Shane Idleman emphasizes the urgent need for believers to be desperate for more of God, urging them to prioritize their relationship with Him above all else. He outlines five key points: self-examination, divorcing from worldly influences, perseverance in seeking God, making prayer a priority, and embracing holiness. Idleman passionately calls for a return to the foundational truths of repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit, reminding the congregation that true fulfillment comes from seeking God wholeheartedly. He encourages believers to confront their spiritual complacency and to actively pursue a deeper relationship with God, as this is essential for personal and communal revival.

Okay, guys. So being that we're in summer, we're going through the rotations of having some amazing guests. Today, Shane Eidelman and his lovely family have joined us to bring the word from this pulpit today, so we're so excited to have him. Shane is currently the pastor and founder of West Side Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California. He's an author of eight books, written articles that have been published by major Christian media outlets, been interviewed on Fox News, received feedback from his books by noted pastors and leaders, and continues to be an active writer on issues that Christians and the church face today. You can join him, follow up on him, on ShaneEidelman.com. So with a round of applause, loving from Valley Bible Fellowship, welcome to our pulpit. Thank you, thank you. Good morning, Bakersfield! Good morning! I'm going to open in prayer if that's okay. It's always good to start with prayer. Start the day and end the day with prayer. So just join me this morning. Lord, as I come to you, I ask that you would just use me as a vessel, broken before you, humble. Lord, to share what people need to hear and not necessarily what they want to hear. God, I need you. I desperately need you this morning. I pray that your spirit would move here during the second service as it did at the first, and again this evening. God, in a powerful way, we are not here to play church. We're here to praise you, to look to your word, to be strengthened and encouraged. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Alright, I feel much better. I've got just a few quick announcements I want to make before I get started. They did mention that I wrote some books, and it's just by God's grace. I barely graduated high school. So he has done just an incredible work in my life. And I'm going to actually share that tonight at 6 p.m. So if you need somebody to be encouraged or built up or strengthened, you know anybody caught in an addiction right now? Get them here tonight at 6 p.m. Because 20 years ago, I used to drive by this church building off the 58 Freeway, many times not remembering how I got home from the country bars over on Rosedale Highway, and many things, and God's just redeemed and restored my life. And I'm going to share that tonight at 6 p.m. So I would do what you can. Maybe don't tell them they're coming to church. Just kind of pop it on them when they get in the driveway. But get them here this evening. Also, my beautiful wife Morgan is here, and my daughter Aubrey. And I'm just so excited they're here with me. We have three more kids. She's 13, and they're all under 13. So pray for me as we have four teenagers at some point. That would be appreciated. Also, I didn't do the math there. I might be off one year. I also want to take just a quick minute and welcome the congregation. I have the privilege of pastoring in Leona Valley. It's close to Lancaster-Palmdale. Most of you know where that's at. That's where I live. I live in Palmdale. And they're actually watching both services live stream as well as the other campuses, I know, that are watching this live stream as well. And I just want to brag on them a minute. It's just a privilege to pastor people who are desperate for more of God, hungry for more of God. You don't come to church to play church. You want to know God. You want to meet God. And talking to Pastor Ron here, believe it or not, I've been following his ministry for probably 18 years now. I first heard him on the radio in 2000. Little did I know that, you know, this would be happening someday. But they are desperate for more of God. He shared with me that you guys are desperate for more of God. So I decided I'm going to title the sermon this morning, Desperate for More of God. It's actually in one of the books I wrote, and everything I'm covering here is in that as well. And you can take those if you need free copies as well. My whole point is to get the message out of redemption and salvation. And I'm a big proponent. I don't know about you, but I'm a big proponent of the Spirit-filled life. I want to be a Christian who's filled with the Spirit of God. Not weirdness. Boldness. Not chaos, but boldness. And being filled with God's Spirit. So, Desperate for More of God. And the verse that really is fitting for this is Jeremiah 13. You will seek me and you will find me, God says. He's writing, let me put this in context, because I love context in Scripture. You need context. The children of Israel have actually been led astray and into captivity. They're in captivity now. They've rebelled against God. They've rejected God. But God, still in his love and his mercy and his grace, he says, Jeremiah, you tell the people, when they seek me with all of their heart, they will find me. And that's a promise I want to encourage all of you to take to God this morning. That's what I love about God's Word. It's not like Social Security, where it might not be