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

Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to earth our voice the one and only. Glory to his name. I am so loved justly saved from sin. Jesus is revealed by driven. There at the cross where he took me. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to earth our voice the one and only. Glory to his name. O precious mountain the sea's frozen. I am so glad that we're turning. There Jesus saves me. There to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to earth our voice the one and only. Glory to his name. O precious mountain the sea's frozen. I am so glad that we're turning. There Jesus saves me. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to earth our voice the one and only. Glory to his name. See in a song one23 Peter's had a pandemic. If a falling wind baby came next to me He would dinosaurs would fall Trusting in my Father's mighty software, I am also very old here. In his heart is glad we are all pleasure. He's upset here, he's scared, but he can't guess. Loving me is hard with pleasure. But you can tell the world that we stand here every day. So is giving, when you're searching for a single child. All I care is giving, when she's in jail. And because we are this council, we're proud. The protection of this child's treasure is a choice that our himself can make. As that gift of speech will begin their journey, this confession will begin for us. Now the end of each generation starts to close their eyes as one. Now the choice becomes a way of sharing, one for me and one for my brother. Now we know where his hope has shown me. And today there's no one for this end. While my father always knows me. So that I can use your heart as mine. We'll see you again this time. We'll be right back. All right, it's good to see everybody back out. Excuse me for service. If you need a bulletin, go ahead and look up again what we brought to you very quickly. We have our certifies there, of course. We've got this Thursday at 7. This is Thursday 8. Stats are there below that. The really only announcement this week is the reminder about the birthday donors coming up next Sunday at 10 a.m. In honor of celebrating the month of October. So come on out to that. Get you a donut. I guess I'll just mention too, I appreciate the folks that went up in Tempe to show their support this morning. I know Pastor Harris really appreciated that. You know, I heard the sermon. You know, I wish I could have been there and came up a little perfectly on it. But I'm glad that we were able to have some folks go up there and show some loyalty to the pastor, show some loyalty to our friend. I'll talk a little bit about that a little bit more tonight, too, but anyway, I just wanted to mention that I really appreciate somebody helping out with that. I know that was concerning to me. Anyway, let's go ahead just kind of slowly going back to Friday. If there's anything to report from Friday. Or yesterday, we went yesterday. Yeah, we went yesterday. We didn't get any money. And sometimes that happens. It's all right. I mean, I don't know if anybody. I know there was a lot of family. Did anybody go there? Hey, you know, we're all ready. If you look at the numbers there, that total is incorrect. It should say $200,000. You know that for a fact. Not $100,000, but $200,000. I'm only sure that's $100,000. Around here, what's $100,000 sold? We're winning so many. It's $100,000, $100,000. Give or take $100,000. That's what we say here. Anyway, my point was that we're doing great down here as far as going sold. We've got great people in God's kingdom. That's what it's all about. I think that's a great word. I'll go ahead and say another song for everybody. All right, if you could please open up your song books to song number 323. We're singing a song number 323. More about Jesus in that song number 323. The last one. All of you. All of our Jesus. We are all the same. We are all the same. All of our love is the one who died. All of our Jesus. All of our love is holy. All of our Jesus. All of our Jesus. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming We stand on every line, For our Jesus, the Lord is saving all that's safe. For our Jesus, the Lord is saving all that's safe. We're going to sing it this time now, then we'll go around. As the opportunity goes around, thawing over the baby, let's reach this in 1 Peter, chapter 4. And that's 1 Peter, chapter number 4. And that's 1 Peter, chapter number 4, beginning at verse 1. But as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, unto ourselves likewise with the same mind, the he that hath suffered in the flesh that seeth in sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, in the lust of men, the will of God. For the time past of our lives, it defies us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walk in the seethesness of love, in excess of wine, in valiance, vacuuming, and abominable of God. Friendly feet restrained, and we run not with them, to think of the servant's right, but neither of us. We shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause is the God's retreat also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to the men of the flesh, to live according to God and the Spirit. With the end of all things is at hand, he is therefore sober, and watches his prayers. And above all things, at perfect charity among yourselves, the charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without judgment, that every man have to seek a gift, even so minister the same one to another, as this doeth of the medical grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom he prays in the meeting forever and ever. Beloved, think it not strange to see the fiery trial which has contrived you, as though some strange thing has been achieved. But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also to exceed in joy. For he be reposed for the name of Christ, happy are he, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you, on your part he is evil, spoken of, but on your part he is glorified through Christ. For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil doer, or as a busy body in other men's matter. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first began at us, what shall be empty of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous cares to be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well-doings, as unto a faithful creator. Lord Adam, can you pray for us? Lord, everybody, thank you today, Lord, that we should call a church, Lord, that we should call a leadership, a pastor, and a leader, Lord, and that we should continue to allow that unity in this church, Lord, God, that we should be blessed. A sermon for people who go to the Spirit, people who attend to your word, while they will pray, Amen. Amen. So the title of my sermon tonight is Friends Don't Flinch. Friends Don't Flinch. You know, and what I mean by that is that the people that want to consider themselves our friends in this life ought to be people that have a certain degree of loyalty to us. And you know, you can't really know when someone's loyal to you until that loyalty is actually tested. And I use that word flinch because a lot of times the way people's loyalty is tested is that when things get hard or difficult, you know, they flinch, they withdraw. You know, a flinch is a involuntary reaction against like anticipated discomfort, right? You know, if you've ever played that game, Two for Flinching, who knows what I'm talking about? Yeah, a couple, the guys, all the women are like, what's this? You know, this is how guys like to play. This is how we treat our friends. You know, you kind of do that and if they flinch, you give them two in the arm, right? Bap, bap, you know? But you know, that flinch, that involuntary reaction, that's something that you do to kind of, in anticipation of discomfort, it's something, it's kind of, it's a withdrawing, right? It's a pulling back. You know, our friends, the people that consider themselves our friends, when things get tough, when things get difficult, when people are going through hard circumstances, you know, the real friend, the person that's loyal isn't gonna withdraw. They're not gonna flinch and try to spare themselves some kind of discomfort, okay? And let me tell you something, and you know, I'm trying, you know, to be delicate about this whole thing, but you know, everyone probably in the whole room knows about all the events that have been taking place. If you listen to the sermon this morning up in Tempe, and I know several of you were there, you know exactly what's been going on, you know, over the last several weeks. All this stuff online where our pastor, who has been attacked and falsely accused, been railed on, and not just by the enemies of God, and you know, and not only just by his own family members, which is, I can't even imagine how difficult that must be, but by the very people who claim to be his friend. Other pastors, other people that are indebted to him, spiritually in some way, other people that have looked to him and called him friend over the years, these same people have flinched. These same people have withdrawn. These people have shown their true colors that they are not what a friend ought to be in the hard times. Look, obviously I'm not saying we should be blindly loyal to people, but if you know anything about the situation that's been taking place up there, you know everything that pastor's been accused of online has just been embellished. It's just embellishment, and it's just lies. There's just a lot of outright lies and embellishments. They're just things blowing things out of proportion, and it's just amazing to me how many people just jumped on that, how many people just ran with it, and how many of those same people were supposed to be his friend, supposed to be friends of him, friends of this ministry, and it's just amazing to me. You know, and I say that, but it really isn't that amazing to me, because it's something, it's just to be a pattern, is that every time this type of thing seems to happen, there's just these people that just turn on him and on our church, and they're not our friends, because friends don't flinch. You know, friends, they stick with you. And again, I'm not saying we're going to be blindly loyal. If there's something that is truly wrong, obviously there's a time and place to separate from people. But I'm telling you, all the stuff that's come out and all the testimonies from both sides, if you think that these people that are going to these reprobates to give their testimony, who have contradicted themselves, and quite frankly now are saying some of the most vile and disgusting things about their own father, they've gone from the spirit of Absalom to the spirit of Ham. It's disgusting. You know, if you were going to believe that testimony, you're a fool. And a lot of people today have, and that we were once friends with, quite frankly have flinched. You know, and they are no longer friends, because friends don't flinch. When things get tough, they stick with it. They give you the benefit of the doubt. They don't kick you when you're down. They don't pile on you, okay? Now look here in 1 Peter 4 in verse 6. The Bible says, For this cause was the gospel preached unto them that are dead, that they might be judged according men in the flesh, but live according to the God and the Spirit. But the end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober and watch unto prayer, and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves. Now what's charity? It's love, right? Having love. And obviously it's not talking about the romantic, lovey-dovey, puppy love kind of love. It's talking about the kind of love where you would be, you know, slow to speak, slow to wrath. You'd give people the benefit of the doubt. You'd wait patiently to hear both sides. You would, you know, care for those people. You wouldn't pile on them. You wouldn't kick them when they're down. That, you know, that's the kind of love it's talking about there. And obviously that love can manifest in other ways than which I just described. But nonetheless, you know, that is one way. You know, making sure that we're not just piling on somebody. That we're giving people the benefit of the doubt. That we're being loyal, okay? And it says here to have fervent charity. You know, we ought to have a fervent charity. We ought to love the brotherhood fervently, as the Bible says. Have fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover a multitude of sins. And look, when people, you know, when their dirty laundry is aired and it comes out that maybe they have some shortcomings or maybe they have, you know, they've made mistakes or whatever, you know, and it's just being magnified and amplified, charity would just look past that. Charity would just cover that sin. It wouldn't just hop on the bandwagon of the people that are just trying to blow things out of proportion, the bandwagon of people that are just trying to tear someone down. You know, fervent charity would cover a multitude of sins. It would look past shortcomings. It would look past sins. And it goes on and says in verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busy body in other men's matters. You know, and notice there, he's saying like, if you do these things, you're going to suffer. He's saying, let none of you suffer, right? As in go through unnecessary pain, right? If you're a murderer, you're going to suffer. If you're a thief, you're going to suffer. If you're an evildoer, you're going to suffer. And you know what? If you're a busy body in other men's matters, it's going to bite you. It's going to come back. You know, if you're going to be a busy body and stick your nose where it doesn't belong and just, you know, automatically side with wicked, evil people against the man of God, it's going to come back and bite you. You're going to suffer for it. You know, and you know, a lot of crow got served up this morning up there in Tempe. And you know, and as great as that is, you know what's frustrating? The people that need to belly up aren't going to do it. They're just going to double down and they're just going to stick to their story. They're going to stick to their guns and they're just going to keep on flinching. Well, you know what? Friends don't flinch. And that's what they get for being a busy body in other men's matters. You know, and it's a good lesson for everybody. You know, when other people's business is being aired out, and it's like, it could happen to anyone in the age of the internet. You know, it used to be, you'd have to come say these things to a man's face. You'd have to come stand in front of them and look him in the eye and say this kind of crap. Now on the internet, you know, you can just find some transvestite, satanic freak to go out there and just talk a bunch of crap about your own father. It's ridiculous. You know, I'm trying not to get too ranty, but you know, I'm going to, this is going to be a little therapeutic for me tonight. Because I've got really sore shoulders from all the tension that I've been, you know, building up to, all right? So I'm going to let off some steam too. I'm going to get some things off of my chest too. My point was that, you know, if you're a busybody and someone else's matters, you know, you're going to suffer. And in the age of the internet, you know, it's a lot easier to do, to be a busybody and what everybody else's business. And look, this goes for the person that's doing it maybe out of spite and malice, who just wants to, you know, hurt somebody or bring somebody down by being a busybody and airing their business and everything else. But it also goes for people who don't just have enough sense to just stay in their lane. You know, want to get involved and you know, even if their intentions are good, it's going to come back and bite you. Don't suffer that way. Don't be a busybody. Stay out of other men's matters. Don't involve yourself in strife that does not belong to you. You know, I hope that's at least one lesson people can learn out of everything that has transpired over the last week or so. You know, we ought to have fervent charity for each other, among yourselves, right? If we're not going to love the brother and give people the benefit of the doubt and hear people out, you know, who else, you know, who else is going to love us? If other people aren't going to do that for us, where are we going to get it? You know, it's like we have enough enemies out there in the world. You know, why do we have to have that among ourselves? It's ridiculous. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 13. 1 Corinthians chapter number 13. We ought to have fervent charity among ourselves. And charity, as it says there, covered the multitude of sins. It's not going to exacerbate those sins. It's not going to repeat those sins. It's not going to blow those things out of proportion and repeat a falsehood. And look, you know, and I know it's nobody in this room. But I know it's nobody in this room. And I know it's nobody in this room. But if you cannot see who's telling the truth in this situation, you have zero discernment. Zero discernment. None. You know, you're controlled by your emotions. You know, if you can't control your emotions to see clearly enough, you know, I don't know what else to tell you. You know, it's so, you know what? Go to Judges 4. Go to Judges 4. You know, it's so funny to me. It's not even funny, but you get these people who just want to throw out their little scriptures, do their little bit of vague booking, and, you know, just try to apply it to some situation. And this is exactly what happened with this verse today. And I'm not going to say the person's name because this person, despite, you know, how they've divorced themselves from the new IFB and have turned in their new IFB card and have done their little fake press conferences, how they're not interested in the drama and the new IFB. You know, that same, and yet, lo and behold, whenever there's any drama, there they are, just waiting in the wings. You know, that same person, you know, quoted this verse. And they try to apply it to this situation with our pastor. Where it says in verse 9, and she said, this is Deborah, right? This is the story of Barak and Deborah and Sisera. Barak is being told by God to go and deliver the children of Israel from Sisera. And he goes to Deborah, who is a prophetess, and it says there in verse 9, and she said, I will surely go with thee, notwithstanding the journey that thou shalt take and shall not be for thine own, for thine honor, for the Lord shall sell Sisera in the hand of a woman. That was what was quoted. The Lord shall sell Sisera in the hand of the woman. And, you know, and I can't, I think I know what this person was getting at when they quoted that. They're trying to say, oh, you know, it turns out, you know, that our pastor is being brought down by some 17-year-old girl's testimony. You know, some contrived, fake testimony. Like that, anyone who saw that, and I'm ashamed to admit that I did, that's one lesson I've learned from all this. Don't watch this crap. You know, just wait for the man of God to address it in his own due time. Feel dirty for having seen any of it. But, you know, I did see it, and it's just like, and everyone else that did is, a lot of people are just like, this seems very contrived. You know, all the sobbing, supposed sobbing. Anyone who's actually sobbed and cried knows how hard it is to get those words out. And yet she's just, you know, just having this long speech. They're blurring out the screen. You can't see her. She's literally a trained actress. She's been taking acting classes. She's got a reputation for trying to convince people of things that