you
thank you lord for this morning
we ask you lord to bless our first service
and we ask lord did you bless the congregation
the reading of your word
the preaching of the sermon oh god
I pray also that you would help brother Saki
preach a sermon to us lord
that would edify us
and help us lord to be attended with a sermon
and guide us oh god
as we go through this service lord
and we ask lord did you bless our fellowship
and also that you would allow us to go
soviet this afternoon lord
thank you lord
remember no eating during the service
maintain a professional atmosphere
and keep the children from running and making noise
during the church services
on the next page our weekly service times are listed
first service is at 10 am
then a short break in our 1115 service
wednesday evening bible study at 7 pm
soul winning times listed on wednesdays
at 4 pm meeting at the church building
we have soul winning and also on saturday
at caisson memorial circle
both a morning and an afternoon session
with lunch provided by church
of course we have soul winning this afternoon
around 1.45
our salvations and baptisms are listed there
for all of our churches for the year
as well as the month
on the next page our bible memorization challenge
so today is the last day to quote ecclesiastes 7
verses 16-29
and the option coming up this next week
is exodus 10 verses 1-15
upcoming activities
and so not tomorrow
but in next monday
8 days from now we do have a soul winning marathon
on i think it's nino aquino day right
it's the holiday
and so actually
i just noticed
i copy and paste when i do both bulletins
the time is wrong because that's the pampanga time
so don't look at what the bulletin says
i'll change it for next week
the pampanga time is 3-6
but here we're going to do the morning session
like we do on saturday's
lunch provided by church
and then the afternoon session
both for the 21st of monday
and then for the 19 days
also there will be a morning session
lunch provided by church
and then an afternoon session as well
so not 3-6 but our normal saturday schedule
for those days
our monthly prayer meeting is coming up in two weeks
current and upcoming series we have a new series
we're starting today called the alphabet of characteristics
and i'll talk about that here later today
and the book of matthew which will start
as my family comes back from the US
information on our group chat
and then on the back there's a place for notes
so i believe that's it for announcements
we'll have brother marlin lead us in another song
when you open it
within the world
you'll have it there
you will see
just as
you'll be
sleeping tonight
could you
have it make you feel
all about this song
you'll know the peace
that comes when you belong
you'll have it
seen through the tears
you'll never know
that you'll be sleeping
tonight
this heart will take you
on to the beat
it ends so hard
you'll gain through
pain through
snorkeling
you'll see
just as
you'll have it
sleeping
at last
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll be blue
it ends so fast
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the place of what's
the best
you'll never
find the way
you'll never
back
again
And for our
Bible reading, please open your
Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 1
Ecclesiastes chapter 1
We are going to read the whole chapter. Ecclesiastes chapter 1. Please say amen when you are there.
Ecclesiastes 1.
The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanity, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
What prophet has a man of all his labor, which he taketh under the sun?
One generation passes away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.
The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hasteth to its place where he arose.
The wind goes toward the south, and turneth about unto the north.
It whirls about continually, and the wind deturneth again according to circuits.
All the divots run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.
Unto the place from whence the divots come, thither they deturn again.
All things are full of labor.
Men cannot utter it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that has been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done, is that which shall be done.
And there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there anything worth it may be said, see, this is new.
It has been already of old time, which was before us.
There is no new remembrance of former things,
neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
I the creature was king over Israel in Jerusalem,
and I gave my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven.
This sort of veil had got given to the sons of men to be exercised thereof.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun,
and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight,
and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I communed with my own heart, saying,
Look, I am come to great estate,
and have got more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem.
My heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge,
and I gave my heart to no wisdom, and to no madness, and fully.
I perceive that this also is vexation of spirit,
for in much wisdom is much grief, and here that increases knowledge, increases sort of.
Thank you, Father, for your word.
Thank you for your wisdom and the Bible.
Also help us today.
Please open our hearts, help us to understand your word.
Please give us concentration and also support the creature.
We pray his name. Amen.
All right, we're here in Ecclesiastes chapter 1,
and the name of the sermon is Making the Crooked Thing Straight.
Now our text verse of the week says in Ecclesiastes 7,
Lo, this only have I found that God hath made man upright,
but they have sought out many inventions.
And when we're saying God hath made man upright,
think about sitting in a chair, you know, sit up straight, sit upright.
So what the Bible is basically saying, God hath made man upright,
is saying basically he's made man normal, straight,
and I'm not talking about, you know, in terms of your interest with, you know,
obviously men are interested in women, women are interested in men.
I'm saying God hath made your life normal,
and then the Bible says they have sought out many inventions, right?
And so I have an illustration to help us understand what we're talking about,
and I've got these spoons here,
and basically God hath made our life like this, right?
And then they have sought out many inventions,
and this is what we've done to our life in a bunch of different areas.
And the Bible is saying God hath made man upright,
he's made them straight, he's made it normal,
and we have messed up our lives and turned it into this, right?
Now in Ecclesiastes chapter 1, notice what the Bible says,
Ecclesiastes 1 verse 12,
I the preacher was king over Israel and Jerusalem,
and I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom,
concerning all things that are done under heaven.
This source reveal hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun,
and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight,
and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
Is it possible for me to make this straight again like it was five minutes ago?
No, because when you bend it back,
it's still crooked, right?
And our life goes like this, it gets all bent,
and you try to straighten it out,
and it's like, it becomes like this, right?
You know, this is the illustration I have here,
but at our house, I'm reminded of this because of our curtain rod in our room.
And our kids will play, and they'll run into the curtains,
and slowly the curtain rod gets lower and lower and gets bent and bent
to the point where I cannot open and shut the windows anymore,
so I've got to take the curtain rod off,
and then I bend it across my knee,
and you know what, we've got it higher so we can open and close the windows,
but our curtain rod looks like this, right?
It's a mess, and it's never going to be straight ever again,
because once something gets bent, it cannot be straightened out by man.
It's not possible, right?
I mean, if you've got something that looks like this,
you can try to get it back to its normal form
unless you're some sort of sorcerer or magician or something,
it ain't going to happen, right?
Because that which is crooked cannot be made straight according to the Bible.
So you say, well, why are you saying that making the crooked thing straight?
Because there's a multitude of verses that talk about God straightening things,
and this is not a contradiction in the Bible.
