14 Critical Keys To Leadership

And don't let the title turn you off if you are not a leader. 14 critical keys to leadership. 14 critical keys to leadership.

Ezra to Esther, I'm glad that rhymed. I could not squeeze Job in there, so I don't know if that's what I'm gonna be talking about this coming Wednesday, because it's interesting you go from Job that is heavy to the Psalms that are encouraging. So that might be a good tie-in there for this coming Wednesday.

I might go into the book of Job and trying to get through the Old Testament. I'm giving brief overviews to the Old Testament. But if you are a mom, this message is for you.

If you work anywhere, this message is for you. If you are a teenager, trust me, this message is for you. If you are a man, obviously, this message is for you.

Because I believe as believers, we are leading someone or something. We're not just kind of by ourselves. And I didn't want even an older crowd.

I've got my kids are grown, my grandkids. But you are still looked upon to lead and to exhibit some type of leadership, even if it's in your home environment or a ministry that God has called you in. So we're looking at Ezra to Esther.

And those are important books of the Bible. We've already talked about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, right? And then Joshua, Judges, Ruth. And then we went into 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles.

And they talked about the kings. And to me, the Old Testament is fascinating. Like I don't just read it once and okay, I'm done with it.

It's like every year, because there's so much stuff that comes out. And you really understand the heart of God. And just because something is recorded doesn't mean that God approved.

And this could answer a lot of questions that we have today. Well, the Bible says this. That doesn't mean God approved it.

It means it's recorded for us for historical purposes. And then we get into Ezra, which is an incredible story. Ezra and Nehemiah, just to give you a brief synopsis, is Israel was taken captive.

And that's the verse I ended with last Sunday, if you remember that, that God sent His messengers, He sent His prophets, He sent His people to tell the people to repent, but they mocked at them. They despised Him. And God finally had to judge Israel.

So after the judgment into Babylonian captivity, they're allowed to go and rebuild the temple. Is this amazing? It's like only God's providence is, He takes the enemies, He puts it in the heart of the enemy to say, hey, go ahead and release them because I promised to them that I would get them out of captivity and lead them back to their land. And because I proclaim that, I'm even going to use my enemies to accomplish my purpose.

It's amazing. So here's Ezra building the temple. We'll talk about that in a minute.

And then comes Nehemiah, who now is going to build the wall around Jerusalem. God commanded Nehemiah. He said, hey, the people are in distress.

Enemies are coming in. You need to go, Nehemiah. And it's this huge wall that he would build around Jerusalem.

See, the Bible has things to say about even borders, guys. Oh, don't get political. No, we're getting biblical.

It's biblical. Here's where they fooled us. You can't talk about that stuff because it's political.

Actually, now politics has crossed into the biblical line and now I'm mandated to talk about it. So this is just an excuse. What it is, it's an excuse to not be controversial.

I would love to say, you know, I can't talk about gay marriage or abortion or this. I can't because it's just about Jesus and the cross. Oh, life would be so simple.

Wouldn't it? I'm not going to really upset anybody. I'm not going to offend anybody. I mean, I would offend most of you who are hungry to hear what the Bible has to say about biblical principles.

But anyway, so Nehemiah was building a wall around Jerusalem. And then we get into Esther, which is the story of Esther I'll talk about in a little bit. But it's just so many important keys to leadership.

Leaders affect and influence. They motivate and they inspire. Or they do the exact opposite.

And one thing I always glean from the Old Testament and I have it throughout my Bible and highlights, leadership matters. Leadership matters throughout my Bible because of Manasseh, God said I had to judge Israel. But because of Hezekiah, I had grace.

Because of Asa, I had to do this. And because of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, I had to do this and judge Israel. But now because of the heart of Josiah wanting to restore worship, I relented from the harm that I was going to do.

And leadership matters. Guys, wake up. Leadership matters.

It's huge. The direction they lead the nation. So the next time you say politics doesn't matter, you might want to wake up because it just means governing or leading a group of people.

And that's what God's Word is all about that. My goodness, we have lost our mind. We've caved into the woke ideology to try to silence the voice of truth.

So Ezra covers 80 years, the book of Ezra. The Jews returned from captivity and they rebuilt the temple. And Ezra also led the people back to God.

And I often wonder, what about if there's no Ezra? What about if there's no Nehemiah? Leadership matters. Big time, maybe even to some men, this is a wake-up call for you. We're not called to be passive observers.

But by default, that's what we want to do. But we have to come in, encourage ourselves, and begin to lead the way God intended. So here's key number one.

Leaders prepare for warfare. Leaders prepare for warfare. We know it's going to be challenging.

Ezra and Nehemiah, they all understood the dangers. And if you want to lead your family or even lead your kids, some of single parents or wherever you're at, you have to remember, this is not going to be easy. This is going to be extremely difficult.

I have to prepare for that because when you are forewarned, you're forearmed. Knowing this is coming. Ezra 7.10 will be popping in and out of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Mainly Nehemiah when I get to it. Ezra 7.10, Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it. And he proclaimed a fast to seek guidance from God.

Here's that word fast again. Ezra prepared his heart. This is an interesting word.

Another place in the Bible, it will say they set their heart. It's like setting a bone that is broken. So there is a process.

It just doesn't happen automatically. You don't just pray, Lord, prepare my heart and I'll just sit here and watch Netflix. I'm waiting.

He prepared his heart to seek the Lord. Maybe removing things that were hindrances, maybe even good things. Begin to say, Lord, I'm going to put aside some time for fasting and prayer.

