November 12, 2025 • 41 mins
What if the problem isn’t your limits, but how you handle them? We explore a different kind of freedom: the kind that serves, while restraining itself for the benefit of others. From hidden bitterness to budget choices, from envy of public gifts to neglect of quiet callings, we trace how small, unexamined habits shape big spiritual outcomes.
We dig into Romans 14’s vision of the kingdom—righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit—and why love sometimes means limiting your liberty. The parable of the talents gets practical here: God isn’t stingy; he’s wise. He increases responsibility when we’re trustworthy with small things. You’ll hear a real-world story of walking away from a lucrative role that conflicted with conscience, and a candid look at why transparency is rare in church life: accountability makes us honest, and honesty makes us change. We also draw sharp parallels between political and religious cultures that promise liberty while practicing control, and why knowing our core texts—Scripture for the church, the Constitution for citizens—matters for resisting manipulation.
This conversation is a call to own your decisions, tell the truth about your capacity, and practice your actual gifts rather than coveting someone else’s platform. If you’re asking for “more,” start by stewarding what’s already in your hands. With great liberty comes great responsibility—use it to edify others, not to indulge yourself.
If this resonates, share it with a friend who needs a nudge toward faithful stewardship, and leave a rating to help others find the show. Subscribe for more candid, Scripture-centered conversations that strengthen your walk.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (00:03):
The vision received was that of blood cells
traveling throughout the body,supplying the much-needed oxygen
and other nutrients to thediffering members of the body to
fulfill their purpose.
Once the blood cells are sped,they must return back to the
heart to be refilled beforebeing sent out again and fulfill
their purpose.
But you know what?
(00:27):
God forbid, God forbid that anyone of us should recognize
what's going on in that person'sheart.
And that person pointed out tothat person.
Because as soon as you hearthat person, we deny, we deny,
we justify our feelings andbehavior, we rationalize why we
feel that way, why we acted thatway, and then never gets fixed.
(00:52):
It never gets corrected becauseyou are unwilling to
acknowledge that you have thatwrongness and bitterness in your
heart.
And you won't even listen toother people.
And they're not even trying tocondemn you, they're just trying
to say, Did you notice that?
What was the motive?
You know, we've taught aboutshepherding a child's heart, and
(01:14):
we taught about how you don'tjust address the behavior, you
have to address the motivation,the heart issue behind the
behavior that caused the per thechild to do or say whatever he
did.
We always want to touch thesurface and just try to fix
what's going on on the outside,but we never address what's
going on inside.
It hurts too much.
(01:34):
And so we deny, we deny, wedeny.
We always justifying andrationalizing all of the
decisions and all the thingsthat have led us to this point
and state where we findourselves in right now.
What's wrong with us isn't isus.
It's our response to all ofthese circumstances.
It's not God, it's not others,it's not our circumstances, it's
(01:58):
us.
What's wrong is how we'vehandled our freedom
irresponsibly.
Example.
We know a couple in my inMiami.
A couple's wife calls my wifehesitantly, tells my wife about,
(02:18):
and they're born again.
They're born again in thecovenant.
Tells my wife how, you know,we're having struggle with our
finances, and uh, it's not myhusband's fault.
It's my fault, and you know,it's been going on a long time,
and and we're we're about$30,000 into debt and we're
thinking of bankruptcy.
What's wrong there?
Did God do something wrong toget you and $30,000 worth of
(02:44):
debt?
And so my wife said, You gottatalk to my husband, you gotta
talk to my husband.
He can help you.
He he's the numbers guy.
Never heard a word from themabout it.
It's been over a month.
Not that he need to talk to me,they could talk to somebody
else.
But the idea that as soon asthey called and asked for the
help, they weren't willing toreally address the issue.
(03:06):
I mean, stay quiet about it.
But we see that person onFacebook going out to eat two to
three times a week.
Talking about we were in thisrestaurant, we enjoyed it, we
were in that restaurant, weenjoyed it.
Tell me who's not actingresponsibly.
And we want the blessings ofGod.
You can't have the blessings ofGod walking in unrighteousness,
(03:31):
but you have the freedom to goto a restaurant.
I'm not saying you don't.
But if you're not in a positionto afford it, why are you
getting yourself into debt overit?
Because you want to please thecouple that asked you, hey, you
want to come with us to dinnertonight?
Why don't you just say no?
I I can I can't.
I'm sorry, I'll be honest withyou.
(03:52):
I can't.
I can't afford it.
And I and hey, I'm not askingyou to pay for me.
That's not why I'm telling you.
I'm just trying to be honestwith you.
We can't afford it.
No, I'm sorry.
No, we'll go out, we'll spendthe money, we'll get into debt.
Just an example, just trying toget you to understand what I'm
trying to reach on a spiritualmatter.
(04:14):
Another problem.
I think transparency in thechurch is a very, very far and
buried memory.
Why won't we become transparentwith each other?
Is it because you're afraidthat the person is gonna whip
(04:37):
you and condemn you?
You could say that that's yourfear, but I know that's not your
fear.
The reason why you won't becometransparent is because as soon
as you become transparent,you're gonna be held into
account.
And you don't really want to beheld into account.
Talk to someone about yourfinances, I mean, I told you,
(04:58):
but I don't want you to dealwith it, and then that's it.
You never hear from them again.
Because they really don't wantto be held accountable.
That's the true fear.
We start holding ourselves intransparency before one another
every week.
We might be asking, how did youdo this week?
In that area.
You know, the one that youexpose yourself to me on.
But we don't want that.
(05:19):
We'd rather keep on chugging atthe same old thing over and
over again that we've been doingfor years and years, but we
want something different tohappen.
But we don't change theirresponsible ways of ourselves.
Transparency leads toaccountability, but that is what
we truly fear.
We've been given gifts, as Isaid before.
(05:42):
Paul said in Romans 12, havingthen gifts according to the
grace that is given to us,whether prophecy, let us
prophesy according to theproportion of faith.
Or ministry, let us wait on ourministering, or he that
teacheth on teaching, or he thatexhorteth on exhortation, or he
that giveth, let him do it withsimplicity.
He that ruleth with diligence,he that showeth mercy with
(06:03):
cheerfulness.
We have been given gifts in thebody.
But we're always looking abouthow, man, he prophesied.
And you have the gift ofhospitality.
But you're worried about himwho prophesied, and you didn't
get to prophesy, and then you'renot being hospitable to people,
yet that's your gift.
And so what I'm saying is,you've been given gifts, you
(06:27):
know what the gifts are, butyou're always worried about what
you're not able to do.
I've said this before.
Many of us are simply in themesses of our own making, and we
have taken our freedom andbehaved irresponsibly and
reprehensibly for it.
(06:48):
And when I say reprehensibly,I'm saying you should be rebuked
for that.
Not just you were justirresponsible, well, hey, it's
your money, it's not mine, sowhat did what difference does it
have to do with me?
But no, not just that, youbehave reprehensibly with your
freedom.
But we don't want to listen toothers.
(07:11):
We'd rather keep believing thesame old stinking thinking and
doing the same old stinkingactions, and at best, the
actions are questionable.
It's not that you don't havethe freedom to go to the
restaurant, but that's nothandling your freedom
responsibly.
And all the while we want Godand we true and believe God, God
(07:34):
will deliver us out of thismess.
God is gonna deliver you out ofyour mess, mess.
What does it say in 1Chronicles, Martha?
If my people will do what?
Humble themselves and do what?
Uh-oh! You see, we alwaysforget that.
We just wanna quote unquotehumble ourselves and pray and
(07:56):
look like we're all humble, butwe don't want to turn from our
wicked ways, and yet that's arequirement within that
scripture.
