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

All right, it's great to be here tonight. I'm thankful for the opportunity to come to. This pulpit is so huge. But then again, your pastors, you know. I'm going to spend most of my time on this side and on this side. But it's great to be here. Ironically, when I, you know, my wife's brother, he's going to be getting married in Chattanooga, Tennessee. So we're going to travel out here. So I told him, hey, I'm going to be stopping by. I want to go come visit your church. He's like, well, I'm going to your church during that time as well. So we're swapping pulpits. And so he's over there. He's going to preach tomorrow night. And I'm preaching at his church. The difference is this. I don't know if I'm going to have a church to come back to after he preaches. Because the last time he preached at my church, it got blown up. So he was the straw that broke the camel's back for the sodomites to blow up the church. So we might need to move again. But I'm thankful for the opportunity. Pastor Berzins is a great friend of mine. And I'm thankful for his friendship. Thankful for his leadership. And he's obviously doing a great job here. Good to see you all. I'm glad to meet some of you. Hope to meet some more of you after the service. But let's get right into it. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 18 in verse 22. It said, then said Ahimez, the son of Zadok, yet again to Joab, but howsoever let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushai. And Joab said, wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready? But howsoever said he, let me run. And he said unto him, run. Then Ahimez ran by the way of the plain and overran Cushai. What I want to preach on this evening is the subject of cutting corners in the Christian life. Cutting corners in the Christian life. Now we're gonna come back to this story in just a bit. Go to Genesis chapter 16 if you would. Genesis chapter 16. We'll come back to the story of Ahimez and Cushai in just a bit and talk about the significance of what's taking place there. But I'm preaching on the subject of cutting corners in the Christian life. And you know a lot of times Christians out there, that's exactly what they want to do. They want the product without the process, right? They want the success, they want the blessing, they want all the success and the spiritual blessings and riches, but they don't want the process that it takes to actually get there. They don't want the hard work and the diligence it takes to actually obtain God's blessing in their life. They want to cut corners, you understand? But in the Bible there's no such thing as cutting corners in order to be spiritually successful. You know you can't cut corners and take these little shortcuts in order to be blessed by God. You need to go through the process in order to be able to reach that. Let me read to you from Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number one, the Bible says, Wherefore, seeing we're also compassed about what so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience, the Bible says, the race that is set before us. What the Bible's telling us here is the Christian life is not a sprint. What is it? It's a marathon, right? The Bible says we gotta run with patience. What does that mean? It means that we have to be in this Christian thing for the long haul. It's not like, well, I'm gonna serve God today, I'm gonna give him my all today, and I'm expecting that the effort and the desire that I'm putting into the Christian life today is gonna last me for a lifetime. Doesn't work that way. You know the Bible says that we have to die daily. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. That means you can't depend on today's success tomorrow. You can't depend on your spiritual success of yesterday, today, why? Because today's a new day, tomorrow's a new day. You have to die to self today, you have to die to self tomorrow each and every day if you're gonna be successful in the Christian life. This is why I don't agree with this whole thing of giving your life to God. You know, you give your life to God, and it's just like all of a sudden your life just completely changes, you don't desire these sins anymore, and everything's great, and your walk with God is great, and then you fall into this depression and discouragement because next week, you know, you're not like that anymore. Well, the reason why is because you gotta die daily. You know, you can't leave it all on the altar on Sunday and expect for that to carry you over for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, no, you gotta lay it all on the altar on Monday, and on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, and on Thursday, and on Friday, and on Saturday. The Bible says that we are to be a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. That we're a living sacrifice. And here's the problem with the living sacrifice. When you put a sacrifice on the altar, typically it's dead and it doesn't come off. But a living sacrifice, guess what it does? It keeps coming off. So once you put yourself on the altar and you die to self, guess what, you come off the altar eventually. So you gotta get back on the altar the following day. You know, it's a process of being successful in the Christian life. You can't just cut corners in the Christian life and think, well, I'm just gonna emotionally just give it all to God today and expect for that to last for the entire month or year. It doesn't work that way, you're trying to cut corners. You have to put in the work tomorrow. You gotta put in the work this week. You gotta put in the work this month. It doesn't stop at one day. You know, we don't wanna be people who are just hasty in our spirit. You know, cutting corners, an attribute of someone who cuts corners in the Christian life is someone who is just hasty. They want the success today. They want the success now. They want the blessing today. Well, sometimes you're not ready for that blessing. You ever think about the fact that maybe God has not blessed you in a particular area probably because you just can't handle that blessing right now? You know, you ever wonder maybe God's not giving you a particular blessing because of the fact that you are not capable or enabled to even handle that type of a blessing? You know, it's important that you go through a process in order to build yourself up for God to build you up in order to obtain a certain blessing in your Christian life. Don't be hasty in your life. Proverbs 14, 29 says this. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly, the Bible says. What does it mean to be hasty in spirit? It means you don't really put a whole lot of thought into a decision that you're making. You just kind of make it, you know? You're just like, well, I want this product, and therefore I'm not gonna go through the process. I'm just gonna make the decision right now. And what happens? You exalt folly. You magnify stupidity. That's what folly is. Folly is foolishness, foolishness is stupidity. And the Bible says that if you're hasty in your spirit, if you don't take time to make a decision, you don't take time to live the Christian life, you are going to exalt folly. The Bible says to rest in the Lord, right? And wait patiently for him. Too many times Christians want this drive through Christianity, right? This drive through Christianity, this microwave Christianity. I want the product now, let me just put it in, put a minute in there, just nuke that thing, get it ready to go in the next couple minutes. Does not work that way, folks. We need to rest in the Lord and be patient in him if you really want the legitimate product of what we desire. The Bible says in Psalm 37, verse nine, for evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. Proverbs 11, 27 says, he that diligently seeketh good procureth favor, but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come upon him. So I wanna talk about cutting corners in the Christian life. Hey, people sometimes wanna cut corners in marriage. They just think that, well, I just got married and she's supposed to know to submit to me and we should be good, right? I mean, that's just the way it's supposed to work. Well, no, you're trying to cut corners. In fact, marriage takes work. It takes you putting effort and guess what? It takes you being patient with your wife to submit to you and teaching her and admonishing her along the way and helping her to recognize through a lifetime process that this is how we're supposed to live, amen? Some people wanna cut corners in child room. You know, they leave the discipline of the children to someone else. You're trying to cut corners. Well, I'd rather just have the public school teach them. You're cutting corners. And you know what? Yeah, they'll take your kids for a little time and they'll teach your kids, but you're not gonna like the byproduct of that. You don't wanna go through the process of teaching your children. You wanna cut corners and put them in the public school. Okay, then you're gonna get the product of what the public school produces. Cutting corners in work. Cutting corners to God's blessing. Let's get an example of that. Look at Genesis 16 and verse number one. It says in Genesis 16 verse one, now Sarai, Abram's wife, bear him no children. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, going unto my maid, it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. This is crazy. So what's going on here? God had told Abraham, hey, I'm gonna make of thee a great nation. Just look at the stars and tell if thou canst number them. You know, it's gonna be as the sand and the sea. You know, I'm gonna give you a lot of children. And obviously we understand that he's referring from, he's talking about a spiritual children because we, you know, who are believers in Christ are Abraham's seed according to the Bible, right? But obviously you have to start with the physical progeny. You know, I had to start with Isaac and then Isaac bore Jacob and Jacob bore the 12 tribes and the 12 tribes produced children and it became a nation. And it's from that nation that salvation came from. They preached the word of God and then the Gentiles got saved and here we are today, right? But here's the thing, you know, in order for that to happen you gotta have at least one kid to start off with. And Abraham didn't have that yet, okay? God had promised Abraham, hey, you're gonna have a child, you're gonna be a father of many nations. Well, they're getting kinda old and it's not happening, okay? So what do they do? They decide to cut corners. More specifically, Sarah decides to cut corners and she's like, okay, well, we're just gonna have to manipulate this blessing and figure it out on ourselves. Let's go in and cut some corners here and I got this great idea. I have an Egyptian handmaid that you can marry. You could go in and unto her, bear children and it's like, you know, vicariously, I can have this child through her. And what's the product? Ishmael's the product. And what's the product of Ishmael? Unsaved Jews is the byproduct of Ishmael, okay? What were they doing? They were cutting corners to God's blessing. They didn't wanna wait for the process. They didn't wanna wait for, you know, for God's timing. They wanted to take matters into their own hands to cut corners for God's blessing but it doesn't work that way. You can't cut corners in the Christian life. Go to Genesis chapter 11, if you would. Genesis chapter 11. You know, God's blessing requires a considerable amount of obedience and effort sometimes. There's pastors out there who want God's blessing on their life but, you know, they don't wanna preach hard sermons, right? They don't wanna preach hard sermons. They don't wanna preach the word of God. They don't wanna preach against a specific group of people out there known as the LGBTQ fag community. They don't wanna say anything against them because they're afraid of what's gonna happen if you preach against them. Yeah, your church might get blown up or something. Yeah, that's right. But, you know, if you want the product of God's blessing, you gotta go through the process. You can't cut corners as a man of God and think, well, I'm just not gonna go to that extreme. I'm not gonna preach that hard. I'm not gonna go after them like that. I'm gonna go a different route and still get the same product wrong. You're not gonna do that. Because you can't cut corners in the Christian life. Yeah, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And there's a blessing that comes from being persecuted by God, not by God, but by people. There's a blessing by God that comes to us when we get persecuted by the enemies of God. And you don't get it any other way, folks. So people who are out there, like the Joel Olsteins, the Rick Warrens, these liberal preachers out there who think, well, God's hand can be on me, and as long as I just tell people what they wanna hear, what do they want? They want the product without the process. They're trying to cut corners in the Christian life. It doesn't work that way. They wanna cut corners in sermons, right? They just wanna stick to the book of Proverbs. They wanna stick to the stuff that's sweet and light, all the grace, grace, grace, and mercy, mercy, mercy. Folks, we gotta preach the whole counsel of God. And if we're gonna, they want their church to grow. They want their people to grow. They want them to grow spiritually, but they only wanna stick to a selection of books in the Bible. They don't wanna preach to Leviticus or something like that. They don't wanna talk about Deuteronomy. They don't wanna talk about Revelation. They don't wanna talk about the Old Testament books of the Bible. They don't wanna talk about the controversial stuff. They want the product, but they don't want that process. You can't cut corners in the Christian life, folks. You know, if you wanna build strong Christians, Christians that are steadfast and unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, you gotta preach the whole counsel of God. You gotta preach the entire Bible and not say, well, you know, this is kind of boring. You know, I don't know if I wanna really talk about Haggai. I don't know if I wanna really hit on Hosea, Leviticus. You know, it's kind of rough, you know, going through those laws in Deuteronomy and the curses in Deuteronomy chapter 28. You know, I might offend some people. Oh, so what kind of product are you looking for then? Because if you want a legitimate product, you can't get it without the process. You cannot cut corners in the Christian life as a pastor. You cannot cut corners in the Christian life as a wife, as a husband, as a child. You can't cut corners at your work, at your job. Especially if you're a Christian. You know, you're thinking to yourself, well, you know, I'm gonna cut some corners at my job so that I can, you know, get more bang for my buck or something, but here's the thing. Your boss isn't necessarily that physical person who's in that office. It's God. So if he sees you cutting corners, he's not gonna bless you for that. Look at Genesis 11, verse one. Genesis 11, verse one. Let's talk about this. Some people wanna cut corners to heaven, right? Look what it says in verse one of Genesis 11. The whole earth was of one language and of one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there, and they said one to