Leading Through Landmines

The title this morning is Leading Through the Landmines. But leading through the landmines, and what we've been doing with the men is talking about principles of biblical masculinity. Because masculinity is under attack like never before.

Thank God there have been some massive changes in our country recently. I don't know how many people realize that it was... Do you have to sign an executive order for saying that there are only two genders? I mean, it's ridiculous. So, obviously, we know that our only hope is in the Gospel.

We don't look to Air Force One. We look to God and God alone. However, it's nice to have sanity back as well.

And so, principles of biblical masculinity is what we're going through. We've been going through last year. And we're thinking of having the breakfast maybe every three months or so.

So that would put us at May, the first Saturday in May. Possibly, though, we might do the first Saturday in April. If you guys want to come back two months versus three months.

Kind of let us know. Let Rick know on your way out. Let Ray know kind of what your thoughts are on that.

I am curious, so how many of you are here just because you heard it on the radio? That's the hardest one to gauge. So maybe a dozen or so from the radio. And so we've got to keep that in mind too when we do the breakfast with the food.

But we're hoping to do that soon. We'll be announcing it. But I want to focus just for a minute on this verse.

Proverbs 4.23. Proverbs 4.23. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the issues of life. One translation would say, this one says, from it flow the springs of life. In other words, as we guard our heart, or as we watch over our heart with all diligence, that means it takes some work, it takes some time, it takes some effort, from that, from that workload is going to spring forth all the issues of life.

Everything that we have to deal with, the springs of life, that spiritual life comes from disciplining our hearts. And the reason I put choose your heart up there, it's because we have to remember something. For example, let's say, man, working on marriage sure is hard, isn't it? But so is a bad marriage.

It is very hard. Saving financially and being wide stewards of our finances is hard. But poverty is hard.

You have to choose your heart. Because either way, it's going to be difficult. That's why I often say, you either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

One or the other. And we often talk about this too at this church. You know, trying to just maintain our health is hard, isn't it? But so is being out of shape.

And just being lazy and letting it go. That's hard too. And so it's so important as we look at these issues, we've got to make a choice.

And I'm hoping to share it in the future. But I just couldn't stop writing one morning. And how important discipline is.

It really is everything. And I'm reading a book right now, I would recommend it. It is Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes.

I believe his name is. I'm taking a young man through it right now. And he said, discipline is everything.

It is everything. And you can kind of hear that, yeah, you're right. Yeah, I guess so.

But when you really look at all areas of life, and even biblically speaking, there's lots of verses about it. How important it is. We must choose our battles.

We must trust, I'm sorry, we must trust our battle. How many of you have heard this or said this? And I'm not quite to the screen yet, but I'll get there in just a minute. We must trust our battles to the Lord and rest in His victory because He will fight for us.

I've said that, we've done that, praise God. But we have to remember, there's a little bit more to it as well because He calls us to kind of pick up a sword, put on a breastplate, armor up. You've got to also participate in the victory.

Many times, of course, we rest in His sovereignty and He will fight behind the scenes we don't even know about. But often, we've gotta get up and do something. That's why discipline and destiny are closely related.

God is sovereign, but He also has decreed for us to do certain things. And that's why I often say we're waiting on God, but could it be sometimes that He's waiting on us? I've thought about that a lot recently. So, I forgot to add the word secular.

This is a definition of secular discipline. What they would say is discipline. And it actually has biblical roots as well.

It's ignoring something you want now for something better later. It reveals the commitment you have to your dreams, especially when you don't feel like it. The future you is counting on the current you to keep the promises you made to yourself yesterday.

That's a good definition, even though it's a secular definition. That could be really grounded in biblical truth. Really grounded in biblical truth.

And I'll look at some of the verses. What about Hebrews 12? Discipline may be painful at first, but it can lead to righteousness. Now, those of you who aren't maybe well-versed in the Bible, actually the context of that is when God spanks us.

Have you ever been spanked by God? It's a big paddle. Loving Father, it hurts. He's got the big paddle, it's got holes in it, so the air travels, there's no resistance.

How many of you guys heard me sharing when I got paddled in school? Bethel Baptist on Avenue K. And you would lean over, and I think her name was Miss Higa. And she would just boom, boom, boom. And it was for chewing gum or making noise.

There's something good about that kind of stuff. You know, I think it would never go down nowadays, but there's nothing wrong with a loving teacher applying a firm hand of God's Word. Those compared to schools, compared then to now, you would think you're in the twilight zone.

It's because we've given up on discipline. In other words, there's a bad apple in the bunch, correct? There's abusive, I grew up in a hard home, my dad was an angry man. And so I understand why you gotta be careful on that topic.

But to totally dismiss it, that's an invitation for disaster. Discipline is so powerful that even though I know my dad was angry at what would be called child abuse today, for sure, I knew he loved me, and God didn't have his heart. And that really even shaped me, though, for who I am today, those disciplines.

Remember when it was just a man's word? You didn't have to sign a 10-page contract? And hard work was sought after, and I almost did a video, I don't wanna get too controversial, but the big thing in the news now is a lot of, if things get too overboard and they remove, let's say a lot of the Hispanic laborers and Americans aren't willing to do this, and I would kind of argue with that because that needs to be taught again. I would, in construction, I was up there hard working with all types of ethnicities. Some of the hardest employees I even had is when I owned my own construction company, it was small, but had heavy equipment.

