Christ Un-barred - EP 104 - Real Talk, only a few succeed

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Say we sure did like if I did I didn't do anything guys. I

Didn't do nothing, but just told him how much I chose. I chose the color. I love the color Manly it's very very manly I looked at his boots one day and I was like you need to do the color your boots and he's not really and I said Yeah, I said, yeah, absolutely It's very manly a lot more roomier I'm here too. Absolutely. All right, so you guys ready? I'm ready to acknowledge your guys's letters that you get and We will start off with a few of these postcards I believe they're all from all of them are from Maricopa County so I'm not even gonna say it all of these all of these are from Maricopa County, so Irby I gotta say something now say that the the letters that we're getting More and more are just they're just so amazing. I'm really enjoying all the letters that we're getting Yeah, they're just they're just different now I think they're just I'm just enjoying them. So I've always enjoyed all the letters But there's been even a shift in the letters you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest with you guys. I don't put up this podcast I don't sit there and I'm not saying other people do but I have a feeling some people probably do Because it makes sense, right like To say, okay How can we make this podcast to be super popular with everyone so we can get millions of views? I I really I honestly honestly do not think that way We do videos that we feel is is Who we are who our character is and Who God is? If people happen to like it, well, man, we are happy when we get a lot of views But our driving force is not the views because if that was if that was a case There's probably a bunch of stuff I would put on here whether it was Movies, I don't own or music videos or just things, you know We're just there's a lot of different things that other people do successfully praise God I'm not I'm not saying nothing bad, but it's not in our character. We want to be real to ourselves

You know and so anyways Ready? I'm ready now. All right, Irby Like I said, all of these are Maricopa County. So thank you so much for yours. There's another from Irby brother another from Irby Hey, man, here's another from Irby. You go Irby Irby There's any more Irby's here Let's see. No, okay. So this one is from Jeremy. Oh, he's released already nice So hopefully he's watching this on you. Yes. Yes Luis Fernando Nice we see your request there. Amen and Jeremy also, thank you so much. Shout out to the wife Rebecca Alvarez and Aiden and brother JJ. Amen Amen, all right. Let's see Fernando also. Um, let's see what you said here On 1st Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 through 15 I have talked about it a lot on different sermons of different Bible studies But basically brother we got to always keep in mind that anytime Paul says something I'm gonna say this and not just pertaining to women because this is where it says for women to stay quiet and all that I want to say this is that we got to keep in mind that if something was across the board Paul would have wrote it to all the churches across the board So if when we find Paul saying something to one specific church Then we have to take that into account and say okay there must be more to this context that I don't fully understand because why is he saying it to this like if I had a Church a house of rest in San Antonio one in New York and one in Miami But let's say the one in Miami and South Beach. Maybe people maybe people are showing up to church in in bathing suits Oh, yeah, right. Yeah, so so then I write a letter saying hey, you know Tell the people there that it is not good. It's distracting when they wear bathing suits Can you imagine if the New York Church and a San Antonio Church heard that said oh bathing suits must be a sin No, I'm pertaining because of what's happening in Miami, right? So I would address that because that's an issue happening Miami so every single one of the letters that Paul writes keep that in mind, so Anthony also we see your request Let's see Fernando again. I think that's the same Fernando, right? He said he was

When he thought when he didn't realize when you said that's a cool last name so Let's see. I know he says I don't pronounce my ours. Yeah, is it my ours? No tea. You don't my tease Aaron out of San Antonio short timer says Modesto bound come through But You know what since I say that hold on Hold on. Wait a minute guys We have had some people show up in the past that don't realize they just got on a bus got here Didn't let us know didn't say nothing. I don't know if they assumed we had a men's home Assume we had some kind of assistance financial system any systems. We have no assistance at all. We we are a a Inner-city church that is Self-sustaining and sometimes hardly at that guys so do we want people to come to Modesto if they feel led if it's gonna get you out of trouble to get out of Your area and you need to come Modesto praise God but you got to plan this out guys because the last thing I want because this has happened somebody shows up off of Greyhound and It is a cruel world out here in Modesto. I'll tell you that would you agree to that? I agree. Yeah, is there? Yeah, there's a south Salvation Army a block away. There's a gospel mission. But if you're coming with this whole like man, I don't like rules I don't like well, guess what? There's only two Shelters here and if you get kicked out of them, they remember you because this is not a huge huge huge city They will remember you and you will find yourself at a park. Let me say this. It's against the law to sleep at a park here So do you see how really quick you can go down a really horrible spiral guys? So really think it out and You know, it's so I say it with all my heart that if you feel led to be here then praise God We want you to be here at the same time. We want you to plan things out, you know And really figure things out. Would you agree to that? I totally agree. Yeah. All right Let's see. Let's see. Let's see Louie Out of Maricopa also, we'll be praying for your case we see that I Circle this so we can add it to the prayer request

Robert out of Rayford, Florida. Thank you so much for the Card. Yeah, the beautiful card. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome Thank you. Thank you so much Okay, let's get this one This is from Vincent out of North Yeah, I'm actually gonna throw this ornament if you don't mind I'm gonna put it on our tree Yeah, any ornament that comes through I throw it on the tree. I still have the tree up guys So Vincent, we see everything that you said, thank you so much and God bless you. Thank you. Thank you We thank you for that book and thank you so much for everything all the information you sent Anthony Dominguez out of Menard, Illinois See, I'm not saying the last name. It's a middle name. Yeah, by the way, some people have asked again what? What episode it's episode 81 where the resources and everything are at episode 81 But I've already gathered all the letters that had new resources and that those got scanned and those are gonna be put up in one of the next episodes, so Just be ready for the new ones Yeah, so episode 81 because a lot of people are still asking for pen pals we don't have any pen pal program here, but 81 81 that's is it the That's not the Fairfield one. That's different. Yeah, it's a different one. Okay this artwork Brother, you blew me away with this one. Let me say your name again, Anthony Dominguez and Menard, Illinois He put his whole testimony in art. You guys know I appreciate art because I paint myself I'm actually working on the new piece right now This man, I wish you guys could see it. It's on canvas. It's on canvas. It is beautiful Yeah, so we're gonna figure out how to get this framed. Actually. I have our framer so I gotta go to him next time we go to Stockton and Somehow get it framed. It's an amazing way to share your testimony. This was Amazing it blew me away. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. We're honored. Thank you for taking the time to do that That's that's not easy me being a painter myself. That is not easy really good work. What did he what what a medium isn't?

Acrylic It might be it has to be because there's I don't it's hard to get oil in prison Um, yeah, and then it looks if it's paint it's acrylic because oils oils don't look as vibrant Might be mark. I don't know. Maybe it'd be there's a lot of detail. Yeah, it could be a mixture of medium Christian out of LA, Nevada. Thank you so much. God bless you. Oh, you got a joke Yelts He's got a joke And I pre hopefully you keep writing us brother because that was amazing the stuff you were telling us Okay, here it is. This was the beginning of it Because there was a group of school school children They were in the cafeteria line at their Catholic elementary school at the start of the line. There was a big bowl of apples a Nun written a note and it said take only one God is watching at the end of the line There was a big bowl of chocolate chip cookies And one of the children had written a note and it said take all you want because God is watching the apples Thank you, brother All right Mr. Jose give Lewis in Woodville Texas Oh another joke back-to-back nice Nice. Nice. Nice. Let's see. I know for a while. We weren't getting jokes. I know you guys weren't feeling funny or something Okay This man had a lot of money So he would always buy in cars that would that cost a lot of money and one day he told his wife honey, honey When I die, I want you to bury me In the car that cost me the most his wife said I promise I will honey so when he passed away, she hired a crane operator once the funeral was over and And done and everyone began to leave she signaled the driver to lower him down when he was halfway in she signaled the driver stop and Then signaled him to raise him up again Then she signaled him to stop

She went ran to the car open the door and did something inside Close the door and signal the driver to lower him in When everything was done the driver came to her to get paid the driver says can I ask you a question? Yes, you can. Why did you make me pick him up and then do something inside that car? She goes. Oh, I forgot to turn the air-conditioned on because where he's going you sure gonna need it Oh Good one He needed to repent Okay, Michael B in Corcoran, California, thank you so much for your letter. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you Chris out of Cumberland Maryland you said that's MD, right? Mm-hmm, Maryland. All right. Let's see. Oh, he's the one I sent the photo remember Oh And man, we're sorry you had shared with us that you had lost your brother a few years ago And I do want to say something to you brother, this is really yeah, I want to say something to you real quick Is that please? with all respect It is Jesus that says he would never leave you nor forsake you not Santa Muerte and that goes for anybody Jesus is truth. He says I'm the way I'm the truth and the life. There is no other truth, but Jesus So the fact that Jesus is all truth that mean anything outside of Christ has no truth Matter of fact, the Bible says the Satan's a liar that when he speaks lies, he's speaking his own language You know, so I don't know who told you about or I don't know how you know We Have to worship Jesus He's the one that would never leave you and we never want to make that mistake and give those Accolades to anybody else any other entity any other anything that claims to be God it is Jesus It says he will never leave you nor forsake you it is Jesus it says he'll leave the 99 and go and seek the one and Call you out until he finds you and puts you over his shoulders and carries you home It is Jesus that wouldn't that that says as I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because God you are with me. Amen

So I just want to just remind you and anybody else it is only Christ and that's it And I say that with all respect brother and continue watching please continued watching and learning and and reading your Bible Okay, Santiago in Santa Rosa, California August release night. So he's gonna visit man. He's short timing very very because we're in what we're in July Wow, middle of July already or towards the end Miguel angel port Angeles, Washington He said he's out now. So he's already watching got out in June. Hopefully he's watching us in YouTube Noah to hatch a pee. Oh, it's probably hot over there. I know. Oh Man, I'm not even isn't that by Death Valley and all that. Yes. Oh, he sent pictures nice and beautiful family Remember about his mom passing yeah, and Thank you so much brother for sharing your heart with us we appreciate letters like that Yeah, keep writing this and keep watching this man, brother Uh Brian with their bri. Oh in I'm guessing it's it's pronounced Brian out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota Amen I love the testimony that he was sharing About that. He got it reached a point where he was out of gas out of food And then somebody says Jesus loves you and gave him $50. Isn't that the way the Lord works? You know, that was a beautiful testimony. That's awesome. Thank you for Reminding us of how good God is that even the smallest things guys We always think that God is like Trying to stop wars and curing cancers and this and that and then we're we had run out of gas and he takes care of us Yeah, the smallest thing. Oh, he'll take care of even the bird. Yeah, you know, he says so it is Ravens, yeah, Eric David out of repressor, which is fulsome Thank you so much. That's awesome. You educating yourself You asked a question about sponsoring I don't know what that means I'm not sure. Like I said, we're in any city church. We're not in a position to help in any way I'm not sure what because when somebody says can you sponsor me? Is that in prayer? Is that in Bible studies?

