The First Shall Be Last

There is plenty of pain in this world to go around. Jesus said, In this world you will have tribulation, but be off good cheer, for I have overcome the world.

After leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land, Joshua said to the congregation, “Chose you this day whom ye shall serve, as for me and my house we shall serve the Lord.”

To serve the Lord is to be useful for the Lord’s purpose. Ultimately it means to serve the Lord our God from a heart of love, respect, honor, and gratitude. The world thinks that a life of service is dishonorable and undignified. However, a heart of humility is the requirement to serve the Lord as a good and faithful servant.

A servant’s heart is guileless, pure, honorable, and valuable to his master. Whom shall you serve? According to Romans 6:26, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are their slaves, whether slaves of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

The first and great commandment is to love God above all. The second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Because God loved us, we have been freed from the bondage of sin. Therefore we have been called to liberty in Christ. Galatians 5 says, only use not liberty as an occasion to sin, but to serve one another in love.

Love for Jesus commissions a man for service. Jesus himself was the ultimate servant. For God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. We were deserving of death, for the wages of sin is death. But because of Jesus’ sacrifice of his innocent blood in exchange for our guilty blood, he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Through the challenges and pressures of this life, God will teach us the meaning of His character in us. In the depth of the storm, the question is, “Lord what are you teaching me thorough this.” We will not know his quality in us unless it is tested and tempered through the storms of life.

The spirit of the living God will teach us all things. When the student is ready the teacher will come. The Lord uses trials and tribulations as well as our brothers in Christ who reprove us to reveal his character in us. The word of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfectly furnished for all good works. To reprove means to prove over and over again his quality in us that persists through his refining fire.

God is love and in him there is no darkness at all. To know him is to love him. To know him we must spend time in the presence of our Lord. Jesus said, “abide in me and I in you. I am the vine and ye are the branches.”  The life is in the vine. When you’re attached to the vine, you shall bear much fruit.

We’re called to fill our hearts with His love and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. From a heart of the love we can cast our cares upon him for he careth for us. Then in his strength we can tend to the needs of those whom God has called us to serve.

God placed us in the body of Christ to build up one another in the love of God. Church is the gathering of the called out ones to edify one another in love.

When we spend time in his presence in meditation on His word, we’ll develop an intimate relationship with our Lord. Then when our verticals are aligned, our horizontal relationships will be blessed. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our heart. When his delight is our delight and his good pleasure is our good pleasure, then it is God who worketh in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. What is our father’s good pleasure? The Lord said, I have no greater joy than to see that my children walk in truth.

The disciples wanted Jesus to serve them and give them places of honor. Jesus asked his disciples, …are ye able to drink the cup that I’m about to drink?And to be baptized into the baptism into which I’m about to be immersed? The disciples said, yea Lord. They didn’t know what Jesus was asking them. They could not yet perceive truth from a spiritual perspective.

The greatest blessing is not in being served. Calling them to himself Jesus said, the ones who compete for power in this world, lord it over those whom they have power to control. Worldly power seeks to control others. Controllers find their self fulfillment in their power, prestige and authority over others to effect their own self serving will. Jesus said, but it is not so among you. Servants of Christ don’t seek to exert power over others. Whoever wishes to be great among you must be servant of all.

The truth of the Word of God is paradoxical in an upside down world. To go up we must become low. To be exalted we must be abased. In our own weakness we find strength in the Lord. He that is last will be first. The true leader is not the one who commands from the front. Instead he serves his people from a heart of love.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate servant-leader. He gave his life as a ransom for many. The blessing is not in the praise of men but in rejoicing in the Lord. A servant of the Lord says, Lord come help yourself to my life. The joy of a servant is to present his body a living sacrifice wholly and holy acceptable unto the God as his reasonable act of praise and worship.

The servant’s heart beats according to the rhythm of his Lord’s pace-maker. He is attuned to his master’s heart’s resonant frequency. His utmost desire is, to serve his Lord. His prayer is , “Here am I Lord, send me. Thy wish is my command.”

Through the trials of life, God tempers us through the crucible of fire and pressure. Pete recalls that he was called to a new minor league baseball team and his assignment was to sit on the bench. Once he was called to pinch hit. He thought to himself, this is my opportunity to graduate to the starting lineup. Unfortunately Pedro Borbon was on the mound. Pete says that his contribution in the minor leagues was to get many minor league pitchers to the big leagues. Pete struck out. Bourbon was called up to the Bigs and became a hall of fame pitcher for the Cincinnati Big Red Machine.

The night Borbon stuck him out, Pete was reading the new Good News for Modern Man version of the Bible. God spoke to his heart. He said, I know you think that you deserve to be in the starting lineup, but some things you can only learn on the bench: You’ll learn to put your team mates first and to cheer for their success. You’ll learn to support others and encourage them to do their best for the team. Most of all, you will learn to serve from a heart of meekness, humility, and the love of God.

In an upside down world Jesus’ words still ring true today: “the last shall be first and the first shall be last. He that is chief among you must be servant of all.” Why? Because when we love others we love our Lord Jesus Christ for he has said, “in that ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.“

May this prayer of Saint Francis also be our prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life…

…that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of Thy grace!
In the name of our living Lord,
Amen

Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Don Ryal 0:00
now pour out your Spirit on all all these men and that your word is going to go out, and it’s going to touch us and draw us closer to you and keep changing us keep changing as father, that we might come closer and closer to that place where we’re just like you and we will be one day when we’re face to face. We praise you We thank you. We give you glory for everything that’s taking place here today. In Jesus name. Amen. When the Billy Bob Bob comes Billy Bob Bob and alone alone. Who Billy Bob, Bob and Billy Bob Bama will sing his own sweet song. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 0:47
get

Don Ryal 0:48
up. Get up there on the stage. We don’t care what you’re really Ah, the villain Bob. Bob, Bob and Bob, Bob and

Bob, Bob and

Billy, Bob, Bob. Bob, Bob, Bob and Laura. Whoa, get off. Can you sleep ahead, get up? Get up, get out of bed. The sun is red. live a life of the happy.

Bill Kauble 1:17
Wow.

Wow.

Wow,

Don Ryal 1:23
I got I got another.

Bill Kauble 1:26
You know, Glen and I were commenting these guys bring us into worship, give him a hand. Let’s get my hand. We warmly welcome you to influencers, Orange County, you have blessed us their Lord, with these men this morning. And it’s so great to see so many men. Here. I am staggered by the evil that we see every day. And I’m staggered that it gets worse every day. But Jesus said take heart. I’ve overcome the world. And that’s our focus. We say these words. And I hope these words become in your heart, not just words that you say remotely. But when the crisis comes, encourages required. God expects his men has such confidence in him that we are the dependable reliable ones. We believe with all of our heart that we are faith based, Christ driven. And what else

this is really poor here just this isn’t. We’re not the mass. So we have five tenants that we believe in five values. One, Jesus is not only our Savior, but he’s Lord of our life, to the Bible as a final authority. Three, we link with like minded men for men a prayer we give it away. Those are the words that we live by. And those are the words that we want to share and witness to the other people that are out there. Everything that we do is to bring men into intimacy with Jesus Christ. Our goal is that every man would be involved in a foreign group. Ron coming in second. And we have the privilege of having this precious man, lead us in this. Give us the word?

Ron Tovar 3:30
Well, it you know, if you looked at the world, it would look like everything’s going downhill. But for em is doing something about it. We are there’s something powerful about the Word of God in a man’s heart that gets expressed in faith. And it’s anointed. And when four men get together, and they strengthen each other and start encouraging each other and, and you get this rubber meets the road application to the Word of God. The body of christ just within for it strengthens and it heals and we’re pushing back. And what’s happening right now for him is that there there is a real strong foundation being formed. And we’re just like at the edge of the exploding, you can feel it you can see it, the giving it away. We’re giving it away. We’re given the word away. We’re given God’s love away. And when that explosion hits, you’re gonna see just duplication. We’re right at the edge of that we’re almost there. And so hold on, don’t give up. It ain’t over yet. Jesus is still on the throne. God bless you all.

Bill Kauble 4:38
Amen. Thanks, Ron. We are going to gather all of our shepherds and our co shepherds and those that are interested in leading groups up in Malibu. I think in June, we’re trying to get discussions with them. Now how many we could get we want to get 50 or 60 men up So I just pray for the forum. We want to fan the flame of time and borders. And we also want to fan why men lead anything that will draw men closer to Jesus Christ. So we want basically they do an offering right now. And john, if you could come forward to the offering. Father, we just thank you so much for these men, their generosity. You have blessed us for all these years. And we have remained steadfast and we will continue to remain steadfast. We asked you to take these offering, and bless it for your purposes. We thank you for Pete McKenzie, the Angel of this ministry, you have blessed us with him in his heart in the message that he’s going to bring this morning. We pray all this in Jesus name, amen.

Ron Tovar 5:55
love what you’re doing.

Pete McKenzie 6:06
Well, good morning, guys. Some other Words To Live By. Life is hard. Same, I made peace reality with that. It’s not about you. It feels like it’s about you, I know. But it’s not about you, you’re better off if you make that reality in your life. Here’s another one that you’re not in control. Now, that’s the one you hate the most. But you know, you think you are until you’re not. And we got a lot of reason to think maybe we’re not in control today. And then finally, you’re gonna die. And then a Christian group, that’s a hallelujah. We don’t die like other people. We don’t die without hope to blink of an eye. hurt him message this week about that it was very encouraging. You know, as I’m going to the Lord and saying, what do we need to hear today, what I need to hear is that I can pass along to the guys when he gave me Joshua 24. Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth. And put away the gods which your father served beyond the river in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it’s disagreeable in your sight, to serve the Lord, then choose yourself today, who are you going to serve? Whether the gods which your father served which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you’re now living. But as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve our other gods. The Lord drove out from before us, all the people, even Amorites, who lived in this land we’re living in now. So we also will serve the Lord now had been serving the Lord, but Joshua challenged him. And you know, what I want to focus on this morning. And there’s a lot to focus on in this passage. That serving 1234566 times in those two verses, 14 and 15. He uses the word serve, serving the Lord. Now serving the Lord I found in my life over the last 50 years, it’s a choice. But it’s also a commitment. And I looked up serve and serve means be an honest and serious. Now, serve means to be of use, to be worthy of reliance or trust, to discharge a duty to attend to, to pay attention to, to take charge off, to be a servant of one that serves others. So if we’re going to serve the Lord, we got to be useful. I hear guys all the time saying all I want to do is is serve the Lord and I say you servable are you able to serve the Lord because in a nother couple of verses after the ones I just read you and the people are saying we will serve the Lord and Joshua says, You can’t serve the Lord. For God is a holy God and God is a jealous God. And you’ve not been living in a way that you think that God is holy and that he’s a jealous God jealous in return. guards to your attention, your faith, your love for him your obedience. He’s jealous for that. Why is he jealous, jealous means that somebody got something you want, you don’t have it. Jealous means that I have something that you need, says the Lord. I have peace, I have blessing. I have kindness, I have fruitfulness. I have all the things that I created you to need. If you will come to me, I’ll bless you whether I’m jealous for you to have that. You don’t have it. But I’m jealous for you to have it.

But I can’t bless you with those things. And yes, you are blessing me. Unless you’re obedient to me, if my people not when my people, but if my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, then I will forgive their sins. So we have a responsibility. There’s something I have to do before I’m going to receive the forgiveness of sin and the blessing of God and the healing of my land, my family, my body, my marriage, whatever needs to be healed. I’ve got to meet his stipulations. His guidelines, it’s his that matter. His mandate, if you were getting a lot of mandates and guidelines these days, well, God’s got some too. We have to pay attention to the fear of the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth. That’s a spirit and heart and attitudes, sincerity and honesty and seriousness, being genuine and Gallus and pure. That’s how we serve the Lord. That’s the characteristics of a servant of God. He’s focused on that which is important and being in earnest. And it’s a commitment. Choose this day, whom you’re going to serve. You’re going to serve somebody who you who you’re serving right now, who you’ve been serving, who can you serve? What are the options? Well, I can serve myself. I can serve others. I can serve God. So I get a choice. And who am I going to serve, I can serve my flesh. And let me say, feed me, Leroy, feed me. If you ever saw that one. I can serve you. And I got some quotes on service that I want to share with you about that give some insight and what that means the call to serve God is an expression of his nature, not ours. So when I’m serving God, I’m not serving out of my own gifts, my own nature, my own personality, I’m serving out of his Christ in you the hope of glory. I’m crucified with Christ, so I no longer live Christ lives in me. So what I’m giving you in service, if I’m serving God, and I’m obedient to Him, what true services is me giving to you as he gave to me. I’m giving to you what his nature is in me, not what my nature is, as long as I consider my personal temperament. And think about what I’m fitted for. I shall never realize the true call of God on my life as a servant. What I’m fitted for, you know, I’ve been in missions for many years, and I’ve recruited a lot of people to missions and prayed with them and encouraged them in regard to those who are looking at the mission field. And when I hear a guy say, Well, what about bugs? I got bugs down there. What about the climate? You know, I don’t, I don’t do very well in those humidity. Field climates. What about the salary? What am I going to do? What am I going to live on? What about insurance in retirement? And I know that’s a wrong guy. It sounds like that’s common sense. That’s logical. That’s what we need to be doing. But that’s all fear based. It’s not faith based. We’ll see some more quotes which drive that home. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves. So we cannot hear a thing God says here’s another one love for Jesus, Jesus Commission’s a man for service. There is no other way. So what motivates us to serve when we serve for Jesus and why do we love Jesus because of all he did to serve us? He served himself up even to the point of death on a cross. When you’ve really truly had an experience of salvation with Christ, you ended up loving Him and you love him because of what he how he loved you. But God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, we hadn’t done anything, we didn’t deserve it, we couldn’t do anything to deserve it. So if that ever really gripped my heart, your heart when you’re serving your serving out of love for him Altru service stems from a knowledge of God Himself.

That’s where it gets back to his nature, not mine, in service. And that’s why you spend time in the word you spend time in his presence, she learned to hear his voice for yourself, you become a what we call a self theater, where you spend time in God’s word so that you have a knowledge of who he is you have an understanding, you’ve experienced it. It’s not just fact in theology learned in a classroom. It’s personal relationship that you learned and time alone with him. Reading the Bible praying, journaling. Being in praying without ceasing, missing the three foot getting stopped with a red light when you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. Little things then had Little Foxes spoil the vineyard in their big things. But praying without ceasing, acknowledging his presence, asking the right questions. Dad, what are you trying to teach me through this situation? What character trait of the Spirit of God? Are you trying to build into my life? Through this circumstance, though this person that you put into my life, or this thing you took out of my life? What are you trying to teach me? What is it? What are you building into my life through this? Is it patience? Is it kindness? Is it Grace? And go like that? Because God’s trying to build all of that into our lives? And how does he do that? He does it by giving us a knowledge of Him. I shared Jeremiah 24 seven with you last two weeks ago. In Jeremiah 24 seven says says I’ll put within your heart a desire to know me that I am the Lord. And you will be my people and I’ll be your guide. For you will return and this week saying this to the exiles in Babylon and you will return to me with a whole heart. He took him into exile for 70 years to deliver them from worshipping idols. Sometimes God puts us in remedial training. Some God times God uses pagan people to discipline his people never can ever was a pagan pagan god that God call never can Azur my servant. He called David, the man after God’s own heart is serving as well. So both were serving God’s purposes. God was using them you don’t think God’s gonna use everything the devil is throwing at us right now. He’ll use it to accomplish his goodwill, whatever that is. Whatever his purpose is in your life, and your marriage and your family and the state of California and the nation of the United States and in the world. God’s got a plan and a purpose. I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. My plans are always good. They’re not evil. They’re to give you a future and a hope. But God’s always working behind the scenes. And if you don’t have a knowledge of God, so that you see him working behind the scenes, how you’re going to minister anybody and give them hope. That’s the point. The grand secret power to serve in these days is faith in the presence in the Spirit of God. There is no work it can be done as a servant of god that’s gonna be lasting and fruitful. It’s not LED and emanated from the Spirit of God. And to do that that’s a reason that he said, don’t be drunk with the wine that’s dissipation. Be filled with the Spirit be controlled, that that means control. Don’t be controlled by wine, be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Be led the Get your wisdom from him and spend enough time in his presence so that you know His voice when you hear it. You can sit around a Christian group, a Christian circle, and there’ll be people that are speaking and it’s not his voice, but you don’t even know it. If you’re not spending time in God’s presence. If you don’t know his word, if you don’t have a knowledge of his character. His voice is familiar to you. You won’t know that they’re leading in the wrong direction. They have self serving motives. They’re diverse if they’re going to cause trouble. If you let them go, they’re going to ruin the fig basket of eggs. That’s what makes them rotten and no one wants to eat them. Because you get a lot of people that don’t know God’s we’re trying to serve him It must really grieve God’s heart. That so many want to serve Him who won’t take time to get to know him. God says you want to serve me, but you won’t spend time with me. That describes a lot of marriages. You want to get married, you want to have righteous sex, all the things that you get married far. But you don’t spend time together.

