1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,720 Listen to me. Every action you take is a vote 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:09,360 for the person you want to be. In other words, what time do you 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,560 go to bed at? In other words, what do you do 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,360 with your spare time? How long do you procrastinate 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,080 for? What time do you get up at? 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:19,560 How long do you pray for? How long do you read the Bible? 7 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:24,480 All of these actions will form who you will be in the future 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,600 and in my opinion, there is no greater action. 9 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,040 There is nothing that will form you more than the people you 10 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,240 spend time with. It was once said by a wiser man 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,800 than me, show me your friends and I will show you the future. 12 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,160 So today I want to give you 5 types of people. 13 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,200 You should avoid five types of people at the word of God and 14 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,120 God himself would say be wary of these people. 15 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,480 These are the kinds of people you should keep at arm's length 16 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,400 at the very least. Now, if this is your first time 17 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,960 here, my name's Joe Kirby. I'm a very simple man and I just 18 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,800 love reading the Bible and I love drinking coffee. 19 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,880 If that's something you love to do, well, please do join me. 20 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,440 Put the kettle on. Get yourself a nice hot drink. 21 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,080 If you're not a hot drink fan, go and get yourself a nice cold 22 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,160 beverage. And let's study the word of God 23 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,880 together. And let's have a nice brew, as 24 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,760 we say over here in England. Oh, and by the way, if you can 25 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,480 see some faces up here, these are people who've bought one of 26 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,480 our mugs. If you'd like your face up here, 27 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,880 I'll send you an e-mail. Once you bought one of the mugs, 28 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,080 you can see a link just below you of the of where you can get 29 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:35,160 them. OK, the first type of person 30 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,000 that the Word of God says you should have nothing to do with 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,800 this person is the divisive person. 32 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,440 Just turn in your Bibles to Titus 3, verse 10. 33 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:53,560 Titus 3 verse 10, warn A divisive person once and then 34 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:58,120 warn them a second time after that have nothing to do with 35 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,440 them. So if you want to be obedient to 36 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,320 the word of God, if there's someone who is divisive, you 37 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,040 warn them once you say, listen, this behaviour is not 38 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:08,960 acceptable. What you're doing right now, 39 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,160 you're divisive, you're causing harm. 40 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,320 I cannot be part of this. If you're going to continue 41 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,080 doing this, you warn them once, you warn them a second time, and 42 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,800 then if they continue in their behaviour, you have nothing to 43 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,480 do with them. Now, the actual context of this 44 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,160 passage is he's talking to the church and any of you who've 45 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,000 been in any kind of church work or just spent time in church, 46 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,440 you know that the bond of peace, as the Bible says that the 47 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,480 spirit of unity is a very fragile thing. 48 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,520 It's a precious thing. It's a beautiful thing when how 49 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,840 wonderful it is, how blessed it is when brothers can dwell 50 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,960 together in unity. That is such a precious thing, 51 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,840 but in church life it is, it's so easy to break that bond. 52 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,280 It's just one person can come in and years and years of 53 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,160 fellowship, years and years of love can be broken. 54 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,120 And that is exactly what Paul is warning Titus. 55 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,080 He's saying, listen, listen, if if there is anyone who comes 56 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,520 into this church and they're causing slander, they're 57 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,600 gossiping, they're causing problems in the church, warn 58 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:13,200 them once, warn them a second time. 59 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:14,960 And after that, they need to be put out. 60 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,240 They, they need to get out of the picture right now because 61 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,960 they are going to damage the church and they're going to 62 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:21,120 bring us. There's a whole lot of 63 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,480 casualties with them. There's a lot of people in the 64 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,440 church who are going to be hurt if this is not dealt with 65 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,800 quickly. But hey, now I also do believe 66 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,800 we can take stock from this as Christians in our daily life. 67 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,320 There are people and you know them as well as I do. 68 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,520 Perhaps you're that very person listening right now and they 69 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,600 gossip. They just love tearing people 70 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,520 down. They whisper things. 71 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,480 They have you heard about this person? 