Christ Un-barred - EP 107 - Road Trip part 2 / Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana & Wyoming

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ All right, we're here in Montana. About to leave the hotel. Look at the complimentary coffee. My favorite part was the fact that I could make a Cadillac. Yep. Just waiting for the ladies to come down. And we're going to go to the dinosaur exhibit. Let's be cool. So this is the lobby of the hotel. Not bad. All right, guys, we are here at the Museum of the Rockies. I'm really excited. I've been wanting to come here for a long time. A lot of dinosaur fossils. But I just want to let you guys know, man, if you're all up in the drama over there, save the drama for your llama. Wait, did I say that wrong? Save the drama for your... I don't know. Either way, that's cool, man. Either those are llamas or alpacas. Same thing, they're cousins. All right, guys, we're going to go into the Museum of the Rockies.

Living History Farm. Step back in time as our costume interpreters tell you about the daily lives of people who homesteaded in Montana in the late 1800s. Enter through the gate to touch history. Cool. Let's go see. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act 1862. Homestead Act declares any citizen or intended citizen could claim 160 acres, one quarter square mile of surveyed government land. Claimants must approve the plot with the dwelling and growing crops. Man, if somebody gave me 160 acres, I'd grow crops. All right. The Tinsley House. This is this house right here, huh? Yeah, the Tinsley House. Acquired the Tinsley Home 1986. Oh, the Rockies. Oh, they brought it here on truck. They moved it from Willow Creek, Montana in one piece. Wow. Guys, what would you do if you were given 160 acres and the government said, just work the land? What a deal. This is how they lived. So modestly. So modestly. This is how life looked, guys, in the 1860s.

This family was given 160 acres. And the government said, as long as you take care of the land. And the older gentleman outside said that a lot of families took that deal, but they failed because they weren't farmers. But this family, they had eight children, succeeded. And they used 160 acres. They farmed it. And the family is still. Yes. Their legacy continues. Their legacy still continues. The Tinsley, they said? The Tinsley. Is that a picture of them up there? Yes. Why? You're doing digital Ginger bull Well, this is their dining room right or Look at this uh the heat they needed it for the snow Here oh, this is their school maybe look keeping So You guys are actually baking here, yeah, yeah No, we usually bake every single day in here like we did those candied oranges yesterday So that was more boiling problem. Yes. Yeah, you keep getting in my shot Get out of my shot Hey, get out of my shop I Get out of well, this would be the spot that I would be in cuz I'm a baker so as he right here with you guys

Pretty nice. Miss me. Yes. I love it. What's coming? Are you a scather? Oh, I am stuck Can I prove it to y'all have poop him? Yes, I do. I said on the upright egg So pulse look at the iron guys I So we're upstairs now, is that a weaver? Yeah, this is our little path through This is a boy's room Wow They're stuck on there now, here's the second bedroom looks like a little girls. Yeah Look at wash basin so they can wash their hands or their face So that means all their blankets had to be made homemade their quilts, you know Steph on me Oh look at oh my god kidding me Kidding me We get down here look at the little beds of the tree. Oh my god No, this must be the master bedroom You're the master bedroom look how tiny How are they fit in that I Roll over and we both fall This is neat So this is the back of the house and sharing an hour, yeah I mean, can you imagine guys we're talking about like most likely because the chicken coop is there the women would probably tend to the chickens Get the meals going There's a triangle there. So when the never dinner was ready, the men will probably go out work the fields or hunt What a way of life Oh All right, good old-fashioned outhouse is it usable no, I'm just kidding What do you do hold hands and yeah All right now we have to water

Think you have to tip it because I'm Those down there what is this? no. remember how they keep food stored underneath? i wonder if this is what this is because the the coolness would keep the meat. it's too dark oh it's a cellar. it's a little tiny room yeah they would probably preserve the food because it would stay cool so now we're in the museum but before the dinosaurs they have a it's a frog display so they have different frogs and stuff so the museum is built kind of like a circular so first you enter frogs then there's a different display and then until you end up where the dinosaurs are at let me show you some frogs look at that they're having a meeting i know kind of similar to some of you i'm just joking guys maybe maybe i'm joking look at this guys wow toilet seat amphibians so i'll do this you can pause it and that's a good pause nine feet long we would be the worm like the video oh wow 3d look at that in comparison to a person is look at that yellow one detail right here that's that one yeah and then the blue one the blue one's right here yeah it's right here look this big picture look it's right here I'm trying to see if I'm missing one, of course, I don't find the green one. I wonder if they poison each other. All right, so now we're out of the frogs into, I don't know what this section is called. We'll see. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

Don't think of yourself. Don't think less of yourself. Think of yourself less. That's good. That's good. All right, guys, this is what I came for. The frogs are cool, but that's not what I came for. Is that a mammoth? Yeah, look at the husk. You can see the fossil. See the feather? See it? So it just leaves the imprint of things. So guys, those of you that are watching this, you know, I don't know too much of this, but I know many of you are going to say, why are you showing this biblically? It's the 66 million years, 56, that part is not something that I'm sitting here condoning. I'm just simply interested in the fact of these fossils and bones. Only the Lord knows how old these things really are, though. I just wanted to state that for you guys, because I don't want to give a conflicting teaching or anything. I'm not talking about the dates, I just think it's fascinating, the fossils. This is interesting, guys. Although non-avian dinosaurs went extinct at the end of Cretaceous period, a group of dinosaurs continues to diversify and evolve. Today there are over 10,000 species of dinosaurs alive on the earth. We call them birds. You can see the imprint of things on the rocks. We like to talk about stuff, so we're having a talk. And we'd like to get to know where we're from and how we're doing. Thank you very much, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's a replica of a skull. It's a replica of a skull. This is the tail. Guys, seriously, what are these things? I mean, if you really think about it, these skulls are massive. I mean, what was the earth like? What's up there? I don't know. Imagine running into that in the water. I don't know. Pleioplatycarpus. Yeah. Oh, little ones. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. tell if a half a month off a half a half a

half a half a half a half a half a half a half of Oh, they're really working on dinosaurs? They're building a type of storage. Like every other creature, a fossil may require keeping it safe in the collections so it can be used for research and on display in the museum. All of the fossils you see here are from the same place. You can see the ones from the experiment in the foreground. The two eyes here are from the lab. Here's a fossil. A fossil. You've got to keep your eye on this. Fossils are collected in this tube.