That was one of the prayer requests of one of our guys the other day said, we’re so busy, we got so much going on, that we don’t have time to spend together. Children jobs. All these things that tyranny the urgent. We have the same problem with God. Robert monger has a little book that he wrote my cry, heart Christ home, and he takes like he walked into a home and there’s the den and the kitchen, in the bathroom and study and the bedrooms, the basement, the attic, got all these different places in the home, and you invite Jesus into that home. And he wants to see every room he wants to go into every creaking corner. But you don’t want him to go in every room. You got this living room set up, it’s speaking span, it’s looking good. It’s got the right books on the table and the right pictures on the walls. It’s neat. Everything’s dusted and swept and vacuumed. So you want to keep him in there because you don’t want him to go into the den. You don’t want him to go in and we’ll see what you’ve been watching on TV. So he goes around and he comes into the study. And he says this is a really nice room, you know, it’d be great if you and I spent time together in this room. And the guy he was talking to and the homeowner said, Well, yeah, we could do that. He said, What about every morning? Why don’t you come in here every morning, we’ll spend time together. And he made a deal. He had to go do to do that. So they did nice. He started going in every morning in the study and spending time with Jesus. And that went on for weeks. And then every now and then he’d be busy. And he’d get up late and had if he couldn’t shave and go spend time with Jesus too. He didn’t have time for both arms. So he had shave and head out the door. Then he started missing more and more. And finally he won’t go in at all. And one day, he’s rushing down the stairs and heading out and he looks into study. And Jesus is sitting there. And he sheepishly walks in and says, uh, he’s still here. He says we made a deal. He said we’d meet here every morning. I’ve been here every morning waiting on you. How gracious is that? He didn’t say Where are you being you slacker. That’s what we would say we’d say something like that you I knew you wouldn’t be faithful to your promise. I knew you wouldn’t keep your vow. But he doesn’t say that. He just says I’ve been here all along. I’m still here. And I will be here tomorrow, whether you come or not because we made a deal. It must grieve God’s heart that so many want to serve him but won’t take time to get to know him.

living living to God inwardly is the only possible means of living for him outwardly. All outwardly activity must smooth by this tends to make us work without Christ and bring self into play. I dread great activity without great commission. Let me read that again, all outward activity which moves by intends to make us work without Christ, bring self into play, I dread greatly the activity that does not have the Great Commission. So what he’s saying is, if I’m going to administer correctly, outwardly I got to be right inwardly, I got to get my heart, right. It’s like putting on the mask in the airplane. Get it out. Well, gotta wear him all the time in the airplane now. The whole trip. But in case the cabin loses oxygen, which is not probably going to happen, they always say, and it hadn’t happened yet. For me, I don’t know about you. But the mask Oh, come down, put it on yourself first and then put it on your child. inwardly take care of your heart. Don’t try to serve out of an empty bucket. Serve out of a full heart having spent time with God when we had. I was pastoring we had a elders meeting. And I’d say to my elders, I don’t want you coming out of your office at work and coming into this elders meeting. I want you to come into this elders meeting out of your prayer room. I don’t want we don’t want to hear from you. We want to hear what God’s been saying to you. We want to hear what God thinks about this issue. What’s he saying? And that’s the only way we’re going to be able to serve and lead this church. And that’s another thing about leadership, leadership, we need leaders, but we don’t need superior leaders. We’re going to reverse on that in a minute. Oh, for laborers who after God’s heart, my present Christ, two souls, a real serve, and a real man of God is a greatest treasure in the world. I thought, wow, a lot of quote. What we’re in the business of around here is making men of God for such a time is this guy’s it? Have those five goals in their life that Jesus is Lord of their life, the God’s words, the final authority in their life, that they’re becoming men a prayer they link together with guys, like you see sitting around here right now, like minded men who are chasing after Christ, and then they give it away. We’re not trying to keep for em for ourselves. We want peace officers, for Christ to have it for them. So put it under their umbrella. Churches, if they ever want to use it, put it under their umbrella, Link scarf ministry, put it under their umbrella, we’ll help them we’ll encourage them, we’ll fan their flame, but let it be theirs. Give it away. And that’s how the body of Christ grows, it’s multiplication. And nobody cares who gets the credit. If you’re going to make it as a shepherd and servant of God’s sheep, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with the great shepherd of the sheep. That’s what God told me. When I left the mission field, Pastor, which I did reluctantly, for good reason. He said, Pete, if you’re going to make it as a pastor, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with me. And I wasn’t that good at spending time with him. But I learned to, I learned to go and spend a half day with him. And then I learned to spend a weekend with him. Then I learned to spend a week with him. And I had to learn it. I saw what other guys did. But that didn’t fit me. And God met me right where I was and the way he created me to meet with him and to hear him and to spend time with him. So there’s no one pathway. We all want to spend time but we do it in our own way with him, we learn how to spend time in his presence. Pete, if you’re going to make it as a pastor, he could have said that to me when I got married, if you’re going to make it as a husband, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with me. If you’re going to make it as a dad, when my first child was born, you’re gonna have to spend a lot of time with me. But you can’t be the you’re not up to being the husband that you need to be is anybody discovered that? Can I get an amen from the congregation? That that job requires more than you have? Can I get an amen? punch that guy next to you, if you could reach him, saved less than happy he’s talking right to you.

You don’t bring to the table what you need to be the father your children need. You need to be walking with God, you need to be full of God’s presence and wisdom. I have so many decisions, so many responses. So many things you have to decide. So many responses you have to have, that you don’t you will not going to have them if you’re not filled with the Spirit if you don’t have the sermon and wisdom from God. And all they’re going to get to all that you have. What do you bring into the table? Are you fit for the job? To this day, whom you will serve? Are you serving the Lord? Is it you taking care of yourself in release so you can take care of your family outwardly? See, that’s the thing that we have to keep in mind. You might remember in Mark 10, James and john the sons of Zeus, he came up to Jesus saying, teacher we want you to do whatever we ask of you. How brash is that? Look, we want to ask you a question, but you have to promise to do it. I gotta ask you to do some if you don’t promise to do it. I’m asking. And he said to them, he was gracious to him. Now this is before they had a clue for Pentecost where they had the Holy Spirit, where they were just walking around with a real steep learning curve, watching everything he did in listening to everything he said. And it really bamboozled and they had no idea. They were trying to build a big ministry. And so Jesus gets up and says, if you don’t eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part when they I can hear the disciples ever going. I wish he hadn’t said they’re going to be live their lives. Have a look. What’s his problem? We need to have a sit down with him. They said to him grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left when you come into glory. But Jesus said to them, You have no idea what you’re asking. You have no clue. Now he knew it. And he was given him grace here, quite honestly. But he was took the opportunity to explain to them what it means to be a servant of God. You do not know what you’re asking. And then he asked him a penetrating question. Are you able to drink the cup that I’ll drink the cup of suffering and death? That’s what he’s talking about. You know, it says in another passage, another book on the same passage, it is it James and John’s mother put them up. This is Jewish mom, she put them up to that. You got to get first in line, you got to go ask you got to go get sit on his right and his left, I want my boys to sit on the sides, right and left when they comes into His kingdom, then I can brag on my friends at the well. Look at my boys. They’re doctors, they’re engineers. They’re architects. Can you drink the cup that I’ll drink and be baptized with the baptism which I’ll be baptized with? So you want to serve God and you want to be in the ministry? Well, you are a ministry, if you’re a Christian, wherever you are, whatever you do, and you don’t have to go on staff with some mission, organization or church. Everything you do and everything you say, everywhere you are your ministry, because you have the Holy Spirit in you, and you’re a servant of God, you have to consider yourself a servant of the Most High God. But Jesus said, You don’t know what you’re asking. And they said to him, Are you able, he said, and they said, we’re able. Yeah, man, we can do it. Whatever. Whatever you need. If you give us your right and your left, and we’ll we’ll be able to do it. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. Now he’s got prophetic. And you shall be baptized with the baptism which I was baptized. 11 out of 12 of the disciples were martyred. And they tried to boil the ball, john and oh, and he didn’t die. They exiled him to the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelations in first, second, third john. But to sit on my right and my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. So God has a plan, and he’s prepared it all and we don’t have to worry about where we’re going to fit and where we’re going to sit and what part will we play? It’s all planned. It’s all prepared. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to fight the guy next to you to get first place in line? Sit on is right in his left. Hearing this the 10 began to feel indignant with James and john.

In other words, I say what makes you guys think you can be grown is right and left and they started they started to have an argument happens in churches all the time. People this, this ministry is getting more money in more upfront advertising in this ministry here. It’s like, all the different ministries in the church are fighting for a piece of the action. Find for a piece of the budget, buy in for more announcements, upset from the pulpit, for their for their ministry in the church, trying to see who can get the most first the best. And jealous of those who got it. calling them to himself and Jesus saw they start arguing and Jesus is watching them argue there for a few minutes. Then he called him said, Hey, come out. Gather around guys. So he took this as a teaching moment, calling them to himself. Jesus says you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles, lord it over them. That’s, that’s the man’s way of leadership is to have power. And that’s what we see going. The whole thing it’s happening right now in our nation is who’s going to have the power. That’s why Republicans, five democrats over who’s got the power who’s got the most votes in the House and the Senate, who’s got the right guy and gal in the Oval Office. It’s all about power. It’s all about positioning. It’s all about lording it over, it’s all about being in control. No matter what the situation is. It happens in every corporation and every job and every small business in every restaurant. If you got people there. They’re going to be fighting for power and control to have a step up on the others. They’re going to be jealous of each other. One guy gets a promotion and other And he gets a raise and other guy, then he gets a cubicle, he gets an office. And it goes on everywhere all the time calling them to himself. He says, You recognize the Gentiles have a lorded over mentality, their leaders, their superior, they get the ZX egative washroom, the executive in the army, you got the non cops and you got the officers club, and they’re all separated. It’s always been that way. That’s what man does when he’s in control. in there, great man exercise authority over them. So they exercise authority, they want you to know I’m in control. I’m the boss here. Anybody that says it has to say I’m the boss isn’t the boss. And everybody knows it.

But and I love this. But it is not. So among you. Guys, you got a different standard here. It’s not so among you. You’re my followers. You’re my man, you’re my disciples, you’re my servants. So that’s not what you do. You don’t lord it over people, you don’t exercise authority over them. It’s not so among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you, which is john and James were wishing to become great. And all the other disciples were to or they wouldn’t have been arguing with them. whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant. So this is a conundrums, the paradox of the Christian life. If you want to live, you got to die. If you want to go up, you got to go down. If you want to be great, you have to humble yourself. If you want to be an authority, you have to be a servant. It’s an upside down Kingdom compared to what the world is. So if you’re thinking of being a servant of God, just keep in mind unless you’ve spent enough God time in God’s presence to be humble. And that’s why we have such a hard time with Second Chronicles 714. The first thing he says is Be humble. The first thing in the Beatitudes is Be humble. blesser, the poor in spirit versus the make the humble. That’s why we have such a problem. If you’re going to be a servant of the Most High God, it’s not so among you, you don’t lead. And that’s what’s going on in churches and mission organizations and Christian institutions, wherever you find them. They still have a hierarchy of you. Where’s the last time you heard a politician called a public servant? That went by the boards A long time ago. When’s the last time you heard an elder or a deacon or even a pastor called a servant? What does that mean? For whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. So when’s the last time you said Man, I want to be a slave of all I want to be a servant of all what’s a slave nobody aspired to be a slave two thirds of the culture was slaves in those days. But he who would be great among you will be first among you will be slave a law you’re gonna have to be faith based, not fear base, you’re gonna have to be humble and seek not the limelight But seek this live in the shadows. You’re willing to be in the limelight, but you don’t seek it that you don’t want to, you know, go after it. It’s not your goal. I remember back in the day when swindell was waxing so eloquently, Evie free and Fullerton and I was teaching a couple of class in the church and we had a bunch of students from Talbot seminary and their wives in our couples class. Now remember what I’m saying? Well, I said what are you going to do with your degree? You’re going to pastor you’re going to what do you look hidden for you? Uh, yeah, I want to be a pastor. I want to be on the radio and write books and stuff like Chuck. Now I happen to know that Chuck had so many death threats that he had a body guard that followed him all around every Sunday at church these days, they’re packing guns at churches and I guess for good reason. Because anybody anytime and they’ve done that, and it may happen some more, walk into churches of whatever ilk in start firing. So we live in those kind of days. But I knew that Chuck was there and I told the guys it might be your to go chat with Chuck on that. See if he recommends it. Is that what you’re seeking? you’re seeking notoriety and Limelight, then you’re not a servant of the most hi guy. God, as I said, you’re willing to be there but you don’t seek it and you don’t want it and you don’t strive after. It just happens. And that’s the way God raises up his leaders, his real true leaders. There’s a lot of leaders out there. But they’re superior leaders and they’re trying to build their kingdom on Jesus Christ Foundation, it doesn’t work and it won’t work. For in any finishes off, or even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So there are no arguments. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So you’re my disciple. If you’re my disciple, then that’s what you’re going to be to, you’re going to be given your life as a ransom for many not being served, but serving. Now people are going to want to serve you, they’re going to want to do for you. And that’s good and right and good for them.

It doesn’t so it’s not so whether people acknowledge you as a leader of knowledge you for your gifts, or appreciate what you say or do or have you act with your dad or a father or a preacher, missionary, whatever you are, that’s going to happen and you’re going to get criticism, you people are going to criticize you and have you for breakfast and lunch and dinner. not inviting you in they’re having you for the main meal. And that’s going to happen too. So it’s not so much where they praise you or criticize you. It’s how you respond to there. It’s not further whether you have or have not, it’s how you respond to having or having not. That’s why God’s interested in in his servants. We have the idea that a man to serve God requires him to be a different kind of being from other men. According to Jesus Christ, he’s required to be a doormat of other man, their spiritual leader, but never their superior. If you got to the point in your life, where you said, God, help yourself, because you’re not going to be a servant of God, if you haven’t asked God to help himself to your life was that mean? That means help yourself to my wife, to my children, to my time, too much money, to my hobbies. Everything in my life Lord, is sacrificed to you help yourself. Because that’s what a servant of God has to get to that place because you know what, he’s going to help himself whether you give him permission or not. You just do a lot better when you given him permission. When when he told us brightnesses, and brain tumor wasn’t about us, we felt like it was about us big time. But we had asked God to help himself. So he helped himself to one of my children. He helped himself to Sue’s and he’s helped himself to my time, my talent, my treasure. But God help yourself. If you come to the point in your life, where you don’t care what you do, or where you go, you just want to be in God’s will, no matter where it is. That’s what it means to be a servant and a follower of Christ to be His disciple you. You know, it’s like, hey, Pete and Susan, we’ll, Chuck Singletary said, a navigator. We’re moving to California. We’re going to be working out there. I want you to go with us and serve on the mat. Now team out there. Well, man that raised up a lot of issues. You mean leave the south and go out to the left coast. That was a big lordship decision. But I felt God was in it. And I’ve toeses and I thought so she said, Oh man need to think again.

