June 14, 2025 • 29 mins
Ruslan unpacks the Michael Tait scandal, shares his own journey with sin, and offers a biblical, practical path to freedom through confession, transformation, and purpose.
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Bio: Ruslan KD is a Christian YouTuber of Armenian descent who was a refugee from Baku, Azerbaijan, before moving to the United States as a child. He started his YouTube channel in the mid-2010s, which has since grown into a popular platform for discussing faith, lifestyle, and music. Known for his insightful commentary on Christian living, culture, and personal development, Ruslan has built a community of followers who value his thoughtful approach to contemporary issues. In addition to his YouTube presence, Ruslan is a speaker, author, and advocate for godly ambition, often addressing topics related to leadership, mental health, and the integration of faith in everyday life.Our mission is to encourage, empower, and inspire people to live a life that Blesses God, in accordance with His word. As the Psalmist proclaims, "Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain" (Psalm 68:26 ESV), and "Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name forever and ever" (Psalm 145:2 KJV). Just as Simeon, after encountering Jesus, "took him up in his arms and blessed God" (Luke 2:28 ESV), we seek to lead others in a life of stewardship, relevant engagement, and practical living that honors and blesses the Lord.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You didn't know. In June of 2025, news broke that
the lead singer of the Newsboys as well as DC Talk, Michael
Tate, had a unthinkable situation where multiple
eyewitnesses and whistleblowers came out accusing him of abusing
substances as well as SA. Now this set the Internet world
(00:20):
by storm with multiple articles being covered from the initial
report of Julie Roy's all the way up to major outlets like the
New York Times covering the story.
And anyone that's been a Christian for more than a few
months knows that unfortunately these situations are not
uncommon. There has been multiple reports
of celebrity pastors and non celebrity pastors, people of
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influence and status and folks in your local church that have
had some pretty rough falls withregards to dabbling and sin that
many people would they disqualifies them from positions
of ministry. And so in that I think it's
important for us who are followers of Jesus to look at
the scriptures or any of us can end up in similar situations,
perhaps without the same impact.But when access to excess is
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given, anyone is liable to fall.We've seen this in the
scriptures with men of God who are after God's own heart like
David and Solomon and Samson having massive falls.
We've even seen Jesus's very owndisciples, Judas, as well as
Peter denying him in different ways, though, Peter being
restored and Judas tragically taking his own life.
But what is the cautionary tale for those of us who are
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followers of Jesus here and now?What does it look like to live a
life that is fully devoted to Jesus, surrendered to the Spirit
of God, and also walking in freedom from the pearls and the
addictive nature of sin? Well, that's what we're going to
get into in this video. And I have a couple different
scriptural references and some practical takeaways that I want
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going to get into because I think a lot of this is a
cautionary tale. But before we get into that,
guys, my name is Ruslan. This channel exists to
encourage, empower, and inspire you to live a life that blesses
God. And as these things happen more
frequently, it seems, I think it's important to have a
scriptural paradigm of what it means to walk in the freedom
that is offered to us. And so that's exactly what we're
going to do in this video. So if you're new here, if you're
(02:12):
not new here, do me a favor, hitthat subscribe button.
There's a huge percentage of thepeople that watch this channel,
unfortunately, are not subscribed.
Right? Let's jump into this.
So if you don't know much about my story, my name is Ruslan.
I am originally from the from Azerbaijan Baku, which is
formerly a part of the Soviet Union.
Me and my family came to United States as refugees in the early
90s. My mother and father split and I
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unfortunately went down a prettytragic path as a kid
experiencing essay getting arrested at the age of 11.
And my life was on a very, very dark trajectory.
And in high school I finally came to faith.
But unfortunately, there was still some remnants of my past
life that stayed latched on through different habits, habits
and patterns and addictions thatwere there longer than they
needed to be. And it took me a while to find
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freedom and still be intentional, to wage war in the
areas of sin that can creep up if I'm not careful.
And I don't think I'm unique in this.
Perhaps I'm unique in that maybeI've experienced essay being
exposed to things like adult content earlier than most
people. But I don't think I'm unique in
wrestling with sin while pursuing Jesus at the same time.
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And fortunately, we see this in the scriptures.
We see a bit of a framework in the Scriptures with regards to
how we can overcome this. And so first and foremost, let
me just say that I appreciate Michael Tate's apology and him
owning up to some rather dark and sinister things.
I think it's good what he did, which is owned up to it.
And the point of this video is not to pile on on what he's
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doing or what other Christian leaders have gone through.
The point of this video is to lean into the scriptural
precedent with how we can learn from these situations and also
guard our own hearts and minds and lives and families.
So first, let's look at Galatians chapter 6 of 1, which
says, brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you
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who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.
But watch yourselves or you alsomay be tempted.
Carry each other's burden and inthis way you will fulfill the
law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are
something when they are not, they they deceive themselves.
Each one should test their own actions.
Then they could take pride in themselves alone without
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comparing themselves to someone else.
For each one should carry their own load.
OK, so the point of this is to not dunk on anybody.
The point of this is in all of us to take action, to take
inventory of our own actions andto guard our own hearts.
OK, so there's some beautiful scriptures that we're going to
look at today. Let's go to first Timothy,
chapter one, verse 15. This is the apostle Paul.
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He's writing someone that he is discipling Timothy.
He writes this. He says, here's a trustworthy
saying that deserves full acceptance.
Christ Jesus came into the worldto save sinners, of whom I am
the worst. Now this is fascinating because
Paul is writing this and wrote the majority of our New
Testament epistles and he thinksthat he is the worst of sinners.
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Very interesting verse 16. But for that very reason, I was
shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus
might display his immense patience as an example for those
who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
God be honored, and glory forever and ever, Amen.
So it's interesting that Paul opens up identifying himself as
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the worst of sinners, but yet still who gives glory to God.
And those of us who've had a pretty rough life, experienced
some some crazy things, maybe have even dealt with addictions
and patterns, I think can relateto this.
