WEBVTT

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hand basket or going to hell in a hand bag or

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going to hell in a hand cart. Any of those sayings?

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So all of those are sayings that make reference

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to things going poorly, getting worse. And when

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you talk about going to hell in a hand cart,

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that includes the intonation that it's getting

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worse and worse and faster because a hand cart

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will go downhill very quickly. You can let go

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of it. Once you get it going, it'll go downhill

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all by itself. No one has to make it go downhill.

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Being in a handbasket or a handbag means being

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carried there, so it implies it's getting there

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without anyone's real effort. So I'm not carrying

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the handbag, I'm riding the handbag, and things

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are getting worse and worse and worse for me.

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And interestingly enough, these phrases actually

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come from a previously Christian phrase. So here

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is a handbag. This is a handbag. It's got little

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straps here. We have zippers. They didn't always

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have zippers. They might have had pull strings.

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And there is nothing in the handbag. Empty. Right?

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I mean, on the scale of physical objects, perhaps,

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but there is air in there. Right? There is air

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in there. And then here is a basket. And the

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basket is empty. And I don't have a hand cart.

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Right? But if the handbag or the hand basket

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or the hand cart are going to hell, then I don't

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want to be in it. But the saying is usually that

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the world is going to hell in a handbasket, a

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handbag, or a handcart. And it means that as

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you look around, you see things are decaying

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rapidly. They're going in a worse and a worse

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way pretty fast. Does anybody think maybe that's

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the assessment you would give the world today?

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Maybe. But the saying originally was a Christian

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saying, and it was actually going to heaven in

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a handbag or a handbasket. Now that's interesting,

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isn't it? And along the way it became twisted.

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Nobody knows where the saying was originally

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invented at. Search the origins and there are

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a few hypotheses, but no one really knows for

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sure where the saying came from. But the saying

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was originally going to heaven in a handbag or

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a handbasket. Again, implying that you're not

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getting there under your own power, but rather

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being carried there. And if the basket or the

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bag are going to heaven, then I want to be in

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it. But if the basket or the bag are going to

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hell, then I don't want to be in it. So we talked.

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of the church should theoretically be going to

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heaven in a handbag or a handbasket. The world

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going to hell in a handbag or a handbasket really

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doesn't surprise me all that much because the

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world doesn't necessarily know God. I want you

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to bear that concept in mind and then I'll reference

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it again in the conclusion to bring that thought

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home. Judges chapter 2 verse 6 says, When Joshua,

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now Joshua was already the replacement leader

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under Moses, did not get to go into the Promised

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Land, Joshua, for the remainder of his life,

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a long time, served the Israelites, led them

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into the Promised Land on behalf of God. When

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Joshua had dismissed the people, this is right

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after the angel corrected them, for they were

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wandering off course, and they had, theoretically,

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godly sorrow. They certainly had sorrow. And

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they praised God, and they had offerings, recognizing

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that they had sinned. When Joshua had dismissed

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the people, the sons of Israel, that's theoretically

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God's people, went each to his inheritance to

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possess the land. So they went out with the purpose

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of doing what they were commanded by God to do.

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So they go home to their homes and they go out

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with the purpose of doing what God has commanded

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them to do, which is to possess the land. Verse

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7. The people served the Lord all the days of

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Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived

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Joshua. who had seen all the great work of the

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Lord, which he had done for Israel. So in other

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words, while Joshua was still alive, and the

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people who were alive when Joshua brought them

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out of the promised land, and when they had seen

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the great works, remember that there were people

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who came into the promised land, not just Joshua

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and Caleb, but there were people who were alive

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through the entire wanderings in the desert,

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because it says that everybody who was over the

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age of 20 died in the desert. But if they were

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young enough, they were spared and they became

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part of that group of people that came into the

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promised land. Now that's if they didn't die

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to a snake because some of them were bit by snakes

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and refused to look up at the bronze serpent

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and be healed and things like that or some other

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means at that time. Bottom line is, many under

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20 came out of the wilderness and now they are

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alive and Joshua is alive and they're leading

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God's people. Follow? And while they are there

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and they are leading God's people, the work of

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the people was the work of the Lord. They were

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doing what they were supposed to be doing, simply

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put. Verse 8. Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant

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of the Lord, died at the age of 110. And they

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buried him in the territory of his inheritance

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in Timnath -Rois, in the hill country of Ephraim,

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north of Mount Gaash. So they buried him in the

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land that God had promised him and his people.

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So that's a great honoring. So he was honored.

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And then it says in verse 10, all that generation

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also were gathered to their fathers. So in other

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words, Joshua and Caleb and all of the others

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who had seen all the great and miraculous things

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that God had known God, they were gathered to

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their fathers. That means they passed away. They

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went on to heaven, if you will. And there arose

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another generation after them. who did not know

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the Lord, nor yet the work which he had done

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for Israel. And that statement right there is

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the bridge statement from what we have read so

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far in the book of Judges to everything that

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will come to pass. And it ain't good. They're

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going to continually spiral down, do things that

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God didn't want them to do. God sends a judge,

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lifts them up, if you will, defends them against

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the attackers that God was allowing to molest

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his people and for a time under that judge they

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will do better and then the judge will die or

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no longer be a judge and then the people will

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spiral down into sin again and then the judge

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will rise up and call them to righteousness and

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they will do better and then he'll die or be

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gone and the people will spiral down again and

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so basically throughout the book of Judges from

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here from this moment at the moment it says all

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the generation all that generation also were

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gathered to their fathers, and there arose another

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generation after them who did not know the Lord,

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nor yet the work which he had done for Israel.

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From that statement on, the people are only going

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to spiral into sin and judgment. They will be

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taken into slavery, ultimately. Men, women, women

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will eat their babies to keep from starving to

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death. You understand? It's only going to get

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horrible from here on out. So immediately I'm

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reading this text and I'm thinking to myself,

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how does a person act or how do you act out being

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a generation that knows the Lord and the work

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he has done? Because Joshua and the generation

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living in his day were that. And because they

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were that, the people living in his day did right

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by God. Well, here we are. I want to do whatever

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is necessary for me to do, what I want to be,

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whatever is necessary for me to be, so that the

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people who live in my day will do the works of

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the Lord. I'm not talking about just our church,

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although that would be wonderful, not just my

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family, although that would be wonderful, but

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anybody that is in my influence, my courts, if

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you will. So first of all, I realized in order

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to do that, you have to do what Joshua regularly

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did. And what the people of God did when Joshua

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called them to righteousness while he was still

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alive. And that is, you must repent. You've got

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to repent and turn to God. And it's a repentance

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that is present. That means right now, oops,

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screwed up. I'm repenting. I'm turning to God.

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Right now, someone hurt me. I'm turning to God.

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Right now, I'm going through something I never

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would have wanted to go through. I'm turning

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to God. Repentance is not just turning from sin.

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It is turning to God. Now, ideally, it results

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in the absence of sin because you focus on God

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and God gets your heart right and now you don't

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want or drift into all of these other things.

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But we turn from all of our sin and turn to God,

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present and future tense. And we follow Jesus.

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We follow him in all of the examples that he

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has set for us and all of the teachings that

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he has given us and all of the commands that

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he has given us and whatever we know to do, we

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do. That includes baptism. It includes being

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part of the church. It includes giving. It includes

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working in your family, working in your church,

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working in your community to push, if you will,

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the agenda of the Lord Jesus Christ. It includes

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serving, loving, witnessing, forgiving others

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who do not deserve forgiveness, but you forgive

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them immediately upon the time of their transgression

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because that's what Jesus does. And we are part.

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of His body. It includes reconciling people to

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the Lord, which means you have to share the truth

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of the Gospel. You have to share the truth that

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is contained in Scripture. You have to share

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what you know, just as much as you have seen

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and heard. You don't have to make things up.

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You don't have to know better. When some atheist

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comes to you and quotes some strange philosopher

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that you've never heard of and says, well, what

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do you think about that? You say, well, Jesus

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Christ lived, died on the cross for my sins,

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was buried and rose again, and I intend to live

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eternally with God, and I'm going to do it through

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Jesus, and I know my sins were covered by the

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blood. What about you? Well, there was a philosopher

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who lived, and he said this. He had to face the

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same question that you have to face. What are

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you going to do with a Jesus that lives, dies,

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and raises again? What are you going to do with

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a Jesus through whom nothing was created except

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that which was created through him? All things

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created through Jesus. What are you going to

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do with that? The guy who then comes to earth

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and dies for all sin. What are you going to do

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with that? I don't care how many philosophers

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you can quote or ideas you have or how much smarter

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than me you think you are. I'm asking you, what

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are you going to do with it? If they say, well,

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I'm not going to believe, then you can quote

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John 3 .17. You remember John 3 .16, right? For

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God so loved the world. Well, John 3 .17 says,

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For he did not come to condemn the world, but

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they are condemned already by what they have

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done with the Son of God. And all that matters

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is not how smart a person is, but what they do

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with the Son of God. And so I want to be a generation

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that knows the Lord. I want to be part of a people

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that knows the Lord and the work that he has

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done. I'm still here. I still have things to

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say and do to make a difference in this world.

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And I may have to tell the stories. Because if

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I don't, who will? You may have to tell the stories

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because if you don't, who will? Don't ever get

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saved. Start living for Jesus and all of your

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sin, all the bad things you ever did are washed

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away and put behind you and you forget the stories

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of what God has done. When you survived what

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you did when you were lost and stupid, that was

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a miracle of God. That was an example of His

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good grace. And you should tell the story. You

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should represent. You should share what you know

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to be true. I'm still here. Do you know God?

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I hope so. The Bible says that we will know Him

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through His Son, Jesus Christ. Do you know the

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work that God has done? I hope so. If you accepted

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Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, there should

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now be the presence of His Holy Spirit in your

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heart, testifying with your spirit that you are

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saved. you should know that you are saved. You

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should know that you are serving a risen Savior,

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living for Him, not for you. You're still here.

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You and the courts that you've been giving must

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serve the Lord. We have a responsibility to ensure

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that anyone and everything, that it comes within

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our auspices. In other words, your phone, your

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money, Your time, your house, your children.

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I've had people say to me, well, I don't want

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to make my children go to church. Is it right

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to go to church? Absolutely, it's right to go

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to church. Therefore, you make your children

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go to church. If they grow up hating church because

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you made them go to church, that's on them. Because

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it's the right thing to do. You don't want to

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say to your children, well, you've got to be

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monogamous. Or you've got to be heterosexual.

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Or you've got to tithe. You've got to give financially.

