What it says I can't I'm a believer and not a doubter I'm a doer and not just a
hearer I am humble before the Lord I'm obedient to the Lord I am mature in the
Lord I'm enthusiastic about the Lord I know that faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the Word of God amen in the book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 13
through 16 new living translation you'll find these words it says you are the
salt of the earth but what good is salt if it has lost its flavor can you make
it salty again it will be thrown out and trample underfoot that's worth it now
I'm just talking about salt for a few minutes here because later on I'm gonna
come back and talk about light salt influences food it also preserves but
it's saying that if comparing us to salt brother Wilson is saying that if you
lose your influence you ain't no good to God God puts you on this earth to be an
influencer and if you lose that ability then what good are you to the Lord each
and every one of you can influence somebody in some circle that you run
in or walk in or live in or you connect with so the question is are you salty
changing the environment or you just blending in and losing your labor you are
the light of the world like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden no one
lights a lamp and then put it under a basket instead a lamp is placed on a
stand where it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way just like
light is used God want to use you in the same way let your good deeds shine out
to all for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father amen
you may be seated you may be seated well this is going to be our fourth and
final sermon in this little series that we've entitled be a good influencer and
I've been saying that because of the availability of social media platforms
and the ability of people to flood their ways with various content some people
are skillfully positioned themselves as influences and we all know that not all
influences are good influences you know I've said that as followers of Christ we
should be good influence on our families and our workplace and our social
circles or in any space where we connect with people we should have an influence
the definition I've been used for influence is the capacity to have an
effect on the character somebody say character on the character the
development somebody say development that's talking about growth and success
of people and on the behavior somebody say behavior of someone or something in
other words you can influence how people behave around you amen now if you have
not been with us for this first three parts of this I encourage you just go
back and check it out on our podcast or on demand I believe it you know fill in
some of the blanks that you may not see today but what I want you to understand
is that I believe that if we understand that significance of us being influences
we have the ability to make significant change in the world that we live in
amen and so today we're going to begin our argument in the book of John third
John I'm sorry third John verse one one little chapter third John chapter 1 verse
7 3 11 third John chapter 1 here we see the apostle John was writing to a dear
friend and he was commanding him and commending him for encouraging others in
the church to show hospitality to traveling ministers in other words
traveling evangelists people who were teaching in different areas these were
not you know traveling vacationers these was people who were traveling to
serve to serve the Lord and sometimes they needed their needs met so people
will provide place for them to live give them things to eat you know provide for
their life livelihood and they did that because these evangelists did not want
people of the world taking care of them they felt like hey we're here to preach
God's word so therefore people of God should support us in this endeavor
because if we asked the world for then the world could use that against us at a
later date y'all following me so far and so what he was trying to do and he was
encouraged in his friend because his friend was faithfully doing that for
those traveling ministers but then there was one person in the church who
refused to support them and who refused to be a part of it and in that same way
not only did he refuse others but fuse refuse himself but he would try to
persuade others not to do it and so what I want you to see out of this in this
context I want you to understand this pretext that sometimes Cliff is sad to
say but sometimes sometimes not often but sometimes in the church you can run
up on a bad a bad influence you don't expect it in the but John wants us to
know that sometime you can find a bad influence in the church you came to Jesus
today to get your holy ghost on you came to just revans and respect him and you
come to strive and run up on all I hope that I'm hope I'm wrong on that Pee Wee
I'm hoping that in striving there are no bad influences but I gotta read what
John wrote because it lets me know that there is a possibility that in some
church in America somebody is sitting in there and they are bad look at this I'm
in verse 7 he says for they are traveling for the Lord tongue my
those ministers and they accept nothing from people who are not believers they
we just don't want the unbelievers to support us when we are doing God's word
he said now so we ourselves submit then support them so that they can be partners
as they so that we can be partners as they teach the truth now he says this I
wrote to the church about this but that trophies are messing up his name but you
get it who loves to be the leader I know there's nobody in the church that
love to be the leader you know just love it's all right to be in a leader but
don't let leadership go to your head I mean leaders are supposed to serve to
lead supposed to do what everybody else do lives part of the team so he said
now look I sent instructions to him that he was supposed to assist in helping
this endeavor but this leader did not respect authority he disrespected that
apostolic authority of John by not doing what he was asked to do he said he