They are wrapped in a plastic and wrapped up. The first thing we do is open it up. And then they have to go open it up. Inside of a What is she doing? Yeah. I'm opening it up. That's the tube. That's the tube. Yeah. And you can see the How it's not It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a

It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a 🎶 It's a It's a It's a Christ It's a 🎶 It's a

It's a It's a On board 🎶 It's a It's a It's a Woo! It's a 🎶 It's a We put Christ on board 🎶 Yep, ready? 🎶 This is it Alright 🎶 Over here We're going to Ted's Montana Grill to have some bison 🎶 Alright guys This I'm not going to show everybody's plate but this is my first time having a bison ribeye Wow Are those bison nachos? Bison nachos

and the best ice I've ever seen in my life If you guys have children and have been in the labor and delivery room they give the women ice chips but that's way better because the hospital can only give them this What do we got here? We got beef burger Beef burger It's called a cheese Mine's a bison burger and I ended up getting blue cheese Blue cheese, $50.50 Alright 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 We'll just talk loud Bison! We don't want no trouble I got no beef I want bison but not beef We don't want none We don't want none We're crazy We're actually crazy

What happened to the buoy that I had in there? I used to have a whistle in there Okay, let's try $5.50 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 So good Have a good one You too 🎶 🎶 We're not buried 🎶 water flowing stirring wonderful I want more waterfall cool water sounds then water flowing water! strong, strong sound hard to understand why the camera is almost tapping now I understand what it is couldn't hold in the shock

when I first got on the ride, I felt like I was floating It's amazing how easy they made it look Especially when you get to just the jacket I'm only swimming away, but it's challenging So all of our most important activity was the line, just was not that It was largely very stressed for very close proximity people having to coordinate on most of the activity Oh yeah It was very uncomfortable Taking us out almost as far as the highway On top of that, we like the bears We like the garbage, we like the insects The birds don't do that They're very avoidant of people So not only did they teach us to hold them There is a reason for us to educate about them That's why they're here Because they already are a universal species in this area So our goal was to have them We're looking forward to seeing the bears come back and forth with the species So they can move backwards or they can move forwards Really, it brings everything down Just like you're holding the bear I'm awesome I mean, we're always back

at the same spot Oh no, you're right Can you say one more? Yeah Let's get a bit closer up here Oh come on Correct Yes This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild.

This is the first time I've ever seen a cat in the wild, so I'm excited to see what it's like to live in the wild. Alright guys, we just left the Bear Habitat and went to Old Town. Oh, no, that's not what it's called here. What's it called? Something cafe, huh? No, that's not the name of it is it? Oh, is it Old Town Cafe? Yeah, it is. Huckleberry lemonade. It's pretty good. All right guys, this is a bison burger. Yeah, Sundance. Sundance. Sundance Bison. Look how clear that looks. Do you see how it's bent a little? It's so gentle. That's why it holds it all together. Why are you not allowed to step in the water? Look at that. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. I can't see the geyser, get over here Audrey, get in the middle, they didn't, they didn't let me in, I can't see the geyser, I can't see the geyser, I can't see the geyser, I can't see the geyser, I can't see the geyser, I can't see the geyser. Music This is a little pipe right here. You have to guess. Wow! Is there sand in this? Maybe. No? Okay.

Okay. Okay, ready? Here we go. Alright, ready? I'm a child of God. There's no question about it. What is God to me? God is my father. He is everything. He is my defender. He is my healer. He is my physician. Lord, I have a toothache. Lord, be my physician. And, Lord, please take it over. So, I mean, I think that's absolutely amazing that he allows us to be his sons and daughters. And if you don't grasp that type of knowledge, you should really... Music Go across the park. Music Alright guys, you just saw the footage from the 360 camera. As far as the eye can see. I want to show you my map. This is the freeway that we're on. And this is all the salt. I back it up. We're barely there. This took us, like, the last, what, hour to drive? I mean, it is massive. Oh, there's a great salt lake.

Oh, so this was all lake. But it's still left over here. So, um... This is going to be the end of our trip, guys. But I wanted to show you and talk with you for a little bit. As we're getting back on the road. It's just so weird. We were just talking about... There's just so many things that this earth will never understand. What are your thoughts? Yeah, well, I don't understand. It's so weird. Huh? It is really weird. Yeah, right? Like, how does... How much, how much do you understand? How much, how much water does it take... To leave this much salt? And we asked, guys. Google. And this is regular salt. Like, table salt. Because we thought maybe it was some different type of salt. But it's salt, alright. Alright. Mind you, we've been driving this for the last... I don't even know how much. It just keeps going and going and going. Salt flats in Utah. Salt flats in Utah.

Supposedly, we can figure out how... Because, you know, fresh water is not salty. Ocean water is salty. Salt water. So we're like, how does salt water, ocean water, get into Utah? Utah does not have a coast. But apparently, it rained so much that these mountains, all the minerals washed down into this basin, and then the water had nowhere to go, so it would just evaporate, leaving behind the salt. Yeah, it would be into a lake, and it's all the minerals. Yeah, the minerals left behind. Yeah. But like Cheryl's saying, where'd the water go? It would evaporate. Yeah, but I guess it still pours in whatever's left of Salt Lake City. So does that mean Salt Lake City is going to evaporate? I don't know. I wonder if that lake is getting smaller, because if that's true, if this was all lake and all that's left is Salt Lake City, does that mean the water's still evaporating? Huh. I don't know. That's interesting. Yeah. So Sharon's never got to see this part, because the last time we drove, me and Abraham drove her here, it was at night, and then we left her with her sister, and she flew home, so she didn't get to see this. And then when we drove here a few days ago, it was night. It was late, yeah, so I didn't get to see any of this. I mean, this is just, it just keeps going. It sure is interesting, though. Yeah.

You know, I can't help but to think the pioneers, what did they think? Yeah. I imagine it was probably a little scary. Yeah. Because there was no paved road. There was nothing. It was just... I mean, they didn't travel. Do you think it was already dried for them when they went through? Yeah. Yeah, because they said thousands of years already. I mean, we're talking only 100, and what pioneers were going through here, what, less than 200 years ago, so. Yeah, true. I mean... Let's show them that side. Yeah. I mean, what did they think as they traveled through here? It probably looked like a wasteland. Like, there's so much salt, guys, nothing grows. I think there's only growth along this freeway because of the pavement or something, huh? But out there, look, there's no trees, no shrubs, no plants, nothing. Yeah. That must have been a sight to see for somebody traveling through. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, guys, I know we're not home yet, but this is quite a trip, a road trip of all road trips we have taken you through Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming. That's a lot of states. Yeah. You've driven a lot, babe.

Yeah, well, I still got nine hours to go. But we're gonna end it here because at this point, we're just gonna show you the same stuff I showed you on the way. So, we wanted to end our road trip here in Assault Flats. And for those of you that have seen this place, what are your thoughts? For those of you that heard of this place, what are your thoughts? And for those of you that have never seen or heard, what are your thoughts just seeing this? Mm-hmm. You know, for somebody to say, let's say an atheist, I don't believe there's a God or I don't, you know, if we can't answer the simple questions like, what is this? Simple things that we see and touch on this earth, like the Grand Canyon, I've never been, but they say it's so massive, it just leaves you in awe. Yeah. Guys, I showed you a little bit of the video yesterday. I think it was the Teton Mountains. I'm not sure if we're pronouncing it right, but I have never, I don't know how I'm sharing right now, but I have never seen mountains so big. And we were in California where the Sierra Nevada's at. I have never seen mountains so massive and it's just like... And beautiful. It's just jaw-dropping. Have you ever seen mountains up there? No. And they're just so precise and beautiful, the way their form is just beautiful. What did you say? They look like a... I was like, they look like the spine of a dinosaur. It was just beautiful. Yeah.