Is that in discipleship? Is that in financials? I so When someone asks a very generalized question, I don't have an answer for that I don't know what that encompasses, but hopefully you keep writing us and and keep watching Pauly Jefferson City, Missouri, right mo. Yes. Yeah, so Yeah, well, yeah, I remember now It sounds like a really hard prison to be at I'll tell you that You know some of you guys man. I mean like I did six years, you know But some of the places you guys are at it seems really rough, you know, and our prayers go out to you and And he really loved the grocery giveaway nice, you know right now we we kind of have to space them out Really really long like every three months Do it every 30 days. Yeah, we would do them every month, but they're it seems like We just do not have the means to be able to do them monthly like we used to We're the last one we were But yeah guys So now we have to collect we have to be collecting Enough food and we have to have enough in our pantry just so that we can Have enough that if we do get that amount of food We will be able to do it We will be able to do it. And we will be able to do it And we will be able to do it and we will be able to do it Enough food and we have to have enough in our pantry just so that we can Have enough that if we do get that amount of people again We we have to have enough to be able to fill up the bags and to do all of that so that we give them a significant amount so But we love the grocery giveaways. We love being able to help our community but we need to make sure that we have enough so that we can be able to Give them and you know There's just everything is so scarce nowadays and there's such a need such a huge need people are in need of food

They are Yeah this is from Neil in gatesville, texas, you know who you are brother. Oh, yeah, and um, I just want to thank you It's a pig looks like it's ai I'm pretty sure because I don't think you have wings and uh But cool picture, um, he says sharon wants a cow but he wants to make sure I don't eat it I won't eat her cow if she ever has a cow. No, not betsy. She wants a milking cow So I do I want a cow I want to I want to go to a cow but my cow is going to be my pet Yeah, not not for beef. No But he better not but I will use that milk in my coffee. Absolutely You know, i've been making him. Um homemade i've been making him homemade creamer Um lately for the last what three months now four months No, three months. No, it's been three months that i've been making. I made you the first one three months ago The first one was three months ago david Yes, it was okay two months Maybe a month and a half or two. No two months ago three months. No, not three. It ain't no three months Yes, it is because that's when I used my first my first time condensed milk. It's not worth arguing about about when you made creamer It didn't you're over here talking about when instead of telling them what all right tell them you you started it No, no, you better keep going. Okay, so okay. I Didn't make them creamer because David watched a Documentary on creamer and he got he got all traumatized about the About the documentary because it uses hydrogenated oil Yeah, there's no creamer in creamer so he got I didn't know that he got all grossed out about it So he's like, did you believe that? There's no creamer and creamer and I'm like what? He's oh, there's no creamer and creamer And it messed him up completely

So he's not like we need to find a way of making it and dad I was like really and So I started to look up ways and he started to look up ways on how to make it and so I started making it At home now and it actually has been three months now that I did think about it because I'll tell you that Yeah, because I might not know when she started but it's good. It has been three months I do remember now because I actually came into this pantry and I started looking for some stuff and I do remember So it has been three months and I started making it with Evaporated milk fresh vanilla and you know different, you know with hazelnut and I put some cinnamon sticks in there and everything. So he gets he gets actually a fresh Creamer now, so it's healthier. So like when you guys know her brother's out after doing 20 years, right? And he was like, yeah, I don't drink. No, I just drink coffee black and we're like, that's nasty He goes. Well, it's just I don't drink the creamer man. That's those nasty. I didn't understand what he meant I didn't understand what I don't even know if he knows this Hydrogenated oil just no creamer in it for whatever reason cuz he's like super healthy At least he tried to be as healthy as he possibly can in prison which is limiting But now I get it because he won't drink creamer, but I think he'll drink that now Yeah, well when we visited which was last month, yeah, he visited and he had some yeah, and he really loved it Yeah, so he's like, oh, this is really good. So he actually did really like it. So yeah, yeah, brother Derek You know who you are in Newcastle, Indiana, he said he finished the Michael Heiser book What's it called I have it the whole title just left my head oh The Unseen Realm Yeah, he said he and then there's another one too. There's a few no, he has a bunch I know but there was two that you that you shared with them Yeah, but only one book so it's that one. The other one was demons, which I have that one, too He has tons of books, but man, that's awesome brother. I'm glad you're learning from that. It is an amazing book It's almost one of those books. You got to read a few times just to grasp Everything that he has, you know, which I haven't done Hi, man in Estelle unit Huntsville, Texas. Oh, he's got a joke a yoke He's saying I should make a Bob Ross super cat. I

Agree with you 100% Matter of fact, let's give him a spread Oh Right David I'm a painter myself. I wanted to ask if you can put a painter super cat Joke, how come the Mexicans cross the border one at a time five at a time ten at a time? But never three at a time Because they saw the sign that said no trespassing That's a good one All right, Glenn from Coffield unit, Tennessee calling me, Texas Wow Wow brother you have no idea You have no idea put it I'll put it this way you Thousands are watching this because of you. That's all I'm gonna say brother because it was that Close and it was that exact what guts that's crazy. Only God made the Lord multiply a Thousand fold. Amen. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What state was that from? You said, Texas? Oh Yeah. Oh, yeah, Tennessee colony. That's isn't that we're Bit what was what was amazing is that you know unit then that that's yeah There's different names. Yeah, but the thing was it was the exact that's crazy exact amount All right, Chad in Cranston Road Island You are the first. You are the one, two, three. Mr. Chad is the first to complete and make essays on all six discipleship classes. No, one through three, I mean. No, one through three. One through three. Unless, unless it's in the other pile. Maybe if it's, I'm guessing it is. Hopefully four, five, and six is in the other pile, but this is one, two, and three. So guys, if you are not hip to it, if you go to, I don't know how it looks on, on Pando, but the six

discipleship classes are under courses. And, um, these are the discipleship classes that we teach here at the church. And you see people get their lapel pin, you know? So there's instructions though, because obviously you're not attending here in person. So there's some extra instructions asking for an essay out of each class to do. And he did, he sent one through three. Yeah. So I will, I will definitely be putting your name down on, um, the completion for these ones. And once you do finish, complete all of them, I, I think what we'll do is I'll probably, I'll probably create their, uh, certificate and then we'll go ahead and display their certificate on here for them. So that way I'll scan it and I'll show it here and then I'll file it and I'll keep it because I don't know how I can send them. Yeah. I don't know how I can do that, but what I'll do is I will definitely print one out, keep it and, um, I'll store it away. I can send it to your family or however it is that you want, but I will definitely, we will be displaying it on here and acknowledging you on here with, um, a certificate. Not only that, but your name is, is going to get acknowledged when we call up the graduates to receive their lapel pin. You will definitely get acknowledged. Okay. Aaron out of Jamestown, California. Short timing. Look at that. September. That's around my birth. Oh, right after my birthday. Like a week later. Nice. Mystic out of Denver, Colorado. Thank you all the time. Thank you so much. Multiply 1000. Amen. Chadwick out of Ellie, uh, Nevada. Thank you for the resources that you have. A bunch of resources. You got to put that aside. I wrote resources on there. Okay. Let's see. Michael B in Corcoran, California. Thank you so much. There's a lot of, um, legal stuff there. So thank you, man. Uh, Jason out of Bonny Terry, Missouri. And, uh, we're going to be praying about that hernia and, um, and I know, I see that you got that letter for, for Matt also. And, um, what we wrote this note here. Yeah. He watched my testimony. Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for everything that you, you, you said. Um, very encouraging, but thank you so much. And, and I know that it wasn't an easy watch, so I appreciate, um, just the, I appreciate the compassion and, um, just, just everything that you felt, you know, that, that, um, you understood and that you had that compassion towards, you know, towards the things that I went through. I appreciate that. Thank you. Amen. Okay. Uh, Tyler in, uh, Missouri also really, really good letter. Uh, thank you so much for sharing and for writing and hopefully you continue to write us and, and view our, our stuff or even in spite of the hardships, the struggles, the struggle that you go through, um, you know, writing,

writing is probably just as hard. And I appreciate that you take the time to even do that. You know, I remember watching this movie from Denzel, which, um, I think it's a great movie, even though it's not a Christian movie at all. It's Malcolm X. I'll tell you why. First of all, Denzel is an amazing actor. Uh, but there's an, there's a scene because he's kind of doesn't really know how to read or nothing. It's probably been years since you've seen Malcolm X. Yeah. Right. But there's one scene I got to respect then is that he started reading the dictionary out of the first word because he had years to do. So you might as well build your vocabulary. Yeah. And he, and it's cool because in the scene, he opens it, he says aardvark, and then it gives a description of what an aardvark is. Can you imagine if you learn a word every day in a dictionary, especially people that have time, the vocabulary you would have, because not only are you learning how to, that word, you're learning the pronunciation and then what it is. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and for me, um, you use that word, you use that word a few times at. I'll tell you a word that I learned in prison that I'd never forgot. It is the word sagacious Exactly, I thought this dude was disrespecting me. He was a lawyer He was a Jewish lawyer because he got a member in the feds He got people that are judges and lawyers and attorneys, you know people that are you know up there with kind of white-collar crime You know and he goes, you know David he was I find you very sagacious and I'm like, hey, what did you call me? Cuz sagacious, you know, I'm saying and he's like, no, no, no, no, he goes Because I'm sorry because he would he talked like that real big words and he goes look at this look at this dictionary You know what? It meant it meant wise Wow, yeah, so and I'm like I thought you're disrespecting me man You haven't read this one. Oh, sorry Wendy out of Wiggins What's MS? What state is that isn't that Massachusetts is it? Yes. Oh, I knew that I was just testing my wife But we see the the the names that you had on the prayer request. Thank you so much We're gonna add you to the prayer list you sister. It's so nice when I hear from sisters Thank you. All right, give her give you know what give her a super cat. Oh, we're trying I want the cheesecake one for her. I don't know if I have it on here Let's see, give her the super cup

