back to indexBFM Retreat 2017 - Session 4
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>> Yeah, well, again, just thank you guys so much for 00:00:13.240 |
the way you guys just made me feel welcome, family. 00:00:20.760 |
Every single time that I'm with you guys as a family, I just feel just that. 00:00:24.600 |
So it's been really good to see familiar faces and to meet new faces. 00:00:30.600 |
I'm just really encouraged by what God is doing through this ministry, 00:00:36.480 |
So just keep pressing on, by the grace of God, 00:00:39.320 |
he's doing some wonderful things along the way. 00:00:42.320 |
Again, I'm gonna try not to, I always try to not be too long, 00:00:48.360 |
but again, you guys are your namesake as Marines. 00:00:53.400 |
And so I really appreciate just the way you guys just engage, 00:01:04.320 |
And I came across something, and so I thought maybe I would kinda share it. 00:01:09.320 |
So a little, I didn't anticipate doing this, so 00:01:11.760 |
it's kind of a break from me just jumping into my message and my sermon. 00:01:18.320 |
It's an article that was on Desire to God that just came up. 00:01:34.400 |
And this is just for my ladies, for the wives. 00:01:38.840 |
Maybe the Lord wants to say something through this, and 00:01:40.920 |
I'm not really sure, but I'm just gonna read it. 00:01:49.960 |
And the head female demon, her name is Duessa, 00:01:55.520 |
she's writing a letter to this demon called Lilith. 00:02:00.480 |
She says, it's lovely to hear from you, darling. 00:02:09.480 |
But he doesn't understand the feminine perspective. 00:02:12.280 |
Of course, that doesn't stop him from acting as if he knows everything. 00:02:16.320 |
And I've told him once, and if I've told him a thousand times, 00:02:19.040 |
I'm persuaded that we will fare much more comfortably if we keep this just 00:02:25.160 |
My understanding is that you've been assigned several perplexing cases to 00:02:33.800 |
headquarters have the least notion of how to manage job assignments. 00:02:37.280 |
And I have no idea how they came to be allowed to run anything. 00:02:44.920 |
Now, it doesn't matter what particular topic of discontent fascinates to. 00:02:49.280 |
Just look for any little nook or cranny in their souls where you can insert 00:02:53.840 |
the seed of discontent, making sure that they take root. 00:02:59.080 |
With some women, it may be best to plant the seeds of discontent somewhere 00:03:03.320 |
around the topic of their looks, their face, their weight, their figure. 00:03:10.000 |
If in the off chance that doesn't seem to take latch onto the topic, 00:03:16.560 |
Discontent with the husband, discontent with the lack of a husband, 00:03:20.840 |
discontent with the children, discontent with the lack of children. 00:03:24.720 |
The seeds of discontent can grow in any kind of soil, 00:03:35.440 |
Missed opportunities, wrong done to them in their past, failed ambitions. 00:03:41.680 |
All of these are good options for where to start. 00:03:44.680 |
The first step with each of you girls is to find just a cozy little something 00:03:55.440 |
Tending means that you need to keep them concentrated on the thing itself, 00:04:00.480 |
while keeping them from noticing the state of their own soul. 00:04:05.240 |
Keep them looking at their husband's failings. 00:04:08.720 |
He just doesn't seem to even care about my needs. 00:04:13.920 |
Keep them looking in the mirror, if you will. 00:04:17.960 |
Obviously, this means that you need to keep away from the enemy's book. 00:04:22.480 |
If it happens that you can't keep them from the book completely, 00:04:25.720 |
you can effectively turn it to your advantage by simply making sure 00:04:30.280 |
to keep all their thoughts focused on how their husband isn't living up 00:04:42.040 |
And it's not at all a bad thing if you can get them to talk about their discontent 00:04:45.720 |
with their friends, provided, of course, that they are the right friends. 00:04:50.680 |
