Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Oh
Is
So
Me
Oh
Hey
Oh
You
Tonight right here on the sword of the spirit podcast
It's episode 21 and the main event topic if you will it's gonna be
about
spending Christmas time
With unsaved family members and friends what I want to talk about is how to leave a good
impression on them not how to rebuke them or anything like that, but how to leave a good impression on them and also
Just in general how to spend Christmas with these people in a sense that you don't compromise on what you believe
But also make a lasting impact for the better and perhaps even get them saved plus
What it means to really be friends with someone what is true friendship
According to the Bible you're not gonna want to miss this
It's a new episode of the podcast and it starts right after this in about 60 seconds
So
Oh
All right, it's Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time
8 p.m. Central right here
youtube.com
Slash been the Baptist for the show right off the bat. I do have an announcement for you guys next week
It's gonna be a special year end edition of the podcast. We're gonna look back at the year
2019 next Monday, and we'll talk about some of the most shocking moments and more
I look forward to having some special guests on for that one next Monday at 9
So make sure you tune in for that but for right now on this week's episode it is
December the 23rd
2019 lots of people have this entire week off work who I've talked to and
Some others just have Monday through Christmas off, but it is Christmas week and some
Husbands out there are getting their last-minute Christmas shopping done
I know I'm one of those people
Who needs to do it last minute and I did this year for sure and you walk around in the store getting those Christmas
the getting the Christmas shopping done and you see people around you who are also shopping at the last minute and you have a
Camaraderie with them for sure if you missed last week's show you heard that I sounded absolutely
Awful, I'm still recovering from the flu
It's a it's what I ended up being quote diagnosed with and I'm still recovering a little bit
Tonight, but definitely sound a heck of a lot better than last week where I sounded just really really bad
But I got through the show anyway every day. It's getting a little bit better
As I recover, so thank you for those of you who've been sending me
Messages about that. I really do appreciate it and the chat room is lively as usual
We've got some people in there including someone complaining about
Pastor Jimenez kicking out a homeless man who didn't have shoes on at the morning service
Yesterday according to this person on prettier. I don't know if that's true
I didn't hear about that if that did in fact happen
Then that's great I back pastor Jimenez a hundred percent
the Bible says if you don't work, then you shouldn't eat and there are plenty of
There are plenty of homeless people out there who refuse to work and in fact, they're just a bunch of lazy
drug addicted
alcoholic bums
Who want to try and beg people for money so they can go spend it on the aforementioned drugs and alcohol
They're so lazy. They don't want to go work. And so there are under judgment as a result
But I don't know if that's even true
If it is then
Great, but if not, that's fine, too
Regardless pastor Roger Jimenez is extremely hospitable and long-suffering and patient with people
So I'm sure if he did kick anyone out
They deserved it
Are the people in the chat room? We've got Braden clock in there Philly chimp
And I saw Dan quirk as well Tanner Levi Campbell
So thank you everybody for tuning in Ron Shafer Jude here says no shoes. No service. That is true
I think I can definitely support that
Sentiment now when it comes to the week in the quote new IFB if you want to call it that it's been
sort of a lively week and before I get into the main event topic and before I talk about
Spending Christmas with
Unsafe family and friends and how to navigate that particular situation. I
Think I should discuss
For at least a little while here the elephant in the room now, what is the elephant in the room for those of you?
Who don't know?
