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

that for the glory of God. And what he does talk about in this chapter is that when you are married, you know, you are going to care for the things of your spouse. You know, as a married person, I don't try to live like I'm a single person because it's just a bit different than when I was single. And you do have to care for your spouse. And the Bible is not saying that's a bad thing or that's a wrong thing. In fact, if God has blessed you with a spouse, you ought to care for your spouse. You ought to care for your husband. You ought to care for your wife. But the reality is that if you have a spouse and then you have kids, there's going to be a lot of time taken up actually taking care of them and with those responsibilities. OK, the Bible says, you know, that if you are married, you care for the things of the world, how you may please your wife. It says here in verse 34, there is difference also between a wife and a virgin. By the way, you're seeing here in this sentence right here, a wife and a virgin, that God intends you, if you're not a wife as a woman, to be a virgin. Right, if you are not a wife, God intends you to be a virgin. He's looking at godly people and he says, hey, you know what? There's a difference between a wife and then a virgin, because unmarried people are meant to be pure, right? Says the unmarried woman cared for the things of the Lord, how she may be holy, both in body and in spirit. But she that is married cared for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. And what I want to preach tonight is a sermon called Serving the Lord without Distraction, Serving the Lord without Distraction. Now, here in First Corinthians, Chapter seven, if you are married, you have necessary distractions in your life. And there's nothing wrong with that. You need to spend time with your family. You need to care about your spouse. You need to care about your kids. And Paul's not saying that's wrong. But what I'm preaching about today is not the necessary distractions or the necessary things in our life, but the unnecessary things that we bring into our life that distract us from actually serving God. There are a lot of things in this world that whether you're single or married, they're necessary things. Take a shower, brush your teeth, clean your house every once in a while. Right. I mean, these are things that are just necessary things that we have to do, and there's nothing wrong with them. Right. These are things that you do. And then, of course, as a married person, there's going to be time that you should invest into your spouse and your kids. Right. And that is a necessary distraction. If God has led you to be married, if God has given you children, then that is a necessary distraction in your life. And it's not sinful. It's not wrong. You know, it is a necessary distraction. Now, at this church, you know, I praise the Lord for all of the families that are serving God at our church. I also praise the Lord for the singles that are serving God at our church. I mean, you look at the school ministry and there's a lot of things that we could not accomplish if it was not for just single people that are very godly, that love the Lord. And they say, hey, you know what? I'm going to devote my time while I'm in this stage of my life to serving God and doing as much as I possibly can. Right. And I praise the Lord both for the singles and the married people at our church. I believe at our church we were filled full of people that love God and are serving God and are doing great and awesome things for God. Right. Go in your Bible to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians five. Now, as I'm talking about distractions, I am also not preaching about planned out distractions. I'm not preaching about hobbies in this sermon. Maybe you have a habit where basically three times a week I like to work out for 30 minutes. But that's something you've already planned out. It's already structured. It's very organized. You've already got it as something you're going to do. What I am talking about is you go about your life during the day and all kinds of distractions pop up that you don't need in your life. They are just a waste of time. And if we could learn to use that time wisely, we would have a lot more extra time left in the day to do something that's actually productive. Here's what it says in Ephesians five, verse 15. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. You know, you don't have to turn there. But if you cross reference with the book of Ecclesiastes in the last chapter, it talks about remembering your creator in the days of your youth. And then it talks about the evil days as you start to get older. We joke about it, but, you know, it's not really a joke that as you get older as a guy, the lower back starts to be very painful, right? I mean, I'm now 40 years old and you feel it a little bit more as you get older. And the reality is that as you get older, things get more difficult. And I would say that if you are young in this room, use that time to serve God now. I wish I could go back to when I was a lot younger and I had just had a pattern of reading the Bible rather than just spending time on video games and sports and other things that are going to fade away that nobody in heaven cares about. I don't think anybody in heaven is getting an argument about who is better at this video game. I don't think anyone's getting an argument who is better at basketball. Right? I mean, there's so many things. And I get it. Kids are kids and kids play and they have fun and my kids play. And that's a good thing. But you know what? I wish I had used some of my time when I was a kid actually productively rather than just video games for six straight hours when I was like seven and eight years old. You say, why? Because that time is gone and it is like just spilled upon the ground and you can never bottle it back up. It's gone. And there's so much time I've wasted. You think of the song in our hymnal, have I done my best for Jesus? And you just think of the hours that you've wasted. And it's like a sermon like this is something I need to remind myself because I want to be a hard worker that uses the time that God has given me in a very wise and productive way. I don't want to just waste away my life, but it's very easy naturally in our flesh to take the easy route and just waste all of the free time that God actually gives us. Turn your Bible to Psalm 90. Psalm 90. Psalm 90. Everybody that's older in this room knows this is true, but you know, if you're young, then maybe you haven't figured this out yet. And it might not logically make sense, but it is a fact that defies math and logic that time speeds up as you get older. Is that not true? I mean, it just speeds up as you get older. I mean, I remember when, you know, I was 25 years old. I remember when I turned 25 and one of my friends was making fun of me because he's a couple of years younger, like, oh, man, you're an old man now. You're 25. And then it's like, wait a minute, 15 years have gone by since then. How did that happen? It's like it seemed like it went in the blink of an eye. And of course, as you have kids, it's like, wait, Zeph is seven years old now. Christabel is five years old. As I wait a minute, we have the fourth child on the way. It's like, where did all this time go? And I'm just going to assume that time will just keep speeding up. Right. Bible says here in Psalm 90, verse nine, For all our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale that is told. Think of a fairy tale. Think of a story. Bible says that we ought to spend our years and live our lives basically like we are telling a story. You see, when you are actually the way you live your life is actually you writing the story. Somebody is going to tell a story about how you lived your life. A good way to think of this is at