You want to encourage friendships that will feed and pet the discontent, 00:04:58.200 |
Even prayer groups and mentorships are fabulous places for this to happen, 00:05:06.160 |
Once you have the discontent well-established and flourishing, 00:05:12.320 |
You can take discontent any number of directions. 00:05:16.640 |
And it only requires a little bit of creativity. 00:05:22.920 |
You just need to get it planted into a welcoming little pile of shavings 00:05:31.400 |
Let's say you get one of your subjects solidly discontent 00:05:38.160 |
to direct her attention to other marriages that 00:05:42.600 |
From there, you can easily fan it into full-blown envy 00:05:48.600 |
And if you can't turn that into a ruined friendship, 00:05:54.800 |
Lies, backbiting, cheating, refusals to forgive 00:05:58.600 |
all are easily attainable once you have discontent well-established. 00:06:04.760 |
One of my favorite places to go, however, is bitterness. 00:06:07.760 |
It's so deliciously long-term, and it's very gratifying 00:06:10.800 |
to watch a subject get more and more shriveled with it. 00:06:14.320 |
It lacks the spectacular showiness of adultery, of course, 00:06:18.080 |
but it's often more rewarding in the long run. 00:06:21.440 |
If you overplay your head and you steer your subject 00:06:23.880 |
into something obvious like adultery, then it's 00:06:34.240 |
It achieves all the same results, but far more dependably. 00:06:44.040 |
And then drive her into all kinds of self-destructive tendencies. 00:06:49.640 |
Leave her discontent to hold the whip that makes her run. 00:06:52.680 |
And if you can drive her into a profound self-absorption 00:06:55.560 |
and pride, then you will be able to sit back and feel 00:07:03.600 |
seem to notice that whether they obsess over their own beauty 00:07:14.520 |
As always, give my love to that old, busy body 00:07:28.360 |
Leave you women just feeling some measures of discontent. 00:07:34.040 |
It's going on in your own minds and your own hearts. 00:07:40.920 |
to come in and just create those shavings that build up 00:07:50.960 |
Well, this is the final time, the final message. 00:08:03.520 |
about the whole idea of marriage in light of eternity. 00:08:09.080 |
And so my first sermon can be summed up like this. 00:08:12.000 |
Marriage was never made to feel those voids and annoy. 00:08:23.280 |
A metaphor, a drama that's not known by many. 00:08:28.440 |
they lose their memory of the infinite picture displayed. 00:08:31.840 |
The greatest act of love that raised Jesus' bones up 00:08:34.480 |
out of the grave to save his bride, the church in his way, 00:08:40.440 |
Ever increasing joy in his presence forever is our mansion. 00:08:44.360 |
And that's why God is giving you a union, life and breath, 00:08:47.360 |
so you can breathe that picture into everything 00:08:57.520 |
so that we can see the gospel and living color on display. 00:09:05.360 |
that we might be able to see through your union 00:09:07.600 |
what it looks like for the church of Christ on bended knee. 00:09:30.760 |
It really felt like, again, I was kind of like, 00:09:33.040 |
I don't know, but just as I've been hearing more feedback, 00:09:42.840 |
and how that really is what cultivates a happy marriage. 00:09:49.080 |
direction, decision-making in light of eternity 00:10:00.080 |
I was in the car with my kids just probably a few weeks ago, 00:10:09.600 |
one of my kids, my daughter, asked the question, 00:10:15.000 |
I mean, there's some game she was playing on her phone, 00:10:20.320 |
I started casting out all the demons in my car, 00:10:23.080 |
and out of the demons, out of my daughter's iPod, 00:10:40.840 |
he writes that over 60% of people in the Western world 00:10:54.040 |
Because we all wanna know, especially in life, 00:10:58.600 |
what we're supposed to do in life-altering decisions. 00:11:08.680 |
And many times, it's because we wanna avoid pain, suffering, 00:11:11.480 |
or to maximize our happiness in some area of life. 00:11:26.960 |
