Christ Un-barred - EP 97 - Lots of Questions

All right. God bless you. I know we're super late. It wasn't our fault. Whose fault was it? Well, our thing got held for a while, and we need to tell them why. Oh, that's right. That's right. So we had a delay. So we can't be specific on last names and actual prisons, guys. We don't ever want to do anything that's against any of the rules, because we don't ever want to get taken off. So from now on, the shoutouts are going to be, what, first name and state? Is that what we said? And for sure. It's not what we say. It's what's required. We got flagged, guys, and that's what the delay was all about. So our content was held for quite some time because of that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure, we cannot do shoutout to shoutout from anyone that's incarcerated to someone else that's incarcerated. That's a no-no for sure. Definitely. We didn't realize that. But also, the specifics on the letters also. Yeah. So the letters, they gave us a lot of specific stuff that we are not able to do. I don't know if this is something that was already in place or just something that we

just didn't know, but, you know, we asked, you know, for if there were specific things that we can do, and they said, well, this is what you are able to because we kind of explained what it is, what our ministry is and what we do do. Our whole podcast is shoutouts. Yeah, pretty much. We can definitely give first name, and I think we could just give facility first name and then estate. That's about it. I don't think it's a facility either. I think it's just estate. We can't? No. Oh, just state and, I guess, just state and first name. So you guys, you'll know, you know, you know who you are, but for whatever, for security reasons or whatever, saying the person's full name, the exact facility you're in and the state was just too much, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. We didn't know, guys. But we get it. We get it. What's more important is that we continue to be ministering here. So we don't want to ever add any hiccups to that or any speed bumps to it or push against, you know, what it is that, and it's not even a Pandora need Dover so much. It's the facilities. And I get it because there are safety measures. I think it's the Department of Justice is what the Bureau of Prisons. Yeah. No, that's federal. No.

It was something. Yeah. It's neither of those. I don't remember right now. I don't remember either way. But either way, guys, I think that we just want to abide by what, you know, we want to abide by what's being asked of us. We want to respect it. And we're just grateful and thankful that we have a place for us to be able to to be able to still engage and be able to minister and just be able to be in contact with you guys, because we really love you guys. And we just want to be able to be a blessing. And we're blessed to be a blessing. And you guys are a blessing to us. We love you guys very much. And we just want to continue to be able to even if it's just, you know, giving your first name and state, you know, praise God for that. We got to praise him through everything, praise him through the storms and praise him through the good and the bad and all the things. So let's just continue doing what we do. And and, you know, that was that's what the delay was all about. So basically, you're going to get two podcasts this week, today's and then the regular one on Friday. Yeah, absolutely. Because we got backed up there because of that. And so you ready? Yeah. Let's do it. All right. So this is Vincent in North Carolina.

First of all, thank you for the flex pen and the spork. And I can't remember what my note is. Oh, wait, I remember now. He had sent a lot of these different rules and stuff. Rules. My rules. Offender orientation handbook and whatnot. Yeah, I remember, because I remember going to Terminal Island and they had us all in a holding cell. And we had to talk to, I don't know, whoever intake. And then they gave us a little handbook of whatever rules and regulations they expected from you in Terminal Island, blah, blah, blah, and that whatever. So yeah, that's interesting though. Thank you. Thank you. Rahim in Amarillo, Texas. Really nice art. Amarillo. Really nice. You got to say it with your accent. All right. Look at that. Amarillo. Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah. I love it. Yeah, that is nice. You can't see it. Oh, wait, there you can.

Sort of. Kind of. No, that just looks like a white sheet of paper. That's like a really nice white sheet of paper. Stop it. Just describe it. They're not going to see it. They can see it. Right. Look, right there. Right there, they can see it. It's nice. It's marked 1521. Are you saying that because they couldn't see it? They can see it. If they pause it and they can just go in, they can see it. All right, Carl from Arizona. And thank you so much. There's a lot. There's a lot to read here, but thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Muchas gracias. OK, here we have Roberta in Arizona. And I just want to say this to you, that you are always, always welcome. Just thank you always for being my go-to besides prayer to keep going while doing my time. I hope to one day show up to service with my sister,

and that'd be awesome. We love it. Anytime somebody comes, anytime somebody visits, we want to know you. We want to meet you and get to talk with you. But thank you. That's a blessing. He wrote this. Yeah, I know. Yeah, that's awesome. OK. Looking forward to reading this, Carl. This is, let's see. Does it have a name? Owens out of Oklahoma. Thank you so much. God bless you. May the Lord multiply it in Jesus' name. God bless you, brother. Mystique in Colorado. Thank you so much. God bless you. May the Lord multiply it, sister. It's not a sister. No? You say that every time. I said it again? Oh my god, I'm sorry. OK, Angel from California. It's because of the way you say it.

Maybe you should say Mystique. Oh, that's how I'm supposed to say it. Yeah, Mystique. I know. Why do I say it like that? I don't know. Is it because of X-Men? I don't know, Mystique. She's right. Look at this commissary list. Really, really loved your letter, man. Wait, who is this from? Really appreciated it. Thank you so much. I get a lot of prayer requests from Ironwood. OK. Lots of prayer requests from Ironwood. Tons of prayer requests. I like how she's already breaking the rules and saying the state prison. I just said I get a lot of prayer requests from, oh. Stop it. OK. Erase it from your brain. It's not me. Quadravi in Texas. And yeah, well, it's going to be the new normal now. So ask for Pastor Thomas' documentary. What documentary? Well, I asked him, and he said that he did a documentary

with you here when you guys were after his dinner last year. I didn't do a documentary. I don't film documentaries. I've never done a documentary. Well, he says he's going to bring something with him when he comes in May that he has a thing that you could download or something. So he'll bring something with him. And if it's what you need, then it is what it is. is he's almost here guys he's here on the 23rd or 24th what is it i don't have 20 something right i went to go get my phone and i forgot it let's see pastor thomas will be well that's a calculator 24th pastor thomas will be here yeah that's gonna be cool guys it's gonna be abraham's gonna miss that too yeah okay monica in texas let's see oh remember she was asking about that and put a self-addressed stamp yes remember that we see it we see your request putting it right here all right um rodney out of texas thank you so much for your letter god bless you we appreciate it you know this company keefy they do a lot of commissary so we would have like keefy coffee keefy like all this stuff so yeah they sent a lot of stuff to uh to i guess commissary jails and prisons i don't remember i want to say the county jail i don't think the prison had keefy stuff you know um we're both drinking at the same time i am thirsty i've been we're like actually well i've been wanting to go get a bottle of water from the cafe for the last hour and a half well why didn't you get up and get it you were just waiting for me to come no i was working i was busy so you'd rather thirst to death have you ever um i guarantee you do it more than me not go get water not go get food because you're busy yeah then why then why are you saying that to me uh patrick out of south carolina i don't know why i said it like that but i just did um i love this right because he was sharing that um it was just a very honest letter you know and i wrote this note basically that there's one thing to to know god actually you know what no god but not know him yeah but i want to remember why i wrote that because guys a lot of these letters were already due but like you said with this hiccup we had and they weren't putting the last one up and and all that stuff so i just want to

remind myself yeah yeah we were like a whole week without yeah being able to do that yeah it was weird because i was just like and i kept trying to email them like saying hey why is this thing not we had uploaded that one video it was the texas one that got held and then so i'm over here like four days later gonna go check how many views it got and i'm like hey this it's not even playing i didn't know till half a week later and then it took a whole week going back and forth with a panel trying to figure out what was going on and they were trying to help me and it was just a big mess guys um he said i want to feel that closest to god again but i don't know how and how to get back on track and read the word and go to church and that spark isn't there that he used to have you know and um and i want to say this and i don't say this as a cop-out or an excuse um we don't serve god through our emotions it's not about goosebumps like you had said in your letter i get it i i get what you're saying and and but at the same time we never want to base our salvation or our relationship to god with how we feel because it's a commitment it's a choice it's a and and i'm not taking away from those things because it's beautiful to feel the presence of god it's beautiful to feel his closest presence you know but i just want to make sure and maybe you do understand that but maybe there's somebody watching this that don't it is not about your feelings it's a commitment um and i'll give this biblical example the prodigal son he tells his dad i i want my inheritance before you die i want it now and the father loved him so much he gave him half so tell me at what point did that son the prodigal son stopped being a son when he was five miles away when he was 50 miles away was he still a son when he was in another country yeah no matter what that son did he was still the son of that father it never stopped so this is what i mean is that you don't ever have to feel like a son to be a son you just are a son automatically yeah and i think sometimes it's us that feel that god is far away from us but in true reality maybe it's us that's we have gone further away from him we're the prodigal and he's always there the father was always there waiting for his son to come home it wasn't the father that moved away it was us that moved away you know and maybe that's help you I really hope it does you know um okay this is Fernando and uh out of oh duh look Arizona you know I just want to thank you so much and God bless you and uh appreciate your shout out we can't even we can't even because that he's just happy for the release of my brother yeah he's really happy for thank you I can say that because he's just really happy for the release of my brother and thank you you know so cool guys oh yeah let's share this yeah he came and visited

he came and stuff stopped he actually had permission because he's still on on the probation right but he asked for permission so he can come up and see his daughter who lives in northern California and our house happened to be halfway yeah and uh it was it was really cool to uh see him it was really cool you know it was weird I even told him I was like because he had stayed the night you know and I'm just like I said you know how many how long how many years I've been hearing about you and here you are in our house and he goes I know I was thinking about that right now you know and uh he enjoyed himself and and it was it was really nice you know and then he went to see his daughter you know and then he stopped on the on the way back yeah because it's a really really long drive and for them to drive all that way all they needed was to sleep a few hours in order for them to get back you know to get back home but you know what was really really cool is that um he loves um he started cycling ever since you know he saw that David was cycling and he started riding a bike um but he ended up getting a um a mountain bike well Daniel Daniel gave it yeah Daniel gave him it was like a mountain bike right and uh mountain bikes are heavy guys yeah they're really really heavy and so he he was like he kept looking at like road bikes and he's like man he goes I really would really would love a road bike and so when he came to our house he saw um the road bikes and how sleek they are and everything he's like man that's what I need I need something like that and so I talked to my mom and I said mom and I said you know we can get him a road bike out here you know and I said I said he really wants a road bike and she's like we'll find one for for for him and she goes and I'll pay for it you know and just look for one you know but I told her well David can find one really cheap because there's so many people out here that get rid of them for like really really super cheap and so David found one I think for like what $200 really cheap yeah it's it's a $1,100 bike road bike for some of you that are old school it's like a 10 speed style and um it happened to be like three blocks away from our house and the guy sold it he wanted actually $240 for it but uh he took $200 for it and um and I just rode it home because it was just a few blocks away and I tuned it up cleaned it up put new tubes in it and man that thing looked brand new I don't think the person really used it yeah at all and that was an expensive bike you know so we kind of we kind of told him hey on your way back you know and he got surprised with it and he was just so excited that he was just going to be able to to ride his his new bike everything yeah and so I told him you better call your mom and thank her for for this bike yeah that um he's picked up a hobby of cycling guys and he really really

