(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Well it's good to be back here at Faithful Word, and it hasn't been that long actually. It was this past July out here while Pastor Anderson was doing that road trip. It was a little warmer the last time I was out here, 115 degrees. I actually planned on bringing a jacket, so I'm glad Pastor Jimenez is not here right now because he would be disappointed in me and he would think I was backslidden for not having that. So I want to give a little backstory as far as why Greece. So I went to Greece this past August for a week for a missions trip, and I want to give kind of the backstory of why I even got into wanting to learn Greek and all that, but it all started with Pastor Anderson, so he's the blame for all this, but he actually did some videos on just learning the Greek language, and there was there was basically a few reasons why you'd want to do it, and one of the reasons was to defend the King James Bible, and honestly that was the reason. That was the reason that I wanted to learn how to read Greek and because I wanted to read the original Greek New Testament and be able to defend the King James Bible because there's a lot of people out there trying to say that it's not accurate or it's not translated correctly, and so that was the original reason, and since then I have read through the Greek New Testament. I'm about to finish up for the fourth time, and so praise the Lord for Pastor Anderson just kind of, you know, obviously helping out with that and pushing that forward, but since then actually Pastor Anderson went out to Cyprus, and I was supposed to go out on that trip with him, but then my third child was actually born the day they were flying out, so that didn't work out, but then we were going to go to next year, which was 2020, so you can imagine what happened in 2020 to where we couldn't go on that trip, and so decided to go to the motherland and went to Greece itself, and we flew into Athens, and we were in Athens most of the time, and we ended up going over to Corinth as well, so if you think about Greece, you have the northern portion of Greece where you have Thessalonica, Philippi, and all that up there. That's what we would think of as Macedonia in the Bible, that Macedonian area, but then the lower portion where you have Athens, Corinth, Sparta, you know, all that stuff is more of the Achaia, so when you're reading the New Testament, you'll see Macedonia mentioned, you'll see Achaia mentioned, and really the area where I was at was the regions of Achaia, and so I just want to give you a background as far as why, well, why did I go to Greece? Well, after, you know, learning how to read, you know, the New Testament, I wanted to learn how to speak Greek as well, so I was learning modern Greek and obviously the Koine Greek, but then also, you know, learning even the Attic and going back into Plato and trying to get back also into Homeric Greek and all that stuff, because obviously there's people out there that want to destroy your faith in the King James Bible and say that it's a bad translation or that it has errors. Well, they're all wrong. It's a completely perfect translation of the original language, and I used to believe that. Now I know it. I mean, I still believe it, okay, but the idea is, you're like, whoa, but the idea is that, you know, but that was the original reason, but you know what? After that, I couldn't go to Cyprus. I was out soul winning just in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and I ran into, I couldn't go on that trip. I was pretty bummed about the fact that I couldn't go on that trip, but I ran into an older lady that was Greek Orthodox, and she could barely speak any English, so I was like forced into like trying out my Greek with her and trying to give her the gospel and all that stuff, so it kind of just, you know, fed that fire to want to go out into Greece and to try to win Greek people to the Lord. So the first thing, when we went out there, we had 12 salvations, but half those salvations were actually refugees, so I'm kind of going to steal from Pastor Jimeta's points about the refugees in UK, but there's a lot of refugees in Greece, and go to Acts chapter, you're in Acts chapter 17, and it's interesting because you kind of see the same thing when they go into Thessalonica. So notice what it says here in verse 1, it says, Now when they had passed through Epiphilas and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where it was the synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three days, or three Sabbath days, reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few. So in this case, the Jews are kind of like the refugees. They're the ones taking up residence in these different areas, and you kind of have this same idea where you have some refugees kind of getting saved. You have the Jews that are just living there, and then the actual people that live there, the natives, getting saved as well. And the first thing, when it comes to Greece, as far as what I've learned, at least from where I was at, and if you want to think about Athens, Athens is about, from what I've looked up, over 3 million people in Athens. So it's a pretty decent-sized city, and we were basically just smack dab in the middle of Athens. That's where our hotel was at, and there was like this park, if you want to think about, like New York City has Central Park, this is kind of like that. There was this park that was just in the middle of Athens, and it had a statue of Athena, you know, that was in that park. And then south of that was where you have the famous Acropolis, where you have the Parthenon, and you have actually where Mars Hill is at, so where Areopagus is at. And so we got to go there, and I'm gonna get into some stories with that, but the first thing that I found out when going to Greece is that everybody says that they speak English out there, but they don't, okay. Now, does that mean they don't speak any English? No, I'm not saying that, but it is not that, well, the young people pretty much can understand everything you're saying, the older people can't. No, most people don't understand what you're saying in English out there. Now, if you ask them, okay, what street am I on, or hi, goodbye, like there were some, now don't get me wrong, there were some that we run into, and they had some good English, but it wasn't that many. And the older people, especially when I was trying to get baklava, you know, because me, I'm a fat kid, I wanted some baklava, so, you know, I'm passing this store where it's at every single time, and there was this older lady there, and I really had to use my Greek well to get my baklava, but that being said is that there is a big language barrier there, so when it comes to, there's 12 salvation, we were out there for seven days, and at the beginning it seemed like it was going to be really good, but then it just kind of got harder and harder as the week went on. And, you know, obviously the Bible talks about the unknown tongue. If you want to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, and we know that the unknown tongue is just talking about a language that we don't understand. It doesn't mean some some Pentecostal weird gibberish. We're talking about a known language that other people understand, but you wouldn't understand, like I, you know, there's certain languages I don't understand, and therefore it's an unknown tongue to me, it's an unknown language to me. And notice what it says here in verse 10, it says, there