or try an alternate alternative cancer treatment? 00:11:29.800 |
Should we buy this home or a less expensive one? 00:11:32.000 |
Is it time for me to put my elderly parents, perhaps, 00:11:41.680 |
We all have decisions that we make on a daily basis, 00:11:50.720 |
superstitious approaches to hearing the voice of God. 00:12:08.800 |
and one of the icons of hip hop vehicles was the acura. 00:12:12.920 |
They call it the ac, and baseballs have got an ac 00:12:17.160 |
or something like that in the back of the day. 00:12:23.640 |
And so acuras were just these prized kind of things 00:12:28.760 |
And so I was dating, I started to date a friend 00:12:46.200 |
"This is the woman that you want me to marry." 00:12:48.800 |
Well, praise the Lord that I did marry that woman. 00:12:54.120 |
But we kind of can take those superstitious approaches 00:12:57.080 |
to hearing the voice of God when it comes to decision making. 00:13:00.600 |
And Orlando Sayre, he gives some real characteristic ones 00:13:12.280 |
If it worked out easily, then we figure that it's the Lord. 00:13:19.040 |
An attempt to basically ask God to kind of jump 00:13:27.800 |
Another one that we as Christians use is peace. 00:13:34.440 |
I chose to look into some subjective kind of state of mind 00:13:37.520 |
to reassure myself that the reason why I'm doing what I'm 00:13:40.600 |
doing, even though it's unclear, it affirms it because, 00:13:50.600 |
We use that to justify a course of decision based 00:13:59.880 |
from these different things, then we end up kind of saying, 00:14:06.960 |
So here's the danger in some of these approaches. 00:14:09.320 |
And I'm not saying they're all entirely biblical, 00:14:18.320 |
He was prevented, it says in Romans 1, verse 13. 00:14:24.560 |
because he didn't see the first time failure as a permanent no 00:14:29.960 |
On the other hand, the earthquake in Philippi 00:14:33.040 |
gave Paul a literal open door to escape from prison 00:14:38.920 |
And he could have just stepped and walked out, 00:14:46.320 |
the guard and his entire family came to know the Lord. 00:14:55.280 |
I'm not saying that God doesn't give us signs 00:14:58.640 |
that he might choose to order events and circumstances 00:15:01.880 |
in such a way that we just know, man, this is the hand of God. 00:15:16.760 |
We are not encouraged to actually imitate Gideon. 00:15:22.000 |
In fact, Gideon had already heard from the Lord. 00:15:27.840 |
And he demonstrated, actually, a lack of faith in God 00:15:33.080 |
by saying, Lord, I'm going to put a fleece out. 00:15:36.160 |
So he's actually an example of what we should not do, 00:15:43.160 |
And the scriptures do prohibit us from testing God, 00:15:52.160 |
I get that piece, and I know that's your answer, Lord. 00:16:05.320 |
And I bet you every single one of us in this room 00:16:08.160 |
are glad that Jesus did look at God the Father and say, God, 00:16:11.120 |
you know, I'm really lacking peace right now. 00:16:13.040 |
So that must be a sign from you that I should not be here. 00:16:17.840 |
You see, we're glad that he stayed in that garden, 00:16:20.520 |
because we now have eternal life in our souls 00:16:40.920 |
But make sure you know what it means, first of all, 00:16:44.920 |
Because then you might come up with something like this. 00:16:56.880 |
Luke chapter 10, verse 37, you go and do likewise. 00:17:14.880 |
that should be made, but maybe the provision isn't there yet, 00:17:21.260 |
us to know whether or not what we think you're doing 00:17:26.200 |
A provision that has come about is a different thing 00:17:33.560 |
Sometimes we wait because we really know what God is saying, 00:17:36.480 |
and we really don't want to move in the direction 00:17:41.840 |
How can you make marriage decisions in line of eternity? 00:17:59.000 |
And then secondarily, how can you make marriage decisions 00:18:04.960 |
So let's go before the Lord one more time and pray. 00:18:12.560 |