refused to have anything to do with us this dude in the church and he don't
even want to deal with the other leader
let me read on that one more point but I just want you to see that he says now
when I come I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil
accusations he is making against us not only is he in the church and doing some
crazy thing he talking about us in a bad way make it evil accusations not in the
church say it ain't so it don't happen in the church like that but just in case
you run into a church where there's folks in there who you need to be well
you got to look out for evil influences in the church he says the evil
accusation he is making against us look at this not only does he refuse to
welcome the traveling teachers but he also tell Cliff and others not to help
them you know it's one thing for him not to want to do it and just keep his
mouth shut but now he telling most most you got a good heart you want to have
to help them travel don't you do it you don't need to support them and I'm here
to tell most whoever's telling you that's a bad influence he said look at
not only does he refuse to welcome travelers he also tell others not to
help them and when they do help he want to put more out the church now that's
just bad that is not a good example to follow most got a heart that lines up
with Jesus because Jesus believe in helping people who are in need and then
now Cliff I'm just gonna use your object lesson now Cliff come you want to put
more out the church say more you you no longer fit what we're looking for his
tribe you you going out there trying to help folks who are traveling that that
ain't what our agenda is and he's saying now when Cliff come off like that
brother Wilson Cliff is a
now look at this he said dear friends don't let this bad example influence you
you got to come to church to learn to follow what is good not what is wrong
not what is evil so he says follow only what is good and remember that those
who do good prove that they are God's children so when you do good you're
acting like you're a child of God and those who do evil prove that they do
not know so you can sit in church saying victory belong to Jesus want to kick
Cliff out and that prove that you don't even know God you don't just
been saying to him but because you want to kick Cliff out you acting like you
don't even the reason John will say that so that way here is because in first
John he talks about love in that way he says that if you say you love God but
don't love your brother then obviously you don't love God so he's saying here
that if you want to kick brother Wilson out the church because he want to help
the traveling ministers then obviously you don't know God people know that we
know God by how we act around people that don't know God and we have to act in
a way that they can see God in us amen I ain't gonna be that long I'm gonna move
on let me move on I'm off the church but look at this talk about all of us and
how we're living now in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4 post-humans influence
since people of faith our good influence should continue on after we're
gone the good influences that we have on our family and on friends and because
we are good examples before them it should leave an impression in our heart
and in their mind so that after we are gone our good influence could be passed
on to the next generation amen so from this passage which the contact focus on
faith this verse gives us the reason to believe that our influence can live after
we're gone you know I'm pretty sure some of you right now like oftentimes I look
back at my life and I think about Richard Bowden senior my granddad and
there's some things that that guy told me that I still remember to the this day
and he been dead for almost 35 years you know there's some things about my dad
that I remember even though he's not been dead that long but there's some things
that he taught me when I was coming up there's some things that Lady Jeanette
taught me now that that still comes back to me even though she is her
influence to if sometime when I just want to leave the sink a mess cuz I'm
living at home by myself ain't nobody gonna see it but I hear her say well
you better watch them even if you don't do nothing but put them in the dishwasher
still got influence and so what I'm telling you is that you ought to be
making marks in people lives right now so that after you are gone if you don't
influence nobody else you influence ought to be enough to influence your
children and your grandchildren your grandchildren ought to be talking about
you after you're gone and if you are blessed your great-grandchildren may be
talking about you but definitely your children and your grandchildren they
ought to know who you are they ought to know what you was about how you live
before they they ought to know that you a personal faith and because they know
that you a personal faith and they see you live out that your faith when they
get older you got to believe it's gonna rub off on them it's gonna influence
them live to influence the next generation not just yourself live beyond
you so that when you are gone someone else will still be talking about you
remembering the things that you share and this is what we find here in this
passage here in chapter 11 of Hebrews I'm just gonna reverse for he's talking
about able and this is the whole chapter of people live by faith but in this one
he does indicate that what he did lived on after he was dead you said now it was
by faith that able brought a more acceptable offering to God than came
they both brought offerings but God didn't accept the one God would have
accepted both of them because it wasn't like God was playing favorites but
sometime when you bring things to God you got to bring with the right attitude
and you can't just bring him anything see see if you're gonna offer up some to
God cliff it ought to be your best even if your best is not the best compared to
somebody else it ought to be the best that you got and all he would have had
to do with just best bring the best grain or the best harvest that he had
don't bring God to beat up stuff God want the first fruit so even though you