I'm going to read the Old Testament primarily as they might have had it written in scrolls. I'm going to obey the Word of God. I'm preparing my heart.

You have to prepare your heart to seek the Lord. It doesn't happen on its own. But here's the big dilemma.

The people had outward worship, but no inward worship. I think that's the whole point of the book of Ezra is to throw that in there. Hey, the temple's built.

Yeah, but your hearts aren't right. What does that mean when we don't have any inward worship? There's no spiritual appetite. There's no hunger for God.

There's a lack of interest in God. We become weak and tired and spiritually withdrawn. And that's why it's easy to go through the motions, isn't it? Come to church, check it off.

And that's where a lot of Americans live. Of course, in the UK and Canada, and we've got emails from all over listening, but that's where a lot of us live because it is actually easier to go through the motions. Isn't it? It's easier to, hey, you know what? Twice a month, I'll show up for church.

Got my little check off there on the screen. I've got my Bible sitting on my table. I might put on Erewhon Worship or our station now and then.

There's an outward form. But when you go through the motions, you realize it's dead. There's no desire.

I'm spiritually weak. I'm drained spiritually. I mean, what I've been wondering, I'm gonna get into the book of Acts.

If we could take to the early church in the book of Acts and plant them here now, What would they say? I mean, just think about it. They're on fire for God. They're filled with the Spirit.

That's why there's a byproduct being filled with the Spirit. There's an excitement. There's a zeal, like I can't wait till Wednesday.

I can't wait till other things that are going on. There's an excitement. I can't wait to get back into worship.

I can't wait to see what's gonna happen in the prayer room. And just in case you think, well, you're a pastor, you always have to feel that way. I don't feel that way a lot.

I have to set myself to seek the Lord. I have to prepare my heart to seek the Lord. There was outward.

They built the temple, but there was no following of God's Word. There was no obedience. They were dying spiritually.

And then in Ezra, which is very interesting, the adversaries of Israel wanted to help them build the temple. Be careful when your enemies want to help you. And of course, I believe, and I think the text hints at this, is they wanted to help so they could distract or they could ruin the plans of Israel.

Can we help you rebuild this temple? We don't know their motives. But they said, no, you cannot help us. And as a result, they were crybabies.

And they wrote a letter to the king. And they said, you've got this rebellious group of people who are going to rebuild and rebel. And the king responded back, have the work cease, basically.

Stop building the temple for a long time. Have you ever been there? God, You told me to do this. I'm doing this for You.

And there's a huge delay. But as I've said many times, delay is not always deny. God's delays are not His denials.

And we don't just use that flippantly like it applies to everything, but there are seasons where, man, we're moving forward and then God allows something to happen, it just stops. It stops. It's put on the back, because there is spiritual warfare, I believe.

I don't understand all aspects of it, but even in the book of Daniel, your prayer was answered, Daniel, three weeks ago, but it took me a while to get here. That's interesting. I don't care what your view is of Daniel's prophecy, but that's interesting that he actually, I think it was the prince of Persia, held up the angel from answering the prayer.

Now, of course, it happened during God's timing, God's perfect will, but you understand that when you fight against the enemy, plans can be delayed. How many stories have I heard of churches wanting to get started, but then delayed in the permit process, or the funding, or I mean, you name it. Life rarely goes exactly like we want it to go.

Right? This can happen on Monday, by next week. It's usually a process of waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and in that delay time, you draw closer to God. You build those leadership skills that are so important.

What are those? Patience. Perseverance. Quick to listen, slow to speak.

And then, of course, Israel then, Ezra, appealed to King Darius years later. I don't know the exact time frame. And the king said, okay, you're right, and then allowed the work to continue again.

It's interesting, they petitioned the king. Paul said, I must see Caesar. It's okay to use the political process or the legal system from time to time.

God allows that to happen. That's why He put these positions and institutions in their place. And then that's Ezra.

So Ezra, here's the temple, and then here comes Nehemiah, written approximately, or took place around 423 B.C. That's a long time ago. So the people were in distress, and the wall was broken down. So here's the temple that was built, but the wall's not up.

What happens when a wall's not up? Anybody can come in and take things. And that's how they would defend the cities. They would have walls up, and on these walls, they would have watchtowers, and they would stand on the watchtowers and be able to watch, see way out, miles out, and you can see horses and chariots with the dust and things, and they would have certain gates that would only be lifted up at certain times, and they would have guards that would watch those gates.

It was very secure. And that's why I alluded to the fact earlier that securing borders, as long as you do it the right way, compassion, love, vetting, processing, things like that, biblically speaking, there's grounds for that. It's asinine to just think, oh, it doesn't matter, just do whatever.

If that's the case, why do you lock your door? I can go deep right here if you want for a minute. All those people out there that are homeless in Lancaster, why don't you leave your door unlocked and your windows open and say, hey, free food, compassionate. No, because you have a greater responsibility to protect your family.

If everything's a priority, then nothing is. That's why when you take a flight, the oxygen mask falls, you don't put on your child first. That's selfish.

No, it's not. You put it on, then you can better equip others. There's a priority to the way God wants to do things.

Does that mean we're doing everything right? No, I've got issues with all kinds of things that are going on in our nation, trust me. This is, I don't know, I wasn't going to mention it, but it keeps coming up, I think it's pretty cool, but I don't know how many of you saw what Jack Hibbs posted with Tony Perkins, but on Sunday, I was like, whoa, Jack Hibbs was preaching, and he was talking about how Trump had the ear in his blood. He didn't take Scripture out of context, which I'm glad, but he said, you know, he talked about you need to put the blood on it.

