Christ Un-barred - EP 98 - Nothing You do will get you into heaven

You So So So All right guys, hola god bless you Oh Spoon fell. Mm-hmm. All right in so guys. We are glad to be here with you We have some letters to read and hopefully that you're you're blessed. You're doing good We have a couple little things on the table What did you add I added my bucky cup, oh, yeah, I added the baby Yoda. Oh, yeah, and The cup of soup Yeah, I did a cup of noodle cup cup of noodle cup. It has a spoon inside I had the cup the spoon on the outside bait when you went like this it fell. Yeah, so it's it's like a plastic I actually found it. It's not It's plastic. It's cool Yeah, it is really cool. And then of course we got the peanut this thing's starting to fill up with stuff But I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what's happening. I don't know you should have put baby Yoda in the back of the truck to be There you wouldn't really see him, honestly Anyways We're here and we're blessed and we got some letters and we want to acknowledge them and really thirsty. Why? Yeah, two things of water. Yeah, one is cold and one is room temperature because I I was real thirsty But I can't down cold cold water So I asked for a room temperature one and Raven gave it to me and look went in one drink almost finished it and then I can babysit cold water That's the plan Who's that So I have heartburn, yeah, I shouldn't have ate that beef jerky with Tabasco Oh I'm hungry too. But I think that's why I eat beef jerky. Oh

Beefsteak. No. Yeah, but now I feel like I have heartburn So We just had that today's Wednesday we just had a great Bible study which actually you're gonna get attached to this and Going through 1st Corinthians and it was an it was a good study. It was interesting. It was really really good. Yeah, and You guys should have already by now watch Mother's Day. It was really really fun. Oh, yeah, Mother's Day was awesome Yeah, it was fun it was different what was that I don't know It's still recording. So it's good. Are they gonna hear that? I don't know. I doubt it It like made a little beep guys. So Anyways, we're gonna get dive right into this. Yeah, cuz it's kind of really late a little bit late So, of course, we're back to the first names and the state we are from Wait, I got a sound for that Not that Where you at, oh I don't have one. I Thought I had one biting your arm. I had I thought I had one was like Like sad, but I don't Have crickets, but that doesn't anyways Bobby you know who Man he sent a whole bunch of certificates. That is so cool. I mean, there's like 50,000 certificates in here But thank you, thank you brother Thank you so much. That's awesome man. Keep doing this certificate. It's not only you but whoever else is doing them here. We have Jason out of Mo Missouri guys the other day. I was watching the Texas the Texas thing and I seen when I was talking to you guys I'm not gonna smile anymore because I have my gap is getting bigger and I feel like Well, Jesus stands in the gap. I do know that. Hey, that's a joke. Jesus stands in the gap. But anyways, I Don't know if I like my gap anymore Sure, no be serious. Yes And I'm embarrassed about my gap. What do you mean? Why would I be embarrassed?

I don't make sense. Yeah, are you embarrassed cuz I'm bald? Are you embarrassed cuz I'm bald? No, then that's a silly question to ask Gap feels weird. Okay, so Jason from Missouri Thank you so much for the testimony that you shared Thank you for the letter to Luis and to Hollis Appreciate that and I'll make sure that they get it. So god bless you All right, Oscar P in Texas What are you doing Take what up? Oh the letters. Yeah, you're not gonna know who they're from. So why would you take them out right now? Guys what she's looking at that boom That cat knows how to make spread Good see it Okay, Oscar P out of Texas baptism certificate brother Congratulations, that is so awesome. And wow What a testimony Thank you so much brother. We appreciate it. Appreciate you sharing and you know what for the baptism certificate Damn and Sharon didn't do it I don't know what she's doing right now Okay, so thank you though, thank you for that and all that For your baptism certificate, yeah Oh this one John G out of Florida, I believe that's at least that's the address on here I was like, please don't let this be a 50 page letter But it wasn't it was like this article on the on like I call it the b-book the b-book. Yeah, so thank you Okay, this one is close by Arthur Yeah out of California this bugs the heck out of me not being able to I Could say the city not just nothing just not the facility, right? I mean, come on really, right? Just no last name and not the facility. Yeah, but I can say Arthur and

San Jose. Yeah. Okay. That's what we were saying last week. No, we weren't but I don't like that man. I don't like it I don't like it Brother thank you. We're so glad that the road trips help you and so many others. We appreciate it You know, I get it some people only watch the road trips But when I hear what people say about the road trips and how it helps you You know, and of course some of it leads to them watching the sermons or and praise God But for those that are just watching the road trips, I mean, we're just we're just here to be a blessing to you Yeah, that's what it comes down to you know, you know, what was so crazy is that we ended up hearing so much about the road trips that It made us literally go back to last night last night We rewatched the whole road trip all over again the last Texas one yeah, and we watched the takeoff we watched all the clouds and We ourselves were just kind of like all Mesmerized by it too. We were just like god. It was really cool. Just watching the clouds, you know the land and just It was just beautiful watching the sky and everything so I can totally Just I don't know I can I can understand why you guys love just just watching nature and just watching everything Yeah, I can I get it guys for the brothers and sisters today is the days and Saray of salvation brother Here's a little suit on All right. This is Ricky in San Jose and just want to thank you He said that he wants to stop by someday. We would love to have you stop. Yeah, man. That'd be awesome You know, you're not that far San Jose's not that far. It's not guys Okay, this is Mickey out of Bursa North Carolina, I think it's hard to read your writing either Bursa or Berg on North Carolina thank you so much for your letter we appreciate it um ray g uh brother it is so good to hear from you over there in uh in soledad uh so good hearing from you you can't go ghost on us ever ever no matter what we just want to hear from you and we were ecstatic seriously we were so happy to hear from you that that you're okay man because we really do worry we worry for you guys and we don't hear from a lot of you often we we get concerned you know i just want you to know that

keep that in mind um this is uh matthew i have a piece of beef jerky stuff sorry matthew uh abilene texas uh thank you for the resources amen and um he said he was raised mormon oh i had a question i had a question look at these resources right there oh nice yeah oh this is one of another one that we can i'm trying to gather like a few of them i only have like maybe five of them to to put on but i want to gather a few so we can do like we did last time yeah okay number one when does pastor thomas plan on visiting again he's going to be here actually in two weeks yeah the 24th yeah the 24th so you'll be able to get that sunday service and um he says i really love the environment he created with this campus may god man god is truly working wonders there in africa amen uh best bible translation for a new believer that's a really good question and i would say it depends on your reading ability yeah i love the esb yeah i i preach out of the esb it's it's for me it's easier than the new king james yeah for me it's easier than the new king james um i i i need things simplified for me guys but i i really do find it easy the esb well that's interesting you say that because esb is not simplified it but it's easy it's a literal translation from the original as close as possible but it but it's but it's some very straightforward it's very straightforward but it's easier like when we study today it helps you yes okay i i i find it easier but let's say if the esb is a little hard for you then i would probably go with the niv niv the niv and if the niv is too hard for you i would say an nlt nlt yeah living translation yeah um let's see i want to purchase a bible for my nine-year-old son recommendations oh man there's let me let me tell jessica to bring it in so before she's doing that first of all let me give you this look at this he has a 10 cows have no meows before anyways uh uh if you want a bible bible i think that's just gonna look at but there's a there's a bible made like a comic book called the action bible that book is awesome actually i want one now don't they have a mojave lobby i want to pick one up just to add to my bookshelf those are really cool but the bible you're talking about is an actual like a bible bible yeah is she answer is she here yeah they're here but you don't even know she answered right no so we'll come back on it guys i'm not gonna sit here and wait for her to answer but we'll see if we can answer that for you and um please explain malachi 4 5 context i don't get to be a part of my son's life mom's choice not mine will god bring us back together at some point let's look at malachi chapter 4 verse 5 malachi chapter 4 verse 5 in the esv let's say behold i will send you elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of

