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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And I was wanting to hit on this subject, to be honest with you, of women working in the Bible. I wanted to hit on it when we were doing the virtuous woman allegory. But there's only so much time and I already take too much time when it comes to sermons as it is. But something came up this week as far as something that I heard dealing with my wife as far as people being against or thinking that it's wrong that she's working. So I figure since, I don't know who it is. So it could be very well that it's not even anybody in the church, but somebody contacted a pastor's wife and said, or basically was saying I think that it's wrong that she's working and all this. So I am not trying to hide it, you know, or I've never tried to hide it. But I do want to hit on this subject because first of all, our church is independent. I want to say that very loudly and clearly that we are independent and I am not like a carbon copy of any pastor. So you're in Proverbs chapter 31, but go to 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2. And so I'm going to assume that it's no one in here or that there's no, it's not one of the ladies that's in here. But I want to say this, first of all, that if it's a problem, if you have a problem with how I'm doing something or how my wife's doing something, you should just come to us. You know, going to another pastor's wife and asking that question is not going to help anything. So if you have a problem with that, just ask us, you know, and just say, hey, I think this is a big deal. I think that this is going to cause problems or whatever. But the first thing that you have to realize is that this is my final authority right here. So if it's not in the Bible, as far as something that's against or something that I'm doing that's wrong or something that my wife is doing wrong, then you're not going to convince me. Okay? Unless, I mean, obviously you can convince me on things that aren't Bible related. Okay? But you're not going to convince me that my wife is doing something wrong or I'm doing something wrong or we're in sin when there's no commandment against it. Okay? So what I want to get into is this subject because this is a touchy subject. Whatever side of the spectrum you're on, okay, when it comes to women working. And what I'm going to be getting into is women working outside the home. Okay? Because I don't think anybody denies that women can work. Okay? It always comes down to what can they do, where can they do it, and all that. You know, what type of job can you have and all that. And that's the thing, is that making a blanket statement that a woman can't work outside the home, you have a lot of questions as far as, okay, that takes out a lot of... And it takes out a lot of people that supposedly are against working outside the home when they're actually working outside the home. Okay? And I want to get into this. But first of all, notice what it says in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15. Study the show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Okay? Listen, I understand that people listen to sermons and there's different approaches as far as how pastors live and how they do this and that. And I understand that you may look at somebody and be like, I like that, I think that makes sense. But there's another thing to say that someone that doesn't do it like them is in sin or it's wrong. Okay? And you say, well, you know, we didn't say it about you, we said about, listen, I am allowing my wife to do it. In turn, it is on me. So if my wife is doing something wrong, that means I'm doing something wrong. Okay? Now, I'm going to be transparent with you. And when I first heard about this, I'm going to be honest, I'm going to be transparent. It got me a little angry. Okay? Because what I'm going to be getting into, why do we not want our wives to work? What's the reason? So that your children can be at home with the parents and that you can school them yourselves. Okay? Are my kids in daycare right now? Is anybody watching them besides a parent? And are my kids going to public school? Okay? So we got to understand the principle why you do what you do. Okay? So what you got to understand is that my wife keeps the home, my wife schools the children, and obviously our children are small so it's like Clara, you know, and a little bit of Anna, that's doing the schooling. She does the dishes, she cleans the house, she does the laundry, she's taking care of all that stuff, and she's doing something on top of that. So when I hear that, okay, and again I'm assuming there's no one in here so I'm just saying this is a precautionary thing. When I hear that, what I'm hearing is that my wife is in sin because she has more than she has to do. Okay? And that will make me a little angry. Now, the other thing is that I'm working harder so that she can do that. Okay? I am already working a full-time job as, you know, an engineer, and I'm pastoring, and now I'm spending more time with my kids, which actually isn't that bad. Okay? So, and you say, you know, how's it going? It's actually going pretty well right now. So the situation that we're in right now with what my wife's doing is temporary anyway. That doesn't make it right or wrong, okay, if it's just temporary. Okay? But this is going to be a moot point in about a month. Okay? But I do want to address it. Now, I'm going to be transparent with you what we're doing. Okay? I'm not hiding anything. By the way, this is live streaming. Because this is an independent fundamental Baptist church. On that, it doesn't say new IFB, you know, to the T. Okay? Meaning this is that I do things the way I believe the Bible says it can be done. And just because I do something one way doesn't mean that's the way that everybody, it's not like a one size fits all for everybody in this church. Okay? What we're doing is Holly's working midnights. Okay? She's working midnights. While I'm sleeping, while the kids are sleeping, she's working. She comes home, I wake up with the kids, have more time with them, go to work after that. She stays up, watches the kids, I come home, watch the kids, she sleeps, and then that cycle continues for a whole week. I want you to know, I almost wanted to be like Paul, and I don't want to compare myself to Paul because I'm not. Okay? But I almost wanted to give you a rundown of what I do each day. But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to say this. I have very little free time. Very little free time. And what free time I do have, I usually spend with my family. So, if you can understand the frustration, but I want to leave that aside, and I just want to teach this. Because what you have to understand, when you're studying the Bible, the Bible has rules, it has guidelines, and then outside of that, you make your judgment as far as what you're going to do with that, and how far you're going to go with certain things. Okay? So, the reasoning why she's even doing this has nothing to do with like, oh, we can't pay the bills. Okay? And here's the thing. I want you to know this. I don't take a dime from the church. I did, because I was going to see how the taxes would work, and I didn't want to mess with the taxes, so I gave back the money. So, Brother Dave and Brother Charles know that. That's just me being lazy on my taxes. I don't want to deal with it. I don't want to have another W-2 that I have to fill out and do all this other stuff. I'm not against pastors that work. But this was solely because before Holly, we got married, Holly already got a pharmacology degree. And she was doing, you know, residencies and all that stuff before we got married. We got married, and she worked for a little bit before, and then she got pregnant pretty much immediately, and then it was just stay at home, kids, all that stuff. Well, when you get a pharmacy degree, you have a little bit of a loan debt. Okay? Now, I told her from the very beginning, I said, I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it. And I was. For years, I'm paying a student loan that we're not doing anything with, okay? Which is fine, you know, it's whatever. I inherited that. I knew that, though. It's not like I was like vindictive about it or anything like that. So, Holly wanted to, basically, she wanted to pay that. She wanted to be like, you know, I put that in, I want to pay that off, okay? Now, when this first came up, I'm like, you're crazy, okay? Meaning that I don't mind her doing like a per diem thing where it's like a Saturday, okay? She goes in on a Saturday, I watch the kids for a day, you know? God forbid that they have a little alone time with dada, right? And, you know, that was fine, you