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

You you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Amen. Good seeing you. With that, we'll have our announcements. All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Shur Foundation Baptist Church. Let's take our bulletin and go through some announcements. If you need a bulletin, just lift up your hand. One of the ushers will bring you a bulletin. There's one hand over there. I see. Right there. There's another one there. All right. On the front cover, we have our Verse of the Week. It says, Glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. Psalm, chapter 96, verse 3. Great verse there. And on our inside page there, we have our service times, 10 30 a.m. for our Sunday morning service, 3 30 p.m. for our Sunday evening service, Thursday Bible study, 6 30 p.m. We'll be in 1 Chronicles, chapter 26, and our sowing times are listed below. We have sowing today at 1 p.m. And there's some extra instructions today. We're having a song-leading class at 12 15 today. So, if you are going sowing and you're not in the sowing class, just when you get to the sowing area, just look at the instructions in the WhatsApp group for I think you're just asking them to get ready and go. Don't wait. If you're in the song-leading class and you're delayed, then you go to Map 2 and get there when you get there. Say it one more time. At 1 30, if you can get to the sowing site, go to Map 1. If you're going to be later than 1 30, then go to Map 2. Comprende? All right. So, he has to tell me three times usually. So, that's what we're doing there. Last week we were a little bit late, so people were a little bit confused about that. Which is probably my fault. And then we have other sowing times to choose from throughout the week. And if you're not going sowing, then there's plenty of times and no excuse for you to get plugged in there. So, praise report. You can see the salvation, baptisms, attendance, totals for last week. And our events coming up. Today we have a special service. We are sending Remy and his family to Spokane, so I'm going to be preaching just a sermon about a charge, called a charge to my son. And then we're going to have that song leading class, like I said, at 12 15. And this evening brother Remy, my son, brother son Remy is going to be preaching a farewell sermon to us today. And so, it's going to be a sad day for us here because they're a big part of our church family. And so, we're dearly going to miss them. So, we're going to have after the PM service, we are going to have a fellowship and we're going to have round table pizza. I said, what do you want? He said pizza. So, I'm not just going to get regular old pizza. I want to get round table. So, I know we had it like a couple weeks ago, but you guys didn't seem to be too sad about that because every single scrap was gone. So, I got extra pizza this time just in case. So, please come to the evening service tonight, even if you normally don't come and chow down with us and make sure that you say farewell to them. They will be back unless he pisses me off or something. But no, I'm sure he'll be back to preach for us again and they're going to do a good work. So, we're wishing them well and sending them off you know with the greatest hope that they could do a great work up there in Spokane, Washington. So, April 13th is the Lord's Supper service at 3.30 PM. That is a Sunday night. So, please plan on being here if you've never taken the Lord's Supper with us. We do do it in a different way than most churches. We only do it once a year. And I already preach a sermon about it. So, if you haven't watched the sermon about it, you can go back and watch it from last week that I preached it or I think it was last week. And just watch that and understand why we do it. So, I usually give like a few weeks for people to prepare their hearts for that. And then that service is just the Lord's Supper. So, once we do the Lord's Supper, we sing a hymn and then we go home. There's no preaching service involved in it. So, that day will just be one preaching service that day and then we do the Lord's Supper service at 3.30. And then we go home. The next week, we're doing an All-Sure Foundation Baptist Church Mega Marathon. So, we'll make up for lost time and get that done. And we haven't done it in a while. So, we might be a little bit tired on Easter Sunday, but we're going to still push through and have Easter Sunday because we're going to be celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on April 20th. Then we have the Seattle two-year anniversary coming up at the end of the month on the 25th through the 27th. We have Pastor Anderson preaching for us on Friday night, 7 p.m., and a soul-winning marathon on Saturday. And then Sunday, I'll be preaching the services there. And May 15th through 18th is the King James Conference. We'll have the special guest speakers that are written there. Pastor Anderson, Pastor Shelley, Pastor Mahia. And then we have a lot of people coming from out of town. So, and if you know anybody that's coming, just please make sure to tell them to get their rent, to rent their rooms early. And they will pay less money. So, also Kayla's bridal shower is coming up, so if you think about that, please make sure you remember she's registered at Target or family integrated. That means children and infants are welcome during the church services. Please don't forget to utilize the mother baby room or dad baby room for your convenience during all the services. The other rules are written below that. The tithes and offerings that have come in so far are at the bottom of the page. And we have some birthdays to celebrate. We have Lonnie Yefimoff, but she's not here, but we'll still sing to her over the internet, I guess. And then Miss Rebecca Alcorta, his birthday is tomorrow, right? So is tomorrow the 31st? Yeah. So, where'd she at? Where'd she go? Oh, hi. How are you? How old are you going to be? Nine. She said it with power. Did you hear that? Nine. That's like one of the best ages to be, is nine. So, um, well, congratulations on turning nine tomorrow. And then Timothy is going to be, where's Timothy? Oh, hey, Tim. How you doing? How old are you going to be? Oh, you're going to be seven. All right. Well, that's a great age, too. I remember, you weren't even born when you came, when your parents started coming to this church. So, that is really cool. So, what are you going to do for your birthday? He doesn't know. Okay. It's nice to not know what's going on from week to week when you're a kid, right? Your parents do everything for you. So, that's great. All right. I'm sure it's going to be something fun, though. Let's go ahead and sing happy birthday to the birthday people, all right? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you. All right. That's all I have for now. Let's go ahead and sing another song and we'll receive the offering. All right. Our next song is song number 160, Crown Him with Many Crowns. Song number 160, Crown Him with Many Crowns. Song 160, Crown Him with Many Crowns. Let's sing it together on the first. Let's sing it together on the first. No angel in the sky No angel in the sky No angel in the sky Can fully bear that can fully bear that But downward bends his wandering eye at mysteries so bright Crown Him the Lord of life Who triumphed o'er the grave Who rose victorious to the strife For those He came to save His glory now we sing Who died and rose on high Who died eternal life to bring and live that death may die Crown Him the Lord of head One with the Father known One with the Spirit through Him given from yonder glorious throne to Thee be endless praise for Thou for us hast died be Thou O Lord through endless days adored and magnified Amen good seeing. Brother Mikey would you bless you up for us? Lord thank you for bringing us together on this beautiful day and please bless the Lord. you you you you you you 1 Kings 2 the Bible reads Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die and he charged Solomon his son saying I go the way of all the earth be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in His ways to keep His statues and His commandments and His judgments and His testimonies as it is written and withersoever thou turnest thyself that the Lord may continue His word which He spake concerning me saying if thy children take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul there shall not fail thee said he a man on the throne of Israel moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zoriah did to me and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel unto Abner the son of Nur and unto Amasa the son of Jethur whom he slew and shed the blood of war in peace and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet do therefore according to thy wisdom and let not his whore head go down to the grave in peace but show kindness unto the sons of Barzillah the Gileadite and let them be of those that eat at thy table for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom my brother and behold thou has with thee Shammai the son of Gurah a Benjamite of Baharim which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanam but he came down to meet me at Jordan and I swear to him by the Lord saying I will