aren't true. You know, and yet there's so many guys that fell for this. Pastors that were taken in by a 17-year-old girl. It's ironic that you would quote this on your Facebook page and try to apply it to our pastor when it's your guys that were actually taken in by the testimony of a 17-year-old rebellious girl. You know, who did not run away from her home, but was abducted, you know, by her creepy uncle. You know, I don't know if you should be talking about this. It's all been made public. It's all out there. You know, it's been addressed. You know, and I'm just trying to make the point tonight and give a, you know, make this into a cautionary tale. You know, if you're going to be a friend, don't be somebody that flinches every time, you know, something bad starts to happen. Every time someone starts trying to sow the seeds of doubt in somebody's mind. Every time this kind of thing takes place, you can't be somebody who just draws back. You know, friends stand their ground. They stand alongside you. They don't flinch and withdraw. You know, and it's embarrassing to see some of these pastors that have flinched and turned tail and run because of the testimony of a 17-year-old girl. Who's been sold into the hand of a woman now? You know, really, they're more of a barrack in this story than anything because barrack in verse 8 said, if thou wilt go with me, then I will go. But if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. Well, I'll make a decision once I see what the 17-year-old girl has to say about this. Once this other rebel on that same satanic reprobate's channel has something to say, I'll wait and see what she has to say, and then I'll make my decision based on that. Then I'll wait until my wife has some super emotional reaction to it and I'll gauge her and then I'll decide what I'm going to do as a pastor and as somebody's friend who's supposed to have discernment. It's pathetic. It's embarrassing. You know, I wasn't really intending to go to Judges 4, but we ended up there. You know, we don't need people that are flinching, people that are turning on us. You know, those people aren't our friends. We need people who actually have genuine, sincere charity that will come up alongside you and help you through these things. And everyone's calling for his pastor Anderson's resignation. And look, I know he's already kicked this dog this morning and he's put a nail in that coffin as far as I'm concerned. But, you know, it's just ironic to me that there's people that are calling for his resignation who, you know, as he said this morning, haven't even begun to put on the armor. Who haven't even begun to run the race. You know, and people from churches that have, you know, incredibly small congregations. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, but that's not exactly a great, you know, doesn't make you the beacon of success, does it? Let me tell you something. Pastor Anderson has lost more church members than these people will ever have. That's a fact. I mean, it's in the dozens. I mean, just shooting from the hip, it's in the dozens of people that have just come and gone and have left for good reasons or bad reasons or for no reasons at all. More people have come and gone through the doors of Faithful Word Baptist Church that will ever darken the door in some of these churches. And yet he's unqualified. And I know he's already addressed all this, but, you know, I'm just trying to emphasize the fact this evening that if you're going to be a friend to somebody, you're going to call yourself a friend, you know, don't go in with these turncoats. Make sure you don't have a big yellow streak down your back. Maybe make sure you're not ruled by your emotions. Make sure you can, you know, have enough sobriety and enough clearheadedness to actually make a logical decision. And maybe it should come from a place of love. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 13 verse 4. The Bible says charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity avanteth not itself is not puffed up. You know, you wonder why sometimes these people do, why people just turn on our pastor. And, you know, I can't answer why. But, you know, it might be because they'll have a lack of charity. It might be because there's things like envy. Maybe they're puffed up. Maybe they're not as smart as they think they are. You know, just because you have a degree doesn't necessarily mean you know everything. Just because you're a scientist, you know, you might be real good at engineering and doing math, you know, but you might not be, maybe you're not very worldly wise, maybe you're not much of a people person, maybe you need to do some learning when it comes to human nature. Maybe you need to do some learning when it comes to, you know, interpersonal relationships. Maybe you're a little too vaunted. Maybe you're a little too puffed up. Look at verse 7 going on about charity. Charity does what? Beareth all things. Believeth all things. Now I feel like maybe they read that and just ran with it. They read, believeth all things, and they just say, well, it was said, we got three witnesses, we got four witnesses. Yeah, that don't agree. One of them's literally, and I can't give the details, because it's so shameful and disgusting to even bring up behind a pulpit, let alone just in conversation in general. You got one of them that's contradicting himself about something that is so vile and disgusting, I can't even repeat it about his own dad. It's disgusting. And that's their witness. That's your witness? You know, and it's insulting to the intelligence of the people of this church. What about our witness? What about the 60 plus men in Tempe that count as a witness? What about all the church members? What about all the family members? What about the witness and the testimony of the government institution, the CPS that you're so desperately to get in his house that's been there repeatedly many times over the years and multiple times even in this last few weeks or so that have come back and said, nothing wrong. We see nothing wrong here. The testimony of the people that have known that man and his family for a decade or more that know the testimony of his wife and her children and the way they are with them, it's ridiculous. That's our witness and your witness is a bunch of rebellious punks on some satanic channel saying some of the most vile and disgusting things that contradict themselves. You say, why do people think this is true? I'll tell you why, because they want it to be true. That's the only reason I can come up with. They want it to be true. They