know? But then this came up where it was a midnight shift. I'm like, you're crazy, okay? You're crazy, there's no way we can do this. My parents said I was crazy. Actually, anybody that I told that to, they're like, you're crazy, okay? I'm going to show you there's a difference between being crazy and being sinful, okay? So, I'm not against you calling me crazy. I'm not against you saying you are nuts for trying to do that, okay? That's fine. But let's go through Proverbs 31 because the argument is your wife can work as long as it's in the household, okay? Can't go outside the household. It's okay for her to make things and sell things, but it can't be the fact that she's interacting with someone else, like out in retail or something like that. Now, I want to say this, and I want you to be very clear. I think in most cases it's not going to work out for women to work, okay? Meaning that you're not going to be able to have the job where she can do that, okay? To where you couldn't, you'd have to put them in daycare. You'd have to do this because, you know, this is kind of a unique situation where it actually, because let's, for example, she came to me like, hey, I got this job. I'm going to have to work a week straight and we're going to have to have someone watch our kids. I'm like, no, not going to happen, okay? Because, see, my principle is I want my kids to be taken care of by their parents, and I want them to be trained by the parents, okay? This is why that is such a strict rule as far as I'm working, she's not, okay? But that's the principle of why you do that, okay? Well, let's go through Proverbs 31, and I want to kind of look at this as far as I'm not against pastors that teach that, hey, your wife shouldn't work outside of home, okay? I think it's a good principle, okay? But is that a blanket statement that can always work, okay? That's what I want you to think about, and I want you to be open-minded with this, okay? Because I'm not here to tear down and be like, all right, all the wives go out there and work. I think in a lot of cases it's just not going to work. It's not the best, it's not the good idea. I wouldn't advise it. The money's not good enough for it to even justify that when it comes to that, okay? But Proverbs 31 and verse 10 here, notice what it says. It says, who can find a virtuous woman for a price as far above rubies? The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good, and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant ships, she bringeth her food from afar. So the first thing that I want you to realize is that she's not just at home. She actually leaves the home, okay? And I know most of you would say, of course, right? You got to go to the grocery store, you got to do this or that, right? But the idea here is that she's seeking wool and flax. This is ultimately for her business of making garments and stuff like that. Does that make sense? She's got like this, I mean, in this passage she's making girdles and making fine linen. So she's got to get the materials to go do that. And she's going afar like the merchant ships to go get it. Why? Because it's cheaper, right? I mean, the idea is to be cost effective, get the best stuff, whatever. She rises also while it is yet night. And when I see this verse, and I'm not trying to say that my wife is the virtuous woman in here because she's not a seamstress, okay? She can put a button on, and she's definitely mended a couple pants of mine, you know, that ultimately didn't work out, but you know. But the idea is that, and we have women in here that do this, okay? This list, first of all, is not all inclusive. It's not like if what you do is not in this chapter, you can't do it, okay? I don't see soap in here. I don't see essential oils in here. Am I stepping on toes? Okay? You know, I'm not seeing a lot of things that people do. Like, well, they're taking them to the merchants. If you go to the farmer's market and sell your stuff, that's not taking it to the merchants. You're being a retailer, okay? Now, I'm not against any of that stuff, okay? And I'm not here to rule over your life and lord over your life, and you can come out of the sermon and be like, I think you're out to lunch. Whatever, okay? But it says she rises also while it is yet night. Well, that is the definition of what my wife has been doing for a week on, week off, week on, week off, is she's literally rising up, going out, and she's being a pharmacist. Now, you say, well, the thing is, you know, pharmacy, that's just a drug dealer's degree. I've heard it all, my friends. And listen, I'll say this, I am not ashamed that my wife is a pharmacist. I actually like that my wife's a pharmacist when I have three kids and one on the way, and they have a fever, and she knows what to give them. And she knows when to take them to the ER and when they don't have to go to the ER, okay? And it's interesting because this happens a lot where a lot of people don't mind asking my wife for advice when it comes to the medical field, but God forbid she should get paid for giving that advice, okay? And first of all, do you realize that it's not wrong for the wife to get paid for something? Do we see that clearly in here? It's not wrong for her to have some kind of business, okay? Let's keep reading. It says, and giveth her meat to her household and a portion to her maidens. She considerth a field and buyeth it, okay? She's literally making transactions with fields, and does this mean that you can only be a farmer? You can only buy fields and be a farmer and be a seamstress. The point I'm trying to get across here is this is a good model as far as what she's to be doing, right? But obviously there's other things. You're in 2021. There wasn't Google. There wasn't Amazon. There wasn't any of that stuff when it came to like how you shipped your stuff out, how you got your stuff. The virtuous woman in this passage had to go get it and then had to take it physically over to people that were selling it and all that, okay? And it says, with the fruit of her hand, she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good, okay? So anybody say that she doesn't have merchandise, okay? She's making merchandise, and she's buying a field, okay? I don't believe that she just took her husband's money and bought it. I believe she has this business where she's making stuff and literally saying, considering a field, and be like, I'm going to go buy that. And she goes and buys it, okay? Now, I'm not saying the husband shouldn't be there like making sure she's not making bad, crazy decisions, but I'll say this. My wife goes to the store, I'm not, she considers the food and buys it. Like she doesn't like need my permission for every transaction. Actually, half the time I'm like asking her, I'm like, did you buy that because I'm just making sure, you know, that someone didn't steal our credit card, you know? And, you know, as far as where she gets some things and everything else, I'm like, just making sure that you got this, right? You know, you made this transaction. But keep reading there, it says, with the fruit of her hand, she planted the field, she girteth her loins of strength, and it says in verse 18, she perceiveth her merchandise is good, her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distat. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reaches forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, her clothing is silk and purple, her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchants. There's two things going on here, okay? She's selling linen, and then she's taking girdles and bringing it unto the merchants, okay? Then it says, strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in the time to come. She openeth her mouth in wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Okay? Now this brings up a lot of questions. What if you're not married and you're a woman? What do you do? Now, in the case of my daughters, I plan on having them live with me until they get married. That's how I've set up my rules, okay? Not everybody's got that, okay? That has that set up, you know, the word like, their dad will say, I will take care of you until you find a husband to take care of you. They take over payments, I will pay for you, okay? So, in that, you know, obviously, I think best case scenario, that's the way it should be, right? What about you get married and you can't have kids, okay? What is your wife to do? Is she just supposed to be idle? Now, I'm not here to tell you, go tell her to go get a job. I'm not telling you that at all, okay? If she wants to be a seamstress, and she can do those type of things at home, and that will keep her occupied to where she's not going to get into trouble with idleness, great, okay? That's