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Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Oh Is So Me Oh Oh Oh Hey Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You You Tonight right here on the sword of the spirit podcast It's episode 21 and the main event topic if you will it's gonna be about spending Christmas time With unsaved family members and friends what I want to talk about is how to leave a good impression on them not how to rebuke them or anything like that, but how to leave a good impression on them and also Just in general how to spend Christmas with these people in a sense that you don't compromise on what you believe But also make a lasting impact for the better and perhaps even get them saved plus What it means to really be friends with someone what is true friendship According to the Bible you're not gonna want to miss this It's a new episode of the podcast and it starts right after this in about 60 seconds So Oh Oh All right, it's Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time 8 p.m. Central right here youtube.com Slash been the Baptist for the show right off the bat. I do have an announcement for you guys next week It's gonna be a special year end edition of the podcast. We're gonna look back at the year 2019 next Monday, and we'll talk about some of the most shocking moments and more I look forward to having some special guests on for that one next Monday at 9 So make sure you tune in for that but for right now on this week's episode it is December the 23rd 2019 lots of people have this entire week off work who I've talked to and Some others just have Monday through Christmas off, but it is Christmas week and some Husbands out there are getting their last-minute Christmas shopping done I know I'm one of those people Who needs to do it last minute and I did this year for sure and you walk around in the store getting those Christmas the getting the Christmas shopping done and you see people around you who are also shopping at the last minute and you have a Camaraderie with them for sure if you missed last week's show you heard that I sounded absolutely Awful, I'm still recovering from the flu It's a it's what I ended up being quote diagnosed with and I'm still recovering a little bit Tonight, but definitely sound a heck of a lot better than last week where I sounded just really really bad But I got through the show anyway every day. It's getting a little bit better As I recover, so thank you for those of you who've been sending me Messages about that. I really do appreciate it and the chat room is lively as usual We've got some people in there including someone complaining about Pastor Jimenez kicking out a homeless man who didn't have shoes on at the morning service Yesterday according to this person on prettier. I don't know if that's true I didn't hear about that if that did in fact happen Then that's great I back pastor Jimenez a hundred percent the Bible says if you don't work, then you shouldn't eat and there are plenty of There are plenty of homeless people out there who refuse to work and in fact, they're just a bunch of lazy drug addicted alcoholic bums Who want to try and beg people for money so they can go spend it on the aforementioned drugs and alcohol They're so lazy. They don't want to go work. And so there are under judgment as a result But I don't know if that's even true If it is then Great, but if not, that's fine, too Regardless pastor Roger Jimenez is extremely hospitable and long-suffering and patient with people So I'm sure if he did kick anyone out They deserved it Are the people in the chat room? We've got Braden clock in there Philly chimp And I saw Dan quirk as well Tanner Levi Campbell So thank you everybody for tuning in Ron Shafer Jude here says no shoes. No service. That is true I think I can definitely support that Sentiment now when it comes to the week in the quote new IFB if you want to call it that it's been sort of a lively week and before I get into the main event topic and before I talk about Spending Christmas with Unsafe family and friends and how to navigate that particular situation. I Think I should discuss For at least a little while here the elephant in the room now, what is the elephant in the room for those of you? Who don't know? Pastor Joe major pastor Michael Johnson and pastor manly Perry have decided to cut fellowship with pastor Steven Anderson Now, I don't know all the details on everything and frankly it's not even my place to get involved in this discussion. So I'm not Going to but there is an aspect of it. I wanted to comment on When it comes to this situation, I I have no idea Why Anybody Would want to cut fellowship with pastor Steve think about who we're talking about here pastor Steven L Anderson Because Of a false accusation that he is ecumenical that is a lot that is so mind-numbingly ridiculous It's on par with claiming with cutting fellowship with pastor Anderson because he's too soft on the sodomites or or because He doesn't preach hard enough Or because he doesn't hate sin enough Where he doesn't stand for doctrine enough. I mean, it's just It's crazy it's crazy to me But at the end of the day that's the decision they've decided