CHRIST UN-BARRED - EP 100 - HAPPY 100th

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ All right. Look, when I put my hands on the table, it shakes the camera. Guys, it's not an earthquake. I know we're in California, but we are on our dining room table. Yes. And it's Sunday evening, and we've got some letters here, and we have some footage of grocery giveaway, little goodies. Yes, we do. Yeah. And, but God bless you guys. Hopefully everything is going great with you, and you're blessed, and you're in your word, and prayer, and in fellowship, and all that good stuff. Amen. Amen. Amen. Oh man, I don't have the... I thought you said amen. Oh.

No, I don't have the... Boom. Oh, we could just make the noise. Boom, boom, boom. Oh, I can't do it right now, guys. So, we got like a thousand letters here? No, we don't. Actually, we don't have a lot. Yeah, we don't have too many. There was two days that we got no mail. Like Monday and Tuesday, we got no mail at all. I know, it's weird. Oh, Monday, we got nothing. Tuesday and Wednesday, we got nothing. Not one letter. On Monday, there was a... No, because it was a holiday. What holiday was it? Oh, it was a... Memorial. Oh, Memorial, that's right. So, Memorial, it was closed. And then, Tuesday and Wednesday, not one letter at all. Yeah. And then, Thursday, we got very few. That's messed up, eh? I know, I know, eh? So, but here's the thing, right? That it's okay though, because we were catching up to a few things.

Well, not only that, because for those of you that have been wondering why didn't you get a podcast last week, I want to remind you, Pando only gives us eight slots a month. And this week, there would have been, I believe, five Sundays and four Wednesdays. So, if we would have gave you a podcast last week, you wouldn't have got this morning's Sunday service. Yeah. So, whenever that happens, guys, look at your calendar, because we only get eight slots, and we always want to get in four Sundays and four Wednesday Bible studies. So, what I'm going to do for those of you that are watching this on Pando Nidovo, you're going to have two back-to-back Wednesday Bible studies so they don't miss it. Back-to-back. Yeah, so this last Wednesday Bible study and the Wednesday prior to that. So, you guys are going to get a double Bible study, because I want to make sure that you always get the Bible studies, and I don't want you to be left without. Yeah. So, with that being said, first one is Cali, it's in Avenal. And look at these little cats and dogs. Kitties and dog stamps.

Yeah, the stamps. Very cute. I kind of want to show you guys, but I can't. Let's cover the name. Can you see that? Look. So cute. All right. Oh, I put it away. I know, but we need to go through the letter. Yeah, so first of all, this was awesome. This artwork, it's like a giant puzzle that we pieced together. And make it a big old poster. This is beautiful, brother. This is really beautiful. I can't wait to put it together. Yeah, it's Native American art, and Native American art is always colorful. It's beautiful. We appreciate it so much. And yeah, I do want to say this, because there was an episode where you were coughing, and he's like, Matt, why didn't you get her water? We didn't have any water that day. So, I didn't realize that it probably did look rude, because if I had bottles of water, of course, if Sharon's coughing, I was going to go get her a water. bottle. He always offers guys. So I just want you guys to know because if you thought that there's

probably other people that thought that. I'm not gonna sit here and let my wife choke to death. We didn't have water in the room anywhere nearby probably all the way in the cafe guys. Yeah there was there was no water there was no water so um but you're right man you're right it probably looked like I was just letting her cough. No no and and I've been I've been guys I've been kind of like under the weather for a few weeks already. I've been like really under the weather for a few weeks. So if you guys have seen me kind of going through those coughing spells out there while I'm trying to sing. Yeah that's what's been happening and and I've been having trying to have other people kind of step in to help me sing and and stuff. So I'm really challenging I'm challenging um some of the other worship singers you know and I'm kind of like you know kind of you know saying come on guys I need you guys to step in here um and help me. So yeah there's there's a lot and I'm sure you guys see Hollis. Yeah there's a lot of you guys that have written us about Hollis and and how you guys love to see him worship. But um you know I had been in prayer about you know about Hollis for some time now. You don't know who she's talking about it's a young man. Yeah that's Raven's son and I had just been asking the Lord um because he's only 11 guys but I began to see a lot of maturity in him and a lot of growth in him and I just said Lord um when is the right time and the Lord just released for me to to put him up there with us and and it was time guys it really really was time to put him up there because he has matured a lot. He's actually taking the discipling the discipleship classes um and you see so much growth in him and I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do with this young man. I see a future uh worship leader. Yep. You know I I don't I don't see myself being up there for always you know I don't you know I love to worship I want to be a part of worship once in a while that I know that the Lord has you know something special for for someone and I believe that Hollis is going to be somebody that is going to be up there and and I know he has the culture of house of rest and um he's he's he's bred there. Yeah. Yeah so I know that the Lord is going to do something amazing in that young man so keep him in prayer guys. Amen. Okay this is uh Daniel in uh Kentucky uh we see your your request and um this brother was watching a service and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues in his cell. It reminded me of your story. It really did remind me a lot of your story of when you received the Holy Spirit in your cell. Powerful. Thank you so much for sharing that. We love to hear praise reports like that. Yeah I seen your request and I went to that site brother. I just want you to know that okay. Okay uh Cruz Martinez uh it's in Georgia

in uh Lawrenceville or something uh this is in Spanish. Oh perfect. Muchas gracias and you said his name? Yeah I already did. Okay perfect. Uh this is Mark uh in Rusk Texas. We love Rusk Texas actually. Yeah. We like going there. We visited a couple times with uh brother Julio and his wife Maria. Man they're an amazing couple. Really beautiful people and um yeah. Yeah I miss them. Yeah and see them soon. It's nice over there man because there's all those woods everywhere. Yeah. Remember we didn't know what those bugs were? The cicadas? Yeah. And I'm like what is that noise? Remember? I guess they come out every few years. Um oh yeah yeah Rusk and uh so thank you for the commissary list and thank you. He's a first time writer. Nice. We appreciate your letter and hopefully it's not your last time writing us. God bless you. Uh Richard in Napa Noach New York. Thank you so much. We appreciate your letter as always brother. Thank you so much uh and God bless you. Thank you. Uh Ricky in North Carolina. Nice. And uh um yeah. So I just want to share with you brother a couple things is that um any editing that's ever done I do it all. I don't even know how to edit. Sharon does not. First of all it's very boring. and it's tedious and it takes hours, especially things like the Real Vida or any road trip where there's like all kinds of footage, airport, driving. So a lot of times I have my glasses that have a camera and then my phone has a camera and I got to put all of that together. Sharing has nothing to do with editing. So I want to state that, so. The moment we finished this, I get up and I go take care of other stuff and I don't do anything with, I don't have anything to do with anything else. You know, just, we got to be careful. I'm not just saying you for anybody to insinuate or say things, you know, just be careful. Yeah.

And have discernment, man. And I want to say one thing though. The platform, the platform is not the limelight for us. It's God's platform always, you know, and I am very, very proud of anybody, of anybody who lifts their voice up in worship unto the Lord. It doesn't matter who it is. I, I, I am very, very proud of every single worship singer or person. And I get excited when I see other people that, that worship, you know, and anybody, I think anybody that knows me knows that I, I love, I have a heart to see other people succeed, you know, and that's just my heart, you know, and, and that's, I think that's all I have to say. I think you just got to get to know me and know what my heart is about. And, and that's all I have to say, brother. I think you just got to get to know me. I think that's it. Yeah, you know, over, over, over the years, over time, I trip out, I'm, I'm, we're done with that letter. We're just saying, I'm just wanting to share because it made me think of some other things, but keep writing, brother. Anyways, I was, it made me think because you know how many times, like I always say, I don't like filling in the blanks.

Yeah. I don't like making assumptions because a lot of times, especially when I did prison time, you know, you can get yourself in a car wreck. You know, what I mean by that is you're going to clash with somebody if you fill in blanks or if you assume or things like that, it's a very dangerous thing to do. And, and also hurtful. Yeah. It can be hurtful because I have had, for instance, people, let's say I handpick a leader and I handpick them, poured into them and whatnot. And then later on, somebody will attack that leader or attack that leader's integrity or whatever, right? And, and they think it's okay to basically judge that person and telling me about it. And in actuality, they're actually judging me because by questioning that person's integrity or whatever means that I have a lack of, of wisdom because you know what I'm saying? Like, it would be the same like you, like if somebody attacked you, that's an attack on me. Yeah. Because basically what you're saying that, because like, nobody said this, but let's say how people say, well, let's say somebody attacked you, said, oh, your wife is this, your wife is that. Well then what are you saying about me?

Yeah. That means then- And vice versa. And vice versa because then, then you're questioning my judgment. So maybe you shouldn't receive from me either. Because if, if you're a bad person and I don't see it, then how can you trust my teaching or my judgment? Or my judgment, vice versa. So it doesn't make any sense. It wouldn't make any sense at all, you know? So anyways, Rudolfo. That's good. In Colorado, in Colorado, God bless you brother. Oh, he has a joke. It's a card. So first of all, thank you. It's a yoke. And there's a joke, little card, look with the koala. Little baby koala. Look at that. Remember when you first met me and sent me a little koala bear eating a leaf? Yeah. And I said, that's what I look like. I know. Eating salad. Why can't you play UNO with Mexicans? Why?

Because they steal all the green cards. You're such a dork. That's a good one. Oh my God. Hey man, I can say that. I'm Mexican, so. Um, Vincent in Hookerton, North Carolina. Happy, he has to say happy birthday to Abraham. I know. You know, you know what was so crazy guys? That I called Abraham in Texas on his birthday and I'm like, what are you doing, babe? He's all nothing. I'm all alone over here. He was alone in this facility. for with a hundred or something rooms and after I was like you're all alone and then I called him back a few hours later what are you doing babe he's on nothing nobody's here. It's because it was Memorial Week and everybody was gone and then I called her in the evening I said what are you doing babe he's on nothing I'm here still all by myself sitting in the piano. Yeah but then later on he told me he saw he saw mom he goes some of the guys are gonna pick me up and they're gonna take me to a movie and a dinner and I was like oh thank you Jesus I was so happy to hear that they were gonna pick him up that night and they were gonna take him out so yeah as a mom as a mom I'm not you know I love to to do things at least for my kids or at least you know to call them take them out or just do something special but especially Abraham that he's at home but yeah thank you so much that means a lot. I appreciate your letter. Yes I love that thank you so much I'm gonna give that to him when he gets here. Yeah he flies in on Tuesday which today's Sunday so in two days and we'll make sure he gets that. Thank you. Andres in Corcoran thank you so much for sharing we appreciate it

and hopefully you continue to write us. God bless you brother. John in Iowa Park Texas thank you thank you thank you for your letter. God bless you. What? You can't read your writing. I can't read that is that a G? Oh my god. Well I'm just gonna say instead of the first name I'll say last name. Okay Mr. Yeah Mr. Ortiz Jr. in DelVal Texas yeah thank you for your letter we don't do pen pal we don't do the pen pal thing. Oh but you did change you did change oh but you're going to change but we did find out the the date on the resources we're gonna be giving it here this time because we did write. Not the date the episode. The episode we're gonna give the episode for the resources. And one of those resources is pen pals. Pen pals so just stay tuned we're gonna be giving that information. Did you hit that on the table and make it earthquake? Oh no I didn't shake it that. No it was not too bad. Like this. Stop. All right. So keep an eye out for that episode okay for the resources. I believe it says Ryan in Livingston Texas thank you so much for the art. Look at this he was explaining about the the Christian he had learned about the fish the Christian fish. Yeah the early church the early church would put this to let people know they were Christians because of the persecution which is cool because I'm doing the study on church history right now. Yeah and he says congratulations to Raven he saw her getting her license for chaplain. Congrats Raven. All right Steve in Arcadia Florida and oh he sent feathers. Oh yeah that was two feathers. Yeah two of them. Two white feathers. And there's a question inside. Where did you pluck those from? A bird. What do you mean sometimes birds drop feathers. Okay he didn't pluck them from them right? How do you know that? I don't know. What do you have birds out there that don't have their feathers? Then they're bald. Bald eagles. Why do they call them bald eagles? They're not bald. I know they're not bald. So he had a question that you know what I'm be honest with you this is a question I have asked myself too. So he says in the Bible after Judas killed himself is remember they took up lots to see who would be the 12th disciple and they chose a man named Matthias but then later on Paul rose up and everything that Paul did nobody ever we don't have the letter from Matthias so what did he do? You know I mean we have we have Matthew who wrote the gospel you know we have Peter who wrote letters you know so John was it you know. So what happened to

his? There was none. So the point is his question is this is that did the people did the Apostles kind of go get ahead of God and chose a 12th person when really the 12th person was Paul. I have often wondered that myself to be honest with you and here's the thing right there's nothing wrong in questioning that because men are flawed you know men are flawed and maybe they did get ahead of God just because it's in the Bible doesn't mean it's right you know and and that's not questioning the God's not questioning Bible that's questioning men you know put it this way we see the things that for instance King David saw Bathsheba bathing that was somebody else's wife just so what because it's in the Bible it's okay no the the Bible talks about a perfect God and the flaw men. So there's nothing wrong in wondering and saying, you know what, did the 11 disciples, did they do wrong in choosing somebody? Because if they went through all the trouble of choosing the 12th disciple and that person, we never hear about them again, but we hear about Paul. Yeah. So it's almost like Paul was really true in my opinion. I always saw Paul as the 12th one. Yeah. So it's a good question, honestly. You ever thought of that? Well, the thing is too, is that it's an account of their story. Yeah. And then you have Matthew, Luke, and Mark, and they're all telling their own perspective of things. So yeah, I haven't really thought about it the way you're saying it. Mark and Luke didn't walk with Jesus. Mark and Luke were not- But I'm talking about their accounts of things. Everybody is talking about their perspectives of things. So God's word is inspired. It doesn't mean what the men did was inspired. Yeah, exactly. We have to learn to differentiate. That's why we got to learn to study and understand context and understand these things. It's important. So Jacob in Hillsboro, Oregon, so great to hear about the ministry that God has put in your heart that you're doing, brother. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. We like to hear about the ministries you guys are doing

in prison. If it's a Bible study that you started, if it's a men's group, if it's a women's group, if it's a whatever it may be, we want to hear about those things. Nice. When I was in Atwater, when I started- Is this his ministry? No. Or no, because I like the way it says Yahweh male. Oh, I'm not sure. I don't think so. Okay. But when I was in Atwater, I remember getting a group. I started a Bible study and it grew and grew and grew to that picture with all the guys. And eventually I said, guys, let me teach you public speaking. Let me teach you apologetics. Let me teach you church history. So I started a parenthesis. So there's different ministries that I started. I can't help it, man. You know, that picture was real cool because it was 12 of you guys. Was it? Yes. I counted. Wow. I thought that was really cool. All right. Mr. Regal. He literally put Mr. Regal in Butner, North Carolina. Nice. Some of them are starting to put their last names or one name. Are they? Yeah. Some people are starting to put just one name. So thank you so much for writing. Thank you. God bless you. All right. Jason and Bonnie Terry, Missouri. Thank you so much. There it is. So it's a really great letter. Appreciate you, brother. Thank you for sharing about your brother, your letter. I hope you keep writing us. And this is the reason he's the one that gave us. He went back and found the episode of Resources. So go to Episode 81 and one hour,

24 minutes and 45 seconds spot. Yep. That's where you're going to find the resources. So actually what I'm going to do is I'm going to go back and name Episode 81 Resources. And I'm pretty sure if I change it on my end, Pando and Edo... No, Edovo won't change it. Pando will. Pando will. So Resource 81. And then we're going to be changing the title to Resources. Yeah. I might keep the title the same, but just put... Add Resources. Resources in parentheses, capitals or something like that. Yeah. There's no name on this. That's creepy. Let's see. All right. Oh, I've got this little artwork. Can't see it, baby. Yeah, we can. Look. Look at that Bucky. Look at the Yoda. Oh, Starlin. Thank you. That's the one he put one... Oh, it is on here. So Starlin, thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you for the artwork. Appreciate it. Appreciate the little... Why is it blurry now? You blurred us. What do I... With a white napkin. That ain't going to do it. It needs letters or something. Wait, here's a smart water bottle. Let's see. Oh, wait. It got clear. Never mind. Because I went like this. Oh, okay. Are we clear? My eyes hurt, so I can't even tell if we're clear or not. Ray in Solid Dad. Ray number one. Thank you so much. My question is, how would we arrange to baptize you? You let me know. Man, that would be a blessing, and if I would ever do that, I'm just like, man, how can I baptize more?

