The Education and Preparation of Godly Leaders

[Music] good afternoon to all of you certainly it's a privilege to be here with you i've been on the road the past couple weekends i'm taking care of business so it's good to be back in charlotte you know brethren the sabbath is a special time the sabbath is a special time that we're commanded to observe and by the way i'd like to thank miss julie mcnair for the special music that was very pleasant very inspiring the sabbath is a special time that we're commanded to observe you all don't have any choice you know you're to be here i'm to be here we're commanded to rest we're commanded to worship god we're instructed to back away from our weekly routines and it's so easy to get caught up in routines where we just grind things out and grind things out and keep on going but god wants us to back away from things to get a perspective to put things in perspective to focus on a bigger picture not just the things you have to do but a bigger picture of why we're here mr armstrong used to always ask at the holy days in the feast why are you here and one of the simple answers is because you're told to be here but we're to be here for other reasons we're here to focus on the plan of god focus on god and what he's doing that he has a plan and purpose and that we have a place in that plan we have a place in that purpose we also need to be reminded that this is satan's world there's a lot of confusion in the world today and that's because this is his world and he seems to thrive on confusion he wants to disrupt the plan of god and he doesn't want you to be in the kingdom of god and if he can get through to you or get through to ministers get through to other people he wants to blow you out of the saddle and he will use all kinds of things everybody's got a hot button everybody's got a hot button it'll get to you and he likes to press it and he knows where it is and we've got to be sensitive to those things we're here to worship god we're here to learn we're here to learn not just to sing songs and socialize we're here to learn we're here to prepare for an exciting and very important future we're here to prepare for a very exciting and very important future i've entitled the sermon today the education and preparation of godly leaders the education and preparation of godly leaders and i want to talk about this subject in the context of what's happening today in the world what's happening today in the church you know governments are wrestling today and people today are wrestling struggling how do you deal with this coveted uh pandemic that we have it kind of popped onto the world you know we had a ministerial conference uh scheduled and the westerns were mr weston anyways was gallivanting around the world he made it back in time just in time to cancel the conference but we had some people that got here they got here early so we wound up with what 20 or 30 people that were here and then they had to figure out how to get home because they were canceling plane flights and everything we never had anything like this in recent history or perhaps even in history at all we're fighting an invisible enemy you can't see but it's real so governments have had to make decisions you know people were locked down schools closed businesses were closed and businesses are failing people losing jobs losing homes because they can't make the payments on the homes if you've noticed just driving around town there are more homeless people standing on the corners asking for money and some guy had a sign that says the struggle is real it's real i don't know what his particular problems were but as i mentioned businesses are closing people are losing their homes there's a lot of frustration and anger because you hear one thing then you hear another thing then you hear another thing and people are just frustrated they're angry accusations are flying all around and yet there's some people say it's no big deal it's all manufactured no problems at all so there's all kinds of things floating around in the world at the same time the world stage is shifting the players on the world stage are shifting is losing influence around the world china is increasing in influence the prime minister of japan just resigned the longest-serving prime minister in their history so what's going to happen to japan where are they going to go who are they going to follow they got a big neighbor that they can't afford to offend and that's china just across a little strip of water over there and some nations are core nations and some nations are swing nations and they swing back and forth between the more prominent nations and japan is a swing nation japan is a swing nation so the big neighbor next door they may swing out of the orbit that was oriented towards the united states and the west towards china so a lot of things are happening there's a lot of dynamics going on in germany today but germany is coming back as we've been talking about for 50 60 70 years so things are happening in the world that are we've been talking about literally for years america's in an election year and we're probably more deeply divided today than at any time since the civil war this is what they're saying and this is not going to get any better as we move towards the election we're divided politically divided racially ethnically and people just don't like each other and this is coming out with all the demonstrations and everything else but at the same time the church has faced and had to face this challenge of the coronavirus we've had a number of meetings how are we going to hold the feast where are we going to hold the feast how many people can go and we've had to make some decisions how can we meet safely and not everybody's like those decisions just like in the political decisions are being made today in the united states and there's frustration there's confusion there's accusations there's division i've been on the road dealing with some of those things over the last not just the weekends but three or four days at a time i've been up in the washington dc area richmond area my son is up there today mr weiss's alcott has been up in that area also dealing with issues created essentially by two ministers that got their own ideas and began to promote those things so this is what we're dealing with has been very time-consuming operation where we could have been focusing in other directions but we've had to deal with divisions within those congregations and scattered in other pockets around the country where these men have had some influence i don't want to dwell on that but i want to put this in the context of a much bigger uh world much bigger things that are happening because these were not just two ministers they were two men who've been over the youth program for the last seven or eight years they've had an impact on many many young people there's confusion in the congregations where they are there's young people that are confused what do i do where do i go why is all this happening you know they've not seen it before mr west and i were talking a week or so ago i said doug we're too old for this we're too old for this we've been through this six eight ten times but here it is again here it is again again keeping it in perspective this may involve 100 or 200 people eventually we don't know fully but we've got 10 000 members of the church of god that's about one percent of the those membership those of you that are statisticians you can check my math if i'm wrong but we can make adjustments but about 100 out of 10 000 what we're dealing with is it's not a big issue it's not a big issue outside the united states is not a big issue around the country it's a big issue in a couple of congregations and some pockets where they've had some influence so again we need to keep the perspective we want to talk about perspectives as we go through the sermon today we've been called to become