I'll see you in the next video.
Thank you for watching.
I'll see you in the next video.
Let's all stand together for this first song, if you're able.
Song number 409, the fight is on.
Song number 409, all together, nice and strong, all together on that first verse.
The fight is on. The trumpet sound is ringing out.
The cry to arms is heard afar and near.
The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory.
For the triumph of the Christ will soon appear.
The fight is on, oh Christian soldier, and face to face in stern array.
With armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engage today.
The fight is on, but be not weary, be strong and in His might hold fast.
If God be for us, His banner o'er us, we'll sing the victor's song at last.
The fight is on, a rousing soldier's brave and true.
And victory will assure, don't buckle on.
The armor God has given you and in His strength forever will endure.
The fight is on, oh Christian soldier, amen.
With armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engage today.
The fight is on, but be not weary, be strong and in His might hold fast.
If God be for us, His banner o'er us, we'll sing the victor's song at last.
The fight is leaning on to certain victory, the bow of bronze.
His glorious name in every land shall honor be, the morn will break, the dawn of peace is nigh.
The fight is on, oh Christian soldier, and face to face in stern array.
With armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engage today.
The fight is on, but be not weary, be strong and in His might hold fast.
If God be for us, His banner o'er us, we'll sing the victor's song at last.
Amen, wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us another day
that we can come to your house and hear your word preached.
And we thank you for all the mothers that are here in the church, Lord.
We ask that you please just bless this service.
Please bless Pastor Mihir with your spirit as he preaches unto us.
And give us your spirit also in the congregation that we may leave here changed.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
You may be seated.
Please turn your songbooks to song number 250.
Song number 250, Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary.
Two-fifty, all together nice and strong.
Jesus is very near.
Cast your care on Jesus today.
Leave your worry and fear.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Jesus is very near.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Calvary.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Jesus is very near.
Troubled so the Savior can see.
Every heart in this room.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Jesus is very near.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Calvary. Calvary.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary.
Jesus is very near.
All right, great singing. Thank you for being here this morning.
Happy Mother's Day to you all.
Thank you so much for being here and for visiting us.
We have a gift for all the moms today, but let me go over some announcements first
before we get into that.
And by the way, the next song will be 281, if you want to get that ready in your songbooks.
281.
If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand.
One of the ushers can get one for you.
Some important information on there.
Of course, our services are as follows.
Sunday morning is at 1030.
Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
And then you see there at the top, we are a family integrated church,
and so infants and children are always welcome in the service.
But for your convenience, the mother-baby rooms are located in the back of the building
should your child need some diversion.
Changing tables are available there, as well as speakers and screens,
so you can still tune into the preaching.
If you just go out this door, make a right, it's the room at the far end of the fellowship hall.
And so just keep that in mind.
And then you see there the sowning times and teams.
If you want to learn how to preach the gospel, you can see me after the service.
If you place it on the team, we'll get you discipled and equipped
so you can go out and preach the gospel to your family, friends, and, of course, door to door.
You see the list of expecting mothers there. Please continue to pray for them.
Congratulations to my wife for the baby.
She did a great job.
Pray for her husband.
It's just, you know, it's so hard on the husband, you know, just all the lack of sleep.
No, I'm just kidding.
But pray for her recovery.
The baby's doing great.
She's just, you know, staying awake throughout the night and sleeping during the day.
You know, just kind of what babies do, I guess.
And so pray for them.
You see the important reminders there at the bottom.
And then some of the upcoming church events.
Of course, today, as I mentioned, is Mother's Day.
So we have a gift for all the moms.
Where are the gifts at?
Does everyone have the gifts?
All right, why don't we play some passing out music.
And go ahead and raise your hand if you are a mom.
Okay.
If you're a mother, go ahead and raise your hand.
If you don't raise your hand, I'm going to call you out.
Okay.
Let's get that passed out for all the moms here.
All right.
One more there in the back.
I think we missed some right over here.
All right.
I hope you enjoyed that.
It's a gift card from First Works Baptist Church in honor of Mother's Day.
And again, happy Mother's Day to you all.
And then on Sunday, May 28th, we have Ms. Tanya Leib's baby shower.
And we'll give you more details about that as we approach that date.
The end of school picnic is on Tuesday, May 30th at 1230.
We have the location right there, Eucalyptus Park, and the address there.
You can see Brother Ulysses Hernandez if you need details on that.
Ladies' Prayer Breakfast is on Saturday, June 3rd.
And of course, Ms. Janelle Gonzalez is the one who heads that up, so you can see her.
And then one announcement that's not here on the bulletin is the Barstow zoning tomorrow.
We'll meet at the building at 1130.
And of course, Brother Ulysses Hernandez will be heading that up.
And I believe they are going to Barstow, right?
Or Barstow?
Is it still Barstow?
Around the area.
We're calling it Barstow, though.
But it's actually not Barstow.
So this is false advertisement here, okay?
No food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee.
Make sure you're not lording in the four-year fellowship hall during the preaching service,
unless, of course, you're taking your kids out in the fellowship hall to distract them a little bit.
Quiet time this afternoon is from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the whole building.
And lastly, please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service, all right?
That is it.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song, 281, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, song number 281.
Song number 281, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.
Altogether on that first verse.
Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief,
kneeling there in deep contrition, help my unbelief.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Trusting only in Thy merit, would I seek Thy face,
heal my wounded, broken spirit, save me by Thy grace.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me.
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heaven but Thee?
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Amen. Wonderful singing.
At this time, the ushers will come forth to receive the offering.
You can turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 31.
The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
What, my son, and what, the son of my womb, and what, the son of my vows?
Give not Thy strength unto women, nor Thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink,
lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
Open thy mouth for the dumb, and the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies?
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
She considerth of a field, and buyeth it, with the fruit of her hand she planteth a vineyard.
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
She perceiveth that her merchandise is good, her candle goeth not out by night.
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reaches forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, her clothing is silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed.
Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelest them all.
Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain.
But woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.
Let's pray, dear Lord God. I just thank you for this opportunity to assemble in your house, to hear your word preached.
I just ask that you would bless Pastor Mahieu with your Holy Spirit as he does so.
And please just open the eyes of our understanding that we might be edified.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Okay, we're in Proverbs chapter 31 this morning, and I'm going to preach a different sermon than I typically would preach on a Mother's Day.
And I want to talk about specifically, or actually the title of my sermon is Lessons My Mom Taught Me.
I'm just going to give you a lot of lessons that my mom taught me throughout my life.
And these aren't lessons that my mom set me down and said, hey, lesson number one, lesson number two.
My mom rarely, if ever, did anything like that, but she actually taught me by her life.
And a lot of those lessons I didn't actually know at the time until I got older and I started having kids.
And, you know, I got married and started living an adult life.
That's when I realized, hey, these are some of the things that my mom taught me growing up.
And, you know, looking back, obviously when I was a teenager or I was a little kid,
I didn't really appreciate a lot of the things that my mom did for me and did for our family because I didn't really understand.
You know, kids are kind of dumb. Just be honest with them.
You know, they're just kind of, they don't really know, they don't really think past lunch,
and they don't really think about the importance of their mother and their life and the things that they teach them.
So a lot of these lessons that she gave me were indirect lessons that really are affecting me until this very day.
They're ingrained in me to this very day.
And I didn't really know that these are lessons that my mom taught me until I started experiencing a lot of these things.
And my response to the things of life, my response to trials and tribulations led me to realize this is something my mom taught me,
whether she realizes it or not.
And so Proverbs 31, verse number one says,
The words of King Lemuel, listen to this, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
And so obviously King Lemuel, we don't know much about him, we don't know much about his mother.
But we do know this is that Proverbs 31 is a great chapter that really lays out what essentially a virtuous woman is.
And this is something that he's writing, but it's not necessarily, it's not original.
