November 6, 2025 • 63 mins
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Ever felt like a misfit who loves hard truth but can’t stomach church-as-costume? We open the barn doors to real fellowship—worship that feels like family, work that tastes like sweat and soup, and a field guide for finishing what God puts in your hands. From a First Light sunrise to piratey psalms, we frame the longing for a tribe around Nehemiah 6, where enemies switch from open attack to subtle sabotage.
We walk through the Seven Battlefields—faith, family, fitness, fundamentals, finances, fellowship, fidelity—as a deliberate plan for godliness you can live Monday through Saturday. Then the text gets tactical. The walls are up, the gates aren’t hung, and the enemy pivots: ambush invites in the plain of Ono, open letters leaking slander, and hired prophets urging safety by sin. Nehemiah’s answer is a masterclass in leadership under fire: I cannot come down. That is false and invented. O God, strengthen my hands. He guards his calendar, keeps his replies short, audits his counselors, and finishes the mission in fifty-two days so even his critics admit God did it.
Along the way we share the texture of our home church and farm life—Reformation Day plans with wholesome costumes, music that actually moves, and a standing invitation to lock shields on 44 acres. The big takeaway is simple and hard: don’t trade duty for optics or obedience for comfort. Mark your section of the wall, hang your gates, and let your fruit preach. If you’ve been searching for a community that prizes Scripture, courage, and everyday usefulness, you’ll feel at home here.
Subscribe, share this with someone building through opposition, and drop a comment: what gate do you need to hang next? Your story might be the spark another warrior needs.
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Christian Warrior Mission trains believers to stand firm in a collapsing world.
We are a discipleship ministry, home-based warrior church, and working farm that comes alongside local churches—not to replace them, but to strengthen them by equipping men and women to lead, protect, provide, and disciple according to God’s Word.
We train across the Seven Battlefields:
Faith • Family • Fitness • Fundamentals • Finances • Fellowship • Fidelity
This is not a place for spectators, excuses, or passive Christianity.
This is where believers learn to pick up the Sword of Scripture, fortify their households, and lock shields with other warriors in Christ.
We build households that stand. We strengthen churches. We prepare saints for real-world battle.
No retreat. No surrender. Christ is King.
Join our Live Warrior Church Service Tuesday Nights at 8 pm EST on X, YouTube, Facebook, Rumble, and LinkedIn.
Daily Bible Studies Monday- Friday on X, YouTube, Facebook, Rumble, and LinkedIn
About the Host:
Jason Perry — former Navy SEAL, SWAT officer, and paramedic; CEO of Trident Shield; Pastor of Christian Warrior Church. From a 44-acre homestead, Jason trains believers to meet spiritual and practical threats with courage, clarity, and a shepherd’s heart.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
Alright, good evening to everyone.
Happy Lord's Day to you.
I'm gonna get a sound check andsee how I how this goes.
Alright, let's see here.
Can you hear me?
I'm gonna get a sound check.
You can.
So at least I can hear me.
That means for good or bad, youcan hear me.
(00:49):
So happy Lord's Day to you.
I hope you had a wonderful day.
Um we had some wind and somepower outages and flickers and
all kinds of stuff.
And um, so it was uh a littleinteresting day here, and it
went from like really mild, likewarm, you know, in the mornings,
(01:10):
like almost 70, which is reallywarm here for the mornings this
time of year, to like a coldfront just came in.
So I think we get something inthe 30s, which is the first time
since last year.
This is our first night in the30s, but we should be back up to
probably the 40s, 50s, 60s, uh,not too long after that.
So, but I hope wherever you are,it was beautiful.
(01:34):
I started this day with myamazing wife looking at the sun
coming up over the mountains.
And you know, if you don't upearly in the morning, um you
miss that kaleidoscope of colorswhen the mountains come up when
the when the sun comes over themountains and just splashes on
(01:56):
the clouds, and you know, andit's there for a little bit, and
then poof, it's gone, and it'snothing like it.
It's nothing like it.
So um, but uh, I just got backfrom my first again, well, not
my first, my first is my firsthorrible experience at a
(02:19):
Christian at a Christian umconference.
The worst experience I've had asa Christian was at a Christian
conference.
I went to um Calvary Chapel's uhpastor conference, the deep
south or big south or whatever,and that was the end of my walk
with them after that.
That's how bad that conferencewas.
(02:41):
Um this time I went to I wasinvited by one of the uh guys
from Fight Laugh Feast, GabeWrench.
Um, I don't know Gabe.
We have communicated a coupletimes through you know, through
um email and uh and you know X.
(03:03):
But uh he invited me and myfamily, and because we have a
farm, we couldn't go as a familygetting coverage for cows and
chickens and dogs and livestockguardian dogs and hogs and the
whole mess here, um, it was tootoo uh hard to do before we went
there.
(03:24):
So it was my first trip todowntown Nashville.
Um, I didn't really, you know, Iwas alone, so I didn't go to
anywhere cool or do anythinglike that.
So I went to this conference.
And if you're watching thisshow, then you're probably a
little bit like me.
You're a misfit in the Christiancommunity.
(03:47):
All right.
You want truth preached, you'rea logic-based thinker.
Um, that's what attracted you toprobably reform theology like
me.
And uh, you know, R.C.
Sprohl and Vodie Baccom and PaulWasher and uh Doug Wilson and
(04:08):
others who I didn't have to turnoff my mind.
You know, I could I couldn'tstill embrace, you know, the
mind that it gave me.
In fact, the scripture calls meto love God with all my mind,
right?
And so theologically, I alignwith those guys so much and I
respect all of them.
(04:29):
Do I agree with everything thatevery one of them says or does
or even believes?
No, I don't.
Um, I'm not in opposition tomany things that they believe.
I just, to me, some of thisstuff is like I like Italian
food and you like Thai, right?
And uh, you know, it's a tastething, it's just like musical
(04:51):
preference.
You know, music is one of thosethings just like taste buds,
where you don't really have anycontrol over what you like.
Either your taste buds digsomething or they don't.
You hear it and you're like,wow, that stirs my soul, or it's
like fingernails across achalkboard.
You know, so I went there tohopefully find my tribe.
(05:14):
And I met some really nicepeople there.
Um, you know, I met some great,you know, I'm I I because I'm
alone, I mainly talk to some ofthe vendors, and you know, I try
to talk to everyone around methat would uh that would that
would talk to me, which no onedidn't talk to me, but um it's a
(05:36):
was a very different crowd.
You had guys like me who aremore at home in flannel and you
know, and and in jeans or shortsand a t-shirt.
Um and then you have what I callthe aristocrat wannabes, which
(05:59):
are the guys with the bow tiesand the you know, the wax beards
and wax mustaches curled up in aqueue that I just want to choke
out.
Um I'm sure I repent of that, ofcourse.
But yeah, they they drive mecrazy with their fancy words and
(06:20):
their, you know, trying to bewhat I don't know what they I
don't know what role they thinkthey're playing, distinguished
gentlemen or not, but it comesoff like a clown show to me.
But um I met a lot of good dudesthere, even even the guys in the
clown suits are great guys.
Um, so again, I make jokes withthat, but I'm sure like the ones
that I did talk to, I could findan awful lot to agree with.
(06:44):
But um I don't know, I was inCalvary Chapel, Bangor, Maine,
with Ken Graves, who one of myspiritual fathers, who I just my
my theology evolved beyond histheology or away from his
theology as I my biblical IQrose, um my beliefs changed.
(07:11):
And but I'll tell you thatchurch in Bangor, Maine, um that
is what a church would feellike.
I walked in there and I feltlike family.
And I felt like I walked in andthis is my tribe, and any one of
them could have been myrelatives, even though you know
it was it was just veryfamiliar.
(07:34):
And I don't know if I don'tthink that that's wrong.
You know, it's just I could walkin any of their houses at dinner
and fit right in, versus sittingdown at a table worrying about
which fork or if I cross, well,I don't cross my legs, but if I
wanted to be a beta male andcross my legs, I guess I
wouldn't even know how to dothat and which fork and which
(07:56):
spoon to use and blah, blah,blah.
Right now, we gotta remember I'mnot, you know, despite my very
uh street thug vernacular, youknow, I have been around the
world's elite.
I've already gotten the world'selite, I've been around them,
I've had to behave, and I canact the role if I have to.
(08:20):
It is just a horrible costumethat I do not want to wear.
And that is not who I want to bein the presence of God.
I'm not going to be phony in thepresence of God.
So, and that may be who theyare, I'm sure it is, you know,
but I'm just saying that um Ithink there are guys there that
are part of my tribe.
(08:40):
I think I imagine maybe 20%,15%, 10%, I don't know,
something like that.
Where if I came into theirdinner table, it'd be awesome.
And, you know, people wouldn'tsay things like, you know, we're
at a conference not too longago, and you know, like can't
remember the exact quote, butLauren, we were talking about
(09:02):
families, and this guy was beingnice to Lauren and asked how
many kids we had, and Laurentold him, and he asked her.
And instead of just saying thenumber, he had to say, you know,
half a baker's dozen plus blank.
Which, if you don't know what abaker's dozen is, you're like,
what?
(09:22):
Like, why on earth would you dothat to someone?
Other than to try to seem quippyor whatever.
You know, this guy's a sweetdude, but he still couldn't help
help himself.
And we're like, okay, you know,so again, that that is part of
that crowd.
(09:44):
But again, there's another partof the there's another part
there, and again, the thetheologically I agree with
probably 99.9% of where they'reat.
And I I also want to say, and Iknow I'm going long in the intro
here, that I had the they theydo a lot of singing there of
psalms and hymns.
(10:05):
And that's typically not my jam.
But they did a sailor shanty,which obviously I was a sailor.
I've rowed on boats, I've donemilitary cadences and all that
stuff.
And they are very catchy bydesign, right?
And they had a guy up there whodivided everybody by their
(10:27):
voice, you know, which how hedid that was remarkable.
Um, I won't bore you with it,but it was really quick, scorted
everyone out.
And they sang it sounded like apirate song, which was probably,
you know, either the piratesripped off that or they ripped
off the pirate song.
I don't know.
I'm gonna say the piratesprobably ripped them off and
made something like, whoa, ho,you know, blow the man down or
(10:50):
whatever, right?
But it was really good.
And I find myself humming itaround and all that stuff.
And uh, so, anyways, I want tothank the guys from Fight Laugh
Feast.
I want to thank the people thatwere very friendly to me.
And uh I'm going to continue toknock on doors to see if there's
a place where we belong.
(11:13):
Okay.
Until then, we're gonna continueto build this community because
I know you guys are misfits likeme.
You guys may not know the42-syllable, you know, um,
terminology to what to calleverything in here, but you got
it right in your heart.
You're living it every day,right?
To do what's something, to bedoing something's right because
(11:35):
God wrote it on your heart.
You don't need to be able topronounce Latin to do it.
Okay?
I can't think of anything moreuseless than learning Latin.
And I'm willing to debate thatwith whoever, because there's
another skill they could havelearned that is much more useful
than Latin in the meantime.
(11:56):
Those brain cells in thislimited bank could be used at
something infinitely more usefulthan a dead language, but it's
neither here nor there.
So, the longest intro I thinkI've ever done.
But welcome to Christian WarriorMission, a home church,
community, ministry, and farmforging Christian Warriors for
today's challenges.
