Shane Idleman explores the complexities of understanding God's will through the lens of Genesis 25, emphasizing that being in God's will does not guarantee comfort or ease. He highlights the importance of prayer, submission, and the challenges that often accompany spiritual growth, urging believers to seek God's guidance rather than making decisions based on fear or feelings. Idleman encourages the congregation to embrace crises as opportunities for transformation and to recognize that true joy comes from a deep relationship with God, not from external circumstances. He also stresses the significance of husbands interceding for their wives and the need for mutual submission within relationships, ultimately pointing to the necessity of being filled with the Holy Spirit to navigate life's challenges.

We're still talking about God's will from Genesis 25. The title is, If All Is Well, Why Am I Like This? And what we're doing, if you're not aware, is we're going through the whole Bible. So I'm not going exactly verse by verse, but through chapter by chapter and gleaming principles from it. And you can get caught up. This week, read Genesis 1 to chapter 25. You can actually read through the whole Bible within a year. If you just do it 20 minutes a day, you say, oh, that's hard, I don't know what to say. Well, again, come Wednesday, because that's the main problem. Come Wednesday, because there should be an excitement. An excitement, what does God's Word have to say to me today? Or if you doubt that it's God's Word, that's a whole other topic. Once you deal with that doubt, once you have that fire of the Spirit and you're praying, you want to see what God... I believe that God still speaks to us through His Word. You have the words of the living God ready to speak to you. What a sneaky trick of the enemy to keep us away from that. Now, let's read a book. God wants to speak to us. His Word is living and powerful, sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces. It divides. And that's why the enemy wants to keep you away from prayer and the reading and the application of God's Word more than anything else. Because that's where true, genuine maturity in the faith goes. And God's will actually isn't as hard as we make it out to be. If you're in His Word, you're praying, you're led of the Spirit, you're full of the Spirit, it doesn't mean you're perfect who has to repent daily. But it does mean we're going in the right direction. Actually, those who are full of the Holy Spirit know they have to repent. Those who aren't don't think they ever have to repent. The blame game. Let me shift the blame on someone else. Hey, I'm good, man. No, you're not good. You need that filling of the Holy Spirit. So the title is, If All Is Well, Why Am I Like This? Can anybody relate? If all is well, what in the world is going on? And again, I've been talking a little bit about knowing God's will. And I'm a little leery to say this because now I'm going to really have to hold myself to it, but I've been working on a book, mainly just for my kids, on discerning and knowing the will of God. Filters. Your feelings have to go through filters. The storms of life. And I'm hoping maybe just to release it to the whole church. At some point, I just need the time to write it and a lot of the notes I've just been putting out there because the way our nation is going, it's really important that we begin to know God's will even more so than ever before. Because what happens when you can't buy or sell? What happens? You don't think they're switching to a digital dollar at some point? Cryptocurrency? Oh, Bitcoin's crashing. Well, guess what? Something's getting ready to be resurrected. Cryptocurrency, even whether the government starts it or somebody. How are we going to regulate that? What am I supposed to do? And look at the school systems. And here comes mask mandates again. Maybe the vaccine push. You cannot navigate these waters in the flesh. You have to be filled with God's Spirit. Even though there's different views on some of these things, you have to be able to understand His will in your life and make right decisions, not decisions guided by fear. Anybody making decisions based on fear? It's pretty quiet. Making decisions based on feelings? I always get in trouble for saying this, but I'm going to say it. Here comes the emails. I hear them coming. And this is just a true statement. True statement. If I were a betting man, I'm not. The majority, the vast majority of those who fled California fled because of fear and feelings. I hate this place. I got it. I'm getting there too sometimes. I know it. I understand it. But we don't make decisions based on feelings and fear and anger. Just in the last week, I've heard from two people who've already moved who wish they were back. Why? Because the grass isn't greener. When are we going to realize that? Abram would love to plant a church in East LA, Inglewood. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, when you're in the center of God's will. Right? See, we got to get back into what is your will for my life and then be willing to go where He says. And many of us are making decisions based on fear and feelings and not where does God want me. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to move and having a better life and a better school system. I got it. But just make sure it's bathed in prayer, the application of God's Word, you're going in the right spirit, and God is leading you. There's a lot of safety in that. God moves people all over the place. But that's why we need to know God's will. Especially in these dire times because we don't know where things are going. Especially if Newsom runs in 2024. That's a real fair election, so he might have a chance. Hold on guys, I'm getting off track, stop it. Genesis. I don't know, laugh or cry in some of these situations. Like, Lord, please come Jesus. And that's why we have to pray for our leaders. Because I truly believe that God can grab the hearts of the hardest sinner. Of those who, that's what, when he starts to bring revival, like I would read Billy Graham's journals or his biography. How many people came to his tent revival in LA, in Los Angeles? Known mafia connections there in LA and New York and known just evil men would come to know the Lord. What's that, Louie Zamberini or something? He was one of the Olympic sprinters. I won the Olympics and talking about having a difficulty. First, your plane crashes in the ocean and you're on a raft for 40 days. And I think it was a Japanese pick you up and then you become a POW. It's like, whoa, this guy. But he came to know the Lord. He was having vivid dream nightmares and different things and God just saved him. And he said, so God can save the least likely and he often does. So he gets all the glory and all the credit. So finally, Genesis 25. Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And that happened a lot in the Old Testament we read about that the woman was barren and they would even have a higher value on children back then. That they were a true blessing from the Lord and dealing with that barrenness. And the Lord granted his plea. Let's not miss this. The husband interceded on behalf of the wife. And the Lord granted his plea and Rebecca, his wife, conceived. So she had a child in her womb, but the child, the children, struggled together within her and she said, if all is well, why am I like this? If I'm in God's will, what is going on? Haven't we all said that? I mean, many times I've said, Lord, if you've called me to pastor, what in the world is going on? This is a battlefield, not a resort. I was thinking nice beaches and you know, metaphorically speaking. But it's a battle, it's a warfare, it's challenging. If I'm in God's will, why am I going through this? And the first key here is God's will is not about our comfort. Now I think it's good to relax from time to time and get the needed rest and the comforts of life. Don't you like going on vacation, spending time with your family, and getting away and all those things are wonderful. But his will, will encompass comfort, but it's not necessarily about comfort. He gives us a crisis to conform us and a challenge to change us. And I don't know about you, but it's not very often I will make some drastic changes that God wants me to make without a crisis, without a little heat being applied, without a little difficulties, correct? So that's how God often changes us. We don't change when we're in the comfort zone, we change when we're being challenged. Because that leads us to look within, self-reflection. If you can really hold on to this concept that God's will might take you through hell before you get to heaven. If you might say like Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. And so many people, if you can get this down, that I mean, we could even lose our life. Now in America, it's hard to really understand that, but if you talk to somebody in the Middle East who becomes a Christian, do you know what they're doing when they get baptized? These guys, often they say, this could cost me my life. And they don't get bitter, or I didn't get that parking spot, I didn't get that job, and they don't get bitter, they know what God's will involves. And so if you can say, Lord, your sovereignty is my sanity, no matter what happens, and I know it's easy to say it, trust me. So I'd rather say it than live it. But if you can understand, hey, no matter what happens, God is my anchor, I'm holding on to Him for dear life, I'm not going to waver, it might be difficult, I might have ups and downs, but Lord, I'm going to see this through, and I'm going to follow You until the day I die. Life will become a lot easier for you, because you're not on an emotional roller coaster. Anybody been there? Do you know it's funny that we get our word happy from the word happenstance, which means what's happening to me? But true biblical joy comes from who's within me. And so I can have tremendous joy where most people would not have any happiness. Does that make sense? Because joy is an inner belief, inner strength in God, and what He can take you through. And it changes your life. I just want to brag even on the Harbaugh's, are they here? Joe's here, I don't know if your wife's here. But it went through, I mean, a very difficult season with their daughter. Her picture's still in our refrigerator. Prayed for her, and she's really improving greatly. But I've never seen Joe worship like I've seen Joe worship the last six months. I mean, talk about from where he went even a year and a half ago, to where now it's, what happened? Well, it wasn't a bed of roses. Difficulty and challenges, it breaks us, it humbles us, and then when we come in, we sing worship songs, amazing grace, how sweet it is, it saved a wretch like me. Lord, you are my strength, you are my provider, Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sick Canoe, we know Him as all these words in the Old Testament, because He takes you through the storm, and He leads me behind by still waters, He leads my soul into, He holds me, comforts me, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because I have seen the risen Savior, my eyes have seen the King of glory, and now you become a worshiper, because God has touched your hearts. So that's a wonderful thing. He gives us a challenge to change us, a crisis to conform us. And if I were to be honest with you this morning, I don't like this part of God's will. Man, if I look over my life, broken, I'm broken, I'm broken, and I'd like to tell you I arrived, but you're not going to arrive until you're six feet under. It just happens, and you better become better, not bitter. You better humble yourself, repent, and let God change your heart. I remember, I don't think my daughter would mind me sharing, but this was a while ago, I think I shared with you, a year and a half ago, two years ago? But we got home, and I'm busy, and she goes, Dad, you're always praying for everyone else, but you never pray for me. Stagger, fall down. And so now I try to make it a point to pray more with my kids, and invest into them. And see, you have to have that breaking, right? What about if I say, I'm just busy. Don't you know who I am? I'm busy. You know I love you. That's pride. That's making excuses. I can give you a thousand examples where I've been humbled. Have you? Amen? The kids do not lie. Man, spouses don't lie if they love you too. Lots of breaking, lots of breaking. It's a continual process. So, she wondered what is going on. So she went to inquire of the Lord. Next verse. And the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb. This is huge. Here we have Esau and Jacob. We have the nation of Israel, and the Arabs. This is a big, big deal in the center of God's will. Two nations are in your womb. Two people shall be separated from your body. One shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. See, this is different. The younger always served the older. The birthright was given to the older, the firstborn. But in this case, it's going to be reversed. The older, which is going to be Esau, is going to have to serve the younger, which is going to be Jacob. So apparently we know how they came out of the womb. In what order? When her days were fulfilled. God would say that quite often. There's a season in life. You don't have a baby two weeks later. You have nine months. There's a growth process that goes from this size to this size. And there's a time of fulfilling. So many times, we want something. God, I feel this. I feel You're going to do this in my life. I want this. But there's a waiting period. There's a time of fulfillment. Let You grow. I'm sorry, God's saying, I need You to grow so I can do in You what I want to do in You. And I was just thinking this week, when I got started in the ministry, and then even after, I've watched some pastors fall. And I would follow their ministry. Some of them didn't fall. But a lot of pastors started out churches. Like say, Francis Chan started out and he didn't fall. But in his 20s, I think, Mark Driscoll in his 20s. Nick Perrynoble in his 20s. Steve Furnick in his 20s. I'm like, I'm glad God didn't call me in my late 20s. I wasn't even ready until 40. But isn't that interesting? Because God says, okay, here's what I've called you to do, but it's not fulfilled yet. Because I've got to hurt you in a good way. I've got to break you. I've got to humble you. I've got to get these addictions out of you or these strongholds out of you. I've got to get this pride out of you. I've got to get you ready so when you're called, you don't fall. You don't see a little apple tree producing 500 pounds of apples. It would fall. It would collapse. And so that just really stood out to me this morning when her days were fulfilled. Here's the nations. They're coming. Maybe that prayer is going to be answered. Maybe what God's called you to do is going to happen, but it's not yet fulfilled. Now, I'm careful because those guys on TV say it's just around the corner. They're speaking to thousands. Your blessing is right there. You're going to be ahead, not to tell. You're going to prosper. Just keep holding tight and holding tight. But if God is dealing with you about besetting sin, you better handle that first. Because our waiting period could be a period of delay because God is wanting to change our heart, wanting us to repent. I'm often shocked, and I've shared this before. Did you know the nation of Israel, once they left Egypt, they could have got to the Promised Land in about 12 days? Wait, 12 days? 40 years. Why did it take them 40 years? And actually, God destroyed every one