Now, Paul in Romans 7, which probably Romans is just an
amazing book in terms of the framework for the gospel and how
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it was transformative. Romans 77 Paul is kind of
talking about his own sin in hisown struggle with sin.
And it's very interesting because some folks have tried to
sanitize this and say, well, no,this is Paul talking about his
past life and this is Paul talking about before he was a
Christian. And I honestly, when you look at
first Timothy and you look at the the entirety of Romans, I
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don't think so. I think this is him talking
about his consistent pursuit of Jesus despite his sinful nature
and his flesh. And verse 5, he says, for when
we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions
aroused by the law, we're at work in US so that we bore fruit
from for death. But now by dying to what once
bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in
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the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the
written law code, right? And so in Romans 7, Romans 7/7,
he says, what shall we say then?Is the law sinful?
Certainly not. So God's laws, God's ways are
not sinful. They're good for us.
They're there to to to give us parameters, right?
But it doesn't mean that when wehave parameters, we aren't also
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aware of set parameters and struggle more, right?
So he goes on to say, I would not have known what sin was had
it not been for the law. For I would not have known what
coveting really was if the law had not said you shall not
covet. But sin, seizing the opportunity
afforded by the commandments produced in me every kind of
coveting, for apart from the law, sin was dead.
Once I was alive apart from the law.
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But when the commandment came, sin spring life and I died, I
found that the very command thatwas intended to bring life
actually brought death. It's interesting that the very
commands that God has for us to bring life can often times bring
death in terms of perhaps creating curiosity, perhaps
creating unnecessary struggle, perhaps creating thoughts that
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lead us astray in our own heartswhen we bring to our attention
that something is not good, right?
Something is not in God's way, not in God's law for us, right?
For since he's an opportunity afforded by the commandment,
deceive me, and through the commandment put me to death.
So, so then the law is holy and the commandment is holy,
righteous, and good. Did that which is good then
become death to me? By no means.
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Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it
used what is good to bring aboutmy death, so that through the
commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
We know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual.
So it's like this, this spiritual law, this good law
that God has for us often times because we're in our sinful
nature, even that law will then create intrigue about things we
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shouldn't be doing right. So old as a slave to sin, verse
15, I do not understand what I do for what I want to do I do
not do, but what I hate I do. I think a lot of folks who have
dealt with addiction, a lot of folks who have dealt with
struggle patterns of sin can relate to this right for what I
want to do I do not do, but whatI hate I do.
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Verse 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the
law is good as it is, it is no longer I myself would do it, but
it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does
not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do whatis good, but I cannot carry it
out. So I think what Paul's getting
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here is that as a follower of Jesus, there is a new desire
inside of us, but in our sinful nature we are still wrestling
with sin in our new heart, our new desires, since we've been
illuminated because of Jesus andthe work of the cross, there's
new desires and then there's olddesires.
And sometimes those desires are conflicted, right?
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Verse 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil
I do not want to do. This I keep on doing, which is a
brutal place to be in, right? Verse 20 Now if I do what I do
not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is the sin
living in me that does it. So I find this law at work.
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Although I want to do good, evilwas right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in God's law.
But I see another law at work inme, waging war against the law
of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin.
I work within me. These are conflicted desires
that Paul has and had and had towork through.
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And I think these conflicted desires are absolutely important
for us to take inventory up, confess in a local church
context and begin to work through.
And he gives us a framework on how to work through them in the
next chapter. And so if I think of a situation
with Michael Tate, if I think ofa situation, a fill in the blank
of any popular celebrity, any popular pastor, Christian,
whoever, even non Christians who've dealt with addiction,
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there's this, there's this wrestling happening with them
right now. The beautiful part is those of
us who are in Christ Jesus have an advocate and a way to make
our way back to a right standingwith God in the sense that we
can walk in freedom, but it requires effort, right?
So verse 24, what a wretched manI am who will rescue me from
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this body that is subject to death.
Now check this out. Verse 25 is when it starts to
take a turn. Thanks be to God who delivers me
through Christ Jesus our Lord. So then I myself in my mind am a
slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law
of sin. Now check out verse one in
chapter 8. Sometimes we we will, we'll
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separate these things, but this is where it gets good.
Check this out. It says, therefore there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So despite all of Romans 7, Paulis telling us that in Romans 8,
there is now no condemnation. And sometimes these chapters,
what people don't know is these were added like over 1000 years
after when this was written and the verses were added even
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later. And so we see that there is this
this continuation of the thought, but it's separated by
chapters. And sometimes that can do us a
disservice, right? Therefore, there is not no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through
Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set
you free from the law of sin anddeath.
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So we have been set free from the law and there is no
condemnation. That doesn't mean that we won't
still struggle and wrestle. It means that we don't have to
succumb to our sinful nature, right?
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by
the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
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sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the
righteous requirement of the Lawmight be fully met in US who do
not live according to the flesh,but according to the Spirit.
So Jesus fulfills the law on thecross, and by the Spirit we're
now empowered to not have to stay stuck in the patterns of
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sin and the patterns of addiction and the patterns of
the things that we feel like we have no control over.
Now, how do we do that? Well, we're, we're going to get
there. Those who live according to the
flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires, but
those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds
set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh
is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
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It does not submit to God's law,nor can it do so.
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh.
So it's interesting that Paul talks about wrestling with sin
and then in the in in the next chapter says there's no
condemnation, and then goes on to point out to the church in
Rome that you are not in the realm of the flesh, but you are
in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives
in you. And if anyone does not have the
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Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
So now those of us in Christ, wehave the Spirit, we have a new
identity, we have new desires, we have a new trajectory for
life, right? But if Christ is in you, then
even though your body is subjectto death because of sin, the
Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is
living in you who raised Christ from the dead will also give
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life to your mortal bones because of His spirit.
So the Spirit is living in US. It'll help us to also have life
given to our mortal bones because of the Spirit.
