Thank you.
Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Let's go to Psalm 139 in the white handouts.
You should have some white handouts in front of you or behind you.
Or in your Bible, preferably, Psalm 139 verses 19 through 22. Sing it out.
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God.
Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee wickedly.
And thine enemies take thy name in vain. And thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them my enemies. I count them my enemies.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
Amen. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the opportunity again to be in your house in the Church of the Living God.
I pray you please be with us as we keep singing. Help us to sing with understanding in the Spirit, Lord, and to worship you, Lord.
I pray that you fill your messenger with the Holy Spirit, be with Pastor Anderson as he preaches from your word, and give us ears to hear. In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Let's go to hymn number 236.
Hymn number 236, let's sing it out. Hymn number 236, No Not One.
Sing it out.
There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus. No, not one, no, not one. None else could heal all our souls' diseases. No, not one, no, not one.
Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus. No, not one, no, not one.
No friend like Him is so high and holy. No, not one, no, not one. And yet no friend is so weak and lowly. No, not one, no, not one.
Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus. No, not one, no, not one.
There's not an hour that He is not near us. No, not one, no, not one. No night so dark that His love can cheer us. No, not one, no, not one.
Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus. No, not one, no, not one.
Sin ever saved by His friend forsake Him. No, not one, no, not one. Poor sinner find that he would not take Him. No, not one, no, not one.
Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus. No, not one, no, not one.
Was there a gift like the Savior given? No, not one, no, not one. Will He refuse us a home in heaven? No, not one, no, not one.
Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus. No, not one, no, not one.
We do have a verse for the week there on the front of that bulletin. We're in Psalm 12 verse 3, week number 3 of that Bible memory passage.
Then we have some service times listed there and some church-wide soul winning times on the left-hand side.
Brother Cameron, did we get a total for salvation this afternoon? Nine. Nine total.
I don't think that added to the list. Good work on soul winning. Keep up your hard work there. We'll have soul winning again 5.30 p.m. right before the Thursday evening service.
We want to continue to keep our expectant mother in prayer. She is expecting their second child to be time out. So excited for that.
And of course Pastor Anderson, he's going to be preaching for us this evening service as well. It's been a blessing to have him here. Please let him know that we're thankful for him.
And then also July 23rd is going to be the Tulsa, Oklahoma Soul Winning Marathon. We'll get some of those details lined out probably this week so that we can get those in front of you.
It's a good soul winning in Tulsa. So if you're able to make it, we encourage you to be there for that.
And then August 18th through the 20th is going to be the Mighty Men's Conference in Texas. Glen Rose is about an hour south of Fort Worth.
And it's a Thursday through Saturday event. And so if you're interested in that, you can see me after the service. There is a sign up sheet for men who would like to attend.
You just mark your name down and we'll get that list to Pastor Shelley. And then September 3rd is going to be the Fort Smith Soul Winning Marathon.
As I mentioned this morning, that's going to be our first soul winning marathon that we're hosting that's across state lines.
And so I'm really excited about that. Fort Smith is a very low income area and the soul winning hopefully will be pretty fruitful.
That's kind of the goal and the reason why we picked that area. And so if you can make it out, that's Labor Day weekend.
And so that'll be the Saturday before Labor Day, September 3rd.
That's all the announcements for this evening. We'll go right to our next song, hymn number 162 in your hymnal, To God Be the Glory, hymn number 162.
Alright, hymn number 162, To God Be the Glory.
Sing it out.
To God be the glory Great things He had done
So loved He the world That He gave us His Son
Who yielded His life An atonement for sin
And opened the life gate That all may go in
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the people rejoice
O come to the hot earth Through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory Great things He hath done
O perfect redemption The purchase of fun
To every believer The promise of God
The vilest offender Who truly believes
That moment from Jesus The pardon received
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the people rejoice
O come to the hot earth Through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory Great things He hath done
Great things He hath taught us Great things He hath done
And great are rejoicing Through Jesus the Son
But purer and higher And greater will be
Our wonder, our transport When Jesus we see
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the people rejoice
O come to the hot earth Through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory Great things He hath done
First Chronicles chapter 12
Now these are they that came to David, to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish
And they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war
They were armed with bows and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows
Out of a bow, even of Saul's brethren of Benjamin
The chief was Ahaziah, the Joash, then Joash, the sons of Shemaiah the Gibiothite and Jeziel and Pelet
The sons of Amabeth and Beracha and Jehu the Anathite
And Ishmael the Gibeonite and a mighty man among the thirty and over the thirty
And Jeremiah and Jehizel and Johanan and Jehoshaphat the Gadirothite
And Eluziah and Jeremiah and Beeliah and Shemaiah and Sephathiah the Harpothite
And Elkanah and Josiah and Azarael and Joazar and Jashobeam the Korathites, the Korhites
And Jo, Elah and Zebediah the sons of Jerome of Gedor
And of the Gadites, there separated themselves unto David and to the hold and to the wilderness
Men of might and men of war fit for the battle that could handle shield and buckler
Whose faces were like the faces of lions and were as swift as the rose upon the mountains
Ezer the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, Mismaniah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, Attiah the sixth, Eliel the seventh
Johanan the eighth, Elzebad the ninth, Jeremiah the tenth, Mxpaniah the eleventh
These were the sons of Gad, captains of the host, one of the least was over a hundred and the greatest over a thousand
These are they that went over Jordan in the first month when it had overflown all his banks and they put to flight all them of the valleys
Both toward the east and toward the west and there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David
And David went out to meet them and answered them and said unto them
If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you
But if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands
The God of our fathers look thereon and rebuke it
Then the spirit came upon a Messiah who was chief of the captains and he said
Thine are we David and on thy side thou son of Jesse peace, peace be unto thee
And peace be unto thine helpers for thy God helpeth thee
Then David received them and made them captains of the band and there fell some of Manasseh to David
When he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle but they helped them not
For the lords of the Philistines upon the advisement sent him away saying
He will fall to us master Saul to join the jeopardy of our heads
As we went to Ziklag there fell to him of Manasseh, Adna and Jozabad and Jedel and Michal and Jozabad and Elihu