72 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,200 You've not heard the news, have you? 73 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,000 Yeah. I don't want to get into this. 74 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,400 I don't want to be a gossip. Whenever someone says that, you 75 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,080 know, there's trouble aired. I don't mean to gossip, but I 76 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,800 just felt you should know this just so that, you know, you can 77 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,240 be informed. And if you allow that gossip to 78 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,760 be a channel, you are being an enabler. 79 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,160 You are enabling that person to sin. 80 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,240 And that's why we've got to warn these people who are tearing 81 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,160 down people. You know, the kind of person 82 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,920 nothing's ever good enough, Nothing ever works out. 83 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,040 That person's a problem. This person's a problem. 84 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,920 You need to be careful. You need to be careful if 85 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,960 perhaps you're in a relationship and there's someone who is 86 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,960 trying to pull you away from your loved ones. 87 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,280 Perhaps you've been really close to your mum and dad for years 88 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,080 and maybe you've got a new boyfriend or a new girlfriend or 89 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,320 even a spouse and they start whispering things that you've 90 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,560 never noticed about your parents before and they start whispering 91 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,800 that they're dividing. Now obviously if that's your 92 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,480 spouse, you can't just, you can't just get rid of them like 93 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,200 that. You know, you need to have very 94 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,040 good grounds for divorce. We're actually going to talk 95 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,480 about divorce a little bit in a moments time. 96 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,520 But you know what I'm trying to say, if there's someone who's 97 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:57,080 trying to split you up from your friends and isolate you, well, 98 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,480 actually there's some patterns that are quite concerning that 99 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,600 that person's doing. And I would actually bring 100 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,840 someone older into the picture, someone wise, maybe a counsellor 101 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,800 to say, listen, I'm not comfortable with how this person 102 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,000 is is trying to separate me from my friends and family. 103 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,160 So be aware of that person. Now I'm more of a lie to know, 104 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,600 as many of you know, me and Emma, we met on a drama course 105 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,960 at university. We were theatre buddies. 106 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,840 We loved drama and as we got into a relationship we quickly 107 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:28,040 started at a Youth Theatre, we called it Pie Youth Theatre. 108 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,520 It stood for passionate, inspiring entertainment and it 109 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,440 was a great time. I think we did it for about four 110 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,680 or five years and we had children, primary school aged 111 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,280 all the way up to high school and we taught them how to act. 112 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:42,840 We did shows like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Alice in 113 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:44,320 Wonderland. It was a great time. 114 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,240 There's one of the parents and Emma's mum helped us as well. 115 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,040 She used to help out as well in the background because she was a 116 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,240 teacher. And there's one of the parents 117 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,920 who really did complain a lot about things. 118 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,440 Nothing was ever good enough. The costumes that we got for the 119 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,400 show, that wasn't good enough. The set design wasn't good 120 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,480 enough. I feel like the price is too 121 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,040 much. Even though it was, you know, 5 122 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,240 lbs for two hours, which, you know, even back then was like an 123 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,600 absolute bargain. You know, they complained. 124 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,760 She would always complain. And me and Emma, we were only 125 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:17,240 young. We actually started it when we 126 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,480 were 19. Emma was 19, I was 20. 127 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,520 And we did it in our early 20s. And because this mother was 128 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,800 older than us, we kind of felt intimidated and we'd feel like 129 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:29,440 we were always trying to impress her. 130 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,400 And then Emma's mum said something about this mother. 131 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,440 I don't want to name names, but she said so. 132 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,680 And so whatever you do, it will never be good enough. 133 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,800 She said whatever you do, she will never think better of you 134 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:46,160 anyway. So just get on with how you want 135 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,720 to do things because whatever you do, she'll never think any 136 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,520 better of you. And for me as a young 20 137 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,280 something year old, that was so freeing because I thought, it's 138 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:57,280 true. There's some people, they won't 139 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:00,200 think any if you do everything. If you pulled out a red carpet 140 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,160 for them to pulled out all the stops, they'd still complain. 141 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:04,600 Why? Because they're divisive. 142 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,320 Why? Because they're a negative 143 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,440 person and you can't help some of those kinds of people. 144 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,880 And in fact, you just need to do your best before the Lord. 145 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,840 Try and do your best and forget about all the haters basically. 