not sure if that will be leading with respect to just any 00:18:28.000 |
And so God, I just pray that you bring a measure of contentment 00:18:31.960 |
And apply, Lord God, your truth and your promises 00:18:34.720 |
to those areas that where they're needed most. 00:18:39.360 |
you help us to see once again what your word has to say. 00:18:42.200 |
And that we would make decisions based on what 00:18:51.040 |
have given the divine inspired and irreverent word of God. 00:19:11.480 |
The most common voice, and they're all these, direction. 00:19:17.080 |
This is simply what God does for us by giving us his word. 00:19:22.600 |
The commands, the teachings that are in the Bible, 00:19:29.760 |
Things like do not steal, do not kill, love your enemies, 00:19:32.880 |
be filled with the Holy Spirit, put on humility. 00:19:43.080 |
has given us to hear and to gain direction from. 00:19:46.480 |
Secondarily, the least common voice, declaration. 00:19:53.640 |
This is the least common means by which God leads us. 00:19:59.360 |
For example, in the book of Acts with Philip, 00:20:03.240 |
spoke to Philip, saying, 'Arise, go to the south, 00:20:06.920 |
to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.'" 00:20:09.800 |
God comes out and says, "This is what I want you to do. 00:20:16.080 |
but that is the least common way that God gives us direction. 00:20:21.040 |
And then, lastly, the third way that God speaks, 00:20:35.840 |
It's designs and circumstances that cannot be thwarted 00:20:40.480 |
by any man, animal, challenge, issue, earthquake, nothing. 00:20:51.320 |
"Truly in this city they were gathered together 00:20:53.280 |
against their holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 00:20:56.880 |
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles 00:21:02.760 |
your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." 00:21:16.360 |
how can you make marriage in light of eternity? 00:21:19.920 |
With those three voices, direction, declaration, 00:21:31.520 |
So if you would, please turn with me to Romans chapter 12, 00:21:54.320 |
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed." 00:22:05.840 |
Whenever I've been doing that throughout the weekend, 00:22:08.000 |
I want you to remember that word, transformed. 00:22:24.600 |
"What is the will of God, what is good and acceptable 00:22:34.680 |
with respect to how you can make decisions in light of eternity. 00:22:45.480 |
what God is saying in a subjective area of your life 00:23:13.080 |
The way that you most commonly hear the voice of God 00:23:33.720 |
The primary way that we hear his voice of direction 00:23:36.800 |
is with a renewed mind that is so shaped and governed 00:23:44.960 |
that we can see and assess all the relevant factors that 00:23:49.680 |
are involved in a particular situation and decision, 00:23:53.080 |
and we can discern what God is calling us to do, 00:23:56.600 |
because we're so familiar with the revealed will of God. 00:24:01.960 |
When it comes to, for example, you as parents, 00:24:03.960 |
and even you that aren't parents that will be parents, 00:24:09.240 |
the revealed will of God that drove us as parents when 00:24:23.680 |
You shall teach them diligently to your children, 00:24:26.760 |
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, 00:24:28.880 |
and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, 00:24:40.280 |
your own personal situation, your marriage, the schooling, 00:24:43.720 |
the education system, all these other different things-- 00:24:56.920 |
probably 13 years ago, my father was in the military. 00:25:05.840 |
And so what helped me to discern the voice of God-- 00:25:30.080 |
It was spoken to those that were in their 30s and 40s that 00:25:35.120 |
look like for them in their older age to honor them. 00:25:45.280 |
God's word is not silent when it comes to the priority of you 00:25:50.000 |
In particular, you were made to be one helpers. 00:26:06.400 |
And your home should be a place of industry, hospitality, 00:26:12.920 |