You know, if you're listening to this, if you're hearing this, Mr. President, you need to put the blood on it. Like, whoa, wow. And of course, he knows people close to Trump, and Trump called Jack Hibbs on Monday.

Now what was said, I don't know, but it's very interesting times we're living in. And we need to just keep praying and praying for our country and for her people, and for the next generation. That's what really matters to me.

I get fired up because of what we're leaving our kids and grandkids. Like, Nehemiah, why should I not be sad when the place of my father's tombs lies in waste? Number two, leaders are compassionate. Men, if you don't have compassion in your heart, ask God for it this morning.

Over the years, I've seen so many people that have strong theology. Boy, and they have an iron fist, but they don't have a soft heart. Do you know if you don't have love, it profits you nothing? Paul said, I can speak well like angels.

I can have great faith to move a mountain. I can sell everything and feed the poor, but if I have not love, it profits me nothing. Some of you men need to wake up and get the love of God in your heart.

Maybe some of you women too. Get compassion again. Lord, have my heart break for the things that break Your heart.

God, wake me up to my stagnant life. Wake me up to my, I just don't care. They are compassionate.

They have to be compassionate. We've become so callous, haven't we? We've become so callous. I mean, just 25 minutes you can drive and you can sit out front the course of a week and picture the little babies that are being taken from the womb and put in a dumpster.

You know, it's okay to say that. It's even better. Why don't you go park in their parking lot and just pray? God, give me that compassionate heart.

Give me that broken heart. Pray for the people walking out. See, we've lost that.

Can you imagine if we get that back again? Not just for that, for all areas. Go park at your school. My kids can change their sex and the school won't even tell me? Thanks to California Assembly Bill something.

My goodness, folks, it's like we just sit around. It's like, oh, look what's... We're not talking about little things. We're talking about huge things that have enormous ramifications.

And like the frog who will sit in the water with the fire on until it boils from the inside out, because it's lukewarm, it's being conditioned, the same way we can be conditioned spiritually. They have a word, desensitized. Have you heard that word before? I remember verifying this years ago, but up in Alaska, the Eskimos, they would take a knife and they would put blood on it and bury it upside down with the blade sticking up.

And the wild wolves... I think I said that right. My family likes to tell me words I don't say correctly. What are they? Wolves? Yogurt? Some other words too.

I don't know. What was it? Oh, you did them both right this time. Okay, well, good.

So, I know it takes away from the moment, but let's get back to the moment. And so these wolves will come upon the knife and they'll start licking the blood off the blade and they don't realize that they're cutting their own tongue. They're bleeding to death.

And then the Eskimo comes back hours later and there's his dinner. Desensitized. Desensitized.

Haven't you ever stepped into that ice-cold pool? You're like, no way. But then what happens? It's not too bad. No more.

No more. But then where are you ten more minutes later? You're down in this. So what was initially alarming and shocking is now comfortable and you would become desensitized.

I mean, what always gets me is when I was a little kid, what was on TV then versus now. What is on now would have never been allowed. Ever.

Ever. On television. Desensitized.

Desensitized. We don't care. A friend of mine, he's a Christian, he said, I like watching Naked and Afraid.

I'm like, what in the world is that? Naked and Afraid? Don't Google it. I probably shouldn't have said it. But then just when we started the church, remember there's something called Swapping Wives? What? Excuse me? And Christians, Christians are entertained.

Desensitized. Desensitized. Now, the flesh might be interested.

Right? I explained before that we're renewed. We're new people in Christ. Thank God, but our flesh isn't renewed that I'm aware of.

If yours has been, let me know how that works. But that's when you tell that no and you repent and you pull away from the desensitization. That's a big word.

I'm going to attempt it. From stopping desensitized. You pull away from that and wake yourself up and say, God, I set my heart back on You again.

The adversaries, though, wanted to help Ezra build the temple. The enemies wanted to come alongside and help him. But we know why that is.

Anytime the enemy wants to help you, it's because they want to stop your plans. Thwart your plans. Come in and when you see government or big tech begin to move in with churches, I know this for a fact.

I know this might sound like conspiracy theory, but it's not. I can't go into details. But trust me on this, it'll make sense.

But did you know that there are groups of pastors where George Soros will fund them to come out and support Planned Parenthood? To come out and take this woke ideology? But let's become part of the church. Let's come alongside of you and help you. And that's where you have to be very careful because when they told the enemies no, Ezra said no, then they wrote a letter to the king and they shut down the ability to build the temple.

They shut it down for years, I believe. It was a long time. Don't quote me on that.

But they shut it down for a while. And it was a good reminder that any time you're doing things for the Lord, don't expect a nice, smooth ride. Don't expect, oh, this door opened and this door opened and this door opened.

Everything's going great. This is wonderful. God's will is like taking the kids to Disneyland.

It's not. It's not. It's like being down on Coronado and watching the Navy Seals train.

That's what it's like. You're right on the ground. Climbing this stuff and getting through and going through hell week.

We have those same challenges here. But thank God, later on, Ezra appealed to King Darius and the work was resumed. And sometimes we need the political process to get things done.

Paul said, I appeal to Caesar. The political process. Ezra said, I appeal to the king.

The king changed things. Guys, they're interwoven. Stop thinking that politics and the church are these... God's Word has something to say about all issues of life.

