Shane Idleman addresses the pressing question, 'Is This Our Last Stand?' emphasizing the urgency for Christians to engage actively in their faith and societal issues rather than retreating in apathy. He reflects on a recent gathering of Christian leaders, highlighting the need for a revival in America and the importance of prioritizing God's Word over divisive conspiracy theories. Shane encourages believers to be the salt and light in their communities, advocating for involvement in political and social matters while maintaining a spirit of love and truth. He warns against the dangers of complacency and urges the church to rise up in faith, reminding them that their words and actions carry significant weight in shaping the future for the next generation.

And so, something very interesting happened this week. What I was going to share for maybe 10 minutes briefly turned into a whole sermon. And I don't like when God does that because as we were landing back, coming back from Texas, I realized I've got to put a whole new sermon together. And I already had one ready for Genesis. But God, when God puts something on my heart, I want to share it with you. And so the title is, Is This Our Last Stand? Anybody well aware that things are going on? Is this our last stand? And what happened in Texas, I can't, some things I can't really talk about everything, but it was a special invite of about 30, just, you know, Christians, leaders over the United States. I don't know how I got on that list, but you know, the person who set it all up, you know, reads the articles and they know what God is doing out here in California and staying open really spoke volumes to a lot of people. And apparently, you know, that even the White House was reading some of the articles that I post on the stream and Christian headlines and Christian posts. And so that's encouraging. And so there was different, there was political leaders, there was theologians, there was some mega church pastors and trying to just bring us together. I was spearheaded by James Robinson. I don't know if you ever watch him on Life Today or I don't know what it's called. It's on TV. What is it? Life Today. Okay, I had it right. So anyway, I'm at this meeting, not feeling really worthy. I don't know what I can contribute. And he texted me Tuesday night at 10 p.m. and said, I want you to speak tomorrow to the group. And so talk about preaching to the choir. But the question was asked, why am I here? Why am I there? All of us had to pay our own way. Lodging, air, but something is stirring in our nation. Something is going on. And these people here know that were there really know what's going on. Like you hear all these conspiracy theories and Trump was this, Bush was this, Obama, the Kabbalah, Illuminati, Deep State, Great Reset, Globalist. You hear those terms? Well, I actually talked to the people who actually really know what's going on. And just be careful what you're reading out there. Because not everything on YouTube or TikTok or Facebook Live is true. Okay, and that's what's happening is the enemy I believe is causing a lot of division. And there's some truth in all of that. I shared the Charlie Kirk interview with Jack Hibbs on our Facebook page. And I did reach out to Pastor Jack and want to see if he can come out on Wednesday night, but I'm not sure, because a lot's going on in the world to talk about. But I had to ponder this question. And I remember it was five in the morning, Wednesday morning, I'm in the hotel lobby in Dallas-Fort Worth. And I just had worship on and just couldn't stop weeping. Because I realized, I don't know if it was God showing me, or you don't know sometimes, but I'm there because I look the face of my children every morning. And I see your kids next door. And I see something's got to change. We can't just, normal Christianity is not going to cut it in these dire times. And look at my children. What are we leaving them? Hey, I'm out of here pretty soon, by the way. Here you go. And the part I prayed about, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to discuss a lot of it, but I think I might. But I also asked, and they wonder, you know, why are we here? And what they meant by that, I was obviously talking, there's only one other person from California, Jim Garlow. I don't know if you listen to that Garlow perspective and talk about insight. It's just incredible. But what we talked about also is the great fleeing from California. And so many people leaving. Of course, they ask me, why are you still there? I'm like, what do you mean? What am I supposed to do? See, if you view this, and everything really changed for me when I view this as a mission field. We don't mock the missionaries. Why are you still there? Why are you in China? Why are you in Afghanistan? Because they're on the mission field. And what has been painful for some of us is, I remember my mom making pancakes and we're out in the desert over off Courtsill Mountain and watching the Blackbird. Remember that big airplane? The Blackbird. And all the memories of my family and my life has been here. And for people to consistently put it down, it really ticks me off. Because apathy or this comfort and complaining, it kills revival. Now, I'm not against people moving because God moves people. I'm against the attitude behind it. And I understand it. I truly do. We want what's best for our children. I got it, but you better make sure the attitude is correct. You better make sure the reasoning is correct. And there's people I don't want to be around anymore because all they do is pull down California every single time. Like, is there anything else to talk about? I'm on a mission field here. I don't know about you. And so, that's why I prayed. I'm not coming across in anger. Hope you don't sense it. Or frustration. I mean, maybe a little frustration. But, you know, is this our last stand? And I see so many people fleeing instead of fighting. Something that was very interesting is there's signs out all over Dallas-Fort Worth and there's a political leader in politics in America. And he was going to a meeting that night with other pastors in the area. I didn't know this, but they're showing Beto Roark. There's only like seven points behind Abbott for the governorship. And they're thinking that Texas could turn blue. That was their, I could not believe it. Now you see the reason for illegal immigration coming in the borders. And so you see all these things working on the back end of it. And so I just thought, well, you can't move anywhere. Because something's going to, but our trust isn't in those things, see? Our trust is not in those things. So it was just refreshing to hear a lot of these guys who have heard about West Side Christian Fellowship and what God doing is here. You got to