If You Can't Run with the Big Dogs, Stay on the Porch

we greet you this sunday night in that wonderful name that name of jesus thank you praise team choir for leading us in worship thank you church family for being worshipers let me say to any guests that we might have joining us tonight here in the sanctuary once again we're honored to have you worshiping with us and i want you to feel the welcome of first apostolic church and i want you to enjoy worshiping the lord with us i would join with pastor anthony by welcoming our online viewers tonight i thank you for being in service with us and greeting us and it is our prayer that if you are in the area that your health and your ability to be in the house of the lord will let you be back here in service with us very soon those who are joining us i noticed uh in on the online uh service this morning we had a brother joining us from california was in the service through much of the service and uh i welcome those from around the nation and even around the world who choose to join us in service thank you for praying for us and worshiping with us i would once again give a bit of explanation uh pastor and sister whitley are in maryland tonight uh they are pastor anthony so eppley stated it this morning sometimes you have to trade off just a little bit we had the privilege of having uh brother and sister stayton with us just a few weeks ago and they are doing a marriage retreat uh for their great assembly there in maryland so we're praying for them and oh i just have to tell you where their church is is just uh a few minutes from uh washington d.c my granddaughter easton got to go on the trip and so to let you know when preachers kids make those journeys with with their folks uh they're not just laying out a school but she got an opportunity to go to washington d.c for the first time and they were telling her all of these exciting things about you're going to get to see our nation's capital and you're going to get to see the washington monument and the lincoln memorial and all of those kind of things and so she was really anticipating the trip and so she told her mama later on she said i can't wait to go to washington and see all the condiments i believe that's monuments so uh i wouldn't dare tell that while she's here i wanted to do that while she's gone praying that she's not watching online hoping she's with them in church tonight so uh what whatever you call it i'm thankful and i'm praying that the lord would protect them and bless them as they minister to that assembly tonight i would also follow up on pastor anthony's announcement just to reiterate i do want to meet with all of our greeters ushers and security staff on thursday evening our team leaders and you know who you are will meet with us at seven o'clock in our conference room that's behind the sanctuary and then the remainder of the staff will all meet at 7 30 here in the sanctuary i appreciate you uh being here and i appreciate the job you do of making everything comfortable for all of us during the service i want to take you to the word of the lord tonight i'll give you just a moment to turn to jeremiah the 12th chapter what a marvelous message we heard this morning thank you pastor anthony for once again ministering mightily the word of the lord what a wonderful message i honor our pastoral staff our elders our ministers their families all the leadership and i honor this assembly with the opportunity of pastoring the greatest church in pentecost i say that without any hesitation it is so gl i'm so glad and it is so great to be a part of this assembly i want to begin reading in the book of jeremiah the 12th chapter we'll read five verses beginning with verse number one we read righteous art thou o lord when i plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments wherefore that the way of the wicked prosper now let me pause so you get the juxta of what's going on jeremiah begins by complimenting the lord and saying lord now i'm not doubting you in any way you're the righteous lord and he said i want to plead with you but he said i've got some questions he said wherefore that the way of the wicked prospered wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously he's having an issue with the success of the wicked thou has planted them yea they've taken root they grow yea they bring forth fruit thou art near in their mouth and far from their reigns they talk about you but they're you're not in control of their life but thou o lord knowest me thou has seen me and tried mine heart toward thee pull them out like sheep for the slaughter and prepare them for the day of slaughter man jeremiah said if i was in charge here's what i'd do to the wicked said pull them out and slaughter them how long shall the land mourn and the herb of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein the beasts are consumed the birds because they said he shall not see our last end and please notice verse number five if thou has run with the footmen and they have wearied thee then how can thou contend with horses and if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest they wearied thee then how well thou do in the swelling of the jordan for a few moments tonight i would speak to you on this subject if not now when if not now when let's pray savior we love you god we're grateful for the opportunity that we have to call on you lord i pray that you would minister mightily in this house lord i pray that your word would do the work lord i can say nothing i can do nothing but lord right