(12:16):
Advance on every front, everyday, no excuses, no retreats.
So, as you guys heard, if thisis your first time watching us,
this is a home church community.
What's that mean?
Well, we're a home church, thisis our home.
Uh, I don't have some big coolbuilding, and this is all real.
It's like not AI or any of thatstuff.
(12:39):
This is just our house, okay?
Um, and we have people who arelike us who watch from behind
enemy lines in Boston, Mass, orNew Hampshire, or Maine, or
Oregon, or Washington,California, heck, even not so
(13:01):
far behind any lines in Texasand and you know, but others in
Minnesota and you know, Floridaand everywhere else.
So, anyways, that's where weare.
Um, we have 44 acres here inJohnson City, Tennessee, where
we work hard every day as afamily, and anyone in our
(13:23):
community is welcome to comehere and work alongside us.
Um, we'd love to have you be apart of this.
We'd love to live life with you,celebrate your victories, help
you know, lift you up in yourdefeats, and do true fellowship
where iron sharpens iron, wherewe lift each other up to higher
(13:45):
standards, where we invest ineach other and each other's
families.
That's what this is about.
So, some announcements.
We have Reformation Day comingup on October 31st, that the
pagans call Halloween, but wecall it a Reformation Day, the
day when Martin Luther nailedhis thesis to the door of the
(14:08):
Catholic Church, and thus beganthe first step of uh the
Reformation, which isProtestantism.
We will have wholesome costumes,so you need to be in something
wholesome, okay?
No sexiness, or you know, Idon't want to see boobs and
(14:32):
butts, okay.
We want like Lauren's amilkmaid, okay.
I'm gonna be a crusader, okay.
Uh Yaya is gonna be Joan of Arc.
Um, B is a princess, and Gus isgonna be a cow.
Okay, so either be a hero of youknow, of somebody you look up to
in the church.
You can be an old, you know, youcan be a cow, you can be
(14:55):
whatever.
Just nothing dark, nothingundead, only good, only good
righteous things, okay?
Um, and we're gonna have, youknow, worship, we're gonna have
songs cranking out there, whichlet me tell you some other good
news.
So, as you know, my primary oneof my primary beeps with
Christian music is that a lot ofit is terrible.
(15:17):
A friend of mine turned me on toa list that was Psalms and blues
and said it was made by AI.
And I don't care if it was madeby AI.
I'm not even a blues guy.
I put that on, and every songwas a banger.
It was awesome.
And then that turned me on toother artists, some of them
composers using AI, and othersjust artists.
(15:39):
And I'm just like, man, this islike country and rock blended
together.
It's exactly what I wanted.
Like exactly what I wanted.
I got workout tracks coming outof my eyes now, you know, and uh
so great stuff, and we'll beplaying all kinds of great
things.
Um, we'll have games for thekids, we'll have treats for the
(16:00):
kids, we'll have food.
So please, please, please, RSVPon Christian Warrior Missions um
Facebook page.
Go to our Facebook page, you'llsee events and RSVP there.
I've only it doesn't let me uhinvite 700 people anymore.
I only get like 50 invites orwhatever, and I just took the
first 50 on my list, and I'vegot like thousands of friends.
(16:23):
So um I didn't know that I hadto be selective, so I was just
like click click click send, andthen I'm like, why won't this do
anything?
So it's not that you didn't makemy first cut, it's just
alphabetically, however Facebookdoes it, um you weren't in the
first 50 clicks till I ran out.
So, whatever that was all aboutthat.
(16:45):
We're also processing Karen onWednesday.
So we gotta go get a um traileron Tuesday, so the day after
tomorrow.
And then I'm going to uh I'mgoing to take her in, and we're
gonna finally have steaks again,homegrown steaks.
It's been a long drought here.
(17:07):
So, and then we're gonna bedoing pork chop shortly
thereafter, and I think we'repicking up two friends of ours
deciding to get out of thefarming business, and so they're
selling some freezers, and we'regonna get their 25-foot cubic
freezer that we're gonna buyfrom them, and then a standing
freezer on top of the other fivefreezers we have here full of
meat, whatever.
(17:28):
So, all right, and then afterthat, I'm gonna let the cold
weather do its job, and thenwe're gonna go up and do a cross
field day.
I'm gonna go up there with somethick gloves, chainsaws, and
weed whackers and edgers, andblowtorches and everything.
(17:50):
And we are going to reclaim thathillside from the jungle where
the pavilion is.
I need some strong lads to comehelp me lift up the pavilion.
We had a serious windstorm thatlifted up our giant, like our
big pavilion and moved it over,um, like a really bad storm last
year.
And I need to get some strongdudes here, at least four, well,
(18:12):
three plus me, to grab each, tograb a you know, leg and lift it
up and move it over.
And then we'll be back inbusiness up at the cross.
You know, I've got a lot oftrimming to do um because of
last year of my leg, but it'sgonna be a good time.
So, anyways, come there and youguys know if you come here and
(18:33):
you do anything here, we feedyou.
Whether it's we get piecesdelivered or Lauren makes
something or whatever, but wetake care of you when you come
here.
So, that being said, some thingsthat separate that are that we
do um that we do.
We do, we believe in the sevenbattlefields.
(18:54):
Okay, or or actually that's notthe right way to say that.
Um for lack of a better way ofunderstanding of explaining
this, is I suck at anything thatI don't deliberately do.
And this Christian walk is thehardest thing to do, period.
So if I am not trying or aiming,if I don't have a target to aim
(19:15):
at and I don't or a destinationto drive to, and I'm not
actively trying to drive thatway.
Well, I don't know where I'mgoing or where I'm shooting.
So we deliberately pursuegodliness in seven aspects of
our life, which is your wholelife.
Faith, we put faith first, wepursue a relationship with God
through reading scripture,studying catechism, and prayer.
(19:37):
Two, we deliberately pursuebetter relationships with our
family.
We choose people from our familyto sacrificially serve every day
and pour the love of Christ inthem and let them know that you
see them, you love them, andthat God loves them.
Okay.
Three, we do fitness, wedeliberately try to take care of
these bodies by getting enoughsleep, by eating well, eating
(20:01):
healthy, and getting active.
You don't have to win a bestbody contest, but you should be
able to hit and you should beable to move.
Okay, you should be functional,being a good minister of this
body.
And I am on my way down and I'mhappy about it.
And hopefully I get down thereand I stay down, God will.
Fundamentals, we believe inbeing useful.
(20:23):
So we deliberately pursue beinguseful and acquiring skills and
sharpening skills every day.
Finances, we believe in tryingto stay debt-free if possible,
you know, depending on when youjump into this, and uh leaving a
legacy for your kids, but alsousing your orchestra for God and
(20:44):
not you, and to um not gettrapped and caught up in
materialism.
You know, you won't see usdriving a Ferrari or a wear
carrying a Louis Vuitton bag orwhatever the new Gucci thing is
now, right?
You're not gonna see me rockinga roly, okay.
Um after finances comesfellowship.
(21:09):
We deliberately pursuerelationships with godly people.
That's what I was at fightinglast piece for.
Okay, godly people who lift youup to heaven instead of ungodly
people who drag you to hell.
And the last is fidelity, andthat is being loyal to God, your
spouse, and your word,reclaiming your word, being a
(21:31):
man of your word.
So that's what we do here, okay?
Uh, we do that on you know uh anaccountability board.
Okay, we built a communityonline where you're welcome to
join us, where you can come in,join a bunch of brothers and
sisters.
We call our brother's shieldbrothers and our women's shield
(21:51):
maidens, who all are there toinvest in you and you and them.
They're there to pray for youwhen your kid's sick.
They're there to help you solveproblems when your knee hurts,
or you're trying to repair arelationship, or you don't know
what to do.
They're also there to comealongside with fellowship and to
(22:13):
learn with you and to shareskills.
I can't know everything, buttogether we can know a lot.
Okay.
So that's what we do there.
And we are also building outcourses online for you to take
courses or everything from howto choose a firearm, how to
clean a firearm, how to cite ina red dot, how to process a
(22:36):
chicken, how to make farm freshcheese, uh, basic carpentry,
basic electrical, building allthat stuff up so that if you
come on there, you can do it.
Now, in the meantime, I might gofind a bunch of other playlists
from other people who are doingit great, and I might just put
it together on the website.
And things that are missing,I'll add to it.
You know, as you guys know, Idon't like putting out content
(22:59):
without tying it to God.
So um, even my active shootertraining, we got God on every
slide.
You know, we tie it all inbecause that's what we're doing.
We are deliberately pursuingHim.
Okay.
So, enough about all that.
Let's go ahead and pray in um Dothis.
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, wethank you.
(23:20):
We thank you for waking up thismorning.
We thank you for blessing uswith another day to get it
right.
Lord, we thank you for thesebodies and the trillions of
cells that we have that workedperfect for us to be here today.
Lord, we also thank you for thecells in our bodies that aren't
(23:43):
working so right.
As we age and acquire injuries,you know, the body starts
breaking down, and we we thankyou for those because they make
us more dependent on you.
You are made per your strengthis made perfect in weakness.
So, Lord, as challenges comeacross us, draw us deeper into
(24:04):
you so your strength can be madeperfect.
Lord, we also thank you for yourcommon grace, for your creation.
(25:36):
The sun, the heavens, the earth,the moon, the stars, this earth,
everything from the top of youknow, Mount Everest all the way
down to the deepest trench inthe ocean.
And everything in between, allthe fish, all the animals, all
the plants and trees and thelandscapes, environments, Lord,
(25:58):
we thank you for it all.
That is all good.
SPEAKER_01 (26:03):
We thank you for the people.
Lord, help us to love ourneighbor as ourselves, and to
love one another as you lovedus.
Lord, help us to be present withone another.
SPEAKER_02 (26:25):
Help us to put down the phone and not listen for the
beeps and the boops, and to justbe with one another, to look in
each other's eyes, to hold ahand, to hear pain, to see pain,
to really observe how we're alldoing and drink it in.
Because at the end of our lives,when we're laying in our
(26:46):
deathbed, we're not gonna wishwe stared at TVs anymore.
SPEAKER_01 (26:51):
We're gonna wish we looked on each other's faces so
much more and heard each other'svoices.
When I think of all the people Ilove that are gone, Lord, I wish
I had more time with them.
SPEAKER_02 (27:07):
And I repent of all the time that I didn't spend
with them, and I wasn't present.
Help us to learn that lesson andto be present every moment of
every day with the ones aroundus.
Lord, we thank you for thesunrise and the sunset.
We thank you for bird song inthe morning and children
(27:28):
laughing.
Thank you for the sound of wavesagainst the shore.
The smell of fresh mountain airin Tennessee.
The smell of coffee brewing inthe morning, a fresh pot of soup
simmering on the stove.
SPEAKER_01 (27:45):
We thank you for a warm fire on a cold night, cool
breeze on a hot day.
SPEAKER_02 (27:55):
Most of all, we thank you for your divine grace,
for choosing us before thefoundations of the earth and
writing our names into the bookof life.
Lord, we stand in awe of yourlove.
But you chose us before we choseyou.
So we pray that this time wouldglorify you, Lord, that you
(28:19):
would hear our heart, that youwould feel us reaching out with
all that we are.
And I pray that you wouldstrengthen us to love you with
all of our heart, mind, soul,will, mind, body, will, with all
that we are.