continue that stand. You got to keep fighting. You're inspiring other people. And so that inspired me as well to come back and share. I was just going to share some of that with you, but I want to share some of the other things we covered that are so important because is this our last stand? Some say yes, some say no. It's interesting. Well, I can tell you, we don't know. We don't know what God will do. Will He turn and relent and give us a major revival in our bondage? Joel talks about that. How do we know what God's going to do? But my concern is we know something is going on. Is this our last stand? Our last chance? If we think it might be, why are we not acting like it is? There's so much apathy and complaining and arrogance. And the reason I mentioned this whole idea of moving is because I would say without a shadow of a doubt, 90% of the people I've known who have done that have done it in the wrong spirit and in the wrong heart. I've got people in different states, I won't mention, that are texting me and their marriages are falling apart. They're getting divorced. But they're moving because the grass is greener. Somewhere else. You see, the grass is never greener. It's greener where you water it. And so, my heart, I got a little excited because, and I believe that God through His Word was showing me how we can actually make a difference. I don't know about you, but that's what's frustrating for me. When our governor and L.A. County Board of Supervisors, and they just started to do these measures and these mandates and forcing this and doing this, and it just seems like everything is out of control. But I want to make sure you understand that. I'm not, I don't want emails and text. I'm not saying people can't move or shouldn't move. God does whatever He wants, however He wants it. He moves people. But the attitude has to be right behind it. And the putting down of, we turn into a grumbler and complainer. Ah, California, oh, California. I think of the Old Testament of grumbling and complaining was not a good thing. Unless you want to correct me afterwards with the Scripture, I think we're supposed to be thankful in all things. And no matter where God put, can you imagine? And I realize I've been so negative sometimes that I think it quenches and grieves the Spirit. And so, I want to just share with you the notes I took that I think are so important for us today. And I think we can put them up there. I have them, oh good, good job, Nicole. Key, prioritize our priorities. You might say, well, duh. Well, not really if you think about it. We've got to reprioritize those things we think are priorities, but are they really? Are they really priorities according to God's Word? Being the salt and the light. That's what this means. And what I mean by that is, I'm going to get into the Scriptures in just a minute, in Proverbs, but what is happening? And this, I can't believe, I mean, this is something where you know it. You know, I know, but until it really pops and resonates with you, you don't realize how important it is. And that is, we are in a war of words. That's what's going on right now. And during prayer next door, I had her come in here early, I wrote this down. Jesus didn't use weapons. He used. So we need to stop getting so discouraged in realizing that our words carry weight. Have you seen the NFL players coming and supporting the pastor, actually the coach who was fired for praying at a football game? All their words carry some weight. School districts. The school district meetings. Words carry weight. And what the culture is doing is they are just pouring it on and we're not saying anything in return. Now of course it has to be said with the right tone, the right attitude, choosing our words carefully, but I was getting kind of discouraged because nothing we say or do really matters, but really it does because the mind is being conformed to this world or it can be transformed by the Word of God. That's the beautiful thing about the Word of God. You just proclaim it. You just preach it. You just share it. And it will actually change the hearts and minds of people. That's where the power comes from. He used words, speaking life into our culture. Going to a school district meeting and I was sad to see there's only one person from this church who goes to high school board meetings. And I'm gonna try to get more people, granted it's on a Wednesday night, so that's kind of challenging, but to actually go and say listen, how you're treating the kids is not acceptable. What you're doing is not acceptable. I'll go and I only have kids in the school district. But seeing, being that voice, being those words, Barbara, you're here actually. Thank you for doing that. And being that voice, and we go home and defeated, like I'm the only one there, there's only a few. But see, the words carry weight and standing up and saying that's not right, that's not gonna happen. And more of us, if we would just, in love of course, but speak the truth, we've allowed them to change the definition of sexuality. Why are so many young adults confused? They weren't confused when I was growing up. It was pretty clear. Boy or girl. And I'm not mocking that. I think people need healing and prayer and support. I know people who struggle with those things like you do. Nothing but support and prayer. Because we all struggle with something. That's why I don't judge too many people. We all struggle with something. Come down off your high horse. It's called pride. It's a bad thing. And so my point was, because the culture, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, culture, whatever it is, the news, they're saying all these words. And the words, the more often you tell a lie, the more easily it becomes truth. And so I was just encouraged that, no, our words do carry weight. We don't know. We don't see those results. We don't know exactly what's going on, but we can say this is what God's Word says. And it's the only thing that gives life. It's the only thing that gives life. So you can tell your children, here's what God's Word says, and they can get upset, but it's convicting them. They're not gonna forget it. And we can go to the culture. We can go on national media, and we can say this is not right. We are not gonna stand for this. This is not acceptable. Here's what God's Word, and there's power in these words. Proverbs 18, 21, it's actually been a confusing verse. For some people, I've heard the name it and claim it. Blab it and grab it. Yeah, and they kind of twist Scriptures and things, but it's pretty powerful. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Do you know how many marriages are falling apart because of this? The words, families, we walk away from God. And those who love it, indulge it, and they eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words. Pulpit commentary. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, literally. And here's what they mean by literally is that we're power of the tongue. If you look in the Hebrew language, it doesn't say what we say. They have their own way, and translators try to translate it so we can better understand what they're saying. It's in the hand. The power is in the hand of the tongue. It's like the tongue can do something. It has power. According, and as it's used, it deals forth life or death, for speech is the picture of the mind. So see, our words are transmitting what we're thinking. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth is going to speak. And so, I think a lot of it, can you imagine if the Christians in California, I'm not even going to say half. I'm going to say 10% would just begin to speak the truth. No, we're going to go to board meetings and we're going to say this. We're going to challenge these elected officials. We're going to challenge the school districts. We're going to put these things on Facebook. We're going to challenge these things. We're not just supposed to cower back and say nothing. Now, there are times to say nothing. Please don't misunderstand. Zip it. Quick to hear, slow to speak. Here's how you figure this out. If you're one who's quick to speak, like me, be quick to listen. But if you're one who's quick to listen, I don't want to ever speak, then you might need to push on the gas pedal and start saying a little bit more. And so, realizing the power of our words, and that even encouraged me to want to get the messages out there, want to get the articles out there, and get you involved in doing something and just the words that give life. Do we saturate our mind with the truth or with error? Do we saturate our mind with the truth or error? Here's the biggie though. How do we fluence others? Do you know, parents, if you do nothing, and you just let your kids do this all day, you are saturating their mind with the wrong information. You are letting the world conform their thinking. And I believe that's why there's so many issues and problems going on. The world has conformed their thinking to the world's mindset. But the Bible says, be transformed by the renewing, Romans 12, by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove, you may know, what is that acceptable and perfect will of God? That words. I didn't put this down, but another thing that's so important is, we can't measure success by the results we see. We have to trust in God that spiritually, He is working behind the scenes, and we're just honoring Him and His Word and being faithful. So I would encourage you, reprioritize what you think is important, take it to the Lord. You are called to be the salt and the light in all areas. And I know, it's challenging. If you're in a workplace, and they want to force this or force that, I know you've got to be strategic, you've got to use wisdom, you've got to be careful. But I think it's okay, according to God's Word, to speak the truth in love when warned. Can you imagine, can you imagine, I'm going to send out an email, if just a dozen of us showed up at the next school board meeting, where they're talking about vaccinating your kids, five year, kindergarten, mandatory, they're going to want to put it in the vaccine regimen there. Or even though they're going to lift the mask mandate, maybe the schools want to keep it. Or, I can't say it because there's kids in here, do you know some of the books they're allowing in the library? It's straight porn, perverted porn, in your school libraries. And these school board district officials have the audacity to sit up there and act like they don't care. To lovingly challenge them. And then the next key, listen to the narrow voice. Listen to the narrow voice. Wait a minute, I thought the narrow road. Hold on. There's a narrow road, correct? Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. That road is narrow, broad as the way to destruction. Narrow is the road that leads to eternal life. Few who find it. Did you know there's also a narrow voice? God's voice? And too many Christians are getting off that narrow path of hearing God's voice and embracing all this other information. And what happens is, I believe the enemy uses it to distract us. Discourage us. And this is also where I want to be careful, because again, I'm not trying to just rain on anyone's parade. But we have to be careful in this area. TikTok videos, Facebook Live, YouTube. There are pastors out there, it was in Texas, saying that Russia really didn't invade Ukraine. And they're sending me videos, they're mad at me because I don't believe them. They're saying that Putin and Trump are working behind the scenes to get rid of a sex trafficking ring in Ukraine. That is ridiculous. You need to stop watching that craziness. Because I'm telling you, that's not true. Putin and Trump are not working together. And the secret conspiracy theory fighting the globalists. That's not true. Is there a global agenda? Absolutely. Is there a reset? Sure. They're wanting to get everyone so dependent and broken, and everything's resets to a global economy. They've talked about it in their forums. But these things that are just so out there, and what we do though is we watch a TikTok video, or Facebook Live, this guy has 150,000 followers. He must be solid. No, he could be a false prophet. He could be giving you, and so these people send me, okay, here's my question. What am I supposed to do with that? Let's say everything I just said is true. What am I supposed to do with that? I still got a church to lead, and family to raise, and what do you want me to do with that? Whether it's globalists, Kabbalah, Illuminati, what do you want me to do with it? So you better get your mind off of that garbage, and start getting your mind back in the Word of God. Because those people, boy, oh boy. I can already see the emails coming in on that one. Because why? We're so arrogant. No, this is right. I even have people saying the military's still in control. Trump's coming back. Give me a break. We have to wake up, people. I'm telling people actually know. Know the president, ex-president. Know what's going on. Yes, there's the word deep state. You've heard that, right? We've got a lot of people in the deep state that are corrupt. Numbers were given, and it's not good. But what am I supposed to do with that? It doesn't change anything. There's an enemy who's sent to kill, steal, and destroy, and we're called to fight back. It doesn't matter what label you put on it. And so so many people are not focusing on the narrow voice. For example, all these people, who are these people putting out these videos? Are they motivated by money? Yes, a lot of them