here. It's not like the 401Ks or retirement. God's Word will be here. It stands the test of time. It is absolute truth. It's an absolute truth. And we have to start contending for truth in this postmodern culture. It's truth. And God says, if you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me. Now, I want to give you a word of encouragement here, because we read that, and we think, well, who in the world can do that? Amen? I mean, I can't see God with all of my heart. I'll be honest with you. Well, Shane, how can you say that? Because there's something inside that's at war with God called the flesh, and it's at war with God. The more you fill with the Spirit, the less control that flesh has on you, the less influence. But here's what this word all can mean as well. All doesn't mean perfection. If you follow me with a perfect heart, it means God is a priority. So if you seek me, if I become the priority in your life, because there's a lot of kids in here this morning too, if God becomes the priority in your life, you will find him. If you seek him with all of your heart, he's the priority. See, a lot of times we treat God like broccoli. We put him on the back burner. And we might get to that sometime during the course of the meal. But if we don't, oh, who cares? We'll throw it out in the morning. And God's on the back burner. But to truly find him, he must be forefront. He must be the priority of your life. Let me just tell you, this is coming from somebody, because sometimes we think, oh, pastors, you know, you have to say that. No, God radically changed my life. He radically changed my life. And I've lived what I'm preaching. And it often takes broken men to break men. See, first, he's got to break me before I can spend time in the prayer closet. And God humbles me, and he humbles me. And then I come out of that prayer closet wanting to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's that process of the refiner's fire. So desperate for more of God. What do I mean by desperation? Well, we know what that means. Have you ever became desperate over something? Because you change everything to find or to receive what you're desperate for. I'm desperate for this. I'll change my behavior. I'm desperate for my marriage to be restored. I'll change my behavior. I'm so desperate. I'm tired of my fourth recovery home. I'm so desperate. I'm tired of financially not making it. And it changes the way we live. See, we have extremes in everything. Extreme motocross. Anybody motocross here? Extreme mountain biking. All right. Bakersfield. Let me back that up. Extreme bull riding. Okay. Is there extreme bull riding? Actually, my daughter wants me to take her to the bull riding finals or national some Wednesday. But anyway, coming back on track. There's an extreme for everything. Extreme makeover. Extreme motocross. Everything. Why then can't we have an intense and extreme passion for God? Answer me that question. Why shouldn't Christians be the most passionate about the things of God? Loving God. Following God with all of our heart. With all of our soul. With all of our mind. With all of our strength. He is an all-consuming fire. He is the God who redeems and sets free. He is the God of the Old Testament and the New. They both say the same thing. If you seek me, you will find me. And it's not like God's doing this. Come on. Let's just play hide and seek. He's just saying give me your heart. Fully surrender your life. Let me fill you with my spirit and you will find me. So I'm going to just share five things with you on this topic. I'm talking to those who are desperate for more of God. And I often joke about this, but it's really not a joke because I truly feel that God has called me to tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. And it's often, I don't know about you, but it's often when you get the right hook and the left hook from God, then you listen. Right? If all I'm doing is encouraged, if all I'm doing is encouraged and built up and strengthened, I love encouragement. Thank God. But if that's all I'm ever encouraged, then I stay in my sin. Actually, one of the signs of a false prophet, believe it or not, in the Old Testament was to tell people peace, peace, when there's no peace. Read Jeremiah 23 tonight. God said, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I've not spoken to them, yet they spoke. But had they truly stood in my counsel, had they truly stood in my counsel, the word of God, they would have turned the whole nation back to me. Is not my word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Is not my word like a fire that devours? But they have perverted the words of the living God. How, Jeremiah? By not proclaiming the difficult truths as well as the joyful ones. How can I preach on heaven but not hell? How can I preach on the love of God but not the holiness of God? See, it's all of God, the attributes of God in its totality. We love to cherry pick, but it's the hard truths and getting hit with the hammer of God that we really change. I haven't met too many people that do not change unless they are lovingly confronted and convicted. Something often has to rattle our cage. And I believe that we must bring back the hidden truth of repentance. And that actually leads me right to my first point. To be desperate for more of God, you must examine self. Have you heard the phrase self-examination? Let me just sum it up for you. Psalm 139.23. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. So you're asking God, Lord, search me. God, know my heart. Show me my heart. That's a dangerous prayer. You better be ready. Lord, show me. Because here's what we like to do. We like to blame shift. You know what that is, right? If I can blame my spouse, if I can blame the devil, if I can blame my children, I can just continue in this destructive lifestyle. God says no. Put yourself bare before me. Repent. Do you know it's interesting that Jesus didn't send the disciples out going and preach love? Now, please don't misunderstand. I love God's love and grace and mercy. But he said you go and preach repentance. Because that is the missing element that many times we miss. Because repentance is changing my mind about sin. Changing my mind about the things of God. And I've listened to Pastor Ron many times. I know you're familiar with this. But many churches, you can't talk about sin. You can't talk about judgment. Don't mention the blood of Christ. I know a worship leader in our town who said, told the worship leader, the pastor said take out all the songs about the blood of Christ. It's too controversial. Are you kidding me? That's the foundation of the gospel. The blood of Christ. The strength of Christ. See, but we start, let's take these things out so we become more marketable. The gospel is not marketable. It doesn't taste good. That's the problem. It cuts. It divides. It hurts the heart. Oswald Chambers, I'm sure many of you are familiar with this book, Utmost for My Highest. He said the gospel hurt and it offends until there's nothing left to hurt and to offend. One of the easiest things, not the easiest, I shouldn't say that. One of the most important things you could say is this, and it's even hard for me to say it. I was wrong. Just try getting that out sometime. I was wrong. Tell your spouse, I was wrong. You know how many, we could stop marriage, we could stop half the marriage counseling appointments right now. In the church, right now. Today, they're gone. Honey, you know what? I've been wrong. No need for counselors. I've been wrong. I shouldn't have done that. But see, even our media now, everything is driven towards making excuses. If we can shift the blame, if you shift the blame, you won't change. Because to be desperate for more of God, you must examine self. How bad do we want it? Search me, oh God, and show me. Show me my error. Show me my sin. And then number two, to be desperate for more of God, you must divorce the world. I don't promote divorce. Very few cases, of course. I promote restoration. But I love this type of divorce. When a Christian divorces himself from the world. Here's why. You cannot serve two masters. You love the one, you'll hate the other. But we like to do both, don't we? Here and then here and then here. And actually, James says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. You can't serve two masters. 1 John 2.15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Listen, this is a deep truth. If we love the things of the world, which is, the world there is cosmos in the Greek language. It means a mindset, the way the world thinks. If we love the way the world thinks, we do not have the love of the Father in us. Now this could be applicable to Christians. But I believe it's also applicable to those who have relationship but not religion. I'm sorry, they have religion but not relationship. They know about Christ, but they don't have that relationship. They love the world. And I'm a big proponent of there is fruit with genuine salvation. And if a person just loves the world, but doesn't love the things of God, you have to wonder, where is your heart? So if you want to be desperate for more of God, if you want to be filled with His Spirit, you must divorce the world. Shane, what does that look like? I'm glad you asked. Christianity is not cool. Okay, we're so many people, if I could just, I put a little sign of fish down here at the corner, nobody will really recognize. I can still take, you know, do this and do this. No, it's not cool. You won't relate to the culture. Actually, the church does the most for the world when it looks least like the world. Come out from among them and be separate, thus saith the Lord. To be filled with the Spirit of God, you must be emptied of self, emptied of the world. Here's what happens. You have two competing passions right now. The compassions and desires of your flesh and what the Holy Spirit of God wants. The more you feed on the flesh, the less you'll feel the power of the Spirit. I believe that's why so many Christians are walking around miserable, depressed, anxious, irritable. They can't seem... Shane, I've lost my hunger for God. It's because often the things of the world have crowded out, being filled with the Spirit. And I will just give you a test out there right now you can take later. Are you truly hungry for the things of God? Because hunger is a sign of health. Ask anyone who's sick. More often than not, they're not hungry, right? So if a person is not hungry for the things of God, they're dying spiritually. They need spiritual resuscitation. That's what these types of messages do. It's spiritual resuscitation to revive God's people. To revive them and restore that aspect of holiness. All the water in the world, no matter how hard it tries, will never sink a ship unless it gets inside. All the evil influence of the world, no matter how hard it tries, will never sink your soul unless it gets inside. See, and young adults, there's a lot of you here too as well. When you allow, when you watch, when you allow witchcraft, vampires, the occult, and that's entertaining you. Darkness should never entertain the church. It should repulse the Christian. Because they're a spiritual warfare and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds and casting down arguments. And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Doing what? Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. You bring your thoughts captive. Did you know that? Don't let them bring you captive. And here's a quick way to find out. Is what you're allowing in building you up spiritually or pulling you down? Is it building you up or pulling you down? There's a song. I don't even know who sings it. But one of the lyrics, I just love to camp out at worship songs. And it says, the more you seek him, the more you find him. And the more you find him, the more you seek him. The more you seek him, the more you find him. And there's something that we've missed as well in the church today. This word of holiness. Holiness. Holiness is not some weird term. It's raising the standard. The angels cried, holy, holy, holy is our God. Of all the attributes of God, did you know that love is not mentioned as a top attribute? In my opinion, the attributes of God are all equal. God is one. All the attributes are equal. He's not, well, more this and less this. But the attribute most spoken of in the Bible is this attribute of holiness. And this prophet had a vision of the temple. Isaiah, he said in the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was high and lifted up the train of his robe, filled the entire temple. And the angels cried, holy, holy, holy is our God. Holy, holy, holy is our God. The temple actually shook. Could you imagine if the power of God shook a place and the holiness of God was revived. And the fear of the Lord, what about that? Why don't we talk about the fear of the Lord anymore? Well, Shane, that's not marketable. No, but it's powerful. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Is it not? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The beginning of knowledge, fearing God. And it's so interesting. The church says, Shane, we want New Testament power. We're crying out for New Testament power. But you don't want New Testament holiness. They go together. The early church was filled powerfully with the spirit of God. They wanted God more than anything. They were filled with holiness. So for a season, I would encourage you, turn off Facebook, unhook Instagrams, and cancel Netflix, and get on your face before almighty God, and cry out and say, God, humble me. Think about this. How bad do we want a relationship with God? I tell people all the time, if they're praying for their prodigal son or their wayward daughter, have you fasted? Have you sought God in prayer? Oh, no, I'm too busy. Well, you're too busy. How bad do you want it? You give the Lakers three hours and the Dodgers four. Get on your face before God and humble yourself. He who humbles himself, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. In due time, he will exalt you. You exalt yourself, and he will base you. What is a base? It means to bring down. Don't fight God. Oh, my Lord. Do not fight God. You will not. You cannot win. Too many people are confusing his patience with his approval. And, guys, I love you enough to tell you the truth, that holiness is incredible. It's a life set apart for God. God often says, come out from among them and be holy. It's interesting. I didn't talk about this at first, but it keeps resonating with me on this point. Many of you know Balak and Balaam. You've heard of that if you've read the Bible. And King Balak hired Balaam to go and curse the children of Israel. Curse them. Go and curse them. And he kept coming back. He said, I can't. I can't curse them. And he goes, I paid you to curse them. He said something very interesting. He said, you cannot curse what God has blessed. You cannot curse what God has blessed. However, here's what you can do. Go in and entice them. Lead them away by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life, and they will curse themselves. So he couldn't curse them once they remained under God's protection and shelter and His covering of the fear of the Lord, the holiness of the Lord. But once they left that cover, left that shelter, left that protection, like a bird that wanders from its nest, so is a man who wanders from his place, they were easy prey. So he said, you can't touch them. And I truly believe this. You cannot touch a child of God filled with the Spirit of God on their face before God, humbled in the sight of God. There's nothing you can do. But the enemy says, ah, but here's what you can do. Get them so busy they have no time for personal study. So busy they have no time to seek my face. Get them so busy and turned around, and they will begin to withdraw themselves from my power and my presence. See, I want the power of God and the presence of God, or I don't want to have anything to do with religion. I don't know about you. But I want that presence of God, and it comes through holiness. And holiness is not weirdness. It's a broken state that says, I don't want to watch movies where I commit spiritual adultery in my mind. I don't want to lust after women other than my wife and watch these things that take me away from God. God, help me, fill me with your Spirit. God, I need revival. I want you at all costs. That's what it looks like. Oh, Lord. I'd love to put this on Christian TV for a half hour. Because it just, what the nation needs to hear is what we're not hearing. The church was built on repentance and holiness and prayer and fasting and a consecrated life, a fully surrendered life. Now we've drifted. We've drifted. I wrote a book, One Nation Above God, because we've drifted from our moral compass. We are now calling things good, evil, and evil good. We have drifted from