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You've got to read your Bible. You don't want

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to tell them to do right. These are right things,

00:23:07.869 --> 00:23:09.529
commands of God, because they're right things.

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We tell them to do right. It's not like they

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have an option. If they don't do right, what's

00:23:13.529 --> 00:23:16.670
the result? You say, well, I want to let them

00:23:16.670 --> 00:23:20.869
choose on their own. Even as a saved believer,

00:23:21.190 --> 00:23:23.730
saved or not saved, either way, they don't get

00:23:23.730 --> 00:23:26.210
to choose on their own. The rules have already

00:23:26.210 --> 00:23:27.769
been laid out. The conduct of the kingdom has

00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:30.400
already been laid out. We have a responsibility

00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:32.759
to make sure that everything within our courts

00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:37.420
works to serve the Lord. You don't clean your

00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:39.299
house because it's nice to live in a clean house.

00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:41.920
You clean your house because it is a gift from

00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:45.019
God. You don't cook your meals because you like

00:23:45.019 --> 00:23:49.119
to eat food. You cook your meals because in cooking

00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:51.759
your meals you serve the engine that serves God.

00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:54.759
You feed your body so that your body can serve

00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:59.690
God. And the list goes on. All that we do, we

00:23:59.690 --> 00:24:02.190
do to ensure that all that we have access to,

00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:06.150
all that we have auspices over, serve the Lord.

00:24:06.950 --> 00:24:11.769
That is the example that we set. And so anyone

00:24:11.769 --> 00:24:13.369
that comes into your presence, you're sitting

00:24:13.369 --> 00:24:16.769
down having coffee with someone, you can tell

00:24:16.769 --> 00:24:21.309
them, it's not right. What you're doing, it's

00:24:21.309 --> 00:24:24.490
not right. Not because they're Christians. Yes,

00:24:24.569 --> 00:24:27.559
I understand. That you cannot convict a person

00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:31.819
of sin, nor can you lead them to God without

00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:34.720
Jesus. They will not get saved, nor will they

00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.960
have the authority to long -lasting follow Jesus.

00:24:38.099 --> 00:24:39.880
And there are people who say, well, in fact,

00:24:39.900 --> 00:24:42.539
I think of the man right behind Billy Graham,

00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:45.279
his second -in -command after they preached to

00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.140
hundreds of thousands of millions of people and

00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:49.059
saw tens of thousands of folks except Jesus Christ.

00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:51.359
That man right behind him said, you know what,

00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:54.740
actually, I think I'm an atheist. After he shared

00:24:54.740 --> 00:24:57.720
the gospel over and over and over again. No one

00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:00.740
comes to Jesus except, number one, he be called,

00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:05.539
and number two, he be willing. I can cast a demon

00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:08.680
out of an unwilling man, but a split second later,

00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:12.299
he'll come back, if that man is willing. You've

00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:14.500
got to decide this day whom you will serve, Joshua

00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:16.869
said. And having decided to serve the Lord, you

00:25:16.869 --> 00:25:19.109
have a responsibility to act accordingly. If

00:25:19.109 --> 00:25:21.630
it's inside your auspices, if it's inside your

00:25:21.630 --> 00:25:23.210
control, if it's within the sound of your voice,

00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:25.509
if it's within the reach of your arm, right?

00:25:25.589 --> 00:25:27.410
If you were walking down the street with a small

00:25:27.410 --> 00:25:28.990
child next to you, you completely don't know

00:25:28.990 --> 00:25:31.569
them. And their adult has fallen 20, 30 feet

00:25:31.569 --> 00:25:33.829
behind. And they suddenly go to rush out into

00:25:33.829 --> 00:25:36.529
the road in front of an oncoming semi. You're

00:25:36.529 --> 00:25:40.130
not going to go, hey, your kid. because they're

00:25:40.130 --> 00:25:41.910
20 feet behind and they can't stop their kid.

00:25:42.049 --> 00:25:43.849
You're going to grab that kid. Now, if you grab

00:25:43.849 --> 00:25:46.069
that kid and keep them from running out in front

00:25:46.069 --> 00:25:49.690
of the semi, you might get in trouble. You might

00:25:49.690 --> 00:25:52.470
get sued for assault. You might get sued for

00:25:52.470 --> 00:25:55.910
bodily handling someone else's child, for an

00:25:55.910 --> 00:25:58.529
abuse of civil rights. If it's a person of another

00:25:58.529 --> 00:25:59.890
race or another culture, they'll say, oh, you

00:25:59.890 --> 00:26:01.509
only grabbed him like that. You hurt him. You

00:26:01.509 --> 00:26:03.529
only did that because he's from another race.

00:26:03.609 --> 00:26:05.069
He would never have run out in front of the truck.

00:26:05.109 --> 00:26:07.509
You made that up. But you know in your heart

00:26:07.509 --> 00:26:08.789
he's going to run out from his stomach. You stop

00:26:08.789 --> 00:26:13.529
him. And this is what we are called to as being

00:26:13.529 --> 00:26:15.869
a generation that knows the work of the Lord.

00:26:15.950 --> 00:26:18.630
Our ambassadorship includes telling the history,

00:26:18.849 --> 00:26:22.609
ancient and modern, of the kingdom. I'm going

00:26:22.609 --> 00:26:24.490
to share just a few stories with you for a second

00:26:24.490 --> 00:26:26.769
here about the establishment of this church and

00:26:26.769 --> 00:26:28.490
this church building and this church in this

00:26:28.490 --> 00:26:31.230
church building. When our church wanted to come

00:26:31.230 --> 00:26:34.130
into this building, it was run down. It was deserted.

00:26:34.650 --> 00:26:36.890
The roof was leaking in several places and we

00:26:36.890 --> 00:26:38.789
could not use it. And so we came in and began

00:26:38.789 --> 00:26:43.390
to fix it up. Miraculously, the school system

00:26:43.390 --> 00:26:45.069
said they would give it to the city if the city

00:26:45.069 --> 00:26:46.990
would earmark it for us, which is unheard of.

00:26:47.069 --> 00:26:48.990
And they were not at peace at the time. They

00:26:48.990 --> 00:26:52.910
were mortal enemies. For over 10 years, I sat

00:26:52.910 --> 00:26:55.029
at a board meeting of the Board of Education

00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:57.470
where they argued. The city and the board argued

00:26:57.470 --> 00:27:02.009
for an hour over a $500 playground repair because

00:27:02.009 --> 00:27:04.069
the playground belonged to the school system.

00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.059
I'm sorry, belonged to the city, and the school

00:27:06.059 --> 00:27:07.519
had been using it, and they argued who was going

00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:12.140
to pay the $500. $500! Tens of millions of dollars

00:27:12.140 --> 00:27:15.160
budget, $100 million budget, and they were arguing

00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:18.059
for an hour over $500. And then yet, they agreed

00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:20.519
in unity to give us this building. So we come

00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:21.880
in here, we're trying to start fixing it up.

00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:23.839
We had a few thousand dollars in the bag. We

00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:26.980
thought it was going to be $26 ,000 to get the

00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:30.759
electricity on. And I mentioned it to Ron. And

00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:32.079
Ron said, you know, funny thing is, I just saw

00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:33.660
Joe Crist yesterday. He said, if I need anything,

00:27:34.109 --> 00:27:35.450
He gave me his number. Let me see if I got it.

00:27:35.490 --> 00:27:37.190
He gave me the number. I called him. He put people

00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:40.630
together. We got with the electric company and

00:27:40.630 --> 00:27:44.369
$26 ,000 got done for $2 ,600. That we could

00:27:44.369 --> 00:27:46.930
afford. When the water could not be turned on,

00:27:46.950 --> 00:27:48.589
we're cleaning the building with 50 gallon drums

00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:50.930
of water that we're bringing over from our building

00:27:50.930 --> 00:27:52.569
on Main Street and the water couldn't be turned

00:27:52.569 --> 00:27:53.769
on because when they were going to tear down

00:27:53.769 --> 00:27:55.970
the building, they crushed the water main that

00:27:55.970 --> 00:27:58.190
ran from out here at the street over. They crushed

00:27:58.190 --> 00:28:00.869
it instead of just cutting it off. They crushed

00:28:00.869 --> 00:28:03.980
it. And so a new one had to be installed from

00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:05.680
the road all the way to the building and a new

00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:07.859
water meter inside the building and the new connection

00:28:07.859 --> 00:28:10.579
and everything. And we're struggling, struggling,

00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:12.140
struggling to get that done. We're drawing the

00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:13.240
drawing and then finally they said, well, you

00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:14.660
know you've got to have an engineer do this,

00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:15.900
right? And I'm like, well, no, I didn't know

00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:17.339
that. If I had known that, I wouldn't have spent

00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:20.559
13 times coming here to try to get you to approve

00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:22.339
it. I've been here 13 times. And she said, well,

00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:24.079
it looks perfect. The drawing looks great, but

00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:26.740
you need an engineer stamp. I'm like, oh, crud.

00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:29.569
Start looking for an engineer. And the engineer

00:28:29.569 --> 00:28:31.289
said, well, they would have to draw it from the

00:28:31.289 --> 00:28:32.630
get -go. Then it was going to be thousands of

00:28:32.630 --> 00:28:34.069
dollars. And I'd already spent so much time.

00:28:34.130 --> 00:28:35.309
So I go to the inspection department. I said,

00:28:35.349 --> 00:28:37.430
can you get the water on? Can you tell me what's

00:28:37.430 --> 00:28:38.730
wrong? And he said, well, why do you need this

00:28:38.730 --> 00:28:40.250
water that you're drawing on this plane? I said,

00:28:40.309 --> 00:28:41.789
well, that's what they told us we needed. He

00:28:41.789 --> 00:28:44.450
said, no, you only need two inches. Water line

00:28:44.450 --> 00:28:46.910
two inches, not four. Why was it four before?

00:28:47.089 --> 00:28:48.990
I had no idea. He said, well, does it have fire

00:28:48.990 --> 00:28:50.390
extinguishers in the building? I said, well,

00:28:50.410 --> 00:28:52.730
no, it had fire hoses. He said, well, that's

00:28:52.730 --> 00:28:54.309
why it had four before, was to drive the fire

00:28:54.309 --> 00:28:55.670
hoses. You don't need that. You only need two

00:28:55.670 --> 00:28:58.720
inches. We'll schedule it today. A couple hundred

00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:01.259
bucks. I'm like, for crying out loud? Thank you,

00:29:01.259 --> 00:29:03.160
God. That's awesome. I was praying all the way

00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:04.880
there. Then they said, well, turn it on. Then

00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:06.440
it didn't get turned on. Six weeks, it didn't

00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:08.039
get turned on. Six more weeks, it didn't get

00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:09.019
turned on. I called the water department. I said,

00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:10.859
why is our water not turned on? It's been 12

00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:12.180
weeks. And he said, well, it's going to be six

00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:14.980
more weeks. I said, you know, if it was going

00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:16.440
to be six more weeks, that would be one thing.