SPEAKER_01 (28:32):
Now, as everyone who's watching this and
participating, that you wouldfeel us reaching out at once,
craving you, loving you,glorifying you.
SPEAKER_02 (28:48):
I pray all these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right.
Now that was a very long-windedprayer.
I will say the Lord's prayer.
I won't teach it because myintro has been ridiculously long
today.
So when the disciples askedJesus how they should pray, this
is what he said in Matthew 6, 9through 13.
(29:09):
Pray then like this, our Fatherin heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, yourwill be done on earth as it is
in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread, and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven ourdebtors, and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us fromevil.
If you're ever looking for amodel of prayer, that is the
perfect prayer.
But there's also two other onesthat I really love.
(29:34):
God, help, and then the greatPaul Washer.
SPEAKER_01 (29:39):
God, you know.
You know, you know.
You know, and because you know,I can trust it all to you.
SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
Amen.
Right?
That's a man with a lot on hishead, and I probably butchered
it, but it's pretty close tothat.
Amen.
I really admire.
All right, so we are in Nehemiah6.
We've gone from one to six.
I'm gonna recap one throughfive, and then we'll drive on to
six.
So the framework of this is thePersian Empire under our
(30:19):
Texerces I, 465 to 424 BC.
Nehemiah begins in Susa.
The trek to Jerusalem is about900 miles, which takes about
three to four months in theancient world.
Judah is a tax Persian provincewith a hostile neighbors.
That's Sunbalat, that is acharacter that we all hear about
(30:41):
in Samaria.
Tobiah the Ammonite, an officialwith Judah ties that we'll hear,
and Geshem, an Aaron, the Arabwho controls the southern trade
routes.
Okay, in Nehemiah 1, this is arapid review.
Nehemiah learns of the ruin, hefasts, repents, and um
covenentially, right?
(31:02):
He starts with the repentanceand then intercession.
Two, he gains favor with ourtaxeres.
He does to send him on hisjourney and with supplies and
notes, because Nehemiah is verywise.
Like, I can't wait to meet thisdude in heaven.
He's a genius and a tacticalgenius and a leadership guru
(31:26):
that would put all the clownsthat are out there with their
deep voices trying to sound allauthoritative, you know, and all
this garbage that I see all overmy feeds.
And it's like everyone isripping off the Bible.
Just do what the Bible says.
Just do what the Bible says.
You don't need to go to aleadership course, you don't
(31:46):
need to spend money.
With any super special dude toteach you how to lead.
God tells you everything righthere.
Just do it.
Save your money.
So he gains favor with ArtexXerxes, does a night recon,
unannounced night recon to seewhen it's most vulnerable.
(32:08):
He rallies everyone to build.
He asks boldly, gathers intel,quietly answers taunts with
theology and jurisdiction, takesownership of it, and then shares
that ownership with the people.
In E3, he gets household torepair names sections to God's
standards.
(32:28):
Not what they want to do, but toGod's standards.
Build your section, qualitymatters.
What you do, everything you do,you do for the Lord.
You know, and the SEAL teams uhinstructor I really admired said
how you do anything is how youdo everything in the end, right?
Which is very true if youbecause when you like if you do
(32:50):
something when you like it to acertain standard, you're not
always gonna like it and you'regonna fall to the standard that
you do when you don't like it.
But if you do everything for theLord, then you're gonna do it
like you like it.
You love it because yourepresent the Lord in all you
do, okay?
So Nehemiah 4, enemies escalate.
(33:12):
Nehemiah prays and plans, guardsby family, sword and trial
posture, trumpet rally SOP, dawnthe stars readiness, worship,
work, warfare.
Our God will fight with us.
Nehemiah 5, they're makingprogress, they solved the
external threat for a time, andnow we're finding out that the
nobles have been preying uponthe people.
(33:35):
Internal oppression confronted,restitution and leadership,
self-denial modeled.
Leading from the front.
Boy, does Nehemiah do that.
Fear God, free your brother,leaders lead, not, or that
leaders feed, not fleece.
SPEAKER_01 (33:53):
So the bridge to six.
SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
After external attacks and internal repair, the
enemy turns to psychologicalwarfare and infiltrating,
infiltration, meetings thatmurder time, letters that light
rumors, and profits for higher.
This is like this book crushesGame of Thrones.
(34:20):
Um, you know, and we'll we'llwe'll talk about that here
because Nehemiah is thecharacter that uh that George
R.R.
Martin could not kill if hewanted to.
So uh this is out of the ESVtoday, okay?
Verse one.
Now, when Sam Balin and Tobiah,the Geshem and Geshem the Arab,
(34:43):
and the rest of our enemiesheard that I had built the wall
and that there was no breachleft in it.
So they had built all the wall,not the gates, but all the wall.
Although at that time I had notset up the doors in the gates.
Built the wall, the continuouscurtain is is standing.
No breaches left means that gapsare closed.
(35:05):
What remains is gate hardware,door, door, you know, doors and
all everything, all that otherparts, right?
And a city without doors is anopen city, it's a border.
Okay, it's an old wide openborder, easy to raid and
impossible to govern.
(35:25):
And there's a tension.
Although not set up the doorsbetween um, by not having the
doors at the gates of a city,that's where government is
conducted.
And there is no security and nogovernment business, and
everything's just just rememberlife under Biden here, okay?
(35:47):
Where, you know, and imagineyou're a small border town being
invaded.
That was basically what theywere dealing with.
Enemy Intel, when they heard,shows constant enemy
intelligence surveillance andreconnaissance.
As the work advances,adversaries pivot from force to
finesse.
The gate is where justice sitsand leadership speaks.
(36:10):
Until doors hang with bars andbolts.
Jerusalem's worship, commerce,and courts remain exposed.
Finishing the gates is spiritualand civic obedience.
Okay, so now during this time,you know, and when you think
about this in your life, ifyou're getting close to the end
(36:32):
of something, that's not thetime to let up.
Right?
That's the time to double theguard in the gates.
You don't need them everywhereelse anymore.
Double them at the gates, okay?
Split teams into door teams.
All right.
Maintain Don Nastar's postureuntil every gate is barred,
until the job is done.
(36:54):
Get it done.
Okay.
Spurgeon said, By perseverance,the snail reached the ark.
I love that.
So the next verse, 6-2.
Sembalat and Geshem sent to mesaying, Come and let us meet
(37:14):
together at Hakapharim in theplain of Ono.
But they intended to do me harm.
The plain of Ono lies in thecoastal lowlands, near Lod,
outside of Jerusalem's securezones, and under hostile
influence.
Moving Nehemiah, the leaderthere, likens travel, thins his
(37:38):
escort, and puts him on theirground.
And the note on the Hebrew hereis means that in the villages,
the Bach Karaf Kepharim or theTyponim Kepharim.
Either way, the setting exposesa uh poses, sorry, it poses as
(37:59):
casual or neutral.
But Nehemiah is smart.
He sees what this is.
This is an ambush, an attempt tokidnap him or kill him.
Come let us be, poses aspeacemaking, but aims to
separate the shepherd, stall thewall, and enable an ambush.
They intend to do me harm.
When force fails, the enemiesattempt calendar capture.
(38:24):
If they can't stop the wall,they'll stop the builder.
So, you know, as we try to takethis and apply it to our lives,
when you were vulnerable and youwere dealing with things, don't
(38:46):
meet the enemy on their turf.
Finish your job.
Decline meanings.
Do not pause critical work.
SPEAKER_01 (38:54):
Okay, do not pause your critical work.
SPEAKER_02 (39:01):
And one of my favorite quotes of all time from
Martin Luther Peace of possible,truth at all costs.
Okay, 6-3, holy focus.
And I sent messages to themsaying, I am doing great work
and cannot come down.
Why should the work stop while Ileave and come down to you?
This is brilliant.
(39:22):
Delegation at a distance.
Great work tied to God'sassignment.
He flips the rhetoricalquestion, the burdens of proof
on them.
Come down signals that leaving ahigh, he's leaving high ground.
It literally is higher ground,but I'm a defensible position.
Why should I come here and stopthe work to come meet with you?
(39:52):
Send specifics in writing.
We'll review after completion,block building windows, answer
once in writing, mute everythingelse.
This is taking the lessons ofNehemiah when he's on this
critical thing.
When you have critical thingsand your enemies are trying to
get you to do things, when thepeople who are working against
you, competitive businesses,family member disputes, take
(40:18):
everything you learn here fromNeah.
Nehemiah is the master ofdealing with fake news and
communication.
SPEAKER_01 (40:25):
He gives them nothing.
Gives them nothing.
SPEAKER_02 (40:32):
And they sent to me four times in this way.
And I answered them in the samemanner.
The design, nutrition, testingboundaries, and fatigue, right?
They are constantly trying towear him down and get him to
come out.
Consistency models policy.
Nehemiah controls the temple.
(40:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (40:53):
He responds in the same exact way, doesn't change a
word.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (40:59):
He basically said doesn't give them anything new
to comment on.
Okay.
And you'll see that over andover.
Oh, and 6-5.
In the same way, Sam Balat forthe fifth time sent his servant
to me with an open letter in hishand.
The open letter signifiesinformation warfare.
He's leaking while this letter'scoming, because he wants the
(41:24):
people to know what's in theletter.
That's why it's open.
This is the shift, the publicperception in the battle.
In it was written, it isreported among the nations, and
Geshem also says it, that youand the Jews intend to rebel.
(41:47):
That is why you are building thewall.
And according to these reports,you wish to become their king.
Full stop.
So they are trying to sowdissent between the king who
sent, who showed kindness toNehemiah, gave him supplies,
(42:07):
gave him leave, gave himauthority to come here to do
this, and they're starting tospin the fake news.
Right?
They're starting to say, okay,we're gonna try to separate
Nehemiah from the king.
We're gonna try to sow a falsenarrative.
And this was Game of theThrones.
The king would send assassinsand kill Nehemiah right now.
(42:33):
But he didn't, God did.
And watch how amazing Nehemiahis with this.
Again, which would be treason atthat point.
(42:55):
Verse 7, and you have also sentup prophets to proclaim
concerning you in Jerusalem.
There is a king in Judah, andnow the king will hear these
reports.
So now come and let us counseltogether.
So I just called you atreasonous wretch.
Come talk to me now, or I'mgonna keep spreading these
(43:17):
rumors.
He's trying to scare him.
And he puts religious varnish onslander, right?
Because he has, you know, you'regonna find out later that there
are prophets saying this thathave been bought.
Blackmailed by rumor, and thetable, and a table that presumes
(43:39):
guilt, and an open letter sharedthroughout the countryside.
6-8.
Then I sent to him saying, Nosuch thing as you say have been
done, for you are inventing themout of your own mind.
Okay, that's all he says.
Strategy, brevity, denial, anddiagnosis.
(44:03):
Not true, you're inventing thesethings in your head.
Two-line template.
That is false.
It was invented.
We're continuing the work.
Awesome.
Avoid long receipts andscreenshots and all this stuff.
No, that's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01 (44:19):
You're making this up in your own head.
Done.
SPEAKER_02 (44:24):
Now, for all they wanted, for they all wanted to
frighten us, right?
Of course.
Imagine the Persian Empire comecrashing down on this little
clan of Judah trying to buildthe walls, right?