to go down as independent Baptists and Pastor Anderson, of course doesn't deserve To have his friends talking smack about him behind his back and backbiting and things like that Thankfully at least in the case of pastor Joe major That didn't happen, but with the other two gentlemen That doesn't seem to be the case. But here here's the point. I'm trying to make Pastor Anderson has had individual after individual after individual Man after man after man in his life friend after friend. It seems in his life Stab him in the back Turn on him in some way Talk smack About him behind his back rail on him back bite whisper behind his back and you would think that that would make someone Cynical But every time I've met pastor Anderson, he's the total opposite of cynical. In fact, he's a very optimistic person And I will say this whenever there is quote drama in the new IFB or in your local church even Count it as a good thing count it as a blessing Which I understand that might seem a little bit crazy because as you're going through the drama You're thinking in your head. I would rather be doing anything else right now This is very stressful and I can tell you from experience when we went through the drama here at Steadfast Jacksonville to begin the year when Adam Fannin was exposed as a duplicitous lying conniving Judas Iscariot reprobate piece of garbage I Was not having a lot of fun at the beginning of the year it was stressful, but you know what? at the end of the day All things work together for good to then that love God and all things definitely work together for good in that particular Situation because we found out Adam Fannin was a phony and a Judas and Donnie Romero was exposed as well and in this situation pastor Anderson found out who his true friends are and He also found out who's been Backbiting and railing on him behind his back and it's an unfortunate situation and it's not something you want to see but at the end of the day I trust that It'll you know, it's all gonna work out and my hope is at the very least for pastor major That one day he reconsiders this decision that's what I would hope that's what I would like to see I love pastor Joe major, I think he's an excellent preacher And I would love to see him Reconsider it seems like manly Perry and Michael Johnson are a little bit more hardcore in their decision and Things like that, but I'm not I don't know for sure. And like I said, I don't want to Get into it too deep here because it's really not my place All I'm gonna say is this when it comes to pastor Anderson he's had a lot of people turn on him in his life and you would think that he would be a cynical person as a result, but he really isn't and that's the kind of that's that's something that I think we could all learn from for sure and I've been through it a little bit obviously not to that degree and Pastor Shelley has and and a lot of the pastors. It's not just pastor Anderson who's been through that It's not just pastor Anderson has had people turn on him in the ministry, but certainly pastor Shelley and other Leaders in this quote movement if you want to call it that have had people turn on them I'm sure there have been situations that haven't necessarily made it to the internet We don't know all the details on it. But if you want to be in leadership if you want to be in the ministry Unfortunately, these are the things that are gonna happen and you have to have the wherewithal to just jam you're right through it and continue moving forward and serving Christ and understanding that Jesus is the rock on which our Foundation is built on and it can't be built on man because man is gonna fail you man is gonna disappoint You man is gonna turn on you man is gonna backstab you Man is gonna backslide You can't trust in man you have to trust in God now, obviously we follow the man of God as he follows Christ But if there's one thing we can learn if you've been following this movement, especially in 2019 is that we have to place our faith in Christ and certainly follow the man of God as he follows Christ But lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. So that's all I really have to say about the elephant in the room. I Love all parties involved honestly, and I would hope that it gets Reconciled and fixed but at the end of the day though, that does not excuse backbiting and railing against pastor Anderson and I do want to make myself very clear I Love the going back to the Greek film and I did a review on the film on this very podcast In fact when it came out, I'm not gonna reiterate the same things I said before but I think after Pastor Dane Johanson put out that video about his salvation Which he shouldn't have even had to do But his testimony on salvation and things like that of what he believes about salvation. There should be no question about him in my opinion and I think the film did a lot of good going soul-winning in Cyprus getting people saved Exposing the lies of the Orthodox Church and proving the thesis that in fact the common man can understand Biblical Greek so I would go out and check out that documentary for sure But if you disagree with the film if you don't like that Dane Johanson was involved you have every