It seems right now to see it shink into armor a little bit with the Warriors. They've had bad losses at home. New York media with the sensationalism, with the back pages, it was aggressive and players had a hard time dealing with it. What would worry me if I was the NBA is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Chris Broussard here and welcome to the brand new Hoops on Fox podcast. This podcast will give you your daily dose of all things NBA from Fox sports, including the best content from Skip and Shannon, Nick Wright plus special guest, fresh NBA content from myself, post game interviews from NBA stars around the league and much, much more. Up first, Chris Broussard says it was Skip to explain why the next media may be too much for Katie and Kyrie. I don't agree with Barkley in the long term. Now, I am frustrated with Kyrie complaining about the press. We didn't know you spoke to LeBron James. That was a private conversation. You chose to share that. No one knew about that.  No one knows about this. Okay, so you brought that on yourself. So when the media wants to talk to you, maybe we don't know who else have you spoken to. Have you spoken to Katie? Did you speak to Rod Strickland? Who have you spoken to? That being said, we as New York Nick fans, we've never had two champions. The last time we've had players play for the Knicks that had rings and things is the great Willis Reed and those guys. Maury Stottemeyer, a very good player. We knew he had an injury. Inevitably, in our hearts, we knew that just wasn't gonna get it done. Carmelo Anthony, no rings and things. So these guys, they've played on the biggest stages. It's the Mecca of basketball. It's the city's game. We know they can get it done on the court. And I think that although they have both been sensitive, particularly this year, the New York fans, we come out in droves and there hasn't been a highlight out of New York. This season, the biggest highlight was James Dolan ejecting and banning a fan. That's the highlight of the season. That's true. That's the only thing. There's been no highlights.  That's the only highlight we have. So I think we have a two-year grace period. I think that the New York and the New York media will be so happy. So you're saying they would take it easy on them, fans and media? Well, the fans, we're gonna just be happy.  And I think the media, they're gonna do well. If they both come and they're going to do well and I think it'll take at least two seasons before people start breaking their chops. Kairi, I don't know what you're talking about. He seems like he doesn't want to be talked to, win, lose or draw. You gotta figure that out. Doran will be fine. Kairi, this is like, yo, whoever you're speaking to, don't bring it up, okay? But in the short term, two years, we'll be fine. We'll win more games, we'll improve. There'll be excitement, there'll be highlights other than James Doe and throwing out fans. So my answer, long-winded answer is, I think that we will be fine if we get those two guys and I'm praying. Please, please come to New York, please. Okay, that's the fan perspective. Just so people know, you work for the New York Times and you covered the Knicks and the Nets.  You know, you were inside the New York media covering basketball. Yeah, and look, I do tend to agree that especially with the fans, there will be a two, I'd say a year or two grace period where assuming, and they would, if Kairi and Katie go there, they would certainly be a really good team. They wouldn't be expecting championship or coming down on them if they didn't win a championship for at least a year and maybe two, right? Yes, so it'd be two or three years before they really jumped on them. As far as the New York media, when I was the beat writer, that was early days of the internet. The internet wasn't what it was now. And the New York media was so different from media anywhere else. LA, Chicago, the only thing even close was Philadelphia. But New York media with the sensationalism, with the back pages, it was aggressive and players had a hard time dealing with it. Now though, New York is still the top, but with the internet now, sensationalism has been brought all over the country. And no matter where you're at, you're still catching heat.  