are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. You know what that means is that every language out there, someone understands it. It can be signified, and somebody can understand it. But then it says, therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speak of the barbarian. He that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. And, you know, when it comes to speaking with tongues in the New Testament, whether you're talking about the day of Pentecost where God obviously miraculously gave them the ability to speak a language that they didn't know originally, or you're just talking about people having a gift at learning languages, and being able to learn a language, and use multiple languages, and all that, that it, that it's mainly, the purpose of it is for the lost, it's for those that don't believe. So when we're talking about missions here, one thing to understand is that some of these mission fields, you're gonna need to learn another language to really go out there. If, if, if you really have a heart for a certain area, you're gonna have to learn a language if you're going to be effective. It's just the way it is. I, you know, obviously English is a very, very much a second language in a lot of nations, and a lot of people do know English, but there are a lot of people that don't, or that know a little bit, enough to be dangerous, enough to maybe get a rental car, or something like that, or get, you know, order, order coffee, you know, but really if you're gonna get into a conversation about salvation, and get into a conversation about, you know, heaven and hell, that's gonna take a little more language there. But in verse 21 of that same chapter, it says, and in the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips, will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, said the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. And the idea is that the whole chapter is talking about speaking in other languages, and the big purpose for speaking in another language is not for me to get up here and speak some other language to you, and then have an interpreter tell you what I'm saying. The big reason is so that, hey, someone comes in here speaking Greek, hey, okay, let me give them the gospel in Greek. Or, you know, if someone maybe speaks Spanish, and someone in here can speak Spanish, and then they go give them the gospel in Spanish. You know, that's the idea of speaking with tongues, and why it's important if you have that, you know, I say gift, but I think everybody can learn other languages, but some people do have a knack for it, meaning that they just, they're really good at it. Listen, Pastor Anderson has a knack. He'll probably, you know, he'll listen to this and be like, you're crazy. No, no. Listen, don't get me wrong, he does a lot of work when it comes to learning languages. A lot of work. Okay, so I don't want that to be taken out of the equation, and that he doesn't, you know, obviously he puts in a lot of work, but he's also really good at it. So, like, you can't take that out of the equation that he, you know, when I'm looking, I'm actually doing a whole series on spiritual gifts, and obviously you had the one about speaking with tongues or interpretation of tongues, and you know what, he has a gift, and I'm glad I'm friends with him because I can just kind of like, I'm like a leaf that's just pulling off information from them all the time, you know, especially when it comes to learning Greek. So, but there is a language barrier there, so a lot of the, some of these salvations, a lot of those were basically refugees that could speak English that were there, and they were from other countries, and then there were some that were Greek, native Greek speakers, and I actually want to, we went to Corinth, and so Corinth is a lot smaller. I didn't realize how much smaller Corinth would be from Athens, but I liked it a lot more. Now, I'm from West Virginia, so I'm not exactly a city boy, okay. So, you know, I was in Athens, and I was like, I was talking to my wife, you know, FaceTime with my wife, and I was like, it's horrible here. I'm like, I have to like, there's nowhere to park, there's, you know, I'm trying to get, I want to get groceries, and I have to go to this little mart over here, you know, this little store over here. They don't have everything, so I gotta go to this other store over here. I'm like, where is the Costco? Where is the Sam's Club? Where do I go so I can park, get my cart, load it up, and put everything in there, okay. And she's like, you know, that's just cities, right. You know, like, that's just, if you went to New York City, that's what you'd be dealing with, right. And I'm like, you're probably right, I just don't like cities. So, but anyway, Corinth, Corinth is like 30-some thousand, okay. Three million, thirty-some thousand, and that was more my language. So we went over there, there was actually, it was definitely a lot more chill, and there was a lot of younger people there, and I did actually get to win some younger Corinthian Greeks over there to the Lord, and so, but I'll say this, I had to use a lot of Greek to do it, so, meaning I had to use a lot of modern Greek, and I was obviously showing them the Greek New Testament, and by the way, the Greek New Testament still wins people to Christ, so it still has power, it's still, it's still the Word of God, but, but that being said, is that there is definitely a language barrier there in Athens, in Corinth. Is it the same in Thessalonica? I don't know, I wasn't there, right. Is it the same if you went up to Philippi, Berea, and all that? You know, this is anecdotal, so just take it as it is, that this is just from my experience from being there, that there was a lot of people that did not speak English, okay, so the first thing about Greece is that there was a big language barrier there. Now I'll say this, there were, a lot of the people were just, were really nice, meaning this is not like when I was out there, people were just like attacking us because we had a Bible in our hand, attacking us because we were trying to talk to them about the Bible, there was none of that, it wasn't, it wasn't like contentious with anybody or anything like that, but the first person that I gave the gospel to was a Muslim who was a refugee for seven years in Greece, so I want you to think about the fact that I'm opening up an ancient Greek New Testament with Koine Greek, speaking to them in modern Greek, which is my, like, obviously I'm not even, I don't claim to be fluent in that, and Greek is that guy's second language, and English is his second language, all that to say, and he's Muslim, so add all that together there, and that was quite a combination, that was, that was how I was baptized with fire into giving the gospel out there in Greece, and actually if you ever saw the pictures, that's that first guy, that's that guy where I was sitting there on the, he had his kid with him and everything, super nice guy, it ended like most Muslim conversations end, where they understand that the Bible says you can't lose your salvation, but I could not convince them on the Trinity and on Jesus as God, and he was really nice, and it ended well, and hopefully he gets saved later on, but there was a lot of refugees, there are a lot of Muslims, and there, so I feel like, you know, Pastor Jimenez was talking about UK and how they're really hostile, and there's a lot there, I feel like these have been there for a while, and then there's more coming in now, and so those that are from