Verse 4, Verse 12. Therefore, brothers and sisters,
we have an obligation, but it isnot to the flesh to live
according to it. So we have no no longer an
obligation to live according to it.
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For if you live according to theflesh, you will die.
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,
you will live put to death. The misdeeds of the body kill
sin, or sin will kill you. For those who are led by the
Spirit of God are the children of God.
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The spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live
in fear again. Rather the spirit you receive
brought about your adoption to sonship.
And by him we cry ABBA. Father, the Spirit himself
testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and Co
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heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his suffering in order
that we might also share in his glory.
So here's the here's the punchline that because we're
adopted, because the Spirit of God is in us, we have no
obligation to continue living inthe patterns of this way.
However, that doesn't mean that God always magically removes
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your habits, addictions, perhapsthe ways that people have sinned
against you, that have created patterns in your life.
It doesn't mean that God just magically removes those.
It means that we have to cooperate with the work of the
Spirit by putting to death the misdeeds of the flesh.
Kill your sin or your sin will kill you.
Now question is going to be how how do we do that?
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How do we do that right? How do we put to death the
flesh? How do we put to death the
misdeeds of the flesh? What does that practically look
like? Well, I actually think initially
it looks like what a mind shift.It looks like a different
perspective and approach to all these different things, right.
So a couple chapters later, Paulwrites, therefore I urge you by
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this is and therefore I urge youbrothers and sisters, in view of
God's mercy to offer your bodiesas a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing. This is your true and proper
worship. OK, Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will, you will be able
to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and
perfect will. So we know the first thing that
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needs to happen is probably a degree of ownership, some degree
of like, hey, I keep doing said thing and I don't want to do
something. So there's a revealing that
happens. OK, Then there's a repenting
that happens. I'm repenting of sets in.
Then there is a removal that happens.
All of us get to look into our own lives and say, what areas of
my life do I need to remove? What things in my life are
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causing triggers for me to go down that route?
Right. And so if we look at someone
like Michael Tayton, I'll make it personal to me.
Actually, Michael Tate spent a lot of time on the road.
I could be very honest that whenI spent time traveling, doing
shows as a musician, touring, all those sorts of things, that
was not the most conducive environment for me, Especially
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with the temptation of adult content, looking at things I
shouldn't look at, eating thingsI shouldn't eat, overconsumption
of things I shouldn't overconsume.
And so I had to, in 2018, surgically remove the triggers
in my life that were causing me to send.
I had to remove these things, right?
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Meaning this, I changed my entire approach to touring.
I changed my routine of staying up late and working on music.
I, I, I, I removed all those elements.
I know this sounds very simple, but if it was simple, then
everybody would do it, right? So sometimes the things that we
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are so dependent on, sometimes the things that we think are so
normal are actually abnormal. They're actually not what we
should be operating in. The things that we're so
comfortable in, the things that we're so we're so used to are
oftentimes the things that God is telling us.
Hey, I understand you revealed your sin, you confessed your
sin, you've repented, but now repentance looks like removal of
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specific areas. Jesus said if your eye causes
you to sin, pluck it out. If your if your arm causes you
to sin, cut it off. So this perhaps industries that
are not conducive to someone that's dealing with the type of
things that Michael Tate was dealing with, the type of things
that I was dealing with, right? Praise God, I was able to pivot
away from having to travel as much and having to release music
and all these sorts of things. And I moved over to what I do
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now on YouTube. When we look at Romans, we then
get further instructions. So OK, I'm going to really
simplify it for us. Reveal your sin.
Find someone trustworthy to confess your sin.
Confess your sin of God. Reveal your sin of God.
Step one, Step 2, repent. Change your mind about your sin.
Change your mind about the things that you're so accustomed
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to, the things that you're due to soothe, that you know are
outside of God's heart for you. Repent.
OK, then you got to go in and remove.
When do I look at things I shouldn't look at?
Oh, when I'm up late by myself. OK, so remove those things in
removing you staying up late andperhaps you locking your phone
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outside and perhaps waking up earlier.
These are things I had to do. I had to learn to wake up
earlier to wage war on the patterns of sin.
And if I woke up earlier, I was less likely to stay up late
because I was tired. And when I woke up earlier, I
had somewhere to be. I had something to do.
In my case it was the gym. So I'm removing the thing and I
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replaced it with something that could build me up.
A lot of people love to remove, but they don't go the next step
of replacing. You got to replace it with
something better, right? If you, if you're just like, oh,
I'm going to not do this, I'm going to not do that.
I'm going to not do this. I'm OK, cool.
But if you're not replacing it with anything to fill that void,
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you're you're going to go back to it.
This what we see in Romans 12/12one, right?
Therefore, I owe you brothers and sisters.
In view of God's mercy, so in view of the mercy of God, that
God Forgives us. God loves us right where we are,
but He doesn't leave us where weare.
To offer your bodies as a livingsacrifice, holy and pleasing to
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God. This is your true and proper
worship. Do not conform to the pattern of
the world, but be transformed bythe renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is,
His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
So there is a renewal of the mind that happens.
There was a renewal of the mind that happens that we are going
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to reveal, repent, remove, replace, renew.
And if you aren't doing set steps, you're going to stay
stuck in the same patterns. If you're not doing set steps,
you're going to stay stuck in the same patterns.
Often times we think that just removing is enough.
But yet you aren't replacing that with community.
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You aren't replacing that with local church.
You're not replacing that with the word.
You're not replacing that with getting up earlier.
You're not replacing that with taking care of your body.
You're not replacing that with building something with the
time, talent, and treasure you've been given.
You just removing it and you think that's it, but you got to
replace that with something. You got to replace that with
something. For me, I replace the time with
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going to the gym in the morning because I discovered that often
times my body can leave my mind and my body can leave my spirit.
What's done in the physical impacts the spiritual, right?
And it made me, it gave me more energy.
