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Welcome again to Verity Baptist Church for our second service.
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Let's open it to song number 81.
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He keeps me singing in English.
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Song number 81 on the first.
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On the second.
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On the fourth.
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Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bullets and we'll go through some announcements real quickly.
We're not going to go through everything but let's just go through a couple things.
One, let's start with counting up salvations. So the back section, any salvations to report?
Anybody? Anybody? How about here, this section, salvations? One. Anybody else?
Four. How about over here? Five, six, two, three. Anybody else?
All right. Well, great work everybody. That's 16 salvations to add to the bulletin.
And a couple other announcements on the next page on our upcoming activities.
So this Wednesday we'll actually be at the new building. If you don't know the location, you know, in the group chat,
we're going to send all the details. If you're not in the group chat, let myself know, let one of the other members,
and we can add you to that group chat if you have any questions about that.
So next Sunday we will be at the new building as long as there's not a major flood, right?
So hopefully we are past typhoon season, I think, I hope, right?
But anyways, that's exciting, because obviously, you know, today it's like, you know, we're a packed crowd, right?
We're a growing church, and praise God for that. So we'll be at the new building next week.
Upcoming, I mentioned, with the Solenny event in Tanay Rizal Saturday and then the church service on Sunday.
We do have the sign-up sheet over there. Obviously two months away we'll have more details.
Maybe you're not sure now, but think about it. Try to get back as soon as possible.
And just a reminder, as I mentioned in the group chat, if you have any belongings here, please, you know,
bring them home with you today. Obviously there's, you know, one thing that takes place at church
is that a lot of people donate stuff to church. And at the new place, by the way,
we're going to have like a donate box or something like that.
But people decide to donate something to church, but nobody really knows that,
so it just ends up getting stored at church. And either nobody wants it or whatever.
And then there's like a lot of things this week. It's like, is this somebody's or should we throw?
And so just if you have any belongings, personal belongings, please take them home with you.
At the new building with our fridge, we're also going to have like a once-a-month clean-out,
where basically what takes place is somebody drinks half a coffee, then they freeze it and forget it.
And then you've got containers with like, you know, all kinds of, you know, that's rotted in there of food that people forgot.
And it's like, you know, it just is what it is. This takes place at church.
And so try to remember to bring all your belongings back here today.
And, you know, it's exciting. We're going to be moving into the new building.
So I believe that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Chris lead us in another song.
Our next song, song number 95.
Song number 95, page 95. Let's sing.
In the tune of A Shelter in the Time of Storm.
Song number 95.
Ready? On the first.
Louder on the more roots.
My
See
No
Second
What
Oh
See
What
No
Ah
Oh
Be
My
Ah
See
What
Oh
No
My
Ah
Who
Ah
Oh
See
What
Oh
No
Ah
Everybody under there.
My
Ah
Oh
Ah
Oh
Who
Ah
Oh
Ah
Oh
Ah
Oh
Ah
Oh
Wait
Oh
I
Oh
Ah
Greeting, let's get our offering.
Amen for a scripture reading.
Please open your Bibles to the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs chapter 1.
And we will only be reading from verse 1 down to verse number 9.
Proverbs chapter 1, verse 1 to verse 9.
Please say amen if you're there.
Amen.
Proverbs chapter 1, verse 1.
The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding,
to receive instruction of wisdom, justice and judgment and equity,
to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion,
a wise man will hear and will increase learning,
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels,
to understand a proverb and the interpretation,
the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but full of despised wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father,
and forsake not the law of thy mother,
for they shall be an ornament of grace into thy head,
and chains about thy neck.
Bless the reading of God's Word, let us pray.
Lord God, I'm happy to be thanking the Lord for this day that's given to us.
I pray, Lord, that you would please bless the Lord for this day.
Give us good weather for our soul and our fellowship later on.
And I pray, Lord, that you would also please bless our preacher
and the preaching Lord for this day.
We love you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right. We're here in Proverbs chapter 1.
And as I mentioned, I wanted to preach a sermon about my dad here today.
And actually, my mom's staying up late tonight.
It's 11.15 where she lives to watch this sermon right now.
And, you know, I think most, if not all of you are aware that, you know,
a few weeks ago I visited the U.S. It was kind of an unplanned visit.
My dad's health has been failing for a while, but I knew he had a short time.
And I visited my dad, and, you know, just I learned last Sunday
just when I woke up in the morning that my dad had passed away.
And we sorrow not as others which have no hope because my dad is saved,
he's in heaven, and it's a great comfort.
It doesn't mean we don't sorrow, though, right?
And I'm going to preach to you a sermon about my dad,
and I'm not going to try to get emotional.
I'm going to try to contain my emotions.
I'm going to tell a lot of stories about my life growing up,
things you may know, you might not know.
It's very easy. I am an emotional guy sometimes,
so I'm going to try my best to keep myself in check.
But I just ask you to give me some time maybe if I struggle
to just kind of work through that.
And I'm just going to talk to you about how I was raised.
And, you know, obviously no father is perfect, no mother is perfect,
but I had a great father, I had a great mother,
they did a great job raising me.
I'll explain to you kind of what they did and various lines they drew.
And you might agree with those, you might not.
I mean, that's fine. The point is just to kind of tell you how I grew up
and the things that my parents did because they really did a great job.
And the name of the sermon is The Instruction of My Father.
The Instruction of My Father.
Now, the Bible says here in verse 7,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Now, verse 7 is a very famous verse,
and the Bible says that the very beginning of knowledge is fearing God, right?
And if people do not have a fear for God,
then they're going to have no wisdom.
I mean, you look at people in this world, they live very foolish lives.
They destroy their lives because they have no fear of God.
They have no understanding of the Bible whatsoever.
And then it says in verse 8,
My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother.
Now, why does the Bible mention this in verse 8?
Well, the reason why I believe the Bible mentions
the instruction of your father and the law of your mother
is because your father and your mother have your best interest at heart.
Isn't that true?
Even if a father smokes cigarettes all the time,
what is he going to teach his son?
Never smoke a cigarette, right?
Even if a mom has made mistakes, she's going to teach her kids,
you know, don't go down this same road.
And, you know, if you're young here today and you're growing up,
you might not realize it, but you have a mom and a dad that love you,
and their rules are meant to help you.
They're not meant to harm you. They're trying to help you.
And if you were wise, as the Bible says,
you would hear the instruction of your father.
You would hear the instruction of your mother
because it is going to help you in life.