Europe, you could probably speak to that as far as a lot of the Muslim refugees and all that, but there was a riot, you know, I was speaking about it, it wasn't that, you know, it was, there was some kind of riot going on in that, that park, there was like all kinds of cops with like riot gear and all that when we were out there, and so I don't know what was going on, some kind of protest or whatever, but that's where all the refugees were hanging out, that's all I'm saying, so, now when it comes to Greece, what I would describe this nation as is a nation that is at ease or at rest, now a term, and maybe you know the term, and I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, if you don't know the term or anything like that, but aloof, they're aloof, okay, meaning they're aloof to the things of God, meaning they just don't care either way, by and large, okay, now obviously there was exceptions, there were people that got saved, there were people, you know, obviously we didn't talk to every single person that was out there, but generally speaking, most of the people that I talked to, even if I talked to them in Greek, they were just kind of like, they just didn't care either way, they weren't mad at you, they weren't like really upset, they were just like, yeah, I just don't care, you know, just whatever, and it just made me think of this passage, go to Acts chapter 18, Acts chapter 18, and it's kind of, it's kind of funny how stories in the Bible are still applied to this today, with attitudes that are going on in a country, now chapter 18 is dealing with Corinth, but notice what it says here, and I'm gonna talk about the guy named Gallio, a guy named Gallio, now in verse 12 here it says, and when Gallio was the deputy of Achaea, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, this fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law, and when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, if it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would I that I should bear with you, but if it be a question of words and names and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such matters, and he dragged them from the judgment seat, then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat, and notice this, Gallio cared for none of those things, so I just think about, he's like, I don't care about your law, what you're dealing with there, I don't care if you're beating this guy over here in this synagogue, he just doesn't care about any of it, you know, that's kind of the attitude that I felt over there when I was there, was this kind of like they just cared for none of it, they didn't really care about it, and I remember, I got into a conversation, and you know, I'm speaking in Greek, because I would basically ask them, first of all, in Greek, do you know, do you understand English, and sometimes they're like, yeah, go ahead, and then I start speaking to them in English, and it's just like a deer in headlights, like what'd you just say, now maybe it's my West Virginia accent, you know, I'll give them a little bit of leeway there, maybe they're just like, well who's this country bumpkin coming in, talking to us here at Greece, but you know, I remember talking to them, and they were, this happened with younger teenagers, but this also happened with, they were maybe in, you know, a little older than me, probably in their 40s, I'm still in my 30s, I'm still young, but they were probably in their 40s, and I remember giving, they're like, hey, and I asked them in Greek, can I show you how you can know 100% sure you're going to heaven with, you know, the New Testament here, right, and they're like, yeah, sure, and I started going through it with them, and explaining it to them, and mid conversation, they're just like, yeah, I just don't care. Now let me ask you a question, now usually out soul winning, if someone says, yes, you can show me, what's the percentage of you at least getting through the gospel, I mean it's almost 100%, like not always, but I mean maybe 95, 99%, right, they may not get saved, but usually if they're like, hey, can I show you, and they're like, yeah, show me, usually you're at least getting through it, you're at least gonna get to the point where, hey, do you believe that, this was like straight up, I'm showing them about hell, I'm showing them about like being a sinner, and they're just like, and it wasn't like, how dare you say I'm going to hell, you know, it's not like they got it, you know, some people get offended at that, and they'll just be like, I don't, you know, how dare you, but it was more of just like, yeah, I just don't care, and it was just kind of baffling to me, I'm just like, obviously not seeing the gravity of the situation, and just not that, so it was kind of like, just to be honest, and you're like, man, you're depressing, Pastor Robinson, it was kind of depressing when I was out there, like, we got people saved pretty much every day, so don't get me wrong, okay, but what you have to understand is that in West Virginia we can get people saved every single day, and more so than that, when it comes to the numbers, and how much time we're spending out there, too, does that make sense, like, you're going out there for hours and hours every day, and you're like, we got one, like, that, that plays a toll on you by the end of the week, and especially when, I'll say this, that plays a toll on you if you're not giving the gospel, and then like, oh, okay, I finally got the other gospel, it plays a toll on you when you start the gospel with so many people, and then they're just like, yeah, I don't care, like, that is the type of attitude that, that I was, I was getting out there, it may be different area, you know, again, maybe that area in Athens was, you know, the area where it wasn't as receptive, maybe, maybe there's different circumstances that it would be more fruitful, but I'll say this, the language barrier enough is a reason why I think that you need to go there prepared to be able to speak Greek, or take people that know how to speak Greek, you know, to really be an effective mission field right there, as far as, you know, not being discouraged when you go out there, and you're like, I can't, I can't talk to anybody, it's like coming out here sometimes, I've gone out, so running out here sometimes, and we'd go, we'd go to an area where there's a lot of Spanish-speaking people, and praise the Lord for Spanish-speaking people, because, you know, those areas are usually really receptive, but it's like, I can't do anything with that, because I don't speak Spanish, like, you know, a little bit, but not enough to give the gospel, and that is something that, it was kind of that feeling, but on top of that, not being receptive. So, when it comes to this country, I, well, like I said, it's kind of aloof, but it made me think of these passages as good as Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 1. You're like, Zechariah? Man, we're getting cryptic on this one. Zechariah chapter 1, there's, there's a statement that's made here that made me think of this, and I still have hope for Greece, and I want you, I want you to know this, is that I'm not saying, like, Greece is, you know, like, there's no hope for Greece. I'm just saying, hey, to understand, to really, if you want to hit Greece with the gospel, if you want to really be effective, you kind of need to know what, what are your stumbling blocks there? What, what's the, what's the issues at hand? One, you're not gonna go out there and not be able to speak Greek and actually be effective, because, unless you're just gonna find all the refugees, but then a lot of them don't speak English either, right? So you're getting a bunch of refugees that you're kind of rolling the dice whether they speak English, so you kind of have to know that ahead of time. Now, Zechariah chapter 1 verse 11, it says, And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sit is still and is at rest. Now you say, well, what does that mean? Well, keep reading. It says, Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore in ten years? And the Lord answered, The angel that talked with, with, with me with good words and comfortable words. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry now, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, and I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease, for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. And so, obviously, in particular, probably you're dealing with Babylon, right, because you're dealing with that 70-year captivity, but just in general, you're dealing with the nations, you're dealing with heathen nations, and they're at ease, they're sitting still. Now go to Jeremiah chapter 8, Jeremiah chapter 8. Now Jeremiah chapter 8 is dealing with Jerusalem and the fact that they are sitting still, but the idea is that they're just kind of like, they're just sitting there, they're aloof, they're not moving, they're not, they're, they're not, they're just kind of like a lump on the log when you try to give them the gospel, when you try to show them, hey, you know, you can know 100% sure you're going to heaven, you're gonna die and go to hell, and they're just sitting there like, I don't care. They're at ease. And in Jeremiah chapter 8 and verse 14, it says, Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defense cities, and let us be silent there, for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water for gall to drink, given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. Now when it comes to Athens, as far as just some things that I saw while I was there, one, the big thing that we were told going out there is to basically don't get pickpocketed, because pickpocketing was like a, is a really big thing out there. So that, you know, obviously robbery and theft is really big there, and, and so we didn't actually get pickpocketed, but we are also taking precautions as far as where we held our wallets, all of those type of things when we're going down the street. But I'll say this, when we got there, I looked at my deacon, I said, where did you book our hotel? I mean, again, I'm not a city boy, but this was the ghetto. Okay, I mean this, there was graffiti everywhere, and it was one of those things where we got in real late, and we get into this hotel, and our room was fine, you know, it was clean. You go outside, and it was like, you know those movies where you're like walking through an alleyway where it's dark, and there's like pillars, and you're just like, someone's gonna pull out a knife and kill me right now. And I'm just, and you know, brother Richie was hungry, and so he's like, hey, let's go, there's a restaurant over the hill over here, and it's like one o'clock in the morning, but apparently it was open, so he's like, let's go walk to this restaurant, you know, in a place we've never been to ever, and it looks like we're gonna get stabbed. So we walk up there, and obviously, you know, obviously, maybe I'm being a little hyperbolic, maybe I'm being a little, you know, but you know what, it was, it was, it was one of those things, even though it was four men walking in a group, I was still like, I don't have a gun on me, I don't have a knife on me, I just flew in, like they don't let you take that type of stuff on a plane. So I'm used to carrying all the time, and now I'm in this, this like sketchy area. So this area is just known for crime, known for it for theft, known for robbery, and also just other types of wicked things as well. Now look at 1st Corinthians chapter 6. Now what I want to say about this is that, okay, here, here's a problem. One, you know, as a mission field, it's not very receptive, as far as knowing the language, you need to know the language, you need to know Greek. If you're really gonna be effective going out there, you need to know Greek. But also there, there's this simp, there's this problem of them being aloof to the things of God and just not caring, but I think the reasoning for that is the sin. I think the reasoning for that is the idea of the, the dark state that, that whole area is in, as far as just the morality and everything that's going on there. And there's nothing new under the sun. Listen, our country, if you want to look at what our country will be, go look at some of these countries over there in Europe, because it's going down that, that, that hill. And our country is getting more and more aloof to the things of God too. And so we need to take note of this. In verse, you go to 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9, it says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Now, who is this written to? But the Corinthians, which is in Greece, okay. Now, does that mean that they're the only country that deals with those type of sins? I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is that when we were in, when we were in Athens, the, the southern portion there is where you have that, that famous area where you have the Acropolis and you have Areopagus, you have Mars Hill, and you have all these Roman ruins and all that, that's where every, that's where all the tourists hang out, okay. That's where there's a lot of, there's a lot of restaurants, and I'll say that, that was the cleanest part of that town. Makes sense? That's where they make all their money, right? So they're gonna keep that area clean. You come outside of that, where our, where our hotel was at? Not so, okay. But I saw a lot of these same things. Obviously the thieves, you know, you think about that. There were actually locals that, when we were walking through these different areas, they, this one lady came up to me, she says, hey, you know, basically I had a backpack on, but I didn't have anything valuable in the backpack, right? Well, I mean, I had, like, invites and stuff like that, right? Nothing that, like, if someone stole it, that I'd be like, oh, you know, I didn't have my wallet back there. But she was, like, coming up to us saying, hey, you don't want to have, you know, you don't want to wear your backpack, you don't want to have a backpack like that. And so there were people there that knew what was going on and didn't want to see it happen, but it was that prevalent that you just had random bystanders coming by to you saying, hey, warning you about that situation. And, but then also when you deal with fornication and this idea of lewdness. Now, in that area, there's a lot of, there's a lot of gift shops, right? I would say, not every other, but maybe every third shop, it might be every other, had, you know, you'd have the shops where you'd walk in, but then you have all these, like, stands that they put on the outside where the street's at, and they had male privy members, like, just, just the whole thing of it. Like, who's buying this? I'm like, you see it at one shop, you're like, stay away from there, but it was like every other shop. I'm like, why is this here? And then you see pottery with all kinds of explicit stuff on it, but you, you know, you would think that that would be, like, in the basement somewhere, right? And