They were just, the formation of it was just perfect. Yeah, this trip for me... It was much needed. It was much needed for me to spend this time with my little sister and my niece. I needed this time with her. You know, there's been just so much, so much healing that's been going on with her after the loss of her husband. You know, and of my brother-in-law. I just needed this time with her. We spent a lot of time in this car, but there was just a lot of conversations. A lot of conversation and just the moments. I think it was important. I needed this, you know, and I think we needed this. So to me, stepping back is, you know, Sharon, it's her sister. Ever since Jason passed away, I don't think Sharon has really had this time to spend with her sister ever since the death because it's always with family around, or it's always in L.A. And guys, L.A. life is fast, so whenever her sister would be there, it's like so many people, like she promised lunch with this person, dinner with that person, taking her daughter here, and just family that you can't really, really conversate. And you having these few days to be with her where you were each other's only audience.

Yeah. It was different, right? Yeah, and like we literally just, like we sat down and we had a piece of homemade pie and just enjoyed it, and we literally got to literally sit down and just watch a few episodes of a show, all of us together, you know? In the hotel room? Yeah, and we just laid there and we all just watched a show together. That's priceless to me. That was priceless. I don't care about money. I don't care about anything else right now. Right now, that to me was more valuable than anything else. You know, for me, we almost didn't make this trip, and, you know, I'm glad it happened because every time we go on a trip, it's always ministry, like to speak somewhere or to do this or to do that, and this was going to be different, you know, and it almost didn't happen. But just seeing these states, seeing the scenery, seeing everything, encouraged me because I like the way, something your sister said, I think when we first stopped, remember the sun was going down and we stopped by the running water?

Yeah. And she says, I love feeling small. And she started to explain herself, but I already knew what she meant because sometimes in this world, you want to feel small because you want to remind yourself that there's something much bigger than you. Yeah. And that's a good thing because maybe it's not a good thing if you don't believe in God, but if you believe in God, it's a good thing to be reminded of how insignificant we are, but not to the Lord. Yeah. There's a moment that you guys are going to be able to see where she's like, she just wanted to stick her head out the window and she's like, come on, Chero. You know, my name's, my nickname's Chero. And she's like, come on, Chero, just do it with me. And I was scared too. I really, really was scared too. And she's like, just do it, just do it. And I finally let go. go and you know I've never done stuff like that but doing it with her you know I finally let go I let go of my hand and I just did it and that meant a lot to me you know being able to let go and then when we did it the second time you know she's all we should have

just held hands and I we did it again and I let go and held her hand and those are the moments that I'm just gonna cherish forever forever and ever here's a rest area okay so I'm just I'm just thankful I really really am thankful for this trip I can't even begin to say how thankful because we almost even canceled this whole trip because of certain circumstances and everything but I'm thankful for the people that stepped in even at the church to to even help make this trip possible because if it weren't you know for the people that stepped in that to to help at the church you know we wouldn't even be able to even be here you know and I'm thankful for that I'm just thankful that we have amazing people that you know that hold the fort town as well they give us an opportunity to be able to step away with our family and to be able to have these moments too I'm thankful for that yeah since my phone needs to cool down so it's probably gonna shut off but I'll turn it off all right yeah cuz it's probably the sun's probably hitting it well guys I don't think I'll be gone I think this is the end look at the people they walk out no wow oh they're picnicking out there oh wow the people took a pop-up little tent and they're literally picnicking in the middle of salt flats well that's amazing well guys I'm not sure I don't think I'll go back on this is the end we'll be going back into Nevada and after that into California we have a grace meeting tomorrow oh wait I am gonna record the grace yeah we're gonna record the grace meeting and then you got another road trip the following week because we are going to Lake Tahoe on Saturday and doing a 22 mile bike ride so this ain't the last of the road trips guys all right god bless you bye guys all right young adults 18 to 30 and the youth 7th grade to 12th grade welcome to our midweek teaching service at the house of rest Church where Jesus is a senior pastor we have a seat with your name on it we appreciate you spending your Wednesday evening with us established in 2011 we are still going strong in the name of Jesus here is our QR code where you can find out everything you need to know about us our schedule giving events Bible school and services the QR code is posted everywhere in the church's lobby and other rooms make sure to check often there is always something to do thank you for joining us at house of rest Church Modesto we are a grace international church with over 5,000 churches worldwide welcome home all right amen god bless everyone that's here thank you so much for being here god bless you missed you guys last week we were out of town and we're here and and it's our Wednesday Bible study Wednesday time to open crack open our Bibles and you know we've been doing this since the

inception of this church is having a Wednesday study I think that's important I believe it's important to get in the word and and and to learn it together you know so let's just bow our heads Lord God we thank you for this opportunity we thank you Lord God for this time this moment right now so we can open your word Lord open up our hearts and our minds so we can receive what it is that you have for us I pray for each and every one of you every person that's here, those that are watching through their screen. Lord, we just wanna use this time and bring value, Lord God, to our lives because your word gives value. And we just thank you, Lord God, as we dive into your scriptures of what Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, Lord. And let us understand not only the context, but also how does it apply to our lives. And we just thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, so first of all, Anthony De La Garza, shout out. ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ We are in 2 Corinthians chapter seven. All right. Is it verse five? Yes. All right. 2 Corinthians chapter seven, verse five. All right. Okay. Everybody ready? So we are in 2 Corinthians chapter seven, verse five.

For those of you that have never been to the study or you're just getting into it, I think it's important to know what 2 Corinthians is. Corinthians, it's a city. It's a city of Corinth. And this is the second letter that we have from Paul to the church in Corinth. And a lot of times they would, Paul would send a letter to a church he planted, and then they would read the letter to everyone in the congregation. And many times the letters would get passed on and passed on to even other churches outside of Corinth. And so that's how they would kind of share the scriptures. So here in 2 Corinthians, there's a lot of rebuke that happened in 1 Corinthians, and now it's like a part two. So he addresses some of the issues that were happening, and then he's bringing up some other things that were happening. So it had been a year and a half since he had been there. So here we are in verse five, and he's letting them know, hold on, let me turn my ringer off because it just won't stop. He says, for even when we came into Macedonia, so that's another region, right? So he's letting them know when he went into Macedonia, he says, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn,

fighting without and fear within. And the message, it says this, actually, let's read five through seven. We were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within, but God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort, which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. Remember, this is a letter he's writing. So a lot of times it sounds very personable or personal, because he's actually writing to people that he knows. I'm gonna read it in the message. It says, when we arrived in Macedonia province, a province is like a county. It says, we couldn't settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn't relax because we didn't know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast, lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you, how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time. So obviously we know,

we can almost follow along where he's at, and he's letting them know when he went to this place that clearly there was some infighting going on in that church. I don't know about you, but that gives me confidence because that means, oh, so it doesn't only happen here at House of Rest? So this is the fights in the church. So he's just like, man, you know, it's almost like he had to keep going to these different churches that he helped start to put fires out. Gerald Bainbridge, thank you so much, brother. Thank you so much. And you can... He's dealing with these fights. And I like the fact that he's basically sharing that it brought fear into his heart. And it kept him on pins and needles. He couldn't even relax, you know? And that's the worst, right? Ever gone somewhere and then you know, you just feel the drama in it. And you're thinking you're gonna go fellowship. You're thinking you're gonna go relax. You're thinking, you know, and you just feel it the moment you walk in. And he's like, man, the fear in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn't even relax.