of them in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua. Why is that? Because my people tested me. They had stiff necks. They tested me. They grumbling and complaining. Spirit of offense, critical spirit. And God said, I let them wander in the desert and I couldn't fulfill my will in their life. And as much as I don't like to say that because it's not motivational, it's the truth. And I cringe sometimes when I see the guys on TV or radio even sometimes. They're speaking like so many people in this blanket statement that your dream is just around the corner. Your blessing is about ready to burst. And that can be very true in the lives of many people. You can claim that. I believe it. For example, if God puts something on your heart, there's a waiting period. You're pressing in, you're praying, you're getting rid of besetting sin. You're humbling yourself. It's just in that waiting time that God is developing you. And I often pray, Lord, am I wasting time in my waiting time? Is there something you want me to deal with that I'm not dealing with that is holding me back? There's a lot of Scriptures on that too. And against popular belief, God is not a puppet master. He gives us the ability to make decisions that will alter our course. And if we're not fully surrendered to God, we can really jump outside of God's will. So twins were born. Twins were born in her womb. So a couple things. She prayed rather than complained. She prayed rather than complained. Oh, who needs to hear that today? Four people. That's hard. I mean, that is a hard one because complaining and grumbling is within us, is it not? And I know I said that about California, but guess who has to deal with it every day, grumbling, complaining too? Hello? I mean, here it comes. It's just by nature. Those darn officials. Biden, open the pipeline. I mean, okay, I'm gonna get off track. Let's see. And this whole thing on electric cars just cracks me up because our power grid can barely handle what we have now. Come on, guys, stop egging me on. Okay. Isn't it true? What common sense? You know, it's just... And also the husband pleaded. The husband pleaded and interceded for his wife. Guys, the husband pleaded and interceded for his wife. The defender, the husband defended his home primarily with prayer. Guys, if you're not defending your home, if you're not leading in this area, let me encourage you this morning to do that. And don't say, oh, I bet Pastor Shane's home has all this in order. Nope. Nope. I'm up like four hours before my wife and she texts me, wanna pray? I'm like, wanna pray? I'm not even home. I'm gone. My day started. Let's do devotional with the kids. Okay, sounds great. And then all hell breaks loose. All hell, the little ones don't wanna listen. It's like, what in the world is going on? But you've gotta fight for those things. So we better plan on a family devotional tonight. I'm gonna try again. But they defend the home primarily with prayer. The husband is that prayer warrior. And guys, let me just throw this out there. I threw it out there on Father's Day and it was incredible how many guys came to morning worship, but then it's like, it's over. That has to be the pulse, the spiritual pulse of our heart. That's why we open at six in the morning to get worship on. We have communion every Sunday. Every Sunday it's up here at communion and getting our hearts right before God. It's incredible. That's how you're gonna defend your home. He also submitted to the needs of his wife. He also submitted to the needs of his wife. Did you catch that? I didn't say it the other way around. He submitted, that dangerous word, that deadly word. He submitted to the needs of his wife. You see, biblically speaking, a man submits to Jesus Christ and then the woman comes underneath that spiritual authority and submits to his leadership. But in doing so, he makes decisions as he submits to the needs of his family and his spouse. It's not just, I'm the man in this house. Machismo. You do what I say when I say it. Didn't you read that Bible verse? Woman, you submit to me. That house is so out of order. If you ever have to quote that verse, you're in big trouble. Am I saying anything that is not correct? Submission is difficult. This whole idea of submission is difficult is if all is well, why am I going through this? And this often happens in submission. Let me define this. Last week I talked about this. Submission is yielding, correct? So what happens if you go out to the stop sign leaving and you don't yield? I found it interesting this week. God gave me a great, just showed me something. Even a police car yielded to me. He wasn't going anywhere. We were just there. It was my turn. He had to yield to me. Normally, someone I would yield to. I would yield to him. But because it intersects, he yielded to me. I got there first. See, if you use submitting like that, it's a wonderful concept. I yield to the needs of this person, or vice versa. Or the spouse yields to the needs of that person. One thing I've noticed with God is he will put something in your heart that maybe yet isn't fulfilled. For example, oh Lord, I think you want me to do that. Is that what you want me to do? Is that your dream? Okay, I'll do it right now. And you fall flat on your face. Many examples, I remember when people were even telling me this, I felt it really deep down in my soul. I mean, it was like, man, okay, I just don't know how to do it, is when I would go and speak, around 2003 is when I started speaking, traveling. Almost, it's gonna come out in 20 years here. Lot of people say, you gotta get this on radio. You should go on the radio. You should go on the radio for like eight years. And I could see it, I believed it, but what am I supposed to do with that? So finally, in 2009, I believe it is, I had a message, found a guy. The funny story is, it's actually the 91.9 now that we own as a church. They actually wouldn't let me on in 2009. Now that I'm thinking of this, it's funny. So Morgan said, hey, why don't you contact KTLW, who's down in LA, Jack Hayford, Jack Hayford's church. I'm like, they're not gonna let me on. That's a big station. And Gary Curtis, I'll never forget, he said, hey, we'll put you on Saturday morning. $50 for a Saturday morning. Whoa, talk about an open door. And then of course, it snowballs and it grows, but you have these, you have God put something in your heart, right? And it takes time to develop. And I share with the first service, one thing I was just reflecting on this week is a lot of people who are my age, I could mention, maybe some of them a little bit younger, but you maybe Steve Furnick, you've seen on TV, or Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, and others. I read a Perry Noble, and some of them kind of, we had some issues in ministry, but a lot of them started their churches when they're like 24, 25, 26. I'm like, Lord, thank You, praise God that I did not start this church at 26. Or 32. Why? It would have been destroyed. I would have been kicked out of ministry. Because God wasn't yet done kicking the devil out of me. And so you see, there's a time, see, you're not, maybe those people are ready. Francis held it together well at 24. I gotta hand it to him, because I couldn't do that. And then so God knows when it's time, it's fulfilled. Okay, the nine month gestation period, can we call it that for women, is that okay? Okay, so there's a period where the baby is being developed, and now it gives birth. And so there is a time, there's a fulfillment in your own life. Now, before I forget, we can delay that fulfillment. Did you know that? God is not bound to just fulfill it whenever we want, because there's something in our heart called sin. If there's besetting sin, for example, let's say God has called somebody to, let's see, be on the worship team, how's