Live Free with Josh Howerton - Jesus Said to Watch Out for This Sin! | Live Free with Pastor Josh Howerton

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

What really controls your heart? Greed is a sneaky sin—easily overlooked but quietly shaping our decisions, desires, and relationships. Pastor Josh Howerton, Tim Smith, and Chris Burkley explore the story of Achan in Joshua 7, showing how unchecked greed led to devastating consequences—not just for him, but for his entire community. Nobody sins in isolation—our choices impact our relationships and beyond.   They discuss how greed distorts wisdom, how the fear of the Lord leads to true perspective, and how culture pulls our hearts in different directions. They also touch on Elon Musk and the ongoing USAID debate, highlighting how faith intersects with real-world issues. Plus, they share personal stories of trusting God with finances, the principle of first fruits, and practical ways to teach generosity. If you’ve wrestled with the tension between financial security and faith, this conversation will challenge you to live with open hands and a heart that fully trusts in God’s provision.       👇 DON’T MISS OUT! 💍 Marriage Weekend: Invest in your relationship during our services on Feb 22 & 23. Learn more at https://lp.social/marriage   📣 Join us for Movement on Friday, February 28—an evening to celebrate all you do and hear from special guest, Pastor Joby Martin. Register now: https://lp.social/movement   👥 Ready to build a deeper community? Join a Life Group at Lakepointe Church: https://lakepointe.church/groups/       STAY CONNECTED 🌐 Website / https://www.lakepointe.church/  👍 Facebook / https://lp.social/facebook  📸  Instagram / https://lp.social/instagram  🎥  YouTube / www.youtube.com/@LakepointeChurch       🎧 LISTEN ON THE GO! ▶️ Spotify / https://open.spotify.com/show/353ryGdZNlebaiqkCcy3Yc  ▶️ Apple Podcasts / https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-free-with-josh-howerton/id1669321198        ⛪ ABOUT LAKEPOINTE CHURCH: We believe that Lakepointe is a movement for all people to Know God, Find Freedom, Discover their Calling, and Make a Difference. With 6 DFW locations and programs for all ages, there's something for everyone.    🤝 To support this ministry and help us reach more people with the Gospel, start here: https://lakepointe.church/give

Welcome to Live Free with Pastor Josh Howardton. Lake Point Church is a movement for all people to know Jesus, live free, and make a difference with their lives. And our prayer is these deep dive conversations about the Word of God equip you to live free in Christ. This is a test drive, and we'll decide whether or not to do more seasons based on engagement. So if this is helpful to you, if you could rate, review, or share, that will help us to know what's helpful. For more digital content, visit lakepoint.church slash livefeworth. free. And now, let's dive into today's episode. Hey, all right, everybody. We are back with Live Free Podcast. Hey, welcome back, everybody. Hey, my name is Chris Berkeley. I'm here with

some of my friends. This is Tim Smith and the one and only Pastor Josh Howardton. And man, we're excited about another. Chris Berkeley, of longtime Lake Point Fame. How old were you started working here, nine? I was eight, yeah, eight years old. No, yeah, man, 20 years old, 21 years old. And now, what are you, 53? Yeah, so I've been here 28 years. I'm joking. Four score and seven years ago. How are you for real? Yeah, so I'm 38, so I've been here like 18 years, ma'am.

Yeah, a long time at late point. Weren't you, you started as a student intern, right? Yeah, so I was a student intern. Didn't you get in trouble for, like, painting a ceiling? So I painted the stage of the student building at Rockwall. Pier 419. Yeah, we were building a stage prop, and I had a can of red spray paint. I thought it would be a smart idea to spray paint inside.

I finished the prop. It was awesome. Student intern. It was awesome. Student intern. Student intern. And then I remember. student intern.

I'm waiting to ask, like, who chastised? John Wardell? John Wardell. A guy named Bubba Thurman said, you better get to Home Depot and get a rug cleaner. Shout out on Boba Thurman. Yeah, so I spent that whole day cleaning that stage up. I got it cleaning.

He goes, well, it's probably the best afternoon you spent. Got to keep your job, didn't you, Chris? That's what John Wardell said. No, that's what Bubba said. Yeah, so there's a nice pink haze over all the expensive lighting and all the things on that stage. Oh, man. Who among us doesn't have an I did something stupid as a youth pastor moment?

Tim, what's yours? That you're allowed to do on a podcast. Yeah, well, I might or might not have set off a firecracker in a 15 passenger van one time with students. Oh, that's a good one. That was like, there was a parent meeting about that one. So you're still not saying if you did or didn't do it. I'm not saying. I'm just saying to you.

That was not my most, you know, it wasn't awesome. I got carried away with the eighth grade boys. That's all I'm saying, you know. Firecrackers. PJ? Oh, man. I'm trying to think. I, uh, well, I almost injured a kid. Shout out Scott Slater. Scott, if you're listening. We're grateful you're okay today. Pastor. We were playing, what was that

we didn't plan to talk about this. What was that game where you pretend that everybody's like a persecuted Christian. Yes. And then you're like trying to free it. It's like a Christian version. Yeah, like mafia. Yeah. It's like the Christian mafia. Anyway, we set it up where we started it. And like, this dude was like a football player. And I was supposed to like spear tackle him. And I very aggressively spear tackled Scott Slater. And I think he was injured.

You were like the Goldberg of student pastors. Yeah. I was the 125 pound gold. I weighed 125 pounds back then, but I got him to do it. The other one, I'm going to get somebody else's in. And then we'll move on to Aiken in Joshua chapter 7 and 8. The other one, I still can't believe this. And a leader who may or may not have been able to remain a leader after this moment.

I found out he had a bunch of guys over to his house. And he was like, this guy was like newer Christian. And he had his discipleship group over to his house. And I found out he watched stepbrothers with them. Oh. I was like, brother, I think we're. I'm not sure. We're continuing. Yep. I'm not sure that this gets to keep going.

I'm like, I'm 41. I have never let me watch stepbrothers. Right. Right. Right. Right. Yeah, that's a goodbye leader. I'm not, we won't use any names on that one. And the situation was dealt with. But that happened under my leadership. And as you guys know, not everything's our fault, but it is our responsibility. That's leadership 101 right there. That's a leadership 101. Speaking of sins in the camp. Yeah. Speaking of sins in the camp. Hey, we are in the Kingslayer series.

This week is on greed. And I know, man, there's a lot that are tuned in. And maybe for the first time, it's a fairly new podcast. Petra Josh, we tell us a little reason, like, why are we doing this podcast? What's the purpose of it? Yeah, man. Well, you know, what we want to do in the Bible says that we're the Spirit of the Lord, there is freedom. Yeah.

And that Jesus, the enemy comes to steal, kill, destroy, and slave. That's right. And Jesus comes set us free. And so what we're doing, this is we call it live free because, one, there's only so much that we can get into a 40-minute sermon. And then, you know, I usually get about 30% of what I prepare into the message. So one, honestly, it's just a place to go a little deeper. The number two we want to do is we want to help people get in the Word,

and by the power of the Word, we want to help them live free as disciples. Yeah, I love it. So that's what this is. We keep saying this, and we'll probably shut her down soon. But if this is helpful to you, honestly, people vote with their feet. It helps us know, hey, it's worth keeping doing. So this is helpful to people. They can like, comment, share, hit the little subscriber button on the bell.

We are going to test drive responding to some viewer questions soon. So especially if you're on YouTube, drop questions in the comments, and we may hit those later. That's what we're doing right here, man. It's been great. That's great. Can I tell a cool story from last week? Please. Oh, please.