not put thee to death with the sword now therefore hold him not guiltless for thou art a wise man and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him but his whore head bring down bring thou down to the grave with blood so David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David and the days that David rained over Israel were forty years seven years rained he in Hebron and thirty and three years rained he in Jerusalem then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father and his kingdom was established greatly and Adonijah the son of Hagath came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon and she said comest thou peaceably? and he said peaceably he said moreover I have somewhat to say unto thee and she said say on and he said thou knowest that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel set their faces on me that I should reign how be it the kingdom is turned about and has become my brothers for it was his from the Lord and now I ask one petition of thee deny me not and she said unto him say on and he said speak I pray thee unto Solomon the king for he will not say thee nay that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife and Bathsheba said well I will speak for thee unto the king Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon to speak unto him for Adonijah and the king rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto her and sat down on his throne and caused the seat to be set for the king's mother and she sat on his right hand then she said I desire one small petition of thee I pray thee say me not nay and the king said unto her ask on my mother for I will not say thee nay and she said let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah Adonijah thy brother to wife and king Solomon answered and said unto his mother and why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah ask for him the kingdom also for he is my elder brother even for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zoriah then king Solomon sware by the Lord saying God do so to me and more also if Adonijah have not spoken this word for at least his own life now therefore as the Lord liveth which hath established me and sent me on the throne of David my father and who hath made me in house as he promised Adonijah shall be put to death this day and king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and he fell upon him that he died and unto Abiathar the priest said the king get thee to Anoth unto thine own fields and thou art worthy of death but I will not at this time put thee to death because thou bears the ark of the Lord God for David my father and because thou has been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted so Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which he spake concerning the house of Eli and Shiloh then tidings came to Joab for Joab had turned after Adonijah though he turned not after Absalom Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord and caught hold on the horns of the altar and it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord and behold he is by the altar then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada saying go fall upon him and Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord and said unto him thus saith the king come forth and he said nay but I will die here and Benaiah brought the king word again saying thus said Joab and thus he answered me and the king said unto him do as he have said and fall upon him and bury him that thou may take away the innocent blood which Joab shed from me and from the house of my father and the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and slew them with a sword my father David not knowing thereof to wit Abner the son of Jethur captain of the host of Israel and Amasa the son of Jethur captain of the host of Judah their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever but upon David and his seed and upon his house and upon his throne shall there be peace forever from the Lord so Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and slew him and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness and the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar and the king sent and called for Shemiiah and said unto him build thee an house in Jerusalem and dwell there and go not forth thence any wither for it shall be that on the day that thou goest out and passes over the brook Kidron thou shall know for certain that thou shall surely die thy blood shall be upon thine own head and Shemiiah said unto the king that the saying is good as the Lord the king hath said so will thy servant do and Shemiiah dwelt in Jerusalem many days and it came to pass at the end of three years that two of the servants of Shemiiah ran away unto Achish the son of Makah king of Gath and they told Shemiiah saying behold thy servants be in Gath and Shemiiah rose and saddled his ass and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants and Shemiiah went and brought his servants from Gath and it was told Solomon that Shemiiah had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and was come again and the king sent and called for Shemiiah and said unto him did I not make thee to swear by the Lord and protest and protested unto thee saying no first certain on the day that thou goest out and walkest abroad any wither that thou shall surely die and thou saidest unto me the word that I have heard is good why then has thou not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I have charged with thee the king said moreover to Shemiiah thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to that thou didst to David my father therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head and king Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever so the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada which went out and fell upon him that he died and the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon Brother Drew will you pray for us? Amen, like I said this is a special service just to charge my son with going to Spokane, Washington of course I'm not comparing myself to David I'm not comparing him to Solomon but for just some spiritual application from the story I'm going to use some of what David has said to his son Solomon and apply it to just any charge that God would give or that a man of God would give to his son or even spiritual son as they send him out so obviously I'm not saying that I'm like David or he's like Solomon but you can still get the comparison in the scriptures people like to get upset about those things but you really should be able to put yourself in many Bible stories and apply those things to yourself it's not like you're saying that you're greater than these people or something but the reason why they're in there is for us to say hey I'm going through this hard time or hey I'm going through this good time and compare yourself to these stories that's why God puts them in there anyway like I said the title of my sermon is My Charge to My Son and my son of course is Remi and known him all of his life I was there when he was born so and I am charging him this morning with building the church in Spokane it's already been established it's already been going for six years and I'll never forget the day that Remi was born my wife woke me up to tell me that she was in labor and my eyes pinged open immediately and less than two hours after arriving at the hospital he was born at I don't even know what it's called now but it's Peace Health but it's like it's just right down the street here but at the time it was called Southwest Washington Medical Center and Sherry was pushing and next thing you know he's he's just out nobody even had time to get to the hospital seemed like that's how her births were with Nia we had like 15 minutes and she was like she was literally having contractions like every what I don't know maybe a minute or two or something and when we got to the hospital she was born 15 minutes after Halloween ended so yeah but Remi was born two hours after arrival or so about 10 o'clock in the morning and he was my first born he's my first born son my first born child and when he came into this world he changed my life forever now I wasn't saved when he was born but it changed my life nonetheless and kind of I was just very excited and happy when he was born and I was really happy that he was a boy because I prophesied that he would be a boy just like I prophesied that Josh would be a boy I was right on both occasions not that I don't like girls I do but I did just still you know I think it's every man's dream to also have a boy that will you know bring forth you know that name in your family later on or something I don't know what it is it's just a weird thing but even women in the Bible want to have man childs like Hannah she wanted to have a son so she went and prayed for one right but I got Remy saved when he was a young man and a young lad actually and he was six years old actually but when I got saved he was two years old as we began to take our family to church and learn the ways of the Lord Remy soaked those things up as a little as a little one and he loved the stories of Noah's Ark David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lion's Den I used to