That's your role as a wife, Proverbs 31, 10 through 31. 00:26:22.840 |
going to then begin to apply within the aspects 00:26:26.080 |
of subjectivity and decision making what it is 00:26:32.200 |
Now, before I begin to get into a little more detail, 00:26:34.440 |
I want you to consider this with this Romans 12, 2 passage. 00:26:50.960 |
I could say, Lord, do you really want me to do A or B? 00:26:54.960 |
And he could just break out of the head and be like, oh. 00:27:07.560 |
How many of you have ever had that experience? 00:27:23.560 |
that you by testing may discern what is the will of God." 00:27:28.240 |
Why does he leave it on discerning the will of God? 00:27:33.480 |
and then I'm going to kind of break this down. 00:27:38.960 |
The discipline of discernment reveals the heart's affections. 00:27:44.760 |
Discernment gives us space to hear the competing voices that 00:28:10.640 |
It says here, "Do not be conformed to this world, 00:28:13.640 |
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, 00:28:30.320 |
She's in ninth grade, and she was in a public school. 00:28:34.040 |
We put her in public school for the first time 00:28:42.240 |
but there were some things that were present that we just kind 00:28:45.000 |
of said, man, it just feels like she's kind of not flourishing 00:28:49.400 |
There seem to be so many things that are coming against her 00:28:52.160 |
with a secular agenda that all she feels in that context 00:28:57.360 |
She's arguing because of the secularism that's just present, 00:29:00.960 |
with all of the gender issues, with all the homosexuality, 00:29:04.120 |
the transgender, the being tolerant, and relativism, 00:29:11.920 |
And I remember a situation that just broke my heart, 00:29:21.760 |
and they were kind of texting back and forth. 00:29:23.800 |
And something on the TV happened with the whole gender issue. 00:29:30.800 |
And for you, and I think we're claiming to be Christians, 00:29:33.320 |
for you as a Christian to say that God is OK with you being 00:29:42.200 |
She just walked away from that, just weeping. 00:29:47.280 |
And so my wife and I, throughout the year, just said, man, 00:29:49.560 |
it just feels like she's going through so much, 00:30:01.640 |
The school where she was going is a very good school 00:30:07.160 |
And the sense that if she were to graduate from here, 00:30:09.880 |
she could get into some of the dopest colleges, 00:30:14.320 |
have her potential realized, if you will, here on Earth 00:30:17.600 |
in such a way that she could be in some very influential 00:30:22.320 |
And so as we began to talk about this, my wife and I, 00:30:25.960 |
we began talking, and we found that our conversation was 00:30:29.160 |
going toward, man, if we take her out of this school, 00:30:34.240 |
I mean, people at this school are going to Ivy Leagues, 00:30:38.520 |
And she might end up going to a Cal State if we leave her. 00:30:41.400 |
And you know, Cal States can't be presidents. 00:30:43.280 |
I mean, you don't go get a president out of a Cal State. 00:30:51.880 |
So ain't nobody ever heard of Biola, practically, 00:31:04.720 |
God, should we take her out, or should we not? 00:31:08.200 |
What began to rise is our hearts' affections. 00:31:20.920 |
Should those reasons be the reasons why we should 00:31:25.840 |
want her to be successful here on Earth, and have a good job, 00:31:29.600 |
and have influence, and have-- is that what should 00:31:35.640 |
And so see, discernment, God didn't tell us, yeah, 00:31:40.760 |
I want her to go to this school as opposed to this school, 00:31:48.520 |
Like me, I like working out and going to the gym. 00:31:53.520 |
And I don't pray, God, should I go to the gym or not. 00:32:02.680 |
But on Monday mornings, those are my days off. 00:32:09.160 |
And I'm just having to make a decision whether or not 00:32:13.600 |
Well, why am I kind of considering thinking about that? 00:32:15.920 |