00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:18.319
But you already said six, and it wasn't. And

00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:19.779
then it was six, and it wasn't. And now you're

00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:22.619
saying six more? What's going to happen in 18

00:29:22.619 --> 00:29:25.200
weeks when it's not on? We need water. And he

00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.700
said, well, that's all I can tell you. There's

00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:29.579
nothing else I can do. That's how it works. So

00:29:29.579 --> 00:29:31.420
I called, at the time, the building was still

00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:33.740
owned by TPS. I called Jim Gant. I said, we don't

00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:36.160
have water. He said, what? I said, we don't have

00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.740
water. And the water department's supposed to

00:29:37.740 --> 00:29:39.859
turn it on, but it's been 12 weeks already. It's

00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:41.240
not turned on, and they keep saying six more

00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:42.299
weeks, and I don't know what's going to happen.

00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:45.619
He said, you know, the funny thing is, the director

00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:47.420
of the water, the new director of the water department,

00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:49.700
just called me yesterday, and he said, if I need

00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:52.180
anything, give him a call. And I said, well,

00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:54.859
give him a call. I said, what's his name, by

00:29:54.859 --> 00:29:57.640
the way? He said, Tom Carruthers. I said, I recognize

00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:00.000
that name. Deputy Mayor Tom Carruthers was the

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.700
guy in the mayor's office who set up the deal

00:30:02.700 --> 00:30:05.920
for the city to give us this building. That was

00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:07.759
Friday afternoon at 4 o 'clock. I get off the

00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:09.799
phone with him. He calls Tom Carruthers. 8 a

00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:12.779
.m. Saturday morning, the next day, 16 hours

00:30:12.779 --> 00:30:15.519
later, they're out front installing the water

00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:19.779
line. Now, if we don't tell those stories, we

00:30:19.779 --> 00:30:22.980
forget that God does miracles. We had a woman

00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:27.359
with 13 spots of cancer all over her torso with

00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:30.259
a PET scan. Not x -rays, right? With a PET scan.

00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:32.400
That means they do a cellular level scan of your

00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:34.339
body to find exactly where they're located so

00:30:34.339 --> 00:30:37.140
they can go in and do a biopsy. She comes. We

00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:38.980
huddle together in the doorway between the kitchen

00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:40.980
and the sanctuary where now the assembly room

00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:42.779
is over there at the life station. We pray, tears

00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:45.279
in our eyes, begging God. The next day she goes

00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.380
in, they go to biopsy the first spot, and they're

00:30:47.380 --> 00:30:50.630
like, there's nothing here. We can't biopsy.

00:30:50.630 --> 00:30:51.930
We'll just go to the next one. It's fine. There's

00:30:51.930 --> 00:30:53.730
13. We'll find. We just need like four today.

00:30:54.009 --> 00:30:56.269
So we'll find one. By the time they were done,

00:30:56.329 --> 00:30:58.970
they checked all 13 spots, which had showed up

00:30:58.970 --> 00:31:02.470
in the PET scan as cancer, and they couldn't

00:31:02.470 --> 00:31:05.849
biopsy because there were no spots. All 13 gone.

00:31:07.130 --> 00:31:09.990
God has been doing miracles. Twice we prayed,

00:31:10.109 --> 00:31:13.029
anointed Judy Bolton's head with oil and prayed,

00:31:13.089 --> 00:31:15.289
and twice she was miraculously healed of cancer.

00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:17.680
The second time, Ron and I sat there. We did

00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:19.640
a surgery. And the surgeon said, well, you know,

00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:22.119
neck cancer, it's in multiple regions. It's always

00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:24.319
in multiple regions, right? And so we were just

00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:26.519
clearing the main right near her air pipe today.

00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:28.839
We know that we're going to have to do several

00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:30.519
more surgeries. And as the surgeon came out,

00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.380
he said, you know what? I can't explain this

00:31:33.380 --> 00:31:36.220
at all, but we got it all. There won't be any

00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:39.460
more surgeries. We did one region. All the cancer

00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:41.500
is gone. We're sure we got it all. Remember that?

00:31:42.259 --> 00:31:47.059
God. did miracles, does miracles. In our midst,

00:31:47.140 --> 00:31:49.599
all the time, we need to be faithful, we need

00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:51.859
to be praying, we need to be a generation that

00:31:51.859 --> 00:31:56.279
does right. Years ago when we were on Main Street,

00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.579
we had a man violently interrupt our services.

00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:01.539
He had decided that we preached the gospel to

00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:04.539
his girlfriend, she got saved, and she wanted

00:32:04.539 --> 00:32:05.980
to get apart. They didn't want to live together

00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:10.200
anymore. And he lost it. bipolar or something

00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:12.619
and he was off his medicines and he lost it.

00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:15.779
And then he got arrested and then he got unarrested

00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:17.319
and then he came, showed up at the church building

00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:19.440
in the morning and he went off on me for leading

00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.339
his girlfriend to Christ. And I said, and he

00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:23.880
threatened violence. I said, you're not welcome

00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:25.299
on property. You need to leave right now and

00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:28.319
don't come back. And sure enough, middle of service,

00:32:28.539 --> 00:32:31.460
one of our teenage girls, 13, 14 years old, up

00:32:31.460 --> 00:32:34.759
here singing a song, a solo by herself. He disrupts

00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:36.960
the service. Visible violence going on. He comes

00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:38.339
up and he's going to break up the instruments.

00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:41.160
Right? And he tried to choke out Deacon Tony.

00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:43.500
Put his hands around Deacon Tony's... We have

00:32:43.500 --> 00:32:46.519
video of... We've got a camera videoing the service

00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.480
and here comes, from the left side to the right

00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:50.359
side, Deacon Tony's got him by the waist and

00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:52.200
he's got it picked up in the air and he's carrying

00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:53.559
him toward the front door and the guy's trying

00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:56.099
to choke him out the whole time. And a number

00:32:56.099 --> 00:32:57.359
of the men that are in the room right now are

00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.480
there protecting the women and children. And

00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:02.259
three people called the 911 because we had already

00:33:02.259 --> 00:33:03.640
talked about the possibility of something like

00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:05.420
this, persecution, and it could happen any day.

00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:07.220
And if we have persecution, you know what happens

00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:09.200
in our church? If you're new, you probably don't.

00:33:09.220 --> 00:33:10.700
Here's what happens. The women get the children

00:33:10.700 --> 00:33:12.420
out of the way and the men take care of the problem.

00:33:12.839 --> 00:33:15.420
Men do not retreat from trouble in our church.

00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:18.299
You understand? You go toward the problem. Guy

00:33:18.299 --> 00:33:20.619
comes in shooting. The eight of us, ten of us,

00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:22.099
twelve of us who are courageous enough to do

00:33:22.099 --> 00:33:23.299
what we're supposed to do, we'll take him down.

00:33:23.380 --> 00:33:24.920
I guarantee it. I don't care if he's got an AK

00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:28.259
-47. It doesn't matter. He comes in this church

00:33:28.259 --> 00:33:31.779
with an AK -47, he'll be lucky to survive. Because

00:33:31.779 --> 00:33:33.940
we go toward the problem while the women protect

00:33:33.940 --> 00:33:36.059
the children. That's the rule. That's biblical

00:33:36.059 --> 00:33:38.690
to the beginning. And that's what we did that

00:33:38.690 --> 00:33:40.950
day. The police showed up in four minutes. He

00:33:40.950 --> 00:33:43.349
went to jail. Is that a miracle? No, none of

00:33:43.349 --> 00:33:45.450
that is a miracle. Not one bit of it. We had

00:33:45.450 --> 00:33:47.829
guys with bruises. Not one bit of it. Here's

00:33:47.829 --> 00:33:50.710
the miracle. Six months later, he's got a restraining

00:33:50.710 --> 00:33:51.930
order. He's not allowed to be in church. A couple

00:33:51.930 --> 00:33:54.289
of the guys pressed charges. He was not allowed

00:33:54.289 --> 00:33:56.529
to be there. Six months later, one of our guys

00:33:56.529 --> 00:33:58.369
who was there that day who helped fend him off

00:33:58.369 --> 00:34:02.710
is riding a city bus. And that guy, way out across

00:34:02.710 --> 00:34:05.130
town, where he's legally allowed to be, gets

00:34:05.130 --> 00:34:09.199
on the bus. They recognize each other. Five minutes

00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:12.340
in, he gets up and he moves over to sit right

00:34:12.340 --> 00:34:17.420
across from our guy. And he says, can I talk

00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:20.900
to you? Am I allowed to talk to you? He says,

00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:24.519
you can talk to me. Just stay over there. And

00:34:24.519 --> 00:34:26.260
he says, I just want to beg your forgiveness.

00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:31.639
I realized what I had done. I have since repented

00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:33.320
and turned my life over to the Lord and I'm on

00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:35.400
my medications and I'll never do anything like

00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:40.780
that ever again. That's a miracle. And the list

00:34:40.780 --> 00:34:44.039
goes on. We must be a people that proclaims.

00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:46.440
You know that three seats over from you right

00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:48.000
there in that seat, the one that's sitting there

00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:50.760
empty today? There was a woman who came in. I

00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:52.219
know her personally. I will not name her because

00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:55.199
I've not asked. And she sat there. She's a practicing

00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:00.719
lesbian. Had been for a decade. And she sat right

00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:04.780
there on the end of that chair. And I preached,

00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.739
without knowing, I didn't know that about her

00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:09.119
at the time. I preached a sermon about righteousness

00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:12.199
and godliness. And I mentioned homosexuality

00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:15.500
in my sermon. And instead of getting up and getting

00:35:15.500 --> 00:35:18.340
out, instead of getting angry, she sat right

00:35:18.340 --> 00:35:20.159
there and listened to the sermon. Comes time

00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:23.139
for the invitation. She gave her life to the

00:35:23.139 --> 00:35:26.380
Lord. Repented of her homosexuality. Turned her

00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:28.340
life over to the Lord. That woman is married

00:35:28.340 --> 00:35:31.159
now. has three kids, and her and her husband

00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:33.940
have written several books about raising a Christian

00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:36.380
family, and they travel around the southeastern

00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:38.260
United States. They live in North Carolina, traveling

00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:40.199
around the southeastern United States, talking

00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:42.239
about how repentance and turning to the Lord

00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:48.519
is the solution to family strife. She came in

00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:53.219
and sat down, homosexual, practicing. She might

00:35:53.219 --> 00:35:55.139
have even claimed that she was a Christian, but

00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:57.079
she got up and walked out a member of the kingdom

00:35:57.079 --> 00:36:00.199
of God. a member of the family. You can say,

00:36:00.219 --> 00:36:02.760
there's not enough people here today. You can

00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:04.619
say, we're not reaching enough people here today.