that? Vocals, or to preach, or to teach, or to start a ministry. But they're full of pride, and bitterness, and haughtiness, and a critical spirit. You think they're gonna get to that destination? They'll be humbled. And when they're ready, God can promote. I mean, just as an example, we've never ever, that I can remember, since we started the church, is if anybody came up and said, I want to be on your worship team. I want to sing. This has never happened. What? How does that happen then? Because we hear them. Oh, they can sing. Madeline, I didn't even know she could sing. And she can sing, her blessing, I don't know if she's here, too. But when it was 2014, we were at a kids camp and blessings by herself on a guitar. I'm like, Morgan, you didn't even tell me she could sing. She's been coming to church for a year. How do we know these people can sing? Or Pree, remember Pree before she moved? She just starts singing back there. I'm like, that girl can sing. She's in, see, let God, let God exalt you. Let God promote you. Let another, not the words of your own mouth praise you, but let the words of your own mouth praise you. And even when Brant was leaving, I heard him at our old location. Like, he can sing. And Starner, and I mean, I just go to the Marlowe's when they were here helping more. And you could see that it wasn't this self-exaltation because God will hold that person down until they're ready. And Rebecca and Isaac submitted to God's will. And that's another key to being led by God. Folks, did you know this? I want to know God's will. I want to hear His voice. Do you know He has us yielding and submitting a lot throughout our lives or throughout the week or throughout the month? And as we yield to certain things or submit to certain things, God's will becomes clear because that's a principle. That person's like, no, I'm not yielding to anybody. I'm the captain of this ship. I don't yield to anybody. They're not going to be led of God because that's not a gentle, humble spirit. Who was that old singer that used to sing that, My Way? Frank Sinatra, yeah, I couldn't get that song in my mind. I haven't heard it in years, but I'm going to do things my way. And God has a hard time moving that person who wants to do things His own way because God teaches the humble and the gracious His way. He leads those who are willing to follow. So let's talk about submission for a little bit because Rebecca and Isaac submitted to God's will. And this is another key of being led by God. Now, for those who are offended by the word submission, is there anyone out there? No, it's okay, balcony. Okay, you probably wouldn't be honest anyway, right? But see, here's the thing with submission. The word has been used in a bad way. It's like, you know, you think of the word fundamentalist. You think of those who blow up abortion clinics or you think of a hundred years ago, you would say, hey, after church, we're going to throw a gay party. Meaning happy. And so things change. And so this word submission and what happens a lot in the Muslim countries and so the word is like, oh, I don't know about that word. Humility is a wonderful thing. So let's talk about this. 1 Peter 3.7, I think we have that one up there. 1 Peter 3.7, wives, wives, the NIV. It's not the nearly inspired version. It's a good version. Wives, in the same way, there's so many things. Pastor Edwin, you prayed that I had freedom this morning. Didn't have to stick with my notes. And I'm following that. So, I've got to tell you guys a joke. I tried using the King James this week. I'm like, what are they talking about? And it's a great, if you love it, stick with it. It's incredible. It's a Texas Receptus, received text. It's close to, I mean, it's a great translation. But for the life of me, go fetch a compass. And so, that's why God has given us certain translations many times. Now, there's some questions about the NIV who was on their board and how they take a little bit of liberty and different things. But overall, there's a lot of translations that are off, but there's a few that will not lead you astray. Wives, there's gonna come emails from that one right there, too. Think about this. People get upset. I'm like, okay, so tell me, you're teenagers reading the NIV every day, all year. You're gonna be upset at that? They're not gonna go astray. Trust me, trust me. We need more of that and less TikTok. So, wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives. So, the husband sees the gentle, caring, loving Spirit of his wife, and that love draws her to Christ. So, even the context, people take this verse out of context. The context is not just submitting, like, woman, do this, machismo, you know, all this. It's actually submitting, is that funny, machismo? Can I say that? Want me to speak Spanish? Mis padres son las tortugas y danar muy bueno. Do you know what I said? My parents are turtles and they swim very well. So, it's the only thing I got out of high school. Raquel, you threw me off track. I don't know, it's been all over social media. I don't know if you saw it, but one of the priests or the head of a satanic church came to know the Lord this week because of the love He saw in other people. And so that's powerful. When they see the, we need a lot more love, don't we? My Lord, even in the churches. I posted something about, you know, the women's basketball player who's in Russia. And I say, hey, regardless of your political views, we need to lift this young lady up in prayer. I'm pretty sure she's been humbled. And you would not believe the modern day Pharisees. Does she still hate America? What, what, wait, what? See, we can't, we don't have that love in our heart. We have to pray for those we disagree with. Hello? Jesus said it. Love your enemies. What good is it to you if you like those who line up with you? Love your enemies. Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life so that nothing will hinder your prayers. Men, could it be that your prayers aren't being answered because you don't treat them with dignity and respect? And that weaker there is we were designed differently. Men, by nature, have more testosterone. They're just stronger. Because why? To be the defender. And then the wife, the woman has stronger attributes in other areas. So that's why we believe in complementarianism. We complement each other. And actually, that word weaker could mean like a vase or a vase, whatever you want. You know, and they have, it's this precious, expensive thing that you need to take care of. And so don't be translating Scriptures based on your own pride. Let God work in your heart. Your prayers, men, can actually be hindered by your lack of respect and reverence for your spouse. Demeaning them, putting them down, calling them names, joking in the wrong type of way. Biblical intersections. Here's some biblical intersections on where we need to yield. So you're coming up to a stop sign. Here's where God wants us to yield. Okay, it's gonna get a little uncomfortable. You okay with that? Parents, yield to your parents, kids. Colossians 3.20, children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Now this has been used and abused because obviously the context is he's writing to the church in Colossae, Christian parents who love the Lord, or they're trying, they're walking their walk, and the Lord wants the kids to submit to the leadership of their parents in everything they're doing because they know what's best. And sometimes I laugh when my kids tell me things. They're like, you don't think I know anything? Man, I've been through this loop a hundred times. You put that knife in that electrical outlet, let me tell you what's gonna happen. You jump on the pool cover with the pool cover on, let me tell you, you're gonna sink and all the pool cover's gonna go, that happened to me, I