They wanted to frighten us,thinking their hands will drop
from the work and it will not bedone.
SPEAKER_01 (44:45):
But now, oh God, strengthen my hands.
There's a battlefield prayerright there.
There it just.
Oh God, strengthen my hands.
SPEAKER_02 (44:58):
The psyops aim, weakened hands.
Response, a field prayer thatinterrupts fear and returns the
body to its mission.
SPEAKER_01 (45:10):
I mean, me and mine is just amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (45:13):
And Charles Spurgeon said, a short prayer is long
enough.
So now, when I went into thehouse, I'm gonna read this
because I can see this got shortover here, it got shortened.
So I didn't catch that.
Oh boy, I don't have my glasses.
This is gonna be interesting.
(45:36):
Now, when I went to the house ofShemea, the son of Delia Deleah,
son of Mahetabel, and again Ican barely see what I'm reading
here, who was confined to hishome, he said, Let us meet
together in this house of Godwithin the temple.
Let us close the doors of thetemple, for they are coming to
(45:56):
kill you.
They are coming to kill you bynight.
SPEAKER_01 (46:00):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (46:05):
Private house, shut in posture, and now, right?
This guy's in a private house,he's locked away.
He's telling Nehemiah to violatetemple law, to violate God's
law.
To violate, he's not a priest,he can't go in there.
The shun in, the vice to violatetemple law.
(46:26):
Fear lever by night.
So now it's even worse.
They're gonna come kill you atnight, the worst case scenario.
What do we do with this?
We do what Nehemiah is about todo.
Do not seek safety by sin.
You must ask yourself whenyou're being counseled by people
or about to make a decision andask yourself two questions.
Is it biblical?
(46:48):
If you want to live a biblicalworldview, that's the question
you should be asking.
Is this God honoring?
Does the Bible say I can dothis?
Okay.
And is it and if it is, show mein chapter and verse where I can
do that.
If it requires breaking God'sword or your role, your word as
an honorable person, it is badcounsel.
SPEAKER_01 (47:12):
Consequences.
Will this keep me obedient?
SPEAKER_02 (47:16):
If it makes you lie, hide, neglect your post, or take
the fear shortcut, don't do it.
So safety that requires sin isnot safety at all.
Calvin said, our safety is toobey God.
He's right.
(47:37):
Buying a few more moments tosuffer for eternity.
No thanks.
So 611, and again, I missedthat.
Ah, here we go.
Oh, hang on with me, my eyes.
But I said, should such a man asI run away?
(47:59):
And what man such as I could gointo the temple and live?
Again, he knows the law.
He can't go into the temple andlive.
SPEAKER_01 (48:07):
I will not go in.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (48:14):
As governor and a layman, not a priest, he
remembers sanctioned forunlawful entry.
He can't go in there.
SPEAKER_01 (48:25):
And he resolves this publicly.
I won't go in there.
SPEAKER_02 (48:29):
So the warrior application is know your office.
And the lesson here for all ofus who aren't as good as
Nehemiah is practicepredecisions.
Say what you will and won't do.
Don't wait for adrenaline to hityou before you start asking
yourself hard questions.
Particularly when you're goinginto negotiations or you're
dealing with a kid, you know, alife and death with your kid or
(48:51):
any of that other stuff.
If you're not used to makinglife and death decisions, they
are very hard, and you don'twant to do that shaking.
One of the most amazing thingsabout Martin Luther is this
story here from the Deed ofWorms in 1521.
(49:11):
The setting is before EmperorCharles V, German princes and
Popal envoys, envoys of thePope, Luther was ordered to
recant his books, his works.
He refused appealing toScripture and conscience.
And this is what he said,expecting death.
Unless I am convicted by thetestimony of scriptures or by
(49:33):
clear reason, for I do not trusteither in the Pope or in the
councils alone, since it is wellknown that they have often erred
and contradicted themselves.
I mean, saying that to theking's face.
I am bound by the scriptures.
I have quoted, I'm bound by thescriptures I have quoted, and my
(49:54):
conscience is captive to theword of God.
I cannot and will not recantanything, since it is neither
safe nor right to go againstconscience.
Here I stand, I can do no other.
God help me.
Amen.
Holy smokes.
(50:15):
God was a monster.
And in 612, again, I gotta getmyself a large print book for
when these things happen, thesethings happen.
Or find my glasses.
And I understood and I saw thatGod had not sent him, because
this was supposed to be aprophet or a priest talking to
(50:38):
him, right?
But he had pronounced theprophecy against me because
Dobiah and Sam Balad had hiredhim.
Holy smokes.
What?
SPEAKER_01 (50:48):
Hired him?
Hired a priest of God to betrayhim?
This is mercenary prophecy,right?
So audit your counselors andremove the compromised voices.
(51:14):
So 613, the aim of the scheme.
SPEAKER_02 (51:21):
That I should be afraid and act in this way and
sin, right?
That's what they wanted.
They want to discredit him.
And so they could give me a badname in order to taunt me.
The chain is this fear, sin,smear, aim, discredit leader and
the mission.
Refuse panic pathways.
(51:42):
Pray, verify, obey.
Guard holiness as ballisticarmor.
In 614, imprecatory appeal, andI'll explain that what that is
to you because that's one ofthose words that most people
don't know what it is.
Remember, Zekar is a covenantaljudicial appeal to take note and
(52:09):
deal justly according to theirdeeds.
Nehemiah, oh sorry, I didn'tread it.
Remember, this is Nehemiahsaying, Remember Tobi and Sobet
Sembalat, oh my God.
According to these things theydid.
And also the prophetess Noadiahand the rest of the prophets who
wanted to make me afraid.
(52:31):
Who are we to fear?
Only God.
He has nothing to fear.
But they're trying to make himfear afraid.
Okay, so here, remember, theword he used remember, which is
what started it, remember,Tobiah and Zembalat, is a
covenantal judicial appeal.
It means to take note and dealjustly according to their deeds.
(52:54):
So it's to remember and judge.
Okay.
Nehemiah names offenders,Tobiah, Zembalat, Noadiah, and
the rest of the prophets,exposing a networked effort to
make him afraid and entrustingjustice to God rather than
taking personal retaliation.
(53:18):
So warrior's application.
Call in God's fire.
Do not be afraid to pray againstyour enemies and to bring God
into this.
Pray the imprecatory psalms.
Imprecatory Psalms are theBible.
Here's that word imprecatoryagain, right?
Are the Bible's justice prayers.
Psalms that ask God to judge,stop, and overturn evil,
(53:40):
vindicate his people and protectthe innocent.
Imprecate means to call downjudgment.
These are not tantrums, they arelawful fire missions called into
the king, not street justice byus.
unknown (53:54):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (53:56):
So fight clean and legal, pursue justice through
lawful channels.
SPEAKER_01 (54:03):
Call down fire missions from God.
Six fifteen, the finish line.
SPEAKER_02 (54:28):
Elul, in fifty-two days.
And when our enemy heard of it,all the nations around us were
afraid and fell greatly.
And they fell greatly in theirown esteem.
For they perceived that thiswork had been accomplished with
the help of our God.
They're like, there's nothing.
Everyone knew that there's noway that they could have built
(54:50):
that wall in 52 days withoutGod.
So God's on their side, and nowthey're crushed.
The timestamp, the miraculousnature of this, God's magnifies
God help and team discipline.
Right?
SPEAKER_01 (55:03):
God did it and he used amazing Nehemiah and these
men to do it with.
SPEAKER_02 (55:12):
The application here is mark the finish lines, clear
the debris, build, and then whenyou're done, celebrate.
Give the God all the glory.
And Charles Spurgeon said best.
To God be all the glory.
SPEAKER_01 (55:31):
Six sixteen.
SPEAKER_00 (55:45):
Oh, sorry.
SPEAKER_02 (55:45):
Yeah, I already for they fell greatly in their own
esteem, for they perceived thatthis work had been accomplished
with the help of our God.
Enemy morale drops, outcomebecomes apologetic.
Now they're apologizing, right?
But it's still not over.
So as warriors, let our fruitpreach, let the results speak,
guard against pride, give Godthe credit.
(56:08):
Let him see what you do, nothear what you do.
Okay.
Um Ryal said, Let your light soshine that men see, not hear
your good works.
So in 617, ongoing letters.
So here we go.
This is traitors amongst them.
Moreover, in those days thenobles of Judah sent many
(56:31):
letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah'sletters came to them.
For many in Judah were bound byoath to him, because he was the
son-in-law of Shekaniah, the sonof Arah, and the son of Jehona
(56:52):
had taken the daughter ofMeshulam, the son of Barekiah,
as his wife.
Again, sorry, I'm barely seeingthese words.
Um again, moreover, in thosedays, the nobles of Judah, the
nobles are leaking.
They are working, they are doingespionage against him.
(57:14):
Judah's elites keep passingletters to Tobiah, and he's
running back.
So they're freely communicating.
We must train our families andour people to be loyal to God
first.
God is our first loyalty.
SPEAKER_01 (57:31):
Then family.
SPEAKER_02 (57:37):
As for many in Judah abound to him, right?
So ultimately, they had a shadowgovernment going on.
A shadow government where Tobiahand all these people with the
walls down, where they could dowhatever and exploiting
corruption and all the stuff andoppressing the people.
Now there's this, he's exposingthis entire shadow cabal of
(57:59):
people who are working againsthim.
As warriors, we must untangleloyalties.
And we must cut out corruptionaround us.
Remember, Christ overeverything, including clan.
So verse 19 now.
(58:21):
Also, they spoke of his gooddeeds in my presence.
They're praising his enemy andreported my words to him.
So they are praising their enemyor Nehemiah's enemy to
Nehemiah's face and thenreporting back what Nehemiah is
saying to them about him.
And Tobiah sent letters to makeme afraid.
(58:46):
Two tactics in one worse.
Flattery propaganda inside thecamp.
Nobles praise Tobiah toNehemiah's face to soften him.
A leak channel that some samecircle reports Nehemiah's words
back to Tobiah.
And then intimidation returns.
Tobiah answers with fearletters.
Intimidation.
SPEAKER_01 (59:07):
The loop, praise, leak, threat.
SPEAKER_02 (59:13):
They launder the enemy's image, siphon intel, and
try to chill their leaders'resolves.
They have divided loyalties, thebehavior flows from oath
marriage ties to Tobiah.
The good deeds are likelycherry-picked or transactional.
And the aim is to pressure nothis pressure, not truth.
(59:34):
The goal is to isolate Nehemiah,shape his perception, Tobiah is
not so bad, and erode his willto act.
As warriors, we know thatflattery is praised used to
control you.
Don't buy it, don't echo it.
We evaluate by deeds, weevaluate deeds by truth, not PR.
(59:59):
Charles Burger said, beware ofthe paint of praise.
So finally, now to wrap this up.
The enemy's playbook,distraction with the Ono
invites, and to try to capture.
Slander in the open letter inverses five through nine.
(01:00:23):
Deception and false counsel in ahired prophet in verses 10
through 14.
Our response, focus.
I cannot come down.
6.3.
Truthful brevity, that is falseand invented.
6.8.
Obedience with discernment.
Do not seek safety by sin.
6 or 11 verses 11 and 12.
(01:00:44):
Prayer under pressure, but nowstrengthen my hands.
9.
Verse 9.
Finish.