00:36:04.659 --> 00:36:06.380
By the time we're done, about 300 people will

00:36:06.380 --> 00:36:09.360
watch our services online. Our podcast, by this

00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:11.079
podcast, in a couple years, will have been listened

00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:14.659
to by about 1 ,500 people. That's not very many

00:36:14.659 --> 00:36:17.820
people compared to the world's population. And

00:36:17.820 --> 00:36:24.150
yet, God is doing miracles. I'm asking you. Are

00:36:24.150 --> 00:36:26.449
you an ambassador for Christ? Are you willing

00:36:26.449 --> 00:36:29.469
to tell the ancient history and the modern history

00:36:29.469 --> 00:36:31.750
of the kingdom of God? Are you delivering the

00:36:31.750 --> 00:36:40.550
truth? We, Sherry and I, usually go out to eat

00:36:40.550 --> 00:36:43.190
on date night. And I started reviewing restaurants

00:36:43.190 --> 00:36:46.309
and I comically became kind of like important

00:36:46.309 --> 00:36:48.409
as a restaurant reviewer, which is kind of ironic

00:36:48.409 --> 00:36:50.150
because I don't actually like to eat out at all,

00:36:50.230 --> 00:36:52.920
right? And so people are reading my reviews online

00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:55.880
and stuff. The first question they ask you after,

00:36:55.980 --> 00:36:59.780
was it good or not, is what did you buy? What

00:36:59.780 --> 00:37:02.239
did you get? Because maybe they want to buy the

00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:04.099
same thing you bought to get good food or to

00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:06.440
make sure that it wasn't a customary dish and

00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.340
they want to order something else. So they ask

00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:10.280
you, what did you get? And so I just put in what

00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:14.840
I got. I'm asking you, when you became a follower

00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:18.340
of the Lord Jesus Christ, what did you get? If

00:37:18.340 --> 00:37:21.429
you think you got just grace, and goodness, and

00:37:21.429 --> 00:37:22.929
oh, it's going to be fun, and this is going to

00:37:22.929 --> 00:37:24.710
be awesome, I'm going to soar high above all

00:37:24.710 --> 00:37:26.750
the world, and people will maybe look up to me,

00:37:26.789 --> 00:37:28.070
or maybe they won't, but it's always going to...

00:37:28.070 --> 00:37:30.969
If that's what you got, that's not the customary

00:37:30.969 --> 00:37:34.570
dish. That's not what people get. What people

00:37:34.570 --> 00:37:38.050
get is an ambassadorship. What people get is

00:37:38.050 --> 00:37:40.530
a service to the living God. What people get

00:37:40.530 --> 00:37:43.989
is a right and a responsibility to speak out

00:37:43.989 --> 00:37:48.150
about what's going on in your presence. Philippians

00:37:48.150 --> 00:37:50.889
2 talks this way about Christ. It says, Philippians

00:37:50.889 --> 00:37:53.869
2, verse 1, if therefore there is any encouragement

00:37:53.869 --> 00:37:56.230
in Christ, I believe there is, if there is any

00:37:56.230 --> 00:37:58.170
consolation of love, there surely is, if there

00:37:58.170 --> 00:38:00.409
is any fellowship of the Spirit, that's the Spirit

00:38:00.409 --> 00:38:03.409
of God, which surely there is, if any affection

00:38:03.409 --> 00:38:06.630
and compassion, he says, make my joy complete

00:38:06.630 --> 00:38:10.849
by being of the same mind, maintaining the same

00:38:10.849 --> 00:38:13.909
love, united in spirit intent on one purpose.

00:38:14.460 --> 00:38:16.860
Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but

00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:19.280
with humility of mind, let each of you regard

00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:22.360
one another as more important than himself. This

00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:24.820
is what the kingdom looks like. Do not merely

00:38:24.820 --> 00:38:27.599
look out for your own personal interests, but

00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:30.920
also for the interests of others. Have this attitude

00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:34.019
in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus,

00:38:34.199 --> 00:38:37.679
who, listen to what Jesus did, although he existed

00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:40.820
in the form of God, did not regard equality with

00:38:40.820 --> 00:38:43.440
God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.

00:38:43.929 --> 00:38:46.489
taking the form of a bondservant, and being made

00:38:46.489 --> 00:38:49.250
in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance

00:38:49.250 --> 00:38:52.250
as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient

00:38:52.250 --> 00:38:54.909
to the point of death, even death on a cross.

00:38:55.369 --> 00:38:59.050
Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed

00:38:59.050 --> 00:39:01.769
on him the name which is above every name, that

00:39:01.769 --> 00:39:05.090
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of

00:39:05.090 --> 00:39:08.309
those who are in heaven and on earth and under

00:39:08.309 --> 00:39:10.590
the earth, and that every tongue should confess.

00:39:11.190 --> 00:39:13.929
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God

00:39:13.929 --> 00:39:17.010
the Father. Are you following Jesus? I think

00:39:17.010 --> 00:39:19.469
you should be like -minded with Him. I think

00:39:19.469 --> 00:39:21.750
you should be willing to sacrifice like He did.

00:39:21.889 --> 00:39:24.269
I think you should stop thinking there is another

00:39:24.269 --> 00:39:31.289
way. Do you not know this God I'm talking about?

00:39:31.659 --> 00:39:33.719
Or maybe you think you know God, but do you not

00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:35.579
know the works of this God I'm talking about?

00:39:35.619 --> 00:39:38.320
Then listen. Listen to his word. Listen to your

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:40.500
pastor, to your deacon, to godly parents and

00:39:40.500 --> 00:39:43.519
godly grandparents, godly elders of the church.

00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:47.679
Willingly seek His will for your life. Abandon

00:39:47.679 --> 00:39:50.260
yourself. Stop thinking, I want. You should cut

00:39:50.260 --> 00:39:53.340
the words, I want, right out of your vocabulary.

00:39:53.480 --> 00:39:56.360
Because your wants have one exact purpose. They're

00:39:56.360 --> 00:39:58.659
supposed to be aligned with His wants. And if

00:39:58.659 --> 00:40:00.639
you want what He wants, you're going to get what

00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:02.719
you want. And if you want something other than

00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:05.099
what He wants, you're not going to get what you

00:40:05.099 --> 00:40:08.480
want. And you cannot act that way. As if you

00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:15.030
will get what you want outside His will. Abandon

00:40:15.030 --> 00:40:18.769
self. Become willing to suffer. Follow Jesus'

00:40:19.050 --> 00:40:22.389
example and teaching and ultimately his presence.

00:40:22.510 --> 00:40:25.849
Oh my goodness. If Pastor Dan preached that,

00:40:25.889 --> 00:40:27.369
if I stood up here and said that to you, that

00:40:27.369 --> 00:40:29.230
you needed to deny your own desire, you need

00:40:29.230 --> 00:40:31.670
to abandon what you want, that you need to be

00:40:31.670 --> 00:40:35.019
willing to suffer on a daily basis. And just

00:40:35.019 --> 00:40:37.079
follow him and that's it. And if I preach that

00:40:37.079 --> 00:40:38.980
to you without being able to back it up, you'd

00:40:38.980 --> 00:40:41.519
say, Pastor Dan is some kind of dude just kind

00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:43.239
of trying to warp our minds. That's just too

00:40:43.239 --> 00:40:47.039
much to ask for. But then Matthew wrote in chapter

00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:49.460
16, verse 24, beginning, he said, Then Jesus

00:40:49.460 --> 00:40:52.000
said to his disciples, If anyone wishes to come

00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.380
after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross,

00:40:55.559 --> 00:40:59.719
and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his

00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:02.460
life will lose it. But whoever loses his life

00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:04.880
for my sake will find it. For what will it profit

00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:07.099
a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits

00:41:07.099 --> 00:41:09.340
his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange

00:41:09.340 --> 00:41:11.659
for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to

00:41:11.659 --> 00:41:13.679
come in the glory of his Father and his angels,

00:41:13.780 --> 00:41:16.420
and he will then repay every man according to

00:41:16.420 --> 00:41:22.599
his deeds. To keep it just. Let's stop playing

00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:27.340
games with what we are commanded to do and be.

00:41:28.119 --> 00:41:31.829
We are that generation. Churches that don't know

00:41:31.829 --> 00:41:34.650
should listen to those that do. In COVID, churches

00:41:34.650 --> 00:41:37.130
were scrambling, scrambling to make sure that

00:41:37.130 --> 00:41:40.670
they were handling COVID correctly. And at one

00:41:40.670 --> 00:41:43.230
point in time, a former mentor of mine lectured

00:41:43.230 --> 00:41:46.150
me for an hour and 40 minutes. Lectured me nonstop.

00:41:46.170 --> 00:41:49.150
I barely got a word in edgewise. Lectured me

00:41:49.150 --> 00:41:51.139
on the phone. While I was supposed to be working

00:41:51.139 --> 00:41:52.760
at the life station, I'm sitting in my van, listening

00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:55.059
for an hour and 40 minutes. He lectured me that

00:41:55.059 --> 00:41:57.119
we should have canceled our services, that we

00:41:57.119 --> 00:41:59.019
should have stopped worshiping God, that we should

00:41:59.019 --> 00:42:00.940
have stopped coming together to serve God. He

00:42:00.940 --> 00:42:02.820
said, don't you see that all the churches are

00:42:02.820 --> 00:42:05.000
not worshiping, that all the churches are not

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:07.800
serving God, that all the churches are not coming

00:42:07.800 --> 00:42:09.699
together because that's what's respectful, because

00:42:09.699 --> 00:42:12.380
that's a good witness to Christ. You should stop

00:42:12.380 --> 00:42:14.400
coming together for worship like everybody else.

00:42:16.360 --> 00:42:18.019
At the end of an hour and 40 minutes, I said,

00:42:18.039 --> 00:42:19.480
well, I want you to understand, we're going to

00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:22.699
have to disagree on this topic. I said, but secondly,

00:42:22.739 --> 00:42:24.800
I want you to understand that my church has already

00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:26.719
decided. I had three men in the church come to

00:42:26.719 --> 00:42:31.719
me and say, I'm stricken right now in this moment.