Pastor Joe major pastor Michael Johnson and pastor manly Perry have decided to cut fellowship
with pastor Steven Anderson
Now, I don't know all the details on everything and frankly it's not even my place to get involved in this discussion. So I'm not
Going to but there is an aspect of it. I wanted to comment on
When it comes to this situation, I
I have no idea
Why
Anybody
Would want to cut fellowship with pastor Steve think about who we're talking about here pastor Steven L
Anderson
Because
Of a false accusation that he is ecumenical that is a lot that is
so
mind-numbingly ridiculous
It's on par with claiming with cutting fellowship with pastor Anderson because he's too soft on the sodomites
or or because
He doesn't preach hard enough
Or because he doesn't hate sin enough
Where he doesn't stand for doctrine enough. I mean, it's just
It's crazy it's crazy to me
But at the end of the day that's the decision they've decided to go down as independent Baptists and
Pastor Anderson, of course doesn't deserve
To have his friends talking smack about him behind his back and backbiting and things like that
Thankfully at least in the case of pastor Joe major
That didn't happen, but with the other two gentlemen
That doesn't seem to be the case. But here here's the point. I'm trying to make
Pastor Anderson has had
individual after individual after individual
Man after man after man in his life friend after friend. It seems in his life
Stab him in the back
Turn on him in some way
Talk smack
About him behind his back rail on him back bite whisper behind his back and you would think that that would make someone
Cynical
But every time I've met pastor Anderson, he's the total opposite of cynical. In fact, he's a very optimistic person
And I will say this whenever there is quote drama
in the new IFB or in your local church even
Count it as a good thing count it as a blessing
Which I understand that might seem a little bit crazy because as you're going through the drama
You're thinking in your head. I would rather be doing anything else right now
This is very stressful and I can tell you from experience when we went through the drama here at
Steadfast Jacksonville to begin the year when Adam Fannin was exposed as a duplicitous
lying
conniving Judas Iscariot
reprobate piece of garbage I
Was not having a lot of fun at the beginning of the year it was stressful, but you know what?
at the end of the day
All things work together for good to then that love God and all things definitely work together for good in that particular
Situation because we found out Adam Fannin was a phony and a Judas and Donnie Romero was exposed as well
and in this situation
pastor Anderson found out who his true friends are and
He also found out who's been
Backbiting and railing on him behind his back and it's an unfortunate situation and it's not something you want to see
but at the end of the day I trust that
It'll you know, it's all gonna work out and my hope is at the very least for pastor major
That one day he reconsiders this decision that's what I would hope that's what I would like to see I love pastor
Joe major, I think he's an excellent
preacher
And I would love to see him
Reconsider it seems like manly Perry and Michael Johnson are a little bit more
hardcore in their decision and
Things like that, but I'm not I don't know for sure. And like I said, I don't want to
Get into it too deep here because it's really not my place
All I'm gonna say is this when it comes to pastor Anderson
he's had a lot of people turn on him in his life and you would think that
he would be a cynical person as a result, but he really isn't and that's the kind of
that's that's something that I think we could all learn from for sure and
I've been through it a little bit obviously not to that degree and
Pastor Shelley has and and a lot of the pastors. It's not just pastor Anderson who's been through that
It's not just pastor Anderson has had people turn on him in the ministry, but certainly pastor Shelley and other
Leaders in this quote movement if you want to call it that have had people turn on them
I'm sure there have been situations that haven't necessarily made it to the internet
We don't know all the details on it. But if you want to be in leadership if you want to be in the ministry
Unfortunately, these are the things that are gonna happen and you have to have the wherewithal to just jam you're right through it and
continue moving forward and serving Christ and
understanding that Jesus is the rock on which our
Foundation is built on and it can't be built on man because man is gonna fail you man is gonna disappoint
You man is gonna turn on you man is gonna backstab you
Man is gonna backslide
You can't trust in man you have to trust in God now, obviously we follow the man of God as he follows Christ
But if there's one thing we can learn if you've been following this movement, especially in
2019 is that we have to place our faith in Christ and certainly follow the man of God as he follows Christ
But lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. So that's all I really have to say about the elephant in the room. I
Love all parties involved honestly, and I would hope that it gets
Reconciled and fixed but at the end of the day though, that does not excuse
backbiting and railing against pastor Anderson and I do want to make myself very clear I
Love the going back to the Greek film and I did a review on the film on this very podcast
In fact when it came out, I'm not gonna reiterate the same things I said before but I think after
Pastor Dane Johanson put out that video about his salvation
Which he shouldn't have even had to do
But his testimony on salvation and things like that of what he believes about salvation. There should be no question
about him in my opinion and
I think the film did a lot of good going soul-winning in Cyprus getting people saved
Exposing the lies of the Orthodox Church and proving the thesis that in fact the common man can
understand
Biblical Greek so I would go out and check out that documentary for sure
But if you disagree with the film if you don't like that Dane Johanson was involved you have every right
You have every right to disagree. I think that's fine
And I'm sure pastor Anderson agrees with that and thinks that's fine as well
but
personally where I would draw the line is when you start backbiting and railing and whispering and cutting down a
great man of God and
It's unfortunate that
That occurred in this situation
but all we can do is pray that it gets resolved and
Just hope that things like this don't happen as often because you just don't like to see it
At all you don't like to see it happen at all and that leads me to
The topic I wanted to open with friendship. What does it mean to be someone's friend?