146 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:18,320 I suppose that's what I'm trying to say. 147 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,080 Because they still won't think any better of you. 148 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,960 OK #2 the second kind of person we should avoid, Lloyd, is the 149 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,040 fool. Turn in your Bibles to Proverbs 150 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:33,480 23 verse 9. Proverbs 23 verse 9. 151 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:45,120 Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words, 152 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,480 and you might remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 153 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,320 He said do not cast your pearls before swines. 154 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,760 There are some people and it doesn't matter what you do, they 155 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,920 just won't listen. Doesn't matter how many times 156 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,760 you tell them how much time you spend with them, they will just 157 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,960 love their folly and you're basically wasting your time. 158 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,280 You're wasting your breath because they're never going to 159 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:16,760 listen. Now, at this point, I do want to 160 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,880 sort of have a little disclaimer with any of these people, not 161 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,400 just the fool, but with any of these types of people. 162 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,080 We ought to be long-suffering as Christians. 163 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,520 We are to be generous with our time. 164 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,480 We are to be patient, loving, and kind. 165 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,039 And we're not expecting people to be perfect. 166 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:34,039 We shouldn't have this golden barrier. 167 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:37,000 And if people don't meet it, no, sorry, you're staying away from 168 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:38,520 me. I'm, you know, that's the way 169 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,679 the people of the world sort of think, you know, cut off anyone 170 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:43,960 who's slightly toxic because you're going to glow better. 171 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,360 Everything's going to be better if you get rid of all of these 172 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,680 people. No, we're not trying to be 173 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:50,880 worldly here. I'm trying to talk about people 174 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:55,400 who are just consistently, you're trying your best day by 175 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,840 day, and they're consistently ignoring your advice. 176 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:00,760 We need to be wary of those people. 177 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,120 Vinnie Commons, who I often talk about St. 178 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,280 Preacher, evangelist, the man who who mentored me and trained 179 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,320 me, he used to say, are you fat? Are you a fat disciple? 180 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:13,360 What on earth does that mean? Fat? 181 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,680 It stands for, it's an acronym. F stands for faithful. 182 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,400 Are you someone who's faithful? Are you faithful to the word of 183 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:20,960 God? Will you be faithful to the 184 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:22,960 teaching of the Bible? Will you be faithful? 185 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,600 This person who's trying to mentor and train you a stands 186 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,560 for are you available? It's no good if you're working 5 187 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:32,920 jobs and you're trying to input into someones life and they're 188 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,720 always busy or they're always playing sport and things like 189 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,000 that. Is this person available? 190 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,760 Whatever it is. So with Vinny, for instance, he 191 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,400 would say, right, the first, third and 5th Saturday of the 192 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,160 month, we're going to do open airs. 193 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:47,760 I want to train young people in, in St. evangelism. 194 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,480 Are you going to be available on those Saturday afternoons? 195 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,440 And I myself did make myself available to be able to be, to 196 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,800 learn how to, to do evangelism. And then the T this is the most 197 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,360 important one. Are they teachable? 198 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,880 Is this person just full of their own wisdom? 199 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,760 Are they just full of their own folly, their own pride? 200 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,200 Do they just think they know best or are they able to humble 201 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:16,160 themselves and to listen to teaching again, United Beach 202 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,840 Missions, which is kind of the kind of circles that I'm talking 203 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,840 about with Vinnie and, and, and my evangelism. 204 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,240 United Beach Missions years ago used to say, if someone gives 205 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,360 you some kind of criticism, don't quickly say, oh, I defend 206 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,240 myself. No, no, you don't understand it. 207 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,400 You've misunderstood that. I do this because of this. 208 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:38,680 No, be slow to speak, don't defend yourself and just take it 209 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:41,160 in. Is there any truth in this 210 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,280 feedback? Is there any truth in this 211 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,680 criticism? Because it might just be that 212 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,960 the Holy Spirit is trying to show you something. 