Turn from your wicked ways,then he shall heal your land.
Not just because you prayed.
Prayers of a righteous manavaileth much, but it's the
prayers of a righteous man, notan unrighteous man, not a man is
(08:18):
walking in unrighteousness.
That's not a righteous man.
Haven't we learned from theparable of the talents?
One talent, three talent, fivetalents, or two talents.
What should we have learnedfrom the power of the talent?
Somebody tell me.
(08:39):
See if you can connect withwhat I'm trying to talk about
here.
What do we learn from theparable of talents and the theme
that I'm trying to address withyou today?
Anyone?
unknown (08:47):
Don't hide yourself, do something with it.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (08:49):
Okay, don't hide yourself, do something with
it.
That's right.
That is the message of thetalents.
We're always talking about howwe want more, more, more.
But what are you doing with thelittle he's giving you?
(09:10):
Not much to talk about.
Why?
Why in the world would I givemy three-year-old the keys to my
car when I know he can't evendrive a little matchbox car?
He's crashing it everywhere hegoes.
He can't drive a remote controlcar without hitting the
refrigerator.
And I'm gonna give him the keysto my car?
(09:31):
God is wise.
And many of the time he'slogical.
He's not illogical.
I mean, he might make you dosome crazy things, but it's only
because he's worked it out foryou.
But he's very logical.
When you're ready for the keysto the car, is when I'll give
you the keys to the car.
(09:52):
Otherwise, show yourselfresponsible in the little
things.
I mean, we want to talk abouthow I got the two talents and I
want to get the four and how I'mblessed here and there.
What did you do with the one?
And it's not just about a fearof doing anything with it.
Maybe you did something, butyou did something so horribly
(10:17):
dumb.
Why would you want the biggerhouse?
Why would you want twice yoursalary?
You're in debt already with the20,000.
What are you gonna do with50,000?
You think you're just all of asudden gonna become responsible?
It's not gonna happen if youdon't do it with the 20,000.
(10:42):
Does that make any sense?
In a nutshell, it is this Godwill give greater responsibility
and a greater level of freedomto those who have found
themselves trustworthy in thevery little.
They didn't just, well, that'snot enough for me.
(11:03):
I want it.
No, they took it and they ranwith it.
And they ran with itresponsibly, and they did the
best they could with it.
And if it was one talent andthey got a half a talent, he's
gonna be happy with that.
He's not looking, you alwaysgotta double it.
Give me something in return.
If I planted a seed, I betterat least get one strawberry out
(11:26):
of it.
You got something back.
You plant the seed and you getnothing out of it, you uproot
the whole thing and try again.
He is found with all wisdom,and then if he gave you the
greater freedom andresponsibility that you think
you so desperately can handle,you're gonna crash and burn like
(11:48):
a great big ball of fire.
And then where are you gonnabe?
You may be dead.
And that's not what he wantsfor you.
That's why he doesn't give youthe blessings that you think you
can handle.
Because he's waiting for you toact responsibly with what you
do have, so he can give you themore.
He wants to give you the more,but he's a very responsible,
(12:09):
loving father, and he will notcause you to crash and burn.
And the reason why we do thisis because we're prideful.
We want the more because wethink, well, I'm old enough for
it.
I've lived long enough.
(12:29):
I have my own thoughts, I havemy own ideas.
I don't have to always do whatthe bishop or what the other
person counseled here and there.
I could do it on my own.
And while we're with thatattitude, we want a greater
anointing, we want greateraccolades, we want greater
titles, we want a greaterministry, we want greater
wealth, we want greaterbusiness, we want a greater
(12:52):
amount of just qualityfriendships.
You're not even faithful withthe three friends you have.
Why do you want more friends?
Be honest, be sincere, betransparent with the friends you
have, and then maybe you canhandle more.
Bless them.
But if you're not a blessing tothem, why do you want more
friends?
You cause more havoc anddestruction.
(13:14):
If I have a business and I'mnot quite handling my business
right, why do I want growth withmy business?
I already said about wealth.
Why do I want a greaterministry if I can't, if I get so
fed up with the five peoplethat I do have under me?
(13:37):
I can't stand, they don'tlisten, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I want, and I want a bigchurch so that I can fit a
thousand people?
You're not ready for that.
Be honest with yourself.
I want to be a missionary tothe Colombians.
Why don't you minister theColombians down the street?
It's just honest, honesty.
(14:00):
Just be honest with yourselfand realize why you're not
getting blessed the way youdesire.
We have terribly deceivedourselves.
And all that I'm describing toyou is we're acting like
know-it-all teenagers.
You know, the ones that I getfrustrated with every single day
(14:20):
I go to school, they know itall.
I can't tell them anything.
They argue for everything.
Fine.
Go, Mr.
Know It All.
But that's how we're acting.
Some of us are acting that way.
I know it all.
I know how to do this.
And you've been trying for 20years, and there's no change.
(14:41):
Romans 14.
We Christians need to not letour good be evil spoken of.
We call ourselves Christians,we call we call ourselves people
(15:04):
that serve the most high God.
Let me see.
I'm trying to come up with thatexample for the kids.
The youth.
Think they can have whateverfriend they want, and it's not
gonna do anything.
They think they're gonna savetheir friends.
(15:25):
So they start looking likethem, talking like them, hanging
out in the same spots theyshouldn't even be in in the
first place, and they areletting their good be evil
spoken of.
You are no different than them.
Instead of them turning andchanging their ways, you've
turned and changed your ways.
(15:46):
That's not what Paul meant whenI'm gonna be to all men
whatever I need to be.
Because when he uh sort ofbecame a Jew, he didn't become a
Jew.
He just got to their level,spoke to them on their level so
he can get them out of that.
If it was people under the law,he went and spoke as one under
the law to get them out of that.
(16:08):
As those outside of the lawthat didn't understand what the
law of the Jews was about, hespoke to them as one that was
outside of the law.
Remember, he spoke on MarsHill?
He brought the God of Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob, and I don't
think he used the word of God ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but
the God that you don't have aname for, that's the God that
created all the things that yousee here.
He's the one that you need toworship and adore.
(16:31):
That's what it meant.
I become to all men whatever Ineed to be, that I may be able
to gain some.
But do you think, I know itall?
It's not gonna affect me.
I could spend a few hours on atnight and go to sleep at one
o'clock, wake up at five o'clockin the morning, go to school,
and nothing's gonna happen.
That's just for the youth.
(16:52):
The kingdom of God is not meatand drink, the kingdom of God is
righteousness, peace, and joyin the Holy Ghost, and that is
what we should be demonstrating.
Sorry.
That is what we need to bedemonstrating.
Righteousness.
unknown (17:07):
Romans 14, 1, 2, 1, 17.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (17:10):
16 through 21.
That is what we need to bedemonstrating.
Righteousness.
Notice it started withrighteousness, and then we're
gonna have the same struggles asanyone else.
We should be walking with it inpeace and joy in the Holy
Ghost.
For he that is in these thingsserves Christ and is acceptable
(17:36):
to God and approved of men.
If you walk in righteousness,peace, and the joy of the Holy
Ghost, you might get persecuted,but there's a lot of men that
you're gonna grab theirattention.
They're gonna be like, that'ssomebody I could talk about.
That's somebody's got somethingdifferent, and it's a good
difference.
Let us therefore follow afterthings which make peace and
(18:00):
things wherewith one may edifyone another.
See, because he started talkingabout how I have the freedom to
eat meat.
But I have my brother here whofeels that he can eat meat
because it was sacrificed toidols, and that would corrupt
him.