another, go to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and slime had they for mortar. And they said, go to, let us build up a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven. And let us make us a name lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men build in, and the Lord said, behold, the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language that they may not understand one another's speech, and so on, go to John chapter number 10. So here we see an example of a group of people who wanted to cut corners to heaven. You know, forget just believing on the Lord, forget just, you know, believing on the God of the Bible, let's just build a tower that may reach unto heaven. Now, here's the thing, that's a ridiculous thought. It doesn't matter how tall they would have made that tower, how big they would have made it, how many stories it would have been, they would not be able to reach heaven. But yet you have a group of people who were unified, right? They had the same agenda, same goal, they're on the same page thinking that they were gonna be able to reach heaven by building a tower. You say, yeah, that is pretty ridiculous, but you know what, it's equally ridiculous to think that some person out there in this world think that they could work their way to heaven. What are they trying to do, cut corners? In fact, they're trying to cut the cornerstone, which the builders disallowed, and not believe on him for salvation. They're trying to cut him out and insert their own works in. Folks, the Bible says, for by grace are you safe through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works that sinning man should boast. Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. He's the one that gives it, not your own deeds, not your own works. And the people out there who believe that you can work your way to heaven, they're delusional, folks. Well, I don't believe you have to work your way to heaven. I just believe you gotta repent of your sins to get to heaven. It's the same thing. Jonah 3.10 tells us that to turn from your sin, according to the Bible, according to God's definition, is a work. And look, folks, I've been dealing with this for the last couple of weeks, like nonstop, because I've been on Instagram a lot. I'm an influencer. I'm an Instagram influencer. No, I'm not doing pop locking or anything like that, although I have considered it. You know, I'm just putting out videos, biblical content, and people are reaching out to me. People are getting saved through it. But folks, there's a bunch of idiots on Instagram. I'll just be honest with you. Yeah, I said it. There's a bunch of idiots out there who are like, what are you talking about? You do have to repent of your sins. I'm like, show me where that phrase is found in the Bible. I'll show you where, Acts 2.38, you know? And then also, you know, the gospels, repent and believe. It's like, are you delusional? There's no up sins there. You know it's wicked to add to the word of God, right? You know, God will add to you the plagues that are written in this book if you add to God's word. But it tells us not to add to God's word lest we be found liars, lest God reproves us, and we be found to be lying. But yet they wanna say, no, you gotta repent of your sins. It's ridiculous to think that you can cut corners and think that you can just repent of all your sins and turn from your sins to be saved. It is impossible. And these same people will say, well, I'm not saying you gotta keep the law to be saved. I'm just saying you have to repent of your sins to be saved. Folks, the law tells us to turn from our sin. It's the same thing. And therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. For by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in the sight, the Bible says. So for you to say, well, I don't believe in works. I just believe you have to repent of your sins. I don't believe you have to keep the law. I just believe you have to repent of your sins. Then you obviously don't know what you're talking about. You're so busy cutting out, cutting corners, cutting the Bible out of your theology that you're all mixed up in your salvation. You don't even know what you're talking about, okay? But it's just as ridiculous to have, to see these people at the Tower of Babel thinking, well, we'll just build this tower. We're gonna get there one way or another. They didn't even scratch the atmosphere, folks. They didn't even scratch the stratosphere, let alone heaven. Look at the Bible says in John chapter 10, verse number one. Barely, barely I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is also saved. The same can also have eternal life because there's many ways to heaven. That's not what my Bible says. The same is a thief and a robber, the Bible says. Now, let me just explain something to you real quick. When he says he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, he's not saying that the person who's climbing up some other way is gonna make it. He's just saying how I perceive you when you try to do something like that. You're a thief and a robber, why? Because you're trying to steal God's glory from Jesus Christ who died for you. Oh, no, I mean, of course you have to trust Jesus Christ. He's the savior. This is what I keep hearing. Of course you have to trust Jesus. He's the savior, he's God. I love Jesus, but you also have to turn from your sin. So basically, what you're saying is that the sacrifice, the death, burial, and resurrection, even the perfect life that he lived of Jesus Christ, the perfect life that he lived is insufficient to save you. That's what you're saying. When you say, well, it's Jesus plus repenting of your sins, Jesus plus your words, Jesus plus keeping the Sabbath, Jesus plus X, Y, and Z, what you're saying is that what Jesus did, it's great. It's just insufficient to save me. I need to do my part as well. That's what they're saying. They're a thief and a robber, why? Because they wanna steal the glory that only belongs to Jesus Christ, and they wanna apply it to themselves. Folks, the Bible says if any man gloried, let him glory in the cross. That's what the Bible says. I thought the Bible tells us, not by works lest any man should boast. Why is salvation not of works? Because of the fact that if it was by works, when you got to heaven, you'd be able to boast about it. Like, yeah, Jesus, he did the sacrifice, but I kinda, I put a little bit of work into this too. I was able to turn from my sins from drunkenness and fornication and adultery and theft and all these things. That was me. You'd be able to boast, but you know what? The reason it says lest any man should boast is because it's basically saying it's not by your effort. It's not because of your merit, because you deserve it, because of anything that you did, it's because of what Jesus Christ did. But this is what people wanna do when they're cutting corners for salvation. They're trying to climb up some other way, come up with a different way. And let me just say this. Any way other than by faith in Jesus Christ is a workspace of salvation. You can wrap it however you want. You can present it in different ways. You can try to say it's election. You can say that it's repenting of your sins. You can say that it's by keeping the Sabbath. You can wrap it however you want. It's a workspace of salvation no matter what you say. Bottom line. Go to 2 Samuel again, chapter 18, if you would. 