The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-E71 | 09-20-23

Episode Date: September 20, 2023

Question #1Since coming to Foundation we don’t worry as much about our health and what we eat. We are healthy eaters by nature but we started eating things we stopped eating for awhile now that we pray over our meals. I found some scripture and need clarification please! Question #2I heard Pastor Jonathan Shuttlesworth say you don’t pray to Jesus, you pray to the father, in the name of Jesus. But what about praising and thanking Jesus?Question #3What is the difference between the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14) and the breastplate of faith (1 Thessalonians 5:8)?Question #4 Are we supposed to tithe off of net or gross or is it a heart issue? And does render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and render unto God what is God’s have anything to do with it?

real talk real talk real talk real talk hello welcome to the podcast hope hotline podcast It is Wednesday. It's a great day. Fantastic day. Happy Wednesday, as our trainer said this morning during our training. There was nothing happy about it. I ain't gonna lie. True. She's a torture, torture.

What is it called? Somebody who tortures you? She's a, that's not, what is that called when somebody tortures you not a torturer the torturer yeah mm-hmm well that doesn't sound right actually sounds way nicer than what she was yeah but happy Wednesday everybody thank you for joining in the hope hotline let's get to it first and foremost pop up that thing all right listen numbers they have to get better not that they're bad because they're not they're actually really good but listen i'm a goal-oriented person so i'm always looking for the next level leveling up people leveling up and if you're not shame on you because you should be

please let me look like and share comment subscribe you got it facebook black black robe you can't do it on black robe you can comment on black robe that's it and share the link and share the link that's too complicated but if you don't like but like listen like somebody like me in my air we don't like facebook so i want to me in my era, we don't like Facebook, so I want to share a black robe link. I don't like Facebook either. Right. So I know how to do that.

So if you're tech savvy and you'd rather share a black robe link or even rumble, you can do that. Whenever I've gone back to look at something, that's where I go. I'm not a big fan of Facebook. Same. I hate them. Me too. Rumble, people. R fan of Facebook. Same. I hate them. Me too. Rumble, people.

Rumble. Move. Travel. Is that traveling? We're going to travel. That is travel. You know, Tracy over there. Tracy played basketball.

We're going to travel over to Rumble. So let's do that. Okay. Yeah, we need to do that. So YouTube, not a big fan either, but we're going to use them. Yeah. So subscribe, tap that bell. Let's do it to it, baby.

So share, share, share, share, share, and comment. Super important. That's how we grow. Okay. And maybe you don't care about growing, but I care about growing. So for your love for me, please do it. Now, my first question is I'm going to make sure people are eating. Like I just got this. When did you send this to me? Today. Today? Yep. Okay. So I just got this question today, but because somebody might starve

if I don't talk about this question, I am going to answer it right now. All for the sake of the family of this person, I guess, and making sure they eat. So, because God forbid somebody go hungry. It says, hi, Hope Hotline. I have another question. Since coming to Foundation, we don't worry as much about our health and what we eat. Same. That's from the pulpit. I'm pretty sure of it because Tom eats

like crap. Actually, he's gotten way better, but I'm just saying. I feel the same way. What is that? I feel the same way. You feel the same way since you've come here? Yeah. You eat like crap? Yeah, definitely. You ate better before you came here? Yeah, I was like 30 pounds less, so yep. Everybody is saying you eat like crap from coming here. Is it because we feed you guys too much, or is it because? I just feel freedom in Christ. Everybody's saying there's more freedom. Freedom in Christ.

Freedom in Christ. Yeah. Okay. So if we have a lot of cardiac arrests going on. No. I'm just kidding. That's not going to happen, people. No way. We have a hedge of protection that covers us. Exactly. As you can see today, we got a crew. We do. Yeah. And Talia just brought in McDonald's, so she just proves the point that eating like crap is happening here at Foundation Church. So whoever wrote this, you're in great company.

So this gets worse. We are healthy eaters by nature, but we started eating things we stopped eating for a while now that we pray over our meals. Same. Same. Dear God, I hope your faith is big. I'm just kidding. Very big. I found some scripture.

I need clarification, please. So hold on, because I had Heather. I mean, I had Tracy print these out for me. But I already know where you got them. And before I read this, I actually know who wrote this, because it came through Instagram. And their name was on it. Yeah. I'm not going to name you, but I love you very, very much. In fact, my eyelashes look fantastic because of you now, even though my eyelashes are real.

Yeah. But she actually turned me on to – I'm going to just say this, and then I'm going to answer your question. She actually turned me on to, I'm going to just say this and then I'm going to answer your question. She actually turned me on, like she gave me like a little gift of her favorite things. Okay. That's sweet. I love that. That's a great idea. That is a great idea. It's risky.

It is. Because your favorite things might not be somebody else's favorite things. Right. But I will tell you, it worked out really well for me because her favorite things I like but it's good in that is this uh she gave I finished using my eyelash mascara yeah like I had to finish the one I was already using before I move on but so she gave gave me this eyelash mascara called Thrive. Have you guys ever heard of it? Okay. It's, it's awesome. First of all, I have long eyelashes, so it makes your eyelashes super long and people think that they're fake, but they're actually, my eyelashes are real.

But with this mascara, she gave me this stuff that you stick on beforehand that she uses and it curls your eyelashes, which my eyelashes are curly already and I think hers are too. But it just gives them a little something else.

Yeah. A little something something. I like that. And I'm just telling you. Hats off to you, sister, because I am now, I will never use anything else that's right mascara you might have said something to me that's tell you saying didn't I didn't I say something you I put you were putting on like it

looks good okay it looks good people yeah so green little mask I don't even know where you get it so I'm'm going to have to find it. Yeah, probably on our website. Because now I'm hooked. But the reason I'm doing this is because I've got to make sure you and your family are eating right now. Oh, my gosh. And she's new on her walk.

Like the family is new. So this is a very common question for people who are new in their faith. It says, let's see now let me finish this click where did this go this is all over the place how this went and some of them are big so that you can see them better and then like they were screenshots so the smaller ones are just kind of in line with what she was asking. Okay. So let me just go on by saying this.

This is the scriptures you went with. Forbidding, let's see, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe. That can't be it. I'm going to just tell you this. You took scripture about not eating swine because it divided the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, and is unclean unto you, and shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.

Then you sent one that talks about shellfish. Okay. then you talked about you sent one that talks about shellfish okay I'm just gonna tell you this and I meant to look this up before you so Tracy start looking it up for me right now yeah talk tell her tell find me the scripture where Peter is told that everything is good to eat. Because Peter was living by the law. And in it, the Lord comes to Peter and says, hey, listen, you can eat anything. Like the windows of heaven are opened up. And now everything that he was not allowed to eat, he can eat anything because all things are good as soon as you get that scripture.