Help me start there earlier. That was what the, the, the
literature calls a keystone habit or cornerstone habit,
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right? So there is a use of that word
cornerstone, the foundational stone on which a building is
built on and it talks about how Christ is the cornerstone, but
there's also cornerstone. Jesus is the cornerstone of our
life. There's also cornerstone habits
that once you nail one habit andyou lock it in, then the rest of
your life adjusts and change amounts of habit.
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And so getting up earlier, fitness finances, taking care of
the, the time, talent and treasure, being faithful with
what's in front of me all the sudden started unlocking freedom
from the thing that's always hada grip on me.
And it's interesting how that works.
And I think so many Christians, they're, they just, they just
you think that following Jesus in faith is a true or false
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answer to a bunch of propositional claims that Jesus
died for my sins, true or false?True.
OK, I guess I'm a Christian, butit's more than that.
It's beyond just that it's that's, that starts there.
But now we get to cooperate withthe Spirit of God and we got to
remove those things and replace them with something better.
You got to replace them with something better.
And I think often times we don't, we don't want to replace
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those things. We just think God's going to
magically do it all. And sometimes, man, God does
change desires and some things are miraculously lifted.
But unfortunately, other times we got to go in and we got to
build new foundations to our entire life, right?
We got to build new foundations to our entire life.
Philippians. Philippians chapter 2 Paul
references it like this. Therefore, my brothers and
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sisters, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence,
but not much more in my absence,Continue to work out your
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who
works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good
purpose. Work out what God has worked in.
God has given you a new heart, anew desires as an ontological
change, and so you work out whatGod has worked in.
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Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may
become blameless and pure children of God without fault
and a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.
Isn't interesting that we are towork out what God has worked in?
We're to do this without grumbling and complaining.
Some of you guys are grumbling and complaining right now
because I'm telling you got to change some things in your life.
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And I say go to church and you go, oh, there's bad churches,
There's bad churches. That doesn't mean you shouldn't
go to church. This means you can go to church.
Hey, you got to replace that with something else.
I don't want to replace it. I want to do my own thing.
I want to stay stuck, all right?OK, Do it without grumbling,
arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of
God without fault. In a warped and cricket
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generation, the world is set up to to to make you fail, right?
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you
hold firmly to the word of life.And then I will be able to boast
on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain, right?
And that idea, it's really interesting, right?
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Shine among like stars in the sky, right?
So let's let's look at this wordshine or logo software, which I,
I think you guys know, but logos60 day free trial.
If you hit the link in the description or in a pinned
comment, logos.com/ruslan, they're an amazing partner of,
of ours and they used to only kind of make this accessible to
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pastors and clergy for way more money.
Now it's like 12 bucks a month for a subscription.
And I love being able to go stuff like this to the original
language. So this word shine, right?
Feno, Feno. The word is Feno in the original
appear, shine, be seen, bring tolight.
But we as Christians are to shine and bring to light, right?
And here are all the different ways this word is used.
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Shine, visible, seen light, showobvious, think seen, appears
right? And then he The cool thing about
logos is then it'll show you allthe other times this word is
used, right? This is when an Angel appeared
in a dream, right? John 15 The light shines.
So in the same way Jesus being the light shines, we are also to
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shine, bringing in goodness and beauty and showing that man the,
the, the if, if God did it in mylife and, and gave me a new
heart, new desires, and God can surely do it in your life,
right? And then we see it also
exhibited in Matthew chapter 25,verse 12.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
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saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out
and trampled under foot. Now salt in this context is
about preservation and flavor, that as followers of Jesus we
are in this world to preserve itand to add flavor.
You are the light of the world. A town on a hill cannot be
(26:21):
hidden. Neither do people light a lamp
and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand
and it gives and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they
may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
So many people slide and drift back into self-destructive
habits because they don't believe these parts of the
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scriptures. They don't believe that God
actually wants to use us to usher in goodness, to shine our
light, to bring illumination to the world.
We rather just complain about the world.
We rather just complain about how hard everything is, how dark
everything is and, and, and be upset.
And then, and then all of a sudden we're just, oh man, we're
just victims and all. And it's like, and then it
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ironically enough, when people go through this publicly, when
people fall publicly, we then sit and judge them, knowing that
if someone came and examined ourlife under a microscope, there's
probably incongruent and inconsistent and simple patterns
that we're dealing with now. But we're shocked when a Michael
Tate is going through it or whenfill in a blank is going through
(27:24):
it. And the good news, in my
opinion, I think is if we walk through this framework, if we
walk through the framework, I'm saying, hey, I'm going to
reveal, I'm going to confess my sin.
Find some, some way in your lifeto get with people that, that
that's in a safe place where youcan confess your sins, right?
Repent of said sin, remove said sin, replace it with something
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better. Replace it with something that
can help you shine your light before the world that God has
created all of us with a purpose.
And the macro purpose is to knowhim and make him known.
But I also believe there's, there's a, a purpose for our
generation, right? A purpose that God has created
us to do something here and now.And I think that's the the
aspect of Our Calling. What is your calling?
(28:07):
And that could the purpose and the calling.
Those things could change based on a season that you're in,
right? And I think all of that goes
back to knowing God and making him known, pointing people back
to Jesus. And unfortunately, it's easier
to just get our health insurance, punt it and not
really care about being used in this life.
You're selling yourself short that I think God wants all of us
(28:29):
on mission to help usher in his goodness, his beauty, love on
this side of eternity. There's a God that loves people
and he loves us and he loved Paul.
We call the worst of sinners. And so if God can use Paul, he
can use all of us. And if we can find freedom, then
we could be more congruent and said values.
And the areas that right now youfeel like are a mess in your
(28:50):
life, God can use for a message that the areas we feel ashamed
of, God can use to lift shame from other people that the
things that you think you're alone in right now, God can help
you find freedom. And then you no longer be alone.