a funeral. Right now, obviously, at a funeral, nobody's going to stand up and say something bad about someone. But it's like, what do you want people to say about you at your funeral? Do you want them to say, man, that person, he really loved his sitcoms. And that person, he never missed a basketball game ever. I mean, every single NBA finals, every single year. I mean, he caught them all. Is that what you want people to say about you? There's a lot of things they could say. I mean, there's a lot of things I hope they say about me at my funeral. But it's like the tale, the story I want is something that is meaningful, not something that is just going to fade away and means absolutely nothing. Bible says in verse 10, the days of our years are three square years and 10. And if by reason of strength, they be four square years. Yet is their strength, labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away. Bible says that your lifespan is 70 to 80 years. And you know what? Thousands of years later, the lifespan is 70 to 80 years. Now, for me, I'm banking on 120. You know, I'm going to I'm going to reach the age of Moses. So I've only hit one third of my life. But it's like by statistics, it's like 70 to 80 years is how long your life is. And the thing is, it's like we can often think about that one day I'm going to do something. But when people take that mentality, that day never comes. Isn't it true as we preach in the schools? You know, we run into a lot of young kids and their mentality is first, I want to get my job figured out. First, I want to get my life figured out, save up money. And then when I'm older, I'll focus on my spiritual walk. Isn't that what people think? Isn't that what you're taught at a young age? And what we try to teach these kids is, hey, you know what? Take this seriously. We're here. It's only 30 minutes. Quit wasting your time and pay attention to what we have to say. You say why? Because you need to consider these things now. And as a saved person, consider your life and what you're doing now. Take the time to memorize the Bible now. Take the time to read the Bible now. Get in the pattern of just going through your Bible every single day now. Don't just wait and say, well, you know what? I'm 30 years old. I'm going to do that. Once I've got all my ducks lined up, once I've got all these things figured out, then I'm going to do that. Then, you know, pastor, once I save up this amount of money, then I'll be faithful to church and faithful to soul winning. And I would say that the vast majority of people that take that mentality, they never actually get on fire for God. That day never comes because your life is always going to be Magulo and just all over the place. That's just the way life works. And here's here's the news flash. When you get older, it gets more Magulo. It gets more messed up. It doesn't start to straighten itself out. I mean, it just gets more and more crooked as you go. Life's all over the place. Start serving God now at a young age. Bible says here in verse 11, Who knoweth the power of thine anger, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts onto wisdom. And, you know, when the Bible says teach us to number our days, that's obviously a cool verse. This is actually my favorite verse in the Bible. But I remember being in college. Me and my friends are like, Well, let's just make this math problem, because all of us, we majored in engineering or math, you know? And so it's like, well, 80 years times three sixty five point two five, right? How long is this? And then as you start actually charting it out, because we would chart it out for like a month, like, man, time is actually really flying by like a lot quicker than you realize when you actually chart it out. And I would say that all of us, we feel this way. We're like, man, where did all the time go? It's like your life is but a vapor, as the Bible says. Go to Bible Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy chapter 17. Now, there's no doubt that planned out hobbies can be a big distraction in your life, and I get that. You know, when I was single, when I was in college, I would I would spend, you know, a couple of hours in the gym every single day. I don't do that anymore. I still like to try to work out. But it's like, you know what? As I've gotten older, that's just too much of my time I'm spending on a hobby that doesn't mean that much. I mean, it's a good thing. It's a nice hobby staying in shape. But is that the most important thing in your life? Right. And obviously, when you have hobbies that you're taking a couple hours a day, it's probably a hobby. You want to calm that down a little bit. But I'm not preaching about planned out hobbies in this sermon. What I'm preaching about is all of a sudden you've got 10 free minutes that you did not expect. Maybe you're at, you know, I don't know the you're getting something fixed at your, you know, with your car. Maybe you're waiting on something. You're waiting on a grab for 10 minutes. What do you do with those 10 minutes? Because we generally tend to waste those 10 minutes. And if you would actually use that time productively, you would accomplish a lot more in your life, in our lives. You know, for example, at home, you know, we're doing a bunch of things. And then all of a sudden, maybe you have a 30 minute break to the next thing you have to do. It's like, what do you do with those 30 minutes? Because the natural tendency of 99% of people in this world is to waste those 30 minutes. That is what I'm preaching about in this sermon. I'm going to give you six different things that could be major time wasters in our lives. And I'm going to be completely honest with you that all of these things I find myself wasting time on from time to time. So I'm not standing in Philippines as it is every single year in the world is always the number one country on spending time on smartphones. Five hours and 20 minutes per day is the average amount of time that a person in the Philippines uses a smartphone. Now, I get it. I check emails on my smartphone. There are things that are necessary with your smartphone. You check messages from time to time. But this is what people have a tendency to do. Just they hold this thing like it's stuck with glue. They cannot let it go. It's like, wait a minute, I'm eating. It's like I got to be on my phone while I'm eating. And it's just like they always just got to hold on to this thing. Instead of going to sleep at night, I just got to hold on to this phone. First thing in the morning, I got to hold on to this and look five hours and 20 minutes. Look, you're awake on average 16 hours a day. So one third of a day is spent on a smartphone in the Philippines. Now, the Philippines is always number one, but pretty much in every country, it is at least several hours for any kind of country that is not extremely poor, where smartphones are very accessible and common. Five hours and 20 minutes. What is the big problem with spending five hours and 20 minutes on your smartphone? Because I want to categorize all six of these things and the problems that it leads to. I would say one of the big problems with smartphones is they take away from your personal walk with God of reading the Bible and praying to God and having a lone time with God. When you read the Bible, unless you're reading it on your phone, put away your phone. And if you read on your phone, turn off the sound for 30 minutes. Turn off the notifications for 30 minutes on your phone. So all you're doing is reading the Bible. Bible says here in Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy 17 verse 18. And it shall be when he sit upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this law and a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord is God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. The Bible is very clear that we need to read the Bible every single