So you're taking scripture from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, this is what God gave as part of the law that they were to follow. And the reason why is because of health issues. Part of it is because some of them were unclean animals and the other thing like shellfish and certain fish, shellfish and stuff like that, it goes bad very easily. So part of it, and they had no refrigeration, so part of it is protection for them and what they ate and keeping things so it was more healthy, right? But really, that was done away with. Are you finding it?

Yeah, 10.14 is where it says, Surely not, Lord, Peter replied, I've not eaten anything impure or unclean. And the voice spoke to him a second time, Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. There you go. Okay, so that's Acts 10, 14, and 15. Say it one more time. Acts 10, 14 through 15. And then what does it say again? Surely not, Lord,

Peter replied. I have not eaten anything impure or unclean. The voice spoke to him a second time. Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. There you go. And then he was able to eat anything and everything. Now, the first Timothy, you do a four, one in first Timothy four. And if I remember correctly, that one, when Paul was talking to Timothy, what Paul was telling people or telling the churches and things like that. And then like, I think Timothy at this one, because I didn't really look it up, to be honest with you, because I saw it and I wanted to make sure I added it in today, but life got in the way. Church work got in the way. So I couldn't look it up. What basically Paul also said is if what you eat causes a brother to stumble, then

don't eat that in front of them. But that doesn't mean you can't eat it, period. Or just to be careful. He's just saying be careful about what you do and what you say, what you do, what you eat. Because we don't want to be a stumbling block to another believer. So that wasn't meaning that you can eat it. It was just saying, be careful or understand and, and, uh, be conscientious of those who are around you. But it was very, very clear that, um, Paul was under the law because he was Jewish. And so, um, he lived by the law, which was making it be that

you couldn't eat specific things. And that in that scripture in Acts, it clearly says the Lord was saying, you can eat anything now. It's all good. So, but I agree with you. Everything should be done in moderation, like, like chocolate and things like that. Listen, I'm a junk food junkie. That's how I gained so much weight. love everything I mean some people are like I'm a meat and potatoes person that's how I gain all my weight well not me I'm a meat and potatoes person I'm a chocoholic I am a like consume my weight through what I drink person like you name it I love it yep and Tracy's saying yes. I agree. Me too. Like Tracy just said before, like put yourself on, Tracy.

What did you say to me before? I was saying what I've eaten already today because me and Vanessa are trying to do almost protein only. Yeah, that's good. For the day and then have a meal at night because both of us are trying to like continue on this weight loss kick. Right, right. Taking off pounds, but because we're working out making sure we're taking in enough protein yeah you on the other hand when i was saying what we ate this is what you say to me i was ravenous today like you're ravenous today nothing was satisfying so you she says i said i've eaten pretty much nothing all day. And you say? I ate all day. I ate all day.

Because you're like me. It's true. I did. Everything, like, sounded great. Started out with a ham and cheese and onion omelet with avocado. That's healthy. Okay. I didn't say it was not.

But hold on. I'm not done. And then I was in the mood for waffles. So I went and grabbed Allison's, like, little Eggo waffles that pull apart the little four, like, cinnamon ones. And then I had Cracker Barrel syrup, so I was like, ooh. So I poured that on. That's the best. It's so good.

And then I just, like, I just kept grabbing. What else did I grab? Banana. And it's not all bad. And then I grabbed a Snicker, and I told Heather not to judge me, and she didn't. But that's not a big Snicker. It wasn't. That was just a trial slice.

It wasn't. Not a trial slice. What is't. Or not trial size. What is it called? I also stopped at Walgreens and got some gummy bears. And this is all like within a few hours. I could, hey listen, back in the day, that was every day for me. Every day. My day could look like that every day.

Thus the reason why. I was pregnancy weight walking around. And I carried no baby. Which is a good thing because I'm going to be honest with you. I'd rather carry fat than a child. I don't want to do that again. The fat was way more fun. Kid you not.

Oh my gosh, that's good. Kid you not. I'd rather carry a fat baby than a real baby. I did not like being pregnant. Yeah. Whatever. Sorry, whatever. Sorry, Logan. It's her secret.

It's the best. Having kids is the daggum best. It is. But listen, once you get to my place, the mere thought of starting over, every hair, I would pull it out of my head. One by one. Gladly. One by one.

One by one before I redid that again like i'll fight you to the death for my kids like me and you we're gonna go yes they're my babies but there comes a point in time you're like you love every phase in life like i loved every single moment of the like i treasured and cherished every single moment with them. Even in the moments that I felt like I wanted to kill them. I just, I love them. Right. That's why I can tell you there's a fine line between love and hate. Cause I know that line. But I was just saying like, once you get to a certain place, you're like, and I'm not ready for them to go off and get married. I'm not ready for them to, I'm not ready to be a grandma. I'm not ready for any of that. I love where I'm at with them. Like I love this place with them.

They're like the best of the best. But to think about going back, I mean, do you understand what I'm saying? Oh my gosh. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Vanessa and Tracy, both are saying, are you saying yes too? Oh dear God. Yeah, that's right. You did start over. That was great, though. It was great. Like, I was so happy that you started over. I'm just glad it wasn't me. But I'm just saying. Like, because now I feel like I do have a grandbaby. I know. And I don't have to have one. I know.

Like, whatever. I'm just saying. Like, there are places in life, and you should, like, embrace every single one of them and never want to go back. Absolutely. Like, people love, I wish I could go back to high school. I'm like, what in the world is wrong with you? No way.

I would never want to go back to high school. I loved high school. Me too. Like it was a great time. Oh my gosh, I loved it. But I would not, like I'd love to go back to my 20s, my early 20s. Heck to the no. No.

No. Moving right along. I have no desire to go back. Listen, my early 20s not good i definitely don't want to go back because that was bad but if it was good i'd still wouldn't have wanted to go back like love where you're at like love and embrace it because there's something so special about it that's's why like and share, like and share and comment. Because I have goals, people. I really want to love and embrace where I'm at. With this podcast.

So, yeah, it's pretty crazy. Pretty crazy. So, I think that's it. I think you should know you can eat anything you want. Tonight, pork. Pork chops. And apparently, applesauce goes really good with them. That's what I just said.

Applesauce. I was like, applesauce. That's Brady Bunch. Pork chops and applesauce. Is it? See? Yes. That's from my mom.

That's how Bobby Brady would say it. Pork chops and applesauce. That's where my mom got it from. What is that? That's what my mom always did. She said it like that too? Probably. Because she watched like that too? Probably. Because she watched Brady Bunch.

Yeah. That was a great show. Now I go back and I watch it and I go, that is terrible acting. But back in the day, it's the best. So sweet. Yeah, it's super sweet.

So eat some pork chops tonight. I'm not a big pork person. Okay. But if I was, I'd be eating pork. I'd be eating me some pork. What about bacon? And apples.

I like bacon, but I can only do so much of it. I'm not a sausage person. See? Yeah. I like that, too. See? There's nothing. Wait, are you like that, too?

No, I do. I like that. I like sausage. I like bacon. There's nothing I don't like. You guys, like, listen, there's not much I don't like, but that's it. You guys like pork? You love pork, too? Of course you do. You guys, like, listen, there's not much I don't like, but that's it. You guys like pork? You love pork, too?