are. Followers, money. Where's the accountability for these Lone Rangers? And I only say it because so many people are falling into this. Look, Shane, look what's really happening. Okay, something like that could be really happening. What's it have to do with us? What's it have to do with us? And what I've seen it do is they take away a lot of the compassion from the Ukrainian people because Russia's doing a good thing. And now they have no compassion for the Ukrainian people. When I just sat at a table and saw a picture of 30 Ukrainian Christians and missionaries trying to get out. Their houses being bombed. Little kids being bled all over them, taken to the hospital. And Christians start to follow all these weird conspiracy theories and they're not grounded in God's Word. Now again, some of these things in between might be true. But what does it have to do with anything? And what it's fueling is you get discouraged. It causes division, does it not? I mean, I can't even tell you how many friends, here, watch this video. I'm like, you know, I say everything I just said to you, right? Well, I knew you wouldn't believe it. Bop, bop, bop. I'm like, okay, well, that just worked. The enemy just caused division. What is productive from this? What is good coming out? Because you have to listen to the narrow voice. The voice of God's Word. Now again, I'm not dismissing a global agenda. I'm not, if it's true, it's not a conspiracy theory. And there were a lot of things, like we know that the virus was real. But it was also used as a weapon. I think it was Hillary Clinton, let no catastrophe go to waste. You know, and they're trying to get things to, and I believe one reason why people really want a Trump out is he went against that global agenda, was not part of that. I got it, I understand that. But here us, here in America, at this church in California, none of that really is something we need to be focusing on. We don't need it. I wonder who is causing all this trouble. I already know who's causing all this trouble. He's called the deceiver. He's called the destroyer. And the Bible says this is the weapons of our warfare. So listen to that narrow voice. The enemy will knock us off track with all this stuff that really doesn't matter. Brings division, brings discouragement. So just be careful about absolute statements on vague issues, vague areas. We don't want to say, here's what's happening. Like we really, I mean, we really don't know what's happening. Was Ukraine a good country? Not really. But what about the millions of good people? And there are some solid churches, solid missionaries, and wonderful people. But we believe this lie about, let's say that, and now we want to propagate that lie, and we get mad at those who don't agree with us, and it has nothing to do with productivity whatsoever. That's how the enemy is sidetracking us. And I believe a lot of these voices are false prophets, false voices, telling you what's going on. And it builds up likes and followers, correct? I mean, if I just title this, Pastor Shane's going to tell you really what's going on with the Illuminati, Kabbalah, deep state, globalist agenda. Is Trump really coming back? Oh, it'd have millions of likes probably. Or shares. But we get caught up on all these things. How do people get caught up on the earth is flat? Did you know we have people slipping our Bibles for a while? I'm saying, if I track down that guy, you can look at all the pictures now. NASA was corrupt. No, it's not flat. It's not flat. But watch this YouTube video. I don't care about a YouTube video. But you see, and then they get mad. See how he uses all these little divisive things to divide the body of Christ on these things that have, even if it is flat, let's just say, I still got to preach. I still got to lead my family. What does that have to do with anything? But people get upset and mad. I had people actually mad at me when it was clear, crystal clear, that Mike Pence was not backing President Trump. William Barr said he doesn't see election fraud. The Supreme Court said they're not going to do anything. I said, you know what? It must be God's sovereign will that he's breaking the church. He's not coming back. I said this in January. People got mad. He's coming back. There's a secret scheme. The military is running the country. You just watch. Well, here we are. Here we are a year later. And it caused division. It caused angst. We're getting focused on all these things that really don't matter. That's what the enemy does. The narrow voice. And I don't have all the answers. I don't know everything, but I do know, be very careful about absolute statements on areas that are vague. We don't really know because you're telling, and then people want to argue with you. And if it proves to be wrong later, you send a really bad statement about things. Since it's probably going to come up in the future, one of my concerns about, and hopefully I'll have someone, when we talk about end times, right now, of course, it's really big. Pat Robertson said that God's sovereignty is allowing Russia may gog and gog. I wouldn't say that because you don't know. I mean, if you break down, I shared an article on Facebook, if you actually break down the Hebrew and what that could mean, not necessarily. Come on, Pat. And so we make all these absolute statements about things. Also, if we're preparing everyone for the rapture, what about if we're here during a tribulation? Could that be part of the great falling away? Because hey, I wasn't planning on this. All these major voices told me we're out of here. And there's a lot of other pastors, Saul leaders who are saying we might not be out of here. And so I just have questions. I don't want to debate anyone. Like, are you sure? Because I see us going, the rapture, this, I see that, and the second coming of Christ is all one event when I read the Bible. I can't jump over to these different things because no Scripture says we're out of here and a rapture before the great tribulation. No Scripture says that. Find me one Scripture that says that. What you have to do is take this. Chuck Smith would say between Revelation 3 and Revelation 4, I see the church isn't there anymore, Shane. Mmm, I don't, that, okay. But that's not, I'm not going to use that as my theology. See, Thessalonians, that God is going to remove, and when that is removed, how do you know that's the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit's being removed from the earth? I don't see that. I think the Holy Spirit is here convicting and drawing and doing His work. And so there's so many things here. We have to be careful what we're telling people is absolute statements. Because we just don't know. We don't know how. We do know that He's coming again. Are you ready? He's going to, the