And Zilphiah, captains of the thousands that were of Manasseh
And they held David against the bands of the rovers for they were almighty men of valor and were captain in the host
For at that time day by day there came to David to help him until it was a great host like unto the host of God
And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war
And came to David to Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul to him according to the word of the Lord
The children of Judah that bare shield and buckler were six thousand and eight hundred ready armed to the war
Of the children of Simeon mighty men of valor for the war seven thousand and one hundred
Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred and Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites and with them were three thousand and seven hundred
And Zadok the young man a young man mighty of valor and of his father's house twenty and two captains
And of the children of Benjamin the kindred of Saul three thousand for thereto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of Saul
And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred mighty men of valor famous throughout the house of their fathers
And of the half tribe of Manasseh eight thousand or eighteen thousand which were expressed by name to come and make David king
And of the children of Issachar which were men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do
The heads of them were two hundred and all their brethren were at their commandment
Of Zebulun such as went forth to battle expert in war with all instruments of war fifty thousand which could keep rank
There sorry they were not of double hearts
And of Naphtali a thousand captains and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand
And of the Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred
And of Asher such as went forth to battle expert in war forty thousand
And on the other side of Jordan of the Reubenites and the Gadites and of the half tribe of Manasseh with all manner of instruments of war for the battle
And hundred and twenty thousand all these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron to Hebron
To make David king over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king
And there they were with David three days eating and drinking for their brethren had prepared for them
Moreover they that were nigh them even of Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali brought bread on asses and on camels and on mules
And on oxen and meat, meal, cakes of figs and bunches of raisins and wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly for there was joy in Israel
Let's pray. Lord thank you so much for this wonderful day of soul win and for Pastor Anderson being here and I see that was distracted to a minimum
Amen. Well once again it's great to be here and I've had a great time so far I love the area
Ironically my children from Arizona can't believe how hot it is here and you know they're just like yeah this heat man I'm like what do you say it's 97 this is nothing it's a nice day
But they're not used to the humidity you know so they're learning about what we mean when we say that Arizona is a dry heat you know
But I love it it's a great area appreciate everybody who came from near and far to be here tonight
And I'm preaching through this series where I'm doing the twelve sons of Jacob and this morning I talked about Asher and tonight I'm talking about Issachar
Well again Issachar is one of these guys where the Bible doesn't really say anything about his life but of course he's one of the patriarchs and it's one of the tribes of Israel
And there's this great little nugget here in First Chronicles chapter number twelve about the men of the tribe of Issachar who join up with David
When David is ready to take over as king of Israel and he's going to replace that dynasty of Saul the Issacharites come out to him and we have this interesting statement
And you know what's interesting is that I was able to find stuff to preach about for all twelve of these guys okay I did that before I committed to doing the series you know
Because you'd hate to get halfway into the series and then you get to Issachar and it's like ah but I found this verse I'm like there we go I got something
So look at verse number thirty two it says and of the children of Issachar which were men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do
The heads of them were two hundred and all their brethren were at their commandment
So as we go through this passage that we just read he talks about these different elite troops and different groups from different tribes that become a part of David's army
And in some cases he gives compliments to them and he gives some compliments about what the men from the tribe of Gad were like and I preached about that up in Idaho on Wednesday
And he's kind of giving compliments to different groups about how good they were at slinging stones or how good they were with their weapons or how they were fearless in battle
Or you know all these different compliments and of the tribe of Issachar he says that they were men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do
And that's what I want to preach about tonight that idea of having understanding of the times these are leaders and the Bible says that the rest of the tribe of Issachar were at their commandment
So they're rulers of the tribe and we as Christians especially as pastors who are leading other people we need to also have understanding of the times to know what America ought to do
Or to know what Americans ought to do
Now we're living in some very strange times in America and our country is changing very fast and in many ways it's becoming de-Christianized around us
And we today need some preaching to come across the pulpits that addresses the things that are happening in our society right now
Now if you would flip over to 2 Timothy chapter 3
Now I kind of touched on this this morning the idea that we can't always look to history to figure out what is right
We can't always look at what was preached in the past what was preached a hundred years ago or two hundred years ago
Because most of that evidence has perished and the best preachers probably left the least trace in the history books because they weren't popular they were hated of this world
But you know also when it comes to the old IFB they have their sort of pantheon of great preachers of the past
Jack Hiles, John R. Rice, Lee Roberson, Curtis Hudson and of course many of these are great men of God that accomplished great things in the previous generation
And I know that for myself when I was about 18, 19, 20 years old you know I spent literally hundreds of hours listening to audio recordings of guys like Jack Hiles, John R. Rice, Curtis Hudson
You know I had all the cassette tapes and all of those what was that thing called real audio files it was like the worst low quality audio format and it would take like an hour to download them on dial up
And you know back when I was like 20 and Pastor Roger Jimenez was like 16 we'd be trading cassette tapes of preaching at church every time we're at church we're trading sermons and we'd be downloading from the internet recording them onto cassette tapes
I had my cassette Walkman I'd go to work and listen to it all day when I was at work and I mean we listened to hundreds of hours of preaching from these guys and we learned a lot we were edified we grew in the faith
And it was always a supplement to the preaching that we were getting in church physically you know Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night on a weekly basis
And it was never a substitute it was always a supplement to the actually going to church and hearing the preaching
And we would listen to that stuff for hours and hours and hours and hours and I think it's great to listen to the preachers of the past but let me tell you something
We need to listen to the preaching of today more than we need to listen to the preaching of the past because the preaching of today is addressing the issues of today that we're dealing with today