Well, let me tell you something. It doesn't involve railing and backbiting against that person
it doesn't involve talking smack about that person behind their back and it definitely doesn't involve being a
Two-faced liar and being flattering in front of the person's face, but then cutting them down behind their back
That's not a friend. That's a backstabber and that's the behavior of a snake
The Bible says in Proverbs 17 17 a friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for
Adversity a friend loveth at all times
And by the way, if you're in the chat room right now
Please
Go ahead and you know, feel free to share your thoughts on the podcast or thoughts on
The quote drama going on in the movement right now or anything at all
And if there's something good in there, I'll read it
But anyway a friend loveth at all times and that means that your friend isn't gonna backstab you
Your friend isn't gonna be a railer against you etc. It says in Proverbs
2717 iron sharpened the thiron so a man sharpened at the countenance of
his friend and
I've seen
I've seen this happen for me personally. My testimony is this
men and that I've
brothers in Christ
That I've been friends with since the beginning since I started going to steadfast Jacksonville health helped me out
Tremendously and iron does indeed sharpen iron when you've got the brethren together and the King James Bible
Open and you're talking doctrine and you're talking about the things of God
Etc. You're gonna learn something new iron sharpens iron. Not only are you gonna learn something new, but it's very possible
You're gonna teach someone else your brother in Christ something new as well when you go out soul winning with the brethren
You're gonna learn something new whether it's
the way that
particular brother in Christ
Articulates his gospel presentation or it's just a conversation that you're having in between doors
Whatever the case may be iron does indeed sharpen iron and so having a friend who loves the Lord
who's
in agreement with you on the doctrines and who
loves church and and just wants to learn the Bible and enjoys the hard preaching is
Extremely beneficial and it's something that's gonna help you and it's something that's gonna make you happier
and it's something that's gonna just give you an opportunity to learn more about the scriptures and get closer with God and
Learn more Bible for sure, but here's the thing
The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 9 2 are better than 1 because they have a good reward for their labor
For if they fall the one will lift up his fellow
But woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up
Yes
Like I said having that
Kinship that friendship is beneficial for both of you to learn more from each other iron sharpeneth iron
But you know what?
It's also beneficial when you fall because then your friend can lift you up again and that's true friendship
When a man falls when a friend falls a man or a woman falls a true friend
Extends his or her hand over to that person and
Lifts him back up again and I've been in countless situations over the years
Where I've leaned on friendship to help lift me back up again
Godly friendship obviously you lean on the Lord in those situations
But friends definitely help and we saw Job's friends didn't help him at all
Instead falsely accused him of being under the judgment of God
You don't want to do that to a brother who is
Struggling but when I've gotten sick or when I've gotten into situations that weren't good
You know, my car broke down or I'm just down in the dumps for whatever reason
friendships helped going to church helped and
Fellowshipping with the people of God helped for sure and it helped to lift me up first Samuel 18
it says in verse 1 and it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the
Soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and
Jonathan loved him as his own soul a true friend
Loves another person who it happens to be that person's friend as his own soul
Okay, here's what you have to understand
When it comes to Pastor Anderson specifically his true friends
They're not gonna stab him in the back and rail against him behind his back. They're gonna love Pastor Anderson
like they love their own soul your true friends are gonna love you like they love their own soul a
true
best friend
Obviously not every single relationship you have is gonna be
That good, but we know that Jonathan
His soul was knit with the soul of David and that he loved him as his own soul
You know when Jonathan wouldn't rail and back by it or backstab David. He would
Stick with him through thick and thin and he did that when his own father wanted to kill David out of jealousy
Jonathan sided with David
Proverbs 18 it says a man that hath friends must show himself friendly and there was a friend that sticketh closer than a brother
So there are friends out there. They're gonna stick closer to her brother. You say well, how do I make friends?