It has something to say about all these issues that are so prevalent and so important. It speaks to these issues. Because God has ordained leadership.

He's called the church to be the spiritual covering. He's called the government to be the terror, to be the sword of the nation, so to speak. And He's called the family to be the unit that keeps it all together.

These are three institutions ordained by God. And then Nehemiah, what did he do next? Something that's very interesting. When he heard about the distress, he confessed the sins of the people.

Key number three, leaders intercede. Part of your job as a leader, even moms, dads, whoever you find yourself, you are called to intercede. The intercessor is so powerful.

Look at some of the people Jesus healed. This is amazing to me. When He healed them, they weren't even there.

Have you ever thought about that? Go home, your daughter's healed. Syrophoetian woman and all these examples. The man who carried the men on the mat lowered him down through the house.

These people interceding. And you interceding. And John praying with the fathers covering their families.

There's power in intercession. And the problem is we are human beings, of course, where we judge by sight. We have our senses.

Sight, taste, smell, feel. This is how we judge things. And so, okay, I'm praying, I'm interceding.

Nothing's working. My kids aren't changing. Forget this.

This doesn't work. Every parent has said that before. But we look by sight.

Faith doesn't look by sight. Faith hopes for things that aren't even seen yet. And so as leaders, though, we have to intercede.

We have to even intercede for our country. And it is disheartening when so many pulpits are quiet. Even about what happened last weekend.

On Sunday, like, no, they're not gonna talk about anything. Don't intercede, don't say anything. It's like, it doesn't make sense to me.

Because we are called to that position of intercession. But He confessed the sins of the people, which is interesting. He's not in sin, but He says, I own it.

I own it. We as a people, and that's why it's okay when sometimes we pray and we say, Lord, we have the blood of innocent children on our hands. God, we as a people, as a group of people, the judgment of God, the ramifications of that, God, we confess to You, I'm interceding.

And it reminds me of the priest who would go before the people, go to God, and he would intercede on behalf of the people. And we pray to Jesus, our great interceder. And then number four is so important as well.

So Nehemiah said to the king, if I found favor in your sight, let me go. Let me go fix this problem. One man to fix a problem.

It is amazing. We forgive that you plus God is a majority. Oh, if we could just get a majority.

If I could just do this. If I could just get 100 parents showing up at school board meetings. Oh, if we could just get California to do this politically.

Oh, we don't have enough numbers. We don't have, you plus God is the majority. God says, give me an Ezra.

Give me a Nehemiah. Oh, while I'm looking, give me a David, that boy out tending to the sheep who nobody thought. Give me that boy, David.

Gideon, I am the least of all the tribes. Give me Gideon. Give me somebody that has a heart and a passion to make a difference and wants to surrender their life.

And I will use that person. I will raise up a Samson. I will call a David.

I will call fishermen, Peter, Matthew, Mark. I will call tax collectors. I will call men and women to do my will.

All I need is the one. Leaders take the initiative. Key four, leaders take the initiative.

Guys, I know it's tough because we don't want to take the initiative. Right? Just laying around the house, just relaxing. I just want to take it easy.

Something I have to deal with and it's, I mean, it's, I'm excited because I know we don't live here a long time, but I realized a long time ago, me and my wife did, that we won't retire. You know, I just can't wait till I'm 60. Retirement, going to go get my RV and just go.

But that's not what God, I've got to do this until I can't anymore. I don't know what that means. Doesn't mean leading a church necessarily, but it means preaching.

But fighting that, oh, retirement. Now I'm not against it. I think it's a good blessing.

But when you retire from business, you should be involved in ministry. Oh, the looks. If you could see what I see.

Oh, if you could see what I see. I better just back up. It's not, let God convict you at this point.

But can you imagine the wealth of knowledge we have at this church? With those kids have grown, they're retired, to invest in just a couple once a week. Teens, the wisdom. That's why it says older women, you are to teach the younger.

Older men to be the elders and leaders and spiritually directing. And we have so many. But leaders take the initiative.

Hey, if I found favor in your sight, send me. I'm going. And then verse 10, when Samballot and Tobiah heard of it, these are enemies of God.

I do not like these guys. They were deeply disturbed that a man, one man, not an army, one man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. And key five is vitally important too.

Leaders expect what? What I'm telling you right now, I really wish I would have known before we planted this church. You have to learn it. And that's why a lot of the passion that comes out, because I've lived it.

And you're passionate about what you've lived, what you've experienced. So leaders expect opposition. It's coming.

And so one of our goals, although it's hard here and in your life, what it should be is you fight for unity. I thought it kind of came naturally, you know, church, Christians. It's just the byproduct is unity, right? No.

You have to fight for it. You have to humble yourself. Not get the last word in.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak. Encourage, build up, hold back your... Isn't that hard sometimes? It's like, man, if I could just go old school for a few minutes. But it's new school now.

You can't do that. And so they expected opposition. And then verse 12, then Nehemiah arose at night.

Oh, what a smart guy. What a smart guy. He just took a few guys with him.

I told no one what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem. You know what? I've learned a lesson the hard way too. Don't share too much.

Just kind of, maybe a couple people if you need to, or hold it in for a while. Just seek the Lord. Because number one, not everyone has your calling or your heart and they don't understand.

I'm not talking about being in disobedience, right? You don't understand. And I'm not talking about not asking godly counsel because that's important. But there is a season.