Maybe not quite to the extent of New York, but you do catch heat. Now to answer Barkley's question, both of them obviously have rabid ears. Both of them obviously are sensitive and I would not recommend that either one of them go there by yourself. No, for sure. No, do not go, because you won't win big and then you will catch heat. Be on you, okay. But I do think if they go together, or one of them went with Anthony Davis or whatever, if they go with two stars, they'll be fine. These two guys, Kyrie, let's look at him. Kyrie just did a big mea culpa piece with Yahoo, where he said I was wrong for the way I've handled things, I apologize, we know we apologize to LeBron. Like I gotta be honest, I'm looking at Kyrie and I'm thinking, this is a young guy, he's only 26, he's still learning. He's not above saying, I get it now, I didn't get it then, I think he kinda said, look, I don't like the way the media handles things, but I kinda get it, I understand it now. So I think he's open to learning and I think if he gets to New York, he'll kinda be like, look, this kinda comes with the territory, I was wrong initially in Boston, I get it, I think he can adapt. And KD and Kyrie, look, they're sensitive, you can say what you want, about them clapping back at people and complaining. The good thing though, it doesn't impact their play. Not at all. Like some players can't hear all the stuff and play at the top of their game. KD can hear it, be upset, go off on the media. He texts me sometimes if he doesn't like something I said and we'll go back and forth, but it doesn't impact this game. Not at all. He still goes out there and balls in the same way Kyrie, through all the ups and downs this season, he has still been a great player, probably his best season individually. So even if they are in New York and at times they go into a shell and they go off on the media at times, they still will bring it. And so I do think for all their issues, they can handle New York. For one, actually a couple of times lately, I have agreed with Charles Barkley on this show, which is shocking. It's been weird. This time, he is completely wrong about this and almost naively wrong. He is missing the boat on both these guys. To your point, I'm gonna triple down on what you just said. In all my time of covering or closely observing superstars, the thinnest skin superstar ever to me is Kevin Durant and Kyrie's starting to threaten that. He's starting to challenge him. They are both social media victims to me because they read it and they respond to it and they let it go inside them. And it doesn't, not only does it not affect them, does it not hurt their play, it fuels their play. They both thrive on this. They would both thrive together. I agree with your together point. In New York, they would constantly be at war with the media. There'd be nights they wouldn't talk. They'd clap back in big group interviews. They'd be all over the media. They would fight the media. They would actually try to put the media back in its place. But they're not good at it also. Neither one of them are good clappers. They're not adaptive, I know. They're just not good ranchers. They don't talk good trash. Neither one of them are. I have to help them out with that. Yeah, but you know what I mean? Kevin Grant actually had burner accounts. It's like, what? Who has time for that? That's Grant, right? What? You know who the media does love and who is good with the media? Coach Fisdale. He handles it good. He's got a personality. He's fair. He's firm. He knows when to be tough. He'll rant when he needs to. So I think if they came to New York, they'll do their little things, but I don't think it's as big as impact as people say because number one, it doesn't affect their play. And I think New York will get off on it. And the fans, to see that kind of craziness in the garden every single night and what they do and I mean craziness as far as their skills, there will be, there will be elation. There will be sincere elation. That's New York basketball. Like they'll be adored and loved by the fans every single night. So what they make some weird rants and comments. We'll take it. Okay, what did Kevin? Kevin had the weight of the NBA world on his shoulders going into the first finals with Golden State against LeBron. And what did he do? You know, the NBA was the world's waiting for him to fall on his face. He left Russell Westbrook and joined forces with Steph and Clay and Draymond. And what did he do? He won MVP. And then he backed it up by winning MVP again. I'm not worried about it. Come on man. I'm not worried about it. Kyrie hit the shot of shots. Game seven at Oakland. We deserve it. This is the city game we need basketball. These guys are beautiful players. You know what? Come to New York guys. Those two guys get what it would mean to you for them to win a chance. Oh my God. Imagine we split it. Two, two, both of them on the Empire Staple. And two, two, it would be gorgeous. Kevin ran thin shoulders. Empire Staple Staple is long. And it would be just beautiful come to New York.  