Because my wife has a full-time, full-time, full-time job. 00:32:28.240 |
she's going to end up having to carry everything 00:32:30.640 |
with respect to the kids, because it's summertime. 00:32:41.600 |
What am I dealing with when I walk out of that door, 00:32:50.080 |
What is that revealing in that little decision 00:32:57.200 |
A lack of sacrificial love that I'm called to as a husband. 00:33:03.440 |
So even in that little decision, what the Holy Spirit of God, 00:33:07.480 |
in that moment, was giving me an opportunity was, 00:33:20.000 |
I've called you by the grace of God to be sacrificial 00:33:32.760 |
You want me to sacrifice this time and stay home. 00:33:40.280 |
those are the kind of things that God is trying to reveal, 00:33:50.160 |
and then say you have a promotion opportunity? 00:33:55.040 |
allow for you maybe to spend as much time with your family 00:33:57.880 |
as you should, as much time with the Lord as you should. 00:34:04.280 |
And it will allow maybe even because you've got to travel, 00:34:06.840 |
maybe you're dealing with certain temptations 00:34:09.880 |
And then if you say, man, the boss just gave me a promotion. 00:34:17.640 |
And if my boss walks through that door right now 00:34:19.720 |
as I'm praying for this, then I know that's a sign 00:34:24.600 |
and the boss comes in and says, hey, Johnny, how you doing? 00:34:27.160 |
I just wanted you to know, man, we were really looking forward 00:34:34.840 |
If you then go forward with that and say, you know what? 00:34:39.240 |
going to move forward with this, wouldn't that 00:34:44.240 |
Maybe God isn't as important as you say He is. 00:34:47.560 |
Maybe you have misplaced the priorities of family. 00:34:54.360 |
to pride and attaining a certain value in reaching 00:35:15.800 |
causes us to hear our own hearts' affections. 00:35:19.240 |
God's silence allows for the voice of your heart 00:35:23.560 |
and what you treasure to sing in the process of decision making. 00:35:28.160 |
One writer wrote this, God knows that if He made His will for us 00:35:35.520 |
more specific in decision making, more explicit, 00:35:39.160 |
more often, we would tend to focus more on what we do 00:35:51.360 |
to focus on more of our actions rather than our affections. 00:36:01.560 |
we end up making decisions based on what we love. 00:36:16.240 |
"Ninetenths the difficulties are overcome when your hearts are 00:36:21.160 |
Whatever it may be, when one is truly in this state, 00:36:25.200 |
it is usually but a little way into the knowledge of what 00:36:33.120 |
That's why that's the most common voice, one of the reasons 00:36:49.960 |
to help us to see our hearts and then renew our hearts. 00:36:56.560 |
Here's the mild application, marriage and life eternity. 00:37:01.760 |
I want you to look at your present decisions, 00:37:14.560 |
I want you to ask yourself, what are those things revealing 00:37:21.320 |
Take time to pause, stop, and examine your decisions. 00:37:27.000 |
Look at them and ask yourself, what is that saying 00:37:34.920 |
What is your heart saying about your career choice? 00:37:42.680 |
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 00:37:46.280 |
and all these things will be added unto you." 00:38:02.120 |
Or has your decision for your career, or the job 00:38:05.120 |
that you're in, or the emphasis that you're putting on it, 00:38:09.160 |
There's a couple at our church, a couple of doctors. 00:38:16.520 |
And I think I was preaching, and I said one time in a sermon, 00:38:20.920 |
the fact that if you have a job where you can't come 00:38:53.160 |
But me and my wife sat down, and we said, you know what? 00:39:01.920 |
if we have to maybe move or change facilities, 00:39:08.440 |
But right now, we're not at church on a regular 00:39:12.200 |
We're not in the community, in the body of Christ 00:39:19.320 |
We're going to ask God to maybe shift some things. 00:39:21.400 |
But if He doesn't on this date, we're changing everything, 00:39:26.560 |