almost died. So when I tell you not to do things, there's a reason behind it. Now this is not telling kids to obey their parents and disobey the Lord, I believe. This is a clear teaching. There needs to be a respect and a reverence. Obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Even if you don't agree necessarily with them. Even if they could be maybe wrong in your eyes. But God is using, God has called the parent, we have to be responsible, men, right, before God? We have to be responsible for how we led our family. I had an interesting conversation, I'm not gonna get into details, yesterday, and I told this guy, I said, I see where you're coming from. You have to do this, you have to lead this, whatever. But I have to lead my family. And we're not gonna see eye to eye on this issue because I have a responsibility to make certain decisions. And that is the gift that God has given us. Civil authorities, uh-oh. 1 Peter 2, 13 through 14, submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as one in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. Now, this is, I would actually need a whole teaching on this, so I wanna make sure I don't open up a big can of worms. But with Romans 13 as well, God has given us the institution of government. The way it's supposed to be done is they are to be a tear to those who do evil. So you don't like our law enforcement here in America, go live in China. Go live in North Korea for a season. Go live in the Middle East, and you see how bad suppression and totalitarianism is. We are so blessed here in this nation. Yes, we've got pimples and warts and make mistakes, but we are blessed of God. And so that's God's ideal about government, that we submit. Now, what about though when that government then tells you to do something that disobeys God's word? See, that's where it happened with this whole COVID thing where it got really interesting. There's this friction like anything I've never felt before on all the churches wanting to capitulate and just obey based on Romans 13 versus others wanting to kind of push a little bit. And then even in that there are some rebellious churches that were not, I wouldn't say really led of God, just too rebellious, too arrogant. But then you had a lot of capitulating churches. And then you had those caught in the middle and like, how do we navigate these waters? And so, again, it would take me a whole sermon to teach on Romans 13. And if you get a chance, go back and listen to Rob McCoy's message. He gave here probably a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago. And he actually broke it all down pretty nicely on our YouTube channel. But suffice it to say, my attitude should be one of submission. It should be submitting to those in authority. Now, what about if the authority is corrupt? Well, it depends how corrupt. What are they asking me to do? You see, that's why it's hard to really make a blanket statement. But I will tell you, I will tell you that what we saw, even with the rioting and different things and this lack of respect for our military and law enforcement, that is a spirit of rebellion. That is not a spirit of yielding to those that God has put over you. Now, of course, the argument, but some of these people are racist and have an agenda. And I got it, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Don't get rid of the whole concept. Like, did you see these cities defund the police movement? Or have you lost your mind? And now guess who's recapturing? Let's bring them back. Many of these cities that are ran by certain people that want to get rid of them, they think you can have utopia. You can't have utopia. What you'll actually do is you'll remove the restraining force and all hell will break loose. You think we look like a zoo now? You haven't seen anything yet when you remove that restraining force. So yes, in every area of life, you have people that are racist and have agendas and are going to push you down. Absolutely. But that's not the whole of everything. There needs to be a lot more respect and a lot more submission and yielding in this area. And if not, it has to do with a prideful, rebellious heart. Arrogant heart. And we've talked about this before. Me and Pastor Abraham, it is a true statement. In the black community, you do have to teach your children with police and law enforcement, hands on the steering wheel, they're going to fear a little bit more than I would being pulled over. I got it. I don't disagree. But you don't go against the whole concept of authority. And I think a lot of the problem that we have is on both sides is people are just hitting heads and they're not submitting and humbling themselves. Arrogant law enforcement officers, bold and brazen in some cases. And then others who are not submitting to that. And so my whole point in this is if you want to be led of God's Spirit, you want to have gentleness and meekness and full of the Holy Spirit, you want to do things for God, you want to make a difference, you've got to have this area of submission in order. Because if you're not submitting, you're actually out of order and God won't direct something that's out of order. You ever wonder why have I been so miserable the last 10 years or 15 years? Why am I so unhappy? Why is nothing changing for me? I take it to prayer and I take it to all these things, but it's not changing. Could it be your attitude? Dude, could it be in this area of submission? Now here's a good one. Each other. The next screen. Each other, Ephesians 5.21, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Boy, oh boy. Can you imagine just yielding to others? And just, you take that parking spot. Man, I've got so much I could share. But I'll never forget, it was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. Because I thought you've heard of stories, but I'm sure that never happens. But anyway, when we first came up here at this church in 2016, there was this lady, I don't know if she's out here anymore, but she would like tell people you're in my seat. And like kick them out of her pew. Like this is my seat. I sit here every Sunday. And I say, are you listening to anything I'm saying every week? Or what about the part you should see? I see some of the bad moods when you guys are directed the other way. Hey, this parking lot's closed. You guys, what? I'm running. I'm running, I'm late. And see? Submission. It's hard. Why is it hard? Because inside of us is a spirit of rebellion. That's why I say you have to humble yourself when you have a renegade, cutting loose spirit of rebellion. God doesn't bless a rebel. God blesses those who are humble and submitted to Him. Doesn't mean you're not bold, but it means you are submitted to the needs of others. Now here's one that gets a little controversial. I probably haven't read this Scripture in years. Because I don't want people thinking, oh, there he goes. Just like tithing, right? Obey your leaders and submit to them. Obey your leaders and yield to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls. As those who have to give an account, let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. So another dynamic that happens in churches is, and he's not telling you to submit to false doctrine, or he's not telling you to submit to a church that is ungodly, or to leaders that are abusive. You know, there's obviously something there, but as the leadership of this church submits to the needs of the body, which we do that more than you even realize, let me tell you, it's constantly submitting to the needs of the body. And then as a result, the body submits to the direction of the leadership. It's mutual submission, mutual yielding. And at this church, I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but I am not the CEO leader of this church. This is not Shane Idleman's church. So when