He's so happy, huh? I love it Okay, that was for you Wendy Michael and Estelle unit Huntsville, Texas I see your prayer requests. We're gonna be Praying actually, I want to pray for that sickness right now in the name of Jesus Lord God. I lift up Michael in Jesus name Every single Cell in his body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet I command healing in the name of Jesus for any sickness for any cancer for anything that is going on in his body I pray for healing in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit Lord God, there is nothing impossible for you. Lord God. You are the doctor of all doctors a surgeon of all surgeons There is nothing impossible for you Lord. I pray for him to regain strength I pray for him to to to just for For that sickness to be broken from him in the mighty name of Jesus Lord God. I thank you Lord Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen, and I want to tell his son Michael that his dad is fighting His dad is fighting in Jesus name Paul out of Jefferson City, Missouri Brother you said that there was something send in here, but I'll be honest with you. There's just a letter in here So I'm not sure what's going on with that. I know you said you had sent something Mystic, thank you again. Thank you so much. Thank you For the gesture though, yeah, I appreciate it John ski. Thank you so much. Mr Jensky Johnson Johnson ski. I think Tampa, Florida. Thank you so much. He's talking about Invisalign. Oh Yes, actually, I've been talking to my daughter about that actually So I definitely I am gonna get my gap fix guys. I'm gonna do it I'm actually thinking about either braces or Invisalign. I know I feel too old to get braces Yeah, it's weird, I know it's just Yeah, but I wanted to tell you mystic that You know what that that you because of you too that many are watching and I just want to tell you how much we Appreciate you. Well, thank you so much and thank you so much for the suggestion of a Invisalign. But yes, they're pricey though But yes Jesse in Blythe, California

California He doesn't know the name of the I said I was gonna look it up right because he says that it's the truckie cafe And I'm gonna quickly look up truckie because he says him and his wife would go there remember I think it's the one the real popular one where Sienna and Abraham and all of them had went and Raven across that big old white one a big it's real huge and a lot of people Were there that one day? He says it was closed Check it real quick. I think he said it was on the side where we were at on the chocolate So there's a few places because that whole place there's a squeeze in breakfast and lunch There's a masa masa masa kitchen. There's a wagon train coffee shop Coffee and and this is coffee and That's kind of where we were at with the chocolate. Yeah, they were that that white one That's a cross the street though, but I think he's saying it's on the side of the street where we were at. I remember And writing a quick note to answer your question. What is the name of the cafe and truckie? The answer is I don't know. What can I tell you is that it's near the place with the candy apples What's on the side we were at? And on the same side of the street and on the same block So, yeah, so it's good there All right, Dennis in Canton, Illinois, thank you so much Saying that not all the Dovo videos work. I Don't know. I you know, I get a little frustrated. It's so hard with each other Pando is different because we have the Pando app on my phone I can we can look at stuff I can look at the app in the same way you see the app So if something's not working for you, it's not working for me But he Dovo it doesn't Anymore guys Okay, mr. Ray in Corcoran, California city short timing

You're gonna visit us and I know you're a man of your word. So we can't wait for you to walk into this place All right John Michael in Hutt Huttonsville, West Virginia He's Italian so I read his letter like an Italian That was probably a horrible. That was bad. That was horrible I'll give you an offer You can't refuse That's a godfather. Okay, that's better Unfortunately, though. We don't have any pen pals But if you go to episode 81 one loves the road trips, you know, thank you for sharing your story brother Thank you. Hopefully you keep watching Steve in Arcadia, Florida. He says there's a joke inside and And questions, let's see. What's up? All right, y'all ready? That's the letter portion Okay, what kind of man was Boaz before he married he was ruthless Get it cuz he married Ruth Okay, so that goes to the questions question number one What did Jonah's family say when he told what happened before he went to Nineveh What did Jonah's family say when he told them what happened before he went to Nineveh? They said that sounds fishy Those are jokes not questions Why didn't any of the Hebrews want to fight Goliath? It seemed like a giant ordeal Why did Adam and Eve do math every day because they were told to be fruitful multiply What did Daniel tell his real estate agent I'd like a house with no den Who in the Bible knew the most people Abraham knew a lot Name lot. Do you need someone to build an ark? I know a guy Oh Okay question number one What goes this question to straight to two so am I missing number one question

No, I don't think that's a question You No, he says I would like to add some questions Okay, after Jesus rose to heaven was Mary the mother Jesus ministering with the disciples around or was she too old? Understanding she probably was with traveled with that. She traveled matter of fact John the Apostle John took care of her and She is actually Buried her her actual grave site is in I believe in Ephesus. Actually my friend Victor took a picture of her grave site Which is in the same city where John is buried because John took care of her So, I don't know if she ever ministered, but she was part of the ministry a question number two Where is the Ark of the Covenant? I heard people say that it was under the cross But nobody knows where the Ark of the Covenant is that we don't know if it was even melted down Maybe it doesn't even exist anymore Nowhere in the Bible. Does it say that? Actually the Ark of the Covenant Jesus laying down So The Ark of the Covenant nobody knows where it's at I've heard that it was under I don't believe that at all There's no reason for it It just sounds very superstitious a question number three the way they lived back when Jesus was on this earth. Was it hard? I'm sure it was I'm sure life was hard. I mean no vehicles. No phones. No microwave. No air-conditioned. No Those no oven I bet their feet really hurt. Yeah, no Nikes No, you know the other day when it was a hundred power when it was a hundred and eight and we seen that lady walking With her dog. Yeah, and the little dog was just jumping up and down because his little feet were probably burning on the asphalt. I Can just imagine how hot the floor must have been and people were walking barefoot or walking in those Super thin sandals or whatever Thank God we were we were gonna buy little socks for that dog We felt horrible, but they're gonna buy it little shoes Yeah drove closer and the little dog looks like it had children socks on which it probably wasn't good enough Yeah, it looked like somebody had already bought that but they look like children's socks. Yeah weird But we went to price they were $30 at the pet store because we thought they were gonna be cheaper

So we're like let's buy this dog some little But we stopped to try to talk to her to try to help her and she just kind of Shoot us away and we were like, you know, can't ma'am. Can we can we go buy the dogs? You know some you know, can we stop can we help you? Can we try to buy and she just like I lost everything She started yelling at us and she just walked away from us and she left and we were like we want to buy him some shoes and she just Literally just you know left us and everything and we're like, okay but we went anyways to the pet store to try to go buy some and they were real expensive and She was already gone though. Yeah, she was gone We're a little bit felt better because he had at least socks on Yeah But we want it we're gonna buy some on Amazon anyways So that way we can carry them in our car I have him in the glove and have him in the glove box in case we ever do run into That situation again and that way we can have an animal man. I mean, I'm not a dog person I'm not even a pet person other than my aquarium, but I mean That that's cruel to be in their little paws on the concrete. Yeah, I have a heart, you know Yeah, that was hard to see. Yeah, Jeff in Soledad, California. Thank you so much for your letter. Yes. Thank you, brother Brother Oscar and Selena's. Oh my gosh, dude You had me we Laughing even after we put all the letters away we decided I was gonna read some of it. Yes this one I don't know why it I don't know if we had the giggles that day or it really is a funny No, it really is. Let me see. I want to read portions of this, but basically guys I want to give you the context of it. He says, um, I want to thank you for helping me get over my hatred for cats First of all, let me give him a cat Your mouth thou shall have no of me I was before come y'all man ten commandments say it right Yeah, he says honestly say you do He goes I can only say you do not give that look of a cat person. I don't have a cat We don't we you know what? Okay. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I got it

I gotta tell should I tell the story first though if you Don't take too long. Okay, you want to take say that first? Okay, so we used to have when we used to do relevant Bible talk we had a different podcast and we did have a cat and that cat became part of our of our of our Podcast because he would always be fat and lazy and always hang out Behind us and everything. So everybody got to know this fat cat so There was a time. I'm not kidding. You guys were I think me and David got into an argument and what did you do? What did you do that one time? Oh, you got mad and said you were leaving and I was like, I'm leaving and I said no It was nighttime guys in Stockton. Yeah, she's like I'm leaving she walks out the door. So The fat cat was sitting there. That's why I grabbed him I said here take your fat cat with you and I threw him outside with her He was not he was not an outdoor cat guys. I don't think he knew the outside world existed So he throws the cat outside and the poor fat cat just like lands on his little legs And he's like looking around and he's like what just happened. What just happened? And I was like David I Poor fat cat I'm not kidding you guys I was like no and he was so Scared like I grabbed him and I literally brought him back kid and I was like, oh my god poor cat And then there was another time. I'm not kidding where we had left the whole day and we used to have like this screen Like one of the screen security doors on the back and then we had the regular door the back door to the yard So we were in a rush and he would always love sitting by the screen door Just looking out because I would open, you know, the the birds and stuff Yeah, because he would listen to the birds But I guess I must've been in a rush or whatever that I didn't notice he had been there, but I literally closed the back door. And so when I get home. Hours later. Hours, hours. We came home at night.

And all I can hear is, meow, meow, meow. And I'm like, where's the cat? I think the cat's outside. So, and this is, mind you, a fat cat. And I'm like, meow, meow, meow. And I'm like, because I think he heard us. And I'm like, oh my god, I think the cat got outside. Guys, I come in, and the cat squished in between the metal door. She opened the back door. She didn't come in. You open the back door to look outside. And the cat squished in between the metal door and the wooden door like this. He was pancaked in between both doors. And I was like, David, I squished the cat. Oh my god, we went through so much with that cat. That cat drove me crazy. But we're not, we're not animal people. We're never home enough. We're not home enough to take care of pets or anything like that. Somebody from YouTube, one of our YouTube viewers ended up asking if they can have him. And I was like, yes. You know what? Go ahead. You can actually have the cat. You know, I think after a while, he became very popular. And that's how Super Cats ended up becoming

part of our YouTube things. It was because of that. I actually like cats. I just can't take care of them. And I love dogs, but they're too messy for me. We just don't have the time for animals. I like to look at them. You know what I mean? I mean, I think dogs are cute. I think cats are cute. But I just, I can't take care of them. It's like I like plants, but I'll kill them. You know what I'm saying? You know how I know when my husband is upset at me, when I see him sitting in front of the, when I see him sitting in front of the fish tank for a long time? That's how I know. But it doesn't happen very often. So. Aquarium calms me down. It does. It really does. So back to the story. All right, so go ahead. I don't want to read all of it, but basically I'll give you some context. He hated cats and it all happened because he had a neighbor that this brother and his little brother, five and eight years old,

were told, hey, get rid of the cats and I'll pay you money for every cat you remove out of this because there was a bunch of cats apparently in the neighborhood and they bothered the neighbor and all that. So they would pay him five to $10 to get the cats. Here's what's funny to me, right? About the story is they would take the cats to a park a block away. Guys, you can drop a cat off on another side of the city and he'll find his way back home. So that's funny. First of all, he didn't mention that, but I know enough because cats will find their way home. But anyways, he was told to get rid of these cats, right? So there was this one cat that was very dangerous, but this five and eight year old took the job of doing the dangerous part of catching them, right? So they go to catch this cat and basically they find him and they put him in a box, but the cat ran out of the box. He went under a car and he goes, before I could get it to the cat, my brother was under the car and he got bit by the cat and the cat was locked on his hand. So he didn't know what to do. So he didn't know what, so he took the string out of his hoodie and he started, he goes, don't look at me little puppet.

