Now, if we're honest, reading the Bible consistently can be a challenge, but know that it's never too late to start and we're in this together.

Thanks for journeying with us. And here's your host, Emma, daughter.

Thanks for joining. Today, we are reading Hosea 8 through 14, and I am in the podcast studio with faithful watermark member, Alan Beam. Hey. Alan, it's great to have you here. It's good to be here. I'm just so excited to talk about Joseo with you and we've got some really great and I think helpful questions to discuss. But before we do, would you share a little bit about what God's done in your life and then how you're involved in our church today? Yeah, I'd love to you. I grew up in Fort Worth. I went to church consistently and accepted Christ at 11 years old, but my understanding of salvation at the time was that Jesus died and rose again so that after I die, I can be with him forever. And until then, I have to just do the best that I can to be a good person.

And ask me how that went for me. How'd that go for you? But I lived that way for a long time.

I've now been married for over 16 years to my amazing wife, Jenny. Congrats. Shout out, Jenny.

Thanks. But early in our marriage, we really struggled. And we had some friends who referred

as to Watermark's recovery ministry,

and God really used that as a turning point, I think, in both of our lives.

For me, it was not just where God exposed sins that I knew I had and had trouble confessing,

but also patterns that I hadn't seen before where I was striving to perform and to be a good person. And then when I would

fail at that, as long as I presented an image of being a good Christian to others, that I was

finding my identity in that. And that was 15 years ago. And I still struggle with those things.

But I've seen God kind of peel back the layers of my sin over the years as he's been conforming me

to the image of his son. Praise God. That's great. I love it. Today, I have four kids, ranging in age from four to 14. I've served all over the place. I've been in student ministries and region for students. My wife and I did foster care and adopted out of foster care. And now I get the privilege of serving as a facilitator on the

great questions team, which is a ministry here at Watermark where anyone can come and ask any

question they want about God, faith, or the Bible. And you guys, it's a pretty rigorous interview

process to become a great question host. You've got to know not just Christianity, but like world

religion, right? Yeah. How did you get to a place where you, I guess, became so well studied that you could pass through that process and become a host? So I've not had the opportunity to go to seminary. So a lot of my knowledge was just, I was curious. And I read books and listened to podcasts. And I did Watermarks Online Equipping courses. And I've done every single one of those. So just wherever I could get more knowledge and more understanding of who God is and what he's done. That's what I was trying to get. Way to go. And how long have you been serving with great questions? For over four years now. Over four years. Well, I'm excited. You're well-studied, you're experienced,

and I gave you some tougher questions. You did. Why don't you just give us a quick brief

overview of what we read today? Sure. People should have already read it. They can pause the episode

and go listen to audio Bible, but just in case, what are we looking at? In Hosea chapter 8 through

14, we see Hosea giving a warning to Israel of God's coming judgment against them. As we've read throughout this year, we've seen God called Israel to be set apart, to be his chosen people, and a nation that would reflect His holiness to the nations around them. But instead, they went their own way. They disobeyed him,

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