2 Samuel 18. There's no cutting corners for salvation, folks. We all have to go through the door. We all have to place our faith in Jesus Christ. And you can't, and here's the thing. A lot of people, they'll pervert that phrase. And they'll say, oh yeah, it's by faith alone. But faith alone, a living faith works. They add all these stupid little cliche phrases to salvation. Folks, the Bible says that it's by grace. It says and if it's by grace, then there's no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. Romans 11, six. So in other words, if you say it's by grace but you wanna add some sort of work to that, you've actually made the grace of God null and void to your life. It's no longer available to you. You can't put both on the same pedestal. It has to be only by grace. But how about this? People wanna cut corners not just for salvation but just Christians in general, how about cutting corners and soul winning? Look what it says in 2 Samuel 18 and verse 19. It says, then said Ahimez, the son of Zadok, let me now run and bear the king tidings how that the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said unto him, thou shall not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day. But this day, thou shalt bear no tidings because the king's son is dead. Then said Joab to Cushai, go tell the king what thou hast seen and Cushai bowed himself into Joab and ran. Then said Ahimez, the son of Zadok, yet again to Joab, but howsoever, let me I pray thee also run after Cushai. And Joab said, wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready? But howsoever said he, let me run. And he said unto him, run. Then Ahimez ran by the way of the plain and overran Cushai. So let me explain what's going on here. Of course we know that Absalom had turned against his father David, they're at war with one another. Well David has a pretty shady general known as Joab. And Joab kind of does David's dirty work unfortunately. He does a lot of unethical things when it comes to war. Doesn't really obey David all the way. And David basically instructs his people, hey when you go to war, make sure you don't lay hands on Absalom, he's my son. Make sure he doesn't die, make sure he stays alive. Joab just completely disregards that command. Absalom gets caught in a bow of trees, okay. And one of the soldiers sees it, they go report it to Joab and Joab is like, why didn't you kill him? He's like, right there, you should have just killed him. I would have gave you this, I would have gave you the clothing and riches, gold, whatever. And he's like, well you know, David said we shouldn't do that. So Joab goes, throws a dart right through his heart, they end up killing Absalom, they throw him into a pit, and obviously the war is over because that's basically their leader. So now that the war is over, Ahimez and Cushai, they wanna basically bring tidings to the king that the war is over, okay. And what we see here is that Ahimez doesn't really have anything to say, he doesn't know what's really taking place. He just wants the glory of being able to come to the king and say, we won the war, you understand? But so he goes to Joab and Joab says, why are you gonna run if you don't even have any good tidings, you don't even know what's happening. You don't know what's going on. And he's like, well just let me run anyways. He's like, all right, fine, run. So Cushai, who does know what's taking place, he does know that Absalom is dead, he has the details of the war, he begins to run, Ahimez outruns him. How? Well it says right there in verse number 23, then Ahimez ran by the way of the plane and overran Cushai. In other words, he cut a corner. He took a shortcut. Now did he get to his destination? Yes, but at the end of the day, he had nothing to say. Because when he gets to David, he's like, I don't know. David's like, did we win, he's like, I don't know. What about Absalom, I don't know. So yeah, you made it to David, but you don't even have good tidings to say. What was the point of that? You're cutting corners, you're not even ready to even proclaim the good tidings. You just took a shortcut, you cut some corners, you got to your destination, but you got nothing to say. Cushai on the other hand, did have something to say. Now there's a lot of layering here, spiritual layering in this story that doesn't really have to do anything with this sermon, but it's just good to know. You know, obviously David and Absalom can represent God the Father and Jesus Christ. Because if you think about it, Absalom was hung on a tree. Just like Jesus Christ was hung on a tree. He was, they placed a dart in his heart, they pierced him through, just as Jesus Christ was pierced through. They threw him into a pit and rolled stones upon him, just like when Jesus Christ was buried, a great stone was rolled on his grave. You understand? Cushai and Ahima can represent Peter and John, because when Peter and John go to the grave, it says that John outran Peter. So there's a lot of spiritual significance to what's taking place here, and of course we see that David mourns for the death of his son at the end, saying my son, my son. But the point that I'm trying to make here is the fact that Cushai had the good tidings, Ahima's did not. He took a shortcut, he cut a corner, but had nothing to say. And you say, what does that have to do with soloing? Well, you know, a lot of people out there, they wanna go soloing or preach the gospel or get people saved, but they cut corners when they do it. In California, I don't know if you guys have this issue here. We got a lot of issues in California, okay? But one of the issues is sometimes they'll preach this one, two, three, pray after me. How many of you guys ever heard something like that? Yeah, you guys don't have that. Do you guys have that issue here? They do this one, two, three, pray after me. Now, people will accuse us of doing that. You know, they'll say, oh, you guys are the one, two, three, pray after me, you know, crowd or whatever, because you preach on the Romans road. Well, no, because we believe in being thorough in our gospel presentation, amen? We don't just spit out a couple verses and just make them pray a prayer or whatever. You know, we make sure that they understand what we're saying. But there is a group out there in California that I'll say this, they do a one, two, three, pray after me, and they literally will go and spit out three verses, tell them to bow their heads and pray, and then they'll just count it as a salvation. That's not right, folks. You know, we need to make sure that when we go on and preach the gospel, that the people we're speaking to actually understand what we're saying, right? And the way we do this is by interacting with them, right? You say, do you understand this, do you understand this? Well, they don't necessarily do that. What are they doing? They're cutting corners because they wanna bring back a great number of salvations back to their church, you know? Folks, I'm thankful for the people that get saved throughout the week and when people raise their hand for salvation, but you know what? I'll take two people who raise their hand for two salvations, then 20 people who raise their hand and they're just like, no one got saved because they just did a one, two, three, pray after me type thing. You know, just cutting corners when it comes to salvation. Or how about this, preaching the gospel where you're just not even ready to preach the gospel. You understand? It's good to just go out as a silent partner to learn from a seasoned soul winner, to listen to their illustrations, listen to the verses that they're using and use that and learn and become grounded in your ability to preach the gospel so you're not cutting corners and just kinda misleading people, you understand? We don't wanna cut corners when it comes to preaching the gospel, but let's talk about something else. How about this, people wanna cut corners when it comes to evangelism and they do it by lifestyle evangelism. You