Even planning the church, I took a couple weeks and just pondered it. Because once I start telling people, they're like, I don't know about that. Even my mom told me, I don't see you as a pastor, Shane.

I do not. So I say, okay, I don't either. Because she knows about her family and what we came out of and the upbringing and all the stuff I went through.

But eventually, she obviously saw through that. And even when we wanted to start on a Saturday night, some people were negative about it. And when you share things about your heart, other people won't understand it sometimes.

And so they understood. Leaders expect opposition. But the point on this one, key six, leaders react instead of respond.

Reacting usually is an impulse driven by emotion. Right, if somebody slaps me, what's my reaction? Hmm. Boom, boom, back.

But responding, leaders respond, they weigh the consequences of their actions. They think, how's this gonna look? What's my role here? Especially in your home. They, oh, I put actually react instead of respond, didn't I? I put the op, I'm reading that going, that even sounds funny.

So let's reverse that one. Leaders respond. Means they take the time, they're patient.

They do not react. Because reaction is a quick, right? How many of you have done the same thing? You get a text and you're like, oh my gosh, wait till I get, man. Delete, forget it.

Right? My reaction, my reaction, like when I got the quote on the fire sprinklers, it was, oof, I had to just, let me just ponder this for a couple days because you don't want to hear my reaction. Or when people, I know this is hard to, you know, you don't think it happens at a church, but it does. You know, people come at you.

They come at you. And are you going to respond and love or react? And we're all works in progress. Myself included.

And this is a huge distraction right now, with this concept, because so many people are listening to too many different opinions. Isn't that true? You get so frustrated with this, and should I do this? And, you know, all these billionaires putting down Dave Ramsey's approach, right, to financial success. And I like that.

It got me out of debt years ago, right? But these guys are more risk takers, so I see what they're saying, because, you know, don't pay off your house because you want to use the bank's money at 3% and use that money. They've got some good points. If you're an investment, you know how that works.

You definitely, I see their point. But then you got, well, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do? And there's so many different opinions that you get double-minded. My wife just mentioned it yesterday.

I forgot all about it, but when we first started having kids, you know, she's watching all these different things. Like, here's how you should really swaddle them, put them to sleep. Like, well, this one says, no, no, no.

Let them cry. I'm like, let them cry? Because I was softy, right? As soon as they start crying, I'm in there helping them. But let them cry.

It doesn't matter. They'll eventually learn who's boss, you know? And you get, this video says this, and this video says this, and the binky, don't give them a binky and do this. It's like, what am I supposed to do? So many different opinions out there.

And as I'm right now in the process of putting my weight loss book on Audible, same thing happens. Keto, paleo, carnivore, plant-based, whole foods, raw, fruitarian, oh, what, what, do carbs are bad? Carbs are good, cholesterol's bad, all these different opinions. And then we just say, well, forget it then.

Well, I can tell you this much, the forget it then approach is not a good one. Because that's a Chick-fil-A, in and out, Panda Express, seafood diet, whatever I see is food I eat. But maybe this will help some of you.

What does God's Word say? What does God's Word say? Let that voice be the driving factor. Because on the issue of food, what does God's Word say? I've given you all the plants to consume. God's way, God did it, they're not evil.

These guys out there making videos, plants are trying to kill you because they have phytochemicals and things that keep bugs away. It's like, they're just stupid. It's just, there's no wisdom in that at all.

Now there's certain things I'm not gonna get into, but what does God's Word say? Jesus ate fish. He said, I will bless the land and you'll have curds and honey. What is curds? Raw dairy and honey.

I mean, the Bible's pretty clear. Now of course, different people have different situations. I would recommend different things for different, you know, but they also moved a lot more.

Hello? They moved a lot more, so they could eat three sweet potatoes. Some of you might need to back away from carbohydrates and insulin levels and things like that. And so, let God be your main source of information.

Don't allow all the different opinions to come in and sway your thinking. And then I said to them, so Nehemiah now is talking to the people. You see the distress.

Look at how Jerusalem lies in waste. Its gates are burned with fire. So these gates that used to protect, and they would allow certain people in and let certain people out and guard the city, now these are even on fire.

They're not on fire. They've been burned with fire. To me, it's like a mockery.

It's looking at the conquest of Jerusalem where a lot of Jews were killed. And he said, come, let us build the wall. Let us build the wall that we may no longer be a reproach.

So the people are in distress. The temple's not protected. A reproach is kind of like a mockery or you've been a reproach.

It's cast down. You're just in a low spot. So he said, let us change that and let's rebuild the wall.

So number seven, leaders motivate rather than discourage. Leaders motivate rather than discourage. And even when you discourage, you later motivate.

That's one thing you'll see about the prophets. You read them and they were very discouraging at some point, at some points in their writings. However, they would say that to get the people to a place of reflection and then they would build them up.

They would give them the hope. They'd give them the hope. When I was in the corporate world and we had lots of meetings and I fired lots of people, we had something called the sandwich approach.

Right? You build them up. I just appreciate you. You bring a lot of great atmosphere to this workplace.

But the numbers aren't there. And I've got to let you go, but guess what? This will be a stepping stone for you. The sandwich, you build up, tell them what needs to be said and then build them back up again.

And that's what the, it's biblical. It's actually a biblical example. A huge distraction right now.

I just said that one, but I'm, key seven. Leaders motivate rather than discourage. So are you a discourager or a motivator? A critical Kathy or a hopeful Helen? Now that doesn't mean you don't, again, talk boldly.