Show yourself friendly and look it doesn't mean every single person out. There is gonna want to be your friend
There gonna be some people out there who you just don't click with and if they don't want to be your friend
You're gonna have to just get over it and find someone else who does want to be your friend
It's not a very difficult concept. A lot of kids learn it when they're young
But my point is this if you show yourself friendly you're gonna make friends
And in fact, you might wake make one who's closer than a brother. I have friends
Who are?
closer to me than
Relatives blood relatives why because we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and that in and of itself
Is something we have more in common with each other than people I'm related to
Now how about you know you say well who is the most valuable friend I can have how about the Lord Jesus Christ
Okay, the Bible says greater love hath no man than this that the man lay down his life for his friends
That's exactly what Jesus did for us. But look what it says in verse 14
Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you and that's exactly what I think James 2
Emphasizes as being a friend of God
we know Abraham was called a friend of God because he followed the commandments because he loved the Lord and
with all these earthly friendships that we have
We should look at them as pictures of the friendship that we should really be focused on which is the friendship that we have with
The Lord Jesus Christ and that's kind of what I said earlier
Is that man is gonna backstab you man is gonna disappoint you man is gonna backslide and break promises and rail
Etc
But you know what the Lord Jesus Christ is never gonna turn on you because he is the rock and if you want to
Be the friend of God
Then follow his commandments. That's what Jesus said in John 15 14. Ye are my friends if you do
whatsoever I command you
You
When it comes to godly friendship
Ultimately
God himself
Is really the only one you can rely on and be a hundred percent sure is gonna be with you till the end
But that doesn't mean you're not gonna have earthly friendships that sort of picture that relationship in the sense that they're
Strong and that
Your best friend in this life someone who truly cares about you and truly loves you and and and wants to see you succeed
Okay, but that person will stick with you
It's possible that you do meet people who stick with you until the end until this life is over
But they're gonna be other relationships that you form
That end and they might end
Prematurely in a negative way because they backstab you or turn on you and if you're not founded on that rock
If you're not leaning on that rock, which is Christ then it could severely hinder your Christian life
Look at Pastor Anderson and all of the adversity he's been through and yet he's still standing
Why is that because he's leaning on the rock? Look at Pastor Shelley. Look at Pastor Jimenez. Look at these other pastors
They lean on the rock and I'm not saying it isn't difficult for them
I'm not saying that it's not hard for them to go through what they go through
But at the end of the day because they're leaning on the Lord Jesus Christ
They're still standing and they're still preaching the word if you don't want your Christian life
To be severely negatively
impacted by people turning on you and stabbing you on the in the back and railing on you then you have to lean on the
Rock, it's as simple as that and I don't to be overly cynical here
Like I said, there are gonna be people who stick with you till the end. There's no doubt about that
But they're gonna be others who turn on you. Look at a hit the fell with David when Absalom his own son
Wanted to dethrone his father when Absalom wanted to take the kingdom over for himself
Because he was self-willed a hit the fell
Who David relied on for counsel went after Absalom Judas Iscariot with the Lord Jesus Christ
Guaranteed the Apostles felt backstabbed there as well having not recognized that Judas who was in their midst
Was a backstabber from the beginning and of course the son of perdition but
My point when it comes to godly friendship is this godly friendship is based on the Word of God
It's based on the Bible godly friendship lasts
until the bitter end godly friendship
Doesn't involve backbiting and railing and whispering
Behind another individual's back and you know what I'll add this point godly friendship
doesn't involve envy and I think at the end of the day when you look at the
Elephant in the room is what I called it when you look at
What went on this week and you look at the the pastors who decided to
cut fellowship
With pastors and over the years not just recently but over the years
I think we could point to envy as being one of the root causes
I think there are people out there who are envious of those
Who end up succeeding?