So even though he had thefreedom to eat meat, he was
(18:20):
willing to sacrifice it in orderto save his brother.
And sometimes we run intopeople and we don't recognize
their level of maturity in theirfaith walk.
And we walk in our freedom allover them.
And we really didn't reachthem.
We've caused our brethren whoare weaker, who are immature in
(18:42):
the faith, to stumble.
And sometimes we offend withoutcare or thought as to where
they're at in their faith walkwith Him.
In Galatians 6, Paul againsays, and this is the attitude
that we need to have with ourfreedom.
(19:03):
Brethren, if a man be overtakenin a fault, ye which are
spiritual, restore such a one inthe spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thoualso be tempted.
Bear ye one another's burdens,and so fulfill the law of
Christ.
Because individuals have nottaken responsibility with their
(19:27):
freedom, not just in the church,but outside the church.
And I want to focus this onAmerica.
We have a war raging in theworld today.
I see some parallels betweenwhat's happening in this country
and what I've seen happen inthe church.
(19:48):
In America, the Bible ofAmerica is the Constitution of
the United States.
That's where we get our Bill ofRights.
You know, those amendments thatwe fought long and hard for to
get in there.
And in the church, it's theBible.
But ask yourself, what haveAmericans done with their
(20:12):
freedom today?
Think about what we've done.
Have Americans handled theirfreedom responsibly?
Have they done what they'vedone for the sake and the
betterment of their neighbors?
Or have they done what they'vedone without care for their
neighbors in order to rape themmonetarily?
(20:35):
We've produced a corruptculture and we've propagated all
over the world.
We got Madonna doing her thingall over the world, and she
represents America.
She's an American icon.
We had Michael Jackson doinghis stuff all over the world.
He was an American icon.
This is what we've propagatedaround the world.
(20:58):
We have companies in America inthis capitalist free market
society that are willing toproduce goods to establish their
million-dollar industries,knowing that those goods are in
the end going to kill them.
Cigarettes?
(21:18):
Alcohol?
You just start with those twoand look at the statistics in
the healthcare industry of howmuch are tied to just cigarettes
and alcohol.
Freedom is not wrong.
Trust me, I'd rather live in afree market capitalist society
than a socialist society thatcontrols your every move and
(21:40):
tells you what to do.
But if I'm gonna live in thissociety, then we need to live in
it, having our freedomresponsibly done for the benefit
of all.
Freedom that is carried aboutirresponsibly is dangerous.
Yet at the same time, they wantto shut up people who dissent
(22:05):
and disagree with them.
Yet they believe in freespeech.
But as soon as you go to thetown hall meetings and you air
out your concerns, what are youlabeled?
Nazi, hate monger, racist this,evil stereotype that.
In the church it's called doingviolence to the word.
(22:47):
Doing violence to the law.
If you read Zephaniah 3:4, youcan just write it down.
You can see violence to thelaw.
It says, Her prophets are lightand treacherous persons.
Her priests have polluted thesanctuary, they have done
violence to the law.
What does that mean?
They've perverted the word inorder to control and manipulate
(23:08):
the people.
The gospel is perverted for thesake of monetary gain.
So that they can have their bigbuildings.
They're worried about how manypeople tithed this week?
They're worried about themoney.
It's not about souls, it'sabout the monetary gain.
(23:30):
They add to the word.
You can't cut your hair, you'vegot to wear dresses, you've got
you can't come up on the pulpitlike that, don't have that
beard, you better shave thatoff, or whatever.
And all we're doing is tryingto control the people.
We're not serving them.
We are trying to be the elite.
(23:52):
And there leads to my otherparallel.
In America, in the nation, ifyou go into politics, you become
a part of the political elite.
Have you noticed that all thecongressmen have it made for the
rest of their lives?
Those congressmen get paidabout four or five times more
than I do, and I'm a teacher.
(24:12):
But they legislate all thethings, they have a separate
health insurance better thanours, and they want to pass a
health insurance that they willnot put themselves under.
Why?
If it's so good.
So the politicians have becomeAmerica's elite.
(24:33):
We have a so we have aone-party system.
Let's just be blunt.
It's one party.
It's called the DemocratRepublicans.
It's one party.
These Democrats have beenblaming these Republicans for
all of these things.
Couple years ago, theRepublicans were blaming the
Democrats for the same thing.
It's nauseating right now to meto hear the constant blame and
(24:55):
blame and blame and blame andblame, and they all do the same
thing.
So many of them are lying.
And so many of them maybe wentinto it with the greatest,
sincerest of intentions.
But once you get into that, andall the corruption and the
bribes and the you know thelobbyists that come at you with
(25:17):
money, you do this for me now,when you get elected, you need
to do this for me, and then I'llkeep giving you.
Who are they serving?
They're not serving us, they'reserving the corporations,
they're serving the people thatare making the money because
they're giving them the money.
But isn't that happening in thechurch?
The political elite, in theirquest for position, in their
(25:39):
quest for power and influence,they make their promises that
they don't intend to keep, andit's all resulting in our future
enslavement.
If you haven't been feelingkind of enslaved recently, you
haven't been paying attention.
The laws that they enact alwaysapply to the whole nation.
But have you noticed that whenthey get caught doing something,
(26:01):
they don't get hit as hard forsome reason?
Kennedys?
Hmm.
Why?
Clergy are the church's elite.
You get into that position, youbecome a part of the select,
the few, the ones that make allthe decisions for the people,
and we call that the Nicolaitandoctrine in the scriptures.
(26:21):
Clergy who believe themselvesto be better suited to make the
decisions for you.
For history, don't worry aboutreading the Bible.
I'll tell you what it says.
Now go pray your Hail Mary'sand you're all our fathers.
That's still happening today.
It looks different, but there'snothing new under the sun.
It's to keep their position,it's to keep their power and
(26:44):
their monetary gain.
That's really all it is.
They're the only ones that hearfrom God.
They always know what's bestfor the saint, and they're
relentlessly strict with them.
Relentlessly strict.
Thank God it doesn't happenhere.
I hope that God, nobody feelsthat way here.
But I've been in other placesand I know that's exactly the
way it is.
(27:04):
And it is not only UPC, I'veseen it outside that.
It's a spirit that is at muckin the church.
But it's the very same spiritthat's at muck in the nation's
political system.
It's a spirit of control.
They're trying to control thepeople and slowly take away
(27:25):
their freedoms, little bylittle, because they can't take
it all at once.
They'd have a, they'd have athey'd have an uproar.
They can't handle that.
But they'll take it away littleby little.
Banana piece strap by bananastrap until they have the whole
thing.
2 Peter 2 19.
It says, They promise liberty.
While they promise liberty,they themselves are the servants
(27:48):
of corruption.
For of whom a man is overcome,of the same is he brought in
bondage.
And this political elite, thisuh clergy elite, have brought
about the same results inpolitics or in the nation.
(28:08):
We have a people that do notknow their constitution, that do
not know the rights thatsupposedly the founding fathers,
knowing that there was onecreator, endowed them with these
inalienable rights of life,liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
But ask any children in highschool whether they know
anything about the constitution,you give so little or nothing
(28:31):
at all.
But what's happening in thechurch?
They don't know the Bible.
So when the pastor or or the orthe priest or or the pope says
something, that's the word ofGod.
And they know no better.
It's repro it's it's producedthe same result.
(28:52):
That's why I know it's the samespirit.
It's it's producing a churchthat or or a people that are
just dead asleep and don't knowthat they need to do something
about it.