Yeah. Might as well. Since I'm there. Dug them all. Okay. Yarquez or Jarquez in Punta Gorda, Florida. That's funny. You know what Gorda means? What does it mean? Fat? Yeah. Like a fat woman. It's like female, right? Because Gordo is... Yeah. So I always laugh when I hear that name. He gets out in 2030. You're asking about placement. I don't know what we're going to be doing in four years. Maybe we'll have summer. Maybe we won't. But... Maybe the rapture will take place. Yeah. Maybe Jesus will come. But if you go... No, I don't want it yet though. If you go to the road trip for Fairfield, California, our district superintendent, Pastor Scott, he does offer a place to stay. It's our district headquarters for Grace International.

And if you watch episode Fairfield Road Trip, there is placement there. Sorry. My eyes are really hurting. Your eyes? My eyes. I feel like they're crying. Go ahead. You're a goat head. You're a goat head. Okay. Wait, what does it say? Oh yeah. He sent this... He made a flyer. And I'm just like, are you guys making each flyer one by one and handing them to inmates? No way. Yeah. Because they have this fellowship. And I can't tell if this is a copy or is this... No. Yeah. It's a discipleship class program, a biblical path towards becoming an effective minister of reconciliation. And it's an invitation for those who have a personal relationship with God to walk victorious in our true identity. For those who haven't yet entered into a personal relationship with God, learn more about the Christian faith. The Christian discipleship class and program consists of five lessons, lessons which will provide a biblical climb towards a closer relationship with God, foundation, humility, prayer, heart condition, and evangelism.

I love this. Is that a copy or is that handwritten? Maybe it's a copy. Might be a copy, but if not, I mean, this is still cool. The fact that they made a copy of it. This is so unique. You know why I like that, man? Because you're- Praise the Lord. You're like me. You don't wait for people. You're like, I'm going to make this happen. I don't know how I'm going to make it happen, but I'm going to make it happen. There's two types of people. The ones that are waiting for somebody else to lead and those that say, man, give me that machete. I'm going to cut right through this jungle and I'm going to make a path. That's what I like. That's what I'm talking about. My ice melted in my water. I don't have no ice in my water. Praise God that the group is growing and shout out to Chaplain Whitman. Yes, you go Chaplain Whitman. All right. Awesome. My brother, Derek, Newcastle, Indiana, always, always, always good hearing from you. I see your prayer request that you have on there and God bless you, brother. Thank you. My friend, God bless you. All right.

Shane in Vienna, Illinois. Wait. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No what? Wait, you read that one and then you looked at that one? No, that's Shane. Oh, okay. Relax. Knock it off. Thank you so much, Shane. Hopefully you keep writing us and God bless you. Andres in Corcoran, California. Enjoyed your letter. Man, God is good. He sure is. God is good. He sure is. Why didn't we just sing? You want to harmonize? Ready? Oh. One, two, three. Come on. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize.

Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Harmonize. Come on. Harmonize with me. I'll give you a hand. What? You're so silly. Come on. Harmonize with me. Oh, show them your hat. Which hat? Your cowboy hat. Your cowgirl hat. I haven't worn it yet. I know. Show it to them. Wait, wait, wait. Don't put it backwards. It's not backwards. That was the right way. Oh, okay. Stop it, man. There's my cowboy hat. Look at that. It's nice, huh?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's my cowboy hat. Look at that. It's nice, huh? Mm-hmm. Like my cowboy hat? It really looks good on you, babe. Seriously. I really like it a lot. I like that, I don't know what you call it, band? Is that what it is? I don't know. I like it. Howdy. Howdy, partner. Howdy. I like my other cowboy hat there, too, though. Which one? That one right there. This one? That's my... This is a cowboy hat? Yes, but it's a straw cowboy hat. Yes. It looks like, like you've been through some stuff with that. I have. It's actually been with me for many years, this one. It looks like it's been through some stuff. Well, it's actually supposed to be bent.

It's really supposed to be bent. Oh. See? Why is it? I thought that dot was supposed to be in the front, why do you keep putting it sideways? I don't know. Because I don't know the camera, so yeah. I have all my stuff out here, guys, because I had a thing for the women's discipleship. So I had something called Reflections Paint Night for the women. And what I did is I set up this beautiful area with a big old mirror for the women. And now that we finished these eight sessions of curriculum for the women, I told them, I said, you know what you guys are going to do? You guys are going to look at yourself in the mirror, and I'm going to take a picture of you guys looking at yourself in the mirror, and you are going to paint yourselves. And you know, it was different though, because this time they looked at themselves in the mirror with intention to look at themselves in the mirror. Not quickly where, oh, let me hurry up and get ready, let me, you know, it's actually with the intention to look at yourself with the love that Jesus created you with that love and with the intent to say, you know what, you're my daughter, and I love you and I created you in my image. And, you know, many of the times, you know, women, we do so much for everybody else. We constantly are, you know, doing things for our families, for our children, for our husbands, for other people. We love on other people, but how many times do we ever stop and look at ourselves in the mirror and just say, you know what, you are beautiful. You are amazing, you know, and speak to ourselves the way Jesus would speak of ourselves. And really, truly look at ourselves in that mirror and really self-reflect. And this day, there was women that were broken in that mirror because they're all like, I can't look at myself, you know, and it was so powerful. You guys, ladies, I challenge you to look at yourself, men too.

Look at yourself in that mirror. When was the last time that you really looked at yourself? In the mirror, whether it be through that scratched up mirror or whatever it be, something that you're able to reflect back and look at yourself and just tell yourself that you love yourself, you know, because if Jesus lives in us and we're hidden in Christ, then speak to yourself and affirm to yourself the way Jesus would speak of you. And tell yourself that you love yourself and how amazing you are, you know, say those words to yourself, you know, and it was just so awesome because I had a whole bunch of women just sitting there on tables with their canvases and they were painting, they were just painting these amazing, they were little Picassos and little, you know, they were just painting a whole bunch of different little paintings and some of them were just little stick figures and some of them were just different. And we just did all kinds of different little, you know, cartoon figures and everything, but it was just amazing because they just did it. Yeah. But it was awesome. Yeah. Amen. It was beautiful. No, it was awesome. I saw a lot of the women. Yeah. A lot of the women enjoyed themselves. All right. Mr. Gilbert and San Quentin, thank you, first of all, for the commissary list and the bracelets. Remember all these bracelets he gave us? That's awesome. Thank you so much. I sent a picture to my brother letting him know that you got one for him, so I'm taking it to him when I see him this weekend.

Another one from him. No. Yes. Gilbert San Quentin. He has a road trip request in San Fernando Valley. Really? Oh, well, we're going to be out there. Oh, yeah. Let's see. Yeah. Let's see what he wants to see down there because we actually were going to be there in a few days. Let's see. You know the area, so I don't. He goes, I would like you to go through Amazon or Barnes and ... Oh, I know what that is. What? Wait. Okay, here it is. Do a video through the valley, my church, Santa Rosa Church, and a Danny Trejo portrait on Van Nuys. Yeah. And Telfair? Or Guyana Avenue? The Mission? It's Cayuga? Yeah. Cahuenga. Cayuga? Cayuga. There's Cayuga. Cayuga Avenue. There's a portrait of Danny Trejo? That's in Van Nuys. Do you know where that's at? That's by North Hollywood. Maybe we can get it for him? Okay. Yeah, it's not far from where we're gonna be. And Santa Rosa Church? Do you know where that is? There's well, depends which there's there's a few different churches. The big ones. Is there St. Elizabeth? There's it's called Santa Rosa Church. Let's see. I'm looking at the map real quick. If I'm correct. There's Mary Immaculate. There's Santa Rosa. There's I don't know if it's the same one though. I don't know if it's the one in Van Nuys. Oh, wait. Is he talking about Santa Rosa Catholic Church? In Van Nuys? In San Fernando, California. Oh, that's the one by the Mission. It's on Workman Street. What other? San Fernando Road. Rinaldi. Yeah, that's the one by

the Mission. That's by the one by where they they buried. Yeah. Where I took you. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Yeah, cuz he says the Mission. That's by where my my my little brother's buried. Well, no promises. We'll try though. Yeah. Well, we could do it on even on the way out. Yeah. Yeah. We'll try. All right. Let's see. And I'll probably guys, I'll probably get some other footage since we're gonna be in Southern California anyways. And I know you guys like to see things. And I know we've done that trip a few times but hey, why not? Why not see some more stuff? Um, let's see. Um, Patrick. We can show them Ritchie Valens. Ritchie Valens, uh, tips out on everything there too. That'd be cool. Mm-hmm. Uh, Patrick in South Carolina and uh, photo of his baby daughter. Oh. Yeah. And it has. She's precious. Yeah, it has questions. We see his prayer requests too for his children and his father. Amen. But there's some questions. Okay. Um, he says, uh, in Genesis chapter one, three to five is written, God created light and day, uh, night. Then in chapter verse fourteen, nine, the same thing happened again. How is this possible? Uh, so, now, again, I wasn't there when Moses wrote it. But I've always taken it this way. I could be right. I could be wrong. But it almost seems like chapter one is an overview of creation and then it goes into kind of more of the details of creation. So, it seems like it happened twice. But really, it's an overview. It's like saying, you know what, in 1972, David was born, blah, blah, this and that. And then next chapter said, you know, when David was born, he was in Tracy, uh, Sutter Hospital. So, it's like, and somebody would say, was he born twice? No, it's just an overview. So, that's how I tell you. I could be way wrong, you know, but that's how I take it. Uh, Genesis chapter two, 16, 17 is written. Adam was allowed to eat of every tree in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So, the tree of life was free to eat from. Yes, it actually was. Actually, matter of fact, he tells them in the Bible to eat from the tree of life. That's how they were able to be eternal. So, they continually ate from that tree. That is why, guys, um, real quick, when, when they got kicked out of the garden, it wasn't because God hated them. Remember, we studied that. I always thought that God got really angry that he kicked them out of the garden. Matter of fact, if you go back and read it, it says that he kicked them out of the garden because now that they're in their fallen state, God didn't want them to stay like that forever. He says, kick them out of here. God forbid that then they eat from the tree of, of, of life while they're in their fallen state because then they would stay like that forever. Protect them. Yeah. So, the yes, the question is yes. Um, and in chapter three, the serpent spoke to the woman. She understood it. So, could they talk to all animals?

And if so, why can't we do this today? Well, I know a lot of people that talk to their animals, but I know what you mean. Um, I want to say this is that the word serpent, if you actually look in the original Hebrew, um, the word they use is actually not specifically just a snake. It's actually means the shining one, the deceiver and the snake. Kind of like saying, man, that car salesman was a snake. I, if you tell me that, I don't actually think you went to the car lot and a snake sold you a car. Yeah. So it was a fallen angel. That fallen angel was a deceiver, was the snake and was a shining one. So yes, it, he wasn't actually, it wasn't really a serpent. It was a fallen angel. So, all right. Jason in Bontero. Missouri. Thank you so much. Loves the Texas road trip and has some questions also. Let's see. I marked it right here. Okay. What's up with people saying the sinner's prayer is not in the Bible? Is it bad? Well, I hope not because I lead people in the sinner's prayer every Sunday. My dad got saved with the sinner's prayer and he's never been the same since. I got saved with the sinner's prayer. It goes like this. There's not specific sinner's prayer in the Bible. That's what we have to get clear. But the Bible says to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved. So we know something has to be confessed. You know, so I mean, we don't, we're not going to sit here and make the sinner's prayer doctrine, but something has to be confessed. Um, uh, Jesus says when you are saved and baptized and when you sin again, repent immediately. Um, is that what that stands for? Is that true? I want to say this is that, um, to ask to repent, you repent once, but to ask for forgiveness is probably daily. So we can, we can't do that because it's the same thing as renewal of our mind. Yeah. Cause if we say repent, then we got to be careful with that. Oh, you got to repent all the time because in essence, what you're saying is you lost your salvation. Then you got it. You lost your salvation. You got it. But how about this? How about we repent once, but when we mess up, we ask for forgiveness. Um, yeah. So if you're constantly, if you're constantly falling and falling and falling, then we got to really think, are we fully surrendered? Yeah. Yeah. So those are the questions that he had. Good questions. Oh, a joke. Joke, joke, joke, joke. Give me your yoke. You didn't write it down on here though. I know. I just saw it right now. There's a little boy standing on his Bible in the middle of the street. And the preacher came outside and saw the kid standing on his Bible. And he said, son,

why are you standing on your Bible like that? And the kid said, cause he told me to stand on the word. That's a good joke. You need to write joke on here. You don't have a pen. Chale. Chale contigo. I don't have a pen. Same. Just put it to the side. I just got a few more, like 2000 more letters. Yeah. Right. Um, Steve, Arcadia, Florida. Um, oh, you got to, I'm going to save you last cause you got a gang of questions. The whole letter is questions. So we're going to say that last. We're going to come put a pin on you. Uh, Oscar in Salinas, anything for Salinas in California. Thank you so much for your letter, brother. God bless you. Thank you. Uh, Darren, Indian Springs, Nevada. Uh, he says, uh, he gets out in mid August. Oh, that's too far. Yeah. You asked for a number. I am not going to put a phone number on here because then I'll have 10,000 people calling my phone. But I'll say this. If you go to the website, when you get out houseofrestchurch.com or find us on Facebook, um, there will be a church number on there and make sure you get ahold of us. Um, but I do want to say this. I'd want to say this because somebody did this. Sharon's tired. Babe, you know, I have not been feeling good. That's all right. I yawn all the time. Stop. Want me to yawn? Stop. I will say this. I thought you were going to yawn. No, no, no. Um, I want to get this clear as much as I wish. House of Rest does not have any living quarters. We don't have any fun to feed you. We don't have any meals. Um, no funding of any kind. I pray for the day that changes. Yes. But I say that, I say that because I, do I want you guys to, if you, if you are in a bad environment, do I want you to come to Modesto? Heck yes, I do. Do I want you to find a local church in your place? Yes, I do. But we have nothing like that to offer. We are an inner city church guys. And, and if you watch us, you know that every single month we barely pay our rent. So as much as we would love to. So I just want you to understand that because I don't want you to come with expectations. We barely pay Fando. Yeah. We're trying guys. We are trying. And we're, we're, we're making it though. The Lord is providing, he is our provider. Machimera. Wait, wait, really quick. Did you show them, um, the, the food giveaway already? No, they can see it after this. Yes. Oh, great. Cause I want to tell them how many people we, that was awesome. Machimera, Machimera in Pennsylvania. Why did I put a cow? What happened here? Why did I write a cow? Because they're telling you to get me a cow. Oh, for the podcast. No, he's telling you to buy me a cow. Oh really? How am I going to buy a cow? Where am I going to put it in the backyard? He says you need to get Sharon a cow.

Oh. Please, can you buy my sister in faith a cow? She will be so happy and she'll love you even more. Please, please, please. My whole kitchen has cows. Please, and Todd, please buy your wife a cow. She once said she loves cows. Can you please buy her a cow? But no, no, but I don't think he means a real cow. Yes, he does. He... Yeah, he does. But I will show them all my little cows that you bought me. Okay, guys, so I'm gonna show you guys my cows that he buys me. Look at my little cow. My little cow. When I see them in stores, I always buy her. My little cow. My little cow. This is my little bull. Why is he little and these are all big? Women bigger? And I got a baby cow. Look at all my little cows. See, I got cows. Which one do you wanna take to the podcast? You said you wanted- Oh, that big one up there. Where?

The one in the top wood. Because it's different. That one's different. So, yeah. I got cow stuff everywhere, guys. I don't think he meant a real cow. Yes, he does. He means a real cow. I want a real cow. But here's the thing. I don't even know where to buy a cow if I wanted a cow. Okay, guys, this is what's gonna happen. When Christambard has a ranch and we have living quarters- You're shaking the table. You're getting really excited here. I am. I'm getting really excited. So, they think it's an earthquake. Okay. Like this. Stop. You're the one that's doing it. Guys, when we have a living quarters and we have a women's center and then we have a man's center and we have a big old ranch and everything, I am gonna have a cow. And you guys are not gonna eat it. Her name's gonna be called Betsy. And I have a bell for her. A milking cow?