Excuse me I had to uh
Had to cough there. I think there are people out there who are envious of those who succeed in the Chris in the Christian life
No doubt about that
There are people out there who get envious at the brother in Christ who's getting
Opportunities to go out and preach who's getting opportunities to be exalted in the ministry
There are people out there who get envious of that and it gets in the way of their friendship. Well, you know what true
Godly friendship means that your friend is gonna say hey god bless you. I'm happy for you
I'm happy you're getting those opportunities. I'm happy that you're getting a chance to go preach at these other churches
I'm happy to see you get exalted because I love you as a brother in Christ
It doesn't get envious and doesn't get this immature little toddler attitude
That turns on someone just because he's successful. That's wicked as hell
and a true friend isn't gonna do that a
True friend is gonna West you envy and when he sees his friend being lifted up and exalted by God
Bless that person help that person be exalted even further
So I just kind of wanted to talk a little about true friendship because I look at what happened this week and I look at
Everything that's going on and look I'm not saying that
You shouldn't hold your friends accountable and I'm not saying it's wrong to disagree
Of course
You should disagree with your friends respectfully and go back and forth and critical thinking is a great thing
Pastor Shelley, I want you guys all to check out if you haven't pastor Shelley's sermon from yesterday. Don't become a cult
in which he talked about how
This quote movement and specifically his church is
Not a cult and that you don't want to treat it as a cult and he described ways in which you can potentially
treat it as a cult and
so one of the ways you could do that is
By treating critical thinking as if it's always a negative thing, you know, I've had pastor Shelley say to me
Hey, look, it's alright if you disagree on some things that's fine fungus
We're not talking about the fundamentals of the faith here as long as we're not talking about the foundation of the Christian faith
As long as we're not talking about the you know
Basics here salvation by grace through faith alone the Trinity deity of Christ
Then you can disagree. It's fine
He welcomes it. In fact, he likes to have
Conversations constructive conversations with people who might not see exactly eye to eye with him
And look there are gonna be things that that I disagree with some of the pastors on and that's fine
That's what friends do is they have respectful disagreements
but you know what friends don't go behind other friends backs and talk crap about them and back bite and rail and
They certainly aren't envious of their friends
You know
When Gideon delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of the Midianites
It was the Ephraimites who said hey, how come you didn't call us to the battle when in fact
They should have just been happy that Gideon won that Israel won
You should just be happy to see
Pastor Jimenez succeeding pastor Dave Burzen succeeding pastor Patrick Boyle succeeding pastor grace and Fritz
Succeeding or even just a lay person in the church
Getting
A chance to go preach at these different churches or maybe God's blessing them with a whole bunch of children
Doesn't matter what the case is
You should be happy to see a godly man or a godly woman succeeding in the Christian life
And that's what a true friend is gonna do. It's not gonna be envious
Mmm backstabbers and
Two-faced people
For lack of a better term piss me off
They piss me off
That's why I wanted to talk about what it means to be a true friend to start the show
This evening. I want to read a few comments from the chat room
Excuse me
Dustin loan
Says envy is what it is. Excuse me. I'm gonna mute myself to cough for a moment here. I apologize folks
You
All right, I'm good so
He says envy is what it you know what? I agree with you brother Dustin loan. And in fact brother Dustin. I hope that you
Don't cut your cell phone service off because I'd like to get you on this podcast at some point very soon
Contributor over at framing the world
Let's see, what else do we have going on in the chat room there?
Powder keg says st. Nicholas should have nothing to do with Christmas. I wouldn't even pay any mind to it
Well, if you check out last week's edition of the podcast, I went on a little bit of a rant
You know, I could barely talk about
Santa Claus Satan Claus
Heath Hendricks, he says I liked visiting temple Baptist Church, but maybe I should head south to Jacksonville, Florida
We would love to have you here in Jacksonville brother Heath Hendricks if you want to come visit us
steadfast Jacksonville for sure
Newy geek says new Newy Greek. In fact says this men shouldn't gossip
I've done it and it's wrong and I'm ashamed of that sin
but as a pastor where we hold this office in such high regard, it's pathetic childish and
Affeminate totally agree
Men shouldn't gossip. It is effeminate and
it's okay if you've made that mistake in the past totally understand that but
Just
Move on from it forsake that and move on. All right, let me speaking of moving on
I want to talk about the quote main event topic of the show tonight dealing with unsaved family over the holidays
interacting with being around
unsaved family
In the holiday season Christmas time
How is it that you can have Christmas dinner, how are you supposed to have Christmas dinner with people who are unsafe
Well, I want to talk a little bit about that because at the end of the day
we should be
Ambassadors for Christ and what does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ?