right You have every right to disagree. I think that's fine And I'm sure pastor Anderson agrees with that and thinks that's fine as well but personally where I would draw the line is when you start backbiting and railing and whispering and cutting down a great man of God and It's unfortunate that That occurred in this situation but all we can do is pray that it gets resolved and Just hope that things like this don't happen as often because you just don't like to see it At all you don't like to see it happen at all and that leads me to The topic I wanted to open with friendship. What does it mean to be someone's friend? Well, let me tell you something. It doesn't involve railing and backbiting against that person it doesn't involve talking smack about that person behind their back and it definitely doesn't involve being a Two-faced liar and being flattering in front of the person's face, but then cutting them down behind their back That's not a friend. That's a backstabber and that's the behavior of a snake The Bible says in Proverbs 17 17 a friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for Adversity a friend loveth at all times And by the way, if you're in the chat room right now Please Go ahead and you know, feel free to share your thoughts on the podcast or thoughts on The quote drama going on in the movement right now or anything at all And if there's something good in there, I'll read it But anyway a friend loveth at all times and that means that your friend isn't gonna backstab you Your friend isn't gonna be a railer against you etc. It says in Proverbs 2717 iron sharpened the thiron so a man sharpened at the countenance of his friend and I've seen I've seen this happen for me personally. My testimony is this men and that I've brothers in Christ That I've been friends with since the beginning since I started going to steadfast Jacksonville health helped me out Tremendously and iron does indeed sharpen iron when you've got the brethren together and the King James Bible Open and you're talking doctrine and you're talking about the things of God Etc. You're gonna learn something new iron sharpens iron. Not only are you gonna learn something new, but it's very possible You're gonna teach someone else your brother in Christ something new as well when you go out soul winning with the brethren You're gonna learn something new whether it's the way that particular brother in Christ Articulates his gospel presentation or it's just a conversation that you're having in between doors Whatever the case may be iron does indeed sharpen iron and so having a friend who loves the Lord who's in agreement with you on the doctrines and who loves church and and just wants to learn the Bible and enjoys the hard preaching is Extremely beneficial and it's something that's gonna help you and it's something that's gonna make you happier and it's something that's gonna just give you an opportunity to learn more about the scriptures and get closer with God and Learn more Bible for sure, but here's the thing The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 9 2 are better than 1 because they have a good reward for their labor For if they fall the one will lift up his fellow But woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up Yes Like I said having that Kinship that friendship is beneficial for both of you to learn more from each other iron sharpeneth iron But you know what? It's also beneficial when you fall because then your friend can lift you up again and that's true friendship When a man falls when a friend falls a man or a woman falls a true friend Extends his or her hand over to that person and Lifts him back up again and I've been in countless situations over the years Where I've leaned on friendship to help lift me back up again Godly friendship obviously you lean on the Lord in those situations But friends definitely help and we saw Job's friends didn't help him at all Instead falsely accused him of being under the judgment of God You don't want to do that to a brother who is Struggling but when I've gotten sick or when I've gotten into situations that weren't good You know, my car broke down or I'm just down in the dumps for whatever reason friendships helped going to church helped and Fellowshipping with the people of God helped for sure and it helped to lift me up first Samuel 18 it says in verse 1 and it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the Soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul a true friend Loves another person who it happens to be that person's friend as his own soul Okay, here's what you have to understand When it comes to Pastor Anderson specifically his true friends They're not gonna stab him in the back and rail against him behind his back. They're gonna love Pastor Anderson like they love their own soul your true friends are gonna love you like they love their own soul a true best friend Obviously not every single relationship you have is gonna be That good, but we know that Jonathan His soul was knit with the soul of David and that he loved him as his own soul You know when Jonathan wouldn't rail and back by it or backstab David. He would Stick with him through thick and thin and he did