I mean, I'm, you know, 39 years old now,
and, you know, I have a different perspective
than when I was a lot younger.
And I look back and I'm just like, man,
I'm so glad of the instruction I had from my father and my mother
that helped me go down the right road in life.
Go to Ephesians, chapter 6.
Ephesians, chapter 6.
Ephesians 6.
I remember when our son, Zeph, was about to be born,
and, you know, as the time drew closer,
because before I kind of thought,
I have a lot of knowledge of the Bible.
Is it going to be easy? Right? Whatever.
And as you get close to that date when the child's going to be born,
all of a sudden, it's like, oh, man, am I ready for this?
Right? All these questions enter into your head,
and it's kind of overwhelming for a first-time parent, right?
Because I remember the first time I held my oldest son,
as a guy, you know, not so as much with a mom,
but as a father, you're kind of afraid
because if I accidentally drop them,
they're going to get really hurt.
It's like, oh, man, right?
And you're responsible.
And I remember I was reading Ephesians 6,
and this chapter was very comforting to me as a father
because it's like all these things, what I do about this and this and this and this.
Here's what it says in Ephesians 6, verse 1.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise,
that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath,
but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
And the Bible really boils it down to two things.
Nurture and admonition.
And nurture is speaking towards showing care for your children,
loving them, cherishing them, spending time.
And admonition is about correcting, admonishing,
and that could mean, for a spanking,
it could mean just talking to them about whatever it is.
But basically, you're their friend and father, right?
That's how you can look at it.
You know, nurture would be like being a friend.
But unfortunately, as a parent, sometimes you've got to be the father,
which means sometimes you've got to do the admonishing, right?
Now, both of these are important,
but I think there's a reason nurture is mentioned first.
I do believe nurture is more important,
but that's not to negate the importance of admonition.
We'll talk about both of those in this sermon.
Go to Psalm 18.
Psalm 18.
Psalm chapter 18.
Psalm 18, verse 34.
He teacheth my hands to war,
so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
Now, this is God teaching us, and that sounds pretty hardcore.
God's preparing us and teaching us for battle and for war,
but then notice what it says in verse 35.
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation,
and thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation,
and thy right hand hath holded me up,
and thy gentleness hath made me great.
You know, God is actually very gentle with us as His children.
It doesn't mean that we never get punishment,
but honestly, it's like we deserve a lot more than we actually get.
We sin against God every single day.
I mean, His mercies are new every morning,
and God is very gentle as we make mistake after mistake after mistake.
Look, it's very easy as a parent, and I make this mistake.
I'm sure my dad did as well.
I don't really remember this, though.
You know, we lose our temper, we yell at our kids,
or we spank too hard or just can't control ourselves,
and obviously, we're all guilty of that, and we feel bad as parents,
but we need to be very careful to be gentle with our kids.
You say, why?
Because I want my kids to be great soul winners one day.
I want them to be great,
and the Bible says,
Thy gentleness hath made me great.
Go in your Bible to Deuteronomy 6.
Deuteronomy 6.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6, verse 6,
And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart.
So we need to keep God's word in our heart.
And notice what it says in verse 7,
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.
We ought to take heed to this,
that it's very important that we teach our kids the Word of God.
Now, you might say, well, pastor,
my kids grow up in this church,
and they're hearing the Word of God preached.
What happens in the home is more important
than what happens in the house of God
for your kids to turn out right.
You need to go home and make sure
you're teaching your kids the things of God.
And I might stand up here and say,
never drink, never smoke,
but you need to personally do that in your free time,
because it doesn't say the pastor diligently teaches your children,
or the man of God.
No, it says that thou shalt teach them diligently.
And this is true for fathers and mothers.
I think if you're a mom,
you can learn a lot from this as well,
of what we need to do is diligently teach our kids.
Now, let me explain to you some of the things that my parents,
and specifically, my mom is an awesome mom,
but obviously I'm specifically talking about my dad.
And let me explain to you some of the things
that my parents taught me growing up.
My parents taught me that alcohol and drugs
are going to destroy your life.
It's like, if you drink, your liver's going to fail,
you're going to die at a young age,
driving drunk, I mean, that's what my parents taught me at a young age.
My parents taught me that smoking,
you smoke cigarettes, you're going to get cancer at a young age,
you're going to get lung cancer, you're going to die.
My parents taught me that, you know,
cursing is not for us.
It's unbecoming, and we shouldn't say curse words.
We should speak very purely.
My parents told me that you ought to stay pure
until you're married, and not go to bed with someone before you're married.
Now, you say, well, pastor,
every parent teaches this to their kids, right?
Well, I would say for the most part.
But you say, what's the difference?
Because of the fact my dad lived by the things that he taught me.
My dad was not a hypocrite with what he taught me.
I can say this, you know, completely honestly,
I've never heard my dad say a curse word in my entire life.
I've never heard it.
So for me, it's like, it's just not something I've ever done
because it was a big no-no at our house.
I've never seen my dad, you know,
smoke and do drugs and do these things.
My parents didn't go out and get drunk
or go out and drink and everything.
And my parents didn't do these things.
So you know what they're teaching me through their actions?
It's like, follow my example.
Because the thing is, if you tell your kids,
do this, do this, do this, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this,
and you're a hypocrite, guess what?
Your kids are likely to go down the same road that you did.
For example, you might say, well, you know what?
Your kids are listening to something,
and then they use the Lord's name in vain,
and then you say, no, no, no, you can't listen to that.
It's wrong. We don't accept that.
But then you're listening to YouTube or whatever
and you let yourself hear the Lord's name in vain
and you make a pass because it's something that you like.
When your kids see you being a hypocrite,
they're going to go and do the same thing.
That's just the way that it is.
You need to live by the same standard.
And I'm not saying your standard's going to be the exact same as mine
or my wife's or my parents
because every parent makes their own choices.
That's up to you.
But you better make sure you live by the standard that you tell your kids.
Otherwise, they're probably not going to actually do it.
Notice what it says in verse 7.
And by the way, God says, be holy, for I am holy.
God says, I'm giving you the example.
It's not like God's saying, you know what?
I commit a lot of sin, but I want you to be holy.
God says, no, be holy. Why? For I am holy.
I am following that standard that I'm teaching you to follow me.
Verse 7.
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.
And when should we diligently teach our kids?
And shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house.
You know, there ought to be a time where you sit down and talk to your kids.
There ought to be a time where you put aside your distractions
and put away your cell phone
and just spend time talking to your kids.