So last week, my bro was on. And it was killing envy. And this guy after the sermon, this is little, but I love it. He came out in the lobby. We pray with people in the lobby after every service. And he just grabbed me and he was like, hey, Pastor Josh, will you and Janet pray for me? And he was like, man, I am just, you know, I think he used the phrase ate up. I'm just ate up with envy and jealousy.

me and all my friends got hired at the same place at the same time. All of them have gotten promoted, and I haven't. And dude, honestly, I had this realization in my whole life and ministry, I've never until that moment had somebody confess envy to me. And I think it's because it's such an embarrassing sin. It's embarrassing in our flesh. And dude, honestly, it was really cool because this guy, he's with his wife, is a little emotional.

And I pray with him. And I would say to the people listening, the same thing I said to him, as I was like, hey, man, you know, you see there's hundreds of people in the lobby. And I was like, man, you see all these people? Probably every single one of them struggles with envy somewhere in their life. But you're the one who will get freedom because you got honest. Yeah, it's good. You're the one guy that got honest.

Yeah. And there was just a purity of his discipleship in that moment. And I was like, that is so pleasing to the Lord. Oh, my goodness. And how kind of Lord to break that man free. It was great, dude. Can I just give a shout out to you mentioned Mike's message? It was unbelievable.

I told you that. I thought that message was just absolutely amazing. And shout out Mike, bro. I mean, it was a great word. And man, the spirit was using that word in a lot of people's lives. And it's so encouraging. I want to just affirm what you just said. It's like it's in those moments when the spirit speaks that we respond in obedience where we get breakthrough.

Yeah. And so good for that guy, man. and for all of us, man, who we're here in the Spirit Speak, that we actually respond. We're not just hears of the word, but we're responding. He became a doer. He became a doer. He became a doer.

You know, my family attends at the same time as yours, 4 p.m. Saturday. Thank you to all of our Saturday service attenders. We love you. We need more of you. At the Saturday, you could tell, you know, there's some messages where you just like, oh, yep, this is the Lord is in this place. and that at the end of that sermon, it was like before he prayed,

the room started applauding. And you could just tell, like, something just happened. That was special. Yeah, it was special. I agree. You want to talk about Aiken? Yeah, let's talk about Aiken. Let's talk about greed.

What do you say? This was a very interesting... I've never preached this passage before. Really? No, in my whole life. It surprises me. I never. That's a good one, too.

I've never preached it. I've never preached it. Do you want me to just, get into the what didn't make it. I want to hear the stuff that like didn't make it. Like what didn't make the editing room floor? A lot. There's a lot. So let me say a few things in like, why don't we just, we can use this as a jump off point. Yeah. So for if anybody didn't listen to the message in Joshua chapter seven, it's Joshua six and seven, is the first, the first city that the Israelites come against as they come into Canaan.

obviously to this point they've just experienced victory after victory after victory you know Egypt wilderness etc yeah um they defeat jericho the big one the biggie yeah they defeat jericho uh jericho jericho jericho still you can still drive by jericho you've been to Israel you can still drive over there i'll get to that in a second so then and then they they come to this tiny little city called different bob we were debating this before the the pod. Different Bible scholars. Some of them call it AI. Right. And then some of them just say, I. Aye. I, maybe. Like a pirate. Ay. Aye. No, whatever. Whatever. You go Mr. Biagi. Yes. It was before my time. That's all right, man. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. That's stupid.

That's stupid. Wax off. I was like an elementary school and Miyagi was around. And then, so then they only send like 3,000 guys out. They're defeated. I'm summarizing here. Very interestingly, there's a Hebrew word, is pronounced, I'm going to try to do the Hebrew. Haram, haram. That's it. You got to have popcorn in the back of your throat.

God had told them to devote all of AI to destruction, to him, 100% of the stuff. One dude, Aiken, steals gold, silver, a Babylonian robe, hides it under the tent. They don't know it. God's judgment falls on the people because of the sin. and they're defeated, 36 Hebrew guys get killed, they're running, and it's because of the judgment on here. So a few things that didn't make it in that are interesting to me.

One, this is a great example of the Christological pattern of the Old Testament. So, man, for newer Christians especially, you guys know this, like the Old Testament starts coming alive. when you start seeing Christ in the whole deal. So two of my favorite old theologian quotes are, the Old Testament is a room richly furnished but dimly lit. That's one. Another one is the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed. The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.

So all of the furniture of the gospel in the that is revealed in full in the New Testament. It's everywhere in the Old Testament. Interestingly, that's why when Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, the disciples are on the Amas Road,

they don't recognize Jesus. And it says that beginning with the law and the prophets, he revealed to them all the things concerning himself. So what he did is he started apparently going through every story in the Old Testament, started going, that was about me. That's right. And that was about me.

That's where I was. And that was about me. That's great. And that was about me. Powerful. You really see this in the Aiken story. So think about this as a, theologians call it typology or, you know, typology is the best word. So you've got a situation where the judgment of God is falling on all of the nation because of the sin of one man.

and then judgment falls on that one man as a propitiation. Propitiation means a payment that satisfies. So the death of Aiken and his family, by the way. Aiken's whole family is killed. We'll get to that in a second. That man's death propitiates or satisfies the wrath of God, and then the judgment is lifted from the nation. Obviously, that's what Jesus is.

He was the payment that satisfies. Yeah, the ultimate payment, right. The payment that satisfies. So I thought that was interesting. Man, that's fascinating. And the point of the idea that in the story, the community aspect of sin is like we live in such again an independent mindset that, hey man, what I do doesn't affect you. But this is clearly reminding us that in community, you know, in the biblical, I mean, what we do affects

all of us. Nobody sins in isolation. His greed affected his children. It affected the people around him. 36 people died. I mean, the blood of those men is on his hand. Because of his sin. That greed of just affecting him.

Your sin never just affects you. That is, there is, it's the guy that has the pornography addiction and he thinks, oh, man, like nobody even knows. It's not, nope, there is something that the tentacles of that make their way into your family. And they, you know, the blessing of God is affected on it. So that's huge. Yeah, it is.

You remember the old preacher who used to say sin will take you further than you ever intended to go. It will cost you more than you ever intended to pay. And I think we could add it affects more than you think it affects. And will keep you longer than you wanted to stay. That's the last one. That's it. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that's a biggie. So nobody sends in isolation. That's a massive one. A couple of other things that were really interesting to me. Most Bible scholars say that the Aiken story, that Ananias and Safira are the New Testament version. It's the exact same thing. It even, interestingly, uses the same language.

It uses the word of things that were devoted, devoted unto God. And they withhold something that was devoted. it and God kills Ananias and Safira for withholding and lying about things that were devoted to him. I do think, man, we may talk about this more in a second. There are sometimes, I think there's three types of giving in the Bible. You've got Ties, offerings, and they're like what you might call like extravagant offerings. So like sometimes God will speak to you. And we've had this happen in our life.

He'll tell you, I want you to give X. that's serious. Yes, it is. Yeah. Like, for real, like, that's a big deal. When the Lord tells you, I want you to give this, that's real serious. So I thought that was interesting, the Aiken, Anonis, Sapphira thing. Here's a, you got.

Well, I wanted to add to you because, again, I read one time that there was something, you know, in those two pictures that God put both of those early on. on, early on. It was a lot of what God was trying to make a statement about was, there's actually a third. I want to get to the third picture of that. But God put those examples early on in the life of his people. This is early in the journey. You know, again, Joshua's leadership, this is early in his journey. He's trying to make a statement about what's important to him. Remember, Anonais and Safara is very beginning in the life of the church. there's a third.

The Nadab and Abahoo in Leviticus 11, right? God, when he started the priesthood. Yeah. Okay. Remember, they offered strange fire and God took them out.

And the Bible says, because they offered strange fire into the Lord. So the third piece is God spoke it to the priesthood. God spoke it to his children. And then God spoke it early in the New Testament

because he was trying to say, man, this consecration, this no holding back idea, it's really important. And it's interesting because in Anonis and Safira, there's that verse right after it that says, and a fear of the Lord fell among the people. Yes, indeed. And it's like you can see in all three of those things, God's setting out at the beginning, I will be feared. The whole fear of the Lord thing, I feel like that's a bit of a lost concept. I agree.