you leave here, you say West Side Christian Fellowship, my church, our church. Because we are led by a plurality of elders. So I think David's here, David's back there, Abram's here, Joe's not here, I don't know if Brian's here. And they lead the church. And I'm the leader among equals. So I'm the loud mouth. I'm the one that gets the most criticism. I'm the one getting the most shots. I'm the one dealing with the most issues. And then others, it's a plurality, so making financial decisions. Where does the money go? Relational decisions, what happens? Do we ever have to apply church discipline according to Matthew 18? Let's all get together. And then if we've got four guys saying something and I'm off, I have to submit to that leadership. It's even in their bylaws. That I can't do something if it's outside. So far, to my knowledge, I don't think we've ever really disagreed on anything profound. The only thing they stopped me from doing is I wanted to send out something showing the difference between Mormonism and Christianity to all these homes in Rancho Vista because I was mad at all these Mormon missionaries going door to door. So my attitude really wasn't right. And so, you know, there's other things that we just have a talk about. We agree, and so what the church really does is they submit to a plurality of elders. And the reason this can be challenging, how much time do I have? The reason this can be challenging sometimes is because we lead a vast majority of people. Some are sitting on the sidelines. Some come now and then. Then there's a core group who's really involved. We know them well. Then you have the leadership. You have deacons, elders, and so you have to navigate this big picture. And what I mean by that is sometimes people, it's hard to submit for two reasons. Number one is the enemy will plant a spirit of offense in our minds, all of us, me too. And so instead of erring on the side of grace, we want to question and challenge everything. Which again, at the root is not a bad thing because you want to know what the church is doing. But often what people don't know, leadership often sees a fuller picture. So people are wanting answers, or let's say, why is this happening? Well, we see a fuller picture. We see both sides of, let's say, an issue. For example, one big issue, I think we're pretty much on the same page now, but we all kind of just working through this is with the seating problem, the best option is actually get chairs. Nice chairs, you can actually easily sit 50, 60 people more service because then all of you have to scoot in because we can see if there's an empty chair next to you. But we're not in really a hurry to do that. Is that the best use of money? And so we actually do ask our core team, 15, 20 people, what are your guys' thoughts of this? And then when we did the roof, the $50,000 roof, we brought it up to the congregation, we told the need. So as leadership, we have to be very wise because we've learned over the years that there's a lot of chatty-catties. There's a lot of gloomy gossips. We've been clear for a long time. We believe that God, part of our calling is missions, but not necessarily overseas, although we do have some. We support them, we will support more. Our mission, we feel, also is to our Judea, or Samaria, Jerusalem, here to our own community and to our nation. Our heartbeat is for our nation to repent. And so we are going to probably spend more money on buying the radio station, a different thing, than another church would be who's gifted and maybe having missionaries. Or another church is focused on community networking and painting neighborhoods, or painting houses in neighborhoods. So you see how that works? God has called different churches for different seasons, or different reasons. And that's why we submit, okay, God is doing this here. We submit to that type of leadership, if that makes sense. And there's different ways of doing things. Obviously, though, if a church is doing something wrong, or there's big concerns. You know, if I pulled up in the 2022 Lamborghini, right, you might wonder, or even, I mean, we live in a fish bubble, so we're very careful with things. And if you're not being good stewards and say, we're asking for money every single week, we need money, guys, we need money. Come on, you're like, well, what's going on? Where's the money going? And that's why we paid off this facility a couple years ago completely. The whole campus was paid off. We save, we have missions, we have a pie chart. If somebody wants to see it, they can see it. We actually operate very low on our administration costs. At this church, it's only 25%. Most churches are 50% of their budget goes to administration, church facility, and all that. We are very low. And everything else is factored in there. We also believe in being strategic with missions. For example, did you know the average missionary cost, and this is from the Southern Baptist Convention, the average missionary will cost a church 85,000 a year to support a missionary. We have found if you go to the area indigenous people and somebody who's already in Brazil, let's say, and you make that person a pastor, he's already a Brazilian, he already lives there, he already knows the language, he already knows the people, it takes about 3,000 a year. So we can support 30 indigenous missionaries, getting them Bibles, buying goats, pigs, you can do that. You can help with goats and milk, and support that a lot more than spending money on somebody from the states going over. And so there's a lot of ways, missionaries from the states aren't a bad idea, it's a good idea. But you can see how people might do money differently. There's also a big church over here on the west side. I remember when I was in construction, and finding out it costs like $18 million to build. I was kind of critical for a while. And still, I think you can find a nice, big industrial complex, two, two, three million, and really save some money, so I kind of got rid of my judgmental spirit. But see, I wouldn't do that, why did you do it? And so see, we just need a lot more grace on all sides. I personally still don't think that's a wise investment, but I'm gonna leave that up between them and God. And we have to realize that not everyone is on the same page with things. And we wanted to fully exhaust the pew and chair issue for a while, get prices, what does this look like? What does it really do before we let anyone know? And even as of now, we're not going in that direction unless God changes that. Also, leadership has dual responsibility. We have dual responsibility. I have a responsibility to the congregation, number one, but then I also have a dual responsibility to God and to others in the congregation. So what we might do here might hurt you. Does that make sense? So if we handle something a certain way for this group, this group gets offended. And so we have to have a responsibility. We have to take some things to the Lord, make some decisions based on the needs of the church. Also, leadership should err on the side of confidentiality. Leadership should err on the side of confidentiality. So what that means is we don't always vent everything that's going on because you've got how many people watching us online all over the United States. And some people, the church is like a treadmill these days. And I've noticed over the years, that let's say over 12 years, is somebody will come and they'll want to do something or let's say, maybe we'll do something, make an appeasement. For example, the communions on Sunday mornings. Great idea, right? Somebody brought that to our attention. Hey, that's not a bad idea. And then they're gone in six months. Say, we just did this for you and now you're gone. And that happens all the time. People come, well, I think we should do this. Okay, that's