The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-E66 | 09-01-23

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

Question #1 Would you define what “works” are in James 2:14-26? Also, explain how faith and works are important together and not alone.Question #2 I am a school teacher and it has become increasingly difficult to teach because kids are so disrespectful and undisciplined. As teachers we have no options when it comes to punishing or disciplining children so teaching is like herding cats some days. I am passionate about my job but become more frustrated every year. Teachers hands are tied so it’s up to the parents and I don’t think they even see how unruly their kids are. Help!

Welcome to the Hope Hotline. Thank you so much for joining in today, Friday. Hallelujah. Three-day weekend. Marka. I'm ready. It's my friend, Kristen. She gave me that shirt.

So every American holiday, well, pretty much every American holiday, I'm wearing this sucker for multiple reasons. One, because I miss her, and it reminds me of her. And the other, it's because it's America. It's cool. I love the sunglass look. Me too. Although, I do have some other shirts that I do enjoy.

So I can't promise that this one we... I'm changing up right now. I might not always wear this one. But pretty close. And I feel the need to burp. Hold on. All right. I blew it that way.

And I burped that way. Excuse me. Pardon me. All right. Don blew it that way. And I burped that way. Excuse me. Pardon me. All right. Don't we have, don't you have, okay, so Tracy promised that she would have, some of you are really sick of the conference. I get it. But I'm still doing it.

She created a long, not long, it's like three minutes long it's not long video of a recap of the conference and it's good and it's of our very own alissa yeah singing uh what's the name worthy of it all erin is harmonizing worship leader, and then my daughter is harmonizing with her. But Alyssa killed it. Oh, so good. Listen, all of our worship leaders, all of the girls, like Alyssa's brand is the newest one to the team. Yeah.

Yeah. She's never even sang yet for the church. And I like thrust this on her. Poor woman. Her husband, I thought, was going to kill her. Because she sang Throne Room. She listened to Throne Room while she was sleeping. And he said, I don't want to hear that song ever again. And basically, she told him, I don't care.

I'm listening to it. Like the pressure that I put on this girl. But she dealt with a sick child. She's pregnant. She did really good. And then the other girls, Deb and Andrea and my daughter and Vanessa. Is there anybody I'm missing? Nope.

Nope. That's them. And obviously Aaron. But Naz, who does all the production in the back. Yes. I know. So good. He did such a great job so good

such a great job are you ready to show it for me I mean I love you guys if you're watching you killed it for me you did a great job I'm super proud of you and the kudos big kudos goes to Aaron for like getting all that done because he always like he, he has a big task on his plate. Yes, he does. So let's watch the video. Recap, please. All the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God and sing. You're worthy of it all. You're worthy of it all. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory.

You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You deserve the glory. You're worthy of it all. You're worthy of it all. For from You are all things. And through You are all things. You deserve glory Day and night, night and day, let incense arise Day and night Night and day Let incense arise

Day and night Night and day Let incense arise Day and night Night and day Let incense arise Day and night Night and day, let and day.

You are young and old. You are young and old. You're on your own You're on your own You're on your own You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory Praise you, Lord. Praise you, Lord. I have to tell you, I enjoy looking at pictures of myself so much better now that I've lost 11 pounds.

Yes. I mean, I'm not lying. I'm like, used to look at my pictures and I'm like, dear Lord, you fat tub of lard. You got to lose some pounds, sister. Not anymore. I mean, I still need to lose weight, but it's much more pleasurable for me to look at pictures. Okay. can you do me a favor? I'm going to hook Heather up. I mean, she's not going to like me very much. Can you go back to this really nice looking guy in a pink jacket? Can you reverse that thing really quick or move forward to it really fast?

Listen, help a brother out. We got to keep this guy in America. Okay? So listen, he's cute as pumpkin pie sweet loves jesus oh my god if you live out of state or whatever if you attend foundation church okay how old is he 27 27 years of old of age if you know a good christian girl like he's really picky people he's picky you want you have to love jesus you have to be serving because he's like like if you don't serve in church yeah forget that's a big turn off for him put that picture up of him i'm not gonna oh i'm going back i'm going

i gotta pause it like he even he even got he's look look at him turn it around oh oh hold on okay there it is look at how cute he is. He's such a sweet. He is. He's a sweet boy. Great kid. He's a man. Whatever. To me, he's a boy.

Yeah. Like, but I'm just saying, girls, if you're, what, 30? Okay. He might date an older woman. I don't think he's opposed to that. He's not. Like, he ain't dating no 50 or 60-year-old woman, people. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Calm down. It's too much. Yeah, calm down. But let's just say if you're 30 and younger, but not past 20. Okay. There he is. There he is. That's him.

So if you are interested or you know somebody who might be interested, he needs to stay in the United States. So I'm looking to get him married within the next year or so. Okay. Please send your application. What? Send your application. Okay.

Please see Heather on Sunday. She'll take, she'll, she'll take good care of you. Then what'll happen is somehow, some way we'll have him see you from afar And if you meet his standards Because you've already seen him

Yeah So you're interested, right? Right But he has to have the same fair shake Right? So Okay Yeah

Wow So there we go Wow Oh, looky here Okay, so On Thursday nights The girls Not me

Because I'm doing podcasts with my hot husband. But if, well, I don't know if we want to do that. We'll just say this. Thursday nights, you guys have been managing to go out and do some line dancing, learning line dancing, which Norma told me you're a sight, Tracy. I am actually really good. Yeah.