guys know what lifestyle evangelism is? It's like, look at my life and somehow that's gonna provoke you into asking me about Jesus. Well, folks, I'm not against lifestyle evangelism. Obviously, we wanna have a good testimony, but the Bible says to open our mouths boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel. The Bible says that we're to preach the gospel unto all nations, to every creature. The Bible says we actually have to open our mouths and make known the mysteries of the gospel. But you have people out there who wanna cut corners, who wanna take shortcuts and say, well, you know, that's too confrontational. I don't know if I wanna do that, I don't wanna offend people. Well, you know, you can't really preach the gospel without offending a couple people. I mean, you're going to total strangers telling them that they're going to hell. I mean, think about that. You're going to a complete stranger on their territory at their doorstop to let them know they're gonna go to hell. I mean, there's no way around that, you understand? And then you're telling them that what they previously believed is actually wrong. So we go door to door telling people that they're wrong. Telling people that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Now, obviously, we wanna be kind and cordial about it. I'm not saying, you know, just you're going to hell and you're wrong about what you believe, and, you know, obviously you don't wanna do that. You wanna be kind and cordial. The Bible says, you know, to give these truths with meekness and fear, obviously, right? But we don't wanna cut corners and just say, well, I'm just gonna stick to lifestyle evangelism, or how about this, just giving a track. You know, we got mailmen for that, you understand? You know, just give a track. Don't wanna offend anybody. You're cutting corners in your evangelism if that's what you're doing. You know, it takes hard work to actually go out there and sow in to preach the gospel and get people saved. You're like, I'm afraid, what if they reject me? Then you're in good company because Jesus Christ was rejected. He came into his own and his own received him not. You understand? You know, sometimes you will be rejected. What if I get someone really mad at me or something? That's a big possibility. Yeah, that might happen. What if someone just gets really aggressive towards me? That potentially could happen, yeah. I'm not gonna lie to you. I mean, folks, after the bombing, we had a Sony marathon in a surrounding city, and we get there, and getting a bunch of people saved, and a group of sodomites came to jump myself and my family. And I didn't know there were sodomites until like afterwards they came up to me and they're just like, they walked up and I just, you know, I'm just ignorant. I'm like, hey, you wanna, here's an invite. And they're just kind of like, what are you doing here? I'm like, Sony, what's your name? Bruce? What are you preaching? The gospel. And I'm just like ignorant of what's going on. I'm like, what's with the questions, you know? And he's like, what do you think about good people? Which at that point, you obviously already know who they are. And I told him, I had my wife and all my kids with me, which is a punk move on their behalf. I told him, I was like, well, you know exactly what I believe about homos. So what's up? Well, you can't preach hate here. I told him, I said, well, I can preach whatever I want. And I said, you're already too late. I've already did it. So if you got a problem with it, go call the police. You know? And he said, well, you gotta get out of here. I was like, well, there's 60 other people who are preaching the same exact thing as me in this area, so you gonna try to stop us all? And then he pulled out his phone, and he started like filming me. I'm like, all right, well, we're done. Because they started surrounding us, and I'm thinking, these group of wicked sodomites are literally gonna like jump me in front of my family? What a punk little move. Now, look, that's probably not gonna happen to you. But I can't promise it, because it definitely might. I don't even think it would ever happen to me. You're like, man, I think I'm gonna stick to cutting corners and sit in evangelism or something. Folks, there's rewards, though. Hey, there's no cutting corners when it comes to rewards. You say, I want gold, silver, precious stones. I want rubies, I want God's honor, I want God's blessing. There's no cutting corners in that, then. Sometimes it requires for you to get persecuted and yelled at and cussed at by a bunch of filthy reprobates in order to get the job done. And look, nothing ended up happening. We walked away, and I got a cool story to tell for the rest of my life. Go to 2 Kings 5, if you would. There's no cutting corners in evangelism by just handing out a track, by just, well, I don't wanna mention hell when I go out and preach the gospel, because it just seems too offensive. You're cutting corners, and it's not gonna happen. You wanna preach the gospel and get people saved, but you wanna leave hell out? It's not gonna work. Then what are they being saved from? Well, I wanna get people saved, but I don't wanna make it seem as though Jesus Christ is the only way. I just feel like I'm offending people if I do that or something. Then you're cutting corners, you're not doing anything. You're not gonna get the product that you're actually looking for. It's important, folks, that we understand that we can't cut corners in the Christian life. It's either all or nothing. We need to have the process if we're gonna have the product. Look at 2 Kings 5 and verse number 20. Hey, some people wanna cut corners when it comes to getting wealth. Now, folks, is getting wealth bad? No. No, it's bad for a pastor to get a bunch of wealth, right? Because as a pastor, we're not supposed to be wealthy and driving around in a Benz or, what's the newest car today, the Tesla or something, and just bling blingin' and millions of dollars in the account and I got myself a yacht and all these things. That's not right for a preacher to have because a preacher's doing God's work. We're supposed to live a modest life. But it's not wrong for people, God's people, to just be wealthy if they do it honestly. But some people don't do it honestly. They cut corners with the lottery ticket or something like that, which that's the worst. By the way, that's the worst way to cut a corner. You're just cutting your paycheck in half if that's what you're doing. Second Kings 5.20, let's look at an example. It says, But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman the Syrian, and not receiving at his hand that which he brought. But as the Lord liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him. So Naaman was just healed of leprosy. He's so grateful that he wants to go to the man of God and say, hey, here's some treasures, here's some wealth, and Elisha's like, I don't want any. I'm happy as is. I'm happy to do the work, and I'm thankful for it, but I don't want any. And Gehazi's like, whoa, hold on a second, that looked like Versace or something. That looked like Gucci. That looked like Dooney and Burke. I just learned those this week, by the way. That looked like Armani or something. Are those some Air Force Ones? Are those Jordan? And so he's like, you know what, I'm gonna go, I'm not gonna take a whole lot, I'm just gonna take somewhat of him, because he wants to be generous. Don't wanna, you know, he's trying to be a blessing. Verse 21, so Gehazi followed after Naaman, and when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said, is all well? And he said, all is well. My master had sent me, saying, behold, even now there be