the lord comes huh i'm curious this has nothing to do with your i'm wondering if you wrote the wrong verse to me because matthew 4 5 has nothing to do with parenting so i'm not sure how to answer that uh does mighty mattel's family still attend hrc yes they here's the thing they don't live close so when they do come it's not often because their drive well first of all uh anthony works he works a lot yeah and um she's a stay-at-home mom yeah they're like an hour and a half away yeah so do they attend yes do they always come no but yes of course they're still very much a part of our life i see them as their spiritual kids both of them uh anthony and amanda and and the beautiful little girls you know and and the new baby uh memphis yep yeah so um let's see uh tithing purposes who does the money order it's made to house of rest i mean um yes all right so we'll see if she answers if she answers i'll come back to that um if not then i would say the action bible is a good comic book bible but it's it's like real thick it's nice let's keep going man okay uh antonio out of beaumont texas and um oh yeah this one a lot of it was in uh in spanish in spanish honestly a lot of the stuff rather it wasn't making too much sense to me i'm sorry uh but that was a spanish one to antonio from beaumont texas let's see fernando um canon city colorado uh thank you so much for sharing appreciate you and god bless you keep writing to us uh russell c uh in amarillo texas oh you got some art art oh yeah remember this oh yeah yeah that's beautiful yeah thank you brother thank you and and the encouraging words to sharon thank you i i remember uh i read it to her uh yesterday yes all right uh janik um out of west virginia and this was to matt and judy ann but i don't think he has a tablet because he's in the feds now so he just had the address yeah i'm gonna hand that over to them yeah so thank you though thank you i know if

you ever see this someday and here's another one from janik same thing but this was to me and you nice and i said let matt and judy i know uh he's tried contacting so we'll get them we'll get a hold of them and let them know gary out of chattanooga tennessee chattanooga all right oh you got it thank you so did we have we had some other one another one as well so this is for the older kids right that's an iv i know but this is this is this is for omegas right do we have the other one we had some other fatter ones oh it is yeah so that's it there was another fatter one that we had okay gary out of chattanooga tennessee thank you so much for your letter thank you you know what you guys are gonna get the praying super cat right prostate life over you pointing on them in the name of jesus hallelujah all right c c uh cranston rhode island we don't get many from there but it's his first time writing this and we appreciate your first letter thank you so much and you know what you get for being a first time writer can't say their last name what do you want me to do you should have just said that name and that's the last name you should have said mr mr that i i wasn't going to say last names i better be careful because somebody might write a letter saying i'm mean to you oh man stop it somebody did okay don't don't do that do what that that's not very nice what no seriously i can't see what you just did what nice to you or not nice to you stop it that one okay oh thank you yeah that that one because this one's really simplified it's called this one oh the n l r v yes i wonder what that stands for it's called the discoverer's bible for early

readers hold on let me see n what is it n l r v is that i say it right new and no it's the n i r v oh n i r v yeah the new international readers version okay so it's um n i r v it's a discoverer's bible for young readers oh yeah designed for children and early readers using simple clear language yeah but it's oh that's cool it's really really it's really big writing i really really like this bible yeah um that's the one you were talking about yes this is the one that i really really really really like because it has the pictures inside so it actually has the pictures inside as they go but it's the full bible it's set up like a full bible guys um and and at the same time it has large large large uh print and every single one has pictures in it for them but i i highly suggest this one here we just didn't we just did not we when we moved in here we ended up finding we found like a huge box full of them of that one of this of this one we found like maybe like 20 of them. But as time has progressed, we ended up with less and less of them. Let me see. I don't know how that happened. Let's read the gospel of John one through 14. And for our toddlers, this is a pretty big Bible too for our toddlers. It's called the Beginner's Bible. But believe it or not, it's actually, it's really nicely colored as well, but it's full too. But it's not, it's not. Yeah, but it's for toddlers,

for little, little, little ones for like our little two to five year olds. But I mean, it's not the Bible like Bible, but it's like. But it has all of them in there though, but it's pretty, yeah. Oh, I've seen that. Yeah. At Hobby Lobby or? I think they have it at Hobby Lobby as well, but it has all of the, it has all from Genesis all the way to Revelation. So this is the NIRV. I'm gonna read one through 14, okay? Okay. Let's see. In the beginning, the word was already there. I already like that. The word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. Life was in him and that life was a light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. A man came who was sent from God, his name was John. He came to give witness about that light. He gave witness so that all people could believe. John himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. The word was in the world that was made through him, but the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. Some people did accept him. They believed in his name. He gave them the right to become children of God. To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents. Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born. They are born because of what God does. The word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the one and only son. That is great. They did a great job. They did a great job. I love this one. So it's the Discoverer's Bible for Early Readers and the NIRB, Discoverer's Bible for Early Readers. Guys, I really highly suggest this Bible. I would say even for some that, like if you have trouble reading, that was great. Yeah, it's such a great Bible and it's, you know, and then for our older, older, a little bit megas, you know, this is, look how tiny this right here. Oh man, I can't see that.

Yeah, I can't even really see this. I don't know how our kids read this. This is super duper tiny. It's the new international version NIV Holy Bible for kids, but it's really super tiny, guys. I think you need a magnifying glass for it, but I prefer this. I hope somebody will donate more of these for us, seriously, because I love this Bible. Yeah, I love this Bible. I just fell in love with it. Yeah, we need more of these. I like that better than the NLT, what I read, at least what I read. I mean, I don't know how the rest is, but. Okay, Chadwick K. out of Ely, Nevada. He has Edovo and Pando. And, oh, advice. Advice on release. Okay, hold on. Oh, look at that writing. I know, really nice writing. Yeah. I appreciate that. Wow. Boy, do I appreciate it. Nice writing. Yeah. Okay, here it is. Do you have any advice as I'm gonna be paroled May 1st to Reno in 2006 when I was arrested?

Do you have any advice on tips for when I am released? I'm planning on attending Living Waters Church. Well, number one, you're doing the right thing going over there with Pastor Rick. Oh, yeah. And he was with us actually in Texas. I don't know if you asked or somebody else asked if he was at the conference. He actually stayed in the same house with us. He stayed with us. Yeah, I'm surprised I didn't get him. I know, I'm surprised we didn't take, well, he left early, first of all. He left one day earlier because remember his flight left earlier. But we didn't get a group picture with him like we normally do. We always get him in our pictures, but he left one day earlier. My advice would be go to the church, get close to Pastor Rick, get close to some of the men that are there, stay away from old crowds. You know, the moment you decide to go back into anything that you usually do. to be you already started the spiral oh yeah so uh david out of love lady texas we loved this letter we want you to keep writing us thank you thank you thank you so much for that letter uh edwin in dan dan mora new york and uh thank you so much also and um saw your your request there and thank you so much for your letter thank you yeah we saw we saw the request already yes all right all right

ellis out of hondo texas and um wrote to uh pastor scott oh awesome yeah he loves getting those letters right now yeah so guys you don't have to write us to get to scott if you go to the fairfield road trip he says his address and you can write to him directly just let first of all if you tell him christian bard or house arrest he knows he's our district superintendent so he'll know um why he's really excited about the letters he's been getting absolutely he actually told us to go back to his church he wants to show you guys around and so we got to call him up and and yeah and go back yeah we'll make an appointment to go sit down and go have you know go have some coffee or lunch with him and go well that's what he said he was if you come down lunch is on me and i'm like we'll be there okay charles i was gonna say the whole name downhart texas uh thank you continue to keep writing us thank you so much about sharing uh well some of your your ideas and your thoughts on uh sharing and thank you so much and god bless you brother thank you okay we're doing our best pando we are trying we're really really uh trying here you know what i'm gonna give a super cat to pando yes just for we are so blessed by y'all yes they get the super cubs oh thank you pando look at first he starts off sad and then he hears a joke all right let's get back to it all right this is uh from africa in westville indiana and um thank you so much bro uh i i appreciate the fact of you you know you say that you're muslim and all that um you know i understand that you disagree or or some of the things that you're sharing i'm just glad that you're watching us continue to watch us you know um we are a christian channel and we're gonna have a christian world view and a christian biblical view but man we appreciate you watching us thank you so much you know keep watching all right enoch mr green mile from charleston missouri look at that he says do you like my stamp it's uh oh it's spongebob bob hey how'd you get that i don't know that's really cool though it is really cool oh has a question let's see your question matthew 12 31 32 says we will be forgiven for every sin except for blasphemy against the holy spirit we know that we ask christ for forgiveness we are forgiven right but the bible also says it will be judged on judgment day for everything we all have ever said i thought and done so how are we forgiven if we will face um for everything we said thought thoughts please answer in the party is it's a good question okay so um i'm gonna say i'm gonna answer it with this little story parable i heard one time that this man he was at church and he would tithe he was in the choir he would help vacuum everything to do with the church he was