are a farmer and not a herder the herder brought livestock the best cow now
you got to bring the best corn the first fruit you can't just bring God
what's been left out there and dried up on the stock and all of a sudden now you
gonna offer that and then you bring it with attitude when you're gonna give
back to God you got to give it into the room with the right attitude so when
they got preferred one over the other it was the attitude and the nature of the
gift that caused God some problem he says able offer able offering gave
evidence gave evidence that he was a righteous man so that means the other
offering must have revealed that he was not righteous and God showed his
approval of his gift and although able is long dead he's still
speaks to us by his example of faith we still read about him and all the rest
of these folks in this chapter even though they've been dead and gone so I
just submit to you your grandchildren I'll be talking about you after you got
dead and gone and you can't do that if you ain't got no relationship with them
so if you are estranged from your grandchildren they need to know you they
need to talk about you in a good way I agree with you that clip in a good way
you don't want your you let you and your internment to be the end of you
you left nothing behind everything about you ended up in the ground or in
ashes with you when you should have been living to make an influence on your
grandchildren so my prayer for myself is that bolden and Jensen and and and and
and J and EJ I'm sorry I got the little one big but I got the big one but my
prayer is that man when I end this life that them three rascals
cut their boys and all boys at some point in town little rascals that they
remember something about their granddad I gotta make it plain Anthony I assume
that this is I'm a preacher I'm talking about this stuff but since you're
sure you're right something good about the granddad and that ought to be your
prayer too you know I look back and I was as I was reading that I started
thinking about growing up and I started thinking about teachers that influenced
me and when I just started meditating Miss McCall Mr. McDonough Miss Wilson
all those people just started popping up in my head and you know that's over 50
some years ago over 50 some years ago but when I start thinking about did they
have an impact and influence in my life man that's all the way back to
elementary and kindergarten people that impacted my life in such a way that I
can still remember some of the things that they said back then so teachers are
influences parents and grandparents ought to be influenced amen let's turn to my
next turn let's say I didn't like that too good but I just time for to know you
want to leave an influence in the world amen go to Philippians Philippians
chapter 2 and before we close with with our brief recap of our text here we see
the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 through 15 he you know Paul
takes a page from Jesus teaching in Matthew and here we see him encouraging
the Philippian believers to shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked
and perverse people you know it light has its greatest influence and impact in
the midst of darkness you know if I brought a flashlight in here right now
and turned it on it probably just blend in with the rest of the light you will
hardly see it but if I turn all the lights off that flashlight would influence
this whole room the point I'm trying to get you to see cliff is that when you
just hang around other folk who are like you church folk Christian folk all
shining bright amongst each other you make no impact but when you go out into
darkness to people who don't know the Lord and live right before them now you
making and see what we expect that in here when you come to church on Sunday
by virtue of the fact that you're here I'm gonna give you the benefit of the
doubt and say you won't shine in here because this is an environment other
lights we're here to encourage one another we're doing that but once we
leave here you got to shine outside the church you got to shine before your
grandchildren you can't go around them and then turn your light off you got to
shine before your friends because when you do then now you can have an impact
in their life because once we start hanging with people who are living in
darkness one or two things gonna happen they're gonna be led in the direction of
the light or they're gonna run from the light like roaches some of your friends
ain't gonna like the light but that don't mean you turn it off your job is to
try to get them to see that there's another side of life that don't always
involve darkness so look at what Paul told this dear church and I mean he loved
the Philippians man this is one of his favorite churches and and because he
loved them so much man he didn't want them to start living in a different way
when he was not with them so look here he says he says in verse 12 dear friends
you always follow my instruction when I was with you most of your children will
follow your instruction will follow your instruction long day with you long day
with you then they you know you with mom and dad you most time you followed
there in but the test finally came when you left them when they left you are
you gonna now follow the instruction that they gave in here we're gonna follow
then but the test is when you get out are you gonna follow the instruction he
says when I was with you you follow the instructor then look at this now that I
am away it is even more important some of y'all got kids going off the college
this year you better sit down and tell them it's more important that you do
what I taught you to do when you get to college that it is when you right here
with me because why are you here with me you did it but now that I'm not there
now that I can't be there every time you turn every time something come up you're
gonna have to fall back on what you've been told and so it's important for your
children when they leave you today leave with some in you had a shit of song
something in that life so that when times get tough they can go back to what
mom and daddy he says it's even more important so now as he's talking to the