Yeah. And the Jesus is in my homeboy generate, you know, for real. Yeah. And it's like, you know, honestly, I feel like people, I don't talk about the fear of the Lord. And then the whole explanation is about why it doesn't really mean fear. That means awe. It means, I mean, it's like, well, actually, that's funny because it says fear. Yeah.

And several times in the scripture, people would have understood that as fear. Fear, it's like, there's a literal fear that we should have of the Lord. Yeah. Yeah, that, I think there's some things, like in my own life, you know, you talk about that whole idea of us fearing the Lord, revering him, and being in awe. But there being this respect that he, man, he's God. And I just think, man, again, a part of, like, I think when you have a high view of God like that, man, don't you think it really does? One, it makes your heart softer to repent. and it makes your worship louder.

Because, you know, I don't really want a God who's just like me. Yeah. And so, man, I agree with that. I think a great book on that, you know, John, did you read John Bevere's book on Fear of God? I thought that was a very profound book. I want to have John on the podcast. Yeah.

Yeah, his book was amazing on that. That's very good, man. What's the title of that book? It's just called The Fear of God. I think it's the Fear of God. The Fear of God, I think. But I read that book, man, and it made me think a lot about that. It's a little bit like that, Tim, that if we can put God into a human form into a thing that we understand, how big of a God truly is he?

And so when you talk about the fear of the Lord and you talk about, man, it's the beginning of wisdom also. It begins to unlock something in you that you see God in a bigger view of who he is. And so I think at times we've equated God to the size that we can understand. It's a pretty small God. Yeah. Where when you begin to go, no, he's magnificent. He's massive. Well, his motivation, I think, in my mind.

many of these instances, it's for the good of his people, but it's also for the power of his name and the glory of his name. He wants to have a people who are consecrated and who live in a different, profound way and to be separate. I mean, there is, you know, his whole idea of, even in this case, is, man, trying to help us understand that, man, there's a unique calling on the people of God. And there's ways that you can do it your way, and then there's, you can do it his way. And the truth is it's not like out of power or intimidation that he does that. It's out of his love for us. His, him revealing to us that he's so unique, that he's so different, that he's so holy is his manifest grace upon our life that we would see him as he is and respond to him

rightly. And I mean, that's not just words. Like God's holiness reveals his grace. That's right. And without it, we don't see his grace. Yeah. That ties in. That concept helps people understand that when people read the, honestly, the Aiken story. Yeah. And then it says that not only was he stoned and then burned, his family and his children were. Now, I think there's a, you know, people wrestle with that.

There's a couple of things that I think you got to keep in mind. A lot of times when people read this story in their mental image is like a four-year-old girl. Yeah. You know, it's like her screaming and why, Dad? You know, we don't know that. Like, this could have, I think honestly what a better image probably is is like, think Sopranos, like, you don't go against a family. You know, it's like, because we know that he hid it in the tent underneath.

It would have been impossible for the family not to know it. So you're probably talking like a whole family that conspired together. Yes. in open defiance and rebellion. Oh, by the way, that had already been laid out. Like, God had already drawn this line. You're not to take anything from that. And if you do, judgment will come.

So I think that's one, one thing to understand. And then I come back at this fear of God concept because I think this matters. Then two, you know, I didn't get to tease this out as much in the message I want. but so in the passage it says that they're cast in lots. By the way, interesting little side note on lots, if people are like, what is that?

Like it's literally just little, almost like dice. They would use to try to, let me figure out what the will of God is. Another interesting side note, pop quiz. When is the last time in the Bible lots are ever cast? You might know. But at the cross? No, I'm going to choose in Acts 2, Acts 1 and 2. and choosing the disciples who would replace.

That's it. Yeah, you're right. So this is interesting. So when they chose Mathias, I think it's end of Acts. Yeah. Well, Acts 1. That's interesting. Last time lots are ever cast, that's right before the coming of the Spirit.

Wow. After the church is filled with Holy Spirit, you never need lots again. Interesting. Because now we're led by the Spirit. Yeah. The whole person. And that interesting. It's a great word.

That's a great word. You don't need that anymore. I'm going to lead you personally. I love that. But so in this story, they cast a lot. Think about how chilling this is. So Joshua has everybody stand up. He's casting lots.

Now you got to remember as we're doing this, this whole time, Aiken and his family, they could have raised their hand at any point and confess their sin. Yes. So Joshua's standing up there and he's like, all right man, let's start casting lots,

figure out who this is. And, you know, they whittle it down tribe. Yep. and then clan, and then family, and then individual. So you're thinking about this, Aiken and his children know they're the ones. It's coming. Yeah. It's coming.

And the whole time, they're going, man, all he's doing is cast and dice. I really hope it falls on somebody else and they get blamed and they get executed. And they just think about this. And they sit there and watch it happen. Like you just start to think about the evil that had overtaxed. taking their hearts. So then, you know, their tribes chosen are like, oh, surely it's going to fall on a different clan.

Yeah. Their clan gets chosen. Oh, it's going to fall on. The Jones is not on us. It's fine. Falls on them. And then even think about this. Aiken sits there and apparently is thinking, maybe the lot will fall on one of my kids and

they'll get executed for it. And he never says a word. So, like, I don't think we grasp the high-handed rebellion. Yeah. that it said it on this guy's harp. But then all that goes back to, man, if we ever struggle with passages like this where divine judgment falls, it just goes back to that fear of God concept. Like, hey, man, like, he doesn't owe you any, he doesn't owe me anything.

Yeah. So the question gets to be, who deserves that? Well, listen, outside the grace of God. Yeah. We're all guilty. Yeah. And so God as our creator and owner, he reserves the right. And, man, I think the implications I've never had, that was such a good thought, man.

Pastor is like, I've never had that thought that they're delaying and putting off this idea of, man, of coming clean and repenting. And, man, that's a word right there is like, man, be quick, right? Be quick. Because our quickness to repent is, I want to say this again. always, man, God meets us in mercy and grace. It's like, God doesn't look forward to bringing the kind of judgment that instills fear. He's given us, man, he's given us every opportunity today to respond to him. And that's his heart. Some Bible scholars actually conjecture, you can what if it to death. But some Bible scholars say if he had confessed before it got to him,

the mercy of God would have fallen. Wow. Because there's pattern. There's patterns throughout the Bible when that happens. It's an interesting question. Yes. If he had early on just been like, Right.

It's me. Yeah. Right. Would God have. What do you think about, the greed that was in his heart had already seen 30-some-on men killed that he's going,

their blood's already in my head and what's a few more? And so if that's coming through and the passing through of the different lots or cast, he's going, what's a few more at this point? Well, you start talking greed.

and actually before we get to greed let me do a couple of things there was some cool stuff in this passage I'm like I wish I got a shit about that all right here's my favorite one and then I'll shut her down and we can start talking all right my favorite thing that didn't get into the sermon all right

so goes back to the Christological the Jesus in every passage all right so Aiken's name in Hebrew means troubler troubler after they stone him to death they erect, you know, one of the stone piles, a monument. And they name the valley, the valley of acore. I read that. Name Aiken Valley of Acore, which means valley of trouble.

Okay. In Hosea 215, you may remember there's a famous verse where Hosea says, he prophesies that someday the valley of acore will become a door of hope. It's cool. It's cool. All right. So here's what gets awesome. The Valley of Acore, if you've been to Israel, you've been there and you didn't know it.

Okay. The Valley of Acore is on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. So think about this. All right, we know this from the Gospels. In the Gospels, there comes a moment where in Jesus ministry, it uses the phrase, from then on he set his face toward Jerusalem. That's right. Because he knew that his time.

had come. When he does that, he's over there by Jericho. Wow. And when he starts going to the cross, he walks right through the Valley of Acor. Wow. And in that moment, the Valley of Trouble became a door of hope. Wow. That's amazing. I've got a foot problem right now, but I'm running around.