Okay, he got this from his mom. His mom is the one who taught him these things.
And she's the one who ingrained these particular virtues for him to look for in a wife.
And so it shows us here that, you know, the prophecy that our mother gives us, obviously our father as well,
but the prophecies and the teachings, the lessons that our mother gives us, you know, is obviously very much important.
In fact, let me read to you from Proverbs chapter one, and verse number seven, it says here,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
So the Bible talks about the law of thy mother.
It's not referring to the law of God. It's not referring to the law of the word of God.
It's referring to your mom's law, the rules that she has set forth for your life.
And it says, for they, referring to the instruction of the father, referring to the law of your mother,
for they shall be an ornament of grace into thy head, and listen to this, and chains about thy neck.
You know, I think that is a very true statement there because a lot of times when we're kids, teenagers,
the rules that our moms have, they seem like chains about our neck, right?
They're just kind of weighing on us. They kind of drag us along life.
We don't really appreciate the weight of that chain about our neck.
But it goes on to say in Proverbs chapter six, in verse 20,
My son, keep thy father's commandments, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee.
When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
So we see that the law of our mother is essentially something like chains about our neck that leads us in life.
But then later on, you know, God commands us to tie them about our own necks.
You know, when we get married, we start having kids, we're out from our mother's rule, our father's rule,
our parental leadership, so to speak.
Well, God expects us to take those same chains and tie them about our necks, right?
And, you know, if you're a teenager and you think to yourself, nah, I don't think I'm going to do that.
The reason I want to leave my parents is to get rid of those chains, get rid of those laws,
and I don't have to abide by those rules.
But take it from me, as a very young man, okay, a 37-year-old young man, no laughing please.
Whoa, apparently it was that funny, I guess.
You know, take it from me, you know, as someone who is married and has children,
I've looked back at the laws of my mother, and you know what?
I revisit those chains, I revisit those, that binding chain about my neck,
and I kind of dust them off and put them about my neck once again, and I realize the importance of them.
And in fact, I grab those same chains and I put them about my kids' necks, right?
I got five of them now, so now I'm just kind of multiplying chains and putting them about their neck
because I see the value of the law of my mother.
I know that it will lead them.
I know that when they sleep, it shall keep them.
When they awake, it shall talk with them.
Now let me just say this.
Let me give a disclaimer here, is that obviously I didn't grow up in a Christian home.
My mom was not a Christian her whole life.
She just recently got saved within the last year or so, but you know what?
That's irrelevant in regards to the wisdom and the lessons that my mom has taught me.
And I think a lot of times Christians get this idea, especially if they go to a church like ours,
they think to themselves, well, I know more Bible than my parents, I know more Bible than my mom,
I know more Bible than my dad, and so, you know, whatever they can teach me is just irrelevant to me
because I know more than them, but that's actually wrong.
You might know a little bit more doctrine than them, but when it comes to life, they know a lot more than you.
And it would do you well to, you know, welcome those chains of laws about your neck
and that ornament of grace upon your head because it would do you well.
And here's the thing is that the Bible tells us to honor our father and mother,
and it doesn't give any stipulations, right?
It doesn't say, you know, unless they're like not saved, unless they drink, unless they smoke.
Now, obviously, we understand that if your parents are involved in some wicked, gross sin,
and they're trying to get you to commit those sins, you know, God is not pleased with that.
But in general, you know, parents don't do things like that, okay?
In general, parents want what's best for their kids, and although they don't have, you know,
if you don't have Christian parents, they don't necessarily know the laws of God,
they don't know the word of God, they don't know the principles of God's word, you know,
they have something in them innately given to them by God to lead about their children,
to raise their children, and to teach them wisdom, and to teach them principles,
to guide them, and to make them successful, and to help them.
And here's the thing, you know, the Bible tells us that God has given us the bounds of our habitations.
In other words, you know, it's no accident that you're born in the family that you're in, amen?
God specifically ordained it to be that way.
He wanted you to have that mom, He wanted you to have that dad,
He wanted you to grow up in that neighborhood, in that city, in that particular area,
and there's lessons along the way that you can learn.
So it doesn't matter if your parents are saved or not, you can still learn something from them.
Never have this attitude, well, you know, yeah, my mom's saved, my dad's saved,
but, you know, they don't go to church, they don't read the Bible, they don't believe like I do necessarily,
but, you know, that's irrelevant, and that's a foolish mentality, that's a stupid mentality to have,
to not value the wisdom of your parents, you know, regardless of what they believe, okay?
And let me say this, you know, the Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 30,
it talks about a generation, and this is a particular generation that we do not want to be, okay?
We want to make sure we stray far away from being this type of generation,
we want to make sure that this church raises up young people
that rejects being this type of generation that we're going to look at, okay?
Proverbs 30 verse 11 says,
There is a generation that cursed their father and doth not bless their mother.
What does it talk about? Talk about kids who don't speak well of their parents.
They don't bless their parents, you talk about their mom, talk about their dad,
and all they have is just negative things to say about their parents, you know?
Yeah, but you don't know my mom, you don't know my dad, yeah, I don't.
I don't know them, I just know what the Bible says about them, right?
And it says here, there is a generation that exists that speaks ill of their father,
it doesn't go out of their way to bless their mother,
it doesn't give their mom a Mother's Day card, Mother's Day gift,
it doesn't tell their mom that they love them, and they're grateful for them.
This is the generation this is referring to here.
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
So this particular generation that curses their father and doesn't bless their mother,
the reason they're like that is because they think they're so righteous,
they're so pure in their own eyes, they think they're better than their parents, okay?
There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.
And so we don't want to be this generation, we want to be a generation that's humble,
and that recognizes the effort that our parents put into raising us.
Maybe they made some mistakes along the way, maybe they weren't the best of parents,
but hold on a second, God still expects us to be grateful for what they taught us,
whether verbally or indirectly by their lives, and be grateful for that.
Because one day you're going to be a parent, one day you're going to be a mom,
one day you're going to be a dad, and hopefully you're sowing some good seeds now, amen?
Sow some good seeds now and honor your parents so that one day
you will reap the benefits of your children honoring you, okay?
And so it doesn't matter of what they believe.
And let me just say this, is that this sermon obviously may not be applicable to some of you,
maybe your mom's not around, maybe your mom passed away,
maybe you don't have children or you're not close to your mom for whatever it may be.
However, you can take a sermon like this and be a spiritual mom to others, okay?
Influence others, or you can use this to prepare to be a good mother, okay?
And just recognize that we never want to downplay the role of a mother.
A mother's influence in the life of a child is great.
It really molds a child for what they can and will become in the future.
Now a lot of these lessons that I'm going to give you this morning may not have verses,
don't crucify me or anything.
I'm like, oh man, you know, where's the Bible and all this?
I'm just giving you principles because my mom didn't say, hey, lesson number one,
turn to John chapter, you know, she didn't do that, okay?
And the reality is this, is that a lot of what I'm going to talk about this morning
is just like, you know, very little in comparison to what the rest of the stuff
that she taught me throughout my life.
These are just things like right off hand I can think of that she taught me.
Now go with if you went to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, Ecclesiastes chapter number 12.
Lesson number one from my mom, she taught me life is hard.
My mom taught me that life is hard, okay?
And again, she didn't tell me this directly.
She didn't verbalize this to me.
I just learned from my mom and by her life, man, life is very difficult.
Now I grew up in a single parent home.
My dad wasn't necessarily in the picture per se, as in he wasn't in our home.
I didn't grow up with him.
And so my mom raised myself, my older brother, my older sister.
And, you know, it's difficult for a single parent mom to raise her kids
and to make sure that they're on the straight and narrow
and not deviate into wickedness and sinfulness, prison, drugs or whatever it may be.
And, you know, juggling that, raising kids and then working a full-time job
and being there emotionally for their kids and still providing a childhood for her children
and still kind of struggling with the emotions that a woman struggles with, right?