You know, my mom was a great example. Probably one of the most loving, gracious, almost too much. Like, mom, come on, we got to speak the truth to him.

You go, mm-mm. But when she had to be tough, man, whoo, I did not want to be in the room. Jerusalem is destroyed, but we're going to rebuild the wall.

Nevertheless, verse nine, nevertheless, man, I love that word. Isn't that word so cool in the Bible? I mean, they paint this, and throughout the Bible, there's this, they paint these pictures that are not good, and it'll say right after that, nevertheless, or this is even better, but God, but God. Oh, that's a sermon.

I'm going to, that preaches. I mean, from everything, everything is in turmoil. We've lost, but God.

Yeah, Hezekiah, we're surrounded by this great army. There's nothing we can do about it. We're going to be destroyed, and the Assyrians were wicked.

You don't want, it'd be like a terrorist organization going in, and he's scared. The prophet is praying, and but God, but God. He says, don't worry, get to bed tonight.

I'll handle it. Death angel is released, and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers are killed that night by one angel sent to bring death to that camp. But God, we got to get back to the but Gods.

Now, but God doesn't mean but God will answer right now. But God might mean we have to go through the fire. I mean, we look at these stories, the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace.

Why did they even have to go in the furnace? Man, God, couldn't you have the king had a heart attack the night before? But he just wants to show his glory sometimes. His awesomeness. These three boys are in the fiery furnace, and the king is like, they're not consumed.

And who is the fourth man in the fire? There's another in the fire. There's another in the fire, and I don't know who this is. But what about the Christians who were burned at the stake? Nero.

Nero's his name, Caesar was his title. Caesar Nero would take Christians. He burned, he blamed them for the burning of the city, the great city of Rome.

And he would light them on fire. Well, why can't I claim that promise? One of the things we always have to remember with God is what Job said, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. And I love what those three boys said earlier.

He said, we will not bow to you, king. Our God will deliver us. But even, how powerful is that? But even if He doesn't, even that's, I wish these healing evangelists and all these hyper-Pentecostals, I wish they would remember this verse.

But even if He doesn't kill you, He's still God. But even if He doesn't remove that cancer, He's still God. But even if you don't experience what this great success you were counting on, He's still God.

We will not bow to you, king. See, that's the issue. The deliverance is not the main key.

The main key is, I don't know how this turned to a Daniel message, but it's okay. It's one of the prophets we'll get to. He's a major, major prophet.

But it's about not bowing and being scared and fearful. And what a message for us today, isn't it? You know, what was that recent outage that happened? Right, airlines? Can you imagine if that's national? And as far as all communications are down? Can you just... Well, I don't want to discourage. But we have to trust in God.

Even in the midst of the fire, we might go through the fire, but leaders will motivate rather than discourage. Nevertheless, we made our prayer to God. In other words, it doesn't matter what the enemy... And I just got into this argument.

You know, I'm not gonna get into details about it, but what the governor just signed and passed about notifying parents in the schools, I'm not gonna go into all the... It's just horrendous. It's unbelievable. And of course, I get the people, how can you stay in California? Well, I'm like, nevertheless, I made my prayer to God.

This is where He has me. Same thing, nevertheless, we made our prayers to God. And because of them, we set a watch against them day and night.

So He's got these adversaries coming in. It's gonna be difficult, but I'm gonna pray to God. And even though, see, I love this about Nehemiah.

It's a manual for leadership. It really is. Even though you pray, key number eight, leaders lead spiritually, but they also lead practically.

Well, let me pray about it. That's good. But often, we say that so we don't have to take action.

Care Net, our local pregnancy resource center needs help. Let me pray about it. Come back, ask you a year later, you praying about it? She'll pray about it.

A year later? You gotta put boots on the ground. Nehemiah, we prayed and I acted. Ezra, we prayed and I acted.

David, prayed and acted. They would, there's often, now sometimes it's just prayer, amen? Some people like to just nail me to the wall about every little thing I say. Obviously, there are times just to pray.

When there's, here's how you figure it out. There's nothing I can do. Let's say, for example, I've had this come up.

What do I do? My prodigal son is in Florida or whatever, and I don't, you know, nothing. Pray. Praying fast.

Don't fly out there and quote Scriptures. Just pray. Pray.

But there are times. Leaders lead spiritually, praying, and practically. Poor leadership extinguishes spiritual passion.

Poor leadership will extinguish spiritual passion. So he was not only practical, he was also spiritual. Therefore, because he was practical, verse 13, he positioned, Nehemiah positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall and at the openings.

So they're building the wall. And if you guys have ever built a wall, if you've got experience with, depending on what size of wall. I mean, I used to dig a lot of retaining walls and large walls and a lot of different things.

But what he's talking about, I believe, is there's a lower part, and as they were building up, so he positioned people on the lower part. And this is so cool. Before I read, I just want to tell you.

He said, it's like a trial, right, to fix. But guess what they had in the other hand? A sword. Fix the wall and fight for your families.

Unbelievable. So I positioned these men. I said, don't be afraid.

Remember, remember, the Lord, great and awesome. The English language has no stronger words for God. Great and awesome.

And fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, and your wives, and your houses. Leaders are strategic and they use wisdom. Biblical leadership doesn't just throw caution to the wind.

Right, you've heard that term. I don't know what to do. Let's just go hide or do something weird or funky.

No, they think about it. They're strategic. They use wisdom because they think things out.