that'd be in the back, not on the street, where everybody's walking, right? There's kids walking by, you know, parents with their kids are walking by, all this stuff, and it's just, like, right in front of your face. Now, listen, I'm a guy, so I don't really care, but I don't want my kids seeing that garbage. Women shouldn't have to look at that stuff as they're walking down the street. Garbage. And that, that type of wickedness that, that's there, and that type of mentality that's there, obviously there, there's, there's homosexuality that, that's on, depicted on all this type of stuff, and listen, Greeks, you should be a shamed that your culture is being defined by homosexuality. That that's what, okay, so when people think of Greek culture, they're thinking of homos? Ridiculous. I mean, I, you know, I'm reading different Greek books, and let me tell you, it's not all talking about homos. There's this, there's this conspiracy out there that just all Greek literature and everything which is about the homos, did they talk about it? Yeah, but you know what? There was a lot of wickedness in our country, too, that talks about it and everything else that's written out there. It, you, a hundred years from now, or 200 years from now, when they pull up all this LGBTQ crap, they want to say, that's what America was about. That's what defines America. And so there's a lot of wickedness going on, and, and I think that this is the, obviously what brings you down into darkness, right? Nations that forget God are turned down into hell, and Pastor, Pastor Jimenez was talking about that verse in Matthew chapter 4 about the light shining out of darkness and seeing a great light, and I definitely agree with that, but here, here's one way I believe that Greece can really see a revival happen. I want you to think about this. Greece is a place where you had Paul's great missionary journey coming down that we saw in Acts chapter 17, Acts chapter 18, where he's coming through Philippi, he's coming through Thessalonica. I mean, think about the book of Philippians and the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians and all the praise that he's giving those, those, those, those Christians that are there at that time, and then you come down to Athens and you see people getting saved there, and then Corinth, Corinth had his problems, but they were still doing great things for God. They were giving all kinds of, you know, of charity to the poor saints in Jerusalem. They were doing great things for God. They did have problems, but at the same time, you know what, Greece has actually a really great heritage, if you want to grab onto it, a great Christian heritage back in Paul's day, and it can be revived. I believe it can be revived. I believe there's still people there that want to hear the gospel, but I do think that what you need there is hard preaching. Go to Isaiah chapter 58, Isaiah chapter 58. I'm not talking about street preaching. I'm not saying, well, you know, instead of going up and asking if they want to know how they can go to heaven, you need to get on a corner with a megaphone, and in Greek, tell them that they're a bunch of vile animals, you know, like, you know, you're not gonna, that's not what I'm talking about, is some kind of weird street preaching thing where you're just telling everybody about their sins. What you need is you need a good Baptist church in that area, sending out soul winners, and those that know how to speak Greek to these people, and having a revival where they can come back, hear hard preaching, and hear about sin, and get their lives separated unto God, and go out and do likewise. There needs to be a Baptist church that's getting on the news out there in Greece to where everybody can say, hey, there's a, wait, whoa, there's something other than this Greek Orthodox Church that's out there? Listen, look up the percentage of those, of the religion in Greece, and it's like 81 to 90 percent Greek Orthodox, and it's, it's full of idolatry, it's basically the Catholic Church only they dunk your baby in water instead of sprinkling it. I'm glad I grew up Catholic, just so you know. That's probably the only time you'll hear me say that behind the pulpit, because I wasn't almost drowned when I was a baby. But Isaiah chapter 58, it says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sins. We need hard preaching in Greece. Listen, there, I can't count on my hands how many people that I've won to the Lord that wouldn't have gotten saved if I didn't tell them about, let's say, a hard saying like the Reperbat doctrine. There are people that are hardened to the gospel because they've been fed a spoonful of lies about what the Bible teaches about subjects. Like, I don't want to believe in that because you, you believe pedophiles are gonna be up there in heaven with you. You're like, nope, not one pedophile will be in heaven. And when you explain it to them, they're like, okay, well show me then. There's a lot of false preconceived ideas about who God is and what the Bible teaches about these subjects and if they would just hear it. And, you know, maybe it'll take some preacher to get on the news and get persecution to where you're like, you know what, but I agree with what that guy said. Hey, maybe, you know, maybe, maybe this is why our country is in such a dark place. That there needs to be a fear of God in their eyes. And right now, when we were going around talking, I saw no fear of God in most of their eyes. You say, hey, the Bible says you're going to hell. The Bible says that we're all sinners and that, that punishment is a lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone. I don't care. You know what that is? No fear of God. Now go to Romans chapter 3. This is the beginning of how you get someone saved, isn't it? We're all of sin and control the glory of God. Isn't that what we all start with? Or something close to that? There's none righteous. No, not one. But I want you to think about this is that sometimes there needs to be a little fear before you get saved. When I got saved, I got saved at 17, but you know what? There was a precursor to that that I believe is the reason why I was open to hearing the gospel and why I really wanted to get saved. Before I got saved, I was afraid of dying. I was afraid of hell. And I was talking to some before the service, some of you young people don't know this, but there was a year before 2000. And there was this thing called Y2K. And it was this time where everybody's just like, everything's gonna melt down, the computers don't know anything past 1999, the stock market's gonna crash, like all this, we're gonna go back to the Stone Age, we're all gonna die. There was programs on TV just constantly talking about this. Who remembers that? All right, you guys are all my friends. So I remember, okay, so I'll tell you my age. I was 15 when Y2K happened. It didn't happen, okay? But, you know, the year 2000. But I remember there was all this fear about like the end of the world. There's all this fear about that. You know what that made me think of? Death. There was two things that made me think about that. My dad's twin brother dying when he was really young. 