You no longer feel alone. That's the that's the beauty of
walking this out. And I think unfortunately, it's
much easier to just be sensational and see other people
(29:13):
dealing with it, but not search our own heart and say, hey man,
there's actually things we all need to work on and God wants to
free us from those things. I say all that to say that I
think the world is obsessed withmaking us distracted, making us
depleted, but God has a desire and a heart for all of us, and
we created an entire playlist onhow you can discover your
purpose. So if you want to check that
(29:33):
out, we'll have that over here. All right, I'll see you over
there. Peace.
You didn't know. In June of 2025, news broke that
the lead singer of the Newsboys as well as DC Talk, Michael
Tate, had a unthinkable situation where multiple
eyewitnesses and whistleblowers came out accusing him of abusing
substances as well as SA. Now this set the Internet world
(00:20):
by storm with multiple articles being covered from the initial
report of Julie Roy's all the way up to major outlets like the
New York Times covering the story.
And anyone that's been a Christian for more than a few
months knows that unfortunately these situations are not
uncommon. There has been multiple reports
of celebrity pastors and non celebrity pastors, people of
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influence and status and folks in your local church that have
had some pretty rough falls withregards to dabbling and sin that
many people would they disqualifies them from positions
of ministry. And so in that I think it's
important for us who are followers of Jesus to look at
the scriptures or any of us can end up in similar situations,
perhaps without the same impact.But when access to excess is
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given, anyone is liable to fall.We've seen this in the
scriptures with men of God who are after God's own heart like
David and Solomon and Samson having massive falls.
We've even seen Jesus's very owndisciples, Judas, as well as
Peter denying him in different ways, though, Peter being
restored and Judas tragically taking his own life.
But what is the cautionary tale for those of us who are
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followers of Jesus here and now?What does it look like to live a
life that is fully devoted to Jesus, surrendered to the Spirit
of God, and also walking in freedom from the pearls and the
addictive nature of sin? Well, that's what we're going to
get into in this video. And I have a couple different
scriptural references and some practical takeaways that I want
(01:50):
going to get into because I think a lot of this is a
cautionary tale. But before we get into that,
guys, my name is Ruslan. This channel exists to
encourage, empower, and inspire you to live a life that blesses
God. And as these things happen more
frequently, it seems, I think it's important to have a
scriptural paradigm of what it means to walk in the freedom
that is offered to us. And so that's exactly what we're
going to do in this video. So if you're new here, if you're
(02:12):
not new here, do me a favor, hitthat subscribe button.
There's a huge percentage of thepeople that watch this channel,
unfortunately, are not subscribed.
Right? Let's jump into this.
So if you don't know much about my story, my name is Ruslan.
I am originally from the from Azerbaijan Baku, which is
formerly a part of the Soviet Union.
Me and my family came to United States as refugees in the early
90s. My mother and father split and I
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unfortunately went down a prettytragic path as a kid
experiencing essay getting arrested at the age of 11.
And my life was on a very, very dark trajectory.
And in high school I finally came to faith.
But unfortunately, there was still some remnants of my past
life that stayed latched on through different habits, habits
and patterns and addictions thatwere there longer than they
needed to be. And it took me a while to find
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freedom and still be intentional, to wage war in the
areas of sin that can creep up if I'm not careful.
And I don't think I'm unique in this.
Perhaps I'm unique in that maybeI've experienced essay being
exposed to things like adult content earlier than most
people. But I don't think I'm unique in
wrestling with sin while pursuing Jesus at the same time.
(03:18):
And fortunately, we see this in the scriptures.
We see a bit of a framework in the Scriptures with regards to
how we can overcome this. And so first and foremost, let
me just say that I appreciate Michael Tate's apology and him
owning up to some rather dark and sinister things.
I think it's good what he did, which is owned up to it.
And the point of this video is not to pile on on what he's
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doing or what other Christian leaders have gone through.
The point of this video is to lean into the scriptural
precedent with how we can learn from these situations and also
guard our own hearts and minds and lives and families.
So first, let's look at Galatians chapter 6 of 1, which
says, brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you
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who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.
But watch yourselves or you alsomay be tempted.
Carry each other's burden and inthis way you will fulfill the
law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are
something when they are not, they they deceive themselves.
Each one should test their own actions.
Then they could take pride in themselves alone without
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comparing themselves to someone else.
For each one should carry their own load.
OK, so the point of this is to not dunk on anybody.
The point of this is in all of us to take action, to take
inventory of our own actions andto guard our own hearts.
OK, so there's some beautiful scriptures that we're going to
look at today. Let's go to first Timothy,
chapter one, verse 15. This is the apostle Paul.
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He's writing someone that he is discipling Timothy.
He writes this. He says, here's a trustworthy
saying that deserves full acceptance.
Christ Jesus came into the worldto save sinners, of whom I am
the worst. Now this is fascinating because
Paul is writing this and wrote the majority of our New
Testament epistles and he thinksthat he is the worst of sinners.
(05:08):
Very interesting verse 16. But for that very reason, I was
shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus
might display his immense patience as an example for those
who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
God be honored, and glory forever and ever, Amen.
So it's interesting that Paul opens up identifying himself as
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the worst of sinners, but yet still who gives glory to God.
And those of us who've had a pretty rough life, experienced
some some crazy things, maybe have even dealt with addictions
and patterns, I think can relateto this.
Now, Paul in Romans 7, which probably Romans is just an
amazing book in terms of the framework for the gospel and how
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it was transformative. Romans 77 Paul is kind of
talking about his own sin in hisown struggle with sin.
And it's very interesting because some folks have tried to
sanitize this and say, well, no,this is Paul talking about his
past life and this is Paul talking about before he was a
Christian. And I honestly, when you look at
first Timothy and you look at the the entirety of Romans, I
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don't think so. I think this is him talking
about his consistent pursuit of Jesus despite his sinful nature
and his flesh. And verse 5, he says, for when
we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions
aroused by the law, we're at work in US so that we bore fruit
from for death. But now by dying to what once
bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in
(06:34):
the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the
written law code, right? And so in Romans 7, Romans 7/7,
he says, what shall we say then?Is the law sinful?