They don't know their rights,they don't know their
constitution, and the politicalpowers should they're shouting
(29:13):
freedom, they're shoutingchange, but they themselves are
the servants of the corruptionthat they're trying to instill
in the people.
In the church, the saints areblindly obeying the religious
establishment.
Don't even bother to questionthe pastor.
(29:36):
If you do that, you'll be inrebellion, and you'll be
ostracized, and you'll berejected, and you will not you
will never feel comfortablethere again.
And they'll do that purposelybecause that's the spirit at
work there.
We have a lot of immature,irresponsible, bondaged babes in
(29:59):
Christ.
In our churches, because ofthis that's at work and that's
going on.
Brother Greg came andtestified, transparently, I
might add, of his struggles withhis new job.
He had freedom to stay in hisjob and make the money that he
was making, but he also had thefreedom to look elsewhere if he
(30:21):
wanted to.
And he thought, wow, it's asix-figure salary.
I can correct me if I'm wrongwhen I'm done.
But he might have thought it'sa six-figure salary.
That'd be good financialstability, financial security
for a long while.
I can put that money aside andtake care of myself in the
future rather than working ashard here.
But initially, his heart was toserve those kids or whoever
(30:44):
that he was doing his physicaltherapy.
That's originally where hisheart was.
So he gets into this new joband it's all about business.
It's all about money.
And one day he goes to ameeting and he realizes I cannot
be here.
Because all they want to do isrape the people for the money,
and that's not what I'm about.
(31:06):
That was his testing ground.
That's where God was testinghim and his freedom.
Was he gonna stay in it to makethe six figures?
Or was he gonna come out of it?
He handled his freedomresponsibility once the choice
of the decision came to him.
He had to walk out and he hadto walk away and he had to put
(31:28):
it aside.
That's what happens to ourpoliticians.
Some of them are very sincereand they want to do something
real for their community.
Once they get into that system,it invariably comes to a
decision.
Are you gonna take that bribeor are you gonna continue
walking the way?
I wish that we weren't under aone-party system, but because we
(31:50):
are, any independent thinkerout there most likely will never
get funded to get into thesystem.
And so we don't really haveindependent thinkers there that
think completely different thanwhat the Democrat-Republicans
do.
And so it really is one party.
You notice over the history ofthe nation, there's very few
(32:11):
third parties.
It's been purposely done tojust have these two, and they're
working together, lookingantithesis of each other.
But we have those decisionsdaily.
Are we going to succumb?
Are we going to begin to handleour freedom irresponsibly?
(32:32):
Thank God Brother Gray came outof that.
Because we might have lost himand he might have lost his soul.
That's what the test was.
Do you love me enough?
There's a lot of talk aboutfiscal responsibility in the
nation.
We're not fiscally responsible.
(32:53):
Why is that?
Look at the nation as a whole.
Look at the church.
Is the church fiscallyresponsible?
Are they responsible with theirmoney and their debt?
They're just as irresponsibleas the nation.
Every nation in the world is indebt.
Every nation in the world is indebt.
They're all enslaved to someother greater banking monetary
(33:14):
institution.
What about us?
We're in debt.
We're no better.
So who are we to talk about?
And all of this is a clashbetween freedom and control.
Why does the government want tocontrol?
(33:36):
Because the government doesn'ttrust us to make responsible
decisions, and they want themoney themselves.
But I don't trust thegovernment to do what they
should do, responsibility withmy money.
I'm not trying to be politicalhere, but you see there's a tug
of war between freedom andcontrol.
(33:58):
And we need to takeresponsibility for our part and
start taking responsibility forour debt, for our friendships,
for our righteousness, for ourwalk with God, for what we know
in the scriptures.
We need to take responsibility.
It's on us.
Money is not the answer.
(34:22):
That's not going to get you outof your mess.
Personal responsibility willget you out of your mess.
And I don't mean it independentof God.
I mean personal responsibilitywhere you acknowledge this is
what I've done wrong, and Godhelp me to get out of this.
Show me how to get out of thisright.
We have been called to freedom,to liberty with a purpose.
(34:46):
And it's not to indulgeourselves.
Here's the reputation that weshould be developing in our
church, in our communities, andin our nation today.
Noah was a preacher ofrighteousness.
It says he was a preacher ofrighteousness.
(35:06):
And for 120 years he built theark with his family, and for 120
years he was preachingrighteousness, and no one
listened to him and heard him,and only eight people lived.
That is the real that is thereputation that we need to
develop in this day and age.
Not one where they don't evenknow where you stand or they see
(35:28):
you on the fence.
You need to go full hedgehoginto it, or don't go into it at
all.
Why try to take on the name ofChrist if you're not willing to
walk in the name of Christ?
Lot, on the other hand, is thereputation we are developing.
(35:49):
Lot was in Sodom, Gomorrah, andit says he was sorely vexed
because of the unrighteousnessthat surrounded him.
Sorely vexed.
Was he saying anything?
It doesn't say he was sayinganything.
It says he was just there andhe saw it.
And he got so bogged down withit that he was about to give his
(36:12):
own two daughters to a gang ofhomosexuals.
How sorely vexed he was.
He couldn't even think right.
You can't, we cannot allowourselves to live in a nation
and not say something.
Be a preacher of righteousness.
(36:34):
And if it's only me and myfamily that get saved in the
ark, at least I tried to preachthe righteousness that God was
requiring of all the wicked.
But Lot almost died because hewouldn't say anything.
He just took it.
In Galatians 5:13, Paul says,Brethren, you have been called
(37:02):
into liberty.
Only use not your liberty foran occasion of the flesh, but by
love serve one another.
For all the laws fulfilled inone word, take heed that ye be
not consumed one of another.
This is the key.
This I say then walk in ElEspiritu.
(37:25):
Camina in the spirit.
You will not fulfill the lustof the flesh.
That is your endeavoring towalk in the spirit.
Hear the Lord, be led of theLord to be called the sons of
(37:46):
God.
Because the lust, or excuse me,because the flesh lusteth
against the spirit.
Control lust against freedom.
Freedom is constantly trying tonot get entangled in that
entanglement, that yoke ofbondage, that control.
It's always freedom versuscontrol.
(38:07):
And these are contrary to oneanother, so that ye cannot do
the things that ye would, but ifye be led of the Spirit, ye are
not under the law.
There is a constant war withinourselves to be a traitor.
A traitor.
(38:30):
You are either going to be atraitor to sin, or you're going
to be a traitor torighteousness.
But there is only one who comeswith accusations and
condemnations, and there is onlyanother one who's going to come
with righteous judgment andindignation.
(38:51):
I'm not worried about theaccusations and the
condemnations.
I'm worried about the judgmentand the indignation.
In other words, I'm moreworried about what God thinks of
me than whenever I falter andwhat the enemy is trying to
accuse me of.
But I must endeavor to walk inthe Spirit.
James said, So speak ye and sodo, as they that shall be judged
(39:18):
by the law of liberty.
We are going to be judged byhow we handled our freedom.
Was it responsibly for thebenefit of others?
Or was it irresponsibly causingothers to be damned in the end?
Anyone know what Peter Parkerlearned from Uncle Ben?
(39:45):
Yes, I'm talking aboutSpider-Man.
Anyone knows what Peter Parkerlearned from Uncle Ben?
See, John and I, we're part ofthe same generation, so I'm not
surprised that Brother Johnraised his hand, but let's ask
him anyway.
What did Peter Parker learnfrom Uncle Ben?
Say it loud and proud.
unknown (40:06):
With great power comes great responsibility.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (40:08):
That's right.
With great power comes greatresponsibility.
That was in a comic.