I mean, one of the worst things, I mean, social media can be used for good,
but this thing is very destructive for family units, isn't it?
Because instead of taking time to talk to each other,
people just spend time on their phones.
Like, you might talk to someone, and then they're on their phone.
It's like, wait, what? Right?
And there ought to be a time where we're just sitting down with our kids.
You say, what are some good times?
Well, maybe either breakfast or lunch or dinner, depending on your work schedule.
Where at dinner, you're just sitting down as a family,
you pray for the food, and you just talk to your kids, say, hey, how was your day?
Look, I highly encourage you to talk to your kids at a young age
as if they're real humans, because they are.
They're real humans with real emotions.
I will ask my son Ezra, you know, how was your day?
And, of course, he doesn't have the most eloquent response,
but he's like, Daddy, my day was good.
He talks to me.
I would say, talk to your kids and just ask them how their day was.
How are you doing? How was school?
I mean, how was whatever.
Just ask them, what was your favorite thing today?
There ought to be a time you're sitting down,
and if there's never a time you're sitting down with your kids and talking to them,
there's a problem.
The Bible says this, and when the walk is by the way,
you know, there ought to be a time where you're just walking with your family.
It could be that you're at the grocery store, right?
Once you start having kids, an exciting date is going to Robinson's together, right?
We're going to go all out to a more expensive grocery store than the other one or whatever.
I don't know. Robinson's very expensive sometimes.
But you're just in the grocery store just talking to one another.
Oh, of course a great time is going soul winning, right?
Families going soul winning together, and here's what you can do.
You walk by a cigarette on the ground, and you say, hey, is that good or bad?
And they're like, bad.
And then you say, well, the body is the temple, the Holy Ghost.
This will destroy your life.
I will try to always remind that to my kids when we pass a beer can or cigarettes.
So at a young age when they're not tempted to smoke a cigarette,
it just gets put inside of their head, right?
You know, the one thing I'll say is you teach your kids that,
and then sometimes you'll see somebody smoking, and then they're walking by.
They're like, oh, that's bad. You shouldn't smoke.
But I think praise God, right?
I've been in grabs or taxis before where we passed by a Catholic church,
and my kids are just saying, this church is wicked.
It's evil.
And I see like a cross in the front mirror, and I'm like, I know this person's Catholic.
And it's like, well, good.
It's like they're teaching them the word of God.
It says, and when they'll lie us down.
You know, there ought to be a time where you're just lying down with your kids.
Maybe before you go to bed at night you have family prayer.
We try to pray before we sleep at night, and you just talk to your kids.
And the Bible says, and when they'll rise us up, meaning you wake up in the morning,
and guess what?
God is first thing, meaning start your day with prayer or Bible reading and just talk to your kids.
Now, obviously I understand our lives are busy.
You know, you're out working.
You have a lot of responsibilities.
But in your free time, is it Facebook or your family?
What are you actually spending time with?
And I would say this.
If you're a single person, when you get married, you need to switch the way you live your life
because you are not in the same place as before you were married,
especially when you start having kids.
You need to switch some of your priorities.
How did my dad do these things?
I grew up in West Virginia.
It's a four-season state.
During the wintertime it's cold.
There's snow on the ground.
But when the weather was good, my dad every Saturday morning would take me out to the park
to play baseball or soccer.
And, you know, I played in a lot of soccer tournaments,
but honestly my greatest memories are just going out to the park with my dad on Saturdays
and just kicking a ball and just spending time with him.
And is there anything spiritual about baseball or soccer?
There's nothing spiritual about it, but it's just a matter of the fact my dad took the time
to just spend time with me.
And that might not be your kid's interest or maybe you're not free on that day, and I get that,
but I just remember that I would never see other fathers out there with their kids playing.
And I didn't really appreciate it as much as I should have as a kid,
but now I realize when you work you're tired and you're day off and you want to relax,
and it's like my dad always made time to just take me out and just spend time.
My parents, they would always go to every soccer tournament.
I cannot remember a soccer game or soccer tournament.
My parents weren't there, and I understand people's schedules are busy,
but what I also remember is that my parents would often drive some of the other kids to the game
because their parents weren't going.
My parents were always there for all of my games.
I remember that, you know, for us, my dad worked a Monday through Friday schedule,
you know, an 8 to 5 sort of job, and I'd be hungry,
Mom, when is it dinner? When is it dinner?
It's like when your dad comes home, right?
Because for us, eating dinner as a family was just what we did.
That was the pattern, and I might have been hungry at 4 or 4.30,
but it's like when dad comes home, we sit down, we pray, we eat dinner as a family,
me, my sister, and my parents.
We would often play cards together.
We would often play board games together.
I remember when I was young I competed in spelling bees and math competitions,
and my dad for hours would just have the list of words.
He's like, how do you spell this word?
And just for hours upon hours, I think to myself now,
and I'm thinking, man, that had to be pretty boring for him to just sit there
because I wanted to do these competitions and try to win,
and I just look and think, man, it's like that's probably not the most entertaining thing for my dad to do
because sometimes your kids are interested in things that maybe you're not.
And what you have to do as a parent is make it a point to be interested in what they're interested in,
and not just in what you're interested in.
But my point is that my dad, he got involved with the things in my life
and also the things in the life of my sister.
And obviously my mom did as well, but obviously I'm talking about my dad here.
Now go to 1 Samuel 7, 1 Samuel 7.
And this is speaking toward nurture, just spending time.
I knew growing up I have a mom and a dad that love me.
1 Samuel 7.
And look, I'm not trying to give you an unrealistic expectation as a parent.
I do believe my parents are great.
Obviously I'm biased and nobody's perfect, but it's something that I'm personally trying.
Honestly, my goal as a parent is to be as good of a father as my dad.
If I do as good as him, I'll know that I've done a great job as a father.
It doesn't mean that I'll be perfect.
So I'm not sitting here saying that my parents are perfect,
but honestly, my memories of my parents are good memories.
So for me, I'm just like, I had a great father and I had a great mother.
Bible says in 1 Samuel 7, verse 15,
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life,
and he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah and judged Israel and all those places.
And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house,
and there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar unto the Lord.
Now, you know, for my family, you know, obviously we live in Pampanga,
and I'm able to come up on a Sunday and then go back the same day,
and I'm at home with my family.
You know, we have modern conveniences like vehicles, like cars.
Realistically, though, in this day, if you're traveling in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah,
you're not just going to be there for a few hours.
You're going to be there for a few weeks, right?