But we just decided that we just want to be where God wants us to be doing what God wants us to do, how he wants to do it, where he wants to do it. And that’s not our call. It says someone asked me after Susan Dad, you’re going to move back to Alabama. I have no plans to move back to Alabama. I wouldn’t mind moving back down Alabama. Five people got killed there with tornadoes yesterday. So when I look forward to being back there, but I don’t look forward to the next earthquake out here either. But I said but that’s not my call. I don’t just decide I’m going to get up and move. I get up. I’m in an army and I get a move when I get orders. And that’s what it means to be a servant of God. You live where he wants you to live. He move when he wants you to move you stay put when he wants you to stay put. But if you’re not spending time with him And you’re not in his presence and you don’t know His voice and you haven’t said help yourself to my life my whole life is about the gospel. That’s reason you say Help yourself. It’s not about me, it’s not about my success. It’s not about what I accomplish. It’s not about my achievements, it’s about him being free to use me anyway wants to not use me at all I remember when he put me on the bench in, in AAA, and I was gonna play an in front of me was in the league in the Southern League with me and double it the year before and I was the all star to third baseman. And they had playing this manager, this Homer manager, this good old boys club, they had going with the Minnesota Twins, and they all do, was playing him I had a man I was upset about that. I went to Jesus and said, I want to play third base. When you come into your kingdom,

and he put me in the bullpen, I was on the bench. And then one night I was called in to pinch it and I said, Boy, I’m gonna get a hit and show this manager I need to play every day. And unfortunately, there was a guy named Pedro borbone on the mound, who was one of the starting pitchers for the World Series team in 72. And 73, which is about two years after this. And I have poor Pedro get to the big leagues. He struck me out that night. So I take some credit for that. That was my claim to fame in the minors, I helped a lot of pitchers get to the big leagues. So anyway, later that night, I’m grumbling and complaining. Now it’s written in Ken Taylor, they just come out with a Living Bible paraphrase. And I’m reading in Hebrews 12, it’s in Hebrews 12. He says, you know, God disciplines his children because he loves him. And if he’s not discipline you, it’s because he doesn’t love you. But that’s why the disciplines you, he loves you. But you know, the problem with discipline is it hurts. But what we see as a result is a quiet growth and grace and character. And God said p, we need to talk. He said, You know, you know how to be in the lineup. This is what you know, you know how to start every night you know how to be an all star, here’s what you don’t know. You don’t know how to sit on the bench and pull for that guy in front of you and help him be successful. And I thought, boy, right, you’re right about that. I don’t know that. That’s a statement and it odd me I couldn’t believe it. And what I couldn’t believe is a God of the universe who put every star in the sky who created everything on the earth, who just spoke it into existence cared about my character was using this to say Pete there’s some things you can only learn on the bench. You can’t learn in the game. And these are things so when you’re on the bench and you don’t feel like you’re being used and you feel like you’ve been passed over and abused. There are things to learn on the bench you can’t learn in the game. You can only learn I’m sitting on the bench. And so God’s raising up servants here But guys, it is not so among you not like he’s raising up leaders in Washington, DC. He’s, he’s raising up servants of him. And that’s what do we need right now we need servants of God and know how to serve and give and lay their life down and for their life out and even for those who don’t deserve it, especially for those who don’t deserve it. He’ll always ask the question Are you in or out? Choose you this day whom you are going to serve. It’d be a servant of the Lord, even today. Father that’s what we pray. Thank you for gathering us together and letting us talk about these things. Thanks for being the servant who said even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Help us be like him even today with our wives in our homes and our businesses. driving around town and the divine appointments you’ll give us help us to be your servant. reflect your nature and help people see you through us in Jesus name And all God’s men said give them heaven guys

Unknown Speaker 0:47
get

Don Ryal 0:48
up. Get up there on the stage. We don’t care what you’re really Ah, the villain Bob. Bob, Bob and Bob, Bob and

Bob, Bob and

Billy, Bob, Bob. Bob, Bob, Bob and Laura. Whoa, get off. Can you sleep ahead, get up? Get up, get out of bed. The sun is red. live a life of the happy.

Bill Kauble 1:17
Wow.

Wow.

Wow,

Don Ryal 1:23
I got I got another.

Bill Kauble 1:26
You know, Glen and I were commenting these guys bring us into worship, give him a hand. Let’s get my hand. We warmly welcome you to influencers, Orange County, you have blessed us their Lord, with these men this morning. And it’s so great to see so many men. Here. I am staggered by the evil that we see every day. And I’m staggered that it gets worse every day. But Jesus said take heart. I’ve overcome the world. And that’s our focus. We say these words. And I hope these words become in your heart, not just words that you say remotely. But when the crisis comes, encourages required. God expects his men has such confidence in him that we are the dependable reliable ones. We believe with all of our heart that we are faith based, Christ driven. And what else

this is really poor here just this isn’t. We’re not the mass. So we have five tenants that we believe in five values. One, Jesus is not only our Savior, but he’s Lord of our life, to the Bible as a final authority. Three, we link with like minded men for men a prayer we give it away. Those are the words that we live by. And those are the words that we want to share and witness to the other people that are out there. Everything that we do is to bring men into intimacy with Jesus Christ. Our goal is that every man would be involved in a foreign group. Ron coming in second. And we have the privilege of having this precious man, lead us in this. Give us the word?

Ron Tovar 3:30
Well, it you know, if you looked at the world, it would look like everything’s going downhill. But for em is doing something about it. We are there’s something powerful about the Word of God in a man’s heart that gets expressed in faith. And it’s anointed. And when four men get together, and they strengthen each other and start encouraging each other and, and you get this rubber meets the road application to the Word of God. The body of christ just within for it strengthens and it heals and we’re pushing back. And what’s happening right now for him is that there there is a real strong foundation being formed. And we’re just like at the edge of the exploding, you can feel it you can see it, the giving it away. We’re giving it away. We’re given the word away. We’re given God’s love away. And when that explosion hits, you’re gonna see just duplication. We’re right at the edge of that we’re almost there. And so hold on, don’t give up. It ain’t over yet. Jesus is still on the throne. God bless you all.

Bill Kauble 4:38
Amen. Thanks, Ron. We are going to gather all of our shepherds and our co shepherds and those that are interested in leading groups up in Malibu. I think in June, we’re trying to get discussions with them. Now how many we could get we want to get 50 or 60 men up So I just pray for the forum. We want to fan the flame of time and borders. And we also want to fan why men lead anything that will draw men closer to Jesus Christ. So we want basically they do an offering right now. And john, if you could come forward to the offering. Father, we just thank you so much for these men, their generosity. You have blessed us for all these years. And we have remained steadfast and we will continue to remain steadfast. We asked you to take these offering, and bless it for your purposes. We thank you for Pete McKenzie, the Angel of this ministry, you have blessed us with him in his heart in the message that he’s going to bring this morning. We pray all this in Jesus name, amen.

Ron Tovar 5:55
love what you’re doing.

Pete McKenzie 6:06
Well, good morning, guys. Some other Words To Live By. Life is hard. Same, I made peace reality with that. It’s not about you. It feels like it’s about you, I know. But it’s not about you, you’re better off if you make that reality in your life. Here’s another one that you’re not in control. Now, that’s the one you hate the most. But you know, you think you are until you’re not. And we got a lot of reason to think maybe we’re not in control today. And then finally, you’re gonna die. And then a Christian group, that’s a hallelujah. We don’t die like other people. We don’t die without hope to blink of an eye. hurt him message this week about that it was very encouraging. You know, as I’m going to the Lord and saying, what do we need to hear today, what I need to hear is that I can pass along to the guys when he gave me Joshua 24. Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth. And put away the gods which your father served beyond the river in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it’s disagreeable in your sight, to serve the Lord, then choose yourself today, who are you going to serve? Whether the gods which your father served which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you’re now living. But as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve our other gods. The Lord drove out from before us, all the people, even Amorites, who lived in this land we’re living in now. So we also will serve the Lord now had been serving the Lord, but Joshua challenged him. And you know, what I want to focus on this morning. And there’s a lot to focus on in this passage. That serving 1234566 times in those two verses, 14 and 15. He uses the word serve, serving the Lord. Now serving the Lord I found in my life over the last 50 years, it’s a choice. But it’s also a commitment. And I looked up serve and serve means be an honest and serious. Now, serve means to be of use, to be worthy of reliance or trust, to discharge a duty to attend to, to pay attention to, to take charge off, to be a servant of one that serves others. So if we’re going to serve the Lord, we got to be useful. I hear guys all the time saying all I want to do is is serve the Lord and I say you servable are you able to serve the Lord because in a nother couple of verses after the ones I just read you and the people are saying we will serve the Lord and Joshua says, You can’t serve the Lord. For God is a holy God and God is a jealous God. And you’ve not been living in a way that you think that God is holy and that he’s a jealous God jealous in return. guards to your attention, your faith, your love for him your obedience. He’s jealous for that. Why is he jealous, jealous means that somebody got something you want, you don’t have it. Jealous means that I have something that you need, says the Lord. I have peace, I have blessing. I have kindness, I have fruitfulness. I have all the things that I created you to need. If you will come to me, I’ll bless you whether I’m jealous for you to have that. You don’t have it. But I’m jealous for you to have it.

But I can’t bless you with those things. And yes, you are blessing me. Unless you’re obedient to me, if my people not when my people, but if my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, then I will forgive their sins. So we have a responsibility. There’s something I have to do before I’m going to receive the forgiveness of sin and the blessing of God and the healing of my land, my family, my body, my marriage, whatever needs to be healed. I’ve got to meet his stipulations. His guidelines, it’s his that matter. His mandate, if you were getting a lot of mandates and guidelines these days, well, God’s got some too. We have to pay attention to the fear of the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth. That’s a spirit and heart and attitudes, sincerity and honesty and seriousness, being genuine and Gallus and pure. That’s how we serve the Lord. That’s the characteristics of a servant of God. He’s focused on that which is important and being in earnest. And it’s a commitment. Choose this day, whom you’re going to serve. You’re going to serve somebody who you who you’re serving right now, who you’ve been serving, who can you serve? What are the options? Well, I can serve myself. I can serve others. I can serve God. So I get a choice. And who am I going to serve, I can serve my flesh. And let me say, feed me, Leroy, feed me. If you ever saw that one. I can serve you. And I got some quotes on service that I want to share with you about that give some insight and what that means the call to serve God is an expression of his nature, not ours. So when I’m serving God, I’m not serving out of my own gifts, my own nature, my own personality, I’m serving out of his Christ in you the hope of glory. I’m crucified with Christ, so I no longer live Christ lives in me. So what I’m giving you in service, if I’m serving God, and I’m obedient to Him, what true services is me giving to you as he gave to me. I’m giving to you what his nature is in me, not what my nature is, as long as I consider my personal temperament. And think about what I’m fitted for. I shall never realize the true call of God on my life as a servant. What I’m fitted for, you know, I’ve been in missions for many years, and I’ve recruited a lot of people to missions and prayed with them and encouraged them in regard to those who are looking at the mission field. And when I hear a guy say, Well, what about bugs? I got bugs down there. What about the climate? You know, I don’t, I don’t do very well in those humidity. Field climates. What about the salary? What am I going to do? What am I going to live on? What about insurance in retirement? And I know that’s a wrong guy. It sounds like that’s common sense. That’s logical. That’s what we need to be doing. But that’s all fear based. It’s not faith based. We’ll see some more quotes which drive that home. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves. So we cannot hear a thing God says here’s another one love for Jesus, Jesus Commission’s a man for service. There is no other way. So what motivates us to serve when we serve for Jesus and why do we love Jesus because of all he did to serve us? He served himself up even to the point of death on a cross. When you’ve really truly had an experience of salvation with Christ, you ended up loving Him and you love him because of what he how he loved you. But God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, we hadn’t done anything, we didn’t deserve it, we couldn’t do anything to deserve it. So if that ever really gripped my heart, your heart when you’re serving your serving out of love for him Altru service stems from a knowledge of God Himself.

That’s where it gets back to his nature, not mine, in service. And that’s why you spend time in the word you spend time in his presence, she learned to hear his voice for yourself, you become a what we call a self theater, where you spend time in God’s word so that you have a knowledge of who he is you have an understanding, you’ve experienced it. It’s not just fact in theology learned in a classroom. It’s personal relationship that you learned and time alone with him. Reading the Bible praying, journaling. Being in praying without ceasing, missing the three foot getting stopped with a red light when you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. Little things then had Little Foxes spoil the vineyard in their big things. But praying without ceasing, acknowledging his presence, asking the right questions. Dad, what are you trying to teach me through this situation? What character trait of the Spirit of God? Are you trying to build into my life? Through this circumstance, though this person that you put into my life, or this thing you took out of my life? What are you trying to teach me? What is it? What are you building into my life through this? Is it patience? Is it kindness? Is it Grace? And go like that? Because God’s trying to build all of that into our lives? And how does he do that? He does it by giving us a knowledge of Him. I shared Jeremiah 24 seven with you last two weeks ago. In Jeremiah 24 seven says says I’ll put within your heart a desire to know me that I am the Lord. And you will be my people and I’ll be your guide. For you will return and this week saying this to the exiles in Babylon and you will return to me with a whole heart. He took him into exile for 70 years to deliver them from worshipping idols. Sometimes God puts us in remedial training. Some God times God uses pagan people to discipline his people never can ever was a pagan pagan god that God call never can Azur my servant. He called David, the man after God’s own heart is serving as well. So both were serving God’s purposes. God was using them you don’t think God’s gonna use everything the devil is throwing at us right now. He’ll use it to accomplish his goodwill, whatever that is. Whatever his purpose is in your life, and your marriage and your family and the state of California and the nation of the United States and in the world. God’s got a plan and a purpose. I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. My plans are always good. They’re not evil. They’re to give you a future and a hope. But God’s always working behind the scenes. And if you don’t have a knowledge of God, so that you see him working behind the scenes, how you’re going to minister anybody and give them hope. That’s the point. The grand secret power to serve in these days is faith in the presence in the Spirit of God. There is no work it can be done as a servant of god that’s gonna be lasting and fruitful. It’s not LED and emanated from the Spirit of God. And to do that that’s a reason that he said, don’t be drunk with the wine that’s dissipation. Be filled with the Spirit be controlled, that that means control. Don’t be controlled by wine, be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Be led the Get your wisdom from him and spend enough time in his presence so that you know His voice when you hear it. You can sit around a Christian group, a Christian circle, and there’ll be people that are speaking and it’s not his voice, but you don’t even know it. If you’re not spending time in God’s presence. If you don’t know his word, if you don’t have a knowledge of his character. His voice is familiar to you. You won’t know that they’re leading in the wrong direction. They have self serving motives. They’re diverse if they’re going to cause trouble. If you let them go, they’re going to ruin the fig basket of eggs. That’s what makes them rotten and no one wants to eat them. Because you get a lot of people that don’t know God’s we’re trying to serve him It must really grieve God’s heart. That so many want to serve Him who won’t take time to get to know him. God says you want to serve me, but you won’t spend time with me. That describes a lot of marriages. You want to get married, you want to have righteous sex, all the things that you get married far. But you don’t spend time together.

That was one of the prayer requests of one of our guys the other day said, we’re so busy, we got so much going on, that we don’t have time to spend together. Children jobs. All these things that tyranny the urgent. We have the same problem with God. Robert monger has a little book that he wrote my cry, heart Christ home, and he takes like he walked into a home and there’s the den and the kitchen, in the bathroom and study and the bedrooms, the basement, the attic, got all these different places in the home, and you invite Jesus into that home. And he wants to see every room he wants to go into every creaking corner. But you don’t want him to go in every room. You got this living room set up, it’s speaking span, it’s looking good. It’s got the right books on the table and the right pictures on the walls. It’s neat. Everything’s dusted and swept and vacuumed. So you want to keep him in there because you don’t want him to go into the den. You don’t want him to go in and we’ll see what you’ve been watching on TV. So he goes around and he comes into the study. And he says this is a really nice room, you know, it’d be great if you and I spent time together in this room. And the guy he was talking to and the homeowner said, Well, yeah, we could do that. He said, What about every morning? Why don’t you come in here every morning, we’ll spend time together. And he made a deal. He had to go do to do that. So they did nice. He started going in every morning in the study and spending time with Jesus. And that went on for weeks. And then every now and then he’d be busy. And he’d get up late and had if he couldn’t shave and go spend time with Jesus too. He didn’t have time for both arms. So he had shave and head out the door. Then he started missing more and more. And finally he won’t go in at all. And one day, he’s rushing down the stairs and heading out and he looks into study. And Jesus is sitting there. And he sheepishly walks in and says, uh, he’s still here. He says we made a deal. He said we’d meet here every morning. I’ve been here every morning waiting on you. How gracious is that? He didn’t say Where are you being you slacker. That’s what we would say we’d say something like that you I knew you wouldn’t be faithful to your promise. I knew you wouldn’t keep your vow. But he doesn’t say that. He just says I’ve been here all along. I’m still here. And I will be here tomorrow, whether you come or not because we made a deal. It must grieve God’s heart that so many want to serve him but won’t take time to get to know him.

living living to God inwardly is the only possible means of living for him outwardly. All outwardly activity must smooth by this tends to make us work without Christ and bring self into play. I dread great activity without great commission. Let me read that again, all outward activity which moves by intends to make us work without Christ, bring self into play, I dread greatly the activity that does not have the Great Commission. So what he’s saying is, if I’m going to administer correctly, outwardly I got to be right inwardly, I got to get my heart, right. It’s like putting on the mask in the airplane. Get it out. Well, gotta wear him all the time in the airplane now. The whole trip. But in case the cabin loses oxygen, which is not probably going to happen, they always say, and it hadn’t happened yet. For me, I don’t know about you. But the mask Oh, come down, put it on yourself first and then put it on your child. inwardly take care of your heart. Don’t try to serve out of an empty bucket. Serve out of a full heart having spent time with God when we had. I was pastoring we had a elders meeting. And I’d say to my elders, I don’t want you coming out of your office at work and coming into this elders meeting. I want you to come into this elders meeting out of your prayer room. I don’t want we don’t want to hear from you. We want to hear what God’s been saying to you. We want to hear what God thinks about this issue. What’s he saying? And that’s the only way we’re going to be able to serve and lead this church. And that’s another thing about leadership, leadership, we need leaders, but we don’t need superior leaders. We’re going to reverse on that in a minute. Oh, for laborers who after God’s heart, my present Christ, two souls, a real serve, and a real man of God is a greatest treasure in the world. I thought, wow, a lot of quote. What we’re in the business of around here is making men of God for such a time is this guy’s it? Have those five goals in their life that Jesus is Lord of their life, the God’s words, the final authority in their life, that they’re becoming men a prayer they link together with guys, like you see sitting around here right now, like minded men who are chasing after Christ, and then they give it away. We’re not trying to keep for em for ourselves. We want peace officers, for Christ to have it for them. So put it under their umbrella. Churches, if they ever want to use it, put it under their umbrella, Link scarf ministry, put it under their umbrella, we’ll help them we’ll encourage them, we’ll fan their flame, but let it be theirs. Give it away. And that’s how the body of Christ grows, it’s multiplication. And nobody cares who gets the credit. If you’re going to make it as a shepherd and servant of God’s sheep, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with the great shepherd of the sheep. That’s what God told me. When I left the mission field, Pastor, which I did reluctantly, for good reason. He said, Pete, if you’re going to make it as a pastor, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with me. And I wasn’t that good at spending time with him. But I learned to, I learned to go and spend a half day with him. And then I learned to spend a weekend with him. Then I learned to spend a week with him. And I had to learn it. I saw what other guys did. But that didn’t fit me. And God met me right where I was and the way he created me to meet with him and to hear him and to spend time with him. So there’s no one pathway. We all want to spend time but we do it in our own way with him, we learn how to spend time in his presence. Pete, if you’re going to make it as a pastor, he could have said that to me when I got married, if you’re going to make it as a husband, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with me. If you’re going to make it as a dad, when my first child was born, you’re gonna have to spend a lot of time with me. But you can’t be the you’re not up to being the husband that you need to be is anybody discovered that? Can I get an amen from the congregation? That that job requires more than you have? Can I get an amen? punch that guy next to you, if you could reach him, saved less than happy he’s talking right to you.