The idea is this.
God has made us upright and made our life normal,
and we have done this to our life,
and we cannot straighten this out,
but God can straighten and fix your life out.
Man's wisdom and man's power is never going to be straightened out,
going to straighten out all the messes in your life,
but if we rely on God,
God can actually straighten out the mistakes and problems that we've made, right?
Turn your Bible to Philippians chapter 2.
Philippians 2.
Philippians chapter 2.
So I'm going to give you four points here today
of things that we have made crooked as a people,
and obviously you could think of a lot of examples,
a lot of things that I'm not going to mention here.
Things might come to your mind,
but I'm going to give you four specific things that are just general things
that man has sought out many inventions and just corrupted what God made.
One is this, a crooked nation, a crooked nation.
Notice what it says in Philippians 2 verse 14.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings,
that ye may be blameless and harmless,
the sons of God without rebuke.
Notice this, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation
among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
Now, of course, this verse is not referencing the Philippines,
but it certainly can be applied to the Philippines in 2023.
Whether you realize it or not,
we live in the midst of a crooked and perverse and wicked nation.
There's no way you could argue that the Philippines in 2023
is any semblance of a godly nation whatsoever.
And this is not me stating this as,
well, you're an American.
America is by no means a godly nation in 2023.
But you preach against the areas that you live and the problems that you see,
and this is a wicked and a crooked and a perverse nation in 2023,
and it's undisputable.
You cannot argue otherwise.
I mean, you go out in public, you see a bunch of men cross-dressing.
How are you going to argue this is a godly nation?
How are you going to argue that God made the nation like this?
No, no. God made the nation normal, upright, straight,
and man hath sought out many inventions and turned it into this.
And that which is crooked cannot be made straight.
Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 45.
Isaiah 45.
The Bible also said,
Whom ye shine as lights in the world,
and so the thing is this,
it is a perverse, it is a crooked,
it is a dark nation,
a dark, a sinful, a crooked, a perverse nation.
And look, if you don't realize that,
you are brainwashed by this world.
If you think this is the way that God made this nation,
you are insane.
God made this nation normal,
and they have sought out many inventions,
and we've turned it into the mess that we have in 2023.
I mean, literally,
if you have your kids just watching something innocent on YouTube,
the commercials, the infomercials that pop up,
there are always some guy wearing a dress.
And a couple of years ago, it was just Mimi Yuck,
and now there's like 50 of them.
Why is every celebrity in the Philippines a cross-dressing homo?
I mean, it's a fact.
Everywhere you see it, I'm sick of it.
It is a crooked and a perverse nation,
and it's become this way because people don't preach and state the truth.
That's the world we live in in 2023.
And me, myself, it kind of concerns you,
raising up kids in this world.
What kind of world are they going to be coming into in 20 years?
I mean, it's changed a lot in my lifetime.
How much more is it going to change?
Because it's not just that things are getting worse.
It's not just they're speeding up.
It's accelerating.
Accelerating.
Man, the curve is concave up, if you know what I'm talking about.
It's getting worse and worse at a very rapid rate,
and I don't see any stopping to it.
We live in a crooked and a perverse nation in 2023.
The Bible says in Isaiah 45, verse 1,
Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before Him,
and I will loose the loins of kings to open before Him the two-leaved gates,
and the gates shall not be shut.
I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight.
Now, once again, God hath made man upright,
and they have sought out many inventions,
and that which is crooked, which is no longer upright,
cannot be made straight.
But the Bible says God is going to make the crooked places straight.
In the primary context, we are thinking about a nation,
an area where you live, and the Bible is saying,
God can make the crooked places straight.
And of course, at this time, God's people have been removed from the land for 70 years.
They get to return.
Cyrus makes a decree, and God says,
You know what? You've messed everything up,
but I can actually make the crooked places straight once again.
Go in your Bible to Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40.
You see, here's the problem.
If you look outside the walls of our church,
and outside of Bible-believing Christians that believe like we do,
most people realize there's something wrong with this world.
Wouldn't you say that?
Most people realize this is just not the way that God made it.
Now, oftentimes they're afraid to say anything
because the people that have the power of the airwaves,
the social media, is run by leftist, wicked, pro-abortion,
pro-LGBT, filthy, wicked people.
And that's a fact.
And so people feel this way on the inside.
They don't like it.
They look at what's going on and say,
This can't be normal. This is not the way that God made it.
And they're afraid to say anything.
And I get that.
What I'm saying is, the world realizes there's a problem,
and you know what their idea to fix the world is?
If we just elect the right politician.
If we can just elect the right politician,
it will solve everything.
Now, I personally am very pleased with the president that we have,
and you can agree or disagree.
It doesn't really matter to me. I'm the one preaching.
But no president is going to fix all the problems in a country.
And the president in a country is a reflection
of what the people want and what they deserve.
Now, of course, I'm always in fear when a new president gets elected.
It's like, Well, what do we deserve?
Please don't allow this person to get elected.
But no president is going to fix all the problems in our country.
And the world realizes there's a mess,
and they're like, Let's try doing this.
Let's try doing this.
And they think it's going to work, and then it never works.
In America, in the political system,
you've got basically a two-party system.
The Republicans and the Democrats.
Every Bible-believing Christian is going to at least be more Republican than Democrat
because the Democrats are pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, and all of these things.
But the idea that conservatives have,
Well, wait a minute. This is what Joe Biden is doing to the country.
If we just elect the right president, it's going to fix everything.
And it straightens up a little bit,
and then you've got the next president comes in, and it gets worse.
And eventually, when you go back and forth after a while,
it's just more and more and more crooked.
Look at my strike.
I told Brother Rod,
You give me the weakest spoon you can have to make me look strong.
Look at my strike.
But this is literally what happens,
and as you try to straighten this out,
it's just so messed up after a while.
That's the way the world is going.
And I just want to tell people,
Hey, the problem is the churches.
The problem is what's being preached.
And then it goes straight over people's heads.
And they ignore what you say.
No, you don't know what you're talking about.
It's like we just elect the right president.
That's not going to fix everything.
The Bible says in Isaiah 40, verse 1,
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she hath received the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Notice this.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places plain.
And the Bible is speaking to the voice of one
crying in the wilderness.