church, He's going to fight. He's going to win. He's going to conquer the enemies. But how that all plays out. They were predicting this in the 1980's. 90's. 20 years ago. We're going to be out here. And so, I'm just concerned. I don't want to tell people that if we're not. And then you get into the tribulation and you know if there's the one world order and how that's all going to work. Hopefully we can unpack it, but there's a lot there. Because I'll listen to six different teachers and they all have different views. And so, who am I to take this view? For example, many of you know Daniel. I don't think it's Daniel 9 where he talks about going to bring an end to sacrifice and abomination of desolation. Things like that. But in Daniel 9, he's talking about at first, he's talking about Jesus. Jesus and then the preposition He. Many people put in there and that becomes now the Antichrist. Well, I can't make that connection. How did He become the Antichrist? Well, when the prince is to come. Maybe, but to actually say that's the Antichrist. Actually, it's the Antichrist Spirit is already here. And see, me just saying that already makes people mad. Well, that's not how I was raised. That's not what Jack Hibbs says. Well, I'm just telling you, the Bible is not crystal clear. Be ready. Be prepared. But also, no man knows the day or the hour. We don't know exactly how it's going to work itself out. So anyway, I better get off that and read the Scriptures. Jeremiah 33, 3, halt and don't drop off books. Don't send me stuff. I've already read thousands of books for 20 years, and this is my conclusions that we just don't know. Isn't that true? I mean, think about it. I've got right now on my bookshelf. Many of you heard of Amir Sefardi. He does with Jack Hibbs and I've got his books. I've got then Dr. Michael Brown who believes we will go through the Tribulation and a Hebrew scholar. And he showed me Daniel, actually on his phone. Daniel opened up in Hebrew and how that's not the Antichrist. And then you have Sam Storm in Oklahoma, wonderful theologian, incredible man of God who is all millennial, believing that revelation kind of already took place and quotes Josephus, quotes of the earthquakes and the famine and the wars and the pestilence and they use Old Testament imagery. And then you have David Jeremiah with dispensationalism and then you have R.C. Sproul a little bit different there and John MacArthur comes in. And whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Who's right? Pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib? Is there pre-millennial, post-millennial, all-millennial? When great men of God are divided, be careful. Be careful. And don't make dogmatic statements that this is exactly how it's going to happen. You see my concern, right? We tell millions of people, you're out of here when it gets bad. What about if we're the ones being killed for our faith? We are. You're children. And you just told them they're going to be out of here? Don't worry about that. Try that in Afghanistan right now. I heard a story where they actually would just kill their family in front of them. Beheadings. Russia. What Russia's going to do in Ukraine to those in leadership. It's mind-boggling. So my point is just be careful. Whatever God's Word said that is solid, we know Jesus is coming back again. Are we prepared? Are we ready? Nations will war and wage war. We can see the enemy is positioning for a global type of government. It's crystal clear. Everything's moving to cryptocurrency. You saw how they shut down the truckers' cryptocurrency with a phone call. You see how all this buying and selling, if you go against the establishment, if you go against this big pharma, if you go against these things, you see how this is all transforming itself. But be careful. We don't know exactly how it's going to play out. Jeremiah 33.3 Call to Me and I will answer you. And I will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. So call to God and He will answer you. Romans 10.17 So faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. Not YouTube videos and Facebook Live and TikTok. Now, it's all interesting. I understand that, but balance it with the Word of God. Hebrews 4.12 For the Word of God is living and active. It discerns the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. And Psalm 119 God's Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And then the next point, key involvement. Silence is not silent. When we're silent, we actually speak volumes. When we do nothing, we actually do something. When we say nothing, we actually say something. For example, millions of Christians in California, and they're not saying anything about all these agendas going on. Our volume is it not? Our silence is speaking volumes. If someone comes to me with something and says, Shane, look what's going on. What do you think of this? I'm like, I'm not going to comment. I commented. And so we see it's vitally important that there should be some type of involvement in what is going on. Now, when I talk about involvement in school districts or involvement in the government, or we need to get involved, we need to do this, the big thing that comes back, and I say it myself too, is such and such is not the answer. Have you ever heard that? You know, that was said a lot. Trump is not the answer. Biden's not the answer. And we clearly know that. Sorry, I mean, this is ridiculous. We went from General Patton to Gomer Pyle, and that's why Russia is taking things. But see, isn't that true? Everything I just said is true. The reason Russia did that is because of Biden. The reason... You have the oil in the pipeline. Re-establish the pipeline and you get the oil prices back. See, we have to speak the truth in love. See, those words carry weight. Can you imagine if the pulpit would say this is wrong. This is leading our nation in the wrong direction. We can fix these problems. We need to turn back to God again. But no, I don't want to say anything. I don't want to get in trouble. And see, it's a war of words, is it not? It's a war of words telling people the truth. And I truly believe, I know a lot on the back end of it, this current administration is not the friend of Christianity. And people say, well, good. We deserve it. Or it doesn't really matter. And that's what I want to talk about for a minute. You're right. Such and such. Policies, politics, presence. They're not the answer. But here's the key. They are the outflow of the answer. In other words, the answer is the gospel, right? The answer is to change people's hearts. So once that is done, then there's an outflow. I'm saved. Something's got to outflow out of me. And that's where policies flow out of you. School district rules and regulations that are God honoring. Supreme Court justices