day. But but here's the truth about reading the Bible. Sometimes we read the Bible and we really just don't pay attention to what we're reading. All of us, I'd say, are guilty of that sometimes, aren't we? You get done with it and it's like, wait a minute, what did I read? It's like, well, you know, I wasn't paying attention, but this is the David and Goliath chapter. So I remember that. But you didn't actually pay attention to what you were reading when you're reading. Sometimes there's things where it's like you miss something in the Bible. It's like, man, I never knew that. But that's because we're not paying that much attention when we're reading. And what I would say is when you read, set aside everything else that is going on in your life. A quiet place alone with God. Just read the Bible. But yet when people are obsessed with their cell phones, they're obsessed with their smartphones, you are not going to have a good personal walk with God. Go on your Bible to Joshua chapter one. Joshua one. Now, look, my my natural personality, because I do have a smartphone and this is something I used to battle with because I hate smartphones. But in the world we live in today where information is like, you got to be ready to check messages and all this stuff. It's like eventually it's like, all right, whatever, I'm going to put away my, you know, Bobo phone and get a smartphone. Right? But I miss the days when you could go six hours without looking at your phone and you didn't have to worry about anything that you missed. You don't have to be ready to check an email immediately. You don't have to check Facebook immediately. You don't have to worry about a text message. It's just like, OK, you know, six hours from now I'll check or whatever when I get home. I miss the days where you go home and check the computer. Oh, did I get an email in the last 24 hours? But nowadays we live and it's like you got to know this information so quickly. I mean, it is very frustrating because of the fact when you have smartphones, it is very, very easy to waste your time in a multitude of different ways. Five hours and 20 minutes. That's a lot of time wasted in a lot of different ways. Here in the Philippines with the average person. Joshua one verse eight, the Bible says this, this cell phone shall not depart out of your hands. Now, wait a minute. It's it's tired. You know, it's a long drive up here. I woke up at one thirty this morning. My kids were, you know, woke up. So I'm tired. This book of the law shall not depart out of my mouth, but thou shalt meditate there in day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make the way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success. Is it possible to meditate on God's word day and night if you have a cell phone in your hand all day long? I mean, if at nighttime you're on your phone first thing in the morning, you're on your phone when you're eating lunch, you're on your phone. It's like, when are you meditating on God's word? You're not. You're obsessed with your cell phone. Five hours and 20 minutes. I mean, let's just add that up over the course of your life and you're wasting decades of your life. Is that what you want to do with your life? Going back to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. Look, I'm not telling you to get rid of your smartphone. I have a smartphone. And yeah, I spend time on my smartphone. I check messages. I check emails. But I would say if you're spending five hours and 20 minutes on your cell phone, unless you have a specialized job where you're required to be on your cell phone 24-7, you're spending way too much time on your cell phone. How about just going home with your family and putting it away and actually just talking to your kids? Right, this old fashioned thing called parents and kids actually talking to one another, playing games with one another. Right, I mean, look, this is something that's very much changed our lifetime, because when I started going to college, I didn't have a cell phone. It's like when I needed to call, it's like the old fashioned phone in the wall. It's like, you know, calling my parents. That's what I had. I didn't have a smartphone for my first few years of college. I didn't want to get it. But then all of a sudden, it's like I felt pressured to start getting a phone because of the fact, you know, you have friends that have phones. And then, of course, last minute plans change or whatever. So I started getting a phone. And then, of course, now it's it's changed a lot from just having a phone with things like Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and all these new things where it's like smartphones become like an obsession in today's world. Psalm one, verse one. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And look, God gives a promise if you meditate on God's word day and night. What is that promise? And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in a season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The Bible is saying you will be in it for the long haul if you meditate on God's word day and night. Look, obviously, I have a lot of life left to live, but I can say that I have been going sowing at least once a week for more than 20 straight years. And I would say in my 20 plus years of being saved, I've seen a lot of people that have started to get involved with the things of God and then fade out a year later. They start getting involved. They fade out a couple of years later. And the reality is this, that when you look at people, you don't really know what's going on in their personal walk with God. Are they spending time reading the Bible? Are they spending time praying? Are they spending time memorizing? And people get excited for the things of God, but they don't have their personal walk. What takes place? They fade out. And you don't realize it. But the reality is, over the course of those two years that they were going sowing and getting involved in these events, they actually were never really spending time with God. They basically got excited and they were using that to jumpstart their life. But eventually that is going to fade out. You must learn to put away distractions and spend time with God on a daily basis. Turn to the Bible to Proverbs 16. Proverbs 16. I personally, I don't count how much I read the Bible. I do on a yearly basis. I have a plan that I use every day, but I did not start counting. When I first got saved, I wasn't really concerned about I need to tell people how much I've read the Bible. So I do not know how many times I've read the Bible. But one thing I do tell people, like, for example, I'm talking to a Catholic and I'm explaining suicide and I'll say, yeah, you know what? A lot of people think the Bible says immortal sin. But I say I've read the Bible more than 50 times cover to cover. You will never find that phrase in there. Sometimes I say that because I know that I have read the Bible more than 50 times cover to cover. And it's like, well, how could you do that? Well, I've been saved for 20 years, you know, a few times every year. And now my last 10 years, I'm more diligent on reading. It's like three plus three plus three plus three. Some years for one year I read the Bible six times. You add it up and then over time, guess what? You've read it a lot. And the reality is, it's just a little bit each day. All you got to do is slowly do it. And before you know it, because what takes place is you hit a new year and before you know it, it's going to be the end of February. It's like, man, I'm only up to Genesis chapter three. But if you just had a diligent plan and would just cross it off and just every single day, no, I have to spend time with God. I have to spend time with God. Before you know it, you've actually read the Bible quite a bit. Point number one is smartphones. Five hours and 20 minutes is the average person in the Philippines they