It's like I'm running around right now. That's amazing. Isn't that good? Oh, my word. Yeah. That's so good. I love the Bible. I know, man.

It's so good. There's stuff like that, like in every story. Well, then as you were talking earlier, how the Old Testament relates to the New Testament. And, man, just how Christ is in all of it. He's everywhere, man. He's good. He's everywhere. It's good.

So then, all right, so then you start talking, we're going to talk about greed. Yeah, let's talk about greed. Let's talk about greed. So the thing about, I think it's very interesting, you know, it's like the hard-heartedness. He's willing for these people. The thing about greed, so we said earlier, nobody's ever confessed envy to me. That's one other one. I've literally never met somebody in however many years in ministry that's like,

you know, man, I got a greed problem. Never met somebody. Greed is the only sin that Jesus says, he says, watch out. He says, watch out, be on your guard for all kinds of greed. He never says, watch out, be on your guard for theft, watch out, be on your guard for murder, watch out be on your guard for adultery. Nobody commits adultery and then two seconds later goes, well, how did you get in here?

Yeah, right, right, right. Like, you know you're doing it. Sure. You know. The reason Jesus does that is he's like, you're not, hey man, you're not going to know. Yeah. You're not going to know when the greed thing happens. And so I think it's like very, this is why I took some time in the sermon to like clearly define it.

Yeah. Hey man, it's greed whenever your acquisition goes beyond a God. God-given limit. That's good. You know, because it just, it's going to do that. But, you know, and then it just hardens his heart. Yeah. It becomes a parent of a bunch of different species of sins.

Yeah. Yeah. So when you think about greed, you said there's some good clear definitions. What are some of those things that, man, you said, how do we know? How do we know when we're stumbling into greed? How do we know when it snuck up on us? What are some of those markers that we could go for the listener? Be mindful of.

You got to, you want me to get it. Well, I mean, again, I just before we even get to that list, Can I just say? It's like, I think that it sneaks up on you is what, you know, using your word, is I think because we're so good at legitimizing it. That's it. There's a thing in our culture where we mistake, I'll use this phrase, we mistake survival for selfishness.

And what I mean by that is like there's a rationalization that is always going on inside of us to explain a way. you know, why we are more and more materialistic that ultimately turns into greed. And there's so, it's just, it's so slippery is what I mean, again, that doesn't happen in a moment. Yeah. You know, that happens over time. And things that happen over time in our lives and in our hearts and soul, they're just easier to miss. Like you wake up, you know, with greed, that doesn't happen in a minute.

It doesn't happen in an hour. It doesn't happen in a day or a week. It happens over months and years of all. all of a sudden you wind up in a place that you never saw yourself being. This is the proverb, you know, we're a little sleep, a little slumber, and all of a sudden I woke up and my wall that was protecting me was ripped down and it had thistles and thorns in it. And, you know, my unwilling to be diligent to take, you know, day-to-day steps,

all of a sudden it slips up on me. So, you know, it's like, it's a good question, but I'm just saying to you is, man, there's a progress, there's a kind of a gradual thing that happens in our hearts where all of a sudden materialism gives room for the kind of greed that leaves us to be the kind of people that we don't want to be.

Right. The, this, dude, it's just, that's another thing you didn't make it in the sermon. I was, because honestly, the first thing I do on Tuesday is I journal for me.

I'll read the passage. I journal for me. Lord, okay, where am I? Search me and try me, see if there's any hurtful way of me. and what you just said

Satan's the father of lies what a great liar does is there great at recasting evil things as good things and good things as evil things that's right yeah like dude this is why I started journaling

is like what you got to watch out for is greed disguises itself as amazing oh this is not greed this is wisdom this is not greed this is like I'm trying to leave an inheritance for my children's children And by the way, those are good things.

Like literally, if you didn't know this, there's one of the proverbs that a wise man leaves an inheritance for his children. Right. You know, this is not greed. I'm trying to be a blessing to my family. And honestly, I think that's what you got to watch out for. The sign to me, Chris, is, and I wish I had it in front of me right now, when Aiken confesses his sin in, yeah, in 7, in Joshua 7, The word gets translated, he says, I coveted and I took. And the Hebrew word that gets translated coveted, that's a greed word.

And it essentially means I over desired. Yeah. And so over desired and I took. So here's the line. If you're like, okay, when's it greed? When my desire for stuff is so large, it's overdesired, that I'm moving past God-given limits. So for instance, and this is what a lot of the sermon was about,

another interesting theological tie-in, is the principle of the first. Yeah. Yeah, give me some more of that. Yeah, so that's a lot of the sermons. I won't recap too much. But, you know, it's that theme that runs in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

It was not an Old Testament law thing. It was before the law. It was in the law. It was after the law. Jesus affirms it. The principle of the first is the first of everything that we are blessed with belongs to God. The first tenth, we'll call it a tithe, whatever we're going to call it. The first belongs to God.

Well, why? Because he's first. Why is the first belong to him? Because he's first. This is very simple. So a lot of people miss this. God asked, he commanded that all of the spoils from Jericho. be harem, be devoted.

Not 10% all. All. Well, why? Because Jericho was the first city. That's the only one where he does that. Because the first belongs to me. Another, you know, I got this into the Met. So it also, it doesn't say give it to me. He says, bring. Why? Well, you can't give something. It doesn't belong to you.

Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. So you get to give it. So this is what happens to Aiken is God had given a clear limit. The first belongs to me. And very frankly, as humbling as it is, for every person everywhere, you have been given a clear limit for your acquisition and for keeping. The first 10% belongs to him. So a sign that greed is creeping into your heart, whether you are rich or poor, you know, blessed or in a valley. The sign is my acquisition and my keeping is moving past the God-given limits. And I'm keeping some of the part that belongs to him.

Yeah. I don't think you could, I wouldn't add a thing to that, man. But I will say this. I mean, I think you and I've actually had this conversation before. It's like one of the things that you know you begin to recognize in your life that you're sliding away is one of the very first premises, principles of generosity. and giving that Christians should learn is that God owns everything. Yeah. And so, like, one of the indicators, you know, is like, man, when you move past the idea that

God owns it all, and I guess I'm quoting, you know, Randy Alcorn from Treasure Principle, right? That's right. That's right. Shout out, man. Is that, man, it's Psalm 24-1, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. and we are stewards and managers of everything that comes to us. And so one of the ways we know greed's coming to us is we start acting and becoming like owners,

which puts us in the place where we miss the principle of the first. Because we're, you know, he's not first. We're first. And so I just think, man, I just come back to that, that we're the managers of the assets that God has given to us. and that's important for us foundationally to live there. And if there's any indicators that it's mine, then that's probably going to put you on a slippery slope

that man over days, weeks, months, years could put you in a bad place. I'd love to hear, and we haven't talked about this, but I'd love to hear if you all got a, because everybody's got a, I feel like everybody that takes, because the first time you start returning your first to God is scary. Janet and I'll tell a story here in a second.

It was scary. Everybody's usually got a story, though, about how God blesses you when you do that. But there is, I do feel like you got to get what you just said. It's like a Copernican revolution in your soul. It is. When you wake up and go, oh, yeah, like everything's his.

So like the little framework that me and Jana will kind of do with the kids sometimes even is, hey man, there's really three attitudes. for your heart with your stuff. That's why Berkeley's got his little banks over here. He's going to show us here in a second. How to help our kids with this. By the way, Christopher Berkeley is a great dad.