Well, it means that you represent Christ in such a way that the unsaved look at you and they see
someone who's got it together and
It makes them wonder a little bit about you
Don't
Be a jerk that's what I'm gonna start out with don't be a jerk if you want to deal with
Unsaved friends and family members over Christmas
Let's say you go to a Christmas dinner and most of if not all of the people there are unsaved
If you have unsaved family there at Christmas dinner and you're going and you're fellowshipping with people who aren't it
First of all, that doesn't make you an ecumenical by the way, I just wanted to point that out
But don't be a jerk the Bible says in Romans chapter 12 if it be possible as much as lieth in you live
Peaceably with all men you can't say with to yourself. You know what? I'm so new yfb
Then I'm gonna shun all my unsaved family members and I'm not gonna speak to him at all. I'm shunning all of them
I'm deleting them all from my Facebook friends list and blocking them all out of my life
Now obviously there are situations where you should
Separate for example, if they're a sodomite or something like that. I get it fine. I'm not saying there isn't a situation
To separate from family. I believe there is for sure
But here's what I am saying when you go and you spend time with your family over Christmas be an ambassador for Christ
Be a positive influence on them leave them with a positive impact plant a seed at the very least
at the very least plant a seed and
You can't plant a seed if you act like a jerk
If you if you do some hard preaching on the dinner table while everyone's trying to enjoy Christmas dinner
It's not gonna work out for you very much. That's not gonna plant a seed. In fact, it's just gonna turn them away
And they're not gonna get saved now that doesn't mean compromise and I'll get to that in a little bit
We should never compromise but when it comes to dealing with unsaved friends and family members over Christmas
Don't be caustic. Don't be sarcastic
About things with them because you know what you used to be where they're at. You didn't come out of the womb a
new IFB
Listener who just knew all the doctrines. Okay
And by the way, no one knows all the doctrines perfectly. We're all still learning. We're all still trying to get better. We're all still
trying to
understand the Bible
better than we did yesterday, so don't get puffed up and
When it comes to unsafe friends and family member
You don't want to interact with them in this sarcastic and caustic way
The Bible says in Colossians chapter 5
But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy. Peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness
Temperance against such there is no law
You got to be long-suffering with them. You got to be meek
You got to be you gotta have temperance exhibit temperance exhibit meekness with these people
When you hang out with them over Christmas if you happen to be around unsaved people now if everyone you know is saved
And all your friends and family
I
Should say if all your friends and family are saved and that's you're gonna hang out with over Christmas
This isn't a problem that you're gonna have
but if you have people who don't believe the gospel who don't know the Bible who don't even know why Jesus died on the cross in
Order for them to be red-pilled
Then you can't be a jerk be polite again. There are situations where you need to separate
I'm not saying there aren't but when you just have your everyday
Unsaved guy eating Christmas dinner with you
Then try and explain to them the gospel in such a way that it's palatable for them
And that's actually the next thing I wanted to talk about speak the truth in a respectful way so that it's palatable so that they
Understand it Jude says in verse 21 keep yourselves in the love of God
Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life and of some have compassion
Making a difference have compassion on
Your unsaved friends and family if you're gonna have dinner with them over Christmas
Take the time to in a meek way and in a loving way explain to them why Jesus even died in the first place
why did he have to die on the cross and was buried and
Rise again, why did that happen? What is the gospel?
Verse
23 and others saved with fear of pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh and
You know what? There's nothing wrong with talking about hell either. There's nothing right?