You go to this area, it takes a long time.
You hop on a horse, because what do they call the old preachers?
The circuit riding preachers.
That's what you hear. It's just like this,
where basically they would hop on a horse and just go to one location and be there for a few weeks,
and then they'd go to another location and another,
and then they'd go back to where they live, okay?
Now that means that if you have a family, you're gone from your family for quite a while, right?
You say, well, what's your point? Well, here's my point. Samuel had a family.
See, it says he's traveling around in verse 16, and it says that Ramah was his house,
but notice what it says in 1 Samuel 8, verse 1.
And it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.
Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second Abiah,
they were judges in Beersheba, and his sons walked not in his ways,
but turned aside after Lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment.
See, the Bible tells us at the beginning of 1 Samuel 8 that his sons were just not godly sons.
You say, why is that the case?
Well, I think the end of 1 Samuel 7 is letting us know,
because dad just did not have time for his kids.
And what took place is they built up resentment inside of their heart toward their father.
Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 13. Proverbs chapter 13.
And I've said it before in sermons, and obviously I have to be careful as a pastor,
because it's very easy for anyone to work too much at whatever job you have, right?
And basically just forsake your family.
But I would say even more so as a pastor, because your work being a spiritual work,
if your kids get the impression that basically God is more important than them,
and then church and all these things, obviously God is number one,
but if you're just always in ministry stuff and don't have time for your kids,
it's going to cause your kids to be bitter and resentful inside their heart,
because they feel like, well, the Bible in this church has just taken away my dad from me.
It's going to cause them to just rebel against you.
And that's what we see with Samuel.
Now I think Samuel, I believe his kids were probably saved,
so I'm not going to say he was a horrible father.
Hezekiah was a horrible father in the Bible,
because he literally says, I don't even care about my kids, and that's crazy.
But I just want to remind you that spending time with your kids and providing nurture,
that's the first thing mentioned in Ephesians 6 verse 4,
and that's going to show your kids that you love them.
I say this, that it's more important to me that I tell my kids, don't call me pastor.
And you might agree or disagree, but it's like, just call me dad.
And maybe as they get older that will change, I don't know,
but it's just like, I just want to be their daddy.
I go home, and I don't wear a suit and a tie.
I go home, I'm wearing shorts and a T-shirt, I'm throwing a ball with them,
I'm wrestling with my kids, I'm playing around with them, I'm just acting like a dad.
One thing that's very important is nurture.
Another thing that is very important is admonition.
Admonition or correction is very important.
By the way, I see pictures of my dad from way back,
and it's like my dad's on the ground on his hands and knees,
and I'm on top of him, you know, get like a piggyback ride or whatever and all that stuff.
My dad was always, you know, playing with me as a kid like that,
and I have all the pictures with the memories just that he really got involved in my life growing up.
But admonition and correction is also very important.
Proverbs 13, verse 24,
He that spareth his rod hateth his son,
but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
And the Bible says that if you refuse to spank, you actually hate your children.
It's not that you love them, you hate them.
You know, a lot of times people say I'm too loving to spank, but I promise you this.
Everybody that will not spank their kids will yell at their kids.
Because of the fact when your kids are acting up, it's like it's very hard to control your emotions sometimes,
and if you don't just make it a habit to spank your kids and hug them and then tell them that you love them,
what you're going to do is be very harsh and yell at your kids.
And that's going to cause bitterness and resentment.
Look, all of us that, it's going to provoke your children to wrath, as the Bible says.
All of us that are fathers and mothers that have spanked our kids, isn't this true?
You spank your child, you hug them,
and like a minute later your kids don't remember and they're running around playing again.
It's like it's nothing.
And I was surprised when I, because I was really scared when I first started spanking, are my kids going to hate me?
It's like they're over it immediately.
It is an extremely rare situation where your kids hold resentment in their hearts.
Usually with just in a few minutes, you say why is it?
I think that if they know that you love them, the nurture overrides basically them being upset at you.
Oh, by the way, when you spank your kids, your goal is not to embarrass your kids.
If your kids act up in public to the best of your ability, you want to go to a private place to do that to deal with your kids.
I remember, give you an example, when I was young, it's like I acted up at church.
And we grew up in a United Methodist church, I'll talk about that later on during the sermon.
But I was acting up at church, because the Protestant church is very silent and you can't say anything.
I think I was acting up too much.
I don't really remember, whatever.
But I got in trouble and my dad took me outside to the car to a quiet place and I got a spanking.
You say, what was the result?
I never acted up in church ever again.
I learned my lesson.
Now, my mom doesn't remember that story.
My dad did remember that story, though.
My mom knows she's forgotten that, but my dad remembers that.
But I never acted up again, because I acted up in public and I got in trouble.
I forgot to mention this yesterday, but one of my fondest memories for myself growing up, or something that I'm happy I was able to do.
When I was growing up, if you got in trouble, they'd say a check mark in the US, at least where I'm from.
Is that what they said? A check mark?
You get a check mark on the border or whatever, and you get so many check marks, you go to the principal's office.
I was in elementary school before I was homeschooled.
I knew that if I get in trouble in school, I'm going to go home and get in a lot of trouble.
I remember that at the end of the year, if you had a very small amount of check marks,
everybody who had a very small amount was taken out to Chuck E. Cheese and the school paid for it,
which Chuck E. Cheese was the coolest place as a kid growing up.
Every single year, I went to Chuck E. Cheese.
You say, why is that? Because I love my parents, and I didn't want to hurt them or embarrass them,
and because I realized I'll get the rod, I'll get spanking if I disobey them.
I've only had one check mark in my five years of elementary school, and I did not deserve that check mark.
The story was there was a kid that was acting up, and he had a pair of scissors.
He's trying to cut my hair. I try to stop him.
He stabs me with a pencil in the arm. I still have the lead mark.
The teacher turns around, and we both got check marks.
It's like I really had to fight not to say something.
It's kind of like the basketball game where somebody does nothing wrong,
and the ref gives a technical to both. In the replay, it's like, what in the world?
I say that to say I love my parents.
I was a very active kid growing up playing sports,
but my parents taught me there's a time and a place for things.
Proverbs 22 verse 15.
Proverbs 22 verse 15. The Bible says,
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child,
but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Did you know that every child is foolish?
It's like, oh, no, no, not my little child.
Look, you were also foolish when you were young.
Every single child is makulit from time to time.
You know that is the case.
Don't be surprised if you see young kids that are acting up.