1995 is when that happened. And then that was going on, like going into 2000. So I was thinking about death, I was thinking about where was I gonna go when I die, and there was like all these things about hell and like all this stuff that was just like, people were talking about that. So I was like, I was afraid of hell. I remember even calling out for salvation, though I didn't know what I needed to believe. And it wasn't until I was 17 years old, I was a senior in high school, that my friend invited me to a Baptist revival where I heard some leather-lung preacher rip base on eternal security. And the fact that if you think you can lose your salvation, you're not saved. And I was just like, that's it? That's it. You know, that's great. I mean, he gets all the glory, and I don't do anything for salvation. It's all him. And you know what that was? Fear of God before I even got to the point where I heard the truth as far as what I needed to believe. And a lot of people, you say, well why do some people get saved and some don't? The lack of fear of God is a big reason. Go to Romans chapter 3 and verse 12. Romans chapter 3 and verse 12. Romans chapter 3 and verse 12, it says, they are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher, their tongues, they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, notice this, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in the sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law is what's going to put that fear of God back in their in their eyes. The punishment that comes from breaking the law is what's going to put the fear of God back in their eyes. And listen, sometimes it may take, maybe it'll take some really distraught stuff that happens to that to that country for it to get the fear of God in its eyes. And listen up America, do you want it to go that far with our country? To where that's going to have to happen before we wake up until everybody wakes up to what's going on? The fear of God needs to be put into their eyes. And you know what? There needs to be this this grassroots revival, if you will, in Greece. There needs to be a church, listen, there needs to be a Baptist Church in Athens that's just ripping face. I don't care if you have two people going out soul-winning there. Two people going out soul-winning, you're ripping face, and you're preaching hard against sin, and you know what? It's gonna cause waves, there's gonna be persecution, but you know what? There's gonna be people that'll be like, I agree with that guy. Yep, that's right. And then, you know what? That'll grow that church, the Lord will build that church up, and there'll be more people that go out soul-winning, and then there'll be more people to hear the truth, and it's gonna have to be that way. Listen, building churches and starting churches in these areas are gonna be the answer. I think what you need out there is you need a native there that's gonna get on fire for the things of God and just have this grassroots type of revival there to where they're gonna preach hard on sin. And I think in this area, and in some cases you can go into an area and you could speak English and it'd be fine because most people could speak English, but I think in this case you're gonna need a Greek speaker. You're gonna need a Greek speaker and also to combat the idolatry of that Greek Orthodox Church that's there. I mean, that religion has a stronghold, but I'll say this. Go to Acts chapter 17. Go to Acts chapter 17. This is still there. When we were walking through Athens, there's all kinds of like these old Greek Orthodox churches. They're just in there chanting all their prayers or whatever they're doing in there. But I grew up Catholic, and when it comes to the Greek Orthodox, again, it's very similar to Catholicism, but I'll say this. I think it's gonna be a little different when you're in a country where that originates. It's kind of like if you were gonna go into Italy and try to take out the Catholic Church and take, you know, and take on those that are a part of the Catholic Church. Does that make sense? Like in West Virginia, there's a lot of Catholics, but I'd say 50% of the Catholics that we give the gospel to get saved. But we're not at the Vatican, right? We're not in Italy. So when you're dealing with this, I think that it's gonna be something to combat there where that's... most of the people are gonna claim it, but I'll say this. Most people probably claim it, but it's just kind of like Catholicism where it's claimed, but they're not really practicing it. It's kind of like, oh, well, my family's Catholic, therefore I'm Catholic. It's not... or, you know, my family's Greek, or I'm Greek, so of course I'm Greek Orthodox, right? They may even say they're atheists, but they're like, I'm Greek Orthodox. Do you believe it? No. Now, in Acts 17 and verse 16, this is where we had the Mars Hill sermon. So when we were there, we did go up to Mars Hill, and Mars Hill is right next to the Acropolis. So the Acropolis is up on the high point in the whole city, and you have the Parthenon, you have, you know, the Temple of Athena, and then in the old Temple of Athena, and you have all these different things that are there, and then before you get up to that, though, you have Areopagus, you have Mars Hill, where Paul stood and preached this sermon, okay? Mars Hill, you know what, how much it cost to go on there, to go up there? Nothing. Zero. But you have to pay to go over to the Acropolis, and to me, you know, it was a lot more, it was a lot... I enjoyed being on Mars Hill way more than being over the Acropolis. I mean, yeah, it was cool to see the Parthenon, and it's cool to see, like, history and see old buildings and stuff like that, but to stand on top of Mars Hill and think that this is where Paul stood, that this is where this sermon was preached, and they actually have a whole plaque where it's in Greek, his sermon right there. Now, the thing about that is that Brother Richie, who was out there with us, he won three Filipinos up there, so you can find them anywhere. You would find Filipinos here in Athens, but he did, and so, you know, just like Paul was out there preaching the gospel, hey, people are still getting saved on Mars Hill. And so, but this is, Areopagus is just another way, that's just the Greek way of saying Mars Hill, but in verse 16 it says, Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Now, I want you to think about this. Is it any different today? I mean, have you ever looked in a Greek Orthodox Church? It's almost like, you know when you have those people that put way too many decorations up, right? They're like, I don't even know what I'm looking at. Like, it's so overboard, right? You're just like, I can't even focus on one item. That's the Greek Orthodox Church. I don't even know what I'm even staring at. It's just too messy. At least the Catholics. No, I'm just kidding. No, I'm not, I'm not defending them. Listen, the Catholics definitely have idolatry, but this is like another level. So, it's interesting that they were wholly given to idolatry. Now, obviously back then they were, they were dealing with multiple gods and all that. Now, Greek Orthodox and Catholicism ultimately basically replaced the gods with saints, and so that's their gods. They prayed to them. Listen, I remember being, you know, being a good Catholic, you know, and going through the Catholic Church that you would pray to St. Francis if your pet was sick. Like, apparently St. Francis really liked animals, and so, but that was just one of the saints. So, you're gonna pray to him and then he's gonna intercede and all this. So, it's just basically a replacement of all these these pagan gods. And notice in verse 22, it says, Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Why? Because it says, For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. And listen, they are superstitious. They're doing all kinds