Yes, he is. Thanks, he is. It's kind of that thing of like, hey, you're going to have one or three attitudes. What's mine is mine. That's selfishness. And especially with kids, you guys say, another attitude you can have

is what's yours is mine. That's called stealing. Unless you're the government. That's called socialism. Yeah, like socialism. By the way, this is a side note, and this may make you laugh awkwardly, uncomfortably. But a few years ago, there was a presidential candidate who shall remain nameless, who was a Marxist socialist, a self-described Marxist socialist that ran on, you know, generosity, generosity, generosity. And then his tax returns came out, and he gave less than 1% of his income away.

Oh. And his whole thing, you know. So let me just say this. I hope nobody needs clarifying here. Generosity is not about what you vote to do with other people's money. Yes. Generosity is about what do you do with what God entrusted to you. So what's mine is mine selfishness, what yours is mine stealing.

Or then what you just said to him. The biblical mentality is what's mine is God's and that's stewardship. That's right. We got S words in there. Yeah, that's good. I saw that. A little alliteration. By the way, I got all that from Job.

Mark. Yeah, there's go. Yeah, that's good stuff. That's a mental shift. All right, now, can I'll ask a question? Sure. So there is, and this is not, well, actually, we could talk about the difference between prosperity gospel, poverty gospel, provision gospel. That's an interesting little theological thing. But as uncomfortable as it makes some Bible lovers, it's going to take a pair of scissors to get out of the Bible, that there simply are promises that God, a companies to people who return their first to him. I agree. Like, it's going to take a pair of scissors to get that out of the Bible.

Proverbs, Malachi, Luke, 2nd Corinthians, all the things, you know. When we return our first to him, there's just, there's a blessing of provision that accompanies that. What I've noticed is everybody who's walked with God in faithfulness in returning their first, they usually got a story. So I'm curious. We do not talk about this before the pod. Either you all got a story. Yeah.

So you said fear of a lot of folks when they're stepped into it. It's like, ah, that was never us because I had a mom and dad that beat it into us at our early age. That's beautiful. And so I remember as a 14-year-old kid, sacking groceries at Minards, and I'd come home with my check. And my dad would sit down with me and goes, all right, son, you made $260 and three weeks of work. We're going to take 26 of that. That's going to the church. We're going to take 26 of that.

That's getting saved. And so he trained me early on. So honestly, it became muscle memory. So making, you know, 200 bucks a month, sack and grocery. to then beginning a career. And then I will say one of the stories of faithfulness of God was my wife was working Megan. She was a nurse.

I was early on here in ministry. I was at student ministry. And she was the breadwinner. She was making bank for us as a young married couple. And we really felt like as we started to have kids that she wanted to get to go home and stay home. And so we're sitting there looking at the budget. The budget did not make sense.

But we felt like God was calling us to be faithful in what he was called Megan to. of like, hey, stepping in and stepping out of full-time work to be able to stay home with our kids didn't make sense financially. But we took the step of faith. And what I've seen is every time that we've done that, the Lord has been kind and gracious to backfill in whatever ways, whether it's through reduction of our budget that we're going to do less and do things differently for a season or if there's something that happens that helps that faithfulness has been true and it's been good.

And so we've never had a moment that we haven't given the first to the Jesus. And I'm sitting there going, he's been faithful because of that and the blessings have followed. Yeah, I mean, honestly, I got a lot of stories. I'll give you three highlights, okay, real quick. This is a long time ago. Linette and I've been married well over 30 years. And I had done, I had finished graduate school and Lynette was amazing. She was working. And I took a job. Lynette's mom and dad were missionaries in Alaska. And I really wanted to do college ministry. I was tired of doing student ministry because like I've invested. and all these kids. Firecrackers. Well, because of firecrackers. I had a bad firecracker episode. But no, it's like, man, my kids would go off to college and do a bunch of stupid things.

I'm like, I really want to do college ministry. Long story short, I can't. There's not a door open. And so I see on this website with this, you know, kind of national denominational, there's this opportunity in Alaska for me to do college ministry. And like it's basically I had just finished an internship. And it's not for, but it's, you know, it's pretty much close to not a lot of pay.

And so I remember calling Lynette's dad and telling him, hey, man, I think we're going to do this trip and we want to come up there and I'm thinking about taking this job, which was literally in the same city, in the same office. And he's like, Tim, are you sure? Are you sure? And I was like, man, we prayed about it. Lynette and I prayed about it.

And we were early in our marriage and like, man, we feel like this is what God wants. So we sold everything we had. We packed up our, you know, toilet. Toyota Camry with everything we owned and we drove to Fairbanks, Alaska, and we took this job that literally I was going to make like, just, I wouldn't even want to say it because it's so little and that's having to get this job. And, man, we had student loans, you know, we had graduate school expenses, we had all these things, we moved into this culture, and, dude, we felt it. I'm just telling you guys, if you've ever been there, we feel the pressure of like, what are we

going to do. And I'll say this to my wife. She's always been a very faith-filled person. And I was like, man, I guess we're just going to have to believe God. And so even with what we had, which was a lot of lack, I didn't see how it was going to work. So I'm just saying, man,

we had people come around us in profound ways as we were faithful. Like a small church Sunday school class came and gave us like four or five thousand which I get emotional saying this, man, paid off one of our student loans. And it was, man, in that moment, I think for me and Lynette early in our marriage, it just galvanized us because that money didn't come through something I earned.

Everything that came to us in that season where we were faithful with what God was given us came through the hands of other people. Like it was a very tangible way that God met us. That was one. man, probably about seven or eight years later, we had made some, again, we had moved and we were being faithful, but we just had a moment where we were going through a season where we wanted to be more generous. And, I mean, we had some credit card debt and some stuff that had gone on in the past that, you know, again, it wasn't nothing weird about it. We just had, we were making

a credit card payment and you can't give that money away. And I remember us like, man, Let's see if we can give more. And that was the season. Some of you guys shout out to Dave Ramsey and the old envelope system. And so Lynette and I made a commitment that we basically went and got cash. We left all the rest of our money in the bank. And we put up our cash, you know, in the envelopes. And, you know, where that was a month's worth.

And you've lived this. We did. Yeah, we did. So listen, man. And so then it's like, man, we got four weeks at the end of three weeks. We were pretty much out of cash. and watching every time God would meet us. Because we were trying to figure out how to remove that money so that we could give more.

And, man, I go back to those, I mean, over and over and over again, just thinking, man, is like, you can't, I mean, you guys know this, you can't outgive God. I always want to say, it's like, man, in those moments, you know, your faith is made real. Like these are real moments of faith where you're sitting over checkbooks having conversations with your spouse but man God's always been faithful as we've given you know the first and tried to do more than that

man God's always met us and just over and over again I got a lot more stories I mean I've lived a lot longer than you have so I've seen you know just God's faithfulness in that but man if somebody's out there and they listen to this and they're doubting whether or not they could trust the principle of the first. I'm saying to you trust the Lord.

Well, you know, it's like, it's the Malachi 3 passage. It's the only one where God's like, test me. Literally, it's a sin. It's literally a sin to test the Lord in any area. Except Malachi 3 gives one exception clause. Test me in this, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, and see if I want to open the windows of heaven. So here's our, you know, here's our story.

I'll give two. And I shared, I shared one in almost every service in the sermon. So I won't go into the, I'll litter, I'm looking at right now in 2000. It would have been 2009. In 2009, Jan and I made the decision to tithe on. We went down to single income. So it's like, I'm a rural Kentucky youth pastor. And it's like, oh, there's a lot of month left at the end of the money.

We were like, we did it. And so I kept a journal of every – and I shared that in the message about all the crazy stuff that happens, so I won't do that one. But where I really established – my parents did the same thing. Like literally with my allowance growing up, my mom would come and be, okay, Josh, so you had a $10 allowance. That means $1 goes to the – which you would help us and we learn them.