Certainly not. So God's laws, God's ways are
not sinful. They're good for us.
They're there to to to give us parameters, right?
But it doesn't mean that when wehave parameters, we aren't also
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aware of set parameters and struggle more, right?
So he goes on to say, I would not have known what sin was had
it not been for the law. For I would not have known what
coveting really was if the law had not said you shall not
covet. But sin, seizing the opportunity
afforded by the commandments produced in me every kind of
coveting, for apart from the law, sin was dead.
Once I was alive apart from the law.
(07:15):
But when the commandment came, sin spring life and I died, I
found that the very command thatwas intended to bring life
actually brought death. It's interesting that the very
commands that God has for us to bring life can often times bring
death in terms of perhaps creating curiosity, perhaps
creating unnecessary struggle, perhaps creating thoughts that
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lead us astray in our own heartswhen we bring to our attention
that something is not good, right?
Something is not in God's way, not in God's law for us, right?
For since he's an opportunity afforded by the commandment,
deceive me, and through the commandment put me to death.
So, so then the law is holy and the commandment is holy,
righteous, and good. Did that which is good then
become death to me? By no means.
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Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it
used what is good to bring aboutmy death, so that through the
commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
We know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual.
So it's like this, this spiritual law, this good law
that God has for us often times because we're in our sinful
nature, even that law will then create intrigue about things we
(08:20):
shouldn't be doing right. So old as a slave to sin, verse
15, I do not understand what I do for what I want to do I do
not do, but what I hate I do. I think a lot of folks who have
dealt with addiction, a lot of folks who have dealt with
struggle patterns of sin can relate to this right for what I
want to do I do not do, but whatI hate I do.
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Verse 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the
law is good as it is, it is no longer I myself would do it, but
it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does
not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do whatis good, but I cannot carry it
out. So I think what Paul's getting
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here is that as a follower of Jesus, there is a new desire
inside of us, but in our sinful nature we are still wrestling
with sin in our new heart, our new desires, since we've been
illuminated because of Jesus andthe work of the cross, there's
new desires and then there's olddesires.
And sometimes those desires are conflicted, right?
(09:26):
Verse 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil
I do not want to do. This I keep on doing, which is a
brutal place to be in, right? Verse 20 Now if I do what I do
not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is the sin
living in me that does it. So I find this law at work.
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Although I want to do good, evilwas right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in God's law.
But I see another law at work inme, waging war against the law
of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin.
I work within me. These are conflicted desires
that Paul has and had and had towork through.
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And I think these conflicted desires are absolutely important
for us to take inventory up, confess in a local church
context and begin to work through.
And he gives us a framework on how to work through them in the
next chapter. And so if I think of a situation
with Michael Tate, if I think ofa situation, a fill in the blank
of any popular celebrity, any popular pastor, Christian,
whoever, even non Christians who've dealt with addiction,
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there's this, there's this wrestling happening with them
right now. The beautiful part is those of
us who are in Christ Jesus have an advocate and a way to make
our way back to a right standingwith God in the sense that we
can walk in freedom, but it requires effort, right?
So verse 24, what a wretched manI am who will rescue me from
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this body that is subject to death.
Now check this out. Verse 25 is when it starts to
take a turn. Thanks be to God who delivers me
through Christ Jesus our Lord. So then I myself in my mind am a
slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law
of sin. Now check out verse one in
chapter 8. Sometimes we we will, we'll
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separate these things, but this is where it gets good.
Check this out. It says, therefore there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So despite all of Romans 7, Paulis telling us that in Romans 8,
there is now no condemnation. And sometimes these chapters,
what people don't know is these were added like over 1000 years
after when this was written and the verses were added even
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later. And so we see that there is this
this continuation of the thought, but it's separated by
chapters. And sometimes that can do us a
disservice, right? Therefore, there is not no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through
Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set
you free from the law of sin anddeath.
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So we have been set free from the law and there is no
condemnation. That doesn't mean that we won't
still struggle and wrestle. It means that we don't have to
succumb to our sinful nature, right?
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by
the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
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sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the
righteous requirement of the Lawmight be fully met in US who do
not live according to the flesh,but according to the Spirit.
So Jesus fulfills the law on thecross, and by the Spirit we're
now empowered to not have to stay stuck in the patterns of
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sin and the patterns of addiction and the patterns of
the things that we feel like we have no control over.
Now, how do we do that? Well, we're, we're going to get
there. Those who live according to the
flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires, but
those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds
set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh
is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
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It does not submit to God's law,nor can it do so.
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh.
So it's interesting that Paul talks about wrestling with sin
and then in the in in the next chapter says there's no
condemnation, and then goes on to point out to the church in
Rome that you are not in the realm of the flesh, but you are
in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives
in you. And if anyone does not have the
(13:30):
Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
So now those of us in Christ, wehave the Spirit, we have a new
identity, we have new desires, we have a new trajectory for
life, right? But if Christ is in you, then
even though your body is subjectto death because of sin, the
Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is
living in you who raised Christ from the dead will also give
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life to your mortal bones because of His spirit.
So the Spirit is living in US. It'll help us to also have life
given to our mortal bones because of the Spirit.
Verse 4, Verse 12. Therefore, brothers and sisters,
we have an obligation, but it isnot to the flesh to live
according to it. So we have no no longer an
obligation to live according to it.
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For if you live according to theflesh, you will die.
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,
you will live put to death. The misdeeds of the body kill
sin, or sin will kill you. For those who are led by the
Spirit of God are the children of God.
(14:34):
The spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live
in fear again. Rather the spirit you receive
brought about your adoption to sonship.
And by him we cry ABBA. Father, the Spirit himself
testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and Co
(14:54):
heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his suffering in order
that we might also share in his glory.
So here's the here's the punchline that because we're
adopted, because the Spirit of God is in us, we have no
obligation to continue living inthe patterns of this way.