there right so he's like man for sure i'm gonna get in heaven i'm probably gonna have the biggest mansion because i give the most i help the most i never miss church service and all this stuff right so he dies stands before god and um and so the the lord says listen uh before i let you into heaven you have to have a hundred points to get into heaven and he's like that's easy you know he goes so uh what did you do he goes well first of all god i never missed a sunday service i've been saved for 25 years and i never miss a sunday service for sure that's 100 points right god says you know what that's really good i'm glad you attended okay mark him down five points five points what else did you do and he got nervous he's like man i gotta make 95 more points and get in he's like well um i was i vacuumed the church and sometimes it was really messy and i even cleaned the toilets oh you clean the toilets that's great i'll give him two points Now he's starting to get nervous because then he went into this tithing. He went into giving away food to the homeless. He went down his whole list. He exhausted his whole list. And by the time he was done, he had 27 points. He couldn't think of nothing else. And he started to weep. And the Lord said, is there anything else you've done? And he said, well, 25 years ago, I surrendered my life to you and I gave you everything. And I just fell in love with you and believed in you. And the Lord said, 100 points. He says, come and dine with me. He thought it was about his works, but the whole time it was about his faith. All of us have things written against us, all of us. You know, it's interesting that the Bible says, I found it interesting that it says that he will wipe away every tear.

And I always thought, why would we be crying in his presence? Maybe it's because we know the long list of horrible things we've done. And I feel like he's gonna see right through us and we're gonna feel like filthy rags in front of a holy God. But because we believed in him. I moved you, huh? Yes, we are washed in his blood. So even though we've done things that should not be forgiven, that's what grace is. We're receiving something we don't deserve. Will we enter into heaven with all of our sins we've done in the past? Yes. Why? Because we believe in him. That's why he died and shed his blood on the cross. That's why the Bible says that he took our sins and nailed them to the cross. He's so sovereign and merciful and graceful. So hopefully that answered your question. If you were worried about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, let me say this too, is that if you are concerned, if you feel conviction, then you have not blasphemed the Holy Spirit because the fact that you have conviction means that the Spirit of God is still working on you. He's still, yes. He hasn't forgotten you.

Absolutely. Okay. Johnny Lee, not gonna say your last name, in Waco, Texas. That's a beautiful little town. Yeah. Half of it. I loved it. I drove around. That's where I got my haircut. Yeah, some of it was kind of hood. You didn't see that part, but that one section was really nice. But he said, though, that when he gets out, his prayer request is he wants a new start outside of Texas. Amen. Amen. All right, Chris out of Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you so much for writing and for sharing. We appreciate you. God bless you, brother. Brother Jimmy. Been in here. You know who you are, Kennedy, Texas. Just got your letter way too late, brother. You know what I'm talking about, because you're just like, hey, can you call my mom? Way too late. Really late. Yeah.

That's it, really, really late. Yeah, but it's good to hear from you, man. Brother Derek. New Castle, Indiana. You know who you are. Really good teaching. I love the fact that you always give a great teaching. Thank you so much. I love the part, though, of what you said. He says that an apple tree doesn't eat its apples. Those apples are meant to feed everybody else. That is a mic drop for what ministry means. Amen. It's never about yourself. Amen. It's about the fruit of the spirit is to feed everybody else. I love that. That was good. Michael out of Carlisle, Indiana. And let's read this joke. Let's see. What is this joke? Uh, what's the joke? Oh. Why? Why the chicken in the prison rec yard? Why is there, what? Why is there a chicken in the prison rec yard in the rain? To get wet so he can take a bath?

I'm sorry, but I laughed at how silly your joke was. I think I froze and then I started laughing. At home, I was just laughing at how goofy your joke was. Because I didn't understand it. I don't get it either. For a little chicken I don't know George out of San Quentin, California has a joke. Thank you so much for sharing But wasn't that many jokes of it in this bag? What's up, man? You guys what's up? All of a sudden y'all ain't funny anymore. What's cracking? All right, whatever. Let's see Let's see how this one does if it's good. You got to hit that button this one if it's good Okay, if it ain't you don't get the buzzer What do you call a dog with no legs or tail? You can call him whatever you want he ain't gonna come to you All right Isaac Coming Isaac out of Taylorsville, North Carolina Thank you so much brother. Thank you for your letter. God bless you Okay Mr. Lee out of McCormick, South Carolina, don't watch the sermons. Hopefully someday you will Charles from Bonnie Terry, Missouri. I think it is Oh, he had written that rough draft remember about he'd wrote a Rough draft of a book he had sent to us and I know you put that to the side. Yes, I did So, thank you, brother. Thank you Yes, I oh, yes, I did. Yeah The other ray and I own California brother god bless you brother, he's from Fresno Fresno is not far from here You are not far from here. It's like 90 minutes actually Didn't he say he wants to be a pastor? I'm not sure. Yeah, was it him? Mm-hmm wants to be a pastor. Okay Amen

I'm gonna pray for that Robert in Livingston, Texas City drove truck and knew the roads. Remember we took the back road from after we saw Jeremy. Yeah, he says yeah I knew the Altamont he knew it. Yeah, so San Francisco. Yeah, that's cool You know my mom my mom knows how to drive a big rig. Yeah. Mm-hmm My mom used to drive a big rig don't they have a bunch of my brother Luis don't they have a lot of gears? Yes tons, yeah, yeah That's why I don't understand when cars get right in front of them It's crazy because especially if they have a full load, right? It's harder absolutely hard to maneuver people one. They want to meet Jesus that day. It's crazy. Okay, Africa again Thank you so much for your letter William out of Orange, California. We're gonna be an orange. You guys are gonna get a road trip out of that in September yeah, thank you so much for the commissary. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching us I see that you know, you're of a different faith, but just keep watching us brother. We appreciate you. Thank you so much Absolutely, this is their prayer request in there. Yes, there is Okay Sunny out of Repressa, California or Folsom and I had some questions. I Highlighted them. Yeah Okay Yeah, oh it's one quick first questions for you Sharon Did you know that David was such a Star Wars nerd before you married him? No No, but do you know what he before you married me? Yeah, you did before well Before I met him. I didn't know. Yeah before I married him Yes, because it took him three years for me to marry him. Of course, I knew But you know what he did do Once we once I found out he ended up getting all Every single one of the Star Wars episodes and he put movies not the shows all the movies and he put them all in chronological order and We binge watched every single one of them it's about time to do it again Yeah, I ended up watching everything guys

Everything that existed in Star Wars Yeah, and the next question is for me He says and hanging in my office is a stormtrooper and a Millennium Falcon. Did I paint those? No, I didn't the stormtrooper. I bought it at Hobby Lobby. The Millennium Falcon was a gift from my son Bobo Was that for Father's Day, right? Yeah Do you guys also run a bakery? No, no, I used to have it in Southern, California Yeah, but no next question has David ever. I want one. Yeah And I want one again. I want her to have one and I'm I Yeah, I want one guys Has David ever eaten or made prison taffy? No, man. I didn't I Sound all sad I know Let's see Yeah, the unseen realm I'm glad you watched it those of you that are on the Dovo have that and it's the unseen realm along with the demons documentary, I think they're back-to-back and But yeah, the man those are eye-openers for reals Let's see. You know, it's crazy is Michael Heiser We didn't learn about him and we finally did he was one of he was the top scholar historian of the ancient languages And within months of knowing within that year, he died. Yeah, he passed away. Yeah Is the Israel of today located with the Israel the Bible is yes answer is yes But actually the borders back then were a little bigger because right now I think it ends the Jordan I believe but back then it went further out Let's see Yeah, that's pretty much all your questions, thank you, thank you Jeff out of Solidad, California Loves the road trips and he said that he wrote Fairfield to pastor Scott So nice Eric a out of Centralia, Florida never heard of that place Not sure why you say you can't see our content you got a look under house arrest

