. God calls the things that are not. If you feel that you've been foolish, if you feel that you haven't fitted in, if you feel that you are struggling, if you feel that no one likes you, if you are feeling the oddball you're not the oddball, they're the oddball. But God has called you. But the world does it all reverse.
Speaker 2:That's why God says don't follow the crowd, ben. Don't get caught in multi-faith. Don't get caught in churches together. Don't get caught trying to please people, please other faiths, because they don't believe that I am the God of all gods, they don't believe that Jesus Christ is the saviour of the world, they don't believe in the Bible. They got their own Bible. It's pink and it's strange and it doesn't line up. It's a weak, woke message.
Speaker 2:And God is saying to me tonight, ben, where are you standing? Who do you believe in? Are you going to partner with the crowd? Do you know what God is really stirring me over the mass amount of people that we follow? It's critical when you go out and you live your lives and I live my life. I got to be careful because I will be absorbed by the crowd of society. Be careful. Absorbed by the crowd of society, be careful. You're better off to step out, because in the book of Joshua, chapter 3, verse 3 and 4, god says when you see the ark of the covenant from the Levitical priesthood, when you see them carrying them, I want you to move out from your position. He says, when he says you, he's referring to the human being, the individual. God is talking to the mass, but God is also speaking to the individual. He doesn't want us to follow the crowd, he wants to get us to follow him. You are a Jesus follower. It's great to to have all what we have around us, but don't allow yourself to be absorbed and drawn in and sucked into a mass environment, because the mass environment is taking so many people the wrong way. You know, you've got to be careful, really got to be careful.
Speaker 2:Let's come back to the scriptures. We're going to break bread in a minute. We're going to take it a cut. Nine o'clock. We'll switch straight out, the cameras will go off and we'll be off air, but the worship will carry on and it will go straight on. So everyone on RB, christian Radio. God bless you. Everybody on socials. God bless you. Everybody in the world of podcasts. God bless you. Don't follow the crowd, don't follow the crowd. Please, when you go to a social area of life, be careful of the crowd. This is critical for us. Now. You look at the swarm. Don't get caught with the swarm, because you will find the crowd is more like locusts, because the crowd is not for Jesus. You better be off to be in a small group and know who you are.
Speaker 2:It's very, very interesting when you study crowds and the way they're carried along by the rhythm of, maybe, music, by the rhythm of sport, by the rhythm of work. When you look at a workplace scenario, when it gets over a certain amount of people, it becomes a crowd environment and you lose your voice. You lose your voice. It's very interesting when you study human beings in a crowd environment. Whether it's in a pub, whether it's a festival, whether it's a sporting arena, whether it's church or business. The person starts to follow the vibe, the way of a worldly spirit that is happening in that area and you will find the spirit that is leading. The majority of that is the Jezebel spirit, the spirit of Jezebel, leading people away into the area of euphoria, into the area of pleasure, into the area of emotion, into the area of drugs, drink and gambling, food, sporting when you look at sporting arenas, the way that they are built, the way that they are, the way that the acoustics are done, the way that everything is done when you're in a crowd, a sporting crowd, I've experienced now I've got to be careful what I say here.
Speaker 2:I had to go to a funeral in certain area of a place that I worked. I had to go and they asked me to go to a different cultural funeral. I went to a certain temple in a certain area and I was the only white minister. I was amongst a certain culture and I went in and I went right through to the center and I have to tell you this I've experienced what it's like to feel the devil's power. I've experienced what it's like to have to get yourself in tongues to hold back the power of the dark side. Let me tell you this I went to this place. It was an enormous temple. I was the odd one out, completely Colored up, talled up, ready to rumble for Jesus. I stroll in, I go right into the center. They start worshiping their foreign God and let me tell you, they was like synchronized swimmers.
Speaker 2:They started and as they started to do what they was doing, as they started to worship, the way that they started to worship, I actually felt myself beginning to lift off the floor. I felt this dark presence coming around me. I felt the power of the crowd. Now you can experience this in football arenas. You can experience this in certain areas of pubs over a certain size. Sporting pubs drink when drink is involved and there is something that happens where the vibe you know, that was a great vibe where we went there. That was a great feeling.
Speaker 2:It actually wasn't because it was a dark spirit trying to get you to be shaped. Be careful, just because we think we're born again, you've got to be careful. The Kundalini, the spirit of that Kundalini spirit, that spirit of dark gods. I felt this spirit try to get hold of me and lift me. I could feel that there was a tug. There was a tug to be lifted. I was almost levitating. I could feel the power of this dark presence getting me to move, this rhythm. I've never felt anything like it. The only other places I've felt, that is in sporting arenas and concerts and places like that, because you get drawn by this spirit. That isn't of God. It isn't of God. So I got myself in prayer. I was praying in tongues and I felt the battle in the spiritual arena. I've never felt anything like it in my life. I could feel this power around me trying to bring me to this place, power around me trying to bring me to this place.
Speaker 2:So we got to be careful of the circles that we live in, the places that we go, the company that we keep, the ones that are in our WhatsApp groups, the ones that are on our social networks, the ones that we go out socializing with, that we mix with. You got to be careful that we don't become like the Olympic rings. It's very interesting, the Olympic rings. It's just circles. Witches use circles. When you've got rings linked in together, it brings a satanic power. Be careful of the Olympic rings, the colors, representation, everything that goes on. So, as we try to bring this and we come to the table, we got 10 minutes.