future leaders in the coming kingdom of god leaders have to be educated leaders have to be trained leaders have to be prepared because we're going to be dealing with the real world when jesus christ comes back we're going to be dealing with people who've been disillusioned we're going to be dealing with people that are confused we're dealing with we're going to be dealing with people that are not sure what to do who to believe and part of our challenge is going to be to provide some stability i talked with a number of people up in the mid-atlantic area and said thank you for coming up to provide some stable some stability up here because we've heard this we've heard that they had questions they wanted answered and he said thank you and we're thanking headquarters for sending some people to those areas they could say look look let's settle down now let's put it in perspective these things have happened before and there are things that we can do to be prepared so future leaders are going to have to deal with real people in real situations and we're being prepared now we're being prepared now i want to ask a couple more questions what can we learn as a church from the experiences that we're seeing in the world events we're seeing in the world and the experiences that we're going through today what can you learn as an individual what can you learn as an individual if god is going to put you over a city or over a region what lessons will bring will you bring with you so you can sit down with people and say look you don't have to be confused there are ways to get through these things why is this happening now we need to remember this is satan's world this is not god's world and satan thrives on deception he thrives on confusion he thrives on division so when you look around and ask what are the fruits of this what are the fruits of that what are the fruits of that those fruits become pretty obvious as to who is behind these things another question how can we avoid getting caught up in the confusion today how can we avoid getting caught up in the issues today because there are things that we can do appreciated discernment today getting back to basics there are things that we can do how can you remain steady when everything begins to shake when everything begins to shake i think some young people were talking and i think once one of their comments was oh it looks like everybody's leaving well everybody isn't leaving you got one percent a hundred or so out of ten thousand that's not everybody now it may be within your immediate connections it may seem that way but again we've got to back off and look at the bigger picture what i'd like to do in the sermon is to cover six points i tried to come up with seven but i didn't have time in fact i was working on the sermon i happened to look at the clock it was 1205 and i figured i better get up to uh where church is going to be i did check with mr strain yesterday and he said it does start at one o'clock so be here so i made it about five minutes of five minutes to one but i want to cover six points that are important for the education and preparation of godly leaders because you're being prepared we're all being prepared for some big jobs ahead i'm going to borrow from mr armstrong for point number one because he went through a series of ups and downs in the church a rebellions here and this and that there but his main point was you need to remember that god is on his throne that god is on his throne god is in charge he knows what's going on he's in charge he can handle it he has a plan he has a purpose that he's working out on this earth he knows that satan doesn't like it he knows that satan is going to try and disrupt it but a couple of scriptures i'll just mention some of them and then jot some of them down you can jot some of them down this is an interesting podium because everything wants to slide to the bottom but go to isaiah 46 isaiah 46 because it gives you this feeling and gives you this this message that god knows what he's doing he's in charge isaiah 46 verse 8 9 10 and 11 and isaiah is addressing critics he says remember this and show yourselves men i would stand up and face the facts remember the former things of old for i am god and there is no other i am god there is none like me declaring the end or the future or the outcome from the very beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand the word here for counsel means my plan my purpose will stand it's not going to falter it's not going to change it's going to stay on schedule he says i will do my pleasure calling a bird of prey from the east the man who executes my counsel from a far country in other words he has instruments that he uses even among the nations of the world he's going to use the germans they're very efficient in what they do they can misguided can be misguided sometimes and i are one so i'm not speaking against them i'm just acknowledging uh certain characteristics uh calling a man who executes my counsel from a far country indeed i have spoken says god and i will also bring it to pass i have purposed it or proposed it and i will also do it god's in charge he's on his throne he knows what he's doing he knows what satan is trying to do another scripture isaiah 64. move ahead a couple of pages isaiah 64 and verse 8. i think we need to understand this and remember this as we go through trials and tribulations he says but now oh lord you are our father and we are the clay and you are the potter and we are the work of your hands god is our father he's the potter we're the clay he's called us to become kings and priests in the coming kingdom of god these are big jobs he knows what we need to do the job that he's calling us to fill you might think i'm ready i'm ready and god probably shakes and said well that's a good attitude but you need some molding and fashioning yet if you think back in your life i've been through experiences you've been through experiences that you wouldn't have chosen to go through on your own but god realized we needed some molding and fashioning we're not ready yet but he's preparing us to be ready he's preparing us to deal with issues as we learn to deal with issues like we're going through within the church right now and like we've been through six eight or ten times we should have a certain stability that emerges i think for young people seeing two people that have influenced them greatly it's it's it's shattering you know i was an ambassador to college whenever things came apart in pasadena i was ambassador college again in texas when things came apart it was a lot easier the second time the first time was not easy you know my wife was six months pregnant i think with a second child i lost my job the church seemed to be coming apart i was giving my walking papers i thought no no no not now this is not a good time but looking back we got through that second time around and dr germano called me into his office and doug i got to fire you i said i know he said no hard feelings i said no hard feelings you're doing what you got to do it was interesting the doors that opened up after that you had a house to sell in big sandy and uh just a real quick story here dr germano asked me to give a special class for a student he wasn't even my student he said the kid needs one or two units to graduate would you create a special class form so i did an independent study i found out during the classes why his mother was a realtor when i lost my job we had to sell the house i said to his this boy as we were giving his final exam do you think your mom would be willing to sell my house at a lower commission rate he said let me talk to her so i'd done her son a favor so she did me a favor she said yeah i can give you a better rate she took a man out to look at a house that had grown up in big sandy he didn't want to live in big sandy he said i want this house by a lake she said would you just look at the