00:42:32.400 --> 00:42:35.739
Give me a second. I had three men in the church

00:42:35.739 --> 00:42:40.139
come to me and say, even if the church does not

00:42:40.139 --> 00:42:47.019
gather on Tuesday or Sunday, even if you don't

00:42:47.019 --> 00:42:51.199
come to preach, even if there would be no one

00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:56.000
to lead worship, we will still be here. Not for

00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:58.219
the world, not for anything that the world has

00:42:58.219 --> 00:43:01.079
to offer, not for law or government or fines

00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:03.420
or fees or punishment or persecution will we

00:43:03.420 --> 00:43:05.719
abandon the worship of our God at the appointed

00:43:05.719 --> 00:43:13.579
hour. And I said, the church will not stop. They're

00:43:13.579 --> 00:43:15.380
not going to stop. And even if I wanted to stop,

00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:17.760
which I don't, I don't believe in it, it wouldn't

00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:19.719
stop. Now, after it was all said and done, that

00:43:19.719 --> 00:43:22.199
sounds bad. It really does. After it was all

00:43:22.199 --> 00:43:27.760
said and done, here's what hurt me more. That

00:43:27.760 --> 00:43:30.440
hurt. That whole conversation really hurt. In

00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:32.320
fact, I lost my mentor over that conversation.

00:43:32.579 --> 00:43:35.340
He's never been my mentor since. Not because

00:43:35.340 --> 00:43:37.679
I didn't forgive him. I did. But because he just

00:43:37.679 --> 00:43:40.800
could not mentor me when I disagreed with him

00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:42.119
under those circumstances. And he said, well,

00:43:42.139 --> 00:43:44.550
you're done. Either you're right and you've graduated,

00:43:44.829 --> 00:43:47.670
or you're wrong and I can't deal with you. That's

00:43:47.670 --> 00:43:54.570
what he said. But after all was said and done,

00:43:54.750 --> 00:44:00.989
it came out that churches, quite a few, not enough,

00:44:01.230 --> 00:44:04.949
but quite a few churches refused to stop worshiping.

00:44:06.570 --> 00:44:09.489
One of my good friends, who's a very strong supporter

00:44:09.489 --> 00:44:11.750
of the ministry and the Life Station especially,

00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:15.699
said, we never stopped worshiping. And we made

00:44:15.699 --> 00:44:17.599
arrangements. People wore masks if they needed

00:44:17.599 --> 00:44:21.079
to. People stayed six foot apart, sanitized everything.

00:44:21.719 --> 00:44:24.059
They broadcasted their service onto the parking

00:44:24.059 --> 00:44:26.900
lot so older seniors who were fearful that they

00:44:26.900 --> 00:44:28.579
might get contaminated could sit in their cars

00:44:28.579 --> 00:44:30.300
and listen, things like that. So we made arrangements.

00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:34.360
Well, we never stopped worshiping. And I said,

00:44:34.539 --> 00:44:41.599
man, I wish you'd have said something. See, If

00:44:41.599 --> 00:44:45.820
we're a church that knows what God wants, then

00:44:45.820 --> 00:44:49.260
it is our job to deliver that message to anyone

00:44:49.260 --> 00:44:50.800
who will listen. You've got friends that go to

00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:52.679
church and they say, well, our church closed

00:44:52.679 --> 00:44:54.719
down because of this. You know what happened

00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:56.260
to a lot of churches that closed down because

00:44:56.260 --> 00:45:00.400
of COVID? They never reopened. Dozens of them

00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:05.199
in Toledo alone. Let alone the world. Because

00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:06.880
they weren't supposed to close down in the first

00:45:06.880 --> 00:45:11.929
place. But we also did not go out. But there

00:45:11.929 --> 00:45:14.389
was one victory, and that is that I have another

00:45:14.389 --> 00:45:15.989
dear friend of mine who's on the Voluntary Advisory

00:45:15.989 --> 00:45:17.869
Board for the Life Station, and he and I go way

00:45:17.869 --> 00:45:21.309
back. And after they lectured me for an hour

00:45:21.309 --> 00:45:23.750
and 40 minutes, like the next week, it started

00:45:23.750 --> 00:45:25.949
with a phone call. We were on a Teams call or

00:45:25.949 --> 00:45:28.829
whatever, Zoom, right, a Zoom call. And they

00:45:28.829 --> 00:45:30.829
had been talking bad about churches that were

00:45:30.829 --> 00:45:33.329
staying open. And at the end of that, after they

00:45:33.329 --> 00:45:34.789
got done talking bad about them for about 15

00:45:34.789 --> 00:45:37.210
minutes, I said, well, I'm going to leave this

00:45:37.210 --> 00:45:41.789
call now. And FYI, my church is still open. So

00:45:41.789 --> 00:45:43.849
you just talk to Adam for 15 minutes about me,

00:45:43.969 --> 00:45:46.269
and I forgive you all. It's inappropriate. I

00:45:46.269 --> 00:45:48.030
forgive you all. These are all pastors, right?

00:45:48.170 --> 00:45:49.650
I forgive you all, but I'm done. I'm not going

00:45:49.650 --> 00:45:50.989
to be on the call no more. Oh, wait, wait, wait,

00:45:50.989 --> 00:45:53.510
wait, wait. And I push the button. I'm done.

00:45:53.949 --> 00:45:55.829
So then my mentor called me, lectured me for

00:45:55.829 --> 00:45:59.030
an hour and 40 minutes. Then later that day,

00:45:59.170 --> 00:46:02.489
my friend, who's a pastor out in Bryan, Ohio,

00:46:02.590 --> 00:46:06.289
called me up, and he said, dude. He said everybody

00:46:06.289 --> 00:46:08.989
in the church wanted to stay open. Everybody

00:46:08.989 --> 00:46:11.150
in the church. We all thought God wanted us to

00:46:11.150 --> 00:46:13.949
keep worshiping. But my mentor, he didn't say

00:46:13.949 --> 00:46:15.250
his name, but I knew who he was talking about.

00:46:15.489 --> 00:46:17.670
My mentor called me and told me we had to stop.

00:46:18.670 --> 00:46:20.429
So I went to the church. I told them that my

00:46:20.429 --> 00:46:21.670
mentor told me we had to stop. And they said,

00:46:21.710 --> 00:46:23.429
okay, well, we better stop. And then we stopped.

00:46:23.489 --> 00:46:27.510
We stopped two weeks ago. But I spent the last

00:46:27.510 --> 00:46:29.409
hour getting a hold of all my deacons and church

00:46:29.409 --> 00:46:31.309
members and we'll be worshiping in public this

00:46:31.309 --> 00:46:35.659
Sunday. You see? I didn't mean to. I didn't know

00:46:35.659 --> 00:46:40.059
better, but we led. New Heights led. I had a

00:46:40.059 --> 00:46:42.019
friend of mine, this is the last illustration

00:46:42.019 --> 00:46:43.539
I'll give on this topic because I've gone too

00:46:43.539 --> 00:46:45.280
long on it already, a friend of mine out of Charlotte,

00:46:45.500 --> 00:46:48.380
South Carolina, whatever one it is, Charlotte,

00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:49.860
North Carolina, whichever one it is, out of Charlotte,

00:46:49.980 --> 00:46:54.320
and he did a survey right after COVID. In the

00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:58.519
end, he surveyed 1 ,565 churches. He found 1

00:46:58.519 --> 00:47:02.400
,565 churches that did not close for COVID. And

00:47:02.400 --> 00:47:06.769
of those churches, 1 ,565 churches. One church

00:47:06.769 --> 00:47:10.690
had a case of breakout of COVID in their church

00:47:10.690 --> 00:47:14.190
that could be attributed to public worship. Now,

00:47:14.190 --> 00:47:16.309
we had COVID spread amongst family members and

00:47:16.309 --> 00:47:18.269
stuff. We had COVID at other times that were

00:47:18.269 --> 00:47:20.309
being passed around, right? I got it from my

00:47:20.309 --> 00:47:22.349
son because I ate off his plate, and he had it,

00:47:22.369 --> 00:47:24.570
and we didn't know he had it. Ron got it from,

00:47:24.610 --> 00:47:26.469
I think, Art. We think he got it from Art, but

00:47:26.469 --> 00:47:28.769
it wasn't here. It wasn't in the worship. One

00:47:28.769 --> 00:47:32.130
out of 1 ,565 churches had it, and it was in

00:47:32.130 --> 00:47:34.400
the choir. And it broke out during choir practice.

00:47:37.960 --> 00:47:43.719
Now we know. But many don't. Many don't know.

00:47:44.139 --> 00:47:46.500
They don't know about God, and they don't know

00:47:46.500 --> 00:47:48.480
the amazing things that God gave. I'm going to

00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:49.679
give you really quick, this is going to go by

00:47:49.679 --> 00:47:51.400
very fast, four reasons why that's true. The

00:47:51.400 --> 00:47:54.119
first reason, Proverbs says, is there is a way

00:47:54.119 --> 00:47:56.679
that seems right unto a man, and yet leads to

00:47:56.679 --> 00:48:00.159
death. So in other words, there are people out

00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:03.000
there, and some folks in here, who will stumble

00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:04.780
on a path that seems like the right way to go,

00:48:04.900 --> 00:48:07.179
and they will take that path. They will try to

00:48:07.179 --> 00:48:09.119
do right. They will think they are doing right.

00:48:10.659 --> 00:48:12.719
And I don't think that my friends who are Christian

00:48:12.719 --> 00:48:14.440
pastors who told their churches that they need

00:48:14.440 --> 00:48:15.940
to stop me, I don't think that they thought they

00:48:15.940 --> 00:48:18.260
were doing wrong, and don't hear me slamming

00:48:18.260 --> 00:48:20.139
them at all, and I've named no names, I'm not

00:48:20.139 --> 00:48:21.699
telling you who did and who didn't, or anything

00:48:21.699 --> 00:48:24.159
like that. That was their choice. And if their

00:48:24.159 --> 00:48:25.739
choice, they might have been saving somebody's

00:48:25.739 --> 00:48:27.690
life. If God told them to close their doors,

00:48:27.769 --> 00:48:29.130
one of their 90 -year -old members might have

00:48:29.130 --> 00:48:30.889
died from COVID because they stayed open. God

00:48:30.889 --> 00:48:32.610
could do that, right? That's fine. God could

00:48:32.610 --> 00:48:34.969
do that. So I'm not saying they did wrong. What

00:48:34.969 --> 00:48:39.210
I'm saying is people are trying to do right on

00:48:39.210 --> 00:48:43.769
a pathway that looks right that actually leads

00:48:43.769 --> 00:48:47.550
to death. Then there are those who are responding

00:48:47.550 --> 00:48:49.949
to their unending desire. The truth is, if you

00:48:49.949 --> 00:48:52.070
begin to go down a road going after what you

00:48:52.070 --> 00:48:59.539
want, you will never get done. If you go after

00:48:59.539 --> 00:49:04.139
somebody else's boyfriend or girlfriend and you

00:49:04.139 --> 00:49:07.119
manage to draw them away and fall madly in love

00:49:07.119 --> 00:49:09.360
with them, we all know where that road ends,

00:49:09.500 --> 00:49:11.840
right? If you can steal them away from somebody

00:49:11.840 --> 00:49:13.539
else, somebody else can steal them away from

00:49:13.539 --> 00:49:19.239
you. And the list goes on. There is no limit

00:49:19.239 --> 00:49:21.119
to how much you can want. Do you like steak?