What are you talking about? I told you just said if you look at Tracy, she'll mess you up. That is a fib. Good for a laugh, but not a great dancer. You gonna show us

you guys line dancing last night? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They went line dancing last night. You ready? Yep, go ahead. Don't listen to the music, people. It's not Christian. But get over it.

There's Heather in the jeans and the pink shirt to the left. I don't know if you can hear me. I don't see Tracy. I'm recording. She's in tower. Whoever the really good one was, that was me. There's my daughter in the black shorts, gray shirt.

I don't... Where are you? Is that Trish in the green dress? There's Trish. There's Brinley. And there's Tootie. And then... Where are you, Tracy? Oh, there you are.

Logan, you're in the blue. No. No. That's not you in the blue shirt. No. I've got a dress on with white sneakers and Chris is right next to me. Okay. And then you're going to see Logan's hot husband, Chris.

Yeah. Where are they? Is it this way? Oh, yeah. There they there's Trish is right in the middle in her dress and then Chris is right behind her too I guess I don't know what side it is and then Tali uh Logan's right behind her I see Chris like white pants brown a shirt that's not a good picture of his face yeah I know it's faces way better than that it's very bright go ahead okay there I am look at that whoa okay there's Chris right in front of me

he knows what he's doing and then we've got more friends to the side. And then there's Heather. Hot mess. There's not normal, my daughter. And then the rest of our friends. And here we go. Heather and Tracy almost hitting each other. Okay, you did it. Hold on. Right up under. yes she does why are you recording my feet okay hold on i i literally he Heather just said, in her defense, she was eating during the instruction period of the class. Shucker her.

Listen, if there's ever a plate of food around, she's at it. She just works it off in the morning. Oh my gosh. Heather. Heather did not do very well because she said she basically ate the whole entire time. And then when she went to dance, she did not know what was going on. Okay. Like, I'm going to give a shout out to a local.

I don't know the name of the place. What? No, I'm giving it. You just don't want to wait in line, Heather. Heather doesn't want me to tell you about this place Okay, because if I Tell you about this place Then you guys might go to it

Which might cause us some issues But I'm just telling you My girlfriend Sarah Which you've seen on this podcast She turned me and Heather on to this joint Yesterday morning, which was the biggest mistake Of my whole entire life I'm'm gonna get to the questions people just just like i don't want to say entertain me but what is it advertising no no no no it's when you

yeah like just humor me humor me thank you you're welcome thank you tracy which tracy is actually over here but i see her when i look at her you're seeing it opposite right so really i'm looking that way okay but it looks opposite so i'm looking everywhere for the name and it's right there yuppie bowl yuppie bowl oh that is that i thought that was name of the bowl the bowl that i got it might, but that's the name. Okay, so there's a place in Port Charlotte. So if you live in and around the area, I'm just telling you, it's a, what's it? It's a K-A-A-K.

Acai. Acai. What is it? Say it again. Acai. Acai bowl. Yes. Okay, it is the best.

I had it yesterday morning after working out. I literally dreamed about this sucker all stinking day long. Then we go to the gym and all I want to do is get another yuppie bowl. That's what we did after we were done.

We've now said every Friday that's what we've earned An acai bowl Look at this sucker Share it Ready Cause Tracy captures

Every freaking moment That there is Every moment Look at that thing Okay that is a berry blast Thingy I don't know what it is It's what

Sarah It's what Sarah Got us Yesterday It's all berries With flax seed And what's the other seed Chia seed Chia seed God bless Granola Peanut butter And acai Yesterday, it's all berries with flax seed. And what's the other seed?

Chia seed. Chia seed. God bless. Granola, peanut butter, and acai in it. Guys, I'm just telling you, it's like crack. That's all I'm going to say. It's like crack cocaine to me. I want it right now.

Literally. Not that I've ever done crack cocaine. And I i'm confirming i've never done crack actually same yeah good to know good to know tracy well i was agreeing with you our brains are not fried from drugs right they're just naturally fried yeah i've never done a drug in my life believe it or or not, this happened naturally. Same. It's the blonde. Yeah, it must be.

But let me just tell you, if I had ever done crack, this acai bowl would be just like the crack that I took that I've never taken. I'm just saying it's really, really good. What did you think, Tracy? It was so good. It was almost because it was peanut butter and it's really, really good. What did you think, Tracy? It was so good. It was almost because it was peanut butter and it had berries, so it was like peanut butter jelly. It was delicious.

So look up. Okay, so listen. I'm going to try and tell you it's just past. It's across the street from the Haverty's and the Walmart little mini supermarket. Right. Not the Haverty's because it's just past there. The cross street is like Forest Nelson Boulevard and 41. And it's right before that.

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. You might. I missed the turn. I've only been there twice. So it's not like I missed the turn. I've only been there twice so it's not like, I missed the turn and then I go through the neighborhood

and then I go down the street. Heather told me today, she's like, you missed the road. Whatever. Yeah. I know the shortcut once I miss the road.

I'm just saying people, yeah, give me the address because I'm going to give them some props. They kill it there. And you know what? It's a mom and pop.

Yeah. And they're from Mass, right? They're from Boston. Are they? No, or New York. I don't know. It's one of those ones that don't pronounce their R's very good. Yeah, I didn't hear.

And they're definitely Northeastern. 21-31 Tamiami Trail. 21-31 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte. Port Charlotte. You will not be disappointed at all. In fact, if you go, let us know. I'm not kidding you when I say. They have all different ones.

The one we get, Sarah made up. So, yeah, it's not even on the menu. Sarah did it. Okay. So, if you want the one we had, but listen, like Vanessa got an island blast today. She loves it. But the one we get, but listen, like Vanessa got an island blast today. She loves it. But the one we get is berries. It's all different berries.