that when his own father wanted to kill David out of jealousy Jonathan sided with David Proverbs 18 it says a man that hath friends must show himself friendly and there was a friend that sticketh closer than a brother So there are friends out there. They're gonna stick closer to her brother. You say well, how do I make friends? Show yourself friendly and look it doesn't mean every single person out. There is gonna want to be your friend There gonna be some people out there who you just don't click with and if they don't want to be your friend You're gonna have to just get over it and find someone else who does want to be your friend It's not a very difficult concept. A lot of kids learn it when they're young But my point is this if you show yourself friendly you're gonna make friends And in fact, you might wake make one who's closer than a brother. I have friends Who are? closer to me than Relatives blood relatives why because we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and that in and of itself Is something we have more in common with each other than people I'm related to Now how about you know you say well who is the most valuable friend I can have how about the Lord Jesus Christ Okay, the Bible says greater love hath no man than this that the man lay down his life for his friends That's exactly what Jesus did for us. But look what it says in verse 14 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you and that's exactly what I think James 2 Emphasizes as being a friend of God we know Abraham was called a friend of God because he followed the commandments because he loved the Lord and with all these earthly friendships that we have We should look at them as pictures of the friendship that we should really be focused on which is the friendship that we have with The Lord Jesus Christ and that's kind of what I said earlier Is that man is gonna backstab you man is gonna disappoint you man is gonna backslide and break promises and rail Etc But you know what the Lord Jesus Christ is never gonna turn on you because he is the rock and if you want to Be the friend of God Then follow his commandments. That's what Jesus said in John 15 14. Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you You When it comes to godly friendship Ultimately God himself Is really the only one you can rely on and be a hundred percent sure is gonna be with you till the end But that doesn't mean you're not gonna have earthly friendships that sort of picture that relationship in the sense that they're Strong and that Your best friend in this life someone who truly cares about you and truly loves you and and and wants to see you succeed Okay, but that person will stick with you It's possible that you do meet people who stick with you until the end until this life is over But they're gonna be other relationships that you form That end and they might end Prematurely in a negative way because they backstab you or turn on you and if you're not founded on that rock If you're not leaning on that rock, which is Christ then it could severely hinder your Christian life Look at Pastor Anderson and all of the adversity he's been through and yet he's still standing Why is that because he's leaning on the rock? Look at Pastor Shelley. Look at Pastor Jimenez. Look at these other pastors They lean on the rock and I'm not saying it isn't difficult for them I'm not saying that it's not hard for them to go through what they go through But at the end of the day because they're leaning on the Lord Jesus Christ They're still standing and they're still preaching the word if you don't want your Christian life To be severely negatively impacted by people turning on you and stabbing you on the in the back and railing on you then you have to lean on the Rock, it's as simple as that and I don't to be overly cynical here Like I said, there are gonna be people who stick with you till the end. There's no doubt about that But they're gonna be others who turn on you. Look at a hit the fell with David when Absalom his own son Wanted to dethrone his father when Absalom wanted to take the kingdom over for himself Because he was self-willed a hit the fell Who David relied on for counsel went after Absalom Judas Iscariot with the Lord Jesus Christ Guaranteed the Apostles felt backstabbed there as well having not recognized that Judas who was in their midst Was a backstabber from the beginning and of course the son of perdition but My point when it comes to godly friendship is this godly friendship is based on the Word of God It's based on the Bible godly friendship lasts until the bitter end godly friendship Doesn't involve backbiting and railing and whispering Behind another individual's back and you know what I'll add this point godly friendship doesn't involve envy and I think at the end of the day when you look at the Elephant in the room is what I called it when you look at What went on this week and you look at the the pastors who decided to cut fellowship With pastors and over the years not just recently but over the years I think we could point to envy as being one of the root causes I think there are people out there who are envious of those Who end up succeeding? Excuse me I had to uh