Yes. And her name's gonna be Betsy and we're gonna have fresh milk and everything, okay? So, yeah, we're gonna have a cow and we're gonna name her Betsy. So, when I make coffee, I just go and just squirt some milk in the mug? Yes. I'm so excited. See? Oh, it'll be warm already. I feel better already. Well, here's, you know, I think he's talking about not a real cow. No, he's talking about a real cow. Can I please tell you why I think so, though? No, it's a real cow. Can I finish reading his words? It's a real cow. You don't want me to finish his words? It's a real cow. Buy her a cow like you bought a Schwinn bike. She loves you, please buy her a cow. She bought you a peanut car. Oh, okay, I guess. That's all I'm saying. All right, I'm gonna put that cow over there on the table. I deserve something on the table. All right, Margarito, Huntsville, Texas, you know who you are. He says he wants to-

Buy me a cow. No, he wants to arm wrestle Eduardo. Okay. He wants some of that action. He wants some of that smoke, huh? What's that, five and O? Actually, he lost. Somebody beat him. Yeah, Felix did. Felix beat him. Brother Felix beat him. So he's not five, now he's five one. Five one. Okay. What's the cat's favorite dessert? Why are you cowing around? It looks funny. Ready? Look, it looks like it's going into the- What are you doing? Oh. Why are you putting out a scream? I don't know. It looks like it's coming. Camera's on top. It looks like it's coming. It looks like it's coming. It looks like it's coming. Camera's on top. Look at that big old giant camera on top.

Big old camera right there. Stop it. Okay, ready? Okay, go. What's a cat's favorite dessert? Mice cream. That sounds nasty. You know which one I got to show them? The one with the little hair. Oh. What do you call a guy who's really loud? Mike. That's good. You get it? Yes, the Mike. A plane crashed in a jungle and every single person died. Who survived? Married couples. Get it? Every single person. Well, well, well, well. Oh, that is good. So happy belated Mother's Day, Sharon. Thank you. Thank you to everybody who wished me a Mother's Day. There was some on here and we didn't say it, but you did? I don't know. Thank you.

I really, really appreciate it. Andrew in Taylorsville, North Carolina. Thank you so much. Thank you for thanking us. God bless you. Yes, thank you. We appreciate it. Ivan, I mean Juan, I mean Juan in Chino, California. Thank you for the crosses, the bookmarks, and he had a question there. Oh, these are these little wood looking crosses. Yeah, those ones are cool. Yeah, he walked us through the process of it. Mm-hmm. Those are really, really nice. These match the church. Yeah, they're nice. Mm-hmm. Okay, ready? Yes, go. Would it be wrong if I ever did it again in the future about being baptized again? No, I don't think there's anything wrong. Somebody asked me that today. It's hot. The AC just kicked on, like five seconds before you said that. Yeah, so somebody asked me today and said, Is it wrong I got baptized a year ago by you and I went back to the world? Do I need to be baptized again? She asked me after service, and I said, well, let me ask you a question. I said, do you feel in your conscience to be baptized? Scripture doesn't say you're baptized and that's it. She goes, I need it in my conscience. I said, then the answer is yes, I'll baptize you again. You know, and she's on fire for the Lord now, and she said she wasn't ready at that time. And I said, well, perfect because we're doing baptisms next week. You know, so yeah, so that's hopefully I answered your question. Another question is what happens if taking medication, does it hinder your relationship with Christ? And I would say this, is that medication because you need it? Is that medication because it helps you? To me, that's the answer. It's more of a heart issue, you know, than the medication itself, you know, so yeah, if you're doing it for the right reasons, but if you're doing it to abuse it, if you're doing it because you just are bored and you want to get high or whatever, then you cannot serve God and serve darkness at the same time. So, yeah. Orlando in Middleton, Massachusetts. Thank you so much for your letter. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Nelson in...

What? Virginia? Yeah, I think Virginia. I can't see. Yeah. And anyways, thank you so much. I couldn't even... There's a lot going on on your letter. I couldn't stamp this letter to put notes on it because you wrote all over it, but praise God you put your prayer requests for your family, your two boys, your wife, and he releases June 23rd. Nice. That's short timing. Yeah. He said, pray for my early release and thank you for the cross. Nice. Oh, beautiful. Thank you. It's made out of metallic. Yeah, it's like a foil. Hector in Fort Stockton, Texas. Thank you so much. I never heard of the books, so I can't really tell you about the teachings. I've never read those books or heard of them. But thank you. Thank you for your letter. Orlando in Middleton also, thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. John in Bushnell, Florida. I want to say this. Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Real quick. Without to the... Wait, this thing... That's our MID bill. It's electric bill. You guys want to pay for that? Put that there. That's our church bill. The last one is the one I put a pin on it. Let's see. Why did I write that? I'm trying to figure out why I wrote my note, why I wrote what I wrote. Okay, that's right. So I want you to know that, you know, Joseph was forgotten also. I mean, he was thrown into prison. Remember he told those two guys, he goes, hey, remember me when one was killed and the other one, but... The baker and the... Yeah, he felt forgotten too. He felt forgot about too, but God... And the cupbearer. Here's the thing about the Lord that we forget people.

For two years. We forget people. We get preoccupied. We get busy. But the Lord does not forget. Yeah. The Lord does not forget us. And I just want you to know that that is so important to know that, to understand that. He has a heart for those who are incarcerated. Why do we know that? Because even scripture says that. Scripture says that, he says, when you visited those in prison, you visited me. Yeah, he was forgotten in the well. He was forgotten in the prison. You know, yeah, he was forgotten. Yeah, now I will say this, that you had mentioned about maybe, maybe you were really bad in a past life and that's why you're suffering now. That is not biblical. That is more of a Hindu teaching. We don't believe in reincarnation. The Bible does not talk about reincarnation. Don't put that in your head. You're not suffering now because of a past life. That is not true. The Bible says that once we die, once a man dies, we face judgment, you know? So we don't- I can tell that you know the story of Joseph. I, one thing that helps me, and I think about the, I said this before and I say the four Ps all the time because I love the story of Joseph. And I always said that Joseph was persecuted and he persevered

and he was being positioned for God's purpose. And a lot of the times, you know, even though he was in the secular with, you know, with Pharaoh, the Lord still used him and he was being positioned and it was all for God's purpose. And remember that, remember that. Read in Genesis 20 when he reveals himself to his, you know, to his brothers. And he says, you got to remember what, you know, what the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good, you know? And, and we have to remember that because God always has a plan. And I used to always, I used to always think like, why did, why did what happened to me happen? Why did it happen? And now in retrospect, I think back like, man, God had a plan for me all along. You know, regardless of what happened to me when I was a little girl, regardless of whatever happened, you know what, God was gonna have a plan for my life and look at, look at what the Lord is doing in my life now. Look at the plan he has for me and how he's using me now. Look at how he's using us. Regardless of what we've been through in our lives, regardless of what you're going through in your life right now where you're at, he can still use you.

He can still use you where you're at. So let him use you. Yes, let him use you. Steve in Arcadia, Florida, he is the last one. He had some questions, not hard questions, but just a lot of questions and that's fine. He says that our bodies will be glorified in heaven. Will we have the same face? I believe we will. I believe so too. The reason I say that is because even remember the, oh my gosh, the men that died and went to hell and the other one, they recognize each other. How could they recognize each other if they had different faces? So that's, you know, so it leads me, scripture leads me that we're gonna have the same face. Will our pets be in the new earth? Scripture doesn't say, it sure would be nice though, right? I mean, people love their pets. I don't know, I've watched the cartoons, all dogs go to heaven. Did Yeshua or Jesus ever tell jokes? I believe so. I think our Lord has such a beautiful sense of humor. He has a sense of humor. He had to have, because, you know, we get our personalities from God. We get our emotions from God.

Don't forget that, you know, he says count it all joy and he's joyful, you know, he has laughter and joy. I think Jesus laughed more than we imagined. Yeah, absolutely. He's probably cracked up. He probably cracks up at this podcast. Says he feels he's filled with joy. So yeah, absolutely. Really good question. What Bible is a traditional Bible, the King James or the Geneva? Actually neither of those. The traditional Bible is Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. The written, the old scrolls actually, nothing in English. The Bible is written in three languages, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. How big was Jerusalem at the time of Jesus? Good question. Let's ask Google. How big was Jerusalem at the time of Jesus? In Jesus' day, Jerusalem covered- In Jesus' time, Jerusalem covered about 150 to 200 acres, which is smaller than today's Old City. The population was around 25,000 to 55,000, but it swelled to over 100,000 during festivals. The city had distinct areas, including the Temple Mount, a working class area and an affluent area. Yeah. Said it much better than I would have.

Let's see. I think that's all your questions. Let me make sure here. At the end, he says- um are you gonna when are you gonna go to the zoo i'm not sure but we want to do that we want to do it i want to take him to the oakland zoo yeah because that's the newest one close to us that got re renovated renovated yeah i've heard i've heard i think my brother angel told me he goes because we like going to san francisco zoo we want to do it before the summer ends that's yeah we wanted to go to the san francisco zoo and he's like no no no he'll go to oakland man they renovated the whole thing well the the next few things that we have going on for road trips right now we have san fernando that we're going to for sure this week um this weekend and then when we come back you guys don't forget that we're going to be going to monterey yeah so the for the monterey bike ride then when we come back from that we have fourth of july so we're going to be doing obviously something 250th anniversary for america yeah so obviously there's going to be something beautiful going on for fourth of july so we'll find something that we'll find something for fourth of july but yeah i do want to do the zoo or the aquarium in san francisco or both one or one or one of them we'll do some one of those in july in july because right after that um we're going to be going to montana guys and when we go to when we go to montana we're going to be also going to uh salt lake city to salt lake city we're landing in salt lake city and driving up to yellowstone wyoming and then up into montana bozeman yeah there's a museum with us i want to i want there's a museum in bozeman that has the diner the most dinosaur bones ever yeah yeah so we're kind of excited we're kind of excited to take you guys along with us to that and then um i feel like this is y'all these are all field trips i'm going to make you guys all sign some field trip uh permission slips and then um then from there when we come back from that that's that's an early august right so when we come back from that what else do we have in august i think that's september we have conference and then september we go to orange we go back to orange and don't forget that when we leave from conference we go down the pacific coast highway usually and then we go down the one highway and you guys get to see the beautiful beach and we get to see all of that beautiful of god's creation actually i'm debating on going to phoenix oh that's right david wants to go to phoenix guys breaking news they're opening a bucky's in phoenix

how is that breaking they don't know that they know how much bucky's means to me oh gosh he really wants to go to phoenix and they're opening the buckies in phoenix and i'm gonna be halfway there already in southern california how can i not go it's a sin if i don't go oh my gosh so if if we if financially we can do it i wanted to go if not i mean okay we can go only in one condition what if you get the bucky suit and drive home with it no seriously if he gets the bucky suit guys and he has to wear it and put it on that's the only way i'll say yes that's funny babe you gotta get it you get a matching one okay we'll both get it maybe we'll see we'll both get bucky suits and then we'll put them on so yeah so orange conference might end up being a road trip to phoenix we'll see we'll see what happens yeah so all right guys god bless you that's all we got guys and um those of you because guys i put these on youtube so youtubers you're not no youtube you're gonna get you're still gonna get the grocery giveaway stuff oh wait i wanted to tell them about the grocery giveaway guys because we hadn't done a grocery giveaway in three months um so we we ended up having um well our pantry was really full um so it was time for us to do a grocery giveaway so we had a mass grocery giveaway oh my gosh you guys we had such a big turnout um so we ended up putting it out on social media of course and and we ended up calling a lot of our past people that would had come before because we had all their information and everything so we called out to the families who had come in prior prior months and everything we had like we called it phone zone the night prior and we would call them and just tell them hey you know we you know um we want to invite you to come back out to get food again we know that you know times are hard da da da and and then also you put it out on social media i had put it out on on facebook as well we served over 718 people um so many families the cars were wrapped around the whole yeah the whole entire block the whole entire time. For two hours straight. For two hours straight. It wouldn't, the line wouldn't shorten no matter what. No, but it got to the point where we ran out of food, guys. We ran out of food and we had to turn people away. That was horrible. And it was horrible. I had to get, I had to go to our own kitchen, our own kitchen inside the church and I had to look for food in there to try to, you know, to try to be able to get some food from inside. But we had made so many bags and our pantry was emptied, emptied out. But we did turn down, maybe I'm going to say maybe about 40 cars, about 40 cars I had to turn down. But

we were just emptied out. There's a need, guys. There is such a need. The community is in need and I have never seen it this way. This was the first time ever, ever. We always feed maybe about 300 people. It has always been the same number consistently. But this was the first time that we ever, ever have, have fed that many people. And I was just blown away. So yeah, I know that we're going to do this again and I'm going to start looking for more distributors and try to get more food and to build up our pantry again. We're just going to do it. And I pray that for those who are coming out and for those who are coming over here and keep shaking it. I know. Sorry. For those who are going to come be part of this, you know, I pray that you, you know, you join the family and come be part of this. Looking forward to it. But bye guys. We love you guys. Enjoy the grocery giveaway footage and a couple other little things I threw in there. Yeah. Bye guys. We love you guys. Hey guys, we're in the middle of our grocery giveaway. I know sometimes you like to see we have the fish sticks. Not fish sticks, actually. It's actual fish. We had fish sticks. We ran out. We have ham. We're doing frozen chicken drumsticks. All kinds of stuff, guys. So I'm going to take you outside so you can see. These are all the bags that are ready. I'm going to show you the cars outside that are lined up. This is, we were going to start at 11 and it's not even 11 yet, but there's so many cars lined up. We had to start early because we didn't want people blocking the road. All right, guys, it has been nonstop. We are wrapped around the entire block. We haven't been able to do this for a few months. This is our first one for about five months, the monthly grocery giveaway. This is the end of the line. If you go up, the line starts and it's wrapped around the whole block. The need is great, guys. With gas prices and groceries so high, the need is great. I just thank God that we're able to do a little bit. I wish we could do more. Everybody's getting four bags of canned and pastas and all that, and then one bag of frozen. And then an apple juice. Go ahead. And then an apple juice. We're just doing our part here in Modesto, California. I'm going to introduce you to some of the guys, some of the sisters in a little bit. We have Eduardo directing the traffic here. Okay, guys, it looks like we're going to run out of food. There's a car still wrapped around all the way around the block, but we have 34 more issues left for 34 more

families. We're doing the best we can. Count how many tickets you have and after that tell them that's it. Because I had, so there was 99 tickets in the thing? No, there was actually, there was 100. Well, I numbered out 99. I had the one over here. Okay, and then so those ones are handed out and we stopped like right at the end here. I have one single. And then there's all these cards. Well, tell them the ones that didn't get tickets, that's it, we're done. Yeah, tell them that we're done. One double. No, no, no. There's five of us. Double. Yeah. Mustang. Come back. Double. Yeah. Okay. Only one of it. I'm gonna get it. So guys, we, that's it. We ran out of all the food. There's still more cars. So they're trying to fill some bags in and just try to give them something. It's a show of just the economy, man. We've never had it like this before, even previous grocery giveaways. It's just a great, great need.

I mean, look, the cars are still lined up. All right, guys. So we have one of our, did you watch Pando or Edoardo? Pando. Yeah. And you came from? Florida. Florida. I was in Florida. How much time did you serve? I did 15 years. 15 years. And now you're sitting there helping us. Do you remember watching the videos of this? Yes, I remember watching all these videos and stuff. And I always wanted to be part of it. And now I'm here part of it because God always got a plan. He's always going to fulfill it no matter what. Amen. You tired? A little bit. The cars are wrapped all the way around the block. Yeah, all the way. What do you want to tell somebody that's just serving the Lord and they're incarcerated right now? Just keep on going, man. No matter what people tell you, no matter what type of influence they want to give you or get in your ear or whatever, man, you just keep pushing it. Because at the end of the day, no matter what they say or what they think of you, it matters what you think about yourself and what God thinks about you. Amen.