Hang the gates, close the loop.
Verses 15 and 16.
Guard your calendar and comms.
Always.
Route fear letters.
Get rid of them.
Anchor decisions into scriptureand office.
(01:01:05):
And then mark completions andcelebrate them and give God the
glory.
Charge, lock shields, keepbuilding, finish.
Distractions will call you toOno.
Slander will call, will clarifyyour focus.
False counsel will baptizecowardice, but the fear of God
steals the spine.
Truth distills rumors.
(01:01:32):
Set your face to the work Godput in your hands and finish.
So the watching world says, Godhas done it.
So some famous quotes tounderscore tonight.
Martin Luther Peace, ifpossible, truth and all.
All costs.
Is it any wonder I named my sonMagnus Luther?
(01:01:52):
And then John Calvin, this is aparaphrase.
True wisdom is to submit whollyto God's word, resisting the
sway of men.
And then JC Rile, the only saferule is the Bible.
This is the only book you needon how to live.
All right.
(01:02:13):
So we're not doing communiontoday.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02:16):
So let us close it out.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02:25):
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenanceto you and give you peace.
Soldiers of Christ, go under theking's blessing, stand firm,
lock shields, keep the watch,finish your section of the wall.
Fear God, free your brother,advance his kingdom with
courage, love, and steady hands.
(01:02:46):
God bless you, and we'll see youtomorrow for Bible study.
Alright, good evening to everyone.
Happy Lord's Day to you.
I'm gonna get a sound check andsee how I how this goes.
Alright, let's see here.
Can you hear me?
I'm gonna get a sound check.
You can.
So at least I can hear me.
That means for good or bad, youcan hear me.
(00:49):
So happy Lord's Day to you.
I hope you had a wonderful day.
Um we had some wind and somepower outages and flickers and
all kinds of stuff.
And um, so it was uh a littleinteresting day here, and it
went from like really mild, likewarm, you know, in the mornings,
(01:10):
like almost 70, which is reallywarm here for the mornings this
time of year, to like a coldfront just came in.
So I think we get something inthe 30s, which is the first time
since last year.
This is our first night in the30s, but we should be back up to
probably the 40s, 50s, 60s, uh,not too long after that.
So, but I hope wherever you are,it was beautiful.
(01:34):
I started this day with myamazing wife looking at the sun
coming up over the mountains.
And you know, if you don't upearly in the morning, um you
miss that kaleidoscope of colorswhen the mountains come up when
the when the sun comes over themountains and just splashes on
(01:56):
the clouds, and you know, andit's there for a little bit, and
then poof, it's gone, and it'snothing like it.
It's nothing like it.
So um, but uh, I just got backfrom my first again, well, not
my first, my first is my firsthorrible experience at a
(02:19):
Christian at a Christian umconference.
The worst experience I've had asa Christian was at a Christian
conference.
I went to um Calvary Chapel's uhpastor conference, the deep
south or big south or whatever,and that was the end of my walk
with them after that.
That's how bad that conferencewas.
(02:41):
Um this time I went to I wasinvited by one of the uh guys
from Fight Laugh Feast, GabeWrench.
Um, I don't know Gabe.
We have communicated a coupletimes through you know, through
um email and uh and you know X.
(03:03):
But uh he invited me and myfamily, and because we have a
farm, we couldn't go as a familygetting coverage for cows and
chickens and dogs and livestockguardian dogs and hogs and the
whole mess here, um, it was tootoo uh hard to do before we went
there.
(03:24):
So it was my first trip todowntown Nashville.
Um, I didn't really, you know, Iwas alone, so I didn't go to
anywhere cool or do anythinglike that.
So I went to this conference.
And if you're watching thisshow, then you're probably a
little bit like me.
You're a misfit in the Christiancommunity.
(03:47):
All right.
You want truth preached, you'rea logic-based thinker.
Um, that's what attracted you toprobably reform theology like
me.
And uh, you know, R.C.
Sprohl and Vodie Baccom and PaulWasher and uh Doug Wilson and
(04:08):
others who I didn't have to turnoff my mind.
You know, I could I couldn'tstill embrace, you know, the
mind that it gave me.
In fact, the scripture calls meto love God with all my mind,
right?
And so theologically, I alignwith those guys so much and I
respect all of them.
(04:29):
Do I agree with everything thatevery one of them says or does
or even believes?
No, I don't.
Um, I'm not in opposition tomany things that they believe.
I just, to me, some of thisstuff is like I like Italian
food and you like Thai, right?
And uh, you know, it's a tastething, it's just like musical
(04:51):
preference.
You know, music is one of thosethings just like taste buds,
where you don't really have anycontrol over what you like.
Either your taste buds digsomething or they don't.
You hear it and you're like,wow, that stirs my soul, or it's
like fingernails across achalkboard.
You know, so I went there tohopefully find my tribe.
(05:14):
And I met some really nicepeople there.
Um, you know, I met some great,you know, I'm I I because I'm
alone, I mainly talk to some ofthe vendors, and you know, I try
to talk to everyone around methat would uh that would that
would talk to me, which no onedidn't talk to me, but um it's a
(05:36):
was a very different crowd.
You had guys like me who aremore at home in flannel and you
know, and and in jeans or shortsand a t-shirt.
Um and then you have what I callthe aristocrat wannabes, which
(05:59):
are the guys with the bow tiesand the you know, the wax beards
and wax mustaches curled up in aqueue that I just want to choke
out.
Um I'm sure I repent of that, ofcourse.
But yeah, they they drive mecrazy with their fancy words and
(06:20):
their, you know, trying to bewhat I don't know what they I
don't know what role they thinkthey're playing, distinguished
gentlemen or not, but it comesoff like a clown show to me.
But um I met a lot of good dudesthere, even even the guys in the
clown suits are great guys.
Um, so again, I make jokes withthat, but I'm sure like the ones
that I did talk to, I could findan awful lot to agree with.
(06:44):
But um I don't know, I was inCalvary Chapel, Bangor, Maine,
with Ken Graves, who one of myspiritual fathers, who I just my
my theology evolved beyond histheology or away from his
theology as I my biblical IQrose, um my beliefs changed.
(07:11):
And but I'll tell you thatchurch in Bangor, Maine, um that
is what a church would feellike.
I walked in there and I feltlike family.
And I felt like I walked in andthis is my tribe, and any one of
them could have been myrelatives, even though you know
it was it was just veryfamiliar.
(07:34):
And I don't know if I don'tthink that that's wrong.
You know, it's just I could walkin any of their houses at dinner
and fit right in, versus sittingdown at a table worrying about
which fork or if I cross, well,I don't cross my legs, but if I
wanted to be a beta male andcross my legs, I guess I
wouldn't even know how to dothat and which fork and which
(07:56):
spoon to use and blah, blah,blah.
Right now, we gotta remember I'mnot, you know, despite my very
uh street thug vernacular, youknow, I have been around the
world's elite.
I've already gotten the world'selite, I've been around them,
I've had to behave, and I canact the role if I have to.
(08:20):
It is just a horrible costumethat I do not want to wear.
And that is not who I want to bein the presence of God.
I'm not going to be phony in thepresence of God.
So, and that may be who theyare, I'm sure it is, you know,
but I'm just saying that um Ithink there are guys there that
are part of my tribe.
(08:40):
I think I imagine maybe 20%,15%, 10%, I don't know,
something like that.
Where if I came into theirdinner table, it'd be awesome.
And, you know, people wouldn'tsay things like, you know, we're
at a conference not too longago, and you know, like can't
remember the exact quote, butLauren, we were talking about
(09:02):
families, and this guy was beingnice to Lauren and asked how
many kids we had, and Laurentold him, and he asked her.
And instead of just saying thenumber, he had to say, you know,
half a baker's dozen plus blank.
Which, if you don't know what abaker's dozen is, you're like,
what?
(09:22):
Like, why on earth would you dothat to someone?
Other than to try to seem quippyor whatever.
You know, this guy's a sweetdude, but he still couldn't help
help himself.
And we're like, okay, you know,so again, that that is part of
that crowd.
(09:44):
But again, there's another partof the there's another part
there, and again, the thetheologically I agree with
probably 99.9% of where they'reat.
And I I also want to say, and Iknow I'm going long in the intro
here, that I had the they theydo a lot of singing there of
psalms and hymns.
(10:05):
And that's typically not my jam.
But they did a sailor shanty,which obviously I was a sailor.
I've rowed on boats, I've donemilitary cadences and all that
stuff.
And they are very catchy bydesign, right?
And they had a guy up there whodivided everybody by their
(10:27):
voice, you know, which how hedid that was remarkable.
Um, I won't bore you with it,but it was really quick, scorted
everyone out.
And they sang it sounded like apirate song, which was probably,
you know, either the piratesripped off that or they ripped
off the pirate song.
I don't know.
I'm gonna say the piratesprobably ripped them off and
made something like, whoa, ho,you know, blow the man down or
(10:50):
whatever, right?
But it was really good.
And I find myself humming itaround and all that stuff.
And uh, so, anyways, I want tothank the guys from Fight Laugh
Feast.
I want to thank the people thatwere very friendly to me.
And uh I'm going to continue toknock on doors to see if there's
a place where we belong.
(11:13):
Okay.
Until then, we're gonna continueto build this community because
I know you guys are misfits likeme.
You guys may not know the42-syllable, you know, um,
terminology to what to calleverything in here, but you got
it right in your heart.
You're living it every day,right?
To do what's something, to bedoing something's right because
(11:35):
God wrote it on your heart.
You don't need to be able topronounce Latin to do it.
Okay?
I can't think of anything moreuseless than learning Latin.
And I'm willing to debate thatwith whoever, because there's
another skill they could havelearned that is much more useful
than Latin in the meantime.
(11:56):
Those brain cells in thislimited bank could be used at
something infinitely more usefulthan a dead language, but it's
neither here nor there.
So, the longest intro I thinkI've ever done.
But welcome to Christian WarriorMission, a home church,
community, ministry, and farmforging Christian Warriors for
today's challenges.
(12:16):
Advance on every front, everyday, no excuses, no retreats.
So, as you guys heard, if thisis your first time watching us,
this is a home church community.
What's that mean?
Well, we're a home church, thisis our home.
Uh, I don't have some big coolbuilding, and this is all real.
It's like not AI or any of thatstuff.
(12:39):
This is just our house, okay?
Um, and we have people who arelike us who watch from behind
enemy lines in Boston, Mass, orNew Hampshire, or Maine, or
Oregon, or Washington,California, heck, even not so
(13:01):
far behind any lines in Texasand and you know, but others in
Minnesota and you know, Floridaand everywhere else.
So, anyways, that's where weare.
Um, we have 44 acres here inJohnson City, Tennessee, where
we work hard every day as afamily, and anyone in our
(13:23):
community is welcome to comehere and work alongside us.
Um, we'd love to have you be apart of this.
We'd love to live life with you,celebrate your victories, help
you know, lift you up in yourdefeats, and do true fellowship
where iron sharpens iron, wherewe lift each other up to higher
(13:45):
standards, where we invest ineach other and each other's
families.
That's what this is about.
So, some announcements.
We have Reformation Day comingup on October 31st, that the
pagans call Halloween, but wecall it a Reformation Day, the
day when Martin Luther nailedhis thesis to the door of the
(14:08):
Catholic Church, and thus beganthe first step of uh the
Reformation, which isProtestantism.