So I just imagine a five and an eight year old having this fight under a car with this cat. And, oh my gosh, he didn't know the cat had rabies. Yes, the cat had rabies. So then his little brother had to go all the way to Stanford hospital to get shots. He was there for a long time. It was a scary time. His little brother almost died. You know what I mean? So he had a personal vendetta against every single cat in the barrio there. And so that's why he hated cats, man. And just the way you told the story, I was, we were cracking up, man. And then, and then here we are putting up super cats. And because of that, he almost stopped watching us. That was funny too, right? But then actually he ended up saying, you know what? It made me actually be okay with cats now. Yeah, so he brought healing. So for you, brother. Brothers and sisters, today is the days in Saray of salvation. Brothers and sisters, today is the days in Saray of salvation. Yeah, so. Um. The cat has been forgiven. Yeah.

All right. Cats are now forgiven. It was such a great letter, brother. It was. Such a great letter of redemption. It's cats That was beautiful, but um in regards to the other thing as well that you were talking about regarding your girlfriend, I just we want to thank you and We will definitely be We will definitely be reaching out so thank you for that That is beyond amazing and we would be honored on nerd Absolutely honored I had a question here. What was your most to-go to inmate meal? Or kitchen favorite mine was a three-tortilla carnitas burrito with the heavy coating of Chile and a safety masquerade fire in a cocina In there, I guess he's talking. I'm getting inmate meal I'm guessing what are you asking me while I was in there my favorite go-to Obviously spread was the sweet and sour spread but other than that in the feds man food wasn't so bad So, I think it was I Think every Friday was was hamburger day. I looked forward to that and every Wednesday was fried chicken day So I never missed those days Ever and then for breakfast every Friday morning if you made it there early chocolate milk So they have you know how they those dispensers for milk. It's a bag inside Right, so they would put one bag of chocolate milk once it ran out they'll put regular white milk. No way Yeah, so every Friday guys, I'm not a breakfast person or a morning person But every Friday morning, my wife knows how much I love chocolate. I was there I was gonna get my chocolate milk. So so if you did not make it to you did not Wow Yeah, oh, I I always got chocolate. Wow. Yeah. Thank you for this letter. This was really really amazing Hope you keep writing us. Tell us more stories. Yes. Tell us some our cat story any story man It was funny. I don't even realize I don't even I feel like you didn't realize it was funny It was it was good. It was a good story. But thank you so much for that letter. Yeah, and we will reach out

Thank you, Louie Phoenix Arizona, thank you so much and God bless you once prayers for all the Arizona prison. Thank you Alejandro in Crawfordville, Florida Thank you so much. Thank you for the art He had drew something. Thank you. We appreciate it. Oh nice like a card. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much Juan II in Amarillo, Texas has a joke and we will be praying for for your 14 year old son and I got your joke right here Who was the greatest Financer in the Bible Noah, he was flourishing the stock while everyone else was in liquidation a Good one All right, John In Tampa, Florida you John and the third and question on Scientology. I would stay away from it, brother Without having to do any research or anything be very careful I was personally my if I'm your pastor and you're gonna respect what I have to say I will stay completely away. No matter how good a program sounds I would stay away from it. Please be careful Macaulay I think it says in Corcoran, California, and thank you so much already George H Moundsville, West Virginia and Thank you. What did what did I put Christian hip-hop? Give me a second. Give me a second. It's a short letter. So Can you have some Christian hip-hop on your podcast sometimes we did get permission from Sister Ada to put any of her videos I think we put one but she gave us permission to put it because I never want to put Music that doesn't belong to us without permission. Yeah, and we should actually ask them angel and maybe yeah Yeah So we have Ada that gave us permission brother angel who a b1 we put some of his music videos he attends here his family attends here Dallas I don't know if he has any music videos, but I know he does shoot a little short little short clips here in there Yeah, we could talk to him

It may be brother Monty. Yeah Yeah Mr. Dung Austin Austin in New York, I believe thank you so much for the card and we will keep your brother and your sister in prayer Ian Tabor City, North Carolina. Thank you so much for the card. Also. We will add you to the prayer list also Santana Roswell, New Mexico. Thank you so much for for the card, we appreciate it. God bless you. Amen, thank you. Orlando in Middleton, Massachusetts. Really, really good letter, thank you so much. You're right, women need to dress appropriately as well as men, but you're right. And the thing you noted about it, I'll be honest with you, I didn't even notice it. Yeah, I did. Until we read it. And then she brought it, and I asked her, she goes, yeah, she goes that, you know. I did, brother, and I actually did, I had actually addressed something about it, so thank you for noting that. But I will say this, in times like that, when it's a wedding, a presentation, sometimes families come, guys, that don't attend the church, but they're going as support for the family. Because if somebody is on worship, if somebody is on staff, if somebody, then Sharon pulls them to the side and says,

hey, that's not appropriate to wear. Yeah. Yeah, and that has happened before. Yeah, I definitely do, and then when they're baby Christians and everything, sometimes we can't be so quick, we can't tell people, come as you are, but then we wanna sit there quickly and be quick to judge either. Because we gotta allow the Holy Spirit to do its work, and I think that's important too, because how do we tell people to come as they are, but then we wanna be the ones to start judging, and we wanna be the ones to try to make the change. We can't do that. We gotta allow them to come in and surrender, and we gotta allow the Holy Spirit to do its work and do what they need to do. We can't be the ones to make the change, you know? Change will happen in God's timing, so let's not be so quick, yeah. All right. Waylon in Canyon City, Canyon City, Colorado? Yeah, Canyon City, Colorado. Because it has a little thing on the end, right? Enjoyed your letter. Thank you. Keep watching us, and God bless you. Victor in Jonesboro, Arkansas. God bless you also.

Thank you for your letter. Thank you. Gilbert in Kennedy, Texas. Thank you also. Thank you for your letter. Short timing. Nice. Yeah, so obviously you're asking about a shirt. When you get out, let us know where you're at and whatnot. On our website is actually a store, so any of your families or whatever can order the identified, can order. Look at this one, the Christ Unbarred T-shirt. We have a few designs that's on the website now. They can order it direct from there. Oh, I have an order I gotta ship out. Actually, I just remembered. Charles Ray, Dalhart, Texas. Thank you so much. I know you really love orange. We're actually gonna be there in, end of September. Yeah. Yeah, thanks. Bobby! You know. Madison, Florida. Said happy Father's Day to David. Thank you on all the fathers at House of Rest. You know, this one, I had put it through on last week or something, thinking we had already did it,

and it hadn't been opened. And I'm like, oh man, I thought those were your notes. Those are his notes. He writes his own notes. That's why, and I'm like, oh man, this isn't even David's notes. It's his notes. So I had to bring it back and put it in for this week. He did say it's harder for him to write as much because where he was getting stamps, the brother isn't there anymore. Oh man. But he does have questions. Okay. Number one, Sharon, when are you gonna sing Mary, Did You Know? You still want me to sing that, brother? She doesn't know the answer to that. Number two, David and Sharon, you remember I sent you my character recognition forms on episode 90? Yes. Oh, did y'all make some up and put them together? Did y'all make some up and put them in our church yet? Yes. And I'm gonna answer that again. Yes, I do. Three, can you do a Grand Canyon road trip one day? Maybe. I don't see any reason why we can't.

That'd be nice. I've never seen the Grand Canyon. Have you? Well, hopefully now after the cat letter, hopefully we'll be able to do a lot of, yes, we'll be able to do a lot of road trips. Why the cat letter? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, the cat letter. Yes. I don't know why I thought of a sled being led by cats. Yeah, that'd be cool. Number four, the food drive was great. Y'all did. Them two guys that was doing it who just got out of prison is gonna be me one day. So that wasn't a question, but yeah, amen. Receive that. I receive it too. Five, Sharon, I'm gonna get you a cow when I get out. I don't know where you're gonna put her. Well, I got one right here right now, so. Six, can we get a group started to visit sick kids and bring them the joy of God? Praise God, let's do it. And yeah, that's it, six questions. Nice. All right, Marvin, Floyd, Kansas City. Kansas, thank you for your letter. God bless you. Keep writing us Orlando from Middleton, Massachusetts Really enjoyed your letter and I'm so happy to hear that you're learning from our content That's why we do these do the Bible studies the Sunday sermons, you know, here's the thing about Sunday sermon

I always say that our Bible studies the meat of house arrest But at the same time, I believe that Sunday's a day of celebration a day of getting together But that doesn't mean we dumb it down. I still want you to come in and learn something I'm not trying to just excite you. We're trying to learn something. So thank you. Thank you I get encouraged when they say that they learn from our stuff, you know, absolutely Just like you, you know when I had the women's discipleship so many women were sharing how much they've learned You know and how they're learning so much. Yeah Okay, Donald in Huntsville, Texas Thank you for your poems. We're gonna pray for your appeal and your family you know and Yeah, so sorry to hear about your your wife Yeah, so sorry brother Sometimes there's no words, you know, we can say but our heart is with you Brother Jimmy Kennedy Texas brother looking at the camera. Yeah, he loves the super cats So because of that because you love them guess what you're gonna get the Miles I got carried away. He only gets like What? He only gets like that with you guys They're my cut not list. Oh my god. All right miles are Tennessee colony, Texas whole bunch of prayer requests We love these things All right, Rahim a in Amarillo, Texas I have a question to ask of you, brother Why did you draw Sharon sitting next to a Bucky are you sitting waiting on Bucky We're cracking up that was funny I'm I thank you for explaining about the attachments guys. I had so I'm gonna say this I didn't know that Pando added that but here's the good news I do have attachments for some things. I don't have attachments for anything. So for sure. I'll tell you right now Discipleship classes those have attachments that I have made. I just haven't attached them to it

But now that I know I can now I will yeah, but for Sunday sermons or any of that It will take extra work man. You know, if I had somebody in media to say, you know what I'll do it Because I don't want to make that promise because that just adds more things for me to do but it would be possible To make a summary and bullet point of every single sermon if I had somebody to do it for us That would be really easy to do actually David in Akron, Ohio Unfortunately where I graduated I I went to Christian Leadership University they no longer offer To inmates. I don't know why I don't know. I don't know why I'm sorry about that It was a really good school. They're still a school. But for some reason they stopped their prison program. I found another one and they never Returned any risk. They never responded to me Maybe I'll read I'm gonna try to reach out to them again and see if they respond to me again. So Hopefully they do This is where's the name? This is all over the place it seems like Is it Zack? Yeah. Okay, and I don't even know where you're at There's all kinds of writing on this I don't know Florida, Florida. Okay in Florida. Thank you so much for your letter Yes, God bless you. All right William M in West Virginia brother Thank you. Yes. Thank you Thank you so much because that goes towards a monthly for for you guys to be able to have these These podcasts and you know the sermons It's not getting easier brothers sisters to it's not getting I'll be honest with you. It's getting a little harder, but we're still here We're still gonna keep putting these out pushing forward, you know Ryan in Seminole, Florida and He asked about the pen pal. So again, it's episode 81 where there's a Different resources and one of them is pen pals. I know a lot of you looking for pen pals We at house of rest don't offer any pen pal program