When did you give your life to the Lord? In 2023 when I was in CM. All right. Amen. Well, thank you, brother. Amen. God bless y'all, man. All right. Pray up. Well, we also got Brother Ruben. Did you watch us on Pando or Edovo? Yes, I did. I watched it on Edovo. Edovo. Edovo, yes. All right. As soon as I got there, a lot of homies that, you know, brothers in there turned me into Christ. And you know what? I've been down for Church to Christ for 2019, and I feel strong every day that the Lord gives me this day, puts the light up for me. Yeah. You know what? Keep straight. Be humble. Don't let no come to you in the middle of you. And you know what? You'll be all right. Amen.

God bless you, all you brothers out there. So real quick, did you ever watch our videos when we did the grocery giveaways? I sure did. As soon as I got to Avenal, boom, they took it to me. Yeah. Brought it to me. Wow. I've been watching you since. How do you feel? How do you feel watching the grocery giveaways and now you are part of it today? It's beautiful, brother. Amen. It's beautiful. Be part of the family. You tired? A little bit. It was a lot of cars. It is. Yeah. All right. It's worth it. It's worth it. Brothers, God bless you guys. Stay strong. All right. Stay straight up. How'd it go? It went great. Yeah. Such a blessing.

Hi, Raven. You want to say hi? Hello. Hello. Hey. We're just making it. We can just keep it going. You take the names and we'll just keep it until we run out of everything. Yeah, I got it. One? Yeah, that one, one, and one in the back. Whatever. All right. Okay. There's Pastor Armando. You guys can pray for us and we'll pray for you guys too. God bless you. Are you tired? Huh? Tired? No. No? I'm just getting started. This was full guys, both of these were full. Alright guys, this is a conclusion, it has been non-stop, it has been the most successful busiest grocery giveaway we've ever had, it has been a blessing, I want to just thank every person that came and volunteered. One brother said, man, I'm hungry and here I am giving groceries to people, isn't that what that's about? You know, and it's just been such a blessing, I just wanted to show you a little more than

I usually show. It was so, so busy, so I tried getting footage in there as much as I possibly could, but thank you so much guys for being a part of this community. God bless you and just keep praying for us, House of Rest Church, God bless. Alright guys, yeah, we're here in a sanctuary and this is for anybody that's seriously serving God and you really want to come and you really want to come to Modesto. We're starting a group that's an extension from the Pando-Nidovo, from Christ and Bart, and we're calling it Bridges. And it's a group that's going to meet once a week if you got out and it's going to help you. We want to be there for you to have an accountability, to discuss things and talk things, to help acclimate you back into the free world. And we are going to have Brother Marcelo, he's the one that's going to interview every person first because, I'll be honest with you straight up, I'm not here to play games, I'm not here to babysit anybody. If you really want to serve the Lord, let me flip this. See that empty chair? That could be yours. So we have Brother Juan, he did 15? 15 years I did in the Florida Penitentiary. And you did 5 years before that? Yeah, I did 5 years. I was out 8 months and did 5 years before that. And he was in, where were you at? In Tampa? Yeah, in Tampa, Florida. And then, who we got here? Ruben. Brother Ruben, you did 8? Yes, I was up in Wasco and I got transferred down to Avenal and here I am now.

Yeah, and you were watching us on Edovo. Yes, I have in Avenal. So I notice there's empty chairs around you. And our prayer is that it's going to be some of you guys. We want to have this group, an extension of Christ Unbarred, calling it Bridges. Help you bridge the gap. Yes. You know? And is there anything you guys, they're also going to see you guys at the grocery giveaway. Because remember I got footage of that too. Yes. You know? So we've been meeting, this is our second time guys. How do you feel this is going to help people if they come out? Well, it's going to help them like when they get out to help you to keep that fire. That fire, when you come out you got that fire for God. This is going to keep that flame going for you. So you won't come out here and get discouraged and let that flame go out. This is going to help you with that. Amen. What do you think? That's true. Once you open that new door, those doors that you left, they're locked already. So don't plan on going back. Keep your foot straight and keep on going. Think positive. Don't be thinking negative. God is here to help you. All the brothers are here. You know what?

We're all in the same thing. God bless. We're right here in a sanctuary guys. The one you guys watch. Look at that, we're sitting on the back row. And if you're serious about serving the Lord and serious about being discipled, we want you to come and be a part of Bridges. Come, ask for Marcelo. And let me flip this. Ask for Marcelo and he's going to want to interview you, sit down with you. And we want you to be a part of this. And I just wanted to introduce you and show you these empty seats. Because for some of you, that's your seat. And we're already praying for the seats. We don't know who you are, but we're already praying for these seats. Yes, we are. So alright guys. Bye, God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. 10. Any time, any place, You stand beside me and wait. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. I sing hallelujah, I bring my burden down. Hope is found, right where I am now

I look into your face, all my fear falls away Singing glory to you, God You add unto me again, my Father and my Friend Singing glory to you, Lord I look into your face, all my fear falls away Singing glory to you, God You add unto me again, my Father and my Friend Singing glory to you, Lord Will you fill me, here and now On this holy ground Your peace surrounds me, and hope is found Right where I am now Anytime, anyplace, when I call on your name You are there Anytime, anyplace, when I call on your name You are there Anytime, anyplace, when I call on your name You are there Anytime, anyplace, when I call on your name You are there Will you fill me, here and now On this holy ground Your peace surrounds me Hope is found Right where I am now I'm going to be doing one for the next three days Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I believe I just want to thank you for coming here Wait, I just realized my mic was muted Alright, I want to thank you guys for coming here

Those of you that are online, if you saw that promo, go to the website If you want to find out more about it I decided for this study that we've been doing about just living a Christian life As we came into this year, I decided that I think it would benefit us to read the books that are going to help us The flyer should be up there, did I not click it the next one? It's on me? Huh? Following Jesus is actually the name of the Bible study Alright We're going to dive right in, guys This is a really interesting, I mean, the whole Bible is interesting But I think that a lot of questions get answered especially in these next few chapters over the next few weeks of 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 and 14 And we really want to, even if we have to slow down because I don't want to just go fast on these because this is where a lot of people get hiccups on it when it comes to spiritual gifts So I think it's important that we take our time and really get an understanding of what it is that it's saying Let's bow our heads, Lord God, we thank you so much for this opportunity to be here together for this Bible study for us to read and live learn and learn about you and learn about who we are in you. I thank you, Lord God, for everyone that's in this building and those that are watching through their screen. We thank you so much, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

All right. I wanna give a special shout out to Marcelo, who's watching us from the hospital. And because of that, brother, you're gonna get a freebie. You're gonna get the Shark Cat. All right. All right, so, chapter 12, verse one, Paul is writing this, because remember, this whole thing's a letter. So he keeps hitting different subjects. Remember we said that most likely, we pretty much can tell, obviously Paul got a letter from the church in Corinth. And this is his response to it. So they're asking him about different things. They're asking about the Lord's Supper. They're asking him about the head coverings, the women, the marriage, idolatry. They're asking him all these things, but now he's about to answer the question about spiritual gifts. I wanna say this. What's interesting is that I guess if you had to rate the churches of that time, Galatians, Ephesus, the Roman church, the Corinth church, Thessalonica church, all of these churches, I think that First Corinthians would probably be the worst scored church. These guys are having issues.

They have problems. I mean, all kinds of things. If it can go wrong in this church, it's going wrong in Corinth. That's what I gather. Now on the flip side, what's interesting is that this church was operating powerfully in the gifts. People were casting demons out, tongues, people were talking in tongues, healings were happening, all of this prophetic word. So I think it's interesting because a lot of times now we judge a church by how much spiritual gifts are being manifested in that building. People rush to tent revivals and this because healing and this and all this stuff. Have we not learned? I am not saying, those things are beautiful to see. I love when I see somebody delivered from demons. I love when somebody comes and says, man, you know what? I was sick and you prayed for me and that thing left by the time I got home. I love that stuff. But don't, we have to learn, if we're gonna learn anything from this book is this, is just because that stuff is happening don't mean that church is right. But on the flip side of that, even though they were doing things wrong,

notice that Paul still considered it a church. He didn't say, oh, this church, they're 86 or they're not. He still considered them a church. He just considered them an immature church. So we have to keep those things in mind is that we can't judge or rate the rooting of a church by how much gifts are happening there. Clearly we see this happening here because there was all kinds of problems, but the gifts were there. So in 12.1 it says, he says, now concerning spiritual gifts. He says, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. Where's my phone? I keep hearing it. Okay, hold on. Hold on. He says, I do not want you to be uninformed. Verse two, you know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols. However, you were led. Verse three, therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed. And no one can say Jesus is the Lord except in the Holy Spirit. I wanna read it in the message and then we're gonna talk about it.

In the message, it's a lot more simpler. He says, what I want to talk about now is the various ways God's spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. I love that, just that verse right there, right? Because how many times, if you've been here long enough, you heard me say that growing up, I grew up in little Pentecostal churches where I'll be honest with you, the pastors probably did not have that much biblical knowledge. But the power of God would move. And then so then later on, that confused me. So when I did come to Christ at 32 years old, I started reading the Bible and I started to realize how much, and I have a lot of love for the pastors I grew up with. Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting them down. I just, it was just a reality that I realized that the more I studied the word, the more I realized that those pastors didn't know much. But my God, bless them, because they were trying their hardest, right? I'm not critiquing in a negative way, I'm just telling it like it is. But then as I started to realize that there was churches that were so full of knowledge, there was no power in it. Everything was his head knowledge. And so when I knew I was going to be called to preach

or pastor a church, in the beginning, I thought I had to make up my mind. I thought, do I stay ignorant and the spirit of God move? Or do I get a deep understanding of the word, but there's no power? And I came to the conclusion of, why can't we have both? Why can't we have a church that actually really reads through the Bible like we're doing now? But at the same time, be a church where the spirit of God moves and people are healed and demons are casted out and prophetic tongues are spoken out and prophetic words are given. Why can't we do both? Because I love that, right? Let me read that verse in the message. He says, what I want to talk about now is the various ways God's spirit gets worked in our lives. It's complex, misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. He says, remember how you were when you didn't know God? He says, led by one phony God to another. Hold on, my screen turned off. Led from one phony God to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everyone else did it. It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your head. You know perfectly well that the spirit of God

would never prompt anyone to say Jesus be damned. Nor would anyone be inclined to say Jesus is master without the insight of the Holy Spirit. So I love what he's saying here, right? Because he's like, man, listen, I'm not telling you, see, a lot of times people think to be a Christian, we gotta dumb ourselves down. No. He says, no, I want you to use your intelligence. I want you to seek understanding. I want you to use your head. You know, and so I love the fact that Paul, Paul was a very educated man. And he's like, I'm not telling you to leave your brain outside of the church. That's not what he is saying. You know, so to me, that's a great introduction to this chapter because he's about to dive into the gifts of the spirit. And I love the fact that he's saying, listen, we're not gonna talk about spiritual things and leave our brains outside. That scripture never says that. You know, we can actually be intelligent, articulate Christians, and live a naturally supernatural life. So, okay. Verse, let's read four. He says, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit.

And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. I like that. In the message, it says, God's various gifts are handed out everywhere, but they all originate in God's spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere, but they all originate in God's spirit. I love that. We're all gonna be different, and what I notice, unfortunately, in Christianity, I don't know why we are prone to do this, but we're prone to find a church that has a bunch of people with the same gift as you. So you get a whole bunch. A whole bunch of people in this church because they're all talking in tongues. A whole bunch of people in this church because they believe in the prophetic. A whole bunch of people in this church because they love evangelizing. You know, so that's not the way it's supposed to be. There's a five-fold ministry. What good is it? Why would we want to be like that? We need to be mixed so we can all make each other strong. Brother? Pastor? I think that, you know, the greatest mistake that believers can make is that following those things, right? Yeah. Those gifts. When it states it clearly that the gifts are for the edification of the church. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, we're supposed to use them to edify ourselves. Yeah. You know, I like that point. It made me, you reminded me of something. Um, Super Chat. You get the West Cat Sack. No, wait. The West Sack Cat. I said it wrong. That was weird. I know. That was just, forget I said that, but I can't because it's recorded live now forever. Great. What happens too is that those ministries go out and they go and they,

it's almost like they go and recruit that. They go and they teach that. And that's why they get, because that's what they teach. Yeah. And because they're out there teaching, so much of that, that's what they go out and that's what they're teaching. So that's what they grow more. Yeah. It's like if they're going out there and they're getting non-believers, well, those non-believers are only learning that. Yeah. You know? And if that's all that they're learning, then that's what they're going to come into. Yeah. Then that's all they're going to learn. That's what they're going to grow to learn. And when I came to the Lord, I only knew what I learned. I learned religion. So if that's all I learned, that's all I do. And I can only do what I learned. You know, it made me think that, imagine if you were stuck on an island, you're on a boat, like Gilligan's Island, it's an old show, and you got stuck on an island and you had the gift of cooking. Would you want to be stranded on an island with a whole bunch of other people that can cook too? Yeah. Or would you want one person to be an architect, one person to be a hunter, one person to have all these, which one would you want to be? Because if you can all cook and nobody can hunt, you're going to starve. Doesn't matter how good you can cook. You would want to be on an island with people that know things you don't know. Because you would say, you know what? I'm an expert cook, but I have no idea how to hunt. I don't know how to fish. I don't know how to do anything. I don't know how to build a house. I don't know how to build a sewage system. I don't know how to do nothing. And somebody says, I know how to do that. I know how to do that. You would want to be on an island with that group of people. What if we brought that same mentality into the church and find a church that has various gifts? I think that's the better thing. All right. Here comes another super. You get the chaplain cat. I'm not going to say that one backwards. Thank you. All right. And I love, so I love the fact that he's starting off with that too. Okay. So, and notice he says

in verse, where am I at? Five. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There's different ministries, not only just the gifts. He says, there's different ministries, but it all comes from God. All of it. I've had people in the past come and say, how come you don't have this ministry? How come you don't have this ministry? How come you have this ministry? And I'm like, well, maybe because God's calling you to start it. Verse six. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all and everyone. In the message on that part, it says God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere, but God himself is behind it all. I don't know if I just, I just quoted this. I don't know where I read it or heard it, but it was interesting because it says that an apple tree does not eat apples Does do apples create do do apples make apples to feed itself no Those apples are meant to feed everyone else That's how the fruits of this gift that's how our gifts are Our gifts are to feed everyone else not you It we don't have It's never enough to just say I got this amazing gift. So i'm gonna do it so I can build myself up That is not biblical the biblical way is i'm gonna see that's why you can't have you can't do this whole lone ranger christian Uh, I mean god got this thing going ourselves You know what you're doing is you're being selfish and robbing other people of the fruit you have That's general Was that I know just a couple days ago. We're talking about it So we have to Understand that to be in church is not or in a church or in a group or whatever it is This is not about you. This is about everybody else besides you And if we all had that mentality You know if i'm an apple tree and you're cherries and you're you know, i'm gonna get sick of apples

I'd rather have all kinds of different fruit That way we all have a feast. Let's have a spiritual feast A fruit salad sounds good. I'm kind of hungry right now Amen So in verse eight It says for to one is given through the spirit For through the spirit the utterance of wisdom And to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit So it's the same spirit the whole same. Holy ghost same. Holy spirit that gives it to us. Somebody has a lot of wisdom Somebody else has a lot of knowledge You know, those are two different things, right? Because you can come out of college and university with all kinds of knowledge, but you got no wisdom And you get some 70 year old, you know woman a 70 year old man that maybe didn't go to college Don't got a lot of knowledge, but they have a lot of wisdom So they're two completely different things Sometimes somebody will come in a church and you're super smart, but you don't know how to Do nothing We need each other We need each other um I want to see how it is here in the message Um, each person is given something to do that shows who god is everyone gets in on it. Everyone benefits All kinds of things are handed out by the spirit and to all kinds of people the variety is wonderful So back here in the esv um, it says I'm back it up again to eight for one is given through the spirit of utterance of wisdom to another the utterance of knowledge According to the same spirit to another faith by the same spirit to another gifts of healing by the one spirit To another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another the ability to distinguish between spirits To another various kinds of tongues to another the interpretation of tongues All of these are empowered by one and the same spirit

Who apportions to each one individually? as he wills In the message it says The variety is wonderful a wise counselor clear understanding simple trust healing the sick miraculous acts proclamation distinguishing between spirits tongues Interpretation of tongues and all of these gifts have a common origin But are handed out one by one by the one spirit of god. He decides who gets what and when? So I love that so no matter what it's all from god You know, what's interesting is some people have the gift of faith Sometimes i'm just i'm jealous of people that have that Because they will don't matter what happens they're I mean if it's gonna go bad it's gonna go bad And they'll just be like man. Praise god What? My car got wrecked my dog bit me praise god god had a purpose something good's gonna come out of it what? That's raven Do you know It is Raven, she has a gift of faith. I'm like a piano fell on my head, Raven. Praise God, now maybe you learned, maybe you got to knock some sense into you. Amen. So, you know, I like to say this, though. I want to say this, and we're going to read it later, is we have to do this because we will joke with this gift of faith, but when it comes to healing and prophesying this and that, we're like, oh, so that means I can't pray for somebody to be healed. I can't pray for somebody that because I don't have that gift. Well, hold on. The fact that you're a Christian means you have a measure

of faith. So that means we all have faith, but some have the gift of faith. But we all have faith. Now, if that is true, then we all have a measure of everything else. See, a doctor, you go to your primary doctor, and they know a little bit about everything. But if they really come across an issue with certain specific things, they send you to a specialist, somebody that's gifted in that. Jimmy, all right, you get the super cat, literally, with the little Superman suit. Thank you. So in the same way, you can't be a doctor and not know some things. You've got to know a little of everything. As a Christian, you're going to have a measure of faith. You have in your arsenal, in your tool belt, you need to know how to pray for the sick, because what if that person isn't around? You have to know how to cast a demon out, because what if that person ain't around? So we can't use that as a cop out and be like, well, I have the gift of faith, so I don't got to worry about nothing else. We all have a measure. Have I seen people that the prophetic gift operates really strong in them? Yeah. I've seen that.