Yeah Bible studies house arrest sermons house arrest podcast so everything is house arrest and then you put in house arrest house of Rest Church, and then you put in the title of what it is that you're looking for. Yes Stop it, babe. No, I didn't want them to look for house arrest house of rest Michael out of Kennedy Texas Yeah, thank you, thank you we got that much god bless you Okay, Lord multiply it 100 fold. Amen Ricky out of San Jose, California nice artwork on look at the first page. I don't know if you remember this but You put like this House of rest any Dovo with the cross and the banner going around it. I like it. Yeah Not sure why there's all-seeing eye on top though Not sure Emily out of Seminole, Florida Thank you so much we see your letter we are unable to help and what you're requesting though, but thank you so much Charles a in Bowling Green, Missouri in Missouri loves the road trips he loves driving and I Appreciate the advice to stay close to Luis because you know him being gone so long. You're right, you know He's the one that mentioned he probably needs us more than he lets us know Yeah, and I believe that I do believe that I actually went on a bike ride with him Well, you did too for a little bit on I did five miles with them guys. Yeah, actually I'm gonna include that here Oh you recorded Yeah, I remember I had my glasses. Oh, okay. It's the short bit it's like five minutes or something, but I did a bike ride with him on Friday morning in Santa Clarita, which is by Magic Mountain Which is coming into LA and we did 16 miles. I think you did the first four miles. I did Yeah, and then we continued Abraham picked her up and then me and him finished it

So 16 miles and then the next day Saturday, we did 12 miles in the LA River bike trail So I'll put both videos on here because that's the first time I did a ride with him Christopher out of La Mesa, Texas and Thank you so much for the class transcripts and as and as far as you're saying about coming and teaching Flags and all that, you know, there's protocol, you know I mean when people come to the church nobody can just come and just start teaching and stuff, but If you've come and become a part of the community and part of the church family Yeah, do the discipleship classes and get closer to people and learn the culture and yeah, you know Okay Chancy so good hearing from you. Thank you so much. It's easy to remember that. Okay. Okay, Juma Why did my voice crack Juma from Nashville, Tennessee, thank you so much for Sharing it wasn't me Mark a out of Redwood City, California and Man, oh look at all this stuff shot three times 20 23 surrendered to Jesus Does not not want to be in the San Francisco area, thinking of San Jose. Here's the thing, man, we're not that far away. We're not that far, man. Keep it in prayer. Jaime Jr., not going to say the last name, in Wheaton, Illinois. At first he just watched the road trips, but now he's going back to the beginning. Oh, nice. Nice. Thank you so much. We see the prayer request there. He gives a whole sheet of prayer requests. Nice.

Thank you. You're not in jail, Magnolia. I do, Sharon. Why don't you write a letter? All she has to do is text you. I love you, Magnolia. She watches anyways. I know. She gets to get a shout-out. All right. She just likes a shout-out. Marcos in Salinas, California. We really appreciate you introducing yourself to us. I said he has family from Salinas, has family in Modesto, but loves the rawness. We don't edit here, man. We don't edit. That takes way too much work, to be honest with you. We rather just be ourselves. It would really be a ... I would burn out if I had to act a certain way. Yeah. I agree. When they're like, oh, lights, camera, like, hey, how you doing? Just that whole thing. Nah, man. We're just going to be us. Yeah. Okay. Put that to the side. This is Sonny out of Folsom. Thank you so much.

Oh, has some questions. Okay. Let's see. Has some questions. Sonny. Oh, his favorite thing in the podcast room are Darth Vader. That's not a MAGA hat, though, actually. That's a Charlie Kirk hat that he's wearing. I know from up here, it looks like that. That was given a gift from Sister Lisa. Yeah. Yeah. But his favorite thing is Darth Vader and the books and the soldier. I think he goes, that you've glued back together a few times. I know. His rifle is always falling off. Yeah. I always have to glue that thing back. Yeah. He says, I recently came upon the book of Enoch. Have you read it and is it at all credible? The book of Enoch, the one that's in stores now is usually Enoch 1, Enoch 2, Enoch 3. The only one that's historical is Enoch 1. Even then, it is not on par with the Bible, but the Jewish people would quote it. Actually, the book of Enoch, book one, is quoted three times in the Bible. That doesn't mean it should have been in the Bible, doesn't mean none of that, but the people of the time of Jesus, they respected the book of Enoch 1. I do want to say this. The book of Enoch was not written by Enoch that it mentions in Genesis. They just named it that.

The book of Enoch was written roughly around the second temple, which is after Solomon and between Jesus. But the Enoch in the Bible was way in the beginning with Adam and Eve and all of that. Of course, I've read it. It's interesting, but like I said, it's not in the Bible, so I would never give it the same reverence as scripture at all. Did Adam and Eve have a son named Seth? Yes, they did. Now, was he a founder of an angelic race? No, that is not biblical at all. I don't know where that's coming from. Why is all this talk about Anunnaki? Was that some pagan god? You know what? I don't know too much about it, but I know it's interesting because an old civilization was talking about the Anunnaki, which is weird because it matches the Nephilim of the Bible. That's why people are talking about it because remember, the Bible isn't the only ancient writings. There are ancient writings from other civilizations, but what is weird is that even though that stuff is not biblical, they were talking about giants that walked the earth. So that's kind of why people talk about it. Have you ever guys checked out any of the studies about a place called Ghibli Tepe? Never heard of that. So yeah, I don't know nothing about that. Amen. Good questions though. And the last two letters, David out of Maury, North Carolina. And he just wanted to shout out his three children. So amen. Praise God.

Thank you so much for writing us and God bless you. And last is brother Larry. And he says, I'm not in Tampa, Florida. I'm in Arkansas. Oh, okay. And sure enough, look at the postmark. So that's just the mailing thing. But I love it. He said he has a bible study that's growing. It started from two people now eight people. Nice Yeah, amen But thank you for sharing your testimony We'll be releasing to pennsylvania and we'll get a hold of us, but he wants a cheesecake mailed. I don't even think that's possible How do you mail a cake without it getting ruined? You can't But you get a buzzer for the for trying That's the last of our letters man, but I am gonna add the bike right here. Hopefully you enjoyed it's a short one Um, I didn't do a road trip out of it. Um We just went down there real quick. Uh, it was mother's day weekend and it was luis's birthday Yeah, and it was us. Um abraham's birthday, babe. Yeah and abraham's birthday. Well abraham's birthday is the 22nd, but um My My family wanted to actually, uh, just sing happy birthday to him before he left So, you know, i'm sure what we'll do here is probably get him on video You know when it's that time That weekend and we'll probably as a church sing happy birthday to him Um, but my family wanted to just have a little cake for him the friday before he left that saturday morning And his brothers and siblings and just wanted to see him and give him a little gift and everything before he left And we took him to the airport Early super early. We left like at four in the morning Um to go drop him off at lax It's a lot. It's hundreds of dollars cheaper to fly him to texas from la than it is from san francisco Yeah, so we took him really early on saturday and then that same saturday. We kind of celebrated mother's day and my brother's uh,

Birthday that same saturday And that same night we ended up driving halfway back home and we stayed uh, Kind of close towards like fresno. Yeah somewhere around there And then we made our way we drove the rest of the way first thing on sunday morning and straight to church straight to church guys um Yeah, so I didn't record nothing as far as road trip other than the bike ride So I do want to give that to you because I think some of you guys have requested uh bike ride footage The reason I don't because it's how am I going to ride a bike and hold the phone? It gets really hard I used to have a gopro I don't know where it's at. But either way it's packed away still in the garage somewhere guys Yeah, and even then riding a bike was really hard having a gopro. Yeah, so somebody walked up to the door Somebody walked into the door guys. Um, but I think we can And yeah, yeah, we're done so god bless you. Thank you so much and um See you next time. All right. We love you guys. Bye. Bye Santa clarita bike trail, it's a full loop of 16 miles or 16 point something miles. I don't know All right, we're here Santa clarita 16 point something miles. This is an amazing bike trail never been on this It's my brother-in-law luis right in front of me. This is my first ride with him And uh sharon was riding with us, but she didn't go all the way So Got gps and my bike computer So So far 8.3 miles so halfway is the turnaround point 40 minutes in Max speed is 23.8 miles an hour. All right So We're almost at 14 miles. It's a 16 point something. So we're almost toward the end I'm telling you santa clarita is cycling heaven. This is my first time really really riding. We did a short ride years ago Like a six mile But this ride is incredible

