to what we've heard from Keith Brown and I will allow him to intervene in a second contrary to what we've heard Brexit is not to blame for this Brexit is not to blame when they say it's hard to argue that Scotland's weaker performance can be explained by the outcome of the EU referendum end of quotation and end of story Brexit is not to blame I'll give way Keith Brown I've tried in previous debates to see whether it's possible for Dean Lockhart to acknowledge the fact that there are two governments involved in the Scottish economy UK Government ministers can acknowledge that fact Gillian Martin made this point as well can this group of Conservatives can acknowledge the fact that the UK Government is an active participant in the Scottish economy and shares responsibility for what happens in it Dean Lockhart What I would say to Mr Brown is that the Scottish Government's own chief economist confirmed to the economy committee last year and I quote all levers that impact on the underlying competitiveness of the economy now lie with the Scottish Government Brexit is not to blame and neither is the oil price to blame the latest economic data shows that all areas of the manufacturing sector in Scotland declined last year not just those tied to the North Sea supply chain now let's make it clear economic decline we're experiencing right now is not caused by Brexit the oil price or Westminster the responsibility lies solely with the SNP in the past year alone we have seen the actions of our government that simply does not understand how the economy works we've had a budget that makes Scotland the highest tax part of the UK and that cut we've had no I won't a budget that cut enterprise funding by 40% I'll take an intervention do you want to explain why cutting the enterprise budget by 40% is going to be good for the economy can you explain that Scotland is not the highest tax part of the UK Fraser of Alunters and others have demonstrated that categorically now will the member give all his remarks Dean Lockhart all you need to look is the large business supplement I could go on but I don't have time in addition to a budget that is bad for the economy we've seen punitive increases in business rates across Scotland Murdoff Fraser has highlighted the crippling impact of the rate revaluations last week I had a constituent who told me that his rates are going from £30,000 a year to £95,000 a year the business owner has been advised to consider taking the roof of his business premises in order to avoid bankruptcy just one further example of the damage inflicted by this SNP Government further on the enterprise and skills review we've seen a screeching u-turn by the cabinet secretary after his plans for a superquango were stopped by this Parliament we've had the £500 million growth scheme but with no new funding and no sign of activity eight months after it was launched we've had the Chinese investment shambles with the SNP being called a shambles by international investors I could go on but time is limited Scotland's economy has suffered not only a decade of incompetence but also a decade of neglect as the SNP has prioritised its campaign for separation over economic growth as the First Minister told us last year the question of independence transcends the issues of Brexit oil and national wealth a statement that shows for the SNP nationalism is more important than national wealth independence is more important than income and separation is more important than Scotland's success and these are not just empty words when the SNP set up a growth commission last year it wasn't a growth commission that Scotland's economy so badly needs it was a growth commission for independence making the task of selling independence more attractive if that's possible so instead of the First Minister and other ministers gallavanting around the US and Europe can I suggest that you focus 100% on turning around the economy imagine if all that energy all that energy was devoted to building new business in Scotland, driving innovation and expanding our export base we would not be in this mess so the SNP have a clear choice to make or their continued obsession with independence our priority is economic growth together with leading organisations across Scotland we are calling for an urgent change in government policy we are calling for the SNP to actively participate in the industrial strategy published by the UK Government to maximise opportunities across all sectors and industries in Scotland we are calling for our cities and local areas to become Scotland's engines of growth through the city deals growth deals and local growth partnerships to do this we have published today our local government manifesto which sets out a framework of measures that will drive local economies we are calling on the SNP to create a competitive tax system in Scotland and we are calling for an enterprise and skills review that will expand our export base having 50 companies account for over 50% of our exports is not sustainable and yes we are calling on the SNP to stop their endless campaign for separation and prioritise the economy the SNP have had 10 years to fix the economy instead their track record is one of economic decline a broken domestic agenda and a nation more divided than ever in the weeks to come voters will cast their verdict on a lost decade of SNP Government voters will have the chance to send a clear message to the SNP a message that after 10 years in government the SNP have not been stronger for Scotland they have been a disaster for Scotland I support the motion in Murdo Fraser's name that concludes our debate that concludes our debate on Scotland's economy the next item of business is consideration of three business motions in the name of Jovis Patrick on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau motion 5210 setting out a business programme motions 5189 and 5190 setting out stage 1 timetables for two bills I would ask any member who wishes to speak against any of the motions to press their request to speak button now and I call on Jovis Patrick to move the motions on block moved on block thank you and no member has asked to speak against the motions I therefore propose to put a single question to the member objects the question is that motions 5188, 5189 and 5190 in the name of Jovis Patrick be agreed are we all agreed we are agreed the next item of business is consideration of two Parliamentary Bureau motions I ask Jovis Patrick to move motions 5191 and 5192 on the establishment of private bill committees moved thank you and we'll put that at decision time there are seven questions to be put as a result of today's business I remind members that if the amendment in the name of Keith Brown is agreed then all of the other amendments fall the first question is that amendment 5172.3 in the name of Keith Brown which seeks to amend the motion 5172 in the name of Murdo Fraser on Scotland's economy be agreed are we all agreed we're not agreed we'll move to a vote and members may cast their votes now the result of the vote on amendment number 5172.3 in the name of Keith Brown is yes 62 no 55 the amendment is therefore agreed all the other amendments are therefore preempted so the next question is that motion 5172 in the name of Murdo Fraser as amended on Scotland's economy be agreed are we all agreed we're not agreed we'll move to a division members may cast their votes now the result of the vote on motion 5172 Murdo Fraser as amended is yes 62 no 55 the motion is therefore agreed the next question is that motion 5191 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on the establishment of a private bill committee be agreed are we all agreed and the final question is that motion 5192 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on the establishment of a private bill committee is agreed are we all agreed we are agreed that concludes decision time we'll take a few moments for members to change seats


Amen, Acts chapter 28, so it's our second week in Acts chapter 28. So Paul has shipwrecked on the island of Malta and he is now getting ready to leave. We're going to start out in verse number 11. They catch a ship out of Alexandria and they are able to get off of this island that they were shipwrecked on after being there for three months in verse number 11. The Bible says in three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria which wintered in the Isle whose sign was Castor and Pollux and landing at Syracuse we tarried there three days. So now they're on their way to Rome, so they're heading north, north towards Rome and from thence we fetched a compass and came to Reguium and after one day the south wind blew and we came the next day to Petioli and when we were found brethren, we found brethren, we were desired to tarry with them seven days and so we went towards Rome. So they asked, they were asked to stay on their way to Rome. They were asked to stay with these brethren that were on the way to Rome and look at verse number 15. The Bible says in from thence when the brethren heard of us they came to meet us as far as Appi Forum and the three taverns whom when Paul saw he thanked God and took courage. So this is what I'm going to talk about tonight. We're not going to get any further than this. We're going to talk about Rome next week. We'll finish out the book of Acts next week. But really I was kind of, I had this message just, I felt late on me about this situation that Paul found himself in verse number 15 here where the Bible says that these people, the brethren came from these far places. They heard that Paul was on his way to Rome and they met him on his journey and for that the Bible says he thanked God and took courage. So tonight I want to talk about the ability to encourage as Christians our ability to encourage. Today we have Christians where some of us have been saved for longer than other people but the first point I want to make tonight is that we all have the ability to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. What does encourage mean? We look at this idea, how the Bible puts it here on verse 15. It says Paul took courage. Paul was given courage. It literally says he was given courage. He took courage from these, this brethren that came to see him. Basically it encouraged him is what the Bible is saying here. A synonym for encourage, you turn to Acts chapter 4 if you would. Turn to Acts chapter 4. So what does it mean to encourage or to give courage? A synonym for that is to embolden, to embolden someone. Now to embolden someone, that's a synonym for encouraging someone is to give them boldness. So we're talking about giving courage or giving boldness and I can't read you the amount of verses in the Bible that talk about how necessary it is for the Christian to have boldness. In the book of Acts, it's all over the book of Acts. I'll just read you a couple of verses if you're in Acts chapter 4. Look at verse number 29. The Bible says, And now Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. So the Bible here is saying, you know, we've already gone through this chapter. You know, they're just, I mean, this is a common theme throughout the book of Acts. Whoever it is, whether it's Peter, the disciples, James, just all the disciples in Jerusalem, you know, the disciples in Damascus, in Antioch, wherever they are, that's how the church in Antioch got started because they were being persecuted. They got flushed out of Jerusalem and they went north to Antioch. But what the Bible here is saying is that they're asking for boldness or courage. They need boldness and they need courage to keep speaking the Word of God. They're getting beat down for it. They're getting physically harmed for it. They're being chased and murdered and killed. And