Had to cough there. I think there are people out there who are envious of those who succeed in the Chris in the Christian life No doubt about that There are people out there who get envious at the brother in Christ who's getting Opportunities to go out and preach who's getting opportunities to be exalted in the ministry There are people out there who get envious of that and it gets in the way of their friendship. Well, you know what true Godly friendship means that your friend is gonna say hey god bless you. I'm happy for you I'm happy you're getting those opportunities. I'm happy that you're getting a chance to go preach at these other churches I'm happy to see you get exalted because I love you as a brother in Christ It doesn't get envious and doesn't get this immature little toddler attitude That turns on someone just because he's successful. That's wicked as hell and a true friend isn't gonna do that a True friend is gonna West you envy and when he sees his friend being lifted up and exalted by God Bless that person help that person be exalted even further So I just kind of wanted to talk a little about true friendship because I look at what happened this week and I look at Everything that's going on and look I'm not saying that You shouldn't hold your friends accountable and I'm not saying it's wrong to disagree Of course You should disagree with your friends respectfully and go back and forth and critical thinking is a great thing Pastor Shelley, I want you guys all to check out if you haven't pastor Shelley's sermon from yesterday. Don't become a cult in which he talked about how This quote movement and specifically his church is Not a cult and that you don't want to treat it as a cult and he described ways in which you can potentially treat it as a cult and so one of the ways you could do that is By treating critical thinking as if it's always a negative thing, you know, I've had pastor Shelley say to me Hey, look, it's alright if you disagree on some things that's fine fungus We're not talking about the fundamentals of the faith here as long as we're not talking about the foundation of the Christian faith As long as we're not talking about the you know Basics here salvation by grace through faith alone the Trinity deity of Christ Then you can disagree. It's fine He welcomes it. In fact, he likes to have Conversations constructive conversations with people who might not see exactly eye to eye with him And look there are gonna be things that that I disagree with some of the pastors on and that's fine That's what friends do is they have respectful disagreements but you know what friends don't go behind other friends backs and talk crap about them and back bite and rail and They certainly aren't envious of their friends You know When Gideon delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of the Midianites It was the Ephraimites who said hey, how come you didn't call us to the battle when in fact They should have just been happy that Gideon won that Israel won You should just be happy to see Pastor Jimenez succeeding pastor Dave Burzen succeeding pastor Patrick Boyle succeeding pastor grace and Fritz Succeeding or even just a lay person in the church Getting A chance to go preach at these different churches or maybe God's blessing them with a whole bunch of children Doesn't matter what the case is You should be happy to see a godly man or a godly woman succeeding in the Christian life And that's what a true friend is gonna do. It's not gonna be envious Mmm backstabbers and Two-faced people For lack of a better term piss me off They piss me off That's why I wanted to talk about what it means to be a true friend to start the show This evening. I want to read a few comments from the chat room Excuse me Dustin loan Says envy is what it is. Excuse me. I'm gonna mute myself to cough for a moment here. I apologize folks You All right, I'm good so He says envy is what it you know what? I agree with you brother Dustin loan. And in fact brother Dustin. I hope that you Don't cut your cell phone service off because I'd like to get you on this podcast at some point very soon Contributor over at framing the world Let's see, what else do we have going on in the chat room there? Powder keg says st. Nicholas should have nothing to do with Christmas. I wouldn't even pay any mind to it Well, if you check out last week's edition of the podcast, I went on a little bit of a rant You know, I could barely talk about Santa Claus Satan Claus Heath Hendricks, he says I liked visiting temple Baptist Church, but maybe I should head south to Jacksonville, Florida We would love to have you here in Jacksonville brother Heath Hendricks if you want to come visit us steadfast Jacksonville for sure Newy geek says new Newy Greek. In fact says this men shouldn't gossip I've done it and it's wrong and I'm ashamed of that sin but as a pastor where we hold this office in such high regard, it's pathetic childish and Affeminate totally agree Men shouldn't gossip. It is effeminate and it's okay if you've made that mistake in the past totally understand that but Just Move on from it forsake that and move on. All right, let me speaking of moving on I want to talk about the quote