enjoys it and likes it I think he's up done up to 15 miles now on a ride he wants to ride with me yeah a few days actually so it's exciting guys amen oh I love that this is uh some artwork from William out of Alabama Alabama yeah thank you for your letter it's like a little log cabin yeah is it Alabama or what do you mean Alabama oh it is Alabama nice I like this log cabin this is I wish I owned one I know right like it thank you Matthew out of Indiana you're doing really good with not forgetting to say last names I am because I I'd be all I'd be accidentally saying them oh um thank you so much we don't have a pen pal program though no but I did put it on one of the resource you know I don't know which one it would have been cool for you to title it resources on the header because that would have been easier for people to find it probably but I don't if one of you guys know which one it is send me a letter telling me which one it is so I can we can change the the title of that one yeah because there's no way I can go through 100 videos to find yeah let us know which one it is please so we can change it and once we change it we'll put resources on it so that way you guys will always know which one has the resources thank you okay this is This is Michael out of Florida. And he started with the road trips, started watching us with the road trips at first. Like some of you have, but thank God, some of you said, well, these people are all right, you know what I mean? So maybe I'll watch some of their sermons or podcasts or whatever else. We appreciate it. Every single person that watches our road trips only, I think the majority of them eventually give us a chance. And we appreciate it. I know you have some questions, though. He had some questions. And I think I didn't write the questions, because they're probably, I marked them. Here they are. He numbered them.

OK. Four pages, huh? I know, right? We're giving you some grace. He says, who's your favorite character in the Old Testament? Me? I'm sure he's asking both of us. Oh, Joseph. Wow, I would probably have to agree. Joseph. He says his is Samson. How about your favorite New Testament character outside of Jesus, of course? Mine's John. John. Oh, we've both said John. He says his is Matthew. Favorite period of the Old Testament to read? I would say 1 Kings. Any time from King David through Solomon and all that would be my favorite period of the Old Testament. Yours wouldn't be the Joseph? Yeah. That period, right? The whole, because you like to read about. Yeah, you know what? Yes. Hold on. Yeah, OK, yeah, I'm going to agree. Yeah?

He says he likes the time between 1 Samuel to 2 Kings, which I agree. That's what I say. And he says, I also love reading Esther and Judges. Well, that's kind of where I didn't want to leave. Yeah, because I like it all the way to Judges, because that's where it has the story about the Levite and the concubine and all of that, because I really love the way it talks about, you know, it really shows when people lean on their own understanding and everything and the things that it caused. But it also, it just shows the reasoning of why of things and just a lot of things, you know? We could learn from a lot. There's a lot of richness of why to learn, of what not to do. So I don't know. I kind of like that one, too. Favorite New Testament book? You first or me? No. I'm going to say Proverbs. New Testament. Oh, New Testament. We were just reading it right now. 1 Corinthians. I already said it, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians? I really like 1 Corinthians. My favorite is Romans.

His says the Book of Acts. OK. I actually started to like it more since you started doing the Bible study. 1 Corinthians? Yeah. It was so good. The way you started to break it down, it made me really like it more. OK, favorite epistle? Meaning the letters in the New Testament. It kind of goes to, I already answered Romans, so I'll say Romans again. I'll agree. OK. Favorite moments in the Old Testament? Moment, not book, moment. Ooh, man. That's, oh, Elijah challenging the prophets when the fire came down. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh, man, no, David and Goliath. What favorite moment? No, no, no, no, no, no. When Joseph reveals himself. No, that was going to be mine. Well, you still can. Is that it? That's your answer? Yes, because when he tells them, you know.

What God meant for evil. Yes, what God meant for evil. Yes. We can't have the same favorite or what? OK, yes. OK, top five Old Testament characters. Man. OK, well, obviously, mine is Joseph, Ruth, Joseph, Ruth. Uh, I love the story of Abraham, Abraham, um, Tamar, definitely Tamar. Oh, um, Hosea, Hosea and Hagar and Hosea, no, Hosea and Gomar, sorry. Hosea and Gomar. Oh, the, the prophet Hosea. Mine would be King David, um, Moses, Elijah, King Josiah. And, um, mine are all girly. Did I say Elijah? I did. Right. Then I would say, right, Joseph. Yeah. His is Moses, Elijah, Joseph, Job, and King Josiah. Okay. Uh, mine are all girly. Mine are all girl stories. Top five New Testament characters. I'm assuming other than Jesus, right? Oh yeah. Well, no, well, I think it'd be other than Jesus. Okay. Other than Jesus. Cause that's going to be everybody's number one, better

being everybody's number one. Okay. So. Obviously, John, I love that. I love that. Hmm. Oh my God. Why am I stuck? I don't know. All right. You, you say one. Well, other than Jesus, uh, the apostle John, because he was the beloved apostle Paul, cause he's awesome. Um, I like, uh, Apollos, even though Harley mentions him, but it says that he was eloquent in speech. Isn't, isn't, um, Aquila, Aquila. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Um, John the Baptist is a cool guy and I guess last I'd have to say Timothy. Even though I don't know what Timothy's about, but obviously Paul trusted him, so I like Timothy. Okay. Okay. So I'm gonna say Timothy. How many did you say? I said, two. He wants five. Yeah.

That's a lot. Yeah. He wants five. All right. So obviously John Aquila. Um, God, I love the old Testament. Okay. So I'm gonna say John the Baptist. I'm gonna say John the Baptist. I'm gonna say John the Baptist. I'm gonna say John the Baptist. I'm gonna say John the Baptist. Are you going to do the little thing on me? Don't do it. I'm not going to do nothing. Even though Peter denied him, denied him. I love that he was humble enough to go back. Yeah. I like Peter actually. Yeah. Even though he denied him. I love that he was humble enough to go back and, and he was able to meet him where he was at. Oh, I will say Peter. Um, Mary, which one? Um, Martha's sister. He was always at his feet. Yeah. And Mary, Mary Magdalene.

She's the one that put the, no, which one is the one that Lazarus sister, Lazarus sister. Is that the Mary that, no, the one that the alabaster box. I thought it was, I don't think it was Mary Magdalene. Well, Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene had the seven demons. Okay. Then Mary Magdalene. Okay. The top five worst old Testament characters. Really? Why do you got to do five? That's a lot. That is a lot. You three, the top three worst. I was going to say. Jezebel to Jezebel Obviously Jezebel a hab yeah her husband a lot of his wife. Oh No part of his wife arrow, yes Farrell Those would be my top three Jezebel a hab Farrell I'll say that You We're just top three you already said three didn't you no I didn't and you know who else was another one that I just That's never really mentioned that I to me. I just I don't know why but it really did to me I had an effect on me and judges 19. It talks about in judges 19 it talks about The concubine that was cut into pieces that was cut into 12 pieces by the the Levi yeah, and I think it was Gabeya or Gilead and one of those but that really that really did did something to me. I don't know why that story did something to me, but It was in the it was in the

It was from the tribe of the It was from the tribe of the Benjamins or something like that in the tribe of the Benjamins and it was those troublemakers so all of those troublemakers that did something to that concu to that concubine They are horrible people in that Bible for what they did to her. Yeah, and they left her for dead So that was that was ugly That was one of the first atrocities that happened in that Bible and it just I don't know it just it did something to me When I read that story, it really did make me Made me cry Okay last biblical one Again I think it's gonna be top three because We got more letters to read The top three worst New Testament characters I would say Herod who wanted it who had all the children under two killed Barabbas That's one of yours worst The one that was on the next to the cross Next to Jesus the one that mocked Jesus the one that yeah, the one that mocked Jesus I would say Caiaphas the high priest. That would be my two And my third Third worst Character in the New Testament What I would I'm gonna say a group is the Pharisees Oh going back to the old one the serpent the serpent That's a character Okay, so now here's some other questions that are more opinion and he just wanted to know about that is And I don't know if you want to answer this one because I have an answer for it. How do you feel about women in ministry? Me personally, I don't feel called to It's not asking you personally. How do you feel about women as a whole in ministry? I

I Believe that I believe that that men are the head and And it's okay for a woman to teach or to It's okay for them to teach or but not to be the head I think that I Think it's important that we that we understand that, you know the order of things I guess I I don't I don't know but I just know in my heart that I me personally. I just don't want to I Don't want to say anything wrong, but I just don't feel that that women are called to I Don't know. I don't want to say the wrong thing either Well, I'll tell you what the Bible says the Bible says that Adam was supposed to teach his wife It's God put the man to behead. He says a man will leave his father's money cleaving to his wife Even the New Testament says that a man should be a husband of one wife. So even there it's male dominated I do believe that women have a gift of prophecy women have the gift to teach women have a gift for all these things But ministry and women so women in ministry nothing wrong it. But if you're talking about a pastor or an elder or somebody that's a bishop, we clearly see in the scripture that it's a male. Do I have women ministers here? Yeah, Sharon's ordained. Sister Lydia's licensed. Yeah, but I don't feel that I would want a pastor. In that sense, I know that I have the ordination, but I know that you're the pastor of this church, and of course, Jesus is a senior pastor. But I, you know, that ultimately at the end of the day, I look to you for that direction, you know? Now, I am going to say this, though. I have known women who pastor. I don't think they're demonic. I don't think this or that. But I have seen women lead ministries that purposely want to have ... They don't want to listen to a man. They don't want to do none of that. They don't want to submit to nothing. That is a rebellious spirit. You know, I have seen that. We have seen that happen too. We have. We have. But at the same time, guys, if the people won't cry out, the rocks will. So there are places that