Now of course there are timeless truths that we could listen to from these sermons from the 60s and 70s and things but at the end of the day those guys were dealing with different battles in that generation
They were dealing with different subjects and the Holy Spirit is speaking to the churches today through men of God today
I hate this attitude that says oh well back then you know that was the real preaching you know I was just talking to somebody the other day this is a great person
But he said to me like well you know the preachers back then man you know we're greater than anything we have today
And I'm just thinking to myself you know I don't like that attitude because you're just glorifying or romanticizing the preaching from back then
You know there are men of God today that are preaching great sermons that love the Lord that are doing great works for God and that's who we need to be listening to
People that are alive right now
Now again many truths are timeless but it's not just our job as preachers to preach exactly what the Bible says
It's also our job to understand the times that we live in and apply the Word of God to those times
You see if all I'm going to do is just get up and tell you exactly what the Bible says
Well then you don't even need me because you could just pick up the Bible and read it for yourself
If you want to see exactly what the Bible says you could pick up a Bible and read it
But in Nehemiah chapter 8 the Bible shows us what preaching is
It's to read the scripture and then to give sense and understanding of what that scripture says and means
And we ought to as preachers apply that preaching to the times that we live in
And so we need to understand the times that we live in
The men of Issachar are complimented by God that they knew the times
They had understanding of the times, they were able to discern the times
You know Jesus Christ rebuked the Pharisees and he said you know you look at the weather and you say
Oh it will be fair weather today or it'll be poor weather today because the sky is red and lowering
And he said you hypocrites you can discern the face of the sky but can't you discern the signs of the times
And he rebuked them for not having an understanding or discernment of the times
We as pastors need to understand the times in which we're living and we need to apply scripture to those times
And preach a sermon that is unique to 2022 or that is for a 2022 American audience
I listen to sermons from the 1960s and sometimes I laugh because of what they preach about that's so irrelevant today
The stuff that they talk about because everything's just about the hippies
And they're talking about you know all these songs that nobody listens to anymore
All the music that they're preaching against is totally irrelevant
And everything's about you know how mad they are that Richard Nixon is going to visit you know the leader of communist China
And everything and they're talking about all these current events that are totally irrelevant
And it's kind of fun to hear that but you know I want to hear somebody talk about the stuff that's going on right now today in America
Because today there are some really wicked things going on in America and somebody needs to call it out
And thank God for your pastor, thank God for brother Dylan Oz who gets up and calls a spade a spade and preaches something that is relevant to what we're dealing with right now
And you know what's funny is that a lot of people in the old IFB they'll say well you know you guys in the new IFB
You know you're preaching on all this stuff you know this reprobate doctrine and you're preaching about the sodomites
You know I don't remember hearing any of the old time preachers talk about that but stop and think about this
Why would the old time preachers have spent a lot of time talking about sodomites when that was barely even a thing back then
Think about that I mean if you're preaching in the 50s and 60s that is not relevant to the lives of the people to whom you're preaching
And so that's one of those things that you would just barely touch you know because it comes up and you're you know you got to preach everything
And so you just kind of touch it and say move on to something else
What to God that's what we could do
The reason we're constantly preaching about it is because every single day we are faced with that battle
We're faced with that issue and the brainwashing of our society trying to cram this agenda down our throat
And so therefore preachers are constantly having to push back and fight back
Now they say oh you know you guys are obsessed
You know of course you look at the comment section of these videos against Pastor Shelley and brother Dylan Odds
And this is what they'll say in the comment section oh I'll bet you he's you know he's in the closet that's why he's thinking about this
That's why he keeps preaching about it no no he's thinking about it because you idiots are cramming this down our throat every day
Because it's on billboards because it's in the news because it's constantly in the media and in every even cartoon now
They're constantly forcing this on us we can't even go a single day without seeing all the rainbows and all the stickers and all the flags
So obviously yeah it's vexing our souls it's on our mind and we want to preach about it
But they say well why didn't the preachers of yesteryear preach about it because it wasn't a thing
I mean think about this let's let's take it a step even weirder okay
What about the part in the Bible that says you know you're not supposed to look on your grandmother's nakedness
That's a commandment in scripture right
What if I got up and week after week and just got up and I'm just like hey
Don't look at grandma naked you know just and I'm just going on and on about that
People think like Pastor Anders is weird it's crazy I know that's in the Bible but why do you keep talking about it
Or what if I got up and just kept turning to the part in Leviticus about you know thou shalt not lie with a beast or something
And I'm just up here just week after week part four series about why you shouldn't lie with a beast
People would think it was crazy I mean they'd be right to be like I'm leaving this is weird this is crazy
Well here's the thing guess what if the preachers of the 50s and 60s would have got up and preached whole sermons against homosexuality
That's how it would have felt it would have been like oh why are you bringing this up why are you even talking about this
This isn't even a thing does everybody understand what I'm saying
So that's why it's so important that we listen to the preachers of today the preaching of today who's confronted by the battle
And facing the issue that we're dealing with yeah 1960s preaching is going to be great for timeless truths
But it's not going to cover certain things that weren't relevant back then but they are relevant now does everybody understand what I'm saying
So look at 2 Timothy chapter number three the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy chapter three because we're talking about having understanding of the times
Being able to look at the things that are going on today understand them and apply scripture to them and preach relevant sermons to the issues that we're facing today
Living preachers preaching what the spirit leads them to preach in 2022 to fight the battles that face us
It says in verse one of chapter three this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good
Folks this in many ways is the day we're living in where people hate those who are good
It literally enrages the left in this country just to be a straight Christian male married to a woman and producing biological children and just raising them in a nuclear family
You're the enemy. You're bad. Okay, so there is prophecy here that someday we would get to a day where people will be despisers of those that are good
Men will be lovers of their own selves, narcissistic, generation selfie, everyone obsessed with themselves, hateful toward the things of God, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despised of those that are good
Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away