God. There are things that are abomination. And God says, ah, there's hope. Guess what? Guess what? Where's the hope? Washington? Hollywood? Where's the hope? If my people, if my people who are called by my name will simply humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins. If my people, if my people. See, I'd rather have 1,000, I don't know how many are right here, versus 10,000 people wanting to be entertained. I just want men and women filled with the Spirit of God to say, God, we're going to lay hold of you. See, I remember all night prayer meetings. I remember when we came so hungry for the power of God that we weren't going to leave. We weren't in a hurry. We laid prostrate on the ground saying, God, unless you save my child, they're destined for destruction. Unless you turn this nation around, unless you turn the state of California around, we are hopeless. You are our only hope. We are relying on you and you alone. It's humility. It's brokenness. Oh, my Lord. I just feel so strongly, guys. See, the problem's never with God. The problem's in our own heart. Number three, if you want to be desperate for more of God, you must persevere. You must persevere. It says seek God with all your heart. Seek him. That word in the Hebrew is bakash. It means to search him out with intense motivation. And I think we forget. We hear this word seek. Oh, yeah, that sounds good. Maybe I'll start that tomorrow morning. I'll open my five-minute devotional. I love five-minute devotionals. Don't get me wrong, but that's not going to cut it in these dire times. Five-minute prayers are not going to cut it. Microwave Christianity is not even biblical. Keep it. Love it. I have one. I have one. Buy my book. I'm not saying that. But in these dire times, do you know the enemy's coming after your children and your grandchildren? He's coming after you. Do you know I have a big 30-06 scope right here and here probably? He's on me. He wants to take us out. So perseverance and getting back up. If you fall, I don't care if you fall. I don't care if you're on your third recovery home or your fifth marriage. Get back up and fight the battle. We have to persevere. I love, I love, I love what A.W. Tozer said. Life is a battleground, not a playground. Here's a quick word of advice I didn't give the first service. Dig into books such as A.W. Tozer or prayer by E.M. Bounds or books by Leonard Ravenhill. Men of God, women of God have come before us and you hunger for more of God. It's about feeding the mind on the things of God. Hebrews 12, 1 through 2, for this part of perseverance, the writer of Hebrews says, Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight in the sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. This is key. Here's what I believe many people need to do. Remove the weight that is holding you back. What is that? Are there relationships that are holding you back? Are there habits that are holding you back? Remove the sin. Remove the stuff that is holding us back and fight the good fight. Move forward. Run with endurance. Listen, somebody, we need to remind each other. You need to fight for your marriage. You need to fight for your relationship with the Lord. You need to fight for your children. How do we fight? You fight on your knees. This is how I go to battle. I don't know about you, but I go to battle with worship. Get me in the prayer closet for an hour with Hillsong, and I'm coming out a better husband, a better father. As I say, God, break me. Create in me a clean heart like David. I can say like David, God, create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me. God, that the bones you have broken may rejoice, that the joy of my salvation will return. See, it's a crying out. It's a humbling of self. If you truly want to be filled with the spirit of God, you need to humble yourself. And allow God to break the pride and the arrogance that is in us. All of us. I love to read about revivals and awakenings, in case you haven't noticed. I was hesitant to say this at the first service, but maybe God wants me to say it. I'm talking about all churches, even where I pastor. Most people have never witnessed a powerful move of God. They've heard about them. They've heard about them, but they've never witnessed a powerful move of God. I read revival books, and I put the book down, and I begin weeping. When the spirit of God comes in so thick, the people are left up front for an hour or two praying. Bars are closed down. Marriages are restored. People fall on their face before God, even at home. They don't know what it is. It's the power of God moving. That's our only hope. I'll just tell you right now, America, the Titanic has been hit. We're taking on water. The only hope is a powerful move of God's spirit. Lukewarm, comfortable Christianity is not going to get us through in these dire times. We have to be infused by the power of God. So a few weeks, I don't know, maybe a few months ago now, I've shared this story at West Side Christian Fellowship of a man, he, decades after this revival had ended, I believe it was the New Hebrides Revival in Welsh, off the islands of Welsh, or in Welsh, Scotland, and they asked him, tell us about that revival. What happened when God was moving, when hundreds are getting saved a day? I mean, God's moving. The bars are closed down. The police aren't busy. What happened? And the old man sat up in his chair. His eyes were like flames of fire. It was blazing at the man. He looked at him, and he said, when you lay hold of God, when you lay hold of God, he said, never, never, never, never let go. When you lay hold of God, never let go. Jesus said, if you