Berries, granola, peanut butter, chai seed, flax seed, and the acai, which is going to be at the bottom. It's so good. What? Chia seed. Sorry. What did I say? Chai seed? Chia seed. Sorry. What did I say? Chai seed? Chia seed.

Chai tea. That's what I'm thinking right now. Which I don't even drink tea. I don't know why. Even chai? You don't like chai tea? It's like very fall. Like when you're ready for the fall.

Yeah. I get it from my mom. My mom loves it. Not me. I'm not a tea drinker. I don't like wood water. So I'm not a big wood water person. Wood water.

Okay. Yeah. It looks and tastes like you've taken water, put it down a strip of wood into a glass, and then you drink it. It's the color of the wood and it tastes like wood. It stinks. I don't like tea. Okay.

We call it wood water in my house not one of us drink it okay um so that's why we love it when we go to parties and that's all they serve is tea and water makes you super happy not cool huh it makes you so happy it makes us so happy just wood water that's funny no we're i'm not going to comment. It won't be nice. So, okay. One last thing. Go ahead, Tracy. Okay. What are you doing, Tracy?

Oh, okay. This is Tracy's new shirt. We've got to do some work on it, but You Be You, baby. By Tracy. So that's the new shirt that, and listen, I'm'm working if you give to the podcast we are going to send you one of those shirts yeah okay so but don't do it just yet because you can't I'm working on that still which should have it done by next week yeah um then our men are at the

men's conference right at the river men's conference yeah show how many awesome men we have there we're gonna chit chat for one second because um youtube is is being silly so we have our engineer um in right now getting this fixed for us oh so we don't have youtube going right now youtube oh well maybe right this second i think we i think he just we're going we're live see you were a moment too fast. It was, and I don't know what was going on. Okay. He disconnected. So now I have a free hand because I could not. Okay. So guys are at the river right now. And while I was line dancing, I get this beautiful photo. And now when you look at it, you can't unsee what is happening what's

happening so a few oh that's because of the additions that were made to it yeah we have some levitation going on in this picture okay Holy Spirit levitation literally okay let's see can I no i'm not gonna zoom that way if i pan like if we if we zoom in on some of these guys our amateur photographer that was there he couldn't get everybody in so what he did is he somehow some way yeah he made it happen but in the process we look like we are demonic because we have demonic literally levitating in the picture yeah like the guys on the end their feet it's fun it's a good picture but that's a lot of guys but that's a good crew right there that's a good crew right there that is a good good looking bunch it is they look so

happy as pastors of the ark church best looking set of men I've seen in a long time. Always got that. Even, I find it so funny because even, like, it's always, they sound like Gavin Newsom to me. Ark Church pastors sound like Gavin Newsom. And even when they're not country, somehow they get a Southern draw. Or they do that little, I don't know. It's always the same monotone. Never raise the, I think they teach them that.

I do. Like, I know there's a script that you follow with the ARC, Associated Related Churches. There's a script that you must follow in order to do the growth track and to gain you know to build your church but i think one of the qualifications or one of the things that they say is never raise your voice talk with a southern draw or come as close to as you possibly can be monotone another burp they kill excuse me? They kill it if that's their purpose.

Whatever. It's not good. It's not good. Everybody's been to one in their life, I think, or at least seen one. You turn on the TV and you're guaranteed. Follow, like, and share. All right. Wasting lots of time.

Okay. Follow, like, and share. God bless because I need that. I know. Please, please, please, please, please. I know my audience is very low right now because of YouTube and because I haven't started. But please, follow, like, and share so that the audience can grow and we can have a bigger impact. And actually, really what I want to do is teach even non-believers, people who do not call themselves Christians. I want them to hear, they can learn how to respond in a

biblical way, and hopefully they'll be curious as to maybe a question or want to handle something correctly, even though they don't live that lifestyle, and that'll plant a seed, and then it'll grow from there. And they'll desire to live a Christian life. You never know. You never know how things happen. We've had people be saved, and they had walked away from God,

and they ended up coming back from the podcast. And they live in another state, so it can happen. And it was a guy on top of that so you never know follow like and share and tap the bell if you're on YouTube all right wait I have one more thing oh you're gonna love this I'm not even told you yet one more thing that's one more thing and it's actually pretty awesome because on not just Can You Follow, Like, and Share, but also we have a podcast or we have our audio podcast. And in the last 30 days, you've had 713 downloads.

In the last 30 days. In the last 30 days. 713 people have downloaded it. Downloaded one of your episodes. At least one of them. Well, 713 people have downloaded it. Downloaded one of your episodes. At least one of them. Well, 713 episodes have been downloaded. So people are on there. So if you can't, like, if you don't want to, like, have YouTube on and streaming and you just want to hop on to Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any place, basically, that does audio podcasts, we're there.

Our numbers, listen, I know this sounds crazy, but our numbers are really good for being so new. Yeah. Like it's crazy how good our numbers are. Yeah. Definitely no complaints. That's for sure. But I didn't know about that one. That's huge. It is. I mean, that is huge. So please help me. That's it. That's all I had. And I'll continue to ride on the coattails of my husband. That works too. So between you and him, you're going to take me far. Let's go. Let's go.

That's right. All right. Let's do our first question. Listen, nothing's going to be like on Wednesday. I was going to say something. I'm not going to say something. I'm not going to say it. None of these questions are going to be like on Wednesday. Would you define what works are in James 2, 14 through 26?