want it to be true that all these horrible things have been going on. They wish it was true. I mean, how else do you explain somebody stopping their ears and not listening to the other side and just writing all that off? How else do you explain it? They want it to be true. We'll say, well, why do they want it to be true? I'm not really sure. But that's the only way I can explain it. They wish it were true. And that's the real wickedness here. You know, these people, a lot of them, they don't care about these kids. You think that sodomite gives a rip about any of Pastor Anderson's kids? He doesn't. He wishes, he hopes it's true. He loves it. And all these other salivating sycophants and all these rejected pastors, these failures, a lot of them are probably salivating, too. A lot of them are hoping and wishing it's true, too. And that's wicked. It's disgusting. And that's not the actions of a friend. Go to, I have you in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Let's go to 2 Peter chapter number 2. 2 Peter chapter number 2. You know, they have no charity. They're puffed up. They're vaunting themselves. They unfortunately are believing all things in the wrong way. You know, actually you can't say they are believing all things. Because they're not believing our testimony. They're not believing our witnesses. They're not believing the things that we have to say. You know, there's still idiots on the internet right now, after that sermon that was just preached this morning, that are still in denial. You know, nearly 300 people in that church this morning applauding our pastor when he says, I'm not stepping down. Well, I still think you should step down. You know what? No one asked you, first of all. And it's not your decision to make. And we don't believe all these false accusations. Why don't you believe it? Because we know the people involved. We know these kids. We know these parents. We know them. Watched them grow up. Spent time with them. We've seen how they've interacted. You know what? There's nothing there. Nothing. Nothing anywhere near like what they're making it out to be. And it just blows my mind that there's pastors out there, men who get up behind a pulpit, that don't have enough discernment to figure that out. And some of them have been friends, so-called, for longer than I've known Pastor Anderson. It's crazy. And just like that, turn on them. Because some girl got on some sodomite's channel and you had some emotional reaction. It's pathetic. Barak Baptist Church. Where are we at? Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 10. Look at this. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh and the lust of uncleanness. You know, you start letting your emotions get a hold of you. You know, you stop thinking clearly. You just start listening. You give heed to all words that are spoken. You just start listening to stuff. You know, and I'm sorry. I'm not trying to offend, although I'm on a roll here lately. I'm not trying to offend any of the women in the church. But look, anyone who's just being honest, women, just by nature, are more emotional than men. At least that's the way it ought to be. Okay? That's a knock. That's good, right? We need that. Men typically are just more clear, you know, just more logical. They aren't as easily controlled by their emotions. Now, apparently that's not the testimony of a lot of people these days. In the circle that, you know, we were running with. You know, and here's the thing. You know, if you're taken in by your, you know, that testimony. You know, you're taken in by your wife's reaction. You know, you're in the flesh. That's a fleshly reaction. And look, I'm not saying men can't have an emotional response, but it's like, don't let it get ahold of you. Every husband has uttered these words, and every wife hates hearing them. Calm down. Right? Heads are nodding. None of the husbands are saying anything. They're like, dude, do not put us on the spot like that. We are wise. We're right here. This drive is going to be so. But it's true. You know, and maybe we shouldn't say it as often as we do it. I get it. It can be kind of like condescending. Just calm down. You know, but why do we say it? Because sometimes you just, you all just need to calm down. Right? Because you have an emotional response. You're not thinking clearly. And that's a thing in the flesh. And look, man can have, it can happen to men too, I've heard. But we can have these emotional responses. That's the flesh, my friend. That's the flesh. You get in the flesh and just have some emotional response and stop thinking clearly. Stop thinking logically. Stop weighing all sides. Stop believing all things. You're going to come to the wrong conclusion. And what you're going to end up doing, you're going to end up not being afraid to speak evil of dignities. Just like it says here. Presumptuous are they. Self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. People that are authority. People that have positions of authority. They're not afraid to just speak evil of these people. Just to slander them. Just to drag their name through the mud. Just to, you know, try and tear them down. Just say and repeat some of the most horrible, wicked things. Go over to Hebrews chapter number 13. Hebrews 13. Look, that's not the actions of a friend. A friend doesn't, you know, flinch. Doesn't have this involuntary reaction when they hear, you know, something painful is coming their way. They don't flinch when they hear, you know, Deborah telling them how it's going to be. They don't flinch when they hear false accusations out of the mouth of, quite frankly, people just being punks. At best. That's not the actions of a friend. And, you know, you say you're kind of ranting and rambling tonight. You know, and I am. You know, I've, you know, obviously I'm just on the sidelines. You know, I praise God for, I don't know how he does it for our pastor who can just stand on the front lines and his wife and his family. Who can just sit there and take this on the chin and keep going by the grace of God. That's the only way I can explain it is the grace of God. His love for God and God's love for him. That's the only way I can explain it. It's a better man than me because I don't think I can do it. You know, and I get like, but I, you know, but I am on the sidelines. I'm not in the stands. I'm not just some internet observer. You know, I'm second string. You know, maybe I'm on the bench, but it's like I'm a little bit closer. You know, and I've been there for a little while now and I'm just sick and tired of seeing this happen over and