Live Free with Josh Howerton - Is Philip Anthony Mitchell Selling the Gospel!? (Addressing Accusations) | Live Free with Josh Howerton

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

What should Christians do when a viral accusation against a pastor suddenly takes over the internet? Believe it? Share it? Defend the pastor? Or stay out of it entirely? In this bonus episode of the LIVE FREE Podcast, Pastors Josh, Carlos, and Paul unpack the viral criticism surrounding Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell and use it to address a much bigger issue: how Christians should respond to accusations, online mobs, and criticism of spiritual leaders. The conversation explores the biblical tension between holding pastors accountable and refusing to participate in gossip, slander, or unverified accusations. This isn't an argument that pastors are above accountability. Scripture takes the character of spiritual leaders seriously—but it also takes false accusations seriously. Pastors Josh, Carlos, and Paul examine biblical examples from Jesus, Paul, Stephen, Nehemiah, and the early church to help Christians discern what they're seeing online before joining the mob. In this episode, you'll learn: How Christians should respond to viral accusations against pastors Why Scripture requires evidence before entertaining an accusation against an elder The difference between biblical accountability and online slander How criticism can become a distraction from God's calling Why Christians must be careful about what they believe, repeat, and share How to support and pray for pastors facing public criticism Stand firm. Think biblically. Live free. 💬 This week’s giveaway: Comment HAT 🧢 Want a Live Free hat of your own? Visit LiveFree.shop 📲 Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Check out the Lakepointe App to access our Discipleship Guide, daily Bible reading plan, and more. Text APP to 20411 to download

The tactic is not to argue against the Bible teaching because Satan knows that's a losing strategy. The tactic then becomes, let's just try to discredit and problematize the Bible teachers. That becomes the strategy. Well, hey, Live Free Nation, before we jump into the episode, this podcast is recorded right here at Lake Point Church in Dallas, Texas. But the Live Free Nation is spread all over the country and all around the world. So if you've been watching and thinking, man, I wish I could be part of some. something like this, we want to invite you to take a simple next step, and that is join us for Church Online. Every weekend we stream our services live on YouTube, Facebook, and our Church Online platform,

and it's more than just watching a service. There are a live host in the chat, prayer teams ready to stand with you, and people all around the world worshiping together in real time. And so whether you're exploring the faith, coming back to church, or just looking for a place to start, church online is a great way to jump in and experience what God is doing here at Lake Point. We would love to see you in the chat this weekend. And now, enjoy the podcast. You all ready? We're ready, bro.

Let's get to it. Let's talk. The problem with Philip Anthony Mitchell. Oh. No, actually, the problem that people have with Philip Anthony Mitchell. That's what we're going to talk about. There you go. And I want to, so here's, let me set this up real quick, because I think this is important for people.

Last week, here's what we're going to talk about. We're going to talk about Philip Anthony Mitchell. And then we're going to talk about how. people should think about when they see like viral accusations against very public pastors like that guy. Because, you know, this is, this may surprise. I have a little experience with it. You do? I never would have known.

And so when I see stuff like that, I'm like, there are dynamics involved in this thing that that 99.9% of people would never think of. So here's what I want to do. I want to break this down and give an example. to help people understand what happened Philip Anthony Mitchell this week, went viral, he actually got up and responded to it in his pulpit. But then I want to go a layer deeper and talk about the dynamics that people see around that because, very frankly, it's like a whole industry online now. Yes. All right. Anything you guys want to say before we said this out?

Other than the fact that we got free merch, or not free merch, sorry. Whoopsie, baby. Normal merch that you can get out of. our shop, you know, just this is what we do every single week. Actually, we do giveaways. So, you know, text, not to, man, man, this is a, it's been a long day. It's been a long day, man. Comment hats on either YouTube or Spotify, and we got these hats for you as well, or you can go to live free. shop as well. That's all I had to say. Now, I will say this. Let me say this more time. I did this last week. Honestly, when we do a bonus episode, it's a lot of work and energy.

So if you could, I really want to know if you feel like this stuff's worth it and you're like, yeah, worth it, keep going. We're always trying to figure out, is the juice worth the squeeze? Let's go. So if you'll comment over on YouTube, let us know what you think.

And we are trying, well, I'll shoot you really straight. I am trying to decide if the amount of energy it requires is worth it. So here we go, but we want to help people. Okay, so here's what you're getting ready to see. Philip Anthony Mitchell, if you don't know who he is, is honestly, arguably the most, I hate the word famous.