Have I prophesied before? Yes. Have I seen people that have a gift of prophecy? Yeah. Same thing with all these other ones. So I think that we can't cop out on it, but we have to, because Bible says some people are going to have that gift. Now, I love that, but you know what's sad is when that one person knows they have that gift, and they use it to fill up places so you can give them money. Be careful with that. Verse 12. That's where we're at, right? Yeah. Did I even read it over here in this one? I did. OK. 12 and 13. It says, for just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. Got to remember, in the city of Corinth, you had Jewish people that were from Israel that spoke Hebrew and Aramaic. You had Jewish people who were Greek speaking,

and then you had Gentiles. And Paul is talking to all of them. He's like, listen, this whole little I'm this or I'm that, no, no, no, all of you are in Christ. All of us are in Christ. We were baptized into one. No matter what, you're rich, you're poor, you speak Spanish, you speak English, you speak whatever you speak, your skin color doesn't matter. We are all one. We are all the body of Christ. And in the body, there's different members. Your fingers, your organs, your toes, your arms, your legs, all of it make up your body. You're not different people. If you do, then we need to pray for you. If you think you're different people, you're one person. And your whole body makes up who you are. So in the same way, Christ is the head, and we are the body. We all have different functions. You can't say the lungs are more important than the heart. You can't say the heart's more important than the lungs. And the heart and lung can't say, hey, legs, you ain't important. All of it work together. And all of it is ordered by the head. touching my head because my brain told my arms to touch my head. He's the head. He tells us what to do. If your body doesn't listen to your brain, that's actually a medical condition.

That's where people get different different when people have multiple sclerosis when people have different things like that is because their brain can no longer control their body. That's a sickness and it's usually fatal that leads to death. So what happens when we're a church and we're not listening to the head? We're a sick Church. So we have to keep that in mind. We have to listen and read and understand that and it's okay. If people are different, it's okay. You know what guys? It's okay. If people in your same Church don't have the same passion you do for something. There are going to be people here that want to feed the homeless. There's some that that's not their thing. But you know what? They want to go to the hospitals and that's not their thing and they want to go to hospice and that's not their thing. They want to evangelize. You know and so it's okay. Not everyone has to be the same. That would be boring. We all should actually cheer for each other to do the things and not say oh man, you know what? They don't think it's important. I think marriage ministry is really important and they don't. That's all good. It's okay. It's we're all different parts of the body. But all of us should be controlled by the head who is Jesus. That's the main problem there is we need to be obedient to him and him alone. That's it. Okay. Verse did I read it in the message? I didn't know the message says this. He says you can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts limbs organs cells, but no matter how many parts you can name you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ by means of his one spirit.

We all said goodbye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has a final say in everything. This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized. Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body refreshed and sustained at one fountain his spirit where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves labels like Jew or Greek or slave or free are no longer useful. We need something larger and more comprehensive. Yeah, right sometimes a message gets it man. Something we're part of something bigger. It's no longer about us. It's about the body and if we can just get that mentality, I think as a church we can move further, you know, and so and this whole thing this old labels. He says that's how you used to identify yourself. And back then that was when you what does it say? How did it where do we used to call our own shots? Before Christ I called my own shots and every time I ended up in prison or in a cell. I'm just like I'm not good at calling my own shots Lord. How about if I just submit to you Lord and just you leave me because when I lead it all I mess everything up everything gets blown up. I get in train wrecks all the time Lord. I want you to lead I want you to leave me because you would leave me to green pastures. You would never leave me nor forsake me. You will never lead me anywhere that would destroy me. You will only encourage me you would lead me you would lead my steps by your word. And I think that's important as Christians this whole thing of that's the way I do things. No, that's the way you used to do things.

We cannot come into Christ with that old mentality. We can't and if you do then guess what? in six months, in a year, in a year and a half, you're gonna get burnt out and you're gonna go back to you calling the shots because you never let Jesus do it. So we just gotta be real with ourselves and just be honest with yourself. That was the worst, that was probably the hardest thing for me in being a Christian is being honest to myself. Still is, sometimes it's still hard to be honest to myself. 14, it says, for the body does not consist of one member but of many, he's kind of reiterating. He goes, I want you to think, in the message, I want you to think about how this makes you more significant, not less. I love that, he's not trying to diminish who we are. We're actually more. Verse 15, if the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. In the message, it says, a body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge, it's all different, but similar parts arranged and functioning together. If the foot said, I'm not elegant like the hand, embellished with rings, I guess I don't belong to this body, would that make it so? Can you imagine that? You got a nice watch and a bracelet and rings and your foot, all stinky.

It's like, man, I wish I was like the hand. I wish I could wear rings, I wish I could. Does that make that foot less, try wearing all kinds of jewelry with no foot. Ain't nobody gonna see it, because you ain't gonna get around. Verse 16, yeah, True Familia Online says, the church needs every office to function properly, amen. Amen to that one. If the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. In the message it says, if the ear said, well, I'm not beautiful like the eye, transparent and expressive, I don't deserve a place on the head, would you wanna remove it from your body? Looking for my part here, hold on. If the whole body were an eye, verse 17, if the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. I'm gonna read it in the message, the whole part here, it says, if the ear says, I'm not beautiful,

okay, wait, I already read that, I don't deserve a place in the head. Okay, would you want to remove it from the body? If the body were all an eye, how could it hear? If all an ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. I kept going to where, 24, 26? No. 21, okay, thank you. The message, guys, just so you know, just so you don't think I'm just nuts up here, the message sometimes bunches verses together. That's the thing about the message, it simplifies it, but it literally, it doesn't say 14, 15, 16, it'll just say 14 and 18 and have this big passage, so I'm, sometimes I can't tell where it breaks up. So I'm not crazy up here, okay, I promise you. A little crazy, but not that crazy. Just a little bit. Be honest with yourself. Be honest. Who said that? Mickey. Thank you, Mickey. We were talking about that in the car on the way here. You were talking about me being crazy? No. No, be honest.

We were, no. All right. Seriously, where are we, for real? 21, all right. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. I love that. And the message, it says, I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. That's good, man. That's good because it brings balance. Yeah, it brings balance, right? It really brings balance. Wow. That's wild, man, because let's say the eye, you know, I guess, you know, I'm thinking of the body, I guess the heart is pretty important. But imagine the heart thinking, man, you know what, I'm so important, but what's a heart going to do outside of a body? It can't live, it can't survive. It needs each other. You know, and that's why like when somebody gets, and you're in a hospital and you get sepsis, your organs start to shut down. Because once one organ shuts down, what happens? It puts strain on the other organs. And then the other organs, I can't, the kidneys ain't working, so the liver stops working. Now the liver stops working, so now, I mean, it just all, it falls apart. One clue, the other out, and just everything, it has to function all together. Yeah.

You know what's sad? I hate to say this, but it seems like for the most part, the church has sepsis. The church as a whole. I'm not talking about House of Wrest, I'm talking about the American church. If it were a body, it would be in ICU. Let's be honest. On life support. That is, that's reality though. Huh? Yeah. I mean, does that ring false when I say it? Does it ring true? So, having moments like this right now, helps turn that around. Moments like this. And then we read this, and then we take this, and then we share it with other believers, be like, hey man, have you really, really read 1 Corinthians chapter 12? This is how we turn it around. This is how I read it. I like doing expository teaching, meaning line by line, because it forces me to read through stuff that sometimes I need to be reminded of. Because isn't that what the word of God is? A mirror that reflects us. Self reflection. Yeah. It's a self reflection. So, this is important stuff, man. Okay. Help me out. Where am I at? 23.

23. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. That's a huge passage. I'm going to read this here in the message. He says, I want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. I know I read that part already, but it says, for no matter how significant you are, if it is only because of what you're a part of, an enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine eye telling hand, get lost, I don't need you? Or the head telling the foot, you're fired. Your job's been phased out. As a matter of fact, in practice, it works the other way. The lower part, the more basic and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own. body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether that part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair? The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church. Every part dependent on every other

part. The parts we mention and the parts we don't. The parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt and in the healing. And if one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. Man. God, how I wish. This is what my prayer is for House of Rest. Not the biggest church, the biggest choir or the nicest camera system, but to have a church like this where we are there for each other and when one succeeds, we all succeed. I mean, isn't that something to pray for? Man. Amen. Thank you so much for that. You know what? You get two of them. You're going to get the 10 co-meowments and the spread cat. Paula, thank you. All right. That's a prayer to pray for, man. For real. Verse 27. And I love it. He's telling, he's reminding the Corinthian church. I have a feeling though that these people were arguing about this stuff. And that's why he's saying this. He's like, Hey, we need each other here. Verse 27 says, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues are all apostles or all prophets are all teachers. Do all work miracles. Do all possess gifts of healing. Do all speak with tongues. Do all interpret. He says, but earnestly desire the higher gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way. Wow. And the message, he says, you are Christ's body. That's who you are. He's letting us know the church. You must never forget this. See, we can't guys, regardless if you're in ministry, regardless if you're volunteering, if you are pastoring, if you're on the worship team, what good is it if you worship, if there's nobody else doing anything else? We have to remind ourselves, we are part of his body apart from it. We're nothing. But when we're part of his body, we're something not because of us, but because of him. He says, you must never forget who you are. You are the body of Christ. He says, only as you accept your part of that body, does your part mean anything? You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his body. How many of you have seen the movie, the temptations or the five heartbeats? Remember that one? Now it's probably not. Temptations. Remember that guy, Dave Ruffin? I'm Dave Ruffin. There are no temptations without me, you know. Now I'm not a singer, but one thing I know that the temptations were very famous for, because they knew how to sing harmony. There was a guy with the deep voice, and there was that one with the real high pitch voice. And man, but when they sang together,

It was amazing and what happens when a group gets famous is one starts thinking he's more important than the rest and he goes and tries to do a solo album and it don't work because he's just one of the voices of the four or five harmony and people got used to because they're like hey I mean you sang good when you sang with the other five now you sound like you're missing instruments Sandra thank you so much let's see let's see what you're gonna get well this ain't for you but this J cat still needs salvation he's always mad texting but you get the cat the baptizer thank you you know cats don't like water but he came up holy so this is you know these are these things that are things we need to talk about and understand you know that we can't forget that we work together and and you know the temptation example I used the same thing happens in the church that oh you operate in a prophetic so do I so do I let's start our own thing now you got a whole bunch of people prophesying to each other but ain't nobody evangelizing ain't nobody preaching ain't nobody singing ain't nobody doing nothing else they're just giving prophetic word to each other or a bunch of preachers hanging out preaching to each other you know there's that saying that what is this singing to the choir yes sir I wanted to share this with you guys it's about you know when you were talking earlier that we need each other yeah this says right here well what person in the church is hurting we all feel it but what person is honored we all celebrate we are a team and we are we're a team connected in Christ thank you yeah to care for each other what is it carry each other's birds yeah you know like like the other day I think on Sunday I joked around because Juan and Marina weren't in church because they had a baby five hours before service they could have still made it but I mean but we celebrated you know when Felix and Rebecca when they had the baby we celebrated because that's a happy I mean babies are blessing and when there's tragedy that has hit this family we cry with you you know it hurts it hurts when when you see somebody you love go through some pain it hurts you you know and this is this is doing life because like it says when one part of the body hurts the whole body hurts

stub your toe see what happens man you feel that everywhere or you hit your funny bone it ain't funny amen okay so I don't think I finished reading this did I the message it says you are Christ's body that's who you are you must never forget this only as you accept your part of that body does your part mean anything you're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church which is his body apostles prophets teachers miracle workers healers helpers organizers those who pray in tongues but it's obvious by now isn't it that Christ Church is a complete body and not a gigantic undimensional part it's not all Apostle it's not all prophet not all miracle worker not all healer not all prayer in tongues not all interpreter of tongues and yet some of you keep competing for so-called important parts but now I want to lay out a far better way for you you know in the in the past I was in the music industry and then we were involved with some films also and it's kind of not fair because the least important person is actually the actor in front of the camera and many times the least important artist a music artist is the one in front of the mic He gets all the praise, she gets all the praise, the autographs, all that stuff. Ain't nobody trying to get an autograph from the engineer, from the producer, from the musician, from the guy holding the camera, from the director, from the writer of that film. Everybody just sees the person in front of the camera, or the person in front of the stage. Or even in a concert, everybody sees the person on stage, but nobody gives applause to the person that put the stage up. In the same way. I love that it says here, where's it at, in the message,

well, in the ESV it says, administrating, helping. You know, you guys see me preach, you don't see the stuff Sharon does. Or you see me preach, but you don't see who cleans this place. Who opens up. When the church first started, I had to be the one to open up the church, way, even before I met you. Because I started, I was pastoring already before I met Sharon. And it was all kinds of dysfunctional happen, all kinds of stuff. But I would show up late to my own church. I would show up on Sunday, with 15 people waiting for me, to open, so I could preach. That is embarrassing now. I mean, white people didn't leave and just go to the church down the street, that's crazy. Now, I don't have to do that. Praise God, because then you guys would be standing outside waiting. I walk in, and usually somebody's there and opens it. I mean, I have a key, but somebody opens it. The lights are on, the sound is going. Things are happening.

If you take all those people out of it, it goes back to me showing up late, and everybody waiting for me to open up. Oh, but everybody, you know, oh, Pastor David, what about all the other stuff that built up to that Sunday? All the other stuff that built up to that Wednesday? You know, and that's important. You know, even media, right? They're always telling me that I never give them props. You know, Abraham and Benjamin. But how would you be able to hear without the stuff they do? Those of you online, how would you be able to see this stream if it wasn't for Abraham and Benjamin? Even though they mess up and forget to unmute stuff. It happens. It's the little things, guys. You know, so I like that because I love the fact that he said not only apostles and prophets, like those are all the exciting stuff, right? But then he says the gift of helping and administrating. That stuff's important, too. You're just like, you might be like, you know what? I'm not a preacher. I don't have a singing voice, and I can't greet people. I look mad all the time. But man, I can really, I know administration.