Also explain how faith and works are important together and not alone. So you are probably, based on what this question is, is you're probably like-minded like with us, spiritually speaking. A lot of times people always want to say faith and works are separate. They don't go together. A lot of people believe that works-based faith is not biblical. It's grace. And then there's people that are only faith-based.

But they both do go hand-in-hand, 100%. James 2, 14 through 26. Faith without works is dead. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? This is Paul. I mean, this is James writing this. Profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works. Can faith save him? This is Paul. I mean, this is James writing this.

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. That still happens today. There are still people that believe one or the other. Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.

You believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. And this is where people that believe, like the ones that will say that they're saved or they believe in Jesus, that you're not going to go to hell because they believe in Jesus. Well, even this is where it is so good because Scripture says, well, so does the devil and so does the demons. They believe in Jesus. They believe in God. They believe in God. But they tremble because there's a fear there. They know what their end result is going to be.

People that believe that they can live like the world and still go to heaven because they believe that there is a God that exists, you're wrong. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which says abraham

believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of god you see that a man is justified by works and not by faith only likewise was not rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way for as the body without the spirit is dead so so faith without works is dead also. So anybody who tells you that they don't go hand in hand, scripturally is incorrect. There is nowhere in scripture that says all you have to do is have faith

and your works don't apply. And we're going to go deeper into this because there's absolutely no way. There are denominations that preach that works-based theology is wrong. It's grace. That's all it is. If you walk in grace, you don't have to be worked. I literally have had people say that we are incorrect because we are a work-based church. That's not what the Bible says.

You'll know them by their fruit. Like your fruit. How do you get fruit? You've had to plant a seed. If you plant a seed, are you working? Yeah, you're working. I mean, it's just crazy. So let me just ask you this.

Well, let me rephrase this like this. A lot of people that are grace conscious are not obedience conscious. They believe that once you've said the sinner's prayer, then the work is finished. That if you are obedient, that's great, but grace is what saves you. And basically, grace and heaven coexist together once you've said the sinner's prayer. That is not what the Word of God says at all. You can lose your salvation. The Word is very clear about that as well. I'm not going to get into all of that because that's not really this question. It's more about works and faith. But then there's denominations that believe 100% that it's all works-based. They're wrong too. They believe that the more you work, the better chance you have to go to heaven.

They believe that you have to knock on as many doors as you can, and the more you work and the more souls you win, the better chance you have of going to heaven. It's just not a fact. The cleaner the church grounds are and the inside of the church is, and the more you work on all that, the better chance you have of going to heaven. It's not in the Bible. It's not in the Bible at all.

So all of that, one can't survive without the other. They have to be together. Romans 12 says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When you renew your mind, is that a work or is that grace? Renewing your mind takes effort. It takes work. So work in faith, hand in hand. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 10 says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,

nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God. Now there's a lot of people that will say, all those people will enter the kingdom of heaven if they said a sinner's prayer. And then if they still live like that, they'll either tell you they were never saved to begin with, which who are they to judge the heart of man? Only God can do that. Or they'll believe that they're still going to heaven and they live like that it's not in the word of god because it just said if you live like this and if you're unrighteous it says do not be deceived and people who tell you that you can go to heaven and live like that they're deceiving you what's the definition of unrighteous? The definition is sinful or wicked.

So if you are unrighteous, then you are a sinful person, and all those things are sin. So if you are doing those things, not struggling with those things, but living like those things. There's a difference between struggling with something and living like it. One is conceding. The other one is battling it, maybe day to day, winning and losing, but you're winning some. So you're trying not to live like that. And you're in the battle, right? God looks at that. He knows the heart of the individual. So let me ask you, is holiness a work?

No, it says we are to be holy as he is holy. No, holiness is a work. Holiness is not grace, okay? Obedience is a work. It's not something that just comes upon you when you get saved. You have to be diligent. I work every day to make sure that the things that I say are godly, they are holy. I fail, but on the whole, that's my goal, and I don't abide in it. I see it. I cast it out. my, daily I try and cast it out of my life. Whatever it is, whether it's talking bad about somebody, whether it be gossip or anything, all of us have something that we have to eradicate out of our life. If you're not, when you eradicate something, again, that's a work. So faith and works go hand in hand. Romans 6, 15 through 23 says, from slaves of sin to slaves of God. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law,

but under grace? Notice it's a question mark. Certainly not. So it's saying, shall we sin because we're not under law, but under grace? It's saying, no, you can't keep sinning. Grace does not, the grace that God provided does not allow you to continue to sin. That's what that's saying. Do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey, you are that one slave whom you obey? Whether of sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness. So if you live in sin, it leads to death.

If you live in obedience, it leads to righteousness. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of unlawfulness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. So we're to seek after holiness.

We're to take off the slave to sin and become a slave to righteousness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? And you should be ashamed when you sin. There's a big thing in the Christian world and churches today, and they're all, it's like when you watch the news and all these newscasters get like the phrase for the week

or the phrase of the day, like you're supposed to, these liberal news shows, they all have propaganda that they have to preach. Well, this is the propaganda in the church today. You can't shame people. Have you ever heard of that term? You're not to shame people. Well, the Bible is very clear that there is things that you should be ashamed of.