I just loved that they were willing to do that. 00:39:31.160 |
in a way where all of a sudden, one of the bosses came in 00:39:35.800 |
We're going to allow you to work here instead of here. 00:39:37.640 |
And he said, that just opened everything up for us. 00:39:41.880 |
Is your present career enhancing your relationship with God? 00:39:52.080 |
Is it enhancing your ability to live out your calling 00:40:01.800 |
Is your career hindering your responsibility and your calling 00:40:13.680 |
How does it make you feel that maybe God is saying, ah, maybe 00:40:28.680 |
Are your lives-- right now, this is all hard stuff 00:40:34.160 |
Are your lives set up for the Genesis calling 00:40:38.040 |
that you've been called to as a couple, the helper companion? 00:40:47.760 |
as couples, that focuses on the fulfillment of that one aim, 00:40:52.240 |
to spread the image of God through your relationship 00:41:00.080 |
with our collective giftings and our personalities, 00:41:03.760 |
we've come together, and we are fighting to actually live 00:41:13.160 |
with respect to the giftings, talents, experiences, 00:41:16.120 |
and abilities that God has brought the two of you together 00:41:33.000 |
And I tell-- when I counsel couples, when I counsel 00:41:39.960 |
do you understand that you've been called to lead? 00:41:42.560 |
That you've been called to lead as the husband 00:41:46.000 |
to take dominion for the sake of the kingdom of God. 00:41:52.120 |
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. 00:41:55.760 |
And then I look at the potential wife, and I say, 00:41:58.800 |
are you ready to come alongside this man to make that reality? 00:42:02.880 |
The reason I do that is because a lot of times, 00:42:05.560 |
that's not the driving aim for why marriages come together. 00:42:17.000 |
And we kind of come together at the end of the night. 00:42:20.280 |
And then we do all of the American dream stuff. 00:42:33.400 |
that you can make the kingdom of God and its pursuit primary? 00:43:07.000 |
Those of you who have children, staying at home 00:43:24.600 |
What affections are arising as you deal with that challenge? 00:43:29.960 |
I said before, the word of God is not silent on this. 00:43:35.360 |
The priority for you as women, especially those 00:43:45.320 |
With the home as the priority, Titus chapter 2, verse 5. 00:43:50.760 |
And creating in your home a place of industry, hospitality, 00:44:05.800 |
Ladies and men, are you allowing an environment for your wives 00:44:21.120 |
I'm not saying that it's a sin if you have a career. 00:44:27.480 |
The Bible is clear as to what your priorities are to be. 00:44:35.960 |
uphold these clearly revealed will of God priorities 00:44:39.920 |
when it comes to you as a woman, then you shouldn't have one. 00:44:53.040 |
We allowed for Proverbs chapter 31, verse 10. 00:44:56.840 |
We allowed for the scriptures in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18. 00:45:05.520 |
to discern what it looks like for us to live that out? 00:45:09.640 |
That's why I say it's not a sin that you have a job going. 00:45:24.000 |
And I don't think that we sit back and ask ourselves 00:45:52.600 |
Jesus didn't say it was going to be easy to follow and didn't. 00:45:56.320 |
He said, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, 00:46:02.400 |
value for the sake of my name, the Father, me, above all else. 00:46:06.920 |
And so up to this point, by the grace of God, 00:46:13.280 |
worked in a vocation for the past almost 20 years. 00:46:42.720 |
and all of the things that you're bringing on our plate, 00:46:47.880 |
that we can ultimately live out what is clearly 00:46:51.880 |
And we're willing to die to some of these things 00:47:16.800 |
Next thing, and I talked about this last year, 00:47:42.360 |
You're supposed to bring them up in the admonition of the Lord. 00:47:45.400 |
But that doesn't mean that you disappear from church. 00:47:48.680 |
I don't know if you guys are dealing with that. 00:47:59.920 |