show him those Hannah Barbera cartoons where they actually used the King James version when they would I mean obviously they showed Jesus with long hair and some other stuff that wasn't great but the ones with David and Goliath and Noah's Ark they were pretty good but at least as I remember them they were but he was really excited about stuff like that so we were just trying to get some kind of Christian content you know instead of all the worldly cartoons and all that and he really liked that stuff and I took him to a Christian bookstore and there was this Noah's Ark playset that he really wanted and I remember I didn't have the money to buy it for him the first time I took him there but then I when I finally had the money to take him there and get one he was super excited about it he brought it home and just you know he loved that Noah's Ark playset and I remember when I took him there he told me that he wanted to be a pastor someday and he was really young I don't know exactly how old he was but he was really really young probably four years old maybe a little bit yeah I think he was probably four years old when he said that and so like I said Remy was saved at six years old he hasn't sinned since then according to his own lips so you know the new man of course so but he was baptized at Landmark Baptist Church in Hermiston Oregon and not only is he my son in real life but he is my spiritual son as well in the faith so he's always had an interest in spiritual things he's always loved going to church and he's always loved working in church in some capacity or another and he's worked alongside of me even when we started the church here I mean we did kind of drag all of our teens kicking and screaming to start this church a little bit because they were in a youth group and you know they liked that kind of stuff and I don't blame them because they didn't really have any kids their own age at the church when we started the church but I told them people would come that would be their age or somewhat close to them and that they would make friends eventually which ended up happening so but anyway he has gone on a couple missions trips he's gone to the Philippines and to Africa have you gone to anywhere else like that's it yeah that was it he was done no Africa did him in but so and he's a soul winner he's been preaching sermon since he was 16 years old and so that's 10 years now by his age I hadn't even I probably maybe preached my first sermon at like junior church it was horrible but so but for 10 years he's already been he's already done so many more things than I did by the time I was his age that I mean I yeah it's just it's crazy to me that he's already done so much that I never came close to doing by his age so yeah he's preached many times at our church he's song led for many years at our church he learned how to song lead from a class he took from pastor Menes and he's gone soul winning with us he's fought with us he's had my back through many battles he's never not had my back through any battle that I've ever been through in this church and even if he disagreed with me it's always been a silent disagreement so so silent that I don't even know what he disagrees with me about but he's he's always had my back and you know I love him so I really trust him and the truth is I've never really pushed Remy to be in the ministry there's a lot of people that try to push their children hey you really need to be a pastor or you really need to be a missionary or you need to be a pastor's wife and that's kind of a big thing in the old IFB but I've never pushed him to do those things so it's not like he's mama called and papa sent or something that's not something that you know I've always just wanted my children to serve the Lord and love God and stay in church and and raise their family in the ways of the Lord and to keep that cycle broken of dysfunction in our family but as long as they've wanted to just love God and serve the Lord I'm happy with that but Remy's always wanted to be in the ministry he's always wanted to be a pastor and he's always wanted to have a family he's always wanted to be married he's always wanted to have a wife and children and he has that he has a beautiful family he has a beautiful wife and beautiful children and son you've grown up to be a great man of God and a great husband and a great father and your children obviously love you your wife obviously loves you and follows you and is willing to follow you to the arctic zones of the great northeast part of the state of Washington I guess so but I'm proud to call you my son not proud in a bad way but proud in a good way so thank you for everything you've done for our church and we're going to miss you of course and this is kind of going on the back of losing Brandon and Nia so hopefully I don't get emotional during the sermon but even if I do try not to hold it against me so and singing he's my friend right or playing the piano accompaniment he's my friend right before the sermon did not help me at all I mean I love that song though but yeah it kind of strikes a chord in me so but Remy I'm sending you to finish building a church plant that's already been planted and in hopes that you will complete your training and become the pastor of a new independent baptist church King David laid up some things for Psalm and his son we've been studying about that on our Thursday night services and he did lay up a lot of things so Spokane is already established it already has the chairs it already has the pulpit it already has the piano it already has people in it that love the Lord and have served him for many years already you already have men that you can count on to help you you already have the ladies you already have the infrastructure is already there but it does need leadership to take it to the next level and that's what I'm hoping that you're going to supply them with and of course your wife is going to help you do that and your children hopefully will help you do that also and I would say this that don't stop your children from helping you that it's it's good to have your children serve with you if they want and to so because they can learn to love the people that they serve also so there were some things that David warned Solomon about and to avoid and God himself as well warned Solomon not to turn his back on the things of God and to keep his commandments and I hope you'll take from this story and apply it to you and charge as I charge you to go to Spokane and build the Lord's house there that's kind of why I chose this story because he's charging his son to build the house of the Lord now obviously I know that God builds the church but he uses faithful men and women he uses the man of God to help accomplish those tasks if there's not people willing to help it's not like he just builds a church and nobody is there with it I mean it obviously takes people just like it takes soul winners to actually get souls won so there's a stigma of nepotism within clergy and pastors just handing things over to their sons or their sons and laws there's an extra pressure because of that and you know whether you like that or not it's just a fact you know but I have faith that it is the will of God for you to do this and you know I don't think that we should be respecters of persons the Bible says that over and over again and so just because you're my son doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to do the same thing I just want you to remember the things that I've taught you and you know these are the charges I'm going to give you as I send you to preach and to lead the church plant Spokane heed them to your prophet and ignore them to your folly and failure so let's look down at the Bible at verse number one the Bible says now the days of Solomon excuse me the days of David drew nigh that he should die now I'm not dying just so you know but and it says and he charged Solomon his son saying I go the way of all the earth be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man so point number one this morning is that I charge you to be a strong leader this is what David is telling his son don't be weak because what he's already inheriting a lot of the work done and laid up for him so some things are going to be already easy for you as you go into something that's already got a structure to it the materials have already been laid up for you you're not starting from scratch you have things done for you already so this is I believe why he's saying hey you need to be strong now you're going to be the leader now it's time for you to be strong be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man which is obviously the opposite of being woman like or a woman and you know I might not be going the way of all the earth now but you're going away from under my leadership to being a leader of another church so the Bible says be strong therefore the last thing we need in this world is another weak leader at another Baptist church there's plenty of weak leaders at plenty of other churches so you know you need to be strong instead of being weak so we don't need weak leadership we need strong leadership so be strong my son be a strong leader make strong decisive decisions and do not make uncertain sounds when people when you make your