house he had his wife and daughter with him he said i don't want to live in big sandy she said but please just do me a favor look at it he came by his wife and his daughter loved the house he paid cash for it things worked out if we do things god's way we look to him to guide and lead us we're talking mr white suzelka this past week they moved up to to uh to uh raleigh and he said you know we looked all around raleigh north south east and west the only thing we could find was on the north east side of raleigh about two hours from richmond this was a couple years ago he's now going to serve the richmond congregation in in addition to raleigh when you look back you realize how god is intervened time after and i'm just giving you a couple of examples and for those of you been around for 10 15 20 30 40 years you should be able to look back in your life say god intervenes this way in that way and share these lessons with some of the younger people that are experiencing something for the first time god has called us for reasons he's preparing us for jobs he's going to get us ready and he will get us through you know there's a scripture in romans 8 28 that all things work to the good for those that are called according to the purpose of god all things and that could be anything that happens god has a purpose in mind much bigger than just here and now and if we can focus on that that will get us through these challenges second corinthians 6 verses 17 and 18 it talks about we've been called out of this world we've been called out of this world so we need to rise above the world don't get sucked into the world but we've got to maintain a bigger focus we've got to maintain a bigger focus we need to remember that this is satan's world he's the god of this world second corinthians 4 4. he's in charge he's the one that is behind the divisions the demonstrations the confusion the anger the accusations that fly around the world but we've got to be able to recognize where he's operating we need to be able to recognize where he's operating because the fruits of what he does are not good there's going to be confusion there's going to be frustration there's going to be division and when we see those kinds of fruits that should be a clue that the god is not there god is not in that now we're going to have to be dealing with people coming out of this world that have seen all kinds of confusion all kinds of hatred and we have to explain to them there is a god and there has been a god of this world that's why the problems are here when christ returns there's going to be a new god of this world it's going to be a very different world and part of our job is going to be explained how to do things god's way not the world's way so brethren point number one in preparing godly leaders is those leaders need to know and need to understand very deeply that god is real he's on his throne he has a way of doing things is very different from the ways of this world so we need to remember that as trials come along the second point in preparing godly leaders those leaders need to recognize and value their special calling they need to recognize and value their special calling you are here by invitation you have been invited by god by jesus christ to be on his team to be prepared to reign with him in the coming kingdom of god maybe review matthew 4 where it talks about jesus choosing his disciples peter and andrew james and john he chose them specifically now he was about 30 years of age he probably grew up around these individuals he knew what his job was to call and train disciples who would then build his church the foundation laid on his teachings but they were part of the building blocks and he probably had a number of years to watch these individuals and he's probably making notes mentally i've watched him deal with this i've watched him deal with that god just didn't reach into a jug and pull out a name that's an interesting name no he's called each and every one of us in john 15 16 let's read that one john 15 and verse 16 and we've looked at this before but these are fundamentals jesus was talking with his disciples the night before he was crucified and he's reminding them the disciples were arguing over who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of god they had a ways to go in their conversion process but that's what they were arguing about who was going to be the greatest but jesus reminded them verse 16 you did not choose me you did not choose me i chose you put your name in there well i'm here because my mom and dad are here i really don't want to be here but you're having an incredible opportunity to understand the plan and purpose of god that most of your peers in this country are not having that kind of an opportunity i mentioned that to the students uh on thursday we've got 12 students here we've probably got three or 400 young people in the church and they're having a very special opportunity to be here to get to know people individually to focus for a whole year on god's plan and purpose these are incredible opportunities but jesus said i chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain do you value that calling you can read in matthew 13 where jesus was asked why do you speak in parables because he said it's been given to you his disciples that were there in his presence to understand the plan and purpose of god we talk about it every sabbath we talk about it at the feasts when people stop keeping the feast one of the guys i talked with in pasadena years ago he got caught up in an issue that was boiling around in the eastern part of the u.s i mentioned the people up in washington there seems to be something in the water up there because things have happened up there before and in that particular case back in the 70s i think we lost what twenty thirty elders maybe two or three thousand people where are they today i have no idea they're not involved with the work they're not involved with the work but i called i think it was this individual i said you know it's about time for the faces oh yeah the feast so you stop doing it you stop keeping it you lose track of the plan and purpose of god of why we're here you never want that to happen first corinthians 1 verse 26 to 28 paul mentions there are not many wise not many mighty are called now but god is calling the weak and the foolish and i've said i don't mean to be disrespectful you've got to be dumb enough to believe what's in the book to actually believe it because there are people today that say if you believe it you're nuts hello nuts no you've got to prove certain things to yourself but paul said not many are called now that's why there's only a few of us here and satan would like to have less of us here but god's called you for a purpose for a [Music] reason matthew 13 also verses 18 to 23 is the parable the sower now there's four groups of people talked about there that hear the truth some by the way side and it just it falls on on ground it's not going to grow the wayside something comes along friend of mine i was in a hospital up in boston when we lived here and he said somebody sent me a copy of your magazine i don't know who it was that was really interesting but then i i got busy with my job and everything else and just forgot about it it talks about a group of people that hear but they're they're really not interested things get in the way another group of people on stony ground there's no route trials come along wow that's exciting but i i just lost my job i can't afford to do anything right now or i got sick or this happened or the other thing happened trials come along and they falter some seed falls among thorns and the cares of this world take them away the cares of this world different priorities well you know this is interesting but my first priority is to do this or to do that and they lose out on an incredible calling the final group the seed falls on good ground