00:49:22.460 --> 00:49:25.679
Do you eat four ounces of steak? Would you like

00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:28.269
to eat four and a half or five? Ever notice how

00:49:28.269 --> 00:49:30.190
the steaks you get in a restaurant are like three

00:49:30.190 --> 00:49:32.889
quarters of a pound? By the way, nobody ever

00:49:32.889 --> 00:49:34.869
anywhere needs to eat three quarters of a pound

00:49:34.869 --> 00:49:37.489
of meat at any time. Ever. You never need that.

00:49:37.550 --> 00:49:39.190
Your body doesn't need it. You're just going

00:49:39.190 --> 00:49:42.610
to be digesting it for 36 hours. And you're eventually

00:49:42.610 --> 00:49:44.409
going to poop most of it out. I'm just being

00:49:44.409 --> 00:49:47.550
plain. Right? Nobody needs it. And yet, every

00:49:47.550 --> 00:49:49.429
restaurant you go to wants to charge 25 bucks

00:49:49.429 --> 00:49:51.769
for a 12 -ounce steak. And you don't need it.

00:49:52.869 --> 00:49:55.969
Tastes really good. And you'd buy it, eat it.

00:49:56.239 --> 00:49:57.460
And a few weeks later, if you had the money,

00:49:57.500 --> 00:50:00.619
you'd buy it again. There is no limit to our

00:50:00.619 --> 00:50:04.280
desire. If you look at good -looking women or

00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:08.099
women in bikinis or underwear or naked, that

00:50:08.099 --> 00:50:12.260
road never ends. Until you die, it will never

00:50:12.260 --> 00:50:14.360
end. Ask somebody who's been in it, who's been

00:50:14.360 --> 00:50:16.760
stuck in it, who can't get out of it. Unending

00:50:16.760 --> 00:50:20.500
desire is a natural, fallen human condition.

00:50:20.559 --> 00:50:22.920
And it doesn't just magically go away because

00:50:22.920 --> 00:50:25.889
you got saved. It just gets triumphed. Right?

00:50:25.949 --> 00:50:28.829
You get victory and freedom over it. And if you

00:50:28.829 --> 00:50:31.530
go back and embrace it, that road never ends.

00:50:31.610 --> 00:50:33.289
And there are Christians and non -Christians

00:50:33.289 --> 00:50:35.869
alike who are caught up in their unending desire.

00:50:35.929 --> 00:50:41.550
Check Philippians 3. Outside their understanding.

00:50:42.250 --> 00:50:43.929
The wisdom of God, the thing that they're being

00:50:43.929 --> 00:50:45.889
told to do is outside their understanding. In

00:50:45.889 --> 00:50:49.530
fact, the cross is foolishness. Faithful following.

00:50:49.769 --> 00:50:52.170
You know how many times I've had people tell

00:50:52.170 --> 00:50:55.489
me in my life? That giving 10 % or more of your

00:50:55.489 --> 00:51:00.309
funds to the church tithing seems foolish? I

00:51:00.309 --> 00:51:03.150
can just chuckle all the way to the bank. Because

00:51:03.150 --> 00:51:07.050
I once believed that, finally overcame it, and

00:51:07.050 --> 00:51:11.289
have never regretted it. Ever. God always takes

00:51:11.289 --> 00:51:13.849
care of it. Now, but I can think of the times

00:51:13.849 --> 00:51:15.809
before I started being faithful, doing what was

00:51:15.809 --> 00:51:19.789
right, that lack was abounding. Times where we

00:51:19.789 --> 00:51:21.050
didn't know where we were going to get a gallon

00:51:21.050 --> 00:51:24.079
of milk. I woke up one morning when Alicia was

00:51:24.079 --> 00:51:26.440
about a year old, and I was very young, saved

00:51:26.440 --> 00:51:28.820
Christian at the time, and I'm praying, God help

00:51:28.820 --> 00:51:31.760
us, because Alicia's going to want milk. And

00:51:31.760 --> 00:51:35.539
we don't have any. We have very little food in

00:51:35.539 --> 00:51:38.280
the house. Food stamps were gone for the month.

00:51:39.099 --> 00:51:41.559
Bills are paid, roofs over our head, but we have

00:51:41.559 --> 00:51:44.820
nothing. And I get up and I go open the door

00:51:44.820 --> 00:51:46.719
as I would want to do to let some sunshine in.

00:51:46.739 --> 00:51:49.269
We had a screen door with... Plexiglass in it

00:51:49.269 --> 00:51:52.190
and I opened the door and there inside the screen

00:51:52.190 --> 00:51:55.130
door was two gallons of milk, two blocks of cheese

00:51:55.130 --> 00:51:58.150
and two dozen eggs. Which probably somebody got

00:51:58.150 --> 00:51:59.690
from WIC or whatever and couldn't use and they

00:51:59.690 --> 00:52:02.510
dropped them off at our house. But where was

00:52:02.510 --> 00:52:06.510
it going to come from? We were so short and God

00:52:06.510 --> 00:52:08.389
took care of us and God will take care of you

00:52:08.389 --> 00:52:11.630
while you are mistakenly following wrong roads,

00:52:11.769 --> 00:52:13.880
while you are... feeding your endless desire,

00:52:14.099 --> 00:52:17.280
and while you are not understanding what it means

00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:20.019
to faithfully follow him, but do understand this,

00:52:20.239 --> 00:52:23.219
that's not his expectation. You don't get to

00:52:23.219 --> 00:52:25.639
stay there long term. His expectation is that

00:52:25.639 --> 00:52:27.840
you will behave as an ambassador, that you will

00:52:27.840 --> 00:52:32.139
turn everything within your control for your

00:52:32.139 --> 00:52:37.019
good and his. There's one left. Radical following,

00:52:37.139 --> 00:52:38.820
like what I'm talking about, making your decisions

00:52:38.820 --> 00:52:41.880
based on Christ, radical following. with radical

00:52:41.880 --> 00:52:44.840
lack of compromise, and we think radical means

00:52:44.840 --> 00:52:48.679
rational. Or means not rational, rather. So we

00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:50.420
think it doesn't make any sense. You're like

00:52:50.420 --> 00:52:52.980
a zealot. You're like a cult member. Isn't it

00:52:52.980 --> 00:52:54.920
funny that zealots and cult members are more

00:52:54.920 --> 00:52:57.280
committed to their false demon god than we are

00:52:57.280 --> 00:53:01.119
to ours? That they'll blow themselves up to have

00:53:01.119 --> 00:53:03.800
a chance at going to their version of Valhalla?

00:53:04.519 --> 00:53:07.320
But Christians won't step up and say something

00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:08.820
because they're afraid of what somebody will

00:53:08.820 --> 00:53:11.309
say back or the way somebody will act? Come on.

00:53:12.590 --> 00:53:16.469
Let's get bold. When it comes to Christ, you

00:53:16.469 --> 00:53:18.730
should be like a cult member. You follow him

00:53:18.730 --> 00:53:20.789
no matter what. What do we say? Deny yourself.

00:53:20.949 --> 00:53:22.469
Take up your cross. That means be willing to

00:53:22.469 --> 00:53:25.550
die and follow him daily. That's what Jesus said

00:53:25.550 --> 00:53:29.969
it means to be one of his. So people rationalize

00:53:29.969 --> 00:53:31.969
their way to worldly behavior, even Christians.

00:53:32.050 --> 00:53:33.210
I'm following the Lord, I'm following the Lord.

00:53:33.250 --> 00:53:34.590
But here's this thing over here, and it's not

00:53:34.590 --> 00:53:36.730
specifically spoken against in Scripture. It's

00:53:36.730 --> 00:53:38.949
not a sin. So I'm going to add that to my life,

00:53:38.989 --> 00:53:40.409
and pretty soon the things that we add to our

00:53:40.409 --> 00:53:43.510
life detract from the things that we're faithfully

00:53:43.510 --> 00:53:47.070
following God. I mean, ambassadors eat the food

00:53:47.070 --> 00:53:50.110
of the kingdom in which they serve, right? Well,

00:53:50.130 --> 00:53:53.170
yes, they do. But they don't eat poison, just

00:53:53.170 --> 00:53:57.099
because the locals do. And they don't partake

00:53:57.099 --> 00:54:01.119
of destructive behavior just to fit in or even

00:54:01.119 --> 00:54:04.099
to build bridges because they know that there

00:54:04.099 --> 00:54:07.400
is a long -term price to pay and they're eventually

00:54:07.400 --> 00:54:10.519
going to go home and answer to the sending nation

00:54:10.519 --> 00:54:13.500
for the way they behaved while they were an ambassador.

00:54:14.239 --> 00:54:16.920
And ambassadors have been withdrawn by nations.

00:54:18.059 --> 00:54:20.519
Ambassadors have been found guilty of treason.

00:54:21.159 --> 00:54:23.280
Ambassadors have been removed from their position

00:54:23.280 --> 00:54:26.340
and jailed or even killed. If you're an ambassador

00:54:26.340 --> 00:54:29.539
for Christ, you live under the values of your

00:54:29.539 --> 00:54:32.199
kingdom, not under the values of the kingdom

00:54:32.199 --> 00:54:36.320
in which we reside physically. Proverbs 13 says

00:54:36.320 --> 00:54:38.599
this, a wicked messenger falls into adversity.