We didn't even know how this thing was gonna turn out. We didn't know if it was just gonna just completely fall apart. We didn't know. But I loved it because then he says, then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. So Titus is, remember Timothy was like a student to Paul, almost a son to Paul, but Titus was another one. These are people that Paul was pouring into. And the reason he's bringing this up to the Corinthian church was he's like, man, we were dealing with the church in Macedonia. There's some infighting going on. And we were, in other words, he's saying we were completely downcast. We were completely discouraged. But then Titus showed up because he had been with you guys. And he says, we were glad just to see him. He says, but the true reassurance came in when he told us about you guys. So obviously Titus showed up and he's like, hey man, I know things are going bad here in Macedonia, but man, over there in the Corinthian church, it's on. The brothers send their love, the sisters send their love, the whole church loves it. He says, he told us how much you cared, how much you grieved for us, how concerned you were for me. And I went from worry to tranquility in no time. It lifted up his spirits.

You know, and have you ever, has that ever happened to you where you hear some really bad news, but then out of nowhere you hear a praise report? You know, that's happened to us so many times where in a moment of despair, in a moment where me and Sharon are like, I don't know what's going on and what's gonna happen. And then like somebody will give us a call, somebody will give us a text, we'll get a letter, something will happen that reminds us of why we do what we do. And I love that because Paul is not even giving Titus the credit, he's giving God the credit. You know, that's why it says here, without, in the ESV, with fighting without and within, but God who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me so that I rejoice still more. You know, and I like the fact that it's a constant reminder that these are letters from somebody that really wrote these to a church. You know, a lot of times we think of the Bible just like these rules and regulations of what to do and what not to do, but this is just a letter, very personal, it lets us see Paul's heart.

You know, and I think that's important for us. In verse eight and nine, it says this, it says, for even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting, for you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. And the message, it says, I know I distressed you greatly with my letter, remember 1 Corinthians, he's just like rebuking that church. He says, although I felt awful at the time, I'm reading it in the message, same scripture, but in the message. He says, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upsets you, the letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I'm glad, not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distraction. stress bring you to God, not drive you from Him, the result was all gain, no loss. So, you know, I want this to be a reminder because a lot of times we want to rebuke somebody or correct somebody or set somebody straight, and I just want us to realize what's the attitude behind it? What's the heart behind it? Is it because you want to be a police to everybody or is it because you love them? You know, and I think that's important. Do you want to discipline your child because you want to tell them who runs the house or because you love them and you want what's best for them? You know, so these are things that we have to come to terms

with because a lot of times if all you are about is correcting people in the church and it's not coming from a place of love, then I'm sorry, you're wrong and your heart is wrong. Our hearts are wrong if that's what we're doing. So ultimately we got to ask ourselves, do I want to correct this person because I want to be right or do I want to correct this person because I've seen this played out down the road and I don't want that to happen to them? You know, and I think it's truly a heart issue. It's something that we have to reflect upon ourselves, you know, and that's important and that's what he is showing here. He's just like, listen, it was horrible rebuking you guys. I didn't like it, but you know what? Instead of pushing you away from God, it brought you to repentance and because of that, I'm not sorry. Because of that, I'm glad. I'm glad because the result of it was gain. You grew from it, you know, and I'll be honest with you, man. It's harder now to bring correction or bring rebuke to anybody because, you know, if you only had one burger shop in town and you weren't acting right in that burger shop and the owner kicked you out, you're gonna be repentant. Maybe a few days you're like, I don't need your burgers, but after a week, you're like, man, I want a burger, but it's the only one in town. You're gonna come back and be like, you know what? You know, I acted up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But see, there's a church in every corner in this city and instead of receiving a correction or rebuke or anything like that, we just bounce and go to the next one. And what will happen is you'll just keep doing that. You'll keep doing that. You'll keep doing that because we live in a microwave generation where everything is instant. Everything is now. We watch a movie, it streams. We want popcorn, it's one minute or two, whatever it is. You know, we everything is instant nowadays. And at this time, though, there was only one church in Corinth. So it was different when in first Corinthians, he says, you know what? This person ain't doing right, release him to Satan. And we see in second Corinthians, that person came back, repented and came back, not just to the church, but to God. And that's why Paul was telling them in the beginning of the letter, hey, I know that person did wrong, but if they're truly repented, then you got to receive them back. But see, this is really hard nowadays because nobody wants to be told anything. You know, I remember as a kid, when a teacher or principal would call my parents, I would get in trouble. Now, when a teacher calls you, you get mad at the teacher because your kid you get mad at the teacher because your kid's perfect, right?

Because that's the attitude of parents now. Oh, not my kid. Okay. So it's nobody's kid then. It's a whole different thing. Nobody wants to be told nothing, you know, and that's the world. But when that has crept into the church, it already has. It is what it is, guys. I mean, we can sit here till we're blue in the face. This is what it is. This is the world we live in. The Bible says in the last days, the hearts of many will grow cold. So I know it's not going to change. I know that people would just leave. People don't want to be told nothing. And that's a dangerous thing. It truly is, you know, and that goes all the way up the line. It goes same thing with pastors. They don't like, you know, they're under a covering and they get rebuked. Oh, they'll just go to another covering. They'll go to another ministry. What advice would you give to, do we stop all together, trying to correct that a lot, like for those that are close to us? That is a good question and that's something I personally wrestle with. Yeah, it's a good question because, you know, 15 years there's times where I don't step in and they leave because they say I don't care. And then there's times where I step in and they get offended. Yeah, which leads me to my main point is that, it's something that my mom said, I think my mom, I think, pretty sure it was my mom, not my dad, is they realized that me, my brother Steve, my brother Ruben, and my brother Angel all needed to be disciplined differently. Because if he would discipline Ruben the way he, not you, my older brother Ruben, the way he disciplined my brother Ruben had to be different from how he disciplined Angel. He can't, he can't, you know, and I've noticed that even with my kids. One of my sons, if you were harsh with him, he would just shut down. If you were harsh with the other one, he would cry and not do it again. Same, you know, so I think ultimately the answer is this, is that, okay, it goes back to me raising Abraham. I told Sharon early on, I think before we were even married,

is I said, I can never come to a place to correct him until he knows I love him. Because again, without love, right, then it's control. So I think ultimately the answer is if every child has to be taught different or disciplined different, then we have to know each other in the church. Sometimes, unfortunately, and again, it's kind of frustrating, but let's say somebody is made a pastor or made a leader of a ministry or made, you know, so you might have a great relationship with me, for instance, but let's say Felix, I put you in charge of something, but they don't know you. So you'd bring correction and they bounce because they never felt love from you. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? So, but it's hard because you have every right to say, well, I got put in charge of this ministry because of whatever, you know, for reasons. So again, I mean, again, like Mickey said, there's no simple answer or what'd you say, Cookie Cutter? Yeah, there's no simple answer. This guy? So when he would correct me, I couldn't understand. At the time, like, well, obviously he wasn't, you know, so there was times where I would rebuke that correction, like, I don't want to hear it, bro, you know? And, you know, I'd go back, but then I soon realized, like, hey, you know, this guy just doesn't look good. My personal, my look on it is don't focus on the result. Be obedient. Before you make any correction, it should be in prayer. And it should bother you of what you keep seeing. And it bothers more than the flesh. And it becomes for me, like he said, for me, it's before I say anything to him,