Of course you do. You're Puerto Rican. Yeah, you have to. I do love a good Cuban. I do love a good Cuban. I love Cubans. That defies all odds, though, of not wanting pork because it's basically all pork. Yeah.

There's something about it. It's like that mustard. Yeah. The whole thing. All that. The whole thing. that whole thing so good so good all right okay let's go to the next question i heard pastor jonathan shuttlesworth say you don't pray to jesus you pray to the father in the name of jesus but what about praising and thanking jesus okay well i'm going to just tell you that's what i do most of the time when i'm, like, when I think about Jesus, I literally praise and worship him probably more than I do anything else. Because, like I said in one of the last podcasts, like, for me, I can't get over the fact, and once you've walked away from God, I think it has a lot to do with art or you were older when you got

saved. You understand like what life was like without him and, and like what life is with him. Like it's drastically, drastically different. So for me, all I want to do is praise him because without all, everything he did and everything that he provides through that cross, like I can't thank him enough. So for me, I pray to God in Jesus' name. I praise and worship Jesus, but I also pray to Jesus too. I pray in the spirit all the time because the word says to pray without ceasing. Let's look at scripture.

1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18, and I'm going to use the New King James Version. Not everything today. Some of it, is it New Living Translation? Some of it, but most of it is New King James Version. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18 says, rejoice always, pray without ceasing. So rejoice always and pray without ceasing. How many of us actually do that? Not many, because most of us complain always and think about things in our mind about somebody who's ticked us off and we want to get back at, right? We have conversations in our mind. If I could talk to that person, this is what I would say to them. We spend more time having a conversation in our mind if i could talk to that person this is what i would say to them we spend more time having a conversation in our head about how we want to have a conversation

with somebody else um that there's no time to pray but that's not if you a man will be in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon thee because he trusteth in thee that's what isaiah says so if you are not if you're praying with praying ceasing, how can your mind not be on him? So rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. So pretty clear on what we should be doing all the time. How many of us actually do that? For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So we're going to be giving thanks all the time.

It's God's will in Jesus's name. We're also to honor Jesus and we're also to honor God. So your question takes me down this rabbit hole and some of it you're going to, that's not what I asked, but I'm going to tell you, this is a great question because it will make you think, is that what I do? Not only am I allowed to only pray to God in Jesus' name, we're going to answer that, but am I allowed to praise Jesus? Those two questions will bring up a couple other things that you should ask yourself, am I doing that? You're asking two questions that will lead you that you should ask yourself am i doing that you're asking you're you're asking two questions what lead to several other questions to say am i doing that right so well we're also to honor jesus like we honor god and jesus said that in john 5 23

it says that all should honor the son just as they honor the father he who does not honor the son does not honor the Father who sent him. How many of us know people that they only will communicate with God, but they don't communicate with the Holy Spirit who is with us? And they'll even acknowledge Jesus. But there's layers, right? There's tiers. It's God first, then Jesus, then the Holy Spirit.

That's not true. They're the Trinity. They all are equal. So is that what we're doing? Because you're to honor God just like you honor, you're to honor Jesus just like you honor God. Are we doing that? If you honor Jesus and you're praising him and thanking him,

it's the same as honoring God. And God is the one that sent him to do all that for us. So we should also thank God, because without God doing that and Jesus saying yes, it would never have happened. So it goes hand in hand. Ephesians 5.20 says, Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So you are to do things.

When you pray, you pray to do things in when you pray you use God's you pray to God but not always because I'm going to show you but you do it in Jesus's name I pray when I pray a lot of times I do it in the name of Jesus when I'm commanding things like Tom and I pray together when I'm praying I even hate he does when we're praying we pray in does. When we're praying, we pray in Jesus' name when we're done. That doesn't mean that's the only thing that you can do. And listen, I'm a huge fan of Jonathan's, right? Huge fan.

He's one of the greatest pastors. But sometimes we take a pocket of what he says, and if we had a long conversation with him, he would say, well, I meant this and this but also you could do something like this over here and that doesn't mean it negates what I said over here right does that make sense because like in a teaching you can only when he's preaching and teaching he can only hit a certain amount on a specific subject and then he's gonna bounce to another thing so so we kind of have to decipher and not take

things as just hard and fast it that's the rule never do it because I guarantee you if you ask him the odds are the when we're done he would say that's all true and he would say I agree with this but this is why I don't agree with that just because somebody is a pastor does not mean that they don't miss it they don't get it wrong and that you're wrong to do something like this isn't a heaven and hell thing so if you pray to Jesus or you praise Jesus and you also pray to God it's okay it's okay God looks at the heart Paul tells us to sing to the Lord the Lord would be Jesus right so if you're to do that Ephesians 5 19 says speaking to one another in

Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing a making melody in your heart to the Lord. So you're allowed to praise. That's what it's saying right there. You're to praise the Lord, which is Jesus. So you should do what you're wanting to do. And let me see. The other thing I would say is, has anybody in the Bible ever prayed to Jesus? And I'm not saying that Jonathan said absolutely, because I didn't hear what he said.

You're saying that he said to pray to God in Jesus' name. That is true. But I would also say that there's examples that show that people did pray to Jesus in the Bible. And Jesus replied. Or Jesus was acknowledging it, right? So Acts 7.59 says, and they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God. So he's calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And then it says that Jesus was standing. It's the first time that Jesus acknowledges a martyr. When Stephen saw the heavens were opened and Stephen was the first martyr for Jesus.

And it says that when Jesus cried out, he saw Jesus stand at the right hand of God. He wasn't sitting. When he saw Stephen being martyred for him, he stood. He acknowledged what was being done for him. How profound is that? Oh, my gosh. To be martyred and to see Jesus acknowledging you. I would have, what? Goosebumps. Oh my gosh. So amazing. So it says,

Stephen called on God, but he spoke his request to Jesus and he was sitting at the right hand of God, right? First Corinthians 16, 22. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Oh Lord, come. So Paul even speaks to Jesus in his prayer. He's speaking that request out to Jesus. So he prayed to Jesus. I believe you can do both. And again, I'm not saying that Jonathan said you never can pray. You can only pray to God. I didn't hear it, so I don't know. So I'm not going to say he's wrong because I don't know. And I would dare say that if I sat down and had a conversation with him,

he would be like, yeah, you can pray to Jesus. It's not that big of a deal. But you can also praise and worship Jesus because the Scripture is very clear that we're to do that. So absolutely worship him. Let me also show you, like there are pastors that have prayed and they have written out prayers like John Wesley, okay? John Wesley prayed to Jesus. Have you ever looked up if, like you can, John Wesley is actually the founder of, like, the Presbyterian, he did the Reformation, if anybody doesn't know who I'm talking about. He was the beginning of the Reformation from, like, the Catholic Church, right? So we, like, branched off of that, or Roman Catholic Church, I believe it's Roman Catholic Church they did it off of. But the Reformation,

like he read what they believed, and then he studied the word out, and he literally went to the Roman Catholic Church, and he put his theses, why he didn't agree with it, on the door on the left. And from that, we have the Presbyterian and the Lutheran denominations. How profound is that? But John Wesley, if you look at, if you ever listen to his preachings, because they have them where you can go on YouTube and they'll have somebody read them to you. They also, you can also look it up. He had prayers that, he has prayers that he's like had put in writing. And there he read them to you. You can also look it up. He has prayers that he's, like, had put in writing. And he prays to Jesus.