00:54:39.059 --> 00:54:41.239
A messenger and an ambassador are a very similar

00:54:41.239 --> 00:54:43.639
thing, right? A wicked messenger falls into adversity,

00:54:43.820 --> 00:54:46.820
but a faithful envoy brings healing. Poverty

00:54:46.820 --> 00:54:49.239
and shame will come to him who neglects discipline,

00:54:49.480 --> 00:54:51.840
but he who regards reproof, that means pays attention

00:54:51.840 --> 00:54:54.940
to correction, will be honored. Desire realized

00:54:54.940 --> 00:54:57.780
is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination

00:54:57.780 --> 00:55:00.440
to fools to turn away from evil. In other words,

00:55:00.460 --> 00:55:02.360
if you're stupid, you think it's not good to

00:55:02.360 --> 00:55:03.440
turn away from evil because you're going to miss

00:55:03.440 --> 00:55:05.519
out on something. But if you're smart in the

00:55:05.519 --> 00:55:07.440
Lord, you realize turning away from evil is exactly

00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:10.460
who we are. And then 20 says, he who walks with

00:55:10.460 --> 00:55:13.159
wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools

00:55:13.159 --> 00:55:16.280
will suffer harm. We've come to our conclusion.

00:55:17.360 --> 00:55:20.219
Let me tell you what we're not. We are not a

00:55:20.219 --> 00:55:23.579
collection of free agents. We are a body of Christ

00:55:23.579 --> 00:55:26.699
and a family of God. Sometimes we are huddled

00:55:26.699 --> 00:55:29.039
together against the storm when God sees fit.

00:55:29.079 --> 00:55:31.079
Think of them in the upper room begging God after

00:55:31.079 --> 00:55:33.000
Jesus was crucified. And many times after, we're

00:55:33.000 --> 00:55:36.639
praying for Peter when he was arrested. But together

00:55:36.639 --> 00:55:39.500
we are a church that will invade and transform

00:55:39.500 --> 00:55:42.760
anywhere that God gives us influence. And doing

00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:46.539
that as a family? And as we are still heirs and

00:55:46.539 --> 00:55:49.300
joint heirs with Christ, is exactly what we're

00:55:49.300 --> 00:55:53.340
called to. We are not enjoying the benefits of

00:55:53.340 --> 00:55:56.039
freedom in Christ while awaiting Jesus' return.

00:55:56.179 --> 00:55:58.400
Let me say that again. We are not enjoying the

00:55:58.400 --> 00:56:00.579
benefits of freedom in Christ while awaiting

00:56:00.579 --> 00:56:06.320
His return. While freedom to not sin could be

00:56:06.320 --> 00:56:08.460
considered a great treasure, and freedom to still

00:56:08.460 --> 00:56:10.300
go to heaven, having been found fallen short

00:56:10.300 --> 00:56:12.260
of the glory of God, is everything essential.

00:56:13.099 --> 00:56:17.480
That we lacked before we got saved? All of that

00:56:17.480 --> 00:56:19.960
has now been given that we may live for the one

00:56:19.960 --> 00:56:24.059
who died for us. We are not absorbing the best

00:56:24.059 --> 00:56:25.960
wisdom the world has to offer, including the

00:56:25.960 --> 00:56:29.280
Bible. The Bible is the only God -breathed library

00:56:29.280 --> 00:56:32.000
of life -changing truth. There isn't another,

00:56:32.159 --> 00:56:34.019
even if it's based on the Bible. This is it.

00:56:34.039 --> 00:56:37.099
This is all you get. Every word in it is useful

00:56:37.099 --> 00:56:39.500
for correction, rebuke, and direction to take

00:56:39.500 --> 00:56:42.949
us where we want to go. Hebrews 4 .12 says, For

00:56:42.949 --> 00:56:44.769
the word of God is living and active and sharper

00:56:44.769 --> 00:56:47.449
than any two -edged sword, piercing as far as

00:56:47.449 --> 00:56:49.170
the division of soul and spirit, both joints

00:56:49.170 --> 00:56:50.829
and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and

00:56:50.829 --> 00:56:53.389
intentions of the heart. Paul said to Timothy,

00:56:53.570 --> 00:56:55.769
And that from the childhood you have known the

00:56:55.769 --> 00:56:57.710
sacred writings which are able to give you the

00:56:57.710 --> 00:57:01.269
wisdom that leads to salvation. Through faith,

00:57:01.429 --> 00:57:04.289
which is in Christ Jesus, all scripture is inspired

00:57:04.289 --> 00:57:06.949
by God and profitable for teaching, reproof,

00:57:06.949 --> 00:57:09.710
correction, training in righteousness for this

00:57:09.710 --> 00:57:12.719
purpose. so that the man of God may be adequately

00:57:12.719 --> 00:57:16.440
equipped for every good work. Did you catch that?

00:57:17.719 --> 00:57:21.480
It's about what you do and what is done in your

00:57:21.480 --> 00:57:26.400
presence. Not, we are not loving most those who

00:57:26.400 --> 00:57:30.420
love me or who are like me or who seem to need

00:57:30.420 --> 00:57:32.820
it most. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. And

00:57:32.820 --> 00:57:35.420
to lack that love is to lack the impact of God's

00:57:35.420 --> 00:57:38.280
presence. It is to fail to represent him. It

00:57:38.280 --> 00:57:41.300
is to give place to darkness that his absence

00:57:41.300 --> 00:57:47.760
allows. We bring love into every situation. We

00:57:47.760 --> 00:57:50.320
become his agents of love, real biblical love

00:57:50.320 --> 00:57:53.079
learned and trained directly from his example

00:57:53.079 --> 00:57:56.659
and his filling, including our desire to do what

00:57:56.659 --> 00:58:01.679
is right in every situation, to force that correctness

00:58:01.679 --> 00:58:03.800
when necessary, when it's within our power to

00:58:03.800 --> 00:58:08.760
do so. To enforce when necessary and to maintain

00:58:08.760 --> 00:58:11.460
our own self -control under Christ no matter

00:58:11.460 --> 00:58:15.980
what we do. What we are. We serve the Lord and

00:58:15.980 --> 00:58:18.539
we lead others to do so. And in so doing, we

00:58:18.539 --> 00:58:20.719
forestall the inevitable. Listen, this is it.

00:58:20.780 --> 00:58:22.579
This is where the rubber meets the road. This

00:58:22.579 --> 00:58:24.380
is everything right here. So those of you who

00:58:24.380 --> 00:58:26.659
are tired, those of you who are distracted, focus.

00:58:26.840 --> 00:58:28.599
And if somebody left the room and you know it,

00:58:28.619 --> 00:58:30.960
get them to listen to this later. We serve the

00:58:30.960 --> 00:58:33.619
Lord and lead others to do so. And in so doing,

00:58:33.920 --> 00:58:36.800
we forestall the inevitable. Did you catch that?

00:58:37.559 --> 00:58:40.539
We are meant to be the former generation. We're

00:58:40.539 --> 00:58:42.659
like Joshua and the old guys that died out in

00:58:42.659 --> 00:58:45.139
this story. We're meant to be the former generation

00:58:45.139 --> 00:58:49.340
that secures our families, our friends, our churches,

00:58:49.380 --> 00:58:51.780
our city, our state, and frankly, this world

00:58:51.780 --> 00:58:56.420
against the outpouring of the wrath of God. Of

00:58:56.420 --> 00:58:59.039
course, in time, God will remove his people out

00:58:59.039 --> 00:59:01.579
of the line of fire and proceed as he has promised.

00:59:02.570 --> 00:59:06.530
This is all over the Bible. The Levites walked

00:59:06.530 --> 00:59:09.389
nearest the temple. God said, you will walk surrounding

00:59:09.389 --> 00:59:12.309
the tabernacle as we walk. Walk surrounding the

00:59:12.309 --> 00:59:14.289
tabernacle because otherwise my wrath will pour

00:59:14.289 --> 00:59:17.849
out and destroy the entire nation. The Levites

00:59:17.849 --> 00:59:21.449
were his priests. In that line of priests, we

00:59:21.449 --> 00:59:23.510
have a single high priest, Jesus, and we are

00:59:23.510 --> 00:59:26.969
the priesthood of his people. We stand in the

00:59:26.969 --> 00:59:31.360
way of the wrath of God. When Abraham was negotiating

00:59:31.360 --> 00:59:33.739
with God about Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot lived,

00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:36.920
he got it down to if just one righteous man lived

00:59:36.920 --> 00:59:40.079
there, he would not destroy the cities for virtue

00:59:40.079 --> 00:59:43.099
of that one righteous man. I'll spare them if

00:59:43.099 --> 00:59:46.820
there's just one. And then he pulled Lot out

00:59:46.820 --> 00:59:49.099
and destroyed them both with raining fire from

00:59:49.099 --> 00:59:52.360
heaven. I can go on. The bottom line is we are

00:59:52.360 --> 00:59:55.119
meant to be that preserving generation, stopping

00:59:55.119 --> 00:59:57.909
the inevitable. Logically, you can't know how

00:59:57.909 --> 00:59:59.949
to get from where you are to where you are going

00:59:59.949 --> 01:00:02.070
without knowing where you are and where you are

01:00:02.070 --> 01:00:04.909
going. At least upon learning how to get where

01:00:04.909 --> 01:00:07.809
you are going, you will know where you are. We

01:00:07.809 --> 01:00:10.989
are children of God. We live in a foreign nation.