church he says now look he says work hard somebody say work hard that that just
don't go over today young folk just don't believe in working hard that's
almost like a curse word work hard why ain't got no problem with you working
smart but work smart hard don't be smart and lazy
work hard that's one thing my granddad to talk me that's why I like that word
right there cuz he put that in me work if you have a good work ethics so that
whenever wherever you go whatever you do people gonna know that you're gonna
give it your best have a good work ethic if you put in the work up front then
you'll be able to receive the benefits later when I was in the military one of
things I remember when my granddad told me that every time I went PCS and where
the first six months I work I was in early early an hour before start time I
stayed late late because I was learning the ropes for six months but I was
paying dividends so that when I got ready to go to the gym for three hours
six months later nobody's gonna say nothing cuz they knew that hey he's off
work and if he's at the gym for three hours I guarantee you what he needed to
get done is already work hard so now how does that translate our
spiritual life in order to grow and mature and bear fruit you got to work
hard you you're not just gonna bear love in your life without working you ain't
gonna have no peace unless you work you ain't gonna get no joy cliff unless you
so when you get saved your work began you got to bear fruit in your life that's
worthy of your salvation in order to do that you got to get rid of some old stuff
and start doing the new thing that the Lord wants you to do
he said work hard work hard work hard tell your children ain't a bad thing to
have to work hard to prepare for a test they can't be watching TV and prepare
for the test at the same time they got to now some of your kids are gifted they
just got it you know that used to trouble me I was in Academy with a guy who
was like that that dude sit back then they take no nose didn't take no nothing
and I'm saying how could he do that here I am struggling and I got to go to the
study group after we got a class this dude I did playing basketball he ain't
taking that one note but on Friday when the test results came back the dude was
in the 90s and that just upset me I worked hard and I was in the 80s that
worked hard but my point is this I knew that I would have been in the 60s if I
had no work if you gifted you got it like that but 99% of us ain't got it
like that some of us just got to put in the word he says work hard to show the
results of your salvation somebody ought to know that you saved
amen you should be no closet Christian if you working to show the results of
your salvation obeying God with deep reverence and fear so if you're working
hard and you're obeying God and you have a reverential respect for God and in
all who God is in your life then guess what people gonna know it people gonna
know that if your relationship with God extend beyond just here on Sunday or
Wednesday or whenever your time is that you meet with God during the week if it
extend beyond that and if you just gave God a tithe of your week a tie just 20
out of 40 is 20 wildland day 20 40 minutes a day we live in below the tithe I
think it's safe to say if I'm living below the tithe most y'all living below
the time
because I don't give him two hours and 40 minutes a day I give him a lot of time
but not two hours and 40 minutes it's what I'm trying to tell you at least
give him stop of 10 minutes and work your way up but you got to give him
something if you're gonna work hard you're not gonna grow into what God
wants you to be if you don't spend no time with him you don't spend no time in
his word you don't spend no time meditate you don't spend no time in prayer
that's working obeying God with reverence and fear respecting God look
here he says now when you put in the word clip he says for God is working in
you somebody said let God work man that's what you do you need to get out the
way sometimes just let God he's putting spirit on the inside of you for a
reason and now you just need to move out the way get your flesh out the way and
just let God because if you let him work he's saying here that God would give
you the desires and the power to do what pleases somebody said let him work get
out the way just let God work stop trying to figure this thing out all by
yourself just let God work if you let him work he'll give you the power to get
over some of the thing that's causing your problems in your life let God work
you've been working long enough and your work is not yielding the fruit let God
work man say if you let God work then guess what he gonna give you the desire
and the power see sometimes it's our desires that pulls us away from God so
we have to realign our desires to start desiring the things that he liked once
we start doing that then now we're the we allow him to work in our lives
changing us into something that we were not when we first met him that the
transformation process going on in you and you just need to let God
because he wants you to do things that please him then there must have been a
little bit of fighting in the church there because he had to come back and
throw verse 14 in there he said now do everything without complaining
it's a church business man it's God's how try to do everything without
complaining in our complaining you just disagree with something they doing you
know when you complain you complain to somebody who won't listen to you amen
but when you are good you form an argument to fuss and fight with with
somebody and what you got to do is hear what he's telling you is a hey you may
not agree with everything that go on is driving but don't start complaining in
order try to find out why it's going on that way and why they doing that way but
just don't start when you start arguing you just go at full complaining you
kind of talk to the folk that thing like you think yeah you know you're right I
feel like that too they shouldn't have did that that way I'm complaining yeah
we got you I'm right there with you but then now you know Cliff was on the other