You know, it kind of showed me, wow, life is hard.
And, you know, I don't necessarily remember times in my life growing up even as a child
seeing my mom cry.
I'll be honest with you.
Maybe once or twice, you know?
I remember one particular time that she took me on a trip to Guatemala, which is where she's from.
By the way, I was born here, okay?
Everyone always tells me, everyone always like, so when did you come here?
You know, like, so how long have you been here from Guatemala?
You know, like, what part of Guatemala were you born?
And it's like, I'm like, American, I'm here.
Do I need to say it, like, Mirka or something?
Like, what do you want me to say?
But my mom was born in Guatemala.
My dad was born in Guatemala.
And I remember going there and she would tear up just kind of going into, you know,
where she grew up and everything.
But very rarely would I ever see my mom cry, even though I know beyond a shadow of a doubt.
My mom had a lot of pain in her heart because of a lot of the experiences that she had in her past.
And even while growing up, I remember looking at my mom thinking,
I know my mom's going through a hard time right now, but she's just not displaying it.
And I remember growing up, even as a teenager, thinking to myself,
my mom worked so hard, she has so many jobs, and she provides for her family,
and she still has a smile on her face.
But I knew that in her heart, she understood that this stuff is difficult
without a father in the picture, and especially without the Bible, without God.
And so she taught me that life is very hard.
You say, well, how is that a lesson to you?
Well, because of the fact that when you become a Christian, it doesn't get any easier.
Problems multiply when you become a Christian, amen?
And now growing up, having kids of my own, having a wife, and pastoring a church,
and just experiencing some of the trials and tribulations in my life,
you know, I thank God that my mom taught me by her life that, you know,
don't expect life to be a bed of roses.
Don't expect life to just be hunky-dory, especially when you become a Christian.
Life is hard. Life is difficult.
Life is filled with financial woes, with sicknesses, with heartbreaks, with tears, sleepless nights,
just a lot of tribulation that comes upon her life.
And I'm thankful that my mom taught me that, and she didn't keep me in a bubble and teach me,
hey, you know, everything's going to be okay, you know, you're never going to have a hard time,
you're never going to have pain, you're never going to have heartache.
No, I understood from my mom that life is very difficult at times, not all the time,
but it is, there are seasons in our life when life is hard.
And you know what, we need to teach our kids that as well.
That, you know, life isn't a playground, life isn't necessarily going to be easy all the time,
sometimes there's difficult times in life, and when the going gets tough, the tough get going,
but you know what, we need to make sure that we stick it out in whatever we're doing when life is hard.
Because when life was hard for my mom, she still went to work.
When life got hard for my mom, she still took me to school.
When life got hard for my mom, she still took me to McDonald's.
And we, you know, we still did things and were very happy, and you know, when life got hard,
she still woke up in the morning and took care of her responsibilities,
she still was able to function and move forward,
and that taught me that even though life is hard, that doesn't mean we just take a break from life.
It means we keep pressing forward, okay.
Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse number 1, it says,
Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh,
when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them,
while the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain,
in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because there are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
and the doors shall be shut in the streets,
when the sounds of the grinding is low,
and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
and all the daughters of music shall be brought low.
Basically implying, you know, there comes a time when our bodies begin to kind of shut down a little bit.
Now I'm not at that stage yet, I hope I'm not at that stage yet,
I hope this year is not that year that I, you know,
I hear a lot of people like, oh my back, you know,
and my knees start hurting and things start, you know,
kind of cracking and moving a little bit,
when you wake, you know, you wake up in the morning,
you get out of bed and it just, it just sounds like you're just,
you just visited a chiropractor or something like that, you know.
But let me say this to my mom, and I'm not looking forward to this,
my mom always tells me that she has like these pains,
and my mom is about, she's in her late 70s right now,
but my mom always tells me this, she always says,
you'll remember me when you get to my age.
She always tells me, she's like, you'll remember me.
She talks about pains, and she tells me, she's just like,
and she's like, I know you don't think it's a whole lot right now,
but you'll remember me when you hit my age.
And I kind of remember those words now,
when she used to tell me those things in times past,
regarding other situations.
And so it's true, and it makes me want to remember my Creator
in the days of my youth, okay.
That, you know, right now that my knees aren't hurting,
my back's not hurting, I don't have all these bodily pains per se,
you know, now's the time to serve God.
Now's the time to go sowing, to serve God,
to use my physical body to go and be a blessing to others,
to serve the Lord with my physical strength that I have,
because there comes a time when I'm not going to be able to do those things
as efficiently as I would want to, okay.
And so life is hard, that's one lesson that my mom taught me,
but she also taught me that in spite of life being hard,
she always had a can-do attitude, just making it happen.
I don't ever remember my mom growing up,
ever kind of coming to me and saying,
we're going to be thrown out into the streets,
or we're not going to make it this month.
Doesn't matter how bad it ever got financially,
my mom always had the most positive attitude,
I mean the world can just be burning,
and she would always come to me and say, we're going to be fine.
And look, this is the faith of my mom before Christianity,
before the Bible.
She just had this belief that everything's,
but that's because she understood, push through it, work through it,
life is hard, this is just how life is sometimes,
now's not the time to just shut down,
and just kind of become a recluse type of a believer,
or a recluse type of a person,
we need to make sure that we make it happen every single day.
The Bible tells us, you don't have to turn there,
in Proverbs 24 verse 10,
if thou faith in the day of adversity,
thy strength is small.
And you know, looking back at what my mom taught me
about life being hard,
I needed that today because I've gone through some adversity in my life,
I've gone through some trials in my life,
and I'm thinking about it like,
my mom went through something similar without the Bible.
How much more can I pass this test with the Bible,
with God, with the Holy Spirit,
with a local New Testament church.
You know, my mom didn't have a local New Testament church,
she didn't have people encouraging her.
And in fact, you know, without giving too much detail,
she had a lot of people just kind of backstab her,
and betray her, and family members, and friends,
and she didn't really have much but her kids.
But yet, she still pressed through,
and taught me that even when life is hard,
you know, we can still live a life of meaningful life,
we can still enjoy life,
and yeah, through tears and through sorrow,
still push forward.
Go to Philippians chapter 2.
Here's another lesson that my mom taught me,
aside from life being just really hard.
My mom actually taught me to live for others.
Again, this is not something that she said,
Bruce, live for others, you know.
She actually exemplified this,
and let me explain what I mean, let me be careful here.
You know, again, my mom, growing up, single parent home,
obviously certain things in my mom's life didn't work out.
You know, certain relationships didn't work out,
and you know, there wasn't necessarily a man in the house
as far as, you know, my mom was not married,
she didn't have a husband,
she didn't have a boyfriend or whatever,
she didn't have that,
and she kind of got to a point in her life
where she essentially recognized
that those days are kind of over,
I'm gonna live for my kids.
And you know, I never really heard my mom complain,
and again, I'm sure my mom,
there was times in my mom's life when she was very lonely,
where she needed companionship that she never received,
you know.
I'm sure there's times in my mom's life
where it was just really hard,
and you know, being kids we're just like,
hey mom, are we better to thee than ten husbands or something,
you know, aren't I better than any other husband
that you could ever have, you know.
I never really thought about it as a kid,
I never really thought, you know, my mom needs a husband,
and in fact, you know, I would probably have a problem
if my mom, you know, as a kid,
I'd probably have a problem with her having a husband or something,
you know, like who are you, you know.
But my mom never brought anybody over,
she never had necessarily a relationship with anyone,
and I got to a point in my life,
in my young adult years,
where I realized my mom kind of forfeited a lot of that stuff,
and she invested a lot in her kids.