I've seen them. I know this. So, like, if men of God, powerful men of God of that stature pray to Jesus, it's okay. Like, don't, some people are so new, such new believers that they get locked in. They listen to somebody and they love them and they believe in them and everything that they say is gospel. But the problem is, is you're only taking a fraction. You can only listen to them a fraction of what all the knowledge and all the things that they have in their head and so we make these rules that or we're in this case this isn't a rule because you're trying to find out you're kind of you're kind of trying to figure out which way to go on

things which is smart but not everybody asks questions some people are like that's what he said so that's what i'm going to do that That's not true. Like, you should always, always, if a man of God tells you something to do or he makes a blanket statement, you might want to research things for yourself. One of the things my husband is always clear about is don't believe it because I tell you. Go and read it in the word and find it for yourself. Research it out and study it out yourself. Men get it wrong. That's just life. Everybody gets it wrong. I mean, everybody has a job, right? On your job, do you ever make mistakes? If you're a housewife, do you ever make mistakes? Do you ever think maybe something you thought your kids did, they actually, you thought one kid did it,

and it was really the other kid that did it, and so you kind of blamed it on the other kid, and you found out you were wrong, it was the other one? I mean, that happens. Like, people make mistakes. So there's got to be some grace in there, but at the same time, find things in the word for yourself. If something hits you and you're like, do I believe that? Or should I do it this way? Or should I do it that way? Or this person says that things should be this way and figure it out and make sure that actually they're correct. Always. Research. That's one of the things I can say about my dad.

When I was growing up, it didn't help he was a critical individual. He was very critical. But in some ways, it did help because it taught me this. Do not be critical. Being a critical person is not healthy and it's not good. It will hinder you, spiritually speaking, very badly. But in this case, it did work out for my benefit, I will say. One of the things my dad would always say is never, ever take what anybody tells you about the Bible as fact.

Always look at it with face value go and research it yourself because a lot of times we would you know you go and visit these different churches to find a church that you want and He'll be saying something in the from the pulpit and it's like totally biblically incorrect and we're seeing it in the church Like crazy right now and if people would actually not take what the man in the pulpit is saying for a fact instead of trying to figure it out for themselves they would be shocked and amazed i love the story like we have a um i love this story which was shocking to me i just found this out when we went fishing the the captains are like I love them they're like a great family in our church but one of the things that they

said is they both came from these very compromising very weak what's another word for it they were Ark churches but associated really what one was an Ark the other one was labeled Assemblies of God but they used all the Ark stuff which is happening in churches left and right people don't realize it but just because you're like this church was a Baptist Church but they used all the Ark stuff so like they pulled all of their messages from it so just because it says one thing doesn't mean that they're not using it compromising and like watered down watered down yeah god bless thank you logan tracy was that tracy that said

that yeah it sounded like logan um way to go trace hey so um but they came from those churches and so when they first came and they were hearing tom preach they were like not, they were like not happy. They were like irritated and they would leave not, not happy. But what was like, they are cut above the rest. Yeah. I mean, I'm not kidding you. Tracy says yes. Cause I'm not saying they're cut above the rest because they're just quality people, which they are. That's a cut above the rest too, because they are quality individuals and their whole family is. They're cut above the rest because what happened was instead of getting mad and leaving and saying, I ain't going back there, they actually said, I'm going to check this out in the word.

Right. Because this guy ain't right. There is no way this guy is right. And then they would go to the word and they'd be like, oh, crap. Yeah. This guy isn't wrong. What I was taught previously is wrong. And so not that they didn't study their Bibles before,

but the thing is is at our church there's so much Bible scripture that most churches don't have those. So, like, when you're hearing all this Bible scripture and then you're hearing it applied to something else, you're sitting there going, no, that can't be right. And in all actuality, that's why I use so much scripture with this podcast. That's why this question isn't a yes or a no. It is a yes, you can praise and no, you can't pray. Like, let's look at all these scriptures because listen, you should be praying

without ceasing. How many of us do that? You should be rejoicing always. How many of us do it? It's like you gave me an opportunity to share so much scripture with you to say that's a great question but are we doing these things as well not specifically you just in general as a group that are listening are we doing all of this so i'm going to give you one last scripture and first john Now, obviously, the book is called John, 1 John. It's one of his, you have John the Gospel, same guy, and he wrote 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. I say he wrote because nobody really knows, but based on the writings, they believe it was him. So I'm going to say it was him, even though some of you will say, well, that's not true.

They don't know that for sure. I get it. I know. But for the most part, they do believe it was John that wrote this. It says, that which we have seen in her we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. So if we're to fellowship, and that was written to the church of Ephesus, right? So he's telling them to fellowship with God and he's telling them to fellowship with Jesus. How do you fellowship with somebody

you don't talk to that you don't pray to? Yeah, very hard. You can't. So obviously you pray to God in Jesus' name, but it's definitely okay to pray to Jesus as well because we're told to do that. How do you fellowship? So pray, praise, communicate, worship, do all those things. Ultimately, though, I'm going to tell you, walk in freedom. Don't be bound up by things that especially if you're a new believer a lot of times you're just trying to figure it out you're just trying to find your way through

everything and your heart is good and pure walk in freedom because I can promise you that's God looks at the heart he knows like what your reasoning behind what you're doing is and as long as you're honoring him and trying to bring honor to him and your heart is is in the right place the rest of it just doesn't matter you'll find your way just keep studying the scripture out don't take man's word for it okay just because a man tells you something doesn't mean they're right okay find it out for yourself and sometimes you might get mad you might get mad like the like I was saying the two captains we were with I loved them telling me that I actually thought it's

quite funny I've heard that many times people have left mad and didn't and thought he would Tom was so wrong and lots of people have left and never come back because they thought he was so wrong but it is astounding to me when you have people of great character and spiritually mature enough to say i don't agree with this but i'm gonna i'm gonna research this out and find out for myself and then you find out you were wrong and then you're man enough or woman enough to say I was wrong mm-hmm I say that a lot I was wrong I say it a lot and that's okay because to me if you can say you're wrong or you can say you're sorry then then you're not a prideful person and that just shows when

you're and this is a great thing that Tom taught me the more you can say you're sorry truly mean it and then have the desire to never do it again then you're not a prideful person and you're truly remorse because a lot of people say they're sorry just to get things to move on they they're just saying it so they are because they're non-confrontational it's not a pride issue for them it's just they're non-confrontational and they just want to get past it all if you're a person like me who has principles I don't say I'm sorry just to move on I say it when I mean it and I say it when it needs to be said if I don't think i'm wrong i'm not saying it but you have to when you know you are you have to be able to say it mean it and then truly like never want to repeat this incident

again that's truly because a lot of times people they say they're sorry and they're going to do it all over again they don't care and that's not how is either. That's not how we're supposed to be. Next question. What do you got? I see the cursor. Oh, sorry. Oh, I thought you were about to tell me something. No, no, no. You're good.