And so the Bible is talking about a perilous time when all this wickedness will abound around us
And then over in chapter four if you jump forward to chapter four he says in verse two preach the word
Be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine
But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables
Look, he's saying even in perilous times, even when wickedness and ungodliness abounds, keep preaching the Bible
Even in a time when people don't want to hear it, they don't endure sound doctrine, they're heaping to themselves the Joel Osteen's and the positive preachers preach the word anyway
And he says in verse five, watch thou in all things endure afflictions
Go through the persecution. If everybody hates you, hey, know that they hated me before they hated you
Endure the afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry
And so today, even in a day of perilous times and people don't want to hear hard preaching, we can still do a great work for God
We can endure the affliction and do the work of an evangelist
Now what does that mean? That means that as they're hating you, protesting you, fighting you, trying to shut you down, you can still go out that afternoon and get someone saved on door to door soul winning
Isn't that interesting? You can show up on Sunday morning and the protesters are out there and I'm preaching this for the people that are up from Fort Worth
Who all is up here from Fort Worth today? We got a couple people
And the thing is, you know, they're dealing with all these protesters and freaks and weirdos outside the church
Hopefully, you know, I've got my fingers crossed this Wednesday, maybe we can have peace
But they deal with all these people but here's the thing, you show up to that freak show of all the weirdos protesting and they're saying
We don't want you in our town. We don't want you here. We want you to leave. We want you gone
We don't want hate or we don't want this type of religion in our area
You know, get out of town. We want you evicted. We want you somewhere else
You know, they wanted to get Pastor Mejia out of El Monte, California. Get him out. Get him to another town
But in that same town, that afternoon, you can just brush off the criticism, brush off the affliction
And you can go knocking doors in that exact afternoon and get somebody saved in that town
So even as you endure affliction, you can do the work of an evangelist at the same time
And it's our calling to do both
So even as all the battling is going on and all the afflictions and tribulations are rolling, we can still do the work of an evangelist
We can still get somebody saved in the afternoon, preach hard on Sunday morning, get somebody saved on the afternoon, preach hard on Sunday night
Okay, that's what God has called us to do
Even in a perilous time, even in times when things are very wicked in our country
And so he says, watch thou in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry
Have a well-rounded ministry, tighten everything up, full proof ministry, have everything as it should be, have balance in the ministry
And you know, a lot of people today, they misunderstand the new IFB because they think that all we do is just rip face and raise hell and whatever
But you know, we also love people and we go out and do the work of an evangelist and get people saved
What about that?
You know, in the words of Planned Parenthood, that's only 5% of what we do
You know, is slaughtering sodomites verbally, not literally now
But you know, the bottom line is today that yeah, people out there, they're going to paint us as the enemy and that we're the bad guys
But you know what, we know that we're preaching the word of the Lord, that we're doing right
And so we just need to endure the affliction and do the work of an evangelist
And we need to be able to read the times that we're in and discern them and understand them
So part of understanding the times and discerning the times is to be able to preach the relevant sermons that address the issues with which we're dealing
You know, for example, against the sodomites because that's something that we're dealing with right now in this country
It's a big deal, we didn't choose that to be the theme of the month of June, they chose that for us
But you know, there are other things where we can look at the times and have a greater understanding about things like, for example, end times prophecy
And this is another reason why we should not rely on the preaching of the past, but that we need to be listening to the preaching of the present, today
From men who understand the times and know what we ought to do today
Let me give you an example
You know, there are a lot of guys who are falling for this deception of preterism
And if you don't know what preterism is, preterism is this doctrine that basically says that the prophecies in the book of Revelation, most of them have already happened in the past
And you know, the second coming of Christ has already taken place and it all happened in the first century A.D.
It's all over, it's all behind us
And you'll have these preterist type doctrines or another doctrine that's picking up steam lately is post-millennialism
Which is this idea that basically we're going to evangelize this world and it's going to get more and more Christian and then Christ will return
You know, it's like an idea of bringing in the kingdom or somehow that the gospel is going to conquer and we're going to turn this thing around
And the world is going to get better and better
We on the other hand are pre-millennial which means we believe the world is getting worse and worse
Right, so we believe that in general the world in general is going to get worse and worse and then Christ is going to come and straighten everything out
That's pre-millennialism
Post-millennialism says that no, we're going to fix things ourselves and then through the power of God we're going to fix it and then Christ is going to return
Now here's where this is coming from
A lot of this preterist stuff and post-millennial stuff, when you want to listen to what these guys give as proof
It's like they want to pull out all these preachers from the 1600s and come at you and say well historically this is what the church has believed
And you know pre-millennialism is new and whatever
But here's what's wrong with their logic
Is that if you actually look outside you can see that they're wrong
So like put down your book for a second
Put down the theological treatise
Put down your bible for a second
And go outside and tell me if the world is getting evangelized and more and more Christian and if things are getting better or worse
I mean shouldn't that be pretty obvious to just look out there and see that things are getting worse not better
And I remember I was talking to this guy one time and he was trying to convince me of this preterist stuff
And I said just stop for a second, I said stop for a second
So you are telling me that you don't believe that the anti-Christ is coming, one world government, one world religion
You don't see any of that coming
You believe that you know we're living in the kingdom right now and it's going to get even better
I said have you stopped to think about the fact that that doesn't line up with reality
And the guy was like that's actually a really good point
He said it's like you know that's actually kind of a good point
I'm like what about the United Nations and the world council of churches
And you know it's all going toward a one world system, a one world government, one world religion, one world currency
And he's like you know that's actually a really good point
And here's the thing if your theology doesn't match reality there's probably something wrong with your theology
It should line up with what's going on in the times that we live in
And so here's what I would say
I would say that I can understand why people, even though it's not biblical and it's never been biblical
I can understand why people believed in preterism or post millennialism in the 1600s
Because from where they're sitting you know the Roman Catholic Church had all this power
And then they're watching the Roman Catholic Church lose power as the Protestant Reformation goes forward