You know, okay, if you have a gift of administration, I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm so unministered. What would be the opposite of administration? I'm that. How would you say the opposite of administrative? Thank you. It would take an administrative person to say that. I'm gonna tell you something. I know we need it, but because I'm so non-administrative, I don't know how to ask for it. Sharon does an amazing job for only the two hands that she has, but if you have that skill, that gift, we need you. Would you say you need that? Anyways, just saying. Oh, almost there. We need that, and you just gotta be stubborn, man, because I'm so un-administrative that. I don't know how to ask, but when it comes back to this, I love what he's saying, because he's saying, listen, all of us make it happen together, all of us collectively, and I love that because not only was he talking to the church in Corinth, I believe that through the Holy Spirit he's talking to the church now, and we all need help, all of us, but together we can make it happen. You know, there's something I remember, I told Marcello one time, Marcello sitting in the hospital, like I said, no excuse, I mean it's been two days since he had surgery, but whatever, Marcello, I'm mad enough. What's messed up is if he's laughing, it's gonna hurt him, because I called him earlier, and I said I cracked a joke, and oh, I'm sorry, dude, I'm not supposed to say something funny to you. Abram Rodriguez, thank you so much, bro. Look, you get the pirate cat, he has a sword, and it turns into a sword, so all right. Marcello, one time I told him, hey,

we need to do this, and this, and this, and he goes, oh, and he goes, cool, cool, cool. A month and a half passed by, I didn't do it, and he called me on it, and he's like, hey, Ru, you said that you were gonna do this, and this, and this, and I'm just like, oh yeah, I forgot, you know, and guys, sometimes we need that, we need reminding. There's something that Tino keeps reminding about, and I always keep forgetting, and he's like, oh, I'm not gonna forget, I'm gonna keep asking, and I want him to, honestly, because I really, I'm not shining, I'm not shining you on, brother, I just, I forget, I'm bad with that. That's not administrative, yeah, right, right there, yeah, all right, the thing about the body, the thing about the body, yeah, is Paul just described Voltron, yeah, Voltron, right, he just described Voltron, you know, one thing about it is, is I've noticed that some people get caught up in being a foot, and then they think that's all they can be for the rest of their time here, that understanding that they grow from being a foot, because sometimes you need to be an arm, sometimes you need to be a hand, sometimes you need to be the heart, sometimes you need to be the person with the faith like Raven, you know what I'm saying, because that, there's, because not everybody is on their, on their toes like that. We like to say that we come in 10 toes down, but we come in failing, and I know that there's been many times in many places I've been where somebody, instead of them just being a foot, they were a leg, and they really were able to pick me up and keep me going, whatever their gift was, and they don't even practice that gift, and I think the body is so underrated when it comes into the church, so when you say that the church is on life support, ICU, and then he says that it's on life support, when I think of life support, I think of a machine breathing for us, yeah, and that's God doing what he's doing. It's good to always say that California is Sodom and Gomorrah, but then I read, I started really paying attention to Sodom and Gomorrah, and he said if there's life, I'll keep it, and California is still here, and I know people like California is still here, so that's all I got to say. No, I agree. I agree. Go ahead. The church that we used to go to when we lived in the Bay Area, our pastor, Pastor Cañon, he used to say, you know, there's the head of the church, but you need the neck to support the head, but also, he'd say, like how the man is the head of the household, but who's the neck? It's that lady that's behind him that holds him up, and you need the neck support to move that head to hold the head up. I got a big head, so. She's got the neck.

I think it is true what she's saying because, like, the man is the one that, like, he's the leader, and then the woman is the one supporting the man. It is. When I first met Sharon and she knew I was pastoring House of Rest, at that time it was maybe 50 people. And she was like, well, who's this or who does that? I was like, I just preach. Like I opened the building, I turned the lights on and turned the sound on, and then I preached. And I think she thought I was exaggerating until she got here. There was no rhyme or reason to anything other than you're going to hear a sermon, you know. I didn't even know how to do altar calls. I did not know how to do altar calls at all, because I learned to preach in prison. And I would just keep preaching, keep preaching, until the sound would ring for everybody to run back to their cells. And if you didn't get back to your cell in five minutes, you were going to get in trouble. So I would just keep preaching, and preaching, and preaching, and brring, and that. So I never learned to give an altar call, you know. And it was crazy back then. We didn't have anything going on. I came in from a ministry that did have a lot of structure, had ministries, and all of that. And I'm thankful for them teaching me leadership and having those structures. And I'm thankful that I was able to come in. And I asked him, well, can we start children's?

Can we start this? And he said, yes, let's do it. And I think that's where we were able to put some ministries together. And we were able to put in women's, and children's, and worship, and everything. And we started small, but I think that ministries began to form. And I think we slowly, the Lord began to form different ministries. And the Lord just started to grow different things and ministries from there. Yeah. There's these, what do they call the doctors where they're training still? What do we call them? The residents. Is it? Well, no, there's a teaching. It's a teaching hospital. That's the one. Oh, Enrique, you had something? Yeah, I just wanted to say, I think the gist of this portion of scripture that Paul was facing, whatever letter they sent to him, is that I think there in Corinth, they were starting to think that certain positions were more important. And I think as humanity, we start to feel that way. I agree.

We're in the spotlight. We think that ours is more important than the toe, or the foot, or the hand. And what Paul's trying to get across is that, you know what? We're all important, regardless if you think that you're just this. It doesn't matter if you're the toe or the finger. That's why he's saying that we're all baptized into the same spirit. We're all working at that same part. We all have to function together in order for this thing to work properly. And just because of our nature, we start to see it that way. Sometimes we feel inferior to someone because of their status or their office. And he doesn't want us to be that way. Because we have to learn to work together in order to make this thing happen. And they were dealing with that there in the war. Yeah. Man, that's a great summary, actually. You summarized it very well. That's really, really good. And I think for anyone, for anybody, I think that's why it's so important that we never forget where we come from. And that we never think that, like, we should not be able to, like, when we come in and stuff, it's like, I don't feel bad cleaning the bathroom.

If I can clean that bathroom, then anybody should be able to. You get what I'm saying? It's like, we should be able to do the exact same things that everybody else does. It's like, we should never be as superior or as, you know. It's like, that's the way it works. It's like, it is what it is. This is who we are. We do not forget where we come from. And I think that's important, because we're balanced. We're all the same, just like you said. And I think those things are important to just remember that, stay humble. Just as if you were at home, I mean, you may be one person or two people living in the house. But if we don't work together to clean the bathroom, to do the laundry, nothing's going to get done. And it's just going to, you know, so a lot of work together to take care of all those errands. And it's like different errands that need to be done. This is our home. This is our home. This is our home. This is our house. Our home. You heard that brother, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, he does a lot of work. I was going to say, if he doesn't approve. Say that one. Mm-hmm. They call me Mr. Stove Cleaner. Mr. Stove Cleaner? Oh, my stove looks like it's brand new. Oh, you gotta visit us then. My neighbors call me that. And they call me a kid. I heard you're the stove cleaner. Come visit us. I'm a fanatic with that. She said, you did like your mom. Your mom, real quick, my mom used to come over and visit us. When she comes over, she says, Oh, hi, Milo. And she's putting her hand on top of the door. She was in the dust. Oh, I'm sorry. That's how it goes. I gave her my key and I said, you don't work, you can have my key and you can come in and take care of whatever else I've done that I'm not doing right. Porque tiene ropa, tiene comida. You don't have no dirty chones.

Dirty chones. I wanted to finish off by saying that a lot of the times when Sharon has specialists or especially neurosurgeons and things like that, they always have students around them. They're always at like where they're teaching. And I think that's something that, what I want to say is this, is that if there's an office where there's different doctors and then students that are learning and if we could do that to a church, I'll say this is it here. There's a lot of stuff that I don't know how to do. I don't know how to administrate that. So give me some grace and instead of critiquing, say hey, I notice this is lacking here. I'm just saying it's lacking. Can I come alongside you? Because I probably don't have the answer to that. And that's something that we do need though.

And that's something that's very important. And I think if we can see ourselves as a teaching church not as a well we know it all church. I think that would make for a healthier church. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You You You You Well Well Well 7. Well Well Well Well Well Well Well I love you, Lord, for your mercy never fails me. And all my days I've been held in your hands.

From the moment that I wake up until I lay in my head, Lord, oh, I'm conceived of the goodness of God. Because all my life you have been faithful. Because all my life you have been so, so good. Every breath that I am able, oh, I'm conceived of the goodness of God. I love your voice. You have led me through the fire. In darkest nights, you are close like no other. I knew you as a father. I know you as a friend. Yes, I have been in the goodness of God. Yeah. Because all my life you have been faithful. Yeah. Because all my life you have been so, so good. Every breath that I am able, oh, I'm conceived of the goodness of God. Your goodness is running out. It's running out on me. Your goodness is running out. It's running out on me. To my life made donor, surrender now. I give you everything. Your goodness is running out. It's running out on me. Your goodness is running out. It's running out on me. Your goodness is running out. It's running out on me.

To my life made donor, surrender now. I give you everything. Your goodness is running out. It's running out on me. Because all my life you have been faithful. Because all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, oh, I'm conceived of the goodness of God. of the goodness of God. Come on, just sing it to me. All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am taking. Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God. Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you. Yay! Yes. I've tried so hard to see it. Took me so long to believe it. But you've chosen one life for me. To carry your victory. Perfection can never earn it. If you give what we don't deserve, then you take the broken piece and raise them to glory. You are my champion. Giants fall when you stand undefeated. Every battle you won. I am who you say I am.

Count me with confidence. I am seated in the heavenly place undefeated. You're the one who has conquered it all. I can one piece be it. Teach me how to receive it. So let all the strivings be. This is my victory. You are my champion. Giants fall when you stand undefeated. Every battle you won. I am who you say I am. Count me with confidence. I am seated in the heavenly place undefeated. You're the one who has conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. And when I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. You are my champion. Giants fall and you stand undefeated. Every battle you've won. I am who you say I am. You crown me with confidence. I am seated in the heavenly place.

Undefeated by the one who has conquered it all. I am seated in the heavenly place. Undefeated by the one who has conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. You are my champion. Giants fall and you stand undefeated. Every battle you've won. I am who you say I am. You crown me with confidence. I am seated in the heavenly place. Undefeated by the one who has conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, it's a meeting to greet each other. God bless you. Thank you for coming. Nice to see you.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Welcome to our midweek teaching service at the House of Rest Church, where Jesus is a senior pastor. We have a seat with your name on it. We appreciate you spending your Wednesday evening with us. Established in 2011, we are still going strong in the name of Jesus. Here is our QR code, where you can find out everything you need to know about us. Our schedule, giving, events, Bible school, and services. The QR code is posted everywhere in the church's lobby and other rooms. Make sure to check often. There is always something to do. Thank you for joining us at House of Rest Church Modesto. We are a graced international church with over 5,000 churches worldwide. Welcome home. Amen, amen, amen. I know they're releasing the children. Angel, who's being released? Both young adults and youth. Amen, God bless everyone that's here. Thank you so much for being here on this Wednesday. We're always excited to have our Wednesday Bible study as House of Rest. Oh, yeah, Wessack in the house. There's a Wessack cat right there for you guys. All right. Also, shout out to Anthony De La Garza.

God bless each and every one of you guys, those of you that are here, those of you that are watching through their screens. You know, we've been, wait, what's the, you know what? We passed our 15-year anniversary and didn't even mention it. Oh my gosh, yes we did. Yeah. Not our marriage one, House of Rest. House of Rest anniversary. House of Rest anniversary was May 15th, was 15 years actually. Amen. Everyone thought it was our anniversary on Facebook, and I just wanted to post a picture of us, but our anniversary is actually in October. But amen, 15 years as a church. You know, statistically speaking, they say church is the first hump to pass is the first two years, but after four years, 80% don't make it. Four years. We've been here for 15 and are still growing. Praise God, right? So thank you guys for coming. Every Wednesday we've been doing this Bible study. Wednesday Bible study has been the backbone of this church. A lot of times people think it's on Sunday. To me, Sunday is a celebration, a Sunday to see each other, a Sunday of fellowship. But the meat is served on Wednesday.

We are a Bible-believing church. Not only that, we want to be a church that understands not only the Bible, but the context of it. I think that it's important for us to apply the Bible to our life, but we need to know the context of it first. And I think it's a great disservice if we don't understand the context. But man, when we can understand the context of what is written in the Bible and what was the who, what, why, where, then, and then apply it to our life, it is powerful. And it allows us to grow deep roots. And when troubles come, when times come, that's when that's gonna matter. When we go through life, because life brings issues, brings problems, brings trauma, brings all kinds of stuff. Being a Christian does not mean that we're not gonna go through those things. Being a Christian means Jesus is gonna be with you, no matter what, through it. Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. That's what the word of God says. Never says that he will take us out of situations, but he promises that he will be with us through situations. And so we have been doing this series. I'm not sure how long it's gonna take. It's on the screen. The Life of Following Jesus.

And I thought it was important for 20, this might take the whole year, but that's okay. I think it's important to learn how to live as Christians. I think that's the issue nowadays, is people say, man, I wanna learn the Bible, but I want to, how do I live this thing out? How do I live it out in my marriage, in my family, at my workplace, at my school? How do I live Christianity out? And especially in this day and age where many times your Christian beliefs are fought against and come against and it's just an interesting time to be a believer right now. And so that way we can know and understand what the word of God is saying and what God is expecting from us. So we're going to dive right into 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It's the famous passage that are read in many weddings. And that's fine, but let's get a deeper understanding of what it is, because even though it goes great with weddings, that's not what this chapter was about at first. So we wanna get a deeper understanding of that. And we're gonna just dive right into it. Let's bow our heads and pray, Lord God, we thank you so much for this opportunity. to be together, to share, to read your scriptures, to read your word, open up our hearts and our minds to receive what it is that you want to teach us, Lord.

I pray for every person that's here and those that are watching through their screen in the name of Jesus. Lord God, I pray, Lord God, for your mercy. I pray for your healing in the name of Jesus, whether we need healing in our hearts or healing in our bodies, Lord. You, Lord God, are the surgeon of all surgeons and the doctor of all doctors. There's nothing impossible for you. You are all powerful. You are the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, Lord God. Every knee shall bow, confess that you are Lord. And I thank you, Lord God. I thank you, Lord God, because I would rather, Lord God, bow to you now as my Lord than later as my judge. I thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, 1 Corinthians chapter 13. And we're gonna just go ahead and dive right into this. You know, some context a little bit. Those of you that have been here for the last few weeks understand that the city of Corinth is an interesting city. It was probably the most dysfunctional church out of all the churches. And that makes me feel good because sometimes we can be dysfunctional, so I don't feel alone. And there's all kinds of stuff going on in this church.

One thing I noticed that we have noticed is that even though there was issues in this church, the power of God moved in this church. And that gives me encouragement. But I like this next chapter because it puts everything in perspective because sometimes we can lose our focus. Even in ministry, even in preaching, even in having Sunday service or everything we do, sometimes we start out about the people, but then it's like, oh, we gotta make the service perfect. We gotta do this right. We gotta do that right. And there's nothing wrong with that because we should do things with excellence for the Lord. We should do things the best we can. Everything we do, do it unto the Lord. So if you're gonna have somebody over your house, do you give them just, you bring A.M.P.M. burgers and serve it to them? No, you wanna give them something good, even though I would be happy with the A.M.P.M. burger. I'm just saying. But you wanna give the best. So we should have a heart to wanna give God our best, right? And even like in companies, I remember one time I was, I always go to, when I go to Best Buy, nobody helps me. It's like pulling teeth to get anyone to help you. But one day I went and everybody wanted to help me.