Who is it referring to?
John the Baptist.
And John the Baptist comes onto the scene,
and the 40th book of Isaiah correlates
to the first book of the New Testament.
And you've got, in Matthew, John the Baptist crying aloud.
Now look, getting somebody saved
is not going to fix all their problems.
If their life is crooked,
it's still crooked after they get saved.
A lazy person that gets saved is still lazy.
A drunk that gets saved is still a drunk.
A person that watches TV for five hours a day
is going to watch TV for five hours a day
after they get saved.
That's the way it works.
But how does John the Baptist
straighten out that which is crooked?
By standing up and crying aloud
and preaching against the sin.
The Bible is saying John the Baptist
had the ability to straighten out places
and prepare the way for Jesus,
and of course, he went super viral, right?
Where everybody knew what Jesus was saying,
and then Jesus is straightening out
all of these problems.
And the world had become very crooked.
I mean, during that day,
when Jesus shows up and Jesus shows up,
even the central religious leaders
in God's religion are not saved,
and they're wicked people.
It kind of reminds you of today
when the vast majority of Baptist pastors
aren't even saved themselves.
You tell people, hey, I'm looking
for a good church to go to.
Try to find a Baptist church.
And then all of a sudden it's like,
repent of your sins, repent of your sins,
repent of your sins.
And then Jesus comes in,
and then John the Baptist comes in,
and he's straightening out
and preparing a way for Jesus,
who then of course does the exact same thing.
Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 42.
Isaiah 42.
You say, Brother Saki,
do you think there's still hope
for the Philippines?
I think there's hope if the churches
will start preaching the truth,
but when the Baptist churches
are trying to be like victory and CCF,
no, you're not going to straighten out anything.
Because you're doing things in man's power
and man's wisdom and man's philosophy
rather than just doing things
the good old-fashioned way.
Look, I'm not asking for a show of hands
in this room, but I'm sure many people
would say, yeah, you know what,
my life was very crooked
when I started coming here,
and my life has really straightened out
over the last few years.
You say, how does that happen?
It happens by the power of God's Word.
That is what takes place.
And see, God, you are not capable
of going straight.
But see, God is able to do that
if we do things the way that God says.
And in a wicked and perverse
and crooked nation, the only hope
is churches preaching the truth.
The Bible says in Isaiah 42, verse 13,
The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man.
He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war.
He shall cry, yea, roar.
He shall prevail against his enemies.
I have long time holding my peace.
I have been still and refrained myself.
Now will I cry like a travailing woman.
I will destroy and devour at once.
I will make waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their herbs,
and I will make the rivers islands,
and I will dry up the pools.
I will bring the blind by a way
that they knew not.
I will lead them in paths
that they have not known.
I will make darkness light before them
and crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them.
And the Bible says God can make
all these verses that we're looking at
are in Isaiah.
Isaiah.
And of course Isaiah is preaching against nations
when you look at the book of Isaiah,
not even just his nation.
He preaches against a lot of different nations.
But the very famous verse we often turn to,
cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet.
What book is that found in?
And show my people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
I mean, it's in the book of Isaiah.
I will take the crooked things straight once again
by the preaching of God's Word.
Look, if you want your life
to get straightened out and fixed,
you know what the secret is?
Being in the house of God
and hearing the Word of God preached.
That's the secret.
That's the method.
Now from man's perspective
it seems kind of foolish, right?
I mean, from a human
and fleshly perspective,
why would that make any difference?
Look, I already know what's right
and what's wrong.
I already know this is wrong
and this is right.
But there's something different
between knowing what's true
and then having it thundered
from the pulpit.
And God used this method
to affect and change people's lives.
Look, before I got rid of rock music
when I was probably 20 years old,
I already knew it was wrong.
I felt guilty when I listened
to the music.
Why?
Because God ordained preaching.
That is God's method.
God's method is getting churches started
and then churches reaching people
with the gospel, but also
not just reaching with the gospel,
but also thundering from the pulpit
to help change people's lives.
I do not agree with this philosophy
of it's just salvation,
salvation, salvation,
salvation, salvation.
Look, our lives need a little bit
more than salvation.
Look, I was 20 years old.
I didn't get it figured out.
It was given to me and I believed it.
What I'm saying is my salvation's done.
It's eternal.
Okay, what about the rest of my life?
Well, there's a lot of things
I need the rest of my life.
And you also, you got saved,
you believed on Christ,
but there's a lot of other things
that you need to fix your life.
Right, go to Jeremiah 1.
Jeremiah 1.
Jeremiah chapter 1.
One problem people have
is they don't want to be humble.
They don't want to have humility.
So even though our nation
clearly looks like this,
people want to say,
no, actually, you know what,
we're better than this nation.
We're better than North Korea.
Wow, you're really setting
the bar very high.
And so is every nation in the world.
That's not exactly a high bar
that you're trying to achieve.
I mean, if you want to know
what's wrong with our nation,
go to YouTube and watch a video
from 60 years ago in the Philippines
and you'll see people dressed
conservatively, normal,
and you see a society that looks
pretty nice to live in,
a society that you'd love to
have your kids growing up in,
a society where you could be perfectly fine
with just letting your kids play
and being overly concerned.
But that's not the world
that we live in in 2023.
In 2023, this country is a mess.
Don't pretend it's normal.
I mean, this is what it looks like.
This is the reality check for people.
But people don't like to hear that
because it's offensive to them.
Well, how dare you say that
about the Philippines?
I mean, you're living in a dream world
if you think this is the way
that God intended it.
Look at the nations in this sermon.
This is what the world is starting
to look like.
Things are waxing worse and worse
and it does no good comparing
yourself to other countries.
I mean, just look at our country.
It's a mess.
If you compare it to the world 60 years ago,
I can't even imagine being someone
that's lived through this world
for 80 years and the rapid change
that's taking place.
I mean, it's a mad house in 2023.
Jeremiah chapter 1.
Then the word of the Lord came on me
saying, before I formed thee in the valley,
Jeremiah 1 verse 5.
Before I formed thee in the valley,
I knew thee.
And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee.
And I ordained thee a prophet
out of the nations.
Then said I, Ah, Lord God,
behold, I cannot speak,
for I am a child.