I don't know what word to use. Influential. Influential, well-known preacher in America right now. He might be. I'll shoot you real straight, dude. I listen to this guy when I'm working out right now. Makes sense. Makes sense.

For reasons, it will become obvious here in a second. God preaches like a freight train. I love it so much, dude. I love it so much. As he has had that, as the Lord has elevated him, Let me say it like that. More and more, I'm starting to see people like aim at this guy and make super viral accusations against his character that just like they take off like a rocket.

And it's like within a week, an accusation will be all around the country and he hadn't even had time to mess with it. Okay. So to set this up, it came out, I guess a couple weeks ago, that he, and a buddy his name Tim Timberlake. That's a pastor I spent time with, got down in Florida. I loved Tim when I was hanging out with him.

They've got a podcast, and they were doing a thing where they were going to a couple cities, and then somebody screenshoted that they were charging $60 to attend live podcast episodes, and then it just, you know, the internet did what the internet does. So like his, so here's what, again,

what I'm going to try to do in the next few minutes is give people a back, a back room understanding of how it affects churches, pastors, and dynamics at play. So what you've got to understand is his whole church spends the entire week seeing viral TikTok videos about greedy mega church pastor, charging $60 to come to his podcast recording, right? Yeah, yeah, I mean, why are people charging to hear the gospel?

selling the gospel. He's a pastor, you know, maybe the tickets. He just let people listen to him for free and he gave him a free lunch. That's right. He's supposed to be a street preacher and, you know, like he's out there. What if somebody can't afford the ticket price? That's right. Okay.

So that's like, I mean, I saw it. Like I saw viral TikTok videos. Okay. So I start seeing this stuff. So he did what usually does not happen. And actually, later in this podcast, I may explain, why pastors with larger platforms don't actually usually we don't even see it but don't respond to that stuff I may explain that here in a second but he zagged where some people zig and you're going to

see him right here responding to it now what we're going to do is I want you to see so here's what was said here's what was true but then we want to go a layer deeper and talk about like hey man what are the dynamics at play and how should Christians respond when they see these kinds of things Is that a good way to set this up? That's great, man. That's perfect. All right, let's do this thing. So basically, we're answering a question.

How should you think about it and how should you respond when you see viral accusations against higher profile pastors? Okay. Phil Panthea Mitchell, here we go. Now I'm going to start, stop this thing a few times and have a little fun with it. All right. Here we go. John called Pharisees, a brood of vipers. I love this.

It reminds me there are times when you need to speak up and times when you need to remain. stay silent. I will speak up now. Okay, pot, pop, pop, pop. Now, I'm going to set this. I'm like, I love the posture to, too, and he's ready to shoot. He's like, I love that. God preaches like a freight trade. Let me tell you why I like listen to him. I love it when guys preach, like, everybody they're listening to is dangling over hell. And their only chance is what they're going to

hear in the next few minutes. That's how that guy. But he preaches like a jackhammer. He doesn't preach like a feather duster. That's what I like. Okay. So, those are the guys I like to listen to. Now, dude, I do want to say this, because it's going to become relevant here in a second. If you ever watch Phil Pantheon Mitchell's sermon, I've watched a few. He wears all black every episode. Do either of you know why?

No. No idea. He never wears a color that's not black. So, bro, this is a true story. This is going to make sense why I'm saying this here in a second. Goes to Israel back in 2018. He's standing next to the garden tomb. While he's there, he just feels like he has a radical encounter with a spirit

and just feels like the language he'll use is an old man died that day, is what he says. And the spirit impresses on him that there's going to be a vision of death to self, death to ambition, death to his old life. Ever since that 2018 experience with the spirit, he always wears black as a, quote, spoken remembrance of the daily funeral he has of dying to his old self. Oh. Wow. Hey, we can tell. Yeah, we can tell.

That's right. That's right. Okay. Now, okay, with that in mind, watch. how he approaches this. Okay, watch this. I am the pastor of 2819 church

who's bringing access to the nation for free and did it last year for free. It cost us almost $2 million to do that. Nobody paid to get in. I didn't even take a offer. Now, I also have a podcast I've never talked about on this platform because my podcast is separated from 2819.

It is my own ministry outside of the church with my partner, Tim Timberley. Shout out, Tim. Now, we have decided to go on a tour to take the gospel to cities. And because that's not funded by 2819, and it's not funded by Celebration Church. Tim and I got to do that with our own pockets. Okay, pause. So let's point some things out.