And I'm like, this is the Twilight Zone. And then I realized that one of the main regionals was there. So when a regional was there, everybody's like, oh, can I help you, sir? That's why, because they wanted to do their best because the regional manager was in the house. Well, we have something greater than a regional master, a manager, I mean. Well, he is a master. And we wanna do our best. But sometimes we wanna do the best so much that we forget what we're doing it for. We wanna have a great service because Jesus loves us and he loves the people that are coming. We wanna have a clean church because we want people, people deserve to use a clean bathroom or sit in a clean place. You know, all these things we do can turn into about not even the people anymore. And I think that's important as we go into. So look, we're gonna dive right in. Like I said, I know I said that five minutes ago, but chapter 13, verse one, it says this. He says, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. In the message Bible, it says, if I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy, but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking

of a rusty gate. I mean, honestly, we could sit and talk the whole hour about this verse just alone because I love the fact that he is saying, listen, I can preach with the best of them and speak in tongues, the louder than anyone, but if I don't love, it's like just an ugly noise. And I think as Christians, we need to remember that. What good is having an amazing church, an amazing service? this and this and that and all this stuff, if we don't love each other, then it's just noise to the ears of God. And I know that we all love differently. As people, we love differently. I was watching this funny video on Facebook, and it said, this is how Hispanic fathers show love when he barbecues. Anybody else seen it? What do you do? I do it, too. My daughter sent it to me, because since my kids are little, and I'm barbecuing, I'd be like, mija, come here. And I'd give her a piece, right? There was like, there's like something special about that. And my kids still remember that to this day, you know? So there's different ways we love. But nevertheless, we love. Like, I have been accused of not caring for people in the church. But if, when something really goes down, I'm the one that's going to be there. I'm the one that's worried. I'm the one that's concerned. I wake up, you know, and I'm like, oh, have you talked to so and so? They just had their baby. And I'll ask you, you know? And it's like, because I care, you know? And I'm not this person. I'm not going to be all hugging on you and everything. I'm not that type of dude. But I care. And I understand what's going on, and I know what's going on. And a lot of times, I'll ask Sharon, because she's the one that talks to people more, be like, but I'm just like, hey, how's so and so doing? You know? They're out of the hospital. Are they at home yet? Things like that. But anyways, so Paul says, it doesn't matter if I can preach the best sermons and I speak like an angel. If I don't love, it's just noise. In verse 2, it says, and if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And the Message Bible says, if I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a

mountain, jump, and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. You know, we had our grocery giveaway on Saturday, and it's been, what, six months since we had one, maybe? It's been months since we've had one. Huh? December. And so many people showed up. Something gave me the bright idea to put it on TikTok. It got 30,000 views. The lines were backed up all the way around the block. And I remember saying to some of the people, let's not forget what we're doing this for. One woman gave us a letter that she wrote that she didn't have any food for her daughter, and she was praying to God on Friday night. She didn't know what to do. And within minutes, somebody sent her our link, because I had posted videos up Friday saying Saturday, we're going to have groceries. And within minutes, somebody sent that to her, and she just started bawling. And she came and got groceries. There was so much need. You know what the worst part was? Was that we ran out, and there was still a line of people around the block. But, guy, I saw you guys hustling, man. Some of you were just like, like Juan, you were just like going crazy. Brother Ruben, loading cars, you know, a bunch of you guys. But, you know, I didn't see you guys complain, because I think you realized the need, because you did it with love. Because if it's all about, oh, let's take selfies and show ourselves getting people groceries, it wasn't about that. It was about, you were, we were literally putting food in people's tables. And maybe it's not a whole lot, and maybe it's not as much as we would have loved to give, but it's something. And as long as we keep that in our heart, like, why, why, why? I were doing it, because if not, then it just becomes noise. And I love the fact that Paul says, even if I have prophetic gifts, what good is it? What good is it having prophetic gifts, laying hands on the sick, or casting out demons, and we make it about us and not about the person? You know, I've had people, I've prayed for people for healing, and they get healed, and I have other people say, oh, that ain't fake, that's fake, and that ain't real, I'm like, believe what you want, but that person left with no pain, I don't care what you believe. But if it's not in love, then what is it about? Everything we do. And he even says, man, if I have the faith to move mountains, and the mountain moves, but I don't do it in love, then what good is it for?

And I love that, because he's bringing this all back, it's like he's coming full circle with the church in Corinth, and he's like, you guys have all the gifts, but what good is it? It means nothing. In verse three, it says, if I give away all that I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. And the message, he says, if I give everything I own to the poor, and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. Wow. So even our sacrifices mean nothing. Marcelo, thank you so much, brother. And because I want you to feel better, you get the super cat. Thank you, brother. Feel better in the name of Jesus. He's recovering from his surgery, and he's not recovering as quick as we had hoped. He says in verse four, he says, wait, actually, three, I'm still reading it here. If I give everything I own to the poor, and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, or what I believe, and what I do, I am bankrupt without love. And I think this needs to be told to all of us, this needs to be reminded to all of us, this needs to be a reminder to myself, David, this is why you preach, David, this is why you do these Bible studies, David, this is why we do the podcast, this is why we read the letters for the prison, this is why we do all the things we do, this is why you're usher, or you're greeter, or teaching your kids here, or helping clean the church, or evangelize, whatever it is, that it means nothing if it's not about people. You know, the Bible says to store up your treasures in heaven, well, I don't know of any ATM I can put money in heaven, I don't know anything to get anything in heaven, there's only one thing that transfers from here to heaven, and that's souls, that's it. Not your house, not your church, not your car, not your bank account, not your career, none of that, there's only one thing that transfers from earth to heaven, it's souls.

So when the Bible says to store up your treasures in heaven, then it's talking about people, and that's it. You know, even the Bible says that all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. It never says that all heaven rejoices when you have a huge revival, it doesn't say all of heaven rejoices when 10,000 demons are casted out, those are all good things, but the only time, the only time the entire Bible, all 66 books mentions of rejoicing in heaven is when one sinner repents. That's it. Bread of life, oh yeah, you got the J cat, the one that needs to be saved, there he is, he needs Jesus, look at that, all sweaty, he's just angry on his phone, he's gonna get saved one of these days, amen, and also, Gerald, you get the pirate cat, amen, thank you. All right, so this is the part that you read in, you hear a lot in weddings, but it's true, it is very true, it says love is patient and kind. Let's hold on, I like this because it's talking about without love, we're just a noisy sound, and then this 13 through, I'm sorry, four through 13 is actually defining what it is, because then somebody says, okay, how do I love them? Okay, I don't wanna. be a clanging cymbal. I don't want to be a noise. So how do I love? It says, okay, I'm going to give you exactly how. Love is patient and kind. That's a hard one for most of us. Most of you were impatient in traffic getting here. Man, if Highway 99 does not test your patience or 9th Street. But guys, love is patient and kind. I think I shared a story that I heard, it's just a story, but it's been a while since I've said it, where there was this man, there was these people on a bus and they was traveling far. And it was full of people and there was this father and his son. And the son was like Dennis the Menace. It was like little Ezra times 10. This kid was everywhere, bothering everybody, messing with everybody's stuff. And the father was just looking out the window, not even saying anything. And the people were getting fed up. And they're like, what kind of father is this? And look at this. And he doesn't control his kid. And what kind of son is he raising? Like they had so many complaints and this kid was all over the place. And finally, they finally went to a stop for like 15 minutes to use the bathroom, whatever. And the father

just slowly kind of walked off and took his son and they went to the restroom. And when they saw him walk away, all the people got around the bus driver and they're like, listen, if you let these people back on, we're staying right here. We're not getting back on that bus. And the bus driver says, I'm really sorry to hear all of you say that. I'm sorry. I'll just tell the man that he can't get on. You know, I mean, it just, I feel bad because he just buried his wife. And they're like, oh, he buried his, yeah, that little boy doesn't have a mom anymore. And the man came, got on the bus, and everybody slowly got back on the bus. And you know what happened when the bus took off? The kids started messing with him again, even worse. But the people, their perspective changed. The situation didn't change, but the perspective changed. And because they understood, they loved on the father and the little boy. They tolerated because they understood. Do you realize most of the people that you have no patience with are broken? We have all been through things. We come into this place of worship and we're looking for perfection, but it's just a building of a bunch of broken people. And you think you're the only one that's been through stuff. You think you're the only one that is shattered. You think you're the only one not realizing everybody front behind you, behind you, even the pastor is broken, trying to reach out to a perfect God. Santos, thank you, brother. You get the pastor cat. Love is patient and love is kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant. In the message it says love never gives up. And love cares more for others than for self. And love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head. Love is not rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. In the message it says it doesn't force itself on others. It's not always me first. It doesn't just fly off the handle. In verse six, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing. You know when somebody messes up and you're like, oh, like you're happy. That's not love. But rejoices with the truth. love bears all things believes all things hopes all things and endures all things and the message it says love doesn't fly off the handle doesn't keep score of the sins of others let's let's say that one again love doesn't keep score of the sins of others doesn't revel when others grovel doesn't take pleasure in the takes pleasure in the flowering of truth and puts up with anything and trust god always and always looks for the best

and never looks back but keeps going to the end and that's verse in the message but i'm gonna i'm gonna finish reading it here it says love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things wow i don't know about you but i gotta work on some of this am i the only one okay i you know if we would give people a quarter of the chance we give ourselves a lot of times we justify our own actions but quick to drop the hatchet on somebody else and i think this is a lesson for all of us this is not an easy thing especially in this day and age where everything is is suspicious everything hasn't we find an agenda with everything somebody's nice to you and you're like what do they really want what they want from me can't even do something nice for somebody brother i got to the point where i told my agent like i don't know what this is about but whatever it is i don't want it but it was hard for me to understand that christ love yeah yeah right i um i i put this i posted this thing on facebook a few days ago that once a lot of times people in relationships you've been hurt so much that when some somebody good comes along you self-sabotage that relationship because you're like it's going to mess up anyway so i might as well just blow this thing up myself and people come into ministry and they come with church hurt and all these things so much that when something really comes along you self-sabotage yourself and we need to quit doing that because god wants to give you good things but sometimes we are the ones that self-sabotage the very things god wants to give us because he's a good god but we've been hurt so much backstabbed so much betrayed so much hated on so much that we're so suspicious of everything now that we have a a calloused heart and it's almost like we we keep record record be like oh okay that way when that person hurts you you just got 10 darts right in your pocket ready to shoot at them and it's weird how is it that god forgives us he says he throws our sins as far as the east is from the west and

throws them into the deepest ocean him being god but we don't forget nothing but we expect the forgiveness of god we want him to be merciful to us can you imagine if every time you slipped up messed up stumbled a little bit that god threw everything of your past on you you know what's crazy is that i've been out of prison now 15 years but i guarantee you if i do a crime tonight the judge is going to bring up my whole record as if it's not a crime as if as if the last 15 years of no crimes mean it meant nothing i guarantee you that would happen and god doesn't do that to us i think sometimes yeah thank you lord right can you imagine having to hear everything that he had against us man thank god sometimes i feel like that's why in the book of revelations it says that he will wipe away every tear because i think when we see him even though he forgot the sins that we have caused because we're washing his blood i truly believe we're going to cry because we haven't forgot the things we have done against him and we're going to tell him i deserve hell lord i deserve hell i don't deserve you and a tear is going to come down and he's going to wipe away your tear and he say come and abide with me forever you are not in here because of your goodness you're here because you are covered in my blood you are washed clean in my blood all the things that you did against me i nailed them to my cross wow that must be a heavy cross man because even just the sins in this room would collapse a building imagine the sins of the world past present and future and he had nailed them to his cross yeah what's that one saying or says that nails didn't hold them to the cross his love did it so how is it that out of all the religions of the world we serve a god who is loving but sometimes in the church we're the least loving we're the least forgiving man verse eight it says love never ends as for prophecies they will pass away as for tongues they will cease as for knowledge it will pass away for we know in part and we prophesy in part and we prophesy in part in in the message it says love never dies

inspired speech will be over someday praying and tongues will end understanding will reach its limit i love that because because a lot of times do you know real quick little footnote some people that believe that um the gifts are no longer in play now they believe they were only in play in the book of acts and in the gospels they will use this scripture out of context to say see it says here that that um where we at the prophecies will pass away and tongues will cease and they'll use this scripture um but here's the thing when we are in the presence of god that's when it ends because what reason is there to have prophecy when we are all there what good is it to have tongues if we're all there what good is it to to seek knowledge if having been with him we will have all knowledge those things are not yet here yet because there's still a need for those things now that's why it says here inspired speech will will be over someday when we're in heaven there's going to be no need for preachers because the pastor will be there the pastor of all pastors you know a lot of the sad songs we sing about the cross we ain't going to sing those in heaven because there ain't no reason to sing about the cross in heaven because there ain't no reason to sing about the cross in heaven there's going to be rejoicing there's going to be praise we're not going to be in the presence of god in heaven song about the old rugged cross we're going to be singing that song we're going to be rejoicing a new song like the way the bible says that when they crossed over the red sea and and the waters uh drowned the egyptian army and it says in miriam the sister of of moses sang a new song yeah ain't no time for sad songs in the presence of the lord we're going to be rejoicing So, I'm going to read that again, that part, it says, love never ends, it's for prophecies they will pass away, for tongues they will cease, for knowledge it will pass away. Verse 9, for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. It says we only know a portion of the truth. Right here now, right?

I don't care, you could be the greatest scholar in the world, you still don't understand God. There's people that have been, I was talking, we were talking to Pastor Thomas, he's been in ministry now, I believe 52 years as a pastor. And he, somebody asked a question over dinner, and he says, I've been reading the Bible all my 52 years of my life in Christ. He goes, and I still don't understand him. He reads the Bible over every year. Yeah, over every year. Every year, over and over. And he says, I still, he goes, I could live a hundred and still not understand everything about God, because God is infinite. That would be like, what is the lifespan of a mosquito or a fly? Trying to figure out life. It doesn't exist. Yeah. Yeah, if it's around me, it ain't going to last long. In the same way, the Bible says that our life is but a vapor. And here we are thinking we're super smart, understanding everything. God's like, man, you're here for a second, gone. You're wasting all your time trying to understand me. How about wasting that little time you got and reach more people for me? We're trying to gain all this knowledge for what? So we can take it to the grave? How about sharing Jesus? The death, the burial, and the resurrection? It says we only know a portion of the truth. I'm reading the message. But what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. And then it goes into this other part that I really, really love.

And I know many of you have heard it many times. Paul writes, he says, when I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. And the message says, when I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like an infant. And when I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. I had this young man message me half hour before study. And he says, I just got out of prison on Tuesday. He says, can I ask you a question? I said, yeah. He says, I don't want to go back. How do I change? And we were in the middle of getting ready, in the middle of doing all this and that. And I sat right where Sharon is at, and I started writing him. Because I know what that feels like. And this young man was crying out. And I said, it's not complicated. I said, you just have to make a commitment. I said, I cried out to the Lord. And I made a commitment to him. I said, and as simple as that sounds, we overcomplicate things. And we just have to simply let go and just throw ourselves at the feet of the Savior. You know, Paul, he's basically saying, man, when I was in the world, I acted like the world, but I'm not in the world anymore. So I got to put away worldly things. And that's the thing. A lot of times, we want to serve God, but we want to do it on our, on the way we want to serve God.