So I'm in college. his freshman year, mom and dad would, I worked in high school and then they would set aside some of that money and then distribute it because, you know, I'm a dumb 19 year old. They would distribute it. Okay, here's what you earn. Let's give it. They were your envelope system. Yeah, they were by human envelope. Right. Much needed in 19. So then I'm, you know, but they were like, but hey, it's your job to budget it to make sure it lasts you the semester. Right. So as my freshman year, I distinctly remember this. I get, I'd say, halfway through the semester and I realized, oh boy. Life had a little too many late night pizzas. That's a lot of filet of fish sandwiches. Which are still disgusting. I can't believe it. Hey, listen, I love the flairfish sandwich.

I'm all in a flail fish. So I'm, you know, I start, I'm like, dude, I'm not going to make it. And I had the thought, my first thought because of grown up mom and dad is, I need to give God his part. And, dude, I remember on. a Thursday night, I drive up to First Baptist Church, Jackson, Tennessee, which is my home church in college, and I figured out the amount that was in there at the beginning of the semester. It made no mathematical sense. I figured out the amount that was in the account at the beginning.

I wrote the 10% for that amount, which really put me in a... It's like 10 fillet of fish sandwiches. You jerk. And I just walked in the church, and I just walked in the church, and I kept asking around, I was like, where can I give a check? Yeah. But it felt urgent. Literally, it felt urgent to me. And I found some secretary that was there for groups that night, gave it to. And do you guys know what I remember about the rest of that semester? Nothing.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't remember anything. Here's my point. I would remember if I ran out. Yeah. Yeah. And I didn't.

Yeah, that's sweet. Yeah. So that's my other one from the one I shared in the sermon. Yeah. The other one I'll share is the opposite side. A beloved Lake Point church member who will, whose name I would not share. When we were going through COVID, I heard about this sweet person that COVID affected their ability to earn income. Right.

And they were in a tough spot. And it was one of those moments where I was in prayer. And it just very distinctly, it was that the Lord gave me an amount. And it was like, give that guy this amount. And I didn't know about what was going on. And so wrote a check and I had a way to get it to them anonymously. And to this day, I don't think they're aware. And I wouldn't want them to be aware.

And so it made it to them. Later, it was a real sweet thing. I get to hear them tell the story to somebody else. Man, we made this decision. We were still tied that month. And I hear them tell the story. I'll get choked up telling it. That the exact amount that we needed to make our payment that month came in this.

And so you think about that, we got to be the blessing of getting to be the conduit of the Lord being faithful to us. So I feel like everybody's got a story. Now, Berkeley, do your little thing because, hey, like parents and discipleship. Sure. You know, thoughts on good ways to teach our kids this. You're great. Yeah. Well, honestly, it's just what I learned from mom and dad.

That it was like, man, anytime we earn money as a kid, we sat down with it and mom and dad talk through it. Here's what that looks like. So recently, my son Cedar, he's nine, put out a lemonade stand. Brilliant marketing, free with a tip jar. So, dude, this kid pulls in. So, wait. People would get a jar of lemonade, and then he would go, hey, this is just going to ask you a couple questions. Yeah, a couple questions.

Here you go, Squarespace. I'd like to volunteer his venture capital for Sheter. Yeah, smart kid. So he's got this little, you know, Mason jar sitting on the lemonade stand that says tips on it. So he's getting, the kid's getting $20 handed to him. So instead of a dollar a cup, the kid's rolling. It's kind of brilliant, actually. It was brilliant, bro.

So end of the day, we start totaling money up. It's like $100 that he's made on our little street in Dallas of just neighbors that have come by because he's cute. He's getting, you know, their lemonade for him. Hello, Mrs. Jones, you know. And so we sit down with it. And we actually picked these things up that helped us do this. That he's got three different piggy banks. And I'll hold them up for this camera right over here.

And we'll describe them for the podcast listeners. For those that are listening, they can see this right now. But there's three different piggy banks, one that says save, one that says spend, and one that says give. That's brilliant. And so every time that he earns money, we sit down with him, and there's times we've got to go break the bills or whatever. And we just start delegating out where the different cash goes. So that day we sat down and I'm like, hey, buddy, we're going to talk about men that honestly, this was a gift from God today that you received.

And so let's talk about that this is now yours to figure out how to use, but God's gifted you this to be able to figure out how to use. And so we talked about it. We put $10 in the give, $10 in the save, $80 in the spend. And when we set it out on that table, he's like, Dad, $10 is a lot of money. And I'm like, buddy, God entrusted $100 to you today. And I was like, let me tell you this, pal, it's going to be way easier to learn today when it's $10 versus one day when you're a dad and you're dealing with $1,000.

thousands of dollars that are on a paycheck one day. You're going to be teaching your son this one day. And he's like, okay, dad, I'm down with that. And so it was a chance for me to get to go, hey, this is just what biblically it looks like. And then we brought that up here to church. He puts it in the box in the back of the auditorium. And so we do that with our kids. Anytime they earn money, we sit down with them, we divvy it out, and we help them understand like that principle of the first. And so, man, I think it's put something in them. And then the next level that to me is that we talk a lot about the stories of the church of what God's doing here. And so, like, is big right here. Every single weekend, you may or may not notice, but every single weekend,

there is a story that has said at Lake Point about where the generosity of God's people goes. And so I now get to go home and go, hey, Cedar, dude, guess what? Hey, there's a new church that's going to be launching in Miami. Hey, buddy, guess what? Your 10 bucks went to help that church launch. There's going to be people in Miami that come to know Jesus because of your $10, pal from the lemonade stand. So it's like, it's not just going to stop with me and Megan knowing where our giving's going. I want my kids brought in those stories. I want them learning early, that their obedience to God is turning into lives being changed on the other end of it. That's amazing, man. You're doing, you're so good dad.

We did the same with our kids, and I just, listen, I'm going to affirm, I will sound like the old guy here. You know, that whole conversation about spending, saving, and giving actually begins with working. Yeah, yeah. Reach. Yeah, that's right. Can I just, I just want to say, because this is what I've told my kids. It's like, hey, man, it's like stewardship. accountability actually begins with you taking, you know, the strength and gifts that God have given you and you do something with it. You get a J-O-B. And you work. And then, man, again, then you do have the conversation of, this is where it's really important. It was like people who don't have jobs who aren't earning money, they don't really think like this. But like,

there is that thing where you go through where you're a teenager and you're earning money. And that's where like, man, the ownership thing becomes real. So it's about the job and I earned it where you actually have the conversation. This is where we are with our kids. Like, hey, yeah, you earned it. But who gave you the strength? Yeah. Who gave you the mental acuity? You know, who gave you, you know, the idea, whatever. It's like, that is all God. God gave you all of that. And that's why when you work, you know, then you start the conversation, spending, saving, and giving. And we're doing the same now is again, you'll love this, is like, we're controlling our kids. I mean, when I say controlling, we're moving them from training wheels of stewardship and trying to teach them that

to trying to take the training wheels off. And so what we do is we're like, hey, man, you know, the debit cards and the savings accounts and the checking accounts now. It's like, hey, there's certain amounts of money that you need to save and give before we greenlight you to spend, even with your money. That's brilliant. And it's been helpful. You know, my kids are learning this. I'm not saying they're either one of them or have perfected it. But I think there's the conversations. I think maybe the mistakes that, you know, shout out to my mom and dad.

They were, you know, your mom and dad amazing, your mom and dad amazing, mine too. You know, just so old school was the way we taught, I was taught this was there was these old envelopes that you got at church and you had to check the boxes and nobody wanted to be shamed. by not having something in their envelope. And I remember, you know, not even having anything, my mom would give me something to put in my envelope so that when the basket would pass, I would have something to put in.

But I remember that. You know, I remember wanting to be a contributor. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, them talking to me about that. The conversation moves as your kids get to be teenagers. And so then, you know, you all of a sudden are having different kind of conversations. but I think the mistake that some parents don't, that they make, and I'm not saying, you know, when you should, but you need to be talking to your children when they're small, you know, when they're pre-adolescent, and then certainly as they're teenagers, about money and about generosity. And I just think, I mean, again, not just money and not just giving, but you guys know the whole thing of generosity.