You don’t bring to the table what you need to be the father your children need. You need to be walking with God, you need to be full of God’s presence and wisdom. I have so many decisions, so many responses. So many things you have to decide. So many responses you have to have, that you don’t you will not going to have them if you’re not filled with the Spirit if you don’t have the sermon and wisdom from God. And all they’re going to get to all that you have. What do you bring into the table? Are you fit for the job? To this day, whom you will serve? Are you serving the Lord? Is it you taking care of yourself in release so you can take care of your family outwardly? See, that’s the thing that we have to keep in mind. You might remember in Mark 10, James and john the sons of Zeus, he came up to Jesus saying, teacher we want you to do whatever we ask of you. How brash is that? Look, we want to ask you a question, but you have to promise to do it. I gotta ask you to do some if you don’t promise to do it. I’m asking. And he said to them, he was gracious to him. Now this is before they had a clue for Pentecost where they had the Holy Spirit, where they were just walking around with a real steep learning curve, watching everything he did in listening to everything he said. And it really bamboozled and they had no idea. They were trying to build a big ministry. And so Jesus gets up and says, if you don’t eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part when they I can hear the disciples ever going. I wish he hadn’t said they’re going to be live their lives. Have a look. What’s his problem? We need to have a sit down with him. They said to him grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left when you come into glory. But Jesus said to them, You have no idea what you’re asking. You have no clue. Now he knew it. And he was given him grace here, quite honestly. But he was took the opportunity to explain to them what it means to be a servant of God. You do not know what you’re asking. And then he asked him a penetrating question. Are you able to drink the cup that I’ll drink the cup of suffering and death? That’s what he’s talking about. You know, it says in another passage, another book on the same passage, it is it James and John’s mother put them up. This is Jewish mom, she put them up to that. You got to get first in line, you got to go ask you got to go get sit on his right and his left, I want my boys to sit on the sides, right and left when they comes into His kingdom, then I can brag on my friends at the well. Look at my boys. They’re doctors, they’re engineers. They’re architects. Can you drink the cup that I’ll drink and be baptized with the baptism which I’ll be baptized with? So you want to serve God and you want to be in the ministry? Well, you are a ministry, if you’re a Christian, wherever you are, whatever you do, and you don’t have to go on staff with some mission, organization or church. Everything you do and everything you say, everywhere you are your ministry, because you have the Holy Spirit in you, and you’re a servant of God, you have to consider yourself a servant of the Most High God. But Jesus said, You don’t know what you’re asking. And they said to him, Are you able, he said, and they said, we’re able. Yeah, man, we can do it. Whatever. Whatever you need. If you give us your right and your left, and we’ll we’ll be able to do it. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. Now he’s got prophetic. And you shall be baptized with the baptism which I was baptized. 11 out of 12 of the disciples were martyred. And they tried to boil the ball, john and oh, and he didn’t die. They exiled him to the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelations in first, second, third john. But to sit on my right and my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. So God has a plan, and he’s prepared it all and we don’t have to worry about where we’re going to fit and where we’re going to sit and what part will we play? It’s all planned. It’s all prepared. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to fight the guy next to you to get first place in line? Sit on is right in his left. Hearing this the 10 began to feel indignant with James and john.

In other words, I say what makes you guys think you can be grown is right and left and they started they started to have an argument happens in churches all the time. People this, this ministry is getting more money in more upfront advertising in this ministry here. It’s like, all the different ministries in the church are fighting for a piece of the action. Find for a piece of the budget, buy in for more announcements, upset from the pulpit, for their for their ministry in the church, trying to see who can get the most first the best. And jealous of those who got it. calling them to himself and Jesus saw they start arguing and Jesus is watching them argue there for a few minutes. Then he called him said, Hey, come out. Gather around guys. So he took this as a teaching moment, calling them to himself. Jesus says you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles, lord it over them. That’s, that’s the man’s way of leadership is to have power. And that’s what we see going. The whole thing it’s happening right now in our nation is who’s going to have the power. That’s why Republicans, five democrats over who’s got the power who’s got the most votes in the House and the Senate, who’s got the right guy and gal in the Oval Office. It’s all about power. It’s all about positioning. It’s all about lording it over, it’s all about being in control. No matter what the situation is. It happens in every corporation and every job and every small business in every restaurant. If you got people there. They’re going to be fighting for power and control to have a step up on the others. They’re going to be jealous of each other. One guy gets a promotion and other And he gets a raise and other guy, then he gets a cubicle, he gets an office. And it goes on everywhere all the time calling them to himself. He says, You recognize the Gentiles have a lorded over mentality, their leaders, their superior, they get the ZX egative washroom, the executive in the army, you got the non cops and you got the officers club, and they’re all separated. It’s always been that way. That’s what man does when he’s in control. in there, great man exercise authority over them. So they exercise authority, they want you to know I’m in control. I’m the boss here. Anybody that says it has to say I’m the boss isn’t the boss. And everybody knows it.

But and I love this. But it is not. So among you. Guys, you got a different standard here. It’s not so among you. You’re my followers. You’re my man, you’re my disciples, you’re my servants. So that’s not what you do. You don’t lord it over people, you don’t exercise authority over them. It’s not so among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you, which is john and James were wishing to become great. And all the other disciples were to or they wouldn’t have been arguing with them. whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant. So this is a conundrums, the paradox of the Christian life. If you want to live, you got to die. If you want to go up, you got to go down. If you want to be great, you have to humble yourself. If you want to be an authority, you have to be a servant. It’s an upside down Kingdom compared to what the world is. So if you’re thinking of being a servant of God, just keep in mind unless you’ve spent enough God time in God’s presence to be humble. And that’s why we have such a hard time with Second Chronicles 714. The first thing he says is Be humble. The first thing in the Beatitudes is Be humble. blesser, the poor in spirit versus the make the humble. That’s why we have such a problem. If you’re going to be a servant of the Most High God, it’s not so among you, you don’t lead. And that’s what’s going on in churches and mission organizations and Christian institutions, wherever you find them. They still have a hierarchy of you. Where’s the last time you heard a politician called a public servant? That went by the boards A long time ago. When’s the last time you heard an elder or a deacon or even a pastor called a servant? What does that mean? For whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. So when’s the last time you said Man, I want to be a slave of all I want to be a servant of all what’s a slave nobody aspired to be a slave two thirds of the culture was slaves in those days. But he who would be great among you will be first among you will be slave a law you’re gonna have to be faith based, not fear base, you’re gonna have to be humble and seek not the limelight But seek this live in the shadows. You’re willing to be in the limelight, but you don’t seek it that you don’t want to, you know, go after it. It’s not your goal. I remember back in the day when swindell was waxing so eloquently, Evie free and Fullerton and I was teaching a couple of class in the church and we had a bunch of students from Talbot seminary and their wives in our couples class. Now remember what I’m saying? Well, I said what are you going to do with your degree? You’re going to pastor you’re going to what do you look hidden for you? Uh, yeah, I want to be a pastor. I want to be on the radio and write books and stuff like Chuck. Now I happen to know that Chuck had so many death threats that he had a body guard that followed him all around every Sunday at church these days, they’re packing guns at churches and I guess for good reason. Because anybody anytime and they’ve done that, and it may happen some more, walk into churches of whatever ilk in start firing. So we live in those kind of days. But I knew that Chuck was there and I told the guys it might be your to go chat with Chuck on that. See if he recommends it. Is that what you’re seeking? you’re seeking notoriety and Limelight, then you’re not a servant of the most hi guy. God, as I said, you’re willing to be there but you don’t seek it and you don’t want it and you don’t strive after. It just happens. And that’s the way God raises up his leaders, his real true leaders. There’s a lot of leaders out there. But they’re superior leaders and they’re trying to build their kingdom on Jesus Christ Foundation, it doesn’t work and it won’t work. For in any finishes off, or even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So there are no arguments. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So you’re my disciple. If you’re my disciple, then that’s what you’re going to be to, you’re going to be given your life as a ransom for many not being served, but serving. Now people are going to want to serve you, they’re going to want to do for you. And that’s good and right and good for them.

It doesn’t so it’s not so whether people acknowledge you as a leader of knowledge you for your gifts, or appreciate what you say or do or have you act with your dad or a father or a preacher, missionary, whatever you are, that’s going to happen and you’re going to get criticism, you people are going to criticize you and have you for breakfast and lunch and dinner. not inviting you in they’re having you for the main meal. And that’s going to happen too. So it’s not so much where they praise you or criticize you. It’s how you respond to there. It’s not further whether you have or have not, it’s how you respond to having or having not. That’s why God’s interested in in his servants. We have the idea that a man to serve God requires him to be a different kind of being from other men. According to Jesus Christ, he’s required to be a doormat of other man, their spiritual leader, but never their superior. If you got to the point in your life, where you said, God, help yourself, because you’re not going to be a servant of God, if you haven’t asked God to help himself to your life was that mean? That means help yourself to my wife, to my children, to my time, too much money, to my hobbies. Everything in my life Lord, is sacrificed to you help yourself. Because that’s what a servant of God has to get to that place because you know what, he’s going to help himself whether you give him permission or not. You just do a lot better when you given him permission. When when he told us brightnesses, and brain tumor wasn’t about us, we felt like it was about us big time. But we had asked God to help himself. So he helped himself to one of my children. He helped himself to Sue’s and he’s helped himself to my time, my talent, my treasure. But God help yourself. If you come to the point in your life, where you don’t care what you do, or where you go, you just want to be in God’s will, no matter where it is. That’s what it means to be a servant and a follower of Christ to be His disciple you. You know, it’s like, hey, Pete and Susan, we’ll, Chuck Singletary said, a navigator. We’re moving to California. We’re going to be working out there. I want you to go with us and serve on the mat. Now team out there. Well, man that raised up a lot of issues. You mean leave the south and go out to the left coast. That was a big lordship decision. But I felt God was in it. And I’ve toeses and I thought so she said, Oh man need to think again.

But we just decided that we just want to be where God wants us to be doing what God wants us to do, how he wants to do it, where he wants to do it. And that’s not our call. It says someone asked me after Susan Dad, you’re going to move back to Alabama. I have no plans to move back to Alabama. I wouldn’t mind moving back down Alabama. Five people got killed there with tornadoes yesterday. So when I look forward to being back there, but I don’t look forward to the next earthquake out here either. But I said but that’s not my call. I don’t just decide I’m going to get up and move. I get up. I’m in an army and I get a move when I get orders. And that’s what it means to be a servant of God. You live where he wants you to live. He move when he wants you to move you stay put when he wants you to stay put. But if you’re not spending time with him And you’re not in his presence and you don’t know His voice and you haven’t said help yourself to my life my whole life is about the gospel. That’s reason you say Help yourself. It’s not about me, it’s not about my success. It’s not about what I accomplish. It’s not about my achievements, it’s about him being free to use me anyway wants to not use me at all I remember when he put me on the bench in, in AAA, and I was gonna play an in front of me was in the league in the Southern League with me and double it the year before and I was the all star to third baseman. And they had playing this manager, this Homer manager, this good old boys club, they had going with the Minnesota Twins, and they all do, was playing him I had a man I was upset about that. I went to Jesus and said, I want to play third base. When you come into your kingdom,

and he put me in the bullpen, I was on the bench. And then one night I was called in to pinch it and I said, Boy, I’m gonna get a hit and show this manager I need to play every day. And unfortunately, there was a guy named Pedro borbone on the mound, who was one of the starting pitchers for the World Series team in 72. And 73, which is about two years after this. And I have poor Pedro get to the big leagues. He struck me out that night. So I take some credit for that. That was my claim to fame in the minors, I helped a lot of pitchers get to the big leagues. So anyway, later that night, I’m grumbling and complaining. Now it’s written in Ken Taylor, they just come out with a Living Bible paraphrase. And I’m reading in Hebrews 12, it’s in Hebrews 12. He says, you know, God disciplines his children because he loves him. And if he’s not discipline you, it’s because he doesn’t love you. But that’s why the disciplines you, he loves you. But you know, the problem with discipline is it hurts. But what we see as a result is a quiet growth and grace and character. And God said p, we need to talk. He said, You know, you know how to be in the lineup. This is what you know, you know how to start every night you know how to be an all star, here’s what you don’t know. You don’t know how to sit on the bench and pull for that guy in front of you and help him be successful. And I thought, boy, right, you’re right about that. I don’t know that. That’s a statement and it odd me I couldn’t believe it. And what I couldn’t believe is a God of the universe who put every star in the sky who created everything on the earth, who just spoke it into existence cared about my character was using this to say Pete there’s some things you can only learn on the bench. You can’t learn in the game. And these are things so when you’re on the bench and you don’t feel like you’re being used and you feel like you’ve been passed over and abused. There are things to learn on the bench you can’t learn in the game. You can only learn I’m sitting on the bench. And so God’s raising up servants here But guys, it is not so among you not like he’s raising up leaders in Washington, DC. He’s, he’s raising up servants of him. And that’s what do we need right now we need servants of God and know how to serve and give and lay their life down and for their life out and even for those who don’t deserve it, especially for those who don’t deserve it. He’ll always ask the question Are you in or out? Choose you this day whom you are going to serve. It’d be a servant of the Lord, even today. Father that’s what we pray. Thank you for gathering us together and letting us talk about these things. Thanks for being the servant who said even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Help us be like him even today with our wives in our homes and our businesses. driving around town and the divine appointments you’ll give us help us to be your servant. reflect your nature and help people see you through us in Jesus name And all God’s men said give them heaven guys

Bill Kauble 0:09
To influencers Orange County, and we believe with all of our heart, what a joy it is to have intimacy with Jesus Christ. And where our whole mission here is to create an environment where the Holy Spirit can come and help himself to each man’s heart and influence that heart to influence his family, his neighborhood and his community. What we believe with all of our heart, is we are faith based, Christ driven. What else? Grace driven, right, Christ center, we believe in five things. Number one, Jesus is not only our Savior, but he’s Lord of our lives. Number two, the Bible is the final authority. Number three, we are men a prayer, number four, we link with like minded men. And number five, we give it away. And the thing that embodies that more than anything else is the forum. I wanted Frank Daniels and Ron to come here for a second. Somebody helped crank up could take a while. Guy drives a Corvette, I don’t know. Yellow Corvette. One of the things that we’re grateful for, is everything that I just described is embodied in forum. And Frank has been Ron’s lovely assistant, and come up with a template, we our goal is that every single man in here would be involved in the forum group, Ron,

Ron Tovar 1:46
you can have access to this template, if you go on the website and and click on for M. And it’ll take you to a form that you can fill out if you want to join for Ammar refer someone to joining for M. But we have that those forms today. And if at the end of the meeting, you can see Frank it’s two pages, how many pages, two pages. And and so if you fill those out, yeah, too simple. It’s going to take like three minutes. And so if you fill those out, then we can plug you into a meeting if you’re looking for a meeting at the time that you can get into it. And I just want to thank you all that are involved in the shepherds that were in the meeting last Saturday. And it was a great meeting. It’s really good to see men of god together like that. Winning man by man, winning territory, man by man touching our families.