We will have wholesome costumes,so you need to be in something
wholesome, okay?
No sexiness, or you know, Idon't want to see boobs and
(14:32):
butts, okay.
We want like Lauren's amilkmaid, okay.
I'm gonna be a crusader, okay.
Uh Yaya is gonna be Joan of Arc.
Um, B is a princess, and Gus isgonna be a cow.
Okay, so either be a hero of youknow, of somebody you look up to
in the church.
You can be an old, you know, youcan be a cow, you can be
(14:55):
whatever.
Just nothing dark, nothingundead, only good, only good
righteous things, okay?
Um, and we're gonna have, youknow, worship, we're gonna have
songs cranking out there, whichlet me tell you some other good
news.
So, as you know, my primary oneof my primary beeps with
Christian music is that a lot ofit is terrible.
(15:17):
A friend of mine turned me on toa list that was Psalms and blues
and said it was made by AI.
And I don't care if it was madeby AI.
I'm not even a blues guy.
I put that on, and every songwas a banger.
It was awesome.
And then that turned me on toother artists, some of them
composers using AI, and othersjust artists.
(15:39):
And I'm just like, man, this islike country and rock blended
together.
It's exactly what I wanted.
Like exactly what I wanted.
I got workout tracks coming outof my eyes now, you know, and uh
so great stuff, and we'll beplaying all kinds of great
things.
Um, we'll have games for thekids, we'll have treats for the
(16:00):
kids, we'll have food.
So please, please, please, RSVPon Christian Warrior Missions um
Facebook page.
Go to our Facebook page, you'llsee events and RSVP there.
I've only it doesn't let me uhinvite 700 people anymore.
I only get like 50 invites orwhatever, and I just took the
first 50 on my list, and I'vegot like thousands of friends.
(16:23):
So um I didn't know that I hadto be selective, so I was just
like click click click send, andthen I'm like, why won't this do
anything?
So it's not that you didn't makemy first cut, it's just
alphabetically, however Facebookdoes it, um you weren't in the
first 50 clicks till I ran out.
So, whatever that was all aboutthat.
(16:45):
We're also processing Karen onWednesday.
So we gotta go get a um traileron Tuesday, so the day after
tomorrow.
And then I'm going to uh I'mgoing to take her in, and we're
gonna finally have steaks again,homegrown steaks.
It's been a long drought here.
(17:07):
So, and then we're gonna bedoing pork chop shortly
thereafter, and I think we'repicking up two friends of ours
deciding to get out of thefarming business, and so they're
selling some freezers, and we'regonna get their 25-foot cubic
freezer that we're gonna buyfrom them, and then a standing
freezer on top of the other fivefreezers we have here full of
meat, whatever.
(17:28):
So, all right, and then afterthat, I'm gonna let the cold
weather do its job, and thenwe're gonna go up and do a cross
field day.
I'm gonna go up there with somethick gloves, chainsaws, and
weed whackers and edgers, andblowtorches and everything.
(17:50):
And we are going to reclaim thathillside from the jungle where
the pavilion is.
I need some strong lads to comehelp me lift up the pavilion.
We had a serious windstorm thatlifted up our giant, like our
big pavilion and moved it over,um, like a really bad storm last
year.
And I need to get some strongdudes here, at least four, well,
(18:12):
three plus me, to grab each, tograb a you know, leg and lift it
up and move it over.
And then we'll be back inbusiness up at the cross.
You know, I've got a lot oftrimming to do um because of
last year of my leg, but it'sgonna be a good time.
So, anyways, come there and youguys know if you come here and
(18:33):
you do anything here, we feedyou.
Whether it's we get piecesdelivered or Lauren makes
something or whatever, but wetake care of you when you come
here.
So, that being said, some thingsthat separate that are that we
do um that we do.
We do, we believe in the sevenbattlefields.
(18:54):
Okay, or or actually that's notthe right way to say that.
Um for lack of a better way ofunderstanding of explaining
this, is I suck at anything thatI don't deliberately do.
And this Christian walk is thehardest thing to do, period.
So if I am not trying or aiming,if I don't have a target to aim
(19:15):
at and I don't or a destinationto drive to, and I'm not
actively trying to drive thatway.
Well, I don't know where I'mgoing or where I'm shooting.
So we deliberately pursuegodliness in seven aspects of
our life, which is your wholelife.
Faith, we put faith first, wepursue a relationship with God
through reading scripture,studying catechism, and prayer.
(19:37):
Two, we deliberately pursuebetter relationships with our
family.
We choose people from our familyto sacrificially serve every day
and pour the love of Christ inthem and let them know that you
see them, you love them, andthat God loves them.
Okay.
Three, we do fitness, wedeliberately try to take care of
these bodies by getting enoughsleep, by eating well, eating
(20:01):
healthy, and getting active.
You don't have to win a bestbody contest, but you should be
able to hit and you should beable to move.
Okay, you should be functional,being a good minister of this
body.
And I am on my way down and I'mhappy about it.
And hopefully I get down thereand I stay down, God will.
Fundamentals, we believe inbeing useful.
(20:23):
So we deliberately pursue beinguseful and acquiring skills and
sharpening skills every day.
Finances, we believe in tryingto stay debt-free if possible,
you know, depending on when youjump into this, and uh leaving a
legacy for your kids, but alsousing your orchestra for God and
(20:44):
not you, and to um not gettrapped and caught up in
materialism.
You know, you won't see usdriving a Ferrari or a wear
carrying a Louis Vuitton bag orwhatever the new Gucci thing is
now, right?
You're not gonna see me rockinga roly, okay.
Um after finances comesfellowship.
(21:09):
We deliberately pursuerelationships with godly people.
That's what I was at fightinglast piece for.
Okay, godly people who lift youup to heaven instead of ungodly
people who drag you to hell.
And the last is fidelity, andthat is being loyal to God, your
spouse, and your word,reclaiming your word, being a
(21:31):
man of your word.
So that's what we do here, okay?
Uh, we do that on you know uh anaccountability board.
Okay, we built a communityonline where you're welcome to
join us, where you can come in,join a bunch of brothers and
sisters.
We call our brother's shieldbrothers and our women's shield
(21:51):
maidens, who all are there toinvest in you and you and them.
They're there to pray for youwhen your kid's sick.
They're there to help you solveproblems when your knee hurts,
or you're trying to repair arelationship, or you don't know
what to do.
They're also there to comealongside with fellowship and to
(22:13):
learn with you and to shareskills.
I can't know everything, buttogether we can know a lot.
Okay.
So that's what we do there.
And we are also building outcourses online for you to take
courses or everything from howto choose a firearm, how to
clean a firearm, how to cite ina red dot, how to process a
(22:36):
chicken, how to make farm freshcheese, uh, basic carpentry,
basic electrical, building allthat stuff up so that if you
come on there, you can do it.
Now, in the meantime, I might gofind a bunch of other playlists
from other people who are doingit great, and I might just put
it together on the website.
And things that are missing,I'll add to it.
You know, as you guys know, Idon't like putting out content
(22:59):
without tying it to God.
So um, even my active shootertraining, we got God on every
slide.
You know, we tie it all inbecause that's what we're doing.
We are deliberately pursuingHim.
Okay.
So, enough about all that.
Let's go ahead and pray in um Dothis.
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, wethank you.
(23:20):
We thank you for waking up thismorning.
We thank you for blessing uswith another day to get it
right.
Lord, we thank you for thesebodies and the trillions of
cells that we have that workedperfect for us to be here today.
Lord, we also thank you for thecells in our bodies that aren't
(23:43):
working so right.
As we age and acquire injuries,you know, the body starts
breaking down, and we we thankyou for those because they make
us more dependent on you.
You are made per your strengthis made perfect in weakness.
So, Lord, as challenges comeacross us, draw us deeper into
(24:04):
you so your strength can be madeperfect.
Lord, we also thank you for yourcommon grace, for your creation.
(25:36):
The sun, the heavens, the earth,the moon, the stars, this earth,
everything from the top of youknow, Mount Everest all the way
down to the deepest trench inthe ocean.
And everything in between, allthe fish, all the animals, all
the plants and trees and thelandscapes, environments, Lord,
(25:58):
we thank you for it all.
That is all good.
SPEAKER_01 (26:03):
We thank you for the people.
Lord, help us to love ourneighbor as ourselves, and to
love one another as you lovedus.
Lord, help us to be present withone another.
SPEAKER_02 (26:25):
Help us to put down the phone and not listen for the
beeps and the boops, and to justbe with one another, to look in
each other's eyes, to hold ahand, to hear pain, to see pain,
to really observe how we're alldoing and drink it in.
Because at the end of our lives,when we're laying in our
(26:46):
deathbed, we're not gonna wishwe stared at TVs anymore.
SPEAKER_01 (26:51):
We're gonna wish we looked on each other's faces so
much more and heard each other'svoices.
When I think of all the people Ilove that are gone, Lord, I wish
I had more time with them.
SPEAKER_02 (27:07):
And I repent of all the time that I didn't spend
with them, and I wasn't present.
Help us to learn that lesson andto be present every moment of
every day with the ones aroundus.
Lord, we thank you for thesunrise and the sunset.
We thank you for bird song inthe morning and children
(27:28):
laughing.
Thank you for the sound of wavesagainst the shore.
The smell of fresh mountain airin Tennessee.
The smell of coffee brewing inthe morning, a fresh pot of soup
simmering on the stove.
SPEAKER_01 (27:45):
We thank you for a warm fire on a cold night, cool
breeze on a hot day.
SPEAKER_02 (27:55):
Most of all, we thank you for your divine grace,
for choosing us before thefoundations of the earth and
writing our names into the bookof life.
Lord, we stand in awe of yourlove.
But you chose us before we choseyou.
So we pray that this time wouldglorify you, Lord, that you
(28:19):
would hear our heart, that youwould feel us reaching out with
all that we are.
And I pray that you wouldstrengthen us to love you with
all of our heart, mind, soul,will, mind, body, will, with all
that we are.
SPEAKER_01 (28:32):
Now, as everyone who's watching this and
participating, that you wouldfeel us reaching out at once,
craving you, loving you,glorifying you.
SPEAKER_02 (28:48):
I pray all these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right.
Now that was a very long-windedprayer.
I will say the Lord's prayer.
I won't teach it because myintro has been ridiculously long
today.
So when the disciples askedJesus how they should pray, this
is what he said in Matthew 6, 9through 13.
(29:09):
Pray then like this, our Fatherin heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, yourwill be done on earth as it is
in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread, and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven ourdebtors, and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us fromevil.
If you're ever looking for amodel of prayer, that is the
perfect prayer.
But there's also two other onesthat I really love.
(29:34):
God, help, and then the greatPaul Washer.
SPEAKER_01 (29:39):
God, you know.
You know, you know.
You know, and because you know,I can trust it all to you.
SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
Amen.
Right?
That's a man with a lot on hishead, and I probably butchered
it, but it's pretty close tothat.
Amen.
I really admire.
All right, so we are in Nehemiah6.
We've gone from one to six.
I'm gonna recap one throughfive, and then we'll drive on to
six.
So the framework of this is thePersian Empire under our
(30:19):
Texerces I, 465 to 424 BC.
Nehemiah begins in Susa.
