everybody what is going on you know what time it is you're listening to join the journey podcast

with your host emma daughter thanks for joining today we've actually got a guest in the studio

mr dustin flecker hey what's up and he wrote today's divo on matthew 22 but as we've been doing

when we bring guests on we want to help make a big

place feel small. And so would you just share, Dustin, a little bit about your family and how you

came to Watermark? Yeah, you bet, you bet. My wife's name is Callie. We've been married for 11 years,

and I have four kids. We are in the throes of parenting. We have a six-year-old Rose, a four-year-old Ila, two-year-old

Jude the dude, and then a new baby, L. And then I've been at Watermark for about three years now.

This time I was here earlier in the 2009, 2012 range, and then came back to the Institute,

and I've been here for three years. Awesome. What did you do in between? I was a nurse out west. So I was doing that in Phoenix and California. Cool. Cool. Well, I'm glad you're here.

And you wrote today's Devo on Matthew 22 and I got the opportunity to sit under your leadership in

the Institute when I went through. And I just know you've got a lot of wisdom and God works in your heart

in a very pastoral way. And so I'm excited for you to encourage me and all the listeners with

some of your takeaways or observations from Matthew 22.

No, thanks, Emma. I appreciate it. Well, I'd love to. So in the Devo that you read today, I kind of did the discourse back and forth

with Jesus in the parables, making it about a hip-hop battle or like an urban debate where the

crowd decides the winner usually. But Jesus was clear throughout the whole thing. He is over

their understanding. And I think one of the first principles that I learned is not to be smug in my understanding

of scripture.

As you look through the course of Matthew 22, there's so much in there.

Yeah.

But the Pharisees, I think, where they made their mistake is they made the word, the ends of godliness and not the means.

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