So Is that when you ran out of the red pen, yeah, that's when I ran out of the pain That's why we bought a whole pack of red pens Yeah But as far as you had a good question of how to start to mend a marriage There's so many moving parts in every single marriage. There's so many different things going on It would be hard to give that type of generalized advice, you know But I would say this first is before you start trying to fix a spouse fix yourself Fix yourself because a lot of times we want to make our wife or her husband how they should be as a Christian. Are you? the person Do you actually stand up to the standards you're holding to that person a lot of times the answers? No a Lot of times answers no We have to fit the standards that we're trying to make somebody else of hold first We need to be the man or the woman that God is calling us to be you know, I think sometimes we got to admit to admit our own flaws to and we got to admit our own wrongs because I think sometimes if we are if we look in the mirror and we See the things that we need to work on on ourselves then it makes it easier for us to be able to communicate With our spouse and we're able to communicate the things that we need to work on or we were able to admit our wrongs I mean communicate that you know, even as simple as you know, I think the other day I think the other day I remember I Had done something or said something to someone else and I was able to come to my husband and and be like do you think that I I did the right thing, you know, and He was able to you know, I asked him I said do you think I acted out of emotion and he was like I actually think you did and See, it's things like that because you know I know that I'm a woman and I know that there will be times will all act out of emotion But because I know myself and I know certain things I needed to ask him, you know And communicate that with him and ask him. Do you think that I did the right thing and he? Agreed that I didn't do the right thing so for him to be able to for me to admit my wrong and for him to

You know come and say like you didn't do the right thing I needed to hear that so that I can be able to make something right to find a solution and Sometimes there's us we can be hard-headed Sometimes that we don't want to ever admit to things and we'll be like I'm not gonna admit to that I don't I don't want to hear it. Sometimes we don't want to hear Certain things but there has to be communication We need to communicate with one another so that we can find solutions to things. I Rather hear the truth, and I'd rather hear it from somebody that loves me And that's the number one thing in a marriage. I think is communication trust and communication You know, I think that's important But you'll never be able to have that if you're not able to admit it to yourself Man, there's one more and then there's something I want to talk about This is from John and Estelle unit Huntsville, Texas He said man next time you do road trips and you play a song Can you please put the name of the artist in the song? I think I can do that in the future Yeah, you know We can at least say it while we're Maybe no, no, cuz I don't know what I'm gonna do. Okay. Yeah, but I think I can do that brother That's a good idea. Never thought of that. Yeah. Yeah, so Real quick a little bit of advice. I wanted to just kind of share some wisdom and some reality As you guys know, I never hid the fact of us Having weight loss surgery back in 2017, but I'm gonna tell you something and I'm not talking about weight But I'm gonna use that as an example. I Remember because they told you you were gonna go blind in Remember at the beginning because what happened was Sharon's body produces too much brain fluid and at that time she had to have surgery. And I said, listen, if you don't have rapid weight loss immediately, you're going to go blind. So the doctor pushed her to have a weight loss surgery. And she didn't want to, she didn't want to. So I went to the seminar with her,

and I heard the doctor say this, and this is the part I want to talk about, then I'm going to switch it to ministry. The doctor was up there, and I was really big at the time. And you were like, David, would you consider doing like, nope, nope, I ain't having no surgery. I'll just eat better. I'll just diet. I'll just go to the gym. I was very adamant, and I was almost 400 pounds, guys. And I heard the doctor say this, and it struck me to my core, and I didn't want to admit it. But he said this, he says, listen, because there was probably like 200 people in there. Am I exaggerating? Yeah. And he said this, he says, listen, he says, he said a lot of things, but this is the main surgeon that did the weight loss surgery, but he says 98% of you do not have the will or the drive to lose weight on your own, because I'm giving you the honest truth. There's only 2%, he goes, there's about 200 people here, so only 20 of you that all, you're all here to find out about weight loss surgery and whatever, and because there's different ones, you know, some are more invasive than others, he goes, but for the, he goes, I'm telling you right now, only 2% of you even have the will to actually do it, but all of you think you do, all of you say, well, I'm not going to get surgery, I'm going to just eat better, I'm going to cut out carbs, I'm going to, whatever. And he goes, be honest with yourself, he goes, because most likely most of you have tried all kinds of diets already. He goes, be honest with yourself, do you really feel like you're that 2%? Because if you are, then good for you, go for it, lose the weight, and keep it off. Give the most of your line to yourself. And I remember that bugged me, man, because that's the excuse I used to tell Sharon. I'm like, I ain't getting no surgery, I'll just eat better, I'll just do, you know, all that stuff, and but in my heart of hearts, I'm like, I can't, I'm not the 2%. I'm going to tell you this right now, guys, and I'm telling you this because I love you guys. Most of you are convinced that you're going to get out, and you're just going to live a great Christian life, and you're going to find a church, and this and that, whatever, and you've overcome your addictions, and you've already overcame the things that, and you're going to come out, and you're going to do things on your own, because you do things the way you do things, and nobody's going to tell you how to do things, and this is the way you program, and this is how you're wired, and I don't know what the percentage is, but I was just talking to our prison director, Marcelo, that most people that come out, if they are not right in the Lord now while you're inside, the chances of you falling away

are really high. I'm not saying this to discourage you, because a lot of people will get discouraged when they hear that, but I would rather just tell you truth. I used to say this in prison to the brothers while I was in prison, but I'm telling you even more so now that the moment you get out of prison, everything Satan Satan has is going to be thrown at you, whatever is your weakness, whatever is your downfall, whatever is the thing you run to, whatever. Why do I say this? Because I don't want you getting out and lying to yourself as if you got this because every day you pray for an hour, or we get together with the brothers and read Scripture, or you go to chapel every Sunday. Everything Satan has he's going to throw at you, and I don't want you to be the percentage that you... I would rather hit you with reality, because Satan is not playing, but neither is God. And I want you to understand how hard it is that you have to have a heart and a mind of steel, because we don't want you to fail. We don't want you to be discouraged. We don't want you to get out and you come to the church and you're like, oh, they have Bible study, they have men's group, they have this, and then you start saying, well, I'll be good if I show up on Sunday only, or I'll be good if I do this, or I'll be good. Oh, I know they're saying I should do this, but I'm going to do it my way. Well, let's just use an example. So I didn't want to have it that I ended up having it and it has been straight complications for me ever since having the surgery Complication after complication after complication back in 2017. Yeah you know I've had strictures ever since I had the surgery I I And I was the one that needed it really really needed it. I was gonna go blind. I was gonna go blind I lost my peripheral vision on my left eye So they you know three months after that I ended up having the brain surgery And then I started to have strictures in my stomach where I couldn't eat no protein I was going through a lot of a lot of stuff One thing after another after that my stomach has never been the same ever since then a lot of complications with eating a lot of stuff and It hasn't been the same since then

so it has been really really bad and But here's one thing that I can relate to to what what he's saying that There'll be Complications, there'll be things that'll get harder and harder and harder that will get thrown at you no matter what But I haven't given up Man, it hasn't stopped me from coming. It hasn't stopped me from pushing forward It hasn't stopped me from my worship it hasn't stopped me from serving it hasn't stopped me from doing anything I Have fallen many times I have gone through a lot of things many things that the enemy has thrown my way But I still continue to praise I still continue to worship you don't see me, you know All laid out or anything and there's been many times So let me tell you many times that I have been like Lord. I can't do this anymore but I continue and And there's times where people don't even know half of the stuff that I'm gone that I've gone through But I continue. Yeah You have to show up and you have to continue pushing forward When when I give advice to somebody gets out of prison sometimes I feel like it's going in one way or the other in a way where they're like man, you know, I respect you pastor David I respect you, but You still think you know what you're doing not realizing that this is your first time on this rodeo Serving God and getting out of prison But it's probably my 50th time. I've talked to somebody saying the exact same thing. You said and they fail see it and they fail You know a lot of us end up in places of incarceration because we don't listen We still think it's gonna go our way because we have our bright ideas You know, and that's just come on just let's just be real right that's why we ended up in the places we end up You know, and I'm I don't want to see you fail I Don't want to see anyone fail the the state the the country the courts already assume you're gonna fail and We're rooting for you But if we say something, you know, like for instance To become a part of bridges

you got to first have a sit-down an intake with Marcelo and Then you come you're like, I don't got to do all that. I don't got to do this. I You're already starting bad Why do you think those things are in place to try to control you? Are they in place because we've seen 50 other people fail You know another thing accountability, oh Yeah, it's easy to serve God and I'm not gonna say it's easy to serve God in prison But it's easier when you're surrounded by brothers that you can't leave there. You're stuck there. You're in a chow hall with them You're in a yard with them And so obviously if you're missing from Bible study missing for chapel missing you have a lot of Accountability all of a sudden you you get on a Greyhound come to Modesto. I don't even know where you're at I don't know where you're staying And you're gonna show up from Sunday to Sunday and and we're just like Do you realize the odds are against you? Do you realize that everything Satan has he's gonna throw at you because there's no accountability because there's nobody watching you because of whatever and I Just don't want people to lose anymore You know and I say that whole weight loss story because I had to be real and say I'm not the 2% they can do it without surgery. I had to be real with myself, you know Bible says if something causes you to sin cut it out You know gluttony is a sin and I couldn't stop eating so you know what I had to do If it causes me to sin and cut it out You know and that's just being real I'm just being honest and all I'm asking is for you guys be honest with yourself And I say this even more because we have discipleship classes Don't do the discipleship classes and write an essay and say I'm part of house of rest But you're still living like a devil because not only are you misrepresenting God you're misrepresenting house of rest because you know What happened is if they see you flip-flopping the whole yard is watching you trust me. I know Because there's always people in the yard that wanted to tell me what a Christian is