The trek to Jerusalem is about900 miles, which takes about
three to four months in theancient world.
Judah is a tax Persian provincewith a hostile neighbors.
That's Sunbalat, that is acharacter that we all hear about
(30:41):
in Samaria.
Tobiah the Ammonite, an officialwith Judah ties that we'll hear,
and Geshem, an Aaron, the Arabwho controls the southern trade
routes.
Okay, in Nehemiah 1, this is arapid review.
Nehemiah learns of the ruin, hefasts, repents, and um
covenentially, right?
(31:02):
He starts with the repentanceand then intercession.
Two, he gains favor with ourtaxeres.
He does to send him on hisjourney and with supplies and
notes, because Nehemiah is verywise.
Like, I can't wait to meet thisdude in heaven.
He's a genius and a tacticalgenius and a leadership guru
(31:26):
that would put all the clownsthat are out there with their
deep voices trying to sound allauthoritative, you know, and all
this garbage that I see all overmy feeds.
And it's like everyone isripping off the Bible.
Just do what the Bible says.
Just do what the Bible says.
You don't need to go to aleadership course, you don't
(31:46):
need to spend money.
With any super special dude toteach you how to lead.
God tells you everything righthere.
Just do it.
Save your money.
So he gains favor with ArtexXerxes, does a night recon,
unannounced night recon to seewhen it's most vulnerable.
(32:08):
He rallies everyone to build.
He asks boldly, gathers intel,quietly answers taunts with
theology and jurisdiction, takesownership of it, and then shares
that ownership with the people.
In E3, he gets household torepair names sections to God's
standards.
(32:28):
Not what they want to do, but toGod's standards.
Build your section, qualitymatters.
What you do, everything you do,you do for the Lord.
You know, and the SEAL teams uhinstructor I really admired said
how you do anything is how youdo everything in the end, right?
Which is very true if youbecause when you like if you do
(32:50):
something when you like it to acertain standard, you're not
always gonna like it and you'regonna fall to the standard that
you do when you don't like it.
But if you do everything for theLord, then you're gonna do it
like you like it.
You love it because yourepresent the Lord in all you
do, okay?
So Nehemiah 4, enemies escalate.
(33:12):
Nehemiah prays and plans, guardsby family, sword and trial
posture, trumpet rally SOP, dawnthe stars readiness, worship,
work, warfare.
Our God will fight with us.
Nehemiah 5, they're makingprogress, they solved the
external threat for a time, andnow we're finding out that the
nobles have been preying uponthe people.
(33:35):
Internal oppression confronted,restitution and leadership,
self-denial modeled.
Leading from the front.
Boy, does Nehemiah do that.
Fear God, free your brother,leaders lead, not, or that
leaders feed, not fleece.
SPEAKER_01 (33:53):
So the bridge to six.
SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
After external attacks and internal repair, the
enemy turns to psychologicalwarfare and infiltrating,
infiltration, meetings thatmurder time, letters that light
rumors, and profits for higher.
This is like this book crushesGame of Thrones.
(34:20):
Um, you know, and we'll we'llwe'll talk about that here
because Nehemiah is thecharacter that uh that George
R.R.
Martin could not kill if hewanted to.
So uh this is out of the ESVtoday, okay?
Verse one.
Now, when Sam Balin and Tobiah,the Geshem and Geshem the Arab,
(34:43):
and the rest of our enemiesheard that I had built the wall
and that there was no breachleft in it.
So they had built all the wall,not the gates, but all the wall.
Although at that time I had notset up the doors in the gates.
Built the wall, the continuouscurtain is is standing.
No breaches left means that gapsare closed.
(35:05):
What remains is gate hardware,door, door, you know, doors and
all everything, all that otherparts, right?
And a city without doors is anopen city, it's a border.
Okay, it's an old wide openborder, easy to raid and
impossible to govern.
(35:25):
And there's a tension.
Although not set up the doorsbetween um, by not having the
doors at the gates of a city,that's where government is
conducted.
And there is no security and nogovernment business, and
everything's just just rememberlife under Biden here, okay?
(35:47):
Where, you know, and imagineyou're a small border town being
invaded.
That was basically what theywere dealing with.
Enemy Intel, when they heard,shows constant enemy
intelligence surveillance andreconnaissance.
As the work advances,adversaries pivot from force to
finesse.
The gate is where justice sitsand leadership speaks.
(36:10):
Until doors hang with bars andbolts.
Jerusalem's worship, commerce,and courts remain exposed.
Finishing the gates is spiritualand civic obedience.
Okay, so now during this time,you know, and when you think
about this in your life, ifyou're getting close to the end
(36:32):
of something, that's not thetime to let up.
Right?
That's the time to double theguard in the gates.
You don't need them everywhereelse anymore.
Double them at the gates, okay?
Split teams into door teams.
All right.
Maintain Don Nastar's postureuntil every gate is barred,
until the job is done.
(36:54):
Get it done.
Okay.
Spurgeon said, By perseverance,the snail reached the ark.
I love that.
So the next verse, 6-2.
Sembalat and Geshem sent to mesaying, Come and let us meet
(37:14):
together at Hakapharim in theplain of Ono.
But they intended to do me harm.
The plain of Ono lies in thecoastal lowlands, near Lod,
outside of Jerusalem's securezones, and under hostile
influence.
Moving Nehemiah, the leaderthere, likens travel, thins his
(37:38):
escort, and puts him on theirground.
And the note on the Hebrew hereis means that in the villages,
the Bach Karaf Kepharim or theTyponim Kepharim.
Either way, the setting exposesa uh poses, sorry, it poses as
(37:59):
casual or neutral.
But Nehemiah is smart.
He sees what this is.
This is an ambush, an attempt tokidnap him or kill him.
Come let us be, poses aspeacemaking, but aims to
separate the shepherd, stall thewall, and enable an ambush.
They intend to do me harm.
When force fails, the enemiesattempt calendar capture.
(38:24):
If they can't stop the wall,they'll stop the builder.
So, you know, as we try to takethis and apply it to our lives,
when you were vulnerable and youwere dealing with things, don't
(38:46):
meet the enemy on their turf.
Finish your job.
Decline meanings.
Do not pause critical work.
SPEAKER_01 (38:54):
Okay, do not pause your critical work.
SPEAKER_02 (39:01):
And one of my favorite quotes of all time from
Martin Luther Peace of possible,truth at all costs.
Okay, 6-3, holy focus.
And I sent messages to themsaying, I am doing great work
and cannot come down.
Why should the work stop while Ileave and come down to you?
This is brilliant.
(39:22):
Delegation at a distance.
Great work tied to God'sassignment.
He flips the rhetoricalquestion, the burdens of proof
on them.
Come down signals that leaving ahigh, he's leaving high ground.
It literally is higher ground,but I'm a defensible position.
Why should I come here and stopthe work to come meet with you?
(39:52):
Send specifics in writing.
We'll review after completion,block building windows, answer
once in writing, mute everythingelse.
This is taking the lessons ofNehemiah when he's on this
critical thing.
When you have critical thingsand your enemies are trying to
get you to do things, when thepeople who are working against
you, competitive businesses,family member disputes, take
(40:18):
everything you learn here fromNeah.
Nehemiah is the master ofdealing with fake news and
communication.
SPEAKER_01 (40:25):
He gives them nothing.
Gives them nothing.
SPEAKER_02 (40:32):
And they sent to me four times in this way.
And I answered them in the samemanner.
The design, nutrition, testingboundaries, and fatigue, right?
They are constantly trying towear him down and get him to
come out.
Consistency models policy.
Nehemiah controls the temple.
(40:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (40:53):
He responds in the same exact way, doesn't change a
word.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (40:59):
He basically said doesn't give them anything new
to comment on.
Okay.
And you'll see that over andover.
Oh, and 6-5.
In the same way, Sam Balat forthe fifth time sent his servant
to me with an open letter in hishand.
The open letter signifiesinformation warfare.
He's leaking while this letter'scoming, because he wants the
(41:24):
people to know what's in theletter.
That's why it's open.
This is the shift, the publicperception in the battle.
In it was written, it isreported among the nations, and
Geshem also says it, that youand the Jews intend to rebel.
(41:47):
That is why you are building thewall.
And according to these reports,you wish to become their king.
Full stop.
So they are trying to sowdissent between the king who
sent, who showed kindness toNehemiah, gave him supplies,
(42:07):
gave him leave, gave himauthority to come here to do
this, and they're starting tospin the fake news.
Right?
They're starting to say, okay,we're gonna try to separate
Nehemiah from the king.
We're gonna try to sow a falsenarrative.
And this was Game of theThrones.
The king would send assassinsand kill Nehemiah right now.
(42:33):
But he didn't, God did.
And watch how amazing Nehemiahis with this.
Again, which would be treason atthat point.
(42:55):
Verse 7, and you have also sentup prophets to proclaim
concerning you in Jerusalem.
There is a king in Judah, andnow the king will hear these
reports.
So now come and let us counseltogether.
So I just called you atreasonous wretch.
Come talk to me now, or I'mgonna keep spreading these
(43:17):
rumors.
He's trying to scare him.
And he puts religious varnish onslander, right?
Because he has, you know, you'regonna find out later that there
are prophets saying this thathave been bought.
Blackmailed by rumor, and thetable, and a table that presumes
(43:39):
guilt, and an open letter sharedthroughout the countryside.
6-8.
Then I sent to him saying, Nosuch thing as you say have been
done, for you are inventing themout of your own mind.
Okay, that's all he says.
Strategy, brevity, denial, anddiagnosis.
(44:03):
Not true, you're inventing thesethings in your head.
Two-line template.
That is false.
It was invented.
We're continuing the work.
Awesome.
Avoid long receipts andscreenshots and all this stuff.
No, that's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01 (44:19):
You're making this up in your own head.
Done.
SPEAKER_02 (44:24):
Now, for all they wanted, for they all wanted to
frighten us, right?
Of course.
Imagine the Persian Empire comecrashing down on this little
clan of Judah trying to buildthe walls, right?
They wanted to frighten us,thinking their hands will drop
from the work and it will not bedone.
SPEAKER_01 (44:45):
But now, oh God, strengthen my hands.
There's a battlefield prayerright there.
There it just.
Oh God, strengthen my hands.
SPEAKER_02 (44:58):
The psyops aim, weakened hands.
Response, a field prayer thatinterrupts fear and returns the
body to its mission.
SPEAKER_01 (45:10):
I mean, me and mine is just amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (45:13):
And Charles Spurgeon said, a short prayer is long
enough.
So now, when I went into thehouse, I'm gonna read this
because I can see this got shortover here, it got shortened.
So I didn't catch that.
Oh boy, I don't have my glasses.
This is gonna be interesting.
(45:36):
Now, when I went to the house ofShemea, the son of Delia Deleah,
son of Mahetabel, and again Ican barely see what I'm reading
here, who was confined to hishome, he said, Let us meet
together in this house of Godwithin the temple.
Let us close the doors of thetemple, for they are coming to
(45:56):
kill you.
They are coming to kill you bynight.
SPEAKER_01 (46:00):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (46:05):
Private house, shut in posture, and now, right?
This guy's in a private house,he's locked away.
He's telling Nehemiah to violatetemple law, to violate God's
law.
To violate, he's not a priest,he can't go in there.
The shun in, the vice to violatetemple law.
(46:26):
Fear lever by night.