That's pretty true.
And so I say, with greatliberty comes great
responsibility.
If you were blessed andappreciate listening to this
podcast and you would like tosupport us in our efforts,
consider lifting us up in prayerfirst.
(40:30):
Then remember these four socialmedia buzzwords: share, like,
subscribe, or follow.
Share this podcast link withsomeone else by text, email, or
word of mouth in the hopes thatthey might be uplifted as you
were.
Like by leaving a positiverating or review with whomever
you listen to our podcast with.
Subscribe to support the showmonetarily with the link in our
(40:52):
podcast description.
Follow us on all our socialmedia platforms.
May God bless you and make youprosperous in him as you listen
and obey his voice.
The vision received was that of blood cells
traveling throughout the body,supplying the much-needed oxygen
and other nutrients to thediffering members of the body to
fulfill their purpose.
Once the blood cells are sped,they must return back to the
heart to be refilled beforebeing sent out again and fulfill
their purpose.
But you know what?
(00:27):
God forbid, God forbid that anyone of us should recognize
what's going on in that person'sheart.
And that person pointed out tothat person.
Because as soon as you hearthat person, we deny, we deny,
we justify our feelings andbehavior, we rationalize why we
feel that way, why we acted thatway, and then never gets fixed.
(00:52):
It never gets corrected becauseyou are unwilling to
acknowledge that you have thatwrongness and bitterness in your
heart.
And you won't even listen toother people.
And they're not even trying tocondemn you, they're just trying
to say, Did you notice that?
What was the motive?
You know, we've taught aboutshepherding a child's heart, and
(01:14):
we taught about how you don'tjust address the behavior, you
have to address the motivation,the heart issue behind the
behavior that caused the per thechild to do or say whatever he
did.
We always want to touch thesurface and just try to fix
what's going on on the outside,but we never address what's
going on inside.
It hurts too much.
(01:34):
And so we deny, we deny, wedeny.
We always justifying andrationalizing all of the
decisions and all the thingsthat have led us to this point
and state where we findourselves in right now.
What's wrong with us isn't isus.
It's our response to all ofthese circumstances.
It's not God, it's not others,it's not our circumstances, it's
(01:58):
us.
What's wrong is how we'vehandled our freedom
irresponsibly.
Example.
We know a couple in my inMiami.
A couple's wife calls my wifehesitantly, tells my wife about,
(02:18):
and they're born again.
They're born again in thecovenant.
Tells my wife how, you know,we're having struggle with our
finances, and uh, it's not myhusband's fault.
It's my fault, and you know,it's been going on a long time,
and and we're we're about$30,000 into debt and we're
thinking of bankruptcy.
What's wrong there?
Did God do something wrong toget you and $30,000 worth of
(02:44):
debt?
And so my wife said, You gottatalk to my husband, you gotta
talk to my husband.
He can help you.
He he's the numbers guy.
Never heard a word from themabout it.
It's been over a month.
Not that he need to talk to me,they could talk to somebody
else.
But the idea that as soon asthey called and asked for the
help, they weren't willing toreally address the issue.
(03:06):
I mean, stay quiet about it.
But we see that person onFacebook going out to eat two to
three times a week.
Talking about we were in thisrestaurant, we enjoyed it, we
were in that restaurant, weenjoyed it.
Tell me who's not actingresponsibly.
And we want the blessings ofGod.
You can't have the blessings ofGod walking in unrighteousness,
(03:31):
but you have the freedom to goto a restaurant.
I'm not saying you don't.
But if you're not in a positionto afford it, why are you
getting yourself into debt overit?
Because you want to please thecouple that asked you, hey, you
want to come with us to dinnertonight?
Why don't you just say no?
I I can I can't.
I'm sorry, I'll be honest withyou.
(03:52):
I can't.
I can't afford it.
And I and hey, I'm not askingyou to pay for me.
That's not why I'm telling you.
I'm just trying to be honestwith you.
We can't afford it.
No, I'm sorry.
No, we'll go out, we'll spendthe money, we'll get into debt.
Just an example, just trying toget you to understand what I'm
trying to reach on a spiritualmatter.
(04:14):
Another problem.
I think transparency in thechurch is a very, very far and
buried memory.
Why won't we become transparentwith each other?
Is it because you're afraidthat the person is gonna whip
(04:37):
you and condemn you?
You could say that that's yourfear, but I know that's not your
fear.
The reason why you won't becometransparent is because as soon
as you become transparent,you're gonna be held into
account.
And you don't really want to beheld into account.
Talk to someone about yourfinances, I mean, I told you,
(04:58):
but I don't want you to dealwith it, and then that's it.
You never hear from them again.
Because they really don't wantto be held accountable.
That's the true fear.
We start holding ourselves intransparency before one another
every week.
We might be asking, how did youdo this week?
In that area.
You know, the one that youexpose yourself to me on.
But we don't want that.
(05:19):
We'd rather keep on chugging atthe same old thing over and
over again that we've been doingfor years and years, but we
want something different tohappen.
But we don't change theirresponsible ways of ourselves.
Transparency leads toaccountability, but that is what
we truly fear.
We've been given gifts, as Isaid before.
(05:42):
Paul said in Romans 12, havingthen gifts according to the
grace that is given to us,whether prophecy, let us
prophesy according to theproportion of faith.
Or ministry, let us wait on ourministering, or he that
teacheth on teaching, or he thatexhorteth on exhortation, or he
that giveth, let him do it withsimplicity.
He that ruleth with diligence,he that showeth mercy with
(06:03):
cheerfulness.
We have been given gifts in thebody.
But we're always looking abouthow, man, he prophesied.
And you have the gift ofhospitality.
But you're worried about himwho prophesied, and you didn't
get to prophesy, and then you'renot being hospitable to people,
yet that's your gift.
And so what I'm saying is,you've been given gifts, you
(06:27):
know what the gifts are, butyou're always worried about what
you're not able to do.
I've said this before.
Many of us are simply in themesses of our own making, and we
have taken our freedom andbehaved irresponsibly and
reprehensibly for it.
(06:48):
And when I say reprehensibly,I'm saying you should be rebuked
for that.
Not just you were justirresponsible, well, hey, it's
your money, it's not mine, sowhat did what difference does it
have to do with me?
But no, not just that, youbehave reprehensibly with your
freedom.
But we don't want to listen toothers.
(07:11):
We'd rather keep believing thesame old stinking thinking and
doing the same old stinkingactions, and at best, the
actions are questionable.
It's not that you don't havethe freedom to go to the
restaurant, but that's nothandling your freedom
responsibly.
And all the while we want Godand we true and believe God, God
(07:34):
will deliver us out of thismess.
God is gonna deliver you out ofyour mess, mess.
What does it say in 1Chronicles, Martha?
If my people will do what?
Humble themselves and do what?
Uh-oh! You see, we alwaysforget that.
We just wanna quote unquotehumble ourselves and pray and
(07:56):
look like we're all humble, butwe don't want to turn from our
wicked ways, and yet that's arequirement within that
scripture.
Turn from your wicked ways,then he shall heal your land.
Not just because you prayed.
Prayers of a righteous manavaileth much, but it's the
prayers of a righteous man, notan unrighteous man, not a man is
(08:18):
walking in unrighteousness.
That's not a righteous man.
Haven't we learned from theparable of the talents?
One talent, three talent, fivetalents, or two talents.
What should we have learnedfrom the power of the talent?
Somebody tell me.
(08:39):
See if you can connect withwhat I'm trying to talk about
here.
What do we learn from theparable of talents and the theme
that I'm trying to address withyou today?