fine, but idleness is the devil's workshop. Idleness of the mind is the devil's workshop, and you don't want someone that's just at home that can get into trouble, get on social media, waste time doing that stuff, okay? Now, go to 1 Timothy chapter 5, 1 Timothy chapter 5. So, I didn't see anything in there where it says my wife can't leave the home and make money, okay? Did you? Because if you're going to say that I'm in sin or my wife is in sin, you better have a verse, because sin is the transgression against the law. You better have a commandment that I'm breaking, okay? Now, you can say, I don't believe that's smart, and that's fine, okay? You can say, I think that is on the realm of being a little, you know, on the foolish realm, okay? Because I think that you're going to get into trouble, okay? Well, let me ask you this, okay? If you thought your friend, okay, was getting into trouble by what he was doing, wouldn't you just come up and talk to him about it, okay? And that's what I'm trying to say here, is that instead of me hearing from some pastor's wife, through my wife, that someone in my church has a problem with this, I'd rather you just come to me, you know, and just say, hey, you know, I see that your wife's working, you know, how does that work, you know? Like, can you explain to me how that's not dangerous, how that's not going to hurt? Because I want to ask you this, the proof's in the pudding. Have I still been soul winning? Do the sermons still have content that's worth listening to? Am I lacking as your passion? I want you to be candid, okay, because I'm not that thin-skinned to where I can't take criticism. You can be like, your preaching sucks, you know? You need to work on your delivery. I mean, just be candid with, I mean, be nice. I mean, you don't have to, like, be mean about it. Be like, you are the worst. No. But what I'm saying is that if you see something lacking, if you see, like, okay, your preaching used to have a lot of material in it, and now it's just kind of like, you know, it just seems like you're not even trying anymore, or, you know, I don't know. So if the sermons, and I'm just going to say, I'm not saying they are, but I'm just saying if the sermons are still full of doctrine, if preaching is still going forth, if I'm still going soul winning, and I'm still seeing people get saved, and the church is still doing what they should be doing, and there's nothing lacking, then what's the problem, okay? And I'm not committing a sin or breaking some certain commandment, then what's the problem, okay? That's the thing I have to say about that. And the thing that gets, you know, that gets me riled up about it is the fact that we are working hard right now. Both my wife and me are working extremely hard, and it's like when you work two jobs and someone's saying to you, you're wicked for working two jobs, and you're just like, ah, what? You know, like, we're working harder than we have to, but yet I'm breaking some, like, unknown rule, okay? And the other thing is, too, is that it's not from the Bible. It's from tradition, okay? And it might be a new tradition, okay? But it's still tradition, okay? That, well, so-and-so preaches it this way, so-and-so does it this way, and I'm all for them, okay? I'm not against them. I'm not saying they're doing something wrong. I'm not saying they're even preaching wrong, okay? But I'll say this. I've never heard any of those preachers ever say that if you had your wife work, you were in sin. I've heard them say that you may get in dangerous territory. You may have problems with your marriage. You may have different difficulties dealing with this or that, but I've never heard them say you are in sin if you do that, okay? And you say, well, you know, how's every... Listen, to be honest with you, I do better when I'm under pressure, okay? When I have more time, I get less done. And it has been hard, and I'm not saying this is something that's going to go on, because it's not, okay? Meaning that this will pass, meaning that it's just not sustainable, okay? But I've been reading more. I've been doing more as far as I could be doing when it comes to this, and it's probably because I know I don't have... I can't take time away. I can't do this because I know that if I take time away from this, I'm not going to get it done over here. So I'm literally, like, just in the zone trying to get things done. If that's one week, the next week is kind of a little less, right? Because the way the schedule works is, like, it's one week on, one week off, so the next week is kind of, like, back to normal, okay? And so that helps. I had you in 1 Timothy 5, and the one thing I want you to see here is that there's requirements or things that are said that a woman should be doing, and what we don't want to do is add to God's Word, okay? We don't want to add our own little twist to that. You can take what's said there, and I want you to... When I read through this, I want you to let me know what my wife is not doing that's in this list, okay? It says in 1 Timothy 5, verse 14, it says, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Well, she's married, check. She's bared children, check, check, check, check, okay? And she's guiding the house. None of that is getting lacked, and I told her, listen, and you say, you know, listen, I don't think I should have to say all this, but I don't mind it, okay, meaning this is that... I don't ask you, like, what you do at home, what... how your work schedule works and all this stuff, but I told her, I said, listen, if stuff at home falls apart or things are starting to lack at home, we're cutting it. Like, cutting that, okay? We don't need it. It's superfluous. All the bills are paid by me, okay? It's not that I can't pay the bills with my income. She wanted to pay her student loan off, okay? And I don't see any reason that a woman can't bring in income based off Proverbs 31, okay? It's a worry that that would be sinful if she brought in income. Now, so 1 Timothy 5, verse 14, is there anything in there to where my wife's not doing that? You say, well, she's not at the house as much. Yeah, she's not there from 8.30 till 8... basically 9.30 to 8.30 in the morning. Was she normally doing dishes at 3 o'clock in the morning? Was she doing laundry at 3 o'clock in the morning? No, we're both usually sleeping at that time, okay? By the way, my wife's pregnant on top of that, okay? Pregnant, doing two jobs, I'm doing two jobs, and you know what? We're doing great, okay? You say, well, how's everything going at home? How's your marriage? Great, okay? I'm not going to get into details, but we are doing fine. We're actually doing fantastic, okay? So I have four children. I can prove it. But that being said is that I understand where you're coming from, and I can understand where you say that you're like, well, that can cause turmoil at home. That can cause fights over here. That can cause that. Yeah, I know. But I already had that set up that if that started happening, done. Done, okay? And you know what? We've been doing fine. It's been hard and all that. But Titus chapter 2, Titus chapter 2, verse 3. Titus chapter 2, verse 3. And I'm not mad at anybody. I want you to know this, okay? I'm not mad at you. It's frustrating. You know, it's frustrating that you wouldn't bring it to me or someone wouldn't bring it to me. It's frustrating, but I guess in hindsight I should have just brought it up to begin with and just taught on it to begin with, you know? Knowing that in the culture that we're in, in the Baptist realm, that there would be these questions. So I should have brought it up. I should have taught this so that you know where I was coming from, that I'm not trying to hide it. Like I said, I'm live streaming this. And listen, you say, well, you're going to lose friends in new IP. If I lose friends over this, they weren't my friends anyway. Period. If they were my friends, they'd talk to me and say, I think this is not a good route to go. I think that you should rethink this. But by the time that happens, it's going to be over anyway, so. But listen, I don't take marching orders from any church. This is an independent Baptist church. I do not take orders. I don't trim my doctrine. Listen, when it comes to the Lord's Supper, you know that we have different views than other churches in our Friends churches. Did I do that as a private sermon when I preached that sermon? Look it up. It's on there. The Lord's Supper. I preached it. I'm not afraid to preach something that I believe the Bible teaches, and I'm not going to just fall in line, just to fall in line. Okay? So in Timothy chapter 2 and verse 3, it says, I'm sorry Timothy, Titus chapter 2 and verse 3, it says, it says, the age of women likewise, that they