come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and two changes of garment. So he's just lying, okay? He's speaking on the behalf of Elisha in order to get these riches, and he's doing it dishonestly. Verse 23, and Naaman said, be content, take two talents. And he urged him and bound two talents of silver into two bags with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house, and he let the men go and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, when's comest thou, Gehazi? By the way, Elisha already knows, okay? He's not like, you know, hey, where'd you go? He's just like, so, where'd you go? And he said, thy servant went no whither. Lying again. And he said unto him, when not my heart with thee, when the man turn again from his chariot to meet thee? Look at this. Is it a time to receive money? And to receive garments and olive yards and vineyards and sheep and oxen and men servants and maid servants? Men servants and maid servants? The leper seed therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. Why, because he did it dishonestly. So what was the issue with Gehazi? He became covetous, right? And because he was covetous, he cut corners in order to get riches, he became dishonest, and yet he might have actually received the physical garment and the talent of silver and all these things, but at the end of the day, he didn't really have riches because now he's a leper. You know what leprosy is a picture of? Sin. So when you have dishonest gain, if you are doing things dishonestly in order to get riches, you're just like a leper. Because now the leprosy of covetousness, the leprosy of greed is all over your body. It's not worth cutting corners in order to get riches. Get riches by working hard. Get riches by serving God, right? You say, well, how do I get riches by serving God? Winning souls to Christ. Serving your husband, serving your wife, serving your church, you know, winning souls to Christ, discipling people, doing God's will will get you riches. And you think to yourself, well, I want to be a pastor one day, but I just kind of like the good life, you know? First of all, a pastor lives a good life. Okay, we're not like poppers here or anything like that. But secondly, this, there are riches that we're gonna get one day in the millennial reign as authority, reigning over cities. If we're faithful, we get a crown from the Lord. And here's the thing, you gotta ask yourself this. Is it time to receive money? Is it time to receive garments and olive yards and vineyards and, you know, sheep and oxen and men's servants and maid servants? Is now the time for those things? Now, if you have those things, thank God. But here's the thing. May that not be your priority in your life to the point where you're now becoming dishonest in your work, dishonest in your conduct in order to get those things. Lottery tickets or gambling, right? Gambling and stealing, you know? Not coming to church because you're working overtime in order to get these riches. Amen? Hey, we should be in church, amen? You know, honor God with your time in church and He'll bless you financially. I guarantee you that. You know, honor God with your time in the Bible. Honor God with your time in so many. Honor God with your time and I guarantee you He'll bless you for it. But don't do it dishonestly. You're cutting corners when you do that. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, verse 21, an inheritance may be gone hastily at the beginning but the ender of shall not be blessed. Go to 1 Timothy, chapter number six. 1 Timothy, chapter number six. Yeah, you might get some riches hastily. You might get some overtime money hastily. You might get some riches, you know, through a lottery ticket or something like that or through gambling hastily. But I guarantee you, the ender of shall not be blessed. You're not gonna be able to enjoy it. And you know what I realize of the people in the Bible who did things like this? They never really enjoyed the things that they got. I mean, think about Achan, right? Achan goes into Jericho. God tells them, don't touch the garments. Don't touch the riches. All of those are mine. Do not touch them. He goes into a tent. He sees that Dolce and Gabbana outfit and he's like, man, how can I pass this up? He takes it, the Babylonish garment, he takes the riches and what does he do? Does he start sporting it? Does he put it on the very next day? Does he say his grandma gave it to him or something like that? No, what does he do? He puts it under the earth. So he's not even enjoying it because he knows he's being disobedient. He knows he's being dishonest. He knows he got it through unrighteous means. So what does he do? He buries it under the earth, folks. And let that be a lesson to you and to I that when we do dishonest things, you can't even enjoy the byproduct of it most of the time because of the fact that you know you got it unrighteously. Oh yeah, you might have gotten those riches in that garment or whatever, but you know you did it in a wrong way. Therefore, you have to bury it under the earth. You can't even enjoy it. Folks, let's enjoy the things that we have with a clear conscience, that we got it righteously, amen? Bible says in 1 Timothy 6, nine, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and ensnare, verse nine, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. Notice it doesn't say that money's the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all evil. Folks, money pays the bills. Which while some covet it after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrow. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. What is he saying? Don't cut corners. Don't try to get riches through unrighteous means. Do it in an honest way so that God doesn't have to punish you for that, okay? Go to Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter number eight. Let me read you a couple more verses regarding this point. Says in Proverbs 28 verse 20, a faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. What does that mean when he says shall not be innocent? If you are hasty in your desire to be rich, you're probably gonna do something that's guilty, something that's dishonest. Like, I can make a quick buck now, a quick hundred dollars now, a quick this and this now. You know, you're probably gonna do something dishonest in order to obtain that. Says in Proverbs 28, 22, he that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him. Proverbs 21, five says, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but of every one that is hasty only to one. We're talking about cutting corners this evening, and here's the last one here, cutting corners just to get a position. Cutting corners to get a position. Look what it says in Acts chapter eight and verse 14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now what is this referring to? When it says baptized in the Holy Ghost, it's referring to the fact that they had not received the power of the Holy Ghost, okay? You know, the power, the boldness to be able to preach God's word. They had not yet been emboldened by the Holy Ghost. They were saved, but they hadn't received that yet. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, give me also this power, that on whosoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. He's like, whoa, because you gotta think about this. Simon was like the leader of this group before the apostles came through. Everyone looked up to him, he was the man of that region, that area, but then Simon got saved, because the apostles came, they preached the word of God, everyone's attention went to the apostles, Simon got saved, but now Simon sees, oh man, these guys are able to lay hands on people, they received the Holy Ghost, they received God's power, and what does he do? He has a stupid thought that says, well, let me give you money so that I can have that same power also. What does he want? He wants clout. He wants recognition. He wants to have the position, but he's trying to cut corners. How is he cutting corners? By offering money. It's kind of a ridiculous thing to think about, right? Like, how much money can I give you to have power? It's like, really? You really think that the power of God can be bought? He says in verse 19, verse 20, excuse me, but Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. He basically tells them, this is a stupid thought, you can't buy the power of God with money. Now, the first thing that always comes up in my mind when I read this story is Bible college. That's the first thing that comes up in my mind. And by the way, I'm a Bible college graduate, okay, so, you know, I'm not judging, if you've ever been to Bible college, I know we have one Bible college student right over there, I see that hand, we talked before, you know, but I went to Bible college, too, you know? What are they doing? Students who pay money so they can have the power of God. They're like, if I could just pay this amount of money and do these semesters and pass these tests and pass these exams, I'm gonna have the power of God in my life. Simon, no you're not. You can't purchase the power of God with money. You're trying to cut corners. Well, if I can just, you know, go to Bible college for four years, six years, or whatever, and I can just, you know, learn all the material, regurgitate it back on an exam, and just get my little diploma that says bachelor's degree in pastoral theology, I can have the power of God in my life. No, you're wrong, you're trying to cut corners, that's not how you get it. You get the power of God by being filled with the Spirit. You get the power of God by preaching the word of God. You get the power of God by soul winning, by serving in your local New Testament church, by getting persecuted for God's word. You don't get it by paying money. Well, if I could just pay a little bit of money, they'll call me a pastor. If I could just pay this organization, this institute, just a little bit of money, by the way, it's not a little bit of money, by the way. Bible college is very expensive. A lot of tons of students go into debt every single year when they go to Bible college. And here's the thing, it's just like, you're not even getting what you're paying for. Because you know, I know some sincere students who went there because they want to learn the Bible, but they learn dispensationalism. I mean, who wants to learn that? They give them a Schofield reference Bible? I mean, they learn some of the crummiest doctrine out there, and they pay good money for it. Folks, come to Stronghold Baptist Church, and you'll get good doctrine for free. You'll get trained for free. You can get the power of God in your life for free. But yet people think, well, no, I want to cut that corner. I don't want to actually read the Bible that much. I don't want to actually be persecuted for righteous and sake like that. I don't actually want to stand for God's word and God's truth. I don't want to be like that bold. I'd rather just have a piece of paper that I can hang on my wall that says that I'm a pastor, got a fancy little signature on there from whatever Bible college, and all it's gonna cost me is $50,000. But here's the thing, they pay the $50,000 and they still don't get it. Because I know graduates from Bible college, and some of these guys don't know jack squat about the Bible. I remember I got into a conversation with the guy and it was about the rapture. And we're talking about the rapture, the timing of the rapture. And I was, you know, he was a Bible college student. And look, I wasn't trying to offend him. I was trying to win him over to our position of post-trib pre-wrath. It's the best position, amen? It's the biblical position. And I was showing him, I said, look, you know, the Bible says this, and I was showing him different scriptures. And I said, look, do you know what context is? And he said, how are you gonna tell me that? He's like, I'm a Bible college student. Shut my mouth. I'm sorry, what the heck was I thinking? I apologize. You know, let me just retract every statement I just made then. I didn't know who I was talking to. A whited sepulcher. It's like, what in the world? So just because you have this title of Bible college student or graduate, somehow you just, by osmosis, get knowledge then, right? You go to Bible college for all these hours, for all these months and years, and somehow knowledge is just completely transferred to you. Boldness is transferred. The power of God is transferred to you. False, it doesn't happen that way. And in fact, some students actually come out worse out of Bible college, because they're prideful, they're arrogant, they know nothing about the Bible. They know nothing about standing for truth. They don't even get any actual ministry teaching. Practical teaching on ministry. So what do they get? They know how to run a bus ministry. I'm serious. I mean, I ran a bus ministry for many years, and I'm not downing on bus ministry. I know they get a lot of people saved, they get children saved, but folks, to be a pastor, it requires some other training other than that. Reading the Bible multiple times, memorizing the scriptures, having the gall, having boldness in the guts to actually say what needs to be said. You can't pay money for that. It requires the power of God to be upon your life, to actually get it. You can't cut corners to be a pastor, folks. Go to First Timothy chapter three. First Timothy chapter three. But you know, there's plenty of people out there that want to cut corners in that area. How about this? People who want to be pastors so bad, you know, they'll just, they're not even qualified to be a pastor, and they'll take that position. They don't even have kids. They're not even married sometimes, and they'll become a pastor. They're like self-ordained themselves. It happens all the time. In California, there's pastors out there who literally have been pastoring for decades, and they like just got married. It's like, what in the world? You're not even qualified. Or pastors out there that are committing adultery, and they repent, and by the way, if a pastor commits adultery, they commit some grievous sin, and they repent, you know, forgiven, amen? They can move on with their lives, but they can't be a pastor. But you know, they want to cut corners, and say, well, Brother Davidson. Yeah, but David was a king, first and foremost. He's not a pastor. He was like the ruler of a land, first and foremost. And I don't know anybody other than God who could actually remove him from that office if he wanted to. But you know, there's plenty of people who can remove a pastor from an office if he's not doing his job. If he's just committing adultery, stealing from the plate, you know, to buy himself or whatever, doing wicked stuff, you know, they should be removed. They're not qualified, but you have people out there who want to cut corners and have the position anyways. It's not right, folks. Look what it says in First Timothy chapter three, verse one. This is a true saying. If a man desired the office of a bishop, he desired the good work. A bishop that must be blameless, the husband of one wife. That means you can't be divorced. Amen? Pastor can't be divorced. Supposed to be married to one woman. In my life, this is a good verse to show women who want to be preachers. Oh, I think the pastorette should be a position in the church. I don't see anything about a pastorette in the Bible. You know, I