The question is, as the parent, do you deal with the situation?
Because when your kids act up, I try to be discreet with my kids.
I don't want to try to embarrass them.
If you've been in our church for years, when our son was younger,
sometimes I'd have to go back there in a quiet place and discipline my son
because kids act up. All kids are like that.
But the Bible says, the foolishness is bound in the heart of a child,
the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
It doesn't say candy shall drive it far from him.
Because if you reward bad behavior with candy,
then that means they're going to be disobeying and disobeying and disobeying.
Turn to Proverbs 23.
You say, well, pastor, when should you start spanking your child?
Well, this is my opinion, and the Bible does not have an exact age,
but I would say the reason you spank is because your kids are disobedient.
So here's the thing.
At what age do your kids know the word n-o, no, and they do not listen?
So I would say that for all three of my kids, before the age of 12 months,
they understood the word no, but they would disobey sometimes.
You say, well, I mean, they're too young to spank.
Well, wait a minute.
When kids are very young, the two things I've noticed they do is
they try to stick a pin or something in fans,
or they try to stick something in electrical sockets.
And those are very dangerous things.
Maybe you've had a kid that's done that.
They've stuck something in a fan, and all of a sudden it does whatever,
and they get really scared and start crying.
It doesn't happen with my kids before.
Look, the spanking on the butt is a lot less than the potential danger in those things.
Now, of course, you do it in a lesser amount when they're young.
You hug them. You say you love them.
But if you don't do it at all, it's like your kids could be in real trouble.
And I would just say that my kids, before the age of 12 months,
were able to understand the word no,
and then they start slowly learning to be more obedient.
They realize they shouldn't do this.
But I'm just saying, if you have the idea,
well, I'm going to wait until my kids are five years old.
It's like, good luck.
I think you're most likely going to change your opinion on that
once your kids reach three or whatever,
unless you just want to be stubborn about it,
because kids will really act up by that age
if they're not getting discipline in the home.
Now, of course, you need the nurture.
But you do need the admonition at a young age.
Proverbs 23, verse 13.
Withhold not correction from the Lord,
for if thou beatest him with a rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with a rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
See, the Bible says that spanking your child can help deliver his soul from hell,
can help that child to get saved.
Now, people get all weirded out. It's like, beat him with a rod.
But the Bible, there's a specific place in the body that God gave us
where you can spank your children, and it inflicts pain,
and it does not inflict injury.
That's the place that God has provided.
And you spank your kids.
As guys, I find it easier just using my hand personally,
because it's quicker.
You know, for ladies, sometimes, you know,
they'll have an object or whatever.
And oftentimes, it's like, you know, once the kids see that object,
they're just like, I'm sorry.
It's like, immediate, they ask for forgiveness, right?
Go to Proverbs 19.
Proverbs 19.
Proverbs chapter 19.
And you know, I say this, and you know, when I visited my parents,
my dad did have an object.
It was like a really old-fashioned hairbrush that was really hurt.
And you know, I was reminded.
I was there with my dad because he still has the hairbrush.
I mean, they used to make things the last back in the day, right?
And there was still that hairbrush that was really hard,
and I would see that, and it just reminded me of the spanking I got
when I was a kid, right?
And look, it doesn't bother me at all.
I mean, I'm glad my parents loved me and took the time to spank me.
I mean, I don't really remember my parents yelling at me.
I reminded them, just disciplining me, like the Bible says.
Proverbs 19, verse 18.
And why does the Bible say,
Let not thy soul spare for his crying?
Because when you spank your kids, or you're about to, they will cry,
No, no, no, please don't do this.
But the thing is, if they've already done what's wrong
and they deserve the punishment, then you should still spank them,
and then afterwards hug them and tell them that you love them.
Now, I would say this, with spanking, I mean, this is,
obviously as parents, if you have several kids,
sometimes your kids are acting up with one another,
and you do your best to form the best judgment
on what took place, do they deserve a spanking,
which one started it, and it's not always easy.
And I'm sure I've made a lot of mistakes with my kids, right?
I'm sure my parents made a lot of mistakes with my sister and I.
You do your best, but if you love your kids, you provide nurture,
then I believe that overrides them being bitter toward you.
Now, let me give you my opinion on regards to spanking,
because I do believe spanking should start before the age of one.
I also believe there's an age where you should stop spanking your children.
And I've preached this before, and let me just kind of explain to you why this is.
I don't think you should stop disciplining your kids.
Remember, you're not trying to embarrass your kids when you spank them.
If your child is a teenager and you spank your child,
it is going to embarrass them, they're going to be bitter,
it's probably not going to hurt, and you're going to have to spank really hard,
and you have the potential of injuring your child.
And it's going to be bitterness inside of your child
if you're spanking them as a teenager.
Now, you say, well, that's your opinion, your kids are not teens.
That's true, but I'm just saying this is what my parents did with me.
They basically stopped at a certain point, and I didn't stop getting in trouble,
but that's not a punishment I got anymore,
because when your child is as tall as you,
I mean, I was probably taller than my dad when I was like 12 years old,
so when I'm taller, because my dad was shorter than me,
when I'm already taller than my dad, it's kind of awkward to, you know,
put your son on your knee and then spank them,
and, you know, I believe it can cause bitterness and resentment in your kids.
Now, you might agree or disagree, and that's fine,
I'm just giving you my advice and just explaining,
this is what my parents did with me.
Turn to Genesis chapter 48.
Genesis 48.
And here's the thing, my parents didn't stop punishing me.
My dad was often my soccer coach,
and I remember I got suspended from the soccer team for a week,
because my parents said that I was being disrespectful to them,
and I'm sure I was, you know, I don't really remember,
but I remember them doing that, and I can tell you,
that was a lot more painful than just like spanking on the butt.
And I remember, because, you know, the thing that frustrated me sometimes,
because I was like, you know, any other child could have talked to their parents
like that and not gotten in trouble, and it was always like,
but you're not any other child, you know.
I'm your dad, she's your mom, and these are our rules, right?
And you know what, now I think, praise God,
that my parents provided nurture and admonition to me growing up.
My parents were also very strict parents.
Growing up, my parents had made a decision when they got married
that when they had kids, my mom was going to be a stay-at-home mom,
and my mom was college educated, she was a teacher,
but when they had kids, my mom was going to stop working,
and be a stay-at-home mom, and that's what they did when my sister was born.
And my sister and I were in the elementary school system,
and at the time, homeschooling was done by like nobody.
Homeschooling was unheard of.