You know what that is loving when you give the gospel you talk about hell every single time
Because it's loving to do. So you're saving them with fear. You're explaining that
Hell is eternal
Torment and punishment and fire and when people recognize the horror of hell
It might make them more likely if they're sane
to want to get saved and
So we should have compassion
but we should also make sure that we don't shy away from the truth and
Again, people don't seem to understand anything these days
About the Bible because I truly believe we're living in the midst of the falling away
So when you're hanging out with people who don't know anything, they don't know who Jesus is. They don't understand the Christmas story
Now is a better time than it's the best time of the year
You are more likely to get away with talking about spiritual things and a family get-together over
Christmas than in any other time
because
Spiritual things tend to be on the minds of carnal people during Christmas time
It's not just all about Santa Claus and all the rest of it
In fact, that's actually one of the reasons why I hate Santa so much because it's a distraction
From the things of God over Christmas time, but still even your regular
worldly unsaved person is gonna think a little bit about the
spiritual aspect of Christmas and what the religious aspect of Christmas is all about and so be that person who
Through love and compassion and meekness and long-suffering ness if that's even a word
Explains to him the Christmas story that his name is Jesus
Not Yeshua, not some Judaizing name that his name is Jesus
Explained the gospel explain why Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins that he bore
our sins on
himself
The Bible says you know quote some scripture
he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God and him and
explained that he died on the cross and was buried and rose again and the reason why we
Celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of God manifest in the flesh. You could talk about the Trinity
Over Christmas dinner, you could talk about the Christmas story. You could talk about
Symbolism of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament perhaps that's kind of a cool topic
You could talk about all sorts of things the deity of Christ
Talk about that. The Bible teaches Jesus is God
But do so in in a way that is palatable for people that they're not turned off by you and
They're willing to accept that truth or at least more likely to accept the truth
Obviously you don't want to get into too difficult of a topic
when it comes to
Old Testament types of Jesus and everything like that
Obviously now the next thing I want to talk about is don't compromise on your beliefs
So with everything that I just said in mind
Okay
Speaking the truth and love being kind under your unsafe family loving your unsafe and loving on your unsafe family members
And by the way, let me just say this
And I agree pastor Shelley said this yesterday. I'm gonna just repeat what he said because I wholeheartedly agree
It shouldn't be that you're going around cutting fellowship with all your friends and family because they're not in lockstep
It should be that they're cutting fellowship with you because yay under all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
Shall suffer persecution
So you living for Christ should make them want to cut fellowship with you as a result. You can't be going around I
Think cutting fellowship with anyone and everyone that you that you want to just so you can feel spiritual
That's not what it's about
We should want to reach out to our unsaved friends and family and get them saved and
so with everything in mind that I've talked about being loving and kind and and wanting to foster that
Relationship with them and wanting to show them the truth of God's Word
Wanted to explain the Christmas story and teach them the true Christmas story without Santa Claus
the big fat pedophile looking creep
And
The reindeer and all the rest of it without all that garbage
showing them the true Christmas story in the gospel and the truth of God's Word and maybe even
Maria YouTube 100 said this in the chatroom. I agree
Ask him to watch a 10-minute Bible way to heaven video
All of it doing it in love
Okay with all that in mind
Don't compromise on what you believe
Here's someone who didn't compromise on what he believed
the Bible tells us in first Kings 15 11 and
Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord as did David his father and he took away the sodomites
Out of the land and removed all the idols that his father's had made
Asa took away the sodomites out of the land
But he didn't just do that it didn't end
It didn't end with Asa taking the sodomites out of the land which by the way
He deserves a round of applause for that. I hate sodomites, but
Look averse I'll read verse 13 and also Mayaka his mother even her he removed from being Queen
because she had made an idol in a grove and
Asa destroyed her idol and burnt it by the brook
kydron
Folks
Aces own flesh and blood his own blood relative. What does he do removes her from being Queen?
It's possible to love under your family
It's possible to want to be meek and kind under your family and hope that they get saved
But you know what else?
It's also necessary at times for you to put your foot down
Separate only if you have to if it's a homo or something like that
Or some other situation where it warrants it
But what I'm trying to say is this it's possible to be to be loving under your family without
Compromising now, what does that mean?