And All of a sudden you're talking about house of rest you got to watch Christ unbarred But you're living a certain you're living a double life. They're not if they're not taking you serious They're not gonna take us serious and therefore they're not gonna surrender their life to the Lord Be a good representative be a good ambassador Jesus died for you, man he suffered for you and for me and for us and The least we can do if he died for you, at least we could do is live for him You know, I just want people to win man. I Am I Am honored when people say man, we're going to Modesto we're going to Modesto we're going to Modesto But don't do without a plan We want you to win and if you're gonna make your way all the way over here and then shut out our advice What are you doing? Maybe you're better off staying where you were because if you're gonna fail might as well fail close to family because here There's no safety net here You know, we just want you to win and I'm just just giving you some reality I'm not gonna sit here and sugarcoat. I'm not gonna sit here and do none of that for what? What is that gonna babysit you? Yeah, we're not gonna baby. We're not gonna micromanage you We're not gonna babysit you but we are gonna tell you the truth and we're just gonna be straight-up honest with you and I think we're gonna do that with just everybody and I think that's the problem is that a lot of the times people think that we're gonna sit here and Micromanage you and we're gonna babysit you and I think that that's a problem too because people want that sometimes and and we can't do that And I think that was that was the problem is that sometimes I felt like we needed to do that and you used to tell Me babe, we're not gonna sit here and micromanage people or anything and people want that sometimes But the thing is we can't We can't you know David says it all the time We're teaching you to be a mega Christian to to know who you are in Christ

Your identity in Christ I had to learn who I was to speak to myself and be able to to know that I had the authority to Pray over my body to pray over my children to know that I can stand on my own two feet and be like Lord I know who I am That I didn't have to go to my husband and say like you're my pastor. You have to pray over me. No, I had to learn Like I know who I am in Christ. I Didn't constantly have to run to him and be like, can you pray for me? No, I can pray for myself. I Knew how who I was in Christ. I Had to learn that because for 22 years. I didn't know who I was Yeah, you know and that's what people are learning they're learning their identity I remember Going to high school and elementary and middle junior high and if you're if you're late if you are If you ditch they call your parents. There's a truant officer and you know It's like you you're ditching class and if a police officer sees you whatever is like they pull over a there's school Why are you not at school? This is that you didn't realize the moment you graduate high school and you go to college Ain't nobody telling you to get up and go to school. There ain't no truant officers. There ain't no nothing You're either gonna make it or break it. You're gonna go to school on your own Umph or your own you're gonna you're gonna fail or you're gonna succeed. Nobody's forcing you to go to college Nobody there's matter of fact in high school, there's like What do they call like staff and between recess or break or lunch? You're like hey, the bell rang. Yeah, there ain't no bells in in college There is no bells you go to class at two o'clock. You show up. You don't show up. Whatever it is What are you wanting? You're still gonna get the bill for that? Yeah, you're still gonna get so here's the thing And what am I saying is that you are there in a place you're told when to eat breakfast lunch and dinner You're told when to lock down you're told when to do this, you're told when to do that. The moment you step out into the real world, then nobody gonna tell you nothing.

Nobody, there's no breakfast, lunch, dinner, bed, bunk, nothing, there's nobody's gonna inspect your bed. There's nobody's gonna do nothing. You're either gonna make it or break it. And I'm just giving you some reality because I love you guys and I don't wanna see people fail. I don't want to do that, you know? And ultimately, church is a tool to help you, but that's it, church can't save you. You know what? After I got surgery, I lost weight, I gained it. I gained, not all of it, I gained some of it back. And I came to the realization a few months ago where I'm just like, what am I doing here? I had my stomach cut out. What am I doing? You know, and I'm just like, I'm 54 years old. I've gained half the weight I've lost. What am I doing? There's nobody here, what am I gonna do? Tell Sharon to babysit me on the food I eat? She can't watch everything I eat, nor should she. She's not my mother. It's either had to come from inside of me or not. Nobody's telling me, hey, get up, go for a bike ride. Hey, get up, go to the gym. Hey, nobody. And I see you every morning, get up. Has to come from within. And I see you go on your bike rides and all of that.

Do you know, I went to the gym with him yesterday for the first time. I'm proud of her, man. And then this morning, he's like, you're gonna be in a lot of pain. You're gonna be in a lot of pain, but you're gonna have to get up and you're gonna have to go on a bike ride to work those muscles. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm gonna wake up in a lot of pain. But I got up this morning and I went to go do five miles with him. And he's like, are you okay? And I said, I'm okay. But I got up, guys. And then in the last month, I fell twice, guys. My knees were bruised up. But I got up anyways. And I went, I went on that bike ride. I went to the gym and I told myself, I'm okay with doing this. I wanna go again with you. And I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna get strong and I'm gonna do this with him. There's something I felt very convicted and felt bad. Something Sharon told me yesterday. And I had no idea she felt this way because we were going to the gym when we were living in Stockton.

And you never told me this or maybe I didn't hear you. You know, sometimes husbands are very dense in our brains. Yes, true. But she said this yesterday and I don't think she realized how much it hit me right in my heart and I felt bad. I said, you know, I think we were, I forgot where we were, but we left the gym already. And she goes, I really liked it. I really liked it. She goes, I like the regiment you have, because it's 11 machines, full body workout, all the way from your calves to your legs, to your back, to your stomach, your chest, finally your arms and your shoulders. Full body workout. Nobody's trying to be a weightlifter. We're just trying to get healthier. And using muscles we're gonna use with cycling. And she says, I didn't like going before because you would go off and do your own thing and I didn't know how to use the machines and I just kind of felt out of place. I felt dumb, so I would just stick to a couple machines I knew. And guys, I had no idea. I had no idea she felt that way. I would see her in the same treadmill, in the same this or that, and I'm like, man, how come she doesn't get on stuff?

Instead of realizing, David, she hasn't been in gyms all her life like you have. Show her how to, you know, I didn't know. I felt so bad because yesterday I told her, follow me every exercise I do. So there's 11 machines I use. So I took her to each one and I explained each one. It has a little picture of what muscle's working on. And I showed her, this is how you adjust it. This is how you do this, this is how you do that. And it might not all stick in her head, but you know what, after a couple weeks, she's gonna know that machine, with or without me, right? Yeah, but I enjoyed doing it with him. But you know, I really, really enjoyed it. But my point is this. If you're coming here, you don't gotta be a Bible scholar. You just gotta have a dedication to say, I wanna serve God. And I will take you in the same way I walked you. I will walk you on how to be a man of God, or you, if it's a woman. And I will walk you through on how to read your Bible. I will walk you through all those things. I don't mind that. As long as your dedication is there, as long as your heart is there, that's what I'm called to do, is to disciple you and to teach you.

But if you're going to come and just, and I say spiritually, these are the 11 exercises we're gonna do. This is how you do it. And you're like, I'm gonna do it on my own. And then you fail. You can't blame me. Yeah. You know, so I'm just trying to make some comparisons so we can see, you know. And I just wanted to share that with you guys. I know we read all these letters. We gotta end this now, but I just wanted to share my heart with you and. That's good. Thank you. So all right, guys, God bless you. Thank you so much. Love you guys. Here's one more. Amen. Be encouraged. And God bless. Bye, guys. All right. God bless you all. Thank you for joining us for our weekly Bible study. Shout out to Anthony De La Garza. All right. How's everyone doing?

Blessed. All right. We are going to pray in so we can start our Bible study. It's by our heads. Lord God, we thank you so much. We give you all honor and all glory. We thank you for an opportunity to once again, read your word, to open the scriptures. We pray, Lord God, that it not only speaks to our minds, but speaks to our hearts to allow it to shape us, Lord. So we conform to what your word is saying. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity. We thank you for all those that are watching online through their screen. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So we are in 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. I believe we ended at the end of 1, right? So we're at 2-1, I believe. Is that correct? Anybody remember? I believe we're at chapter 2 verse 1. All right. So we're going to continue this letter. This is a second letter from Paul to the church in Corinth. And we're just going to dive right into it and see what it is that he's saying to them. And what is he saying to us? You know, the Holy Spirit, not Paul, but what is the Holy Spirit saying to us today?

In chapter 2 verses 1 and 2, he says, For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? In the Message Bible, it says this. Let me go ahead and read it. It says, That's why I decided not to make another visit that could only be painful to both of us. If by merely showing up, I would put you in an embarrassingly painful position. How would you then be free to cheer and refresh me? If you remember, at the end of chapter 1, some of them are kind of calling him out on saying, Why have you not visited us? And he basically was saying, Hey, you think I didn't come just because? Of course, if I didn't come visit you, there's a reason for it. But there was issues that were happening in the Corinthian Church. And he's kind of just letting them know, Listen, I think it was better off I didn't go visit you because I would rather go visit you at a good time, not at a time to go and rebuke you all. And he says it would I would rather wait to show up when things are good. And that's why he says in verse 3 and 4, He says, Let me make sure I find it here. Okay, 2nd Corinthians 2, 3 and 4. 3 and 4 says this,

It says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Who comforts us all in our affliction. So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. And the message, it sounds like I said, the message isn't always a perfect. It's not a perfect translation, but I like it a lot. But many times, It says this, it says that was my reason for writing a letter instead of coming. He says, so I wouldn't have to spend a miserable time disappointing the very friends. I've looked forward to cheering me up. I was convinced at the time. I wrote it that what was best for me was also best for you as it turned out. There was painting. I know I was reading the wrong one, I know. I'll read the right one right now. I was convinced at the time I wrote it that was best for me, was also best for you, as it turned out, there was pain enough just in writing that letter, more tears than ink on the parchment. But I didn't write it to cause pain. I wrote it so that you would know how much I care, or more than care, I love you. So now I'll read the right one here, sorry. In the ESV it says in three and four, and I wrote as I did so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those

who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. So again, he's letting them know, like listen, I did not show up because I didn't want to, but I'm glad I didn't. I'd rather write this letter to you and bring some correction than to just show up. You got to remember that when he's writing this church, this is a church he helped establish. So when there was issues happening in that church, they would send letters to him wherever he was to say, hey, we're having this issue, we're having that issue, this is happening, that's happening. And there was a lot of issues if we go to First Corinthians that we just finished over the last couple months, there was a lot of issues in that church and things that were going on. So he's basically still, again, he's just letting them know, listen, it was hard enough for me to write this letter. It would have been even harder to face you face-to-face and tell you these things. And then he goes into what he's talking about, verses 5 and 6. Well, actually, let's read 5 through 8. He says, now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it out too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so that you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him,

or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. I'm going to remind you of something that was said in First Corinthians, but let me read it in the message. He says, now, regarding the one who started all of this, right, because there was issues in First Corinthians. He goes, now, regarding the one that started all this, the person in question, who caused all this pain, I want you to know that I am not the one injured in this, as much as with the few exceptions, all of you. So I don't want you to come down too hard. What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough. Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it. My counsel now is to pour on the love. So we're not positive what he's talking about, but I don't know if you remember in First Corinthians, there was a guy that was sleeping with his stepmom. And nobody was saying anything about it in the church. It was happening in the church. And Paul was like, listen, you've got to kick him out of the church. He says, you've got to, actually, he said it even more brutally. He says, you've got to release this man to Satan. That's what he said, release him to Satan.