But the Lord said unto me,
I will not speak.
Be not afraid of their faces.
For I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith the Lord.
And God's advice to Jeremiah
is don't be afraid of the faces
of the people that you're preaching to.
Now, of course, Jeremiah gets arrested
and he has a lot of persecution,
but I understand the idea as a preacher
because when you preach,
I mean, you see a lot of reactions of people
and you'll see people sometimes
get angry at what you're saying.
Sometimes people look confused
and that's never good.
When people look confused, you're like,
is what I'm saying making sense?
I've seen people cry during service
and those things can easily be distracting
as you're just trying to preach
the word of God.
And specifically for Jeremiah, though,
be not afraid.
He's saying, hey, people are going to be mad
at what you say because you're going
to preach against the nation.
You're going to say willingly go into bondage
because God has rejected you.
People aren't going to want to hear that.
Jeremiah stood up and said, you know what?
We all need to willingly just go to China
and just let China take over.
Of course, no one's going to want to hear that.
It's like, well, you weren't sent by God.
Of course, that's what they say to Jeremiah
because Jeremiah is preaching against the nation.
It's like, go to Babylon.
It's like, excuse me?
You weren't sent by God.
And so he says, be not afraid of their faces.
Verse 9, then the Lord put forth his hand
and touched my mouth and the Lord said unto me,
Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
See, I have this day set thee over the nations
and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down
and to destroy and to throw down,
to build and to plant.
The problem in 2023 is people are afraid
of the faces of the people that they're talking to.
It's like, oh, man, people might leave the church.
People might not tithe anymore.
People might get offended.
That's the reality why Baptist churches
don't really preach hard anymore
because they're afraid of the reaction of people.
They're afraid people are going to leave.
I find it interesting that Jeremiah,
before social media, before Facebook,
before YouTube, before Instagram, before X,
he says, I've set you over the nations.
And what he's saying is, your message
is going to go out to everybody
and make the world a better place.
Make no mistake about it.
If social media shut down everything
from every like-minded church,
the Word of God is not bound.
I don't know how it would get out
to the ends of the world,
and it would probably be via a lot of persecution,
but it would.
It's always been that way,
and God has the power to do that.
What you're seeing is men of God
preaching against nations.
Why? Because we live in a perverse
and crooked and wicked nation in 2023.
Turn in your Bible to Deuteronomy 32.
Deuteronomy 32.
And it might sound easy,
but as much as I know this is the case,
it's impossible not to worry
about people's reactions sometimes.
It's impossible.
I mean, as I preach sermons,
you know, some sermons I'm preaching,
it's like, okay, this is going to be
an easy sermon to preach.
You don't really have to worry.
But sometimes as you're preaching
on something, you're just like,
we'll see how it goes.
And you cannot let that affect you
as a preacher, because my job
is not to be your friend.
It's not.
Now, I want to be the friends
with the people that are in this room,
but my job is not to be your friend.
It's to be the most like person.
I get it.
When you say things that are mean sometimes,
you're not going to be the most like person.
Everybody in this room has been angry
at me before at some point or another.
And even if it was just for a few seconds
and then you're like, okay,
I just got to accept it.
It is what it is.
I understand that.
Why?
Because when the message hits,
it hits pretty hard sometimes.
Because the Word of God is sharper
than the Word of God.
I'm just preaching what the sword says.
As the messenger, sometimes you get hurt
in the process.
It's kind of like, you know what,
if you've got a problem with your Internet
or whatever and you call for customer service
and you're like screaming at the person
on the other side, it's not their fault.
They didn't do anything.
But you shoot the messenger, right?
You're mad at the messenger.
It's the same thing with the preaching
of the Word of God where it's like,
you know what, you can easily get mad at me.
It's this nation.
And I'm not saying individually we are the ones
because here's the thing,
this nation was made crooked a long time ago.
But I'm just saying, as a people
in the Philippines, the Filipino people
made this country a mess.
This is not the way that God made this country.
God created it upright
and we have turned it into this.
Another thing on an individual level
is a crooked marriage.
One thing that God has made upright
in our lives is our marriages.
You meet the person that you believe
that God has brought to your life
for better or worse, for sickness and health,
till death do us part.
You love that person.
You're very excited.
When you get married, you're excited,
you're happy, and God has made
your marriage upright.
And then we turn it into this.
Deuteronomy 32, verse 1.
Give ear, O ye heavens,
and I will speak and hear, O earth,
the words of my mouth.
I will drop as the rain,
my speech shall distill as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb,
and as the showers upon the grass.
Because I will publish the name of the Lord,
ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
He is the rock, His work is perfect
for all His ways are judgment,
a God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He.
They have corrupted themselves.
Their spot is not the spot of His children.
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Not only do we live in a world
where we live in a crooked
and a perverse nation,
we live in a crooked
and perverse generation.
Now here's the thing.
Sometimes older people will criticize
the younger generation,
but newsflash, this generation
is a byproduct of the previous generation.
And so if this generation's a mess,
well those from the previous generation
should be like, okay, we screwed up.
Now this generation is obviously a mess
in the year 2023.
There's no doubt about it.
But here's what I'm trying to say.
We live in a perverse and wicked
and crooked nation.
This is a perverse and crooked generation
and as a result,
people get the influence
from this nation and this generation.
The Bible says he that walketh
with wise men shall be wise,
but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed.
And in your modern day,
in your secular job,
you're going to be around a bunch of fools
and a bunch of idiots
that don't know what they're talking about.
They don't love God.
They're not serving God
and you're getting advice
just on a normal basis from people
that have no idea what they're talking about.
And the generation that we have today,
they're getting marriage advice
from people that just don't know
what they're talking about.
Because the advice you hear
from the world today
to Ephesians 5.
Ephesians 5.
I went to a wedding one time
and it was a very interesting wedding
because the congregation was kind of split
between fundamental Bible-believing Baptists
and unsaved Catholics.
It was like a 50-50 split.
And at the wedding, they would go to each table
and ask for advice
from each table.
What would you suggest
to the newly married couple?
And so the advice is like the exact opposite
from both sides, right?
The fundamental Bible-believing Baptists,
they're given good advice.
And then the average Catholic,
the advice is pretty much the exact opposite
that I would say.