I'm extremely annoyed because I keep seeing it over and over and I'm praying. I don't know when. Timing is perfect. I told him I'd rather lose a friend than be disobedient. And that's I don't focus on the result. I focus on the obedience. God doesn't call all of us to rebuke every single person. But when you are called to rebuke, I think it's very, very important that you follow the obedience and rebuke. Yeah, I think rebuking. I think obedience is more important than a friendship. I don't focus on the result. I focus on the obedience. I think also when you talked about Abraham, I have to be willing as a mother to let go and allow you to be able to discipline and to love him. Sometimes I think we get in the way as parents or just as people. Sometimes we get in the way of allowing. You know that their corrections happen and That was something that I didn't I didn't want to do I didn't want to get in the way Because I knew that If I knew that he needed a man that he needed that that love and that that correction and I Needed that someone and if I if I knew that I was not going to be able to do that There were things that I could not teach him as a mother you know and as a woman and I needed to be able to step step out of the way so that we could come in and teach him those things as a man and there was things that he needed so I had to step out of the way and be obedient to that

and I was so thankful that I did I think too another thing is In a family for instance let's say Okay, Felix and Tino. I met you guys roughly around the same time I know you had discipled and taught Felix a lot of things, you know So let's say you guys have maybe you guys have I'm sure you guys have bumped heads because you guys are both stubborn. So I'm sure you've bumped heads. But in the end at the end of all things you guys love each other right, so But I think what's dangerous and I'm not saying let's let's say Let's say you guys have a history but then somebody else comes along and and in the middle of Bumping heads with him you complain about Tino to somebody that doesn't know Tino You know, I mean That's where it becomes dangerous Because we have now Like that movie Inception, we've just not put a thought a seed into somebody's heart and and I think that's where There's no answer to this because this happens, you know And unfortunately that grows and grows and grows and grows into something ugly, you know And sometimes we do it not even meaning to You know, I I'm sure there's times as a teenager I was angry at my dad and I probably said something to my friends That put a bad light on my dad But there's you know, we had a relationship. He's my dad, you know, I mean, but so I'm gonna forget about it in a day But now I just implanted something in my friends you know and Man, you know and these are like you said a touchy subject because these things are real these things really happen. These things happen here Unfortunately, it happens wherever there's humans It doesn't it's not just the church it's at the workplace at the school it's within families

That's it a bad seed to your family and then they're looking at your husband Yeah a bad way and you planted that seed and that's one thing that women will do they will go plant that seed That bad seed on their husband and then their husband is looked at in a bad way and vice versa Yeah, no, it happens all the time Yeah, it happens all the time exactly So in verse let's go to verse 10 Verse 10 says for godly grief Produces a repentance That leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death in The in the message it says distress that drives us to God does that it turns us around? It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets. They end up on a deathbed of regrets. I Want to read it again in the ESV for godly grief, so there's a difference between godly grief and worldly grief according to the scripture godly grief produces a repentance so When when when a correction is brought or something and it grieves you and it brings you to repentance because you know The person was right You know, the person said it in love, you know, they they mean the best for you and it was a It grieves you, but it leads to repentance that leads to salvation without regret. There are sometimes things that have been said to me and I got mad at the time, but later on I was glad it was said to me. So that's a godly grief. But then it says worldly grief produces death. Godly grief destroys you, shatters you, breaks you, puts you down, puts you in a place where you just feel like, you know what, I can't win, so whatever. And you just kind of let go. So we know there's a difference of godly grief and worldly grief, so I want to say this.

Anytime we want to bring correction to somebody or rebuke or give counsel, we want to make sure that we want to bring godly grief, not worldly grief, to them. You're saying something not to tear them down. You're saying something to bring repentance. And whether they like it right then or not, you know where it's coming from. It's coming from a good place. It's coming from a place where you hope doesn't drive them away from God, but draws them closer to God, because the result will be gain and not loss. Verse 11 through 13. So it says, foresee what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you. So he's talking to the Corinthian church. But also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment, at every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. Twelve. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God, therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoice still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. I'm going to read it in the message. It says, and now isn't it wonderful? All the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God. You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from every angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong, or even the one wronged, but for you, that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That's what happened. And we felt just great.

So again, he's bringing in, he's kind of concluding this thought and bringing it all together. You know, it reminded me one time I was with, Pastor Thomas was here, the pastor from Nigeria. It was about two years ago. I can't remember exactly what was going on. Oh no, I remember now. But there was a situation going on here, and I was really frustrated. And I remember telling him, I was in a podcast, in the office podcast, and I told him, I said, this is what's happening. I'm really frustrated. I said, I feel like just blasting this person on a Sunday service. And he's like, that's the worst thing you can do. And I said, what do you mean? He says, you're always going to have 20% of people that, for whatever reason, they don't like what you're saying, they don't like what you stand for, but they'll keep coming. I'm like, what? He goes, oh yeah, they're here. And I said, so I call them out, right? He says, no, that's the worst thing you can do. I said, what do you mean? You got to explain that one to me. And he says, listen, he says, 80% of people are here because they're with you. They believe that God has called you to do what you're doing. But here's what happens. If you call out that person or the group of people, he says, you're going to look like a bully because you're the one behind the pulpit. He says, and you will turn the hearts of the 80% against you, and they will side with the 20. And I was like, I never thought of that. And he says, that's exactly what will happen. I said, so what do I do?

Do I just say nothing? And he said this, he said, this is what you do. He goes, every time something rises up, then you preach truth. He goes, you don't choose, you don't pick, you don't point, you don't point fingers, you don't do that. If something is coming against you or the church that you know is ungodly, then just teach truth to the other 80%. He goes, and by doing that, the 80% will see what the 20% is doing. And I said, wow, I never thought of that. He goes, yeah, don't ever do that. He says, David, just preach truth. That's it, it's simple. Don't overcomplicate it, don't make it hard. Abram Rodriguez, let's see what I got for you. Where's my favorite one? Let's see. All right. You know, and I think that's good, that was good counsel, but I think, can you imagine if we did that in our lives? If you treated it that way in your life, in your job, in your school, in your family, in those things, is that keep living truth. If you show truth, then people will see the false. You know, I remember there's a friend, she's a sister of a friend of mine and Sharon's.