She just spent a lot of time investing in us,
spending time with us, helping to mold us,
and for me that was kind of hard
to realize that my mom was willing to do something like that,
because it's just like,
I don't know if I would be willing to do something like that,
you know, just to kind of say,
you know what, my time has passed,
it's time for me to invest in my kids or whatever,
if I was in my mom's situation,
but that's what my mom did.
And she taught me that, you know,
even though certain ships have sailed,
certain doors have closed,
certain times in life are kind of over with,
it doesn't mean life is over.
She kind of took that energy and invested it in her kids,
okay, spending time with her kids,
helping her kids, mold her kids,
being there for her children in that type of situation.
Look at Philippians chapter 2, verse number 1,
it says,
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ,
if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any vows and mercies,
fulfill you my joy,
the be like-minded, having the same love,
being of one accord and of one mind,
let nothing be done through strife or vainglory,
but in lowliness of mind,
let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others.
So this is obviously a Christian virtue to live for others
and it takes a lot of virtue to exercise this
knowing full well that maybe we may not be able to enjoy those things.
You understand?
And so that's a lesson that my mom taught me is
when certain doors close,
it doesn't mean life is over.
My mom never came to me and said,
you know,
I'll never get married and I'm just going to keep trying and keep trying.
She just kind of said,
actually she never said that at all.
She never even brought it up.
She was just kind of like,
you know what?
I love you guys and I want to serve you guys
and be there for my kids
because that ship has already sailed.
And that's not a popular view.
That's a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow.
I'm just showing you the kind of lessons that my mom taught me by her life.
And she taught me to be content in whatsoever state she was in
because she never showed me discontentment
with not being in a relationship
or things of that nature.
You know, she was just kind of happy where she was.
She was happy with her kids.
She was happy with the life that she had
and doing so.
And so she taught me to live for others.
And you know what?
That is an important Christian virtue
that putting ourselves last,
Amen?
And putting others first.
And you may be in a situation,
maybe not similar to that,
but you may be in a situation where a ship is about to sail
or maybe the ship is still there.
You know, it's still our responsibility as Christians to serve others,
to live for others, to serve others,
to not be self-centered,
not be focused on ourselves and our problems.
And in fact, one of the best ways to get over your problems
is to focus on the problems of others.
One of the reasons your problems are so big
and they're just insurmountable
and you can't seem to overcome them
and they're just right there in the forefront of your mind at all times
is because you're not serving others.
However, when you serve others,
you put your focus on other people,
you know what happens?
Your problems become very minimal,
become very small.
And God gives you grace to deal with those issues
and with those problems.
And you know, just kind of realize,
you know, my purpose in life is to serve Christ by serving others.
And you find fulfillment in that, okay?
Go with it if you would to,
go to Proverbs chapter, go back to Proverbs 31.
Proverbs chapter 31.
Now with that being said,
here's lesson number three that my mom taught me.
And this impacted me greatly,
obviously in those times, but I didn't really realize it.
But it's impacted me more now today.
And that is,
she taught me the importance of my father's presence in my life.
Let me say that again.
She taught me the importance of my father's presence in my life.
Now again, my father was not a Christian.
And he's not a believer.
He wasn't a believer.
He recently came to our church,
I don't know, within the last year or so
and someone gave him the gospel
and he called upon the name of the Lord.
He lives in a different state.
We have a great relationship.
When we talk, we get along.
And I can think back to when I was a very small child.
And again, I don't even have memories of my father being in the house.
My older brother and older sister, they have memories of that,
but I don't have memories of that because he left when I was really young.
And when a child grows up in a household without a father,
it's really dysfunctional.
It can be very dysfunctional without a father.
How many know what I'm talking about?
Am I the only one who knows what I'm talking about?
It's just very dysfunctional.
It can be very problematic.
There's a lot of insecurities that children can have without their father.
There's a lot of emotional trauma that they can experience
without having their father's presence.
And I remember growing up kind of being bitter towards my dad.
Just kind of wondering, like, why did he leave?
What's wrong with me?
Was there something wrong with me?
Was there something wrong with my family?
Why did you leave?
And that was something that I would always kind of question
throughout my life as a teenager.
And there would be times when I'd talk to him
and I would kind of ask him those questions
and he didn't necessarily give me a straight answer.
And I remember just kind of being angry and bitter about that.
But you know what?
There's never been a time throughout those years
that my mom would ever help me to be bitter towards my father.
Never pushed me to be bitter towards my father.
And in fact, my mom would always try to get me
to have a good relationship with my dad despite their differences.
Because they had a lot of differences.
They had a good amount of differences.
And they get along now.
They're like friends and they talk and everything.
But they had a lot of differences in times past.
A lot of drama.
A lot of novella, right?
A lot of novella, a lot of soap opera going on in those times.
And when I was a young kid,
but never did my mom ever say, you know,
bad mouth my dad to me
and say that I had a horrible father
and he's trash and he left you.
Never.
And in fact, my mom would always tell me, call your dad.
Call your dad.
To this day.
To this day my mom still does that.
My mom to this day, she told me this week,
have you called your dad?
Call your dad.
Talk to your dad.
And spend time with your dad.
Talk to your dad.
And she would obviously push him to come see me.
And she would always try to, you know,
just help us have a good relationship.
And obviously there's certain things that are irreparable to a certain extent.
And, you know, we didn't necessarily become the best of friends.
But I do remember my mom constantly pushing me to contact my father,
have a good relationship with my father.
And I think it's because she understood the importance of having my father's presence in my life.
You know?
And, you know, I remember times growing up as a teenager,
you know, you get a little rebellious.
Right?
You guys know what I'm talking about?
You parents know what I'm talking about when teenagers get a little rebellious?
Anybody know about that?
You know?
They get a little rebellious and they start talking back and,
you know, they get their little attitude going on or whatever.
And I remember being in that stage of life when I was like that.
And, you know, just kind of thinking on my own
and just coming up with my own conclusions about my dad and everything.
And I would criticize my father to my mom, you know, like, you know,
just kind of mad that he wasn't around.
And my mom would always correct me.
And she said, your dad was there for you.
I'm like, what do you mean?
He wasn't there.
He ain't here.
He's not here.
You know?
And she would point out instances in my life where he would come visit, drop off a gift.
He said, well, is that really there?
No, but she's doing her best though.
She's trying to pick out his good attributes and kind of accentuate them before me.
You see where I'm coming from here?
So whatever good qualities my father had in those times,
my mom would take those good qualities, kind of pretty it up a little bit,
and say, you have a good father.
Now back then I wasn't buying it.
Just like, whatever, you know?
But you know what?
Now that I'm an adult, I think to myself, you know what?
Yeah, he did try.
And I begin to accentuate the good things that my father did in my life.
No, you're supposed to focus on the negative and all the things that he did.
Why?
Why live a bitter life?
You know, we could put our parents under a microscope and pull out all their flaws
and all the areas in their lives that they failed to sin or whatever it may be.
But you know what?
God gave us parents and they weren't perfect.
No one's perfect.
Neither are you.
I'm not perfect.
But I'm just thankful that my mom did that.
Because looking back now, you know, I'm just thankful that my mom never bad-mouthed my dad
because now I realize the importance of a father.
I realize the importance of a father's presence in their life and the life of their children.
He always tried to protect my father's reputation despite their differences.
And that wasn't necessarily easy.
My dad didn't have like the best reputation back in the day.
You know, we had some run-ins and my dad was crazy back in the day.
And you know, that's in the past or whatever.
But you know, despite those character flaws, my mom did her best to accentuate his good qualities
and push me towards having a good relationship with him.
You know, and so, and really just tried, she tried her best to kind of endear my heart towards him.
And the lesson that we can learn there is mom, make sure you endear the hearts of your children to their fathers.
Right?
Speak well of your child's father.
Speak well of them.
Help them to have a good relationship with them.
And of course, this is not a one-size-fits-all type of principle here.