Okay, here's what I think. We're going to start to rebuild the wall, right? I can't see behind me. So there's another group stationed below for the frontal attack.

They also were prepared with their tool and their sword. Practical, let's use wisdom. I trust Nehemiah.

How many people say, Nehemiah, why don't you trust God? Why don't you trust God? Why do you need a sword? I mean, that's a whole other topic, but I believe God allows, the Bible allows for self-defense. Absolutely. If you don't want to defend self, okay, but you should defend others.

They're strategic and they use wisdom. And then verse 17, those who built on the wall and those who carried the burdens, what they meant by that is when you're working on a wall, you'll see this too even now, they're working on a wall, the guys with the cinder blocks are laying it right. Then they got guys bringing the concrete mixture over to them.

And you got another group of people bringing the cinder blocks, and so they're just building the wall. They stay there. They loaded themselves up so that with one hand, they worked on construction, and with the other, they held a weapon.

Now, I'm not recommending this today, right? Don't go to work with a nine millimeter cinder in your belt and your pin for work, unless you have a conceal and carry weapons permit maybe, but practically, we're strategic and we use wisdom. That's what godly leadership does. And so they built the wall and they had a weapon just in case.

So leaders fight when necessary. They fight when necessary and they guard and they guide. That's part of leadership.

They fight when necessary. They guard and they guide. Obviously, our fight nowadays is spiritual, amen? And we're not necessarily building a wall with an enemy trying to kill us.

And then verse seven, chapter four, after serious thought, I love this too. You have to remember, the Bible doesn't just put words in there to take up space. It wasn't, you know what, let me think about it.

It was after a serious thought, Nehemiah rebuked the nobles and the rulers. Why, because they were having the people work, they were lazy, and they were doing something called usury. How many of you know what that is? You probably have heard it, many of you know, but it's, yeah, not a good thing.

Our government's good at this. So let me give you an example. So I'm gonna loan you, somebody, $10,000, and the current interest rate, whatever it is, I want 20% back.

And the person had to borrow, because they didn't have any, and you're taking advantage of the people. And that's usury. Why are you doing that to your own people? And I said to them, each of you, you're exacting, you're taking money from your brother.

So I called a great assembly against them. Leaders protect the innocent, and they speak the truth in love. Key 11, leaders.

Leaders protect those who have no voice. They protect the innocent. That's why the Bible talks about the widow and the orphan, those who have no voice, the unborn.

We can think of other, there's just no voice. Who's gonna speak for the elderly of what's going on in our country? Who's gonna speak for the little kids? In our state, they say they can go and not tell their parents, and turn their sex from a male to a female, and wanna be called this, and little seven, eight-year-olds. How perverted are we as a society? God, help us.

And so they also speak the truth, which we don't lack too much here, amen? Maybe to a fault, I don't know. Funny story, I love these stories. Especially when they happen in the day of.

This morning, early in the morning, we opened the church at 6 a.m., and we put on worship. I was moving my truck out to the dirt. Hey, there you go.

And I ran to a lady, and she said, oh my, I gotta tell you, my husband's come to the Lord, I didn't even know, we've been praying for years. And I probably won't tell this at the second, because he might be here. So, enjoy this one, first service.

She goes, I gotta tell you, there's some fruit and things, but now, he loves the sermons. He didn't like you, though, for a while. I could tell, I could tell.

He did not like you, he did not like what you had to say. Why do I always feel condemned leaving that place? Now, feels a good conviction. And there's tears, and he's worshiping.

But if you don't speak the truth, see, that's why it's so important. You don't speak it with a renegade spirit of rebellion, the mockery and the Bible-thumping. It's gotta be done right, of course, but it's that speaking the truth that penetrates the heart, that wakes people up, and that's what we need now is that strong prophetic voice.

That John would be to God that he'd raise up a thousand John the Baptists, can you imagine? That's what our nation needs right now. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And let's not forget, I'll challenge you right now.

Read the prophets. Read the major prophets, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Isaiah, Jeremiah. Read them.

And Daniel, not too bad, because it's a forth-telling of different things, but show me one of them that was nice. And then when you're done, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Amos, oh, Hosea, ooh, man, I just, ugh, sometimes I put it down like, man, that was powerful. Obadiah, Jonah, Assyria, repent! In 40 days, God is gonna judge you.

I'm outta here. Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Zechariah, and Malachi, and Haggai. Show me where they were soft, graceful, loving, didn't upset anybody.

Now thank God there are words in there where they'll say something, but God is graceful and merciful. And He's not willing that any should turn to Him today. Oh, backsliding Israel, return to God and He will return to you.

And some of them would say, like God saw you like a newly delivered child laying in your own blood in the dirt, and He raised you up, and He weaned you, and He fed you, and you became like this grapevine, and you have drifted from God. You have mocked the very rock that built you. It's like, whoa! But that's what wakes them up is telling them the truth.

What about when King David committed adultery and had the man killed? And Nathan comes and tells him this story about this man who took this little tiny sheep away from a family and killed it for dinner. And David's like, oh, that man ought to be killed. What about if Nathan said, yeah, you're right.

I don't want to rock the boat. But he looked at David and he said, you're the man. You're the man.

And David repented. We need those times, guys. That's what we've become so weak.

The pulpits have become just sanctuaries for sugarcoating. And then we move to v. 6. Now what happened? When our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall... this is a common trick too. Okay, the enemies, Tobias and Samballat, we had rebuilt the wall.

They said, okay, let's meet together. But they wanted to do him harm. So he sent messengers.