Some of the hardest workers, I remember he was black, his name was Charles. And other guys, they were Hispanic. And other guys were white.

See, it's not the skin color necessarily, it's the drive and the heart. And the reason a lot of them work so hard is because they're appreciative. They love what America's, and they're hard workers because, man, I'm so grateful and thankful, I've got to do this, I can send money to my family, or I've never experienced this before.

And so we've got to bring back, get rid of the sense of entitlement and get our teenagers, giving them a shovel and a digging bar again. And understanding what hard work is. That's why I think the two camera guys, you can ask them, I had them out here hoeing weeds this week.

Cleaning up the dirt, what that feels like. That's good, hard work. And that's what's missing.

That's what's missing in our culture, even in our families. But this verse, what I want to say about this verse, discipline, it's about God disciplining us and it's painful at first, but it will lead to righteousness. Now in the same way that God disciplines us to produce spiritual fruit, we also produce spiritual fruit when we discipline our body, both physically and spiritually.

So God disciplines us to get the results to some fruit. We discipline our body to produce some fruit. It's so important.

What about 1 Corinthians? Paul disciplines his body to avoid being disqualified from preaching. And I've heard this before. A guy said, and they used to come up and say, yeah, but you know what? That was Paul.

You know, I'm just such and such. I'm like, well, can you imagine if we could just cherry pick verses like that? We could just do whatever we want. And that's exactly what they call the progressive movement in Christianity.

That's exactly, they're not progressing, they're digressing because they're removing backwards from God's Word. But this applies to us. We discipline our body.

Now in preaching, you might hear that word and you might think of me up here and what I do. And actually, it's a broader term if you look in the New Testament. The New Testament word, it's actually a herald.

Somebody proclaiming something. So it can be just with two or three people. It can be at your workplace.

How much more at our workplace? You could say, let's say back when I was a heavy equipment operator for Quartz Hill Water District, right there, and 25 years ago now, probably 23 years ago. I disciplined my body so when I share the good news to others, I don't disqualify myself by my lifestyle. And I remember they'd have porn magazines up on the dashboard.

Some of them having some drinks at lunch. And it's a constant struggle. So no matter what area of life you're in, no matter where you're at, you can build those disciplines.

You can get God's Word in your heart. Ironically, I was just remembering this this week when I worked there, when we didn't have jobs putting in mainline or things like that, they would have me go for a whole week and I would start in a square half mile and I would go with a digging bar and a shovel and I would take out the old water meter boxes. Concrete, broken, 50 years old.

I've never seen more cockroaches and black widows in my life. Up my boot, my pants, because you're digging out the old box because they're putting in the new meters that read automatically in a larger box. And that's all I would do.

Dig up, break some concrete or asphalt. Sometimes have to get the cutter to break it. But that box, next house.

I think it was on L2, L4, L6, L8 over off of 40th West or so. Next box, next box. But I said, you know what? I'm not gonna waste my time.

How many of you remember Walkmans? So I'd have a Walkman, headphones and just sermons and worship all day long. So you can, if you want to do it, you can seek God. Discipline the body.

Another time, you guys, I'm just giving you hints, especially the construction workers. Maybe this one don't do, but this is what I did. There's a park over, it's like on 5th East, over there by the freeway, kind of by Auto Center Drive.

We were remaining that whole, what remaining is the old line is bad, you gotta dig next to it and put in a whole new water main. And we would rotate and I was on signs. You know what that, stop, go.

You do that for eight hours, 10 hours a day with very little break, you'll go crazy. You start kicking rocks, you start seeing things and it's like, and it wasn't a busy street. That's the thing.

So you know, I'd have it, it's stop. There's nobody coming. There's nobody coming that way for like five minutes.

And I have to wait until they let a car go by them. You know, the whole thing. But what I did is I made a whole bunch of scriptures on an index cards and I would just flip through them every day for weeks, got them all memorized.

Don't recommend it because it can be a little dangerous, but I could see that nobody was coming. Also when I was, again, just giving you guys ideas. Also when I was praying about starting that small construction company running, I had to buy a haul truck and a semi truck and get my class A license again.

And I got open the door to buy a brand new BATCO, John Deere BATCO enclosed cab. So heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer. I was kind of spoiled.

But all I was doing is, you know that track over on 30th East and Avenue I, it's called Cooperstown or all these housing tracks, Kaufman and Broad, different ones. I would go and I would actually dig the block wall footings for the homes and I'd be out there for a week sometimes. So I would just put in tapes and tapes and tapes and tapes.

MacArthur, John MacArthur, Alistair Begg. Remember James McDonald, Walk in the Word. That one was on and just in this theology and Chuck Smith, his teaching through the Bible in Calvary Chapel.

My wife would go and grab cassette tapes, the whole booklet, drop them off for the week. I'd get a new set. So I listened to, and it turned in about 3,000 hours of being on the heavy equipment, listening to all of that.

And driving, sometimes you commute, you listen to worship. You don't need to listen to talk radio all the time. Now sometimes it's nice.

I mean, Super Bowl's coming up. I'm sure people are gonna watch it. But that's not your God, right? That's not your idol.

That's not your pursuit. There's more time for that than God. That's when it becomes idolatry, is when it's more time for that than God.

So there's all these ways you can discipline yourself in your own life. Maybe get up a little bit earlier and have that time with the Lord. It's so important.