drink of this water, you will never thirst again. He who believes on me, as the Scriptures say, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. John the Baptist said, I'm not even worthy to unloose his sandal, but when he comes, he's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Now, I'm not going to get on doctrinal things, on pneumatology. Me and Pastor Ron agree completely on this topic. All I'm saying is this. Can you truly say that his word is in your heart like a burning fire? Can you truly say that the Scriptures are flowing out like rivers of living water? Because that's a Christian life. That's a New Testament Christianity. And my concern is that we bought into the lie that Christianity can be And we'll get to God when it fits our schedule. To be desperate for more of God, he's got to be on your calendar. It's the priority. Many years ago, 18 years ago, I structured everything around God. People kind of make fun of me still today. Oh, you go to bed pretty early. Yeah, because I'm waking up hungry for God at four in the morning. You're absolutely right. You can sit and watch the junk on Netflix. You can sit and watch sports teams do God knows what. You can idolize everything from travel ball to whatever. But I'm on fire for God. And I know many of you are as well. That's why I'm telling you this, to pull out of you what God has already placed inside of you. And then number four, I could spend the whole rest of the morning here. To be desperate for more of God, prayer must be a priority. Prayer must be a priority. In 2013, I preached a sermon and the national media twisted the title a little bit. You know, they do that, right? Are you aware that you can't trust everything that's posted on Facebook or Twitter or YouTube? Just telling you right now, be careful with who you listen to. So anyway, it came out, this new story. It said, California pastor rebukes Christians for worshipping weapons amid gun debate. And I said, oh, Lord, here come the emails. And for some reason, people thought I was against guns and everything. They don't know I own a 12-gauge. I used to shoot trap and I'd grab a 10-gauge for geese. And I'm well aware of this. But my whole point was this. In Bakersfield, this might fit perfectly. Our gun safes are full, but our prayer closets are empty. See, when was the last time, see, we stock up on ammunition, but not the power of God. When was the last time we spent more time seeking God than building our arsenal up? Listen, when all hell breaks loose, AR-15s aren't going to do much, but the power of God pulling down heaven, that's the only source of strength. That's the only source of fortitude. When God says, oh, when you call on me, when you call on me, no weapon formed against you will prosper. Though the floods come, though the wind beat upon your house, it will not fall because it's founded upon the rock of Jesus Christ. A man is who he is on his knees before God and nothing more. I find this so interesting. Christ said, my house shall be called a house of preaching. My house shall be called a house of prayer, is what he said. This house, God's house, prayer is the priority. And I've noticed this, the things that are most important, if you take away just a couple things, take this away this morning, the things that are the most important for your walk with the Lord are often the hardest to do. As you're driving, it's real easy to click on Christian radio, right? See, it's not too bad to come to church, but let me, how many could leave for half a day and just bring their Bible? No phone? Go sit in a cabin for six hours? Right, because the flesh hates that communication with God. The things that are the most important are the hardest to do. Again, I don't want to minimize this topic. It is so important. Al Whittinghill said, without the heartbeat of prayer, without the heartbeat of prayer, the body of Christ will resemble a corpse. The church is dying on her feet because she is not living on her knees. You know, gosh, I could take so many rabbit trails, Lord help me. But one of the hardest things, I've shared this in Lancaster many times, but one of the hardest things, you might be surprised about this, one of the hardest things about pastoring, I would say it's probably up there, for me it's the hardest thing. And people might say, well, is it funerals? Is it counseling? Is it leading? Is it, you know, because now we've got a very large audience nationally with radio and different things, and there's a lot that goes into that, and a lot of negative emails, as you can imagine. I've debated atheists on Fox News. I debate a pastor who believes that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is right and encouraged in gay marriage. And so you get a lot of negative press. But it's the hardest thing to me is I see people dying spiritually with living water just steps away. I mean, sometimes I'll begin to weep and say, guys, it's living water just steps away. Come to me, all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Hey, can you imagine? I know you're hooked to Xanax. You can't get off Vicodin. You just had a 12-pack last night. You're hungover. Come to the fountain of living water. Jesus told the woman at the well. He said, woman, woman, I have water. I have water that you know not of. You drink of this water, you will never thirst again. I've got the answer for your disease and your illness and your sickness. Turn to the hope. I've got the answer for your marriage. Would you just wake up, dad, and come back home? Mom, would you give up that boyfriend and go back to your marriage? Living water just steps away. Come and drink of it freely. And it breaks my heart. Families are deteriorating. Marriages are breaking up. The church is in a state of, do we even know what God's word says? Oh, my Lord. Do we even know what his word says? His word is truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. No other religion. He is the only way. Praise God. Praise God. You know, it's a wake-up call many years ago when I read that Jesus came as a lamb. Praise God, right? He's the lamb that takes away the sins of the world. But then I read later, he's not coming back as a lamb. He's coming back as a lion. The lamb becomes the lion. John said, John said, I saw heaven open. I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it was called faithful and true. And out of his eyes, his eyes are like flames of fire. And no one knows his name except himself. His name is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords right here. But it goes on to say that out of his mouth, this is Jesus, right? Whoever turned the cheek. Out of his mouth goes a sword that he will strike the nations. He will rule the nations with the rod of iron. And he will tread the winepress and the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. That's the king you serve. That's the Jesus Christ. So the next time the enemy wants to come against you, you can bring the power and the authority of Jesus Christ. Victory has a name. Holiness has a name. Redemption has a name. That name is Jesus. And I have a few minutes left. I wrote down some names of Jesus Christ. And I said, if I get a little fired up, I might read these names. So here we go. This is Jesus Christ according to the Bible, according to who we worship. He is almighty one. He is the advocate. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the final authority. He is the bread of life. He is the beloved son of God. He is the deliverer of all people. He is the faithful and true witness. There is no deceit in him. He is the good shepherd by which all sheep come into the fold. He is the great high priest. Because of him I rest from my labors. He is my Sabbath rest. He is the head of the church. He is king of kings and lord of lords. He is the light of the world. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is lord of all. He is mediator. He is messiah. He is mighty one. He is our hope. He is our peace. He is our prophet. He is our rock. He is our sacrifice for our sins. He is our savior. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the door. He is the way. He is the word. He is the true vine. He is the truth. He is wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father. Do you understand that Jesus and the devil aren't competing? They aren't equal forces? The devil has no authority over Christ. Christ has all authority. That's why Philippians says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who did not consider robbery to be equal with God. He made himself of no reputation and he took on the form of a man. That would be like you hopping in a septic tank and saying, Now let me do ministry. Sinful fallen flesh man. And he endured the cross. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus being in the form of God, did not consider robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation, became a man, and he died on the cross. Listen, we do talk about God's fear. We talk about God's justice. We talk about God's holiness, but don't ever forget about the grace of God, the love of God, the mercy of God. God loves you even while you're in your sin. I'm gonna close with this. I read a scripture that changed my life many years ago. I didn't write it down, but it's where the writer says that even in my sin, even in our sin, Christ died for us. And I thought, Wait a minute, as I was cursing you, and I was cursing my mom, don't pray for me. I wanna have fun tonight. When I was hitting the streets of Bakersfield listening to Dwight Yoakum, Buck Owens. Come on, you guys know. Don't play church now. And just hating God. I don't want anything to do with God. Get God out of my life. I was mocking him, yet he still said, Son, I'm waiting for you whenever you're ready to come home. I'm waiting for you. Just turn back to me. I love you. I will not forsake you, but you have to make the choice. It reminds me of a mom and dad who were upset at their son because he was ruining his life. He was drunk all the time. Or whatever situation, Oxy, opiates are skyrocketing. The answer is Christ. And they said, we're gonna kick him out of the house. The dad said, you kick him out of the house when he gets here. And one in the morning, they heard him come in and the mom went down there to the couch he was on. He was passed out. And the dad didn't hear anything for a few minutes. So he went down there. He said, what are you doing? Get this lazy bum out. And his mom, the mom was holding her son, praying for him as tears were coming, dripping down her face. She said, he would not let me love him while he's awake, but I will love him while he's asleep. That's the same thing with God. Guys, I would encourage you to bring friends or family back at six. We've gotta start making God a priority. We gotta start being hungry for more of God. Your flesh will hate it. I'll tell you right now. Your flesh will hate it, but eventually submits. Here's a lesson we need to learn. Your flesh submits to you. You don't submit to the flesh. Paul said, I discipline my body daily and I bring it into subjection. You discipline that body. You say, we're going to church. Come hell or high water. You lead your family. Men, you begin to lead your family. You be that spiritual leader that God's called you to be.