And that sounded a little harsh even then, but I mean, what are you going to do? How do you allow something to just fester in the church? So Paul rebuked them in First Corinthians. Release him to Satan. Because clearly, this man was living in a very wrong way and was not repentant of it. But something happened between First Corinthians and Second Corinthians. It seems like they basically kicked him out of the church. And Paul was like, don't even eat with him. And I believe that's what he's talking about. I believe that's who he's talking about. Because if we go back, that's what he's saying. He says that the punishment's enough. Because here's the thing, right, is maybe, just maybe, this man got kicked out of the church and he repented. He felt bad. He felt horrible. He felt guilty. And it brought him to a place of repentance. You know, sometimes you gotta let people hit rock bottom. People talk to me about Jesus all my life, but it wasn't a hit rock bottom. One of my brothers who was addicted to drugs, to meth for 17 years, but he was enabled, my family enabled him, my mother enabled him, and it didn't stop him. The moment my dad said, enough is enough, you're outta here, I don't want you to be here,

next time you show up at this house, I'm calling the cops. And he hit rock bottom. And what did he do? He repented and got saved. And he got clean to this very day. And now he has a home, he has a job, he has a truck, and he has a wife, and he has things, and he serves the Lord. So something happened in this man that was doing wrong where he reached a point to where he repented. How do I know he repented? Because Paul is saying, listen, I'll read it in the message, regarding the one who started all this, the person in question, the one that caused all this pain, I want you to know I'm not the one injured in this as all of you, he goes, but I don't want you to come down too hard. He goes, what the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough. Maybe this person came back saying, you know what? I messed up, I sinned against God, I sinned against you, I sinned against the church. And maybe they continue to say, yeah, we don't want you. So it seems like Paul is addressing this and he's like, you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So it's like, you gotta have the discernment of if somebody is bringing a cancer of weakness into the church, you have to be able to be strong enough to say, you know what?

You need to repent, you need to fix this, but you're not coming in here to mess everybody else up. But then the person comes back months later, says, man, I'm really sorry, I messed up. And I said, get out of here. And he comes back three months later, man, I'm sorry. Please, I messed up, get out of here. What if the person really truly has repented? He says, shouldn't you rather forgive and comfort him or he'll be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow? So that's why he says in verse eight, so I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. The whole thing was that, think of it as parents, right? A lot of times you discipline your kid. Do you discipline your kid because you hate them? No, you do it from love. So Paul is like, are you sure you're not, you did it in love because you're not accepting him back. So maybe it's turned into something else in your heart. Because this whole time we re-released him to Satan because we love him, because we want him to hit rock bottom so he can repent and fix his life. But now that he's fixed his life, you guys are being too excessive. In verse nine through 11, it says, for this is why I wrote to you. This is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything,

has been for your sake in the presence of Christ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs. In the message it says, the focus of my letter wasn't on punishing the offender, but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don't think I'm carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact that I'm joining in with your forgiveness as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don't wanna unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief. We're not oblivious. to his sly ways. You know, it can be hard because you have to find that balance. And in this day and age, when everybody wants to be politically correct, and nobody wants to offend nobody, and you know, a lot of times, I believe that we coddle people that are living in sin because we don't want to offend them, but you're hurting them. You know, and a lot of times where Paul, Paul says this a lot of times, and I know it's really hard, where he says, listen, if somebody's doing something, don't even break bread with them. Don't even eat with them. And a lot of times what happens, I'll be honest with you, this is what happens every time, because it's only been like three times in 15 years I have had to tell somebody to leave, they're not welcome here.

And that's not, I never come to that conclusion easy. I don't like it. If somebody comes and they're destroying themselves, that's one thing, because they need Jesus. But when their destruction starts to infect other people around this church, then I'm sorry, you got to go. And what usually happens is that somebody in the church feels bad for them, and they go and coddle them and make them feel like, oh, pastor's mean. And that person never comes to repentance, because all the people go and coddle them after I'm not around. Instead of just letting that person realize what they did, come to a place of repentance, not to me, but to God. And we actually stop what God was trying to do in their life. Perfect example, parents, sometimes you want to discipline your kid, which you have the right to do, but grandma, don't listen to your mom. Or grandpa, don't listen to your mom. Oh, they took your phone, I'll get you a phone. You are not helping the situation. Some of your grandmas are looking down like, Abram Rodriguez, what's up, brother? Boom, pastor cat, that's for you. Thank you. You know, I remember I found out later, like, for instance, many times my dad would punish us, take something away or spank us or whatever. And many times my mom wanted to jump in. And later on, as an adult, you know, my mom would say,

a lot of times I felt your dad was harsh. She says, but I didn't want you boys to see me do that because it's almost like, oh, dad's gone, so I'll let you do it. That's the wrong thing to do, you know. And she wouldn't step in. And as an adult, as an adult man, I said, thank you for letting my dad be a dad. There are a few times where she would hide stuff she would find out or find, and I've told her as an adult, why didn't you tell him? Because he probably would have spanked me and I probably needed it. You know, so we can't coddle people. And I know that's hard to do, but at the same time, we can't let that non-coddling turn into hate. And that's what Paul is saying. He's like, listen, I think this person should be restored. He says, because if we overwhelm him with excessive sorrow, you're going to drown him in that sorrow now. So I love that. I love the balance of that. And you know what it comes down to is having discernment, is having the discernment of when to discipline, of when to have a talk with somebody. You know, that's why even Jesus says if somebody has an issue, go and talk to that person one-on-one. If the person still ain't hearing you, then bring some elders from the church. And if that doesn't work, then bring it out to the whole church.

And if that doesn't work, then release that person. There's a reason why Jesus said it that way. There's a reason why Paul is. Listen, I think enough is enough. Let that person be restored This is not talking about leadership though It's not talking about leadership we got to be careful with that Because I remember hearing there's this pastor in Florida a Real famous guy. He would go around with tent revivals back in the 80s and 90s and He had a huge following. I don't know if it was, Florida. I don't know where it was. I Can't remember where I think so, but anyways, that's not important. What was important was the fact that this man Had an affair with his worship leader and left his wife for the worship leader and He got sat down and A couple months later. He says, oh, I'm coming back to ministry. I made things, right? Okay, how'd you make things right? Oh I married the woman so it's not an affair now You divorced your wife and you married the woman you had an affair and that's you making it right and What was wild to me is the organization he belonged to said, okay, that's good enough and they restored him to ministry I Don't believe that's what Paul was talking about You know, I think I think that Again, maybe this is my opinion. This is what I read in Scripture a weren't Marcello. What's up, man? You get the shark cat Thank you What I see in Scripture, I believe this is wisdom when I say this is that I believe in this life Sometimes we disqualify ourselves of things doesn't mean God don't forgive you for instance if you rob banks and You go to prison for robbing banks and then you come out and you're saved. Hallelujah. Praise God and Then you come and you're like man, that's messed up Wells Fargo won't hire me

I'm a Christian now Yeah, the Lord forgives you but you sir have disqualified yourself from ever working at a bank You can just got to live with it We we we have to lie in the bed that we make You know and and so that's why I tell people same thing. You know, I mean like I Think some husbands and some wives you disqualify yourself from having your own social medias There's there's couples that share a social media There's you know, so you disqualify yourself and then you get mad you did that to you. Yeah, the Lord forgives you But you disqualified yourself I don't wear red. I I Don't wear red because what that color meant to me before Christ and a lot of people knew that I represented that a lot of people knew about my music I Don't wear a red shirt walking around through Walmart Because I have disqualified myself from wearing. It's not there's nothing wrong with the color red. I disqualified myself from that So I don't wear it Because it means something different if I wear it and somebody else from the world sees me So there's certain things that we have disqualified ourselves from you just got to own it. Don't get mad about it Does the Lord forgive you? Yeah, but in this life, you're disqualified from certain things and All you can do is get mad at yourself. But hey, it is what it is So what why do I say that because if this person that did this was let's say It doesn't Bible doesn't say this. I'm making a for instance. Let's say this guy was The marriage counselor of the church and He sleeps with his stepmom That's what the first Corinthians said So now he wants to come back and let's say he Was able to get into that affair because he was counseling women And

Paul is not saying hey restore him and give him that ministry back No, dude You have disqualified yourself from that ministry you know, so That's you know, same thing with everything whatever it is worship Christian rappers, whatever, you know, whatever it is, whatever it is Don't get mad, you know, just just take the loss and be just be glad the Lord read the Lord forgives you Restore yourself restore what you do, but maybe just maybe you aren't you are you have disqualified yourself from ministry in that capacity All right, where's that cat BAM, there you go Let's see Raven So But again Paul what I like what he says in verse 11, he's like we got to be careful with this He says so that we would not be outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs Why does he mention Satan because what if the person truly repented they wanted to get restored? But now the the church is not restoring him. So now this person is starting to get angry So now he's starting to lash out see so Satan got his way now What if what if it drove this person to kill himself? Because all he wanted to do was repent Restore and be restored to his brothers and sisters in the church and they weren't accepting him. So we have to be careful Verse 12 to 14. Yes, sir. Who has a question? Oh, go ahead I they have to When they have to accept all And knowing his past when he came from yeah You know that the sermon Yeah, well, yeah, she brings up a good point because Paul Killed Christians Before he got saved he would actually have Christians arrested and killed and people knew about Paul people knew that he was attacking the church and

So that's why even when Paul got saved this is that he went to Arabia for three years He didn't even it's not like he got saved in the next day like a church. What's up? They knew who what he was about and then so when he showed up again three years later Some of them were having issues. They're like, it's a ain't this the guy that would kill us You know, so again, you know There had to be forgiveness there. They had to have discernment. They're just like man. What if he's a spy? What if he's acting like a Christian? What if it you know? Mariah, thank you so much Um, actually I meant this victory in name of Jesus I have defeated you you have no power Point because maybe just maybe what if Paul was talking out of his own hurt when he was rejected There's people that didn't like Paul because they're Paul went around killing Christians So Paul understood forgiveness In verse 12, it says when I arrived in Troas to proclaim the message of the Messiah Let me read it in the ESV first. Sorry when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ Even though a door was open for me in the Lord My spirit was not at rest Because I did not find my brother Titus there So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia verse 14 but thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and Through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere and The message it says when I arrived in Troas Troas is a city To proclaim the message of the Messiah I found the place wide open God had opened the door. All I had to do was walk through it So in other words, he's talking that he's giving testimony about this place Troas He's like man when I went there, it's like God opened the door for me to just to share the gospel He was so I took advantage of it He was all I had to do is walk through it