But 2 Timothy, God's Spirit gives people power, love, and self-discipline. So I realize when I'm not disciplining my body, the flesh is kind of leading me. And just a personal confession, I've never mastered perfect discipline.

So you must be, you know, don't listen, go, oh, wow, yeah, but he's really disciplined all day long. No, I'm not all day long. Dennis gave me a donut and I had some of it this morning.

There you are, yeah. Everybody's watching. Shank, I try not to eat before I speak because I don't want to, you know, and so, ah, I caved in a little bit, but that's okay, right? There's bigger things we don't want to cave in on.

The things, the struggles I talked about. And so we don't walk perfectly. We try, right? We get, that's why I said a real man of God is not a man without failure.

It's a man who keeps getting back up in the midst of his failure and keeps fighting, keeps moving forward. That's a man of God. David was called a man of God.

I don't know if you've ever had adultery and affair and then you killed the husband, but you know, that's not good to have on your resume. But yet he was a man after God's heart. See, he pursued God, knowing he's fallen, knowing he's imperfect, knowing he has issues.

Anybody have issues? We all have issues. And once you realize that, you'll be a lot less judgmental. Because we like to point out the cracks in everybody else's armor, but not in our own hearts.

A while back, I remember there was this man, he was getting judgmental, and you know when you're tired of it? Like, I'm gonna have to set this guy straight at some point. Like, why do we have, you know, there's people, we had an addiction group for a while, and why can't they just stop? Why can't they just, I go, well, you can't stop caffeine, nicotine, porn, or food. You can't stop those four.

See how we look down on the other, oh, that's so, they can't stop drinking. And that has deep consequences, I know, but why can't you stop this, this, this, and this, hotshot? You're addicted just to something different. And see, so that keeps you humble.

Maybe say, well, I'm not that, and there are some people that are really humble. You know, they're humble, but they're cracking the armor as they're as jealous and bitter as there is a person on the planet. Right, they're humble, but inside, they are jealous and they are bitter.

And those two combinations are deadly. So if we realize we all struggle with something, nobody's perfect on this side of heaven, it will really help you stay in that spot of humility. If it wasn't for the grace of God, there go I, Proverbs 5, what about this one? An undisciplined life can lead to death.

Or Proverbs 25, how many of you are aware of this one? A man without self-control, without discipline is like a city broken into and left without walls. So what was the point of walls in Proverbs? Why would they build walls? Protection, security, that's the whole point. God would actually encourage people, tell them to build walls.

Did you know that, Nehemiah? He called Nehemiah to go rebuild the wall of Jerusalem because it keeps the enemy out. Not getting political, but they're building walls for our nation is a biblical concept if it's done, of course, with the right heart. It's ridiculous to say, oh yeah, it doesn't matter, just let the thieves and this come in.

Like that's what he's talking about in Proverbs. Your walls are down. Now anybody can come in.

Sure, there might be some genuine needs coming in, but so here comes the criminal. Here comes the thief. Here comes the pedophile.

Here comes the... No, build those walls, he says in Proverbs. A man without that, without self-control, basically, you're like your body has no walls, no barrier, no guardrails. Build the walls in your life with self-control.

I mean, I might have offended people with that statement, but we love those who are here and striving for good things. And even those who are illegal and they're good people, though. I'm actually trying to get some to stay here that I know that have been here a while.

So don't lecture me. We're not going after, they're not trying to go after good, God-honoring people. You're trying to get the junk out that has also crept in.

And in doing so, that kind of hurts. And it doesn't need to be a divisive issue in the church. The church is crystal clear.

We love people. We're here to help people. I will do my best.

But the government has a different calling than me, thank God. That's why I can't be the president. I'd be too lenient, probably.

I'm called to apply the Bible individually. They're called to restrain evil and to guard the people. Two separate callings.

When you start to put Jesus's commandments on the government, you've actually are using Scripture out of context. Did you know that? Romans 13 says the government is to be a tear to those who do evil. But I'm supposed to love those who are my enemy.

You can't have, both of those can't coexist. So I don't know why it's such a heated issue in the church. It's very clear.

Let's see what we can do as a church, but then let the government do what the government does. Now, if the government becomes corrupt and all kinds of shenanigans, and that's a whole different story, right? But I think the church should speak into these issues. Not just the culture.

Because the Bible says a lot about these issues. It's not vague. Number, 1 Corinthians 9, athletes exercise self-control to receive a perishable wreath.

Just like we see in the Olympics. Have you ever seen people when they're in a bad spot, they sell their memorabilia from O.J. Simpson to other people looking for income? They're gold medals. It's perishing.

It has no meaning, value, no lasting value. But Christians exercise self-control for something that does not perish. A reward that lasts forever.

A couple things from Proverbs I just threw in there. Eat only as much honey as you need. Boy, that could correct some issues, couldn't it? I won't go into that one, but we'll let it speak for itself.

And be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to them. Be diligent. Be diligent.

So your spiritual routine is the most important thing in your life. Man, this is what we think, making money, doing this. Yes, but our spiritual foundation, our spiritual routine is the most important thing in your life.

Look for those moments like I just discussed earlier. Now sometimes I couldn't do that. Right in construction, I'd be hands-on and listen, and sometimes I was up at their job site at six in the morning, didn't get home, it was hard to see God during that season.

There are seasons, of course. But there are also times where we have plenty of time, plenty of opportunities to make that time and put God first. There's always something opposing you from addiction to laziness and from pride to prosperity.