So what you see, what's really interesting is what you see online today is the exact same thing you see in the scriptures. Now, first of all, quick caveat. what none of us are saying is that, oh, any accusation against a pastor should be totally disregarded and that they're all perfect, that kind of thing. No, dude, like a little bit of the weird thing about my life is, you know, I run in those circles, know some of those guys and not the guys I hang out with, but dude, there are some, there's some bad guys that call themselves pastors. Yes. So that's not discounted that. What I want to point out is you will see this whole thing around,

they charge $60. Look at these greedy guys. So let me just point this out. What he's doing is he's explaining the reality. Bro, this is like, this is literally something me and Tim did from our own pocket. So like, let me just set the table.

Like baseline reality, I think every normal sane person would understand is that vision requires provision. That's how God has created the world. Stuff costs stuff. Yeah. It's like, I do just want to point this out. It's like, pull up that Bible verse Trinity.

Like, I think sometimes people forget Jesus ministry was funded by donations. It's like, you have this right here. It's in John 8. All right. It just says right here, Joanna, the wife of Chouza, Herod's household manager, Susanna and many others, quote, who provided for them out of their means. So I just want to point this out. Now, let me go a layer deeper and let me point some things out before you see.

So the accusations against him, it was all around money. That ain't new. The world has been doing that. The world has been doing that since Jesus, okay? I will point out, so first of all, who was it who accused Jesus' ministry of handling money poorly and saying things like, man, couldn't the money for this that was just poured out on your feet been sold and given to the poor? Judas. It's like Judas.

So a lot of times you'll see people do what they did to him. It's like, this guy's charging $60 for this stuff. Why didn't they just give it to homeless people? It's like, well, hey, bro, you sound like Judas. People don't realize that. That's literally what they're doing the exact same thing. They should have used that money for whatever. Judas.

You're on a bad path when you're pulling a Judas, just in general. Also, here's this really interesting. What I want to point out is there's spiritual dynamic. between behind stuff like this bro the apostle paul guess what they were saying about the apostle paul this dude's greedy he's fleecing churches he's robbing people this is all just he's just collecting money for personal gain people miss this dude there's layers to the scriptures people just don't think about so this is second corinthians 1216 so you get these whole the super apostles who are trying to discredit paul's ministry out of envy this is what it says and i'm just going to

read it to you because people miss this is what he was dealing with. Paul says, granting that I myself did not burden you. I was crafty, you say. So he's addressing what, he was addressing what the first century version of X was saying about him. I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. You're, you know, I just fleeced you out here. Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? So notice what he's doing. the objections against Paul's ministry is they were trying to problematize him to get people to stop trusting him because this guy's just in it for the money.

You see this again, 2 Corinthians 11, 7 and following. This way he says, he says, or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preach the gospel to you free of charge? And then he addresses this, I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. In other words, what they were saying is, hey, man, they were getting in people's ear and they were going, man, maybe Paul didn't fleece you, but he robbed all these other people.

So what I'm pointing out is what happened to Philip, that's been happening since the beginning. Because people can twist just basic human realities. Stuff cost stuff. Vision requires provision. Does that make sense? That makes a lot of sense. It seems to me like, you know, we also live in this culture where in some ways consumer Christianity is meeting entitlement Christianity. So like it's consumer Christianity.

It's like, well, I want to go to that event and I want to get that book from that author and I want to get to go to this service. And it must be really good. And if I don't like it, I'm going to go on social media and complain that, you know, the music was too loud or whatever. You know, we never heard about it, by the way. No, that never happens. Never happens. That's consumer Christianity. And then there's entitlement Christianity, which is a little bit of like the ethers of our culture right now of like, man, I want everything free.

I'm entitled to receive this, this, and that, and now we applied it to the church. And again, it's just the gospel is free, producing an event in a stadium, is not. It's not. The building, the stage, the lighting, the music, like the bus, that's not free. And so same thing, if you go to the store,

like you have a Bible there, Paul. Did you pay for that Bible? I did. Okay, so you can't go to the store and say, hey, you can't sell me the word of God. That's true. Now, you can listen to the Bible. teaching for free and that's how it should be. But if you want that book with those pages,

print it in that, you know, whatever, soft cover, whatever, it's going to cost something. Yeah. That's shocking. shocking. Okay. Now, watch how this goes, because you're about to see why every single, watch, every single time there is a spirit-filled prophetic pastor, the entire world begins to align against that man. Okay. So, Watch this. Check this out. It's why there is tickets. We have to pay for venues and security and productions. Stadiums don't rent themselves.