She was at a church here in Modesto that no longer, it's no longer, and she was being attacked really brutally by this church. And she came crying because she used to attend House of Worship, she actually helped one of the first people to help launch House of Rest. And she got attacked really, really bad. And she was upset because the pastor's wife was saying horrible things about her. And I said, sister, are those things true? She goes, no, in tears, no. And she goes, I feel like just going telling everybody the truth. I said, for what, what's that gonna do? I said, how about this, how about if you keep living your life the way you do, keep serving God, keep worshiping God, because Jesus says everything done in the dark will be brought to the light. And as much as she wanted to defend herself, she stayed quiet, continued to serve God, continued to do what she was doing, and what happened is everything in that ministry got exposed and the church fell apart. Within a year. Huh? Yeah, within a couple years. With nobody saying anything. Serena? Yeah, this thought came to my mind the other day. Fruit, when you taste it, when you taste a good fruit,

the sweetness is gonna, it's gonna speak for itself, the taste, so there's really no point in arguing a bit of where the fruit, how big the tractors or the material items, how you grew your fruit, or how that person grew their fruit, the taste will speak for itself. So, there's really, you could sit there and listen to some of all my fruit, get into a debate, my fruit taste better or not, and they could explain why their fruit to be better than everyone else's, but really, people will say, well, I've had this fruit from over here, it tastes really sweet. This one I, maybe it didn't taste so sweet, the fruit will show the taste of itself. Yeah, no, and that's true, you know, that's true, and all we can do, guys, is stay in our lane, do what God called you to do, don't worry about what people are doing on the left and the right side of you. He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God, that's what Jesus said. And ultimately, that's, you know, if we live a life of comparing ourselves to other Christians, other believers, other ministries, other churches, whatever is going on, you know, we're gonna be miserable. There's always gonna be somebody with a nicer house, nicer clothes, nicer car, nicer everything.

So, I mean, what is that gonna do? You know, we just got, some God has called to reach millions, some God has called to reach thousands, some God has called to reach two. You know, so why even bother comparing ourselves? You know, it doesn't make any sense, you know? Yeah, I mean, the Bible says that Noah only reached his family, eight, but yet the Bible says he was found righteous in the eyes of God. So I think that, I've shared this story, it's been a while, so I'll share it again. I don't know how true it is, I'm not sure, but there was a pastor in a little church somewhere in the Bible Belt, and he lived his whole life, the church never grew, the church never exploded, nothing like that, he was just the same old congregation. And in his old age, he was already old, could barely preach, could barely see his Bible to preach on Sunday, and one day he was asking God, and he's like, Lord, he was, I've gave my whole life to you, I've been preaching for 50 years, and this church never grew, what did I really do? What did I really do? And in the middle of that prayer, he heard the door open and come in, somebody walked in, and he recognized the person, he was a very, very well-known preacher from around the world, and he goes, I know who you are, and that preacher just smiled, and he says, so the old man says, what are you doing in my church? This guy had preached in nations, filled stadiums, little old man couldn't figure out why this man walked into his church. And the man says, I just wanted to come back to the place I got saved, at this pulpit, and you were preaching, and it changed my life. This man thought he did nothing, but because of a message he shared with the church that never grew, a young man he didn't even remember reached millions around the world. So it's not our business, like Tino said, it's not about us. I don't know if this church will ever grow beyond this, it's not my business. I don't know.

All I know is I sat in these little Spanish Pentecostal churches with mismatched chairs and the bathroom hardly worked. These are the types of churches I grew up in. Churches that never grew. But yet, here was this little David reading the Bible, because my mom would make me, and now look what's happening. So it's not our business. We just got to stay in our lane, do what God called us to do, and that's it. That is it. Raven, she gets, let's see, I always give her the cheesecake, but no, today she's getting the, yeah, and just be, be satisfied for what, whoever God puts in front of us. Today we were just reading, we were reading the prism letters, and there had been a chaplain that had reached out to us, how long ago, David? A few months. Maybe a few months ago, a chaplain reached out to us. But look at how, look at how amazing the Lord is. Something, while he was reading the letters, something prompted me, and I told him, I'm going to call right now, this minute, I'm going to call, while we're reading the letters, I picked up the phone and I called, and it kept giving me the runaround, but I said, I'm not going to give up, I'm going to call again. And I got the operator, and I said, can you connect me to this chaplain? And she picked up the phone, and I didn't even ask her anything. She recognized my, she recognized my voice. She goes, is this Sharon? Like, nothing. She goes, is this Sharon? And I said, yes. And I, and she just like, she got so excited, and I said, Pastor David's right here, right next to me, and she was so excited. She goes, I am so glad you called, because I will no longer be working here.

I am, I'm about to leave on Friday, and I'm about to move back to California to another prison. And she goes, and I can't wait to go meet you guys in person, because I'm packing up everything. I sold my house, I'm packing everything up. And I'm don't know why but I'm gonna start a little church, right? She goes I am gonna go start a little church and we're like, oh, so you she goes I've never done it But I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna go sit with you guys because I the Lord told me that We never know We just never know What God is gonna do the seeds that are gonna be planted and we're gonna be going to the prison in Arizona and we're gonna be going to the prison here in California We just never know who the Lord is gonna put in front of us And we just gotta be we gotta listen and we just got it. Whatever take heed to whatever it is That he's doing just that little seed Just be ready Amen So in verse 13 through 16, I'm gonna read that It says therefore we are comforted and besides our own comfort we rejoice still more at the joy of Titus because his spirit Has been refreshed by you all For whatever boast I made to him about you I was not put to shame but just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true and his affection for you is even greater as He remembers the obedience of you all how you rejoice. I'm sorry How you received him with fear and trembling I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you And the message it says 13 through 16 and then when we saw how Titus felt His exuberance over your response our joy doubled It was wonderful to see how revived and refreshed he was by everything you did

If I went out on a limb, I'm telling Titus how great I thought you were You didn't cut off that limb and it as it turned out I hadn't exaggerated one bit Titus saw for himself that everything I have said about you was true He can't quit talking about you Going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality He was quite overwhelmed by it all and I couldn't be more pleased. I'm so confident and proud of you So even though he had written them a letter first Corinthians where he's really rebuking them. He's like man, you know what? I've been bragging to you and everything I bragged about you to Titus he saw that it was for real and Matter of fact, he was talking so good about you. He can't quit talking about you guys And I love it because he says man He would just kept talking over and over about your dignity and your sensitivity and your hospitality Toward him that he was just completely overwhelmed And I love that because like a father or like a grandfather He says man, I'm so confident and I'm proud of you You know, and I think ultimately kind of going back to what we're saying is That whenever we correct somebody rebuke somebody it's really important to to mention to them their strong points to and I think sometimes we forget that We were sometimes we're so upset that we want to bring correction But let's be honest right most people that need correction, there's a lot of strong points in them and and and a lot of times it's important because he's like listen I'm so confident and proud of you that meant a lot from Paul You know, and I guess what I'm trying to say is that Many times when somebody is is needs correction or needs counsel or something like that They need to be reminded of the strengths they have Because we forget Do you realize sometimes people see your strengths that you don't see in yourself? And I think that's important because we're not in the tearing down business. We're in the building up business