I'll wait. Yeah. What is the difference between the breastplate of righteousness, Ephesians 6.14, and the breastplate of faith, 1 Thessalonians 5.8? Okay, so I studied this out, and I'm going to use King James Version because it's actually the closest thing to, like, the Torah, the Hebrew words written out. Not that this is the Torah because it ain't.

It's Ephesians. But I'm just saying it's the closest things to Hebrew. And what's the other one that they used? Hebrew and Greek. So when the translation is going to be super accurate. Okay. Cause that's, let's just move on. Cause I was about to take us to a place we just don't need to. Ephesians 6, 14 says, stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now, if you study this out, I'm going to skip down

to the breastplate of righteousness because in the study notes it talks about the belt of truth. I'm going to skip all that if you follow, if you look later on and you look at the study notes in your Bible. I'm skipping a portion of it to the breastplate of righteousness. It says, here the warrior's character is their defense. God himself is symbolically described as putting on a breast plate of righteousness when he goes forth to bring about justice. Now, Perry Stone had a great thing for this particular scripture, and I'm going to read it to you. It says the breast plate is called in Greek, the thorax, which can literally mean a heart protector. The soldier's breast plate was

made from strips of metal connected together, but it was created to be flexible to allow the soldier's mobility in battle. The breastplate was designed to protect the vital organs of the soldier's body. The purpose of the metal was to deflect the blows from the enemy's sword and other weapons, protecting especially the heart. Righteousness is the quality of being just right or just in god's eyes and doing things god's way righteousness is imparted to the heart and spirit and must be protected from the lies and deception of the enemy now that gets you past just what the soldiers wore it for let's let's look that this is for us this part is is not specifically for

like wearing a breastplate it's symbolically looking at the breastplate righteousness which is the breastplate of righteousness righteousness is imparted to the heart which is what the breastplate protects and spirit and must be protected from the lies and deception of the enemy. Hello. That's good. So you may not be fighting, because we don't fight against flesh and blood, right? You may be fighting against spirits and principalities.

Like back in biblical times, the breastplate, the reason why they used it is, and Paul used it so well, it's because of the Roman soldiers. Everybody knew what a Roman soldier was, and everybody knew what the Roman soldier was wearing. So it was a great way, just like when Jesus walked the earth and he spoke in parables, he used things that, he used agriculture, he used animals, things that were simple, right? The people were simple-minded. So for them, it was something that they understood and they could relate to. And when the parable was spoken, they were like, oh, I get that. Well, Paul was talking about the Roman soldier's

armor because people understood that. It made sense to them. So when he's speaking about these things, they can visually understand it and see it. Now, we don't fight against an enemy that is physical, right? We're not out there waging war against, not like Logan. Logan had to fight an actual war, right? That's not what we're doing. When you're putting on your breastplate of righteousness, it's to protect your heart and your spirit against the deception of the enemy. The enemy is Satan himself and his minions, right? The Roman soldier's breastplate was made up of small metal plates tied together in a fashion similar to the way roof tiles are placed on a roof. It was placed over the soldiers to protect both the soldier's front and his back. The bottom of the breastplate was tied to the belt.

Notice that righteousness must be tied to truth because the belt of truth, right? Yeah. Which was prior to that. The bottom of the breastplate was tied to the belt. Notice that righteousness must be tied to truth because there is no righteousness unless we receive the word of God, which is the word of truth. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the word. I have often heard that the back was the only area without protection on the Roman breastplate. After research, and this is what Perry Stone is saying, after research I learned that this is what Perry Stone is saying. After research, I learned that this is incorrect.

Thin metal sheets tied together with leather strips also formed a protective rib around the back of the rib cage. These individual and layered metal strips gave a soldier freedom of movement in times of battle. Being righteous does not mean to be rigid, self-righteous, or legalistic. That's good but it does mean to abide in God's love and keep our hearts pure through his righteousness amen praise you Jesus I love Perry stone that was good I wish I had like a clapping what is that wish I had like a clapping emoji like a sound sound yeah that's good let's look at this because you talked about first Thessalonians 5 8 and sometimes just because we use something

symbolically in one area doesn't mean we don't use the same thing but in a whole different way sometimes the two don't relate right but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of righteous a breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet um and for an helmet the hope of salvation faith hope and love right so what paul did there was he took the armor of god and he used that in a whole other way to say that we're walked we're to walk in faith hope and love right let's if you look at the study notes paul also uses the metaphor of armor and he does in that he does not consistently attach a particular virtue to each piece of armor it is the general idea of equipment for battle

that is pictured for the triad of faith hope and love so like have you ever heard of the analogy like i i if like an egg have you heard the analogy that an egg is like the earth have you ever heard that where you guys been all right under a rock so if you have a hard-boiled egg, the shell of the egg is like the crust of the earth, right? And then the white of the egg, let me see, is the mantle of the earth. And then the yolk of the egg, I'm looking at the girls. I'm teaching them right now. Thank you.

I should be looking at you as I teach you too. If you look at the yolk of the egg, that's like the core of the earth. Okay. Okay. But we do the same thing with the egg. When we teach the Trinity, we use the same thing that the Trinity is three things in one, correct? So does that mean that like, you can use an egg for two different examples just like there's no connection really yeah yeah the breastplate has no connection one doesn't have to do with the other he just was using something that was familiar to the people that they could relate to to teach two different things so they have nothing to do with each other yeah i like that she thought or he she thought

that way though because my brain would never have just put them together and saw it as maybe a contradiction. So it's cool to see that she was asking. Who is that? Do you know it's a she? I don't. No, I don't. He, she. I just assume she.

He, she, they, them, these are whichever pronoun they prefer to go by. What transgender pronouns do you use? Who? That's what we want to know. Yeah. Whoever's question that was. It's interesting. What's your pronouns? Since we're all encompassing in what is that called when we're woke? We're woke. No, no, no. Accommodating. What is that? Accommodating. We're accommodating. Accommodating, yes. I'd rather be cancelled. If you didn't hear that, Logan just said she'd rather be cancelled amen

sister no but it is interesting cuz like that's the reason why like good questions 12 minutes yeah I got an I got room for another one which is two parts because again a question came in this morning yeah was this this morning this guy I sent it to you this morning I think it was a couple days ago okay this question relates to this question so i'm going to answer both of them at the same time perfect praise you jesus hallelujah he's the best rejoice always that's what i just did you did i'm rejoicing always good job and that i can answer two questions at one time so are we supposed to tithe off net or gross or is it a heart issue? And does render to Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's have anything to do with it?