For all you ignorant people. And for all of you that want to tear me down in public for having a $60 ticket. I want to explain why he says this here in a second. And a VAT for me. All right. Last year on our tour. Okay, listen to this testimony. I'm going to make a point.

Our first location was Dallas, Texas. Shut up. Come to late point. We worship for an hour. Tim and I laid hands on everybody. And at the end of the night, there was a woman in the back who was pregnant. And I went up to her. Why are you crying?

She said, I'm pregnant. And the doctor told me my baby is going to be born, deformed. Okay, pause. Now, Trenna, here's a woman. want you to do because it's a longer testimony it ends awesome click through like to about i don't know click a little farther a little farther i'm going to tell you keep keep going keep going keep going okay go back just a little bit back just a little bit farther so hit play here's what he's going to do he receives so they pray over this they pray over this lady this got a medical diagnosis he and pastor tim

they pray over this lady uh something supernatural happens what watch what he does here he just explains God heals this lady and the baby through their prayer. So play this real quick. I want to make a point here. Well, let me just say, predominantly black churches are so fun to preach it. Love the energy, man. Love it.

You preach like 70% better when you're in one. They're alive. Testimony of a miracle, there I am, praying for her. There I am praying for her. and there is her healthy baby boy. Oh, wow. Praise God, man. That's right.

All right. All right. Now, pause Trinity. Okay. Now, let me make a point real quick, because there is things, there are things that happen in the spiritual that explain why all of heaven and earth.

Actually, I should say all of hell and earth align against a man like that. Okay. So here's your theology that comes to, comes into play. Whatever God creates, Satan counterfeits. God has the Holy Spirit. Satan counterfeits with unholy spirits,

the Bible calls demons. Okay, this is why, for every action of the Holy Spirit, like that, there is an opposite reaction of unholy spirits, the Bible calls demons. This is why,

listen, we say this all the time. You go through the book of Acts, take two highlighters. I did this in my Bible probably six years ago. Take two highlighters. Every time there's a revival, put it in one color.

Every time there's a revival, a riot, put it in another color, and the entire pattern of the book of Acts is revival, riot, revival, riot, revival, riot, okay? Why? Because for every action of the Holy Spirit, there is an opposite reaction of unholy spirits the Bible calls demons. Now, here's what I want to point out. When you have an anointed man that is a prophetic preacher like that, I'm telling you right now, if you are reading your Bible with two eyes open, you will know all of hell we'll put a bull's eye on that man. Yeah.

So let me just, let me make a, do a little Bible teaching here, and then I want to get back to this and make a point. Okay. Here's one thing I want to say, and when I listen to a guy like that, here's, here's what I constantly think about.

Everybody thinks they want a prophetic pastor until they get one. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So here's my point. All throughout the scriptures in the New Testament, there is a repeated, phrase over and over, you always kill the prophets. You always kill the prophets. So bro,

you probably never seen this before. So here's the best example of this. I'm going to tie this back to the spiritual realities around this. So dude, if you go to Acts 7, Act 7 stoning of Stephen. Stephen is in front of the Pharisees. And what Stephen, essentially what Stephen tells them is, you brood of vipers, you hypocrites, you say that you're sticking up for Moses, you're saying that you're the one, you love prophets, you're saying that. And what he says is he preaches this whole sermon,

and then he finishes the sermon going, you're a bunch of hypocrites and liars because you'll build museums to prophets that are dead because dead prophets are safe prophets. And then what he says is, every time you see a prophet, you persecute them and you kill them every single time, bro, this is so crazy.

I never saw this in the Bible till this year. So, bro, they're telling Stephen, no, we don't, we love prophets. Okay, so then Stephen says, you always kill the prophets. You killed prophets like Moses, all right? So then check this out. God pronounces visible judgment on the Pharisees stoning Stephen in Acts 7 by turning Stephen into Moses as they kill him in Acts chapter 7.

So here's what I mean. Check this out, bro. You know what I'm seeing this is amazing. So the Pharisees in the Gospels, they're having a little back and forth about the man born blind. Okay? And what they say is, the Pharisees say, we know God spoke to Moses, but as for this guy, Jesus,

we don't even know where he comes from. Okay, but check this out. How had Moses established his authority by working great wonders? What is Stephen doing in Acts chapter 7 when they want to kill him. Working great wonders. Check this out.