And my sister's two years older than me, but she also skipped a grade,
so three years above me, and my parents decided to take her out of the public school system.
One reason was because of the lack of education in the public school system.
The other reason was the lack of morality.
And my parents took my sister out, and of course, I didn't fully comprehend this as a kid,
but you know what takes place when you take your kids out of the school system and other parents don't?
Why did you take your kids out of the school system?
Right? The peer pressure from other parents, because I played on soccer teams,
and many of the parents, the moms were teachers.
And so my parents were bullied by other parents saying,
you've got to do what we do, because isn't that true?
Everybody wants you to do the exact same thing as them.
But the thing is, and look, you don't have to do the exact same thing as my parents did or that my wife and I do.
You are a mom, you're a dad, you make your own decisions, it's up to you how you raise your kids.
I try to give advice, and you can agree with it or disagree, and that's fine.
I'm not saying I'm perfect with my advice.
I'm trying to do my best, you're trying to do your best.
But everybody wants everybody to be the same, and then they're like mad at my parents,
like why'd you homeschool your kids?
And three years later, I was also homeschooled, and I was no longer in elementary school.
Some of the examples of my parents being strict, I was not allowed to watch MTV growing up,
and that is music television, where they have all the different types of music that are on there,
whether it be rock or country or pop or whatever, and I was not allowed to watch it.
Every other kid in Bridgeport, West Virginia, was allowed to listen or watch MTV except me and my sister.
Now, I didn't really care that much.
It was just like, but all the other parents, somebody's going to ask me about this song,
and then I'll be embarrassed, I don't know, right?
Some other examples were I remember I was in fifth grade in the last year of elementary school in the US,
and they wanted to let the kids watch a PG-13 movie in class.
And so you had to get parental improvement.
They had to sign to say our kid that is not 13 years old can watch this PG-13 movie.
But my parents refused to sign it.
I'm like, please, I'll mow the lawn for the next three months, right?
It's like, I don't even care about, I'll sleep during the movie, right?
Just please sign the form.
And was I tempted to do a fake signature?
I was tempted, I'll admit, but I was like, if I ever get caught, I'm going to get in real trouble then.
My parents refused to sign it.
Now, there was one other kid who also refused to sign it, and I've said this before, it's very interesting.
He was not raised fundamental Baptist, and he's an independent fundamental Baptist today.
His parents are also very strict.
So it just kind of shows you being strict does not drive your kids away from the truth.
That is just not true.
It's not my experience at all.
Some of the other things, you know, my parents had very strict rules for the things that we watched and listened to,
and it had an impact because my parents were not watching dirty or bad things.
They're not perfect.
I'm not saying they were.
I'm not saying we never did anything that maybe they would change their mind on now,
but I'm just saying they had strict standards.
They live by those standards, though.
When I went over to friends' houses, first thing I had to do if one of the friends picked me up,
first thing was call my parents when I got there.
And then after I call, my parents have to talk to their parents and say, okay,
what time are they going to be at the house?
Where are they going?
And then it's like, all right, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., you're going to call us.
And I knew I had to call at these exact times.
And, you know, I'm very thankful in hindsight because it's like, you know,
my parents really made sure to protect me from various things that could have taken place.
One of the rules that my parents had, I was not allowed to go on an unchaperoned date until I was 18 years old.
Now, that might not sound crazy in the Philippines,
but does that not sound crazy in the U.S.?
No unchaperoned dates until you're 18 years old.
It's like, that is far stricter than like any parents in the town that I was.
I was like, okay, I'm not going to go on a date until I'm 18 then.
It's like, I'm not going to go on a date with my parents there, right?
And so my parents were protecting me from those influences.
You say, Pastor, you sound like you're raised as a fundamental Baptist.
It really does, doesn't it?
My parents were strict.
This past week, I was reading my dad's obituary, and I knew my dad grew up in Kansas,
but I didn't know what part of Kansas, and I read that he was born in Newton, Kansas.
And my dad had talked about his upbringing, and he had told me about how it was, you know, a violent place where he grew up.
And I want to read to you about Newton, Kansas, which was his birth city.
In August 1871, there was a gunfight at Hyde Park in which a total of eight men were killed.
The incident began with an argument between two local lawmen, Billy Bailey and Mike McCluskey.
Because of this incident, Newton became known as bloody and lawless dash the wickedest city in the West.
This is where my dad was born.
Now, from my understanding, my dad said it was kind of like there was one-third Hispanics, one-third whites, and one-third blacks.
And during that time, that could be a dangerous thing.
So it's kind of like you got to get connected to groups almost like gangs just for protection, which my dad didn't do that.
But that's sort of like the pressure because there's a lot of violence.
And, you know, he told me that where he grew up, there were rapes that took place.
There was murders.
I mean, there was a lot of violence that took place where he grew up.
And I'm going to tie that, you know, into the sermon here.
You know, let me just say this because I got off track.
I forgot.
My wife reminded me, I should mention.
One thing my dad did growing up, when we were growing up, when I was young, my parents were below middle class.
You know, we were not a rich family by any means.
Obviously, by American standards, that's different than here.
But, you know, my dad was struggling to pay the bills week by week.
We're a one-income family.
My dad had opportunities to work jobs where he would be gone Monday through Friday and come back on the weekends.
And he always turned down those jobs because he said, you know what, money is just not the most important thing to our family.
I need to be there with my kids and with my wife and my kids.
And looking back, I'm thinking, man, my parents, they made a lot of sacrifices to spend time with me and my sister.
And I look back and I think, you know what, I think that nurture really made a big impact on me, even though I didn't realize it or appreciate it at the time.
One of the things my dad taught me, realized he grew up with a lot of violence.
You know, one thing he taught me as a kid, he said that the LGBT, which at the time was just, I guess, homosexual, they are twisted in the head.
They are violent people and they are a danger to a normal person.
That's what my dad told me growing up.
And by the way, a lot more people believe that in the past than now, but that's what I was taught growing up, that these people are twisted in the head.
My dad taught me there are people that have no salvation.
They are just bad people.
They're never going to change.
And without realizing, you know, on the Bible, he was essentially telling me the reprobate doctrine.
Right?
So yeah, it's like I was raised as a fundamental Baptist.
Right?
As I mentioned, I was raised, we went to church, normally at a United Methodist church.
My parents were definitely not Catholic, but they were just kind of Protestant in general, and United Methodist was like the church we happened to go to.
And, you know, obviously the United Methodist church teaches a work of salvation.
Right?