213 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,720 He's trying to chip off an edge in your life. 214 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,840 Just hear it, be slow to speak and just wonder, is there any 215 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:56,680 truth in this? And that's it. 216 00:10:56,680 --> 00:11:00,400 Are we teachable now? Of course, we have got to stand 217 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,440 on the word of God. And this is a danger for young 218 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,440 people, particularly as they can be swept by every kind of 219 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,240 doctrine. And with all the different 220 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,120 voices, particularly on social media from all the different 221 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,240 denominations, you've got to be careful because you don't want 222 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,080 to think, oh, well, I, I suddenly changed the teaching 223 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:19,240 that I've held to for 1520 years because this person on social 224 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,280 media has put a good case to it. You've got to be firm on the 225 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,480 words and you've got to read. That's why we really must plow 226 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,960 through the Word of to God. We must read good books on 227 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,240 systematic theology. We must know the Word very, very 228 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,440 closely so we're not swept around. 229 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,240 And then we can be teachable when it's at the right time, 230 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,200 when it's correct teaching, and we can be discerning. 231 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,160 And suppose that's what I'm trying to say. 232 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,120 So are you a fat disciple? You let me know in the comments 233 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:49,480 section right now #3 The third kind of person you should avoid 234 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,600 is the user. The user Now just turn to 235 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:59,480 Proverbs 19, verse 4, Proverbs 19, and verse 4. 236 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:07,760 Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of 237 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,080 the poor person deserts them. You don't need me to tell you 238 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,560 that people are fickle. You've dealt with fickle people 239 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:17,960 in your life. I've dealt with fickle people in 240 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,360 my life. Perhaps at times we ourselves 241 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,480 have been fickle. Let's not point the finger at 242 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,800 others when we ourselves can be like that at times in our own 243 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,040 sinful human nature. But there are people who are 244 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,320 fair weather friends. You know when the sun's shining, 245 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,960 when things are going well, that's when they want to be near 246 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,960 you. But when the storms are there, 247 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,040 when you're in those dark seasons when everyone's deserted 248 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,320 you, where are those people then? 249 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,760 We don't want people to be like leeches. 250 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,960 We've got to be so careful of those who just want to Leech off 251 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,400 you take everything they can. Another way of putting it is 252 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,800 like a McDonald's soda cup or a McDonald's milkshake. 253 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,600 You've got the straw and you just, you slurp all of it. 254 00:12:58,600 --> 00:12:59,880 You get, you drink the whole drink. 255 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,000 And then once you're done with it, you throw it away. 256 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,760 That's how some people will, will treat you. 257 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:06,800 They'll, they'll suck all of the life out of you. 258 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:08,240 They'll take all of the energy from you. 259 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,480 And then once you've got nothing left, they discard you and they 260 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,520 throw you away. That is a cruel kind of person. 261 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,720 And you need to be careful with those kinds of people. 262 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:18,680 And again, I just want to emphasize this. 263 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,400 I can't say that God says never, ever spend time with these, 264 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,440 avoid these kinds of people because again, we want to win 265 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,440 the lost. We want to win those people who 266 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,320 want to help the, the, the Christian who might be 267 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:31,800 struggling with sin. But I just think we've got to be 268 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,480 incredibly wise when we deal with these kinds of people who 269 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:41,200 only want us for our success. Some of you have watched my 270 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,040 YouTube channel, Off the Curve Ministries. 271 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,120 This is just my second channel, which is, as you know, kind of 272 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,280 more laid back. But some of you've been watching 273 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,880 me for a number of years. And if you've been on this 274 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,800 journey with me, I started back in 2016. 275 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,120 So we've been, we've done a good ten years now. 276 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,320 Well, it was 2015 when we started the channel, but in 277 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,560 2020, that's when my channel really blew up. 278 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,360 And one of the things that really hurt actually, and it 279 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:10,440 took me years to get over this, were people who, again, they 280 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,960 kept me at arm's length or they totally ignored me. 281 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,640 I'd go to conferences and, and Christian conferences, if you're 282 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,520 a young person or you're single, they can be the most loneliest 283 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,280 place in the entire world. And I'd go to these Christian 284 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,120 conferences on my own. My wife would be working in the 285 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,040 school. So I, I was going there as a 286 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,920 young evangelist and you'd eat meals on your own. 287 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,880 You'd have to go to all the effort to talk to people and 288 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,440 you'd see, you know, people and they'd have the groups, the 289 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,320 clicks and things. And I was on my own. 290 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,160 I find it really difficult. When my YouTube channel blew up 291 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,320 and I went to the same conference, honestly, it made me 292 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,920 sick how people had changed. People came up to me and said, 293 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,240 so this is my testimony. I've done this, this and this, 294 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,800 all these crazy things. Would you be interested in 295 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,480 interviewing me sometime or Oh, YouTube? 