All of a sudden bibles are being printed and bibles are churning off of printing presses
And all of a sudden the Roman Catholic Church is losing power in all these countries
And yeah the Protestant Reformation you know it didn't end up the way we would have wanted it to end up
That's why we're Baptists and not Protestants
But the Protestant Reformation was going in the right direction
It just didn't go far enough
It just stayed too Catholic
But it was on the right track there for a while you know they were going the right way
And so you can see how if you were living during that time you could get this idea and say
You know hey I think the Pope is the Antichrist and you know this is Babylon the Roman Catholic Church
And it's all being destroyed and the gospel is prevailing and we're churning out bibles
And you know people are getting saved and people are figuring out that it's by faith alone
And you know one of the mottos of the Protestant Reformation is sola fide faith alone
Right grace alone to God alone be the glory
You can understand how somebody who's in that point in history could think hey things are getting better
You know the gospel is going to prevail
The Word of God is going to prevail
The evil Catholic Church is going down
And we're going to flood the land
You know you can understand how somebody could get like a post millennial kind of a doctrine
It's never been biblical folks
It's not in the bible
But I'm saying you can see where they're coming from
But let me just be frank with you
I feel like anyone who believes in it now is kind of being an idiot
You know what I mean because it's like that's not how it went down
Because what's the result of the Protestant Reformation
Well let's look at our Protestant churches today
Let's look at the Presbyterians today
And sure you could point to a very small minority of actual bible believing Presbyterians
That have a King James bible and believe salvation is by faith
And if you talk to them you know what they'll tell you
They'll tell you well most of these Presbyterians are all going to hell
Even the Presbyterians that are saved would even tell you that
Okay the Lutherans are pretty much just like the Roman Catholics
You know they're just as unsaved as the Roman Catholics
Okay you got the Lutherans they don't believe in faith alone
Go soul winning and talk to them
They don't believe salvation is by faith alone
You got the Methodists
Look where they are
Look at all these products
Look at the Church of England today
Did the Church of England just keep on reforming and getting better
No today the Church of England is super liberal
They've got sodomites in the pulpit
They don't believe the bible at all
They're worse than the Roman Catholic Church
The United Methodists are worse than the Roman Catholics
Many of the Presbyterians and Lutherans are worse than the Roman Catholics
They're more liberal
They're more homo-welcoming and so forth
So the Protestant Reformation didn't do what it was supposed to do
Because all these mainline Protestant denominations ended up getting super wicked
And today who's really carrying the torch of the gospel?
It's a bunch of Baptists and Evangelicals
Either Baptists or non-denom people that are actually believing in the right salvation
Nine times out of ten
And it's usually independent Baptists that are doing the series evangelism and door knocking
And really getting the gospel out there
But my point is you could forgive them or understand where they were coming from back then to believe that
But today if we have any understanding of the times that we live in
If we have any discernment of the times
We would be able to look out that door and say this country is not getting more godly
It's getting more ungodly
And that should be obvious to everyone
The soul winning is not getting more receptive
It's getting less receptive
I've been soul winning for 23 years
Just about every week
For 23 years
I started when I was 17
I'm 40 now
And I've been soul winning and let me tell you something
It was more receptive 20 years ago than it is now
It was more receptive 10 years ago than it is now
Now look I'm not going to stop soul winning
Because whether it's very receptive or a little receptive
You're always going to be able to get somebody saved out there if you go long enough
You put in enough hours you're going to get somebody saved
And so I'm never going to give up on soul winning
Let's just put in more hours
Let's just get more manpower out there
We'll get them saved
We'll find that one that wants to get saved
But I'm just being honest with you
It is less receptive than it used to be
And if we were to get in a time machine and go back to the 1960's
It would be more receptive even than anything we've ever known in our lifetime
And so you have to understand that
You know the Bible is our final authority
This is where we get our doctrine
But what we read in the Bible should match up with reality
If reality is true and the Bible is true
They should both match
So if you have some doctrine that says
Oh post millennialism
You know we're going to turn things around in this country
We're going to turn this world around for Christ
And then you look outside and there's no hint of that
That should make you reevaluate that doctrine
Am I right?
Or what about this doctrine that says
Well you know all of the Israelis are going to get saved in the end times
Why don't we see any hint of that in real life?
Because it's a misinterpretation of scripture
It's a twisting of scripture
See my view on Israel actually represents reality
What the new IFB teaches on Israel is what we see in reality
If you were to get on a plane and go to Tel Aviv
You're going to see what we've been talking about
You're not going to see what the old IFB has been talking about
You're going to see what we've been talking about
You're going to see non-Christian, ungodly people who have no interest in the Gospel
99.9%
And so we need to have an understanding of the times and discernment of the times
And we need to make sure that what we're preaching is
Number one, relevant to the day in which we live
But number two, that it matches up with the realities that we're facing today
I'm not going to sit there and preach something if reality proves it to be false
Well the Bible says, yeah but you're probably just reading that wrong
You're probably misinterpreting what the Bible says if it doesn't match reality
And of course, as I said, the Bible has never taught post-millennialism
The Bible is crystal clear in Revelation 20 that Jesus Christ returns
And then his saints rule and reign with him for 1,000 years after he returns
Anybody who just reads Revelation 20 will see that very clearly
But all I'm saying is I can see where people were coming from in the 1600s
But if you're still believing it now, I don't see where you're coming from
It makes no sense. It's absurd now, okay?
You look at preaching from the 1960s and you say, well I found this sermon by this old time preacher
And you know, he said that homos can be saved
You know, and we should win them to Christ
Hey, I can understand why he's not well versed on that topic because it wasn't a thing in his generation
You know, when I first started pastoring 16 years ago
People thought that my preaching against the Sodomites was too radical
You know, and they thought I was overboard and over the top
But I'll bet you that less and less people are thinking that now in 2022
If they have any understanding of the times and discernment about what's going on in our country right now
They should be right about now saying, you know, these new IFB guys
I think they might be right about these freaks and perverts and what their agenda is
Because they're seeing it come to pass around them
You know, the Bible said that in the days of the coming of the Son of Man
In the second coming of Christ, that it would be as it was in the days of Lot
As it was in the days of Lot
That's talking about Sodom and Gomorrah
If you have understanding of the times, you'll understand that that's where things are going
Where are we heading? Are the post-millennialists right?
Are we heading toward a righteous Christendom?