spend on their smartphone. Point number two, and this is kind of linked, but I'm making a separation, is Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I'm going to be doing the video ones later on, like YouTube and TikTok. But for point number two, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, because that's kind of the main way, at least the way I see it, of how you like post statuses and what's going on in your life. We have a church Instagram. I have no idea what the password is. You know, it's probably been a year since I've been signed in with Twitter. I don't know if we have, I guess it's not called Twitter anymore, right? I don't know if we have a Twitter X or whatever. Facebook, though, I do have a Facebook account, right? And in Facebook, people just kind of post what's going on in their lives. And, you know, honestly, you could spend hours upon hours on Facebook and just drama after drama, after drama, after drama, after drama, after drama. And the problem with these things is it gets you involved in other people's lives a lot more deeply than God ever intended you to get involved in their lives. It is perfectly OK that people don't know everything about your life. It is perfectly OK that you go about your life and you live a quiet life with your spouse and with your kids, and you see people at church and fellowship with them there, and then you just spend time with your family. You don't need to just tell everybody everything that's going on in your life all of the time. Proverbs 16 verse 27. Proverbs chapter 16 verse 27. An ungodly man diggeth up evil, and in his lips there is is a burning fire, a froward man soweth strife, and a whisperer separates chief friends. Facebook is a major tool for gossip to spread like a wildfire. I mean, Facebook is a major tool where people just get involved in these things for hours upon hours. And you got to stop at some time and ask yourself this question. Am I more concerned about their life or my life? Because I don't know about you, but 24 hours in a day is not that much. I got a lot of things to do. And if you're spending all your time focused on someone else's life, you are wasting your life away. Go to Proverbs 17. The Bible says thou shalt not go up and down as a tail bear among thy people, neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor. I am the Lord. Let me give you a tip when it comes to Facebook, and I have a Facebook, and honestly, I would love to be able to delete it, but it's a great tool to just share information at church. We have our group chats and things like that. So we use it and it's a good thing and it's a useful thing. But I will say one thing that I do that I think is very helpful. I unfollow basically every single person that I'm friends with. As a pastor, I have a lot of people that ask to be my friends, and I don't know a lot of these people. And sometimes they're good people and sometimes they're complete weirdos. But I unfollow everybody except like my closest friends from when I was in West Virginia and then the people at church, because I do need to know as the pastor what's going on, you know, to know the state of thy flocks, as the Bible says. But I have no idea what's going on with other people. There's a lot of people that I like and they're good people, but I haven't found out what they've been doing over the last year because I haven't paid attention. And so there's a lot of people that might like my statuses and I never like theirs. It's not because I don't like them. It's just I don't want to spend all my time invested in somebody else's life. I post Bible verses. I post various things with church. It's a useful thing. I am unfollowed from almost every single person on Facebook. You say why? Because of the fact I know that if I was just seeing everybody's status pop up, it's very easy to just waste all your time worrying about other people. And I don't want to waste my life worrying about what's going on in other people's lives when I have my own life to live. Bible says in Proverbs 17 verse 4, a wicked doer giveth heed to false lips and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. You know, one of the things about Facebook, you know, in terms of gossip and things like that, is that when people post things on Facebook, you have no idea if it's actually real or how accurate it is. I mean, honestly, and, you know, this kind of surprises you at first, but I've just seen it through the years that when people go over the top to talk about how great something is, I assume it's the exact opposite, because that is generally the way that it actually happens. I mean, it's just like people are like, oh, man, I've got the greatest life. I've got the greatest husband. I've got the greatest job. It's like, man, somebody needs to help that person. They are depressed. You can tell it because that is usually the way that it actually happens. And then you see these things. People are posting everything that's going on in their life on Facebook. And it's like, you know, I'm just trying to give you a recommendation. I don't think it's wrong to have Facebook. I have a Facebook, but it's OK to just go about your life and not let everybody know everything that's going on. And it's also perfectly OK not to know what's going on in other people's lives. Why does it benefit you at all to know what's going on in the life of somebody who you went to high school with that you weren't even friends with when you were in high school? Doesn't benefit you. I mean, I don't I don't talk to anybody that I went to high school with. There's not a single person I'm still friends with. I mean, after I got saved and try to get them saved, it's kind of like those friendships kind of ended. It's kind of the way it works. But I've had various people that try to add me through the years. And, you know, in the past, I didn't accept. Now I generally just accept and just unfollow people. And I just don't know what's going on in their lives. You say, why? I have my own life to live. Turn your Bible to Colossians, chapter three. I mean, there have been times at church, I mean, just a couple of weeks ago, somebody told me about, hey, I just wanted to let you know that somebody was talking about you on Facebook. I had no idea because I'm just not friends with all of these people. I had no idea that my name was brought up. I just don't pay attention to it because it just does not matter to me. So by all means, if anyone ever talks trash about me, let me know, because I probably am just not aware of it. And you know what? Honestly, it's kind of nice just not being aware. And I can just go about my life and just I'm perfectly fine. Right? Point number one, we have smartphones. They distract you from your Bible reading. They distract you from your personal walk with God. Point number two, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. They get you involved in other people's lives and you are prone to gossip. Point number three, YouTube and TikTok, YouTube and TikTok and whatever other video applications that there are out there. I guess on Instagram you put up videos too sometimes. Maybe it kind of crosses over. But YouTube and TikTok, one of the big problems is it gets you very interested in things that are just not that important. I mean, there can be an endless supply of 30 second videos that are entertaining, right? And before you know it, it's like you start watching these things like, oh, and then all of a sudden there's another recommendation. Let me check that out. Let me check that out. It's like, oh, man, a lion almost eat somebody. Let me check that video out. And before you know it, it's like an hour and a half has gone by. It's like, what am I doing with my time? And it's like people will waste their time on these things, on these video applications, video after video after video after video. And at some point, it's kind of like, you know, is this