So my gps 13.6 miles Look at that I'm going to start going up now a little bit. We're at a low point. It's going to start going up. It lets me We know. We know. We know. We know. We know. We know. Ride's good? What's up? Your ride's good? Oh, beautiful. It's light. You see how light it was? Dude, it's insane. Last time I rode here, it was just like regular, so it makes you... Yeah. Oh, look, a bridge. Hey, where are we at? Over there. Yeah. It's an expensive bike. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go. Let's go. NEXT EPISODE

That was awesome! You would probably bust out a good 20 with that. Easy enough. Done. Welcome to our midweek teaching service at the House of Rest Church, where Jesus is a senior pastor. We have a seat with your name on it. We appreciate you spending your Wednesday evening with us. Established in 2011, we are still going strong in the name of Jesus. Here is our QR code, where you can find out everything you need to know about us. Our schedule, giving, events, Bible school, and services. The QR code is posted everywhere in the church's lobby and other rooms. Make sure to check often. There is always something to do. Thank you for joining us at House of Rest Church Modesto. We are a graced international church with over 5,000 churches worldwide. Welcome home. 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. Amen. God bless you. It's going to be really good today. We're going to talk about evangelism. Amen. How's everybody doing? Those that are watching on their screens, God bless you, whether it's YouTube or Facebook.

I know Facebook's not on right now, but Pando, Adobo, also. How's everyone doing? You guys blessed? I'm doing good. I wanna remind you that on Wednesdays, the reason we close these bathrooms, we open the one up over here. When you go in that door to the right, there's a restroom there. And we want it to be more relaxed on Wednesdays, so the cafe's open the whole time, the whole Bible study. And we just welcome you. Welcome you to our Wednesday study. Those of you that are watching, shout out to Anthony De La Garza. And here we are again. You know, here we are. We're still in First Corinthians, chapter 10. Amen. All right. Oh, you want the Westside cat? Back. We are in First Corinthians, chapter 10, verse one. We just open up our Bibles. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for this opportunity and thank you for this opportunity to read your word. We thank you for the opportunity, Lord, of being here, of being together, of the fellowship. We give you all honor and all glory, Lord.

And we pray that you open up the scriptures to us, stir our hearts, stir our minds. Let us learn what it is that you want us to learn and receive what we need to receive. We thank you in Jesus' name, amen. All right. Amen. Here's another one. I'm gonna do the chaplain. So chapter 10, verse one. He, last week, he was talking about a lot of food and the food, kind of the, a lot of the ways the dietary laws were and stuff. But we're gonna, he's gonna change the subject here a little bit on chapter 10. And we're just gonna dive right into it. It says, let's see, where do I wanna start? One through, let's do, let's see, we'll see. It says, for I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. Verse two, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Verse three, and all ate the same spiritual food. Verse four, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was Christ. Verse five, nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

In the Message Bible, it says, remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the provincial cloud and taken miraculously through the sea. They went through the waters in a baptism like ours as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the rock, God's fountain for them, that stayed with them wherever they were, and the rock was Christ. But just experiencing God's wonder and grace didn't seem to mean much. Most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased. So, you know, it's interesting that he's mentioning it because he's obviously talking to the Jewish people in the Church of Corinth, and he's reminding them that even though they were saved out of Egypt, even though the Red Sea opened up for them, even though the sea swallowed up the Egyptian army, even though God provided them food every day, even though God had a cloud of shade in the day and a pillar of fire by night to keep them warm and give them light, and even though God gave them spiritual water that came out of that rock, even though God did all of that for them,

they were still. overthrown in the wilderness. That whole generation still didn't see the promised land. And I think that a lot of times we can take God for granted. I don't know how many times God would save me before I was even saved. And I said, wow, God did that. And then I would completely forget all about God. Has God ever got you out of something and then you forgot about him? And he's telling these, remember, he's talking to Christians. First Corinthians is not written to the lost. First Corinthians is written to the saved. And he says in the very last verse right there, it says, nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased. For they were overthrown in the wilderness. Am I talking about salvation? Is this talking about salvation? I don't believe so. How many of you have not been pleased with your kids? But they're still your kids. They're still your kids, but you ain't pleased with them. And unfortunately, there's benefits that come when your kids please you. Sometimes those benefits mean a gaming system. It means a pizza night. And you ain't pleased with them, they're going to eat beans, that's it. Top ramen even. Well, that's a treat to me, but that's a delicacy. But yeah, I know what you mean, right? So we want to live a life that pleases God. I don't want him to be not pleased with me.

I'm still his son. But I want the full benefits of being a son. And I believe he's telling the church here, he's like, listen, yeah, God got you out. Yeah, God baptized you. Yeah, God feeds you. God blessed you. God did all this stuff. But remember, he got those people out and God was not pleased with them. So let's see what else he's going to say now in verse six. He says, now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. So in the message it says the same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. So every time we read these Old Testament stories, these scriptures, those are shadows or examples for us to learn from. That's why it's important to know history because if not, it'll repeat itself. Amen. Jennifer Stone, I'm going to do the super. So this is the same thing can happen to us. So when we read these scriptures, it's not about like, oh, look at Peter denied Jesus three times. It's not about that. It's like, have I denied him three times? You know, so it's like it's not about pointing our finger at them. It's about making it a mirror. That's why the Bible says the word of God is like a mirror to us to make sure are we doing that? We criticize Jezebel. We criticize Ahab. We criticize, but it's like, am I being a Jezebel?

Am I being an Ahab? So these are examples. Verse seven says, do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. And the message it says, we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did. First the people partied, then they threw a dance. We have to be really careful not to turn the church into a circus. We have to be careful of not turning our Christian walk into a circus where it's like when Moses went up to the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, he was there for 40 days and the people that were below were like telling Aaron, his brother, they're like, man, what are we doing waiting here? Moses probably died up there. Some animal probably killed him. We're over here just sitting over here all dumb, you know, and it's like, why don't you make us a god? And Aaron was like, hey, man, Moses is up there. He's up there. And after a while, after a while, after a while, he got tired of hearing it. And he says, all right, I'll tell you what, everybody bring your gold. And everybody brought their gold. He says, I will melt it and make you a god. And all of a sudden, he created this calf, this golden calf, and the people started partying and rejoicing. They turned what was supposed to be of God and they turned it into something it should have never been. I think sometimes we can do that in church and not necessarily have to have a golden calf.

I think sometimes we can try to stir things up because the spirit of God is not stirring. So let's try to get the music a little bit louder. Put a little bit more bass in the subwoofers. You know, do this, do that. Let's have the singers move around more. Let's try to stir it up. Let's create a golden calf. Because we're tired of waiting on God. And we have to be careful. Because we don't need a golden calf to become idolaters. We can idolize money. We can idolize a career. We can idolize our own spouse, our children. We can idolize our church and start bragging. Oh, we got the biggest church. We got this. We got that. Like, don't ever do that. I'm going to read 7 again. Do not be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Verse 8 says, we must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did. And 23,000 fell in a single day. In the message, it says, we must not be sexually promiscuous. They paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day. If you don't know what he's talking about, at that time,

people rebelled against Moses. So when Moses did come down, literally the ground shook because people were rebelling against Moses. The earth cracked open, and 23,000 people fell into it. Verse 9, we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. In the message, it says this. We're going to talk about that. They tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent. Discontent destroyed them. So Jesus was saying, we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. Discontent destroyed them. We've got to always remember, guys, whether you're the pastor, whatever you are, we are all servants of the Lord, all of us. There's nobody above anybody. Yeah, there's different functions that we do within the church, within ministry, but there's only one head, and that's Christ. It is only Jesus. It will always be only Jesus. And the moment it's no longer Jesus, you have created an idol. I remember one time I was in Houston, and I wanted to see this really huge church that's very well known.