decisions don't go well if that's okay you know with you you know and hide you know that's why we don't vote you know on decisions unless it's food sometimes but I understand why because I tend to just keep going panda panda panda panda panda and then it's round table round table round table I'll just like a creature of habit let's just keep doing the same thing and then I realize you guys are like it's an abomination unto you at a certain point but but it's important that you're strong in your leadership and that you're manly with that strength people don't want to see your feminine side because there is no feminine side alright your feminine side is your wife alright and she's not supposed to be the leader of the church turn to 1 Corinthians 16 3 but keep your finger or a bookmark in 1 Kings chapter 2 because we're going to come back I'm going to preach all this sermon out of 1 Kings chapter 2 and we're going to go to other verses of course but in the Old Testament God wanted men to be the leaders in the New Testament it's the same thing it's not like Jesus died on the cross so women could be the leaders of the church look at 1 Corinthians 16 13 it says watch ye stand fast in the faith quit you like men be strong this theme is repeated all throughout the Old Testament and all throughout the New Testament and what does quit mean usually we this is not a word we would say in this situation but quit means to behave in a certain way in this sentence here so behave in a certain way so when it says quit you like men it's saying you know behave yourself like a man act like a man be strong so men are known for being strong but in today's day and age men are always downplayed in movies and in any kind of sitcom they're the weak ones and feminism is on the rise it really is and now all the Marvel superheroes call the MCU the Marvel what is it the Marvel yeah the Marvel Cinematic Universe is called the MCU by you know as a joke because they've just replaced all the men superheroes with women and all of a sudden women can beat up all the men it's just like it's a cancer in our society it's a cancer in our society and it's even crept into Baptist churches it needs to be stomped out and look I'm not saying don't reverence women and treat them as the weaker vessel and be nice to them and care for them and love them I'm not saying that at all I mean anybody that knows me knows that I love my wife anybody that knows me knows that I love my wife and treat her with respect I'm not like just I'm not just like going like this hey the backhand's coming if you don't like pay attention you know do what I say that's not how I leave my home I've never left my home like that but what I am saying is that we should not be weak we should not be letting our wives run the church the men run the church the pastor runs the church the evangelist runs the church the deacons are in charge of their wives not the wives in charge of the deacons we should not let this influence creep in to our churches the Bible says to show thyself a man the last thing we need is any more gently led mister pastors letting their wives run the show and letting their wives emotions run the pastor that's not what we need be a man no offense ladies I'm not trying to be mean to you don't take it that way but the leaders in the church need to be men not women charged with emotion if you want to be in a woman church then just go to the United Methodist Church and you can have some woman leading the church some short hair-cutted bull-dike can tell you and your family exactly what to do and turn your kids into lesbians and homos you know if that's the church you want to go to if you really want to be led by a woman then go to a church like that or some presbyterian churches are like that now there's a lot of churches that are or they'll say we're both the pastors like Joel Osteen and Victoria Osteen she's the pastor too they're both pastors and she's getting up and preaching that you're not doing things to please God you're doing it to please yourself I mean who's seen that clip I mean she's insane she looks like she's possessed by the devil and her eyebrows are going like this look that we don't need that we need a man to be strong son you need to be strong when you're leading up there not like the last leader who's letting his wife berate him and you know deride him in public and telling him what to do and what church they're going to go to you lead your family you lead your wife you lead your children the last thing that Spokane needs is a cream puff pastor that's too weak to make a decision you make the decisions so according to not according to the will of the people either this isn't like all all the people in the church want to go to the NIV no if it's just you and your family and not everybody else wants to go to the NIV then just you know bye go to whatever other church you want to but it's not going to be that church turn to Proverbs chapter 31 verse 3 Proverbs 31 verse 3 your wife shouldn't be writing your sermons or steer the direction of the church or influence the direction of the church the church is going to proceed or or move forward based on how you lead it and it should never be how your wife wants to lead it God is depending on your strength that's why he said you be strong that's why he said you be a man you're the man sometimes if you just need to look in the mirror and say I'm the man it's practice you know you just feel like in a moment of weakness it's just like going in the bathroom it's like I'm the man I'm kidding but I mean if you have to do it but Proverbs 31 verse 3 says give not thy strength unto women nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings and how was Solomon destroyed he was destroyed by giving his strength unto a thousand women because he just couldn't control his urges now obviously I think that that's a way to apply this scripture but also another way is I mean because how did Samson give away his strength because he just couldn't control his desires for women so he allowed himself to just be killed and taken out because he's just like was worn down by what her just constantly saying you don't love me if you do if you love me you would tell me the secret of your strength and then what happens he's like okay he's finally wearied by her and his strength was literally taken away because he told her the secret and she's like alright that's all I needed here cuts his hair off and then the Philistines come in take him out his eyes get poked out and then he ends up committing suicide why because he gave his strength unto women so we can't let that happen do not let that happen number two point number two keep the charge of the Lord keep the charge of the Lord it's not just me that's charging you but God that's charging you there's things set aside in scripture that we must follow look at back in our text at 1 Kings chapter 2 verse 3 the Bible says and by the way I'm not going through the whole passage today so before you get all freaked out I'm not I'm not going through the whole passage that was a long chapter 1 Kings 2 3 it says and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses that thou may as prosper in all that thou doest and whithersoever thou turnest thyself so I think he's trying to get this through to his head keep his commandments his judgments his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses not as it is written in people's opinions or your opinions or how you think things should be done it's how you keep the charge of the Lord to walk in his ways his commandments not the commandments of man not the commandments of the congregation not what your wife thinks but in the things that God thinks and of course we're in the New Testament so it should go without saying that some of the things in the law of Moses no longer are in effect if you're if you're going to keep the Sabbath day then that's dumb because we don't keep the Sabbath day anymore but you know the moral laws are still in effect the Levitical laws some of them are still in effect but we also are to keep specifically the commandments that Jesus told us to keep and the apostles backed up and affirmed and said hey keep our commandments too so whatever that Jesus the apostles said that we should be keeping we should be keeping them the charge of the Lord turn to John chapter 14 verse 15 John chapter 14 verse 15 while you're turning I'm going to read Luke 6 46 Luke 6 46 says and why call you me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say whosoever cometh to me and heareth my sayings and doeth them I will show you to whom he is like he is like a man which built a house and dig deep and lay the foundations lay the foundation on a rock and when the flood arose and the stream beat vehemently upon the house and could not shake it for it was built it was founded upon a rock but he that heareth and doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth against which the stream did beat vehemently and immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great if you do what the Lord says you're safe you're going to be built upon the rock but if you start just building your foundations upon sinking sand the first storm that comes it's going to destroy you it's going to destroy your house Jesus said in John 