side of the argument so you come to him it ain't that hey Cliff you know that now
Cliff little why you were sitting there and let them you should have said some
clip now he arguing with you Cliff
you will put them out Cliff you know the reason you have to say this to the
church is because when the church argue and complain and the world look in on it
man that's a bad look when the world look in say man they over there arguing
complaining fussing fight like that and I want no part of that man the people I
hang out with we don't even argue like that I didn't expect that to go on in
God's house and so he was telling me people ain't look you know that was too
late in the church you know if you go back to the first part of you know the
book that when he wrote to the Philippian they were just arguing about
stuff and that's why he said let this mind be in you which is in Christ Jesus I
mean you got to put on his mind when you come to church because when we argue
fussing fight then that that really tarnished our light and our influence in
the world arguing cut the lights off the world don't see us what they see now is
wicked and perverse when we start arguing for the fight they don't see the
love the peace and the joy and all that no they see just the opposite and what
that does they were hey if Jesus came working out amongst his own children
they're peaceful and they can't get along why do I need to go over there with
him I'm doing all right I hear the world with my friend we don't even care
wrong like the church so he says God is working you giving you the desire in the
power to do what pleases him and he says do everything without complaining and
arguing why so that no one can criticize you you don't want to give the world the
ammo that they need to come against the church because we are arguing and fussing
and fighting then he says live clean just try to live right innocent lives as
children of God shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked or
dishonest or illegal whatever you however you want to frame that and perverse
people that got a abnormal behavior people man you're supposed to be like in a
world that is full of crooked and perverse people and we can't do that if
we are going to fuss and fight because now we acting crooked and prayer it is
not normal for God's children to fuss and fight that's abnormal behavior just like
in your family you wouldn't think two brothers with fussing fight or two
sisters with fussing fight that is not normal and when abnormal behavior get
inside the body then now you're going to get all type of wickedness and when
that happened the light of the church is dim and it goes out and when that
happened now Cliff we have no influence because the world won't say it didn't
work for you why do I need that formula we got to show them that because of
Jesus we know how to get along with one another we know how to grow and we know
how to perfect our salvation by trying to grow to the fullness of our Lord and
save the Jesus Christ and when they see that in us then we could shine like
Jesus was trying to get his disciples to see in Matthew and so when I go back
here and read this now I'm just gonna read it and then I'm gonna close he said
in Matthew chapter chapter 5 where I've been reading in 14 he says now
talking to the side you got to see yourself as Jesus preaching to you and
this is part of Jesus sermon on the mouth his first sermon he had just
finished talking about the beatitudes the blessed are they that are persecuted
and all that he told me all the beatitudes then he told him hey look
here if they persecuted the prophets before you they persecuted me then
guess what they're gonna persecute you too so he said you my followers you got
to expect a little bit of persecution every now and then Bible say those who
desire to live righteous or live godly will suffer so sometimes persecution is
not a bad thing if you're trying to live for the right reason amen if you get
persecuted for doing wrong then you deserve that but if you get persecuted
for doing what God called you to do that's good persecution I think John
Lewis called it good trouble or good something he said you get in good
trouble yeah that's good trouble when you persecute for trying to live right
when you first you were trying to live like God wants you live when you
persecute find a love one another like he wants you to love each other then
guess what that's good persecution so now look what he tells him and this he
says after he had finished the beatitudes and talking about the
persecution he says now you are the light of the world then he used this
light to tie to assembly like a city so you got to see yourself you ain't
down in some valley right now he don't put you on the mountain top I could
sit it sitting on a hill and a city on the hill top cannot you are not
supposed to be hidden in there people are supposed to know who you are they
supposed to know who you represent you're supposed to shine in the time
that you're living in God didn't put all that he put in you for the you to turn
you off instead of shining like a light sitting on top of a hill now good
thing about lights sitting on top of a hill it can lights can give direction
like it also influence light can allow you know people to see you know the
shippers used to navigate but when they saw lighthouses that would let them know
certain thing and so what your light can do you can provide direction to people
that come into your life they may be wandering around out there in darkness
but just because you so happen to be in the darkness but your light is on they
can see you even in the midst of but if your light is off then you have no
influence on the darkness because you are so he put his spirit inside of you so
that you will shine so that you will live like you are a light sitting up on
top of a city I mean you you suppose you're the world supposed to know who
you are and because of that they ought to be under your in he says no one someone
say no one he said man this is so simple no wonder this he says no one light a
lamp and then put it under a basket instead of lamp is placed on a stand