it's just a couple of chapters down the road that Stephen has literally martyred for boldness, for preaching the Word of God. Alright, verse 31 of the same chapter. And when they prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And they spake the Word of God with boldness. So their prayer was answered. They were given that boldness by the Holy Ghost. In Acts chapter 28 verse 31, I'll just read it for you, will you? They're probably there preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Just talking about how he's just being bold and he's using this courage that he took in verse number 15. Turn to Proverbs chapter 28. I'll read for you Ephesians chapter 3 in verse number 12. Boldness and the need for boldness is all over the Bible. It is necessary for the Christian. In Ephesians 3, 12, the Bible says, in whom, talking about Jesus, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Now look at Proverbs chapter 28 and look at verse number 1. Look at Proverbs chapter 28 and look at verse number 1. This verse really wraps up the need for boldness as a Christian right here. The Bible says, the wicked flee when no man pursue it, but the righteous are bold as a lion. So the Bible here is saying that the wicked people, the unsaved, they're going to be afraid of everything, they're going to be scared of everything. It's like, but the righteous, the saved, the Christian, the Bible believing Christian is bold as a lion. The point of trying to get you to understand at the beginning of the sermon tonight is that boldness is necessary for the Christian. It's the fuel that we run off of. It's the fuel that we run off of as Bible believing Christians. If we're going to live this Christian life, and I mean talking about living the Bible, if we're going to do the Bible, if we're going to do what God says and live this way and separate this way and serve this way and raise our children this way, it's going to require boldness. We need that. We need that fuel in our lives. And the Bible here is saying in verse number 15 of Acts chapter 28 that the brethren gave this courage to Paul. They gave this courage to Paul. He took courage from them. He took boldness from them. You say, Paul, doesn't he just have an infinite amount of boldness? No, I mean, Paul needs boldness. Paul needs courage. He needed that encouragement from there. Another thing I want to point out before we even get started with the sermon is that these disciples, these brethren, they were able to give Paul boldness through their actions. They gave Paul boldness through their actions, not just their words. I'm sure they said encouraging things, but you'll notice in Acts chapter 14 and 15 that it says they came from all these different places. They actually, they took great action to come and see Paul, and that was very encouraging to him. They gave him courage from that. It was their action. It kind of reminded me when I was reading this, it kind of reminded me, I wrestled from the time I was in first grade till the time I was a senior in high school, many, many years. And I remember after I was done, I was graduated from high school.  And even like my dad would be yelling from the side of the mat, I never heard a word that any of those guys said. I told my wrestling coach that. I said, you know, I was like, I never heard anything you told me. You know, during the match. You know, during between periods and things, I understood what he was saying there. But during the match, it was like, I can't remember one thing I told him that you told me. But you know what mattered was the actions, what mattered was the training, what mattered was, you know, the things that were actually done. So the point is, Paul was emboldened. He was encouraged. He took courage through the actions of the brethren. That's what was important. Okay. Actions speak louder. The Bible talks about that all over the place. All right. What did they do? They showed up. They traveled there. They came to see him. All right. So look, I want to give you some points about encouragement tonight. Who needs encouragement? Who needs encouragement? The first point, I mean, that I already kind of told you is that the nice thing about encouragement in the Christian life is anybody can be encouraging. Anybody can be encouraging. It doesn't matter if you've been saved for a day. It doesn't matter if you've been saved for 20 years. You can be encouraging. That's one thing as a Christian. Look, a lot of things, like to be a really good, like veteran soul winner, that takes a lot of work and a lot of just, just knocking doors and just a lot of experience to do that. But look, to be encouraging, you can do right now. I mean, baby John encouraged me right before the service started.  But the point is that even just somebody visiting a church can be encouraging. Anybody can be encouraging. This is something you're like, what can I do, you know, to help my brothers and sisters be encouraging. You can do it. Anybody can be encouraging. If you've been saved for five seconds, you can encourage your brothers and sisters. In Christ, a great example of encouraging your brothers and sisters is soul winning. I mean, you all have felt it.  That is very encouraging. Like last Sunday was really encouraging soul winning. I mean, it's always good to go soul winning. Don't get me wrong. But it's more encouraging when there's more people out there together doing it. I mean, it's an encouraging thing. This is where silent partners can be very encouraging. You don't have to be a talker out there just being there. I have a friend in Sacramento. He's just a silent partner. He's been a silent partner for as long as I've known him. But it's very encouraging to go soul winning with him. He just encourages you as you go. So the point is encouraging your brothers and sisters is very important in this Christian life. And soul winning, look soul winning is a perfect example of how we can encourage one another. We all need encouragement. But I'm going to start tonight with the people that need encouragement the most in our lives. And then I'm going to kind of work down the line. And let me just say this. I'm going to give some specific examples tonight. These are not anecdotal. I have seen every single one of these examples. I'm going to get some horrible examples of the opposite of encouragement tonight. And I've seen every single one of these things happen. And you're going to listen to these really bad ones up front.  But I'm going to get to yours. And I'll even talk about some things that I've changed in my life as far as encouragement and making sure that I am an encouragement to the people that I need to be an encouragement to in my life. This is super important in the Christian life, folks. The first people that I'm going to talk about tonight that need encouragement is your kids. I want to talk about tonight turn to Ephesians chapter 4. And I'm going to spend a lot of time on this one. But our kids need encouragement. And I'm going to explain why they need encouragement first. And then I'm going to tell you some things that you can do to stop the encouragement of your kids to actually work against that encouragement. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Look, your kids need discipline. And the Bible says that. The Bible says that you should discipline your children. Your children should obey you. Your children, if they do not obey you, the Bible says you should spank your children. You know, you should do this. If you don't discipline your children, the Bible says you hate them. I mean, this is how serious the Bible is about this. But look, here's the thing you need to understand.  Your kids need encouragement in their life. Your kids need to know, look, unless you have some kind of child that's just wrong all the time and does everything wrong all the time, nobody has that type of child, by the way. But be encouraging.   But, you know, do this, do that, but there must be some positive. There must be some encouraging. There must be a good job. You know, there must be hey, you did that right. Hey, thanks for doing that for me.  Are you in Ephesians chapter four? Ephesians chapter four. I got messed up here. Hang on. Ephesians, actually, Ephesians chapter six. I'm sorry. Ephesians chapter six.  That's the point I'm trying to make. But really, what I want to talk about tonight is the spiritual encouragement of your children. And you're going to keep your place in Ephesians chapter six and you're going to go to Matthew chapter 19. I kind of need to go to these places at the same time. I want to explain to you something tonight that you need to understand about children. And this is why I hope I can explain this properly. Because it's super important that you know this about your kids.  But I want to explain to you one thing that you will notice out soul winning. If you've been soul winning, one thing that you will notice is that kids want to come to a Bible believing church. You will see this with kids on the street. You will see this with kids in homes, they want to come to church. They want to be here. You say, why is that? And you know what? When they do come here, they love it here. They're not saved. They've maybe even never been to a church, but they will come here and they will love it here. Why? Why? Especially the young ones. You say, why is that? I mean think about it, kids that have never been to a church, they'll come here and they will love it here. You will see kids out on the street and they will just be like, we want to come to your church and we want to come and they'll be asking their parents to come. Are you in Matthew 19? Look down at Matthew 19 verse number 14. This is why. We need to understand this so we can understand our own children. Look at Matthew 19 verse number 14. Matthew 19 verse number 14, the Bible says, but Jesus said, suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such the kingdom of heaven. So the disciples were kind of shooing the kids away. They were trying to get close to Jesus and Jesus makes this profound statement here. And he says, no, do not let them, do not push them away because he says, of such is the kingdom of heaven. You know what he's saying and this is very similar to the philosophy that I taught in the age of accountability sermon but what he is saying is that the nature of children is the nature of heaven is what he is saying. This is why you will see kids that want to be in church and the younger they are and the less influence that they've had from the outside world the more that they will want to be in that church. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 but you just remember of such is the kingdom of heaven. You see they're pure they're undefiled. This is why the Satan worshiping reprobates of this world are after them because they are pure and they are undefiled and Satan wants to corrupt what is not corrupted because as such is the kingdom of heaven and Satan wants to destroy that. So when everybody's shocked today about oh why are the they're all confused and they're all shocked why are the LGDPQT whatever trying to get into all the schools they don't have any kids they don't have children by the very unnatural state of them they don't have children no they want your children why? Because this is Satan's agenda that's why. It's to corrupt because as such is the kingdom of heaven and Satan is trying to destroy the kingdom of heaven in everything that has anything to do with it but as such is the kingdom of heaven that's the children and that's why the children want to be in church. By default here's what I'm trying to get you to understand by default children have a desire for the things of God. Thank God for that. What a blessing that is. That's why they love a biblical church that's why they want to come here and it's heartbreaking when you see kids out soul winning that want to come to church whose parents will never bring them. I was a few months ago a few months ago I was out soul winning and kind of a rare situation happened to me where I can't remember who I was with but we walked up to this driveway and there's this kid out in the middle of the driveway maybe 12 or 13 years old and I asked him if his parents were home I asked him if his parents would mind if I talked to him I told him who I was and he said no and he was super interested the boy wanted to hear what the Bible had to say I opened the Bible to show it to him and he said this kid's walking around this front yard like a normal kid and he says you have to hold the Bible closer because I can't see it he's blind he gets saved my wife and I go and we do follow ups the next week with this family I'm thinking about this kid and we go to his house and he's now there with his brothers and his mom and he's told his brothers everything about the conversation that we had in his driveway you know he doesn't know enough to give the gospel but he's told them about this guy who was the pastor of this church that came and showed him about Jesus and he's got saved and we're excited about his brothers and we saw him there and he's just begging his mother can we go to church? but you know we've never seen him look it's it's heartbreaking because they want to be here but this is why because why do they want to be here because as such is the kingdom of heaven that's why that's why they want to be here are you in Ephesians 6 look at verse 4 this is our job we must understand this about our children and this is why the bible says this it says you fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord the bible here is following up with Jesus said in Matthew 19 saying as such the kingdom of heaven it's there for you to protect it it's there for you to protect it God saying protect what's already there is what he is saying you say man these people are terrible they won't bring their kids to church they won't nurture this desire for their children to come to church and learn about the Lord but you know what even christian parents can fail at this and I'm going to give you four categories that I have seen specifically christian parents fail at and I'm going to start with the worst ones and you're going to you're going to listen to the worst ones and these are not anecdotes I've seen this these are not anecdotes you're going to hear these worst ones and you'll be like they're terrible but I'm going to get to yours I'm going to get to yours and I'll even tell you where I've changed some things in my life because of this christian parents fail at nurturing protecting what God put there in the children they fail at that the first one is this and this is the worst this is the worst christian parent this is the worst christian parent they punish their children using spiritual things turn to hosea chapter 8 the bible says the opposite of the nurture and admonition is you provoke your children to wrath but turn to hosea chapter 8 and verse number 7 hosea chapter 8 and verse number 7 these christian parents they will use what God put there as leverage against their children and it's wicked as hell to use what God has put there and asked that they put in their protective custody to use it against their children this is the parent that says you listen to me or we're not going to church you do that again and we're not going to church you ask about going to church and we won't go they punish using the bible write bible verses you messed up write a bible verse 150 times let's take a wonderful good thing and turn it into a horrible bad thing you're not going to that activity that you want to go to unless you do what I say they punish them using the spiritual things they take that leverage that they have they were given this thing that God put there and that they are supposed to protect and build and they use it to their own advantage it's wicked it's wicked as hell but I'm sick of seeing it but let me tell you something this might be the most the biggest example of hosea 8-7 where these people they're sowing the wind they have sown the wind the bible says the bible says they have sown the wind they will reap the whirlwind if you remember in Matthew 18 and Luke 17 Jesus says if you cause offense to one of these little ones it would be better if a millstone were hung around your neck we always apply that to reprobates and people that would actually physically hurt children but you know what damaging your children spiritually is causing offense to them you know what that means they have sown the wind and they will reap the whirlwind you know what that means that means that the price they will pay a price and this is true and I don't want to see it and but I'm going to see it and I'm going to continue to see it as long as I see this thing happening they will pay a price that they never would have agreed to pay if they would have known what they were doing you say that's crazy that's crazy no one in this church would ever do that here's another one and this is kind of a crazy one too just talking bad about church in your home is something that will damage that in your children it will turn church into a bad thing for them but I've seen this as well you can see the kids turn it's heartbreaking it's heartbreaking it defiles what was supposed to be encouraged what was supposed to be built and strengthened God helped the people that turn on every church you know God helped their children because they're sowing the wind they're just sowing the wind and sowing the wind and sowing the wind and they're going to reap the whirlwind because they're damaging what God put there they're damaging what God put there for them to protect how about this one there's a little kid I can even remember examples of this one how about parents that just argue over church maybe one parent's into it one parent not so much church just becomes a matter of strife in the home you know what that does that means that damages what's inside them and church equals strife to the kids even these smaller things look this spirit that they have the Bible literally says as such is the kingdom of heaven do you understand what you have in your kids as such is the kingdom of heaven every unsaved 5 year old 6 year old 7 year old 8 year old 9 year old that we meet out on the street as such is the kingdom of heaven that needs to be built and protected it's already there you literally have to ruin it I mean that's hope for the future at least look as a pastor I've grown in this area over the last 4 or 5 years and I haven't been a pastor for 4 or 5 years but there are many ways look and first of all my kids whether they like it or not there's many ways my kids are in the ministry with me and my wife she's in the ministry with me but I have to be careful of the attitude I have around the kids I mean my kids are older my kids are stronger because they're older and they're more mature than like a pastor with little kids but look I'm still much more careful about this than I was at the beginning of this whole thing I have to be because here's the thing and you know what pastor a good little piece of wisdom that he told me like because here's the thing folks in the ministry and I know that I can't explain this to you but in the ministry there's always ups and downs there's always some people that are up and some people that are down that's just the way it is all the time what if I walked into my house and I was just focusing on the downs all the time pastor he meant to put it to me this way and I hope he wouldn't mind me saying this but he would say to me sometimes you know what problem B becomes problem A you know what he's saying that there's always going to be problems and I could just go and my kids could you know the kids could see the church the ministry equals dad stressed out all the time that's what they could see they could see that this Christian life that they're in this ministry that they're in just equals bad just equals stress and sadness I need to protect the kids from that you know I need to get to this in a little bit but I need to protect my wife from that too look there's always going to be ups and downs and guess what here's the thing we are strong they are not is what we need to understand and if such such is the kingdom of heaven it is such a great gift we need to look we not we need to not only protect it from the corruption and the sickness and the corruption of Satan's world we need to protect and nurture the spiritual desire within them so I hope you think about these things tonight guess what though if you do protect it if you do protect it no matter how you're feeling or where you're at guess what you will succeed and they will grow up and they will learn to serve the Lord on their own and it will work if it's protected if it's nurtured if it's what is encouraged if they take courage from you they will be strong but they aren't now and that's what you need to understand about your children here's the least extreme version of this and if I haven't gotten you so far I'm going to get you here the least extreme version of this is you know just with just when you're in a spiritual valley in your life when you're in a spiritual valley in your life you know if you get in a spiritual valley in your life to get out of it as soon as possible but if you are in a spiritual valley in your life don't drag your kids down into the valley with you because the thing that you have to understand is you are stronger than they are and if you drag them down into the valley you will bounce back but there will be damage that is done there there will be damage that is done whatever they will always remember that valley that you are in and look they will be the spiritual this as such as the kingdom of heaven will be scarred a little bit and we need to protect it as good and as perfectly as we possibly can so look just here's a couple of rules here's a couple of rules for you tonight you're like okay here's the first rule don't ever use the fact that as such as the kingdom of heaven in your children don't ever use that against them ever that's an easy one and then rule two look because if you do do that if you do do that you will pay a price that I guarantee you were not willing to pay if you do that and the second one is just you need to do everything you can possibly do to encourage to strengthen to nurture this God given gift that they have this desire that they have you need to talk to your kids too because that will always give you a measure on where they are and I've been doing this for years and years and years with my kids just talking to them what do you mean how was your day today how was your day at church how's everything going how was your activity that you went to how are these things I'm annoying about it I really am I still talk to my older kids not so much Garrett but I still talk to the older kids about this actually smiling because I annoy her and I'm like okay scale one to ten and I just keep going she's like dad you have your finger on the pulse of this there's a method to the madness there's a reason that I do it because I want to know if there's something going on where I'm not doing a good enough job and you need to know what's going on with your kids and even when your spiritual life is suffering and I hope nobody's spiritual life is suffering but even if your spiritual life is suffering don't bring your kids into that because they can't sustain the hits that you can so look let's go back to Paul let's go back to Paul the ultimate way to encourage how do I encourage my kids how do I encourage my family the