Anyone?
unknown (08:47):
Don't hide yourself, do something with it.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (08:49):
Okay, don't hide yourself, do something with
it.
That's right.
That is the message of thetalents.
We're always talking about howwe want more, more, more.
But what are you doing with thelittle he's giving you?
(09:10):
Not much to talk about.
Why?
Why in the world would I givemy three-year-old the keys to my
car when I know he can't evendrive a little matchbox car?
He's crashing it everywhere hegoes.
He can't drive a remote controlcar without hitting the
refrigerator.
And I'm gonna give him the keysto my car?
(09:31):
God is wise.
And many of the time he'slogical.
He's not illogical.
I mean, he might make you dosome crazy things, but it's only
because he's worked it out foryou.
But he's very logical.
When you're ready for the keysto the car, is when I'll give
you the keys to the car.
(09:52):
Otherwise, show yourselfresponsible in the little
things.
I mean, we want to talk abouthow I got the two talents and I
want to get the four and how I'mblessed here and there.
What did you do with the one?
And it's not just about a fearof doing anything with it.
Maybe you did something, butyou did something so horribly
(10:17):
dumb.
Why would you want the biggerhouse?
Why would you want twice yoursalary?
You're in debt already with the20,000.
What are you gonna do with50,000?
You think you're just all of asudden gonna become responsible?
It's not gonna happen if youdon't do it with the 20,000.
(10:42):
Does that make any sense?
In a nutshell, it is this Godwill give greater responsibility
and a greater level of freedomto those who have found
themselves trustworthy in thevery little.
They didn't just, well, that'snot enough for me.
(11:03):
I want it.
No, they took it and they ranwith it.
And they ran with itresponsibly, and they did the
best they could with it.
And if it was one talent andthey got a half a talent, he's
gonna be happy with that.
He's not looking, you alwaysgotta double it.
Give me something in return.
If I planted a seed, I betterat least get one strawberry out
(11:26):
of it.
You got something back.
You plant the seed and you getnothing out of it, you uproot
the whole thing and try again.
He is found with all wisdom,and then if he gave you the
greater freedom andresponsibility that you think
you so desperately can handle,you're gonna crash and burn like
(11:48):
a great big ball of fire.
And then where are you gonnabe?
You may be dead.
And that's not what he wantsfor you.
That's why he doesn't give youthe blessings that you think you
can handle.
Because he's waiting for you toact responsibly with what you
do have, so he can give you themore.
He wants to give you the more,but he's a very responsible,
(12:09):
loving father, and he will notcause you to crash and burn.
And the reason why we do thisis because we're prideful.
We want the more because wethink, well, I'm old enough for
it.
I've lived long enough.
(12:29):
I have my own thoughts, I havemy own ideas.
I don't have to always do whatthe bishop or what the other
person counseled here and there.
I could do it on my own.
And while we're with thatattitude, we want a greater
anointing, we want greateraccolades, we want greater
titles, we want a greaterministry, we want greater
wealth, we want greaterbusiness, we want a greater
(12:52):
amount of just qualityfriendships.
You're not even faithful withthe three friends you have.
Why do you want more friends?
Be honest, be sincere, betransparent with the friends you
have, and then maybe you canhandle more.
Bless them.
But if you're not a blessing tothem, why do you want more
friends?
You cause more havoc anddestruction.
(13:14):
If I have a business and I'mnot quite handling my business
right, why do I want growth withmy business?
I already said about wealth.
Why do I want a greaterministry if I can't, if I get so
fed up with the five peoplethat I do have under me?
(13:37):
I can't stand, they don'tlisten, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I want, and I want a bigchurch so that I can fit a
thousand people?
You're not ready for that.
Be honest with yourself.
I want to be a missionary tothe Colombians.
Why don't you minister theColombians down the street?
It's just honest, honesty.
(14:00):
Just be honest with yourselfand realize why you're not
getting blessed the way youdesire.
We have terribly deceivedourselves.
And all that I'm describing toyou is we're acting like
know-it-all teenagers.
You know, the ones that I getfrustrated with every single day
(14:20):
I go to school, they know itall.
I can't tell them anything.
They argue for everything.
Fine.
Go, Mr.
Know It All.
But that's how we're acting.
Some of us are acting that way.
I know it all.
I know how to do this.
And you've been trying for 20years, and there's no change.
(14:41):
Romans 14.
We Christians need to not letour good be evil spoken of.
We call ourselves Christians,we call we call ourselves people
(15:04):
that serve the most high God.
Let me see.
I'm trying to come up with thatexample for the kids.
The youth.
Think they can have whateverfriend they want, and it's not
gonna do anything.
They think they're gonna savetheir friends.
(15:25):
So they start looking likethem, talking like them, hanging
out in the same spots theyshouldn't even be in in the
first place, and they areletting their good be evil
spoken of.
You are no different than them.
Instead of them turning andchanging their ways, you've
turned and changed your ways.
(15:46):
That's not what Paul meant whenI'm gonna be to all men
whatever I need to be.
Because when he uh sort ofbecame a Jew, he didn't become a
Jew.
He just got to their level,spoke to them on their level so
he can get them out of that.
If it was people under the law,he went and spoke as one under
the law to get them out of that.
(16:08):
As those outside of the lawthat didn't understand what the
law of the Jews was about, hespoke to them as one that was
outside of the law.
Remember, he spoke on MarsHill?
He brought the God of Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob, and I don't
think he used the word of God ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but
the God that you don't have aname for, that's the God that
created all the things that yousee here.
He's the one that you need toworship and adore.
(16:31):
That's what it meant.
I become to all men whatever Ineed to be, that I may be able
to gain some.
But do you think, I know itall?
It's not gonna affect me.
I could spend a few hours on atnight and go to sleep at one
o'clock, wake up at five o'clockin the morning, go to school,
and nothing's gonna happen.
That's just for the youth.
(16:52):
The kingdom of God is not meatand drink, the kingdom of God is
righteousness, peace, and joyin the Holy Ghost, and that is
what we should be demonstrating.
Sorry.
That is what we need to bedemonstrating.
Righteousness.
unknown (17:07):
Romans 14, 1, 2, 1, 17.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (17:10):
16 through 21.
That is what we need to bedemonstrating.
Righteousness.
Notice it started withrighteousness, and then we're
gonna have the same struggles asanyone else.
We should be walking with it inpeace and joy in the Holy
Ghost.
For he that is in these thingsserves Christ and is acceptable
(17:36):
to God and approved of men.
If you walk in righteousness,peace, and the joy of the Holy
Ghost, you might get persecuted,but there's a lot of men that
you're gonna grab theirattention.
They're gonna be like, that'ssomebody I could talk about.
That's somebody's got somethingdifferent, and it's a good
difference.
Let us therefore follow afterthings which make peace and
(18:00):
things wherewith one may edifyone another.
See, because he started talkingabout how I have the freedom to
eat meat.
But I have my brother here whofeels that he can eat meat
because it was sacrificed toidols, and that would corrupt
him.
So even though he had thefreedom to eat meat, he was
(18:20):
willing to sacrifice it in orderto save his brother.
And sometimes we run intopeople and we don't recognize
their level of maturity in theirfaith walk.
And we walk in our freedom allover them.
And we really didn't reachthem.
We've caused our brethren whoare weaker, who are immature in
(18:42):
the faith, to stumble.
And sometimes we offend withoutcare or thought as to where
they're at in their faith walkwith Him.
In Galatians 6, Paul againsays, and this is the attitude
that we need to have with ourfreedom.
(19:03):
Brethren, if a man be overtakenin a fault, ye which are
spiritual, restore such a one inthe spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thoualso be tempted.