What do we have? What's the next screen? Just to make sure these are in order after this one. Good, perfect. What are the landmines? Finally getting to the topic of the message here.

And so this will be real helpful to men. What are the landmines? Well, the Bible actually points out three landmines. And guys, if you get these down, memorize this verse, you can really get ahead of the enemy instead of him getting ahead of you.

Because this is where all of our problems start. Every single issue starts right here. And we're dealing with our flesh.

And remember, to become a lover of God's presence, as we're worshiping a lover of God's presence, you have to become an enemy to your flesh. They fight against each other. So, 1 John, for all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, what the flesh craves, the lust of the eye, what we want, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but it's of the world.

Now, how do they all work together? You'll see that I put from Eve to Jesus to you and me. These are the three bullets. Well, how was Jesus tempted in those three areas? Well, we know.

Remember when the devil came and tempted Him? Tempt Him with food, the lust of the flesh. Tempt Him with what I look at this, I'll give you all of the kingdoms. And the pride of life, cast yourself down.

Show us you are the Son of God. What about Eve, when she saw the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eye, and desirable to make one wise? She took of it and ate, and gave some to her gullible husband. But think how they work together, don't they? For example, how many of you have been to Claim Jumper? Not too many people.

Have you ever seen their chocolate cake? Oh my goodness. That's one reason I don't go, I haven't been in years. I mean, that piece will feed about five people.

So here's how it works. Right, the lust of the flesh, my flesh craves after that, but then lust of the eye is like, I wish I could own Claim Jumper or the company who makes it. So I cave into that lust, now I've got this lust pride, I mean, big house on the hill, and then the pride of life is, look at what I've accomplished.

Look at the cake, my flesh, I want to buy the company, I want to own and live. Lust of the eye, and then now, look at what I've done, and I look down on all of you. That's how it works in all areas of life.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But thank God, no temptation. We have to remember this, the devil doesn't make you do it.

He just presents the bait. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. So what is common to all of us, and on a radio network yesterday, I heard an incredible illustration from Jeff Wickwire, and he goes bass fishing in Texas, we're friends, and he talked about how he throws the different lures out there to get those bass.

Or if you're trout, Thomas Boyant and Castmaster and all the super-dupers and all those lures too. The reason they're called a lure is for a reason. Because they lure you in.

But he made something interesting, a point I've never thought of before. He said that bass is looking at the lure. And sometimes he has to throw it in there a few times.

Before he bites, before that bass takes the lure, he's in control. But once he bites, now, the fisherman's in control. And isn't that true of temptation? You're still in control for a moment because God is faithful.

He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to stand. But with that temptation, He will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So I see the temptation, but God has given me the ability to reject it.

Now, the more you fuel a habit, the more you fuel an ungodly desire, the more you'll have to fight it. So yes, for some people, it's like, yeah, I was tempted for a minute, I just said no. For other people, you know, it's a struggle.

You can get sweaty. You feel like you want to hop in your car and go drive to your addiction. It's so prevalent because you've been feeding it.

And it's hard to manage and overcome something you've been feeding. Landmines, you know what a landmine is, but maybe if you don't know what they are, landmines were used by all sides during the Vietnam War and caused significant casualties. In 1965 alone, more than one-third of U.S. Marines, their casualties were caused by mines and explosions by booby traps.

The Viet Cong were highly disciplined about keeping their mines under surveillance. As soon as one patrol passed through a cleared area, the VC would move in and mine the gap again with new mines. That's from historynet.com. Isn't that interesting? They were going, hey, we're all clear.

Come on through. We're clear. And they would go in and they would actually add the mines back in.

So we as men also, we need to prepare for explosions and re-explosions. 1 Corinthians 16.13 Be on alert. Be on alert.

Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.

1 Peter 5.8 Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

So, let's take a breath for a minute. The hard part about a message like this, not for me necessarily, but maybe for the hearer, and maybe even for me when I apply it, is if we get too focused on discipline, and doing this, and doing this, and rigid, and kind of legalistic, and you get trapped in those rules. Anybody been there? Rules.

It's no longer about a relationship with God. Now it's about following all these rules. You can't do this.

You can't go there. And that can turn you into somebody who's not pleasant to be around. So the rules have to come from the relationship.

So as you're worshiping, as you're praying, because I talk to people sometimes, they have rules, but they're so arrogant. They're so hard-hearted. It's like, ugh.

Or you have the loose grace, and there's nothing about rules or anything, they just, well, God forgives me, and yes, He does, but there has to be that healthy balance where we're filled with the joy of the Lord, we're worshiping, but we're also called to be on alert. We're called to stand firm in the faith. We're called to act like men and be vigilant because the adversary, the devil, goes about as a roaring lion.

So let's break these down briefly. The landmine of the lust of the flesh. The landmine of the lust of the flesh.

The Bible would refer to it as maybe a stronghold. Maybe today we would refer to it as addiction. For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh.

So uncontrolled habits begin to control you, and this landmine often has delayed triggers. So this landmine, there's a lust of the flesh that takes place. So how you get this landmine under control is starving the flesh versus feeding it.

And what's interesting is the more we worship, the more you're in the Word, the more you're making the right decisions and humbling yourself, the greater your strength to say no. But the more we cave in, the harder it becomes. Self-discipline is the fruit of the Spirit.

Self-discipline is the fruit of the Spirit. So you actually, this is what's interesting, as a believer, you have the Holy Spirit. You have self-discipline as a fruit.