296 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,200 I've seen you've blown up on YouTube and oh, come and talk to 297 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:06,400 me. Or how do you do this? 298 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,240 I'd like to know how to get all of these numbers. 299 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:09,960 Can you help me? Can you give me a shout out? 300 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,280 Will you give me, you know, all these people who didn't care 301 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,200 about me at all, gave me no time of day. 302 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,880 Suddenly when there was success, they were there. 303 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,520 And it hurts because you just think how fickle are people? 304 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,880 But again, I don't want to judge anyone because would I be like 305 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:26,760 that in their position? I don't know. 306 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:28,880 But just be aware of those kind of people. 307 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,240 Some of you, you've got a great position in life. 308 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,080 Perhaps you've got some money, you know, you've become wealthy 309 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:36,680 and you've seen our people change. 310 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,560 Some of you perhaps, as I said, maybe in church you've suddenly 311 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,000 got a new position. You're an elder or you're a 312 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,880 Deacon and suddenly people want to chat to you. 313 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,720 Or maybe I don't know you, you have got a few followers or 314 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,560 you've done well in life or you've done well at sport, those 315 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,120 kinds of things. Just be aware of these kinds of 316 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,560 people. And it's not selfish. 317 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,040 It's not loving to have boundaries just to make sure 318 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:09,160 that we're not like being used. Just before I move on, a classic 319 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,720 example of this is Judas Iscariot. 320 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,840 And I think there are a few Judases around in the world 321 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,640 today. Judas didn't really care about 322 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,440 Jesus, didn't really love the Lords. 323 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,280 He just wanted to be around the money purse and he used Jesus 324 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,000 fame, all the people who were giving money to help them and 325 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:28,920 all the people who were drawing close. 326 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,360 He used Jesus to extract to get what he could. 327 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,720 And when he thought he could get his biggest paycheck, he 328 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,160 betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, just discarded him. 329 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:44,920 Guys, be careful of those kinds of people and let none of us be 330 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,200 like that. Let us be good friends thick and 331 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,600 thin, you know, like we say in our marriage vows, for better, 332 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,720 for worse, we should be like that with friends. 333 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,240 If someone's going through trouble, maybe that this is a 334 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:58,240 call right now. Maybe God has placed a 335 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,240 particular person on your heart right now. 336 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,160 And you know, I've neglected that friendship. 337 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,000 We were really close when things are going well, but now they've 338 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,839 got that diagnosis. So now that their families has 339 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:13,160 left them or now they're not, well, no drawn near to that 340 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,760 person, maybe you need to call that person this very day. 341 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:23,280 Now #4 I can say with total conviction is someone that God 342 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:26,040 does want you to avoid. If you're looking for marriage, 343 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,160 if you're looking for a relationship, God does not want 344 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,240 you to be with someone who is not a believer. 345 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,440 He doesn't want you to be unequally yoked as the Scripture 346 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,080 says. Just please turn in your Bible 347 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,360 to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14. 348 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,040 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. 349 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,200 For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? 350 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,200 What fellowship can light have with darkness? 351 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,760 Now anyone who's been a Christian for any amount of time 352 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,200 will probably know this verse. Well, it's quite a, a very 353 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,200 famous verse. And if my memory serves me 354 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,880 correctly, the idea of being unequally yoked was the idea of 355 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,520 you've got 2 oxen and here you've got the yoke, you've got 356 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,840 this, this bar that's going on the shoulders. 357 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:22,000 And if you had like a massive big oxen and then a tiny one, 358 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,160 then the yoke would be off center. 359 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,160 If I've got that wrong, please forgive me. 360 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:29,080 You can let me know in the comments section. 361 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,680 As you know, this is very unscripted. 362 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,640 This is very raw as we go through this message. 363 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,280 But I actually want to say something that I think is not 364 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,680 going to be very popular. And again, you can correct me if 365 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,880 you think I'm wrong, but I think this verse goes even further. 