Brother, it's amazing. When Moses comes off the mountain, we know that he comes off with a shining face. Bro, in Acts 615, when the Pharisees sees Stephen, and they're like, we're going to kill this guy. What it specifically says,

I'm going to read it. At this point, everyone in the High Council stared at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angels. So I want you to think about this. All these guys are looking at Stephen, and they're going, we, you know, Stephen's going, you kill the prophets, da-da-da-da-da.

And then a prophet, watch this, like Moses, comes to the Pharisees. And he's ministering in the same power that Moses ministered in, and what do they do? They kill him. My point is, whenever you see there's a dude like that, full of the spirit, prophetic preacher, you watch out.

Everybody thinks they want a prophetic pastor until they get one because the second you get a prophetic pastor like that guy, you are going to have all of hell and earth aligned against him to discredit him. So this is what, so when you see obvious manifestation of the spirit in his ministry, expect obvious manifestation of unholy, spirits against his ministry. That's my point. Okay. Now, keep going. We're going to, we're going to get this.

Keep going. I love it, man. He's just glorying in the word of Lord. Watch what he says right here. Hate on. How do I respond to all of your hate and your ignorance? I pray for you. That's what Jesus said to do. Tattoo to my heart. Blessed are those that's right. Who are persecuted for righteousness sake. and be exceedingly clad for great is your reward in heaven. That's pause. You're good, Trinity. So let me just, let's say, let's talk about this real quick about how to think about that when you see it happen. And then we can chop this up a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So first of all, let me, there's a bunch of pastors that listen to this thing.

So let me just say a couple words to pastors and then you guys can chime in and then we can talk people about dynamics, that kind of thing. So first of all, if you're a pastor, that verse becomes very real. Whenever you know, whenever you catch it in the teeth, you know, it's like you got to go back to Bible verses and actually do Bible verses and have moments where you're like, you know what? Hey, Jana, on a long walk, we're going to pray for those people by name

that God blesses them. And we're going to have a great feast tonight. I've told the story about Jana throwing the thing. I'm not going to do it again. Okay, you got to do that. Two, I would say this. Bro, pastors got to watch out. and if you're a pastor, let me just, I'm going to give you a gentle watch out.

What I learned, I would say this lesson became very real to me five years ago, is that this world has an unspoken agreement with pastors, and here's how it goes. If you take it easy on us, we'll take it easy on you. And it's like, as long as you stay safe, as long as you take the edge off, as long as you kind of like, hey man, those things that are, you know, a little more controversial, you know, a little more got an edge to them. If you just nuance all that stuff to death or avoid that stuff to death, or we want to be known more for what we're for than what we're against,

so we actually don't ever talk about what we're again. If you do that, listen, there's an unspoken agreement the world will do with you. You take it easy on us. We'll take it easy on you. I will give you a warning as a pastor. The second you decide to break that agreement, all of hell will break loose against you. but that will also be the beginning of the greatest season of your ministry because that will also be the moment when all of heaven breaks loose in your church. So I would say that.

A couple other things I would say. Actually, the last thing I would say is if you're a pastor, actually this doesn't just go for pastors, this goes for Christians. Every Christian disciple is going to receive some measure of this. Yes. You have to decide in your heart, bro, this is, there's like, there's like, there's like, tax. this and I hope Philip is doing this. I want to meet him someday. I like that guy a lot. You have to decide that you're going to live, I've heard it said like this, you're going to live thrown down, not mob up. So it's like you got to decide like, dude, right now Carlos knows this,

like people will be like, they'll text me like, bro, did you see what they said about you? I'm like, actually, no, dude, I had no idea. Thank you. I got, I had no idea, dude. Because I just, I just don't see any of it. Hey, Josh, we're praying for you. Hang in there and you're like, about what? Dude, this is, listen, that, when Janet and I were on vacation in June, it's like, there was like a little, it had lasted for like three hours. I was getting, somebody grabbed a clip and took it out of context, all the things. And literally it ruined a day of my vacation. I had no idea, anybody was saying anything until like three people were like, hey, man, stand strong. I'm like, bro, you just ruined my vacation.