I believe God has raised women up. You know, women were not meant to be fathers either. But guess what happens when the fathers go to prison or the fathers abandon their children? Then mom has to be mom and dad. It's not her rightful place, but God will give her the strength to be mom and dad. Yeah. I was a single mom for a long time. So a lot of times, guys, some women in ministry are there, not by their fault, but by our fault, our gender, our fault. Because we're out there partying, doing drugs, getting drunk, going to prison, gangbanging, doing all this and doing that. So God is going to raise a woman up. That's not something I blame women about. Many times it's a conviction to men. I didn't want to be a single mom. I had to do what I had to do. You know, the second one should Christians keep kosher, if not offer some verses. Brother, we've already this is probably the longest I've ever took in somebody's letter. I'm not going to go open the Bible, but I will say this. I'm not Jewish. I'm not going to live according to the Jewish laws or dietary laws or anything like that, because if I choose to follow that, guess what? I got to follow them all. You can't pick and choose the laws you want to follow after. And that's what Paul went against all the time, because people wanted to put Jewish laws on Gentiles. But I don't have a problem. I've met a lot of brothers that won't eat pork. I met a lot of brothers that don't eat shrimp. And hey, man, go for more for me. You know what I mean? So yeah, the next one, some people believe we should not play musical instruments in church. What's your take? Well, I think you know that we play instruments here at House of Rest. My gosh, do we need more instruments? I'm learning the keyboard now. Yeah. And they use instruments in the Bible. David the shepherd boy played an instrument. All the Psalms that we read in the Bible were lyrics as he played his instrument. Moses' sister. What was her name? She played the tambourine. Miriam. Yeah. So actually that makes zero sense to me. And that was in the Old Testament. When some churches don't play instruments, that makes zero sense to me. I'll be honest with you. Some people believe we should only read King James. What's your take? I don't believe in that. I have a King James. I have a New King James. I have an ESV. I have a Message Bible. I have an NIV. I have an NLT. I have all of those. Yeah, I don't believe that. Some people claim there's only one

true church. What's your take? Yes, there is only one true church. There only is one remnant. But if you're saying if there's only one true denomination, then that doesn't make no sense either. There is only one church. I guarantee you that if the rapture hit right now, some Pentecostals would stay, some would leave. Some Baptists would stay, some would leave. Some Catholics would stay and some would leave. Episcopalian, Presbyterian, all of those, some would stay and some would leave. So yeah, God's going to take his true church. What's the main difference in the different denominations? Rather, there are books written like this big answering that very question, to be honest with you. So there's no way I could answer it in a few seconds. What about Christians that backslide? Are they doomed or no? I would say this. Either somebody that has backslidden has either never been saved in the first place or they're just in rebellion and they need to come back and repent. Yeah, never fully surrender. Yeah. Number eight, your take on the TV show, The Chosen. What I've seen, I love it. Do I build my theology on a TV show? No, I don't. It's entertainment. It's a show. It's a movie. You should never base your stuff on that. I think it's entertaining to watch and a lot of those episodes are really nice and beautiful, I think, right? They're made very well. Yeah, but to say, oh, I'm going to take The Chosen and build my Christianity on that, that's silly. No, but I don't have an issue with it. How do you know if the Holy Spirit dwells in you? And when he is operating when you start to live right when you start to feel conviction, you know, um How would you know? What do you think about that? How do you know when the holy spirit dwells in you? There's there's change you you know others begin to see a change in you and when You know you become you become an example in the way that you live, you know, and and Change in others begin that you become the light, you know in everywhere that you go Uh your take on exorcism. How can you tell when somebody's possessed? Oh, yeah, we've been there many times and we can tell Um, it's not that hard to tell to be honest with you Uh, when someone 11 when someone claims god is speaking through them, should I listen? How can I tell if it's true or false? That's an easy one. Is it going to go according to scripture? If god is speaking through somebody it will never contradict scripture

It will never go against scripture and not only that but the person is going to be a living example Because god is not going to use something filthy and something unclean. He's going to use somebody That's even the bible says that the prayers of a righteous man avail much So when somebody is truly living out what they're saying, you know, so, you know, here's here's a here's a good thing like you know I don't claim to know scripture or To speak the way my husband speaks because I don't know the bible the way david does or to speak the way he speaks or anything and I tell people straight off the bat, you know I don't know Half of the things that my husband. I don't know they have the stuff. I know Exactly, you know and but I do know one thing I know that jesus changed my life and I know what he did in my life And all I can do is just share what jesus did for me That's all I can do I may not know scriptures, you know, I may not know the bible the way my husband does And you know, and I know the simple truth about what he did in my life And all I can do is share that with people That's all I can do, you know, and the best thing to do is just to always Be truthful with people and then be like, you know what? I don't know that. I don't know that scripture I don't know that bible that way or anything, but I do know what he did for me and share that that's truth enough And you should be able to exemplify that in the way that you live That's what's important and how you live your life Let jesus shine through how you live your life You know, I want to say this Two people that I respect the most in their christian walk Don't know the bible much My mom and my dad and i'm not gonna say of course, they know the bible, but they're not scholars they're not sitting there trying to figure out the hebrew and the greek and the aramaic and the original meaning and this and you know, I mean, but here's the thing is that

their walk Is is is more than just memorized scripture, yeah, you know and um I Think that I don't understand How I retain the stuff I understand or whatever and don't get me wrong There's people that some of you guys can just walk all over me with scripture that you remember and whatnot You know, but at the same time I think it's very very important and it's very key to never base your walk in who you Are or who you um, or what you know, or what don't you don't know? And um and more about your walk man You know, and I think that is key and that is very very important to understand and to know you know and uh To know, you know Anyways, that was a lot of questions man. You made my brain hurt sheesh You didn't copy it Raymond he made my brain hurt and I was like man. This is challenging for me like gosh Raymond from texas Oh That was a abraham guys. He came to bring me my phone because he's leaving He um good letter. Thank you, but he has his um pirate name big lips puffy pants Your pants are puppy. I haven't showed you guys what the animations speaking of a pirate Look at this look All right Ready Uh Um, wow, you just wanted me to not know how to read your name, huh?

Wow He doubled every letter so it looks like my eyes need work Antonio you can't you're gonna say the full name and break the log in Really? You were gonna do it, huh? Were you Well the first name I can't read the first name see how he wrote double so it looks all like uh, like if it feels like I need glasses Well, I do need glasses Juan tarian antonio something that's it, but I can't say the last name and I think it says kentucky um Appreciate your letter Uh, it made my eyes Go cross-eyed, I don't know. I don't know if you you're like man This is gonna be a cool way to to double write everything. It's really hard to read So, how did you read how did you read it very painfully Philip out of florida I Would be horrible, no, wait I would be horrible as your guys's narrator or anything because I would probably be breaking every law Why is it postmarked pennsylvania? But you wrote florida I don't know. All right, but anyways, there's a photo There's a photo There's a photo Oh right here There's a photo and brother You typed you typed it all up so that way you know who you are you gave me a photo with the letter on it And I really really really appreciate your heart brother Uh, thank you so much for sharing everything that you shared

Letters like yours is exactly Why we do what we do What why did you do that slow like a bomb dropping I held my I was like It made me think of that old song remember you dropped the bomb on me I should get that little baby Um, man Why did I write this Yeah Let me see, I think yeah, there's something that he said that made me write this um Oh, yeah, this is a trip, babe So he was um, he was locked up Well, duh, right? They're all locked up No pun intended, yeah and uh He was at it he was he was at the end of his rope, he was rock bottom Was not saved didn't know god wanted nothing to do with god And the last thing he wanted to do it says was to hear some goody good preacher Um trying to help him to get out of the mess that he was in And um, and he said that He heard the lord say give me five minutes Because he didn't want to hear nothing And he says so I did and the first video to come up Was you guys? and pastor roach's testimony And he says I never cried so hard in my life and from that day I've been with the lord serving him from behind these walls

And then laughing at our dumb jokes. Yeah, and uh, this this this is beautiful because Sometimes we do do this tired and exhausted and no pay and no payroll But we do it for jesus man. We do it for jesus There's a movie called hacksaw ridge a true story about a soldier that refused to carry a firearm in world war ii and um They got attacked and he was the only one that was alive or so he thought And um, he slowly Started hearing the soldiers groaning and he would rescue them one at a time remember And he was so exhausted. We need to see that again And remember every time he would pull one to safety He would hear another one Yeah, and he would cry to god just one more lord, let me save just one more and I we both relate to that in ministry so much? Just one more. You know what was crazy is that week when he was reading some of these and I didn't get a chance to sit with him, I was feeling it that week. I had gone to the doctor, to the neuroscience doctor. And I was expecting just to go see the doctor. It was a neurological doctor. And I was just expecting to go get a shot on my neck, remember? And I was like, OK, I'm just going to go get an injection on my neck. Because after the car accident, there had been some stuff that had went on when I hit my head and everything.

And I was like, OK, they're just going to give me that injection and that was it. You guys, I ended up getting 15 injections all over, literally all over my head. What were they called, nerve blockers? They were nerve blockers that they gave all over my head. And they had to be really careful because of the brain surgeries that I've had before in the past. They were really careful to not give them in that area where I've had the brain surgery before. I am not kidding. I had to literally sing that same evening. I literally walked out of there and I told David, I can't feel my head. I felt like a Martian. I still had to come. And it was 5 o'clock by the time we got to the church. And I had to sing by 630 that evening. And I told him, I can't feel my head. I can barely talk. But see, these are the things that when you're in ministry and you have a mandate and you still have to do what you got to do. And I still had to go up there, guys. But when we do things unto the Lord and we make a commitment, we got to do it no matter what. And half of these letters, he read them by himself. And I didn't read them with him, so I didn't get a chance to read this letter with you and read some of these, because I was so out of it, guys.

So out of it after that. I just could not get up. I was just feeling it. But I'm so thankful that we don't give up, that the Lord gives us the strength to continue going. Yeah. It was weird. Remember, I felt like a big old Martian head? I remember. OK, ready? Yes. Ray, number two out of Iowa. I broke the law now. Out of California. You lawbreaker. I know, man. Real. Question. Is holy water a blessing or works of faith? It's not mentioned in the Bible at all. It's water. Yeah, it's not mentioned at all. And no, that was his question. OK. So but thank you, brother. Thank you. And oh, wait, you have a joke. A yoke? Yeah. He has a yoke.