ultimate way to encourage is to be present the ultimate way to encourage is to be at those activities with them don't discourage and use an activity that they want to go to at church as something to punish them be there with them be part of it be present you know let them know that you know what when we're at church, church is good when we're doing spiritual things spiritual things are good we're going soul winning look you may feel like going soul winning some days where it's like I don't really feel like going soul winning today look you may not admit it but you're going to feel like that every now and then and you know what you put a face on put a face on why they can't take the hits like you can you can have a bad day and you can be stressed out about things and you don't have to just let everyone know about everything be there with them be present just like the people with Paul in verse 15 how did he take courage from there they were there they came there they were there and they were positive you know what what the kids see this is all good for us encourage your spouse turn to first Peter chapter 3 turn to first Peter chapter 3 look wives wives should encourage their husbands you say whoa what does that mean wives should encourage his leadership is what they should do you know there's two different perspectives it's really interesting on this one on the whole you know biblical perspective of the wife is to just submit that's what the Bible teaches you know the Bible doesn't condone some wife bossing her husband around the husband's in charge that's what the Bible clearly teaches that's what God wants the man's in charge the wife though you know the world doesn't understand this because the woman out in the world the feminist today is like the opposite of the Bible woman today is the opposite of Proverbs 31 she's like I'm not listening to that idiot I'm not going to listen to that fool I'm not going to let that you know I mean that's how they feel about their husbands and they look at a Christian woman that would decide to submit to her husband's leadership and they can't even it's another dimension to them they can't understand it whereas the Christian woman's like yeah I'm going to listen to my husband because my husband's awesome he's a good leader he's a Bible reading Bible knowledgeable he's a believing Christian he's a strong Christian man they can't fathom that they can't see it it's two completely different perspectives but the wife should support her husband's leadership turn to 1 Peter chapter 3 husbands look at verse number 7 it says likewise he husbands likewise he husbands dwell with them according to knowledge talking about the wives giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel husbands need to defend and protect their wives role they need to defend and protect their wives because let me tell you something your wife is under attack today your Christian wife is under attack your Christian homeschooling wife is under attack by just about everybody today outside of the walls of this Bible believing institution right here your wife is under attack and she's the weaker vessel you know what they're gonna attack her and that's why we need to protect our wives and our children because you know what Satan's coming out he's trying to come in through that way because it's the easiest way in you know lead in a positive way be an encouragement in a positive way you know what your wife doesn't need to know every single thing that you're stressed about at every single moment I'm not saying hide things from your wife that's not what I'm saying but what I'm saying is you have to take into account that she is weaker than you what does that mean she is emotionally weaker than you she is physically weaker than you and she is spiritually weaker than you you say oh I know some wife that's way more spiritual than her husband this is the way the hierarchy is supposed to be you're supposed to be the spiritually, physically and emotionally strong one you don't need to go and like panic your wife over every tiny little thing be some baby that comes home and sits on the couch and just blurts out everything every baby concern you have because you know what you're gonna do you're gonna do the same thing to your wife that I was talking about doing to the kids you're gonna tear her down you're gonna break her because she's not gonna sit there and say oh you're stressed about all this and this and the business and the finances and all this and what and she's not gonna sit there and be like it's gonna be fine this is gonna be fine she's gonna be like we're toast you're gonna break her because she's the weaker vessel that's what the bible is saying so being encouragement to her maybe be stronger yourself maybe go talk to you know a brother in christ and you know get some encouragement from there if you need a pat on the head or whatever you need or call me or whatever but don't just stress your wife out with every little tiny thing that you're worried about you know what be there you say how do you encourage your wife be there show up sit next to her for 10 minutes just plop down right next to her on the couch what are you doing you know what that will do that will encourage her encourage your wife be there satan's coming for your wife and satan's coming for your kids he's not coming after the strong spiritual christian leader of his household he's looking for cracks and the bible is telling us that it's our job to make sure that these things are short up to protect our children in all ways spiritually protect them to protect our wives in all ways physically emotionally, spiritually and encourage them look it's hard this homeschooling is hard it's hard I mean we've got two kids in school right now and if you're doing it correctly it's very hard and it's very stressful this is why I never really started never really went home and did remote work because I was just in the way and I wanted my wife to not be stressed out and I wanted her to be able to continue doing her things and I just stay and I just encourage and encourage and I encourage and I help where I'm needed to help but I don't get in the way and I don't mess things up I encourage it's hard if you're doing it right a good christian mom has major responsibilities despite what Satan will tell you despite what Satan's little minions and I don't care what forums those little minions come in all these little snide comments from your relatives or your friends or whatever this is how it happened to us all those little snide comments were sneaking all the time very discouraging that's where you need to step in and stop those things as the leader and then encourage the point I'm trying to get across tonight folks is that encouragement in the christian life this giving of courage this giving of boldness is absolutely necessary and this is what Ecclesiastes 4 is talking about where it says two are stronger than one and a three fold core is not quickly broken it's saying diversify your strengths when you're up two of us will hold you when you're down two of us will pick you up if you're by yourself and there's no one to encourage you this is the person oh I'm gonna leave a good church and I'm gonna move here and I'm gonna go soul winning by myself no you won't you might for two weeks you might for two months but it's incredibly discouraging if you don't have people around you giving you that fuel that you need which is boldness God knows this this is why you know he shows us that even Paul for crying out loud even Paul the strongest evangelist that anybody could ever think of took courage from people he needed courage from people and look I'm trying to get you to understand that no matter who you are no matter how long you've been saved you have the ability to give that courage and give that boldness we have the ability to give that boldness to our children to protect their spiritual kingdom of heaven nature that they have and keep that pure and keep that undefiled we get that from each other we get that from each other be an encouragement think about this let's bow our heads


The Clyde Beatty Show. The world's greatest wild animal trainer Clyde Beatty with another exciting adventure from his brilliant career. The circus means fun for both young and old, thrills, excitement, snarling jungle beasts. But under the big top where Clyde Beatty constantly risks death in the most dangerous act on earth, you see only part of the story. Much of the real drama takes place behind the scenes of the circus or in faraway places of the world where this master of the big cat's journey hunting down his beasts in their native jungle. All of this is part of the Clyde Beatty story. Here is an adventure entitled, Ghost Cat of Guatemala. Oh, while the circus was wintering in Florida, my wife Harriet and I had an opportunity to combine business with pleasure. The business part was putting 34 lions and tigers through their faces inside the steel arena twice a day for a week. And the pleasure was in visiting Havana, Cuba, where the theater we were playing was located. I had just finished the final performance of our engagement and as I ran off stage I could see Harriet and Norman Carroll, our business manager, standing in the wings smiling. Listen to them, Clyde. They loved every second of it. You better go take another bow, Clyde. Okay, don't go away now. Boy, I bet we could pack this house every night for six weeks if Clyde wanted to stay. Ah, Norman, remember? A week of work and a week of pleasure. Yeah, sure, I was only thinking. Come on, kids, let's get to my dressing room. Oh, Hank, make sure those cages are all checked before you leave tonight. I'll say I've arranged to have the cats taken back to the ship at noon tomorrow, Clyde. Good. Hank and Jimmy can look after them all right on the trip back to Florida. Is this for us? A wonderful week of Havana hospitality. What could be nicer? Interamigos? Ah, it will be wonderful just to be lazy and have fun for a week. The people are all so wonderful. I'm looking forward to it myself, honey. Company already? Come in. Senor Batey? That's right. What can I do for you? My name is Carlos, Senor. I have come in urgent business in the name of my master, Senor Ronaldo. Oh, the man that sent me the message the other day. See, you did not visit him as he requested, Senor Batey. He has instructed me to extend his invitation once more. What is all this, Clyde? I don't know. I got a curtain note from this Ronaldo character the other day. He practically demanded that I pay him a visit. And I don't even know the guy. Another one of those crackpots, huh? I guess so. Look, Carlos, the answer is still the same. If your boss wants to see me, he can come to my hotel. That is impossible for him to do, Senor. Well, that's tough. But I don't intend to go to his house, and that's final.  Senor, you make it most difficult. But I was told to return with you, and that is what I must do. Perhaps this will change your mind, no? Clyde, he's got a gun. We return to Clyde Batey in just a moment. And now, back to Clyde Batey's adventure, Ghost Cat of Guatemala. Assuring Norman and Harriet that I'd be safe and warning them not to follow, the Cuban ushered me to a large black limousine parked at the rear of the theater. A uniformed chauffeur was at the wheel, and soon we were speeding through the outskirts of Havana. At last, we arrived at a large mansion and I was shown into the library. Senor Ronaldo was a quiet, dignified man whom I guessed to be in his 50s. It was apparent why he couldn't come to see me. He sat motionless in a wheelchair. My apologies, Senor Batey, and my thanks. It was good of you to come. I didn't have much choice, I'm afraid. Your man, Carlos, has a convincing way about it. Carlos knows how unhappy I am when I do not get my way. I'm afraid he's spoiling me. Well, now that you've had your way, maybe you can tell me why my visit was so important to you. Of course. Do sit down, Senor Batey. No, thank you. Nice music. See, see, my Pablo, he plays for me. As you can see, I was unable to come to you.   