I did not grow up.
I didn't get saved at a young age.
And, you know, even though I was raised as if I was a fundamental Baptist, I was raised United Methodist.
When I was in college as a freshman, I heard the gospel and I believed on Christ.
And I do believe that because my parents were very good parents, it made it a lot easier for me to get saved.
I understood there is a loving God that will also punish if necessary, just like my parents were.
And so even though I wasn't saved, they were really, I think, preparing me to be a pastor even before I was saved because these moral standards were inside of me.
Well, when I got saved, the first thought that went to my head was, what about my mom and my dad and my sister?
That's the first thing I thought about.
You say, why?
I had a lot of love in my heart for my parents.
And I'm amazed people that get saved and it's like they don't care about the loved ones and their family, the people they knew.
I don't understand that, but that is often true.
But for me, the next day, I called my parents on the phone.
And, of course, my gospel presentation was not eloquent at the time.
I didn't know what to say.
I tried to talk to my dad and explain.
And, you know, the hang-up my dad had at first is because he grew up in a violent area and he realized there are people that have no salvation.
I'm like, you can believe and go out and do whatever you want and you're going to heaven.
And my dad's just like, that doesn't make sense to me.
Because you have to understand his perspective.
Now, we go soul winning and usually we don't have to talk about the reprobate doctrine.
But it's true that sometimes it's a hang-up for people, right?
And for my dad, because of his experiences, that was a hang-up that made it hard.
Of course, I didn't know how to explain the gospel.
I've said before, because my dad asked me questions and I think I missed everything.
He's like, well, what about Judas Iscariot?
I was like, I don't know if he was saved or not, but if he was, he was still saved after betraying Jesus, right?
I didn't know what to say.
Obviously, I was newly saved, but I had love in my heart where I wanted to get my family saved.
Of course, if you love your family, and look, I'm sure many of you right now, you have lost parents.
And probably a lot of you are at this situation.
Every time you visit, you want to talk to them about the gospel.
And sometimes it can reach a point where it's like, do I still bring it up?
Because they don't want to talk about it. They get mad.
And every time I go home to college, I try to talk to my dad.
And of course, it did become a source of a little bit of friction for a little while, because I love my dad.
I want to explain the gospel, and it's like, man, I don't want to stop. What do I have to do?
I mean, I try to pray and pray and pray that something would happen where I could help explain it to my dad.
Fast forward about four and a half years after I got saved.
I had a good friend that tragically drowned.
I went soloing with him a couple times every week.
And he tragically drowned.
And I graduated college, and I decided to make a big change.
And I moved to Phoenix or Tempe, Arizona to go to Faith Forward Baptist Church.
And obviously, you know, Pastor Steven Anderson, the pastor of the church.
And my dad, you know, he drove me out as I went.
You know, I drove, and well, we took turns driving.
And then he was going to ride the train back, because, you know, my dad doesn't like flying.
He doesn't like heights.
This is why my parents...
My parents told me, we will pay for you to visit as much as you want in the U.S.,
but we don't really want to fly to the Philippines.
Not because of the Philippines. They just, they don't really like flying.
But my dad drove me out, and the agreement we made was that we basically shared the stereo,
so I would get to listen to a sermon, and then he would listen to a CD of music. Right?
So my idea was, okay, we put in a sermon, and then when he puts in the CD, I put on headphones of a sermon. Right?
And this was in the old days, so I had like a hundred sermons from Pastor Anderson that I had marked, alphabetized and all this.
And I remember I put in the first sermon, and my dad was shocked, because he had never heard anything like that.
You know, and he's like, he really liked the sermon.
You say, wow, doesn't hard preaching drive people away from the truth? No, it does not.
And my dad heard it, and he's like, do you have a sermon on drinking?
I specifically remember him asking that, and I said, yes I do.
I went to A, alcohol.
And then I put in that sermon.
And instead of it being 50-50, you know what it ended up being?
Like 40 straight hours, because it's a long ways.
You can ask the other men from the U.S.
There's a long ways from West Virginia to Arizona.
It's like 30-some hours or whatever.
I guess Sacramento's the one that's like 43 hours.
It's a long drive.
And so basically, we just listened to Pastor Anderson for like 35 hours or something like that.
Just non-stop, except when we were, you know.
And you know, honestly, I had felt my dad was warming up more toward me,
because of course when you first get saved, your parents are wondering, is this new?
Are you going to change?
They're kind of waiting for it to stick, right?
And so my dad was listening to all this, and of course in the back of my head I'm thinking,
my dad is hearing the gospel along the way, and I'm thinking, I hope he's saved, I hope he's saved, I hope he's saved.
So we go out to Arizona, and then I remember the Sunday morning sermon.
I bring my dad to church, and the church was a lot smaller then.
And you know, Pastor Anderson's preaching, and he goes on a rabbit trail about the United Methodist Church.
He had no idea. He had no idea!
And he's told this story before.
He had no idea that I grew up in a United Methodist Church, and he goes on a rabbit trail for like 20 minutes.
And of course I'm thinking, of all topics, why? Why?
Now in hindsight, I realized that's really what my dad needed to hear.
And you know, he heard that sermon, and we had soul winning.
And I wasn't trying to force my dad to come soul winning with me.
My dad said, you know what, I'll come soul winning with you.
So my dad, and I wasn't going to force my dad to be with me, I thought that might be awkward.
I said, it's up to you if you want to go with someone.
He's like, no, I want to go with you.
And so he was my silent partner.
I vividly remember, I talked to this guy with long hair, tattoos, you know, earrings and all this stuff.
He didn't look like he would listen to the gospel.
And he was very humble. And he listened.
And my dad heard me give the gospel.
And what was really cool was the specific questions that I think might have been a hindrance to my dad.
That guy brought up.
And it's not like I was telling this directly to my dad.
I was telling it to some other unsaved person, but my dad was hearing my answers.
And of course, I had developed a lot of wisdom over four and a half years being saved.
Because when I first got saved, I didn't know how to say anything.
But obviously, my dad could see, you know, my son, you know, this is making sense.
You know, it's all fitting together.
So I remember, we get done soul winning.
And we're riding in the car, myself, my dad, Pastor Anderson, someone else from the church.
And Pastor Anderson asks, he's like, you know, how did it go?
And then my dad just starts talking.
He's like, man, it was great. So many people were close.
They just didn't understand eternal security.
And I'm like, and I was excited.
My heart was literally pumping because I'm thinking, man, maybe my dad's saved now.