Our kids need to hear it from us. I mean, that's a constant conversation. you know yeah and especially you guys already am modeling it yes yes that struck me as a dad on the achin story yeah is this like his greed got passed down to his kids they apparently became complicit with him in his greed and it's like that will be true for every parent yeah either either my greed will get disciple into my kids or my generosity. We'll get disciples into my kids. You talked about, Chris, that's what we do. We do it. The stories, we love that. We'll do as a family, and it feels a little uncomfortable to share, but, you know, this part of, you know, ties, but then offerings is giving

above that. And, you know, we, we love adoption is big part of our family story. Whenever there's a Lake Point family is adopting, you know, as long as we are financially able and so far we've been able is any Lake Point family, shout out, any Lake Point family that's adopting, Jan and I try to help in some way. And what we'll do is we'll give to that family and then we'll just say, we'll only have one request. You got us, we'll give you whatever. You got to send us a picture when they, and we bring them home and we keep the pictures on the refrigerator. And my kids, who are adopted, they know, we just tell them.

We'll bring, the first time we get the picture, we sit down at the dinner table, guys, this is Asher. We helped Asher. Yeah. Bring home a mommy, mommy and daddy. And it's really, and they're like, we did, yes, we are family.

That's cool. Now we got all those pictures. Yeah, I love that. And it soes into them. Hey, it actually is more blessed to give than receive. It actually is. There's a joy in this.

that that our families need. Amazing. Are you kidding? I agree. It's just such joy. So tell me this, like, if I'm a mom or a dad and I'm hearing this, and I haven't taken the first step in. Yeah.

That sounds great. You got good parents. Y'all all had good parents. Y'all all had this example. I've got to start from square one. What do I do? Okay, I'll give an answer, and then this is one where I'm like, feel free to disagree with me. And my answer, honestly, is based on, I'm going to disagree with something that,

a lot of people say, but my answer is based on my experience. So here's what Jan and I did early in our marriage when we were like, that math, don't math. And this is what I did in college when I was like, that math, don't math. You know, sometimes people say, hey, man, just start with 1% and move on up. And I'm not saying that's wrong. The Lord is always pleased with progress. I'm not saying that's wrong. What I am saying is that's not what I did. And my conscience just couldn't get there. Sure, sure. When I was in those spots, I was like, well, it says 10%.

And I was like, that's what he said, and I'm going to trust him. So that's what, if somebody's sitting with me, I tell him that story, I say, pray, ask the Holy Spirit and follow your conscience. And then I say, but what I did is I just went, well, it says to test him. So I'm going to go for it. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I would, that's what I'd encourage.

That's what I did. Now, again, the Lord is pleased with progress and wrestle, but that's how I approach it. Tim, you got anything on that? Well, I mean, I agree with Pastor Josh. I think practically, though, what people need to, you know, hear is, you know, men live on less than you make, get a budget, have a conversation with, you know, I've found that like in our family, I'm the bigger spender than Lynette, you know, but there's generally one who likes to spend and one who's not their,

I don't know how that works, but you got to have a conversation with your spouse. And because the reality is, is like if you don't release the wisdom that's in the scriptures and the wisdom of God into your practical day-to-day, like your faith isn't going to overcome your stupidity. Thank you, Tim. For real, thank you for saying that. Do you see what I'm saying? So it's like my point being is like, I think it's the combination of what you're saying

where your faith meets you releasing practical wisdom. them. And so you've got to have conversations. It's the number one thing people fight about in marriages. So again, I know it's a landmine, but I think, man, you got to sit down and, you know, walk the wall, assess your house, man, get a plan, and then start, I think, man, then covenant together to try the plan while you're testing the Lord. I think it's important. I'm so glad you said that. Hey, because it's like, hey, ma'am, we believe in Jesus and math. Yes. Yes. I'm I believe in truth and math. And so it is.

I'm so glad you said that because what I have seen happen, that was a very pastoral response, is people that have unbiblical, unwise spending and living patterns. And they think, well, I'll just keep doing all that stuff. And I'll toss 10% towards the church. And why didn't it work? Well, bro. Because there's also proverbs. That's right.

That's what I'm saying. Right. Right. So, you know, hey, just general rule. I'll just lay a general rule because, you know, Dave Ramsey. Yeah. If you want a good starting spot for a budget, you know, at this point, Jan, I've done a bazillion budgets and we're, you know, in a better spot than he,

but if you want a general rule, man, start with give 10%, save 10%, live on the rest. Give 10, save 10, live on the rest. And then, you know, you inch your way up in both giving and saving. Yeah. But if you want to start like, all right, let's sit down and what do we got cut? Yeah, there it is. I think that's good. That's good.

when you start wrapping this sucker up. It's about that time. And so, hey, there's a couple like, hey, as we finish up the greed conversation, a couple of just, you know, extra little topics here. Okay. Yeah, I heard recently that there was a man named Elon Musk that retweeted you. Oh, man. Will you tell me just a little bit about, Chris, me and Elon.

You and Elon being best buddies. We're best friends now. And, man, I heard he was going to tithe. Yeah, see? That would be more campuses. That would be amazing. I'm saying there's a chance I could fix the parking. Yeah.

Yes. So you're telling me there's a chance. Hey, Elon, if you're hearing this, yeah, we've got some parking problems. We'd love your help with. That's right, dude. So I was, we were in an offsite. Yeah. And I shared this, I shared this, I don't tweet much anymore because it's a knife fight. Yeah. And which is, I enjoy a little too much, honestly. And so I was like, well, I'll just stop. I enjoy a little too much. And I shared this story of a pastor from, is actually from Peru, who came in and preached at Le Pointe, Español. And dude, if you didn't know this, this is insane.

He was sharing with me, and this is why I ended up tweeting that Elon retweeted. He was sharing with me that in Peru, they're culturally, they have very traditional beliefs about gender marriage and sexuality. Like even if you're not a Christian. In Peru, everybody's like, well, of course. marriage, man, woman, like families are good things. Yeah, sure. And, you know, dudes are dudes and women are women.

And so very true, but he was explained to me that his daughter's middle school class, the parents were freaking out because they were like aggressively teaching LGBT ideology to their kids middle school. And I was like, well, how did that happen? You know, because you're in Peru, nobody thinks that. And he was explaining, and this is before all this stuff with you. S-Aid and Doge and all this time. He was explaining that the American government was making their financial aid of this impoverished country dependent upon them teaching, quote-unquote, LGBT-inclusive things in the government school system.

And he was explaining this. This was last year before I'd even heard of USAID. I didn't know what that was. So he told me this story. So then all the stuff happened about Doge and USA. and, you know, corruption and everything. So I was just like on, you know, Twitter, and it's literally the first thing I've tweeted

in like three months. And I was like, I'm just to share this story really quick. When we're on this offsite, and my phone explodes. And it's like 30 people like, bro, Elon just retweeted you. And I'm like, we're good friends now

and I'm gonna work on Tive in a Lake Point, we're gonna get him safe. That's awesome. And then we're gonna go to Mars together. Then we'll go to Mars campus. Hey, perfect. Lake Point Mars. Like the campus in Roy City?

Mars campus, man. I like it. I see that. We get it wrong, man. It was made for an interesting day. A lot of reporters start reaching out to you when Elon retweets you. Sure. That's funny.

Well, last thing, we just passed Valentine's Day. Oops. Advice for the single listener that is sitting out there a couple days after Valentine's Day. What's the advice we got for him? Berkeley, bro. I like to drop the bombs on this to end here. Carlos will be back next week. Like, he's single, but he's got to.

a girl? Is that what you're saying? Or he's just, I mean, or... Just unmarried. He's just unmarried. What do they do? What's the advice? I got you. We give a couple nuggets. Yeah, I like that. I like that. Yeah, we'll see from the hip here. Yeah. All right.