This is a famous verse, by the way. I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? Key 12, leaders prioritize and avoid unnecessary distractions.

Leaders, you have to prioritize and avoid unnecessary distractions. The devil wants you doing all these different things and so busy, so busy all the time. We have to remove ourselves from those distractions.

I'm going to give you guys a one-day challenge. I gave it to our teens Wednesday. Try leaving your phone off for a day.

Let me tell you what, everything you need to know will be there the next day. Now, of course, I've got kids. Yeah, I know, but you know what I'm saying.

You don't need to go on Instagram and Twitter and TikTok and news and this and that. There needs to be a break from the madness. So leaders prioritize.

They avoid unnecessary distractions. If you look out through the course of your day, what is zapping your energy? What is taking your strength? What is hurting your relationship with the Lord? Those things need to be seriously considered. And then verse 15, the wall was finished in 52 days.

Can you believe that? And it happened when all of our enemies heard of it and all the nations around us saw these things that they were very disheartened. I believe it. For they perceived that this work was done by God.

Key 13, leaders point people to God. Leaders point people to true biblical leaders. Make sure you know God first, right? Make sure you have that relationship with Him.

You've repented and you believe and you know God. And then now because you know God, leaders point people to God. Don't be discouraged if it's been a while or you're going through a difficult season, but at some point in your life, you have to begin to point people to God, whatever they're going through.

And that's why a lot of times people say, I don't know how to lead people to the Lord. I don't know a lot about Romans. But you do know your own story, don't you? I hope.

Do you know that's just as powerful sometimes as quoting Romans? When we also apply Romans in our own story, man, I know what you're going through, but let me show you what God has done for me. And then the closing point, I call this one, when all hope is gone, I mean, I wanted to spend a lot of time in Esther, but as you know, we'd be here a couple years ago through the Old Testament. But Esther, as you know, right? Many of you, if you don't know, watch the VeggieTales version.

I'm kidding, because I don't think that guy saw it anymore either. The woke agenda and all that. I don't know, that's just a tidbit.

Maybe we'll edit it out for post-production. But Esther is the story of, right, God raising up this young girl. She becomes queen.

God strategically puts her in this spot because there's this wicked Haman who develops this plan to wipe out all the Jews. That's why you have to remember in prophecy and different things, it's not America, it's not the center of prophecy. People say, well, America's not in prophecy.

They must be gone. Well, neither is Australia. Neither is South America, North America.

A lot of places aren't. It's centered in the Middle East. And the Jews have been trying to be eradicated many times over.

So he's trying to get the Jews eradicated. Esther is positioned by God in this position. She's next to the king as the queen.

And she's able to stop this whole process. It's amazing. It won't take you long to read the book of Esther.

You can do that tonight. It's very encouraging. But in order to do what she had to do, it could cost her her life.

Because she said, I can't just go before the king. If you're not called, they can cut off your head. But Mordecai, her uncle, said, if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews because God keeps His promises.

But you and your father's house will die. Esther, who knows if you've been called for such a time as this. Then Esther said, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me.

A lot of fasting in the Old Testament, isn't there? Fast for me. And the reason is Nehemiah fasted for protection on his journey. I'm sorry, Ezra did.

Nehemiah fasted for direction. Esther fasted for protection and guidance. What it does is you're saying, God, this is so important.

I'm withdrawing from these fleshly appetites to press in closer to You. And it's also a sign of brokenness, of sin, of repentance. It's a great way, even now I believe, it's a great biblical principle to still draw closer to God.

So we're going to call a fast. And I will go to the King. And if I perish, I perish.

I will go to the King, which is against the law. Because remember, legal is not always lawful. Isn't it interesting, the times we live in, it's legal to kill a baby, but it's not lawful.

It's legal to get out the bong. Marijuana, you guys don't know, okay. You guys act like I don't know, what pastor's talking about.

I don't know. But is it lawful? Is it good? It's legal that I can change my sex and get on estrogen if I'm a male or get on testosterone if I'm a female. But is it lawful? Be careful.

Be careful because in our culture, legal is often not lawful. And she said, this is against the King's law, but if I perish, I perish. And I love number 14.

Leaders don't just do hard things. Come on, let's say it together. Leaders don't just do hard things.

They do very hard things. They push the envelope. They go the distance.

They do very hard things. And throughout Esther and Ezra and all that we read, it says, our God will fight for us. So she recognized our God will fight for us.

This is not just a hard thing. This is a very hard thing. And God will often cause you to do those hard things, but you have to remember like Esther and Nehemiah and Ezra, our God will fight for us.

And even when all hope is gone and Your Word is all I've got, I still have to believe that You are the same God who will bring the water from the rock. I have hope in God and God alone. He is our strength.

He is our bulwark. What is a bulwark? It's a huge wall. In the Old Testament, they say, He is my bulwark.

He is my shield. He is my rock. He is my protector.

He is my sword. It's the strong tower. He is my deliverer.

He is the rock of my salvation. He is an ever present help in time of need. That's why I alluded to earlier when they say, how can you stay in California? The response should be very, very simple.

Because there's another in the fire. There's another here standing in the borders. There's another here.

You don't think He loves California as well? You don't think He loves those who say, I'm gonna fight and if I perish, I perish. For I may be called for such a time as this. Now that I convicted everyone of thinking about moving, we'll go into worship.

And you know, I've often said, God calls people at different places. I'm not against that. I'm against moving for the wrong reasons and letting fear control our decisions.