And if you are still living like that, the only way to change that is for you to be shamed. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sorry. People say you can't judge because judgment brings shame. Well, that's not what the Word of God says. We're to be accountable to one another, and then we are to not go and judge the world, but we're to judge inside the house of God,

our brothers and sisters, as long as we're not doing the same thing. So when people say you can't, I literally have had believers say, you're shaming me. I'm like, I really want to say, can you flip and open your Bible up and give me the scripture that talks about that? Because there ain't none. For the end of those things are death. So let's go back to that. So what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. So sin, you should be ashamed of, and it will lead to death. But now having been set free from sin

and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and to the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So James is not saying works makes us righteous, but that the real saving faith is demonstrated by good works. That is what that scripture is saying. So works are not the cause of salvation, but works are the evidence of salvation. Booyah. Works are not the cause of salvation, but works are the evidence of salvation faith in christ results in good works if you claim to be a christian but live in willful disobedience to christ

you have a false or dead faith in it and you're not saved and that's just the facts and here's what matthew 7 16 through 23 says which nails what i just read to you you will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So your fruit, if you are producing good fruit, people will be able to pull the fruit off of you. But if you do not produce fruit, that would be a thorn bush or a thistle. If you're living in sin, then you're a thorn bush or a thistle. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not

bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. And then it goes on to say after that, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So you can absolutely live like the

devil. I mean, your gifts and callings are irrevocable. I literally have seen men pastors having affairs with women, their secretaries, women in the church, have affairs with women preaching winning the lost laying hands on the sick and if they died in that state they were not going to heaven and then they would have said that very thing lord lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and many wonders in your name and that would have have been, yeah, you absolutely have. You've done all those things, but you're lawless, and you will not enter in. And that's what Jesus is saying right there. So holiness is not works-based.

If you obey me, is what Jesus said. If you obey me, you love me. Okay? If you love me, you obey me. Okay. If you love, if you love me, you obey my, my commandments to be more exact. Grace is not a license to sin. That's very clear in the scriptures. And listen, I'm just saying to you, it is not a risk that I would take. I would not live like the devil, go to church on Sunday, declare that I'm a believer based on grace, and that I can do whatever the heck I want, go to church, and be saved because I believe in Jesus.

But live like the devil. Whatever that means to you, from drugs, alcohol, fornication, which is sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, jealousy, envy, gossip, lying, all those things. And there's more, but those are just a few. All of those things will make sure that you don't go to heaven. So don't do that. Be better. Be better. I hope that makes sense, and I hope that you understand.

Faith and works, hand in hand. You can't do one without the other. That's how you show the fruit. That's how you show whether you're believing or not. Let's go to the next question. I am a school teacher, and it has become increasingly difficult to teach because kids are so disrespectful and undisciplined. As teachers, we have no options when it comes to punishing or disciplining children, so teaching is like herding cats some days. I am passionate about my job, but become more frustrated every year. The teacher's hands are tied, so it's up to the parents, and I don't think they even see how unruly their kids are. Help. You are 100% correct. Most parents look at their children through rose-colored glasses.

I would never want to be a teacher. I mean, I was a teacher for my kids, but I got to spank them, do a beatdown on them if I had to, which I didn't. But, like, literally, I could send them to the room, make them sit on their bed until they were they wanted to work or whatever I mean stand in the corner spank them if it was necessary like teachers back in my day listen we got spanked back in my day when I was in elementary school Tom even got spanked in high school Travis did Heather's husband like back in my day, when I was in elementary school, Tom even got spanked in high school.

Travis did, Heather's husband. Like back in our day, there were ramifications for bad behavior. And now instead of bad behavior, when kids act bad, their parents have put them on so many medications that they spend more time going to the clinic to get their pill or whatever. We medicate instead of discipline. So teachers have a very, very difficult time. And I feel for you. I don't even know why. I mean, two people in my family right now are going through school to be teachers. I almost want to say you need your head examined because there ain't no way. There ain't no way I would want that job.

I know you guys get a lot of time off, but there ain't enough time off dealing with some of that nonsense on a daily. Some of these people have gone into special needs. They've gone into where they help kids that are they have issues because their parents were on drugs and alcohol and things like that so now the kids all messed up and they still need to go to school but they can't they have behavioral issues that are based on what happened to them while they were in their mother's womb and so it's not no fault of their own to a certain extent and so now there are people who are teaching these these kids like i'm not kidding you put me away yeah in a padded room because i could never do that dealing with kids that are like that parents don't parent anymore that's the problem even christian parents don't parent anymore. They don't. Like back in my day, like when

I misbehaved in school, I never got spanked. I got threatened to be spanked. But back in my day, if I got a bad report from the teacher and I came home, my dad whooped my hide. No one gets spanked anymore. There's no spanking at all in homes anymore. And that's not scriptural. But I think it's funny. I was thinking about this. I was thinking about this. I think it's hilarious.

You know the parents that have the countdown to the day that the school day starts? You know? And then they're celebrating that their kid's the first day of school. I think it's hilarious that parents can't see how bad their kids are. Or they always defend their kid against the school teacher or the school administration. These very same parents celebrate the first day of school. Why are you freaking celebrating the first day of school if your kid is everything that's opposite of what the teacher is saying? You're celebrating because you can't barely handle two and a half months of your brat, your unruly child, right?

Then you're giving your kid to the system, nine and a half months, and you celebrate that, and then you expect the teacher to put up with your kid for nine and a half months. Man. Like, holy mackerel. But your kid's perfect, does nothing wrong,

and now you know how the teacher feels. Like, seriously, think about two and a half months of dealing with your kid. The teacher has to deal with your kid for nine and a half months. You only dealt with it for two and a half months, and you work part of the time. And you can't spank them, which they're not spanking either. Otherwise, their kid wouldn't behave like they do. If you spanked your kid in a biblical way,

then your kid wouldn't be such a nightmare for everyone else. I say fix your freaking kids. I'm using the F word a lot today. I don't like that either. So I'm going to change that to stinking. Okay. I don't know why. I So I'm going to change that to stinking. Okay. I don't know why. I think I had too much caffeine or something.