So now it's even worse.
They're gonna come kill you atnight, the worst case scenario.
What do we do with this?
We do what Nehemiah is about todo.
Do not seek safety by sin.
You must ask yourself whenyou're being counseled by people
or about to make a decision andask yourself two questions.
Is it biblical?
(46:48):
If you want to live a biblicalworldview, that's the question
you should be asking.
Is this God honoring?
Does the Bible say I can dothis?
Okay.
And is it and if it is, show mein chapter and verse where I can
do that.
If it requires breaking God'sword or your role, your word as
an honorable person, it is badcounsel.
SPEAKER_01 (47:12):
Consequences.
Will this keep me obedient?
SPEAKER_02 (47:16):
If it makes you lie, hide, neglect your post, or take
the fear shortcut, don't do it.
So safety that requires sin isnot safety at all.
Calvin said, our safety is toobey God.
He's right.
(47:37):
Buying a few more moments tosuffer for eternity.
No thanks.
So 611, and again, I missedthat.
Ah, here we go.
Oh, hang on with me, my eyes.
But I said, should such a man asI run away?
(47:59):
And what man such as I could gointo the temple and live?
Again, he knows the law.
He can't go into the temple andlive.
SPEAKER_01 (48:07):
I will not go in.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (48:14):
As governor and a layman, not a priest, he
remembers sanctioned forunlawful entry.
He can't go in there.
SPEAKER_01 (48:25):
And he resolves this publicly.
I won't go in there.
SPEAKER_02 (48:29):
So the warrior application is know your office.
And the lesson here for all ofus who aren't as good as
Nehemiah is practicepredecisions.
Say what you will and won't do.
Don't wait for adrenaline to hityou before you start asking
yourself hard questions.
Particularly when you're goinginto negotiations or you're
dealing with a kid, you know, alife and death with your kid or
(48:51):
any of that other stuff.
If you're not used to makinglife and death decisions, they
are very hard, and you don'twant to do that shaking.
One of the most amazing thingsabout Martin Luther is this
story here from the Deed ofWorms in 1521.
(49:11):
The setting is before EmperorCharles V, German princes and
Popal envoys, envoys of thePope, Luther was ordered to
recant his books, his works.
He refused appealing toScripture and conscience.
And this is what he said,expecting death.
Unless I am convicted by thetestimony of scriptures or by
(49:33):
clear reason, for I do not trusteither in the Pope or in the
councils alone, since it is wellknown that they have often erred
and contradicted themselves.
I mean, saying that to theking's face.
I am bound by the scriptures.
I have quoted, I'm bound by thescriptures I have quoted, and my
(49:54):
conscience is captive to theword of God.
I cannot and will not recantanything, since it is neither
safe nor right to go againstconscience.
Here I stand, I can do no other.
God help me.
Amen.
Holy smokes.
(50:15):
God was a monster.
And in 612, again, I gotta getmyself a large print book for
when these things happen, thesethings happen.
Or find my glasses.
And I understood and I saw thatGod had not sent him, because
this was supposed to be aprophet or a priest talking to
(50:38):
him, right?
But he had pronounced theprophecy against me because
Dobiah and Sam Balad had hiredhim.
Holy smokes.
What?
SPEAKER_01 (50:48):
Hired him?
Hired a priest of God to betrayhim?
This is mercenary prophecy,right?
So audit your counselors andremove the compromised voices.
(51:14):
So 613, the aim of the scheme.
SPEAKER_02 (51:21):
That I should be afraid and act in this way and
sin, right?
That's what they wanted.
They want to discredit him.
And so they could give me a badname in order to taunt me.
The chain is this fear, sin,smear, aim, discredit leader and
the mission.
Refuse panic pathways.
(51:42):
Pray, verify, obey.
Guard holiness as ballisticarmor.
In 614, imprecatory appeal, andI'll explain that what that is
to you because that's one ofthose words that most people
don't know what it is.
Remember, Zekar is a covenantaljudicial appeal to take note and
(52:09):
deal justly according to theirdeeds.
Nehemiah, oh sorry, I didn'tread it.
Remember, this is Nehemiahsaying, Remember Tobi and Sobet
Sembalat, oh my God.
According to these things theydid.
And also the prophetess Noadiahand the rest of the prophets who
wanted to make me afraid.
(52:31):
Who are we to fear?
Only God.
He has nothing to fear.
But they're trying to make himfear afraid.
Okay, so here, remember, theword he used remember, which is
what started it, remember,Tobiah and Zembalat, is a
covenantal judicial appeal.
It means to take note and dealjustly according to their deeds.
(52:54):
So it's to remember and judge.
Okay.
Nehemiah names offenders,Tobiah, Zembalat, Noadiah, and
the rest of the prophets,exposing a networked effort to
make him afraid and entrustingjustice to God rather than
taking personal retaliation.
(53:18):
So warrior's application.
Call in God's fire.
Do not be afraid to pray againstyour enemies and to bring God
into this.
Pray the imprecatory psalms.
Imprecatory Psalms are theBible.
Here's that word imprecatoryagain, right?
Are the Bible's justice prayers.
Psalms that ask God to judge,stop, and overturn evil,
(53:40):
vindicate his people and protectthe innocent.
Imprecate means to call downjudgment.
These are not tantrums, they arelawful fire missions called into
the king, not street justice byus.
unknown (53:54):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (53:56):
So fight clean and legal, pursue justice through
lawful channels.
SPEAKER_01 (54:03):
Call down fire missions from God.
Six fifteen, the finish line.
SPEAKER_02 (54:28):
Elul, in fifty-two days.
And when our enemy heard of it,all the nations around us were
afraid and fell greatly.
And they fell greatly in theirown esteem.
For they perceived that thiswork had been accomplished with
the help of our God.
They're like, there's nothing.
Everyone knew that there's noway that they could have built
(54:50):
that wall in 52 days withoutGod.
So God's on their side, and nowthey're crushed.
The timestamp, the miraculousnature of this, God's magnifies
God help and team discipline.
Right?
SPEAKER_01 (55:03):
God did it and he used amazing Nehemiah and these
men to do it with.
SPEAKER_02 (55:12):
The application here is mark the finish lines, clear
the debris, build, and then whenyou're done, celebrate.
Give the God all the glory.
And Charles Spurgeon said best.
To God be all the glory.
SPEAKER_01 (55:31):
Six sixteen.
SPEAKER_00 (55:45):
Oh, sorry.
SPEAKER_02 (55:45):
Yeah, I already for they fell greatly in their own
esteem, for they perceived thatthis work had been accomplished
with the help of our God.
Enemy morale drops, outcomebecomes apologetic.
Now they're apologizing, right?
But it's still not over.
So as warriors, let our fruitpreach, let the results speak,
guard against pride, give Godthe credit.
(56:08):
Let him see what you do, nothear what you do.
Okay.
Um Ryal said, Let your light soshine that men see, not hear
your good works.
So in 617, ongoing letters.
So here we go.
This is traitors amongst them.
Moreover, in those days thenobles of Judah sent many
(56:31):
letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah'sletters came to them.
For many in Judah were bound byoath to him, because he was the
son-in-law of Shekaniah, the sonof Arah, and the son of Jehona
(56:52):
had taken the daughter ofMeshulam, the son of Barekiah,
as his wife.
Again, sorry, I'm barely seeingthese words.
Um again, moreover, in thosedays, the nobles of Judah, the
nobles are leaking.
They are working, they are doingespionage against him.
(57:14):
Judah's elites keep passingletters to Tobiah, and he's
running back.
So they're freely communicating.
We must train our families andour people to be loyal to God
first.
God is our first loyalty.
SPEAKER_01 (57:31):
Then family.
SPEAKER_02 (57:37):
As for many in Judah abound to him, right?
So ultimately, they had a shadowgovernment going on.
A shadow government where Tobiahand all these people with the
walls down, where they could dowhatever and exploiting
corruption and all the stuff andoppressing the people.
Now there's this, he's exposingthis entire shadow cabal of
(57:59):
people who are working againsthim.
As warriors, we must untangleloyalties.
And we must cut out corruptionaround us.
Remember, Christ overeverything, including clan.
So verse 19 now.
(58:21):
Also, they spoke of his gooddeeds in my presence.
They're praising his enemy andreported my words to him.
So they are praising their enemyor Nehemiah's enemy to
Nehemiah's face and thenreporting back what Nehemiah is
saying to them about him.
And Tobiah sent letters to makeme afraid.
(58:46):
Two tactics in one worse.
Flattery propaganda inside thecamp.
Nobles praise Tobiah toNehemiah's face to soften him.
A leak channel that some samecircle reports Nehemiah's words
back to Tobiah.
And then intimidation returns.
Tobiah answers with fearletters.
Intimidation.
SPEAKER_01 (59:07):
The loop, praise, leak, threat.
SPEAKER_02 (59:13):
They launder the enemy's image, siphon intel, and
try to chill their leaders'resolves.
They have divided loyalties, thebehavior flows from oath
marriage ties to Tobiah.
The good deeds are likelycherry-picked or transactional.
And the aim is to pressure nothis pressure, not truth.
(59:34):
The goal is to isolate Nehemiah,shape his perception, Tobiah is
not so bad, and erode his willto act.
As warriors, we know thatflattery is praised used to
control you.
Don't buy it, don't echo it.
We evaluate by deeds, weevaluate deeds by truth, not PR.
(59:59):
Charles Burger said, beware ofthe paint of praise.
So finally, now to wrap this up.
The enemy's playbook,distraction with the Ono
invites, and to try to capture.
Slander in the open letter inverses five through nine.
(01:00:23):
Deception and false counsel in ahired prophet in verses 10
through 14.
Our response, focus.
I cannot come down.
6.3.
Truthful brevity, that is falseand invented.
6.8.
Obedience with discernment.
Do not seek safety by sin.
6 or 11 verses 11 and 12.
(01:00:44):
Prayer under pressure, but nowstrengthen my hands.
9.
Verse 9.
Finish.
Hang the gates, close the loop.
Verses 15 and 16.
Guard your calendar and comms.
Always.
Route fear letters.
Get rid of them.
Anchor decisions into scriptureand office.
(01:01:05):
And then mark completions andcelebrate them and give God the
glory.
Charge, lock shields, keepbuilding, finish.
Distractions will call you toOno.
Slander will call, will clarifyyour focus.
False counsel will baptizecowardice, but the fear of God
steals the spine.
Truth distills rumors.
(01:01:32):
Set your face to the work Godput in your hands and finish.
So the watching world says, Godhas done it.
So some famous quotes tounderscore tonight.
Martin Luther Peace, ifpossible, truth and all.
All costs.
Is it any wonder I named my sonMagnus Luther?
(01:01:52):
And then John Calvin, this is aparaphrase.
True wisdom is to submit whollyto God's word, resisting the
sway of men.
And then JC Rile, the only saferule is the Bible.
This is the only book you needon how to live.
All right.
(01:02:13):
So we're not doing communiontoday.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02:16):
So let us close it out.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02:25):
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenanceto you and give you peace.
Soldiers of Christ, go under theking's blessing, stand firm,
lock shields, keep the watch,finish your section of the wall.
Fear God, free your brother,advance his kingdom with
courage, love, and steady hands.
(01:02:46):
God bless you, and we'll see youtomorrow for Bible study.
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