It does not. Just so you know. Two different things. So, I mean, I guess some people might be able to correlate it but I'll tell explain to you what so we're gonna go to gross or net first okay what I'm gonna explain to you is tithing is under the Abrahamic Covenant a lot of people when they don't want to pay tithe it's it's the cheapskates it's the ones that want to hang on to their money they don't understand the pay tithe. It's the cheapskates. It's the ones that want to hang on to their money.

They don't understand what tithing actually does for them. The benefits of tithing, every single person that I know that doesn't want to tithe or has an issue with tithing, and I'm not saying every, like if I say every, everybody's going to be like, that's not me. Okay. Almost everybody. Yeah. Because it is true, not everybody. But on the whole, anybody that's ever come up to me and talked about tithing, they're not a giver. Yep. And they say, use the Old Testament.

They say it's an Old Testament, what do you call it? An Old Testament covenant. What did you say? Covenant. Oh, covenant. I didn't hear you say it. I thought you said something else. An Old Testament covenant, and you're not required to. Well, if that's the case, let me just tell you.

The New Testament's worse. It's like 22% that you gave. So you can either do Old Testament, 10%, or New Testament, which is 22%. And I think if you have a hard time with 10%, you're going to have a heart attack with 22. But I'm just saying, it isn't an Old Testament covenant, because we're not under the 10% of the Old Testament. We're actually under the Abrahamicic covenant which is mechizedek and i'm going to read to you so you can no lie it's no longer old testament is out of the equation whoever wrote this just eliminate that okay because that's not your scapegoat

a scapegoat is also biblical but true in this case it's not your scapegoat hebrews 7 1 through 10 and this is the new living translation this it says this melchizedek was king of the city of salem and also a priest of god most high most people have no idea who melchizedek is they don't tom talks about this in church and i'm sure they're all going, what? Who the heck is that? We're going to tell you. In Hebrews, it talks about him. New Testament, right? When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Mechizedek met him and blessed him. Now Abraham was way before the Ten Commitments, okay? Remember that. then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it till Melchizedek so he was giving a tenth before there was ever a law the Covenant of the Old Testament and the name

Melchizedek means king of justice and king of Salem means king of peace there is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors no beginning or end of his life this is Melchizedek okay so this is this is if you ever study Melchizedek they believe Melchizedek actually could be Jesus. Study it out. It's pretty wild. There is no record of his father. So his names were King of Justice. Who's Jesus?

King of Justice. His name was also King of Peace. Prince of Peace. There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors. No beginning or end of his life. He remains a priest forever. Who is Jesus? Priest.

Resembling the Son of God. Boom. So that's why reading the Bible is important it'll open up mystery see there is no mystery if you actually open the word there are no mysteries then it continues to say consider then how great this mechizedek was even abraham the great patriarch of israel recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. Now the law of Moses required that the priests who were descendants of Levi must collect a tithe for the rest of the people of Israel, who also were descendants of Abraham.

Again, this totally, totally negates. I don't have to tithe a tenth because it's an Old Testament covenant. No, that again, we're negating all of that. Now you can say it all you want to, but if you're listening to this podcast, you know, when you say that, that that's not true because I'm proving to you it's completely wrong and you can study it out for yourself and find out. But Mechizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Mechizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, and one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, a person who has the power to give a blessing

is greater than the one who is blessed. I love that. That's good. The priests who collect tithes are men who die. So, Mechizedek is greater than they are because we are told that he lives on. He never died. In addition, we might even say that these Levites, the ones who collect the tithe, paid a tithe to Mechizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. For although Levi wasn't born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham's body.

And when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him. So the Old Testament has got its own tenth, but again, we are the Abrahamic covenant. So a tenth. And the thing is, if you look covenant so a tenth and the thing is is if you look at what a tenth means in Hebrew it means tithe it literally means tithe so look that up Hebrew the word tenth it means tithe and when you give you give on your gross you don't give on your net.

You give on what you actually earned. It doesn't matter that, you know, taxes were taken out. It's irrelevant. A lot of times people, like, when they get their paycheck, by the time they get their paycheck, things have been taken out. Insurance, your 501. No, not 501. What is that?

Your 401, okay, has been taken out. All of these things have been taken out that you're putting away for, and you're going to pay off the net. That's not what you earned. What you earned was actually the gross. So you pay a tenth on the gross. I will tell you this. It says that anything that you make a profit from, anything that you, income into your house. Income doesn't necessarily mean from your job.

Income can be from like. Disability. Well, it can be disability.'s true too but that's kind of like people take that as their job paycheck but disability is a fact I'll give you an example for example when we've been given money Tom and I when we've been given money I give a tenth of that now I don't just give a tenth like Tom makes fun of me. He thinks it's funny, but it is true. One of the reasons he trusts me with the money is not only do I give a tenth, but then I give a heck of a lot more in offering. I mean, it's usually a quarter to what we already gave in tithe.

So I'm giving a substantial amount of offering but the reason why we're gifted money is because I know how to tithe and I know how to give an offering so like literally a more my on my mortgage a hundred thousand dollars is taken off of my mortgage one year like and i call them up i'm like what the heck's going on they're like no no the attorney told us to take it off we're like an attorney told you to take off a hundred thousand dollars off my mortgage what are you talking about i'm like i don't know that's what that's the legal part of things so good i'm like are you serious? You can't explain it. So I call up somebody who's in the

mortgage business and I'm like, what the heck is that? Can that even be real? Is that legal? Like, yeah, it's legal. And I've only seen it one other time and it happened to another Christian. So listen, you can't out give God a hundred grand. Come on, come on. Just happened to somebody else in our church. They came up to me on Sunday. They are brand new in their walks with God. Are like taking God at his word left and right. If he says it, they do it.

So they're givers. And literally, they just got notification that over six figures was taken off their mortgage. Oh my gosh. over six figures was taken off their mortgage. Oh, my gosh. Over six figures. I said, what did they do when you called them? He's like, I ain't calling them. I don't blame you. I wouldn't call them either.