I mean, I remember the one time
that was really funny
because the person who was doing the,
what is it, MC, is that what it's called?
They were a fundamental Bible-believing Baptist
and the first advice I'd give you
is to throw your TV out the window
and smash it.
And then half the crowd is like,
What?
And the MC's like,
That is some great advice there.
That will help your marriage.
And then everyone's like,
What are you talking about, right?
And it was like the exact opposite.
But what I'm saying is,
in the world we live in,
it's not a 50-50 split
between fundamental Bible-believing Baptists
from the generation and nation
that is wicked and crooked
and they don't know what they're talking about.
It's like, This is your marriage
and you're going to give me advice?
But that's the world we live in in 2023.
Let me give you some examples
of the foolishness of the world that we live in.
There's a lot of things that you could see.
I mean, every week I see new things in the news
and it's like,
it doesn't even shock me anymore.
I expect to have the most outrageous
and absurd thing every single week that I see.
Now, in America, in one of the states, Maine,
you're not allowed to smoke cigarettes
when you're 21,
but you're allowed to change your gender
at the age of 16 or 17
and your parents cannot refuse it.
And if the parents try to refuse it,
they take you out of your home
so you can change your gender.
You're not allowed to smoke a cigarette,
but you can turn yourself into a woman.
Explain to me how that makes sense.
Does that surprise me?
No, it doesn't.
At Disney, I just saw this week,
they'll have live shows
or live animated things,
and sometimes instead of having a person
inside the costume,
you can actually see the face of the person
and the primary person that's going to play Minnie Mouse
is a cross-dressing male.
I'm not surprised.
Of course they wouldn't have a woman playing Minnie Mouse.
This stuff doesn't surprise you anymore
because this is the world that we live in in 2023.
I mean, this has become so common
and it feels normal to people.
And look, 50 years ago,
every day non-denominational churches
or Protestant churches,
most of what they would say
we would probably agree with.
They preach against the LGBT.
They would say it's weird and bizarre.
I grew up as a Protestant
in the United Methodist Church.
What about the United Methodists in 2023?
Now they have open tomboys
running their churches.
They go from preaching against the homeless 50 years ago.
Now we'll just let a tomboy run the church.
Does that surprise me?
Not in 2023.
This is just what you see everywhere.
These are just a few examples
of the insanity of the world.
And so this is what the world looks like
and then you're going to get marriage advice
from the world?
Does that make any sense?
Why would I get advice from a world
that looks like this?
But that's what people do.
And somehow they see a world
that looks like this,
a crooked and a perverse nation
and yet they're getting
marriage advice from the world.
Well let me show you some
good old-fashioned marriage advice
from the Word of God.
Ephesians 5 verse 22.
Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands
as unto the Lord.
You're a sexist.
I just read what the Bible said.
I didn't even give commentary.
Obviously you understand
what this verse means
if you said I'm a sexist
and that's the way you felt
before I ever said anything.
Just reading that verse,
you know what it means.
It's basic English.
Wives, submit.
I mean put yourselves willingly
underneath your husbands.
Submit yourselves unto your own husbands
as you have women,
but in a marriage you have wives
submitting yourselves
unto your husbands.
And the world will say
that's not fair.
It's not equal.
It's not right.
Well actually the book of Ezekiel says
are not my ways equal
and your ways unequal?
Let me explain to you about
the stupidity of this idea
of a 50-50 marriage
in terms of authority.
You're not going to be able
to solve it.
I mean companies have to
have somebody in charge.
It's common sense.
You have to have somebody
that makes the decision,
somebody who's the head.
This is not to say that the boss
is better than their employee,
but they're the ones that make
the decision.
And in marriage the way that God
set up the system is husbands
are the head of the wives.
That's exactly what the Bible says
here in Ephesians 5.
It says wives submit yourselves
unto your own husbands
as unto the Lord.
You know what?
Before my wife and I got married
we got a lot of relatives,
a lot of people we knew.
They're excited for us.
They're happy for us.
We weren't really asking people
for marriage advice
just because I just figured
I wouldn't necessarily agree
with what we heard
before we got married.
Back in my day the husbands
were the head of the home,
but that's not really the way
it's meant to be.
Marriage is meant to be a 50-50
relationship.
50-50 in authority.
And of course I didn't argue
with my relatives.
They're trying to be nice.
They're trying to be friendly.
There's no need to cause a fight
or whatever.
The Bible is timeless.
And if it was good advice
100 years ago,
it's still a good advice now.
You say, but Brother Stuckey,
my husband's a bad husband.
I don't agree with his advice.
What I would say is make sure
you marry the right person.
Because you're entering into
a contract that is meant
to be forever.
And you're bound by that contract.
So make sure you marry the right person.
But then if you get mad
at the thing, you already agree
to that marriage.
And what God says is,
husbands are the head
of the marriages.
Now there's two major problems
with this in 2023.
Men don't want to lead.
They don't want the responsibility
and the stress.
And then women don't want to give
up the power.
Now make no mistake about it.
When you have to make the decisions
at the end of the day,
it's like, I wish I didn't have
to make the decision.
I wish that it wasn't my responsibility.
Look, when it comes to running
a church, there are a lot of times
I think to myself, I wish I didn't
have to make this decision.
You say, why?
Because what if it goes wrong?
I remember the days when I was
a church member, I'd just get
to show up to church and if things
go wrong, it's not my fault.
I'm just there, no pressure,
no stress.
Right now I'll just sit down and
you can come up here and finish
this sermon.
I'm being humorous, but I'm also
being honest.
Do you think that a business owner
always wants to make decisions?
Of course not.
But it's part of the job.
Here's the problem.
What you'll have is women in 2023,
they know what the Bible says,
and so they kind of give a
semblance to agreeing to this.
They'll sort of say that their
husband makes the wrong choice,
I told you you should have done
this.
It's like, okay, is that what you
do to your boss?
That's how you get fired.
What it shows is inside your heart
you really don't look at your
husband as a leader.
You're really not willing to
submit to him.
My old bosses that I've had on
jobs, they made plenty of
mistakes, but here's the thing,
I didn't rebuke my boss.
He's standing.
He pays my bills.
He gives me my paycheck.