who fear Almighty God. Presidents who might actually have people pray. And see, that's the outflow. Of what is going on in the heart. It's not the answer. And Jim Garlow said something very important. I wrote it down. He said, politics matters because policy matters. And policy matters because people matter. And what we're doing, we're actually hurting our children. I understand it's not the answer. I got it. But my concern is that now becomes an excuse against action. Hey, that's not the answer? I don't need to do anything. We're actually being the salt and the light. Make a difference in all area of government. And for example, you know what? I prayed a lot, so I'm hoping this is of God. Might not be. But let's get a little controversial. I guess I have all morning. But let's talk about, for example, our past president. I won't say your name so it doesn't upset people. But there are people there at the meeting who actually have his cell phone number and guided him through Syria and refugees and things. They know what's going on, okay? He was appointing Christians to the head of education for the whole United States. Ben Carson over urban and HUD development. Mike Pompeo who teaches Bible studies. Bible studies and cabinet meetings. Three of those guys or so were on his advisory team, advising him what to do, what's right, for the abortion industry, LGBTQ. And you're appointing people, Supreme Court justices, who actually not interpret the make law, but they will interpret the constitution according to the founder's original intent and what God's word says. And so you're putting these people in all these positions. So I don't care if you don't like the orange hair and the mean tweets. You have to look at the policies that they're putting in. That's what matters. That's what we're leaving for our children. And so, that really stood out to me this week is that policies do matter. Okay, I'm going to get a little controversial again. When I came back to the Lord 20 years ago, and I had a desire for it. Oh, that's why it's in the lobby. You can grab the book, One Nation Above God. It talks about how our country was founded, how far we've drifted. It's all free. Grab it. Pass it out. But I had this desire for it. And then I would hear, let's say I listened to John MacArthur and he'd be like, oh, no politics. I don't know if you knew that 20 years ago. He even said the Revolutionary War was not biblical. Depending on how he looks at it, I can see that rebellion, but it wasn't, well, I guess I'll take a rabbit trail. It wasn't a bunch of farmers rebelling. It was actually what they call the law of the lesser magistrates. It was lesser magistrates governing officials that were actually rebelling against the king. It wasn't just a bunch of rebellious farmers. It was actually our governing officials over us, Hancock, Adams, and all those were rebelling against the king and declaring war. So that's just for your information. But it's interesting how that church has become very political now in the last couple of years. Well, hold on, what's the difference? Because see, now it affects them. We don't want to get on, I don't want to get political because it's not affecting you. You watch how quick a church will get political when they say you can't teach the Bible anymore in L.A. County. You watch how many churches will get political. You watch. Oh, I guarantee you, if you found out Sacramento's getting ready to pass a law, no more churches can have more than 100 people and you cannot look to the Bible anymore. I guarantee you'd be protesting. You'd be knocking down walls. You'd be very political. Why? Because now it affects you. So what some of us do is we see into the future, not weird way, but you can see where we're going and we're trying to help prevent a lot of that. So policies matter because it's what we're leaving for our children and our grandchildren. So I don't think we're supposed to just be quiet and say nothing. Silence is not silence. Now what does that mean? Well, that's where you would take it to the Lord. For certain people, it might mean something to get more involved, to do different things. For other people, it might not mean anything other than praying for our nation, interceding and continuing your course. Let God do that. What happens here, I've noticed too, is we become wrongly judgmental. For example, I'll be like, why aren't you guys all doing this? Well, that's my calling that God gave me. It might not be some of you. So I need to appreciate the different giftings and the different callings and understand for every MacArthur who's not political, thank God for Tony Perkins at the Family Research Council. For John Piper who's not, say, political or other pastors, thank God for Jack Hibbs speaking out. My goodness, is anyone happy that he's speaking out or is it just me? And the article you have, I don't know if we passed it out. A friend of mine posted, he said he was gonna send that to Charlie Kirk this week to get this message out there. We've gotta have these voices, thank God. But I'm not that. People have wanted me to get political. Did you know that? They want me to run for mayor and do that. That's not my, I'm not, that's not my, oh, don't clap, oh, don't clap. That's not my lane. That's not my lane. My lane is doing what I'm doing, but also encouraging and inspiring and motivating. And so we can't be wrongly, why are they so this? You should just thank God for every gift He gives us. Thank God that I have a loud mouth in this area. You should thank God for these things, even though that's not you. I'm not scolding you because of your lack of involvement. You shouldn't scold me because I want to get involved. Understand that God gives us different giftings and different callings. And I saw that when we first started the church. People get upset at me and go, Shane, I thought we were a mission church, a mission-oriented church, all about missions. I'm like, that's you. Or why ain't there more? We should be at Care Net. We should be protesting. We should be more about abortion and single moms and buying houses. That's you, go and do it. We need to be more polite. We need to get more signatures and register. We need to get more people registered to vote. Why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we backing AB 47? Or why aren't we going to Sacramento? That's you. I'm just called to come up here and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And whatever God puts on my heart about these certain issues, respect our differences and don't let the enemy come in and start to cause division. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked, they groan. And there's a lot of groaning going on. And so we see that for me, unless you read the Old Testament differently, and maybe you don't think it applies today, Paul said the Old Testament was given to us as an example that we might not lust after evil things like they lusted. And the Old Testament to me is not unhinged from the Bible like Andy Stanley would say. It is actually part of the Bible. It's the whole counsel of God. And every time I read through that, an always thought comes to me often, leadership matters. Leadership matters. How dare we think it doesn't matter? God would judge the nation based on her leaders. Your priests and prophets and kings are corrupt. They're causing my people to walk astray. And you might say, but Shane, legislation can't change a heart. No, but it can deter wrongdoing. It can show us what God's Word says even though we don't measure up. Countries like our legal system, Jack Hibbs noted this on the video I shared, only Israel and we believe America was truly, sovereignly governed by God in its conception. Now, we don't compare the two and use the same Scriptures all the time, but if you understand, if you study the pilgrims and the Puritans fleeing religious persecution in 1620, you read their writings, I have my family lineage can be traced back to Pilgrim White, the first baby born on the Mayflower in Cape Cod Bay. I can't exactly prove it, but that's when my mom, grandma, and grandma, they passed it on down. Who knows, Methodist circuit riders were part of my heritage. And we see the Mayflower Compact to the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. We see William Bradford read his Opliment Plantation, how they wanted to minister to the Native American Indians and love those people and wanted to bring God's Word. Now, there were some pretty heavy laws. You know, if you don't recognize the Sabbath, you'll get whipped. Okay, that's not good. You know, there were some changes that needed to take place and the Puritans didn't celebrate Christmas. I got it. But you see that it's conception they wanted to honor God. The laws wanted to honor God. The legal system was honoring God. The marriages and the churches. And actually, the church was built and then the community was built around it. And so you see these God-honoring things, not perfectly, but you see this was a nation wanting to honor God. Benjamin Franklin said, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? And they would have days of prayer and fasting in the Continental Congress drafting the Constitution. They quoted the Bible four times more than any other source. How far have we drifted? And so there's a passion to restore. Restore. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Abram taught on that Wednesday. So again, grab those books on your way out. It has all this information. I get discouraged just like you get discouraged. You know, it's real. Why do you talk about this stuff? We're not supposed to be political. I don't know what that means. I just know policies matter and people matter. And I think it does matter. And so, I don't know what to tell you. And then there's discouraging things. And just understand that God creates us differently. What happens though when we speak the truth? What happens is people, there's a pause. There's a conviction. They challenge you. There's a questioning. See, because you just planted God's Word. You just planted truth in the midst of their error. And it rattles their cage. And so that's what we're supposed to do is plant the truth like a truth bomb. And I see this a lot. We'll get emails. I had to pull over to the side of the road and I was so convicted about my homosexual lifestyle that I gave my life to the Lord. And then another email is full of F, F, F, explicit, explicit, explicit. Wait a minute, it's the same sermon. Hold on. Truth bomb. And silence is not an option. Even if it's something on Facebook with God's Word or whatever your social media or texting people, whatever it is. Planting God's Word into their hearts. You are the salt of the earth. Now, I don't know exactly what Jesus had in mind other than we can talk about what salt did. It preserved. It made things last longer. It obviously improved the taste. But when I read this, I think of every area of life. Hollywood. Oh, no amens on that one. No, we have people here working in Hollywood, working in the industry, trying to bring better production, Christian oriented. Or what about in politics or in the school districts? The salt wherever God places you were to be the salt and the light. And that's why I can't jump on the bandwagon of leaving California. Because I'm supposed to be the salt and the light. Where am I here? I can go hide somewhere. I mean, I haven't tried, but I'm sure I could fill out an application for a church looking for a pastor and maybe get some calls. I mean, right? But that's... Henry, you won't let me do that, will you? It is then good if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. In other words, make a difference. And like I said, activism is not the answer, but it's the outflow of the answer. It comes out of us, right? When you're changed by the gospel, don't you want to help that single mom who wants to abort her child? Well, don't get political. You want to stop the sex trafficking and get legislation passed that will actually... Do you know that if they got life in prison, that might change these people. That's why... God, this one might not make it on YouTube. But I'm working. I met with Pastor Paul Chappell Lancaster Baptist. I want to get some of their... But to recall Gascon, the DA, absolutely wrong. But see, I can say, I can tell them, listen, I love you. I love what you... That's a hard position, but you cannot allow pedophiles to go free and those who are going to be a harm to the citizens. But see, it's the whole mindset. No, they just need rehabilitation. Right, they need rehabilitation by the word of God changing their heart, but you don't let me bring the word of God into the prisons. You see the problem? Don't bring the word of God. That's separation of church and state. We can't get political. Keep it private. But you're going to rehabilitate someone just by sitting in a room and I can be better. I can do better. No, that doesn't change the heart. So we should be able to say that man in that position of leadership, that is not a good position, sir. You need to remove yourself and we'll help you because you cannot be... Listen, I'm full of fire this morning. I'm just telling you, you cannot... But tell me, is there anything I said that's incorrect about that? Why be quiet? Here's what I'll tell you, be quiet. I don't want to get in trouble. Correct? That's why I would be quiet. I don't want to get in trouble. I don't want the phone call. Hello, this is Catherine Barger and we heard your sermon. Could you come down and meet with us? I don't know when this was. Morgan might remember, but they had me come down and open the council meeting with prayer and they said, now, don't pray in Jesus name. And the guy who asked me afterwards goes, well, Shane, did you have to do that? I mean, because of course I did. You know, the only name that saves. You're going to have, you know, and that boldness. But see, doesn't that fuel? See, cowardliness fuels cowardliness and boldness fuels boldness. And so as you see people stepping out, you get fired. See, don't, oh, that's great, Shane. No, I see people going ahead of me like the men I just mentioned. I see these guys that are big targets and they're being bold and that encourages me to be bold. And then that just filters down. Ephesians 5.16, I didn't have time to put up there, but making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. When you hear a lie long enough, you begin to believe it. I think these things need to be said. And I think, now here's, I'm already going to get the emails. You just need to preach the Word. No, I need to preach what God puts on my heart because I listen to the Holy Spirit and He might want to say something about this issue. Listen, I came back from that trip. I'm done with criticism. Godly criticism, constructive criticism, please. I'd love to hear those close to me who knew my heart and know what God's doing. I'm open to that. The elders know that. But those who have a critical spirit and those who just want to throw darts, I'm done. I'm not going to listen anymore. I'm not going to let that penetrate my heart because I'm going to do what exactly God called me to do. And if I look at it, but you have to be bold back. You have to be bold. They're coming at you bold. I'm coming back at you bold because how do you know what God speaks to me in the morning in my prayer time? How do you know what God wants me to say and deliver? How do you know He doesn't want me to penetrate the hearts of Sacramento? How do you know what God wants? That's what you want. But how do you know what God wants? God speaks through vessels. Surrender to Him. All right, that was my tangent for the... Is it our last stand? Is it our last stand? Our last chance? I'm going to let God answer that question, but I am hopeful. And if it is our last stand, why aren't we living like it is? Why aren't we living like it is? As for me and my house. As for me and my house. Joseph, isn't that true? We just talked about that. As for me and my house. I don't know what everyone else is doing, but as for me and my house, we will fuel the flames of revival. Yes, even in California. They couldn't... What's going on in California? You guys are... I thought that... No, don't judge us based on the news. God says... Actually, I think God says, now that's the least likely place. Look at that place. Tuck back. Look at that country boy who doesn't have an education. Look at that. I just might revive that people because they're hungry. How do you fill the church at six in the morning and hungry for more of God? Oh, there's a song we played this morning. I will worship while I wait or I will wait while I worship. And that's what I'm doing. I'm waiting for God to move. I will wait while I worship. I will look the storm in the eye. Did you know? I just read this week that vessels are designed to weather the storm. Ships are designed to weather the storm. They put their bow into the face of the storm and they hit those waves head on. That's how they stay afloat. Sometimes you got to wake yourself and say, I'm going to go through a storm, but I'm designed to weather this storm. Come hell or high water, I will prevail. But see, without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, this is all just hype. This is all just hype and loud and preaching. Oh, great. But you need the fullness of the Spirit. And I've been praying, Lord, fill me or kill me. Lord, fill me or kill me. I need to be filled with the Spirit of God because that's how you're going to get through these dire times. That's how you can say, Governor, I love you. I pray for you, your wife and your two daughters, but this is wrong. We will not allow it on our watch. You will not force these things. You will not let fear dominate us any longer. And you can say these things in love. All right, if I'm not here next week, Pastor Aaron will be preaching. Like John MacArthur said, we'll just start a prison ministry. But listen, if Vince Lombardi, one of the best football coaches ever, Green Bay Packers. Steve, you're here? Green Bay Packers, right? Sorry, I don't like Green Bay, but it's okay. But he said, I firmly believe, if he said it, I firmly believe that any man's greatest hour, his finest sense of achievement is when he lies exhausted on the field of battle victorious. Why shouldn't Christians say that? I believe our finest hour is not when we run and defeat. It's not when we cower down. Our finest hour is when I lay exhausted on the field of battle victorious because God revived His church. He spoke the truth in love. He looked for a people who were hungry and desperate for more of Him. Remember, God hears the cries of His children. He hears the cries of revival. Oh, God, rend the heavens. I'm desperate. I want more of You, Lord. So I hope that helps. This is not a good sermon as far as hermeneutics, but it's what was on my heart all week. And I believe it's important. The reason we're in the predicament we're in today is because all these things were overlooked. But I do believe that God allows things to humble us and to break us. We cannot count on a man or a movement. We have to trust in God Almighty. But when you trust in God Almighty, He might use you to move a man or a movement. Now, here's the irony is, I've been dreading this since Wednesday. Because you know it's a hard thing to say a lot of these things. I've been praying, Lord, come on, let me go back to the sermon I already have ready. But these dire times, these are dire times. We need to talk about these issues. And the reason why we don't, let me tell you, most churches, myself included, it's easy. Wouldn't it be easy? Well, let's just turn to Isaiah. And let's just, oh, nice and easy and calming. Not too upsetting. Not too alarming. Not going to upset anybody. And I'll see you next week. That's easier, but it's not going to cut it. We need to speak the truth in love. We need to motivate a whole generation to stand up for their faith with the boldness of the Holy Spirit. But we have to remember, God says to have a thankful heart. Even in the midst, and I realize, you know, even if we give up a vehicle, even if we just, you know, Lord, I just want you. I want your presence at this church. I don't want to have church. I don't know about you guys, worship team. I don't have church without God's presence. I don't have time to come here and play games.