There's a joke somewhere. Did I mark it? Because I marked the question. Oh, here it is. Why did the DJ not go to the salad bar? Because he keeps dropping the beats. I love beats. Beats are my favorite at the salad bar, especially Sizzler. That's actually really good. All right. This is Peter out of California. Has a joke. A yoke. We're going to be praying for your dad. His dad had a stroke. But his joke was this. That's gross, man. Yeah. No say? I don't know. See? No. Let me see. I don't know. Taking you that long? It's one. Sentence You read it then Why didn't the pizza toilet paper make it across the street because he got stuck in the crack All right, I'm not scared

angel out of California nearby actually and Thank you so much brother. Thank you. He's watching on the Edovo and And he had said this right here Oh That if you're on Edovo He was saying to make sure that you search for house of rest not Christ unbarred and if you look up for house of Rest member somebody said it last time that there's house of rest podcast series There's house of rest Sunday service series and house of rest Bible study series. So Just type in house of rest if you are on Edovo Okay Victor out of Texas Yeah, brother make sure to write pastor Scott write him directly on that Fairfield road trip to Fairfield, California and just he says his address and just write him directly if you're interested in being over there Desiree She sent us pictures of her being baptized nice I didn't show it to you you didn't see it Yeah, you did see it And a baptism certificate as a ray, all right. Yeah, there's a proud of you Yeah, remember yeah you showed me actually I think your hair got long Okay, love it your looks really nice you look really beautiful, let's see Caden out of Kansas City, I don't know Seems like it Oh, the question is this so the Bible does the Bible talk about Enoch the Bible talks about Enoch But not the Enoch of the author of the book of Enoch the author of the book of Enoch wrote that way later Almost close to the time when Jesus was born like roughly I think 200 years before he was born The Enoch in the Bible was way in Genesis so Whoever wrote the book of Enoch I believe used the name Enoch to get people to read his book the book of Enoch Really, but it was an Enoch that wrote it. That's interesting. Yeah, so And here's the thing for people that want to read the book of Enoch

Because maybe you say well the Bible quotes it because the New Testament does quote it in three different places But remember this book of Enoch 1 2 & 3 2 & 3 are later ones So the Jewish people actually held some kind of respect for the book of Enoch, but book of Enoch 1 not 1 2 & 3 okay, here's Mark out of Florida and Questions Oh Was a question here Okay, we need you and miss Sharon to answer truthfully gosh Man Okay, is it bad for a dude to have lustful thoughts about his girlfriend? You I'm not a dude answer You know what's hard about this is because you're sitting in prison and Your thoughts are gonna be your thoughts. How do you you know? I'm saying like you can't stop what you think, you know, what happens when I see a burger commercial Think about a burger I think about a burger and all of a sudden I want a burger, you know I mean, so this is a kind of I'm not gonna say it's a weird or odd question because the fact is this is that when You're away from the opposite sex. Then you're gonna think about the opposite sex. You know, I'm saying so Am I gonna answer this biblically or am I gonna just be honest with you? And it's like your thoughts are gonna be your thoughts man. Is it bad? I would say this is why don't you make her your wife? Wife her up, you know mean put a ring on it, you know, that's you know Our pastor women that are widows our pastor we Allow to talk again to a godly man and be married to that godly man. The Bible is very clear about that. It says that when a spouse passes away that you are free. You are free to remarry. The Bible says that. But also Paul says if you can stay

alone it is better to be alone. But he says but if you choose not to then it's okay too. So I mean that's Bible. That's not even my opinion to be honest with you. Um... Let's say a woman that is a pastor's husband passed away five years down the line. She thinks about talking to another godly man and dating them and probably being married to that godly man. There's nothing in the Bible that prohibits that to be honest with you. Would you say anything different? We just talked about that in 1 Corinthians. Yeah we just talked about it in a Bible study a couple weeks back. Yeah so I'm sure. We were actually, yeah I do remember this one because we actually said oh we just actually talked about that in 1 Corinthians and he's probably going to see that. So I'm sure you've probably already watched that Bible study. Yeah but it is in 1 Corinthians. Yeah we literally just talked about that in 1 Corinthians. So questions like that brother is not even about our opinion. No it's what the Bible says. Because our opinion don't matter. What does the word of God say? Okay. This person uh... Deshawn out of Delaware saying where's that dino picture with this bike? Oh I have them. Yeah well you said you had it last time. And he was laughing because he says Sharon makes every name Spanish. Remember? Want to Spanish... Spanishify? Spanishify? Spanishify? Spanishify?

Is that even a word? Spanify? I want to spanify. I don't know but thank you for sharing your testimony man. Thank you so much. I have those pictures. How do we put them up? Should I just send them to you so you can put them up? I don't know. You can't do it on this one huh? It has to be on the next one? It has to be on there or else you add hours to me editing. And I don't want hours added because it's already... Okay so the next one... Sharon don't want me to sleep tonight or something. Oh my god! Stop! Okay Simeon out of California somewhere in the northern area. What did you print out? I said cool. Thanks for the printout. Let's see. Let's see. Oh this little like a little story thing. Yeah so yeah thank you. Thank you for the printout. I say it again. Okay. Mystic. I said it right. Out of Colorado. And thank you. Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you. Alright. Jim E. Out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Loves the road trips especially Arizona.

Oh that kind of rhyme. Oklahoma. Really love the Arizona. Dang babe. Gets out soon. Short time and he wants to visit. Have you ever freestyled? No. Why? I don't know how to freestyle. You just did. One line. You just threw some rhyme for one line. One line of a rhyme. I just freestyled. Why are you doing something like this? Okay. John G. From Florida. Oh I don't know. What? Why were we both looking at it? Because I'm. He's asking which was the beekeeper video and I don't know man. It has a picture of the beekeeper on there. I don't think it does. Yes it does. I don't think it does. Yes it does. I don't think it does. I don't think it does. What's wrong with you?

You're the one laughing. Don't miss giggles over here. Stop it. Okay. Brother Derek. Call me like giggles. Huh? Call me like giggles. What are you doing? I'm going to say his full name. Brother. Did you just beep? Yeah. I bleeped your name out. That's what I'm going to do from now on. Because I'm a rebel from Indiana and I don't think there's nothing wrong with him wanting to shout out his nephew that just got saved. That's all I'm going to say. Happy 15th birthday. Aw. Vanessa. Bleep. Really? From bleep Texas. You're not going to do that to all of them. No I'm not. It was fun for a minute. Now I'm over it. Question. She has a question. Where's your question?

It's about women preaching. Oh, we just answered that. Yeah. Oh yeah. Anyways, I'm still confused about women teaching. It says in 1 Timothy 2, 19, 13 that we shouldn't, but I see a lot of women in Pando preaching, so it is true. By the way. But I still don't see anything wrong with women teaching. The Bible doesn't have issue with women teaching. So here's where people get it mixed up, and I'll reiterate again. The Bible says nothing wrong about women teaching. The Bible says nothing wrong about women preaching. The Bible says nothing wrong about women prophesying. The issue, the true issue, is women pastors that are pastoring. A pastor is somebody that oversees a flock, because as much as women, and maybe you don't wanna hear it, but there is no men that are going to fall under you. They're not going to. You know, maybe you get a pocket of few men here and there, but what not, but see, here's the thing. Men are the leaders of the family, and most men are just not going to submit to a woman. And I know that sounds horrible, and this and that, whatever, but it is what it is. It is what it is, you know what I'm saying?

I have always said that, I have always said, you know, God forbid that if, like, you know, the Lord takes me home first, you know, praise God, but if the Lord were to ever take my husband home first, you know, I hold an ordination, but I would love to be able to be able to have a decision in saying who would be the person to be here, to continue on with the legacy of what, you know, David has worked so hard to build, you know? And I think that this is so important because I would not want to step in in pastoring because that's not, you know, some people do, some widows do step in and begin to try to pastor, you know, and that's not my intentions, and that's not what I would wanna do. You know why? Because I don't, that's not what I'm called for, and that's not what I want, but I would love to at least be in a position where I at least have a decision to at least say what happens with the legacy that, you know, my husband worked so hard under the Lord to be able to say, like, listen, I would love to be a part of that administration, at least, you know, I wanna still continue to work under that ministry because I wanna be a part of that ministry. I still wanna be a part of what, you know, of this ministry, of this legacy, you know, with under somebody that's gonna come in

and still see the same vision because this is still that same legacy. We wanna continue on that legacy and continue on that vision, which to me I would say is important, right? I think that's beautiful, but I would never, never wanna step into pastoring, ever. Okay. Elsie out of Oklahoma, and look, sent her certificate on parenting, job readiness, that's awesome. Good job, good job. You know, oh. Good job, sister. Which one did you press? The clap. Accidentally hit the hand clap. Oh, well, claps too, good job. Okay, this is Robert out of Florida. Said he's Muslim, but still loves the road trips. Praise God. Amen. Thank you, keep watching. And I've seen a lot more sisters writing. You go, sisters. You know what? They're gonna get a Super Cub for that one. Yes, Super Cub. I'm gonna give them two. Yes.

First, I'm gonna give them the Cholo Cat. Can you do a girl, a girl one? A cheesecake one. I don't have the funds. You're not all alone. Give the Super Cub. Why did you give them the Cholo, Cholo one? It's the little one. Look. Aw. And for you J-Cats out there, that's a J-Cat. All mad texting people, and you can't forget his sidekick, Mr. Bling Bling. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Brothers and sisters, today is the day of Salvation. I don't know, I can't stop it. Brothers. Oh, there it goes. I accidentally pushed the cup. Buttons, um, we need a girl one. Okay Jonathan out of New Jersey He said it was his birthday on the 23rd, but it's been a while already. Happy birthday Yeah, I had some questions real quick. Let's see and we see the prayers for your aunt Christine There's a question Jude 9 says archangel Michael

Reviled Satan who tried to steal Moses body. May the Lord rebuke you Where do I find this account of in the confrontation it there is no other mention of that So most likely that was taken from there's other Jewish books historians that had Things that aren't in the Bible that were their history and that's probably where they pulled that from Vani out of, Indiana He said the road trips tricked him into watching us all for Jesus, amen Hey, we didn't trick you though. You chose to watch it, and I'm glad that you did all right, David out of California somewhere up here and Thanks. Thanks for your letter. Thank you. God bless you Anthony out of Texas He likes the little peanut like the little peanut gallery. There it is little peanut car and That's cool, you know, and he said he likes the example we said as a Christian marriage He drives me crazy you guys what are you talking about? Deshawn from Delaware and he has a joke. How far is Rio Vista from here? Let's see My Sacramento. No, no where we bought the SUV By that bridge. It's problem. I would say 45 minutes away from here and There's a joke Here it is you highlighted it Yep Okay, aka the keyboardist That's who he is he says a Jehovah Witness walks into this old lady's house and it's told I'm gonna get you guys something cool to drink. Have a seat in the living room and There's some candy on the table help yourself Both men sit down in the left bowl. There's peanut M&Ms. That sounds good right now and in the right bowl plain old peanuts The one witness eats peanut after peanut until his friend says hey man, stop eating them all dude. That's rude Seconds later the old lady walks in with their Bible and drinks

Blesses him with an envelope with the check inside then grabs a handful of M&Ms Sucks all the chocolate off then spits the peanuts inside out into the other bowl then looks up at the boys and says excuse me For that I it's I only like the chocolate on the outside That's gross All right Victor out of Arkansas, I believe so, but it's Texas, so I don't know man likes the road trips. He says it's a window to the world. I Love that. It's a good way of saying it All right, Wayne out of Florida, but it's stamped, Mississippi So I don't know where you're at man, but he loves the road trips has 362 days left which is a lot less now because we read this what a week ago. Yeah something like that and Lawrence out of Texas we see your prayer requests for your mom and We're gonna be praying for the innocence project. And also it's really it was horrible man about your case what you were saying what you were sharing with us and Your writing is like HD Look at the letter. Look at the perfect writing open the letter. Just pull it out Just don't read it. But you know, I mean just look at look at that I wish everybody wrote like that, especially the guy I wrote double that made my eyes cross All right Armando out of California and we see your request and The prayer requests for your mom put that request to the side there Dallas out of Texas. Thank you. Thank you for your letter brother Derek Out of Indiana and here's a praise report his dad went to church no His sister went to church And I really like the study that you sent brother about the the word one being unity that was good That was a good study. Thank you. Appreciate it

Aaron Out of Indiana also, appreciate you sharing. 225 certificates you have? What? Man. Da, na, na, na, na, na, na. All right. Patrick out of Florida. Oh, thank you. It's a card with a little chubby cat. Oh, I wanted to know if this was, you said somebody handmade this, but I was like, this is really cool if this was made, if this was handmade. It has to have been handmade. Yeah. That's really nice, this little fat cat. You know why? You probably did a cat because of all the super cats you've been making. Oh, yeah. Look at the cowboy cat. Bam. Look it up. Look it up. You should make this into a cat, one of the super cats. Maybe, if I can. Can I scan it and see if you can do it? See if it does. Sometimes the scanner don't pick up. All right. I'm going to scan it. All right, last two guys.