So, oh man, if I have the fruit of the Spirit and it's self-discipline, why is it so hard? Anybody think that? Well, why is any of the fruit hard? The fruit also involves joy. How you guys doing on that one? The fruit of the Spirit, joy. How many of you, peace.

Anybody have peace? A lot of fear going around, right? A lot of fear going on. I don't know if I wanna fly in an airplane for a while. Right, with the news and it's like fear and all these things, joy, love, joy, peace, contentment.

You ready for the next one? Gentleness. I would love to ask your spouse for people to know you, how gentle are they? How gentle? Do they raise their voice and always loud and demanding and demeaning? Controlling, manipulating? Where's the fruit? Help me, Lord! If I have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, where is it? Because remember, it doesn't come naturally. It comes supernaturally.

Love, love. I don't feel it, I gotta exercise it. I don't know if I should share this, but oh well, I will.

Brian might know, because I emailed Brian, I emailed the elders, but a guy who I used to look up to, kind of a mentor of mine about a decade ago, hadn't heard from him, emailed him, and he called me, he basically said, I'm apostate. I'm apostate, going to hell. Okay, can we back up a minute? You want a phone call here? We began to put the pieces together.

We started the churches about the same time. His never came to anything. 50 people in LA, no reach, nothing.

So bitterness and jealousy got in there. Also, because I happen to mention political issues from time to time, I guess that's a definition of apostate. You've drifted from the truth, you've drifted, well, I'm actually more solid than I was back then.

You think I'm political now? You should've went back then. But see how that, and my wife, the elders, I responded, like man, I can't believe your response. Well, trust me, that was not what I wanted to respond.

But it was love, and can I talk, and I'd love to see where you're coming from, and just, did I feel it? Absolutely not. Man, if I could get that guy, it's probably good we don't do a phone call, because it will not be good. You're an arrogant, bitter man, straight up.

See, that won't go good. So I have to fight, that's why I'm saying the same thing you do. Jealousy comes in in your life, controlling.

You have to push those away, no temptation is overtaking you, and focus, okay, Lord, I need to be more loving. And I snapped at my wife, let me apologize, God, help me with that. But many times we walk around with a sense of entitlement.

I don't need to apologize, that's just who I am. I'm the man of this house, I make all the money. Where's that getting you? So remember that about the fruit of the Spirit, it doesn't just come upon you naturally.

You actually have to be challenged by the very fruit you're supposed to produce. Gentleness and meekness, those things are so important. Pride is at the heart of addiction and must be crushed.

Honesty, transparency, prayer, and disclosure are essential because sin grows in the darkness and it loves the cover of night. Basically, we must fight against the demonic influences rather than succumb to them. So here's, I'm gonna give you guys some tips.

I don't know, we might have them up there. There's about seven, I think. This will really help.

You can begin today. Number one, you have to remove excuses. I just, I don't know, man, I don't wanna be too transparent, but I also wanna help you guys.

So many times when, even after messages like this, I might hear it, I don't know. Maybe not now that I'm saying this, you probably won't do it. But if we're praying with people in the prayer room or counseling with them, what the Bible says, it's like, well, yeah, I know, but, I mean, you're angry, you're explosive.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I know I need to work on that, but let me tell you what she does. Well, I can't help you.

I can't help you. Right there, correct? Am I wrong? Now, that might be a valid point, but it's not a valid point to keep you from changing. Because yes, every time we're called to change, you'll be faced with a difficult situation that challenges that.

Remove excuses. You know what, Lord? I need help. I'm prideful.

I've driven my family away from me. I've done these things. I know why I did it, but I'm not gonna make excuses.

And once you own it, isn't that so refreshing? Isn't that so refreshing? So, for example, when people say things about me, for example, the one I just shared, the reason I sent it to the elders and my wife, and I would say, is this an area I need to work on? Is this something I need to work on? And so, removing excuses. Like, okay, let me look in the mirror. And you go to those who are not biased.

But removing, you can't progress if you're always excuses. How many of you have said, well, I was raised that way. Man, I couldn't give up drinking for so long because I was German and Irish.

That's just the way it is. Shane, sometimes this and that. Oh, no, no, that's just, I'm just passionate.

I'm just bold. No, sometimes I say things I probably shouldn't say. You try speaking for an hour, a couple times a week, two hours on Sunday, and not say something that just might offend, that maybe wasn't the heart of God.

You try it. You can't even do it in a five-minute conversation with your spouse. Neither can I. And so, being aware and removing those excuses.

Number two, avoid the triggers. What triggers you? What triggers you? We know what those triggers are. Maybe for lust, have that computer out in the main room.

Keep the phone off when you, I mean, what's triggering you? What's tripping you up? Because often we go, oh, I don't know. We go back to the same spot. You say, pray.

It's like the guy who said, Lord, help me with gambling as they're driving to Vegas. Have you ever done that? Lord, help me with lust. I'll just spend 20 minutes on Instagram today, or TikTok, or whatever it is.

We have to remove those triggers. Number three, own it and repent. It goes along with number one, but own it and repent.

Number four, apologize and repair the damage that was done. Apologize and repair the damage that was done. Because you know genuine repentance has fruit? If somebody's genuinely repentant, there will be genuine fruit that follows because they want to fix what they broke.

Somebody who's not genuinely repentant wants to fix a situation, or fix a relationship, or sorry, they got caught. So they'll say the right thing. But genuine repentance has that fruit that wants to repair.