So listen, I have compassion for teachers. I homeschooled my kids. And I didn't have 30 kids. I just had two kids, right? Some classrooms are 25 to 30 kids, depending on like in the state of Florida, it's, it's huge. Like we have an influx of kids, right? So some, some teachers have 25 to 30 students. That's a lot. I thought two was bad. And my kids weren't, my kids actually listened to me for the most part. Like like i could spank them they can't do anything

and then they have 20 they probably have at least 10 kids that are crappy at least like they like like you can barely teach because you're dealing with discipline issues the whole entire time it's it has to be be a nightmare. For parents that have bad children, you need to be honest about your kids. It's not fun. It's not a pleasant thing to do, but be honest about them because a teacher, I don't even know. I can't tell you what to do, teacher, because you can't do anything. It is now up to the parents. So parents, listen to these scriptures. Get your head out of the ground. Pull the head out of the ground. Look at your kid honestly. I'm not kidding you. If you are happy that school is starting, I'm speaking to you.

And you worked, so you weren't even home part of the day. Part of the problem is, is we have raised our kids. Back in my day, like mom stayed home until the kids went to school. Or mom stayed home even after the kids went to school and was home when the kids got home. And she parented instead of the daycare. And so I believe that a huge part of the problem here is we've allowed daycares to raise our children versus parents raising their children and some cases it is very difficult to have a one income home i understand that but me and my husband we did it and we would have lived in a very tiny house in order to make that happen sacrifices yourifices. You have to make sacrifices. Yeah. Like it's your kids. You brought them into this world. No one should be raising them but you.

Now, in some cases, it's absolutely not possible. And I understand that. But you know what? If we weren't so busy keeping up with the Joneses, having to have the latest gadget, having to have the newest car, having to have the biggest TV, having to have the newest car, having to have the biggest TV, whatever. Like part of the problem is, is we're always wanting something new. We're materialistic. We are never satisfied. We have to have the boat because if we have the boat, we can take the kids out on the weekend, right? We have to have a better, give them a better life. Listen, a better life for them is a parent at home when they come, before they leave in the morning, and when they get home from school.

Or from zero to five. That's a better life. They don't need the boat. Trust me. They need you. That's part of the problem. Child care. Raising our kids in daycare.

I am not kidding you. Have you ever seen, if you're a child care worker our kids in daycare i am not kidding you because have you ever seen if you're a child care worker a daycare worker i mean no disrespect but listen daycare workers on the whole if you went home and you looked at the lifestyle that they lived, you honestly would not want your child to be under their tutelage. Right. Yep. It's not good. Right.

For the most part. Not everybody. But on the whole, it's true. It's true. Unless it's like a Christian daycare and they are very particular about who they hire. But if it's a worldly daycare, oh no. Let's look at this. Proverbs 13, 24 says, he who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines

him promptly. Okay. I love it when I hear people say, we don't spank. We have other alternative things that we do, but we don't spank. Well, don't be biblical then. Because the reason why the Bible says that is because it means it. You're to spank your kid. And it's usually over defiance, rebellion, things like that.

I mean, if you have other means to discipline your kid, I think it's funny. The people that I hear say that, their kid will run out onto the road because they totally disregard what they have to say. For me, my kid never ran out into the road. You know why? Because they knew there's a consequence for not listening to me and their dad. It was not going to happen. Their kids, everybody, everybody that I've ever seen that said we don't spank, every single family, I haven't seen one yet, that their kids aren't spoiled, ill-behaved.

Like, if they don't get their way, they start crying, yelling, throwing a tantrum. And you know what's always funny to me is these same parents that don't believe in spanking, and to get their child to quit behaving like that, what they'll do is they'll distract them, and they'll try, and it's not even bribing. Heather said they'll bribe them. No, it's not even bribing. They distract them, and they'll, like, bring up a different subject so that the kid will stop behaving like that.

Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. What's with the ignoring? The ignoring? Like, your child's acting out, and I'm going to ignore you while you're throwing a fit. Why not get in there and, like, correct it? Because the thing is, is people don't want to discipline their kids. And the reason I believe it is, is because of guilt. They feel guilty because they don't spend enough time with their

children. And they don't, when they do spend the time with their children, they don't want to be disciplining their children. They don't want a time of spanking and things like that and also it's it's not fun listen you're gonna find out logan it is not fun to spank your kid it hurts your heart yeah it really does there's the last thing i wanted to do is spank my kid but guess what the best thing for them was for me to spank them because it was the only thing that they would respond to. Literally remember driving down the road, I had a spoon. I hardly ever had to use that sucker because after I started using it, and you can spank really great with a spoon because you have the ability to make it really hard or really soft. You can manage how hard it is.

That's why I loved the spoon because I could get, like, you can make it cup where it's more shock value than it is pain value because it shocks them. Unless they are my son, Tommy, and then he really, he needed to be hurt. So, but Norma would be shock value. It would startle her and shake her up because she was more compliant. So, like, you can control the spoon. And I remember going down the road, and if they were arguing or if one of them was being defiant when I told them something, all had to do is raise that spoon enough's enough one more word or whatever and everything stopped because if you do it at a young age you spank less it's it's truly um an honest and honestly it's true unless you

have like a tommy or creighton or something like that. Like both of Heather and I both have kids that were very strong willed. But you got to break that will. It's like a horse, you know. You have to break the will of that child so that they can. You don't think that God's going to expect them to be obedient to him? If you don't teach your children to be obedient to you, that which is tangible, how do you expect them to be obedient to that which is intangible? It's important. People don't get it. Yeah. So listen, if I told my dad now, whoo, doggie, he was a little leprechaun, but he was mighty. He was mighty. You didn't mess with my dad.