So sometimes we need to be reminded that I Need to be reminded sometimes my wife needs to be reminded. All right, I'm not going to tell you what you need to be reminded My wife needs to be reminded our kids need to be reminded You know because if all we're just like just tearing them down tearing them down tearing them down the whole time and and they never hear What they're they are good at Then we're giving them the worldly grief not the godly grief You know, so I like that example that he's saying, listen, I'm confident in you, I'm proud of you. And in the mess, I'm sorry, in the ESV, he says, I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you. And that is something that we need to learn. It doesn't feel good to be corrected, does it? I don't like it. I can't stand it. Especially when they're right. That's the worst. Especially from somebody you don't want it to be from. When it's from somebody you don't want it to be from? Especially when it's just like, I want you to be talking, but then they hit you with what the rebuke is, and you're like, dang, God. Yeah, it doesn't feel good. You know, and sometimes, you know, we, in our own minds, when somebody is correcting us, it makes us feel real small and tiny. And it's almost like the enemy wants to use that to crush you. So I think it's important to correct

and build up at the same time. And that's not an easy thing to do. You know, it's something some of us need to learn to do, is if you bring correction, it's to build them up, not to tear them down. You know, I used to ditch school a lot. Surprise, right? Who said no? And I wouldn't show up to class. And I remember, that was when I was getting into music. I was writing lyrics and whatnot. And it was my English teacher. I never, I forgot all my teacher's names, but I'll never forget her, Mrs. Iley. And the one day I happened to show up, you know, she goes, David, she goes, can I talk to you real quick? I'm like, sure. And I'm like, here it comes, because I'm never there. And she goes, what are you always writing? What are you talking about? I see you always writing when you do come. You're ignoring my lesson. What are you writing? I said, I'm writing raps. Oh, she goes, can you read one to me? And I got probably blushed, you know what I mean? And I'm just like, and I ended up reading her one of them. You know what she did? She's like, that is really good. You should keep doing that.

And she goes, you know, David, I wish you would come every day. I wish you would listen to the lessons, but I'll tell you what, why don't you write your raps in my class, but show up? And I was like, what do you mean? She goes, this is English. Write your raps. Let me grade them. Don't flunk my class. I would ditch every class except hers after that day. And that was the last class of the day. And I would do my dumb stuff all morning long when I was supposed to be in school. Oh, my mom's listening right now. But on the last six period, I'd walk into school and go to her class. And you know what I did after a while? Started listening to her lectures. And obviously it made an impact. Why? Because I still remember her name now, you know? And why? Because she corrected me, said I was wrong for ditching school, but she built me up in what I was doing. So it worked. It worked on me. She got this stubborn teenager to show up. You know, my homeboys would be like, where are you going?

I gotta go to Ms. Ailey's class. You know, so I think there's some principle in there. There's something there. Chapter eight. Let's see verses. Let's see verse one. It says, we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. And the message is now, friends, I want to repeat. on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. And then it says in verse 2, for in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty has overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. Verse 3, for they gave according to their means as I can testify and beyond their means of their own accord. Verse 4, begging us earnestly for the favor of talking of taking part in the relief of the saints. I'm going to explain about what was going on here but let me read it in the message. So again he's bringing up Macedonia as an example. Remember it's a province. So he says, now friends I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. He says, fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors. They were incredibly happy though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected, an outpouring of pure and

generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could, far more than they could afford, pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians. So there was some persecution that was happening in Macedonia. So a lot of Christians were, if they had a business, nobody was buying from them because they were Christian. If they worked, they could find no work because they were Christian. So the church in Macedonia was suffering financially. And what was happening was, there was, Paul would go and collect donations and whatnot from all the churches to take to the other churches that didn't have. And so Paul is saying, this is, he goes, this is surprising because in Macedonia, they got nothing, they're broke. He says, but man, something happened that they started pouring out and being more generous than all the other churches. And he says, man, I was there, I saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could, more than they could even afford. You know, so again, he's using this example, you know, and he's just like, man, this church in Macedonia, remember, this is where they're infighting. This is where they're arguing. But he didn't leave it at that. He says like, yeah, they might be arguing, they might be infighting, there might be some trouble going on. But man, you know what? They are in poverty and they gave more than the churches that aren't in poverty. So what is he doing? He's building them up. He's not just tearing them down. And verse five, it says, and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Six, accordingly, we urge Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. Verse seven, but as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. I'm going to read it in the message. It says, this was totally spontaneous. So real quick, I don't think the Corinthian church was in poverty. I actually think the Corinth, see the city of Corinth was a, it was an import export city. There's a lot of work going on. It's like, like Long Beach. If you've been to Long Beach, there's always ships going in and out and, and the, the, the train trailers, whatever they're called, all that. There's a lot of work in Long Beach. It's a busy place. It's a port, just like Houston's a port and a little bit over here by Oakland. It's a port. So there's a lot of, there's money. So Paul is telling this rich city of Corinth, he's like, listen, man, Macedonia, they're broke and they gave more than anybody. And then he says, this, this was totally, I'm reading the message. This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. I love that. But Paul is saying, man, you know why they did this? You know why they're giving more than anybody? Because they gave themselves over to the Lord. Everything so, so it's, it's a difference guys when, when we know that we know that everything belongs to God, when we lay our family at the feet of God.

We lay our jobs and our finances and our money and whatever it is that we have, when we lay it at the feet of God, it's gonna be a different effect than the church that doesn't. And he's just like, man, they gave it everything. And he says that's what explains it, is that they gave themselves unreservedly to God and to us. He says the other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That's what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things, there it is, building them up. He goes, man, you guys are amazing at some things. You trust God, you articulate, you're insightful, you're passionate, you love us. Now do your best in this too. So he's telling the church there in Corinth, so again, he's building them up. He's not just tearing them down. He's like, you are all of these things, but you're not so good in your giving. He's like, man, Macedonia, they don't even got food and they giving. So he's like, man, you guys are so good in all these things. That's why in verse seven in ESV, he says, man, you excel in everything,

in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. It's interesting, right? Because you guys were here not Sunday, but the Sunday before when I gave the message about vision and giving. And I should have used this verse, honestly, because there are so many things this church is strong in, but that's the one thing we lacked because we're constantly trying to stay open. And I'm just like, man, there's so many strengths here and I can say the same thing. Look at that, he says, you excel in everything, in your faith, in your speech, in your knowledge, in all these things, but let's bring our giving to match with everything else we're strong at. So he's telling the Corinthian church this. He's like, let's match, let's make it match. And then he says in verse eight and nine, he says, I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. Nine, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. That's so misused. Oh yeah, it is used, misused. Like so many people. Yeah.