Well, I think it's the biggest one is, hey, you get your... Don't be unequally yolk deal. Yeah. So, you know, you just start running hard after Jesus and then you look up next to you and eventually you find somebody who's running at the same speed.

And that's probably the person you want to get yoked to, you know, something like that. I think that's one. Yeah. Don't know of angi-dating. Yeah. You know, it's not going to work. Yeah. I will say as part of that, shout out, I'm going to give a little shout out, L.P. young adults.

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. It's like in fishing, when I'm fishing, I'm going to say something slightly offensive here in a second. when you're fishing it's like what bait you use is based on what fish you want to catch and there's a little saying

the fisherman will say sometimes is fish with junk bait catch junk fish if you are a dude and it's like you're trying to attract the right girl with you know I don't know

cars and bling or whatever you thing is it's like hey man like that bait doesn't catch the type of fish like godly women that's not at the top of their list and then also this is the offensive part and then you know if you're a girl and i would say this to i would say it an appropriate way to my daughter or whatever just like hey if you're a girl and you're trying to attract a godly man like cleavage and thigh gaps are not what a godly man is at the top of his list and i would just say to both genders catch with junk bait and you're going to

catch junk fish so it's like the other thing i'd say I like to fish, so that all my fishing analogies. Hey man, fish in the right pond. If that pond is only stocked with catfish, you're not going to get a large mouth bass. And so honestly, dude, like, if you're looking for a godly man or a godly woman, she's not at the club. Yeah, right. You're fishing the wrong pond, my brother. I was thinking the same thing.

I mean, I love your fishing analogy. But I was just going to say, you know, going back to my days as a couple of times, as a college pastor, you know, I would say to people is like, hey, this is a season that's unlike any other season. And if you're not involved with someone else, like work on you. Yeah. Like work on your spiritual life. That's right. And then, man, like what we know, man, you know, from Paul, it's like, hey, man, it's a special season for you because you don't have some of those responsibilities.

And yet maybe one day you want some. Yeah. It's like, man, this is a time. time for you to invest more into the kingdom. So I want to say to everyone who's out there, it's like, hey, man, get involved in a life group, go on a mission trip, like get around and do the things that are going to make you the kind of person that makes you actually desirable from someone who's looking for a great man of God or a great woman of God.

So like, don't look at it as like what you don't have. Look at the season as an opportunity for you to become the greatest, believer and follower of Jesus that you can become and then just trust the Lord in it. Yeah, it's a little bit like what you win them with, you keep them with. Yeah, man. So, yeah. It's that if you're reading the Bible verses about how to find the right spouse, there literally aren't any.

Like, oh, here's how you go finder. There's not verses on that. If you're looking for Bible verses about how to become the right type of person, literally every verse is that. Yes. So it's really just that, it's that old principle of become the type of. type of person, the person you're looking for is looking for. That's good.

That's what when I would have like middle school boys as a youth camp pastor, that's, you know, you do a Q&A. All of them, they want to ask marriage, you know, intimacy question. That's like that all they want to. Yeah. So, you know, they're like, man, how do I get it? How do I get it? And, you know, I'd always be like, dude, honestly, man, like, you're not the type of girl. You're not the type of guy that the girl you're looking for.

They'd make all these lists about the type of girl that they wanted. Like, you know, I'd be like, make your list. This is what I would do. They'd ask the question by like, hey, I'm going to set a three minute of time where you make a list the type of girl you want. They read all the things. I want to be super attracted to them. I want to be really godly.

And then I would go, well, dude, here's a deal. You are not the type of guy who gets that type of girl yet. Yep. So like if you're just sitting in your basement playing Call of Duty 2 for eight hours a day and you don't have a job and you're addicted to pornography and you know, you're not going anywhere

with your life. That type of girl is not attracted to you. So you need to what Tim said, you need to become the type of guy that the type of girl you're looking for is looking for. And then I'll finish with one politically

incorrectly incorrect thing. Please. So this is, and this is really important. I ran across the, I actually screenshot I'm looking at right now and I may have them see if they can edit it where they can put it on the podcast screen.

This super viral thing. on X. I'm paying attention now that Elon retweeted me. I was going to say. One tweet from Elon. So, dude, we'll see how this next two minutes goes here. There was this tweet that went like mega viral. And it's this girl, I'm looking at it right now.

It's this girl posted three pictures of this guy, you know, fit guy in his 20s, you know, decent looking normal guy. And he's like holding flowers and just, you know, staring up at her. apartment window, and it's three pictures of him. And this girl tweets, let's be real here, women don't really want this, and this man will get cheated on. And it was like half of the people were like, what are you talking about? You're insane. And then half of them were like, no, she's totally right. And in one sense, I'm kind of like, in one sense, I'm like, there's a little truth to both these things. And here's what I'm driving at, all right? If you think I'm crazy, here's what I'm driving at.

One, there's something, let me just say, there's something broken in you, if there's something broken in you, if you are not looking for somebody who is affectionately devoted to you, obviously. But I will say this.

I think there's a little hint of the creational pattern that's in this. So here's the pull of the incorrect part. In Genesis, and this especially goes to wisdom, them for young men. In Genesis, God creates Adam for a calling. He puts him in the garden to work it and keep it. God creates Eve for Adam. Here's a helper suitable for you. So the man is oriented towards a specific calling. The wife, the woman is oriented towards the man. And then,

which is why in first Corinthians, this is a very politically incorrect verse, but like, we're all just all in on the Bible. Politically incorrect, biblical correct, we're in. That's why in 1st Corinthians is it says the man was not created for the woman, but the woman was created for man. I will say that you will see younger men. They'll start dating, and there's like my daughter's generation, they'll call him a simp. It's a dude who like, he eventually, he just,

he's not about anything in life except like adoring and worshiping the girl. Women are not attracted to that. Why? Because of the creational pattern. Yep. Yeah. Men were made to be primary, to orient towards a calling. Obviously, your wife's your primary, but we all understand what I mean and what I don't mean. Men were made to be oriented towards a calling. To get up, go to work, wake up every day. Let me kill something and drag it home. Let me make progress. That kind of thing. And then women were designed, wives were designed to orient themselves towards the husband that they are called to. So what you will find, it actually drives to this tweet, why it was like a little Roershack test. You will find that. You will find that. that over time, women lose interest in men who are not going somewhere and doing something with their life. If a man starts being oriented towards a woman in a way that the woman was designed to be oriented towards the man, they lose interest in that. So I will say that. Do you want,

if you're a young man, you want to do something, get an incredible calling on your life and pursue it hard and then watch who wants to come alongside of you in that calling and you're probably going to, something going to happen there, what you got? Quick illustration of this. Do it. Listen, I got a really good friend of mine and yours who has a 22-year-old daughter who just said to her mom. It's like, hey, this guy's kind of interested in me. But I saw his playlist, his music playlist, and his playlist is full of Taylor Swift.

And she said, no way. I'm out. I love this girl. I'm out. I love this girl. She said, not my kind of guy because of what you just said. That's it. Yep.

Listen, I want to dignify this young woman as having wonderful discretion. Yes. Amen. Amen. Amen. We need Mary's not Swifties to put it in an old friend. All right. We're wrapping it up. Hey, marriage weekend is this weekend. So come out. We'll see y'all this weekend. It's fun. Come to the Saturday services. Sunday's going to be packed. Pettysh, Josh. We pray for us. I would love to. Lord Jesus, thank you for your word and the depths of the riches of the glory of God in it. I pray for every man and woman listen to this.

your word would come alive, that it would have power to change them and that you would empower us by your spirit to live free in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thanks for joining us. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our Lake Point Church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all the digital resources of LakePoint, visit legpoint.church slash live free.