be in behavior that becometh holiness. Okay? So if any of these things are lacking in my wife, let me know. Is she in behavior that's not becoming holiness? It says, not false accusers. Is my wife false accusing people? Not giving them much wine. Is my wife giving them much wine? Teachers of good things. Is my wife teaching horrible things? Okay? That they may teach the young women to be sober. Is my wife sober? To love their husbands. Does she love her husband? Now, you can ask me about that. Okay, I guess. To love their children. To be discreet. Is my wife not discreet? Is my wife not chaste? Is my wife not a keeper at home? Okay? Now just because she leaves the home for a certain amount of period of time to do something, does not mean she's not keeping the home. Okay? Now maybe she doesn't meet your standards as far as keeping the home. Maybe it's not as clean as you would keep it. Okay? But when you have toddlers around, it's survival mode anyway. Okay? You're just trying to keep it the way you're not tripping on Legos all day long. Okay? So keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, let the word of God be not blasting. You say, is she obedient? Yes. Listen, she would not be working if I didn't say it was okay. And when she asked me about this, I said, listen, I don't believe it's wrong. I said, if I believed it was wrong, I wouldn't have let you work that one Saturday or that one Tuesday. I wouldn't never let it happen. I'm not just like, well, it's only wrong if you do it a lot. Okay? And like I said, it's only wrong if you do it temporary, do it permanently. Okay? That's not the way it works. And you want to be honest. I'm just being candid with you. My wife likes to be able to talk about intelligent things with intelligent people and not five, two, and one-year-olds all the time. Okay? And you say, well, you know, she can get into a mix with like men at work and all that. She works with women. Okay? She works a midnight shift. She pretty much works with one other lady that's like a pharmacist and they're in like doing their two separate things and they're working with technicians that are mostly women. Okay? And my wife doesn't like socializing with people, so it doesn't really matter anyway when you're dealing with that. So, like I said, yeah, I mean, if she was around a whole bunch of like good-looking guys all the time at some job being a secretary, I'd be like, no. Okay? So you got to understand that you can't just like take this broad scope of like, well, no, ever, outside the home. What are they doing? Okay? We're outside the home. Okay? And by the way, you know, it's interesting because a lot of people would say this, that, you know, I want to be a midwife, you know, after I get done with my, after my children leave the home or even maybe before, maybe I can't have children. I'm going to be a midwife. I think that's great. That's new IP approved, but here's the thing. Let me ask you a question. Where do you go to deliver that baby? Is it in your house? Do you just have all the women coming to your house and you have this bed that everybody's getting delivered on? Or are you going to their house? And is it only that one time, only when the baby is delivered? Or are you making appointments, checkups with the mother and with the family on a routine basis? Are you only doing that once? How many times are you doing that? Why is that okay? Let me ask you a question. If everybody has a problem with men being an OBGYN or a gynecologist, if you have a problem with that, but you have a problem with women being an OBGYN, how will that work? Okay? And I feel you. Okay? I don't like it when there's just men that are OBGYNs. Okay? I want my wife to have a woman. Okay? I want the midwife to be a woman. Okay? Unless it's like life and death situation. Right? At that point, I don't care who's working on my wife. Just save her life. Right? But when you're dealing with just like appointments and it's just like a routine schedule, I don't want a man looking at my wife. You know? It's just not the way you want it. Which way is it? Okay? Now, I'm not saying that every woman should be going out to be like an OBGYN and to be a midwife, because you can't have it both ways and you can't have double standards is what I'm trying to say. If a woman can do all this stuff and have a business and run this business and sell all this merchandise and make money, but my wife can't do it because you don't approve of the actual place that she's going to. Do you know that midwives work at hospitals too? Do you know that midwives will sometimes go to the home, but a midwife, sometimes the patient will be like, but I'd rather do it in a hospital just in case. Okay? And they have to go to a hospital. Is it right? Now it's wrong because you went to a hospital. Because of the building that you're in. Okay? These are all questions you've got to ask yourself and it comes down to this. Why are you having your wife, you know, not go out to the job? What's the purpose? What's the reason? Okay? And again, you have to make that judgment, but what you don't want to do is basically put commandments there that aren't there. Okay? Now, in 1 Timothy, this is the qualifications for a deacon's wife. Okay? Because, like I said, if my wife's doing something wrong, it comes back on me. Okay? So I have to address this. It comes back on me that I'm allowing her to do something wrong. So it doesn't have qualifications for a pastor's wife, but it does have qualifications for a deacon, so obviously that would apply to a pastor's wife. Okay? In verse 8 it says, Now did you see anything in there about her working at all? Now, I'm making this as a point because this is my final authority. Okay? Now you may disagree that I'm doing this. Okay? And that's fine. Okay? But unless I'm committing some sin against qualifications here, then, you know, let me know. And listen, and if the whole church is to be like, I think this is, you know, this disqualifies you, listen, I'll give you the keys, I'll show you how to use the equipment, I'll go back and I'll stay here and I will literally just tell me when the soul winning time is. Okay? Because this job is hard. Okay? I love it. I don't want you to think I don't like it because I love preaching and I love doing this and I love seeing people grow. I love being your pastor. Okay? But I don't have to be. It's not like do or die that I'm your pastor. Okay? And I don't think that our church is feeling that way. I'm not here to say that. I'm not here to threaten you and be like, I'm about to leave, guys. You know, you pushed me over the edge. I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that, you know, just talk to me. Talk to me. And hopefully I'm approachable. You know, hopefully I'm not someone that you're like, I feel like he's going to rip my face off if I bring this up because I won't. Okay? Not unless you like are ripping my face off in front of everybody else. And then that's going to be a little different. Okay? Now, go to Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3. And I'm kind of going off. My notes aren't really cohesive here. I'm just kind of bringing up points that I want to bring up here. Okay? And again, the proof's in the pudding. And like I said, there's certain things that you do and you're like, I don't know how this is going to work out. Okay? Is that okay that you try something and you're like, I'm not sure if this is going to be good or bad or how this is going to work out? Sometimes you don't know until you try it. And I told Holly that. I said, listen, you know, if this goes awry, it's getting cut off immediately. Like, I have no qualms of telling that hospital you're gone. Like, I don't care what bridges we burn. You know, our family's more important. The church family's more important. Everything that's going on, that's more important than this. Okay? And you know what? It's been working out. It's been fine. And honestly, I felt closer to my children because I've spent more time. I wake up with them. I'll give them breakfast and then I'll go off to work. But, you know, because I do that, I have to work harder at work to get the same amount of work done in less time. And I don't have much time to do anything else. If I'm writing a sermon, I'm usually writing it at 10 o'clock at night. Or if I'm reading, I'm studying, I'm doing this or that. Or I'm finding time in between, like lunch, I'm doing this or that. And I just have to, like, schedule so much stuff. And, you know, I joke about it, but I still feel bad about it. But, you know, when I had my truck getting worked on and I was a little late on the Wednesday, that's just bad time management skills. That had nothing to do with Holly. That was me being dumb and thinking I can get up the wheel and get back in time for the service. But all that has to be said is just trying to manage everything. Go to Mark chapter 3 and verse 20. Because if you say to me, okay, I see what you're saying. I don't see a commandment saying that you can't do that, but I think you're crazy. I think you're beside yourself. Well, I'd be in good company if that's the case. Notice what it says in Mark 3. And like I said, my parents said that. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. I said that. In verse 20 here it says, Basically, he's doing so much, he's not even eating anything. He's just like skipping meals. He's doing so much. This is talking about Jesus and his disciples, healing people, preaching, doing all this stuff. And it says that he didn't have time to eat. And they said, you're beside yourself. What are you doing? What does beside yourself mean? Crazy. It means you're not thinking straight or something. Go to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. And I'm not here to compare myself to this. I'm not saying I don't compare to this. I don't. But what I'm trying to say here is that if I'm crazy, yeah, I could probably agree with you on that. Maybe I'm a little beside myself on what I'm trying to get accomplished, what I'm trying to do. That's fair. But in Mark chapter 6 and verse 30 it says, And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat, and they departed into a desert place by ship privately. This is a common theme, especially in the book of Mark. The book of Mark is just like all about this work they're doing. And it's telling you that they don't even have time to eat. They're just literally working through lunchtime. They're working through dinner, and they're just not eating. And people are like, you're beside yourselves. You're going to faint. You're going to collapse. You're going to wear away because you're trying to do so much. And you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe it is going to be something. But here's the thing. You have to at least have a little faith that I have some type of judgment as far as if I'm going to fall apart. As far as whether I'm just going to snap and be done with everything. I'm not there. Now, I'm dieting right now, so maybe I'm a little testy because of that. Because I really want the cinnamon rolls or whatever's over there, and can't have it, and I'm testy right now. But honestly, the idea of just working so hard that you're beside yourself, okay, but there's other people that did that. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 13, he says, For whether we be beside ourselves, it is the God. Or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. And you say, what is he talking about? Paul was talking about how he didn't take any money from the churches. And he was working night and day so that he would not be chargeable unto the church. Now, he said that he had the ability to take money from them, but basically he said, no, I'm going to be an example unto you. Both in Thessalonica, he was the same way. He says, we didn't work. We worked with our hands that we may not be chargeable unto you. And they're probably looking at it like, you're crazy. You're beside yourself. You're trying to do all this stuff. You're working a full-time job. You're doing all this stuff. You're making tents. You know, that's what Paul did. And you're crazy. But you know what? I can sleep when I die. And that's the mentality that I've been living by for the past whatever months, okay? As far as the idea of like, you know what? Let's just get it done. Just been in go mode, okay? Now, I don't think it's sustainable if you just want my personal opinion. I told Holly that. I'm like, after our baby's born, it's done. You know, like there's just no, I just can't, you can't go on like this. You know, it's just too hard. It's too much. It's too, you know, it's something that you can go on for a while and you kind of run through it and kind of do it. But it's just like, I need a break. I need some time to just relax. I need some time of leisure to where I don't snap. And so there's like light at the end of the tunnel. I'm like, I got a month and a half left or whatever it is. You never know when the baby's going to come. She's not an elephant, so it's not going to be another year. But so, you know, I have light at the end of the tunnel. All that's true and all that. So now what you have to realize, too, is that the word of God should be our light. The Bible says in Psalm 119 and verse 105, it says, The word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It says in verse 133, order my steps in thy word. And listen, if you have a verse, if you have a passage to say you are wrong, show it to me. And I'm not saying that like challenging you. I'm just saying show it to me. You know, I don't know everything about the Bible. I've read it a few times. But I'm not up here to say like I know every line of the Bible and there's nothing you can show me. But show me where I'm in sin or my wife is in sin for doing what we're doing. Like I said, my kids are still at home being watched by parents. They're still being homeschooled by parents. Are we in sin because we're not sleeping as much as we should? Are we in sin because we're working longer hours than we should? Can you understand why it would frustrate me a little bit when I hear that accusation? And here's the thing, I think it's well-founded in the fact that, you know, if you're coming to the church, you want to make sure that your pastor's not doing something wrong. You want to make sure that you've got a good leader and all that. But all I'm saying is just come to me, just talk to me about it. You know, we can reason together. And if I'm wrong, I'll change. Listen, if you show me a verse showing that I'm wrong on what I'm doing, I will change because this is my final authority. But if you come up to me and say, well, so and so does it this way, I'm sorry, that's just not going to do it. If you say, well, this church does it this way, I don't give a rip. The Church of Christ does a lot of things down there. Do they think I care what they do? And there's churches that are good churches that do things that I don't agree with. And I think that it's not the right way to do it, okay? And so, you know, just come up to me, talk to me about it. But what you don't want to do is make for doctrines and commandments of men. Go to Matthew chapter 15, Matthew chapter 15. And I try really hard, and I apologize if I ever do this, when I preach sermons like dress standards and stuff like that, I'm really trying to be clear that this is my advice, this is my opinion as far as how I view this verse, okay? Meaning that there's verses on dress standards as far as you're not supposed to wear that which pertains to a man, and women's not, I'm sorry, the men aren't supposed to wear that which pertains to a woman. Okay, let's talk about it, okay? Here's my reasoning, here's why I believe it's dresses and pants that we're talking about here. But you may come out of that and be like, I disagree with you, okay? Because the Bible doesn't say, thou shalt wear a dress for women. So I really hope that when you come out of that sermon, you're like, okay, this is my pastor's advice, this is how he views it, and you can say, I think he's right. I think that makes sense. I'm going to go that route. Or, I think he's taking it a little too far. I think he's taking it a little too far in this, I'm not going to take it that far. That's fine. And you can just say, I'm out to lunch on what I'm saying on that. But you should never say, well, that verse is wrong. Because what you should say, that verse means something, what does it mean? My pastor thinks it's going this route, meaning this, okay, how are you seeing it? And listen, I'm not here to say that there's multiple interpretations of it, there's not multiple interpretations. There's a man's garment, and there's a woman's garment, and the women aren't supposed to wear the man's garment, and the men aren't supposed to wear the woman's garment. You have to figure out what that means. You have to determine in your mind what's that woman's garment, what's that man's garment. And so that sermon is a lot of advice, a lot of opinion. Obviously, I think it's right. I wouldn't have preached it. And the same thing comes with this. What I'm telling you, and what I'm saying when it comes to women working, listen, no one can disagree that women can work, okay? There's no disagreement that women can bring in income, okay? Read Proverbs 31, can you disagree with that? The question you have to ask yourself, what can they do that would not be sinful, or would be right, or be wise? And there's a whole spectrum there, right? My wife shouldn't be a stripper, okay? That, alright, let's take that one off the realm there, okay? And there's things that men shouldn't be doing, okay? There's jobs that are dishonest jobs that men should not be involved in. You should not be into extortion and extorting people out of money, or whatever the case may be. You should not be in those type of jobs, and so I would say don't do that job. But knowing that, then you have to go into, okay, well, what would be a bad job? What would be what I don't want to do? You know, like my wife being a secretary for a bunch of men or something like that, you know? And you can, I don't know, there's Bible principles behind that. You don't want your wife hanging around a bunch of other men, you know, days on end. And she's working during the day, how's she going to take care of the children and take care of the house when she's working during the day, okay? So, yeah, I mean, this is probably a small group where you'd be like, all right, it'd be okay, you could probably figure this out and do this, okay? And it takes, you know, a select group of women that would be able to even do it, okay? Because I'm just saying, I don't think some people can handle it. I don't think some people can handle keeping the home, raising the children, and doing extra on top of that. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not here to judge you and say, well, you're just weak, you can't handle all that. You can't handle working two jobs. You know, I'm not here to say that. I'm just saying that you need to think it through. Think about what Bible scriptures are you using to determine this and think it through. Open-minded, okay, when you're looking at this. And if you come out of the sermon and be like, I know I still hold with this pastor over here in his stance, that's fine, okay? I'm not against you. But you've got to be careful on what you're saying is a commandment of God, though. And Matthew chapter 15, verse 7, it says, Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and on earth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And this is a problem that Jesus dealt with with the Pharisees, where they were saying, you've got to wash your hands before you eat, you can't do this or that. You know, like all these little rules that they had, not in the Bible. Okay? And we don't want to be like that. Listen, and you say, what's the point of this? Listen, we are in an independent Baptist church, and this is a trend that has happened throughout history with independent Baptist churches, where you have good leaders that have good principles, and people have taken those principles and made them commandments of men. It happened in the old IAP, it happened under Jack Hiles. And he had principles that he laid out, and it's like, good for, you know, great. But when you take those principles of hairstyle, of not having a beard, and you say, you're in sin if you have a beard, problem, okay? Big problem, okay? But I see the same thing happening, you know, even in our friend of churches, where people are afraid to say anything different because they're afraid of being disassociated, they're afraid of, you know, whatever the backlash may be. But listen, I'm not afraid of that. I'm not. Like I said, if I lose friends over this, if someone says, I'm not your friend because you let your wife work for six months at a midnight shift, while she was still doing everything she should be doing at home, then they're not my friend anyway. And I have enough friends, to be honest with you. I have plenty of friends here that I am not worried about that, okay? And so, but here's the thing. When it comes down to this, I want you to get this. We are all in the race together to serve God, okay? And how someone's doing it, if they're not sinning as they're doing it, we should just let them do what they're doing. If they ask advice, then give them advice. But remember this, unsought advice is rarely heeded, okay? Meaning if you just go around telling people like, hey, I think you should do this this way. I think this would be better. Most of the time the response would be like, I didn't ask you. And you know what, the other thing that they may say is, don't tell me, show me. Show me how to do that better, okay? Now go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4, 1 Corinthians chapter 4. And I know this isn't like a fun sermon to preach. I know this is heavy because it hits at home. Like I said, I'm just assuming no one's here that did it. This could very well be some woman that doesn't even go to our church and says they go to our church and they're like, I go to Mountain Baptist Church and I have a problem with this and they heard this online or something like that, okay? Okay, maybe so. But I think it should be addressed. And here's the thing, if it is someone in our church, I'm not mad at them. And here's the thing, if they have a concern, other people probably do too, okay? That's the way I've always looked at it. If someone brings a question up to me about a subject, I assume they're probably not the only ones that have a question about it. And usually that's true, okay? So I just want to be candid with you. I want you to know that I'm not trying to keep it in the dark. I've never tried to say, well, my wife's not working. What are you talking about? I'm not trying to keep it under wraps. But when it comes to my work schedule and what I do, I don't try to announce it. I don't try to tell you everything that I do. I'm not here to either make you feel bad about what I have to do or even boost myself up about everything that I do, okay? I don't want to do that. I'm just trying to do what I'm trying to do and trying to get through and trying to survive and do everything I need to do. 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 1, it says, Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified. But he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God. You say, what's this talking about? This is not talking about we should never judge anything, okay? What this is talking about is judging your brother before the judgment of the city of Christ, okay? This is the idea of like, well, so and so is doing this and I think he's going to get more rewards. Or this person is going to get more rewards. I'm going to get more rewards, right? And we're just judging on what other people are doing, how are they going to abode when all comes down. You know what the Bible is saying? Don't worry about any of that. I'm not judging my own self, okay? I'm not trying to figure out how many rewards I have. I'm just trying to keep going. Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and in that day it will be manifest, okay? And so that means that if my brother is going beside me and we have different opinions on how we're doing something, listen, one day it will be shown who was right and who was doing it better, okay? But in the end we should all just be going towards that mark, obviously not committing some grievous sin or something like that. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm just talking about the avenue in which you're serving God. Because this can get in so many realms. Adopt few disputations. Go to Romans chapter 14 as far as like, well, you let your kids watch Disney movies. Example, okay? You know, well, proof's in the pudding. Let's see how my kids turn out, okay? Now if you really care and think that that's so detrimental, okay, and I'm not here to say who watches Disney movies and who doesn't, but I'm just saying if you think it's that detrimental and you're that worried about it, then you'd come to me as a friend or come to so-and-so as a friend or whoever is watching Disney movies, right, and say, you know what, I'm worried about your brother. I'm worried about how that's going to affect your kids. I'm worried about this or that, okay? That's just an example, okay, because nowhere does it say, thou shall not watch, you know, Sleeping Beauty or whatever. And I'm not here to tell you to do it or not do it, okay? I'm not here to like calm down on you if you are doing it or if you're not doing it. Listen, there are certain things that we let our kids watch and there are certain things that we don't let our kids watch. And guess what? If you took all the men in here, we'd probably all have differing views on what we let our kids watch and what we don't let our kids watch. I was just talking about Bubble Guppies. I hate that stupid cartoon. It doesn't make any sense. I don't even know if there's anything sinful about it. It's just stupid, okay? And we've seen it on like, I'm sorry if I'm breaking kids' hearts they watch Bubble Guppies. That's not what I meant to do. I just don't like the show, okay? But what I'm saying is like someone else would be like, God, we like the show and