So let's see. Let me see where I'm at. Oh, you know what? I wanted to touch on this. You know what I think is funny too, parents? I'm going to give you a little tip. Some kids are so spoiled that if you tell them no, they keep coming back and coming back and coming back and asking that question over and over and over again until they break your will and you finally are like, I just can't take it anymore. Just go and do it or I'll just give it to you.

You're enabling bad behavior. That is not good. And that is not healthy for that child. Back in my day, if my dad or mom, well, not my mom, she was a sucker. But if my dad told me no, the first time, if I came back and asked again, I got a whooping. My kids, the same thing. If I told you no, don't come back and ask me again because it's going to be ugly. And what's happening is we see this in the adult world. Now kids become adults. And if they don't get their way and if you don't give them the answer that they want, guess what they do?

They just keep coming back and coming back and coming back and coming back until they try and break you. And they try and get what they want. Don't happen here. Not at Foundation Church. You can keep asking all you want to. The answer is the answer. Period. Doesn't happen in my house. The answer is the answer. Period. Don't keep coming back and asking because all you're going to do is build up a wall that's big. It's bad behavior. We do not enable bad behavior here at Foundation Church. Proverbs 29 15 says, the rod and rebuke give wisdom. So spanking and rebuke is correction. The rod and rebuke give wisdom. You want to make your kid dumb as a box of rocks? Don't spank them and don't correct them.

You will make them unwise. But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Scriptures are there for a reason. In all things, Titus 2.7 says, In all things, showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine, showing integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility. Okay? Kids watch everything you do.

You lie, your kids are going to lie. You cuss, your kids are going to cuss. You're negative, your kids are going to be negative. You gossip, your kids are going to talk about, well, they're going to talk about their friends. Or they might repeat what you say about someone, and then it gets back to the someone. Okay? Not good.

Not good at all. So try, you know, be an example. Try and do and be what you want your, try and be what you want your child to be, right? You want them to be a great product of society, but a godly man or woman. Try being a godly man or woman yourself, and you'll see that product come forth as they grow. You plant a seed, the seed's coming up. It'll bear good fruit or it'll bear bad fruit, but your child is that seed. Ephesians 6, 1 through 4 says, children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and their mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. So here's the thing. You want long life for your kids? Teach them to be obedient and to honor you. If you don't care how long they live, then let them run amok. Let them be unruly.

Let them be dishonoring to you. Let them say and do whatever they want to anyone and everyone, including you. Again, you plant that seed. It's coming up. But honor brings long life to the individual. That's a promise. It's in the Ten Commandments. It's the up, but honor brings long life to the individual. That's a promise. It's in the Ten Commandments. It's the fifth commandment, promising long life to the individual or the child that does it, right?

And it's also here in Ephesians, okay? Hold on. So, and it said fathers, and fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admission of the Lord. Okay, so a lot of times parents don't understand what that means. Okay, that means to irritate or make them angry. You have the ability to irritate or make your child angry. And that doesn't mean through discipline.

Okay, that means you can degrade. You can down to you can demean your child okay that is irritating we all know that because we know how much we love it when people do that to us it's irritating and it makes us angry when you when you punish your child make sure that it's a just punishment. Don't do it in anger, right? Make sure it's fair. Like I've seen some parents, one child gets one punishment, another child gets another punishment, and it's based on how much they favor the one or the other.

If both of them did the deed They both get the same punishment There's no favoritism That's how you are going to Provoke your children to wrath And don't be cruel I see this People can be very cruel I have seen fathers of

I've seen where men have married women with children. Their children are all grown up, right? And they've married this woman, and the only negative to her is that she has small children. So they kind of resent. They want her. They just resent the kids. And when they can, they poke at the kid or kids. And they're very unkind and nasty.

I literally have seen stepdads, and I'm sure stepmoms have been too, but I've seen this more with men, where they are nasty to the stepchildren and literally make sure that the kids know, like, you're bothersome to me. That is not good at all. If you've married somebody with children, guess what? Their kids are your kids. You love them as if you birthed them. And even if they are awful awful kids you

can discipline them in love and it's now your job to take them under your wing and be a parent to them whether you like it or not I mean you made a commitment to that person that you married and whatever they have, you got now. You're one. So let's make sure that how we are to children, because we can also make them like any attention is a good attention to them, even if it's bad, because they just want attention, right? We have to be super careful. Exodus 20, 12 says, honor your father and mother that your days may be long upon the land, which the Lord your God is giving you. That is one of the 10 commandments. Honor is super important. And there's some of you guys

that will say, I didn't grow up in a Christian home, so I really don't know how to raise children. Like, I'm doing the best that I can. You know, my parents weren't saved, or I got saved after I started raising my kids. I don't even know how I'm doing this. I don't even know how to do it. Like, I'm doing the best I can. Well, I would say, well, it doesn't really matter that you didn't grow up in a Christian home, and it really doesn't matter that you don't know what you're doing, because the Bible is very clear. It has rules, it has instruction, and you have the Holy Spirit. So as long as you've

got both of them right there, you're in good shape. You don't need to have grown up in a Christian home. You don't need man's guidance. All you got to do is crack that Bible open, read what it says. It's full of great stuff. And then pray. I would say pray in the Holy Spirit, but pray that the Holy Spirit gives you wisdom and guidance. You'll be the best parent out there. And then be a godly man or woman, and then you got all things covered. That's it. Hope, if you're okay with it.