really a distraction you need in your life? Why not just take that time to pray to God? Why not just take the time to memorize the Bible? Why not take that time to just play cards with your kids or something or throw a ball with your kids rather than just spending your time on these videos that mean nothing? Colossians chapter three, verse one. Colossians three, verse one. If he then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. God tells us, do not set your affection and your heart on the things of this world. Look, there are a multitude of videos that are out there that are interesting. And you could literally spend 24-7 the rest of your life and always find a new and interesting video out there. There are plenty of things because there's something for every flavor. No matter who you are in this room, there's something that interests you. For me, it's like I really loved soccer when I was growing up, so I could watch soccer video after soccer video after soccer video. Other people are into other things and you could just spend hours upon hours just watching video and it's interesting and it's entertaining. And you're fully setting your affection on things on this earth rather than actually setting your affection on things above. What is that called? It is called unnecessary distractions. We're talking about serving the Lord without distraction. And smartphones get in the way. They distract you from serving God. Facebook gets in the way. It distracts you from serving God. YouTube and TikTok, they get in the way and they distract you from serving God. Verse 3. For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concubicence, and covetousness which is idolatry. For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. Turn to 2 Kings 6. 2 Kings 6. And let me just help you out with this as well. I'm not just saying bad things. I'm saying you could waste your time on things that aren't even really bad things. They could even be good things. Let me just explain to you my philosophy when it comes to church and life and the way that I believe God intended things to be. I believe God intended you to work hard at your secular job, to spend time with your family, and then be devoted to church and serving God. But in the world that we live in today where all of this information is all over the place, people are always asking, people just get obsessed with things that just do not relate to them. And I would even recommend you, I mean, in this room, it's like I know most of the people that are in this room, even the visitors, and it's like you're part of good churches, you have good pastors. It's like you don't have to be obsessed with what's going on with other churches. You have your own life to live. You have your own church to be a blessing to. And if you spend all of your time on these things, you end up just wasting all kinds of time. And it goes back and forth, back and forth. You can just spend your time on something, and it's like, at the end of the day, it's like, is that the most productive thing that you can do with your time? I have to force myself to check out what's going on in other churches after a month because I haven't seen a post in like a month that's like, let me just get a quick refresher in like, you know, a couple minutes, and it's like, like, like, like, like, like, I'll check back in in another month. Because I just don't know what to do. I just don't pay attention every single day. You say, why? There's a lot going on with our churches and in my life. There's stuff to do here. And I always thought, you know, because if you don't have a good church, I understand the idea of kind of like the online movement you get really excited about. But when you have a great church, it's like, just be a blessing to the local church that you're at. Don't treat it as like, man, I want to be part of it. I mean, you've got a local church. You've got a church. You've got a local body that you are a member of that God puts you in. Be excited and be a blessing to that church rather than spending all of your mind and your heart and your affection on things that are just unrelated. Point number four, news. News can be a major distraction in this world. What's the problem with news? It puts you in a state of fear. If you watch the news all the time, if you watch the news all the time, you will be afraid. And it doesn't even matter if it's the liberals or the conservatives. If you watch the news all the time, you'll be scared to death. That's the way that it works. You say, well, why is that the case? Well, because of the fact that they make money off of your fear. That's what they do. And it's not just, look, I used to, and I don't think I've watched like a conspiracy video in like over a decade, but I remember I went through a stage where I was watching all these conspiracy videos. Like Alex Jones is kind of like the big guy or the big name. And it's like, let me explain to you what a guy like Alex Jones is. He's a fear monger. He makes money off of your fear. I remember you'd watch these things and it's like, I have drank water for decades and never been afraid. And then he puts you in a state of fear, like you've got to buy this like $2,000 thing. Otherwise, just the minerals in the water can destroy you. It's like, do I want to go about my life where I'm afraid to drink a bottle of water? Where I'm afraid to eat an apple? It's like that's not the way that God intended your life to be. Now, I'm not saying that you have to be completely ignorant about stuff. A little bit of knowledge can be an okay thing, but let me help you out with what's going to go on in the world six months from now. Israel and Palestine will still be at war with one another. Russia and Ukraine will still be at war with one another. And Donald Trump will do something new that scares people that World War III is about to happen. That's the way it's going to be. That's the way the world works. It doesn't really change. Now, there's an interesting story here in 2 Kings Chapter 6, and I want you to really think about this story because some of these stories in the Bible, we read them, they're interesting, but we should stop and really think about how is this actually taking place. 2 Kings 6, Verse 15, And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, in host comes the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? This servant has a very normal reaction for someone. He rises up early. This is what people do. And the first thing they do is let me see what's going on in the news or let me see what's going on with Facebook. And he looks around and he's like, Oh, no. What are we going to do? Now, notice this man rises early, but then he talks to Elisha that's already awake. You say, what's the difference between Elisha and this servant? I am completely convinced that Elisha already had his personal walk with God in the morning of reading the Scriptures and praying to God. Because notice in Verse 15, this is the reaction that anybody would have. If you look outside and you are not walking in the Spirit and there's a thousand people ready to arrest you and kill you, what is your reaction going to be? Fear, right? I would be afraid. I'm just being honest. I mean, if I woke up first thing in the morning, I'm going to pour my coffee and I look out, it's like, I'd be afraid. That's the normal reaction that a person would have. That's not the reaction of Elisha. It says in Verse 16, And he answered, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. God tells us that the only one we should be afraid of is actually God. But the thing is, it's not like you can force yourself not to be afraid. Do you know how that you can actually live your life without fear when you're walking in the Holy Ghost, walking in the Spirit? Why? Because when you walk in the Spirit, one of the big signs of walking in the Spirit is you have boldness. You're not afraid. You're not