No, we're heading toward Sodom and Gomorrah
And that's what the Bible said would happen
That's what the pre-millennialists have been preaching all along
And that's what's going on
That's having an understanding of the times and discerning the times
And the signs of the times and saying, hey look
We see out there that this agenda is predicted in scripture
That it would be like it was in the days of Lot
And that in the last days, according to chapter 3 of 2 Timothy
That reprobates will abound in the last days
Because 2 Timothy 3 is describing reprobates
It says, if you're still there in 2 Timothy, go back to 2 Timothy 3
And the Bible says in verse number 7
Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses
So do these also resist the truth
Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith
But they shall proceed no further
For their folly shall be manifest unto all men
As theirs also was
He's talking about reprobates
That's why they're perilous times
Because reprobates will abound
Look down at your Bible at verse number 13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse
So look, as we approach the end times
False prophets are going to get worse
Evil men are going to get worse
Seducers are going to get worse
The world is going to get worse
That's what the Bible teaches
Deceiving and being deceived
But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of
So again, our preaching needs to represent reality
And when we look at sound biblical doctrine
That says Christ returns before the millennium
That says that evil men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse
That says that the anti-Christ is going to come
There's going to be a one world religion
One world system
We look around and if we can have any understanding at all
We see that the prophecy that we preach in this church
And churches like it
Is actually in line with reality
I mean is it really that hard
If I get up and preach hey the Bible prophesies a one world government
You're like, well that will never happen
It's already happening
Well you know the Bible prophesies a one world religion
Oh I can't see that ever happening
I mean can you ever see you know Islam and Hinduism and Christianity and Judaism all coming together
Yeah it's happening
Right now high level leaders in all of these religions are saying
Hey you know I mean the Pope is saying
Hey you don't have to believe in Jesus to be saved
And atheists are saved as long as they do good works
And you have Muslims and Hindus and Christians
Putting aside their differences
We're all going to come together
I mean that's what's being pushed and promoted today
The tolerance and diversity
And we've got to just respect all religions
And respect all faiths
Except for fundamentalist Christianity
But respect all other faiths
And bring it all together
Why? Because that's what the Bible said would happen
And that's what's happening
That's what we've been preaching
And before I was even a pastor
When I was a kid in the 1980's
I can't even count how many times I heard sermons about
One world government
One world religion
Antichrist is going to come right
Premillennial teaching is biblical
Okay
These things are going to happen
In the future
It's all laid out in scripture
And we can see it already starting to happen
Right now
Now we don't know when the end is going to come
But that's the trajectory
Okay
The trajectory is evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse
Also Jesus Christ himself said
And he asked this question
He said you know when the son of man comes
Will he find faith on the earth?
Now why would Jesus say
But when the son of man comes will he find faith on the earth?
Why would he ask that question if things are going to get better and better
Leading up to his coming
And more and more people are going to be saved
And more and more Christianity
No it sounds like it's going to be less and less
And what did the Bible say
That before the day of Christ comes
He said
There should be a great falling away first
And the man of sin be revealed
The son of perdition
Who opposes himself and exalts himself above all that is called God
Or that is worshipped
So that he as God
Siteth in the temple of God
Showing himself that he is God
So the Bible tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2
That you know the Antichrist is going to come
But first there's going to be a great falling away
Now
Is that something that we see happening today?
What are you happening today?
Would you look around and characterize what we see in America in general today
As a great revival in our nation
Or a great falling away
Now maybe there's a great revival amongst our brand of churches
And you know what
There for sure is a great revival amongst new IFB churches
And our churches are growing
And reaching people
And winning souls
And thriving
And we're multiplying
And we're doing great
But what about our country in general
In general
There's a great falling away
In general
Less people are going to church
In general
More churches are apostatizing
And getting away from the truth
That's what scripture predicted would happen
Okay
And so
We need to make sure that our doctrine
Matches reality
What we see
And if we have understanding of the times
And we have understanding of scripture
Understanding of scripture
The two match perfectly
Okay
And we need preachers who understand both
Now a lot of people when they hear this phrase
Understanding the times
Or discerning the times
They might misunderstand this
That you know
We need to follow every twist and turn of the news
You know
We need to just be jacked into Fox News
And just getting every twist and turn
And knowing everything that happens politically in our country
I don't believe that that's what the Bible is saying
When it says
That they understood the times
The first reason I don't believe that
Is because
The children of Issachar
Didn't even have the internet
And they didn't have Fox News
They didn't have
They didn't have like
Some kind of a little radio
Where they're getting
You know
Sean Hannity
And they're getting all this stuff
And they're just following CNN
And getting the news all the time
Obviously that's not what the Bible is saying
When it says having understanding of the times
He didn't say
You know every single world event that's happening in the times
It's not about knowing every twist and turn of the news
It's about understanding the times
Because what did the Bible say about the children of Issachar?
They had understanding of the times
Didn't necessarily say that they knew every single thing that's going on
In the kingdom of the Hittites
You know
They're just so cosmopolitan
And plugged into all these world events
I don't think that's what the Bible is saying at all
I think what the Bible is saying though
Is that we as Christians
We need to be in this world
But not of the world
And so we need to kind of
Live in the world enough
To where we kind of know what's going on
And we kind of understand the time
Not necessarily plugged into some media outlet
In Fox News, CNN
Telling us what to believe
Or what's going on
Or giving us the news
But rather that you know
Just by living in Phoenix
Or Oklahoma City
And just going to your job every day
And just being outside
And talking to the neighbors
And going to work
And going soul winning
Or school
Or wherever it is you go
You're kind of in this world
And you kind of know what's going on
But the important part isn't knowing what's going on
It's understanding what's going on
And having understanding of the times
Is when you look at the things that are going on in the world
Through the lens of God's word
Okay
So basically I'm in my study
And I'm reading my Bible
And I'm read up on scripture
I know what the Bible says, right
Then I go out into the world
And everything
I'm looking at everything
Through this lens of the word of God
You know what I'm saying?