that's fine, okay? I'm not going to judge you on that. That seemed judgmental. I didn't mean to be that judgmental on that. But what I'm saying is like you see how these are like gray areas where it's not like these commandments of God but it's like how do you conduct? What do you allow your kids to watch? What don't you allow them to watch? What do you allow your kids to do? What don't you allow your kids to do? How far you do this? How far you do that? What do you allow your wife to do? And what the other person doesn't allow his wife to do? But in the end, we'll find out in the end who was doing what. Because in the end, what are you trying to do? You're trying to be efficient to work for the Lord. You're trying to live for the Lord. And other people have different ways of doing it. And you know what? The proof will be in the pudding in the end. But I'm not here to judge you. I'm not here to judge myself. I'm just here to say, hey, this is working. This is working the way we're doing it right now. Let's just keep going it this way. This looks like it might be a better route to go. Let's start going that way and do it this way. It's going to be more efficient. We're going to get more done. You know, other people may not work that way. Do you realize that there are different people in the world? And different people have different personalities. And some things work better for others than someone else. So in Romans chapter 14, verse 4, it says, Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not to the Lord, he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man diet to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother, or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, said the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, every one of us shall give account to himself to God. So if you want to know what 1 Corinthians 4 is talking about, chapter 3 was talking about the judgment seat of Christ. And this is what it's talking about. It's talking about rewards. It's talking about how you're serving God, and how effective of a Christian you will be. And if you say, well, you're watching that, that's going to deter the effectiveness of your walk with God, and you can have valid points to that. And I could say the same thing about something that someone else is doing. I'd be like, I think that's going to affect his walk for God. You know, I could say that about sports. I hate sports. They're annoying. Like, I used to be into them. I don't care anymore. And all the politics and garbage that's in it, I think it's a waste of time. I'd rather play a sport than watch the stupid garbage on TV. But I'm not going to come up here and be like, if you watch sports, you're not right with God and you're wicked. I could say, well, that's going to take time out of this or that. And that's always the argument. It's like, well, you do this, that'll take time out of that or this. Well, listen, judge nothing before the time. Let them watch their sports and see how they do in life. Maybe they'll do fine. Maybe they'll still do great things for God. And that's just their one little out. That's their leisure time that keeps them sane in this crazy world that we live in. Okay? You know, I like watching Bob Ross paint pictures, okay? That keeps me sane. Actually, I haven't watched Bob Ross in a little while. Maybe I need to get back to that. But, you know, the idea here, though, is, you know what, like I said, with this, if you have any concerns about anything that I'm doing, I'll be transparent with you. I'm not trying to hide anything. And when it comes to a lot of the stuff, I'd say, you know, it's none of anybody's business. But, listen, I'm your pastor and it is your business that I'm not doing something wrong. Okay? I am at a higher office. That means I have a higher responsibility. I am in the spotlight. I am your pastor. I am your leader. And to me, I think I need to be very transparent about it. And if you have a problem with how I'm doing stuff at home or what I'm doing with work or whatever the case may be, you know, bring it to me. And you say, well, I think you're just covetous. You know, I'm just bringing up stuff that maybe people would say. You're just covetous. Well, I guess you could say that if I just want to pay off debt, you know, and just be debt-free or, you know, whatever the case may be. But the question you'd have to ask yourself is that virtuous woman just covetous? Her husband was Solomon. Okay? And so, or, you know, I guess it would be king, by the way. I guess you could argue that that's not Solomon, okay? But you're dealing with a woman that's the wife of a king, and then she's making money and doing all this stuff on top of that, okay? Because you could argue and be like, well, you don't need the money. You're right. I don't, okay? But my wife wanted to pay off something that wasn't my debt to begin with, okay? And I can't look at her and be like, what are you thinking, okay, for wanting to do that? She also likes what she does, okay? I don't know if, you know, some people maybe don't like anything that they do with their work. She likes it. She likes being up to date with it. She likes to know that type of stuff. I don't know why. It's not that interesting to me. I do like the fact that she knows how to, like, you know, give my kids Tylenol and Motrin to know how much to give them and how much not to get them if they have a fever, you know? Like, that type of stuff I really, I'm glad she knows. But she'll be starting to talk about stuff. I'm like, I don't know and don't care, you know? Like, I'm glad you like that. But I'm sure people say the same thing about me when I talk about engineering and Brother Chris would say the same thing about you if you start talking about math and all this stuff or anybody else is talking about whatever their forte is. They'd be like, I don't care. I'm glad you like it, you know? But she likes that. And listen, when it comes to marriage, there's some things that you say, well, did you do it for money? Not really. I did it because I wanted my wife to enjoy doing something other than cleaning up toddlers all day long for maybe just a few months. That she can enjoy just having that time to be like, hey, I'm doing something that I enjoy doing and I'm getting up to date on it and all this. You know, that to me is a little more important than money as far as that goes. And listen, there's going to be a day when my kids are going to leave the home. What's my wife going to do after that, okay? You know, when we, you know, again, if she wants to do that, she can. She doesn't have to. And anything with this, I told her, you don't do any of this stuff, but I'll let you do it. I'll let you do it if you want to do it as long as it doesn't take out anything that you're doing already. And that's a tall order to say because we're in survival mode, okay? We have three children, five and under, and another one about to come today. You know, not today. Not today. About a month and a half, you know, like the due date or whatever. But when it comes to this, the last thing I want to show you, go to 1 Timothy 5. 1 Timothy 5. If you get anything out of the sermon is this, is that this is my final authority right here. Not some other church. Not some other pastor friend. Not some other tradition. Listen, everything that we've done in this church I've done because I believe that's the best way to do it. The reason we don't release is we have an offering box in the back. I just thought that that was a better way of doing it than passing around a plate. Okay? Dude, I think the plates are wrong. No. Okay? But I did that way because I believe that was the best way to do it. And the way that, you know, however we do things. Why do I have soul winning on Sunday afternoon? Why is that our main soul winning time? Because I believe that's the best way to do it. Why did I change the service time from being at 6 p.m. to 4 p.m.? Because I could have said, well, everybody else is doing it at 6 p.m. We can't change that. It's not sacred, okay, as far as the church times. And I changed it. Why? Because it works better. Okay? It works better. We're more efficient. People aren't just, you know, having to sit around for another two hours for no reason, especially when you have people traveling and all that stuff. It works better. I do it that way. Other churches may not do it that way. That's fine. But in 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 1 here, notice what it says. It says, Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity. Now, I just want to say this. I want you to come up to me with any grievances that you have. If you're afraid to talk to me, put it in the offering box, okay? And the thing is, obviously, ladies, you should