a good idea. And then they're gone. So at what point do you say, you know what? Right now, I think it's just me and three people in this room that have been here the whole 12 years. And so we make decisions what's based on the whole church and going forward in the church and the future of the church. And so often we err on the side of confidentiality. So it doesn't mean we're being secretive. It means we're being selective. Just being selective on certain things. I know there was a church I used to go to. Me and my wife, we actually met there. And every week in the bulletin, I guess we don't have bulletins anymore, but they would print in the bulletin how much we collected, 44,000 that week. And I remember I was like, oh my Lord, 44,000 in a week? I'm not giving. Am I alone in that? Who else would say, you gotta be kidding me. But also, people say, well, that's transparency. Well, it is in some cases, but it also can be very detrimental in other cases. Biblically speaking, there's some gray area there on how do you handle tithing offering? Do you pass it around all the time? Because the first couple years, whenever we would say, okay, here's what we're doing. What do you guys think? Ask 100 different people, you have 100 different opinions. And especially when it comes to finances. For example, we have a pie chart. This much administration, this much of payroll, this much of missions, this much of budget, this much of savings. So we have it. We have that available. But not everyone agrees. Why aren't we spending more here? Why aren't we doing more here? Why don't you go plant a church over there? Would you have 2.5 million? That's about what the building would... Well, why don't you do this? Why don't we pave this? Why don't we put grass back here? It's like, oh my goodness. Right, because we all have different desires. Just like your own checking account. And so with the church, as a plurality, we make decisions on what is best for the body. And if there's something big, the roof, we mentioned the air conditioning units going out, or when we redid the flooring, we bring big issues to the congregation so they know. So that's basically the submission issue. There's a safety and a plurality of elders. That's why the Bible encourages that, because there is safety in submitting. Because here's what happens. I'm going to open up about my own self. When I would go to churches and, hmm, why does that pastor have a Mercedes? Now, I think we need to be careful, of course. You know, you don't want to be over the top. But I would say, why did they do that? Why did they build that building? You know, I mean, there's a big one out there in West Palmdale, I won't name names. But I remember it was 18 million. I was in construction back then. 18 million, why don't they just go? And I go, man, I was so critical. And God began to deal with me about a critical heart. Often, because it's so easy to get offended. Everything can offend us if we let it. And so that's why yielding is so important. Does that make sense? I'm erring on the side of grace. I'm going to err on the side of grace, unless I know something is fact. See, that's the difference. Because many times we don't know something is fact. Actually, this week, we had a... It's going to be a pretty challenging situation here at the church. I don't know, with the certain issue dynamic going on with a family member or family. I'll just leave it at that. But I mentioned it, guys, I said, listen, all of this is speculation and opinion. We don't have any proof. Proof. And so Proverbs says to see both sides. Now, I have an idea. I have an insight. I'm thinking this is not going in a good direction. But before we act, we need the proof. And that's why a lot of people, we just have to start erring on the side of grace, guys. Unless, of course, it's a big deal, main issue, you caught somebody lying, cheating. Of course, I'm not saying that. But the problem isn't that we err on the side of grace. The problem is that we err on the side of judgment. And that's where it gets really challenging. I don't know if I put this quote up here from Leadership Pain. It's a book I'm reading right now. The best leaders have to endure the most pain. I wish I read this 12 years ago. Many can never have more influence because they didn't have a big enough leadership pain threshold. Isn't that amazing? If you are not hurting, you are not leading. Now, I'm hoping this might help somebody. This isn't just a book for pastors, but this is just in general. That pain threshold, you've got to be able to deal with pain. Relational pain. And that's how you grow. And God will only give you what you can handle. And those who can deal with the most pain, often God begins to give more people and more influence and more things. When we're pushing people, here's with West Side Christian Fellowship. This is one of the most true statements I've ever written. When you're pushing people to be closer to God, when you're convicting them to make deep, meaningful changes, when you're convicting passivity and calling out sin, your fan base drops significantly. Yes, you can take pictures. You can tweet it. You can write it down. That's just the truth. That's just the truth. I've noticed over the years, unless I want to turn into Joel Stein, or if I want to remain Shane Idleman, I'm going to upset people. That's what God has called me to do. And when you're pressing people to draw closer to Christ and get here for morning worship, you keep telling me to come to morning worship. Yeah, because I want you to draw closer to Christ. Well, I don't like that. Well, good, I'm just telling you. And when you begin to convict them about areas of their life, they don't like it, it convicts them. And so your fan base completely drops and you are now the target of their shots. Hey guys, I'm just teaching the truth. I'm just telling you what's on my heart, what Scripture is teaching, what we're going through. So again, back to this point. Two nations are in your womb. Two people shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger. Ships are safest in the harbor, but they are not made for the harbor, amen? Ships are safest in the harbor, but they are not made for the harbor. I've got some bad news and good news. What do you want to hear first? The bad news? I'm only halfway through the sermon. The good news is part two's going to be really good. So, and I don't want to rush through it. And one group of people I do upset more than any other group, two people, believers, carnal Christians and Pharisee legalistic arrogant Christians because they call them both out. You want to know why? I've been both. I can go to this side real quick. Stop praying, correct? Stop praying, no more worship. Let me get my great American country back on. George Strait, Alan Jackson, I'm going to date myself. Who's the new one now? Dirk Bentley and all. I'm going to get carnal again. I'm going to get back into, let's have some alcohol at our Bible studies. Let's have, and you start to get carnal again. And let me go, you know what's out the movies? I know it's R and there's nudity, but man, it's so good. See, I'm drifting. I'm becoming carnal as a pastor. Or the Pharisee. There's someone that's sinning in this room today. Well, hold on, hold on. There are sinners in this room. How dare you come into the house of God? You'll, the God's wrath is upon you. You'll never measure up. How dare you blow it? How dare you not live a holy, blameless, perfect life like me? I've been doing that since I was 18 years old. And they're rad and they're upset. But I call them both out. The arrogance and the carnality. Carnal Christians, guys, that's not, everybody's still laughing. I don't know what's so funny. That was too good though, huh? That was, hey, maybe there's some coming out of me. That was so