it takes root it's nourished and they bear fruit with that in revelation 3 verse 11 it talks about let no man take your crown don't let anybody take your crown you've been called become part of god's family to inherit eternal life you know as i get older eternal life sounds rather interesting when i was 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 i wanted to live this life now i wanted to experience this and experience that i wasn't ready to give my life to a mission at that time but as we get older our hair falls out our teeth fall out and various things happen eternal life sounds a lot more interesting a lot more exciting because you can go on forever and meet your grandchildren and your great great grandchildren and in the resurrection you're going to meet your great great great grandfather and grandmother find out where you came from it's going to be very exciting time but don't let anybody take that away from you you when i got fired down in big sandy by one of my former students he's sitting there saying you know i said you know if you were if you were preaching and teaching from this book would support you i said you're preaching your own ideas he said you're right how do you deal with a situation like that but i got fired and as i walked out one of the guys i played basketball with i poked him in the ribs but what was going through my mind was you can't have my crown you can't have my crown i'm not going to give it away i'm not going to give it up for what you're doing brother we've got to have that kind of determination we've got to have that stick to activity but don't let anybody take your crown we'll talk about ways that they will try to do that you've been called you've been a very special calling for a very important reason value that hang on to that never let go of that the fact that you've been called out of this world to be part of a very special group of people it doesn't make us any better than anybody else it does make you different and it does offer you an incredible opportunity that the world is going to get sooner or later but not right now that's point number two value your special calling number three number three stay focused on the big picture stay focused on the big picture dr meredith talked about that a lot i still remember an email that we got from some lady she says i'm so tired of hearing about this big picture i want to hear something else and there's been groups that stopped talking about the big picture and talk about you and how god loves you now god does love each one of us but there's a bigger picture involved a bigger picture involved two aspects of this we need to stay focused on the mission of the church we need to stay focused on the mission that jesus christ gave to his church you read about that in mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15 where jesus came into galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god that's what he was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god he said repent change refocus your life you know many of us were focused in a very different direction whenever god began to intervene in our lives i wanted to be a doctor want to do some other things and i realized once i came in contact with the church there's a different set of priorities there's a different set of priorities and i just decided to focus in a different area in teaching instead of medical doctors then i went to ambassador college and i found out they'd hired a medical doctor and he was paid three or four times when i was being paid i thought oh but you know even driving around dealing with some of the issues i've been dealing with in the past couple weeks i'd still rather do that than be looking down somebody's throat or other places sitting in an office i'd much rather do that i've enjoyed working with students over the years uh god's preparing us for something different and we've got to be willing to jump on board you know whenever your mind is open to see what that direction is [Music] it's exciting matthew 16 15 we're to go into all the world and preach that gospel that gospel is about the coming kingdom of god it's a warning about what's coming so that people can avoid what is coming the ezekiel warning this is the mission of the church matthew 10 verses 6 to 8 he said go to the lost sheep of the house of israel you have to know who those people are and where they are and why they need to be warned because we've been blessed incredibly in this country and some of the other countries in the western world that the rest of the world has not been but people need to understand why but there are responsibilities that come with those blessings their responsibilities when you renege on the on the responsibilities and they're going to be serious consequences and part of our job is to explain that to help people understand that matthew 28 verse 19 let's look at that quickly again this is the mission of the church this is what the church of jesus christ is supposed to be doing not having little groups meeting here and there but they have a focus on reaching the world matthew 28 verses 19 and 20 jesus said after his resurrection go therefore and make disciples of all nations those people that are interested those people that want to believe explain how they can become a disciple how they can be in the kingdom of god teaching then to observe all things that i have commanded you and law i will with you always to the end of the world one other scripture in acts chapter 1 again jesus was talking with his disciples after the resurrection just before he ascended into heaven this was their final marching orders in that sense acts chapter 8 and verse acts chapter 1 and verse 8. jesus said but you shall receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and you shall be witnesses to me or of me or for me in jerusalem and all judea and samaria that local area the eastern end of the mediterranean and to the end of the earth to the ultimate points of the compass he's talking about a big commission you know mr mario hernandez has been down to terra del fuego at the very tip of south america mr weston has been i think above the arctic circle or close to it up there these are the ends of the earth i've been to cape town south africa as several of you have been there at the bottom you jump back to england a number of us have been to land's end which is way in the southwest corner you'll see these signs down their last pub before the united states last motel before the united states so you're looking out over the atlantic but we we've actually been to the ends of the earth some of these other prophets and apostles that we've got today have never been to these places but it's your tithes and offerings my tithes and offerings that make these things possible and if you're going to be a kingdom be a king and a priest in the coming kingdom of god you're going to be going to the ends of the earth too to work with people it's a very exciting perspective first timothy 3 he was at second timothy 3 here no i'll get it first timothy chapter 1 verses 3 and 4. this is part of the instructions given to the church given to timothy and paul is writing to timothy these are pastoral epistles here's how you handle churches here's how you handle congregations these are qualities you look for in leaders first timothy 1 verse 3 i urge you talking to timothy when i went into macedonia you remain in ephesus it had one of the seven wonders of the world there a big temple a lot of magic and other things going on that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine although don't come up with your own ideas even though you might believe them implicitly so don't come up and promote your own ideas you teach what you've been taught you teach no other doctrine nor give heed to fables little stories that you make up or assumptions that you make up or give heed to fables or endless genealogies which