saw a sign you guys have there in your mother-baby room. I took a picture of it. It's very inspirational. They should sell it at Hobby Lobby. Let the woman learn in silence, amen? That's a great verse to post. Why don't they put that at Hobby Lobby? Why don't we get verses like that, you know, at Target or something like that, you know? That's a great verse. You know, the Joyce Meyers of this world, they want to cut corners and say, no, I still want to be a pastor even though I'm a woman. No, you can't be a pastor because you are a woman. The husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy, a filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? So it looks to me as though a pastor should have a family, right? Supposed to rule over his family. The implication there is that he should have a family. But yeah, you have people out there who want to cut corners and they just want to be the pastor. They're not even married or they are married and don't have kids. And look, folks, don't take me out of context and say, oh, pastor, when he is saying that people are like that are just wicked. I didn't say they're wicked. I just said they're unqualified. And they're cutting corners to have a position when they didn't earn it. Bottom line. And look, folks, look, the pastor's job is not the only job that you can do to serve God. There's plenty of other ways to serve God. And this message is not popular with a lot of people. Especially in independent Baptist circles. Because they think every Tom, Dick, and Harry can become a pastor. Not according to 1 Timothy chapter three. He says, not a novice. So guess what, young guys? Not yet. Novice is someone who's just new to the faith. Not a novice, why? Less being lifted up with pride, he fallen to the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. So he says, you can't be a novice. You can't be spiritually immature and try to be a pastor. Why, because when you put a new Christian behind the pulpit to preach God's word to lead God's people, what do they do? They become prideful and arrogant. They get taken up in the snare of the devil and they become prideful, the Bible says. Go to Proverbs 19. And then we'll go to Psalm 119. What's the sermon today? Don't cut corners. If you wanna be a pastor, take the next decade to learn how to be a pastor. Decade? An entire decade? Decade is like, that's like 10 years. What's the rush? Don't you wanna do a good job? Isn't your heart in the right place? Now, I'm not saying everyone's gonna take 10 years, okay? Some people are qualified now, you understand? They'll be qualified in five years, in three years, or in a year, whatever it may be. You know, they may be qualified, but you know, for a young man, you know, 10 years, yeah. I've been saved for 14 years. And you know what, we didn't start the church until recently, and I wanted to be a pastor as soon as I got, when I got saved, I wanted to be a pastor. I thought that that's what I wanted to do. I said, you know, I wanna preach God's word. I love studying the Bible, I love teaching the Bible to people, I love leading people, I like to solve problems. You know, I like being around God's people, and I would like to do something like that. And you know what, the opportunity never really presented itself, but I never just threw out my hands and said, well, I'm not gonna do the Christian life thing then if I just can't be a pastor or something. Or cut corners and say, well, I'm just gonna be a pastor no matter what, you know? By any means necessary, I'm gonna get someone to lay their hands on me, and I'm gonna be a pastor. I don't care what happened, what it takes. That's wicked, folks. If the opportunity does not present itself, if God does not lead you in that direction, then, you know, don't cut corners to try to get yourself in that direction. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 19, verse two. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good, and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. You know, don't cut corners in your Bible reading. Bible says don't haste with your feet, you should not be without knowledge. Don't wake up in the morning and just like, all right, I'm just gonna go through one half of Proverb or something like that. Read the word of God, feed your soul, read the Bible. Go to Psalm 119, if you would, Psalm 119. There's only one time you should be hasty, folks. I'm gonna give you one example, and we're done, of when it's good to be hasty. When it's good to just do it right away. Okay, look what it says in Psalm 119, verse 60. It says in Psalm 119, verse 60, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments. That's the only time you should be hasty. When God says, do something, and you just said, I'll do it right now, right away, today. What's the sermon today? The sermon's simply this, you know, if you really want the product, don't be afraid of the process. Don't try to cut corners in your Christian life. Don't try to get in there the easy way. Try to get that position the easy way. Go the easy route. Oh man, I just want to, you know, have all these spiritual blessings. Well, you know, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. That's why there's not a whole lot of new IFB pastors out there who are preaching the word of God. Because it's not an easy job. It's not easy. Here's the thing, you know, old IFB, they don't really like us a whole lot. But I'll tell you what, they do like us a lot. They like what we do. You said, then what's the problem? Well, they don't want the process. Because they like the fact that we're getting a bunch of people saved. They like the fact that our churches are growing, that people are being reached. It's still really, you know, the priest like that, and the spirit, and you guys got such a bad spirit, and it's just, oh man, you guys are just so mean sometimes. You like it. You like my spirit. If you're an independent fundamental Baptist, you like my spirit. You know why? Because I got my spirit from yours, from your church, from your preaching. You know you like it. Don't act like you don't like, oh, you know, it's just that you preach so hard. Yeah, you like hard preaching. What do you mean? You like how I say it. You know you go on YouTube at late at night, and you just look up my sermons, and look up so-and-so, and you show it to your wife, and you chuckle at it, and you're like, oh man, that's good. Yeah, but they're off, though. You know, they're so off, though. Just can't, God can't bless that, brother. You like it. You may not want to admit it, but you like it. But here's the thing. You just don't like the process. Oh, man, you know, they're right on salvation, and they're right on this. They're right on soul in it, but just, you know, their attitude, and you just, you like our attitude. You wish you had this attitude. You wish you could tell your congregation exactly the way we tell our congregation. You just are too scared. You just don't want the process. You want the product, but you don't want the process. You know what it is? You're cutting corners. You're cutting corners, and you can't cut corners in the Christian life, folks. If you really want the legitimate product, you gotta have the process, and then you can have it, amen? Spire Hudson, our Board of Prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. I pray, God, that you'd help us, Lord, as your people never to cut corners in the Christian life. Nothing worth having is easy in the Christian life, and I pray that you'd help us to pay the price. Help us to count the costs, but help us to pay the price, because it's worth it, and I pray, God, that you'd help us to do so. We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.