But in general, you know, mothers should do their best to keep a good reputation
or speak well of their father's reputation to the children.
Because one day they're going to be dads.
One day they're going to be parents.
Lesson number four.
My mom taught me the importance of hard work.
Now to this day, my mom's in her late 70s, to this day my mom still works.
And you're like, aren't you against women working or whatever?
Well, obviously, you know, there's biblical principles in that regard.
But my mom's not necessarily in that situation where she has a husband providing for her.
Right?
But throughout her life, my mom has always worked hard.
She's always had her own businesses.
She always paid the bills, made things happen.
And she taught me the importance of that.
And in fact, I remember getting a job when I was about 12 years old.
And it was actually at a restaurant that belonged to one of her bosses.
And so she kind of got me the job there.
And it was your classic, you know, I was like your classic Mexican washing dishes in the back or whatever.
You know, just got to start somewhere, amen.
That's what I would do.
And it wasn't necessarily one of those things where it's just like, you know, they give you a paycheck.
It's just like, here's like cash.
You know what I mean?
It was just like the under the table type thing.
Not because I didn't have papers or anything like that.
Remember, I was born here, okay?
And I remember getting this job and my mom got me this job because she wanted me to have my own money to learn how to be responsible with money.
And I remember the job was a little far from my house.
It was a little far away.
And I remember thinking to myself like, I mean it was far enough that it was like you have to go on the freeway, right?
And so the day of, when I started, I just expected my mom to take me to work.
And she was doing something and I was just like, mom, I got to go to work.
You know, I'm starting today.
And she's like, I'm not taking you.
I was like, it's my first day.
She's like, take the keys.
I'm like, drive?
She's like, yeah.
You know how to drive?
I'm like, I think I got to go on the freeway.
Yeah, you'll be fine.
She's just like, just go on the far right on the slow lane.
Don't be nervous.
Just like with the utmost confidence.
Just the utmost confidence.
And I was scared.
She's just fine.
And when you get home from work, just go back on the freeway, go on the slow lane, come back home.
You know where your job's at.
You won't get lost.
Just not babied at all.
So at that time, my mom had a Volkswagen Cabriolet.
You guys know what that car is?
It's like from ancient times, I know.
But it was like a small little car.
And she's just like, just get in the car, put on your seat belt.
It's not a stick shift.
Just, you know, put it in drive.
Don't go too fast.
You'll be fine.
And so I got on and I was, you know, two hands there and, you know, just driving.
And I got to my job and I remember thinking to myself, like, I feel grown up.
I got a job.
I drove myself to the job.
And I'm going to drive myself back.
And then when I came back, she's like, how was it?
I'm like, it was actually easier than I thought.
She's like, see?
You're over here all scared, you know.
And so, you know, she helped me to realize the importance of hard work.
And I realized, you know what?
I have no excuse why I can't go to work.
It's just like, you know, my mom gives me the keys to the car to go to my job, to go to work.
And I just remember growing up and my mom always finding a way.
There's just like no barriers whatsoever for my mom.
Okay.
I mean, you know, I don't know if she still does it today because she doesn't have a truck anymore.
Because she used to have a truck.
And, you know, she would go and pick up furniture and just kind of like fix it up.
So she would find like some huge cabinet, load it herself onto the truck,
sand it herself, paint it herself and sell it.
And it's just like, you know, and that's just how my mom's always operated.
And, you know, I love that work ethic because she essentially, you know, I adopted that work ethic.
And now I see, you know, especially when you see young people today, you know,
they can't even get themselves out of bed.
They don't want to work an eight-hour shift because it's just too long.
It's too emotional for them or whatever.
They just, they might have a mental breakdown or something like that or whatever.
But my mom always taught me the importance of working hard, having a job,
having money so you can, you know, purchase whatever it is that you need to purchase
and taking care of multiple responsibilities at the same time.
Just being a responsible young adult, okay?
I'm going to skip the verse that we, that I had you turn to in Proverbs 31.
And I want you to go to Proverbs 23, actually.
Work hard! Go get a job!
I'm not saying go take your parent's car if you don't have a license or anything like that.
Did you have a license?
Twelve years old? No. I didn't even have a permit at that time, okay?
But, you know, I did grow up in those days where I don't know if that was like a thing,
if the police would pull you over during that time or whatever.
But, you know, my mom actually taught all of us to drive at a young age.
My brother actually learned to drive when he was nine years old.
He would drive my mom from Orange County to Los Angeles.
My sister learned, I think, at ten and I learned at twelve.
And so, you know, and she didn't freak out about it either.
You know, it's just a different way of life back then, but we need to bring that way of life back.
And not keep our children in a bubble and just, you know, freak out when they scrape their knees or something like that.
Or, you know, have a little boo-boo or something.
You know, they need to man up, okay?
All right, next lesson that my mom taught me here is she put the fear of God in my life.
My mom put the fear of God in my life, okay?
You know, I thought she wasn't a Christian. She didn't need to be.
I feared God because I feared my mom, okay?
And I'm talking about spanking, okay?
I know that's a dirty word today or whatever, you know.
But the truth of the matter is, is my mom, she whooped me, okay?
Now, I didn't get as whooped as much as my older brother, though.
He got all the experimental stuff, you know, because he was the first one, so he got it really bad.
So my mom always said to me, like, I didn't spank you that hard.
Well, yeah, of course not, not in comparison to my older brother.
You know, my older brother got it really bad, okay, because he was the first one.
But I got my share of whoopings, and, you know, I'm thankful.
Obviously, in those days, though, I was not thankful for it.
And, you know, I mean, no one likes to get spanked, okay?
And by the way, they didn't call it spankings back then either.
It was a different type of whooping, okay?
But you say, well, how does that give you the fear of the Lord?
Well, look at Proverbs 23 and verse 13.
Let's look at a couple of verses here.
It says, verse 13, withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Now, don't get this misconstrued just because it says beatest him with the rod.
It's not just like, blah, you're just, like, knocking him out or something like that.
It's just referring to just whooping, okay?
And it's saying that you're not going to kill your child if you spank him on the bottom, okay?
God's created a level of cushioning there in the hinder parts, okay, that is just good for spanking, okay?
It stings, it's good.
Verse 14 says, thou shalt beat him with the rod, listen to this, and shall deliver his soul from hell.
Now, what does that mean?
Well, it doesn't mean, like, people could look at this and say, does that mean she beats the hell out of you or what?
Well, to a certain extent, yeah.
But what this really means is that when your parents spank you, they teach you that life has consequences, right?
That there are repercussions to your actions.
And because there's repercussions to your actions, when you grow up, you recognize that the wages of sin is death.
So children who are chastised or spanked, you know, in their life grow up receptive to the gospel because they recognize life has consequences
and ultimately the wages of sin is death and it helps their hearts to be tender towards the gospel.
It helps them to fear God, okay?
And, you know, my mom gave me a share of whoopings growing up and my mom did not let me disrespect her, yell at her.
And that's not to say that I never did those things, I'm just saying, like, it never went unchecked, okay?
Because again, you know, growing up in a single parent home, you don't have a male figure there, you know, you get out of hand sometimes.
Kids can get out of hand, they become disrespectful, mouth off to their parents, say whatever.
And my mom wasn't just like, okay, you know, you could have that opinion, I guess.
My mom was more like, come again and slap, you know what I mean?
It was kind of like, but she taught me well through those fankings.
And again, I didn't appreciate them back then, but looking back, I'm like, man, I'm thankful that she did because I'm not on drugs today,
I'm not a gang member today, I'm not in jail today, and a good part of it is because my mom whooped me.
And we need to get away from this modern philosophy of timeouts, of, you know, this positive parenting thing only,
where you don't say anything negative, just gentle parenting, where you just don't want to, I could never.
The Bible says that if you don't chastise your child physically, that you actually hate your child.
That's what the Bible actually teaches, okay?