Yeah. I'm going to put in the comments Adalys' three podcasts that she has on biblical parenting. I listen to them. They're phenomenal. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. There's moms or dads out there that want to listen, all from a Bible standpoint. But it was really helpful. Yeah.

Absolutely. She's got, well, it's going to be chock full of scripture. So absolutely do that. Because there are people out there that need help. But I'm just telling you, you can listen to Adalys all you want to. But until you apply the word, it does not return void. And you need, listen, you may be glad that you've gotten rid of your kids to the school system for eight hours a day, but I can promise you the teachers who are dealing with them are not enjoying it.

You're happy, but they're not. And that's not cool. So why don't you make their life a little easier and start doing what you're supposed to do. Be a parent. Be a parent. Be a parent. Create a wonderful human being that shows Christ through their life. Because little kids, listen, they can be great witnesses, especially to an unbelieving teacher. Great witnesses.

So anybody got to add anything? Got any two cents? I got some mamas in this room. I got one on the way. But you got to add anything? Got any two cents? I got some mamas in this room. I got one on the way. But you got anything to add? No, that was really good. Very good. Oh, yeah.

Heather says, if you haven't started, start now. It's never too late. No. It's never too late. Trust me. I mean, listen, if you got a 16-year-old, the wooden spoon ain't going to work. Take away the car. Take away the car. Take away the phone.

Right? True. True, true. The spoon, they might get you for abuse. It's a little too late for the 16-year-old with the spoon. But you can make life really measurable by taking away the phone and taking away other privileges that they absolutely live through. Social life, extracting that from one's life radically changes them big time. And being consistent, like you said, if you say no, it's no, period.

If you can learn that as a parent. It's huge. It's huge. Yeah, it's huge. But when your child starts misbehaving, for me, one of my biggest pet peeves is when the child starts misbehaving and the parent tries to start distracting and changing the subject or trying to make it so that the kid stops behaving like that. Not because they discipline the child, but because it's now they've tried to distract the child and tried to make them behave that way. Okay. They should behave because that's not the way we act. That's not the way we behave. And if you don't stop your behavior, there's a consequence.

That's it. Once the child makes the right decision, then you can move on to the next subject. But we don't change subjects so that we get our child to behave. We change subjects because they've made the right decision. Now we can move on. That's bad. For that teacher who had the question, if you have a school resource officer, see if you can tag team with that officer or that deputy to do something with the kid. I just thought.

Yeah, but you have classrooms full. That's the problem. I mean, this is like a teacher that has a classroom with like 10 kids. I'm just making it up. I don't know. But if you have a classroom where you're sending like, I mean, it's bad how many kids are leaving the classroom to go down to the nurse's station to go get their medications. Okay. They're on ADHD. They're on all these. So you have all these kids going, heading down to the nurse's station to get their meds. But then you got the ones that are on the

meds and the ones that aren't on the meds and they're unruly. It's not one child these teachers have to deal with. It's like not a classroom full, and then how do you teach to the ones that want to learn when you've got the ones that want to misbehave because they don't really want to go to school? Literally, my husband would have people call the school, and I remember this. I thought, you're nuts, but he had a parent call the school. And I remember this. I thought, you're nuts. But he had a parent.

Call the school to get him to try and get him to come and get their kid out of bed to go to school that day. Oh, yeah. I've answered those calls several times. It's like, what? That's in junior high. Yeah. Be a parent. Be a parent.

You know what would have happened back in my day? My dad would have ripped my hide out of the bed in my pajamas, no shoes, no nothing, and dragged my butt to school, and I would have gone to school the whole day like that. Never going to happen. But we don't man up. We don't do what's necessary because we've never done it since they were young. We've always laughed and thought it was cute when they did something that was misbehaving and we chuckle at it. It's not funny. We are raising children that cannot function in this world. And when they go to work, they treat their boss the same way they treat their parent treat their parent the thing is is your butt's gonna get fired because your boss ain't putting up with it it's true and then they can't keep jobs or we're in a

society now where nobody wants to work so we have businesses that are not even operating because kids just would rather lay on their lazy keisters and get paid to do nothing. I mean, we get all mad because we have to wait in long lines at restaurants and stuff like that because nobody wants to work. I'm like, I want to say, that's because of you. Don't be mad. You raised the society that doesn't want to work. So instead of being mad, look at your kids because they're probably the ones in bed sleeping in your basement right now i'm not not that don't have a job true on that note do you need jesus

apparently last podcast or one with heather i did oh my gosh heather reminded me this morning on our way home that I said that I needed Jesus. Apparently, I didn't know if I was going to heaven or not. That's true. I was very tired. You were. I was very tired. Sleepy girl.

If you don't know Jesus today, and I'm not talking, listen, maybe your parents stunk. Okay? No excuses. If you need Jesus today, say this prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I come to you right now. I thank you for what you did on that cross. I thank you for dying for my sins. I ask you to be the Lord of my life.

Whatever you say to do, I'll do. Whatever you say not to do, I won't do. I give you me 100%. I will live forever for you. I ask that you give me the direction you want me to go. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. If you said that prayer, please let us know. We'd love to pray for you, keep you in our thoughts and prayers, help direct you to a good you, keep you in our thoughts and prayers, help direct you to a good church, maybe get you a good Bible, whatever it is. But listen, start today.

You be you in a new way. Be a Christian. Be solid. If you need any help, we're here for you. I don't know how good of help we'll be, but we will be there for you. Have a great weekend. Love you. Thanks for tuning in.

Please like and share. Have a great weekend. Bye. Real talk. Real talk. Real talk. Real talk. you