On our terms. Oh, that's just the way I am. Really? I thought you're a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away. All things have become new. Oh, I just don't let people tell me nothing. What do you mean? The Bible says that you're dead. So which is it? Because if you're always offended, that's a sign that you're not dead. Because I can go to the cemetery over here on Scenic and just start telling all those dead people off, and nobody can argue with me. You know why? Because they're dead. But the Bible said, it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So if you're constantly getting offended and mad, maybe you haven't died to Christ yet. And I've had people tell me like man, what what why do you let this person offended you that person offended you and I'm like man I forgot That's right. I'm supposed to be mad at you You know why because I'm not it's not cuz like I'm anybody special but I just believe his word I Believe his word because the Lord forgives me and he forgave me He forgave me of things that he should have never forgave me for he forgave me for things I don't understand how he could forgive somebody like me much less have me preached a gospel Much less have the honor to share his word. I don't understand it and because he did that for me It doesn't feel good to be offended it doesn't feel good to to be Disrespected or be betrayed. I've been betrayed a lot of times and this and that but you know what ultimately I'm like, man, I'm not gonna carry that that that's on that person not me Because the Lord forgave me I'm not gonna walk around. I'm not gonna carry other people's loads

Because you know, I read the Bible and I read the Bible and I read the Bible and I read the Bible and I Remember a pastor when I told them I was gonna pastor a church someday. He tried everything to convince me to never do it He's like And I kept telling him yeah, man, I'm gonna pastor. I'm gonna pastor He's like man, maybe you're just excited cuz you're out of prison and you know, maybe maybe you know I don't like no I'm gonna pastor the Lord gave me a name house of rest Church and I'm gonna pastor a church and he Was trying to convince me not to Everything in his power. He's a pastor to this day And over dinner Three months in trying to convince me He's like I'm not gonna convince you am I I was like, no, you're not. I said he gave me a mission. I Said I shouldn't be out here. I shouldn't be alive. I shouldn't be in freedom. I said they were telling me 23 years to life And I'm here out on the streets six years later. I Said man, everything I have is for him and I will preach his gospel to my last dying breath I said my prayer my prayer. However long life I have that my last words will be his name If it's in a deathbed if it's on a chopping block as Christianity is illegal, I will scream his name as my neck comes off And he says I can't convince you can I Said no, and he says then let me give you this advice He's a David if you carry all the weight of your Congregation and the issues and the problems and the betrayals and the backstabbing if you carry that he says in five years You will be the most bitter pastor in the world And I said, so what do I do He was you get all the baggage they throw on you and you leave it at the feet of Christ You leave it at the feet of Christ and keep it going you leave it at the feet of Christ and keep it moving He was because if not, you were gonna be bitter and angry and you will hate your congregation You will hate ministry and this this whole thing would just feel like a burden instead of a freedom And there was wisdom in that and

I'm gonna lie. Sometimes I carry that stuff and Then I remember I'm like, wait a second. Why does ministry feel so heavy? And I'm walking around like this like Santa man. Why is mystery and I'm like, oh I'm carrying this And I go on my bike ride And I'm like Lord, I'm leaving this to you Because this bike feels real heavy right now and I'm just gonna leave this to you Lord and Boom the weight comes off And He says when I was a child I spoke like a child that thought like a child I reason like a child when I became a man I gave up childish ways Verse 12 says for now we see in the mirror dimly But then face-to-face Some of you know what them prison mirrors look like it's just a piece of metal all scratched up people's names All right Flaco el choco, you know, okay, you know the little lowrider face you're trying to see yourself in it It's just a shiny piece of The metal supposed to be it ain't no mirror because it feels a mirror be glass fills a glass and you're shanking somebody and just That don't work out quite well So just a piece of shiny metal and that's your mirror no matter what even if it's a new one it's warped so you can't really see what you look like you look like all weird like you're in a circus or a carnival and Unfortunately through this life through this world We're trying to see God in our issues and our problems and and and our betrayals and all the things that we've gone through We're trying to see God through it and no matter what it's warped So we only get a glimpse of God. That's that's what that says This is for now we see in the mirror dimly like a dark mirror He says but then we will see him face to face The day will come when he will not be warped the day will come when it will be clear The day will come when he will stand in front of you in the same way. I'm sitting before you

Can you imagine that someday the God that you serve you're gonna be able to see him? Face to face and Paul says now I know in part then I shall know fully Even as I have been fully known and the message it says we don't yet see things clearly We're squinting in the fog peering through mist But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright and We'll see it all then and we'll see it all as clearly as God sees us Knowing him directly just as he knows us Well in verse 13 It says so now faith hope and Love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love But the greatest of these is love And the message it says But as for right now until that completeness Until that moment in other words while we're still on this side of eternity It says we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation In other words, there's three things while we're here in this life Number one trust steadily in God Two is have hope unswervingly and three to love extravagantly and The best of these is love Because when we when we do things out of love all these other things fall into place When when we when when we do things in love we have hope when we do things in love we have faith and we have trust And I love the fact that that Paul is trying to say this to the church in Corinth he's like listen guys You guys are so dysfunctional, but the Spirit of God is moving here God wants to do something here, but without love you're just ugly sound What good is that You know my brother angel he's been in ministry for a long time

He's been saved a lot longer than than me he got saved when he was 18 and He got to travel to other countries and all over the United States preaching and he was I remember he would tell me he would Visit me in prison and one time he told me he was you know Some of the most known pastors I know Are the biggest jerks? I'm like what? And he was I lie man he goes It is weird. It's almost like the more known they get the more licensed they think they could just be jerks to everybody because they're so anointed and And it's moments like that that I would hear that and I would make it and I would make it like like I Would write it on my heart what not to be because I knew God was gonna call me to pastor And I'd rather learn the mistakes of others That's the best way right unless you want to make your own mistakes like a teenager You tell him and tell him and tell him and they don't learn until they make the same mistakes They're like, oh, that's what you were saying dad That's what you're talking. Yeah You know, I was trying to tell you but you want to learn the hard way see God will teach us the hard way I would just rather learn off of other people's mistakes I listen man. I pay attention when I see when I see scandals or I see pastors fall or or this or that, man, my ears are open because I want to know what not to do. And I'm not even talking about the action they did, but I always want to know like what led that. Because usually when a fall happens, the spiral began way back here. So I'm like, okay, what's the spiral? What started that spiral? Because I want to know what that is. You know, and because that's, I would rather learn off the mistake of others. That's just for real. And we're still going to make our mistakes. I mean, we're never perfect. We're never, you know, nobody's ever going to get this thing right, but why do a mistake you could learn from somebody else?

But I love that. He says now faith, hope, and love abide. These three, but the greatest of them is love. Abram, thank you so much. Let's get you one of my favorites, the Kool-Aid cat. Oh, yeah. All right. I'm going to go into verse chapter 14 a little bit. We still have a few more minutes. So once he goes into this subject here, Sandra Vargas, thank you so much. You're going to get Sharon's favorite, the cheesecake cat. It's a cat making a cheesecake wearing pearls. All right. That one's your favorite, right babe? Speaking of cheesecakes. Oh, the Christ Unbarred one. Yeah. Chapter 14 verse 1. So after he says all of these things about love, look what he says. He says pursue love. So he's like, yeah, yeah, pursue it. He says and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. This is really important, right? Because I'm going to read a message. He says go after a life of love as if your life depended on it because it does. And give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all try to proclaim his truth. You know the word prophesy doesn't mean a futuristic word all the time. The word prophesy is to speak the things of God. When you're speaking of things of God, you are prophesying. So a lot of times people think like, oh, he gave a prophetic word and into my future. No. Can prophecy be that? Yes, but if you dwindle it down, then you have basically made a prophetic word into some kind of fortune teller. That is not what the Spirit of God is.

He is not some genie in a bottle. So he says, so pursue love, desire the gifts, especially that you prophesy. In other words, especially that you learn how to speak the things of God. Because a lot of times, right, depending on what denomination you go to, it's like, oh, they put tongues way up here or they put deliverance way over here or they put prophetic word way over here and Paul's like, wait, wait, wait a second. No, you know what's more important than that is getting people saved. And how do you get people saved if you start to prophesy? You know, the greatest miracle I have seen some miracles in my life. Not not a million, but a lot. I have seen anyways a lot a lot. I'm not talking about that. I saw on TV. I saw I'm talking about me witness laid hands on somebody and a bone shifted things happen all that stuff. But you know what the greatest miracle I've ever seen is out of all that is seen my father gets saved and no longer be an alcoholic. To this day. That is the greatest miracle I have ever seen because my dad I thought I thought a beer in his hand was a part of his body. Because I grew up seeing this all the time and driving. He put it right on his legs right there and he'd be driving. That's back then and you could drink and drive with no seatbelts. That's the way it was. If he had a truck we'd all be in the back and he's just drinking on the country roads. I thought a beer was attached to my father's hand. My mom got saved when I was five years old. My dad got saved when I was eight. I still remember the day he got saved and he told me with tears in his eyes told got all of us boys and he says I'm never going to drink again because Jesus changed my life. That's the greatest thing I've ever seen and I have seen some beautiful miracles man.

A life changed. And how did that happen? Because somebody gave a prophetic word somebody prophesied the things of God. So that's why he says here he says. Earnestly. that you may prophesy. Verse 2, he says for one who speaks in the tongue speaks not to men but to God for no one understands him but he utters mysteries in the spirit. It says here in the message he says if you praise him in the private language of tongues God understands you but no one else does for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. So this is real important right because we're gonna get into tongues probably more deeply next week but I want to say this is that I want to simplify it. Tongues is like a phone. I can call somebody or somebody can call me. If somebody calls me and says hey put me on speaker that's for everybody else to hear but if I have something to say to somebody they didn't none of your business I call them. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to the men but to God for no one understands him because he utters mysteries in the spirit. So there are tongues when you are speaking to God nobody can understand it nobody will ever interpret it there's other tongues when he gives a call down and God says put it on speaker because I got some to say to the congregation and that's when Paul later on we're gonna see he says if nobody can interpret that then don't say it but if somebody can interpret it and if they can't then pray that you interpret it because that's the message God is giving to the church. So when we are worshiping God tongues is for him it ain't nobody's business but when he sends a message then pray that it interprets and if nobody interprets just stay quiet because if not then what good is it? And as I said if one speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God for no one understands him but he utters mysteries in the spirit. Verse three on the other hand the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. It says when you it says here but when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech you're letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and

be strong and experience his presence with you so even Paul was like listen man I can speak in tongues I'm speaking to God but if I'm talking to people I would rather speak in a language they understand because if I sit here and proclaim the gospel in a tongue what good is it? I want to use the language that people know so they can get saved and unfortunately sometimes I'll be honest with you sometimes you will hear me speak in tongues I don't mean to if it was up to me I would never speak in a tongue in front of any of you people because that's none of your business that's between me and God so the little time I have on a Sunday service I want to speak in a language that you can understand but sometimes I get excited and it comes out and I'm just worshiping the Lord and I forget you guys are there and I'm just happy and I just feel the spirit of God stirring in me and that's when you hear it come out I promise you it's not there to try to show off because I try to keep that between me and God because I would rather say something in English to encourage to uplift you because I take this serious when it says these men when I speak in a tongue I don't speak to men I speak to God but I can't help it sometimes but see that's a whole different thing because unfortunately sometimes we can get into denomination where it's all about tongues and people come in and they're like what's going on here and they're sitting there for 10 15 minutes hearing that when those 10 or 15 minutes they could have shared the gospel in the English language or Spanish or whatever they understand to compel them to come to Christ and when instead we use that to just between you and God and people were there like what's happening here Everything has its place. In verse 4, here's the question, so why do we need to speak in tongues for? Verse 4 says, the one who speaks in the tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church. This is why I try to keep it to myself, because I'm just like, Lord, you're going to have 200, 250 people here on Sunday, I don't have nothing to give them. So I will pray so he can build me up, so then I can come on Sunday and preach in English

and pour out to the church. The one who speaks in the tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds the church. It says here, unless someone interprets so that the church may be built up. It's really simple. You know, I go on YouTube and there's people that are four tongues and people against it and they'll have scriptures and this and that trying to figure, I'm like, it's really simple. Just read the word. It's really simple. It is important, yeah, to build yourself up, but it's more important, he says, to prophesy, to preach the gospel, to share the things of Jesus, because we want to compel people to get saved. Why? So the church may be built up. In the message, I want to finish this off, it says, I'm going to read that four through five in the message. It says the one who prays using a private prayer language, the one who prays in a private prayer language certainly gets a lot out of it, but proclaiming God's truth to the church in its common language brings the whole church into growth and strength. He says, I want all of you to develop intimacies with God in prayer, but please don't stop with that. Go on and proclaim his clear truth to others. It's more important that everyone have access to the knowledge and love of God in language that everyone understands than you go off and cultivate God's presence in a mysterious prayer language, unless of course there's someone who can interpret what you are saying for the benefit of all. So we're going to continue with that, because I think this is a really important subject a lot of people want to understand and know about, so we're probably going to revisit some of that 14, one through five next week, and then keep going, because I want to be able to open the forum, because I feel like there's maybe a lot of questions about it.

Go ahead, brother. I like how you broke that down for a lot of people, you know, I've heard many times, oh, he's speaking in tongues, and do you have anybody to interpret that? Yeah. But I think they forget that you're also worshiping as you're giving us the word, you know, as a form of worship, you know, and then at the time of worship, you know, you're worshiping and when you speak in tongues, you know, you're edifying. I'll be honest, I probably hold it back more than anybody realizes on altar calls. And I think people don't realize that. I purposely hold it back. Yeah, I think people don't realize that, that you're worshiping as you're giving us the word. Yeah, I do purposely hold it back for that reason, because I want to be biblical, man. So thank you, though, thank you for sharing that. Anybody else? Go ahead. I have a question. So as for tongues, is it something that's taught or is that something that comes naturally when you're in the presence of the Spirit? It's something that comes naturally. And a lot of times, not everybody will speak in tongues. You know, Paul even said, we're all going to read, and he says, I wish all of you would. If you have the snow, then not everybody does. But I think it's something that's, it's a beautiful thing. The first time I spoke in tongues, I was actually in a holding cell. And the last thing on my mind was tongues. I was about to face a judge, and I was in a holding cell. And I had the marshals were going to come get me, so they put me on the waist chain, and my hands were... I was handcuffed to my waist and I had chains that went down to my ankles. My ankles were handcuffed, basically.

I could barely walk. And they said, wait here for the marshal. The marshal will pick you up to go to federal court. And I felt really broken. I felt alone. I felt broken. My heart was broken. And I started praying to God. How am I going to get myself out of this situation? And there was a TV on the wall. And it was covered in a box because inmates tend to break TVs. So I could barely reach the power to turn it on because I had these cuffs on. And I was barely able to hit the power button. There was no way to change the channels because I was handcuffed up. But the channel happened to be a pastor. And it was like 5 in the morning. Marshals weren't coming until 7 in the morning, but they wanted to get me there. So I'm all wrapped up like a mummy. I had to sit there for two hours. And it's a preacher that was on. And the preacher, I don't even know who it was. He started preaching about Joseph being sold by his brothers and thrown into a pit. And he was talking about how Joseph must have felt in that dark pit. And I was in a dark pit. And then he looks right at the camera. And he points at me because I think I was the only one in the world watching the preacher at 5 in the morning. And he says, don't worry if you're in a pit right now. And he says, it doesn't matter what you're going through. What matters is where you're going to. And when he said that, I took it as a word for me. And I started thanking God because all of a sudden I felt encouraged. And I started praising him. I was like, Lord, thank you for this word. Lord, thank you.

And all of a sudden I felt like I promised you something important over me. And as I was thanking him, I started to speak in a language that I never heard. And I thought I was nuts. I thought, okay, I lost it now. And I stopped myself. I'm like, what's wrong with me? And then I just started thanking God again because he kept preaching and preaching. And I started thanking God. And then boom, that language came out again. And I was like, what is going on? And I'm like, these marshals are going to think I'm crazy. So I stopped. And then they came. They took me to court. And they had me go to San Francisco and all that. And I stopped. And then they came. They took me to court. And they had me go to San Francisco and all that. So it was an all-day process. And I remember I finally got back to Santa Rita. And they gave me my lunch. And finally made it to my cell like at 6 o'clock in the evening. And I remember there, I'm like, Lord, I don't know what happened. I said, but now I'm alone. I've been around all these people all day. If what happened is what I think happened, in the name of Jesus, let it happen again. And boom, it started again in my cell. And it was just pouring out of me, pouring out. It felt like my spirit had been holding things in for years. And it was finally released. And it was like all along my flesh had been talking, but my spirit hadn't been able to speak. And everything started pouring out in this language. And from that moment on, I felt empowered. I felt strength. I felt encouragement. Something, like a switch turned on inside of me. But to answer your question, I don't believe it can be taught. It's something that pours out. Jesus says, out of your heart, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. Speaking of the Spirit of God.

Pastor, I have a question. Yes, you have a question? Yes. When you're saying that, when you're speaking in tongues up there, and you kind of hold back, do you ever feel that maybe God could use you or to edify the church with the Word? When you're feeling like you're holding back? I do notice sometimes when it comes out, I notice it riles the church up sometimes. I do notice that. If you really pay attention, sometimes, not all the time, sometimes the Lord will give me a word to say to the church. But I receive it in a tongue. But I don't say it in a tongue. I say it in English. And you'll hear me say it. Things like, like, the Lord is saying, and I will say whatever He's telling me to say. Because if I say it in a tongue, what's that going to benefit anyone? So I say it in a way people will understand. That doesn't always happen, but it happens. Yeah, so. Yeah, go ahead. So I was listening to this podcast and they were talking about speaking in the tongue. And there was like a debate going on. They were saying that a lot of people that would go years and years never speaking in the tongue, but they worship and they're in the Lord and all that. And that some people feel like, oh, they're not true believers or anything, because they can't speak in the tongue or they don't speak in the tongue versus to the people that do speak in the tongue. Yeah, yeah. My dad, my dad spoke in tongues one time. Never spoke tongues since.

You've seen my dad worship. Nobody's going to tell me that that man does not have the Spirit of God. So don't ever judge yourself on whether you speak in tongues or not, or whether you do a lot or not. Don't do that to yourself. Don't do that to yourself. I don't believe that. I believe that's a false teaching that adds guilt to the church. Or don't let anyone. Yeah, don't let anyone make you feel less than. Yes. You know? Because what did he say? What did he start off with? Let me read that again. If I speak with human eloquence and angelic tongues, but I don't love, it's nothing but a noisy sound. So even Scripture. The one that loves is greater than the one that speaks in tongues. So.