In marriage, if your husband is
trying to be the leader, because
a lot of men are afraid to lead
because they're afraid, if I do
wrong, if I make a mistake, it's
going to be like a World War III
fight.
My wife's going to be really
angry, it's like, whatever, you
can just order whatever food you
want, I don't care, you make the
decision.
Now here's the thing, if you want
your marriage to look like this,
then don't listen to what I say.
If you want your marriage to be
just like the world, if you want
to be like the nation of Israel
that said, give us a king to rule
us like all the nations.
Hey, I want a marriage like
everybody else.
Go for it.
But if you want to have your
marriage fixed and you want a good
marriage, you know what you're
going to do?
Go down to verse 31.
You say, Brother Succy, I'm here
today and this is what my
marriage looks like.
How do I fix this?
You can't fix it.
And that's the problem.
You're trying to fix it with your
own wisdom.
What you need to do is just start
doing what God says.
What I would suggest is, read
Ephesians 5, read the Song of
Solomon, read the Bible, read the
Scriptures, read Ephesians 5, read
the Song of Solomon, study it,
start applying it to your life.
Right?
I mean, if you want your marriage
to be fixed, if you want it to be
straightened out, you know what
you're going to have to do?
You're going to have to start doing
what God says.
I don't want to submit to my
husband or I don't want to take the
lead and be responsible.
And then it's like, wives and
husbands refuse to do what God
says.
That's what you want.
If you want to have a marriage just
like everybody else in America,
over half of marriages end in
divorce.
And then when you look at the
other 50% of marriages, probably
half of them or more, they stay
married just to say, we did it.
We made it to the end.
You know what?
It was miserable.
It was horrible.
It was the worst time of my life,
man hath sought out many
inventions.
Man decided not to do what God
said, and as a result, the
marriage became a mess.
The Bible says in verse 31,
For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall
be joined unto his wife, and they
too shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I
speak concerning Christ and the
church.
Nevertheless, let every one of you
in particular so love his wife
better today than they were a
hundred years ago.
Do you really want to make that
argument that people have
stronger family units in 2023
than they did in the past?
I mean, if you want to try to
debate that, I suppose we can,
but I don't think there's too many
people that would argue that.
The world is a mess in 2023.
Go to Proverbs 2.
Proverbs 2.
Point one is a crooked nation.
How does that get fixed?
It gets fixed by the preaching of
God's word.
Point two, a crooked marriage.
How does that get fixed?
By applying what God says about
marriage.
Point three, crooked parenting.
Crooked parenting.
The Bible says in Proverbs 2,
verse 10,
When wisdom enterth into thine
heart, and knowledge is pleasant
unto thy soul, discretion shall
preserve thee, understanding shall
strengthen the paths of
uprightness, to walk in the ways
of darkness, and rejoice to do
evil and delight in the
frowardness of the wicked.
The Bible speaks about people
that are wicked people and
froward, and they speak froward
things.
They say things that are false.
They say things that are foolish.
They say things that are ignorant.
Let me explain something that is
foolish and ignorant.
Well, spanking is child abuse.
Well, spanking, I mean, I would
never spank my child.
Well, I don't want my child to go
to prison for their entire life.
But that's what people say to try
to act like they're better.
I would never spank my child.
I'm just so loving, I would never
do it.
Well, my question is, if I were
to believe in Christian, what does
the Bible say?
What does God say?
I mean, if you want your kids to
turn out like this, if this is
true, the world is, do not spank
your kids in 2023.
Is that not true?
That's the advice that the world
gives in 2023.
Ask yourself this question, are
kids more respectful and better
behaved in 2023 than they were when
you were a child growing up?
Does anybody want to make that
argument?
You say, Brother Stuckey, I mean,
what's the problem?
Problem is, you're not spanking
your kids and you're raising them
and, you know, whatever.
I'm just saying you're not spending
time. It's just they just watch and
watch and watch and watch and watch.
You never spend any time with them.
You never correct them when they
have problems. And this is the way
it's turning out.
And you've got to be honest with
yourself.
When you see a problem with your
kids, you've got to be willing to
make the change.
Now, here's the thing.
Every parent will see problems in
their child's life.
I'm not going to be in the
preacher's son or daughter as it is
anyway, but obviously my wife and I
aren't perfect. We don't have a
perfect marriage. We're not doing a
perfect job raising our kids.
Of course, we see problems with our
kids that come up, but we have to be
honest and we can't just always say,
well, they're just tired.
Well, they're just tired.
I get it. Kids get tired and cranky
just like we do as adults.
But when every single time they're
making excuses and what's going to
turn out is this, it's better off
just realizing, okay, honey, we're
doing something wrong. We've got to
figure it out. Right?
Or you can just let your kids act
like every other kid in this world.
But I don't exactly want my children
to turn out like the average person in
2023.
Verse number 15.
Whose ways are crooked and they
froward in their paths.
So people have crooked ways and they
speak froward things and people see
the problem with them, but then they
take the advice from these same
people. I mean, does that make any
sense to you?
Why would you take advice from
someone who is failing in life?
It doesn't make any sense.
Take advice from people that are
successful.
I mean, would it make any sense if
someone, let's say somebody was a
homeless person you see on the
street. I'm going to get their
advice on how to be financially
successful.
And I'm not trying to insult a
person who's homeless. I'm just
saying, does that make any sense?
Why would you get advice on someone
who's obviously not succeeding in
that area?
It wouldn't make any sense. You'd
get advice from people that are
actually successful.
And so instead of getting advice
from the world that is failing
raising kids, why not just get
advice from God's word and from
other people that love God that are
obviously doing a good job?
Turn to your Bible to Proverbs 22.
Proverbs 22.
I remember someone who used to go
to our church, and their family
went to our church, and the mom
would mention, whenever kids would
do something that was makulit here,
including my kids. My kids would do
things makulit. They'd draw on the
line. And that's just the way kids
act. Kids act makulit sometimes.
They make mistakes.
They would make these backhanded
comments, well, my kids never did
that growing up.
And the thing is, when you're a
preacher, I don't have the ability
to get in fights with people, even
if I want to. It's like you just
got to take it and accept that my
wife also. That's just a rude
comment to make.
But here's the thing. It's like,
are you wearing blinders because
of all this church has ever seen?