main event topic of the show tonight dealing with unsaved family over the holidays interacting with being around unsaved family In the holiday season Christmas time How is it that you can have Christmas dinner, how are you supposed to have Christmas dinner with people who are unsafe Well, I want to talk a little bit about that because at the end of the day we should be Ambassadors for Christ and what does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ? Well, it means that you represent Christ in such a way that the unsaved look at you and they see someone who's got it together and It makes them wonder a little bit about you Don't Be a jerk that's what I'm gonna start out with don't be a jerk if you want to deal with Unsaved friends and family members over Christmas Let's say you go to a Christmas dinner and most of if not all of the people there are unsaved If you have unsaved family there at Christmas dinner and you're going and you're fellowshipping with people who aren't it First of all, that doesn't make you an ecumenical by the way, I just wanted to point that out But don't be a jerk the Bible says in Romans chapter 12 if it be possible as much as lieth in you live Peaceably with all men you can't say with to yourself. You know what? I'm so new yfb Then I'm gonna shun all my unsaved family members and I'm not gonna speak to him at all. I'm shunning all of them I'm deleting them all from my Facebook friends list and blocking them all out of my life Now obviously there are situations where you should Separate for example, if they're a sodomite or something like that. I get it fine. I'm not saying there isn't a situation To separate from family. I believe there is for sure But here's what I am saying when you go and you spend time with your family over Christmas be an ambassador for Christ Be a positive influence on them leave them with a positive impact plant a seed at the very least at the very least plant a seed and You can't plant a seed if you act like a jerk If you if you do some hard preaching on the dinner table while everyone's trying to enjoy Christmas dinner It's not gonna work out for you very much. That's not gonna plant a seed. In fact, it's just gonna turn them away And they're not gonna get saved now that doesn't mean compromise and I'll get to that in a little bit We should never compromise but when it comes to dealing with unsaved friends and family members over Christmas Don't be caustic. Don't be sarcastic About things with them because you know what you used to be where they're at. You didn't come out of the womb a new IFB Listener who just knew all the doctrines. Okay And by the way, no one knows all the doctrines perfectly. We're all still learning. We're all still trying to get better. We're all still trying to understand the Bible better than we did yesterday, so don't get puffed up and When it comes to unsafe friends and family member You don't want to interact with them in this sarcastic and caustic way The Bible says in Colossians chapter 5 But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy. Peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness Temperance against such there is no law You got to be long-suffering with them. You got to be meek You got to be you gotta have temperance exhibit temperance exhibit meekness with these people When you hang out with them over Christmas if you happen to be around unsaved people now if everyone you know is saved And all your friends and family I Should say if all your friends and family are saved and that's you're gonna hang out with over Christmas This isn't a problem that you're gonna have but if you have people who don't believe the gospel who don't know the Bible who don't even know why Jesus died on the cross in Order for them to be red-pilled Then you can't be a jerk be polite again. There are situations where you need to separate I'm not saying there aren't but when you just have your everyday Unsaved guy eating Christmas dinner with you Then try and explain to them the gospel in such a way that it's palatable for them And that's actually the next thing I wanted to talk about speak the truth in a respectful way so that it's palatable so that they Understand it Jude says in verse 21 keep yourselves in the love of God Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life and of some have compassion Making a difference have compassion on Your unsaved friends and family if you're gonna have dinner with them over Christmas Take the time to in a meek way and in a loving way explain to them why Jesus even died in the first place why did he have to die on the cross and was buried and Rise again, why did that happen? What is the gospel? Verse 23 and others saved with fear of pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh and You know what? There's nothing wrong with talking about hell either. There's nothing right? You know what that is loving when you give the gospel you talk about hell every single time Because it's loving to do. So you're saving them with fear. You're explaining that Hell is eternal Torment and punishment and fire and when people recognize the horror of hell It might make them more likely if they're sane to want to get saved and So