14 15 if you love me keep my commandments not my suggestions not man's opinions and devices but what the Lord commands so if you want to be successful in Spokane don't forget the reason you're actually there for abide in the vine he says unless you abide in me you can do nothing so don't forget the reason you're actually there if you start trying to do things in your own power then you're not going to be successful without the Lord you can do nothing so don't put anything before him he's number one we're supposed to love the Lord God with all of our heart with all of our soul and with all of our might that is the first commandment so put God first keep his commandments and you will be keeping the charge of the Lord so point number three is love your wife and children and teach them the way love your wife and children and teach them the way don't lose sight of this this is a really important point turn back to first Kings chapter two look at verse number four because if everything is successful but you've lost the love of your wife and children or they've gone by the wayside then you're not helping your own family you've failed look at first Kings two four it says that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me saying if thy children take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul there shall not fail thee said he a man on the throne of Israel so he said if thy children take heed to their way so David you know a lot of people will say well David was a bad father and maybe he was in some instances but all these people in the Bible that have had bad children it's hard for me to believe that every one of these great godly men were just horrible dads I mean Jacob is a perfect example like all of his kids did some pretty terrible things but you think it's all Jacob just was a horrible father to all of them I don't believe that but your responsibility is to teach them the truth to get them saved and have them walk in the ways of the Lord and if they heed their way then they will walk if they walk before God in truth with all their heart and their soul they will not fail God won't fail them so you don't fail them by letting down what you're supposed to do for them they are allowed to make their own decisions in life but you don't fail them you don't fail your wife so you only have this life to be married with your wife and then when we go to heaven we're going to be like angels we're not going to be married and having children up there so this is the best life you have the only life you have to be married so and this life to guide and train your children up in the ways of the Lord this is the only chance you get you don't get a redo so this is the time to get them saved this is the time to raise your family and when you're doing it with the ministry it's difficult when balancing a physically demanding job running the day to day operations in the church making time for your studies and your Bible reading and writing good sermons to help change lives and edify your people there's just a lot to do and when you have little children it'd be even harder because I didn't have to do all that training with little children I had to do it with teenagers so it was a little easier for me I believe than it will be for you but I'll just say this never ever sacrifice your wife and children for the ministry don't ever do that you know things are gonna when you have a full time job and you're doing all this let something else slip before you let your time with your wife and your children slip do not let that happen the Bible commands you to diligently teach your children in Deuteronomy chapter 6 the Bible says that you are not to provoke your children to wrath but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord it says that you're not supposed to provoke them to do that so what does that mean well when you provoke your children to wrath you're causing them to hate you you're causing them to want to be away from you and not to love you and it's important that when we're disciplining and when we're instructing them that we're not doing it without love without nurture without admonishing them and it says specifically it says but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord it's not just I mean obviously we can have our own rules Proverbs says that you should listen to the commandments of your parents but we should always have some and I'm not just saying like you know it's all love it's all positive reinforcement it's gentle parenting whatever that is or you never spank them for any reason that's getting weird but I've heard some weird new IFB preaching where you're just like don't ever spank your teenagers for any reason if you've done that then you've already failed no that's not necessarily true folks what if your kids just got what if you just got saved and your kids are already teenagers what then and they're just like challenging you to a fight what are you supposed to do then just oh no I've already failed back up and walk away that is horrible teaching it sets a horrible precedence and look if you've raised your children as Christians your whole life and you're like okay they turned 13 it's the bar mitzvah I can't spank them anymore or something mazel tov no more spankings that's ridiculous do not listen to that teaching because I'll tell you what teens get the most rebellious when they're teenagers everybody knows that but yeah if you've done a good job and you've properly trained them and you've spanked them beat times like you were supposed to then yeah it should be less I agree with that I didn't have to spank my teenagers every five minutes because I spanked them when they were young like the Bible says but not everybody does that but you should also look just just think about this for a second I'm telling if I get up and tell you don't ever spank your teenagers for any reason because you've already failed them what all the teens that are in that church at that time what is that saying to them pastor said to never touch me pastor said you're a bad parent pastor said you should never spank me and you're wrong if you do then he's just become the lord of your home hasn't he he's just told the whole church that you're wrong if you spank them and that pastor hasn't even had a teen or maybe that pastor had an easier time maybe his kids didn't need to spank him when they were teenagers or maybe they did and they just didn't do it because they have some weird belief like that but you know the Bible says chasing thy son while there is hope and that includes daughters too and look I'm not embarrassed or ashamed to say that I did spank my teenagers a few times and you know I mean even like Nia probably gets mad when I say this but I spanked her before not too long before she got married I spanked Remy how old were you when I gave you your last spanking Remy were you 18 I think he was he doesn't want to admit it the uppercut no I'm just joking I never hit him with fists or anything like that but like I mean I look you have to spank them sometimes well if a young testosterone filled boy thinks he's going to step up the big papa you're going to get dropped but I never had to do that I never had to actually drop them but like look boys will challenge and they'll challenge their moms they will and then that's when you say okay wait till your dad gets home see what happens then look you have to have some sort of if you're supposed to fear the Lord but you're not supposed to fear your parents that's ridiculous that's trash preaching do not listen to that you're like well you're interfering with their church I'm interfering with terrible preaching that's what I'm interfering with that is terrible preaching so yeah if you need to spank your teenager sometimes they need a spanking then give it to them but to sit there and interfere with their lives their personal lives and how they chase in their children that's wrong in my opinion so don't teach people that stuff if they need a whooping they need a whooping is 13 the magic number because I think 13 to 19 is teenage years right as long as they're living in my home they're going to get the rod that's all there is to it if I feel like they need it so I don't care what anybody says I care about what the Bible says now tell me where in the Bible it says as soon as they're 13 you stop spanking them chapter and verse buddy chapter and verse because if you don't have chapter and verse then shut your mouth because you're teaching man's doctrine you're teaching for doctrines the commandments of men and when you're telling people I don't want to have people in my church that believe strange or different punishments what different punishments who made you the Lord of what spankings are and what they aren't nobody made that commandment the Bible says to chase them with a rod didn't it that's what I believe and to chase them while there's hope and you need to be able to do that son as long as your children are in their home and if you don't do that and you don't teach that you're not teaching the Bible so nurture though means the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something so it's the process when you train your children it's the process of caring for and encouraging them and admonition means authoritative counsel or warning