Yeah, what are we doing? They would reach the top. Oh, light them up. We maybe be sat in Kyrie. I mean, he plays like a New York City streetball player. Like all that stuff. It does from New York City. The Statue of Liberty would be like. Oh, the Statue of Liberty wouldn't even be thinking about Old Delbeck. They haven't had a player as exciting as Kyrie in New York since Earl de Pearl. That type of game, that type of street game? Absolutely. Does anybody remember Earl de Pearl? Right. I'm not sure if I remember. Very few of these young people. You should. Oh, man. It was Kyrie. I mean, he does stuff that they do in the park. I mean, it would be beautiful. It was 1973. Yes. That's the last champion. Rolls Royce Backport. We need this for you, Mike. Please. And it's not just me. The fans. The fans in the cheap seats need it. They deserve it. We've been through too much. We've got an owner who's throwing out fans during games banning them. The same goons he sent after my guy Charles Barclay. He sent after a fan, Charles Oakley. Those same goons. Well, there's one guy who needs those two worse. He's playing here in LA. I think you want them in LA more than New York, don't you? It would just be fun. It would be more fun for me, but I'm not a Nick's fan. Skip. Well, seriously. I think it would be fun if those two go to New York and AD gets traded to the Lakers. Listen, AD is not enough for LeBron at this stage of his career. It's not enough. He might be at the Jimmy Butler with him. You know, the only thing you'd have going is that Kevin is no longer in the Bayer. That'd be good. OK, that would be open. That would be nice. Well, LeBron, give him Kevin. Give him AD. He needs, like, 17 people with him. He needs, like, if, yeah, he can't do it. He needs, like, 50. He's the greatest player in the world. He's the entire All-Star roster with him. Clay Thompson. Send down Steph. He needs a two. Next, Colin Coward breaks down the unfortunate situation between NBA fans in Russell Westbrook. So last night, Russell Westbrook, incident with a fan. Fan says he said something. Westbrook said he said something else. But what would worry me if I was the NBA is the frequency and the intensity of these situations.  I've said before, I hate hecklers. I would have almost no tolerance. If I was a general manager or any commissioner of a sport, I have zero tolerance for very, very, very little tolerance for heckling players. The NBA is a very unique sport. The NBA has sold seats right next to the players. Football players got a gap. Baseball players got a gap. Hockey players got a wall. Basketball players sit next to fans. And the NBA, a little bit agreed here, even though they're making a fortune with all this television revenue, has literally kicked broadcasters upstairs to add seven more seats. And equipment guys got to sit behind the team so they can add seven more seats. So players are right next to fans. But here's the thing. I can't control those fans. Maybe the guys are racist.  And I'm not sure I can control Westbrook, but I should at least give him the tools to deal with this. More security, more space, maybe a watchdog around him to hear what fans are saying. Because what I'm concerned about is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Three years ago, and I'm not a psychologist, but three years ago, this was not Russell Westbrook. He was an 85% free throw shooter. And he was kind of a well-liked guy in the NBA.  And that worries me. Last year, Utah, this year, Denver, then the kid, then the fan, I'm not saying fans can't be jerks. And I'm not saying in all these incidents, the fans aren't wrong. This fan, people say was on internet, there was racist stuff on his account. I'm not denying that. But Russell Westbrook in the next week is gonna go to another arena. It's not gonna be empty. There's gonna be fans there. And so who knows what happened to Westbrook to increase the intensity and the frequency of these? I'm not a psychologist. Kevin Durant's gone on to star, Hardin's gone on to star. Maybe that bothers him. Maybe the surgeries have made him less of a player. He's struggling with that. Maybe Paul George's emerges. I don't know. But this is just basic psychology stuff. It's the intensity and the frequency because it's not like he wasn't heckled three years ago. I sat at Laker games listening to Kobe Bryant get heckled. You don't think LeBron's been heckled? Michael Jordan heckling? And by the way, some of those could have been racial. I'm not, listen, there's inappropriate stuff in European soccer, international hockey, NBA. I'm not denying any of that. But like I told my son, I can't control fans. I can't control their kids. And I'm not sure I can control you or Westbrook, but I have to give you tools to better equip yourself. Adam Silver's gotta step in. By the way, Roger Goodell's changing rules. Why? To protect players. Doesn't want his players hurt. These players are commodities. These players are assets. Okay, Russell Westbrook is the face of a franchise, the face of a division and one of the seven faces of the league. Okay, and this is not