afraid of everything that's going to happen. Several years back during the days of COVID, there were a lot of people in this world that were scared to death of everything. Look, I didn't enjoy the days of COVID, and it was very difficult here in the Philippines during that time. But I can say honestly, I wasn't afraid. I wasn't afraid. I was like, you know what? And look, I'll be honest. I'm willing to admit that when I'm wrong, I thought when COVID first came out, it was going to be incredibly deadly. I was wrong. Okay? But here's the thing. I wasn't afraid when I thought a lot of people. I thought millions were going to be wiped out, like lots and lots of people would be wiped out. But I wasn't afraid. You say, why is that? Because if you're walking in the spirit, you're not afraid. But isn't it true that when people are not walking in the spirit, they're afraid of everything? In fact, I would say the average person you talk to in this world is afraid of everything. You say, why? Well, one of the reasons is because they're obsessed with the news. I remember I watched a documentary, you know, four years back ago or so, and it was a documentary on Australia and China about how Australia was worried that China was going to go to war with them. And I remember after I got done watching that documentary, I was like, if I watch things like this every day, I would be very afraid. Right? I would also be very afraid. I mean, as the Philippines, it's like, we'll be afraid of China too, right? It's like, if I watch this every day, I promise you, if you pay attention to the news in the Philippines every single day for an hour, you're going to be very afraid that China is about to take over this country. I promise you that. Because whenever I see anything about the news here in the Philippines, it's always about something out in the sea that China is doing. And if you see that every single day, what's the normal reaction? Fear. You're going to be afraid. But Elisha is not afraid. Look, having boldness is a sign that you're walking in the spirit. Well, here's the thing. When you wake up first thing in the morning, you've got to make a decision. Am I going to start walking in the flesh or walking in the spirit? And Elisha, he comes to him. Elisha's already walking in the spirit. He's like, fear not. I mean, this is like the scariest sight that you could possibly say, and Elisha's like, fear not. You say, why? Because he's walking in the spirit. Turn in your Bible to Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews 12. I mean, isn't this true? When you go out soul winning, if you are really right with God, you have so much boldness. I mean, you'll stop like everybody walking down the street. And look, if we're all honest, sometimes we go soul winning and we're not fully walking in the spirit. Isn't it true? You start getting very timid to approach people. You're worried you're going to be mocked. You're worried that they don't want to listen. You know, when you're actually walking in the spirit, I mean, you're just like stopping people left and right. You're not afraid of what happens. And then if they, you know, mock you or whatever, you just think nothing of it, you go out to the next person. But if you're not walking in the spirit when you go out soul winning, it's like the perfect candidate walks right by you. 18 years old, a teenager. And they look, I mean, it's generally a perfect candidate, right? 18 years old, a teenager, just a normal looking person right by you. And it's like you just let them walk by. And look, I'll admit, I've had times I've done that. I've gone out soul winning and there's somebody that walked by. I was not right with God at the time. And the perfect candidate walks right by. Especially in the United States because of the fact it is hard to get people saved. So if you have an 18 year old that walks by you, you better stop that cursing. Because very likely you're going to be knocking and knocking and knocking and nobody's going to listen. But the thing is, when you're not right with God, you are not filled full of boldness. You're filled full of fear. The Bible says God has not given us the spirit of fear. It says but of a sound mind. You see, when people are right with God, they don't have much fear and they have a very sound mind. They're thinking logically. When people are not right with God and obsessed with the news, guess what takes place? They are afraid of everything and they talk and think in a crazy manner. And look, whatever, you can have your own medical opinions, that's fine. I'm just saying when people are filled full of fear, I'll just give my kid 5,000 vaccinations just in case. It's like a vaccination so they don't get the sniffles, yeah, let's give them that too. They're just afraid of every single thing that could possibly happen and it's like but if you're actually right with God, you're filled full of boldness, you just do not have a lot of fear. But I'll tell you this, if people spend their time watching the news all the time, I guarantee you they are going to be filled full of fear. You say why? You say why? Because every news station I've ever seen is basically just a fear mongering station. They get you afraid where you feel like I've got to pay attention to this channel and get this information and then you waste the time on it. One of the saddest things you see is that a lot of times when people reach retirement, they're so excited to retire and then they reach that point and then it's like man, I can finally do anything that I want and then what do they do? They watch the news for like eight hours a day. And then they're just living their lives full of fear and it's like they would have been better off just never retiring. Right? Hebrews chapter 12. So point number one, we said smartphones. Smartphones, they distract you from your personal walk with God. Five hours and 20 minutes on average here in the Philippines per person. Facebook and similar applications, they get you prone to gossip and getting obsessed with other people's lives rather than focusing on your own life. Apps like YouTube and TikTok where they have videos these are things you can just find yourself watching video after video after video after video after video after video. The news, it puts people in a state of fear. And look, I'm willing to admit that on all of these things I have wasted time on these things before. Never on TikTok but YouTube. But I've wasted time on these things before and that's why a sermon like this is a good kick in the pants. Hey, I've got to remind myself to work hard because I don't want to waste my life. Point number five are games. Point number five are games. And one of the big problems with games is they distract you from more productive hobbies or they often distract you from actually spending time with your family. Hebrews chapter 12 verse one. Wherefore seeing we also are accomplished about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Now in this verse it talks about weight and it talks about sins. It is very easy to read this and assume they're the same thing but they are not the same thing. Sin is the transgression of the law whereas weight is something that's added to your life that's going to make things more difficult. For example, you know, imagine that you're going in a race. It's like you've trained for the Olympics. You know, you're in really good condition. You're getting ready for the 100 meters. And then right when you get on, you know, you put on a book bag with 25 pounds in your book bag. You're not going to win the race because you've added a lot of unnecessary things. You've added weights. Right? Because, I mean, the Bible is trying to put in your mind the idea of running a race and, you know, one of the big things about running a race is you've got to be pretty thin. You've got to be pretty fit. So, for example, if you're going to run a race, you're going