Rashad in Missouri. And let's see. I don't know what that word is. Thorns. Oh, OK. Oh, man, I don't remember why I wrote that. I don't know either. Guys, that whole delay just set us off. It set us off something horrible. Why are you laughing? Because you're goofy. What did I say? The way you're speaking, you're speaking very. It's like those movies that are like, it just hurts something horrible, sir. What? You're being dorky. I don't even know where that's coming from, man. I don't know where it's coming from. I don't know. I don't even know what I'm talking about right now. You're looking for your notes. I know. My notes don't make no sense. I did what I wrote. We can't say God don't hear us if we grow thorns. What? Then later get bushes. That don't even make no sense to me. I'm writing riddles to myself. What am I talking about?

I have no idea. I'm hoping I see something here, and it's all going to come back to me. It's all coming back to me. I thought you were making that chair move. Somebody's going to think it's a ghost again. Wait, where's the wrong one? Ah! Say hello to my little friend. Why are you putting Scarface for? Where's the little jerk, the little night thingy? Night thingy? Oh, that's a whole different bank. That one. You're taking long. I don't. I have no idea what I'm talking about. I don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe down here? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I don't know, man. I don't know what to tell you. But all I know is this. I wrote this, and it says, I wrote, we need to allow Christ to make us new. And I don't understand why I put that, but I can guess why I put that. It's a lot of times we want to try to fix ourselves or fix somebody else, and I think that's what your letter's about. And ultimately, brother, we can't fix nobody else. Our prayer is not, Lord, let me fix them. Our prayer is, Lord, make them new, or even better, Lord, make me new. Because a lot of times we want to fix that which is already broken,

and the Lord doesn't want to do that. He doesn't want to fix what's broken. He actually wants to destroy your old self so he can make you somebody brand new. OK, last letter. Ready? Marvin out of Texas. And he has a resource that he sent. Look, National Prisoner Resource List. Oh, nice. Yeah, that's cool. And has a joke and questions. OK, what did the beach say when the tide came in? Long time no see. Get it? Like the sea, the ocean? Did you know that the scarecrow won an award? He won it because he was outstanding in his field. Wait, wait, wait. There's something else. Oh. I have long hair always since I was a teen and 1st Corinthians 11 14 Could you please explain the scripture since I have long hair. Is that a disgrace? I don't let me see what verse you're saying because I can't top of my head say that your long hair is a disgrace First Corinthians your writings nice. It wasn't chicken scratch. No, I know Well his right, yeah, cuz he's saying hope you were able to read my my chicken scratch writing and I said first Corinthians 11 14 It says be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Is that the one you tried to write? Because what does it have to do with long hair? I'm confused I'm not sure how long your hair is, you know, but most likely Jesus had he didn't have short hair I don't think he had big old long hair all the way down his waist, but

According to what the people look like historically most likely Jesus probably had longer hair to his shoulders at the very least But I don't know what you mean. I'm not sure how you compare that to that verse or not. But either way guys We're glad to be back we're glad and even though we have to get used to the new regulations, whatever we're still here We ain't going anywhere. You're gonna get another podcast this week Probably in a couple days because we're actually gonna go out of town for a couple days. So we got to do it before we leave No, Abraham's gonna be going to Houston to the woodlands he's gonna be training there with the media team. Is there a reason you push your mic away? Oh, no, but were you done talking Oh and so he's gonna be going for a month to train under the media team and the worship team Here so pray for Abraham. He's gonna be leaving and so we will be out of town for a couple days We'll be back. But before we leave we have to do the podcast before or else it's gonna happen again and be late again Yeah, pray for me guys. I'm trying to learn the keyboard I'm trying So we just pray for our worship team, you know, pray for Abraham I'm trying So we just pray for our worship team, you know, pray pray, please pray for us, you know, we're definitely you know wanting to Have a worship band, you know, and and just continue to pray for us, you know, we're definitely trying we know that it's gonna take time and it's gonna be the Lord that it's gonna be the Lord and the Lord's timing, but We're definitely doing our best to to do what we need to do on on our end and and Just pray for us All right, guys, we love you guys. See you guys later God bless you soon a couple days actually because we're gonna do another video in a couple days. So god bless right? Bye 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 We are so excited about the online discipleship platform for house of rest Church This way those who attend locally and those who watch from afar can come together as part of the same community To meet and learn church. We are about to launch our house of rest online discipleship community through school This is where our classes Bible studies and connection will happen throughout the week Not just Sundays if you're ready to grow in your walk with Jesus and stay connected. We invite you to join us just go to www.houseofrestchurch.com And fill out the enrollment form. This is just to let us know that you are interested Then when we launch in mid-may of 2026 We can invite you to fully enroll and be a part of this exciting journey We will begin with over 20 videos and new teachings each month with guest speakers Including live zoom calls do something different and let's learn together All right, god bless everyone that's here Let's just start in prayer. Lord. God. We thank you so much for this opportunity Lord to to read through your beautiful word Precious words Lord God precious scriptures Lord God that are inspired and blessed breathed by you. I thank you for every person that's here, those that are watching through their screens. In the name of Jesus, Lord God, open the scriptures to us so we have a deeper understanding of your word. And we thank you, Lord God. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, so this is our regular Wednesday study. May, so I want to say in two weeks, we're gonna reach our 15-year anniversary. And amen. 15 years is a long time. They say most churches are gonna fail within the first two years. Most churches do fail within the first two years. And alright, so Phyllis, was it? 15 years. Thank you so much, Phyllis. We got the j-cat here sweating on Matt. We want to pray for his salvation. It's a super cat right here. Alright guys, so yeah, 15 years, you know, so I say that because, you know, when I came to the Lord, I didn't have an opportunity to be in a house of worship. I didn't have an opportunity to sing my lungs out to worship. What I did

have an opportunity for the first couple years of my life was just to read the word and understand the word. And I remember thinking, man, Lord, I want to be in a church. I want to be in a place of worship. And I went through many years just with the Bible. But I appreciate those times now because it helped me to appreciate his word. It helped me to establish my walk through the word, not through what a pastor said or an evangelist said or a denomination said. I was able to shape my walk according to what the word said. Because we should read the scriptures that, you know, we should never read the scriptures to make it fit us. We should always read the scripture and say, Lord, let me not shape my Bible the way I want it to, but let the Bible shape me to who I'm supposed to be. You know, and that's why I have always said for 15 years now that the heart, the meat of House of Rest is Wednesday Bible study. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Sunday services. I love it. I love to see your faces. I love when we worship and sing and see the kids waving the flags. And I love all of those things. But ultimately, the meat of this church is diving into the scriptures and having a deeper understanding. Anytime we see false teachings happen, it's because they're not in the word. Or they're in the word without understanding the context of it. Because you can make the Bible sound any which way you want it to sound. But it's, again, it's going back to saying I want to read the word for what you're saying, not for what I want you to say, God. You know, so for those of you that are watching on your screen, whether through YouTube or Pando or Edovo or Facebook, I hope Facebook is on. It should be. I think I got it right this time. But those of you on YouTube, you guys already know, we appreciate the super chats. You give us a super chat, we'll give you a super cat. If you have no idea here what I'm talking about, that's all good. I'm talking to the YouTubers out there. But we appreciate you. And that's why we, I learned how to animate this stuff just for you guys, just to make it funnier. Okay, so we're going to go ahead and continue where we left off last time. We were in First Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 8, is where we left off, I believe, last week. First Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 8. As you're looking for it, I want you to remember that we kind of ended in

the middle of this chapter. And this whole study, guys, is about how to live a Christian life. And in putting together this series, because I, don't get me wrong, it's good to understand the stories of the Bible and the history of Israel, and all of those things are really super important. But I think ultimately, most of us here, the question is, how do I live a Christian life? How do I live in a Christian life in my job, in my school, in my home, in my marriage, in my single life, in whatever it is that your life is? And that's why I said, you know what, coming into 2026, it's a year of discipleship. And I think that this is a good start, because Paul, as he's writing to the Corinthian church, he's talking about very practical... things, things that just make sense, you know. And so anyways, where we left off was Paul was asking, answering a question because at that time people were, Christians were saying, what do I do about meat? The reason I say that, I'm gonna recap a little bit. Back in those days when you went to the market to buy meat, first of all, that animal most likely, highly likely was offered to a God first. And then when they would offer that animal to a God, then they would sell its meat in the marketplace. And normally a non-believer had no issue with that. But now that they're Christians, now they're saying, hey Paul, yeah man, I want some steak, but these steaks are offered to idols. Like what do I do? Do I just never eat meat again? And so they're asking him this question and he started off, last week we talked about where he says, well, first of all guys, this meat is offered to gods, but there is no God

because the only God there is is the one that created the animal. You know, so in other words, he's telling them, listen, if somebody offers you the meat, just eat it because God created that animal anyways. But if a young Christian, if it's causing them to stumble because you're eating it, then maybe it's better off not eating it. Bread of Life, what's up brother? Thank you so much. Let me give you, bam, look at that, the Olympia cat, he won a championship. So, you know, this is important. And that's kind of the context of where we're at now. So verse eight, he continues this conversation. He says, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do. I'm gonna read it in the message as I always do. I read it in the ESV, and then I read it in the message so we can get a double understanding. I'm gonna read eight and nine actually. So I read eight and nine says, he says, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. So he's saying, listen, regardless of what you eat, does it make a difference whether you eat it or don't eat it, abstain from it, don't abstain. He goes, but even more important, he says, what about the person