However, that doesn't mean that God always magically removes
(15:14):
your habits, addictions, perhapsthe ways that people have sinned
against you, that have created patterns in your life.
It doesn't mean that God just magically removes those.
It means that we have to cooperate with the work of the
Spirit by putting to death the misdeeds of the flesh.
Kill your sin or your sin will kill you.
Now question is going to be how how do we do that?
(15:36):
How do we do that right? How do we put to death the
flesh? How do we put to death the
misdeeds of the flesh? What does that practically look
like? Well, I actually think initially
it looks like what a mind shift.It looks like a different
perspective and approach to all these different things, right.
So a couple chapters later, Paulwrites, therefore I urge you by
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this is and therefore I urge youbrothers and sisters, in view of
God's mercy to offer your bodiesas a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing. This is your true and proper
worship. OK, Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will, you will be able
to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and
perfect will. So we know the first thing that
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needs to happen is probably a degree of ownership, some degree
of like, hey, I keep doing said thing and I don't want to do
something. So there's a revealing that
happens. OK, Then there's a repenting
that happens. I'm repenting of sets in.
Then there is a removal that happens.
All of us get to look into our own lives and say, what areas of
my life do I need to remove? What things in my life are
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causing triggers for me to go down that route?
Right. And so if we look at someone
like Michael Tayton, I'll make it personal to me.
Actually, Michael Tate spent a lot of time on the road.
I could be very honest that whenI spent time traveling, doing
shows as a musician, touring, all those sorts of things, that
was not the most conducive environment for me, Especially
(17:02):
with the temptation of adult content, looking at things I
shouldn't look at, eating thingsI shouldn't eat, overconsumption
of things I shouldn't overconsume.
And so I had to, in 2018, surgically remove the triggers
in my life that were causing me to send.
I had to remove these things, right?
(17:24):
Meaning this, I changed my entire approach to touring.
I changed my routine of staying up late and working on music.
I, I, I, I removed all those elements.
I know this sounds very simple, but if it was simple, then
everybody would do it, right? So sometimes the things that we
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are so dependent on, sometimes the things that we think are so
normal are actually abnormal. They're actually not what we
should be operating in. The things that we're so
comfortable in, the things that we're so we're so used to are
oftentimes the things that God is telling us.
Hey, I understand you revealed your sin, you confessed your
sin, you've repented, but now repentance looks like removal of
(18:06):
specific areas. Jesus said if your eye causes
you to sin, pluck it out. If your if your arm causes you
to sin, cut it off. So this perhaps industries that
are not conducive to someone that's dealing with the type of
things that Michael Tate was dealing with, the type of things
that I was dealing with, right? Praise God, I was able to pivot
away from having to travel as much and having to release music
and all these sorts of things. And I moved over to what I do
(18:28):
now on YouTube. When we look at Romans, we then
get further instructions. So OK, I'm going to really
simplify it for us. Reveal your sin.
Find someone trustworthy to confess your sin.
Confess your sin of God. Reveal your sin of God.
Step one, Step 2, repent. Change your mind about your sin.
Change your mind about the things that you're so accustomed
(18:48):
to, the things that you're due to soothe, that you know are
outside of God's heart for you. Repent.
OK, then you got to go in and remove.
When do I look at things I shouldn't look at?
Oh, when I'm up late by myself. OK, so remove those things in
removing you staying up late andperhaps you locking your phone
(19:10):
outside and perhaps waking up earlier.
These are things I had to do. I had to learn to wake up
earlier to wage war on the patterns of sin.
And if I woke up earlier, I was less likely to stay up late
because I was tired. And when I woke up earlier, I
had somewhere to be. I had something to do.
In my case it was the gym. So I'm removing the thing and I
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replaced it with something that could build me up.
A lot of people love to remove, but they don't go the next step
of replacing. You got to replace it with
something better, right? If you, if you're just like, oh,
I'm going to not do this, I'm going to not do that.
I'm going to not do this. I'm OK, cool.
But if you're not replacing it with anything to fill that void,
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you're you're going to go back to it.
This what we see in Romans 12/12one, right?
Therefore, I owe you brothers and sisters.
In view of God's mercy, so in view of the mercy of God, that
God Forgives us. God loves us right where we are,
but He doesn't leave us where weare.
To offer your bodies as a livingsacrifice, holy and pleasing to
(20:16):
God. This is your true and proper
worship. Do not conform to the pattern of
the world, but be transformed bythe renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is,
His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
So there is a renewal of the mind that happens.
There was a renewal of the mind that happens that we are going
(20:39):
to reveal, repent, remove, replace, renew.
And if you aren't doing set steps, you're going to stay
stuck in the same patterns. If you're not doing set steps,
you're going to stay stuck in the same patterns.
Often times we think that just removing is enough.
But yet you aren't replacing that with community.
(21:02):
You aren't replacing that with local church.
You're not replacing that with the word.
You're not replacing that with getting up earlier.
You're not replacing that with taking care of your body.
You're not replacing that with building something with the
time, talent, and treasure you've been given.
You just removing it and you think that's it, but you got to
replace that with something. You got to replace that with
something. For me, I replace the time with
(21:23):
going to the gym in the morning because I discovered that often
times my body can leave my mind and my body can leave my spirit.
What's done in the physical impacts the spiritual, right?
And it made me, it gave me more energy.
Help me start there earlier. That was what the, the, the
literature calls a keystone habit or cornerstone habit,
(21:44):
right? So there is a use of that word
cornerstone, the foundational stone on which a building is
built on and it talks about how Christ is the cornerstone, but
there's also cornerstone. Jesus is the cornerstone of our
life. There's also cornerstone habits
that once you nail one habit andyou lock it in, then the rest of
your life adjusts and change amounts of habit.
(22:05):
And so getting up earlier, fitness finances, taking care of
the, the time, talent and treasure, being faithful with
what's in front of me all the sudden started unlocking freedom
from the thing that's always hada grip on me.
And it's interesting how that works.