over and over again to a person who you would say, oh, you're just saying it because he's your pastor. Yeah, he's that, oh, you're just saying that because he's your boss. Yeah, he's that. But, you know, I'm sick and tired of seeing it to somebody who I consider a friend. You know, and maybe we don't, you know, go have, you know, long bike rides or something and tell each other, you know, all kinds of stuff. Truth be told, we, you know, we don't talk a lot, but, you know, he's still my friend. I still love the man. Still care about him, still love his family and care about his family. You know, so excuse me if I vent a little bit. Excuse me if I stick up for my friend a little bit tonight. And maybe, maybe, you know, shake some people before they turn into just another pastor who has nothing but just cynicism and criticism to offer to another pastor who's just going to go on and preach passionless, boring sermons and do very little for God. Maybe they'll snap out of it. You know, but I'm not holding my breath. You know, and I just, I've seen too many people over the years turn on Pastor Anderson, our pastor, yes my boss, and yes my friend. I'm sick of seeing it. And it's happened too many times. And it's just, and it's just like, do these people forget what he's done for them? You know, and like you said this morning, he doesn't always toot his own horn, but it's like, it's not that he's, you know, the rest of us are ignorant of the fact that Pastor Anderson has done a lot for these other churches. And a lot of these guys wouldn't even be where they are in the ministry if it wasn't for him. It's just a fact. They wouldn't have the followers, whether they're a bunch of discontents or not, if it wasn't for him. I mean, think about all these pastors that are just garnering all the trash of faithful word. They're just collecting all the trash. They're just getting all the detractors. They still have to thank Pastor Anderson for that. You still owe him all the enemies that he's, of us that he's given to you. And if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have a bunch of defectors flocking to you. You know, so on behalf of Pastor Anderson, you're welcome for the trash. You can have it. And you can have everything that comes with it. You know, the Bible says in verse 7, remember them which have the rule over you. And I understand that we're independent Baptist churches, but how about this one? Who have spoken unto you the word of God. People have just learned so much. And a lot of these pastors, they've just learned so many great doctrines from the preaching that's come across that pulpit in Tempe. He's spoken the word of God. That's what he's made his life's endeavors to get up behind that pulpit and preach the entire counsel of the word of God to make himself a target. Look, I'm going to say this, and this is true, and other people have said this. That church, I have no doubt in my mind that that is the most powerful soul winning church in the world that I know of. Show me another one. I hope it's there. Honestly, I hope there's a dozen more that are better. But I haven't heard of them. I haven't seen anybody else shaking it up like our pastor. I haven't seen anybody else lead a soul winning movement in this day and age like our pastor. And you know what? And he's putting himself on the front line in order to do that. People need to understand this. When you do that, you're putting yourself out there to just be attacked, to be slandered, to be railed on, and to be, honestly, to be the target of Satan. And I get it that there isn't a devil behind every bush. But when you're that man and leading that ministry, you'd be a fool to not think that the devil doesn't know your name. And look, you're trying to like him unto Paul, right? Like in the book of Acts when the seven sons of Sceva went in to cast out that demon. And the demon said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? You know, it wouldn't surprise me if there's some devils that know the name Stephen Anderson. I wonder if some of these other pastors could say that. Or they just hear those names and be like, you know, there's one in Houston that the devils for sure don't know it, because I'm trying to think of it right now to call him out, and I can't even remember his name. I know what church he's at, but I'm not going to throw that church under the bus, even though they got a lame preacher. And I wonder if some of these guys could say that. You know what, the truth is, they can't. And you know what, a lot of these guys, whether they want to admit it or not, have had the word of God spoken unto them like nobody else has spoken unto them, because of that man up there in Tempe, because of that pulpit. And that man has been more of a friend to them than they'll ever be to anybody else. And that's the thanks he gets. That's the thanks he gets. Just piled on. You know, it's not enough. He's got his own kids doing it. You got to jump in. Some pastor, you got to jump in and pile on him and kick him when he's down. It's pathetic. It's pathetic. But you know, it's nothing new. And yeah, I'm going to quote some things from David, if that's all right with everybody out there in internet land. I keep liking him unto David. Well you know, David went through some things. These things happen unto them as examples unto us upon whom the end of the world has come. That's what the Bible says. That these people in the Old Testament are examples to us. That we can look to them when we're going through things and see that they went through similar experiences. And you know, we can use that as an encouragement or as a point of reference. Let me read to you. Go to Psalm 55. While you're going there, I'll read to you from Psalm 35. The Bible says in verse 11, false witnesses did rise up. They lay to my charge things that I knew not. You know, tell me that that doesn't apply to this situation. False witnesses rising up and laying to his charge things that he knew not. They rewarded me evil for good. You know, that's what I keep seeing. That's the pattern that I notice. Pastor Anderson, just one of the most open-handed, generous people I know. Prove it. Look around. Look around. Look right here. It's true. It's the only reason I'm standing up here because of him. You know, and I get it. You know, and I'm trying to be, I'm not trying to come across as flattering or anything like that. Like, I get it. It's all of God, ultimately. But it's because that man, Pastor Anderson, is God's servant, is God's man, and has faithfully served God all these years. And that's why I can say that he's one of the