And I told Sharon, let's go drive by there. Let's go just check it out. I didn't want to go inside, I just wanted to check it out. And I remember driving around it, and man, in my heart, I didn't hear an audible voice, but in my heart, the Lord said, why are you here? I'm not here. And on the side of the building was the pastor's name. No cross, no Jesus. The pastor's name. And the Lord in my heart said, what are you doing? I'm not here. And I felt convicted. I mean, I wasn't going to go. I just wanted to check it out, but the Lord rebuked me. The Lord says, he told Elijah, he's not in the fire, he's not in the earthquake, he's not in the wind, he's in a still, small voice. He's in that place. The Bible in Psalms, it says that he inhabits the praises of his people. When you're broken, when you're crying out to him, he is there. When you don't know what to do, he's there. When it seems like everything's going to fall apart, he's there. When you're in a country where they don't even have a Bible, they have one page of the Bible, and they're whispering worship songs because they don't want to be arrested, God is there. When you're sitting in a pod somewhere in prison or jail,

and it's three or four of you, and everybody is making fun of you, God is there. He says, any time there's two or three in one accord, I am there in the midst of that. We don't need a giant building for his presence. We don't even need a building for his presence. All we need is a heart of worship. That's it. And these people wanted something more. And like it says, we must be careful not to stir up discontent, because discontent destroyed them. And a lot of times, we turn into complainers. We want to complain. I'm saying all of us. I complain, too. And sometimes we complain about things that we prayed for a year ago, but now that we have it, we're still complaining. We just need to be content with the Lord has given us. We have life. We have breath. Whatever it is that we have, God is the provider of it. Verse 11, it says this. It says, now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. And the message says, these are all warning markers, danger in our history books. And they're written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. We don't ever want to repeat the same mistakes.

That's why we need to be in our word. I read the Old Testament. I read the books. And I'm like, Lord, I always, I always I always, I always compare it to me. I don't read something and say, oh, that sounds like Brother So-and-so. I'm just like, Lord, let it not be me. And if it is, then help me. Verse 12 says, therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall. In other words, in the message, it says, our positions in the story are parallel. They are at the beginning. We're at the end. And we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so naive and self-confident. I think the moment that we get full of ourselves is the beginning of the fall. Pride sets in. And then we become blind. And we don't even see what it is that we're doing. Isn't that how it was in the world? The very things you thought were shameful, once you were in. Sin, you did it like nothing you were no longer ashamed anymore And I think the same thing happens when we serve the lord is that If we allow pride to set in When somebody says pastor that was an amazing sermon and I started popping my collar like I did something great I'm just like praise god

Do you do you see when I answer that do you see what i'm saying? When I say that i'm literally saying when you're telling me man, that was a good message and i'm saying no praise god Let's praise him He's the healer He's the deliverer He's the teacher He's the one that guides us. He's the shining light He's the shepherd I tell people I'm as a pastor I'm a greeter. That's it. I'm a greeter and a usher I I greet you and I usher you in to his presence Because I see the mistakes that were done back then I see the mistakes of ministries even now You know and I see that and I and i'm not like oh look at that. Look at that. No, i'm just like, okay Let me make sure I don't get myself in that position ever I think that's important. I think it's important to tell on yourself Like the things he used to do in the world Behind people's back behind your spouse's back behind whatever When you're in the lord, just tell on yourself be like listen If I ever start doing this and this and this then those those i'm telling you right now i'm just gonna snitch on myself If you start seeing me act like this and something's going on Why because you're not gonna ever be like oh man i'm so holy that I that i'm just I walk on water No Because like it says here, um, let me read it again in the message Um, we are at the end. We are just as capable of messing it up As they were don't be so naive And self-confident you're not exempt In verse 12, I don't know for did I read 12 yet?

Let's read it again then Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall in the message. It says Wait, my screen turned off. Let's see It says um You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else Forget about self-confidence. It's useless cultivate god confidence Forget about your self-confidence cultivate god confidence That's why the scripture says I can do all things through christ who strengthens me I can be a good husband because christ strengthens me. I can be a good pastor because christ strengthens me Whatever it is. I do because christ in me That's not building up self-confidence. That's built cultivating a god confidence I know I could cast demons out not because of david but because of the one that lives in me I know I can lay hands on the sick and they'll be healed not because of david but because of christ that lives in me Get your confidence in who you are in him Build up yourself in him Everything that we have here in the church Yeah second hand to somebody else, but you know what we did it because of him This got built from a basement with 20 chairs because of him Whatever we do in the future will be because of him it will always be because of him Always always always always because of christ He's the only one there is no other there is no other answer. There is nothing else There is no strength other than the strength that he gives us And and I believe that as long as we keep that in focus Then we'll be all right, we'll be good Verse 13 No temptation Has overtaken you? That is not common to man

God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it oh that's a good one let's read that in a message it says no test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face in other words whatever temptation you're facing you ain't the only one other people have overcome it all you need to remember is that God will never let you down he will never let you be pushed past your limit he will always be there to help you come through it I love that because the Lord isn't saying like listen I want you to live this life of Christianity but my hands are off you you're on your own he's like no I'm with you I'm there I will never leave you I will never forsake you I will guide you I will lead you and when that temptation comes because here's the thing Jesus was tempted so that doesn't mean you're never gonna be tempted Jesus himself was tempted and if that's gonna happen if it's gonna be like that then he's going to make a way for you it's up to you it's up to you you know and it's up to me and it's up to all of us on how we're gonna handle something you know I always see in ministry I mean I'm not blind I see many many pastors fall because of a woman and you know I love my wife at the same time that doesn't mean that if a woman had an emotive that she could just accuse me all it takes is an accusation these days that's all right whether it's true or not all it takes an accusation so you know what I do there's nowhere to accuse me I'm with this woman all the time there's nobody that's gonna tell Sharon you know what I was with your husband Monday night she's like really there must be a clone because he was with me Monday night I on purpose not because I don't trust myself I don't trust people in the world man I don't leave gaps of unaccounted time I don't I just don't why because I know that the pastor is a target if somebody would come and tell her something crazy like that she'll be like yeah whatever why because I do I disappear for hours at a time I don't you know saying and it's like because I have seen so many pastors fall and I just wonder sometimes if sometimes maybe

it's not even true but you know what because there was no unaccounted time guess what now there's accusations and now there's doubt I hope you enjoy being around me I'm a pretty funny I took him a comedian best friends we enjoy each other's each other's company yeah and I'm not saying just about that but just for anything for whatever it is you know whatever it was that was your downfall before whatever it was that would cause you to fall before or whatever it is that caused you to sin before why put yourself in that position again whatever it may be it's like you're asking for it Marcello what's up boom what verse are we at 13 or 14 14 this is therefore my beloved flee from idolatry and in the message system my very dear friends when you see people reducing God to something that they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can. Sometimes people will use God for control. They will use God to control people. They will use God to control, to make them riches. They will reduce God to whatever it is that they want God to be. They will manipulate, they will, you know, a lot of times just because somebody has Jesus stamped on it doesn't mean it's about Jesus. We have to be very careful. Don't ever let somebody use God, no matter what. No matter how holy it looks, no matter how, do you like to be used? I don't. Neither does God. And I have seen God used so many times. And that should break our hearts. It should break our hearts when we see that. Verse 15, he says, I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?

The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread. We who are many are one body. For we all partake of the one bread. Verse 18, consider the people of Israel are not those who eat the sacrifices, participants in the altar. In case you're like, what's he talking about? I'm just reading a message and we're going to see what the context is talking about. In the message it says, I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions. When we drink the cup of blessing, he's talking about communion, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life of Christ? And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life of Christ? Because there's one loaf. Our manyness becomes oneness. Christ doesn't become fragmented in us, rather we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are. He raises us to what he is. That's basically what happened even in old Israel. Those who ate the sacrifices offered on God's altar entered into God's action at the altar. So obviously he's talking to Jewish people, they're understanding what he's talking about. He's talking about when they're sacrificing an animal, but he kind of mixes in when we have communion. And I'm going to read this again right here. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? In other words, aren't we becoming one with him? When we drink the juice, when we eat the bread, that's why I like the way the message says, it says we are not, where is it at? Our manyness, many of us, becomes a oneness.