And I think so many Christians, they're, they just, they just
you think that following Jesus in faith is a true or false
(22:28):
answer to a bunch of propositional claims that Jesus
died for my sins, true or false?True.
OK, I guess I'm a Christian, butit's more than that.
It's beyond just that it's that's, that starts there.
But now we get to cooperate withthe Spirit of God and we got to
remove those things and replace them with something better.
You got to replace them with something better.
And I think often times we don't, we don't want to replace
(22:50):
those things. We just think God's going to
magically do it all. And sometimes, man, God does
change desires and some things are miraculously lifted.
But unfortunately, other times we got to go in and we got to
build new foundations to our entire life, right?
We got to build new foundations to our entire life.
Philippians. Philippians chapter 2 Paul
references it like this. Therefore, my brothers and
(23:12):
sisters, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence,
but not much more in my absence,Continue to work out your
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who
works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good
purpose. Work out what God has worked in.
God has given you a new heart, anew desires as an ontological
change, and so you work out whatGod has worked in.
(23:32):
Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may
become blameless and pure children of God without fault
and a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.
Isn't interesting that we are towork out what God has worked in?
We're to do this without grumbling and complaining.
Some of you guys are grumbling and complaining right now
because I'm telling you got to change some things in your life.
(23:54):
And I say go to church and you go, oh, there's bad churches,
There's bad churches. That doesn't mean you shouldn't
go to church. This means you can go to church.
Hey, you got to replace that with something else.
I don't want to replace it. I want to do my own thing.
I want to stay stuck, all right?OK, Do it without grumbling,
arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of
God without fault. In a warped and cricket
(24:14):
generation, the world is set up to to to make you fail, right?
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you
hold firmly to the word of life.And then I will be able to boast
on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain, right?
And that idea, it's really interesting, right?
(24:35):
Shine among like stars in the sky, right?
So let's let's look at this wordshine or logo software, which I,
I think you guys know, but logos60 day free trial.
If you hit the link in the description or in a pinned
comment, logos.com/ruslan, they're an amazing partner of,
of ours and they used to only kind of make this accessible to
(24:57):
pastors and clergy for way more money.
Now it's like 12 bucks a month for a subscription.
And I love being able to go stuff like this to the original
language. So this word shine, right?
Feno, Feno. The word is Feno in the original
appear, shine, be seen, bring tolight.
But we as Christians are to shine and bring to light, right?
And here are all the different ways this word is used.
(25:18):
Shine, visible, seen light, showobvious, think seen, appears
right? And then he The cool thing about
logos is then it'll show you allthe other times this word is
used, right? This is when an Angel appeared
in a dream, right? John 15 The light shines.
So in the same way Jesus being the light shines, we are also to
(25:41):
shine, bringing in goodness and beauty and showing that man the,
the, the if, if God did it in mylife and, and gave me a new
heart, new desires, and God can surely do it in your life,
right? And then we see it also
exhibited in Matthew chapter 25,verse 12.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
(26:01):
saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out
and trampled under foot. Now salt in this context is
about preservation and flavor, that as followers of Jesus we
are in this world to preserve itand to add flavor.
You are the light of the world. A town on a hill cannot be
(26:21):
hidden. Neither do people light a lamp
and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand
and it gives and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they
may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
So many people slide and drift back into self-destructive
habits because they don't believe these parts of the
(26:43):
scriptures. They don't believe that God
actually wants to use us to usher in goodness, to shine our
light, to bring illumination to the world.
We rather just complain about the world.
We rather just complain about how hard everything is, how dark
everything is and, and, and be upset.
And then, and then all of a sudden we're just, oh man, we're
just victims and all. And it's like, and then it
(27:03):
ironically enough, when people go through this publicly, when
people fall publicly, we then sit and judge them, knowing that
if someone came and examined ourlife under a microscope, there's
probably incongruent and inconsistent and simple patterns
that we're dealing with now. But we're shocked when a Michael
Tate is going through it or whenfill in a blank is going through
(27:24):
it. And the good news, in my
opinion, I think is if we walk through this framework, if we
walk through the framework, I'm saying, hey, I'm going to
reveal, I'm going to confess my sin.
Find some, some way in your lifeto get with people that, that
that's in a safe place where youcan confess your sins, right?
Repent of said sin, remove said sin, replace it with something
(27:46):
better. Replace it with something that
can help you shine your light before the world that God has
created all of us with a purpose.
And the macro purpose is to knowhim and make him known.
But I also believe there's, there's a, a purpose for our
generation, right? A purpose that God has created
us to do something here and now.And I think that's the the
aspect of Our Calling. What is your calling?
(28:07):
And that could the purpose and the calling.
Those things could change based on a season that you're in,
right? And I think all of that goes
back to knowing God and making him known, pointing people back
to Jesus. And unfortunately, it's easier
to just get our health insurance, punt it and not
really care about being used in this life.
You're selling yourself short that I think God wants all of us
(28:29):
on mission to help usher in his goodness, his beauty, love on
this side of eternity. There's a God that loves people
and he loves us and he loved Paul.
We call the worst of sinners. And so if God can use Paul, he
can use all of us. And if we can find freedom, then
we could be more congruent and said values.
And the areas that right now youfeel like are a mess in your
(28:50):
life, God can use for a message that the areas we feel ashamed
of, God can use to lift shame from other people that the
things that you think you're alone in right now, God can help
you find freedom. And then you no longer be alone.
You no longer feel alone. That's the that's the beauty of
walking this out. And I think unfortunately, it's
much easier to just be sensational and see other people
(29:13):
dealing with it, but not search our own heart and say, hey man,
there's actually things we all need to work on and God wants to
free us from those things. I say all that to say that I
think the world is obsessed withmaking us distracted, making us
depleted, but God has a desire and a heart for all of us, and
we created an entire playlist onhow you can discover your
purpose. So if you want to check that
(29:33):
out, we'll have that over here. All right, I'll see you over
there. Peace.
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