Well, that's sort of an odd assignment, Senor.  It is neither, Senor Batey, and bull. I'm afraid I don't get it. This cat is half tiger and half leopard. It has both stripes and spots. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been another like it and probably never will be. Half tiger and half leopard, stripes and spots. Such an animal is of interest, do you know? Interest. Why, I'd practically give my eye teeth for a cat like that. Where is it? The animal is in the jungle near the village of Hualan in Guatemala. Guatemala, oh now, wait a minute. Guatemala is in Central America. There are no tigers there. That is quite true, but let me tell you a story. Perhaps then you will understand. I am the owner of a large banana plantation in Guatemala, near the village I have mentioned, Hualan. I lived on this plantation until my illness forced me to retire to Havana two years ago, see? Time grows heavy on one's hands at such a plantation, Senor, and being interested in animals, I decided four years ago to amuse myself by creating a small zoo there. I went to great expense to build up suitable quarters for many varieties of animals. It then arranged through an animal exporter in New York City to stock the zoo. Rather an expensive hobby, wasn't it? Indeed, in more ways than one, amigo. You see, the final shipment of animals was not to reach the confines of my zoo. The truck which was hauling the cages from Puerto Barrios, the small port on the east coast of Guatemala was wrecked. It slid off the side of the mountain road only two miles from the plantation and the animals escaped only two, a male tiger and a female leopard. Their cages were broken open, they disappeared into the jungle. I'm beginning to see it now. Of course it was useless to look for them and they were soon forgotten, never seen again. But two months ago, one of the native workers came running into the plantation, torn and gashed in a dozen places. Before he died, he told of being attacked by a large cat which had both stripes and spots. It's unbelievable. But through Senua, since the animal first attacked, four more natives have been killed all within the boundaries of the plantation. They are all crazy with fear. I can't blame them, but why doesn't somebody shoot it? Unfortunately, there are no experienced hunters near my plantation. I have authorized my foreman Gomez to hire somebody to kill this animal but he is unable to find anyone who will undertake the job. And I here in Havana have had no success either. That is why I wanted to speak with you. You mean you want me to go after that cat? I would pay you well, Senua Betty. As things stand now, none of the workers will leave the plantation compound. They are superstitious and afraid. They think this strange cat is an evil spirit. Come to destroy them. They have named it the ghost cat. And they won't do any work until it's destroyed, huh? Exactly. This animal has cost me a small fortune already. Of course, my personal problems do not concern you, Senua. As I have said, I would pay you well to dispose of this ghost cat. Well, I don't know. If I went after it, I'd much rather take it alive. If you could do that, Senua, I would be most happy. But if it cannot be captured, then it must be killed. The only thing that bothers me is the time element. We'd only have a very few days to do the job. Perhaps I can expedite things. I will charter a plane to fly you to Puerto Barrios. It is only a matter of a few hours. And I will wire Gomez my foreman to have you met on your arrival and take you to the plantation without delay. When I returned to the hotel, I told the strange story of the ghost cat to Harriet and Norman. Their relief at seeing my safe return changed to amazement as they heard about this killer in the striped spotted coat. And they were as eager to go after it as I was. Early the following morning, we took off in the plane which Senor Ronaldo had chartered and arrived at Puerto Barrios about noon. Gomez, the plantation foreman, met us at the little airport. I must apologize for the roughness of the road, amigos. These are little reused, as you can see. Not many cars in Guatemala, eh, Gomez? Oh, sí. This is a poor country compared to Los Estados Unidos. It's certainly beautiful enough. Everything is so green. Yes, senor. Getting close to the plantation? We're only about an hour's drive from it now, sir. Good. That'll give us time to scout around a bit before dark. Sí, if you wish. But let me caution you, senor Betty. The ghost cat has strike in many places. It's not wise to go far from the plantation buildings. We'll watch it. We've brought our rifles, you know.  No. We're going to try to capture it. Take it alive. Oh. Oh, my bueno. How you plan to do this? Well, the quickest and easiest way I know is to put out some fresh meat for bait after putting some dope in the meat. Dope? What is this dope, senor? It's sort of a king-size sleeping pill. I have some capsules that I got in Havana.  If this cat eats a chunk of meat that has one of the capsules hidden inside, it'll knock him out for several hours. Long enough for us to track him down and get him caged. Oh, you'll comprehend it. That's very clever. Well, it works now and then anyway. In the case of this particular cat, I've got a hunch it may be just the trick. He doesn't seem to scare when people are around, so maybe he'll go for some dope bait. If he does, the Clyde Betty circus will have a new star performer. Your workers will be able to go back in the job and not worry. See? It's verdad. Welcome to the plantation and all, da amigos. Thank you, senor Gomez. Wonderful. That is my house across the way. And this will be your bungalow. I hope it will be comfortable. Looks fine, Gomez. Roberto! Ringo, Franco! Roberto, he will serve you, senor. It is for you to command. Thanks. I don't think we'll need to bother him much. Thanks, Roberto. I like a bunion. You will wish to change, no? We'll wait a later, Gomez. First I'd like to talk to some of the workers, find out where this ghost cat's been seen, then we'll look around for likely places to leave the bait. You are not one to waste the time, senor. We may not have enough time as it is. By the way, while we're talking to the workers, could you have fresh meat cut up into five-pound chunks? We'll want to fix some and take it along. Yes, senor. I will have it done. Good. Come on, Harriet, Norman. Let's go. Our talk with the workers wasn't too successful. We did learn of a few trails where the cat had been seen, but our efforts to persuade someone to accompany us in our excursion through the jungle-bordered plantation were in vain. Finally, we returned to our bungalow, got our rifles, the fresh meat baits, and the all-important capsules. Then we set out following the directions given us by the workers. Oh, boy. Clyde, I hope you know the way back from here. I think I can find it all right, Norman. I never imagined a banana plantation would look like this. It's almost as thick as a regular jungle. I know. That cat must feel right at home here. Hey, that looks like the water hole they told us about right ahead there, see? That must be it. That should be our best bet to... Wait a minute. Look. Cat tracks and big ones. And from the looks of them, the natives haven't been exaggerating. Looks like you'll weigh 400 pounds. Oh, brother, it's a lot of cat, ghost, or otherwise. These tracks look pretty fresh, too. I'll tell you what, Harriet, you and Norman fix a couple of baits. I want to scout up ahead for a little way. I'll be right back. I skirted the water hole and followed the trail for 100 yards or so. The big tracks were clearly visible in the damp earth, even though the light was dim under the trees and jungle vines. I stopped deciding not to follow any further when... I whirled in my tracks at the sound which came from behind me. Then I saw the ghost cat standing not more than 20 feet from me and realized he had doubled back and was now trailing me. He was clearly marked with both stripes and spots and his cold, green eyes blazed a murderous warning, hateful, sinister, and beautiful. I stood hypnotized knowing only that somehow I had to have that animal and then, like a shot from a cannon, he charged straight toward me 400 pounds of fury. Clyde Beatty will continue with his story after this message. And now back to Clyde Beatty and ghost cat of Guatemala. Clyde and Harriet Beatty with Norman Carroll, their business manager, were in Guatemala trying to capture what the natives called a ghost cat, a strange animal, half tiger and half leopard. Clyde discovered the animal's tracks near a water hole and followed them.  Then it charged. As the strange cat hurtled toward me, my ears inside the steel arena paid off. I dropped flat on the ground. A ghost cat sailed over me and bounded off down the trail. I got to my feet. Thankfully, he hadn't been able to sink his razor sharp claws or teeth into me. Clyde, Clyde, are you all right? I'm all right honey. We heard the roars. Did you see this ghost cat? Yeah. I saw him all right and he's well named.  I've never seen one like this before, that's a cinch. Oh, I wish I'd been with you. I'd love to see that animal. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him. His eyes. If you could have seen his eyes. What about them, Clyde? This will probably sound silly and I don't exactly know how to put it, but... Remember the popular theory that animal trainers can make a lion or tiger back down by looking them in the eye sort of hypnotized? Well, that's so much who will you tell me that yourself, Clyde? I know. That's why I know it sounds silly for me to even mention it. But that cat I just saw practically had me hypnotized. I just wonder... If what, Clyde? If the natives who've been killed were affected the same way, held spellbound by those eyes, unable to move until it was too late to escape. Now, Clyde, isn't that a little far-fetched? I don't know. I wonder. That was a delicious dinner, Sr. Gomez. I'm sorry we were so late in getting back for it. Oh, then others, sir, Your Honor. It is quite understandable. We got further from the compound here than we realized, Gomez. And you came across the ghost cat near the water hole, no? That's right. Son up, Gomez. We're going right back to where we left the bait and see if our ghost cats had breakfast. And if he has eaten the meat. Then we start trailing him. And unless I'm way off, we'll find him within a half a mile of the place, sleeping like a kitten. Clyde? Yeah. He's still going strong. I don't understand it. Oh, we must have gone two or three miles from that water hole, Clyde. Thought you said he'd be pretty close. I did. That's what I can't figure out. He ate the meat there that much, I know. Oh, is it possible he could have eaten the meat without swallowing the capsules? No, no. I had him stuck inside the meat in such a way he couldn't have missed swallowing some. And any one capsule had enough sedative in it to put him to sleep for hours. Should have knocked him out almost immediately. The baby's turning out to be more unusual all the time. Well, there's no use following any longer. We haven't gotten ourselves lost. We might as well go back. Oh, but Clyde, what can we do? I don't know, honey. There's only one thing I can think of that might be the answer to that cat's getting away. Oh, what's that, Clyde? Those capsules I had made up in Havana. Maybe the clerk that put them up for me didn't put in the right