of weird things when they go into these places. I walk into this one little church thing that they had there just to see what it looked like inside, and they're like doing all kinds. Listen, I went to Catholic Church, so there's all this genuflexing that you do, and you put your hand in the holy water and splash it and do all this different stuff, and it's a lot of superstitious garbage is what it is. And so, superstition that they have with all these multiple gods, superstition that they have with the Greek Orthodox Church and all their idols that go with it, and to their unknown God. And you know what? The Jesus that they think that they're worshiping is a false God, and we need to declare unto them who that unknown God is that they ignorantly worship. They think they're worshiping Jesus, you know. They think that, oh yeah, no, we believe in Jesus, but they don't actually trust in the Lord Jesus. Now when it comes to this grassroots movement that needs to happen there, you really need, I think, locals that are gonna be there that are gonna know the area. They're gonna know where people are gonna be and where the best places to go soul winning. They're gonna be able to speak with the people that are there. And look at 1st Corinthians chapter 16. 1st Corinthians chapter 16. I'm almost done. That was my trip in a nutshell. There's a lot of things that we did. There was fun things that we did. We got to swim in the Gulf of Corinth and all that, and so there were some fun things there, and it was definitely a good experience just to go out there and kind of see all that stuff. But when it came to the reception of the gospel, it was definitely a little depressing on just how everybody was aloof to the things of God, and how they just didn't care. And it was very vexing, especially when you're giving the gospel over and over again, and you just can't, they don't want to hear it, they just don't care, and going on and on. And I just really would love to see, because there were people that did get saved, and were glad that we were there. There was one person that when I was talking, I was giving the gospel, and I was talking about Cornelius, and talking about how Cornelius, you know, obviously sent an angel, or I'm sorry, God sent an angel to Cornelius to send for Peter to tell them how to get saved. Because they, you know, it's the typical, like, oh no, I believe this stuff, I believe in this, and I always use Cornelius as an example to say, hey, Cornelius knew who God was as far as, you know, he was trying to worship God, he didn't know what he needed to believe that he saved, though. And that's where Peter came in. So a lot of times I try to, I show them and say, hey listen, I'm not saying you didn't know anything by the Bible, I'm not saying you didn't know that Jesus existed, I'm not saying you didn't know the story, but what I'm saying is you didn't know what you needed to believe to be saved. And Cornelius was right there. A good man, he was trying to do right, he just did not know what he needed to believe. And this one guy was actually very thankful that I was there, he even, he equated me to that, he's like, you're like the angel that's coming over here, I'm like, whoa buddy, like, I'm not that. Like, he was just, so, because, you know, I didn't have any special invites, so I had my West Virginia ones, so every once in a while they would read it, right? You know, you just don't expect them to read it, so they're like, Fairmont, West Virginia? Yeah, you're gonna be here this Sunday? They're like, what are you doing out here? But you know what, that's always a fun fun way to break ice anyway. But, so there were people that are very, you know, like glad we were there, wanted to hear it, and you know, my heart goes out to those, and there's, I guarantee there's others that are saved that are out in Greece that really want to see things change, and want to see the gospel being preached out there, and really need that. And 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 15, it says, I beseech you brethren, you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. So you see here that we really need, we need these fruits that are in Achaia. Achaia is that area. Athens, Corinth, that whole area, and they're addicting themselves to the ministry, and listen, those people that get saved that come out of that type of stuff, I've seen a lot of times where, for example, in Catholicism, obviously I'm anecdotal, but I've seen many Catholics that got saved that got really on fire for the things of God. And I can see that happening with those that are coming out of the Greek Orthodox Church, that they grew up with this kind of foundational belief in Christianity, in the Trinity, and then they're like, you know, that's the truth, and they're just like full steam ahead. And this idea of those, I mean think of Paul, and Paul's a case where he's very zealous, but without knowledge, right? And those types will do great things for God in a lot of cases. And go to 2 Corinthians chapter 9, and that can breed like a wildfire. And I can see that happening out there, but I do believe there needs to be hard preaching. I do think that there needs to be this church that's on a hill just pounding the pulpit, and just preaching hard on sin, and just hitting on the, I mean, all the truths that are just being afraid to be said out there. And to where people are gonna notice and say, hey, that's different. Hey, that's not what I'm used to hearing. That actually makes sense. So the darker the place gets, the easier it is to see the light. So though Greece is very dark right now, and though I'm sure the UK is dark, though Europe in general is dark, the darker it gets, the easier it is to see the light. And that that light will just stand out so much easier. It's so much brighter. I mean, put a flashlight out there on a sunny day and see if you see it. Then go out there when it's dark and see if you see it. Same light, same power of light, but the view of it is gonna be different depending on the area that you're at. Second Corinthians chapter 9 verse 1, it says, for as touching the ministering to the Saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you, for I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of youth, of them of Macedonia, that Achaea was ready a year ago, and your zeal had provoked very many. Notice that. That they, of Corinth, that their zeal had provoked so many that Achaea is just ready. It's ready. There needs to be this revival that happens there to where the hearts of men are just being readied out there and just ripe for the picking. And I don't think it needs to be a whole bunch of people that do it. I think that it could be a small minority. A small group of people can do a great thing, great things for God, and then that grows exponentially as you go. I mean, think about this church right here. I mean 2005, 2006, and just how that slow and steady growth can next year 20, the next year 30, the next year 40, next year 50, the next year 60, and then it just like explodes, you know? And then other churches getting started, and then those churches are exploding, and then, you know, just on and on and on, and the influence that's impacted outside of just the direct influence, right? The direct impact that you see that's caused by it. Listen, Pastor Anderson didn't send me out, but he influenced me to start the church. I wouldn't be a pastor, I probably would not be pastoring right now if it wasn't for my friendship with Pastor Anderson and his influence on my life. That influence