Bill Kauble 2:47
Say hi.

Unknown Speaker 2:49
Good morning.

Bill Kauble 2:51
Thank you for

Alright guys, thank

you very much. You made me sit down. Thank you. We’re trying to get it together. It just takes a little bit. Hey, Dennis rebooted. We have a focus here on men. Marriages, and what else?

Dennis Ruvilo 3:16
Yeah, we we’ve got a meeting tomorrow and outreach for the missions that network through influencers here. And everyone that has a full time ministry here that networks through here is invited if you didn’t get it invite because we sent out the agenda in the invites. And if we overlooked you, you’re welcome here tomorrow morning at 930 up in the upper room.

Bill Kauble 3:41
And I want to I want to pray for this Lord, not only for the forum, but I want to pray for missionaries father there on the front line, we are going to all be missionaries because we’re headed for persecution. And that’s not something that I feel it’s something that is spelled on Matthew 24, in the Book of Revelations. So Father, we just ask you to continue the anointing on our dear brother, Dennis, and for all those that are going to gather tomorrow morning, Father, bless that time together. But bless the forum. It’s a time for men to come together and stand up and be men. Thank you In Jesus name, amen. I’m going to do the offering now and again. We are grateful God has been has blessed us tremendously and has allowed us to keep the doors open and to keep Pete away from being a greeter at Walmart. And so Lord, we’re we’re very grateful for that, because I’d have to hold his I’d have to hold his bag. So as we pray over this offering, we ask you to multiply it the name and the power the blood of Jesus Christ, amen.

Pete McKenzie 5:01
Hey man, keep me out of Walmart.

Well, you know, appreciate you guys wearing your mask. These people, the leadership at voyagers has been more than going overboard and being generous and kind with us and let us use their facility and not just for this Friday morning, but for so many of the things that we do. And we want to honor them in what they want us to wear these masks and we all have different ideas about whether mask or good work or not, whether they’re good or not, or they’re going to keep you from getting COVID or not, but that doesn’t matter. They’ve asked us to do it. So we appreciate you wearing them. Thank you.

You know, when I was going to elementary school back in the day, and that was a different day than our day. If you lost some money on the playground, someone would come along and might find the money on the playground. And this happened on one particular day. And they would go around to the different classrooms and say I found a quarter on the playground and anybody lose a quarter. Can you imagine that? I thought easy money. I think I was waiting to third grade. And so I raised my hand and I got the quarter now with a quarter you could do a lot in those days. You could go and get a chocolate melt with ice cream down on the corner drugstore and then take your dime that you had left and get in the movie theater. And so on the way home, I stopped by a little convenience store and I got some paper and some candy and some stuff with my quarter. And I got home and my mom said, where’d you get that candy? Got it the convenience store in the paper too. And I said yes, ma’am. She says, where’d you get the money to get it? And now human heart and family she squeezed the truth out on me. Well, I was tempted to do something that was wrong. And I did it. And now she was not going to tempt me. But tell me I had to do something that was right. She said you’re going back to school tomorrow and get out in front of the whole class and tell him what you did. It sound like father knows best what bud got in trouble all the time. And his dad would make him go make it right. Mom did the same thing. I had to go back to the class the next day and tell everybody that I said that was mine. But it wasn’t mine. I lied. Now started learning in that experience about temptation. I want to talk to you today about being tempted about temptation and the trouble it is in your life in mind. But the absolutely necessary thing it is in your life in mind. You know, I remember someone saying I don’t remember who but I wrote it down and send the front of my Bible is write a lot of quotes down in there. I can resist anything but temptation. You ever heard down? Yeah, I say it all the time. Because it’s true. Tim Taylor temptation it means to entice to do wrong by a promise of sordid gain or sinful pleasure to risk the danger of being tried and tested to be baited or beguiled. Led by deception, conned bamboozled, duped, hoodwinked misled, I got a thing the other day on my text messages, said you just spent $2,642 on a 48 inch television on Amazon. If this is not you, and you didn’t get that call this number, you ever gotten one of those? I got a guy. I get all kinds of things like that there are scammers out there. And I’ve been taken in a couple of times. But no more. I’ll probably miss some good things because I’m, I don’t know if it’s a scammer or not. So I just take the Safe Road. So I didn’t call the number. And I’m not gonna call the number. And I’m not tempted to call the number. But there’s temptations like that, coming at us every day in every way. to entice to do wrong, you know in the Garden of Eden He was enticed to do wrong. God had said, this is a way walk down in it don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if you do, you surely die. The devil comes along and says, I think I can back that up. So he comes along, and he starts tempting Eve. And he says, you know why God doesn’t want you to have that fruit from that tree. He knows that you’ll be just like him, you won’t need him anymore. You can be your own God. Now, that’s been the devil’s temptation since the beginning of time. He’s always tempted us, we can be our own God, we can do our own thing, we can go our own way we know better. And so God is always saying, this is the way walked out in it. And if you walk in this way, you’ll be blessed. But if you walk in the other way, if you could take that other route, you’re going to be judged, you’re going to have consequences, it’s going to be painful, you’re going to be separated from me.

And so that’s been invoke, for the beginning of time, as well. So she got bamboozled, she started looking at the tree. And that was one of her problems. She started looking at the fruit on the tree. And so he was saying, you know, that’s good for look at the fruit. Look on tasty, it looks nice. And if you ate that fruit, you’d really be satisfied. It meets all your needs. And so she looked at it, and it did look good to eat. In so she took it in. And you know the consequences of that we’re sitting here today with sin nature’s because the first Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were tempted by the devil, oh, my God never attempts us. We’re gonna see a verse in that in a minute. But James one has a lot, it has several verses in there, two through four and 12 through 15, I’m going to share with you that address this issue considered all joy brother, and when you encounter various trials, now Life is full of trials. Don’t you agree? trial means trouble. It means to put to the test, with the purpose of discovering that person’s nature or quality. So there’s one way to look at temptation. And when we’re tempted to do something that’s wrong, or watch something that’s wrong, or say something that’s wrong, or do something that’s wrong, and all the different ways we can mess up.

Thank you very much. Get my hand. They’re recording these things. I guess that’s what we need to improve on here. Thank you, Terry. Or there we go. We’re in trial. discovering a person’s nature or quality, something that breaks the pattern of peace, comfort, joy, happiness in someone’s life. You go into a trial, and have you had your joy stolen? Have you gotten upset and go like that? Okay. Look at the guy next to you and say, Hey, listen up, he’s talking to you. Guys, you have been, because that’s what life is full of life is full of trials and difficulties in test. And it tests our tests our character. It shows us what we’re really like. I could put up with a lot for my dog. And I’m very patient with my dog until she had diarrhea. I won’t have to finish the rest of that story. But I found out that I have a limit to my patience. And God wants to stretch my patience. God wants me to grow in patience. And he didn’t want me to be angry. He didn’t want me to be upset. And he gives me trials and challenges and difficulties to show me what I’m really like. Sometimes it shows me what you’re really like. It means a reputation. We have a reputation. And you want to have a good reputation. You want people to think well of you and speak well of you. But sometimes we don’t do things that allow them to do that. Because we lose our patients we fail the trial. And every trial is a test of faith that you’re going to trust God or not, is God in this and not is God allowed this or not. Is God put this into my life or taken it out of my life. Is he still on his throne? Is he sovereign? Is he good? Is he in control and every time we face it trial and we get in trouble. That’s what we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with what our view of God is, what our character is. Now, you’ll never grow in character until you’re tested. So it’s not the most terrible thing in the world to fail at something you think’s important. The greatest danger is to exceed it, things that don’t really matter, amen. And so, just think of what the trials that you are in today are held trials, financial trials, marriage trials, children, child’s political trials, COVID trials, fear, you’re, we’re being tested to be half fearful, we’ll be well, we operate on faith or fear, we trust God or not. And you know, when all else fails, we usually trust guy, when the government lets us down and becomes corrupt when you can’t even have an election anymore. That’s fair. When inflation starts to hit, when the value of the dollar goes down, when the stock market crashes, when all the things that we put our hopes and our dreams and build our life on fail, what do we have left? does God allow that? Now we talked in Jeremiah 29, who he said, we looked at, I know the plans I have for you says the Lord their plans for good and not for evil, that you will have a future and a hope. We looked at that. And we saw where God judges us. When we wander away. God judges us when we start worshipping and depending on other things other than Him, and we have other gods, we have idol worship in our life and the children of Israel. I don’t care what prophets you read in the Bible, it seems like they all deal with the same thing that children of Israel wandered away from God. They started worshipping idols, they started doing terrible things, prostitution, adultery, you name it, if they had drugs back then it’d be drugs, alcohol, and all the things that we get into that were in our lives. And so they go wandering off in that direction. And God says, whoa, timeout. I’ve had enough of this. So he brings to judgment and in that case, he brought Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon. they conquered Judah and Israel, they took a bunch of exiles back to Babylon,

and left to the false prophets and the false teachers and the people that had been worshipping idols who left them back in Judah. And God looked at Jeremiah and he said, What do you see? We gave him a vision. He says, I see a coke two baskets, and they’re full of figs. The basket on over here is full of rotten figs. It could need them. The basket on the right is a juicy ripe figs. And they’re good to eat. And God says, well, the bad figs are the people I’m leaving in Judah. The good figs are the ones I’m taking in exile to Babylon. Sometimes God has to x hours to get us right. He says they’re going to be in Babylon. And Jeremiah told him this was going to happen. He warned him before it ever happened before never can has ever showed up on their border. God warned him what was going to happen and by God’s faithful to do that, he tells us what’s going on if we’re listening. Unfortunately, the people never listened. He sent on prophet after prophet and they just killed him. He sent messengers, he sent messengers by nature he sent in he said, for us, there’ll be birth pains. I’m gonna let you know it’s coming and I’m coming. And you need to listen up. And the birth pangs in Matthew 2047 will be in nature. You’re going to see floods and tornadoes and hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, you’re going to see fires, you’re going to see things like you’ve never Well, I’m no okay. You’ve had all that before people say that. But they’ve never had a tornado that stayed mouth wide and stayed on the ground for 20 minutes, and never had an earthquake in 2001. On the floor of the Pacific Ocean that measured on every seismograph on the planet, they never had one like that before. The tornadoes or hurricanes or floods the ice and snowstorms in places that never have them. We’ve had this winter. Those sayings are warning signs, the gods saying their birth pains, and they’re going to get worse. And that’s what birth pains do. They get worse and they get hurt. How much does it hurt? It’s about a five how much it hurt. Now it’s about an eight. Would that baby’s coming? And that’s what lets them know the baby’s coming. We’re seeing all the birds Banks now we see them in politics, finances, nature, families, health, media. Everywhere you look there, they’re just signs that he’s coming in, the people never listened, they shot the messengers. And God is faithful. They say, I’m going to bring judgment. And I’m going to take you captive for 70 years into Babylon. So it took them into Babylon. And they were there for 70 years. And it took 70 years for those people to be delivered from idol worship, to see God and obey Him and follow His commandments in his ways. And that’s what God was after. It’s what he’s after in your life, and mine will be tempted to do wrong, and then we’ll be tempted to do right. And we blow both of them tempted to do wrong, and I do, I’m tempted to do right and I don’t, I’m tempted to do the right thing. temptation, enticed to do the wrong thing, or the right thing. And then these, he gave us these temptations to test our character to test our faith. characters, features and traits that make up the end distinguish who you are, which could be good or bad. A man could have a firm moral excellence or poor moral excellence. But either way, it’s your character, whatever it is, God gives us trials and difficulties and tenses. And that allows us to be tempted to test us to see what we’re like not to destroy us. He does do that. But that’s not why he does it with his children. He does it like a father, he does it to show us what we’re like. And they show us the way and show us what right behavior and keeping our behavior excellent among the Gentiles, if you will. What he said in First Peter to keep your behavior excellent among the dem towns, your chosen people, your holy nation, your royal priesthood, your people for mound possession. Now, I’m going to hone you and test you and try you.

To make you better, to grow you up to make him a tour to strengthen your faith in your character, to build the fruit of the Spirit in your life. You love and joy and hope and goodness and peace and patience and gentleness and kindness and self control all that. You’re never going to get it without the trials and the temptations that come your way. How do you respond when you’re tempted and fail? What do you do? Do you beat yourself up? He it feel a guilt and shame. Go like that. We all do. That’s what we do. We’re men of God, we’re not supposed to do that kind of stuff. We’re not supposed to fall into temptation. We’re supposed to stand tall and temptation. When you don’t know how my wife treats me. If you knew how she treated me, you would just fall into that temptation to treat her in an unbecoming way to my wife. Susan has an I just read it yesterday, still up on my cabinet in the kitchen. Never lead how people treat you alter how you treat them. That’s a good one. I think of it all the time. That matter how they treat you It matters how you respond. Had a guy the other day and said Pete, you and Susan had such a great marriage and I’ve got such a terrible marriage. Do you think God just gave you something he didn’t give it to me? You think you have it not have you have an I don’t have it. I said it’s not about having and not having. We can’t control that God works in those ways. And I don’t understand all his ways in that regard. But I do understand the US whether you have it or don’t have it, what God is concerned about is how you respond to having it or not having it. So how you react to it is how you deal with it. It’s how you understand it, how you respond. That’s what God’s concerned about. It he gives someone talent, some two or three, some five, some 10. We have different talents, different gifts, different opportunities, different experiences. And it’s not whether you have it and they don’t you don’t compare yourself to others that will always get you in trouble. in either direction. You compare and look better than them and comparing look worse than them and neither one is wrong. So don’t start comparing.

He wants us to learn to persevere to persist in spite of counter influences. In other words, and I tell guys in marriage all the time. You’re never going to stand before God and answer How your wife is a good wife or not. You’re going to stand in answer for whether you’re a good husband or not, no matter what kind of wife she was, you’re never going to be able to stand before God like Adam tried and said, it’s this woman you gave me. serverfault. Matter of fact, God, it’s not her fault. It’s your fault you gave her to me. God says, Yeah, but then you say, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And she’ll be called a woman because she’s taken out a man. Then you say you up, you’ve been counting and naming all these animals, and then all of a sudden she showed up. And finally, you are attracted to what something? Hopefully one attracted any of the animals. That happens. Here’s one that if you’re going to talk about temptation, we need to talk about first Corinthians 1013. no temptation has overtaken you with such as common demand. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you’re able. But with the temptation, we will provide the way of escape also, why? That you may be able to endure it. No temptation has overtaken you, but such as common demand, don’t start thinking that you are tempted in ways other guys aren’t that your temptation is harder than the next guys. It’s all common demand, we all face temptation. It’s part of living, it’s part of life. It’s part of what we go through. We just have to prepare ourselves for it when it comes. God always prepares a way out. When and when he said, Jeremiah to judge the nation. And he says, God’s judgment is coming on you. You got to stop this out of worship, this adultery, this prostitution, these false teachers, these false property, they had to stop. And they wouldn’t listen. But God said, Okay, I’m going to bring judgment. But with that judgment, they will follow, I’ll bring you back into the land. And I’ve shared this a couple of weeks ago, Jeremiah 24, seven, I will give you a heart to know me, that I am your Lord. And you will be my people. And I’ll be your God, and you will return to me with a whole heart. So God said, Look, I’m going to take into exile in Babylon. You’ll be there 70 years, but I’m going to purify you, I’m going to grow you up. I’m going to make you healthy. And I’m going to bring you back. So God always gives us a promise. God says you’re going to die, but you will live again. Data yourself, you’ll live. When you die physically, you’re going to live again. It’s just a second blink of an eye and you’ll be in eternity. You’ll be in our presence. You’ll be in heaven, you’ll be in paradise forever. That doesn’t sound good, but life in him that that sounds pretty good. That’s why we don’t die like other people. We don’t die like people that don’t have Christ. Susan was so looking forward to it. It offended me. You You’re not going to miss me. You’ll be fine. I’m out of here. I’m going where I was born to go. I’m going where I’ve been longing to be. She was never comfortable in this world. Are you comfortable in this world. She was never comfortable in this world, the sin of the world. She just ignored it. I was amazed at her and I’ve been reflecting on her ever since she died and amazed more amazed every time I think about the kind of person she was. Now she just ignored sin ignored temptation. I’m not saying she never sin. She’s not perfect. But compared to me, I knew she was pretty good.