And let me read the message and then we'll talk about it. Sorry. He says, I'm not trying to order you around or against your will, but by bringing in the Macedonian's enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I'm hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our master Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us in one stroke. He became poor and we became rich. I'm pretty sure you're talking about, what's the ministry all about money? Prosperity gospel. Yeah. Well, they say, well, Jesus made himself poor so we can be rich. That's what you're talking about, right? That we use that to manipulate that? For people that, and then also that, see if Jesus gave it all away to be poor and in poverty, how can we walk around wealthy? Yeah. He became poor, not talking about finances. He became poor because he stripped himself of his royalty and died like a criminal. So this is not talking about financial riches here. It's saying Jesus made himself poor. In other words, he suffered like a common criminal so we can be rich in salvation.

Because all of us deserve hell. And that's why I says you're familiar with the generosity of our master Jesus. You know, so, but other than that, I like the fact that, I'm gonna read that part again in eight. He says, I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake. sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich. So as we go into next week even, it's going to start going into giving, you know, but he's using the Macedonian church that was in poverty as an example. I saw this a few videos, some of you probably seen them on YouTube, where there'll be somebody with a pizza and somebody will act like they're homeless or something and they'll say, hey, can I have a slice? I haven't ate in two days. And the people will be like, get away from me, get away from me. So it's called the social experiment, right? And then they found a homeless guy and they gave him a pizza. And then the actor came along a few minutes later and he's like, hey, man, you think I can have a slice? He was having eight in two days. And the homeless guy was like, oh, come on, sit with me, I'll share with you. So the person that could afford to give a slice wouldn't, and the person that didn't have money for pizza shared his pizza. You know, and what does that say? You know, so I kind of feel like it's kind of the same thing when we read this is that this was happening with the Macedonian church.

It's almost as if when you come out of having nothing, you have more compassionate to give. And it reminds me even the time when Jesus, when they saw these rich people giving a whole bunch of money into the tithe. And then they saw a woman give her last two pennies. And Jesus said, see that woman, she just gave more because she gave out of her nothingness. And those rich men gave out of their plenty. And in the eyes of Jesus, she gave more. You know, and I think it goes back to us trying to, not trying to compete. God knows our hearts. He knows what we have and what we don't have. And for whatever reason, Paul felt like, you know what, I need to share with you. I'm not trying to command you. I'm not, I can't, I'm not twisting your arm. I'm just letting you know, Corinthian church, the Macedonians don't have nothing and look what they're doing. Let me do, well, do I want to do the next verse? Let's see. I don't think I do. Yeah, we're going to end it there at nine. Next week, 2 Corinthians 8.10. I say that for you guys and for me because I go back and that way I know where I left off. But, you know, I love the fact that you guys come and you open your Bibles and we learn because you know, nobody likes to be corrected. Nobody likes that. But if you, if you have an issue of being corrected by the Bible, then there's a problem. I think the Bible is the best corrector of all because it's the Word of God. The Bible is the standard. The Bible is the reflectors in the road. The Word of God is letting us know we're going in the right direction.

Sometimes if you veer to the right or to the left, it's the reflector that's constantly there in the middle of the desert at night and you can't see nothing on the left or right of you. And all you have is that reflectors. This is the Word of God because we live in this dark world. And sometimes in this dark world, this wicked world, it's so dark on the left and on our right and we can't see the direction we're going. But if we keep our eyes on the reflector, we keep our eyes on the Word of God, we keep our eyes on what He's saying, it'll help us get to the destination of where we're going. So it's important. It's important that we open our Bibles. It's important that as we read this, we're like, okay, Lord, I know Paul was talking to the Corinthian church, but what are you saying to me today? What am I getting from this today? How am I treating people? How am I, how do I act when I'm being corrected or how do I correct others? How am I acting? Am I giving them worldly grief or am I giving them godly grief? Am I doing it because I want something better for them or I see something better? them or am I doing it just to tear them down because we never want to tear people down and I think sometimes I don't I don't want to believe anybody wants to tear anyone down but I think sometimes we don't realize it and we need to correct that you know there's times or I maybe I've said something even to my wife and and she took it a different way than I said I'm like that's not what I meant but can you imagine if I just didn't explain I'm like hey that's not what I meant for real I really didn't mean like that this is this is what I meant maybe I said it wrong but imagine if I would have just shut down and but not explain nothing I just let it lie where it lies what did I do I just tore her down so I think it's something we need to learn how to communicate with each other how to talk to each other how to rebuke and correct

and counsel and advice but ultimately the goal is to build up not to tear down and and then I that might not be your intention but how's it coming out how's it coming out when you say it how's it coming out in your actions how's it coming out in the way you say things or do things you know in boot camp my understanding never been in the military but I see those those drill sergeants and they're just like they seem I probably wouldn't want somebody yelling like that at me I don't respond well to that but I had a friend who was a drill sergeant and I asked him years years ago I don't even know where he's at now I know in the Iraq war him and his brother were Marines and his brother got killed in the first week in Kuwait and I remember asking him I was like man how can you just yell at these kids they're all kids like 18 years old you're just screaming at them and he says I'm yelling at them so if they go to war do they actually have a chance of coming home that's why I yell at them I'd rather me yell at them than for them to go not ready so we have to when somebody brings correction when somebody brings something like that to us what if they're doing it in a way is that you're at war the Bible says that we're a spiritual battle we're in a spiritual battle we don't fight against flesh and blood but against principalities what good is it to coddle people if Satan's gonna rip you apart so we want to come with Scripture we want to come with the Word of God we want to come in a place that builds you up but at the same time this world is gonna beat you up so we got to toughen up we have to have thick skin we have to learn to not get offended so fast but at the same time we have to learn that we want to build people up and not tear them down I think it works all the way around you know I and that goes for me too there's times where pastor Larry who's the vice president of Grace International and he has said things to me I was gonna leave Grace International one time I was so upset I wrote my email and sent it to Texas and to Steve Riggle they didn't even get to him and and I thank God Stu Stu stopped it Stu is he's a military man he's at Grace headquarters and he didn't let that email go through to Steve Riggle and he instantly called pastor Larry in Livermore pastor Larry

called me and he's like hey what are you doing for lunch and I met him and he told me some things and he basically is like man you got to shake it off he goes this goes two ways you want to leave grace he goes are you reaching out to people are you waiting everybody to reach to you he was David if there's things happening in grace he goes why don't you become what you want grace to be and turn this thing around that was 14 years ago and what happens is is me and Sharon are the ones that talk and visit all the other grace pastors because at that time nobody was calling me and we turned this thing around And it's different now. And what if we had a church like that? What if we had a church that actually talked? What if we had a church that people just shared? What if I would have just left without giving an opportunity? What if I would have never wrote that email? Stu would have never stopped it. He wouldn't have called Larry. Larry wouldn't have taken me to Applebee's and talked me out of it. What if we actually gave our church family a chance? Because what if you took it wrong? What if you're seeing things wrong? What if we could actually be a family? I think that would be beautiful. And we could actually build something. And build each other. And love each other. And be there. And have something amazing happen here in this place.