to trim down, lose weight. You've got to be pretty thin if you're going to run a race and win. Right? If you have all of this added weight, it's going to distract you. And what a lot of people do in their lives is they add all of these distractions. One of these things are games and these will just weigh you down. They're going to make it very hard to successfully run the race. Now, look, it's not a sin to have weights in your life. It's not a sin to have a smartphone. It's not a sin to have Facebook. It's not a sin to have YouTube. TikTok? I don't know. Maybe. I've never been on TikTok. I don't know. But what I hear. It's not a sin to listen to the news. And, you know, with all of these things, I would say that in their proper place from time to time in a planned out way, they can be a good thing. Like, hey, I watch the news for just five minutes to get the main information. Or I just get my news. I mean, pretty much the only news I get is like on Not The Bee on Facebook where they give you like conservative news or whatever. You quickly see the snippets or whatever. But it's like, hey, I get on for a certain amount of time just to get the information and I get off. But the problem is people don't have that discipline and they just kind of get on and it's like, I'm going to quit watching when it's no longer interesting. It will just remain interesting. You're just going to waste all of your time. Games distract you from more productive hobbies and they distract you from just things that actually matter in your life. The Bible says here in verse two, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. And go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. And the Bible says in Hebrews 11 verse 13, These all died in faith, not having received their promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. What does it mean by being a stranger and a pilgrim? It means that this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. We're here for 70 or 80 years. That's not that long. Don't make your life about this world. Don't make your life about this earth. We're stranger here. We're here for a short time and then we're done. Don't just set all of your affection and your cares on these things that are going to pass away and mean nothing. Nothing. Verse 14. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6. You know, another thing to think about in your life, because maybe you have a set amount of assignments that you need to get done in a certain day, and I live my life based on a checklist. I'll have things that I just check off. I did this. I did this. I did this. I did this. I did this. Maybe you have eight things to get done, and you've got, you know, basically, you'll be able to get all these eight things done in like six hours. So you say, okay, well, let me just do this for 20 minutes and just kind of take a 10-minute break to just kind of hang out and do whatever. Then let me do the next thing for 20 minutes, and then just kind of take a break and hang out. Why not just get everything done as quickly as possible so you actually have real time to actually do something productive, like spend time with your family, exercise, read the Bible, memorize the Bible? Instead of just being lazy getting your things done, why not just, hey, got that done? Cross it off. What's next? Rather than just kind of just, well, I finished something. Let me just kind of take a five-minute break and just see what's going on on Facebook, and then all of a sudden you do something for 20 minutes. Let me take another five-minute break, and before you know it... And look, by the way, a five-minute break usually equals a 20-minute break. So basically, you finished something in four hours you could have done in two hours. Do you realize how much of your time you're wasting? Now, look, this is very easy to preach. I wish I could perfectly apply this because I do waste time, and I just think, man, how much time am I wasting in my life where it's like if I could just learn to be more diligent, I could actually use that time for something far more productive. One of the major problems in this world is that people are serving the Lord with a lot of distractions in their life, and the more distractions and the more weights you add, the harder it is to actually run very zealously. It's one thing for necessary distractions that are in your life. That's not a bad thing. Look, you're married. You spend time with your family. That's a necessary thing, and it's a fun thing. It's a great thing. But what about all the unnecessary things that we're allowing in our lives every single day and just wasting so much time? Point number one, smartphones. They distract you from your personal walk with God. Point number two, Facebook. It gets you involved in other people's lives. It makes you prone to gossip. Point three, YouTube, TikTok, video applications. They get you finding a lot of things more interesting than they really ought to be. Point four, the news. It gets you in a state of fear. You're in panic mode. Point five, games. They distract you from more productive hobbies that you can have. Point six, sports. Sports, from what I've seen, is a major distracter from actually spending time with your family. Now, I actually don't think it's as bad here in the Philippines as it is in the U.S. Let me just help people understand how most Baptist churches work in America. Say what you want. I don't care. I'm the one preaching. American football is a dumb sport. I always thought it was a stupid sport. It's slow. It's monotonous. There's, like, 50 sports better than American football. But for whatever reason, Americans call a sport where they use their hands football. And that's their sport. Right? I mean, and look, you say, well, you know, whatever, right? I think soccer's dumb. Yeah, but rugby's a million times more interesting than American football. Okay? It's just not close, in my opinion. But this is how it works in America. It's like you go to church on a Sunday morning, and immediately every guy starts talking about football. Every single week. And guess what people do on Sundays during football season? They spend six to ten hours just watching football all day long. But not just on Sunday. On Saturday. College football. So you got college football on Saturday, and you got pro football on Sunday, and every Saturday and Sunday it's football, football. Is this not true for the Americans that are here? And here's the thing about this. I loved sports when I was growing up, and it was something that was really in my life. I was like, man, I want to get rid of this as I wanted to start serving God. And I was wanting to not think about it, and then you'd go to church and everybody would talk about football. It's like, man, can't we talk about, like, David and Goliath? I want to get this out of my mind. And I'll tell you, the biggest mistake I made at my old job that had worked for many years, when I first went there, I wanted to, you know, try to talk to people, be friendly and everything. So they talked about sports, and so I talked a little bit, and it's like, well, you know, so I can kind of build a communication, but then every single day, every single day they just want to talk about sports, and I'm just like, I would show up for work, like, really early, and then the first hour it's like there's just people at the desk talking about sports. I'm like, I'm just trying to do my work. Biggest mistake I made. But sports, they distract you from family time because here's what takes place. You just sit there and you watch the sporting event and you never talk to your family, and then that's how you raise your son. This is how most men are raising their sons growing up. And here, you know, maybe it's not football, maybe it's boxing and basketball. Look, I'm not saying it's a sin to watch a sporting event, okay? But if you're spending hours every day, yeah, that's