But I admired the way that she just ignored it. She looked the other way she wouldn’t be moved by. She guarded Her eyes are hard and she would help me guard mine. She made me a better man. As well chamber says Timpson temptation is not sin. It’s a thing we’re bound to meet if we’re human temptation and not something we can escape. It’s essential to a full orb life of man. We were thinking that you’re tempted, is no one else is tempted. What you go through is a common inheritance of the human race. Many of us suffer from temptations from which we have no business to suffer because we have refused to let God lift us to a higher Playing where we would face temptations of a different order. In other words, or wherever you are, spiritually, that’s going to be a different line of temptation for you. But you may have willingly decided I’m not going to deeper water with Christ, I’m not going to go to a higher plane. I don’t want him lifting me up. And because I know it always means trial and difficulty, because that’s the only way you go to a higher plane and deeper water. You have to be thrown in. I’ve been in the ocean here three times in twice I was thrown in. Because it’s too cold. I’m used to warm Gulf water in the beach. And that disappointed me when I came out here. A man’s disposition on the inside determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the nature the one tempted and reveals the possibilities of the nature. The temptation will come along the line of your ruling disposition. You know, our hearts are full of lust. Now lust in itself dislike trials, it’s not a bad thing, dislike temptation, it’s not necessarily sin. He Jesus used the same word when he said, If you lust after a woman, and you desire to have her, you have to have her that’s passion and lust. So what it means I needed that I needed and I want it now. And if you lust after a woman that sin, but they use the same word when he says, look at the harvest feel they’re ripe for harvest. And he used the same word about lusting after the harvest feel. So it’s what you lust after that is whether it’s sin or not. You may desire a character, you may desire holiness, you may desire godliness, you may say I want to be like Christ, that’s a good last. That’s a good passion. But then there’s that last little passion of sin where you hit the button and you look at the pornography. You don’t turn away or change this channel when you know you should. You look the other way. When you see these gals dress the way they sound dress these days and have for ever you discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness, you prepare yourself for temptation. In Philippians, four, eight. Finally, Brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable or noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure Sam used to sing this song, remember, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right. Whatever is pure, sing out next week, guys. Whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If there is any excellence in anything worthy of praise, think about these things. You got to prepare yourself for temptation. It’s coming. You don’t say if it comes, maybe it’ll come. It’s coming. You’ll be tempted. You’re always being tempted. I am to God wants to use that. But you have to prepare. And we hate failing. We hate failing and fall into temptation. We hate being angry like we do. I’m out on the golf course are Rocky and we are in our mid 30s they put us with two old guys like I am now. So we’re playing around and I’m trying to break in a new wedge. And and I was trying our skull and at all we’re hitting bad shots. Finally, we got on the back nine is a par three with a pond over on the left. And I scold another shot and I walked over to the pond broke that thing over my knee and through both pieces in the pond. This gentleman we were playing with him and I heard a guy’s doing that but I never seen it before.

We’re up there putting on the green and one of those guys is putting and rocky comes over and goes Listen, tell him what we do. Okay. Well, it was my fault. That was the way to spot some was wrong with that which couldn’t have been me. Whatever is true, whatever is in accordance with what’s actual. Whatever is existing in fact or reality, you better get rooted in this right now. Because if you’re not rooted in fact, in reality, if you’re not rooted in the truth, if you’re not rooted in what’s noble, you’re going to be blown off your axis. Because we live in a day we’re good as evil and evil is good. They turned everything upside down. We used to wear put fish on our car, but now you’re going to be persecuted if you do. You can lose your job for worshipping Christ. It used to be an honor people saw official in your car and they say well, I can trust that guy. He’s a Christian. He’ll treat you honestly, he won’t cheat you. He’ll be reliable and dependable. That’s not true anymore. They’ve turned that upside down. They’ve taken the power and the influence and the impact of the church and they’ve taken it away. So we don’t have the influence we used to have. We’re not respected like we used to be. We’ve made peace treaties with the devil. We started making true church comfortable for goats. Instead of for sheep. Try to make goats comfortable. Jesus never tried to make a goat comfortable. If you don’t turn the other cheek and go the second mile and bless those who persecute you, you can’t be My disciple. If you don’t sell everything you got and give it to poor people, you can’t be My disciple. If you don’t eat my flesh and drink my blood, you can’t be My disciple. The doors with swing it on the hinges, guys are leaving right and left. Because he never would lower the standard. He kept raising the standard for the cost of what it meant to follow him. He’s purging the church right now. He’s judged our nation. We’ve run him out of the schools, we’ve run him out of our every area of our life. The fastest growing religion in America today is the nones. No religion, atheism. And so God will say to us, like he said to Israel, that’s enough. I’ve had enough of this. I’ve had enough of Christians not standing up, not living the life. That’s what to me standing up is. When the crisis comes, encourages require God expects his man to have such confidence in him, they’ll be the reliable ones. So I think personally, this is my personal opinion. I think we’re being judged as a nation. I think God’s allowing everything that’s happening to happen. Everything in nature, everything in finances and health, everything in our families, everything in corruption in politics, in every other area, you want to look at totally corrupt. Pandora’s Box been open, the toothpaste is out of the tube, and I don’t think we’re going to get back in there, the bullies are running amok. And God’s going to use them all I can use Nebuchadnezzar, this pagan king Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, he said, and he used never can, as a pagan king to judge Israel, judges own people. But in doing that, he brought them back to repentance. He brought them back to himself. They got rid of idol worship, they were purged and cleansed. They were tried. In like, King Eleazar. He was this. He was tried and found wanting and this hand wrote on the wall, when he was being judged. You’ve been tried in the on the balance and found wanting. And so you know, that’s not what you want on your gravestone. He was trying to balance and found wanting. He didn’t stand when he should have stood. He didn’t sacrifice for the good of others who didn’t bear up under suffering. He was tempted in fail. And when he failed, that’s not the greatest sin of great sin is you don’t repent. The great sin is if you say I never heard afterwards, john, one night when I was growing up, I knew I was a sinner. I heard all about sin every Sunday and church went down and rededicated my life because I didn’t know what else to do with my sin. And I did it a lot. Because God had put it in my heart to know Him

is God put it in your heart to know him? Because if he has and you won’t work to be righteous, you want to be good. You want the fruit of the Spirit in your life, you want to be have courage in a crisis, you want to stand up and bear up under suffering and sacrifice for the good of others. He’s put it in your heart to do that, to know that to know him. I can’t pat myself on the back and say, Boy, I know God, I received Christ. I’m special. I am special to him. But I didn’t decide that he put it in my heart to do that. And I don’t understand how I know about that.

All I know is that I need him and apart from him, I can do nothing. I know you need him and apart from him, you can do nothing I need I need to focus on things that are honorable, noble, deserving respect and high regard. I need things that are right. In focus on that think on these things, things that are righteous and upright and according to what is Just conforming to the facts that truth. Need purity, unmixed with any other matter, free from dirt or taint? Don’t we long for that in a culture that’s going down the tubes who are circling the bowl? Don’t we long for these things for those things that are unmixed with any other matter free from Tanner dirt spotless, free from what? weaknesses weakens or pollutes, free from moral fault and guilt. Containing nothing that does not properly belong. That’s what God is saying. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right in pure, whatever is lovely and delightful of beauty harmony, attractive, because inside, they are bearing the fruit of the Spirit, eliciting love by moral or ideal worth. Whatever things are admirable that you admire, deserving high esteem, exciting wonder, applaudable and commendable. He wants us to be these kind of people. He wants to be these kind of men but don’t happen. You don’t stumble into godliness, you discipline yourself or godliness. Are you the kind of guy that if you’re going to be in a Bible study, you need to be told there’s no homework. You don’t have to memorize any verses. You don’t have to spend any time in the word. You just come. That’s what we say to them today. Just come because we’re afraid if we raise the standard, and we ask them to discipline themselves for their own good. We’re afraid they’ll leave. We’re afraid they won’t stay. Raise the standard and lop off the bottom 10%. Raise the standard in just because you can’t go to war and win the battle with those guys at one discipline themselves. It won’t pay a price or cost, do something to winnow them out. Put them in the trial and test them. Yeah, we got a Bible study and we’re going to be memorizing verses we’re going to be doing filling in the blanks, we’re going to be going through the Bible. And if that’s too much for you, and you’re not ready for that, and the first time it was offered to me or challenged me, I didn’t do it. I got in and I had to memorize verses is the first navigator study as ever in do Bible study. And I wasn’t ready for it, I dropped out. But God bless him, the navigator, staff guy that he recruited us to come to California, he gave me grace. A year later, I was ready. And he welcomed me and he gave me a big hug and say, Come on in. I learned a lot about that. He believed in me, he saw something in me I couldn’t see in myself. You got somebody that you can see something in them that they can’t see in themselves and you can pan their flame and encourage them and lift them up. So what mentoring and coaching in friendships all about things that are excellent, eminently good, superior, higher rank. Things that are worthy of praise, having worth the value, meritorious of great renown, brilliantly outstanding because of dignity. See, that’s what God does. When God gets a hold of a guy’s life. He makes them this kind of person. He makes you a man of God, it makes you a man who emanates these kinds of character traits. Not that you don’t ever follow a temptation we do. I will before the day is over, maybe many times, but I know what to do when I do I know what to do and I grow in discipline myself. And you know why I grow because I hate failing I hate having to go back and say I’m sorry I did I was wrong. Will you forgive me? First john one nine promises if you’ll confess your sin and I’ll be faithful and righteous to forgive your sin. So I need to repent. And God calls us to repentance. God calls us to confess our sin agree with him. Be merciful to me, oh God according to your loving kindness according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions.

And we need to do that on a regular basis that needs to be your your normal everyday, immediate response to sin. Sin you do send you think your anger your bitterness, your resentment, your resentment bank, empty that thing and confess his sin causes all kinds of emotions in me that’s not godly and holy and right and pure and honorable. Keep a clear conscience with God. The devil will come and say Yeah, you did so and so as as you’re dead and I confess it and God forgave me You got a problem. Go see him. He’s taken it on himself. He’s not an attorney. He’s my advocate. And he’s forgiven me. And that’s something more than we can usually do for each other, forgive each other. Let them out from under the yoke. Give them grace, unmerited favor. that’ll change your life more than anything makes you want to obey makes you want to, when God gives you grace and forgives you, it makes you want to be obedient next time. It helps you grow. But we’re too slow to confess our sin and, and we’re gonna look at Second Chronicles 714 next week, that you’re very familiar with. If my people call by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven forgive their sin, and I’ll heal their land. We don’t even know what our wicked ways are, if we’re not in the word. If you don’t, if you’re not in the Word of God, you don’t even know you don’t have a mirror that shows you what when you’re not holy and righteous and good and pure. And so you let see and loose in your life and you become loose in your living. And then you start paying the consequences forward and you blame others. This woman, it’s his job, it’s his, those politicians. And all because we weren’t men of the word in Jesus, one Lord of our life, and we don’t man a prayer, hanging together with men who love Christ, more than we do, and given that away. So when you go out there, and you’re tempted today, when you fail, just confess it. And don’t just repent with no feeling. Repent and mean it and hate it. In it’ll help you resist next time and you’ll resist in your resist in your resist, and then you fall again. confess it. And once you confess, and once you repent, and once you get his forgiveness and grace, walk in newness of life. Don’t keep letting yourself be beat up. Don’t let the enemy come and accuse you. You’ve already confessed that Jesus took that sin on the cross, He died guard, he’s forgiving you. He strengthened you. He loves you walk in that don’t walk in the guilt and the shame once it’s been confessed and repented. Let it go. make peace with reality. That’s all you can do left to yourself is saying I’m not surprised when I said I’m surprised when I don’t. That’s what do that’s how we get past the accusations of the devil. He tempts you to sin and then shames you when you do. And then he tries to shame you and keep guilt and shame on you even after you’ve repented. And he wants to keep you feeling low and unworthy. Man of God, oh, I’m unworthy. I’m no man of God. Then you’ve never really repented. You’ve never really asked forgiveness. You’ve never really received forgiveness and grace. And you wouldn’t say that God gets the glory. Jesus gets the glory for Don on the cross for my sin. He forgave me He gave me grace. He restores me. He lifts me up. And for me to say I’m unworthy is a slap in his face. He died on the cross that makes for the unworthy. Yes, in a way. But once he died and I received my new life and forgiveness, I’m not unworthy anymore. I’m worthy and he saw worthiness in me he put it in me to know him.

So my Jesus Lord of your life, be quick to confess your sin. Look at the things that are right and pure discipline your eyes through the purse make a covenant with your eyes that you might not sin against him is what the proverb says My God made a covenant my eyes how then can I look on a virgin? I made a cover of new eyes. How could I watch this stuff on TV. That’s what I deal with all the time. Change the channel, get rid of it. Don’t look at don’t get gaze at that. It’ll stir things up in you that you don’t want and you don’t need and it’s going to take you in a place you don’t want to go it’ll stay longer and you ever wanted to stay it’ll cost more than you ever wanted to pay. It’s what sin is. And God wants us to be men who don’t have to battle that out and will always battle it until we die. But God wants to set he wants to be men of God for such a time as this a man you enter out I know you are we needed to hear this today diddly. We needed to be reminded of this. We needed to know that we’re gonna have trials but go there’s an answer. There’s hope. There’s forgiveness. There’s grace. God’s given us the victory. stand out. Bless give him the honor. Lord, we’re giving you the honor We stand now in your presence. We’re a bunch of guys that love you and you put it in our heart to know you. And so Lord and knowing you, we want to obey you. We want to be men that are counted on right now that are that are dependable and a crisis. So when we face the amputation, Lord, we’ll just recognize it for what it is. And Lord, when we fall, thank you that you’ll forgive us. Because apart from you, we can do nothing. We want to honor you. We have a great God and a wonderful Savior in Christ. We thank you for giving us the hope of victory in him in Jesus name And all God’s men said amen, give’m heaven guys.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

What Does the Lord Require?

In the midst of interesting times, we have the privilege of tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. For all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Trials and tests are to prove his character in us. The world thinks that reproof is a bad word. However, reproof means to re-prove God’s power in us over and over. For tribulation worketh patience and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

Many Old Testament verses are applicable as we confront the trials of our present hour. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah was called the “weeping prophet.” He had a heart of love to serve God’s people. His heart was broken because Israel had forsaken the word of the Lord. Jeremiah means “God’s elect.” God chose, called, and elected his prophet Jeremiah to declare that whom the Lord loves, he chastises. Because they had turned their hearts from God, Israel would be taken captive into Babylon.

In Jeremiah 24, God gave Jeremiah a vision about Israel and Judah. In the vision he saw a basket of rotten figs and a basket of good figs. According to Jeremiah 24:2-3: 2 “One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. God showed Jeremiah that the good figs represented the faithful believers who had been taken captive to Babylon. Despite their captivity for Israel’s forsaking him, God promised those faithful to his word that God would eventually return them back into the Promised Land. This promise is in verse 6: For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.”

God in his mercy and grace always allows room for repentance when His people return their hearts back to Him. The Old Testament book of Micah shows us how faith fits into a broken and corrupt society. When God seems distant, Micah reminds us that there is hope for those who approach the Lord with a broken and a contrite heart of repentance. When we stray from His Word, God loves us enough to discipline us for whom the lord loves, he chastises. The word of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof and correction. To correct means to restore to an upright position. When are verticals are aligned according to His will, then our horizontals are much more enjoyable.

God will not allow sin to hinder his divine purpose. When nations and governments turn their hearts away from God and the truth of His word, God will allow the consequences of sin to bring a nation to its knees. In Micah the northern kingdom of Israel had turned their backs on God and his righteous laws. God allowed them to be taken captive into Babylon.

Likewise in our current times, 2 Timothy 3:2-5 describes men in the last days who have forsaken God and the righteous standard of his word: 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Micah wrote to the southern kingdom of Judah to warn them about the consequences of forsaking the Lord their God. The choice for those who have been called by God is truth or consequences.

According to Micah 6:6-8, “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” The question is, how shall I approach a holy God. What can I do to appease him in order to stand in his presence? What sacrifice can I bring that is worthy as an approach offering? “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

The answer is in Micah 6:8: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” God doesn’t want your outward sacrifice. He wants your heart. He doesn’t want your vain ritualistic offerings of the blood of lambs, goats, and bullocks. He wants the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving from a pure heart of love and gratitude. He has shown us what is good. Good means “fit for the purpose for which the designer designed us.” God wants us to delight in the law of the Lord….. for blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful nor standeth in the way of sinners. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law doth he meditate day and night.