And then you're going to sit here
and say, well, my son would never
do this. Yeah, but my son wouldn't
do stuff that would get him thrown
in prison. Literally.
But it's just like, we're going to
get advice from you when you
obviously were unsuccessful. See,
that's the thing. People in this
world that are failing at raising
kids, and then they're going to give
advice, and then Christians take the
advice. It's like, yeah, maybe we
shouldn't really spank our kids in
1993 or 1983. The word of God is
timeless, my friend. The Bible says
in Proverbs 22 verse 15, foolishness
is bound in the heart of every child
but yours. Is that what the Bible
says? Foolishness is bound in the
heart of a child, but really sweet
candy will drive it away from them.
Is that what the Bible says? The rod
of correction shall drive it far
from him. The Bible's saying every
child is foolish, and you know what
the secret is? It's called a good,
old-fashioned spanking. That's what
the Bible says. Now look, I want you
to realize, I do not believe that
spanking is the only form of
punishment you can give children.
And quite honestly, in my opinion,
as our kids get older, if they need
punishment, it's going to be less and
less spanking, because the thing is,
the world is not just going to spank
you if you rob a store. They're going
to spank you. So if you're having
major problems with your kids, you're
going to have to go to something else,
because honestly, spanking doesn't
really hurt a 10-year-old like it
hurts a 3-year-old or a 4-year-old.
But here's the thing. If you deal
with your kids at a young age, it's
going to get rid of most of the
problems you're going to have later
on in life. But if you don't spank
your kids, then your kids are going
to be rebellious, they're going to be
a problem, and you're going to have no
authority or rule over them whatsoever.
So if you don't spank your kids, you're
going to have to go to a 5-year-old
and see how kids act to their parents
in public, and I hear kids say things
to their parents, and I'm thinking,
man, if I had said that to my parents,
it's like my mouth would have been
washed out with soap, literally. That's
what took place to me when I was a kid
when I said things that were
inappropriate. My mouth was washed out
with soap, and yet kids say things to
parents, and sometimes the parents
apologize. I'm sorry. It's like you're
apologizing to your 5-year-old that is
wrong. We're living in an insane world
in 2023. Go to Proverbs 19. Proverbs 19.
Look, you don't have to take my advice.
I mean, we all have free will. You can
do what you want, and I will always say
that you spank when kids disobey, and
kids learn and understand the word no
by around one year. There's a gray area
period for several months, but let me
tell you something. My son Ezra,
everyone knows the word no. I mean,
you already spank Ezra? Of course!
Because he already disobeys sometimes.
Because I don't want to have to spank
a 12-year-old son. I don't want to have
to visit a son in prison when they're
25 years old. Of course I spank him
when he disobeys. They need to learn
authority at a young age because you
spank due to disobedience. But people
hear this, and they say, well, you know,
I don't really want to start, but you
know what? What's going to take place
if you just don't want to spank? You
don't want to spank? You don't want to
spank? Then all of a sudden your kids
will start to be out of control, and
then you're going to start to take the
advice, and it's like, you could have
just started earlier, and it would have
been a lot easier on you. And look, I'm
not trying to beat up or criticize the
parents in this room. Obviously, raising
kids is difficult, and it's hard, but we
need to take God's advice and not listen
to what the world says. I'm not saying
it's hard because they accidentally spill
milk. Every child accidentally spills
stuff. We accidentally spill stuff. But
when they disobey, that's when you spank.
The Bible says in Proverbs 19, verse 18,
Chase in thy son while there is hope, and
let not thy soul spare for his crying.
The Bible says, Chase in thy son while
there is hope. You say, why, Brother Stuckey?
Because you don't really have much
influence on the life of an 18-year-old
if you've never disciplined them before.
But at that age, they are what they are.
You know when you have a big impact on
your kids when they're one, when they're
two, when they're three, when they're four?
And isn't it amazing when kids get
disciplined from their parents and those
same parents also spend time with their
kids? You know what you have? You have
kids that love Mom and Dad. It's a fact.
Look, I was spanked a lot as a kid. You
say, why? Because I deserved it. Because
I was rowdy. Because I was makulit.
Because we do bad things. Foolishness is
bound in the heart of a child. And here's
the thing, chase in thy son while there
is hope. Because there's coming a day
when it's too late. And you can think I'm
over the top, and I get it. I'm sure most
people in this church think I'm over the
top when it comes to spanking, and that
is perfectly fine. Because you know what,
I look at what the Bible says, and you
know what, when our first son was born,
you know who we got advice from? People
like Pastor Jimenez, who was obviously
very successful at raising his kids. People
like Pastor Jared Pozarnsky that's
obviously very successful at raising
their kids. And guess what? They would
agree with everything I'm saying. You say
why? Because that's what the Bible says.
And the proof is in the pudding, my friend.
And when you see people that are successful,
it's like, hey, you know what? What have
you done to be successful? Right?
Because there's coming a day when there
is no hope. You deal with the problems
at a young age, and here's the thing, you
deal with situations privately, and you
don't have to deal with them publicly as
much. No parent wants to be embarrassed
by their kids in public. And it's happened
to all of us. Your kids act up, and you
know what, they embarrass you. Deal with
situations privately, and then publicly
they're going to be a lot more obedient.
And the Bible says, let not thy soul
spare for his crying. You say, why does
the Bible say that? Because once they
find out they're getting a spanking, they
start crying. No, no, no, I'm sorry, I'm
sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The Bible
says, hey, you can't just always give them
a warning. It's like, wow, I'm going to
give you a warning, and then all of a
sudden you do that every single time. It's
like, so they learn, I can just get away
with it by crying. But see, here's the
thing. You don't get away with it by
shedding tears in a courtroom. You do
wrong. It doesn't matter how much you cry.
You're still getting the punishment.
Turn your Bible to Psalms 125. Psalms 125.
Psalms 125. Psalms 125. But, I mean, if
you don't want to follow my advice, then
you can just have your kids turn out like
this, have your parenting turn out like
this. Now, look, if you do not have any
children or if your children are great
children, you can't just have your kids
turn out like this. You can't have your
parents turn out like this. Now, look, if
you do not have any children or if your
parents are great children or if your
parents are great kids, you can't have
your own, you know what, maybe you've
forgotten. I mean, it's very difficult
raising kids. It takes a lot of energy.