He's like, I ain't calling them. They took it off. I don't care. It's mine now, baby. But Logan, I'll say Logan, you caught on giving, and I'm not going to make you say exactly how much, but like recently you've been giving and you got money given to you. And then some money, like a significant amount of money ended up in your bank account and you ended up calling, right? And you're like, what's the deal with this uh no i just called you i'm writing you a check it's like crazy like and anybody who doubts giving like

i i cannot tell you how many stories and people will say i can't afford to give you're crazy you say you can't make ends meet i. I would sit in the dark before I didn't pay my tithe. I'd sit in the dark because God's word in Malachi clearly says, he'll open up heaven for you. Go ahead. Okay. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this as the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. It says, test me in this, right? Yep, test me in this. So he wants you to test him in this truth. And then if he fails you, then you can just say the Bible isn't real right because he's basically saying test me and whether or not I will be who I say I'm going to be if you sell

your house and you make a profit you tithe on it that's how it works if you sell your business you tithe on it that's how that works you don't take the tie if you sell something like you don't from when we've sold properties and stuff like that and I was putting it into something else I paid my tithe off of the proper profit and then I put everything else into the next thing we were doing it's not you don't take the profit and put that in with whatever you're doing next like i sold a house we sold our house we were building the one we're in now i didn't take and say oh i made this profit so i'll just put it into the house i was like no we made a profit that money comes out and the rest

goes to the house that's how that works i think you said it before but the only thing you shouldn't give on is like your insurance money that you're getting back from the hurricane because that would be fraud I think oh that I see what you're saying but but I will say this yeah because like that's meant for your house no uh I've even paid I thought you were going to say taxes I've even paid all my taxes like when I gotten money but I already paid tithe on that I've already paid tithe on it but it's like can't tell you how many times it's come through for me I'm like I get the check and I'm like I'm gonna pay tithe on that and like it just like multiplies itself for me

I'm like what can it hurt you can't out give God and I will tell you, when I've been, the Bible is clear, and when I've been in need, I give more. I do. You can't out-give God. Like when I've needed something, or like this church, like last year when the hurricane hit, like we ended up giving $750,000 away. Actually, it was more than that. $750,000 away. Actually, it was more than that. $750,000 away. We gave away to different ministries,

to people who are in need, the whole nine, whatever. And we had $4 million worth of damage. Now you'd say that's crazy. Well, that's not true because so far this year we've taken what the insurance gave us, which ain't much, and then we've put another million dollars at least into the repairs. Where was I going to get that money to make the repairs? The $750,000 has multiplied itself 250 plus more. Like it doesn't make sense not to do it. Like you're crazy if you don't. And that was giving it away. But I,

I don't even know if that was tithe included because it might've been, that was just stuff we gifted away. Um, let's see. So those are the things. And I will tell you, if you're not a giver, it is a hard issue. It is a hard issue because you're in control of your money. You're, you're just basically saying, Lord, I don't trust you in this area of my life with my finances. And it is very clear that Abraham called God Jehovah Jireh. And Jehovah Jireh means my provider.

And the thing is, in so much you trust him, your actions will follow. I say it like I loved what Lester Summerall says. Faith equals trust. Actions equals faith. If you trust him, your actions will follow. If you trust him, you'll have the faith to know whatever he says he'll do, he will do, and then you follow through with it.

If you act things out, that shows how much you have faith. You know, faith doesn't come like when the money's there, now I'll walk in faith. No. Faith is when I don't have the money, I'll still, I have these bills. I have this tithe. This tithe will completely pay for my bills. I'm still going to take my tithe out, take a chance that my bills won't be covered because I trust God. That's what we do.

That's what we do. And then you see how it doesn't add up, but it'll add up that not only will the bills be covered, you'll have extra because that's Malachi. That's that scripture coming through. What were you going to say? Can I read eight and nine before that? So the first part that I read was verse 10, but the verses before that say, will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what ways have we robbed you in the tithes and offerings? You are cursed with a curse for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. And then it goes into bringing all the tithes in the storehouse.

Yeah. I wouldn't want to be cursed. A lot of times people are like, I can barely make it now. I can't even figure out how I'd pay my tithe. That's because you're cursing yourself by not paying your tithe yeah it's crazy yeah now listen I have like I have a guy in there in the room right now I might bring you in I have a guy in here right now do art which we've talked about a couple times like he's moved here from South Africa right, he can't earn any money. He cannot earn one dime because he can't work. I'll put Tracy on right now because he's living with Tracy, right? And Tracy can attest to what I'm saying.

And then I might make Duard come on. But he can earn money, right? He stays with you, but he can't earn any money because of his visa. So he's living completely over here by faith. Right. But last month, and he tithes, correct, Duard? Faithfully tithes. Do you give offering as well? A lot. So he says he gives offering and he gives a lot besides his tithe. How much was given to you just last year? I mean, just in the last month. And he's not allowed to work.

He's not allowed to work. He's not allowed to earn a dime. So he's walking by faith, people. Now he lives with Tracy. But that ain't, like, life is still, he's got a car and he's got insurance. Life is not free. You still have to feed yourself and crap like that. Not that you won't feed him.

I'm just saying, even though you live with somebody, you got to buy clothes. I mean, this is crazy. How much do you think was gifted? In the last four weeks, $1,500. Okay, people think they need a job. No, you need to tithe. Do you see that happen to you all the time? Like even when you had a job and you lived in South Africa did you see yeah he's saying yes come over here nobody can hear you okay he's listen

he's been working all day like for free he does not get paid by the church but he volunteers at the church okay come on in here. Tell them really quick. Oh, we match. Aw, look at you. America. In the last four months, I've been unemployed. God gave me clear instruction to come to America, and I decided to do that.

I quit my job before I had my visa. Completely all in faith. There's no this or that. I gave everything away in south africa everything that i've built up over the last like seven years i sowed absolutely everything and it's been going very well with me honestly god's been taking care of me uh every single thing like i mean i've got given a car in the last like three months since since i've been here god i've been blessed with a car that's of a greater value than the vehicle that I had in South Africa.

I did not know that. There's a bunch of furniture I've been receiving. Because he's readying you for your own place. Everything. I mean, I've received electronic equipment, clothing, everything from everyone. It's been crazy. Honestly. It's been crazy. Honestly, I've been giving more since I've arrived in America than what I've been giving that sign. Just purely based on the way that I've been blessed.

And faith. And faith, yeah. Amen. There you go. And by the way, he's single. Are you women out there? I know. He's eye candy.

I know it. He's eye candy. He's single. That's so funny. Just saying. He loves that come to foundation church he sits at the front he sits at the front here's that's all i'm gonna tell you foundation church that's not the address google us you'll find us

sorry i had to add that in there um let's do the Caesar let's see oh let me just read this really quick let me answer this question so I think I did though based on what we just talked about and with Duard I think you are just helps you out big time it says if everything this this is the question if everything I make goes back into my business, pays my rent and food at home, and I have nothing left over, plus I owe tens of thousands of dollars to the government for a loan I took out to save my business during COVID, how can I tithe 10% on my gross income? I don't have it. However, I have tithed almost all the cash earnings and tips that I have made this year and also giving to the homeless.

It's been at least $6,000 so far, so I scraped by because of it, but I felt the need to give it. I gave over $1,000 each to my favorite pastors, including Tom, Jonathan, and Rodney. Thank you for that. Seriously. We appreciate that. Thank you for your help and discernment. Okay, so listen.

I don't know how old you are, but you and Duard might do great together. Oh my gosh. Just kidding. He walks by faith. I'm just saying to you this. Don't worry about the government money. Okay? You may have to be paying that back, but are you having to pay it back right now?