And, you know, I'm impressed with my mother in that regard, I'll just be honest with you.
Because, you know, you come home from work, she comes home from work, she's probably tired,
she's not wanting to deal with it, but she had enough energy apparently to like work, spank, cook, clean, and do all that.
And you say, she had enough energy to spank, she had a lot of energy to spank.
Now, she was a little faster with my brother, she kind of slowed down a little bit with me.
You know, I was able to like juke a little bit, but ultimately I was cornered and I would get it.
Look at Proverbs 19, if you would.
You show me a spoiled little brat, I'll show you a kid who was never spanked growing up.
You show me a teenager who's just completely disrespectful to their parents and just mouths off,
I'll show you a child who was never spanked.
I believe in spanking, we teach spanking, the Bible teaches spanking.
And, you know, and by the way, if you're in here tonight or today this morning and you've never been spanked,
you're like, well, I was never spanked and I got saved.
Well, you know what, by the grace of God, amen.
But you better adopt this mentality, you better adopt this biblical principle of chastising children,
your children, not other people's children.
Although, I will say this, there's times when growing up, I was with my mom in a grocery store
and some kid was just throwing a fit, you know, because he didn't get like a candy or something like that,
he'd just throw himself on the floor and my mom would be like, if he was mine.
Or she'd be like, just give me five minutes.
And I remember thinking to myself, like, when kids would do that, I'm like, whoa, if I did that, I'd be dead.
I'd be dead.
I literally remember times, and look, my mom chastised me, but I think I feared more than chastisement, the look.
There's a look that my mom used to give me in public, where if I do something, she'd just kind of like raise the eyebrow
and just look at me and I'm like, oh, man, I'm dead, I'm dead.
And then, you know, we leave the public restaurant or the grocery store
and I'm just trying to kind of, you know, change the subject a little bit to help her forget.
Just trying to be happy about everything, you know what I mean?
Like, so mom, what do we do next, you know what I mean?
And then she would just give me the sign and I'm like, she didn't forget.
And if the look didn't work, you know, the pinch would.
You know, it was just like, if I'm asking for something, asking for something,
my mom would just grab me by the shoulder and just pinch me ever so slightly.
And it was just like, okay, I know what that means.
I shall never ask again.
Proverbs 19, 18 says,
Chasing thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
Why does it say to chasten thy son while there is hope?
Well, because there comes a time when it's actually too late to spank your children.
Actually, where it won't be effective at all.
Spanking is very effective, but you have to do it in the right time
or else they grow up and you've already ingrained in them certain traits and rebelliousness
that even chastening won't even help.
They need to be chastened of the Lord thereafter, okay, to get their attention.
And so it's important that you chasten them while there is hope.
Put the fear of God in them while there is hope and don't spare for their crying.
They'll get over it.
It says in Proverbs 13, verse 24,
He that spareth his rod hateth the son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him beat times.
In other words, saying if you chasten them early, it'll be a blessing to them, okay.
Go with me if you would to Proverbs chapter 4, Proverbs chapter 4.
Lesson number 6 from my mom.
She taught me the importance of protecting me from bad influences.
Now growing up, obviously because my mom was not a Christian,
she didn't grow up in a Christian home, single parent,
I eventually got bad influences in my life, but not because my mom didn't do anything about it,
but because I had my own will.
You know, we're not Calvinists here, okay.
You have to recognize that we can do all we can on our part to train our children in the way this should go,
but at the end of the day, children have their own will.
They make their own choices and they can make bad choices, right.
And I remember growing up just kind of adopting bad influences in my life,
because it was my choice, not my mother's choice,
and you know, eventually I got away from those bad influences, obviously,
but I remember growing up and my mom being just really strict about my friends.
I mean, unknowingly strict about my friends, you know.
As a child I would think that.
And in fact, I remember my mom would tell me this story and my brother told me as well.
There was a time we lived in Los Angeles,
and we had some family members that did not hold to these types of principles,
aunts and uncles that would not practice these things.
They were very loose with their child rearing
and they didn't really care about what influences their children had.
And you know, one of them at this moment is in prison,
or I'm sorry, they came out of prison, but they're a reprobate, okay.
And then the second one is dead.
The second one was murdered, he was part of MS-13,
okay, was murdered in 91, 92 or something like that at the age of 19 or 20, okay.
And my brother would always hang around with these cousins of his
and they always wanted to influence them to kind of in that gang lifestyle,
that type of destructive life, and my mom saw that.
And you know, my mom would have people tell her like,
oh just let them hang out and let them sleep over there
and let them just kind of, their cousins, their family.
And so my mom realized the danger with allowing my brother
and my sister to be around these particular cousins,
and you know what she did?
She didn't just cut off the relationship, she just moved to a different city.
So she went from, back in those days, moving to another city was like
almost moving to another state.
There's not social media back then, okay.
It was just like very far.
So we went from Los Angeles to Orange County
and she literally did it because she didn't want my brother and sister
to have bad influences around them.
So she wanted to pick the best school, you know, educationally,
the most sound neighborhood with no gangs in it,
because she didn't want my brother to die.
She didn't want him to join gangs,
she didn't want my sister to be that way either,
and so she made the decision to move them somewhere else
in order to protect them from those influences.
And I remember there's times in my personal life
where she didn't let me hang out with certain people,
and I didn't like that, but you know what, looking back, I'm thankful.
Because it ingrained in me that there are bad people in this world.
It ingrained in me at a very young age
that there are certain people that are just bad people
that we should not let our children hang around with.
And she kind of, you know, blessed me with that discernment
because I remember being a young child, teenager, young adult,
just kind of discerning, this person is not good,
I need to stay away from this particular individual,
and it's because my mom kind of taught me those things.
She kind of taught me to question everyone.
Look at Proverbs 4 verse 10,
Here, O my son, and receive my sayings,
and the years of thy life shall be many.
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom, I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened,
and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her,
for she is thy life.
Enter not into the path of the wicked,
and go not in the way of evil men,
avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief,
and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall.
And in fact, I remember my mom not allowing me to wear certain clothing,
wear certain hats, because they were just too worldly or gang related.
And I was really mad about that, I'll just be honest with you.
Because all my friends had it.
Like the beanies, you know.
Beanies just to keep your head warm.
But in those days, you know what I mean,
it was just like, it was like gang related.
I couldn't have the Cortez's,
the Nike Cortez, I wanted those so bad,
she wouldn't let me have them.
You know, back in, okay, just to show you how old I am.
Back in my day, when you were a kid,
the flat top was like a thing.
You guys know what a flat top is?
Does anybody know what a flat, raise your hand if you don't know what a flat top is.
All the zoomers, okay.
Flat top is like when your head is like straight up and it's just flat.
It's a flat top.
It's when the top of your head is just, the hair is just flat.
Now somewhere to wear that today is just like, this guy's a geek, you know.
It's like lame, you know.
But in those days, it's like all the cool kids would have that flat top.
And I remember going to my mom, because my cousins had the flat tops,
my friends had the flat tops, and I told my mom, I want a flat top.
And she's like, no, you have the mullet.
You have the mullet.
You know, it's just like no flat top for me, and I had the mullet.
And you know, I remember there was a time when it was just like,
the kids would shave off their head, and then they would leave like two little,
you guys know what I'm talking about?
And those are the cool kids.
And I told my mom, I want that.
And my mom's like, no.
You're not doing that.
You're not going to wear that, you're not going to have that,
you're not going to wear these kind of clothes,
you're not going to have these kind of shoes.
I'm like, mom, I want some Nikes that look like this,
because all the kids had it.
And my mom's like, we're going to Payless.
And that's what you're going to get.
I'm trying to remember the particular shoe that they had at Payless.
It was like a really bootleg version of Nikes.
Does anybody know what they're called?
Turn Tech.
What is that?
Turn Tech?