cause disputes and where you see disputes and arguments and issues that's not where god's spirit is working rather than godly edification which is the faith verse seven some desire to become teachers of the law understanding neither what they uh saying or the things which they affirm so we're not to be teaching other doctrines one other mission of the church you read about it in luke chapter one luke chapter 1 part of our mission as a church this was the purpose and mission of john the baptist it applies to us today verse 17 he will also talk about john the baptist go before him that is before jesus christ in the spirit and the power of elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and to make ready a people prepared for the lord part of our job is to train and educate people who will be able to become kings and priests in the coming kingdom of god to be able to explain the truth of god to be able to explain the doctrines of the church that are based on the teachings of jesus christ this is the mission of the church you know a couple weeks ago uh mr ames was talking about the mission of the church and he had this handout where he had the copy of the seven-fold mission or commission of the living church of god i don't mind following his footsteps because we are to be of the same mind and the same judgment we need to go back and look at those things and somebody's starting another organization are they following these things the big things are listed there and those are the things we need to focus on so to stay focused on the big picture focus on the mission of the church and focus on your personal mission now what is that focus on your personal mission turn to philippians chapter 2 and verse 5. i noticed the instruction that paul was giving to the philippians as a congregation as a people philippians 2 and verse 5. i'll eventually get to philippians it is in my bible i have faith philippians 2 5 says let this mind be in you which was which was also in jesus christ part of our mission is to develop the mind and develop the character of jesus christ to think as he thinks these little wristbands that you can buy in religious bookstores wwjd what would jesus do in any circumstance what would he do here what would he do there david said he meditated on the word of god all day long now david was not walking around the palace with his nose buried in the bible and in the scriptures and then tripping over things because he wasn't watching no he was thinking he had decisions to make and when you want to make those decisions you you go to the book you look for principles that are there so god is molding and fashioning us so that he begins to understand what's in our heart what's in our mind you know as we heard in the sermon at first corinthians chapter 3. you know what we build with wood hay or stubble that that building is going to be tested that building is going to be tested you know you build with straw and the wind comes blows away but if you build with cement block with rebars down through the cement block it's not going to blow away when the wind blows the parable about building on a rock and not on sand i think i got a picture from my grandkids that they hung in their bathroom and so is a sand castle on the shore that's washing away by the waves but there's another castle up on a hill on the rock and that's not going to blow away but we're all going to be tested as ministers were going to be tested as members were going to be tested as parents were going to be tested when one of your children goes one way and another one goes another way and you're praying for both of them you'll be tested in your marriage you're going to be tested in a lot of things because god is going to give us eternal life but he's got to know what makes us tick he's got to know what decisions we're going to make under pressure under temptation it's easy to say i wouldn't do that until you're tempted somebody presses your hot button and all of a sudden well i'm not so sure now because if i make this decision i'm going to lose i'll make that decision i might lose but again god is going to guide us if we give him the opportunity to do that we need to develop the qualities they're described in matthew chapter 5. let me jot some of these things down and spend some time on this blessed are the peacemakers blessed are those who are humble and teachable blessed are those who look to god these are the qualities we need to develop galatians chapter 5 talks about the works of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit look at your own life over the past week what fruits do you see there you see strife and arguing and doubt and whatever or do you see confidence do you see a willingness to learn first corinthians 13 you talk about love what are the qualities of godly love your own impute motives to anybody you forgive these are all qualities that we need to develop qualities of godly leaders you know one of the books that we were referred to at ambassador college years ago was the autobiography of benjamin franklin now ben was a good deist he believed in the values of jesus christ but he wasn't sure that he was divine i was talking with another faculty member that i taught with a number of years ago and reconnected with them not too long ago and i said where are you he said what do you mean i said where are you when it comes to the church where are you when it comes to the beliefs that we once shared and he said well i believe that mr armstrong was used by god and i believe that jesus christ was a very special person but i don't think he was divine neither did ben franklin neither did ben franklin but ben franklin tried to improve his character on his own he made a list of 13 virtues why 13 because he could do one virtue a week focus on one virtue a week and do that four times a year 52 weeks but he tried to improve his own character you might make a list of your own loving forgiving easily entreated james talks about that but focus on one per week see what you can do see where you'll be a year from now if you actually make that effort ben was trying to do that as a carnal human being but we can do things like that but we need to develop these qualities if god is going to give us the opportunity to reign with jesus christ in the coming kingdom of god if god sees you trying to do these things you can say there's somebody that's serious there's somebody that is serious so again focus on the big picture on the mission of the church on why you've been called what you can do to prepare for the coming kingdom of god don't get caught up in twiggy issues again look at the chart that mr ames was talking about notice what's on here servant leadership restoring apostolic christianity being examples to the church of god in the world focused on end time prophecies says nothing about masks and singing focus on the big picture focus on the big picture and you're not going to be sidetracked you're not going to be sidetracked on issues that are not part of that big picture number four again we heard some of this in sermonette number four quality of uh or part of the education and preparation of godly leaders is to build and maintain a firm foundation build and maintain a firm foundation when i came into the church i learned about a scripture i'd never heard before and that was first thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 21. first thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 21 where it talks about prove all things examine everything and then hold on to hang on to what is right and what is true now what do we mean by a firm foundation you need to have settled in your own mind does god exist you need to know in your own mind does god exist you know i use some of those examples how god has provided just a home for us when we moved we didn't know what was going to happen but things like that have happened over and over again i had a job offer back