I don't know. Give what you can, but I'm just telling you before, I mean, this is what the Tomas family does. Now, what we do is, in my house, is very similar but kind of different because I still have, I had a previous job before I worked full time for here, which was commission based. So I have to wait until I get all my money for the month from that commission based business. Plus, you know, me working here and Tom working here. So we wait.

But before pretty much I do anything, I always pay my tithe. Nothing comes out. I pay my tithe and my offering. Boom. Okay. Now, Vanessa, how you do yours is he's commission-based to a certain extent, right? But before every single time they get a check, you pay tithe. I do mine once a month.

I do it one fell swoop. Now, you do it different. Before you pay any bills or anything, as soon as he gets the check, what do you do? That's the first thing you do it different before you pay any bills or anything as soon as he gets the check What do you do? You pay your tithe first and so what I'm telling her to do is Now you own your own business And so you probably don't always know what your income is gonna be but before you do anything before you pay one thing I'm telling you to do it for three months

I'm gonna get like Magalhaes told four weeks of exercise, and then you can quit. After I did four weeks of exercise, I'm like, I ain't ever quitting. I love this. I love how I feel. Tithing is the same thing. Three months. Three months. I have told people this.

I can't tell you how many times. And people who actually do it for three months said there's no way I'll go back and not do it. They can't because they see God's hand move like miraculously. What if you start paying your tithe and God wipes away that debt with the government that you owe tens of thousands of dollars? You not paying your tithe is a curse. So it's keeping you from receiving your blessing. What if business starts walking

in for your business more than you ever hoped or dreamed just simply by paying your tithe? You don't know because you're not doing it. Three months. I'm telling you, three months. Pay your tithe before you pay any bills. I'd starve. I'd sell my house. Listen, before I don't pay my tithe, because I've seen God come through over and over and over again, it's far better to be obedient and give him what is rightfully his than to not trust him and say, I know better than you do. Or I don't trust you enough with my money. I don't have enough, so I'm not trusting you. You wouldn't have what you have if it wasn't for him. So you keep 90, he gets 10. Like, come on.

It's a fair deal. It's better than fair. What other, like you go to a credit card company, they ain't going to give you, they're taking 24% or whatever. I don't even know what the rates are. But I'm just telling you, it ain't 10. It ain't 10. So if he's better than a credit card company, take him at his word. don't even know what the rates are but i'm just telling you it ain't 10 right it ain't 10 so if

if he's better than a credit card company take him at his word write that check write that tithe check first and foremost before you do anything else right got it i mean all of us have been there yeah i've been there where i'm like do what do i do like things tight. He said he'll meet every need. He didn't say meet every want. If you get to where he meets every need, you're going to see where he meets every want. Okay? Because if you are faithful, he will be faithful. He who is faithful with a little will be faithful with much.

If he can trust you with a little, then he can trust you with much. The only way he can trust you, though, is if you trust him and you believe in him and you believe in his word and you do what his word says. Write the check for 10%. I'm not even telling you to give an offering. Three months, 10%, that's it. And see him blow your mind. I promise you, I promise you he's going to blow your mind. But let's finish up with a question about Caesar, which is, I'll read the question. And does render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's have anything to do with it? Let's look at the scripture in Mark 12, 17. It says, And Jesus answered and said to them, Render Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that were God's.

They were trying to trip Jesus up. If you look at the coin that they were talking about, whose face was on the coin were God's. They were trying to trip Jesus up. If you look at the coin that they were talking about, whose face was on the coin? Caesar's. So whose money was it? Caesar's. It has nothing to do with like it's God's money. No, Caesar's face was on it. So he's saying give Caesar what is his. His face was on it. So while it says in the study Bible, give back to Caesar what is Caesar's. While there are obligations to state that do not conflict with our obligations to God, Jesus' teaching is not meant to suggest a simple division of life between what belongs to Rome and what belongs to God. Since in Jewish thinking, all things belong to God. So everybody, everything,

even that coin actually belonged to God because the Jewish people knew that everything that they had was actually his. But the denarius belonged to Caesar because it was plainly marked. And that on one side, it bore a portrait of the emperor. And on the other side, an inscription that identified him. To God, what is God's? This is not just a division of responsibility toward God and Caesar. Humans who bear the image of God owe to him their whole lives. So listen, if you call yourself a Christian, and even if you don't,

we all are the image of God, like all of us, because we all come from Adam. But if you are a believer, then even more so, you should know to have the revelation knowledge that everything, everything, every part of you is owed to him. Everything. Because without him, you are nothing. So 10% ain't nothing when you think about everything. So I'll leave it at that. Hey, you want to do the closing of the salvation leave people it's not no he

doesn't want to do that he doesn't care if you're saved oh my god I do on the other hand I do care so I'm just kidding that was putting him on the spot but whatever all right let's say a prayer real quick if you don't know him say prayer and listen I'm gonna add to this let's pray a prayer real quick. If you don't know him, say a prayer. And listen, I'm going to add to this. Let's pray for the two people with the tithe. And if you're in agreement with them, I'm going to just pray for you as well. In fact, like, if you're not saved, listen, all you got to do is go into a quiet place or just right now, just say, Lord, be the Lord of my life. I acknowledge what you did on the cross.

I thank you for forgiving me of my sins sins I thank you that you died on the cross for my sins and I received that I turned from that and Lord tell me what you want me to do for the rest of my life because everybody has a calling and a gift that he has given them you need to walk it out you need to find it and then just go for it. If you don't know him or you walked away from him, do that today. But what I am going to pray for is the people who are struggling financially, because right now, Biden economics sucks. You don't want to be in the Biden economy. You want to be in God's economy. The only way to do that is by paying your tithe. That's it.

So times are tough for people, but they don't have to be. They just don't have to be. If God can make manna fall from heaven and ravens come from the sky, and if he can feed the Israelite people and giving them a drink through tapping a stone, hitting a rock. Like, if rock can have water come out of it to give them water. Okay, like, this is nothing. Your situation is absolutely nothing for him. Like, you're one person.

Like, they were thousands of Israelites, right? Look at it like that. It's a piece of cake for God. Making sure that you're financially okay is a piece of cake. It clearly says it in his word that he will do it for you. Test him. So take him at his word and test him. Give him your 10%, but let's pray for you right now. Heavenly Father, we just come to you and Lord God, I just ask that you would give people the boldness and the courage to step out and do what your word says, and that is to give a tithe to you, which is 10%. And for the ones that are just, like, going after it,

encourage them to give more. But, Lord, allow them to see your hand, that everything that they put their hand to would prosper, that they would be found with favor like never before. Like, separate things for them and make it so clearly that they cannot deny that the reason that they are seeing the things in their lives and the benefits and the blessings are from you because of the tithing that they have implemented and taken the courage and the bold step to do. Make it be so clear to them that there is no way to deny it, that it is your hand, it is your favor, and it is because of their obedience to you and your word that they are being blessed beyond measure. We thank you. We praise you in Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I love you. Come back on Friday. We got some whoppers.

Bye. you