dope. But you had two different boxes of them, Clyde. I know. From two different drugists. But I only used some of the capsules that were in the little box in my suitcase. I still got the other box in my jacket. Well, either the pills were the wrong kind or that cat just isn't human. I mean... We know what you mean, Norman. Let's get on back to the compound. We'll set out some more bait before it gets dark because I still want that cat. Did you find the box in my suitcase? Oh, yes. This is the one, isn't it? Oh, yeah. Thanks. Well, let's have a look at one of these that's left. What you need is a chemist to analyze the things. Well, I'll be. What's the matter, Clyde? We don't need a chemist. We need a detective. Look at this one I took apart. The capsule's completely empty. But how? I'd like to know the answer to that myself. No wonder that big cat didn't get knocked out. There was nothing inside these things to do it. Oh, how about the ones in your jacket? Are they all right? I'm checking on that right now. Sure. These are chock-full of powder. Well, maybe the drugstore you went to in Havana was just a jip joint. Maybe. And then again, maybe not. Do you think someone might have tampered with those capsules? It's possible. Well, yeah, I suppose it is. But everybody around here knows we came to get rid of their ghost cat for them. Why would they want to interfere? That's another question I can't answer. By the way, where's Roberto? Oh, he was around just a few minutes ago when we came in. Why? Well, I just wondered. Nothing important. Well, so what do we do now? We set out some more bait at that water hole. Only this time it'll have something more potent than air inside it. Well, of course in your baby I can get more fresh meat for you. But why you want to keep feeding that ghost cat? Well, maybe I'm just stubborn.  Tough luck? Yeah, the dope capsules we put inside the meat weren't quite powerful enough. But I've got some more that should do the job this time. I see. Well, I will have the meat for you immediately, senor. If you do not mind, I will send Roberto for it. That'll be fine, Gomez. We want to set it out and get back here before dark, so tell him to hurry. See, amigo, as you wish. I'll put this chunk right over here. Is that all you're going to put out, Clyde? Yeah, I think that'll do it all right. Did you notice the new tracks over there? I did, Clyde. It looks as if that cat comes here often to drink, doesn't it? Yeah. Let's hope he decides to eat again. Clyde, it'll be dark in an hour or so. Hadn't we better get back? It's time you and Harriet started back, and I've got a surprise for you. I'm not going yet. If you're staying, so am I. Norman, I want somebody to go back and make sure everything's okay at the compound. Looks like you're elected, pal. Well, of course, if you think I should, I will. You better get started right away. You wouldn't want to get caught on the trail after dark, would you? You can bet your sweet life I wouldn't. I'll see you later. As to what you see when he shows up. Look, not the trail there. Something's moving. What is it? I can't make it out yet. It looks like a man. It is a man. Don't you recognize him now? Senior Gomez. What would he be doing out here? Watch. He's going straight toward that gate. He's kneeling beside it. Sure. Now he's taking those dope capsules out of it. Clyde, you knew he was going to come here all the time, didn't you? I thought so after I put two and two together this afternoon. Then he must be... Oh, Clyde. Clyde, look behind him. Holy smoke, the ghost cat. Clyde, it's leaking out behind him. It's going to attack. Gomez, Gomez, get out of there. Clyde, you'll be killed. Not while I've got a rifle. Come on, Harriet, that did it. He's been hurt, Clyde. Let's see. He's all right. He wasn't touched by the cat. I think he's only fainted. Come on, come on. Snap out of it, Gomez. Snap out of it. You're okay. You're the ghost cat. He was spied behind. And take it easy. Oh, the ghost cat... There's your ghost cat. Dead is last week's headline.  Skip it. Come on, let's get back to the compound. You've got some explaining to do, Gomez. I swear it is the truth, senor. I did not mean for any harm to come to somebody, but... Well, it is to my advantage for the ghost cat to remain alive and free. Go on. This wasn't your own idea, was it? No, senor. Who was behind all this, Gomez? No, no, no. I can tell you that senor would only lead to great trouble. Look, Gomez, you're in plenty of trouble already. And if you're smart, you'll tell the whole story. I've got an idea that senor Ronaldo may make it pretty rough on you otherwise. Oh, she probably all right. That's better. Go on. Well, I was approached about a month ago by a wealthy planter from Zahap. A long one, this plantation. And he promised that I would be well rewarded if he was able to buy it. I thought so. And this schemer figured as long as that cat was alive to scare the natives, his chances got better. Oh, see. He knew that if the workers refused to bring in the crop, senor Ronaldo would soon be forced to sell. And then we plan to kill the ghost cat and get the natives to return to their work. What an awful plan, Clyde. Yeah. And it almost worked, too.  If only we could have captured it and taken it back with her. Well, maybe it's just as well, honey. What? Remember the old expression, there ain't no such animal. Yes, but... I'll bet two to one that most people wouldn't have believed it if they'd seen it. Clyde Beatty will return to tell you about his next adventure after this message. Once more, here is the star of our show, Clyde Beatty. In our next show, we'll dramatize a story about one of the most fascinating departments of the circus, the joys. A joy for those of you who may not know is a clown.  There have been many tales about the broken hearts beneath the costumes of those painted, laugh-provoking people. And in The King of the Clowns, we tell the unbelievable story of one of them. All stories are based upon incidents in the career of the world-famous Clyde Beatty and the Clyde Beatty circus. The Clyde Beatty show is produced by Shirley Thomas. Ghost Cat of Guatemala was written by Robert T. Smith. All names used were fictional and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a Commodore production.


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We're recording this. OK. Welcome back to our second lecture. We see one-on-one faith. On the second lecture today, we can get started. So what we completed in the previous answers, you're fine. You're good. All right. What we completed in the previous lecture, lesson number six is the steps of the faith of Abraham. So we just went through that. So this is how Abraham exercised faith here. Now we're going to move into our next lesson, lesson number seven. We share the notes. We're going to talk a little bit about faith, hope, and love. And the interaction between faith, hope, and love. All three are important. As current days, the 13th chapter, the 13th verses, now the main faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of faith is love. I'll just start. But the three things that now remain, it means that we are to walk in as believers, faith, hope, and love. So I just want to talk a few things here, different parts and insights on this. So faith, when you first look at faith and hope, and we've emphasized a little bit of this in the previous lecture, faith and hope are interrelations. They're connected. They're important. Hope is where it starts. And we have to have hope first, because faith is the substance of faith. Hope is hope. So the hope is expectation, a desire to have something. Expectation. So the hope is important. We have to be hopeful. We have to have hope. And hope is an expectation and is in the future. I hope I will get it. I hope to become, I hope to be there. I hope, see, it's something to get expecting out in the future in our lives, so on. But faith is what brings that hope from a place of expectation into a place of possession. Unless you have it, it brings it into your experience. But hope is important, because we start out with hope. We start out having hope. So for example, if there's a person who's sick, someone will say to you, I can't be done when he's there. The person must have hope that I'm going to get better. And then they accept faith to bring their hope into their experience. So hope is important. You shouldn't give up. If you lose hope, then faith might be exercise. You don't have hope and faith cannot be exercise, because faith is the substance of things. Hope is important. So hope and faith, they go together. They're important. Now, some things about hope. We see in scripture, Hebrew 6, verse 19, if you talk about it in Hebrew 6, verse 19, this was actually brings out two important things about hope. Hebrew 6, verse 19. It says here, Hebrew 6, verse 19, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the wave, where the foreman has entered as Jesus. So telling us two things about hope. This hope is an anchor of the soul. So hope is very important. It's like an anchor. It stabilizes, keeps us stable. Anchor, so the picture is of the anchor used in a ship, by a ship, in the middle of the stormy sea. So when there's a storm at sea, when they really drop anchor, so they drop this heavy thing that goes down in the bed of the ocean. And then it stabilizes the ship, the middle of the storm, until the storm comes out, and they lift anchor and they keep moving. So hope is like that. It's an anchor. It stabilizes us. So hope is an anchor for that. So a minor, most stabilizes. But also tell us this one more thing in Hebrew 6, verse 19. It says, this hope enters the presence behind the wave. That means our hope connects us to Jesus. The presence behind the wave, that is Jesus. It's not about Jesus. The one who has gone into the heavens. So our hope actually anchors us in the Lord, in Jesus Christ. So hope is important. Anchors us, but it also anchors us in the personal place, in Jesus. So hope is important. Now remember, we mentioned earlier in the previous lecture, I'm going to repeat this from Genesis 15, that it's important to paint a picture of hope in our mind based on the promise of hope. So we learned from Genesis 15 how Abraham was getting doubtful whether God meant a child from his own body. So he's asking God, Lord, is it somebody else who's born in her house? And God tells Abraham, no, no, no. Someone was born of you. That's what I meant. And then God told Abraham to come out of this tent and look up at the night sky. And to say, that's how many of your descendants will be. And so that picture stayed in Abraham's mind, which enabled him to continue to be hopeful and continue to believe in God. So based on that, we just are drawing a simple reduction of insight that we need to keep a picture of hope in our minds, keep a picture of the promise of God from Spirit and in your mind. And that can help you keep your hope, the liar, due to the state of hope. So hope is a hope. And then when we have hope, then faith comes in.  