But when I didn't find Titus waiting for me with news of your condition, I couldn't relax So he's telling the Corinthian church. He's like man. I was there The gospel was available to be the the city was open to receive he was but the whole time I was there In other words, he's saying he was I was concerned for you guys You He says I was worried about you and I left and came on to Macedonia province looking for Titus and a reassuring word on you and I got it. Thank God You guys remember? Remember this is a personal letter that he's writing to the to the church All right bread of life there's a jcat he needs salvation but He'll get saved someday So But man, I really like this next part I really really like it i'm gonna go ahead and read 14 through 16 Um, where's that at here? This is cool Uh, it says but thanks be to god Who in christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads a fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere 15 says for we are the aroma of christ to god Among those who are being saved And i'm not and among those who are perishing To one a fragrance from death to death to the other a fragrance from life to life who is sufficient for these things I'm going to explain it because you're like what i'm going to explain it because I love this and you're going to love it, too I'm going to read in a message first. It says in the messiah in christ God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade through us He brings knowledge of christ everywhere we go people breathe in the exquisite fragrance because of christ We give off a sweet scent rising to god, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation an aroma Redolent whatever that word means with life, but those in the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse Okay, well, I didn't like the way the message put it so i'm gonna break it down

See back in the day See back then When the men would go to war The only ones that would stay behind are the elderly the women and the children And when the men would leave to war You didn't know what was going to happen Because either the men were going to come back in victory Or the men weren't going to come back and other men were going to come And take the wives and the elderly and the children There was no internet. There was no cell phones. There was no nothing. So you had no idea when all the men left women Children had no idea not only if they would never see dad again But if they lost They were going to become slaves to the nation they lost to So So every day they look out are they coming back yet are they coming back yet? It was probably a scary moment when the men would leave So what they did So what the men would do as they were marching back home Have you ever been like if I sprayed perfume or cologne right now, it'll probably take a minute but within a few minutes People on the other side of the room would smell it, right? At first you wouldn't but it it would travel So this is what the men would do they would light an incense that would smell As they're traveling back home in victory Knowing that the scent would travel faster than the than the men would So the women the elderly and the children they would look out look out are they coming back are they coming back and all of a sudden They would smell the aroma

That the men were sending the incense What do you think the wives did They rejoiced because that was a smell of victory But as the procession got closer Toward the back were all the prisoners the men of the enemy that lost And they were not going to become slaves And these men that were slaves were being in handcuffs being taken back to the city They smelled the same incense But that incense to them wasn't a smell of victory it was a smell of defeat So the same aroma the same incense to some It meant freedom And to others that same aroma meant defeat So, let me read that again with that understanding I believe. 14. It says, thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, in a parade, and through us, those of us in Christ, spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. You catch that? That everywhere we go there's a scent in the spirit of victory. That wherever those of us who are in Christ, wherever we walk, we are in a triumphal procession and through us and from us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere. Verse 15, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved. Think about that. So when people that are lost, people that are broken, people that are searching for God, when they sense something in you, they don't know what it is, but it's like their spirit smells the aroma of victory in you and they embrace it. But to those that don't want Jesus, to atheists that don't want Jesus, to blasphemers that don't want Jesus, that same aroma that is hope to some means death to them. Verse 15, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those

who are perishing. To one person the fragrance from death to death because they don't want Jesus, but to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? Ain't that a cool passage? Verse 17, he says, for we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. I'm going to read that in the message and check this out. So it says, where's it at? This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No, but at least we don't take God's word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in God's in Christ's presence when we speak. God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can. What is he talking about? So that word peddlers of God's word. See that word in verse 17. In the original Greek, that word peddler was used for somebody that would water down wine. For those of you that are drug addicts in the past, somebody that would put some cut in it. It wasn't pure. Somebody put baby powder in it. Somebody put something in it. Some the baby stuff. What's it called? It's been so many years. I don't remember. They put some cut. It ain't no 100% Bolivian flake. So they were watering it down. So people that would sell wine in order to try to make more money, they would throw some water in it to water it down. That's the word that Paul used in the Greek. He says, but look what he says. He uses an example. He goes, for we are not like many peddlers of God's word. He goes, I don't water things down. We're going to give it to you straight. That's what Paul is saying. He was, these other teachers are coming and they're watering the gospel down. They're compromising the gospel. He says, no, I'm not going to peddle it. I'm not going to water this message down. I'm going to give it to you straight. That's what he's saying. That's an awesome verse. I'm going to read it again. For we are not like so many peddlers or watering down or compromising of God's word, but as men of sincerity, commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. In other words, he says the same message I share with you. I'll share it. If Jesus was standing right here next to me, it is not watered. It is not peddled down. It is not compromised. Yeah, baby laxative, Marcelo. You would know, man. That's messed up, brother. Better repent. It's baby powder. No. So that's a powerful verse. I love the fact that Paul is

saying that. Guys, don't ever water down your message. I'm not saying to be Disrespectful to people. I'm not saying God is not wanting you to to to be a jerk Don't be offensive just to be offensive because the Word of God is offensive enough The Bible says for us to To to be forgiving and for us to be loving for us to be caring for us But the message does not get watered down Loving somebody and watering the word is completely different things We don't water the word. We don't water the message We preach Christ and if God says it then God says it we can't change it. It's his word not ours. It's his church He calls the shots So we can't ever just water things down because well I think it'll sound better if we say like this or whatever and that's now Yeah, if you have a creative way of saying something, but not if it's gonna change the meaning of what the word says Then you're peddling it You're watering it down and he says no be a person of sincerity Commissioned by God. Are you sharing that same message if Jesus is standing right next to you? You know, so I I Think overall what he's saying in this chapter and it's in this portion of the yeah, this chapter is Having the discernment to forgive people that have sinned against God And having the discernment of when to pull away from somebody there are people guys that I I won't I won't break bread with them The three or four instances when I have told somebody that they got to leave I don't wish harm on them I hope they're doing well. I hope they're serving the Lord. I hope they came to a place of repentance You know, but sometimes what's the saying like you burn the spot up man you can't come back you just the burned up the spot too much and Sometimes people have came back Not people that I the three or four that I told you left, but sometimes I had to talk to somebody they get offended they leave Six months later. They're just like man. You know what you're right, man

You were right and I was just blind and I was just being dumb or whatever this and that and can I come back? I'm like, of course Of course That's happened more than the four that I told to leave, you know, I mean, so that's a good thing We want to be able to restore we want people to come to repentance. We want people to get right with God We want people to to to live, right? Not for my sake but for their own sake We're all gonna face God ourselves All of us. We're all gonna stand before God alone. We're gonna answer to God alone you know, but I Think that I love the fact of what he's saying because he's bringing balance into it and and saying listen Sometimes you got to be harsh but sometimes you got to forgive too and And I Think that's an important way to live and if you have trouble forgiving and I think all of us do to some level to some extent We have to take that to the Lord and say Lord, why am I like this? I don't want to be like this because on The cross you said Lord forgive them for they don't know what they're doing Lord if I'm gonna follow you then let me have your heart because if you can forgive those that That that put nails in your hands Then who am I to not want to forgive somebody for words that they said You know, and we got to be careful with that guys this is this is Forgiveness is a huge thing in the kingdom and I believe according to the words of Jesus that it will keep us out of heaven Don't matter if you tie don't matter if you worship the man if you cry at every altar call it doesn't matter none of that stuff We have to deal with that within ourselves It's forgiveness and that's probably the hardest thing of all to do It's probably harder to forgive than to give up an addiction

And it's something that we can't just gloss over because you're just like well I pass everything else in my life with Christ and He's like no, I want you to give me that too You know, so I'm going to read just a couple more verses and we're going to end it. I know we're in Chapter 3, but I just want to do a few more verses, if you don't mind. I know because we started a little bit late. He says, Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. I'm going to read that in the message. He says, Does this sound like we're patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we're not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it, not with ink but with God's living Spirit, not chiseled into stone but carved into human lives, and we publish it. Guys, this is why I wanted to read this part before we ended, because this is important. He's basically saying, Listen, I don't need a piece of paper showing you who I am. My life itself should show you who I am. And this is why I always say your walk should be louder than your talk. What good is it having a credential saying I have ordination or saying this or that? What good is any of that if you are not a reflection of it? It means nothing. You can have all the Jesus shirts, your whole closet will have Jesus shirts, but it doesn't mean nothing if you are not living according to Christ in a way that pleases him.

It means nothing. And that's why I like that he says in the message, your very lives are a letter that anyone can read just by looking at you. So we should live a life where people, you know, they don't have to know what church you go to. They don't have to know what credentials you have or what ministry you're leading or nothing. Our very lives should be the very letter that they see in you in your life. And I love that because he says Christ wrote it, not with ink, but with God's living Spirit. So what story is God writing on your life? It's not written on paper, it's not chiseled into stone, but it's carved into our human lives. We should be, you know, the book of Acts, this is interesting, the book of Acts has no ending. And actually every Bible says the Acts of the Apostles, which I believe is wrong. And it's okay to say that because the Bible is infallible. It's people later that put titles to it. So whoever wrote the book of Acts didn't on top write the Acts of the Apostles. It's scholars that wrote that. It's scholars that put chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. It's scholars that put verse 1, 2, 3, 4, and there's nothing wrong with it because can you imagine if there was no chapters or verses? How would you be able to quote, oh, read this portion or read, so that's why the scholars did it. But when I say that the Bible is a word of God, it's the words, not the titles or the chapter headings. I think they got it wrong when they said the Acts of the Apostles. I believe the book of Acts is the Acts of the Holy Spirit because the book never ends. Why does that book never end? I believe because the book of Acts is still being written in our hearts through our lives because the Holy Spirit is not done yet on this earth.

To me, there's a reason why the book of Acts doesn't end because if it's truly the book of Acts of the Holy Spirit, then all the way from the day of Pentecost all the way until Jesus returns, it's still an act of the Holy Spirit. And we are the pages. Each of us are a page of the book of Acts and it's not written on paper. It's not written in stone. It's carved into our lives by the very Spirit of God. Sandra Vargas, the Kool-Aid cat, my favorite. you know so I just I wanted to end it with that because I think that's powerful guys I want to leave you with that is that is nothing wrong to say Lord if I'm a page in the book of Acts then let me be a good page let me be a page that transforms lives let me be a page that draws people closer to you let me be a page that that that people find hope let me be a page where people find forgiveness let me be a page where people find salvation that's a huge responsibility and this is what Paul is telling the church in Corinth but I believe this is what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today that maybe you're not written in ink but you're written by the Holy Spirit in your life so yes sir