that you cause a stumbling block for them? So I'm gonna read it in the message. It says, but fortunately, God doesn't grade us on our diet. We're neither commended when we clean our plate nor reprimanded when we just can't stomach it. But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that leads a fellow believer still vulnerable to those old associations to be thrown off track. And that makes a lot of sense. He's like, listen, and you gotta remember too, the Jewish people had a very strict diet. They wouldn't eat shellfish. In other words, they wouldn't eat shrimp. They won't eat pork. They weren't eating these things. So a lot of the Jewish were in Corinth, but they lived among the Greeks and the Romans. And so the Greeks and the Romans were like, they were used to eating pork. So now you got both in the same church and the Jewish Christians were like, oh, look at you, you're eating carnitas. And we're not, so we're more holy. You know, and Paul was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, listen, regardless of what you put in your stomach, whether you eat of it or whether you don't, doesn't make a difference. God doesn't grade us on our diet. That's what he's saying. But at the same time, he's like, listen, guys,

you gotta be mindful. Now I'll give you a perfect example. There's a pastor, maybe 20 years ago in another city, and he saw in scripture that it was not a sin to drink alcohol. If you actually look at the Bible, it says to be drunk is a sin. I don't drink at all. So I'm not making an argument to drink alcohol. I hate the stuff. I don't agree with it. Nobody's life gets better with alcohol. Nobody here can say, man, you know what? My life sucked. But when I started drinking, man, my life got amazing. I don't know one person that can say that. But the Bible is the Bible. And it doesn't say that alcohol is a sin. It says to be drunk is a sin. Here's the issue though. This pastor 20 years ago in a big church said, well, it says here that we can drink as long as we don't get drunk. So he started having Bible studies. and he would have a keg there, right? And guess what, a lot of people came. I don't know if they came for the Bible study or the free beer. I don't know what it was. But he would only let them get one cup, right? But I want you to think about how many people probably are

at that church because of alcoholism. What do you think that did for them? When they're like, man, I want to get my life straight, I'm a drunk, this and that, I got DUIs, I just want to go to church, they go to a Bible study and there's a keg. And that pastor came back later and repented of it because even though they weren't getting drunk, he realized that it became a stumbling block to those believers who were new. Isn't that what Paul just said? Let's read 9 again. He says, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. So just because we can doesn't mean we should. It just doesn't make sense. We have to have discernment. We have to be careful. Because remember what, okay, there's something else that Jesus said. He said, it is better for you to put a giant stone around your neck and throw yourself into the deepest part of the ocean than to cause one of my young ones harm. Well, most people say, well, he's talking about children. Maybe so. But I think he's talking about those that are young in the faith too. That if you cause a new Christian to stumble, that you are better off drowning yourself. That's what Jesus is saying. So he takes it very serious.

You know, so we have to be careful. Again, remember, this whole study is about how do we walk this Christian life out. And there's some of you in your own house. Maybe you're the mature Christian, but maybe your spouse isn't. Maybe your kids aren't. So we want to be mindful. We want, what we don't want is to cause someone to stumble. And that is, to me, that is a very dangerous thing to do because when I see scripture, I see that God takes that very, very serious. Okay, verse 10. It says, for if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged? If his conscience, 11, if his conscience is weak to eat food offered to idols. Oh, that wasn't 11. Actually, that was the rest of 10. So I want to read it in the message. It says, for instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols. So let's say you're like super Christian, right? And you're like, man, God made that cow. I'm going to eat that cow. I don't care what God, the offer, I'm going to eat it because honestly, that's the truth. I'd be like, I don't care what you offer it to. God made that animal. But if you flaunt it, if you flaunt it and you go straight,

there's a banquet and they are honoring gods. I'm going to read that again in the message. For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn't there great danger if someone's still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature sees you go into that banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused, maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong. You know, part of, when you go to the six classes, discipleship classes here, after the first one, we make an agreement. There's a, what are they called? The thing we sign at the end? Expectations. So there's two sheets when you do the six classes, but after the first class, if you say, man, I want to partner up with House of Rest, I want to be part of House of Rest, there's a sheet that says ministry expectations from you. And there's another sheet that says pastoral expectations from us. to you. Because I've often seen a lot of times in churches, it's like, the pastor's like, I want you to sign this because I'm going to hold you to all these things. And I'm like, okay, I get it. But what about shouldn't the pastor be held also to things, to you? Right? If I'm saying, hey, you got to watch your Facebook, you got to watch this, you got to watch that, then I think it's right that I sign something that you take home that says, you know what, I'm going to abide by those same things too. If you see me acting in a

way that ain't right, then you keep that piece of paper. And if I'm out of pocket, be like, hey, pastor, remember you signed this paper? You went against number three. And I can't say nothing. So I always think so. You know, when somebody says they want to partner with House of Wreaths, I think it's only right that it go both ways. That's what I think. So I am very careful, guys. For instance, of what I put on Instagram or Facebook. I have been, we have been to many weddings that are not Christian. And what do they do at the weddings? In the reception? They drink. And we're there because we know the family, we know this, we know that. But let's say somebody wants to take a picture. I am not taking a picture with you while you hold the corona. Even though I'm not drinking, I'm not going to do it. You're not going to have it. You're not going to tag me to it. And then people in the church see that and be like, oh, and then they get what? They can get confused. Right? Look what it says. The danger is that they will become terribly confused, maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself. What his conscience tells him is wrong. So because of that, I'm very careful. Because I don't want to cause anyone to stumble. Because how many times have I said, follow me as I follow Christ. So we have to be an example. You know, it's like the father that is getting drunk every night and tells his kids don't get drunk. Don't drink. I don't want you to drink. And the kid says, I'm just doing what you do, dad. And then what does the dad say? Oh, do as I say, not as I do. How about this? How about just be an example? You know, I've told my kids, I'm like, I don't know if you kids know this, man, but I'm super cool, man. And I don't drink. And I don't cuss. And I don't cheat on my wife. And look how cool I am. Right? I'm like Fonzie over here. So I love the fact that my boys could never throw that in my face. You know? And even then, even further than that, because a lot of them know how popular I was in my music and this and that, I said, find any song I did where I cussed. Find any song I did where I disrespected women. Can't do it. Because why? I have daughters, I have a mother, I have a grandmother, I had aunts who I love very much. I did not want my little baby girls to grow up and have to hear garbage coming out of dad's mouth. Even then, as a heathen, I had that discernment. So we never want anyone to stumble. Verse 11 through 13, 1 Corinthians chapter 8, 11 through 13. Nobody wants to see the super cats guys? All right. Verse 11 says, if his conscience is weak to eat food offered to idols, and so by your knowledge

this weak person is destroyed, the brother from whom Christ died. 12 says, thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 says, therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. I'm going to read it in the message and we're going to talk about it. Sunset free. Thank you, brother. Thank you. And for that, you're going to get Pastor Cat. Look at that. He has a whole congregation of little cats. Amen. So, it's in It says Christ gave up his life for that person, right? That person that's stumbling, that person, Christ gave his life for them. Wouldn't you at least be willing to give up going to dinner for him? Because as you say, it doesn't really make any difference. But it does make a difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin. When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. I'm gonna read that one again. When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn't worth it at the cost of even one of these weak ones. So never go to these idle, tainted meals if there's any chance it will trip up one of your brothers or sisters. And I know he's talking about food and not so much for us. Oh. You want Super Cub? All right, Super Cub coming up. There he is. All right, Super Cub. So, and then maybe you're like, what does this have to do with me?

But to me, it could go a lot further, right? It could go so much further is that we never want to cause our family, our loved ones, our children, our spouse, our fellow brothers and sisters in the church to stumble. And it goes with anything, you know? If you know your brother or sister's fasting, you're really gonna start sending them pictures of food? Did you say yeah, Felix? Oh, okay. You're agreeing. All right, all right. Yeah. The way you talk. Yeah. Caused them to stumble. Exactly. Yeah. I was just passing through this. Yeah. Now I might get nervous. You know, it was a trip is that when I first got out of prison and I was giving testimony because first of all, and I'm not saying anything's wrong with this. For me, I don't wear the color red. I don't wear red. I'm not saying wearing red is a sin. I don't. That's my conviction, right? Because I didn't want to cause people

that followed me to stumble. And I remember I went to give my testimony. Man, I forgot where it was. I don't know. It was a town that was full of northerners. And people showed up to hear me give my testimony. And I happened to have white Jordans with a strip of red on the sole of it. A little line of red. And this young man came up to me and he gave his life to the Lord. And he tells me, hey, I have a question. I'm kind of confused. I'm like, what? Well, what's your question? He was a young guy. And he goes, if God changed you, why do you have that red stripe on your shoes? And I felt like this, man, because I never wear red. But it's like, I'm just like, oh, it's just a little line. You know what I'm saying? And it confuses young man. And this scripture came to my heart because a lot of people know what I used to represent. And because of that, I don't wear it. And I am in no way saying that it's a sin to wear red or blue or whatever, you know what I mean? But I know what it meant to me

because I'll be honest with you, that color was a God to me. And because it was a God to me and God came into my life, there's only room for one God. So maybe this is more than just food. Oh, we got a few more here. Amen. Okay, let's see. You know what? I don't know if you guys seen this. Bam. The Cheesecake Cat. I know. But you know who else? Cat the Baptizer. It's a little cat getting baptized. And remember, keep praying for the J-Cat because he's mad, texting. He needs to be saved. All right. Did you have him close the, where's it come? Oh. Okay. Chapter 9, verse 1. So now he's kind of changing the subject from food. And he says in verse 9, chapter 9 I mean, verse 1, he says, am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? Verse 2. If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. He completely changed the subject, but we're going to read it right here, and we're going to talk about it. So he says, and don't tell me that I have no authority to write like this. He says, I'm perfectly free to do this. Isn't that obvious? Haven't I been given a job to do?