where it gives light to everyone in the cliff he says God got too much sense to
put his light in you and then hide hide you brother Wilson he didn't put the
light in you to hide you to put you in the closet so that nobody in your
workplace know you say nobody know you know you your children even sure you
supposed to be shining that I think we got this they mix up it's not that hard
but I think we make it hard because what we want don't want to do we don't want
to feel like we're gonna upset some folk because we shine bright so what we do
like in the world some people that's educated they talk to other folk they
dumb themselves down
God don't want you to dim yourself down just to make me feel good you just need
to turn how to talk to me in another way and let me still understand I'm
talking to a highly lit person this is not no 10 watt bulb you talking to this
is a thousand white coming at you and guess what I'm not gonna dim it down
to 100 watts just because no you need all 1000 watts and I'm gonna bring it to
you in a way that you can understand so that you don't get burnt by this by the
fire you know I'm not gonna burn you with the fire but I'm gonna heat you up
with the fire you're gonna know that you've been in the presence of somebody
who got the light of the Lord gives all light to everyone in the house your
grandchildren should be give some light when them little rascals come from
Vegas to my house the rules change cuz we operate in different types of life I
operate in granddaddy life they operate in mom and dad like and so my role is not
to just give me everything they want cuz look here I'm granddad I'm big daddy I
still believe it hey when I say sit down you've been the crowd just go ahead
get it all out I ain't coming to your rescue I can wait as long as you can
cry and if I was in my younger days I would whip them tears I get up you
better you better get up you but now but now I can't do that I gotta just let
them pride out just take away the oxygen and sooner later they'll go out but
what I'm trying to tell you all that is a part of influence of them so that they
know when I go to granddaddy house that don't work don't play that with him I
gotta act a different way when I go to his house I can't leave stuff all low
play pick it up you through with it over there in the corner somewhere I ain't
gonna step stumble over tonight when I'm here influence and you got to have that
type of influence with people in your life that's not a bad influence but
just a good influence and so he says that in the same way you know let your
good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly
it's not about you you're not shining to make you look good you're shining to
make God look good because they want to say hey this is what God done did in
cliff life cliff is shining like this then now when they see that they say
man God must be real he must be real if he can change cliff if he can change
her if he can change boulder he must be real because I remember them when they
was walking around in darkness when they was living in perversely I remember
there when they was crooked but now I can look at them and say man God must be
and that's what the world need to know they need to know that we serve the
true and living God and that his spirit is in us and when we allow that spirit
to operate in us they want the world see that then they will want to know that's
what our relationship started with the people that you work with you don't
have to carry a Bible and something that the only deaths every day just live
right before them if you working with one of the people just do some of the
things opposite of what they do they're hard they over there cursing out each
other around the coffee bar you go over there and join in without cursing do
you know what that curse word mean where it come from if that's how you want to
talk about your wife you know children influence but if you're afraid to shine
you get desensitized to it and you can listen to it and don't do nothing to
your spirit man I'm so sensitive now to cursing is that when I hear curse word
man my neck just tightens up you know I can't stop everybody from cursing but
boy that let me know the spirit inside of me don't agree with some words that
people use it just tighten my neck up man I said God I came but you used to
say some of those same word but now my spirit say hey I'm free from that but
boy when I hear it just quicken my spirit say man there's a better way to
communicate with your children with your wife with your friends and I want to say
look because he delivered me from that by his spirit he can deliver anybody man
he can deliver anybody so we got to be light and we got to be willing to shine
in the world and not just in here this is the easy part of the light test come
in here and smile hallelujah praise the Lord the real test comes when we walk
out the door and get around the world people who don't say hallelujah and
praise the Lord and then now do we go there and be influenced amongst them or
do we go there and blend in with them a last testimony I know everybody ain't
gonna stop cursing because you don't I tell you what when I made a vow to stop
cursing and I wrote it in my Bible two years late I was curse free and the
people that I hung around knew I didn't curse even though they kept cursing they
didn't curse around me they had enough respect for me to not curse around me
even though they still curse when they weren't and so I'm trying to tell you
every now and then when people know that you have changed they will respect you
for the change that you made in your life and that's like shining because now
you're not being like them you're being like amongst them and now they respect
you and eventually one day if you keep shining on them one day something
don't wake up in them and they're gonna figure out hey I can live my life
without that too let's be good influences man let's let's influence our
community our family and our friends and the circles that we run and let's be
good influences for the Lord amen give the Lord a hand clap of praise amen
hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah every head bowed every eye closed every head
bowed every eye closed