366 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,480 I'll give you an example. When I first became a Christian, 367 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,960 I'd only been a Christian for a few weeks and I was being 368 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,440 encouraged by a Christian camp. I was being encouraged by 369 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,520 Christian leaders to go out with a girl who'd been a Christian 370 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,760 for 10 years. And, you know, we liked each 371 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,080 other. But I actually said, I feel like 372 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,520 I'm unequally yoked. And, and this leader said, no, 373 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,200 no, no, that's just talking about an unbeliever and a 374 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:11,640 Christian. It doesn't matter if you're, 375 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,920 you're, you know, if you've only been a Christian 5 minutes, you 376 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,120 can still go out with this person because you're still a 377 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,120 Christian. And I'm not saying this can 378 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,120 never work, but I do think, I do think there's, I think we've got 379 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,080 to be so careful here. Let me give you another example. 380 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,960 Say you're a Christian and you love evangelism. 381 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,200 Every Saturday you're out sharing the gospel, but you 382 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:39,280 marry a person who doesn't love evangelism, who isn't able to do 383 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:43,080 evangelism and wants to take all of your time and doesn't want 384 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,240 you to spend time sharing the gospel anymore. 385 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,520 Again, as you get married, your first priority is your spouse, 386 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,280 your wife. That's your first priority. 387 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,720 But you've got to be careful who you marry because if you marry 388 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,760 someone who is 1/2 baked Christian or doesn't have take 389 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,720 the things of God seriously, I think you can be unequally 390 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,880 yoked. And I think, OK, first, when 391 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,680 you've got all of the the rush and the honeymoon period and 392 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,240 everything's going well, it'll be exciting. 393 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,280 But as the years go by, suddenly if you're not growing closer to 394 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,240 God, you're going to grow close, you're going to grow in the 395 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,440 opposite direction, you're going to grow away from each other and 396 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:20,160 it'll put a rift, a problem in your marriage. 397 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,880 So make sure you are equally yoked. 398 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,000 Make sure you get someone who I think before looks before 399 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,320 personality, before banter and having jokes and all of this 400 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,960 kind of the biggest thing you need to make sure you're looking 401 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,360 for in a spouse is are they similar to me spiritually? 402 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:43,080 You know, again, this can cause problems if you're a Pentecostal 403 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,840 and, and your husband's A5 point Reformed Calvinist who would 404 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,920 have, you know, die 1000 deaths if he saw someone even raising 405 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,240 their hands in church. You've got to be careful if 406 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,320 you're marrying this person because it's, it's going to put 407 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:57,920 a rift. And likewise for him. 408 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,280 You know, if you're, you're constantly feeling like your 409 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,480 wife's swinging from the curtains when you're worshiping, 410 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,320 you know, you're going to have issues, aren't you? 411 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,040 I know I'm being a bit light here, but just be careful with 412 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,640 these things. Now, it's not just for marriage. 413 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,120 This verse, I don't believe it's just for marriage. 414 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,760 And well, there's a similar verse that certainly isn't just 415 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,920 for marriage and that it can be applied in another way. 416 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,320 If you you've got a Bible there, turn to Amos 3 and verse 3. 417 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:28,480 Do two walk together unless they've agreed to do so. 418 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,400 In other words, how can two people walk together unless 419 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,320 there's an agreement? And I think with even your 420 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:38,840 friendships, you need to make sure you've got people who are 421 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,120 similar, who are standing up for the same things you believe in. 422 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,320 And particularly in business now it is so it is impossible in 423 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,760 this day and age to go into business and always have a born 424 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:52,960 again Christian who is similar to you. 425 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,120 I know that I'm not going to be foolish in thinking that in this 426 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,600 world where you know, evil is wax worse and it's really hard 427 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,480 to find Christians even in some churches at times, you know, but 428 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,200 what am I trying to say here? Just be wise. 429 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,000 If you're going to go into a business partnership, you're 430 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,920 going to put your life savings into a work and say it comes to, 431 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,160 for instance, a time when tax relief, you know, most 432 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,400 businesses, they want to give to charity and you want to give to 433 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,600 a missionary work or you want to give to the church or something 434 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,360 that's good and godly. But your business partner who 435 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:29,360 doesn't love the Lord wants to give into something and dare I 436 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:35,280 say woke or something that's leaning into a non, an essential 437 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:39,400 or a non, you know, important charity or even dare I say an 438 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,040 evil charity that pushes something. 