wrong. You're being lazy. Look, if you want to say, hey, you know what, once a year, you know, when it's at the very end of the NBA Finals, I watch a couple games with my son, no problem. Obviously during the commercials, if they're promoting beer ads, you ought to tell your kid, hey, this is wrong, this is wicked, we don't get involved in this. But you want to watch a few sporting events with your kids, no problem. But if you're spending just every single day of your life, just sports, sports. And look, when I was a kid, every single, you know, week, it's like sports, sports, sports, soccer, basketball. I mean, there's literally some of the World Cups, I watched every single World Cup game. Do you realize how much time that is? It's like, you want to watch the World Cup Final, no problem. But then when you're spending just like eight hours a day over the course of a month and a half, it's like, there's a lot of things I could have done with my time that are far more productive than that. Right? And this is, without question, this is how most fathers are raising their kids. In America. They're not actually spending time with them, but what does the Bible say? Deuteronomy 6, verse 6. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Look, there ought to be a time where you're sitting in your house talking to your kids about the Word of God. There ought to be a time when you're walking by the way talking to your kids about the Word of God. There ought to be a time when you're lying down, when you're rising up. Basically, at all times, you're teaching and training your kids. But you know, in today's world, most people, they don't really talk to their kids at all. They just, everybody's just sitting there watching a TV at the same time, or everybody's just watching something on their cell phone. That's what most people are doing. What about going back to the old-fashioned way where basically it's like, hey, you know, you work your job, you come home, you eat dinner as a family, you pray before the food, and then all of a sudden, hey, how was your day, son? How was your day, daughter? And then maybe you sing a few hymns together, spend some time as a family. Why can't we go back to those times? And look, there are some advantages from a lot of modern-day things. You know, there's a lot of disadvantages. Because that is how people used to live their lives. They worked, they came home, they spent time as a family. People don't do that anymore. And then they wonder why that their kids are going to grow up and just not love God. It's like, because you didn't train your kids. Because they're watching TV all day. They're watching sports all day. TV shows are training them. Coco Melon's training them. But you're not training them. You're not teaching them. Right? The Bible says there ought to be a time you're actually sitting in your house and actually talking to your kids. And look, even if it's not about the Bible, because I don't think you should just only talk to your kids about the Bible, how about just talking to your kids? Look, I started talking to my son Ezra and asking him how he was doing before he was two years old. Let me tell you something. Your kids, if you start communicating at a young age, you'll find out your kids are a lot smarter than you realize. Now, yeah, obviously, the way that he would express himself, it's like, good. Or maybe just smile when he was very young. Now I talk to my kids about the Bible. Now I talk to my son Ezra. I'm just amazed sometimes. He's like talking to me. Five hours and 20 minutes are done, and then you're just on your computer on Facebook and YouTube all day long. It's pretty hard to do when that's over, and you've got to watch the news for two hours. And then wait a minute. I've got to watch the basketball game tonight. Wait a minute. All right, now it's time to go to bed. Wow, I didn't spend any time at all once again with my family. Yeah, you know, it's pretty hard to do when you have all of these distractions in your life. Look, Paul talked about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, and Paul did not say that marriage is wrong and sinful. He just explained that there's going to be distractions if you're married. And those distractions, if you're married and God has blessed you with a family and a wife and kids, it's like those are necessary distractions, and those are good things. Spend time with your family. Spend time with your kids. But the question is, how many unnecessary distractions are you allowing in your life on a daily basis? When you have 10 free minutes, what is your go-to thing? Is it the cell phone? Is it Facebook? What do you do? Because here's the amazing thing. People, and look, I'm guilty of this. Everybody probably in this room has been guilty of this. But you're working. You're tired. You're busy. You're thinking, I can't wait to have a free day. And then you get a free day, and what do you do with that free day? Absolutely nothing productive. Right? Right. It's like, man, we need to learn to start realizing that your time is very valuable. Your time is here, and then it's gone, and there's nothing you can do. Every bit of time you've wasted in your life, it's gone. You're not going to have it back. And I can say this from personal experience. When I've been in times in my life where I was really working hard and being diligent and serving God and making every minute of my life count for good things, it just seemed to be amazing to me that God just kind of opened up time where just everything worked kind of smoothly in my life. I just kind of hit the red lights right at the right time. I didn't run into any unexpected problems. But then I also find that when maybe I'm not as close to God in my life and being a bit lazy, it's like that's when I get the flat tires. That's when things don't seem to go very smoothly. That's when my printer breaks and it's not working or whatever. I can't get my computer to work. It just kind of seems like when I use my time in a wise way, God gives me more time because he can trust me. But doesn't that make sense? Because isn't that kind of how God works with money? If he can trust you, he might give you more. If you're going to use that money to just gamble and do something sinful, then it's like, well, you know what? I'm not going to bless you. It works the same way with your time as well. That if you actually use your time wisely, you know what you're going to find? God's going to say, hey, you know what? This is someone who's a good steward of time. I'm going to give that person more time. Because look, if you have too much free time, it can be like King David and get into major sin. So the thing is, for a lot of people, it's not good to have more time because they're going to waste it. But if you actually use time and you're wise with it and you're godly and you work hard and you serve the Lord without distraction and then the time that you do have outside of serving the Lord, you're spending time with family, working hard on your job and doing things that are productive, I believe that what you're going to find is God is just going to open up a lot more extra time. Why? Because you're going to do something valuable with it. This goes in the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and I ask you to help us to apply this sermon to our lives, God, myself and my family included. Help us to serve you without distraction, God. Help us to put away just unnecessary distractions. Help us not get too interested or set our affection on videos and the news, Facebook and social media, smartphones and sports and news and all of these things that pop up, God. Help us just to focus on serving you, working hard at our jobs, building our character, being involved in church, spending time with family, God. Help us just to use our time wisely, God. Help us to redeem the time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.