And so I understand the times
Because when I hear about something happening
I'm relating it back to scripture
And when I see
What's going on with all the times
And when I see
What's going on with all the queers and everything
I'm like, okay
It's the days of Lot
Is what we're heading toward
That's the trajectory
This is what God said would happen
In a society in decline
It would be filled with reprobates, right
In the last days, perilous times are gonna come
Men who are reprobate
All these things in Romans 1
The downward spiral ends there
That's the destination
And so I'm looking at our society through that lens
And I have an understanding of the times
Not because I spent so much time
Listening to talk radio
But because I spent so much time reading the Bible
That's gonna give an understanding of the times
Because I'm viewing everything through the lens of our times
So here's the thing
Yeah, I want to spend a lot of time studying the Bible
But I also need to spend some time in this world
So that I can understand the times that we're living in as well
So as a pastor
I don't want to shut myself off
From society
To the point where I'm not interacting with society at all
And this has always been a temptation
For Christians and men of God throughout history
To seclude themselves
And so there's nothing new under the sun
You have churches who
Move out to the middle of nowhere
And isolate themselves from the rest of society
You have
You know, men who
Just become a hermit
Or they go into a monastery or something
And they just lock themselves off
From everything
And they just, you know, they're just gonna devote themselves
To the word of God
Or you even have Christian pastors
Who just don't get out much
And they're just
They're studying and they're in the office
But they're not out there interacting with people
And seeing what's going on
And you know, I believe that God wants us as Christians
To be a part of the society we live in
You don't want to get so separated
From society where you're just
You're just totally cut off from
The unsaved people of this world
You know, I believe that God wants us
To be in the world but not of the world
So we're to be different
We're to be salt and light
But we're supposed to be mixed in with people
And fit in somewhat
With this world
Not be secluded and form our own community
You know, obviously part of us would say
Oh man, wouldn't it be great if we could just go
Start our own town somewhere
You know, we could just found our own Baptist city
Baptist city, Oklahoma
We could just rent a bunch of property
We could just buy a bunch of property
And just build our own little Christian enclave
But that's not God's will
You know, God wants you
Right here in Oklahoma City
For all the wickedness that's here
And there's ungodliness here
Even in the heartland of America
Even in the Bible Belt
I mean, just
We're staying right now
Our lodging is seven minutes from here
How many marijuana dispensaries
In the past?
Three?
It's a seven minute drive
Three marijuana dispensaries
Everywhere, marijuana
In Oklahoma
The Bible Belt, the heartland
There's queers everywhere
Marijuana
And people are like, oh that's California
It's Oklahoma, it's everywhere
It's America
You know, but in spite of that
I believe God wants you here
In Oklahoma
I believe God wants me in Phoenix, Arizona
I believe God wants Pastor Shelley
In that Dallas, Fort Worth area
Well, I don't know, maybe not
Never mind
I believe God wants Pastor Bruce Mejia
In LA
Because you know, in the midst of a crooked
And perverse nation
We're supposed to shine as lights in the world
And we need to be
In the times
So we can understand the times
And we can preach about the times
So that we can do the work
Of an evangelist even in the midst of the affliction
It's not our job to pull out
And isolate ourselves
No, no, no, we need to interact with
The society
We need to be out knocking doors preaching the gospel
Right?
And getting people saved. Did anybody get saved today?
Did anybody get someone saved today out on soul winning?
Who had someone saved today out on soul winning today?
One, two, three, four, five
Five people
Got somebody saved out on soul winning today
You know, so who cares about
Oh, there's too much marijuana
And whatever
But if we were out isolated somewhere
We wouldn't be able to get five people saved today, would we?
Because we were already saved
We're all saved here, you know
But no, we've got to be in the midst of the people
To reach the people
And we're getting sermon ideas
You know
When I preach
I like to be fired up about something
I can just go through a chapter and preach about it
But it's also good when I get out in the world
And get mad about something
Or see something
Or see a problem
I'm like, I need to preach about this
You know, my son came to me a few weeks ago
And he said, Dad
He said, you know, you need to preach a sermon
About sports betting
He said, you know, at my job
All the young people
They're into sports betting
They've got thousands of dollars on this junk
And they've got the app
And they're just so into
He says, huge sports betting
And then after he said that, I'm driving around town
I'm seeing billboards for it all over Phoenix
Like, sports betting
All the sports betting this, sports betting that
We're in a restaurant, the TV was playing
It was just all sports betting
And you know what, that's a relevant issue
That somebody needs to preach about
And preach against that garbage
And preach against that foolishness
Sports betting
And you know, I don't want to talk about it now
Because I don't want to steal my own thunder
Because I need to do a whole sermon on it
You know, my son's recommendation
But the point is, how did he know
How did he know that we need a sermon on sports betting
Because he's out there talking to the unsaved
He's among people
And so he knows what's going on
And he's able to
Have a relevant sermon idea
You know, and I'm out there
And I'm talking to people
You know, I guarantee you
That we as soul winners
We probably know way more
About what these denominations believe
Than some seminary graduate
Because we've gone out and literally talked to
Hundreds of Presbyterians
Hundreds of Lutherans
Hundreds of Mormons
Hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses
Hundreds of Baptists
Hundreds of Methodists, right?
I mean, maybe thousands in many cases
You know, some guy in some university somewhere
Is studying what Methodists and Lutherans
And Presbyterians believe
But we're actually talking to the guy in the pew
And we can tell you what the guy in the pew actually believes
Because we've talked to a thousand of them
And you can figure out
Okay, this is a false doctrine
That's prevalent because I ran into it at
30 doors
That's a sermon idea
How many sermon ideas come from soul winning?
How many sermon ideas
Come from being out in the world
And interact- how many sermon ideas come from billboards?