in massachusetts to teach the university back there after the college closed in pasadena it was a state school they didn't have money to pay for your interview and my father-in-law said you're going to pay for your own interview to fly the whole way across the united states i said dad it's a job offer you're nuts he was used to working in the corporate world we want to hire somebody you pay for their interview you get them there and and send them back i asked the lady that was interviewing me i said look i can't afford for you to fly i can't afford to fly over for you to look at me i'd like to know that i have a chance for the job she said well i can't tell you where you are but you're not number two three four five six seven or eight so i said on that basis i will come so i decided to look for a house while i was there spent a day or two with a realtor and i found a house that we could afford we'd had to spend weeks cleaning it out it was such a mess but it was something we could afford and i said we'll make an offer on that i went back to california and i called and said what happened she said well i want i'm sorry i forgot to get a signature and somebody came in and made a cash offer right after you were there i said what do i do now i can't afford another trip she said what about that other house we looked on the street that looked like an upside down swimming pool because we painted this green blue color every room in the house was a different color it was unique so i said why don't you make an offer on that i did not know in two years i'd become a minister and i would be traveling all over that section of the country the second house was about three minutes off of an interstate where they connected and that was pretty much where i traveled but god knew that we started painting the house and people driving by stopped and said thank you thank you but god had a plan and a purpose this was just one example i think for those of you that have been around for a long time you should be able to go back and say here's a case here's a situation there's another case and share these stories with people that are experiencing some of these trials and tribulations first time around let them know that god does exist but you need to know that now you can review the booklet and i mentioned this the students you know the real god proofs and promises but go through that that's intellectual but you need to know individually that god does exist you need to have a relationship with that god god please guide me lead me for those of you young people and be looking for somebody to marry i would encourage you look within the church look within people that believe the way you do otherwise all bets are off that may work out okay and it may not but make god part of the process you need to know that he exists and that he cares the second aspect of maintaining a firm foundation is the bible the inspired word of god is the bible the inspired word of god if it is if it is [Music] as paul told timothy 2 timothy 3 16 that all scripture is inspired by god and profitable for instruction and reproof in righteousness do you believe every word of it now some of the problems we're having today is that they want to take a couple of verses that support this but then they ignore other verses that tell you how to do certain things and they're just not interested in those verses when i brought it up to some people well they changed the subject but you got to believe it all you can't pick and choose and when we're dealing with people in the world in the the coming kingdom of god you've they've got to understand that this book is like no other book on the face of the earth it's not like the koran is not like the writings of confucius it's not right like the upanishads in india this is totally unique and has been preserved even though people want to destroy it and the way to a successful life and the way to be an effective godly leader is to read it and believe it and use it when things get tough so maintaining a strong belief another thing that you need to do as far as building a foundation is answer the question where is the church that jesus christ founded today where is the true church of god is it here is it there where is it and you need to do that for yourself so that you know mr armstrong used to say this all the time you need to know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know what the truth is i don't have any doubts why i'm here you shouldn't have any doubts why you are here if you do have doubts address them talk to somebody talk to some people who've been around for 50 60 years and mr ames has been around for a long time talk with him and ask him why are you here i remember when i wanted to be baptized i was counseling with a man that wasn't too much older than i was and he said why do you think this is the church of god i said well because of your understanding of prophecy and everything then i said why do you think it's a church of god because i wanted to know why he was there he says well prophecy is important but it's the way of life that works it's about a way of life that actually does work i didn't have the maturity at that time to understand what he was talking about but i can look back on it now and say because it works and because of an understanding of prophecy and because of a number of other things so you need to know where god's church is today and it's not just a matter well that's your opinion or my opinion no you prove these things you prove these things to yourself you might also look at hebrews chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 talks about fundamental doctrines there there is a judgment coming and some people are going to be very surprised when that judgment comes that have made some different decisions notice if you would matthew chapter 7. matthew chapter 7. this is part again the sermon on the mount jesus was talking with his disciples going over some very important fundamentals but there's a warning here in matthew chapter 7 beginning in verse 21 he says not everyone who says to me lord lord you're my boss you're my god not everybody that says that shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but the person that does the will of my father in heaven that will is described in the bible there are the instructions there we'll talk about in just a little bit that you can't ignore well i'm focused over here i'm not worried about that no you can't be focusing all over the place you've got to focus on everything many will say to me in that day and my guess is many scattered through the different churches of god many who go to church on sunday many who do good things will be quite surprised many will say to me in that day lord lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name done many wonderful wonders in your name and then i will declare unto them i never knew you we never connected we weren't on the same page interesting one of our talks in the last couple of weeks the individual says look we're on different pages we're on different pages you go your way i'll go mine we can't be on different pages and expect to be in the kingdom of god together that doesn't add up it's going to be sobering i think when people realize wow i was on a different page i didn't think it was that big a deal because we both love god we both keep faced we both do this you know reality is going to strike at some point in time it's not going to be comfortable then it talks about building your house on a rock back to the foundation that we were talking about heard an interesting sermon by an individual who was in college whenever we were there he grew up on a farm and one of his sermons was stay in the middle of the cornfield stay in the middle of the cornfield because you notice on a corn field the the plants that grow on the edge of the corn field they're short with no ears but that the corn plants in the middle of the