now i pray that your word would minister mildly to us let all that we do give you praise in jesus name we pray amen and amen last wednesday night bishop mccool made a most powerful statement in his bible study he basically said with all the resources we have at our disposal to reach the lost and all that we have as far as conveniences to serve god if you can't serve god now when will you ever be able to serve god this statement stirred my soul and it brought back to memory i as soon as he made the statement i went to my computer bible in my ipad and i had to re-acquaint myself with the scripture that i just read in your hearing in jeremiah 12 5. and as i begin to read that passage of scripture it brought back to memory a message that i preached some 15 years ago in nashville at national youth convention back in 2007. let me ask you this how many folks if you can remember that far remember being in nashville for nyc in 2007. raise your hand raise your hand leave them up no there's not that many but some of you were there all right well i pledge to you this is not going to be a total rerun but when the holy ghost leads you someway i had to go back and i started researching i went through my sermon notes i have stuff cataloged at home and i have stuff on my computer and i i went back to that passage of scripture and i'd already thought god you've given me a thought if not now when but you know what i had to go back to my sermon notes and i said if i'm going to preach from that i'm going to give it the title that i preached 15 years ago so media folks i've changed my mind we're not going to preach on if not now when instead i hope we are able to preach on this subject if you can't run with the big dogs stay on the porch if you can't run with the big dog stay on the porch well let me give you a bit of explanation you see here in the south we are known for our southern quips and analogies and quotes which make us better able to describe certain situations you know those clever little remarks that we make the witty funny observations that help us communicate certain messages in certain situations better and i have a list of a few southern quips analogies and quotes that many of you will relate to one says don't look a gift horse in the mouth another says he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket still another says she is slower than molasses in january that's slow but you can see it can't you somebody can be called happy as a tick on a fat dog now to all of my friends here who maybe you've moved from a different part of the country don't be offended if you don't get all these things you live here in the south you'll these you'll figure these things out after a while if somebody says they're mad as a mule eating bumblebees you know they're ticked off for sure if somebody looks sad we sometimes will say you're frowning like a goat got your grapes or i'm happy as a dead pig in sunshine if you want to be a bit insulting you can say somebody's big as a barn she could start an argument with an empty house they're so slow they're moving like a herd of turtles now isn't this beautiful man she's prettier than a speckled pup under a red wagon and of course he's dumber than a box of rocks you ever heard that now and you got to understand these little quips we in the south are able to get by with saying some of those things about folks as long as we follow it up we'll say well bless their heart you know he's dumber than a box of rocks bless his heart see y'all do that don't you so i must you know she's uglier than a mud fence bless her heart so i would let you know i'm going to preach from this southern quip tonight if you can't run with the big dogs stay on the porch now this is taken from a little stereotypical southern rural setting of a home of the way many of us many folks think that all southern rural homes are likely the evening sun is setting and there's several less than energetic mongrel dogs laying around the porch that wraps around the entire house but suddenly the serenity is broken because by chance some varmint or threatening game by chance runs through the edge of the yard suddenly there's a disturbance on the porch you hear barking you hear growling you'll hear howling and yelping followed by a mad dash of a pack off the porch across the yard into the woods yelping barking growling pursuing the less than experienced pups or the lazy mutts need not even try because the big dogs have already started the chase through the woods if you're inept or you're inexperienced you will find yourself being jostled in the yard winding staggering trying to find your way back to the porch where you were laying you might as well stayed on the porch so with that in mind let me remind you again of jeremiah's words for he made this statement in verse number 5 if thou has run with the footmen and they have wearied thee then how can thou contend with horses he's basically saying if you can't serve god now with a little bit of adversity that we see when will you ever be able to serve god if you can't if you can't deal with a few things we have to face right now when will you ever be able to serve god if you get weary with a few problems of fighting with the footmen now how will you ever deal when the horseman when the real adversity shows up and if in the land of peace wherein thou trust us they weary thee how wilt thou do in the swelling of the jordan he's basically saying if you can't serve me now with all the opportunities that you have how can you expect to serve me when greater