You know, you're driving down the street, you see the billboard
You say, oh man, these billboards, they vex me
Living in the city, seeing all this junk
Yeah, but at the same time
It gives you the sermon ideas
As a pastor to preach, you know, being around that stuff
And so God wants us
To be in the world
But not of the world
God said that he didn't want to take us out of the world
He just wanted to keep us from the evil
He wanted us to shine
As lights in the midst of a crooked
And perverse nation
Among whom we shine as lights in the world
And so we need to understand
The times
We need to be able to look around
See it all through the lens
Of scripture
Call out the sins of our generation
Call out the wickedness
That we see going on
Right now
Okay, unlike maybe what they were dealing with
In the 60s
You know, we need to preach on the stuff that's happening right now
We need to endure affliction
Do the work of an evangelist
We need to keep on
Preaching the word of God
Whether it's popular or not popular
Applying it to the world we live in
Keeping it relevant
Going out soul winning
Okay
So that we can have our finger on the pulse
Not just to win people to Christ
That's obviously the most important reason to go soul winning
But also just to see what's out there
And to have our finger on the pulse
Of this country spiritually
Okay
It's not about
Being plugged in
To media telling you what's going on
It's more about
What we actually see going on every day
In our individual lives
That's a little closer to home
Than just what the media is telling us is important
Or that we should care about
It's really more important what's happening
Right now
Here in our
Local areas here
Okay
And so the Bible says
If you're there in 2 Timothy chapter number 3
It says
But evil men and seducers, verse 13
Shall wax worse and worse
Deceiving and being deceived
But continue thou in the things
Which thou hast learned
And hast been assured of
Knowing of whom thou hast learned them
And that from a child thou hast known
The holy scriptures
And wise unto salvation
Through faith which is in Christ Jesus
All scriptures given by
Inspiration of God
And is profitable for doctrine
For reproof
For correction
For instruction in righteousness
That the man of God may be perfect
Thoroughly furnished
Until all good works
And so what the Bible is saying here is that
At the end of the day it is scripture
That prepares the man of God
To do all the good works
That God has prepared for him
In this generation
To interact with society
To preach to the needs of 2022
Scripture gives us the tools to do that
Not Fox News or CNN
Or whatever
And so having understanding of the times
Comes from
Scripture, reading scripture
Understanding scripture
And then looking at the world through the lens of scripture
Okay
And the man of God
Can be completely furnished
Perfect means complete, right?
Can be completely furnished from scripture
To do just that
So the key to understanding
The times is to understand
The Bible and apply the Bible
To what we see going on
Around us and make sure that our
Interpretation of the Bible matches
What we see out there
In the real world
All scriptures given by inspiration of God
Are profitable for doctrine
For reproof
For correction for instruction in righteousness
In order to correct
The wrong things that are out there
We use the word of God to instruct people
How to live a godly life
In 2022 Oklahoma City
The answers are in the Bible
It's possible to do it
We don't have to go hide somewhere
We don't have to pull out of society
It's possible to raise godly kids
In this generation
To keep ourselves pure
In this generation right where we are
And so the men of Issachar
They were going
To follow David
Who represents Jesus Christ
Right? David, Jesus is the son of David
So David
Is going out to fight
A spiritual battle
He's going to receive a kingdom
In the future, just as someday Christ
Will receive a kingdom in the future
David was going to receive a kingdom in the future
The sons of Issachar
Separated themselves unto David
To fight that battle
With David
And we today
Are separated unto Jesus Christ
To fight the battles of the Lord
In our generation
And in order to effectively fight those battles
We need to be men who understand
The times that we live in
And so
The word of God
Must
Be the lens through which we view society
And today
There are so many people who look at
These issues through a worldly perspective
And say, well, you know, they're born that way
Or, well, you know
Love them
Be nice to them
Be kind unto them
What does the Bible say?
You know, that's all that matters
Well, I think they're nice people
What does the Bible say?
Well, you know, I think the world's
Better and better
Really? What does the Bible say?
The Bible's the standard
It's the end and the beginning
Of all of these issues
And so we need to be men like the children of Issachar
Who understand the times
We need to follow Christ
We need to be in the world but not of the world
And we need to rebuke
The wickedness of our society
By knowing what's going on
And then taking scripture
And preaching
Something relevant to today
Not just repeating
Or parroting preaching
From 50 years ago
Folks, the Holy Spirit's alive and well today
Okay
Like, the Holy Spirit didn't go anywhere
The Holy Spirit is alive
And well in 2022 America
And so
God's Spirit is moving
In the hearts of young men
To preach
Boldly from the word of God
That's what the new IFB is
You know, it's a new generation
Of young men getting up
Understanding the times
And preaching boldly
Because they're filled with the Holy Spirit
Okay, that's the whole idea behind it
And the thing is
You know, sitting around
And talking about some bygone era
That's not understanding the times
You know, we need to understand that the Holy Spirit's
Alive and well right now
The Holy Spirit has something to say
To this generation
And men of God
Are getting up in pulpits
In 2022 on Sunday morning
Sunday night, Wednesday night
And you know what? The Holy Spirit of God is moving them
To preach the Bible
About things that are happening right now
And we need to be listening to that
We need to take heed onto that
And we need to support that
And be a part of that
And learn from that
By listening to the times
By listening to preachers who understand the times
By listening to preachers who are actually in our time
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord
And we thank you that the Holy Spirit is still working
In the hearts of preachers, Lord
And we thank you for the
7,000 men that have not bowed the knee
To Baal
And Lord, we just pray that you would continue to do
A great work amongst
Independent Baptist churches in this country, Lord
And even as our country
Evitably gets worse
I pray that you would help us personally
To get better and better
Help our churches to get better
Help our soul to get better, Lord
Help us to be
Doing the greatest works of our life
Even as this country is in decline
And Lord, give us
Understanding and discernment of the times, Lord
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen
Alright, remember on the fourth verse to shout where it says there is a shout for Daniel's band, remember to give a good shout?
309
Standing by a purpose through heeding God's command
Honor them, the faithful few, all hail to Daniel's band
Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known
Many mighty men are lost, dare he not to stand
Who for God had been a host by joining Daniel's band
Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known
Many giants, great and tall, sowing through the land
Headlong to the earth would fall if met by Daniel's band
Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known
Hold the gospel banner high on to victory grand
Satan and his host if by a shout for Daniel's band
Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known
I just want to quickly make one last announcement. We did break our evening record
We had 67 in attendance and so therefore we are going to have an ice cream social right after service
You make your way into the kitchen area and we'll have everything set up and ready for you to hand you an ice cream