Wasn't I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting with Jesus our Master? Aren't you yourselves proof of the good work that I've done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority of my commission, you can't deny it. Why? My work with you is living proof of my authority. So I like that. Oh, Marcelo, which one you want, brother? Huh? I don't got a Fonzie cat, but you know what? Now I will next week. I got the Cholo cat with the lowrider. Bam, Cholo cat, the 64 Impala behind me. Huh? Oh, I got that one. You got a super chat though. Actually, I don't have, do I have it set up here? Oh, I don't have it set up yet over here. Sorry. Okay. So I think that what he's saying is, I mean, think about it. He's talking to people that were like, this was a big deal back then about what they could eat, what they couldn't eat. So I think he had established, he's like, listen, man, you can't tell me that I don't have the authority to do this because I'm writing to you. Because in other words, he says, you guys are my children. I brought this church up. Isn't it proof that I'm doing this from what the Lord is saying? So he's kind of establishing his, his authority in saying these things to people. So verse three, it says this, he says, this is my defense to those who would examine me. He says, do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Verse seven says, six, or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Verse seven, who serves as a soldier, no, who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of the fruit or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? So I think he's going into a different subject of what it is he's talking about. We're going to read it in the message and then talk about it. He says, I'm not shy in standing up to my critics. We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations and we have a right to support for us and our families. You don't seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our master's brothers and Peter in these matters, so why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and pay our own way? Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own garden? Don't dairy farmers get to drink their fill from the pail? So it's interesting because it seems like he's going into another subject here, but he's basically saying, listen,

don't I, so, so I guess what was happening, it seems like what was happening, because you got to remember when we read Corinthians, it's an answer to a letter that we don't know what the letter said. So he basically got a letter from the Corinthian church and now we get to read his answers. So we kind of don't know what the letter to him said, but by what he's saying, it seemed like some people were upset that In a sense, the church was supporting him and people had an issue with that. And he's basically, so that's why he says, so what, I don't have a right to a bed? I don't have a right to lay down somewhere? Is that only for Peter and the disciples? So he almost got sarcastic as Paul was saying, so what, am I someone special that I don't get no treatment at all? So what, I just have to go it alone, pay my own way? And then he goes into these questions. Are soldiers self-employed? Of course not. Or does a gardener never get to eat the vegetables of the garden? Or does a dairy farmer have to milk the cows but never gets a drink himself? So clearly we see that he's answering something and all that, you know? And let's read a little bit more of what it is he's saying. Verse 8 says, do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? He says in the message, I'm not just sounding off because I'm irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law. Verse 9, for it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? So he says here in the message, he says Moses wrote, don't muzzle the ox, put a muzzle on the animal working the field, to keep it from eating the grain when it's threshing. Do you think Moses' primary concern was the care of farm animals? So he's making a point, he's like, so when the law says not to muzzle the mouth of the

ox when it's working in the wheat, you really think this is about ox? He's talking about people. He's talking about people, he's making a point. And we're going to read a little bit more, he says, verse 10, does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because a plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11, if we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12, if others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? The message says this, it says don't you think his concern extends to us, of course, farmers plow and thresh, expecting something when the crop comes in. So he's putting this question, he says, so if we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don't we, who have never demanded, deserve even more? Now this is, I'll be honest with you, this is the awkward Bible study, because I'm the pastor. So maybe it's coming, and I always fear it's going to come out biased. Sandra, I don't know which one she wants, but, all right, she's going to get the prayer cat. Right, prosper life over you, right? Thank you. I mean, you guys know what he's saying, right? He's just like, listen, if I have helped you spiritually grow, then why are you keeping me? Why are you not helping sustain me? You know, to me, this goes all the way back to the time of the Old Testament. There was the 12 tribes of Israel. And out of the 12 tribes, God gave land to 11 of the tribes.

But the 12th tribe, God says, I'm not giving you any land. And that tribe was the tribe of Levi. And the tribe of Levi was like, God, that's messed up. Why did you give all the other tribes land, but not us? So we're not going to have an inheritance? We're not going to have nothing to pass to our children? We're not going to? That's not fair. And God says, listen, I'm separating you to be my priest. And you will minister to me and minister to the people. And they're like, well, cool, but we have children. How are we gonna be sustained? And God said, all the other 11 tribes will tithe. And that way you can be sustained because you are being a blessing to the 11 tribes. So those 11 tribes should in turn bless you so you can stay ministering to me and ministering to the people. And so Paul is using that old principle here. And he's like, so if I, you gotta remember Paul, just I think last week or the week before, he says, man, I have been shipwrecked. I have been left for dead. I have been stoned. I've been whipped a bunch of times. I've been hungry. I've been hot. I've been tired. He was, but I do it for the gospel. Paul dedicated his whole life to share the gospel.

And as he started going from town to town, some of them felt like, oh, what, you're gonna freeload off of us? And he's like, are you serious? Like I gave my whole life for this. You guys wouldn't even be a church if it wasn't for the message that I brought. And what, I can't have a meal or two? I remember hearing from a brother, he grew up in Mexico and he said the Catholic church there. He said that the village he was from was very, very poor. And they had priests and nuns there. And the people had no money to give. You know what they would do? Those that had chickens brought eggs. Those that had vegetables brought vegetables. Those that had whatever, milk, goats, fruit, they brought it. That was their form of tithe. So the priests and the nuns could eat because they were doing the work of God. Tithe doesn't always have to mean money, but I'll tell you what, here in America, you can't pay the electric bill with vegetables. I wish, right? Yeah, because don't start throwing vegetables in that wooden thing over there. You know, but like, I mean, all jokes aside, I'll say this. Yeah, we got some good eggs. Keep bringing those eggs, sister.

You know, again, I'll be honest with you. This is awkward for me, but this is why I like expository teaching because it forces me to talk and teach about scriptures that make me uncomfortable. Because I don't ever want to be seen as a beggar. I don't ever want to be seen like that. But this is the Bible, this is what the Bible's saying. I can't ignore it. So before we move on, I will say this, guys, is that all I ask, this is my prayers all the time, because you guys know I do paintings, I write books, I do all kinds of stuff, and I'm just like, Lord, bless that stuff to sustain me. But Lord, move in the hearts of the people that come here to give so we can continue to pay our rent and electricity and water and everything else. And what's sad is every single month, we barely make it. I mean, barely. I'm sweating bullets right now because tomorrow's the end of the month. I promise to you. But what, what am I gonna do? You know, keep talking and talking and talking about it so that somebody could accuse me of what? But in all honesty, let's be honest, right? Should our house of God, our place of worship, should it be like that? Doesn't the Bible say to make sure there's food in the storehouse?

So my thing is this, I'm just like, man, forget me, God. Let me just preach your gospel and bless the endeavors I do on the side. So I'm not even asking for me, I'm asking for the house so we can all do our part. Because like Paul is saying here, I'll read it again. He says, are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Do dairy farmers get to drink their fill from the pail? Are we gonna muzzle the ox? Farmers plow and thrash expecting something when the crop comes in. we have implanted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? You know, so I think that's important. Verse 12. Verse 12 and... 12 through 14, let's read that. He says, if others share their rightful claim on you, do not we even more. Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple? And those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14, in the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. That's Bible. Do you know that when Israel started to forget about God, guess what suffered first? The tithe. Many times we think, oh, Satan's going to attack you, Satan's going to attack our family, no, all Satan has to do is attack the finances. Because if he attacks the finances, then there is no church. And that's what he's saying here. He's like, listen. Those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

For four years, almost four years, I did Uber and Lyft. And I had to do it in San Francisco because that's the only place you could really make money doing that at that time. I don't know what it's like now. So for four, almost four years, three and a half years, I would leave my house at noon, do Uber and Lyft till two in the morning in San Francisco, and make my way home every day. And the big night was Saturday. But guess what I had to do Sunday morning? Come and preach. Exhausted. I don't remember those four years because I was in a daze. But I preached my heart out. People got saved. The church continued. And I'll be honest with you, usually most of my check, half of it went to paying the difference of the rent of this church. Because not enough was coming in. I mean, let's be honest, is that fair? Shouldn't I? I thank God that people came. I thank God people got saved. But let's say whatever the message was, I'll be honest with you, it was probably 50% of my capacity of what I could do because I was so out of it. I should have been at 100%. On Saturday, instead of out driving in San Francisco, I should have been in the Word and in prayer so I can come in on Sunday and the Spirit of God will move. But I was so preoccupied with not only paying my own bills, but the bills of the church. That was hard. But the rent here in this place, I can't Uber that much. I can't. Where are we at? Yeah, here it is. So again, I want you to think about what Paul was saying because Paul was a tent maker. So he had a job. And he basically was like, man, I'm so glad I don't make nothing off of you people.

I can do my own thing. He would build tents. He was because if you guys gave to me to live, then you would have one more thing to complain about, he was saying. He's like, man, I'm so glad I don't get nothing from you. I'll make my tents. God blesses me with my job. And that's why he says that. But he does make a point. He goes, but that's me. He goes, but man, I'm telling you the truth. The people in the temple, this is how they live. So in the message, it says this. He says, but we're not going to start demanding now what we've always had a perfect right to. So I love that because Paul is like, listen, I'm not going to start demanding payment now. He was, but I'm going to be honest with you. I have a right to it. He says, our decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than get in the way or detract from the message of Christ. All I'm concerned with right now is that you not use our decision to take advantage of others. So Paul was concerned about other pastors. He's like, I'm not saying this for me, but man, take care of the people that feed into you, that feed you. He says, depriving them of what is rightly theirs. He says, you know, don't you? that it's always been taken for granted that those who work in the temple live off the proceeds of the temple and those who offer sacrifices at the altar they eat their meals from what has been sacrificed along the same lines the master directed that those who spread the message be supported by those who believe that message so you guys know that the the the Levites the priest when they would bring a lamb to sacrifice unto the Lord God commanded that they could keep one of the legs so when you sacrifice an animal take one of the legs and feed your family so that was the form of the Levites being taken care

of and then God saw no problem with it that's it says no matter of fact you need to eat so take part of that animal that you're gonna burn up for me and feed your family with it verse 15 he says but I have made no use of any of these rights nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision but I like that because the message he says still I want to make it clear that I have never gotten anything out of this for myself and that I'm not writing now to get something he says for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting and the message he says I'd rather die than give anyone ammunition to discredit me or question my motives he was like I don't want nothing from nobody I don't want you to say that you did that I preached this or I said that or whatever because I'm not gonna give you that ammunition against me verse 16 he says for if I preach the gospel that gives me no ground for boasting for necessity is laid upon me woe to me if I do not preach the gospel and the message it says if I proclaim the message is not to get something out of it for myself he says I'm compelled to do it and doomed if I don't you know if if you were called to ministry you're gonna do it whether you get something out of it or not because you have to it is it is in you the one of my favorite verses is Jeremiah chapter 20 verse 9 where Jeremiah says I won't preach in your name anymore because he was being persecuted they were hating him he says I'm not gonna talk in your name God because it just bad for me but he says I will not preach in your name anymore but it was like fire in my bones and I couldn't hold it back and you know you know what's sad is how many pastors would never preach anymore if they no longer got a check I'm thankful to the pastors that are on payroll because their churches are they can sustain them praise God not hating on them praise God but what if that check wasn't there the gospel still has to be preached people are still lost people are still broken and that's what Paul is saying he's like you know what I preach the gospel it gives me no ground for boasting necessity is laid upon me woe is me if I don't preach the gospel I'm gonna preach regardless verse 17 he says for if I do this of my own will I have a reward but

if not of my own will I'm still entrusted with the stewardship what then is my reward that in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel and the message it says if I proclaim the message is not to get something out of it for myself I'm compelled to do it and doomed if I don't if this was my own idea of just another way to make a living I'd expect some pay but since it's not my idea but something entrusted to me why would I expect to get paid so am I getting anything out of it yeah as a matter of fact the pleasure of proclaiming the message at no cost to you and you don't even have to pay my expenses I love that I love the fact that Paul is saying you want to know how I get paid that I get to preach the gospel. God, it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing that, I'll be honest with you, even with the betrayals, the backstabbing, the backtalking in ministry, I already came into this with a thick skin, but man, ministry has made that skin thicker. But you know what? When I see a life changed, when I see a marriage come together, when I see a child being raised in the Lord, when I see somebody delivered from demonic oppression, there's no payment for that. That's what I do this for. And that's what Paul did it for. And I hope that's what every pastor does it for. The pleasure of proclaiming the message. It should never cost anything. Have I given Abran Rodriguez the super cat? I don't think so, huh?