cornfield are protected from the wind by other plants they're the tallest and they have good ears he's no longer a minister you know so we need to listen to ourselves when we talk these are tragedies hopefully people like that will wake up at some point in time we can pray for that but it was a good sermon in fact uh mr strain and i were just talking about that the other day he heard the same sermon but we listen to what we're saying uh i'm an old guy up here over the hill gang but but we watched a lot of people go over the hill and jump off the cliff it was like the joke i think i was told before that these two preachers were out fishing by fishing hole and uh they heard this car roaring down the gravel road and uh well he's really going fast and all of a sudden they heard this screeching of brakes and a big splash and the guy said i'm going to walk over and see what's happening he said the bridge is out over there the bridge is up so he heard another car coming he ran found some cardboard and wrote on it i gotta warn them let them know that bridge is out guard comes roaring by blows the horn get out of the way here's another big splash the guy came back all dejected and the second minute said what what what'd you put on the sign he said i put repent turn around and go a different direction was not there that was to be understood but the guy wasn't familiar with what repentance was all about you know so build us a firm foundation stay close to the trunk of the tree stay in the center of the cornfield and don't get out on the edges because that's where the problems arise that's point number four number five learn and develop the skills of leaders learn and develop the skills of effective leaders now what are some of those skills let's just mention them briefly leaders need to develop wisdom and discernment wisdom is able to make wise decisions when you have decisions to make discernment involves figuring out where the truth is and where it's not where people are following god and where they're not even though they may be talking about it how do you develop that first kings three verses seven to nine solomon asked for wisdom solomon asked for wisdom i remember when i first came into the church i was reading proverbs and it talks about asking for wisdom seeking wisdom i prayed about it i woke up the next morning and i didn't feel any wiser than i was the night before so we've got to do more than ask proverbs chapter 2 talks about seeking wisdom looking for wisdom you ask older people more experienced people what about this what about that have some of the older men here talk to you and older women what happens when people jump the track what happens when people come up with their own ideas and begin to present those things what's the outcome what's the outcome and mr armstrong said years ago he says every time there's been a split that split comes to nothing every time there's been a split it comes to nothing may take some time may take a couple weeks may take a couple years but it comes to nothing see this is an older wiser person talking wisdom comes from asking and talking and listening study the proverbs maybe take a proverb a day do this couple times a year read it in the morning watch and notice through the day and read it in the evening and some of those verses are literally going to jump off the page you know i made this statement about my dad that my mom and dad gave me certain principles growing up but i realized when i went to college that my dad really learned a lot when i went to college i realized he knew what he was talking about even though he was not in a church he read the bible a bit but he had experience in common sense he had experience in common sense one of the proverbs just noticed proverbs 14 12. it says the way that seems right to a man or to a person but its end is the way of death and somebody may be really convinced in their own mind i really believe this is right but also in proverbs 15 22 it says there's safety and a multitude of counsel i don't need any counsel i'm convinced now you better listen you better listen you might be convinced in your own mind but the proverb says there's a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death so asking for wisdom and discernment being teachable you know david had this attitude show me teach me read psalm 119. he said show me teach me help me see the wisdom help me to see the wonders in your word read the first 30 verses of psalm 119 it was a very teachable individual numbers chapter 12 says moses was meek above all people he was teachable he was a military man he gave commands but he was also teachable god could work with him learn how to resolve conflicts this is something that leaders need to be able to do they need to be able to resolve conflicts in their instruction scriptural instructions let's look at deuteronomy 17 quickly deuteronomy 17 that these are part of the inspired word of god and when we don't do these things then we get into trouble deuteronomy 17 moses is being given some advice by his father-in-law beginning in verse 8. if a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge between you and the degrees of guilt for bloodshed various things or matters of controversy within your gates then you shall arise and go to the place where the lord god chooses you shall come before the priests the levites to judge there in those days and inquire of them and they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of the judgment in other words you'll get advice and you shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce in the place where the lord chooses verse 11 according to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you according to the judgment which they tell you you shall do you shall not turn to the side to the right of the left verse 12. now the man who acts presumptuously i don't need advice i know what's right i'm going to do what i think that i think is right the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the lord your god or judge that man shall die that's quite a sentence but that's not done yet so you shall put away the evil from israel and all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously these these are the instructions that god gives us for resolving issues in matthew 16 18 jesus told his disciples whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven so the church has a prerogative of making certain decisions then in acts 15 there was an issue over circumcision they got together a decision was made and that was issued to the church so these are the instructions but if we ignore these instructions and do our own thing then there will be serious consequences there'll be confusion final point i want to make is that godly leaders learn from history godly leaders learn from history they learn from biblical history they should be able to learn from secular history they should be able to learn from church history a number of examples first corinthians 10 verses 1 to about 11. it mentions a whole a series of examples from the old testament and then paul was telling the corinthians these lessons have been recorded for our admonition upon whom the ends of the earth have come first corinthians chapter 10 verses 1 through 11. there's some very powerful examples there number 16 cora somehow he got 250 leaders on his side against moses and aaron so moses and aaron must have done something they said you took too much on yourself you know the whole congregation is holy you didn't consult us whatever it was but it got 250 liters on his side but god then opened up the earth and they were the ones that fell in they had an issue it may have been legitimate but god did not put up with that you know again moses was a military man he may have issued a command or something we're not told all the details but it was a very serious thing so a number of examples judges chapter 21 verse 25 so there was no king in