Number five, crush pride before it crushes you. Crush pride before it crushes you. Number six, don't entertain compromise.

How about that one? Do you know what compromise is? Oh yeah, that too? Yeah. I'll just, you know, you just kind of, compromise, and the simplest breakdown of it is this. I know God really doesn't want me to do this.

I know it's not good for me. Or you know, however, but, there's a but again. That little but gets in the way.

Yeah, but, or I've had a hard day, or but a little bit won't hurt, or oh, she made me upset, or I mean, it's just, it starts with, we know what we need to do, but compromise is, you kind of break it down a little bit and give yourself permission. The problem with that is that sin never stands still. It either grows, or withers, depending on whether you feed or starve it.

I mean, we could get into a whole, do you remember that guy by the name of Ariel Castro, about 10 years ago, actually had girls locked up, two women locked up in his house for years. Or Bundy, who was sentenced to death. I mean, they all say it started, no, you say porn, it actually started with like a JCPenney catalog.

What? Because it's not dealt with, it grows, and grows, and grows. And all kinds of now, when I did that series on porn, looking at all the statistics, or not a series, a message, just all the, it's not even now, it's all perverted now. It's so perverted.

And see, once it grabs you, once sin grabs you, you might be able to manage a little bit, but it's growing. Whatever it is, whatever it is. Have you noticed angry outbursts sometimes turn to wrath, and you got, man, I gotta get my handle on this, because this is not gonna be good.

And it keeps growing. And you gotta get a handle on that. Don't even entertain compromise.

Cut it off. Cut it off. Number seven, omit your dependence on God and fully surrender to Him.

Omit your dependence on God and fully surrender to Him. I like that song we did about surrender. I was gonna tell you at the end, but I think it fits right now.

Have you ever heard a story? You probably haven't. It's called Little Johnny and the Vase. So, this dad gets home from work, pulls in the driveway, and there's a police car and a doctor.

He's like, oh, I'm expecting the worst. He goes running into the house, and what's going on? What's happening? Oh, well, it's not as bad as you think. Well, what's happening? What happened? Johnny, remember that vase you got in Israel that was like priceless? He put his hand in it and we can't get it out.

We've tried all kinds of oils. Nothing. And the doctor's here, the police.

The dad's like, no, you've gotta be kidding me. I've gotta go get the hammer? This is like, I mean, I think maybe Jesus' disciples use this vase. Right, that kind of.

I mean, he's like, alright, I gotta do it. What else can we do? He can't live like this. So, Johnny said, he's home.

Dad, what? Would it help if I let go of the penny? Ah, but isn't that so true? What are we holding on to that prevents the fullness of the Spirit? I'll never forget that story. Now, you won't either. Well, it'll help if I just let go of the coin I want so bad.

Isn't that what full surrender is? And in the Christian community, I was like this too, we usually think, although it deals with big issues, don't get me wrong, did you know the little foxes can spoil the vine as well? And I'm convinced that it's often the little things that keep us from that deeper relationship with God. Maybe you have an offense to someone. You know, you view a person a certain way, you don't really like them.

Okay, Lord, I'll deal with it. I mean, I know, it's not really right. But you still hold on to it.

Or other areas, I mean, we could sit here all morning and talk about different situations, but I don't have to because what God does is He convicts us individually. Doesn't He? He shows us individually. So somebody might say, I've got to let this go.

Another person might say, well, I don't. You know, I don't feel that. They might have a freedom in that.

Where the other person, they're bound by it. Big difference. And then it would move right into the landmine of pride.

The landmine of pride. Is that the next one? I think I forgot one of the ones. Less of the flesh, the less of the eye.

And the pride of life, yeah. Oh no, I think it is. Do we have, oh, I know why, because I'm going to save some of these for Wednesday.

Wednesday service, that's really where they came from. So the landmine of pride, let's talk about that. I already covered the landmine of the less of the eye.

It's basically eye candy. Do men have eye candy? Not too many yeses on that one. No eye candy? Yes, we know.

I can't drive by Hunter Dodge anymore because the Cummings diesel, 2,500, four-wheel drive, three-inch lift, mega cab, $105,000. Truck is sitting out there. Yes.

I think it has a winch on the front. Oh my goodness. I used to, I was raising that four-by-end and getting stuck and know how to operate all that, but it was just, oh.

Now there's necessarily nothing wrong with that, correct? But that's not a real good, well, maybe I shouldn't say anything in case I ever buy one, or find a used one. But you know, there's eye candy, correct? And sometimes there's nothing wrong with it necessarily. It's just what do you do with that? Like, oh, that would be nice, thankful, Lord.

And even some of you, you're in houses now that you dreamt about when you were a kid. Could be nothing wrong with that. God, I also believe God blesses His people.

As long as you're a blessing, as long as it doesn't have you, I actually think God will even give people more the more they give out and don't hold so tightly on it. We have to remember, God has believers in impoverished places, in medium income, and in wealth. It's not, the love of that money is the root of all evil.

So in a nutshell, that's what the lust of the eye is. It's like, and do we ever make decisions? Because, listen, I've seen guys, we've heard from their wives and their kids, and sometimes later, and they've moved out of town or a lot of different things. Because they want this, they'll take a job or work a lot more hours to get it, but then their whole spiritual life falls apart.

That's not worth it. When God's in it, He makes it work. Now, there are seasons.