we should have compassion but we should also make sure that we don't shy away from the truth and Again, people don't seem to understand anything these days About the Bible because I truly believe we're living in the midst of the falling away So when you're hanging out with people who don't know anything, they don't know who Jesus is. They don't understand the Christmas story Now is a better time than it's the best time of the year You are more likely to get away with talking about spiritual things and a family get-together over Christmas than in any other time because Spiritual things tend to be on the minds of carnal people during Christmas time It's not just all about Santa Claus and all the rest of it In fact, that's actually one of the reasons why I hate Santa so much because it's a distraction From the things of God over Christmas time, but still even your regular worldly unsaved person is gonna think a little bit about the spiritual aspect of Christmas and what the religious aspect of Christmas is all about and so be that person who Through love and compassion and meekness and long-suffering ness if that's even a word Explains to him the Christmas story that his name is Jesus Not Yeshua, not some Judaizing name that his name is Jesus Explained the gospel explain why Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins that he bore our sins on himself The Bible says you know quote some scripture he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God and him and explained that he died on the cross and was buried and rose again and the reason why we Celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of God manifest in the flesh. You could talk about the Trinity Over Christmas dinner, you could talk about the Christmas story. You could talk about Symbolism of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament perhaps that's kind of a cool topic You could talk about all sorts of things the deity of Christ Talk about that. The Bible teaches Jesus is God But do so in in a way that is palatable for people that they're not turned off by you and They're willing to accept that truth or at least more likely to accept the truth Obviously you don't want to get into too difficult of a topic when it comes to Old Testament types of Jesus and everything like that Obviously now the next thing I want to talk about is don't compromise on your beliefs So with everything that I just said in mind Okay Speaking the truth and love being kind under your unsafe family loving your unsafe and loving on your unsafe family members And by the way, let me just say this And I agree pastor Shelley said this yesterday. I'm gonna just repeat what he said because I wholeheartedly agree It shouldn't be that you're going around cutting fellowship with all your friends and family because they're not in lockstep It should be that they're cutting fellowship with you because yay under all that will live godly in Christ Jesus Shall suffer persecution So you living for Christ should make them want to cut fellowship with you as a result. You can't be going around I Think cutting fellowship with anyone and everyone that you that you want to just so you can feel spiritual That's not what it's about We should want to reach out to our unsaved friends and family and get them saved and so with everything in mind that I've talked about being loving and kind and and wanting to foster that Relationship with them and wanting to show them the truth of God's Word Wanted to explain the Christmas story and teach them the true Christmas story without Santa Claus the big fat pedophile looking creep And The reindeer and all the rest of it without all that garbage showing them the true Christmas story in the gospel and the truth of God's Word and maybe even Maria YouTube 100 said this in the chatroom. I agree Ask him to watch a 10-minute Bible way to heaven video All of it doing it in love Okay with all that in mind Don't compromise on what you believe Here's someone who didn't compromise on what he believed the Bible tells us in first Kings 15 11 and Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord as did David his father and he took away the sodomites Out of the land and removed all the idols that his father's had made Asa took away the sodomites out of the land But he didn't just do that it didn't end It didn't end with Asa taking the sodomites out of the land which by the way He deserves a round of applause for that. I hate sodomites, but Look averse I'll read verse 13 and also Mayaka his mother even her he removed from being Queen because she had made an idol in a grove and Asa destroyed her idol and burnt it by the brook kydron Folks Aces own flesh and blood his own blood relative. What does he do removes her from being Queen? It's possible to love under your family It's possible to want to be meek and kind under your family and hope that they get saved But you know what else? It's also necessary at times for you to put your foot down Separate only if you have to if it's a homo or something like that Or some other situation where it warrants it But what I'm trying to say is this it's possible to be to be loving under your family without Compromising now, what does that mean? That means that if you're being enticed to commit wicked sin if you're being enticed To go drink alcohol to go to the bar if you're being enticed to watch some wicked filthy disgusting Hollywood movie there's nothing wrong with saying I'm out of here. I'm gonna go celebrate someplace else. I'm gonna go fellowship someplace else There's nothing wrong with taking a stand just like Asa did And I'm not telling you that being loving and kind under your unsaved family Necessitates compromising. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. You should do both you should both not compromise on the Word of God and Be loving under your unsaved family and want to teach your family about the Lord Jesus Christ Because again people today don't even know why we even celebrate Christmas There are a bunch of worldly people out there who've been blinded by the devil on the gospel of Jesus Christ and on Christmas itself How about the atheists celebrating Christmas They don't even believe in God and They're celebrating a holiday about the birth of Christ It's ridiculous But anyway Christmas has been Secularized to the point that worldly people Celebrate it and they don't even know why but you can change that you can bring Christ back you can talk about the birth of Christ you could talk about the gospel you could talk about biblical truth and You can do it in a loving way while not compromising on your beliefs Look if I go to some unsafe family members house, and there's a faggot there. I'm out I'm not gonna be celebrating Christmas there I'll go back home Celebrate Christmas with my wife Christmas dinner with my wife and it'll be just fine. She's a better cook anyway her ham Actually, she's never made ham for me before so I can't say that her ham is very good cuz I've never tried it Hopefully when she does make it for the first time it'll be good But her chicken is excellent. I love her pasta Etc. She's a great cook. I have no problem. Just hanging out with her So you don't have to compromise by being loving and Meek under your family, but ultimately here's the the biggest point. I think we all can take out of this podcast tonight It's that when we're hanging out with our unsafe family members and friends this Christmas season if you're if you even have any Let's make sure that we leave that get-together Let's make sure that we leave that event at the very least having planted some sort of seed It's possible that you're not gonna get an opportunity to get anyone saved But at the very least leave a seed that could be watered one day and the only way you can do that is not by Being a jerk. It's not by being prideful and arrogant and pushing people away knowledge puffeth up the Bible says it's by speaking the truth and love and meekness and kindness and Loving on those people because you know what you used to be one of them, too I used to be one of them that we all did And so if we do that if we plant a seed Perhaps it could be watered one day and maybe next year at the next Christmas You can get that person saved Alright folks, I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas tonight And I hope that your friend your family members are saved and that you're gonna go celebrate Christmas with family members who do believe on The Lord Jesus Christ, but if you don't have family members who are saved and you are gonna go Celebrate Christmas and have Christmas dinner with people who don't believe the gospel. I just hope that you're able to plant a seed and that you're able to speak the truth and love and Maybe even get that person saved show them the Bible way to heaven video and you never know what can happen That's pretty much gonna do it for the program tonight I'll be back again next Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time 8 o'clock central For the year-end edition of the show looking back at what a crazy year 2019 has been Man for me personally. It's been a roller coaster it's been a roller coaster for steadfast Jacksonville for steadfast in Fort Worth, Texas for faithful word and other churches as well as Things just have just there's never a dull moment, but I love it and I say bring on the next fight Some people probably are too happy with me saying but you know what? I don't care bring it on. I Don't care what the devil is gonna throw at us in 2020 I had confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and I have confidence in my leadership at Steadfast Baptist Church that we'll be able to swap those darts out of midair and keep trucking forward For the cause of Christ. I love fighting the good fight of faith and I hope to have more opportunities to do so in 2020 until next Monday. Thank you all very much for tuning in. I love you all I am continuing to work on the sensor documentary Which is why there hasn't been as much content on my youtube channel lately the documentary my part at least is Getting there. It's get it certainly closer to being done than it is not so it'll be done before you know it and then the channel should be back to where it used to be in terms of the regularity of Uploads, I'll see you guys again Monday at 9 Eastern 8 o'clock central. God bless you all and Merry Christmas You You You You You You You