I didn't even know. Good, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And honestly, that's like 90%. But you have to decide. Christian has to decide in your heart that you're going to keep your eyes on that you're going to live thrown down what's the throne want and then I'm going to do that if you get this thing

where it's like your eyes start paying real close attention to what the quote unquote they are if you start living mob up that will steer you it'll steer your entire ministry yeah the devil doesn't have to destroy you if you can distract you this little little common here and there man that's a easy distraction from what god has called you that's it it's so good that's the it's the it's the Nehemiah thing of when San Balot and Tobiah. They come up to Nehemiah while he's building and they're like, we have these accusations against you. Would you respond? He's like, his response is, nah, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. And so, you know, I do think sometimes if people are ever like, you know, they see guys like Philip or whoever and they're like, why didn't they respond? Why didn't you respond to

that? I'm doing a great work and I cannot come to, if, if Philip Anthony Mitchell spent every day responding to the things people are saying about him, he wouldn't even have a ministry. That's right. That's right. Okay. Now, let's do, can we do a couple, this is where it gets a little spicy? Yeah, a couple things for like, for people, when people see these things? Give a couple encouragement. First of all, that right there is why we got Bible verses for some of this stuff. That right there is why First Timothy 519 says, do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three, this is a really important word. Witnesses.

Witnesses. Not gossips. Witnesses. Or tweet. It's not like three people on the internet said, no, it's like three people. Yes. Who had firsthand knowledge of the situation. Yes.

That, yeah. But otherwise, don't even listen. Don't even listen to it, you know, that kind of thing. Number two, and I would say Philip pointed this out a few, about a month ago. I thought this was fire. So in Acts chapter two, what you got is the apostles, they're filled with the Holy Spirit, they start preaching in other tongues. And onlookers, again, action, reaction, onlookers start going, these guys are drunk.

And bro, somebody stands up, and this is the first thing they say, these men are not drunk, as you suppose. Okay. Man, sometimes, you know, this may people, actually I'm 100% sure, people like, well, that's a very self-serving thing to say. well this is a Bible verse this is a Bible verse sometimes like it is wrong for you to just passively stand by and watch people lie about pastors and men of integrity and men of God that is wrong yes sometimes you have to be the one that stands up and say these men are not drunk as you accuse

you are lying and it's wrong for you to lie about these men so that's something that like in the world in which we now live where there are massive incentive structures for people to like, let me just, let me get, let me try to get internet famous for eight minutes about this. Like, you need to be somebody who goes, no, I will not just stand there and let you lie about my pastor. You should not do that. Yeah. You should, what I would say is you should not be ignorant of the devil's schemes. Yes. So it's really interesting, man, the word, English word devil, comes from the Greek word diabolos, it literally means. Sanderer? Slander.

It means slanderer. So what I will say is like, hey man, we need to have, like, we should not be idiots. Hey man, if they did it to Jesus and they did it to Paul and his name is a slanderer, what you should expect is that throughout all of church history, yes, people are going to lie about minister constantly. Constantly. The whole world lies under the power of the devil. So we already read the ones about Paul.

People do not think about this. That was the tactic of the Pharisees against Jesus was to lie about him to discredit people's trust in him. Remember what they did? They said, you know what this guy is? This guy is, he's always, he's at meals all the time. Party and all this stuff. This guy is a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Look at these shady people he associates with. Look at the, you know, so what were they? They were just publicly slandering. Watch this. You'll notice this, especially guys like Philip Anthony Mitchell. The tactic is not to argue against the Bible teaching. Dude, this is really important. The tactic is not to argue against the Bible teaching because Satan knows that's a losing strategy.

The tactic then becomes, let's just try to discredit and problematize the Bible teachers. That becomes the strategy. Yeah. Some of this is summarizing what you've said, but maybe it's just helpful to hear it from someone that's not you. Because I know somebody like, oh, this is self-serving. To let you point, it's not self-serving. You're just quoting Bible verses. But let me summarize with the Bible, the tension that's in the Bible.

One is that God takes the character and the context of his servants and his leaders very seriously. Very seriously. And that's true in the Old Testament. And then in the New Testament, the qualification for elders that we are to be above reproach. And they are being men of character. In fact, if you go look at the list of the elder qualifications, there's only one thing that's listed as a skill. And that's the ability to teach. Everything else is character.

So just to reiterate what you've already said, we are not saying that pastors are perfect or they shouldn't be held to come about. No, God takes the character and the conduct of his servants very seriously. and he takes accusations and slanders against their contact that are unsubstantiated and untrue very seriously. Go look in the Old Testament of God in the New Testament of other people. God takes that seriously. And why are those two things taken seriously? Because if I'm the enemy, I might have two tactics. One is can I get the leader to fall?