adversity comes in other words if you can't run with the big dogs you need to stay on the porch but i also have noticed in recent days there has come a favorite analogy when they talk about athletes in particular who seem to have a little extra drive in them they not they may not be the most talented of all the athletes they may not have all the physical attributes of a five-star athlete but they've got something i've heard them say they got a little dog in them anybody ever heard that see you know he may not be the biggest he may not be the tallest she may not be the fastest but she's got a little dog in her he's got a little dog in him in other words there's some tenacity and determination there's an it factor that you can't really put your finger on it but they're going to be victorious because they strive above all others so i want to know apostolics at first apostolic church tonight have you got any dog in you are there any big dogs in the house are you still wanting to lay on the porch there's another little southern story that i would tell you that is applicable here the story goes that there was a a little guy one of those guys had little man syndrome he walked up to a great big fella and he said man if i was as big as you i'd go out in the woods i'd find the biggest bear there was and i'd whip him to which the big man replied hey you know buddy there's little bears in the woods too some of us are always wanting to do a great work for god but we get weary with just running with the footmen we don't want to do the everyday task there's some folks they want to be a witness and win folks to god but they can't ever win panfish if they're going to be a fisher of men they've got to win a whale always sometimes it's a day-to-day walk with god it's doing the mundane things it's being consistent you see if you can't do the small things you're never going to be able to do the big things you can't do great things for god until you're faithful in the small things galatians said this let us not be weary in well-doing sometimes just doing well is all i need to do just there there's going to be some oh man this this going to shake a few folks faith there's going to be some times that we just get together and have good church there may not be any visible miracles signs and wonders take place sometimes just being there and experiencing god for himself is one of the greatest things that can happen sometimes just showing up and being here do you hear me sometimes just doing the everyday things doing those things that don't seem super spectacular sometimes just being consistent he said be not weary in well-doing he didn't say super colossal doing he didn't say super fantastic he didn't come up with with some uh new adjective to describe something that you've never experienced he said sometimes don't be weary and just doing well for in due season we shall reap if we faint not please remember david had to ten sheep he had to kill lions and contend with bears before he ever got to fight a giant sometimes you got to stay home and tend the sheep first sometimes working a day-to-day job and being a christian can seem like something that's not very spectacular just keep doing what you do sometimes just being an example day after day dealing with all the cares of life all the issues that come up with life just dealing with living you see david couldn't be a big dog giant killer until he had the experience of tending sheep killing lions and fighting bears well let me give you another southern quip there's another southern quip that says a steel cell gets the slop i bet you never heard anybody from the east coast say that did you a still sow gets the slop now i understand we we're a city church now we we don't have any any uh uh real rural uh area around us i did find out that you know this property we're sitting on right now uh this this property uh used to be uh a dairy barn we got to check in here a while back about some of the the city ordinances about our signage and all that and we found out that we are still zoned agriculture so i i figured ought to give us some a little bit of uh country living uh uh enlightenment a steel cell gets the slop now i have never had that wonderful experience that i've heard my dad tell of of slopping the hogs but some of you have and you know what i'm talking about i have seen it done before but as i understand it they have this long trough and the slop was whatever's left over that they fed the pigs and i remember seeing my aunt debbie in particular i was at debbie's house when she was out missouri and they had hogs out there and aunt debbie would walk out she had a metal pail and she would bang it on pigs she'd say and man from nowhere it appeared i mean pigs of every size and every quickness here they would come running out of the bushes there's a great big field that had that was a pen and they would come from here and there and some of those pigs she'd start pouring that slop in there and some of them they'd go from one end they'd try to nose their way in they'd get nosed out and they'd go down here and they'd try to nose away and then get nosed out but the old mama sal she'd find one spot and she'd eat and while the others were looking for an opening she'd keep eating while the others were going around here she'd get keep eating how in the world can you give me any spiritual enlightenment let me tell you there's some folks running the country looking for signs wonders and miracles if they'd stay home be consistent go into church pay their tithe give their offering get involved in the work of god they'd get fed the reason they never get fed spiritually they don't sit still long enough to hear the word i'm going to run over here cause i heard about this i'm going to run down here because i heard about that find you an apostolic jesus name church put some roots down and and and can i say this oh i i i love our all of our missions departments we have world missions and we have home missions and there are folks still being called to the mission field but did you know there's also folks being called to stay home and be saints [Applause] i know i may have lost my world missions director he's watching no he knows better he preaches the same thing listen if god gives you a distinct call go after it but until he does put your roots down be still find contentment and serving god young folks god's got to work for you to do you may still need to be tending some sheep for a while before you do what you think is going to be so great you it grieves me to see godly people who are restless and not content i firmly believe it can be a trick of satan himself to create a restlessness in a christian's mind and disrupt your enjoyment of just being in church and man i just like coming to church i like being in the presence of the lord i like having good church i mean let it happen when the when the unsaved come we're going to minister to them when there's a need for a miracle we'll pray for a miracle but sometimes we need to get together just have a little church together believe you me some might think i'm not preaching faith but it's just the opposite it takes more faith to stay consistent than to have highs and lows all the time philippians 4 11 says not that i speak in respect of want for i have learned in whatsoever state i am therewith to be content i know both how to be a based and i know how to abound i'm flexible everywhere and in all things i am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need and then you know what he said i can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me let me tell you if you'll find a consistent walk with god if you'll be still and get fed if you'll grow in the lord noted bible commentator adam clark said this about jeremiah 12 5 our text he said if the smallest evils to which thou hath which thou art exposed caused thee to make so many bitter complaints how will thou feel when in the course of the prophetic ministry thou shalt be exposed to much greater from enemies much more powerful look folks if you think kovid's as bad as it's going to get for christians you're sorely mistaken i'm not here preaching gloom and doom but i'm preaching a real message you better have your mind right you better have a consistency in serving god the enemy is going to stop just because there's a little disruption here a little disruption there you may be watching it on the news but in two weeks it may be in your front door you may be hear me i'm not preaching from internet rumors let me tell you around this world there are churches that are being closed down if you call yourself a christian they're coming in their government leaderships around this world that are coming in and closing the churches down taking folks to re-education camps to get their mind right oh but that won't happen in the u s of a you better sit still and get fed let me tell you children of god we better prepare ourselves spiritually we better be preparing ourselves that there [Applause] prophecy is being fulfilled i'm not here trying to be spooky but i'm trying to be real we've got to do a work for god while it's day we've got to stay consistent in his kingdom clark went on to say footman may be here a symbol of common evils oh it's just so hard serving god now horsemen of evil's more terrible he writes if thou have sunk under small difficulties what will thou do when great ones come i hear some say oh there's just too many temptations too many distractions to really commit and serve god i grant you that satan is devising new means of presenting old sin to tempt mankind i heard tf kenny say about that he said it's the same nag in a new dress it's just still sin it may have a new dress on but it's the same nag it's the same old ugly of sin but let me ask you with all the diverse opportunities there are to serve god here let me tell you about big dog ministries the first apostolic church we have apostolic kitty academy we have apostolic christian school we have summit groups women's esprit christian education mass choir praise team sign teams internet ministry multimedia tech teams television and video ministry camera operators and producers audio workers and producers ridge kids kids quest p180 adultish be free recovery ministry i'm just barely getting started oh but i can't serve god it's too tough there's no opportunities we have christian school athletics oh my brother mccool that's not ministering it's not could i pause and comment just a little bit i want first apostolic church to know why we built a gymnasium while we have ball fields it's because we have an alternative that we're up we're offering an alternative to the way the world does things now let me be clear give me a moment to chase this rabbit we're not trying to produce athletes that are necessarily going to make their living off of their athletics but you know what we are doing we're putting our children in controlled conflict situations that we're in charge of now well now what's spiritual about that because if i can teach your son and your daughter in a controlled conflict of playing in athletics now first of all let me tell you we as apostolics we have to be careful because we preach so much if you're jesus name apostolic holiness you're a winner and you're hey you're the head and not the tail and some of us feel like if we lose a game somebody must have been cheating god does not care who wins your basketball game i'm sorry to break that to you he doesn't care who wins your soccer match you know but there are disciplines we're learning we're teaching our kids we put them in controlled conflict that we can be in charge of because they've got to learn that sometimes even authorities officials miss a call and you got to learn to deal with it we teach them sometimes that there's going to be somebody that's better than you and they're going to beat you you got to learn to deal with it without losing your cool there's going to be conflict sometimes there's going to be issues sometimes but you know what if they can learn from those life skills see some of y'all thought all i was doing was learning to hit a volleyball but if you learn some of those life skills now it may be when they get out in this work-a-day world and a police officer pulls them over and caught thought they were speeding and it was somebody else if they don't know how to deal with it it may cost them their life if they get in a conflict with somebody over who got that parking place first somebody here this preacher tonight fill my heart we're making so many opportunities to be a christian and a child of god available god's given us so many wonderful resources christian school athletics men's fellowship custodial services and yard service camp meeting camp good spirit ushers greeters security musicians bus drivers ministries of help on and on and on and let me tell you i'm not naming these things over because it's not being done let me tell you you're in a house full of big dogs tonight i said you're in a house full of big dogs tonight if i started naming one i'd have to name a hundred of those who have stepped up and done so many things just being consistent with what god has given us the ability to do you see i can't sit around not finding my niche and become lazy on the porch and let me tell you this there is one other calling that i will remind you of that's scriptural first corinthians 1 2 says unto the church of god which is at corinth to them that are sanctified in christ jesus called to be saints i don't know my calling be a saint first that's the first calling all of us ought to have i'm called to be a saint of god i'm called to be a representative of christ if you'll be a saint first then those other things those dreams that brother anthony preached about today they will be fulfilled in god's time well let me move quickly i have no southern quip for this but suffice to say the second part of our text lets us know we need to have flood control it said if in the land of peace wherein thou trust us they wear thee then how wilt thou do in the swelling of the jordan when there's a flood we need to have flood control what do you mean preacher well scripture says this in isaiah 59 19. so shall they fear the name of the lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun when the enemy shall come in like a flood the spirit of the lord shall lift up a standard against him leave that scripture up there just a minute i want to show you something i quoted t.f tinney once let me let me quote him man look at smokey up there he's a big dog by the way did anybody hear smokey's getting ready to retire that's right that is smoky tin and he's getting ready to retire what are we going to do oh no smokey's getting ready to retire i mean i i don't know do you have any any video or any pictures i i don't know [Music] smokey's getting ready to retire but who was that who is that who is that you see that was smoky 10 that we saw but that's smoky 11 fall of 22 let me tell you we're not finished producing some big dogs in the house i said we're you see these young folks right here sister michaela you know those k-fives they may be pups now but you got some big dogs in the making i said there's some big dogs coming on somebody hear me there's some big dogs coming around you see he said when the enemy would come in like a flood i heard t.f tinney say if he'd have been isaiah he'd have put the comma in a different place look at it he said he would have taken the comma and moved it back three words and put it after in he said i would have said when the enemy shall come in comma like a flood the spirit of the lord will lift up a standard against him that ain't too bad isaiah put it this way but i'll at least give tf kenny some credit because he understood the importance of a standard somebody hear me tonight if you look at the definition of the word standard it has multiple definitions oh some folks getting real scared right now a standard is a conspicuous object a standard is the personal flag of the head of a state or a member of a royal family seems like i remember somewhere that we're called a royal priesthood a conspicuous object you don't look like the rest of this world you don't act like the rest of this world something set up established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity weight extent value or quality the reason we talk about having a standard of holiness because scripture said when the enemy comes in like a flood the spirit of the lord will lift up a standard it will be how things should be another definition says means of determining what a thing should be as established by law or custom let me explain that there are some things that are in the word of god that are law but there are also some customs there are some man-made barriers standards if you will that the church has lifted up for protection of another generation as those pups come on and become big dogs the last definition of a standard says a structure built for or serving as a base or support a barrier preacher i don't think you ought to go there with barriers let me tell you mom and dad sister stayton said it so well she said don't be afraid to put fences around your kids that's why we have sunday school that's why we have christian athletics that's why we have christian school and child care centers that's why we have all of these different youth groups we're putting up some barriers between our kids and this world oh they need to experience the world let me repeat a couple of things a story i've told the church many times but if there's one of you hadn't heard it i heard pastor jeff moses tell so eloquently about visiting the stone mountain georgia national park and he said as they went up on the top of the stone mountain georgia if you've ever seen if you ever land in atlanta if you look off to the east of atlanta you'll see stone mountain jetting up out of the green grass there's this sudden it's like looks like a huge rock but it's actually a a a monument of of stone that that there's very little vegetation on and it's now become a either a state or national park but brother brother moses related a story that they visited that part and when they went there was a fence and about 50 yards something like that at the most not even that maybe maybe 30 yards there was a white line that was painted and then just a little farther there was a drop-off it was a cliff very dangerous and he asked the park ranger what that was about he said well when they first opened this he said the slope to the edge of that cliff was so gradual that when they first opened the park there was no fence there was no nothing folks would try to walk out to look off the edge and the slope was so gradual they would get to a point of no return that they couldn't get back without someone helping them he said so their first attempt to be safe with the park was they painted a white line right where the point of no return was and they tell folks they put up signs don't go past that white line don't go past that white line that's about like putting a sign up that says wet paint what do we do don't go past that line i'll try one foot so brother moses asked him he said well why did y'all put this fence back this far from the white line to which the park ranger replied it's so we have time to catch all the dummies who climb the fence let that sink in just a minute there's going to be some man-made barriers against sin that the church may raise up it may seem so restrictive to one who desires to get to the line but let me tell you sometimes our forefathers our past another generation raised up some barriers to keep all the dummies who want to jump the fence from falling off the cliff and i don't have the authority nor would i ever feel that i was able to start lowering some standards some barriers that our forefathers have put up and put in place to protect us it's got us to where we are why tear it down why tear it down [Applause] well man i've given you all these southern quips i know much of our church family some 70 plus couples were at marriage retreat and some of you men heard this but i'm gonna at least read it one more time i was so inspired by sister valerie staton's presentation our marriage retreat i read this to the men's conference and i'm going to read it to those of you just in case you didn't hear it she read a poem that was entitled a fence or an ambulance it says twas a dangerous cliff as they freely confessed though to walk near its crest was so pleasant but over its terrible edge there had slipped a duke and full many a peasant so the people said something would have to be done but their projects did not at all tally some said put up a fence around the edge of the cliff some an ambulance down in the valley but the cry for the ambulance carried the day for it spread through the neighboring city offense may be useful or not it's true but each heart became full of pity for those who slipped over the dangerous cliff and the dwellers in highway and alley gave pounds and gave pence not to put up a fence but an ambulance down in the valley for the cliff is all right if you're careful they said and if folks even slip and are dropping it isn't the slip that hurts them so much as the shock down below when they're stopping so day after day as these mishaps occurred quick forth with those rescuers sally to pick up the victims who fell off the cliff with their ambulance down in the valley then an old sage remarked it's a marvel to me that people give far more attention to repairing results than to stopping the cause when that much better aim at prevention let us stop at its source all this mischief cried he come neighbors and friends let us rally if the cliff we will fence we might also dispense with the ambulance down in the valley let me tell you we need to build more barriers to keep us away from sin not tear down standards and fences that have been preventing us and getting us to where we are i would much rather have prevention than trying to repair broken lives broken marriages broken situations i maintain it's easier to serve god now than it's ever been musicians make your way up i draw to a close let me tell you scripture reminds us that there were a bunch of big dogs that came in front of us hebrews said it this way i won't read it all but hebrews 11 33 said who through faith subdued kingdoms you don't subdue kingdoms unless you're a big dog wrought righteousness obtain promises stop the mouths of lions i think you may be talking about daniel daniel was a big dog quench the violence of fire escape the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong wax valiant in fight turned to flight the armies of the aliens women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings yay moreover bonds and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn asunder they were tempted they were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins being destitute afflicted and tormented preacher i thought you were going to talk about us being victorious and being winners these are all big dogs we're talking about for you see the fight was not over when their natural life ended it said of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth these all these all having obtained a good report through faith not received not the promise okay now pause all the heroes of the bible the stances that they took all the heroes in previous generations man i've heard too many of the stories and my grandma grandma and grandpa cook had to fight for their very existence in the north carolina mountains how the denominal world not just the sinners but the denominal world would try to drive them out literally physically throw people out of prayer meetings and abuse them simply because they were expressing their right to enjoy the freedom and the power of the holy ghost fallen on them speaking with tongues i've heard time and time again the heroes of our faith just in previous generations how they had to fight for even existence of being apostolic yet some of us are still wanting to lay on the porch i'm here to tell you i want some folks got some dog in you and i hope you understand i'm speaking spiritually now i want to have a church like we have that's full of determination that i will not be deterred by the enemy's advances by the enemy's temptations for verse 40 said god having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be made perfect i maintain what we do with what we've got we'll speak volumes to what a previous generation and multiple generations from hebrews went through god help us if we're too weak to stand up and fight the horsemen if we're too weak to stand against the onslaught of the enemy let me tell you stand with me that'll make you think i'm finishing folks if you read the headlines the enemy is not secretive anymore he's not slipping things in now he's in your face he's telling us i want to be able to teach your kids the little boys can become like little girls and little girls can become like little boys and if you try to say anything about it i'm going to arrest you you're preaching hate speech listen if we can't stand now look look at all god bishop started pointing out look at we're blessed the technology uh all of the the facilities the the abilities the recognition in our community if we can't serve god now if we can't when will we ever be able to serve god you know sometimes there's a few folks i feel like saying come here baby come back and lay down bless your little heart let me scratch your ears man i need some folks with dog in you i need some big dogs in the house then i need some folks to say i'm going to stand against adversity i'm going to keep good all right all right man i've already said it now and i've got you standing so you know i got to hurry but let me tell you i was asked to be on a in a panel discussion i've never done this in my life in a in a message but i am gonna finish what i got to say so y'all stay here but y'all sit down sit down just a minute i ain't finished yet i was asked to be on a panel at men's conference national men's conference on parenting and when they gave me what the facilitator's initial question would be for me this is what the question was it said brother mccool you have entered into the glorious season of the empty nest you know they do come back home even if the nest is empty and i love seeing them all come the wonderful time of being a grandparent i wasn't even gonna get to talk about being a parent i had to talk about being a grandparent how is mentoring grandchildren different than men mentoring your children and the first thing i said to them was what i said to you while ago i said don't be afraid to build fences around your kids and your grandkids because now hear me when i preach like this some of us that's been serving god for a little while if we aren't careful we'll say yeah you tell them young folks they need to get hey i'm going to talk to grandparents now because i am one would all you grandparents listen to me just a moment you see in scripture one of the most difficult stories to read if you really connect the dots is the story of lot's demise after he had left the relationship with abram who became abraham the promised one of god for lord the bible says there was first of all i'll paraphrase quickly there was a disagreement it wasn't even between lot and abram it was between their herdsmen and they were arguing over they had had so much blessings that had so much success that they were having to separate their herdsmen because they they had so much cattle they were interfering with each other and their herdsmen had a disagreement so in a moment of passion and i'll fix this lot said well we'll just separate ourselves and the bible said he pitched his tents toward the well-watered plains of sodom it didn't say he headed to sodom didn't say he he made his reservations and bought some property and all he did is he moved towards remember that gradual slope i was telling you about he said i'm just going to separate myself from the promise and get just a little bit closer to sodom but if you zip ahead in time in the word of the lord you now find angels have come to his house because he's moved in to sodom he's made that his abode he's been there for many many years and sodom had become so wicked that perverted men are now aggressively banging on his door because they saw angels go into his house that apparently had the form of man and perverted men are beating on his door aggressively wanting to satisfy their deviate corrupt vile desires with these angels lot now has so compromised himself lot offers two virgin daughters to them to replace the perversion and the angels have to intervene and blind the men but the angels of theirs are saying you better get out of town god's getting ready to destroy this place and so you know what happened a lot the bible says goes to his son-in-laws now if you connect the dot you realize he had virgin daughters but he also had daughters who were married and he had sons-in-law he had been there long enough that very likely if he had son-in-laws he had grandchildren i don't think that's too big a reach to connect the dots there and he goes to his son-in-laws you see he had experience walking with the promise he knew what it was like to see the blessings of god on abram he had experienced him himself as long as he was with the promise but now a gradual slope had led him to sodom and he's got one last warning he knows the way back he knows where he should be and he goes to his sons-in-law in genesis 19 14. it says and lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law which married his daughters and said up get you out of this place for the lord will destroy this city but one of the saddest lines in scripture says but he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law why lot had lost his moral authority to influence his family when sodom burned as lot fled very likely in his heart he knew he had grandbabies that were dying he had daughters and sons-in-law that were dying we as grandparents must be cautious not to become enablers and facilitators to our grandchildren's generation we must not make allowances that will dilute the commitment that it takes to really serve god oh honey you're my grandbaby i don't think you got to walk it as close as the kids did or as i did if you aren't careful you will facilitate the demise of your grandbabies [Applause] if we think because of our age we have the authority to tear down barriers and standards we're losing our authority to protect our children and our grandchild children we will destroy our influence when we need it most god help me i don't want eleanor and easton and callaway to look at their grandfather someday and say well you know i know he expected this of their mama and their daddy but pops change you don't have to walk it that tough anymore you don't have to serve it that way anymore heaven help us i want to raise up another big dog generation that's not afraid to stand up against sin they're not ashamed to be counted as different you are royalty you're a priesthood you're god's chosen hallelujah now stand with me hallelujah hallelujah i want to be victorious in him i want to do this quickly do i have any big dogs in the house do i have anybody's got any spiritual dog in you if you do they're going to sing a song here in just a minute and i want to open this altar for every believer in the house if you've been a little bit ashamed well you know i don't dress like everybody else at work are you a dog or you're a pup somebody called me a holy roller are you a dog or you a pup [Music] some folks questioned me about my commitment why go to church all the time what listen if you can't run right now if you can't serve god right now with all that he's given us when will you ever be able to serve god come on right now if you want to say god i'm going to be strong in you i will stand you see another generation a dog coming come on and commit come on and say god i give it all to you hallelujah yes lord yes lord i will be strong i will be victorious hallelujah your name is shine through the shadows [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus jesus from the your name is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] i bet you've never had a preacher tell you this everybody in the house say i'm a big dog say i'm a big dog i want the devil to know that there's a house there's a pack in this place you're not going to have my family i'm going to speak the name of jesus in the darkness i'm going to call the name of jesus when i need healing i'm going to call on the name of jesus i will not be ashamed i will not be afraid i'm going to proclaim jesus to my family thank you first apostolic church thank you for being a strong vibrant healthy growing church as long as we do our part god's going to keep providing for us he's going to give us the tools he's going to give us the ability he's going to give us the ministry to do what he's called us to do lord bless you please remember bible study wednesday night we're expecting a great time in the lord greet everyone as your personal protocol gives you the privilege to security greeters ushers thursday night 7 30 you're dismissed in jesus name shake hands and be friendly