reminders so yeah sometimes lectures come along with that and you know what parents what kids hate from the mom they hate lectures I think that my kids would have rather taken a spanking from me any day than a lecture from mom trust me I think that they remember the lectures the most like I remember this one time mom was lecturing me for like four hours straight like please dad come home and beat me you know but we are supposed to counsel them and warn them and remind them and of course chasing love comes with it I mean I can't remember a time that I've ever chased my children where I didn't walk up later and tell them I love them and give them a hug I mean maybe I didn't but I'm pretty sure I did that's just how I operate because I mean I want to tell them what they did wrong I told them what they did wrong this is why I'm spanking you spank them they cry and then you have that sweet fellowship with them afterward but if you're just going to be wrath all the time and you're never going to be nurturing you're never going to be loving you're never going to encourage them to do the right thing well then you're not doing the whole thing right can't just be all discipline it has to be love with it so now with the wives turn to Ephesians chapter 5 turn to Ephesians chapter 5 while you're turning there I'm going to add one more thing about the child rearing fathers provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged you know we're not out to just try to get our children to hate us or we're not there to try to get our children to be angry with us we don't want to discourage them we want to train them up and help them to understand I mean I had a step dad that chasing me with anything that was just handy but I still learned from him even though he was horrible and even though I hated his guts he still spanked me for things that I deserved to be spanked for I mean it's not like I was the perfect angel child or something I mean when he spanked me for burning a field down I deserved it I got put to bed with no dinner people would be like that's abuse no what's abuse is I could have killed people and I got chasing for that and I got in trouble for it but I got probably spanked for a lot of things I deserved to get spanked for but there's a lot of things that he shouldn't have hit me with but you know it is what it is so Ephesians 5 the Bible says in verse 25 husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it you have to love your wife and it's such a sacrificial love that it compares it to Jesus loving and giving himself for the church I mean you have to be willing to take a bullet for her you have to love her so much that you give yourself for her and it's a sacrificial love Colossians 3 19 says husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them why? why does it say that? because sometimes wives do things that make you get bitter against them and we just have that bitter we get that bitterness sometimes when they say something that disrespects us men hate that I think women know that or something but nothing's worse than being disrespected because husbands want respect that's why it says they're supposed to respect us and obey us and when they don't do those things it upsets us and even though we might not say it when we don't say it it just causes bitterness to spring up in us we need to love them and forgive them because the Bible says that we should and that we should love them and dwell with them in knowledge as unto the weaker vessels as being heirs together of the grace of life so we dwell with them according to knowledge so sometimes I think that we forget those things and we just want to say well they're not doing what we should do what they are told to do so I'm not going to do what I was told to do either and that's just not how it's supposed to work we're supposed to love them like Christ loved the church and does Christ forgive us for the things that we do? Absolutely and so we shouldn't be bitter with our wives and we're not Christ we're not as forgiven as Christ but that's the practice that he wants us to do and it's super important that you have your family life together when you're leaving the church point number four don't cozy up and befriend my enemies don't cozy up and befriend my enemies or our church's enemies or God's enemies look at 1 Kings 2-5 it says moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel unto Abner the son of Ner and unto Amasa the son of Jethur whom he slew and shed the blood of war and peace and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet do therefore according to thy wisdom and let not his whore head go down to the grave in peace and then look at verse 8 it says and behold thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gerah a Benjamite of Baharim which cursed me with a grievous curse when I went to Mahanim but he came down to meet me at Jordan and I swear to him by the Lord saying I will not put thee to death with the sword now therefore hold him not guiltless for thou art a wise man and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him but his whore head bring thou down to the grave with blood now for the record I'm not asking you to kill anybody okay but I'm saying don't betray your God your church and your mom and dad's enemies that have stopped at nothing to destroy God's work to destroy God's church to destroy God's people and the man of God at this church your mother your father honor me honor your mother honor your friends honor your God these people are trash and David was reminding his son that they were constant problems to him and problems that he didn't deal with properly at the time David probably thought hey I'm just doing you know and maybe he was dealing with it right but if you remember how we read through that story David told him to do these things and it seems like well maybe he just kind of got buyers remorse and maybe he wasn't right to do this but you notice how all of them ended up dead at the end of the story and it's not just because it just happened to work out in his favor it seems like God worked it out in the favor of Solomon because Shimei could have just stayed at home just like Solomon told him to do but he didn't he left and that gave the opportunity for Solomon to do what he said he was going to do if he left home and it's just like he just couldn't do right and it seems like that's what happens with these haters it's like they leave our church or something and you're like hey I'm not going to preach against you as long as you don't do that if you don't cause problems and you don't start talking crap on the internet or whatever they do which is what they always seem to do and then it's like well now it's time to nuke them you know it's like I told them you know just leave quietly and I'll leave you alone and then they never do always do the same, I mean not always but most of the time they do the same thing the same thing pretty much every time and it's like David is saying hey I gave him a chance give him this chance or whatever and Solomon kind of set it up that way and then he just did exactly what he told him not to do same thing with Abijah and I didn't even mention it doesn't even mention Abijah in these first few verses though but even his own brother was like trying to ask for David's concubine which is David's, I mean he didn't she was a virgin still but like he still shouldn't have asked for David's concubine and it's his dad's concubine it's like his mom was even kind of duped by him you know the guy is an infiltrator he was trying to take over the kingdom and then as soon as you know then he tries to make himself king and then Solomon has to smoke him too and Joab you know he tries to go to the house of the Lord it's like these guys just always try to act spiritual or have some sort of spirituality locked into them or they want to say oh I'm still a Christian I still believe the same things but then you know there's Joab grabbing the horns of the altar and he's like what should I do he's like at the altar it's like you know kill him put him to death you know so you know people it's like you know David in hindsight realized I should have dealt with these things and I don't want Solomon my son to have to deal with these things so and this is a good you know thing for you to know also that ignoring your enemies doesn't always help you you sometimes you're gonna have to deal with them at some point so and if you don't deal with them like you should then it's gonna come back to haunt you like it does David here and you know Joab is a monster he allowed Luce that he couldn't stop because Joab had too much dirt on David or something David just did not stop him it's like he killed those guys but why didn't David stop him well because David sent that letter I think and that's why you know he told Joab, Joab probably still had that letter just ready to just here you go this is what David did he gave this to death death certificate to on Uriah the Hittite so David didn't do anything he had something over him but he wasn't gonna allow those things to last and he made sure that his son was still on his team and you know maybe David does regret not dealing with him I think that that's the point he regrets not doing it but think about this when Christ came the