And they just kind of feel like they can come 00:48:01.760 |
and they go as a plea, because hey, they got a schedule. 00:48:20.640 |
Again, I'm loving the fact that the peer's back there. 00:48:27.480 |
like, you know, Pastor Ray, if you're preaching, 00:48:30.160 |
I just need you to know, like, I forget, son or daughter, 00:48:43.400 |
And so, y'all, parents in the back, it's all good. 00:48:45.920 |
Just walking that baby and just listening to the word of God. 00:49:05.360 |
And when they see you work hard to get the family together 00:49:08.320 |
and get everybody up out the house and be like, 00:49:18.200 |
And they'll begin to embrace those things themselves. 00:49:24.440 |
I like what Francis Chan's wife said in the book when talking 00:49:30.080 |
Am I taking my kids to the park because I just 00:49:39.280 |
want to invite a few moms that don't know the Lord 00:49:41.360 |
and I can start fellowshipping with their moms 00:49:43.360 |
while the kids are out there on the playground playing? 00:49:57.320 |
that you're thinking about making or you are making 00:50:03.400 |
I'm not telling you one thing is a sin or not, 00:50:05.800 |
because I already told you I had my daughter in public school. 00:50:27.480 |
Have you intentionally put them wherever they are presently 00:50:33.200 |
because you believe that that's going to honor Deuteronomy 00:50:46.480 |
It doesn't say that the church should teach them. 00:51:01.800 |
Ultimately, what's driving the decision making? 00:51:05.360 |
Deuteronomy chapter 6 says you're supposed to teach them. 00:51:10.080 |
So we allow for that clear direction in the word of God 00:51:19.400 |
Again, what I'm getting at is are biblical categories 00:51:27.520 |
that you have made and/or are making and say, 00:51:30.720 |
the reason why we're doing this is because the word of God 00:51:43.400 |
And so the reason why we did homeschooling early on for us 00:51:55.120 |
All this gender inclusive stuff, people shaping my kids, 00:52:05.200 |
We have to be at least aware of that as parents. 00:52:11.200 |
And they're being shaped by a secular culture 00:52:22.800 |
And so for us, as we looked at the word of God and said, 00:52:26.960 |
Ruth, it's your responsibility to teach them all 00:52:35.520 |
And then we got to a place where we couldn't do it, 00:52:37.120 |
we're going to put them in a Christian school 00:52:40.280 |
by individuals that have a biblical worldview 00:52:43.840 |
and can pour that biblical worldview into them. 00:52:47.160 |
Are you in the live off of one income, maybe, 00:52:53.560 |
because the best decision that you discern in living out 00:52:58.240 |
the word of God here in Deuteronomy 6 is homeschooling? 00:53:12.080 |
Do you know their teachers if they're in public school? 00:53:16.720 |
Are you going in and saying, I'm going to find out 00:53:20.360 |
I'm not just going to trust you with my child. 00:53:22.520 |
I need to come up here and let you know I'm a believer. 00:53:26.200 |
And I'm going to ask you, please, if you can respect that. 00:53:28.720 |
And so when it comes to these types of things, 00:53:30.560 |
even though this is a public environment, if you could, 00:53:34.000 |
if you want to talk about certain things that 00:53:42.520 |
So again, I don't want nobody offended up in here. 00:53:46.320 |
But my question is, I put them in this public setting, 00:53:50.640 |
and I want to do what I need to do what's best to live out 00:54:16.320 |
These are weighty realities that need to weigh in 00:54:25.400 |
driven by the clear directional voice of God? 00:54:36.760 |
Someone asked me just yesterday, where is your daughter 00:54:44.640 |
And I just told her, I said, yeah, Christian school. 00:54:54.060 |
I think her development, that's just the best setting. 00:55:03.500 |
once y'all get to that place, oh, boy, I don't even know. 00:55:24.040 |
So for us, with Mariah, we just felt like, man, 00:55:30.720 |
But the reason I bring up the education piece