probably just tell your husbands, you know, and have your husband talk to me, okay? I think of, you know, Brother Charles, for example. He's brought so many things to me that have been uncomfortable, but I love him for it, you know? And I know he doesn't like it, okay? But he's brought things to my attention, whether it was Jesse or just other things that have gone on, and I can see it in his face. He does not want to talk. I can always know that time where he's like, can I talk to you, Pastor? You know, and I'm like, oh, man, what's going on, you know? But he does it not because he likes to do it, but because he knows, hey, this just needs to be brought up. I want this to be in your, you know, just communication, okay? But you don't want to rebuke. That'd be like you getting up and just in front of everybody like, you're in sin, you're wrong, and just like, just ripping my face off in front of everybody, okay? No, just entreat me as a father, okay? You know, you may be, you could be, you know, older than me, and that's okay, you know? But obviously, the idea is that you're treating me respectfully, right? You're respectfully saying, hey, I have a grievance, here's what it is, can we talk about this, okay? Then go down to verse 19. Verse 19, it says, against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses, them that sin rebuke before all, that others may fear. And I believe that sin rebuking before all is someone that's bringing railing accusations. Now, I don't believe that this is a railing accusation, okay? I believe this is just a concerned person that was concerned, okay? I'm giving the person the benefit of the doubt that they were just literally concerned and just wanted to know someone else's opinion and all that, okay? So, I'm not here to basically say, I'm going to rebuke, first of all, I don't know who it is, so I can't do that anyway, so. But what I'm saying is that just come up to me, talk to me. And, you know, if it's a lady, listen, bring it to your husband, and if your husband doesn't think it's worthy of bringing up to me, then it's not worthy to bring up to me, okay? And so, you know, I just want you to be open with me about stuff like this. I don't want it to build up. Does that make sense? I don't want this to build up to where we just get into a big fight or something happens or like that. I just want it to be open communication, okay? If you think I'm doing something that's out of the ordinary or wrong or down the wrong path, just let me know, okay? Let me know, and you know what? You may change my mind every once in a while. Maybe it's like, yeah, you're right, that's probably not the best route to go on that because of those reasons you brought up. You know, I'm not perfect, you know, but again, this, what we've been doing for the past few months, I want you to know that I didn't just like not think about it, okay? I thought about it. I prayed about it. I searched the scriptures. I tried to see if there's anything that would make this wrong to do. I didn't say it was the best thing to do, okay? I didn't know, okay? And sometimes you don't know until you try. There's going to be things that we're going to do at this church, just so you know. We're going to try some things, okay? Whether it's soul winning, how we go soul winning, how we set up things, how we do things. As we grow, things will change. Listen, praise God, we have a lot of soul winners that go out on Sunday. There's going to come a point where I can't just lead everybody. I'm going to have to have someone else. You know, basically we're going to have to split up in the groups, and we're going to have to have leaders that are going to lead those groups, okay? Just the nature of the beast. We're already to the point where we can't all meet at the same place. You know, we have to go to different places. And you know what? As you grow, things are going to change. You're going to try things. You'll be like, you try this. You'll be like, that didn't work out. That was dumb. You know, not the best way to do that one. And then you go over here, all right, let's try this. So there's going to be things like that. And you may disagree with those moves that are done. But in the end, someone's got to be a leader. Someone's got to do it. And you know what? The leader's going to make mistakes every once in a while. I don't believe what we're doing is a mistake, okay? I thought maybe it would have been when I started it, okay? To be honest, I was going into it thinking, this might be a mistake. This is going to crash and burn. We're going to get into fights all the time. This is not going to work. Our kids are going to hate it, like all this stuff. But what I found that, yes, it's hard. Yes, it's been a struggle. But I have a good relationship with my kids. I have a great relationship with my wife. And I don't feel like my sermons have been lacking, hopefully not. If you want me to preach longer, I can. I'm just kidding. And it's not about length. You know what I'm talking about. Because I could preach for two hours and then just say nothing, okay? But what I'm saying is that judge by what you see done, okay? Am I still preaching hard? Am I still preaching doctrine? Am I still going soul winning? Am I still doing what I should be doing as a pastor, okay? You're like, well, you didn't get your tax done, those forms done. Sorry, okay? But to be honest, I probably wouldn't have got them done even if this wasn't an issue, okay? No, I'm just kidding. That's not the first thing I think about when I go to work in the morning. I'd be like, man, I need to get those tax forms done. But I just want you to think about that. And this is obviously more of a sobering type of sermon. I'm not here to rebuke anybody. I'm just trying to, this should be a sermon, like a precautionary sermon to say, hey, if you have an issue with what I'm doing, let me know. Also, you know, try not to judge people for how they do things in their family. Because it may not work for you and it may not be a good idea for you, but it may be working for them. Maybe that's working for them and they're getting by and they're doing everything they should be doing still. You know, just let it be. And you know what, if you see things starting to crash and burn, then yeah, as a friend, be like, hey, what are you doing, you know? But if you don't see things crashing and burning, you see things still going on and getting on and everything's being done the way it should be done, then I don't see the issue. I don't see why there's, you know, a problem with that. So anyway, I don't know how you can really end a sermon like that. Besides, I love you guys, okay? I love my church. I love my members. I'm not here because I'm angry at anybody to preach this sermon. I think it's needed. I think, you know, like I said, foresight, I should have probably just preached it to begin with and just, you know, got it out of the way if anybody had any issues with it and then just gone from there. So in the future, if I'm ever doing something that maybe someone, I think, would maybe like, you know, not agree with, maybe I should just bring it up in a sermon and just preach on it, you know? I don't know. But anyway, let's end with a word of prayer. I'd definitely probably thank you for today. Thank you for your word. And Lord, I do pray that you be with all of us as we are running this race with you, Lord, that everything that we do, we try to do to be glorifying to you and to obviously be the most efficient, to live for you, to not be covetous and not do things for those reasons. But Lord, that we follow what you say and follow biblical principles and lead our families in that direction. And Lord, if there's anything in my life that I need to change or anything that I need to fix, Lord, I pray that you'd help me to do that. But Lord, I just pray that you'd help, you know, obviously our church to have unity. And Lord, it's been great to see all the souls saved. It's been great to see all the stuff going on. I pray that you continue that. I pray that you'd be with, I know there's another family, the Jones family that's planning on moving in. I pray that you'd be with them and just be with the other families in our church and just all the stuff that we're doing, jobs, all that stuff. Lord, I just pray that your hand would be in it and lead us in every way that you want us to go. In Jesus Christ's name, amen. So Brother Dave, we'll come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed and we'll try to do some, it's Valentine's Day, we should do some candy. So we'll do some questions for the kids after that. All right, song 228 in your song books. Song 228. And if you would stand, we'll sing I Love to Tell the Story, song 228. I love to tell the story of unseen things above.