WEBVTT 00:00:01.299 --> 00:00:05.099 Greetings, everyone. Andy Johnson here. The title 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:08.839 of today's presentation is called Fortitude and 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:12.660 Living Your Values. And my Jesus -loving MAGA 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.900 friends are going to be mad at me for this one, 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:21.239 but that's not my purpose. For unto us, Isaiah 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:26.480 9 .5. For unto us a child is born, a son will 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.920 be given, and the government will be upon his 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.420 shoulders. and his name will be called Wonderful 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:37.079 Counselor, Mighty God, My Father of Eternity, 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:42.719 Prince of Peace." And the angel said, and Luke, 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:46.920 glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, 00:00:47.219 --> 00:00:52.439 goodwill toward men. So Prince of Peace, let 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:56.420 me ask you, how's that working out for you? How's 00:00:56.420 --> 00:01:01.049 the peace thing going? I have to be honest, I 00:01:01.049 --> 00:01:04.269 don't see a lot of peace coming out of my Jesus 00:01:04.269 --> 00:01:10.530 loving mega friends. I see anger, hatred, retribution, 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:16.730 violence, and lies. Peace on earth, goodwill 00:01:16.730 --> 00:01:20.269 toward men and women and children and animal 00:01:20.269 --> 00:01:24.769 life and our planet. How's that goodwill thing 00:01:24.769 --> 00:01:29.409 working for you? Are you feeling it? Is your 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:34.590 will good? Or is it selfish? Did I misread Luke? 00:01:34.870 --> 00:01:40.010 Did the angels say selfish will to all? I don't 00:01:40.010 --> 00:01:44.109 see a lot of goodwill emanating from the Jesus 00:01:44.109 --> 00:01:49.590 -loving mega -folk. I see greed, selfishness, 00:01:49.969 --> 00:01:55.549 violence, indifference and entitlement. And I'm 00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:59.750 sorry, that's what I'm seeing. And now I see 00:01:59.750 --> 00:02:04.689 war and I see killing. I see people being beat 00:02:04.689 --> 00:02:09.870 up and locked up. And the Christian Bible has 00:02:09.870 --> 00:02:15.409 policies about these sorts of things. Jesus as 00:02:15.409 --> 00:02:18.710 condition of the heart, Philippians 2 .5, have 00:02:18.710 --> 00:02:23.210 this mind among yourselves, which is yours in 00:02:23.210 --> 00:02:29.319 Christ Jesus. have this mind. I've come to know 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:35.080 Jesus as an internal state. I've put on the Lord 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:39.340 Jesus Christ. I've let the peace of Christ rule 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:45.259 my heart. I've got myself a bad case of the Jesus 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:50.520 condition within me. And the Jesus I have come 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:54.659 to know is not wearing a MAGA hat. enchanting 00:02:54.659 --> 00:02:59.860 America first, God bless America, build the wall, 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.060 bomb Venezuela, Greenland as ours, bomb Iran, 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:11.599 grab them by the pussy. My Jesus is saying none 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.000 of these things. The Jesus I've come to know 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:23.270 speaks of love, compassion. selflessness, generosity, 00:03:24.229 --> 00:03:31.210 responsibility, understanding, and joy. Colossians 00:03:31.210 --> 00:03:36.909 3 .15. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:41.770 since as members of one body you were called 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:48.900 to peace and be thankful. Am I reading my Bible 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:55.039 upside down here? How do you justify these words 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:01.900 with the behaviors of Trump? And if you support 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:06.280 his policies and actions, these behaviors are 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:12.800 yours by proxy. It appears as if your Christianity 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:18.040 is merely a set of behaviors and beliefs. Refrain 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.819 from bad behaviors and believe the right sorts 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:24.720 of things so you can get to heaven when you die. 00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:29.980 And that's just wonderful. And I'd be fine with 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:36.040 it. If it works for you, I'm all for it. But 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:42.040 obviously it's not working. It's not working. 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:50.660 I see anger with a smiling face. I see selfishness 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:54.040 and greed dressed in niceties and platitudes. 00:04:56.339 --> 00:05:01.240 I see pious moralizing and complacent indifference 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:07.540 dressed in your Sunday best. What I don't see 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:12.339 is peace. And I certainly don't see goodwill. 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:18.079 I see selfish will, evil will, indifferent will, 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:23.339 sanctimonious will, but I don't see good will. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:29.800 And I don't see compassion. Paul says we are 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:34.899 to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put him on! 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.779 You perhaps see Holy Scripture as a set of behaviors 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:47.399 and beliefs stuck in time. Maybe that's the cause 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:52.240 of your selfish indifference. Put on the mantle 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:56.240 of God at its highest. Christianity is a way 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:02.019 of seeing and being in the world. It's a set 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:05.759 of dispositions. It's a condition of your heart 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:10.339 in a state of your soul. It's a mindset that 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:16.819 enables you to see Jesus, to hear Jesus, to feel 00:06:16.819 --> 00:06:22.639 Jesus. Romans says put on, Romans 13, 14, put 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.800 on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:30.519 for the flesh to gratify its desires. So why 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:35.930 should I care? My life is good. Why should I 00:06:35.930 --> 00:06:41.730 worry? I've got a pension and a 401k. But in 00:06:41.730 --> 00:06:44.490 Luke, in the Beatitudes, Jesus says, blessed 00:06:44.490 --> 00:06:47.509 are those who are persecuted because of their 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:50.529 righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:57.329 This talks to fortitude, that inner state. You 00:06:57.329 --> 00:07:01.870 live your values. You try to. You don't back 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:05.730 down. You speak up when you see something wrong. 00:07:06.050 --> 00:07:11.589 You do something when you see evil. And I would 00:07:11.589 --> 00:07:15.870 ask my Jesus -loving MAGA friends, are you living 00:07:15.870 --> 00:07:23.430 your values? Are these really your values? Or 00:07:23.430 --> 00:07:27.790 is your Christianity merely a ticket to heaven 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:29.009 for you?