most generous people. And if you don't believe that, you know, you need to pinch yourself. You need to look at all these nice chairs. Look at this nice building. Look at that beautiful piano. Look at this pulpit. I mean, anyone that's been around knows where this came from. This is his old pulpit. You know, and he's like that, not just here with us, but with lots of people. Lots of people. He's just giving the good. You know, just giving the good, writing the sermons, doing the study, not going out and making, you know, let me tell you something. That guy is highly educated. He'd go out and he could walk away from all this, go land a job, and do a whole lot better financially if that was important to him. I have no doubt about that. Wouldn't be the first time he did it. But instead, you know, he foregoes all that, endures just all this persecution over the years, being protested, being lied about, being slandered, multiple times having pastor after pastor after pastor after pastor, who's cozied up to him, buddied up to him, called themselves his friend, turn on him. You know, time and time and time again, we're used to being nothing but good to these people, and what do they reward him with? Evil. Evil. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. Oh, well, you know, he could take it. Let me tell you something. That takes a toll on a person. David said to the spoiling of my soul. You know, that takes a toll on people. I don't know how many times would any of us go through that before we just said, not worth it. I'm done. If this is the thanks I get, see ya. You're in Psalm 55. Look at verse 12. For it was not an enemy that reproached me. You know, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't that tranny talking on that video. It wasn't an enemy that was reproaching him. That we could take it. We could say, oh, of course. Then I could have borne it, right? For it was not an enemy that reproached me. Then I could have borne it. I could have said, well, yeah, they're the enemies of God. No surprise there. Neither was it he that hated me, that did magnify himself against me. And that's what I'm saying. You know, the people here at this church that know these kids, know that those were not abused children. They're not. You know, you want to, maybe we need to redefine exactly what you consider abuse. You know, but it's like a lot of people that I talk to are hearing some of these things like, that's not abuse, friend. And a lot of it's embellished. I mean, you start listening to it, it's just like, it sounds like the last few minutes in a Rocky movie or something like that. It's like, you know, when Rocky's going into the final round and it's just like, and he's just, you know, he's just getting beat up. It's like, what's going on here? It's ridiculous. You know, people who get like genuinely abused to the point where they're traumatic, they don't act like these kids. They're not confident and successful and outgoing. It's ridiculous. Anyone who knows them, it's just a bunch of just wicked slander. And the people that know them know that there's actually quite a lot of love in that home. There's quite actually a lot of love between those parents and those children, and at least there used to be, with those specific children. There's been a lot of, you know, I mean, last time I saw, you know, the eldest daughter, you know, Deborah, it's a bit of a joke, you know, who last time I saw her was at a wedding with her father, laughing, joking, having a good time. Everything seemed great. You know, not flinching every time her dad moved, not drawing within, not being unresponsive, not being distant, and, you know, all these things that they do. And look, I'm not saying every time that that people are like that. Some people are just naturally introverted. But anyone who's been around genuinely abused people know that people have really suffered at trauma, like real genuine trauma. They don't act like these kids are acting. These kids are acting like a bunch of spoiled, spiteful little jerks. That's what they're acting like. But she cried. But she cried. Oh, what do you mean when they blurred out the screen so you couldn't see her face and see how poorly that contrived crying was? Neither was it he that hated me that did magnum scythe against me, then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal. I mean, this applies. It was a fellow pastor who sided against me. My guide, mine acquaintance, my friend would be another word. We took sweet counsel together. And walked under the house of God in company. He's saying, you know, I could have taken it if it was mine enemy. I could have borne it. You know who it was? It was somebody that I fellowshiped with. It was somebody that I had counsel with, and somebody that I went to church with, and somebody that I did missions with, and somebody that I've won souls with, and somebody that I spent hours talking to that did what? That reproached me. That flinched because of a girl. You know, the Bible says in Proverbs 17, and if you want to go to go to Proverbs 27, and I'll end my rant tonight. You know, it's not the most eloquent sermon. It's not the most prepared sermon, but I've had a lot in my mind too. You know, I've lost some sleep too. We lost a lot of sleep this week. Well, join the club, buddy. Join the club. I've got a pain in my neck, literally. I think it's because of all this. I'm not trying to get sympathy here. I'll take that over anything that my pastor, your pastor is having to go through right now. I can't imagine how much sleep has been lost in that house. I lost so much sleep this week. Join the club. The Bible says a friend loveth at all times. A friend loveth at all times in Proverbs 17, not just when it's going well, when everyone's speaking well of you, and there's no controversy. It goes on and says, and a brother is born for adversity. A brother is born for adversity, and whether that's a physical brother or, you know, a spiritual brother in Christ, you know, that's what we're supposed to be for one another. Not blindly loyal, but when it's just anyone that has any discernment, when it's just obvious to them, when it should be, you know, that's when we stand up, step up, and stand next to these people. That's when we back people up. That's when we come alongside and say, brother, I'm there with you. I got you. What do you need? You know, and at the very least, at the very least, that's not the time when we come up and say, oh, are you down? Oh, are you suffering? Oh, are you having a hard time? Oh, are people slandering? Here, how do you like that? That's not what a