first time he was treating people like King David did when he was on the run and deposed as the king and he was being persecuted really heavily shimmy eyes kicking dirt at him throwing rocks at him and Jesus took that stuff just like you know that picture of David when he's being chased around and he's being persecuted and he's like hey you know maybe God will look down on me favorably for what he's saying about me but then when Christ comes back those same people well he's gonna be different when he comes back right he came in as a lion or as a lamb but he's gonna come back as a lion and he's not gonna let these types of people run their mouth anymore they're gonna get smashed so you know we should you should the people that have you know come against our church and that they're clearly not of God they've tried to harm us our church do not make friends with them do not forgive them they are trash so point number five honor my friends and forsake them not look at verse seven it says but show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be of those that eat at thy table for so it came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother so here he's saying hey those guys are bad and don't be friends with them and just like I've marked them and they need to be dealt with you deal with them the same but this guy Barzillai he's a good guy he came and stuck up for David when he could and he gave sustenance to them while he was being attacked and maligned and on the run they came and gave them sustenance and helped them and he was an old man when he did this and he was a friend to David when David really needed a friend when he's at his darkest time this is when he came to be a friend for him so my true friends are those that have come to me when I needed them the most in my darkest hour and the ones that have stuck by me even when it seemed like things were not looking so hot for me also and it would have been easy for them to discard me like trash also and many have there's people that I thought I was going to be friends with for a long time for the rest of our lives and they're not friends with me anymore that's for sure and many of those people I honestly still do love even though they wounded me sore so not clear reprobates but the ones that just chose the other side that have forsaken me as friends and many of you know maybe what I'm talking about but the ones that have seen the nightmarish freak that God cursed for what he did to our church recently and still refused to apologize I haven't gotten any calls nobody's apologized to me but yet you know that God's cursing this person it's very obvious if you get all three symptoms the first time that's ever happened in history of all cases in the whole oh no it's just a coincidence just a coincidence that this person gets an uncurable disease that they're dying from but no it's not because of what he did to churches it's not because he's a Judas Iscariot literally it's just because it's bad luck now whoops it's not because he helped God's enemies it's not because he is God's enemy it's just you know whatever there are men and women that I call friends that have stuck by me and stood with me men and women in this very room have stuck by me and men that are my peers of me and my wife pastor friends you know them the Bible teaches go ahead and turn to Proverbs 27 verse 10 Proverbs 27 verse 10 Proverbs 27 is probably one of my favorite Proverbs it's got a lot of great stuff in it a lot of great wisdom for friendship but Proverbs 27 verse 10 says thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off but so it says thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not so you don't want to just burn bridges with your dad's friends and forsake them you don't want to forsake your own friends either I mean that's clear from the first three words there but you know that's why I said don't honor my friends don't forsake them it says my son wise verse 11 and make my heart glad that I may answer him that reproacheth me I don't want people to think that you're a fool I want people to think that you're wise so make my heart glad that I may answer them that reproacheth me because there's always people that are going to reproach me for even just making this decision to send you there there's already going to be people that are like he should have never done that that's nepotism, whatever but make my heart glad make wise choices you know look at verse 17 it says iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friends of his friend excuse me you need friends in this business which you know it's the business of the Lord and trusted counselors to be successful as a church leader you can't just go alone don't get me wrong there's times when you will feel alone and the final decision of you know once becoming a pastor if you become a pastor will always be on you but it's a tough road to hoe by yourself you need friends and you know you're like wow we're independent now yeah don't get so independent though that you don't have any friends because when you're so independent that you don't have any friends then you get like these guys that always talk about how independent they are but did the apostle Paul have friends yes he did he talked about his friends in almost every book that he ever wrote he like lists them at the end of his of his preaching his letters to churches like this dude says hi so and so says hi these people are coming to visit you he just he's constantly talking about his friends that were helping him and you know it's important that you have friends that you can count on and not only church friends but also like people that are pastor friends or if you're an evangelist evangelist friends look at Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 9 Ecclesiastes 4.9 this is a really important thing to remember especially for anybody like when it comes to like if you're a Christian you're not going to church you know if you're just by yourself and you don't go to church it's hard to stay on fire for God when you're just all by yourself but that's also true if you don't have any other friends outside of your circle it says in Ecclesiastes 4.9 it says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor for if they fall the one will lift up his fellow but woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up it's nice to have a friend to help you up when you're fallen when you're hurt when you need some help again if two lie together then they have heat but how can one be warm alone and when you're all alone it's a cold place it's you know people get discouraged when they don't have anybody else to depend on no other friends out there or they don't feel like they have any friends it says that if one prevail against him two shall withstand him and a threefold cord is not quickly broken it's a great principle in the word of God you should have friends you should have people that you can count on at least a couple you know it's not I mean if you just don't have any friends at all of course you know if you're married your spouse can be your friend you know you don't have to not have any friends if you I mean if your spouse doesn't want to be your friend and nobody else is your friend then it's really lonely isn't it so but don't forsake your true friends don't forsake my friends you know friends have an important value to you and don't burn bridges with people that you don't have to the amount you have in this life that are true are very rare because I've been stabbed in the back many many times but I still am always looking for true friends so let me just wrap up with some final thoughts here turn to first chronicles chapter 22 verse 14 first chronicles chapter 22 verse 14 we'll wrap up here just a few moments it's got a few more things to say a few more verses to go to and we'll be done first chronicles 22 14 David kind of has some different verses in first chronicles 22 first chronicles 29 where he he gives other thoughts in these charges I'm not going to read the whole passages but just some verses out of them first chronicles 22 14 says now behold in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord and 120 or excuse me a hundred thousand talents of gold and a thousand talents a thousand thousand talents of silver and of brass and iron without weight for it is in abundance timber also and stone have I prepared and thou mayest add thereto moreover there are workmen with the in abundance hewers and workers of stone and timber and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work of the gold the silver and the brass and the iron there is no number arise therefore and be doing and the Lord be with thee David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son saying is not the Lord your God with you and hath he not given you rest on every side for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand and the land is subdued before the Lord and before his people you have a really good support system you have all the materials you need and I hope that you know the people in Spokane will continue to support you they don't think it's just like you're coming in to do everything for them they've been doing a lot they've been working really hard and the guys that are preaching there have been just preaching