Bear ye one another's burdens,and so fulfill the law of
Christ.
Because individuals have nottaken responsibility with their
(19:27):
freedom, not just in the church,but outside the church.
And I want to focus this onAmerica.
We have a war raging in theworld today.
I see some parallels betweenwhat's happening in this country
and what I've seen happen inthe church.
(19:48):
In America, the Bible ofAmerica is the Constitution of
the United States.
That's where we get our Bill ofRights.
You know, those amendments thatwe fought long and hard for to
get in there.
And in the church, it's theBible.
But ask yourself, what haveAmericans done with their
(20:12):
freedom today?
Think about what we've done.
Have Americans handled theirfreedom responsibly?
Have they done what they'vedone for the sake and the
betterment of their neighbors?
Or have they done what they'vedone without care for their
neighbors in order to rape themmonetarily?
(20:35):
We've produced a corruptculture and we've propagated all
over the world.
We got Madonna doing her thingall over the world, and she
represents America.
She's an American icon.
We had Michael Jackson doinghis stuff all over the world.
He was an American icon.
This is what we've propagatedaround the world.
(20:58):
We have companies in America inthis capitalist free market
society that are willing toproduce goods to establish their
million-dollar industries,knowing that those goods are in
the end going to kill them.
Cigarettes?
(21:18):
Alcohol?
You just start with those twoand look at the statistics in
the healthcare industry of howmuch are tied to just cigarettes
and alcohol.
Freedom is not wrong.
Trust me, I'd rather live in afree market capitalist society
than a socialist society thatcontrols your every move and
(21:40):
tells you what to do.
But if I'm gonna live in thissociety, then we need to live in
it, having our freedomresponsibly done for the benefit
of all.
Freedom that is carried aboutirresponsibly is dangerous.
Yet at the same time, they wantto shut up people who dissent
(22:05):
and disagree with them.
Yet they believe in freespeech.
But as soon as you go to thetown hall meetings and you air
out your concerns, what are youlabeled?
Nazi, hate monger, racist this,evil stereotype that.
In the church it's called doingviolence to the word.
(22:47):
Doing violence to the law.
If you read Zephaniah 3:4, youcan just write it down.
You can see violence to thelaw.
It says, Her prophets are lightand treacherous persons.
Her priests have polluted thesanctuary, they have done
violence to the law.
What does that mean?
They've perverted the word inorder to control and manipulate
(23:08):
the people.
The gospel is perverted for thesake of monetary gain.
So that they can have their bigbuildings.
They're worried about how manypeople tithed this week?
They're worried about themoney.
It's not about souls, it'sabout the monetary gain.
(23:30):
They add to the word.
You can't cut your hair, you'vegot to wear dresses, you've got
you can't come up on the pulpitlike that, don't have that
beard, you better shave thatoff, or whatever.
And all we're doing is tryingto control the people.
We're not serving them.
We are trying to be the elite.
(23:52):
And there leads to my otherparallel.
In America, in the nation, ifyou go into politics, you become
a part of the political elite.
Have you noticed that all thecongressmen have it made for the
rest of their lives?
Those congressmen get paidabout four or five times more
than I do, and I'm a teacher.
(24:12):
But they legislate all thethings, they have a separate
health insurance better thanours, and they want to pass a
health insurance that they willnot put themselves under.
Why?
If it's so good.
So the politicians have becomeAmerica's elite.
(24:33):
We have a so we have aone-party system.
Let's just be blunt.
It's one party.
It's called the DemocratRepublicans.
It's one party.
These Democrats have beenblaming these Republicans for
all of these things.
Couple years ago, theRepublicans were blaming the
Democrats for the same thing.
It's nauseating right now to meto hear the constant blame and
(24:55):
blame and blame and blame andblame, and they all do the same
thing.
So many of them are lying.
And so many of them maybe wentinto it with the greatest,
sincerest of intentions.
But once you get into that, andall the corruption and the
bribes and the you know thelobbyists that come at you with
(25:17):
money, you do this for me now,when you get elected, you need
to do this for me, and then I'llkeep giving you.
Who are they serving?
They're not serving us, they'reserving the corporations,
they're serving the people thatare making the money because
they're giving them the money.
But isn't that happening in thechurch?
The political elite, in theirquest for position, in their
(25:39):
quest for power and influence,they make their promises that
they don't intend to keep, andit's all resulting in our future
enslavement.
If you haven't been feelingkind of enslaved recently, you
haven't been paying attention.
The laws that they enact alwaysapply to the whole nation.
But have you noticed that whenthey get caught doing something,
(26:01):
they don't get hit as hard forsome reason?
Kennedys?
Hmm.
Why?
Clergy are the church's elite.
You get into that position, youbecome a part of the select,
the few, the ones that make allthe decisions for the people,
and we call that the Nicolaitandoctrine in the scriptures.
(26:21):
Clergy who believe themselvesto be better suited to make the
decisions for you.
For history, don't worry aboutreading the Bible.
I'll tell you what it says.
Now go pray your Hail Mary'sand you're all our fathers.
That's still happening today.
It looks different, but there'snothing new under the sun.
It's to keep their position,it's to keep their power and
(26:44):
their monetary gain.
That's really all it is.
They're the only ones that hearfrom God.
They always know what's bestfor the saint, and they're
relentlessly strict with them.
Relentlessly strict.
Thank God it doesn't happenhere.
I hope that God, nobody feelsthat way here.
But I've been in other placesand I know that's exactly the
way it is.
(27:04):
And it is not only UPC, I'veseen it outside that.
It's a spirit that is at muckin the church.
But it's the very same spiritthat's at muck in the nation's
political system.
It's a spirit of control.
They're trying to control thepeople and slowly take away
(27:25):
their freedoms, little bylittle, because they can't take
it all at once.
They'd have a, they'd have athey'd have an uproar.
They can't handle that.
But they'll take it away littleby little.
Banana piece strap by bananastrap until they have the whole
thing.
2 Peter 2 19.
It says, They promise liberty.
While they promise liberty,they themselves are the servants
(27:48):
of corruption.
For of whom a man is overcome,of the same is he brought in
bondage.
And this political elite, thisuh clergy elite, have brought
about the same results inpolitics or in the nation.
(28:08):
We have a people that do notknow their constitution, that do
not know the rights thatsupposedly the founding fathers,
knowing that there was onecreator, endowed them with these
inalienable rights of life,liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
But ask any children in highschool whether they know
anything about the constitution,you give so little or nothing
(28:31):
at all.
But what's happening in thechurch?
They don't know the Bible.
So when the pastor or or the orthe priest or or the pope says
something, that's the word ofGod.
And they know no better.
It's repro it's it's producedthe same result.
(28:52):
That's why I know it's the samespirit.
It's it's producing a churchthat or or a people that are
just dead asleep and don't knowthat they need to do something
about it.
They don't know their rights,they don't know their
constitution, and the politicalpowers should they're shouting
(29:13):
freedom, they're shoutingchange, but they themselves are
the servants of the corruptionthat they're trying to instill
in the people.
In the church, the saints areblindly obeying the religious
establishment.
Don't even bother to questionthe pastor.
(29:36):
If you do that, you'll be inrebellion, and you'll be
ostracized, and you'll berejected, and you will not you
will never feel comfortablethere again.
And they'll do that purposelybecause that's the spirit at
work there.
We have a lot of immature,irresponsible, bondaged babes in
(29:59):
Christ.
In our churches, because ofthis that's at work and that's
going on.
Brother Greg came andtestified, transparently, I
might add, of his struggles withhis new job.