brother does. That's not what a friend does. A brother is born for adversity, and let me tell you something. The silver lining for me in all this is that I know that this church, and Tempe, but this church down here is rock solid. The people in this church, you know, let me just publicly thank all of you. It was so refreshing, and I don't take this the wrong way because you just never know. You just never know with people. You have to go through things. I walked in here Thursday night, and I was like, you know, after Deborah put out her video, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get taken aside, you know, the men in the church say, hey, we need to talk. You know what? It was another Thursday night in this church, and when I first started talking, some of the men said, hey, you know, this is what's going on. If you have any questions, I'm not, we're not trying to hide it. You know, I'll answer anything. You know what the response was? Oh, it sounds like pastor needs prayer. That was the response, and it was such an encouragement to me. You know, I said, you know, not only do I have church members here, I said, I got, we got brothers here. We got friends here. We got people that are there for when we're going through adversity. You got people that are loyal. You know, and what I, my response is like, you know, Tucson for life, man. Like, where are you going to find people like this? You don't find that everywhere. You know, I could name some real specific towns in this country where you can't find that. You know, that was a silver lining for me. I said, man, I've got some solid people who aren't taken in by a bunch of false witnesses that aren't taken in by a bunch of contrived sobbing and outlandish stories. You know, next time you want to make up a lie, Deborah, maybe you should stop at one scissor. Either pastor's got terrible aim or, you know, everyone else has got really good reflexes. I don't know. Just multiple scissors just flying. It's just like, good night. And people, and you say, and we're laughing and it's like, people sincerely believe all this. Despite all the everyone, people saying to the contrary. People, you know, sisters who, you know, doesn't even have anything to gain from coming and saying, they're lying. I know the situation. They're lying. You know, and people want to believe it. They want it to be true. So it's like, that's why they're called evil and unreasonable men because you can't reason with them. Anything you show, any, you're like, well, here, here's this that contradicts that. Here's like contradicted. Here's where people are saying otherwise. Here's all these faithful testimonies. It's like, yeah, but they're only saying that because you can't reason with them. Why? They want it to be true. You know, a friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for diversity. The Bible says there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Tell me that doesn't apply. You know, these days, it seems like, you know, poor Pastor Anderson might be having a hard time finding either one. Not here. Not behind this pulpit. Not in this church. Not up there in Tempe. There's friends there. There's brothers there. You know, and people can say whatever they want. They can say whatever they want about that. We know what's going on. We know the truth. We believe our pastor. We believe his wife. We believe, you know, what we've seen and witnessed with our own eyes. Church members that have spent days, weeks, months in that house. Family members that have known him his whole life, known these kids their whole life. That's our witness. What do you got? Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like. Looking up to the right, trying to make it up on the spot as I go. That's what you got. Where did I have you go? Proverbs 27? Look at verse 10. I'll close there. Thy known friend and thy father's friend forsake not. Don't forsake your friends. You know, you're lucky if you can count how many real friends you have in this life on one hand. And you know, and you're blessed beyond measure if you're somebody that's got to take your shoes off to do it. And that is the silver lining, I hope, in all this is that at least, you know, at least, you know, Pastor Anderson might not have a friend in certain places. You know, they done already been called out. He might have friends there, but he's got them here. He's got them in his own church and he's got them here. Thy known friend and thy father's friend forsake not. You know what? Friends are important. Friends are important. You need friends. You need a network, man. You need people to talk to. You need people that can sympathize. You need people that can empathize. You need people that can encourage you and support you and seeing you through hard times. And sometimes you need to move. That's what you really need a friend, right? But you need your friends. Friends should not be things that are taken lightly. Better is a neighbor that's near than a brother far off. You know, better to have friends that are close because what's it getting at there? These relationships are important. Be friends, you know, and if you're going to be someone's friend, don't be one of these guys that just flinches. Just at the smallest little bit of controversy, just draws back and forsakes a friend. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for our pastor, Pastor Steven Anderson. Thank you for the great work that you've allowed him to do. And Lord, thank you for the opportunity for us to have been able to be a part of that all these years, Lord, to have been able to serve in this ministry under his guidance and leadership. Lord, I pray you would shut the mouths of these railers. I pray, Lord, that you would continue to encourage our pastor and, Lord, that you would help us to continue to be an encouragement to him and, Lord, that you would help us to continue to serve and glorify you in this ministry for many years to come. In Christ's name, amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing. May you bring him in, bring the one who's here in the sky. Let the shepherds love him, let them all dream longs to find him. Let the long spots in the valley where love shows you far. May you bring him in, bring him in, bring him in, bring him into the sky. May you bring him in, bring him in, bring him into the sky. Let the shepherds love him, let them all dream longs to find him. Let the shepherds love him, let them all dream longs to find him. May you bring him in, bring him in, bring him into the sky. May you bring him in, bring him in, bring him into the sky. Thank you.