Sometimes I feel bad because, you know,
we obviously have three kids and, you
know, I'm not back there to help deal
with the kids. You know, my wife's back
there to deal with the kids. It's hard
raising kids. I mean, just doing normal
things, you just try to have like a meal,
try to have lunch. It's like, you know
what, one day we'll get back to the stage
where we all eat meals together as a
whole. And it's hard. Raising kids is
difficult. But here's the thing, it's
going to be a lot easier if you actually
do what the Bible says. Lastly, let's talk
about crooked finances. The Bible says in
Psalm 125, verse 4, Do good, O Lord, unto
those that be good, and to them that are
upright in their hearts. As for such, as
turn aside unto their crooked ways, the
Lord shall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity, but peace shall be
upon Israel. And there's many verses in
the Bible that speak about crooked
finances. The Bible says in Psalm 125,
verse 4, Do good, O Lord, unto those
that be good, and to them that are
upright in their hearts, but peace shall
be upon Israel. As for such, as turn
aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord
shall lead them forth with the workers of
iniquity, but peace shall be upon Israel.
And there's many verses in the Bible
that speak about crooked ways, crooked
ways, and maybe your finances have
become a mess. You know, we're pretty
much out of time, so I'll just kind of
quickly go over what I was going to talk
about. What the Bible says to men all
the way back to Genesis is that by the
sweat of your brow, you're going to be
hurt. Life is hard. Life is stressful.
And if you want to be successful, you
got to work hard. The Bible says by the
sweat of your brow, you're going to
provide. None, of course, is a punishment
due to the sin that Adam and Eve did.
Now, I will say this. Now, go to
Proverbs 3, and we'll close up. I will
say this, that another thing to think
about with finances directly, and I'm
not going to turn there, but what the
Bible says is we're meant to give 10
percent to God. The tithe is 10 percent.
The Bible defines it as that. Not first
fruits offering, not 11 percent, but 10
percent of your money is meant to be
given to God. And the Bible speaks about
if you give God what belongs to Him,
then God is going to pour out blessings
on you. That does not mean you're going
to be rich, but it means, you know what,
you're better off giving God His 10
percent and what's due unto Him, and
then God can bless you in your life and
help provide for you. Right? And so we
looked at a lot of things. We looked at
a crooked plan. We looked at the
crooked marriage, crooked parenting,
crooked finances. The reality is all of
us, this is the way our life becomes
when we use our own human wisdom and
human logic. It becomes a mess. And if
you're here today and you're honest with
yourself, you have areas in your life
that look like this, and you're trying
to fix it. People try to make changes
over and over and over again, and
you're trying to fix it. And so we
looked at a lot of things. We looked at
a lot of things. We looked at a crooked
nation, crooked marriage, crooked
parroting, crooked finances. The
truth of it is, it does not work. You
say, why, brother Stuckey? Proverbs 3,
verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all
thine heart. Now, this is not referring
to believing on Christ for salvation.
It's saying with your entire life,
trust in the Lord with all thine heart
and lean not onto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
thy people to the Father. And in all
thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy people to the Father. And
in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and
He shall direct thy people to the
Father. Now, what kind of path does
God put you on? He puts you on a
straight path when you do not lean
on your own understanding. See,
there's a problem. There is a way
which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of
death. There are things that seem
right to us. There are things that
make sense to us, but the question is,
what does the Bible say? And the
Bible says, lean not onto thine own
understanding. Human wisdom and human
understanding are things that make
sense to us, but the question is,
what is your understanding is going
to fail in life? And instead of
leaning and relying on what seems
right to you, and trusting in what
seems right to you, you need to quit
doing that and lean onto God. And
see, this is what our life becomes
when we lean on our own
understanding. And that which is
crooked cannot be made straight. But
God can straighten out what's
crooked. And God can bring your life
back to this, but you've got to do
what He says. You've got to do what
He says. Quit leaning on your own
understanding. Look, my life is not
perfect. I have areas of my life that
look worse than this. I mean, quite
honestly, this, I can tell, is about
to break, so I'm not bending it
anymore. But hey, our lives have
become a mess in many areas. And when
you see problems in your life, you
know what the tendency to do is? Make
excuses. Feels better. Instead of
just admitting, I'm going to do
better. I'm going to do better.
I'm going to do better. I'm going to
do better. I'm going to do better.
Obviously, I'm messing up. People
want to make excuses. And that's
fine. If you want to have a
marriage like everybody else has, go
for it. If you want to raise kids
that don't even know if they're a boy
or a girl, and start cross-dressing
when they're 12, then go for it. Right?
I mean, if you want your life to get
so magulo and messed up, then go for
it. You can do whatever you want. But
if you want God to straighten out and
fix your life, you need to quit
leaning on your own understanding and
trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for
allowing us to be here today. And I
ask you to help all of us, including
myself and my family, help us to apply
this sermon to our lives. Help us to
quit relying on our own understanding
and what seems right, God. But help us
just to put our trust in you and
realize that the Word of God is true,
and we can trust in what the Bible
says, God. And I ask you to help us
that have made our lives crooked in
various areas, God. We ask you to help
straighten out these areas, God. Help us
just to rely on you and straighten out
these areas that we have messed up, God.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. For that song, let's turn to
hymn number 294.
Happy, oh, happy, the songs that we
hear. I'll do a song like this and
show the same old song.
It's lovely and kind, how we all
take a sip of the same old wine.
On the second day, we pray, sing the
chorus into you, as we eat and drink.
We will dance with you all the way.
Once we get by, we will sign to the
land of the free and the home of the
great Jesus, singing. Help me, God, to
love in the sense of the tree.
On the second day, we pray, sing the
chorus into you. It's lovely and kind,
how we all take a sip of the same old
wine. On the second day, we pray, sing
the chorus into you. Help me, God, to
love in the sense of the tree. On the
second day, we pray, sing the chorus
into you. Help me, God, to love in the
sense of the tree. On the second day,
we pray, sing the chorus into you.
On the second day, we pray, sing the
chorus into you. Help me, God, to love in
the sense of the tree. Happy, oh, happy,
the songs that we hear. On the second day,
we pray, sing the chorus into you.
Happy, oh, happy, the songs that we hear.