every others you know they've been preaching a lot and they've done way and above what they should have been having to do and I appreciate them too I appreciate all the hard work they've done but I am still asking them to help you you know you can't do it by yourself and you're going to need help so you've got all the things you need and I believe that they will help you I believe they're excited and I'm excited to see what you're going to do but things that Solomon failed at hard he gave his strength to women which ultimately caused his downfall in betraying God in his old age he didn't restrain himself from anything he was so rich that he just wanted to enjoy things so much that nothing was enjoyable anymore and then he didn't honor his father's friend Hyrum remember he got all this gold he got all this stuff from Hyrum and Hyrum just gave him all the best materials of everything and then he built him like 20 cities in Galilee and he was not pleased with that so that was David's friend and he didn't keep his friendship with Hyrum solid so you know that's proverb that he wrote he didn't really hold true to in that case so I think you know avoiding Solomon's pitfalls are good counsel to you from me and I think it's important that you get good counsel the Bible says in Proverbs 11 14 where no counsel is the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety don't forget to get counsel from I mean sometimes you don't really know what to do and sometimes it's good to get counsel from somebody that you trust somebody that you know makes good decisions and ask that person and while you're not a pastor you're not ordained you should come to me because I'm your pastor but and then the final thing is to preach the word and don't hold back if you compromise preaching that's when God's going to not be happy with you let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 and we'll close there 2 Timothy 4 1 so Paul the Apostle he said that Timothy was his son in the faith and you are my son literally and my son in the faith and I think this is an appropriate passage for the New Testament man of God and I love this passage that the Apostle Paul tells Timothy some things that he really needs to know and I think that these are things you need to know too it says I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine and you know this morning I charge you son to preach the word don't hold back don't hold back in your preaching don't be like oh I don't know I don't want to get this person mad once you start thinking those thoughts in your mind that's when you know you need to preach it when the person with the man with long hair walks in in the middle of your sermon and you think I don't know if I need to I might need to clip that verse out don't clip it out those are the true challenges of a preacher that's happened to me so many times I don't even know how many times but it's happened to me a lot and not too long ago I was preaching I preached it right before a man with long hair came in and I was like but I've never not done that or usually what will happen is a couple of ladies will walk in wearing pants right when I'm and I know I have a point in my sermon about women not wearing you know not wearing pants and wearing dresses instead but you cannot do that because that that is those those I believe are tests that God puts in front of you like they because you know they're never going to come back to church anyway so you might as well just do what God wants you to do and rip on that but sometimes they do come back sometimes they do change so you just never know but God just wants you to be faithful in preaching the word preach the word be instant in season out of season hey it's not popular to preach some stuff but you got to do it anyway and you do have to reprove people you do have to rebuke people and when you have a smaller congregation it's even harder to do that because people usually know well that's probably directed at me and that makes it hard preaching too and it says exhort with all long suffering and doctrine make sure to preach doctrine it's important can't always be topical sermons says for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lust they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and you know the Bible says that my people love to have it so and it's weird that our that God's own people love to hear false doctrine it's because they don't want to hear the stuff that actually they need to hear sometimes they just want to turn away from it because they know it's true and they don't want to change you know we're all sinners and we just sometimes they don't want to hear that but they'll heap to themselves teachers that want to tickle their ears and tell them what they want to hear they don't want to hear that they need to get off their romps and go soloing they don't want to hear that they need to get that sin out of their life and it says they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables but watch down all things endure afflictions the afflictions are going to come do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry don't fall back in your soul don't fall back in making proof of your ministry you know you got to prove yourself I mean probably more than other people will have to unfortunately but you still have to you have to prove yourself that's what's happening right now when you go up there all eyes are going to be on you is he up to it can he really do it is he going to do it well you got to prove yourself this is it so and then the last thing I want to say to you is to feed the Lord's sheep and to love the people and intercede for them pray for them and let them see it let them see that love because they can tell whether it's phony or not and the Bible says to be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and to look well to thy herds don't forget that you're going up there to minister to people and they need you when they're sick pray for them when they're going through a hard time give them words of wisdom and love and pray for them and help them people are hurting they need love they need help so they're there to lead the Lord's people and he calls them sheep and people count that as a negative term for some reason but it's not negative we're the sheep of his pasture the Bible says so you know and he thinks that we're valuable as sheep so don't let that be an issue where you're not caring for the people so all these things you have to do to prove yourself and I know you really well I raised you I know that you're going to do a good job but it's not just me that you have to convince the scrutiny you have to receive is going to come but in the end only you can control how it's going to go so I can't do it for you anymore I never have you've always done it and I'm proud to say that you're my son and I'm proud to send you up there and see what you're going to do I'm really excited alright with that let's have a word of prayer and then we'll be dismissed your heavenly father we thank you Lord so much for Remy and his family Ms. Kylie and the kids and the great work that they're going to do I pray Lord that you bless them on their journey that you would keep them safe Lord you'd provide for him and his family and Lord that you'd bless him especially and fill them with the spirit of God as they go up and minister to your people I pray Lord that you would help them to build a great church up there and that they can't do it without you I pray that they'd abide in the vine and Lord that they would Lord care for those people up there and that they would put you first and Lord that he would still be able to manage everything and care for his family, his wife and Lord that they'd see many people saved and Lord that he would reach his goal to become a pastor and Lord we ask that you just as a church and as a people and me as a pastor that you'd bless Lord in a very special way they're moving up to Spokane I pray that you would help us to remember them in prayer as they minister and do what you've called them to do in Jesus' name we pray Amen on the cross song number 144 a mighty fortress is our God Song 144, let's sing it together on the first. A mighty fortress is our God, Abort, never failing. Our Helper, he amid the flood of mortal hills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work a swamp. His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate. On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide? Our striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our side. The man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is he. Lord, survey of his name from age to age the same. And he must win the battle. And though this world with devils fail. Should threaten to undo us. We will not fear for God hath will. His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim. We tremble not for him. His rage we can endure. For lo his doom is sure. One little word shall fail him. That word above all earthly powers. No thanks to them abideth. The spirit and the gifts are ours. Through him who with the sighteth. Let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also. The body they may kill. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. Everybody's going right after the service. Thank you. Thank you.