I've had to work seven days a week when we first got married. I'm not stupid, I'm not naive. I know there are seasons.

But what are you doing in that season? What's your pursuit? If your pursuit is, we're in a tight spot, I gotta make some money, I'm still gonna work on my relationship with the Lord, I'm still putting Him first, that's good. God will sometimes help us in those hard seasons. But often, we compromise our relationship with God to get what we want.

If I could just have that. Anybody watch those old car shows? Man, it's not appropriate, but I love a 67 Camaro. Blower sticking out of the hood.

Wouldn't that be cool? But what would I do with that? But see, now, if I have to have that, if I have to have that wife, you're no longer parking in the garage. That's my garage. That money's not going to the kid's education.

That thing is going to a hemispherical motor on my Dodge Charger. Right, and it becomes our all-consuming passion because of the lust of the eye. We gotta have it.

We gotta have it. One reason I don't go to, what's the place? It's down about an hour and a half from here. Bass Pro.

I told my son, maybe once a year, because you get, I honestly, you might not believe this, but I'm looking around, I'm like, I wonder if we can make that bass boat work. 18,000 payments for only this. And I'll text my wife, check this out.

I finally say, you know, what am I thinking? Now, if I was close to a lake, and maybe you inherit some, I don't know. But see how the lust of the eye works? Like, it jacks up my whole morning there. Browning over and under shotgun when I used to shoot trap.

That was always my goal. They're only $3,000. And see how that works out? See, pastors aren't perfect.

We're relatable. We're called to lead, and we also struggle in many things as well. But that's mainly what the lust of the eye is.

And then here comes the landmine of pride. What is that? It's uppity, it's arrogant, it's presumptuous. You know that, maybe, you know what, praise God, there's not a lot of people here at Westside that are like this.

They usually can't, usually carnal Christians in a church that's alive and on fire for God, preaching His Word, you're not gonna find a lot of carnal Christians because they're just too convicted. Man, these guys are calling me out too often. I'm a Las Vegas Christian.

I love my sin. I love my this and that. I just wanna feel good all the time.

You're not gonna make it a long term. That's why we say you're welcome, but we won't affirm. And there are people that come and they're not convicted for a few weeks, right? It's encouraging and it doesn't hit their sin.

But when it does hit their sin and they don't wanna deal with it, the compromisers are hard, they don't stick around. But also, I've noticed the legalistic, legalistic Pharisee pride uppity-ness. They don't wanna be called out either.

And so you see that dynamic happening in the church. And like I said earlier, I'm a prideful man working on humility on a daily basis. I let people say, you're just prideful.

I know, help. Pray for me. Pray for me.

But then I say, what are you talking about? And they'll say something. I say, oh, you're a heart inspector. How do you know my heart? How do you know my heart? For example, the story I just shared, I'm sure it goes to this when we started, YouTube, Rumble, videos, X, these videos.

You know, we have one minute clips and different things. People think I love that and I get the joy from that, like it's all about me. I wouldn't have any of that.

I would've never even filmed with cameras. But they had to talk me into it. I wouldn't go on radio, but people suggested it.

I still got the guy who does David Jeremiah and Jack Graham's TV on TV. He still emails me once a year, are you ready to come on? Like no, I'm not gonna pay 3,000 bucks a week. But see, people, but I understand, okay, God wants to get this message out there.

So I say, oh, Pastor Shane, radio, videos, you must be prideful. Oh, if you only knew, if you only knew. See, I wonder if you struggle with the pride you're accusing me of.

That's how it works. And my point was, be careful, because how do you know a person's heart? How do you know God isn't increasing somebody's ministry? God's doing it, yet you're accusing somebody of pride. Now with that said, can pride enter in? Of course, praise God, we have enough critics to balance out the positives.

Every Sunday, even this morning, I know there are people here who really don't like me. You try doing that week in and week out. I know they don't wanna hear my whatever, they're only coming because their wife told them to.

Because also I know your lifestyle will make people feel uncomfortable who don't wanna live it. Have you ever, I've got family members who don't wanna talk to me because they wanna stay in their sin. And there's not much I can do about that.

I know every time I come up to her to preach, I can look out, and I know some of those people do not like me. Imagine that. But it's okay, that's life, isn't it? Because I don't really like every single person that comes in either.

If I never see them again, can we just be real? But see, that doesn't mean I'm right. That just means, you know what, I'm real. And I have to say, you know what, and I have to go out of my way to say hello, give them a hug, and get my heart right.

That's how it works, and then I feel great afterwards. But if I hold that in, if I hold that in, then I can tell my sermons aren't as impactful, that I don't feel the fire of God because I'm holding on to that bitterness. And so that's why this landmine is so destructive.

It's uppity-ness, it's arrogance, it's presumption, and that is a good encouragement to you guys, because I can honestly say, especially those teaching and leading in the men's ministry, I mean, I don't really know people that are that prideful here, because they don't stick around. Now, all of us struggle with it, but at least they're wanting to work on it, correct? Romans 12.3, I give each of you this warning. I give each of you this warning.

Do not think better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourself. I put NLT, thought for thought, for the Pharisees here this morning, because they'll get mad at me for using the NLT.

It's not a study Bible. They're translating the thought for thought. It's called dynamic equivalence as opposed to formal equivalence, but it's got the right thought.

That's exactly what Romans 12 is saying. I give you this warning. Do not think more highly of yourself, better than yourself than you should.