01:00:11.210 --> 01:00:14.030
We live in a place that, frankly, a lot of days

01:00:14.030 --> 01:00:15.550
I get out of bed and I really would rather not

01:00:15.550 --> 01:00:18.110
be there. Let's be realistic. You're dealing

01:00:18.110 --> 01:00:19.489
with illness, you're dealing with cancer, you're

01:00:19.489 --> 01:00:20.309
dealing with health struggles, you're dealing

01:00:20.309 --> 01:00:22.969
with job struggles, relationship struggles. I've

01:00:22.969 --> 01:00:25.409
been bad -mouthed so many times. I've had a contract

01:00:25.409 --> 01:00:28.929
taken out on my life. This is not easy work,

01:00:28.969 --> 01:00:32.010
being in the kingdom of God. Do you want to be

01:00:32.010 --> 01:00:34.409
here serving? Yes, you do, because you're part

01:00:34.409 --> 01:00:36.050
of the kingdom of God and that's what we are,

01:00:36.130 --> 01:00:42.809
ambassadors. Feeling unknown, a past unrevealed,

01:00:42.809 --> 01:00:46.849
but God knows all and wants you. He wants you

01:00:46.849 --> 01:00:49.110
to be born again and to have that sinful nature

01:00:49.110 --> 01:00:51.829
put in check. He's calling worshipers in spirit

01:00:51.829 --> 01:00:53.650
and truth and empowering them to become a part

01:00:53.650 --> 01:00:58.369
of the generation that he already put in place

01:00:58.369 --> 01:01:02.809
to prevent the inevitable. You will not partake

01:01:02.809 --> 01:01:04.429
of the pleasures of this world, but definitely

01:01:04.429 --> 01:01:06.969
realize you play a part in sustaining them. Do

01:01:06.969 --> 01:01:09.550
you understand that everybody who got out of

01:01:09.550 --> 01:01:13.409
bed today that doesn't know Jesus and chose not

01:01:13.409 --> 01:01:16.230
to be in a church, chose not to live for God,

01:01:16.369 --> 01:01:20.050
they're only getting a little while longer. To

01:01:20.050 --> 01:01:24.110
come to God? Because people like you, assuming

01:01:24.110 --> 01:01:25.789
you love Jesus and are actually doing what you're

01:01:25.789 --> 01:01:27.989
supposed to be doing, are standing in the way

01:01:27.989 --> 01:01:31.329
between the outpouring of God's wrath and their

01:01:31.329 --> 01:01:35.550
destruction? Based on this text, we make it possible

01:01:35.550 --> 01:01:40.030
for women to get abortions. Not because we support

01:01:40.030 --> 01:01:43.949
abortions. We make every murder possible. We

01:01:43.949 --> 01:01:47.030
make every theft possible. Every bad thing that

01:01:47.030 --> 01:01:49.980
happens. It is only allowed to happen as sin

01:01:49.980 --> 01:01:54.119
because we are still standing in the way. But

01:01:54.119 --> 01:01:57.380
also, every salvation that happens because we

01:01:57.380 --> 01:01:58.960
stand up for what we do, because we know God

01:01:58.960 --> 01:02:01.139
and we testify about the good things that God

01:02:01.139 --> 01:02:04.500
has done and wants to do, there is a chance.

01:02:04.920 --> 01:02:07.900
In 2 Peter 3, it says, God is not slow as some

01:02:07.900 --> 01:02:10.900
men count slowness, but he is patient that all

01:02:10.900 --> 01:02:13.699
men might come to repentance. And that's how

01:02:13.699 --> 01:02:16.420
most people quote it. But actually, what it says

01:02:16.420 --> 01:02:21.880
is, He is patient with you and with me. His patience

01:02:21.880 --> 01:02:24.559
is not directed at lost people that they might

01:02:24.559 --> 01:02:26.920
come to repentance. They're subject to wrath.

01:02:27.019 --> 01:02:29.079
We were too. Objects of wrath before we came

01:02:29.079 --> 01:02:32.059
to repentance and met Christ. He's patient with

01:02:32.059 --> 01:02:36.380
us. He's giving us a chance to be that generation.

01:02:37.260 --> 01:02:42.199
To stand up in the gap. Illustration and then

01:02:42.199 --> 01:02:46.079
I'm through. When I was about 13 years old, we

01:02:46.079 --> 01:02:49.019
played a lot of sports in my side yard. I don't

01:02:49.019 --> 01:02:51.380
have a very big side yard anymore, but I did

01:02:51.380 --> 01:02:54.519
then. We played wiffle ball. We played tron.

01:02:54.860 --> 01:02:56.460
Tron's where you stand like in a diamond and

01:02:56.460 --> 01:02:58.460
you throw frisbees at each other. You can block

01:02:58.460 --> 01:02:59.719
with your frisbee, and if you get hit with the

01:02:59.719 --> 01:03:01.460
frisbee in any way, you're out. Kind of painful,

01:03:01.579 --> 01:03:06.340
but we did it anyway. So we were on a wiffle

01:03:06.340 --> 01:03:08.280
ball kick. We were playing wiffle ball, but we

01:03:08.280 --> 01:03:09.800
were playing it like baseball, not like wiffle

01:03:09.800 --> 01:03:11.179
ball. We were playing baseball with a wiffle

01:03:11.179 --> 01:03:15.250
ball bat and ball. But I got hurt and I couldn't

01:03:15.250 --> 01:03:17.269
play, which was a problem because I owned the

01:03:17.269 --> 01:03:21.789
bat and the ball. Understand? So one of the kids

01:03:21.789 --> 01:03:24.949
comes knocking on my door. You want to play wiffle

01:03:24.949 --> 01:03:28.690
ball? Nah, I can't. I'm hurt. Doctor said I got

01:03:28.690 --> 01:03:31.010
to take it easy, but let my ankle heal and stuff

01:03:31.010 --> 01:03:33.170
like that. And he looked really sad. He goes,

01:03:33.170 --> 01:03:37.250
oh, man. But we really wanted to play. We got

01:03:37.250 --> 01:03:39.989
like eight guys, four on four plus you. If we

01:03:39.989 --> 01:03:41.489
get one more, it'd be five on five. It'd be great.

01:03:41.510 --> 01:03:43.579
We really wanted to play. I said, oh, you can

01:03:43.579 --> 01:03:45.420
use the bat and the ball and play. I'll even

01:03:45.420 --> 01:03:53.840
come out and watch. That's where we live. And

01:03:53.840 --> 01:03:57.659
they played. And you know what happened? While

01:03:57.659 --> 01:03:59.539
they were playing, they had a dispute between

01:03:59.539 --> 01:04:02.659
them. They couldn't decide whether somebody was

01:04:02.659 --> 01:04:04.539
safe or out. I think that was the first dispute.

01:04:06.139 --> 01:04:12.539
And guess who they asked? Pretty soon I was the

01:04:12.539 --> 01:04:16.360
umpire, the referee. I was the one determining

01:04:16.360 --> 01:04:22.679
what was right and what was wrong. That's the

01:04:22.679 --> 01:04:25.420
role of the church. That's who we are in the

01:04:25.420 --> 01:04:27.639
kingdom of God. To do it, you've got to love

01:04:27.639 --> 01:04:30.260
God more than anything else. You've got to abandon

01:04:30.260 --> 01:04:33.360
your ideas, yourself, your want, and follow Him.

01:04:33.539 --> 01:04:37.360
And then watch. Over time, I get it, right? Over

01:04:37.360 --> 01:04:41.130
time, they begin to realize. That's somebody

01:04:41.130 --> 01:04:43.289
I can ask. Is this right? Is it wrong? I'm sure

01:04:43.289 --> 01:04:44.710
you've probably had people, what do you think

01:04:44.710 --> 01:04:47.170
about this? They're not really asking you. In

01:04:47.170 --> 01:04:48.969
fact, the next time somebody asks you, what do

01:04:48.969 --> 01:04:51.070
you think about this? Don't you dare reach in

01:04:51.070 --> 01:04:53.989
your treasure trove of wisdom. Don't you dare

01:04:53.989 --> 01:04:56.670
give your opinion. The next time somebody asks

01:04:56.670 --> 01:05:00.809
you what you think, you reach into your new wineskin.

01:05:01.530 --> 01:05:03.789
You pull out the teaching and the truth of Jesus

01:05:03.789 --> 01:05:06.329
Christ our Lord. And even if you wouldn't normally,

01:05:06.469 --> 01:05:08.230
even if your opinion is slightly different than

01:05:08.230 --> 01:05:09.889
Jesus's and you're still adjusting to it, you

01:05:09.889 --> 01:05:12.969
tell them not what you think, but what God thinks.

01:05:13.349 --> 01:05:17.190
And in end, you'll be an arbiter. You'll be a

01:05:17.190 --> 01:05:22.269
mediator. You'll be an ambassador. I hope that

01:05:22.269 --> 01:05:26.329
I won't die and the church and the family and

01:05:26.329 --> 01:05:30.789
the city and the country in which I live will

01:05:30.789 --> 01:05:33.090
drift down and spiral down into sin and face

01:05:33.090 --> 01:05:36.730
God's judgment. But I'll tell you one thing for

01:05:36.730 --> 01:05:40.909
sure. As long as I'm alive, if I have anything

01:05:40.909 --> 01:05:43.610
to say about it, that's not going to happen.

01:05:44.989 --> 01:05:48.389
And I would ask you, as men and women of Christ,

01:05:48.650 --> 01:05:54.190
to feel exactly the same way. When you are present

01:05:54.190 --> 01:06:00.769
and a wrong takes place, sacrifice yourself as

01:06:00.769 --> 01:06:07.599
Jesus did. risk persecution and trials, stand

01:06:07.599 --> 01:06:10.900
up for what's right. And some of us may die,

01:06:11.019 --> 01:06:18.440
but all of us will live. I'm asking you to be

01:06:18.440 --> 01:06:23.320
the generation that made sure, as much as was

01:06:23.320 --> 01:06:27.820
under their power, that what went, went right.

01:06:28.559 --> 01:06:31.079
And when it's like that, that doesn't have to

01:06:31.079 --> 01:06:37.659
be a handbag. or a hand basket, or a hand cart,

01:06:37.940 --> 01:06:41.519
there will still be journeys to hell. Because

01:06:41.519 --> 01:06:44.059
there will still be stubborn people, still stiff

01:06:44.059 --> 01:06:45.880
-necked, still unwilling to accept the gospel,

01:06:45.960 --> 01:06:49.019
still unwilling to be saved. They're still on

01:06:49.019 --> 01:06:54.000
the journey to hell. But then we can actually

01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:57.079
say, yeah, the world may be going to hell in

01:06:57.079 --> 01:07:00.059
a hand basket, but whatever I've got under control,

01:07:00.280 --> 01:07:04.800
this here, this is on a different journey. This

01:07:04.800 --> 01:07:09.179
is me making it right. Will you join me? I ask

01:07:09.179 --> 01:07:10.880
the praise team to come forward at this time

01:07:10.880 --> 01:07:12.380
and lead us in our final hymn. We're going to

01:07:12.380 --> 01:07:15.139
sing together. As we sing, if the Lord has spoken

01:07:15.139 --> 01:07:17.980
to your heart today and you realize that either

01:07:17.980 --> 01:07:19.840
as a Christian or not, either one, you've been

01:07:19.840 --> 01:07:23.079
buying into a different method than what I've

01:07:23.079 --> 01:07:25.000
just asked you to, and you realize that God wants

01:07:25.000 --> 01:07:27.500
you to be a man or a woman who will stand up

01:07:27.500 --> 01:07:31.219
for what's right, will do right. And impress

01:07:31.219 --> 01:07:33.539
upon your auspices, your courts, everything that

01:07:33.539 --> 01:07:36.659
you can touch to be right. God's calling you

01:07:36.659 --> 01:07:39.300
to be that. And I ask you to repent today. Turn

01:07:39.300 --> 01:07:44.219
to Him and say, I want that to be me. And it'll

01:07:44.219 --> 01:07:47.940
cost you everything. But you'll gain more.