What?
No.
Pro Wings!
Man!
He got it.
See, no one even knows what that is.
Pro Wings.
Yeah, you're just like, okay.
I remember I wanted some Nikes so bad.
And then I was like, I need some new shoes.
I want some Nikes, mom.
You know, there's these particular ones that I wanted,
because everyone had them.
And my mom's like, oh yeah, we'll go get you some shoes.
We'd go to Payless, and go buy Pro Wings.
And they're just kind of like bootleg Nikes.
Okay?
And it was very embarrassing.
And I had an older brother.
He knew that I really wanted to be cool,
but my mom wouldn't let me be cool.
So when I brought them home, he's like,
oh, nice shoes, Bruce.
Oh, what kind are those?
Wait, move your pants a little bit?
What does that say?
Because he's just like poking fun at the fact that I didn't have Nikes.
And then I had to take those to school,
and I was the kid with Pro Wings from Payless.
But you know, looking back, I'm thankful,
because then, you know, I don't have to buy my kids Nikes, amen?
But there's like things of that nature
that I remember my mom just not allowing me to wear,
hairstyles that I wasn't allowed to have,
shoes that I wasn't allowed to wear,
and people that I was not allowed to be with.
I remember, let me share this last story here regarding that, okay?
I remember I had a group of friends,
and they all had like, you know,
angels hats, baseball caps, right?
But I didn't have one of those.
And they're like, we're all going to wear hats, Bruce.
You know, all these little kids.
We're all going to wear these hats,
and then we're just going to wear sweaters,
and we're just going to walk around, you know,
just kind of look cool.
I'm like, all right, let me see if I can go get a hat real quick.
So I go home, and I'm like, mom, I need a hat.
And she's like, why?
I'm like, well, my friends, we're just going to wear hats,
and we're just going to walk around, you know?
And she's like, what friends?
And I kind of told her we're friends,
and she's like, what kind of hats?
And I'm like, this kind of hat?
And so she's like, okay, I got you.
So she pulls out this hat,
and I don't know if anybody remembers these hats,
but there's like the hats with the little fan on top.
The little propellers.
You guys know what I'm talking about?
She's like, what?
Here's your hat.
And I'm just like, I want a cool hat.
She's like, es ist cool.
Es ist wien cool.
Ooste es cool.
She's put on my hat, and I came out with that stupid hat on.
And my friends were just kind of like,
you're kind of defeating the purpose here, you know?
I was not allowed to be cool in those days.
But you know, I'm thankful.
I'm thankful that I was not around the bad crowd.
I wasn't involved with gangs.
Later on, unfortunately,
I did associate with myself with bad people,
but I think maybe the things that my mom taught me
that were ingrained and embedded in my heart
kind of led me later on to kind of separate
from people like that.
Go with me, if you would, to Joshua chapter 14.
Joshua chapter 14.
Hey, young people, thank God for a strict environment
if you grew up in a strict environment.
Thank God for that.
And if you didn't grow up in a strict environment,
you make sure that you raise your family
in a strict environment.
Around godly rules, godly laws,
things that will protect your children.
Here's another lesson that my mom taught me,
and this is actually a lesson that I learned later on.
And I don't want to, don't take this as a,
as a diss on her or something I'm saying
disrespectfully to her.
This is in honor of my mother,
and that is that you're never too old
to start serving God.
Never too old to start serving God.
My mom is in her late 70s,
but she operates like she's in her
like early 50s or something.
But my mom, she recently got saved
and she got baptized,
but she comes to church like faithfully.
And she serves my wife.
She serves myself.
She serves her grandchildren.
And she's taught me that
just because you're in your late 70s
doesn't mean you gotta, you know,
hang up the cape and you just can't do anything.
No, she actually puts in the work
to actually serve the Lord at her capacity
for her age, and I think that's great.
And it's an example unto me to realize,
well if my mom can do this in her late 70s,
that means I can probably do much more
in my late 70s.
So much more in my 80s,
and Lord willing, if I live longer than that.
There's no excuse why we can't serve God.
Age is not an excuse, amen?
Joshua 14 verse 10 says,
And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive,
as He said, these forty and five years,
even since the Lord spake this word into Moses,
while the children of Israel
wandered in the wilderness.
And now, lo, I am this day
four score and five years old.
And yet I am as strong this day
as I was in the day that Moses sent me,
as my strength was then,
even so is my strength now,
for war both to go out and to come in.
Now, therefore, give me this mountain,
whereof the Lord spake in that day,
for thou hurtest in that day
how the Anakims were there,
and that the cities were great and fenced.
If so be the Lord will be with me,
then I shall be able to drive them out
as the Lord said.
And I feel like this is like my mom's attitude.
She's just kind of like,
she never uses her age as an excuse
why she can't do something.
And, you know, my mom has,
she has a strong body.
Like recently she fell,
she tripped or something.
She fell down the stairs, I think.
Some concrete stairs.
And she was just like up and moving
like in a couple days or something.
Like if I fell down the stairs,
I just don't know if my body's
that strong, concrete stairs.
You know, I'm thinking to myself like,
did you break your hip?
Did you break your knees?
And she's like, no, I just got a little bruise here,
but then I saw her a couple days
and she was just walking like nothing,
just kind of not using her age as an excuse.
Not losing her attitude of, you know what,
I can still move around.
She has a clean bill of health, obviously.
And so I'm thankful that she doesn't
use that as an excuse to say,
well, I can't come to church.
You know, if someone's in their 80s, 90s,
if they miss church every once in a while,
once you're like 90 years old,
you can just do whatever you want.
She's old kind of thing.
But you know, my mom, she's late 70s
and she's here.
Like she's here.
Like she's here right now.
She comes to church, you know,
despite her age, she never uses it
as an excuse to say I can't be there.
She'll tell me, you know,
I'll be there in the morning.
I'll see you on Thursday.
I'll see you on Sunday unless something
drastic happens where she can't make it
because she lives all the way in Long Beach.
Her car breaks down or whatever.
She's here pretty much all the time.
And it says a lot to me about my mom.
And so that speaks volumes to me.
All right, here are the last two lessons
and I'm done.
Lesson number eight,
the importance of hearing no.
My mom told me no a lot when I was a kid.
I hate that word.
I heard it so much.
Can I have this? No.
Can we do this? No.
Can I go with, nope.
Can I do it? No.
Just no all the time.
But, looking back, I realized,
or looking back I see how valuable
and I had more gratitude for the yeses
because she told me no a lot.
So when she told me yes, it was very special
because she didn't give me everything I wanted.
So she told me no a lot,
but when she said yes, it was just like,
thanks mom.
And, you know, it taught me too that
you're going to hear no throughout your life too.
By others, by, you know,
friends, family, strangers.
People are going to tell you no,
you can't throw a fit because of it.
You can't throw a fit if someone tells you no.
You know, some girl's not interested in you guys
and says no, don't throw a fit.
Just move on.
Some job tells you no, don't throw a fit,
go apply to another job.
Life tells you no, oh well, move on to the next
and you know what, you'll be that much more grateful
when you get a yes.
And so I was thankful and it made things
that much more special when I did get them.
Okay.
And, you know, my mom didn't necessarily give me
all the glitzy, glamoury toys,
but when I got them for Christmas
it made it that much more special.
And I specifically remember,
because I didn't grow up in a home where they,
my mom didn't teach me about Santa Claus.
You know what I mean?
Like my mom was never like, Santa got,
because she's like, I bought you this.
And my mom wasn't even necessarily into
like buying me toys and like surprising me
on Christmas Day.
This is the way my mom did it.
There used to be a store called Toys R Us.
Is it still around?
Sad, sad.
You know, she would take me there
and she'd say, you can pick out two toys for Christmas.
Two toys or whatever, one or two toys.
And of course I had Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles.
I mean, obviously, right?