In the midst of trials and tribulations of this world, it’s easy to become disheartened and discouraged. The little obstacles of life are frustrating and steal our focus from the things of life that really matter. Therefore, guard thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Unless we guard our hearts, the devil will use the distractions of this world to separate our hearts from God’s good purpose. The world’s definition of success is diametrically opposed to God’s purpose. The challenge of this life is to be careful when climbing the ladder of success. The greatest failure is that after a lifetime of climbing, we realize that our ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.

In a fallen world where men call evil good and good evil, the devil will take the truth of the word of God and twist it to his purpose. For the thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill and to destroy. However, Jesus Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

What does the Lord require of thee? What are the God’s requirements? Men think that success is tied to performance. Is anything we give to God worthy of his acceptance? God has the authority to claim that which he requires. For it is he that has made us and not we ourselves. Before we can approach a holy God, the requirement is that we come to him with a broken and a contrite heart. For in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. To approach the throne of God, we must forsake our pride. If God has to break our hearts in order to approach him, then thank him for breaking our hearts.

There are three things that God requires of us in order to approach him. The first is to do justly. To justify is to make right. Apart from Jesus Christ there is no justification. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. To do justly is to live in the righteousness of Christ.

God’s second requirement is to love mercy. The nature of God himself is loving kindness and tender mercy. The love of God is the motive behind the actions to activate the spirit of God in Christ in us. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything, but believing faith that worketh in love.

The third and final requirement is to walk humbly with thy God. Humility means to forsake my own pride. My prayer is not to conform God’s will with my will, but to conform my will with His will and my heart with His heart. When we deliberately keep our hearts in proximity with our Lord Jesus Christ, walking in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The abundant life is to walk humbly with thy God.

To return to the Lord, we as individuals and as nations must forsake our pride, humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our wicked ways. Then when we approach our Lord with a broken heart of humility and meekness, we will hear from heaven and God will hear our prayer and heal our land…. That we might walk in fellowship with our Father and with our Lord Jesus Christ in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. For what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

That we may live our lives to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Pete McKenzie 0:14
Water within reach.

Then sharing some thoughts with you guys about, hopefully that’s relevant to what we’re going through and what’s happening what God is doing in our culture today and your life today.

When the when the crisis comes in, it’s common, it’s not going anytime soon. When the crisis comes in, the reason it’s not going is because there’s a sinful fallen world and we’re always in some kind of crisis. Amen. personal crisis, cultural crisis, city crisis, health crisis, financial crisis, national crisis, world crisis. crisis is the result of fallen people.

And what we’re doing is we’re taking some of the verses that we all know we’re familiar with, if haven’t memorized them, in verses like we looked at last week in Jeremiah 2911. I know the plans I have you declare the Lord’s and what is the context of those verses? what’s what’s

the before and after? What is what what if we break them down in when I was with the navigators is a young man and doing navigator Bible studies before I went on staff with them.

They taught us how to do verse studies, where you take a verse and you just tear it down, you open it up, you look up words, you let that verse really sink in, and it just blows it up. It gives you understanding and inside that you just don’t get when you just corrosively read it. And so I wanted that did that last week with Jeremiah 2911. Today, I want to do it with Micah six, eight, you’re familiar with that? What does the Lord require of you? Oh, man, but you do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with your God.

So let me

grab my glasses.

Let’s break it down.

What do we learn from the book of Micah?

Micah was one of the prophets like Jeremiah was last time that had false prophets. nation had gone into idol worship of the leaders and the false prophets were leading people to astray they were going into prostitution and adultery and then going into the temple and sharing the in the services and preaching the word.

And so they would send a prophet in and the Prophet would pronounce that upcoming judgment. what God did is he never just brought judgment, he brought warning that there is judgment coming. He sent messenger after messenger to them, and they did never listened. Just like Noah for over 100 years. preachers. They were laughing at him and mocking him because they never heard of a rain and never heard of a boat. never needed one. But he was building this boat bigger than twice as big as this room.

And they laughed, and then the flood came and took them away. The Scripture says, and they never knew what hit him.

We’re going to look at what they’re doing here when God seems distant and uninvolved Michael reminds us that he still cares, and offers hope to those who remain faithful to him. Was he everything is a test in the Christian life, we’re saved by grace through faith, but that faith has to be tested. Now the faith has an object. The object is not Congress. It’s not the Supreme Court. It’s not the president united states, the object of our faith is Jesus Christ.

But sometimes you wonder if Christians haven’t decided that the object of their faith is Washington DC, is we the in in the whole effort that’s going on right now by what Tom called the left and we understand what he’s talking about, is to tear down and destroy. We’re going to look at that closer we get to the verse what’s happening in the world at this time. The powerful Assyrian Empire was expanding westward, it was demanding surrender and tribute. When when bullies take over that’s what they demand, surrender in tribute, there is no compromise with them. The northern kingdom of Israel rebelled in the Assyrians destroyed its capital city, carried many index owl, the same thing happened with Jeremiah but 150 years before that Israel was taken, Judah was taken. Nebuchadnezzar took half the nation back to his ex house into Babylon. God gave them 70 years, to deliver them from their idol worship, to get them in a place where they would seek God. And God, we may not have 70 years, you may not or I may not.

But God will give us an opportunity to repent. If my people who are called by my name, if I’ll shut up the heavens so that there’s a drought. And if you can’t grow any more plants, and the plants are all dying, and the rivers are all dried up. Then if my people who are called by my name, those Christian guys,

those men of God, if my people who are called by my name will humble himself for things, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways. We’ve talked about this many times. How God always starts with humility, everything starts there of humbling ourselves before God. humble ourselves in pray, and that prayer is a prayer of repentance. Somehow, we’ve hear a lot of talk about revival, but not a lot of talk about repentance. We won’t revival without repentance. We won’t revival without turning from our wicked ways. We won’t revival when it’s easy. There’s no cost involved. We want a Christian life. It’s the same way try to get a guy to get in a thing like the two seven that we have in for him and memorize five verses five minutes, the verses that he’s familiar with. And you’ll find a guy that’s looking for the door. sent there have to advertise Bible studies that they’re having these days by saying there’s no homework. It’s not going to cost you anything. So I’m going to be too early in the morning for you or too late at night.

We’re going to try to make it comfortable. You’re a seeker. We’re afraid you leave if we make it too hard. We’re afraid that you won’t want to do it. You’re afraid you go to another church or another group.

So we’re going to make it comfortable for you. Did you ever see Jesus making it comfortable for him? How about the Pharisees, your of your father the devil who I’m sorry, I’m not pouring to hear you guys back there. Have your father the devil. He’s got an Auburn jacket on.

Alright, let’s get back to wherever we were. So he said to the Pharisees, your your father, the devil, who was a liar and a murderer from the very beginning. And when you open your mouth, all you can do is lie because At your native language, they weren’t comfortable with that. They weren’t comfortable when he preached his sermon on the mount. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other. So on would force you to go one mile volunteer to go to

pray for your enemies, bless those who persecute you. That made them real uncomfortable. And then when he got around to saying, if you don’t eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me. When he got around to that, the door starts swinging on its hinges, they start leaving, they would come to him and say, well, we want to follow you. But first I’ve got to go bury my father. Let the dead bury the dead you come and follow me. We got bigger fish to fry than that. What’s bigger than burying my father? The gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news delivering people from their sin, given them mercy and grace,

that’s bigger fish to fry. So what’s Miko focusing on who is he writing to? Micah wrote to the people of Judah to warn them that God’s judgment was approaching? Because they had rejected God in His law. Mike also encouraged the godly few. And I highlighted godly few in my notes. He encouraged the godly few, there’s no they’re never the godly, many. It’s a small gate in a narrow way and few there be that find it. The overwhelming majority of people that are born and live and die will not be in heaven. Only the godly few, only the faithful those who are faithful. Only those who persevere to the end, he encouraged the godly few are sharing them that judgment would not permanently destroy Israel. So with the pronouncement of judgment is coming, it’s appointed under man to die once but then comes judgment. And when you’re sharing the gospel, you start with Romans 323, All have sinned, you’ve seen and I’ve seen all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And then you go to Romans 623, the wages of sin is death, you’re going to die. And that death is not just a physical death. It’s a spiritual death. And your destination if you die in your sins, and they’re unforgiving as hell, and you’re going to spend eternity separated from God in hell. The wages of sin is death, Hebrews 927. It’s appointed on demand to die once and after this comes SWAT. Judgment. So that’s not a pretty pictures should make you uncomfortable sin, death judgment. But God never leaves us in a pile. He gives us john 316. But God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth, that man will be saved, he gave his only begotten son. What can I give to appease my god? What God do to appease our sin, He gave us only one and only unique son, to down across from me and you that we might be saved. So with judgment came hope, with judgment came forgiveness with judgment came grace, but we have to repent. That’s why he told us in the Sermon on the Mount blesses the poor in spirit bless it are those who mourn, bless it are those who are making humble bless it are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Bless it, are you when you do these things, but cursed are you when you when you don’t confess your sin, when you don’t realize is when you’d pay no attention when you aren’t obedient? When you don’t come when you’re invited? You’re under a curse. So Michael was focusing on that encouraging the faithful viewer and assuring them that there was hope the nation would eventually be restored. And we looked at that last week in Jeremiah, the the x house, I’m going to take you for 70 years in the reason you’re going to be there 70 years is that’s how long it’s going to take for you to be delivered from idol worship to get a new generation that’s worshiping God and seeking Him. And then I’ll bring you back to Israel, restored in holy and seeking God and not not worshipping idols, not following the false prophets. So let’s look at the verse he has told you Oh, man. Now God is faithful to tell us

He’s faithful to warn us. He’s faithful to give us the warning of judgment in our personal lives in our nation. And I think he’s been trying to do that for a long time. As we’ve seen our nation in the last 70 years be infiltrated every powerful seat of influence in our nation has been infiltrated so that we have no And no voice anymore. It’s taken over the judicial system, the Congress, the White House, media, Hollywood, music, papers, school and education, health care, what hasn’t been taken over and infiltrated? What hasn’t been given over to them and you think God was biting his fingers up their fingernails up there wondering what’s going to happen? You think God said, Oh, no, I didn’t mean that to happen. This is God’s judgment. And we can do nothing about it. We have a constitution, but no, they hold water anymore. They don’t need to go back. they trample it under foot, court. fullName takes certain court cases that are where they’re disobeying and corrupting the Constitution. And that’s what happens when the devil is in charge. He has told you God has informed you announced to you declared to you he has explained to you guys, we don’t have a war here between left and right, we have a spiritual battle. We don’t have a war between men and women, between genders race. It’s a spiritual battle. It’s a spiritual war. And Paul made it crystal clear in Ephesians, six. Your fight is not against flesh and blood, we’re going to spiritual powers and authorities and rulers on high. And when they get in charge, what we’re seeing happen in the world today and in our country today is what happens when you turn it over to them and you don’t keep your stay at your post. That’s what happens when you get comfortable with the lifestyle that we’ve done and get drunk on freedom and our personal rights and our civil rights. Then they will then you see happen what we’re seeing happen now. He has warned you of the consequences of your disobedience. He has made it clear to you. He’s not an unjust father. He’s not a hard, unfair and unfair taskmaster. So you have no defense, not allowed to stand down. You can’t explain your sin away. You can’t vindicate yourself, you have no defense. And when he was given this to the children of Israel, the verse seven before he gets to Micah six, eight, with what shall we come to the Lord and bow ourselves before God and do do? Shall we come to him with burn offerings? He made it clear and David did in Psalm 51. In his repentance, you don’t desire burn offerings, you don’t desire sacrifice, a broken and contrite spirit is what you’re after. But we know and we naturally think, how about burn offerings? What about if we give some yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in 1000s? of rams? We’ll give them in 10,000 rivers of oil, no problem? Shall we present our firstborn for our rebellious acts, give up our first born the honored son, the one who gets all the inheritance, the one who’s named after his father, the fruit of our body, the sin of our soul for the sin of our soul. And then that’s when Micah Kang Minh said he’s told you Oh man, what is good. What is good. God has made it clear what it’s good, the best, what’s most beautiful and the better thing. This is the way walked out in it. He’s been crystal clear on what is good, and fine in the glad thing, the faithful, joyful, kind and loving thing. Those things that give pleasure and prosperity. But he will be like a tree planted by rivers of water. But why? Because he meditates day and night in God’s word. So he’s going to be like a tree planted by rivers of water, God tells us he’s told us what is good. And that tree will not his leaf will not wither and whatever he does with prosper. This is the way walked out in it. God has told us he’s not held it back. We have no leg to stand on those precious sweet things that produce prosperity and welfare, peace and well being. I’ve told you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. You know, do you think it’s unfair that God would require something of us for our salvation.

But you know, when he requires something of us, it’s not like he demands that we act a certain way because we can’t consistently do that. You can’t live the Christian life. He’s given us a Holy Spirit, to give us new life in Christ. And we’re supposed to live that life out. But you don’t have to suppose to. You want to add a guy asked me the other day and I didn’t share in Christ with him and I said, read the first chapter of john nimo talk. So we read the first chapter of john And I said he’s so I’m and he said, I read it. I said, he said, I got some questions. And I said, Okay. Are you saying is this saying that if I believe in Jesus Christ, I’m going to heaven. I said, it’s the scripture says, If you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth, yes, that’s where you’ll go, you’ll go to heaven. Then I have to live all that stuff. So now, you want to live all that stuff. You don’t do it because you have to you do it because it’s a spirit of god in you bearing fruit in your life, and it just pours out of you. You stay faithful in the word, you stay faithful in prayer, you stay faithful in your marriage, you stay faithful and obey God and these things happen. It’s like a tree planted by water that bears its fruit in its season. My brother, who’s a Christian today, but he wasn’t when I became a Christian. And he saw me Stop drinking and gambling and partying and doing all the stuff I did in college. And he thought he thought because I married Susan, she made me quit doing it. She could make me quit doing it. She’s ready to break up with me before she asked me to marry her. Are Mundo famous Armando? What’s the Lord require of you? So what does God ask or seek from me? I looked up require it means to claim are asked by rider authority. Now, if God wanted and needed a rider authority, I think he’s got it in my life. He’s sitting on his throne in heaven, he has the right and the authority to require anything he wants from me What’s he require? He requires that I do justice. I looked up that to do what is right, to have a basis and conforming to factor reason. Now, you know, I’ve told people before when you come become a Christian, you have to check your logic and your rationality and all that at the door. Because it’s a supernatural life is nothing logical about turning the other cheek and going the second mile and blessing those who persecute you. There’s nothing rational about that, as a man gonna make a buck and do that and pray for his enemies and bless those who persecute him. His competitors, his wife, his dad, his neighbor, the guy on the freeway, it doesn’t make sense, you’re going to forgive them and after all they’ve done for you. On the other hand, God made a logical fact base world, God made gravity. It doesn’t matter if you believe in gravity and not just go out and jump off the roof. You believe in it sooner or later. Just try to get a downhill putt in golf.

See it rolled 10 feet past,

you’ll believe in gravity. So God has made a logical rational world. That which is real rather than fiction. Now looked at rational it’s a rational ground or motive. Rational means having reason or understanding involving only multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division. Did you know that the state of Oregon now has got an 86 page manual they’re given to their teachers to do away with math as we know it. In other words, two and two doesn’t equal four anymore. And when the devil is in charge, he does away with all rationale thought he does away with with things that may can’t take common sense two and two is four. But now what they’re telling teachers is that makes Johnny feel bad if he says two and two is five. So let Johnny like to and to be whatever he wants it to be. And also let Johnny be whatever he feels like being because we’re based on feelings today, not rational thought. Not facts. But everything is based on feelings. And that’s a chaos it results from that is total chaos.