Christ doesn't become fragmented in us, we become unified in him. So he's going somewhere with this because in the next portion we're going to see where he's going, why he said all that. Because people are having communion, and he's going to compare it to something. In verse 19, check this out. In verse 19, what do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No. I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons, and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we sure? Stronger than he and this is the point. He's getting to because remember he he goes I'm talking to mature Christians I'm talking to people that believe in Christ So, why are you dipping into both? In the message it says don't you see the difference sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing For what's the idol but a nothing or worse than nothing a minus a demon I want you to become part of something. I don't want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself and You can't have it both ways Banqueting with the master one day and slumming with demons the next Besides the master won't put up with it. He wants us all or nothing Do you think you can get off with anything less? I love this this the way the the message worded it here That when we when we go back to the world and back and forth and back and forth and doing this whole yo-yo thing He's like, how are you going to do that? He says when you a Demon is is a is a negative. It's not even a zero. He's a minus And he goes and I don't want you to become something that's less than who you truly are

That's why it's a we have to learn our identity in Christ we have to learn who we are You know many times I Don't even think my parents realized it when I would do something wrong as a teenager as a young teenager And my dad would say You're better than that son. I Don't know why that that hurt me more You know why that hurt me because My dad had an expectation of who he raised me to be And when he would say me home, you know better Your friends don't have dads your friends this and that you have a dad, you know better And that would really And that would really affect me because he had high hopes for me Yeah Yeah, exactly so how much more our Father in heaven He has a high standard, you know because He knows you more than you know you He knows what you are capable of he knows what he has called you for He knows who you are because you're in him. And then so when we go back to the world, he's like, what are you doing? You're better than that Why are you why are you playing with demons when you can be in heavenly places with me? Why would you even? Go that low You're more than that It says you can't have I'm gonna read it a message again toward the end you can't have it both ways banqueting with the master one day and slumming with demons the next And I love this this is the master won't put up with it he wants us all or nothing how many of you If you've ever been married you're married now And your spouse says I'm gonna give you 75% of me Who's gonna be cool with that

imagine that that was in the vows as He or she's about to put the ring and they're like, yeah, I promise to give you 75% of me The Lord wants everything Did did the Lord give us everything on the cross he gave us everything I Love this saying one time I heard that He died for us completely so we could live for him completely How many of you were really good sinners in the world I was I was a professional sinner man, I was just really good at it When I was living in the world I had no thoughts toward God at all nothing I had no conscience nothing Like nothing bothered me. I didn't if I hurt people whatever I didn't go home and just like cry about it I'm just like It was nothing Nothing. Selling dope to somebody and they got a pregnant wife, whatever, didn't bother me at all, nothing. I'm just like, I hope they buy more tomorrow. It meant nothing. The last thing on my mind was God. It was nothing. So now that we're in Christ, why do we give Satan anything? Now that I'm in Christ, I'm just like, Lord, I'm all in, because if I was all in for that fool, and all he did was destroy me, now I'm going to be all in for you. I just lay it all down, Lord God. Everything is for you, and I don't want nothing to go to the enemy. He didn't die for me, and I gave him everything. You died for me. How much more do you deserve? He deserves it all, everything, everything. Every breath is his, everything you do, everything you say, everything he's given you, it all belongs to him. I remember at one point, when I got out, I didn't have nothing.

And I remember at one point, a few months before meeting Sharon, I'm like, Lord, I don't even want a wife unless you give her to me. Because me, I'll mess up, and just, I'll mess up. I'll choose somebody that you didn't mean for me. I don't even want my kids in my life unless you give them to me. I don't even want ministry unless you give it to me. I just, I don't want anything unless you give it to me. Because then I could always say, Lord, I have this because of you. In verse 23 and 24, it says, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Verse 24, let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. In the message, it says, looking at it one way, you could say anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster. But the point is to not just get by, we want to live well, but our foremost effort should be to help others live well. Why did they not match that? That did a horrible job right there in the message. I don't like the way they translated that. I did. I just read it. Once in a while, the message Bible, that's why I always say the message Bible is just a supplement. Sometimes they drop the ball. The whole idea of the message is to simplify it, but sometimes they don't hit the mark. And on that one, I'll be honest, they missed it. So I'm going to read it again in 23 and 24.

It says, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. What is he talking about? Just because you can do something don't mean it's going to help you. I'm over 21, so legally, I can go buy some tequila right now. Nobody's going to stop me. I'm 54 years old. So it's not illegal for me to buy it, right? Actually, I can go to that cookies place and buy some weed. Tell them my back hurts or something. I don't know. Legally, I can do it. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. There's a consequence to that action. Yeah. There's a consequence, yeah. So we have to be mindful, because a lot of people, man, they get super spiritual, and they're just like, man, I'm free in Christ. I'm free in Christ. Well, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. Not all things, it says, all things are lawful, but not all things build up. That's a good one. Not everything builds you up. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. I mean, it goes even further. Like, even the food we eat, we can buy it. It's not all helpful. 25, it says, eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the

ground of conscience. That's what I was saying, 25 says, with that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop. For instance, you don't have to run an idolatry test on every item. The earth, after all, is God's and everything in it. So that's true. You know what I mean? That's true. That's a true saying. So in 25, again, I'm going to read it, eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. So you remember what I was saying the other week, is that when people had animals and they would sacrifice it, usually they were offered to idols. And then they would sell that meat in the market. So Christians were like, man, what's up, man? I want to buy some meat. All of it's offered to idols. And that's when Paul's like, listen, man, have a clean conscience. Go and eat the meat because God made it. And that's where it goes into this next verse. It says, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. In other words, everything on this earth belongs to God. It's kind of like he's going back to the last chapter that we were talking about. And 26 says, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. 27 says, if any one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. And the message, it says this, it says, let's see. The earth, after all, is God's and everything in it, that everything certainly includes the leg of lamb and the butcher shop.

If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead, enjoy yourself, eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. In other words, don't go into a big old debate. Remember, this is a big deal back then. This is a big old deal. For those of you who are incarcerated, that's a big deal for you guys too because sometimes you get offered food that was stolen from the kitchen. Yeah, the tomato story. You know, but, yeah, I ain't going to lie, man, I eat spread with chicken in it too. And then there was no chicken in commissary. You know what I'm saying? Somebody said, hey, man, you want some? I'm not going to give them a big old Bible study and rebuke them. I'd be like, oh, thank you. Now, here's the thing, though, if somebody came and was like, hey, man, I snuck some of this chicken, this and that, whatever, I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm just being real. I'm just being real, you know? But at this time, that was a big deal for them. And he's like, listen, don't turn this into a big old thing because what if they're inviting you to dinner and you can present the gospel to them? And instead, you're going to sit here and try to rebuke them on how they're living. See, you know, a lot of times people don't like to invite us to their get togethers anymore because you get super serio on Christianity. And instead of just enjoying family or whatever, you want to just start rebuking them of what they're doing wrong. That's just the truth. And they don't want to hear it.

You know why? Because they're still blind. They're not able to see what you see. So all you're going to do is offend people. Just go. Pray for your food. You know? Have a clean conscience. And be graceful and civil and all those things. Don't turn everything into like all of a sudden you're this Pharisee. You know? That's not good. Javier, thank you, brother. Let's see. Let's see what we got for you. The Kool-Aid Cat. Phyllis says, I don't get invited but my sister does. Yeah, I don't get invited to much either, and it's messed up. Where am I at? 29? Yeah, 29. 29 says, I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? Good point. Good point. Check this out. It says this, on the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you this or that was sacrificed to the God or the God is so-and-so, and you should pass, you should pass, even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn't, and you don't want

to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping. So he's like, if you go over to the house, and he's like, hey, man, look, I got this piece of lamb, whatever, man, this was offered to Artemis, and this one was offered, at that point, he's like, you don't want to give a mixed message, be like, you know what? I'm good, man. Thank you, though. It's just, right? It's just wisdom. It's just wisdom. How could you translate that into today's time? How do we translate it today? I was worried somebody was going to ask that. That's a good question, though, for real. Let me think. Give me a second. Yes, yeah, actually, yeah, because as a Christian, how many times we came across something that was stolen, and we know it was stolen, they told us it was stolen, it's a good deal, and you're just like, wow, man, but that person knows that you're a Christian, and later on they're going to throw it in your face, or later on, they're going to be like, man, you know, yeah, exactly, exactly, you know, but if somebody comes and like, okay, I'll give you an example, when I started cycling many, many years ago, I just had a Wal-Mart bike, and my bike mechanic told me, hey, you're kind of riding on a little kid's bike, you need to get a real bike, and I'm like, I can't afford a real bike, and he's like, go to Facebook Marketplace, and I found this $500 bike for $120, I did not ask. I didn't ask. I mean, maybe, I mean, I didn't ask, because if I asked, and he said, you know, it could have been his, I don't know, but it was in Stockton, so I just, it was Stockton right by Charter Way, so I don't know. How did you find it out of Stockton? Well, I didn't ask.