That means that if you're being enticed to commit wicked sin if you're being enticed
To go drink alcohol to go to the bar if you're being enticed to watch some wicked filthy disgusting
Hollywood movie there's nothing wrong with saying I'm out of here. I'm gonna go celebrate someplace else. I'm gonna go fellowship someplace else
There's nothing wrong with taking a stand just like Asa did
And I'm not telling you that being loving and kind under your unsaved family
Necessitates compromising. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. You should do both
you should both not compromise on the Word of God and
Be loving under your unsaved family and want to teach your family about the Lord Jesus Christ
Because again people today don't even know why we even celebrate Christmas
There are a bunch of worldly people out there who've been blinded by the devil on the gospel of Jesus Christ and on
Christmas itself
How about the atheists celebrating Christmas
They don't even believe in God and
They're celebrating a holiday about the birth of Christ
It's ridiculous
But anyway
Christmas has been
Secularized to the point that worldly people
Celebrate it and they don't even know why but you can change that you can bring Christ back
you can talk about the birth of Christ you could talk about the gospel you could talk about biblical truth and
You can do it in a loving way
while
not compromising on your beliefs
Look if I go to some unsafe family members house, and there's a faggot there. I'm out
I'm not gonna be celebrating Christmas there
I'll go back home
Celebrate Christmas with my wife Christmas dinner with my wife and it'll be just fine. She's a better cook anyway her ham
Actually, she's never made ham for me before so I can't say that her ham is very good cuz I've never tried it
Hopefully when she does make it for the first time it'll be good
But her chicken is excellent. I love her pasta
Etc. She's a great cook. I have no problem. Just hanging out with her
So you don't have to compromise by being loving and
Meek under your family, but ultimately here's the the biggest point. I think we all can take out of this podcast tonight
It's that when we're hanging out with our unsafe family members and friends this Christmas season if you're if you even have any
Let's make sure that we leave that get-together
Let's make sure that we leave that event at the very least having planted some sort of seed
It's possible that you're not gonna get an opportunity to get anyone saved
But at the very least leave a seed that could be watered one day and the only way you can do that is
not by
Being a jerk. It's not by being prideful and arrogant and pushing people away knowledge puffeth up
the Bible says it's by speaking the truth and love and meekness and kindness and
Loving on those people because you know what you used to be one of them, too
I used to be one of them that we all did
And so if we do that if we plant a seed
Perhaps it could be watered one day and maybe next year at the next Christmas
You can get that person saved
Alright folks, I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas tonight
And I hope that your friend your family members are saved and that you're gonna go celebrate Christmas with family members who do believe on
The Lord Jesus Christ, but if you don't have family members who are saved and you are gonna go
Celebrate Christmas and have Christmas dinner with people who don't believe the gospel. I
just hope that you're able to plant a seed and
that you're able to speak the truth and love and
Maybe even get that person saved show them the Bible way to heaven video and you never know what can happen
That's pretty much gonna do it for the program tonight
I'll be back again next Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time 8 o'clock central
For the year-end edition of the show looking back at what a crazy year
2019 has been
Man for me personally. It's been a roller coaster
it's been a roller coaster for steadfast Jacksonville for steadfast in Fort Worth, Texas for faithful word and other churches as
well as
Things just have just there's never a dull moment, but I love it and I say bring on the next fight
Some people probably are too happy with me saying but you know what? I don't care bring it on. I
Don't care what the devil is gonna throw at us in
2020 I had confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and I have confidence in my leadership at
Steadfast Baptist Church that we'll be able to swap those darts out of midair and keep trucking forward
For the cause of Christ. I love fighting the good fight of faith and I hope to have more opportunities to do so in
2020 until next Monday. Thank you all very much for tuning in. I love you all
I am continuing to work on the sensor documentary
Which is why there hasn't been as much content on my youtube channel lately the documentary my part at least is
Getting there. It's get it certainly closer to being done than it is
not so it'll be done before you know it and then the channel should be back to where it used to be in terms of
the regularity of
Uploads, I'll see you guys again Monday at 9 Eastern 8 o'clock central. God bless you all and
Merry Christmas
You