439 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,440 You're going to have fractions there again, with, with 440 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,880 different ways of dealing with people in your company. 441 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,680 Some people in business, they have no problem with lying, 442 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,600 lying to the customer, deceiving them just so they get that sale. 443 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,360 But you as a Christian, you would have great difficulty with 444 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,040 that. You know that the business is 445 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,880 only blessed if the Lord's hand is upon it and the Holy Spirit 446 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,960 cannot bless a business or a work if if there's deceit and 447 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:06,800 there's lies and there's wrong things going on. 448 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,200 So again, just make sure if it is for instance, in a business 449 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,320 that you you pick the right people and again some of you in 450 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,440 the comments section. I'm sure you can attest to this 451 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,400 if times you've been at work and you've you've been working with 452 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,880 people who had completely different world views and it 453 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,080 really made a mess for you. Lastly, the fifth kind of person 454 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,200 you should avoid is the person who tempts you or the person who 455 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,600 makes you forget about principles you once held very 456 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,640 dear. I'm not sure how true this is. 457 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,440 You can Google it yourself because I find this statistic 458 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,160 absolutely wild. So hard to believe, but it's 459 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:48,160 apparently if you've got a friend who got divorced, you are 460 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,720 75% more likely to get divorced yourself. 461 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,280 If your close friend separated from his wife or vice versa, 462 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,560 you've got a 75% chance of doing the same. 463 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,400 Am I the only one who finds that crazy? 464 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,600 And yet, as we said, show me your friends and I will show you 465 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,360 the future. And it is true, if you've got a 466 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:13,200 parent who had a terrible, terrible anger problem or they 467 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,440 had a habit, it's most likely you yourself will get that 468 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,240 habit. If you've got friends who you 469 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,280 know act a certain way, eventually you'll start to act 470 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,760 that way. Something I'm very embarrassed 471 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,600 to admit to again, I remember when I first became a Christian, 472 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,760 in my first few years of being a Christian, I'd see other 473 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,440 Christians I'd hang around with who are a little bit older to 474 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,000 me, who I actually looked up to as preachers and, and the like. 475 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,120 And I'd be shocked at the jokes they would tell. 476 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,320 Jokes that were really close to the knuckle, that were, yeah, 477 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,840 just really quite bad, really. And, you know, even if non 478 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,680 Christians heard them, you'd think, I'm not sure about that. 479 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,280 And yeah, because I spent so much time with these people and 480 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,520 some of them are still in my life now, I find myself saying 481 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,080 those jokes. And I think sometimes, wow, the 482 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,080 old Joe would never share jokes like that. 483 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,600 And again, you might always just having a sense of humour. 484 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,800 And you know, God wants us to have a sense of humour, but we 485 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,320 have got to be careful. Are we getting closer to the 486 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,800 Lord or further from the Lord? You see the same sun that can 487 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:25,120 harden clay also melts butter and some things they can harden 488 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,040 you or they can draw you closer to the Lord God. 489 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,520 So we need to be wise about these things. 490 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,680 Just I've got a Bible verse here and I think it's also very 491 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,120 powerful. Galatians 2 verse 13. 492 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,360 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their 493 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,920 hypocrisy even Barnabas was LED astray. 494 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,400 Now the context of this passage, without going into too much 495 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,400 detail, is the apostle Paul came in and he saw some behavior that 496 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,000 wasn't it was unbecoming to Christians. 497 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,160 It was embarrassing. They were at one hand wanting to 498 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,720 sit and eat with the the non Jewish people. 499 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:05,120 But as soon as some bigwigs, if you like, came in, they pulled 500 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,640 back and said, no, we don't want to be seen dead with you guys. 501 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,400 We're we're avoiding you. And so Paul called out this 502 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:15,240 hypocrisy and it says and Barnabas was led astray. 503 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,360 Barnabas, a church leader, the son of encouragement, this 504 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,200 wonderful Christian was LED, LED astray. 505 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,440 Now, isn't that a really striking lesson? 