Bam, Darth Cat. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Everything we do for the Lord should never be for monetary reasons. And if God blesses you with money or this or that or some eggs that a sister brings, praise God. But you know what? We don't do things for things, we do it for Him. If you clean this church, you're not doing it for me, you do it for Him. If you're an usher greeter at this church, ain't nobody paying you, but you're doing it for Him because He's worthy. He died for us, so the least we can do is anything in service to Him. Sunday service is not about you, it's about the one that's lost, that is walking in. Because you have Christ already. You already have Him. And my brother Angel brought up a good point in Sunday's class that we had after church, after service. And he was like, when we starve ourselves from the word, then, have you ever gone to the grocery store hungry? All the time? Why does it seem like you go and they're hungry, right? And you go to Winco and walk by that chicken in the back? Gets me every time. Every time.

And then, I'm like, and then I see the corndogs. How many times, right? We get chicken, I'm like, anything else, sir? Yeah, you had to say that. Give me one of them corndogs. You do it too? Man. Ceviche. Ceviche? Oh, Vallarta? Forget about it. Don't go to Vallarta hungry. You know, so my point is this. Many times we come to church starving spiritually because we are not in our word. So then when we come in on Sunday, it's about me, me, me, me, me, because I'm hungry, because I've been starving for God all week long. And we forget about the one that's lost. We forget about the one that just walked in. We forget about the one that's broken because we're so hungry ourselves. What would happen if we fed ourselves every day? So then when we come in on Sunday, yeah, we wanna come. Yeah, we wanna fellowship. Yeah, we wanna, but you know what? We're not starving, so now we can actually minister to the person that walked in that needs the Lord.

Wouldn't that change Sunday? Because then it would be a joy to be an usher, a joy to be a greeter, a joy to be a teacher, a joy to do to whatever it is you wanna do because God's been feeding you all week long. Yeah, maybe you'd wanna do it. Because we don't do this for money, guys. I mean, if a millionaire started coming, and maybe, you know, I don't know. But I don't know any millionaires. I don't, you know, I don't see anything wrong with pastors being on payroll. I don't, why? Because it just said here. We just read it. The master directed those who spread the gospel would be supported by those who believe the message. But what I'm saying, man, can we at least get the bills paid at the church? I'm fine. If God ever wants to do more, praise God. And if he don't, praise God. I'm still gonna preach the gospel no matter what. I told you guys, I'll preach at a park. But I kinda like having the bathroom right there. And I'm sure most of you do. I kinda like when it's 115 to have air conditioning on. I kinda like that. I think you guys do too. Oh, more.

All right, two of them. The Bruce cat. And my favorite, Kool-Aid cat. Oh yeah. Thank you guys. Okay where are we at? Are we at 19? All right, 19. He says, for though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. In the message it says, even though I'm free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily became a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people. So I love that because he's like, listen man, nobody gives me nothing, I'm free, but you know what? I voluntarily become a servant. I volunteer my time. Verse 20, he says, to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. 21, to those outside of the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. 22, he says, to the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I've become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23, I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. I'm going to read that whole passage in the message. And it says this, even though I am free of the demands, I'm reading starting again 19, even though I'm free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people, the religious, the non-religious, the meticulous moralist, the loose living immoralist, the defeated, the demoralized,

whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ, but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all of this because of the message. I didn't just want to talk about it. I wanted to be in it. I wanted to be in on it. That's awesome, right? Because he's like, man, I'm going to do whatever it is I got to do to reach whoever I got to reach. If I got to preach in the pulpit, I'll preach behind the pulpit. If I got to put Christian stuff on my Facebook, I'm going to put Christian stuff on my Facebook. If I got to somehow figure out ways to get in the prisons, then I'm going to get in the prisons. He's like, I'm going to do whatever it is I got to do for the sake of the gospel. Most ministry, unfortunately in America, they think of ways of how to reach those that will help support the house. If we reach this community, if we reach that community, and we do this or we do that, that'll bring some income in, and that'll do this and that. What do I do? I go and we put a bunch of money to inmates in prison where we get nothing. It's almost like the opposite of how to financially secure your church, but some things are worth more than finances. You realize that? Some things are worth more. There's a lot of money spent for us to get in the prisons across America. For those of you that don't know, all of these videos are on almost every state and county

jail in United States, like 80% of them. Amen. Amen. And it's like, most people are like, okay, let's build up the YouTube channel because maybe YouTube will monetize it and it'll bring money, and instead, no, let's do this prison thing and pay money to do on there. But I have a feeling that when we do things unto the Lord, he says, somehow provides different ways, you know? And sometimes it ain't gonna be money. Sometimes God's gonna bless you and your health. Sometimes God's gonna bless you and your children coming to the Lord. I mean, what would you rather have, riches or your children saved? Right? That is rich. You're right. Some things are worth more. You know, like, again, I'm not saying this so you can bring more eggs. I promise you, I am gonna use an example. Some of you have noticed I've lost some weight. I eat a lot of protein. And we didn't have eggs, sister. We had a bunch of cereal from the pantry. You know what I'm saying? And it moves me because you have no idea. And I'm not saying this to get more from you. But God provides. And I stay busy.

And I upload to the prisons. And I upload this. And I come preach on Sunday. And I do all this. And all of a sudden, she brings me some dirty eggs that aren't washed yet. I washed them. Oh, you're not supposed to? Oh yeah, okay, that's what I did. But see, God provides. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't have to be a check. God provides. And why? Because when we get busy for Him, He gets busy for us. When we take care of those, He takes care of us. And ultimately, I believe that this is what Paul is saying. He's like, listen, I'm gonna do this regardless. I'm gonna preach the gospel regardless. But he's like, but what I'm saying, man, is I'm gonna keep doing it. But you guys do what's on your heart. But if you don't, that's on you. But I'm still gonna keep doing what I'm doing. And that's what I love about that. And that's what I love about what this whole thing, what he's talking about. And it's just awesome. Let's finish off this chapter.

Are we in 24? Okay. 24 and 25. He says, do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. In the message it says, you've all been to the stadium and you've seen the athlete's race. Everyone runs, but only one wins. He says, run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. You guys know that the Greeks are the ones that started what we call the Olympics, right? So they had those back then. So I love the fact that Paul is using the example of what was to be the Olympics because all the people back then knew that. The Greeks knew that. The Romans knew that. So they would train and train and train and 500 people are training, but only one of them's gonna win the gold. And he's like, but you guys all do this. Everybody does it and only one of them wins. And even then that gold medal gets tarnished and it fades.

He says, but you are after gold that's eternal. There's something that God's gonna give you that doesn't fade. There's something God's gonna give you that doesn't go away. And in 26 and 27 it says, so I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control. Lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. I'm gonna read it in the message. He says, I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No lazy living for me. I'm staying alert and in top condition. I love that because he's just like, listen, man, I'm gonna preach the gospel with you, without you. I don't know what you're gonna do, but I'm running hard, man, because I'm gonna give it everything I've got. And can you imagine a church full of people that are giving it all they've got? Yes, you're tired from your job. Yes, you're tired from your kids. Yes, you're tired, and nobody's saying. You gotta be behind a pulpit, but run hard. Do what you gotta do all the way, give it everything for Jesus. And then he finishes off, he says,

I'm not gonna get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it, and then I miss out myself. And I love that, Paul is like, man, I'm gonna give it my all regardless. Whether people give or don't give, whether I have a bed or don't have a bed, whether I have a meal or don't have a meal, I'm just saying, Paul's like, listen, you should feed me, but if you don't, I'ma still preach the gospel, no matter what. And I just think ultimately, that's what it comes down to. You know what, maybe Pastor David don't thank you enough for vacuuming here, but don't do it for my things. Do it unto the Lord. And you know what, if I don't thank you, that's my bad. That's on me. But you do what you gotta do for the Lord. Teach and give it your all if you're a teacher here. If you're an evangelist, whatever it is that you do, give it your all, and if nobody else notices, that sucks if nobody notices, but do it anyways. Because you're doing it for him. Because if we ever get sidetracked and do it, because, see, don't ever be a people pleaser, be a God pleaser. Yes, we should get accolades. Yes, somebody should say they appreciate us. It feels good when somebody says, man, you know what, man, that was a good sermon, or this and that,

but you know what, even if nobody says it, I'm still gonna do it because I do it for him. If nobody gives a super chat, it's all right. Because guess what, I'm still gonna do the Bible study. I've been doing this Bible study online for 15 years. Is it fun to do the super chats? Yeah, but if there's none that come in, guess what? You're still gonna get the Bible study. Anyways, because we do it unto the Lord. We do it for Jesus, and if we don't do it for Jesus, then we better check ourselves and reexamine ourselves, because if we don't do it for him, then what are we doing? Let everything we do be done in the name of the Lord. Everything. Everything. If you do it for Jesus, you are not gonna get it wrong. But the moment you do it for something else, even other people's accolades, even though people should say they appreciate you, even though people should say thank you, even though people should notice what you do, yes, of course, they should, but you know what, even if they don't, do it for the Lord. Do it for the Lord. Don't ever do it for the reward of men. What does Jesus say? He goes, if you do it for the reward of men, then that's your reward. Do it for him. Don't be that guy that every time you give somebody

a burger, you take a picture of it and put it on Facebook. If you ever do that, I pray that there's nine times you didn't put it on Facebook. Nothing wrong with sometimes showing it, because maybe, maybe you encourage others to do it too. So I'm not saying that's completely wrong, but if every time you do something nice for someone, you have to somehow put it on social media, that's your reward then, your likes. I could care about likes. I don't care. I'd rather please God, because he sees it. Do it for him. Everything do it for him, and if you do it for him, you're never gonna get it wrong. Let your motives be pure. Let your motives be unto him. I promise you that somehow he'll have somebody come and hand you some eggs. Oh, one more super cat. Oh wait, we're gonna, I don't know if you're from West Sac, but I promised somebody the West Sac cat. That cat is down. I hope he goes and ministers to the J cat. I know. I know, huh, I should give her one, a different one too. Boom, the baptizer cat. There it goes. Look at that cat. He's just dunked in the Lord.

All right.