That's a great strategy. But if that's not going to work, can I so distrust in that leader? Yeah, that's right. And so you just got to be, that's what we're not. We're not saying that, oh, we shouldn't take the character of our leaders, including our pastor, we should. But also, we have to be aware that we should take false accusations against them just as seriously, because that is how the enemy can so distrust in them, distrust in his word, and it can stop the movement of the spirit in this world.

And so that is true both. So therefore, we got to be very careful about what we share and about what we immediately just believe others are saying. And also, to your point, that means that if we hear stuff that is patently untrue, we got to be fire-surpress. and put out that fire and say, no, no, no, that's not true. Because to your point, we don't want to fall into any of the enemy schemes. I just wanted to say that and summarize that. I think people need to know, this is a serious thing. Yeah.

This is a serious thing. Yeah, I really appreciate Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell's passion to share the gospel. It's impressive. It's inspiring. I love that he's, in addition to leading a church, which is already a huge burden. He's taking some time to go on tour, share the gospel, literally all over the place. place. It reminds me of this. Obviously, some people don't like the methods. And, you know, this is just the way the world works today when people share their opinions out. They don't like this

or that. It reminds me of this quote that is attributed to Diomudi. And he said, he said this. He said, it is clear you don't like my way of doing evangelism. You raise some good points. Frankly, I sometimes do not like my way of doing evangelism. But I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it. Boom. So again, man. And I will say, and I say this with love, man, if you don't like the way somebody else is doing evangelism, we sure like the way he's doing evangelism more than the way you are not doing evangelism. That's right.

We're also, I'll say this too, we're also a generation that we're quick to speak and slow to listen. Jesus said in Matthew 12, verse 36, I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned. man, be careful what words you are speaking. Yes. Whether it is on a tweet or in person, God's going to hold you accountable for that. Yes.

And then last thing, again, when you see unhelpful criticism, pray for your pastor. Yes. Bro, people don't realize this is not just like a cliche. I'm thinking about you. Like there is power in prayer. Pray for humility. Pray for confidence. Pray for sober-mindedness.

Pray for focus. It is really easy to get distracted. Also, man, I will say, this, and I'll say this, you didn't ask me to say this, but, Judge, I get to see the behind the scenes. You're the senior pastor of Lake Point Church. Yeah. It is a lot of work. Just that one thing, it is a lot of work. Brian, I've seen your, I've seen how hard you work to not do something mediocrely, but you give it all you got. You prepare a lot as you preach. I've seen you sermon prep. I've seen, I've seen you meet with people. I see you pray for people every single weekend.

And bro, sometimes I'm surprised. Like we got a couple, like those lines are getting longer and longer and longer. There's been a point where I'm like in the office, you know, I'm heading out. And I'm heading out late, by the way. And you're still there. And there's a huge line. And it's literally you praying for people. And not only that, I will say this, when I see you engage with people, but the first person that you engage with, you're all like excited.

The last person that you engage with, it's the same type of enthusiasm, energy, passion, your praying. And so people don't see that that's a second. sacrifice on your part, people think it's just really easy to get on that stage and preach for multiple campuses. Again, I could keep going on and on and on, man. But I will say this, we're praying for you for a reason. And man, I would invite people that whenever, I know this, we're talking about pastors in general, but man, pray for your pastor, man.

It's a blessing to them. Thank you for saying that. That means a lot to me. Thank you. Like anybody ever giving you a piece of feedback or criticism that you're like, oh, you know what? You're actually right. Oh, bro, constantly.

seriously, constantly. You know, there's like a whole, there's a team of people now that I just way back then, I was like, hey man, if you ever hear something in the first message that you're like,

I would say that different. It's like they're deputized, you know, there have been times, I won't tell the examples, there have been times we're a little internet mobbing and I was like,

well, dagum it, dang it, I can actually totally see how that came off the wrong way. You just try to shift. People forget, hey man, Like Philip Anthony, he didn't do anything wrong, by the way.

But hey, dude, it's like pastors are people in need of grace too. It's like, hey, man, yeah, let's learn. Let's grow as disciples. Let's get better. Let's move. So 100%, man. That's awesome. Well, Lord bless Philip Anthony Mitchell.

Yeah. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. I'm going home to my family. They're free, brother. They're free.