506 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,680 Because what does it tell us? It tells us that peer pressure 507 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,880 is very powerful. If if there's lots of people 508 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,720 around you and they're saying do this, do that, eventually you 509 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,320 will succumb unless you're as hard as nails. 510 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,960 It's very easy for our principles to be eroded away. 511 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,680 And again, when I talk about being around people who might 512 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:49,720 tempt you, someone who lost their principles was David. 513 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:54,400 Now David saw Bathsheba, he saw her a distance and he was 514 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,320 attracted to her, and instead of running away, what did he do? 515 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,400 He brought her closer, and some would say she was unwise for 516 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,280 where she'd chosen to take a bath. 517 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,000 Listen, we're not going to get into all of that. 518 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,280 But the point is this. David should have avoided this 519 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,200 situation. But instead we notice that by 520 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:16,040 pulling her closer, by going into this sin, what happened? 521 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,320 More and more of his principles went. 522 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,720 And then you're right. You remember Uriah Bathsheba's 523 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,360 husband, David commanded him. He said to him, this chief Army 524 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:28,840 officer, listen, Uriah, I want you to go in with your wife 525 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,080 tonight and just have some fun. But he said here he is. 526 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,320 He's he's had a lot to drink and he says, no, I can't do that. 527 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:39,240 How can I do that when when my men are are are my soldiers are 528 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:40,760 are there could be danger at present. 529 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,880 I need to be with them. I need to have their back. 530 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,880 In other words, this man who's had a lot of a lot to drink has 531 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,680 got more principles than the king of Israel, who's supposed 532 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,640 to be a man after God's own heart, who's done all of these 533 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:00,320 sins as a way of getting his, his, this other man's wife. 534 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,800 So again, be careful. It might be some people we need 535 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,120 to avoid. It might be ourselves at times. 536 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:09,240 We need to avoid that We don't lose our principles and we don't 537 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,120 allow things to tempt us and put us into difficult situations. 538 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:15,040 Do you mind if I say it one more time? 539 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,440 I do want to emphasize this because I don't want anyone to 540 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,200 misunderstand me. Our society has become very 541 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,440 individualistic. It's all about me, my purpose, 542 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:28,880 my beliefs, and anyone who somehow comes in towards that or 543 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,600 could be in some way a threat to me having my way and my success. 544 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,880 We cut them off. We're not to be like that as 545 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,120 Christians. We're to love people. 546 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,240 We're to share our lives with people like the Lord shared his 547 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,240 lives with broken people. Please make sure you do make 548 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,280 time for these people. What I am saying is there are 549 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,560 some people at times, yes, you must avoid. 550 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,360 If you've warned them several times and they're continuing in 551 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,120 this wrong behaviour, warn them and and pull back. 552 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,320 But other people, you just need to have boundaries. 553 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,360 You need to keep them at arm's length and say I can't just let 554 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,600 you walk all over my life. You know, as Christians, we're 555 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,960 not called to be doormats. You know, we are to be gentle, 556 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,120 loving, humble, but we're not to be walked all over. 557 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,960 We're meant to be wise. And I will just say this as 558 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,720 well, and I don't talk about this anywhere near enough, but 559 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,200 every single one of you who is a channel member on this channel, 560 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:27,640 every single one of you who has donated through my website, and 561 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,800 every single one of you prays who subscribes, I just want to 562 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:35,560 say thank you so, so much. As you know, I run these videos 563 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,160 ad free. There's no adverts that don't 564 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,440 monetize them. So by you giving generously, you 565 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,800 enable me to do all of these things to pay, you know, these 566 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,400 expensive editors on my main channel off the Curb Ministries. 567 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,560 You enable me to be able to have free time to go out and do St. 568 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,440 evangelism because no one pays you to stand there and be a 569 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,200 street preacher. As you can imagine, more people 570 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,360 would pay to get rid of you and, and just little things. 571 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,280 I can afford to buy my kids ice cream because kind people like 572 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,120 you give. So thank you very much for that. 573 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:06,840 I hope you've had a good cup of Joe. 574 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,080 I certainly have enjoyed it. It's done my heart the world of 575 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:11,720 good. I was a bit down, a bit sad 576 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,680 before I came to this video, but having a cup of Joe with you 577 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,360 guys has just blessed me so much. 578 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:17,400 God bless you all.