Faith comes in. Faith brings that, which we hope for, into our possessed figure, the substance of things also. On a slightly different note, I'll take a few moments. Let's talk about faith versus feelings. Second Corinthians 5 verse 7 says, we walk by faith and not by faith. Second Corinthians 5 verse 7. That means our walk of faith, it's not dictated, it's not determined by our physical senses, by our sight. We walk by faith, not by sight. So that's how we walk as believers. That means my faith is more important than us. It overrides my physical senses. So my physical senses may say things, tell me things about facts. This is what's happening to us all. But my faith is superior to that. It's overrides you with that. I'm not denying the fact, so I'm recognizing the evidence. That's the fact. But like Abraham, he saw Abraham. He considered not his own body. So he walked by faith and not by sight. He's not denying the fact that he was 100 years old, Sarah was 90, not the next one, that's a fact. Oh, Sarah and Grant, we put the facts. Those are what our senses are telling us. But there's something beyond faith. And our faith knocks us into thought, it is promise. And my faith is we are able to walk above our feelings. An example of this is in John chapter 20 verses 24 to 29. John could make a minor jump with tea. Very polygrain. And I'll just narrate this for us. This is after Christ's resurrection. And what is interesting is that the disciples of Jesus at one point after the resurrection were actually unbelieving. I mean, they didn't really believe like did Jesus really rise to the dead? Because they saw him crucified. They saw how he was named. They saw him die on the cross. And they saw they know that his body had been buried in the tomb of Joseph of Mark with him. They knew that. So maybe the minds of many of the disciples' story is over. This is over. This is the end.  That's the reaction, something. And one by one, the news are coming. Mary said, I saw Jesus feet when John made the tomb his empty. But the others are like, are you sure? You better not, you know, are you sure? Are you sure? They're still not. It's taking time with them to accept, even for the disciples. And one of them, Thomas, is there.  Thomas is becoming very, very angry. He guys can't tell me. Until I see him, until I put my hand in his, you know, his wounds, I won't believe it. So Thomas is basing his face on what he can, but he wouldn't see and touch and feel. He's basing his face on. So we call that kind of thing as, you know, natural faith or sense knowledge faith. Faith that is based on feelings, on what you do. For example, this is a chair right here. We have no problems coming in, you know, anybody sitting on the chair. Why? You know, you don't expect the chair to suddenly go down to the ground. Why?  And that is natural faith. It's based on some understanding, some logic, some fact. This chair is strong enough to carry my weight, so I will just sit on it and I won't visit it. Now that is not final faith. That is natural faith. Anybody has that? Any questions you have? That's true. Now we call it sense knowledge faith based on practical faith. It's faith based on our senses, what we see, what we feel, what we know. Now Thomas is putting himself in that category. I will have faith, but this kind of faith, natural faith, sense knowledge faith, I have to see, I have to touch, only then I will believe. Now we know what happens. We just gave to Thomas, touched also a lot, I'm sorry. And then Jesus at that time, he says, Thomas you have believed because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. So this is a different kind of faith. It is believing even when you have not seen. That means you're believing independent of your senses. You haven't seen, but you should believe. That's the kind, that's Bible faith. That's the kind of faith Jesus has blessed. Blessed are those who have not seen but have. That is the kind of faith where he says, he walked up by faith, not by seeing. And that's Bible faith. That is not natural faith. That's believing God because what he has told me, believing God for the good he is. That means through his faith into his word, God cannot deny him. His promises are sure. He will keep his commandments. But that's believing God. Not because of your senses, but because of who God is. So faith and feelings. A little bit of comment on that. That we have to learn to walk by faith independently. Now, sometimes your feelings may be really your faith. They, you know, feel, that's nice, it's OK. And there will be times when your feelings are opposite to your faith or they don't support your faith. I feel you remember Jesus said, blessed are those who have not seen yet have, believe. They walk by faith, not by it. So sometimes my senses may be opposite to my faith, but I still walk by it. That's Bible faith. Another thing we can talk about is also faith was his doubt. We have mentioned this before. But the point I want to just emphasize about our differentiate is doubt in our mind versus doubt in our hearts. Mark 11, 20 speed, Mark 11 versus 22, 23, Jesus said, have faith in God. And then he said, first thing, whoever says to this mountain be moved, be cast to the sea, and there's no doubt in his heart. I believe the most thing he says will be done. He will not whatever he said. So where must I not doubt? Don't doubt in your heart. That's where actual believing takes pleasure. So he says, don't doubt in your heart. No. There can be doubts in our minds. Because our mind, which is that part of what connects to the natural world, is very logical. It goes by logic. It goes by feelings. It goes by the natural senses. And so many can come. Mind will say, hey, how is it going to happen? Oh, it doesn't look like it. Oh, look at the circumstances. Look at the circumstances. Let's have a mind that works. And it connects us to the natural world. So obviously, it's thinking along those lines. But having doubts in your mind is not the same thing as having doubts in your heart. Or let me put it like this. Maybe there are doubts in your mind, but you can still believe in your heart. There may be doubts in your mind. But you can still believe in your heart. Because your mind is working like that. That's the way the mind works. It looks at the circumstances, looks at the situation. And at the mind is thinking, how is this going to happen? You know, it's processing, natural information. So don't confuse the thoughts of your mind as though it was delving up. Your heart can still be sentient in the world. And through God, it's also in your mind you really don't have the answer. In your mind, you really don't have. You haven't figured it out in your mind. It's OK. There are many things we can't figure out in our minds. We will not be able to describe how great God is. All of us, our minds are small. I don't understand it. But I can believe it in God's heart. I can believe that God's great God is mighty, powerful. I can believe it. So understand this very simple thing, very important. You can have faith in your heart. He can understand it. If there are doubts in your mind, is it clear? Is it OK? Yeah, the argument so far, right? So don't confuse that. Just because you have some doubts in your mind, OK, I don't have the answers to those questions. But I still believe in God. I believe because of the word of God, because of God's, because we are spoken to by the Spirit, so I can believe. And that's how I'm just making a side note here. And that's how the gifts of the Holy Spirit also operate. So let me tell you, OK, here's the word. Step out of the word of God. Step out of the prophecy.  How can you say that? How can you say that? But in your heart, you know you work from God. God is spoken to. Your mind is questioning. How would you know that? Is that right? Is that right?  OK, but in your heart, you know, I've heard from God, God is spoken to. You go with what's your heart. So you step out of the word of God. You speak that word of prophecy. You believe this is a gift. So really, even the flowing of the gift of the Holy Spirit is a step of faith, even though many times your mind is questioning. But you know, God is spoken to. And you can release that word of God with the gift of the Spirit for two minutes. OK? We'll talk about that in these supernatural arguments. Now, continuing on the same thing, faith, hope, and love, we know that the Bible teaches us that the greatest is love. The greatest is love. Love must be kept as the most important. And look at Galatians 5 verses, Galatians 5 verses. Galatians 5 verse 6 says, Galatians, faith works by love. Galatians 5 verse 6. A lot of part of that verse, it says, what really matters is faith working through. How does faith work? It works through love. So love is very important in the Bible. It says faith, hope, and love. We saw faith and hope, both are important. Now we talk about faith and love. Faith works through love. So it means if I don't have love, faith won't work. You don't have love? Faith won't work. Because faith works through from the first thing. I must seek to have it in my heart, is I must seek to love the Bible, love the book, walk in the love. Because faith works through. So if I want to measure the people, I must first love what they have, from passion to love them, faith comes in, to work to serve the people. So I understand the importance now. Faith works through love. So love is important. If there's no love, faith won't work. So that's why in 1st Corinthians chapter 13, there are also four, and this is actually the champion in the historical battle, the gift of the Holy Spirit, chapter 13, 14. And in chapter 13, it's emphasizing the love. The whole context there is some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, chapter 12 of the Revelation. While he's talking about it, he says, look, if I claim to have faith, I could move on. This is 1 Corinthians 13. And verse 2, the second half of verse 2, says, though I have all faith, I could move on. But have not love. I am, I can say I have all faith. Great faith. But if I don't have love, I'm not loving the people who is in a bond with me. I can't produce nothing. I'm unproductive, my faith is unproductive, useless. So 1st, love them, walk away. Then faith comes in, we move, they are reportable. They will come in. And so love motivates faith. So then love motivates faith. I certainly got my own life, but it's not for people around me. I certainly got my own faith, but all my work calls us to do it. Remember, it's love that must motivate our faith. Love motivates our faith. It moves us into action. That's the emphasis that it was put in supplication. So there's another explanation here on what the love of God is, skipping that. Now let's go to 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5. 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5. You see another combination of our energy that I presented here. In 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 5, it's also called that. It says, the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. So notice, he's talking about several different things. He's saying love, pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. We need to maintain all of these things together. So while our focus in this course is on faith, there are all these other things that are important. Love, pure heart, good conscience, or a clear conscience. And sincere faith must be sincere. I'm not doing it. I'm not trying to believe not the wrong things, wrong reasons, wrong motivations. And sincere faith comes from pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. OK. So those are a few side comments here. We're going to go into chapter 8. I'll just start with the start of chapter 8. We can see things. We can't. Now what we want to do in chapter 8 is give an overview of how faith is, or the role that faith plays in the life of the believer, different areas. And some of us are very familiar, so I'm not going to spend it necessarily explaining everything. I'm not spending too much time explaining it, but just for completeness sake, we'll itemize these things and listen to these things up to us. So chapter 8, the believer's walk of faith. We all know that we are saved by faith through, it means salvation has been extended to us by God's grace, but we receive it by faith. So our side, faith in God, God's side, by grace, it gives us the free gift of salvation. It's OK. We know the scripture, Ephesians 8 and 9. We are saved by grace through faith. Second link in the life of the believer, everything must be done in faith. Whatever your problem is, whatever your problem is, do it by faith. So we live by faith. It means that it all matters. In your heart, or in our hearts, but it's faith in God. I believe, for example, when you're going to eat your food, God, I'm actually blessed. It's blessed for my part. We're going out. God, I thank you. You protect me. You keep me safe. So everything, every aspect of life, we are living by faith in God. So we walk by faith. We live by faith. And we are trusting God, as God has spoken to us, in every aspect of our lives. We live by faith. And the Bible tells us whatever is not of faith is sin. I think about that. And also, in Romans 15, it's talking about food you eat. And he's saying, OK, if you eat, you eat it in faith. For whatever is not of faith is, if you're not really talking about faith, not doing this is a sin. Because it puts us in a place of distrust or unbelief in God. So everything we do, we do by faith. Now let me look at point number three here. What role does faith play in the life of the believer? Number three. Faith is key to receiving from God.  