Speaker 2:The scripture that we are in God created you not to fit in. Now, when you look at that scripture, you could say well, ben, if you put yourself into that, you are a misfit. Actually, god is turning that around. We're not misfits. We have been created for his good pleasure and his goodwill and his purpose. He's created us and drawn us and called us this way so that we look different to the world. That is the point of this scripture that we are in. We're coming to the table.
Speaker 2:Let me read it one more time. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standard. Not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus. Take hold of that. Who has become for you, uh, us, as wisdom of God. That is our righteousness, our holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts boast in the.
Speaker 2:But when you read that scripture, god doesn't look at us like that. He said that's my daughter. They're made perfect. See, how God views you is completely different to how the world views you. We have been reading a scripture of a world viewpoint. We have been reading a scripture of a world viewpoint. That's the world viewpoint, god's viewpoint, is nothing like what we've just read. He said I love that person. I love that person because they are completely reliant on me. Their beauty is shining from them because they are completely, completely reliant on me. Their beauty is shining from them Because they are completely, completely reliant of me. It's very interesting this text that we're in, because it could hurt us If we look from a world viewpoint. But we're not meant to look from a world viewpoint. We're meant to look from a kingdom point, because the world viewpoint Can're meant to look from a kingdom point. Because the world viewpoint can't see as God sees, and God sees you as wonderfully and fearfully made. He sees you so different to the world viewpoint. The world viewpoint is looking you at you and me, like that, and God looks at you completely different and he says that's my child, that's my son and that's my daughter and I love them so much. The world is looking at them completely different.
Speaker 2:So you've got people in your life that will call you a fool. You've got people in your life telling that you are nothing. You got family members ridiculing you. You got people in your close network of groups that would stab you in the back before you could do your shoes up. But on social network you're my favorite person. See, where are the people in your life when the rubber hits the road, where are the people in your life? Where are these friends? Where are these church friends? Where are these social media friends? Where are these work colleagues? When you're laid out on the floor and you ain't got a pound in your pocket, they don't care. But God looks and he says that's my Ben, because the world looks as the the writer writes 1 Corinthians, chapter 1 1 chapter 1 Corinthians, chapter one, verse 26 thereon. That is the world viewpoint. God chooses you because he loves you.
Speaker 2:Father, we thank you for the table. I thank you for the 12 crazy disciples that sat around the table. They were renegades. They were misfits according to the world. The 12 around the table didn't fit into the culture. Thank God I don't fit in. Thank God that I've realized now in my life. I weren't brought into this world to fit into that space called the world. I was brought in to be different, to walk different, to act different and to be a Jesus follower. Let the devils follow the devil. Let those of the kingdom follow the king. It's time to follow the one that created you. Because it's going to get mucky in the UK. It's going to get fierce. The battle is heightening. Father, we thank you for this bread that symbolizes the body of Christ. Don't be fooled by your social media groups. Don't be fooled by your church WhatsApp groups. Don't be fooled by those people around your life. Don't be fooled for those at work. Don't be a fool for the world, because, let me tell you this, at work, when a situation explodes, they'll pull the gun out on you, because we're in a time of. It was Ben, it was him, it was him, it was him. I want nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with me. My hands are clean, boss. Nothing to do with me. Sisters and brothers, leave the fools alone in the world and find yourself one or two that are pillars of strength and encouragement and have been through the battlefield of life. Father, bless this bread. Father, we thank you that this bread symbolizes the body of Christ. And as we break this bread now, father, we thank you that this bread symbolizes the body of the eternal king.
Speaker 2:See, jesus didn't fit in. They wanted to take him out. It's better not to fit in than to fit in, because there are so many people across the world that are fitting in to hell's template. Because that's what it's about fitting in to hell's template? Because that's what it's about. Hell has a template and it's called herding life. Bless this bread in Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 2:Father, as we take the cup, I don't want to fit in the world. I don't want to fit in the arenas of life. I want to be seen on the outside. So, lord, I need you to wash me in the blood that was shed at the cross of Calvary. I need you to wash me in the blood of Jesus. I need you to wash me in the crimson tide because, lord, I realize I don't fit in, but I'm in the kingdom. Cleanse me from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet In Jesus name. Amen.
Speaker 2:Sisters and brothers, wherever you are across this world, we thank you for joining us. We just have 50 seconds and we're out of here. The Lord is with you. The power of the Holy Spirit is over your life. The glory of God is sitting on your shoulders. You are anointed, you are blessed, as them scriptures that I read out. That was from a world viewpoint. That's not God's view of you. See, the world views you completely different to who you really are, and what happens is we take on board the world viewpoint and we lose our character because we don't match the criteria. When, actually, what does God say about you? When you realize who you are in Christ, you realize, thank God, I don't belong to the world viewpoint. May God bless you on RB Christian Radio, in the world of podcasts on live stream, we are out of here. In the name of Jesus, we have three seconds. May God bless you and carry you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Good night and God bless.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to us today on Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast. We hope you found inspiration and guidance in today's audio. Remember the journey of faith is a continuous one and your questions and thoughts are important. You can send us a text or an email and we will get back to you. So, wherever you are around the world, thank you for listening to our podcasts and radio ministry. For more information about our ministry, please find us on pastorbencoopercouk. Please support us with prayer. Also, you can sow a financial seed into this ministry. You can also leave us a legacy to support and continue the work of this radio ministry. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and continue the work of this radio ministry. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with others who might benefit. Until next time, stay blessed, thank you.