real, I guess I should say. But carnal believers will mock you. One thing I, Morgan, we've lost friends over the years, and we thought we were friends. But, and you're hanging out and it's like, hey, I don't really want to watch Harry Potter. I don't really want to get drunk tonight. I don't really want, and then, I don't want to do that now, they don't like me. Hey, I can't go to Laughlin and Vegas and do this all the time. I really want to see God. Oh, you super Christian. You're super spiritual. Carnality does not like to be called out. When you start talking about the fullness of the Spirit, worship nights or worship mornings or prayer and intercession, living a wholly blameless life, they don't like it. And let's not forget the vision Isaiah saw in six, I'll talk about it Wednesday. I saw the Lord high and lifted up. His train filled the whole temple and the angels cried, holy, holy, holy. Actually, the seraphim, they covered their eyes and they covered their feet. They probably covered their eyes because they couldn't see the glory of God. And they covered their feet in shame and they just cried, holy, holy, holy. And the doorpost shook and that doorpost was probably 27 feet tall, six feet wide. And those foundations just shook with the holiness of God. Holy, holy, holiness of God. And so you can call people to holiness and those who don't want it will rebuke you because they love their carnality. Don't call me out, I love my sin. So you have those against you as well. And anybody have family and friends against you? Whoo! Man, that's unbelievable. Unbelievable. It's like, I'm just trying to live for Jesus. Why all the hate? That's a good shirt. I just thought of that one. But isn't that true? I'm just trying to love Jesus. I'm just trying to follow God. Why do you hate? Why do you hate on me? Here's why, your lifestyle will convict. You don't have to say a word. Oh, goody-two-shoes. You don't have to say, oh, have you ever upset anybody? And you don't say a word. You just live your life. So be encouraged. That's part of the journey. And that's why these are so important. Let me read these. Matthew 10, 22, and you will be hated. You will be hated by all for My namesake. Do we have it there? Oh, there we go. Matthew 10, it's Isaiah 37. You see that one too? See, I wanted to break down this whole thing of in God's will, but the time clock kept ticking. But you will be in challenges in God's will. And that's why we need endurance. Matthew 10 says you will be hated by all for My namesake. But the one who endures will be saved, not give up. So that tells me I'm gonna be hated. Get over it. Shane, not everyone's gonna like you. You will be hated for My namesake. When you say things from the pulpit, people will not like you. What am I supposed to do with that? Unless I'm misquoting or in error or a lot of arrogance, sure. But if I'm just preaching my heart out, people are not gonna like it. Romans 5, we rejoice in our sufferings. No, no, no, no, no, don't say that. Knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. Galatians, and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season you will reap if you do not give up. Hebrews, for you have the need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, that tells me the will of God is hard. That tells me it's hard to submit to others. That tells me it's hard to err on the side of grace. That tells me it's hard to humble myself before God and others. That tells me repentance is going to come at a cost and I need to be able to endure when I know that God has called me to do this and you put up with the hate that is coming and the fiery darts of the enemy and you just keep moving forward. He says you need endurance to get through the will of God. You need endurance to post something on social media. With all the hate out there in the secular media and those who don't know Jesus, do they mock you or do they say that's a wonderful post? We all know the truth. Philippians 1.6, and I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Paul says to the church in Philippi, I am convinced that God who began a good work in you will complete it, but it's going to be difficult. There's going to be challenges. Here's the thing though, make sure you're not stopping that completion. Well, how can I stop that completion? Same way that Israel was stopped from going to the promised land? Grumbling, complaining, bitterness, anger, arrogance, wrong heart, wrong spirit, not full of God, full of the flesh, that will sidetrack you. Well, how do you know? Because it sidetracks me. Let me tell you. And God will bring it to completion. Now, he's also talking here about, I believe, the elect and those called of God and those who are saved, that God will complete a work He's doing in you. It's not about us doing all these things. It's about God changing us. But the Bible I read has a lot of Scriptures about submitting to the will of the Father. Do not quench the Holy Spirit. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Make no provision for the flesh. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. There's lots of verses that give me some responsibility. And we just don't want to get, because I have run into people saying, man, you're too hard on people. You're just telling them, well, man, just let them rest in God. Just let them rest in God while they're looking at porn, while they're ruining their life, while they're not being filled with the Spirit. You see, that goes both ways. I rest in the Lord. Lord, change me. Holy Spirit, fill me. But I have to submit. I have to yield to the work of the Spirit. When we talk about the filling of the Spirit, how do you fill something that's already full? Can somebody fill this with water? See, this is many Christians. This is arrogance. Arrogance, critical, negative. And they think they're filled with God's Spirit. That's why at Wednesday, I'm talking about woe is me. I am undone. We need to get back to that. I am completely undone. I am broken. I've seen the Lord of glory. My eyes have seen the King. And you empty yourself of self. It's empty, and then you say, Lord, fill me. Fill me up, God. Spirit, fill me up. And then from this filling of the Spirit, you begin to go out and do things for God. Doesn't mean your marriage is going to be perfect. It might be harder. Like people come, how do you and Morgan just love each other, walk on clouds all day? And the house is always clean, and there's no arguments. It's just this goal we have to obtain. Oh, it's tough. It's tough. Why? Humble yourself. Yield to the spouse. Yield to the needs of the children. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time, He will exalt you. Can we all admit that pride has got us in a lot of problems? We have to humble ourselves. So He who has begun a good work in you will complete it. But I want to throw this out there. Has He begun a good work in you? Because a lot of people say, yeah, that's a good verse, that makes sense. But that's for believers. If He has not begun a good work in you, you have to repent of the sin. You have to repent of the thing that's blocking that relationship. That's what repentance is. I removed this block. Lord, I need Jesus. And so look in your heart. Have you truly surrendered your life to Christ and become guilty over your sin and gave it to Jesus and let His blood cleanse you? Not that you've went to church, not that you're a good person, not that you own a Bible, but have you really had this life-changing experience? John Newton wrote an incredible hymn. One of the lines, it says this, my conscience felt and owned its guilt and plunged me into despair. I saw my sin, His blood has spilt, and helped to nail Him there. And it goes on to bring that person to repentance, a full surrender, and if you truly don't know Him, you need to change that today.