Faith is key to receiving from God. You see, the problem with many of us is that when it comes to receiving from God, we think, well, if God wants me to have it, I'll have it. Or we just give it to him. But the Bible is telling us something different. The Bible is saying, I need to actually have faith in God in order to receive. And we see that in James chapter 1 verses 5 to 7. So look at it very carefully. Verse 5, if any of you lack of this, let him ask of God, who gives to all, literally, without throats, and it would have given to the other. God, let him ask in faith with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a babeless, independent horse by the wind. Well, let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. I look at those verses very carefully. What does he start talking about? If any of you lack what? So he says, if you lack, we see. But what does he end up talking about? Anything. So these verses are telling us not only how to receive this stuff, but it's telling us this is the same thing you do if you want to receive anything from God. Same thing. So the next thing is he says, think about God. What about God? He says, God is a giving God. God is a giving God. He gives and he gives to all. How many people? He gives to all. And how does he give? He gives liberally or generously. And without throats, that means he doesn't scold you. Why are you coming after me? Without throats. So the second thing is he says, he's telling us about God.  He's a generous God. And he gives to all. So nobody can say, oh, God gives only to so and so. It doesn't give me. He gives to all. And he gives liberally, generously, liberally. He's very lavish, liberally, and giving. And he gives without scolding. So the problem is not with God. If I don't receive, the problem is not with God. I understand. If any of you lack something, you're going to God. God is a good God. He's a generous God. He's fair to everybody. He's generous to everybody. He doesn't scold you. So no problem on his face. He's ready to give. Verse, let the empty ask in. So that is the condition. Let them ask in. Say, there is no problem with God. No blame on God. Oh, God didn't want me to have it. No. No, he's a generous God. He's a generous God. He's a liberally. So don't put the blame on God. The criteria here is, or the requirement of it is, let them ask in without any doubt. So that's what we are saying in the life of the believer. Faith is the key to the seeding front. And not only vista, because he says, if you lack wisdom, but then he says, you want to receive anything from the Lord. Anything from the Lord. This is how we do it. Anything, ask in faith with no doubt. How do I know I'm doubting or what is this? Go doubting. Of course, the big doubts, he says, is like the wave of the seed. This side, next, that side. This side, that side. Wave of the seed, prevalent in thoughts. One time he says, yes, yes, yes, one time he says, no, no, no, no. All you see is oscillating a mass illusion of one entity or the other. That's the person who doubts. He doubts, has driven the dependent cause. And if I am like that, then he says, look, I will not receive anything. So our failure to receive from God is not God's. Our failure to receive from God is not that God didn't want me to have it. Sometimes we pray, we don't receive it, and then say, maybe God didn't want me to have it. That's the usual conclusion or usual comment. We hear when we don't receive something. Maybe it was not God's will. Maybe God didn't want you to have it, but James is not telling that to us. He is saying, God used all liberty. The doubt of God is different. The problem with the reason why we didn't receive is because we were tossing people out from the field like this, play the wind, and we're not receiving it. Now, I do understand the importance of the will of God. We were talking about it in the number prayer. There is this asking God's will. But when we know the word of God, that is the will of God. So if there is the word of God, God is promising in his word, you're asking a line to his word, then you're asking a line to his will. His God's word is God's will. You're asking a line to God's will, God's will is expressed in the poor God's nature. So we shouldn't point that out. Let me pause. Do you have any questions? Let me check the chat. All right, let me look at it. Okay, there's a question from Deepika. How do we differentiate if the doubt is in the mind or hearts? Okay. So Deepika's question is, how can we, we did mention a little earlier, that we could have doubts in our mind, questions in our mind, or we could believe in our hearts. So the question is, Deepika's question is, how do we differentiate if the doubt is in the mind or the heart? I think one thing, at least what I do, is we know our heart. We know what we believe, right? So Romans 10, chapter 10, verse 9 and 10. With the heart, man believes. With the heart, man believes. So in your heart, there is still that conviction of God, his word, his promise. So if that conviction is still there, then you know that you're believing in your heart, even though in your mind, there are those doubts and there are those twists. So is there that conviction in your heart? Is there that assurance in your heart? Is the heart settled in the word of God? So that's one way of determining and knowing that, I still believe in my heart, even though in my mind, I don't know that I have those doubts that come into my mind as restless or distraught by those doubts. But in my heart, I have the confidence, I have the assurance and the instinct. Another important thing is Jesus taught us in Matthew 12, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So I intentionally speak what I believe in my heart, the reinforces the belief in my heart. And my words are then telling me, this is what's in my mind, I believe God, I believe his word, even though there may be questions and doubts in my mind. So I hope those two things would help there. Another question there from Christian. Our mind always tries to find logic in everything which makes us question of faith. How to overcome that? Now, Christian, there is nothing wrong when you're using a mind, what gave a mind to us. Yes, a mind is like that. We process information, we look at things. That's a mind that connects us to our natural world. Now, what I want to point out, and you learn about this in your second year, in the course of these supernatural, how we learn about, and also we learn, you have my good post on, you know, wholeness and think these come in the second year. Now, you will learn about the renewed minds. So we all have our minds, but the Bible talks about the natural minds and the renewed minds. What is the renewed mind? The renewed mind is a mind that has been strange to think in line with the ways and thoughts of God, instead of the ways and thoughts of man. So that means I'm able to switch between two levels in my mind. I'm able to walk with my natural mind, which I need to do when I face natural things, but I'm also able to switch into the renewed mind. We read about it in Romans 12, which is when Isaiah 5-8 was 8 and 9, where I'm able to switch into the renewed mind level where I'm thinking according to the ways and thoughts of God. It's my same mind, but I've trained my mind to be a renewed mind. So that instead of thinking in the natural mind, I can think according to the renewed mind. So all of you are listening that I was working on that. I was looking at the computer and talking. You're listening, you're going on, right? I'm answering that question. I'm talking all of the same. So we've learned about this the second year. We have our natural minds, but we have God is calling us to walk with the renewed, Romans 12, don't be conformed to this world and be transformed by the renewed way of God. So as a believer, I'm actually supposed to be having a living by a renewed mind. My mind was renewed. What is the renewed mind? It's the mind that is able to walk according to the ways and thoughts of God. So again, example. And you learn about this case to supernatural ministry class. Jesus calls the disciples and says, let's give them something to eat. The renewed mind says, Lord, 5,000 people, which bakery will give us bread for 5,000 people? That is natural mind. Then another disciple, natural mind. Lord, how much money we will need to go by? So one disciple is calculating which bakery. Another disciple is calculating how much money. That is the natural mind. But one disciple says, Lord, I have 5,000 fish. Let us, so he brings 5,000 fish, put in the hands of Jesus. Jesus says, tell them all to be seated. They're going to have lunch. 5,000 fish, 5,000 people. But the renewed mind sees a miracle. The natural mind is picking how much money? The natural mind is thinking which bakery? The renewed mind is saying, God can multiply, God knows that. So they make them all sit down. And then the 5,000 fish, people are fed. So that's the renewed mind. The difference between the natural mind and the renewed mind. And as I leave this, we must train ourselves to think with the renewed mind. Let's think in light of the amazing possible problem. So I hope that answers your question a little bit, Krisha. We will talk more about it in the second year. There will be two courses that cover the renewed mind. Right, anything else? Any other questions from here? Okay, so we continue this next week. We're just talking about faith in the life of the believer in the different areas of where we need to have faith. And one of the emphasis is we need to pray to receive from God, to receive what God is giving to us. We need faith to receive. We'll talk a little bit more about how it takes us faith to receive from God. We'll talk about it in a different lesson. I will just give it a little bit more. Okay, so let's close the trap. If there are no more questions in the chat. No more questions. Okay, that's right.  Okay, all right. Pray and asbestos. Let's stand in front of the cameras to put this together. Okay, pray. Thank you Jesus for this day, Lord. As we have learned today, how to read, update and how to use our faith and to put trust in me. I pray you have a certain commitment to your lives and that with this kind of story now, we're used to being afraid of having God. You have a sort of very long, deep meaning of how to put faith in you. All right. So I couldn't hear you at all. Okay, thank you everyone. I'll see you again next week. Thanks. I'm a bit worried before we get to the next question. God bless. Bye now. Bye everyone. Thank you. Stop.