Maybe he got it. Because that was really the thing, eternal security, we talked about.
On the way back to my apartment, my dad told me, he's like, I just wanted to let you know
that when that person prayed to receive Christ, in my heart, I asked Jesus Christ to be my Savior too.
And my dad got baptized that night by Pastor Anderson.
And, you know, my dad has gone soul winning with me several times since then.
And, you know, this is my most exciting soul winning moment.
I don't think it can ever be topped.
And it was very exciting to see.
I mean, never give up on your family.
Obviously, you can get a lot of people saved.
But the impact of getting your mom or your dad or your family member or close friend saved
is far more powerful than anything else.
And it's all worth it.
I feel like if I spent my entire life just for that one moment,
that one moment alone would be worth it to me.
Let me just fast forward to the present day or to a couple weeks ago.
My dad, you know, he recently got sick on Christmas a year and a half ago.
My dad, when I was in high school, he got prostate cancer.
And he was able to live with prostate cancer, but it, you know, affected him.
And eventually, his health started to go down.
And, you know, I wasn't originally planning to visit the U.S. this year.
Because generally when you visit from a long ways away, you want to stay for a little bit of time.
Because the jet lag and all these things.
But, you know, I realized it might be too late if I don't go to visit.
So I booked the ticket to visit the U.S.
My family stayed here.
And, you know, just a couple weeks ago.
And I had like a 10 to 11 hour layover in San Francisco.
I mean, the flight schedule was horrible.
There was no other options.
I mean, it was like a 29 hour flight just to get to D.C.
And then I had to drive a couple hours.
I slept for about, I don't sleep well on planes.
So I slept about an hour and a half.
And then I drove.
And when I got home, I was like, I'm so tired, right?
When I got to my parents' house.
But when I was in San Francisco, you know, a long layover.
And I was not about to fall asleep in San Francisco, you know, overnight.
It's too dangerous of a place.
And so I did a lot of Bible reading.
I was walking around.
Obviously, I'm thinking about, you know, my father.
I'm very emotional thinking about all these things.
And I was reading Genesis 48.
And I've read this plenty of times.
But just something really stepped, you know, into my focus that I never thought about.
And in Genesis 48, verse 1, the Bible reads this.
Genesis 48, verse 1.
And it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph,
Behold, thy father is sick.
And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
And one told Jacob and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee.
And notice this.
And Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed.
You see in the story that Jacob is about to pass away.
And when he finds out his son's there, he gathers his strength to actually sit up.
And he's there communicating with his dad.
You know, this past week I was talking to my, my sister was at my mom's.
And I was talking to them on Skype.
And they were saying that they could not believe it.
They said, you know, they didn't think that I was going to be able to visit in time.
And they said that they saw my dad.
He was just more energized than he's been in more than six months.
And, you know, when I got there, I got there late at night and he stayed up for a few hours.
My dad had basically been sleeping like 18 hours a day, you know, not being awake much.
The next day, my dad was basically awake for like, I mean the entire day, like 14 hours.
And he's talking to me.
And he's able to communicate.
I mean, obviously I could tell he was weak and everything like that.
But he strengthened himself.
And I was just amazed.
It's like seeing the Bible come to life.
And, you know, I had a great visit back in the U.S.
I didn't do anything exciting.
I just, you know, stayed at my house.
My sister's family came down.
I got to spend time with them.
And, you know, it was amazing.
And, you know, what we kind of expected would take place was basically that was kind of like the last thing that, you know, my dad was waiting for.
And, of course, you know, he passed away a few days after I came back.
And, you know, it was about the same part in the sermon yesterday where I started to lose my emotions a bit.
And, you know, I do have sorrow in my heart.
But not as others which have no hope.
Because I have the complete confidence that my dad is in heaven today.
And, you know, I think back to how I was raised.
And I just think, man, with the knowledge my parents had, they did an amazing job raising, you know, me and my sister.
And they provided nurture.
They provided admonition.
They were not hypocrites about it whatsoever.
And, you know, honestly, for the most part, I'm trying to follow just the same way as a father.
I get reminded sometimes I might feel guilty when I'm on my cell phone.
It's late at night. My kids want to spend time.
And I just kind of think to my dad sometimes.
And I was like, you know what? I'm going to put away my cell phone.
This doesn't matter. My kids are more important than that.
Right?
And, you know, I just want to try to encourage all of you that are a father and a mother.
You know, the Bible speaks about the virtuous woman.
At the end of Proverbs 31, you know, the Bible talks about how her children praise her in the gates.
And, you know, basically they praise her for just being a great mom.
I think the same is true as a father.
And I would say that, you know what? It's worth it to put in your time and effort to raise your kids.
Because I can sit here today and say, I have the utmost love in my heart for my mom and my dad.
You know, and, you know, honestly, this past week, my mom was reminded of some things.
And she feels guilty about stuff from like 30 years ago.
My sister and I are like, we don't remember that at all.
I don't remember you yelling at me.
Because every parent has lost their tempers or made mistakes or whatever.
And I kind of think the underlying thing is this, that if you really provide nurture,
I mean, if your kids really realize, because the reality is that at a young age, you have your children's heart.
What does every boy want to be when he grows up?
I want to be just like daddy.
What does every girl want to be like when she grows up?
I want to be just like mommy.
You have your children's heart at a young age.
And I would just say, don't just put your children on the back burner.
Obviously, and I'm starting a new series next week on having a balance, a proper balance.
We're going to talk about a lot of things.
Not necessarily the most exciting sermon series, but just having a proper balance on all things.
Because it's very easy to just dive into one thing and be kind of unbalanced in our lives.
And I would just say, you know, it's a reminder.
This is not a Father's Day sermon or a Mother's Day sermon, but just kind of a reminder to all of us, including myself.
Try your best.
Put in your time and your effort and your care into your kids.
Let's close in with a prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today.
And just thank you for lessons we can learn here from the Bible, God.
And I ask you to help all the fathers and all the mothers in this room and all the future fathers and future mothers, God.
Help us all to do a good job, God.
Forgive us for our shortcomings.
Help us do our best to provide nurture and admonition.
I ask you to help guide us.
I ask you to help us just to do the best we can and put aside other things and put our kids first, God.
We pray these in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Last song.
Song number 99.
Now let's sing in Bawa Takbam, each step I take for you to say English.
Ready, on the first.
Singing in Bawa Takbam.
On the second.
Singing in Bawa Takbam.
On the last.
Singing in Bawa Takbam.