Yesterday I heard you can’t they can’t say mommy and daddy anymore. The whole transgender thing and you be in whatever you feel like being today. It tosses everything up in the air. It makes good evil and evil good. It makes truth fiction. So that there’s no steady ground to stand down. God has given a steady ground to sand on a rock. And you better be on the rock today. Because if you’re not on the rock, you’re going to be shaken to the pieces. You better plant your life and your faith in your belief in your understanding your behavior, your attitudes on the rock of Jesus Christ and His Word. That’s all we got that that’s all we need. And if you’re not based on that, you You’re going to walk away, you’re going to leave your posts, you’re going to deny Christ, you’re going to not take up for the righteousness and goodness, you’re going to be intimidated, you’re going to be one of those useful idiots that Lenin called. They’re not communists, but they go along to get along. And they help the communist cause and doing it. And he called him useful idiots. Is that what you aspire to be? I got a feeling it’s not. But that’s what you’ll become if you’re not based on the rock. If you haven’t already played out that scenario of, you know, there’s a lot of things I’ll do it to go along with mandates and things. But what we can’t do is denied Jesus Christ. What we can’t do is deny the Word of God. And that’s what we take our stand. We have to each decide at what point would we be involved in civil disobedience? We know what our flesh says, but what’s the word say? What would Jesus do and what did he do? Jesus went into a culture that was almost the same thing, it wasn’t anywhere near as crazy as what we’re experiencing now. is irrational is insane. And you get you start used to seeing words like that. Rational having reason or understanding logical, relevant relation to the matter at hand and ability to retrieve material, or information that satisfies the needs of the user, connecting relevant facts with truth that makes sense to come to a sensible stable collusion, conclusion or outcome. See, because we don’t put our faith in facts anymore. Now, Bill bryden is for spiritual law booklet had a little train with three cars on it at the back of it. And he was helping people understand that receiving Jesus Christ is not an emotional thing. It can be emotional, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about that engine on the train. And that means the engine is fact. The fact is, Jesus Christ died for your sin. He’s a way the truth and the life and apart from him, you cannot be forgiven and you won’t go to heaven. That’s what the Bible teaches. We accept that as fact. The coal car where you put the coal in the engine to give it energy to run down the track in power, is faith. So you put your faith in the fact your faith is in the object and the fact of Jesus Christ. Now if we throw everything out to be subjective, if we throw everything out to be whatever you want it to be, we have no fact anymore. And that’s what the devil is always trying to do. His greatest underlying reason for all the chaos that we see going on is to undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ, to keep people out of heaven and take them to hell with them. That’s what’s going on here. Don’t get caught up in all the chaos in the mess. It’s happening without understanding. It’s a spiritual battle. It’s a spiritual war for the gospel, the best thing we can do is live the gospel and teach the gospel and preach the gospel. Stay in the word. I don’t care how spiritual you are today, a week from now you should be more spiritual. A day from now you should be more godly. You should to be more a man of God, you should be under the authority of the word. Even more, should be more of a man of prayer. You got to be growing in that area can’t be casual. This is no time to be casual. It’s time to be confident in to be resolute, to be committed to be accountable to each other. That’s why for him is so important. I got three guys that hold me accountable. I got three guys, I can share what I’m struggling with. I got guys that walk through life with me. I got guys, it’ll kick me out of the airplane when we were paratroopers. That will make sure that I do what I’m supposed to do. goes on my own by myself. get picked off by the enemy. It’s that sheet that goes astray. All we like sheep have gone astray. That’s what we do apart from the flock apart from the shepherd. We go astruc Excuse me. We go astray.

And then every chipmunk in the field can have his way with us. Because we’re sheep. Sheep have no class. Sheep have no teeth. Sheep can’t win a race. squirrels and chipmunks. They’re the ones you want to put your money on in that battle.

But that’s not rational

chaos. That’s what the enemy does. Chaos. Chaos means a state of utter confusion. Now if this doesn’t describe what we see going on, I don’t know what does. state of utter confusion the state of things in which chance, which means many outcomes and explanations is supreme? What do you what are you gonna be this morning? What do you feel like? They’re gonna hurt another thing I guess I heard on the radio, that you can’t anymore have men and women sections in department stores, all the clothes got to be all together. Is that not confusion and chaos. about finding your size of pants and that store the inherent unpredictability and behavior in disarray. disorder to arrange our order incorrectly. It means you’re disorganized, it’s just a free for all. It’s havoc, it means wide in general destruction and devastation the action of destroying or damaging greatly shambles and in the dictionary to actually said, hell. Hell on Earth. That’s what the devil does. He’s in family, he’s in charge of this nation, the only nation in the world that ever established its bylaws and amendments in constitution on the Word of God. If you as the devil, you’d be doing the same thing, you’d undermine that you destroy it, you damage it, you’d create chaos. You put people in desperate straits, they’re nothing certain, nothing that if you plan for three days, that might be certain plan for three weeks, that’s a maybe if you plan for three years or three months, that’s fiction, everything is uncertain, get the get the vaccine, but it’s not going to help cuz you still got to wear your mask, and you still got to do this. And you still got to do that. And you can still get the disease. And you can still give the disease. So nothing’s really changed, but get the vaccine. And I’m not saying don’t get the vaccine, I’ve already had my first shot. But I had it because I couldn’t get on an airplane and go the retreat that I want to go to that we’re having. If I didn’t have a vaccination, the rumor is that you’re not going to be able to fly if you don’t have them. I don’t know if that’ll happen or not. But I wouldn’t doubt it. But the point is, everything’s uncertain. You just don’t know. And that’s my plan. But I know. I put my faith in the facts. And I know it’s a facts. And I know it’s true because it changed my life and it changes me every day I experienced a Holy Spirit’s present in my life every day, one way or the other by conviction of sin or by patting me on the head and say Good, good and faithful servant way to go. But He’s faithful in my life, to make himself known is I acknowledge his presence. I’ve told you Oh, man, what is good. To do justice, stay on the rock. Love kindness. Some sent translations say love mercy, or faithfulness or faithful love. That means have a sympathetic or helpful forbearing nature. It’s better to be loving then right is basically what he’s saying here. Be kind, love, kindness, live that kind of life, not just to people that are kind to you, but people who aren’t. That’s what we’re taught. And that’s what the Holy Spirit does in our heart when he’s working in changing us is I can forgive those who don’t wish me well. I can forgive those who have hurt me. I can give grace unmerited favor to those who despitefully use me. I can forgive those who won’t forgive me. I can give grace to those who won’t give me grace. I can go the second mile and turn the other cheek and do it with joy. Do it because it’s a ministry do it because it reveals Christ to them. When he was reviled what he did. He failed a roomful uppercuts. That’s what he did. Now, it’s not what he did. When he was reviled, he revile night when he suffered he under no threats and he says that’s what I want you to be loved that kind of kindness, love that way. He kept interest in himself to him who judges all men righteously. I’m not the judge of these people that are hurting me but they will

come under judgment. Everything we see and everybody we see it doesn’t matter who you are, but you can sit be in the white house right now that Congress you can be in the state legislature. Yours you can be running a meat shop or a hamburger joint. Doesn’t matter though everybody comes under judgment, judgment will be done right will be all the wrongs will be righted, it’ll happen. We just have to make sure that we try to help all those who are headed for hell, we have to make sure we give them the warning that we can save some that some would be moved in influenced to go to heaven, not hell. And we have the message where the messengers, there’s been, they’re getting devastated, they’re killing themselves. Last year 230 something police officers committed suicide. We got to get behind those guys. We got to support them, because law and order breaking down as part of the plan, having no one to protect us. Next thing you know, the red lights won’t work. You know, when they got the lights off, and it’s a four way stop. And there’s three lanes coming from every direction. That’s a little bit of chaos. Well, those are the kind of things we’re talking about. We’re talking about that kind of chaos. And in the middle of chaos is when a man of God thrives when he finds his identity in Christ. He loves Jesus Christ, and he’s spending all of his time and effort, the rest of his life learning to become just like Christ. And if you’re not doing that today, if you’re casual about that the day shake yourself. You can’t afford to be casual today, you can’t afford to be taking it easy. You got to get with some guys that are moving in the right direction. in the right direction is in knowing what is good is the gospel is good. Living the living the Christian life if walking in the Spirit, that’s good. Being a man of the word that’s good a man of prayer that’s good be their husband, you should be I don’t care what your wife is doing or not doing. It’s not that you’re going to stand in judgment one day before God for what you did now what she’s doing or not doing, you won’t be able to point at her and like Adam tried and said, it’s this woman you gave me a done work where God may work with a judge in a court divorce court. But it’s not going to work with God. We have to be the man that God created us to be we have to cover the ground and fulfill the jobs and stay at the post God has assigned us to. And then walk humbly with your God. Love kindness, but to do that, you’re going to have to walk humbly with God. You’re gonna have to bow before him you’re gonna have to be broken and crushed over your sin, you’re gonna have to be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. do justice, love kindness? What other way is there to walk with God than humbly you’re gonna walk the Fargo brothers who used to strut around the wrestling ring when I was a kid. And they were anything but humble. Of course, they just beat the Costco brothers in their midgets. It was quite a show. But that’s the first time I’ve seen someone stretched like that. And I knew that wasn’t humility. I’ve seen some other people straight like that. It always works out poorly for him. Pride comes before a fall won’t come with your guide so you won’t have to fall. So you won’t have to be broken and crushed, while calmly before men. Think of others is more important than yourself. Empty yourself taking the form of a bouncer and being made in the likeness of a man Jesus humbled himself even to the point of death on the cross, Jesus humbled himself. The Spirit of God that came into your heart in life, the first thing he will do is humble you to bring you a place where you don’t want revival without repentance, you repent, and then revival breaks out in your own heart, in your life, in your church, in your forum group in your home. We’re not under challenge today. But I don’t know any period of time in US history that I’d rather be a Christian and right now. We have an honor and a privilege of being Christians today, in the world we’re living in. We just have to show up and get our job done. And you do that in the Spirit. God will tell you what to do and tell you what to say when they drag you before kings and judges. Don’t worry about what you’re going to say I’ll speak to you I’ll give you the words to say.

So don’t be fearful and don’t be anxious. For I am your God. Now I’m going to help you and I’m going to strengthen you and I’m going to oppose you with my righteous right hand. What more do you need? Don’t be fearful. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be worried about what’s going to happen.

Because more is going to happen in more is on its way.

I say well get out of that church and find a church that God’s in.

Well, love kindness, we want to do justice. We want to walk humbly with you. And we want to make a difference in the world we’re living in today. Thanks for letting us live today. We want to get out there and give them heaven in Jesus name. Amen. God, thank him give’em heaven guys.

I think it is yeah, it’s getting bigger every week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Standing Your Post

God called his Prophet Jeremiah to deliver a message to his chosen people, the children of Israel. This message is similar to a recent post by Jerry Leachman, former chaplain of the Washington Redskins. The sobering message is to never leave your post. Those who have built a lifetime of ministry can fall mightily in a moment of indiscretion. The warning is, do you who boast of God, yourselves forsake the law of God? Oh how the mighty have fallen. The devil hides in the darkness. There is no such thing as a secret life. The challenge is to keep your post until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even King David fell when he left his post and forsook God’s calling. David left his post on the front lines of battle as Israel’s commander in chief. He forsook God’s assignment and retreated to his palace. Having taken his eye off of God’s purpose, he succumbed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. In a season of comfort and complacency he forgot his purpose and fell into an adulterous relation with Bathsheba. God called the prophet Nathan to lead David back to repentance.

God’s warning in John 3:19-20 still rings true … he that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought of God. The key is to keep ourselves in close proximity with our Lord Jesus Christ… to be faithful to keep our post until relieved by our commander in chief. Therefore guard your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

The context for these familiar verses begins in Jeremiah chapter 24. God called Jeremiah to speak to Israel to return back to the Lord. They had been blessed in the land and became complacent in their own riches and comfort. Israel thought that they were living in a moment of peace. They didn’t realize that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness from on high.

In Jeremiah 24, God had warned Israel through Jeremiah that because the southern tribes of Judah had forsaken Him, they had been taken captive by the heathen king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah sent a letter to Judah in their captivity in Babylon. This letter told them God’s message of how to conduct themselves in the new land. According to Jeremiah 24:2-6:
2 “One basket (in God’s vision) had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.”
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.”

God allows his people to repent…. to return their hearts back to the Lord. According to Jeremiah 24:7, “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”

Returning to God starts with humility. God often causes circumstances and catastrophes to bring us to our knees. We’ll never realize that he’s all we need until he’s all we have.

God used pagan King Nebuchadnezzar to bring the nation of Israel to her knees. Whom the Lord loves, he chastises. The word of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction for instruction in righteousness. To correct means to restore to an upright position. It’s painful to be straightened. However, tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience (tested character), and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

The word of God says, “taste and see that the Lord is good.” A taste for the word is an acquired taste. As we meditate upon his word by savoring it’s truth, then we can say as did Jeremiah, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)

God’s call to Israel upon the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem still holds true for our own day and time and hour. According to 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” In order for God to restore the Land, there are four prerequisites. The first is to humble ourselves. The second is to pray. The next is to seek his face. The final step is to turn from our wicked ways. Then the promise of God is that the nation that does these things shall hear from heaven and God will forgive their sins and heal their land.

Our calling, our assignment, our appointment is to stay our post to which we have been called. Therefore keep (a military garrison around) thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Then in the midst of the spiritual battle, when the crisis comes and courage is required, we will be the reliable ones. Our assignment is in Matthew 10:6: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

… that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

The Beatitude of Humility

Ephesians says that we are in the middle of a spiritual battle. We have been equipped with the armor of God to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high. Despite the darkness of this fallen world, God has a plan and a purpose.

In order to turn to the Lord, a man of God must humble himself. We are powerless against the powers of darkness unless our power is in the Lord. God’s battle plan is different from the world’s. Jesus said, “love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Pray for them who persecute you and despitefully use you.” Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.

When Jesus and the disciples spoke the good news of the gospel in Luke 9, the people rejected the message. The disciples asked Jesus, “Shall we call down fire from heaven to consume them like Elijah did?” Jesus said, “you dont know what you’re asking. I came not to condemn the world, but to save it.”

The first of the beatitudes in Matthew 5 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” This is counter-intuitive to the world’s logic. The world values riches acquired through self sufficiency and self reliance. However, humility is the first of the beatitudes… the Lord’s blessed beautiful attitudes. In order to approach a holy God, we must first forsake our sinful pride. We must approach his throne of grace with empty hands. Only when we’re poor in spirit can he fill us with the power of His Holy Spirit.

The second beatitude says, “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” God gave us his word and his spirit to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. The apostle Paul said, “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” When we ask him to open the eyes or our spiritual understanding, he will show us that despite the afflictions and storms of life, our prayer is not “deliver me from the storm,” but rather, “deliver me through the storm.”

Despite the sin, deception, panic, pandemic and pandemonium in the world around us, Jesus said, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Our comfort is not of this world but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Matthew 7, Jesus said, “come unto me all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Without him, we will be crushed under the weight of the world. However in His strength we can bear up under the pressure. The Lord is our fortress and our strong tower. In the shadow of the Almighty there is refuge from the storm.

The devil picks off sheep who stray far from the shepherd. There is safety and protection in the presence of the good shepherd. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Pete’s life was changed when he read the biography of Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson, a great baseball player and also a devout Christian. Bobby wrote a poem about a life lived in service to his Lord. Pete often used Richardson’s poem in sermons and the congregation was always impressed. At a speaking engagement, he was about to recite this poem but he couldn’t remember the words. Pete’s wife Suzan was embarrassed for her husband. She had heard this poem so often that she mouthed the words to prompt him with the starting line. Then Pete heard God’s still small voice saying, “If you use this poem to call attention to yourself instead of glorifying me, then you’re using it for the wrong purpose.”

Although Bobby was a celebrated second baseman and an all star inducted into the baseball hall of fame, God inspired him to write, “Man’s hall of fame lasts but for a moment, but God’s hall of fame is for eternity. I’d rather have my name unknown down here to have my name up there.”

The third beatitude says, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” The prerequisites for hungering and thirsting after righteousness are the first two beatitudes: humility and mourning for the sins we have committed against the Lord. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness is “an acquired taste.” When we approach our Lord with a broken heart of humility and mourning, He by his mercy and grace will give us a hunger and thirst for His righteousness.

Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing.” The love of God keeps us humble. Love seeks not her own, is not boastful or proud, is not puffed up, keeps no record of wrongs done.

At our Men’s retreats in order to keep our hearts right before the Lord, we’re encouraged to write two letters. The first is our letter to God pouring out our heart to him. The second letter is God’s letter back to us. God’s letter always says, “son I love you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Although I see your broken heart, I will pick up the threads of your broken heart and weave them together again.” God’s love is beyond our own comprehension, for love, mercy, and grace are the nature of God himself.

In Philippians 2, Paul said by revelation, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ.” The attitude of Christ was not to be served, but to serve. He humbled himself and took upon himself the form of a servant and became obedient to his Father, even unto the death on the cross. He was shamefully humiliated and he suffered and died, taking upon himself the shameful punishment that we deserved. This is amazing grace… in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. For Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect innocent sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Desperation and destitution are often blessings. They humble us to the place that we come to realize, “all I need is thee.” God has called us together as a band of brothers so that we can “choke in the dust” of other men who are pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ. As members of the body of Christ, we’ve been called to liberty in Him. The liberty is not an occasion to sin, but to serve God by following Christ’s example… to humbly serve one another in Love..

… that together we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael