How to Avoid Having Entitled Children

thank you Pastor he called me and I was like I may sound like you in a couple days I don't know TBD but I'm so honored uh it's a privilege anytime someone would would trust uh someone else enough to to stand behind the pulpit it's nothing ever teaching preaching it doesn't matter it's always an honor for me and I'm so thankful uh it's good to see you here tonight I was taught if you can't preach or teach to empty pews you can't can't preach or teach to full ones and uh but it makes it a lot easier if you're here I don't know sometimes like I'll I'll be I'll like practice through it or I'll walk through something it's easier when you're not because I can be like no I didn't actually mean that that sounded really dumb and if y'all are here y'all already laughing you don't even hear the recanting of it so uh tonight's lesson is how to avoid having entitled children so I had to like modify everything I was like I can't teach anyone how to I was like wow I was looking over the material I was like yeah that that doesn't I don't I don't know how to relate to that other than beat your kids I guess um this is why most of the time they don't let me have a microphone uh just yeah just what's he doing just don't talk to him he'll be all right but how many know we live in a society that is entitled yeah like I mean seriously and I honestly I want to say it's not even a it's not even a cultural thing it's a human nature thing me me me it's just human nature and and Christianity a lot of times we say it's counter-cultural but Jesus spent his time being counter nature he didn't he he rarely addressed the culture he said what are you doing what's what's your heart looking like what's it and so we we look at it I remember when I was uh when I was in high school I had a I had a teacher and she brought up the idea she said don't don't everyone doesn't everyone deserve a free health care and I was like it was the first time that idea had really even been thrown at me I was like what do you mean deserve she's like no that's that's a basic human right I don't I I don't think so it wasn't until later that I heard Ben Shapiro put it in better words just say I'm not preaching Ben Shapiro tonight but when Ben Shapiro put it in better words of taking something from someone right you can't dictate something but our society people as a whole me me me me I deserve this I deserve better give it to me it's not just kids it's real easy to blame it on kids because they don't they don't really talk back about it see but but we live in a society that promotes it our our capitalism our fundamental building blocks of capitalism is based on human nature unleashing human nature to Nature to produce good it's it's a good thing but with no limits you you get peeps like uh Jeff Bezos or or Elon Musk who literally nothing else in the world matters to them it their value system their their their family lives uh any other positive contribution they can make it's only monetary if I may I don't want to the proof's in the pudding uh Tom Brady I I remember this dude's been playing football for all of my life I was in Middle School and I remember this is where I learned not to gamble because I had a buddy who loved the Patriots I was like no they're gonna lose the Super Bowl and I was like I bet you like five bucks I don't I don't even remember but I do know I lost money like and I was like man I mean this was I was in Middle School and this dude is still going to Super bows I don't know if you paid attention to the news lines but that's all he's got he's 45 he's the greatest of all time and that's cool and all but that's all that that type of John John put it this way nothing in the world but lust of the eye less of the Flesh and the pride of life that type of pride that's that's innate uh in in that's that's our world I I got I got a few videos tonight I'm sorry y'all Kara uh there that video about the the uh which one's what's it called the snowflake meltdown y'all are gonna love this video okay yeah I know y'all seen it I love this video I know everyone's seen it but if we got the snowflake meltdown video if we can Donald J Trump is now president of the United States president to be able to introduce for the first time ever anywhere the 45th president of the United States of America Donald Trump man I am so sorry I'm sorry but that video y'all like that person was just literally melting down because they didn't get their way I mean I know we get mad you know elections are elections whatever talk about some entitlement the first time probably that person's ever been told no you can't have your way and they don't know what to do with it that's our world that person's probably teaching a kid right now like honestly wait that's our world that's the situation we're in no we don't act like that but honestly you like you you let us drive to Chick-fil-A on a Sunday I mean honestly same same I ain't gonna tell y'all what I did to Dairy Queen but that's the state of human nature we want what we want God says no that's that's going to lead to something that's going to lead to excess that's going to lead to an imbalanced life and and many times it comes from a place of good if I may uh Lauren she wasn't supposed to be in here so this story was prepared for her not to be in here it's good it's good it's good so like I learned real early on oh thank you thank you I learned real early on that I couldn't tell her no and I learned I was like no I can't I don't even like she wants something like my nature is to okay well that's my job that's my nature right that's I feel like that's most men's nature all right that's what you want so I knew that that just wasn't gonna work because while that's my nature that ain't my job like my job do not does not agree with that they don't pay me enough to do that like so I was like hey babe will you will you do the monthly budget will you please because I just I just can't do it it's my job like I do that for for a living but I can't do it I just need you to do it I needed her to tell herself no that way I didn't have to but honestly Josh Josh is he's in a bad situation because McKinley I'm just saying he's like can I work 5 000 hours this week my daughter needs a a five-story Barbie house um right and it comes from a good place of of providing that's what my kids my wife my family I want them to have better than what I had or I want them to be better off at the end of my life I want my family to be in a better position that's a natural good desire and honestly no doubt Jeff Bezos started started from that that part like great idea all of a sudden this dude he's chasing he's the richest man in the world got whatever he's chasing unimaginable dreams and I know that's that's the extreme but we all do that in some way if we're not careful that we get caught up in chasing and chasing it comes to a point of envy uh how many do tick tock okay don't raise your hand uh I don't do Tick Tock I was just wondering if anybody did Tick Tock uh that may not be here I don't know uh but Kara we've got another video another this is the Rich Kids of tick tock video all right this is yeah go ahead go ahead oh and it's a very like it's this is a cut and cut just because I don't know what all else is on the video so rich and dinner tonight I'm on the golf team let's go those things cost more than I'll ever ever made and that's fine but that's what's feeding generation after generation it doesn't matter I said Tick Tock but Instagram or any type of social media you see 22 year olds walking around getting on a private jet whether it's theirs or not it doesn't matter that's what's portrayed okay that type that growing Envy in our hearts you guys may be multi-millionaires I don't know okay but as far as I know most of us work for a living we don't see the inside of private jets super often but that's there we we see this this point of Humanity that that excess is in our country it's it's not just ours it's everywhere in the world there's uh we're blessed but there's always more and it's super easy to look at that uh it to me I mean that's that's what's pushed you don't want to push a sad video like those don't get many likes or retweets or whatever uh they you just that's what that image that success that idea and it what it does is it stirs subconsciously how in the world is that even possible I have no idea there is no plan that I know of to like go from making a regular salary to maybe owning your own business to your a multi-billionaire over you know that's not an that's not a step-by-step plan that's a that's something else and to to me to you to the most of the world it's an inconceivable idea but it's a point of envy it stirs up in us and and we get to the point of if I may we're not out murdering people we're not you know Thou shalt not commit murder and we're not doing the big Thou shalt not but we forget about covetousness super easy because we live in a materialistic world I mean from just just from the last 70 80 years uh post-world War II we see advertising become a a major push of you don't need Kirkland purified signature purified water you need I don't know Enos or whatever Vos water because that water is better like water's got to be the best marketing Ploy in the world right this is Voss you can pay five dollars for this bottle really and then also we also paid for this bottle of water so I don't I don't know if I have a leg to stand on here but you see what I'm saying like somebody made something and stirred up some Envy and somebody said I don't just need this crinkly oh don't you just hate that I need Voss that's what I need yeah my my work didn't think so either so but that that envy that gets stirred up then we forget about something we forget about thankfulness because Carol uh if if we got my last video uh we'll just we'll watch about a minute of this uh hello everyone here we are in Burundi which has been chosen as per the analysis reporters of the World Bank I am and many other official institutions as the poorest country in the world almost every year in the last 62 years the country has a population of approximately 12.5 million and its people live in such great poverty that it is also known as the unhappiest country in the world and the annual income of the average working citizen is approximately 180 US Dollars although the unemployment rate in the country is not known one out of every three people is thought to be unemployed imagine that if you are lucky to be able to work day and night your monthly salary is only 15 and you have to support a family of eight welcome to the world's fourth and unhappiest Country when we landed at bujumbura International Airport the only airport in the country with asphalt Runway River Ridge I had to break your heart won't it yeah when when you see the contrast of the world you got to ask yourself something can I be thankful there because I guarantee there's people in that first video that had all the cars and all the mansions that they pay some shrink five hundred five thousand dollars an hour because they can't get something right in there yet and they forgot something they forgot how to be thankful I don't you can have all the things in the world and not be thankful for it but you got to ask yourself something if I'm in East Africa I ain't got nothing can I still be thankful see we live in a world that forgets that exists if it ain't happening to me it doesn't it doesn't matter America is quickly becoming a society of closed Gates a fenced in cul-de-sacs and I get it you gotta have safety but then it also becomes a society of a blind eye and a downcast look and an ungrateful heart because it's super easy to go to places like Burundi or Haiti and go you know what if they would just do this it would turn around and it might it might okay but who are we just got to be thankful Philippians 2 and 3. says do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourself Let each of you look only on not only on his own interests but also on the interest of others have this mind among yourself which is in which is yours in Christ Jesus this looking not on yourself right that that that that takes and puts it in perspective God you've blessed me I'm thankful what can I do to help someone else because if I'm a thankfulness breeds doing I I thankful and a grateful heart will find a way to help someone else it doesn't have to be spurred it doesn't have to be pushed it just happens God you've blessed me and I know as long as I keep an open hand of the blessings you'll keep them going First Timothy six and six but godliness with contentment is great game for we brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything out of this world but if we have food and clothing with these we will be content the the Egyptians they built great pyramids and great tombs in the ground and They Carried their riches and bankrupted Nations to carry their riches with them three thousand years later we dig it up and we're like oh that's cool let's put it in a museum that's exactly where to go and that's exactly what happened to it because there's nothing that we can take job said he said naked I came into this world naked I go blessed be the name of the Lord this attitude of gratitude so to speak is not something that is done natural it is not something that happens by accident it is not something that is you're going to find just walking down the street or with a co-worker I mean if I may I've had co-workers that I had to like just stop hanging out with not because they just was just negative Nellie's and then maybe they weren't just maybe it was me too right maybe we just we just jumped off each other and played off each other and we just Sprout into this great negativity and I had to wait a minute I got to get out of this mindset or this is going to hurt me and so that is not a natural thankfulness is not a natural our our minds focus on the negative naturally we remember it more we focus on it more so it has to be a conscious effort for us to say I am thankful it it says uh and and it comes down to what are we thankful for what what's what's something what's something you're thankful for little Rob freedom to worship God what's something or something you're thankful for anyone the Holy Ghost house anyone out Mr Jim what you think God's protected they were they were in an interstate accident this week it could be very easily for them to not be here God's protection God's hand of Mercy now if I may you you guys that answered y'all have a little bit of life experience I didn't see well I mean Belle you're getting pretty old yourself so but thankfulness is learned it's a learned trait it is something uh to model it is something to do intentionally to make sure that those around us know that we are thankful success failures what do they matter at the end of the day somebody's gonna dig a hole they're gonna put you in it I I it's just as simple as it is what have you planted in someone else's life I'm I'm ending tonight uh if you would I'll I'll if you would stand with me I'll end in prayer but there was a to me and I've some of you probably remember me mentioning it before but I was at I was it was the worst period of my life that I can imagine okay and it didn't just happen today it wasn't a month it was months and drawn on into years and it was just bad it was just it was it was just it my world was falling apart it was just bad and I found myself just stuck in it just bad it's just that's all that's the only way I know to say I couldn't find I couldn't see the the sunshine through the rain or it didn't matter what it was it was just bad and finally one day I was I was driving back I would drive back and forth to school I was working I you know just I was doing life but I was just on autopilot and there was this there was this one tree that would pass by and it caught my eye and I don't remember why but I just said that's gonna be my thank you tree no matter what I'm thinking no matter what's going on right here I'm just driving there's no cell service for this 20-mile stretch of the road there's there's nothing to distract me it's just it's just a reminder to stop what I'm doing and just say thank you Lord thank you for your goodness thank you for the breath that I mean I didn't have much to thank God for I'm if we're just being honest it didn't feel like it but I started thank you God for letting me to breathe I'm thankful to be able to go to school get education I'm thankful to and I know we've all been there but that for me was was my was I felt like a pivotal moment in retraining my brain I don't know that I could have got that and don't don't get me wrong I'm not not hating on psychologists Lauren's going to be a counselor so y'all talk to her but uh I think that's all good and all but I don't think I could have got that there I think that God had to help me retrain here to make sure that no matter what just thankful if I got a million dollars okay if I'm living in the heart of Africa with no no shoes nothing and just fighting to to get some food okay sure it might be a little harder but then again it may not so tonight isn't closing can we can we all just take just a moment and gather our minds let's find something to be thankful for God this day may have been the worst day of my life I don't know I'm breathing right now or it was just a minute ago I don't know can we can we do that can we lift up our hands can we bow our heads God I thank you God I praise you God I worship you I thank you Lord for your kindness I thank you Lord for your mercy God I thank you Lord for just allowing me to breathe today God I thank you come on you can find something to thank the Lord for don't complicate it make it very simple come on make it very simple thank you Jesus come on mull it over in your mind why are you thankful for that I thank you Jesus almighty God I thank you I thank you Lord I Thank you foreign come on this is this is the month we talk about a life of giving thanks thank you Jesus thank you Jesus foreign we can't learn be thankful in the little and we're certainly going to have a hard time with the lot I dare say some of you probably saw today's post by brother and sister Brian and Haiti they're of course not on the field they had to come off the field for security reasons do you see the Lauren did you see the post Fort I think they said 14 gang members made it to the hill that's been the issue in Haiti as gangs shipping and receiving and stuff of goods into the countries just been an extreme Challenge because the government is no non-existent basically and so gangs have taken over gas stations and food you know the Brian's posted a short thing today giving thanks again made it over the fence up to the top of the hill where the orphanage is when we went and helped when Lauren helped and invested so much in and those precious children and I got a clinic in there brother Brian posted today gang members made it to the hill and I wasn't there but they were able to talk him down off the hill without bothering anybody hang on a minute now somebody give things what do you think that they were doing when they closed that gate and those shotguns and rifles started down the hill you think that those adults up there with those kids turn around say oh y'all go play go it's foreign thank you God the simple fact that they get to live you and I call that extreme and we live in America and that stuff doesn't happen those who don't give thanks will lose their ability to would y'all thank the Lord with me right now for his protection over them come on thank you Lord for seeing them through it thank you Lord whatever you did angels that went whatever it was with the word that was spoken the look on their face whatever whatever happened we thank you for that Jesus we thank you for that that's life and death right there we're we're thankful for that we're so sorry Lord that we've developed selfish pride and things that really really don't matter come on somebody you ought to be so broken right now in your spirit to think how selfish maybe you've been over the years because your coffee wasn't good or because you didn't get what you thought you should have come on thank you Jesus I thank you Lord I Thank You Lord I Thank you kind of changes perspective a bit doesn't it