Why would I get anything else, you know?
So I'd get those and then we'd go home
and she'd give me the wrapping paper
and she's like, wrap it up.
And then, by the way, because we're Hispanics,
we would celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve.
So we would do it like at 12 midnight
when technically, it was actually like 1130
because you know, so we'd get all dressed up
and everything and you know,
and then we'd open presents Christmas Eve
and then I would act surprised
when I'd open up my presents.
Wow, mom, Power Rangers all great.
And then we'd open presents on Christmas Eve
and then I would act surprised
when I'd open up my presents.
Wow, mom, Power Rangers all great.
You know, and she's just there sitting,
you know, just like, hope you like it,
you know, kind of thing.
But you know what, I wasn't complaining.
But your mom didn't surprise you.
I don't care, I'm just thankful I got a toy.
I'm thankful that I got a Power Ranger
that was this big or a Ninja Turtle or whatever.
I'm just thankful I got it, you know?
And so, you know, I remember my mom taking me,
whether it's for my birthday,
she'd go to Toys R Us and say,
you can get one toy.
And I'm like, I want this one, too expensive.
Another one.
You know what I mean?
Get another one.
And you know, sometimes as kids,
you go to the store or something,
you pick something and you just carry it with you, right?
And then just hoping that when you get
to the front with the cashier,
like, you know, mom, can I have this?
You know what I mean?
Like, she'd say yes.
Or it would just go on the shelf
with the gum and all that.
Most of the time, it would be like,
it would just go on the shelf.
But hey, the times that I did get something,
man, I was thankful for it.
Sporebrats are the ones who get everything
all the time when they ask for it.
You want this? Yes.
Can I have this? Yes.
Can I have a PlayStation? Yes.
Can I have, you know, Xbox? Sure.
Can I get these games? Yes.
You just give them everything that they want.
And then they're never grateful for anything.
You're like, well, didn't you have a PlayStation?
Nope, I had a Nintendo.
I had those old-school Nintendos.
And then, you know, then I got, like, an N64.
Okay?
And you pop it in.
You know, you go through this entire ritual,
this superstitious ritual.
If you knew what you were doing, though,
you'd put it under your shirt.
And you go...
You know, then you turn it on and off
and then you go through this whole ritual or whatever.
But I remember having those.
You're like, well, how many games did you have?
My mom bought me one game.
And then every once in a while,
there's this really ancient store called Blockbuster.
You know what Blockbuster is?
Okay?
Every once in a while, my mom would let me
go rent a video game.
Okay?
You know, and I would rent a video game
and it sucked because whoever rented it before
got to, like, level seven or something like that.
And I'm just, you know,
I'm kind of lost in the game here,
but I was just thankful that I got to have the game
for, like, a week or something.
She wouldn't buy me games.
She would just rent me games.
Okay?
You say, man, you poor child.
Are you kidding me?
I'm thankful for that because I'm not playing
video games now.
You know what I'm saying?
You know, I got that back then
because when I was a child, I speak as a child,
understood as a child, I thought as a child,
I played as a child.
You know, she gave me a little bit and a little bit
and it made me thankful.
After a while, I was just like,
I don't want to play video games anymore.
But, you know, the ones who are never told no
in those areas, they're the ones who are still
playing video games to this day.
You know, because their wife's not telling them no.
All right.
Last one.
Here's the last lesson that my mom taught me
is the importance of making memories.
So my mom, she has, like, a briefcase
and files and files of files.
Okay.
You're like, well, what's the big deal with that?
Pre iPhones.
Now, no one really understands how that works
because now it's just like, oh, memory, click,
post on Instagram, 20 likes.
Everyone knows about it.
Put it on your stories.
I mean, it's just, you're just right then and there.
You can show everyone everything, right?
It wasn't like that back in those days.
Okay.
There used to be this thing called disposable cameras.
You're like, what?
It was like a paper camera, right?
And there's no glass or anything like that, you know,
and you go, and you go,
and you're like, how did the picture come out?
I don't know.
Hopefully it came out good, you know.
We wouldn't know until like the week after
when we go develop the photos.
You know, that's how it was.
We'd buy disposable cameras.
They came with like, I don't know.
I think it was like 20 pictures,
20 clicks or something like that.
Maybe 10, I don't remember exactly how much
you take those pictures.
But even before that, my mom used to use film.
And so there's briefcases of just photos,
like just awesome photos of us growing up,
taking pictures with the family,
going to Disneyland, going to the park.
Barbecuing with the family.
Just pictures of me and my mom.
I remember there's, I have this memory
ingrained in my mind of my mom taking me to Disneyland.
Just me and her.
Me and my bowl cut, the Beatles haircut.
And you know, and by the way,
you know why it was special to go there?
I'll tell you why it was special.
And you're laughing because you already know why.
This is why I love you.
I love you.
You're laughing because you already know why.
This is why it was special.
Because we didn't go to Disneyland all the time,
although I thought we were going to Disneyland all the time.
Because my mom, when I was a kid,
I would say, let's go to Disneyland.
Can we go to Disneyland?
She would say yes.
And we would drive by and she goes,
say hi to Mickey.
And I'm like, hi Mickey.
And then she's like, okay, we're leaving Disneyland now.
And I'm like, that was great.
I saw Disneyland.
My mom did that multiple times.
Go just drive by.
And I tell my friends, I went to Disneyland.
What did you do this weekend?
You know what I mean?
And then when we actually went,
it was really special.
We actually went inside the park.
And my mom took pictures
and I remember being there with my mom,
drinking a soda pop,
going on the ride, just being with my mom.
And I still have those memories to this day.
And I could look at those pictures and say,
I remember when this picture was taken.
That meant a lot to me as a child.
And so make memories with your children.
Instead of giving your children things,
give your children memories.
Give your child memories by going with them places.
This is something my wife and I try to do
is instead of giving our kids things,
we take them places and create memories with them.
That won't leave them.
And so it's a great thing.
And so those are just some of the things
that I learned from my mom.
And it kind of shows you that
even if you didn't grow up in a Christian home,
it's okay, you can still learn something.
I learned a lot.
And in fact, a lot of what I learned
kind of matches up with the Bible.
A lot of the principles that I learned
matches up with God's word.
I can find principles in the Bible
that match up to the things that my mom taught me,
not verbally, but just by her life.
And so do yourself a favor, kids,
and appreciate your mom today
and thank them and maybe even take some time
to think about some of the things
that you learned from your parents
and give them a call or if they're in here now,
say thank you so much for giving me
such an awesome childhood.
You're like, but my childhood wasn't that awesome.
Well, accentuate the parts that were
and stop being an ungrateful little brat
and just say thank you, mom.
Thank you, dad, for the things
you did for me as a child, amen.
Let's pray, Father, we thank you so much
for your word.
We're so thankful for our parents, Lord.
I'm grateful for my childhood
and obviously we can point out a lot of,
maybe some of the bad things that happened,
but what's the point?
Let's just look back and think about
all the good times and the wonderful things
that we've learned and thank you so much
for my mom.
I'm so thankful that she's in my church, Lord,
just under my preaching and I pray
that you'd help us as your people
to honor our parents to the best
of our abilities.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Can we sing along on that first verse?
Sweetly, Lord, have we heard
Thee calling, come, follow me
And we see where Thy footprints
Falling lead us to Thee
Footprints of Jesus
That make the pathway glow
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go
Though they lead o'er the cold, dark mountains
Seeking His sheep
Or along by Siloam's fountains
Helping the weak
Footprints of Jesus
That make the pathway glow
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go
If they lead through the temple
Holy preaching the Word
Of the poor and lowly serving the Lord
Footprints of Jesus
That make the pathway glow
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go
Then at last when on high
He sees us, our journey done
We will rest where the steps of Jesus
And at His throne
Footprints of Jesus
That make the pathway glow
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where'er they go