I handed him $120, and I loved that bike for four years, you know, and I had a clean conscience about it, I don't know, but what if it was his? He didn't look like a cyclist, but I'm just, I don't know. Marcelo says, you're telling on yourself. Yeah, so, yeah, go ahead. Just on that note, it's like I tell a lot of people, like, when they ask you something in the Bible, right? I really ask them, do you really want to know? Yeah. Because once you know it, you can't unknow it, and you can't take back and say, oh, I didn't know. That's true. You know what I'm saying? So you gotta, and I ask them straight up, do you really want to know? Yeah, that's true. You don't know. Because now they're going to be held accountable for it. Yeah, now you're held accountable for it. Yeah. Where are we at? 29? Yes. Oh, I read 29 already, but, okay. I don't know if I finished that part in the message, though. Let's see. Except for these small cases, I'm reading 29 and 30 in the message. Except for these special cases, I'm not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say. I'm going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what's on the table.

How can I worry about what someone will say? I thank God for it, and he blessed it. So there it goes. You know what I mean? You're going to barbecue and somebody shows up with some ribeyes, throw it on the grill, man. Don't ask questions. Nice. Back in the day, when I was little, I used to do a lot of the talk. I used to give the speech. Yeah. Well, there's always somebody. No, it's a good question, though. Because it does relate to now. Because a lot of the life that we came out of, our homeboys and stuff, they come up, come up on something all of a sudden, you know? Yeah. 31. It says, so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. And the message, it says, so eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you. You're eating to God's glory after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory. And at the same time, don't be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren't as free as you.

I try my best to be considerate of everyone's feelings in all these matters. I hope you will be, too. That's good. I like the way it says it like that, because he's like, man, just go ahead and eat the meat and all that. And I know it's kind of like, why are we talking about food right now? But I think that translates into a lot of things. I have talked to people that are well-meaning, and they will have things in their house that are not godly. They'll have things hanging from their rearview mirror that are not godly. You know what I mean? And I don't sit there and start preaching to them. You know, how many of you women go to nail places, a bunch of Buddhas? You know what I'm saying? And it's like, but what if you can be a light in there? What if you can be a light? Because now you're paying them, so they've got to listen to you for 45 minutes. And you start talking about Jesus. You know? So what happened? Oh, well, I don't know. I've never had nails done, so I don't know. I don't either. Huh? I don't know. Yeah. I wait. I don't know how long I wait, though. I go do stuff. But, yeah, man, I really like what this chapter is saying,

because even though we're free in Christ, we don't want to cause somebody to stumble. We don't want to cause a nonbeliever to question our walk at the same time. It's like Paul is almost saying, like, listen, don't do it for them. You know? Care about them. Care about that person. Care about what they're doing. You know? And especially, like, I like the way Felix said, because I used to have a lot of homeboys that would come up on stuff. You know? And if they would show up, like when I first got out, and they'd show up, and they're like, hey, man, I just got a hold of these. You know, you want one, or this or that, whatever? And at that point, I can't, because I know where it came from. You know? And at that point, that was going to give a bad testimony, because the Bible says I have a good testimony in the church and outside of the church. Not for my conscience's sake, but for that person's conscience's sake. So we have to be very careful. Because remember, we're doing this study based on living a Christian life, and I think this is very practical stuff, is that we have to be mindful of the people around us, especially those who are still lost. We have to live our life in a way that is going to be a good example to them, because I love the way he ends it. He says, be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. We should all be able to say that. This isn't for just Paul to say. We should be able to say, you know what?

Follow me. Imitate me the way I follow after Christ. Santos Ortiz, thank you, brother. Thank you so much. I'm going to give you the pirate cat. I think ultimately that's what this chapter is saying, is that we want to give God all the glory. We want to live a life of good conscience. The bike mechanic I mentioned, I met him. He was a retired. He was retired all I knew was he was retired in Tracy and I started cycling and he's gonna told me a You need a real bike. You know, I mean, that's the guy that told me and uh, so he was my mechanic for about three years two year two years maybe before Sharon came along and I've never told him that I was an ex-con. I Why for what? Why am I gonna tell my bike mechanic that? And We would just have great conversation he didn't even know I was a Christian we would talk bikes, that's it You know, but you know what? I would be respectful. I you know, he probably noticed I didn't cuss and nothing like that you know, I would just a Regular guy regular customer and I just wanted to get my bike fixed or adjusted or tuned up or whatever and he would teach me And one day, you know when Sharon started coming around She's like while we wants to you know, she's like, oh, yeah, you know David, you know, he's in federal prison and This guy lives in a really nice house Really thousands and thousands of dollars of bikes on his wall. You're gonna tell him that I've been coming to the house and I'm an ex-con And then he says this he goes yeah, he was I did 25 years to And I'm like what he was but on the other side and I'm like On the Aryan side like what do you wouldn't mean the other side and he goes I was a correctional officer in DVI. I Said oh, he was yeah, he was I still did time. I did 25 years, you know as a as a CEO and And he was man. I didn't know you know you you were and then she's like, yeah, he's a pastor, too But here's the thing

Imagine if I had acted different those two years You know I'm saying and all of a sudden she says that and he would have looked at her crazy Like you don't know the David I know for the last two years, but you know what it was seamless You know now he calls me preacher man, you know, so But yeah, we're really great friends and I just talked to him today actually, you know, and We want our walk To match our talk That's what it comes down to That way when people do find out we're saved when people do find out last thing you want to do is to be here on Sunday service and your neighbor Who knows what you're really like? Shows up because they got invited to and they happen to see you and you're all worshiping God and everything like what? That person was a heck of drunk on my sidewalk last week Don't do that because we're mocking God and And he doesn't deserve that He suffered on the cross for you. He does not deserve that. He deserves all of you He deserves everything You know and I'll finish with this last thing Oh the landlord, yeah Yeah, we were gonna get this house to rent and Are you gonna do a background check and he was already did I was like, what do you mean? He was I went to your Facebook because that's how I know what you're really about It's true, right? You can learn a lot about somebody's Facebook over their application and he goes You guys are really busy in ministry, aren't you? And boom instantly. He just he's like you want the house house is yours But this last this last story it was kind of pastor angel story, but I'm gonna use it anyway He was he used to hang out with this guy that my dad would work with this guy's dad and angel and him were best friends and That dad would see my brother angel

high drunk Cussing all this crazy stuff when angel would go over at their house, but my dad worked with his dad And but angel would live a different life when he was at home because we have a Christian home he'd lived a completely different life and and One time my dad ran into them my dad and angel ran into his That guy and the son and they're talking at the store Walmart or something and my dad was just talking and talking Oh, yeah, my son angel. He's a good boy. He doesn't drink. He doesn't cuss. I raised him in a Christian home You know and the dad kind of looked confused and looked at his son and looked right at angel And Angel, sometimes he'll cry when he tells you that story because he said, I made my dad look like a fool that day. He was because my friend's dad knew I wasn't none of those things. He was, man, as much as I respect my dad, I made him look like a fool. Let's not do that to the Lord. I don't want to make the Lord look like a fool. And you shouldn't want to either. We want the Lord to brag because he loves bragging on his children. I want him to brag, say, man. You know, like Job, right? He tells Satan, he goes, look at my servant Job. And he's like, well, yeah, because you blessed him, but take everything away, he'll curse you. Did Job? No. Even his own wife said, why don't you curse God and die already? And Job didn't.

He didn't make a fool of God. And we shouldn't make a fool of God. Let's serve him around our Christian friends, around our non-Christian friends, when we're by ourselves, in our actions, in everything that we do, because he deserves it, because he died for us. He shed his blood for us, for us, so we can have a good life.