He had freedom to stay in hisjob and make the money that he
was making, but he also had thefreedom to look elsewhere if he
(30:21):
wanted to.
And he thought, wow, it's asix-figure salary.
I can correct me if I'm wrongwhen I'm done.
But he might have thought it'sa six-figure salary.
That'd be good financialstability, financial security
for a long while.
I can put that money aside andtake care of myself in the
future rather than working ashard here.
But initially, his heart was toserve those kids or whoever
(30:44):
that he was doing his physicaltherapy.
That's originally where hisheart was.
So he gets into this new joband it's all about business.
It's all about money.
And one day he goes to ameeting and he realizes I cannot
be here.
Because all they want to do isrape the people for the money,
and that's not what I'm about.
(31:06):
That was his testing ground.
That's where God was testinghim and his freedom.
Was he gonna stay in it to makethe six figures?
Or was he gonna come out of it?
He handled his freedomresponsibility once the choice
of the decision came to him.
He had to walk out and he hadto walk away and he had to put
(31:28):
it aside.
That's what happens to ourpoliticians.
Some of them are very sincereand they want to do something
real for their community.
Once they get into that system,it invariably comes to a
decision.
Are you gonna take that bribeor are you gonna continue
walking the way?
I wish that we weren't under aone-party system, but because we
(31:50):
are, any independent thinkerout there most likely will never
get funded to get into thesystem.
And so we don't really haveindependent thinkers there that
think completely different thanwhat the Democrat-Republicans
do.
And so it really is one party.
You notice over the history ofthe nation, there's very few
(32:11):
third parties.
It's been purposely done tojust have these two, and they're
working together, lookingantithesis of each other.
But we have those decisionsdaily.
Are we going to succumb?
Are we going to begin to handleour freedom irresponsibly?
(32:32):
Thank God Brother Gray came outof that.
Because we might have lost himand he might have lost his soul.
That's what the test was.
Do you love me enough?
There's a lot of talk aboutfiscal responsibility in the
nation.
We're not fiscally responsible.
(32:53):
Why is that?
Look at the nation as a whole.
Look at the church.
Is the church fiscallyresponsible?
Are they responsible with theirmoney and their debt?
They're just as irresponsibleas the nation.
Every nation in the world is indebt.
Every nation in the world is indebt.
They're all enslaved to someother greater banking monetary
(33:14):
institution.
What about us?
We're in debt.
We're no better.
So who are we to talk about?
And all of this is a clashbetween freedom and control.
Why does the government want tocontrol?
(33:36):
Because the government doesn'ttrust us to make responsible
decisions, and they want themoney themselves.
But I don't trust thegovernment to do what they
should do, responsibility withmy money.
I'm not trying to be politicalhere, but you see there's a tug
of war between freedom andcontrol.
(33:58):
And we need to takeresponsibility for our part and
start taking responsibility forour debt, for our friendships,
for our righteousness, for ourwalk with God, for what we know
in the scriptures.
We need to take responsibility.
It's on us.
Money is not the answer.
(34:22):
That's not going to get you outof your mess.
Personal responsibility willget you out of your mess.
And I don't mean it independentof God.
I mean personal responsibilitywhere you acknowledge this is
what I've done wrong, and Godhelp me to get out of this.
Show me how to get out of thisright.
We have been called to freedom,to liberty with a purpose.
(34:46):
And it's not to indulgeourselves.
Here's the reputation that weshould be developing in our
church, in our communities, andin our nation today.
Noah was a preacher ofrighteousness.
It says he was a preacher ofrighteousness.
(35:06):
And for 120 years he built theark with his family, and for 120
years he was preachingrighteousness, and no one
listened to him and heard him,and only eight people lived.
That is the real that is thereputation that we need to
develop in this day and age.
Not one where they don't evenknow where you stand or they see
(35:28):
you on the fence.
You need to go full hedgehoginto it, or don't go into it at
all.
Why try to take on the name ofChrist if you're not willing to
walk in the name of Christ?
Lot, on the other hand, is thereputation we are developing.
(35:49):
Lot was in Sodom, Gomorrah, andit says he was sorely vexed
because of the unrighteousnessthat surrounded him.
Sorely vexed.
Was he saying anything?
It doesn't say he was sayinganything.
It says he was just there andhe saw it.
And he got so bogged down withit that he was about to give his
(36:12):
own two daughters to a gang ofhomosexuals.
How sorely vexed he was.
He couldn't even think right.
You can't, we cannot allowourselves to live in a nation
and not say something.
Be a preacher of righteousness.
(36:34):
And if it's only me and myfamily that get saved in the
ark, at least I tried to preachthe righteousness that God was
requiring of all the wicked.
But Lot almost died because hewouldn't say anything.
He just took it.
In Galatians 5:13, Paul says,Brethren, you have been called
(37:02):
into liberty.
Only use not your liberty foran occasion of the flesh, but by
love serve one another.
For all the laws fulfilled inone word, take heed that ye be
not consumed one of another.
This is the key.
This I say then walk in ElEspiritu.
(37:25):
Camina in the spirit.
You will not fulfill the lustof the flesh.
That is your endeavoring towalk in the spirit.
Hear the Lord, be led of theLord to be called the sons of
(37:46):
God.
Because the lust, or excuse me,because the flesh lusteth
against the spirit.
Control lust against freedom.
Freedom is constantly trying tonot get entangled in that
entanglement, that yoke ofbondage, that control.
It's always freedom versuscontrol.
(38:07):
And these are contrary to oneanother, so that ye cannot do
the things that ye would, but ifye be led of the Spirit, ye are
not under the law.
There is a constant war withinourselves to be a traitor.
A traitor.
(38:30):
You are either going to be atraitor to sin, or you're going
to be a traitor torighteousness.
But there is only one who comeswith accusations and
condemnations, and there is onlyanother one who's going to come
with righteous judgment andindignation.
(38:51):
I'm not worried about theaccusations and the
condemnations.
I'm worried about the judgmentand the indignation.
In other words, I'm moreworried about what God thinks of
me than whenever I falter andwhat the enemy is trying to
accuse me of.
But I must endeavor to walk inthe Spirit.
James said, So speak ye and sodo, as they that shall be judged
(39:18):
by the law of liberty.
We are going to be judged byhow we handled our freedom.
Was it responsibly for thebenefit of others?
Or was it irresponsibly causingothers to be damned in the end?
Anyone know what Peter Parkerlearned from Uncle Ben?
(39:45):
Yes, I'm talking aboutSpider-Man.
Anyone knows what Peter Parkerlearned from Uncle Ben?
See, John and I, we're part ofthe same generation, so I'm not
surprised that Brother Johnraised his hand, but let's ask
him anyway.
What did Peter Parker learnfrom Uncle Ben?
Say it loud and proud.
unknown (40:06):
With great power comes great responsibility.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (40:08):
That's right.
With great power comes greatresponsibility.
That was in a comic.
That's pretty true.
And so I say, with greatliberty comes great
responsibility.
If you were blessed andappreciate listening to this
podcast and you would like tosupport us in our efforts,
consider lifting us up in prayerfirst.
(40:30):
Then remember these four socialmedia buzzwords: share, like,
subscribe, or follow.
Share this podcast link withsomeone else by text, email, or
word of mouth in the hopes thatthey might be uplifted as you
were.
Like by leaving a positiverating or review with whomever
you listen to our podcast with.
Subscribe to support the showmonetarily with the link in our
(40:52):
podcast description.
Follow us on all our socialmedia platforms.
May God bless you and make youprosperous in him as you listen
and obey his voice.
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