that was so small back then, right? But you know what? You know what a lot of us saw way back then was someone that wasn't afraid to preach the truth. Someone that was going to say the things that weren't popular. Someone that was willing to stand up and take the persecution and actually be a man of God in the nation that we live in. And that type of church and man of God needs to be in Greece for there to be a great revival. Could we go out there and win more people to Christ? Sure. We could do a mission trip next year, I guarantee we'll get someone safe. But here's the thing, how many though? We're talking about, you know, common sense missions. The idea is that, hey, we're gonna take the time to go out, you know, we're gonna go to a mission field, let's go to a place that's right for the picking. Let's not beat our heads against the wall. And the idea with Europe and all that, and I think that there needs to be, like Pastor Jim Anderson was saying, is that basically you have that church that's starting in the UK and that being a springboard to start other churches. And those churches need to preach hard against sin. We don't need any milk toast churches that are out there, we need them to preach hard against sin and wake up those that are there. And be like Lydia in Acts chapter 16 where it says that whose heart the Lord opened. The Macedonian call, if you know the story, they wanted to go into Asia, right? The Spirit forbid them. So where were they called? Macedonia. Where was Lydia from? Thyatira. You remember where that's at in the seven churches that are in Asia? A refugee. I don't know if she was a refugee, but she was from a different country. She was actually from Asia and God prepared her heart and opened her heart for that. And when it comes to any of the missions that we do, I think one, we want to look for the open doors. We want to be praying that God opens the heart. And I do believe that a lot of these countries in Europe are aloof to the things of God. They're at ease. They're sitting still. But that's where you need that fire-breathing preaching to wake them up. Wake them up. Assemble yourselves. Hear the Word of God. You know what? Sometimes you just take that small group, that Gideon type of 300, to go out and go out to battle against the three million. And that's the type of preaching and churches that need to be started. Praise the Lord. When I came here this morning and I heard Pastor Jimenez's sermon on just the church being started in UK, the one in Germany, and the other one that Pastor Stuckey's starting out there in Poland. Praise the Lord. I think that's how we get Europe the gospel. We need churches out there. We need men of God. We need men of God that know the language in these different areas. And I pray that we can put a new IFB Baptist Church in every single one of these European countries and preach hard against sin. Wake up everybody that's there and win as many people to Christ as possible. But the fear of God needs to be put into their eyes in the Word of God and the law of God is what's going to do that. Not changing the gospel. Not adding repent of your sins. Not telling people to turn from their sins. No saying, thus saith the Lord, you're going to hell and your sin is exceeding sinful. Believe it. And if you don't, you're going to hell. Get the fear of God in your eyes. And you know what? Maybe if there's a Baptist Church that's getting persecuted, maybe God will punish that nation to where they'll actually open their eyes. So the Greece trip, yeah, I would say it's a success because it's always a success to win people to Christ. But I'll say this, the biggest takeaway that I got from the Greece trip was how much I love America. And how much I take for granted soul winning here in America. And when I came home I was just like, you speak English? It's so much easier. And they're just like, yeah, you can show me. I'm like, this is great. I got through the whole thing with you. It's silly, but at the same time like I, you know, we go out soul winning all the time and the thing is that I think we take it for granted in a lot of cases of just how easily accessible it is and how, you know, we know the language, they don't understand us, you know, like all that stuff we take for granted. And if there's anything that I learned from the trip is just to really appreciate the local soul winning that we have here. And listen, don't take that for granted. Maybe you aren't going to go out to some mission field. Maybe you're saying, you know what, I'm glad others are doing that, but I just don't want to go across the ocean. I just, I don't have, I don't want to learn another language. I don't want to get into that. Listen, the field's right for the picking. In West Virginia I've probably spoken to every religion that's out there. From the Sikhs, to the Wiccans, to, I mean, you have the Muslims, the Hindus, like everybody. I had some Wiccan say he liked my tea. That's the type of conversation you get out to out soul winning. Apparently I have vampire tea. There's weird people out there. All I'm saying is there's all kinds of people out there. You don't have to go out to another mission field to find that. And so if you're here and saying, hey, you know what, I don't want to get out to the mission field, the mission field's right out that door. There's all kinds of different nations that are out there. And we don't take for granted the soul winning that we have here. And you know what, the Bible teaches that we need to preach the gospel to every creature. And praise the Lord for this missions conference. And I pray that next year we can see even more churches that are started, and see other great fruits that are coming out of that, and see that coming to fruition down the line. And you know what, I think we also need to start more churches here in America. We need a church in every state, every city that's out there that just has soul winning on the mind, and that's going to try to go start churches as well in these other areas. But I do pray that there's local, or at least people that are from those areas and these places that speak these languages, that they get a fire underneath them to say, hey, if not you, then who? Because there's some things that I don't think that I'm going to be that guy. You know, I'll go out there and I'll help and I'll go out on a mission trip out there, but I don't think, I'm not going to be the guy that's going to start a church in Athens, move my family out there, and be that preacher. It's just, I think you really need a local, and in a lot of these cases I think you need that. So if there's anybody out there that's in Greece, or you know, that's listening, you know that, hey, maybe it's you. Maybe God's preparing you. I'm not saying you're ready right now, but maybe, maybe that's your calling. Maybe that's something that God wants you to do, and you need to get everything in order and get serious about the things of God, because maybe that's you that needs to be in that spot. Let's end with a word prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for this church, and thank you for the missions programs and everything that had been going on, and Lord just pray that you would put obviously the heart of these areas and for missions out there in all of us, and Lord just pray that you'd help us to be soul winners, both domestic and foreign, and just everywhere that we go, Lord help us to be conscious of those that need to get saved, and Lord we love you, and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, Amen.