And again, the message Bible, again, not a study Bible. It's the message Bible. 1 John 2.16, practically everything that goes on in the world, wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important, has nothing to do with the Father.

It just isolates you from Him. That's an incredible translation. Although I don't really prefer the message, I've actually spoken out against it in some areas.

I would not use that or recommend it to my kids as a study Bible. There are some things, Eugene Peterson I think was the author, but this is it. My own way, everything for myself, wanting to appear important, it has nothing to do with God, and it just isolates you from Him.

Guys, that's the whole point. It isolates you from Him. You want the fire of God in your heart? You pursue Him like never before.

Pursue the fruit of the Spirit. Say, Lord, I want to be the most broken, gentle man ever that walked this planet, but Lord, I need your help. And then from that gentleness will come boldness.

Everybody thinks, oh, Christian men are just weak. No, they are meek. They have strength under control.

They are some of the strongest men you will ever know. They can face death. They can face financial strains, and they don't crack.

They follow hard after their God, and they stand strong because they've been built in the furnace of humility. It's so important, because ultimately, you become what you behold. Don't you? What you behold, what you cherish, what you worship, you become what you behold.

And if it's worshiping you, and pride is an issue, be careful of that landmine. Be careful. Guys, I see it all the time, especially with those who know the Bible well.

It's interesting how this works, but the more they know the Bible, the prouder they become. What is going on here? Shouldn't the reverse be happening? Shouldn't it? But don't forget about the Scripture that knowledge puffs up. And doesn't it? The architect knows all this information, puffed up.

The top attorney can quote all types of court cases, puffed up. The Christian who memorizes a hundred Scriptures a month and is reading this commentary and that commentary and broke down the Hebrew and translated the Greek, guys, we see this all the time too. You might want to get some humility in your puff.

Blow that puff away. Humble yourself. So I'm going to close here shortly.

Characteristics of humility in the Bible. There's genuine gratitude. Are you thankful and content? You're genuine.

Don't we love genuineness? Humble people don't put themselves down either. I love to see, even when we were talking about politicians earlier, I love to see genuine politicians. Might not necessarily agree with them and they're kind of hard, but you know, they're going to tell you what they believe, what they're going to do.

They're genuine. Now genuine cannot be always a mark of humility if all these other characteristics don't fall into place, but also they're obedient. Humble people follow God's will.

They're respectful. They treat others with respect. There's selflessness involved.

Humble people put the needs of others before their own. Forgiveness. Humble people are quick to forgive.

And peacemaking. Humble people are patient and don't get frustrated with others. That's why Paul said this Scripture has been such a help for me as much as depends upon you live peaceably with all men.

So the situation I just described to you earlier, I have a clear heart. Hey, I reached out, love to talk about it, I'm done. I'm done.

I'm done. I don't have any worries, any concerns anymore. I've done all that I can do.

And humble people are also honest. Honest. They're thankful.

They're very thankful and they have a servant's heart. Humble people happily serve others. But be careful, God sees through our facade.

Did you know this? Somebody can help others appear humble, yet still be very prideful. I've met these people too. They're kind of helpful, right? But they're very prideful because they take pride in that they're helping.

But look at what I do for this person. Look at what I do for this person. Look at what I do for this person.

Oh, I'll be there. I can help you. I can fix it.

I can do this. And there's just so much pride. So guys, if you're feeling a burden this morning, let me tell you about the blessing of having that burden.

That burden from the Lord to make change. We talk about prayer and worship a lot, don't we? That burden will make you what? Oh, the burden of the Lord. God, please help change me.

Change me, God. And you pray. You say, Lord, God, please, that burden.

I'm feeling that burden. So instead, don't do the opposite and get upset or I'm convicted, now I'm ticked off. Or you know what, I'm just making excuses.

Because I've noticed too, that burden, if I don't take it to the Lord and say, God, create in me a clean heart. God, help me. I can become hard and indifferent.

Anybody ever been there? Because that burden, instead of bringing you down, like a compressor, and now you've got this hard rock. That's how they make diamonds, by the way. Have you ever seen how they make diamonds? Man, that's a lot of pressure on that diamond.

The same melt, the same sun that melts the wax can also harden the clay. It all depends on the condition of your heart. I was going to close with the story about the vase and little Johnny.

But you already heard it. So I would encourage you, as Richard closes, if you need to bring something up, forward, kneel down, if you need to stand, it doesn't matter, but this is the time. That's why, the reason I promote worship so much is to just shoot you guys straight.

I love the Word. I'm committed to study the Word. I preach the Word.

I read the Word. But the Word without worship can cause you to become pretty hard and critical. Because the Word is what? Knowledge.

I'm feeding on the Word. I meditate on the Word day and night like a tree planted. I'm meditating.

I'm changing my thought. They call it now neuroplasticity, right? The mind is actually changing. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed.

I'm taking in the Word. But then worship is where my heart is engaged with God. And prayer, worship and prayer.

You have to have all of those. And I've seen over the years, people that are just worshipers, man, they're kind of emotional. They're not very solid.

They're kind of like, guys, you've got to get in the Word. You ever see hyper-charismatic groups or you hear those Pentecostals or you watch TV and they're all like Holy Spirit's doing some weird stuff, but they're not grounded in the Word. You have to have that grounding.

And then also worship and prayer. Remember, a man is great, not because he hasn't failed, but because he gets up and keeps fighting.