israel at that time and everybody did their own thing each person did what was right in their own eyes well this is what i think we should do if they don't agree with me i'm going to do it anyways that was a time of chaos a time of confusion this is history this is history you might want to read also about you know paul had to deal with things second timothy 1 15. he says all those in asia have turned away they've all gone so paul was dealing with things he talks about alexander the uh the copper smith gave me a bad time so paul was dealing with issues and he mentions names there you might also want to read the little account of diatrophies in 3rd john verses 9 and 10. since he loves the preeminence and look this up in some other translations he loves the preeminence he wants to take over the lead he wants to take over the lead he receives us not he won't listen to us he doesn't acknowledge our authority paul was saying he's pratting against us with malicious words translated he ridicules us with wicked words you guys don't have any faith brethren this is history that is recorded for us in the scriptures but in terms of current history back to the comment that mr west and i had conversation doug we're too old for this we've been down this road before i just counted up about 10 different times since we were in college i wouldn't mention a lot of names one individual back here on the east coast had a legitimate issue with one of the leaders but that multiplied into a whole list of things and one of the guys that i taught with i talked with them later he said doug don't be surprised if next year we have our own summer camp and don't be surprised that we start doing things a little bit different back here because they were rebelling against the authority of the church at that time we've had others wrapped themselves in mr armstrong's blanket well i knew him i did this with him i talked with him my wife was his secretary all kinds of things to give credibility to what they are doing we've had people leave believing that they were prophets we've had people leave that believe and claim that they're apostles we've had people leave over all kinds of issues you know today the issue is masks and singing we had a minister in one part of the country believed that we should all have our heads covered we should all wear hats to church i had a visit with a guy down in austria said you need to come see me because i've come up across something that's really important and if you just come and listen to me the church is going to grow like crazy so i went down we started talking talked about half an hour i said so what is the issue that you understand that would really help us grow he said speaking in tongues okay i said do you speak in tongues yeah several times a day do you know what you're saying no but i feel so good we've had sacred names people come on way we have to pray to god with just a special name i gave a lecture and i'm getting close to time here so i'll quit but i gave a lecture like one of our a number of our regional conferences on ten keys to avoiding deception 10 keys to avoiding deception let me just mention a couple of those keys one would be to avoid and stay away from single issues avoid getting carried away on by single issues it could be speaking in tongues it could be sacred names it could be i'm not going to wear a mask it could be any one of a number of single issues that can take people out of the church these are are dangerous things another one would be get both sides of the story get both sides of the story i'd written these things down as proverbs 18 verse 17 i think it is it says the first person to mention his side of the story seems right until his neighbor comes along and provides other things in some of these congregations where we're having issues today have only heard one side of the story and they've heard that for three four five months so it's not surprising that they're confused it's not surprising one of the reasons we sent out the reading materials that we did this week is to see here's another side of the story not just from one person but from multiple people to safety and a multitude of council so get the other side of the story before you jump get a bigger perspective another thing to avoid is rumors don't listen to rumors and when you get on the internet and on facebook there's some of the wildest rumors i've ever heard but get the other side of the story some of these things are so way out it's incredible but if they're said with conviction and enough people say at the same time then it must be true no it's not true so a number of things can be done to avoid getting caught up in some of these issues brethren we appear to be living towards the end of an age and we understand from ii timothy 3 and last days perilous times are going to come very difficult times are coming and we're not there yet but we appear to be approaching that satan's efforts are going to double he wants to deceive he wants to distract you know and i think in one sense and i don't mean to be the meaning but this issue over the masks and singing is really a tempest in a teapot now if you're in the teapot it's no fun it's confusing but when you look at one percent of the people maybe 100 or so out of 10 000 you know back off and get the big picture this has happened before people leave they'll take 100 people 200 people what happens to them down the road they all begin to come apart don't let any man take your crown don't let any man's ideas take your crown don't let them pull you off course satan's efforts are going to increase it's not going to be any fun but we've got to be prepared to deal with the reality to deal with the real world and to help people in this world understand why it's been such a mess to help them understand there is hope for the future they help our young people that might be confused right now because of what they've experienced you don't need to panic this has happened before and you watch maybe six months maybe a couple years things are going to be different but we've got to maintain our focus we've got to maintain our focus through these things if you follow these steps that we talked about remembering that god is in charge you value your calling you understand that calling you're going to hang on to it you focus on the big picture what is the mission of the church what is your personal mission growing and developing the mind of god building a firm foundation and shore up those things in fact i was walking through the office the other day and looked at the floor in the kitchen up there some of those marble tiles are being break up there's some holes there so the way you fix that well you can patch it or you can pull out the tile and put in a fresh one that doesn't have any holes in it we realize that our foundation a little bit weak here or there shore it up number five work on developing the skills of leaders successful people how do successful people solve problems follow the instructions in the book and when something breaks you get out of the instruction manual and you you look to see if you're doing it right you can't just ignore it because you want to focus on something else and then learn from history some of you old guys and gals you're very valuable you're very valuable because you've experienced a lot of things share those things and young people keep your eyes open watch listen and one of these days you'll be able to share some very valuable things too with some other young people that might be confused brethren with god's help let's stay in his church let's stay focused on our mission we've got a lot of a lot of things to do before jesus christ returns but we want to be in the kingdom of god together of one mind and one spirit that's why we're here and that's why we want to be in the kingdom of god together [Music] you

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Published: Mon Jan 18 2021