gonna get better. Fans are now sensing stuff bothers him. So they're poking and they're poking and they're poking and they're dangling and they're poking and it's getting worse. This is where a commissioner has to step in and protect his player. And I don't have the answers. But I would hire security. I think I've seen it, you know, last night James Harden's walking off the court and he's high-fiving fans. I think fans are too close to players. I'm showing an incident on FS1 where there's a player, Russell Westbrook's on the floor and a fan runs up to him. That's not appropriate. That's not appropriate. And in football, there is a gap between fans and player. In hockey, there's a wall. In baseball, God in Oakland, it's like a parking lot between the first baseman and the fans. NBA, they're right on top of the players. And these are young players and they're stars. And Adam Silver's recently said many are unhappy, they're on their Instagram, they're on their Twitter. The intensity and frequency of this stuff, you gotta step in. Listen, I could, I was saying this morning, he feels like Westbrook, not Westbrook. His shot's broken, his personality here's a little more unhinged than usual and this stuff's escalating. So get him help, get him security, get him space, get him a therapist. But this could end up being really bad and I'm not gonna just blame Westbrook if he throws a punch in the next two weeks. Captain, it's not gonna be all on him.  So you'll be eventually to blame. But players, most millionaires in America, you get to be 50, you've worked hard, you've put money away. Pro sports is cruel. Hey, you're 24, here's a pile of money. Well, I don't know exactly stress.  Well, I'm from a small town, I'm 25 years old. Pro sports is rough and I know nobody wants to hear it because they're all rich. But these players are increasingly targets, fans on top, they've sold the tickets next to the players, fans can be jerks. Somebody's gotta help Westbrook. That is the role of a commissioner. Protect your players. Gidell's changing rules to protect players so they don't get hurt. Somebody's gonna get hurt. Now, Swin Cash joins Nick and Cece to discuss tonight's matchup between the Warriors and Rockets. I actually am. I'm buying it as a statement game and I'll tell you why.  Teams right now see a chink in the armor a little bit with the Warriors. They've had bad losses at home. They have went two and five since the all-star break. So you have to think about a team to send a statement out. Sometimes you do it without being at full strength. Oh, I like that. I think the possibility is there. And also let's not forget the championship. Because I think this Golden State Warriors, they're looking forward to Katie being gone because they got a lot more credit. And they did win a championship without Katie. I believe in the head-to-head. The last two years, Nick, you've been on top of this. Rockets are eight and five. Only team in the NBA with the winning record. And when you have a team that has that type of record against you and you're a little short-handed, I'm from the same school of thought as you. With Steph and them being out there, claying them, if they get hot and go off in this game, it would be tremendous momentum. Forget the head-to-head, but just where the team is right now. They're in a rut and they could use a lift or a boost of confidence. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah, and I wanted to correct myself. They are five and four since the all-star break, but they were 23% from the three against the Phoenix Suns. One of the reasons why they lost. So without KD, they'll have an opportunity for clay and Steph to get hot, be able to shoot, and be able to show their offense. It's clicking on all cylinders. Listen, they haven't won back-to-back games since February 12th. And so obviously this wouldn't be a back-to-back win, but you got to win the first one in order to get that going. Now, you said earlier, Jenna, I'm a gambler. So I wouldn't, to use a gambling term, to me, there's a house-money game. And by that, I mean, if you win, everything you guys are saying is true. If you win, we did it without KD, a team that's been the only team with a winning record against us over the last two years. We beat them, we weren't at full strength. But if you lose, you have a built-in excuse. You have a built-in, the Rockets are at full strength. They're the hottest team in basketball. They've won nine in a row. It's all in their court. We are without our best or second best player. So that, to me, it would be a better chance for a statement game if they were at full strength. The problem with that, Nick, is most elite athletes don't feel that way. They're not looking for the excuse. They're expecting this to be able to go the other way.  It's okay to lose. Man, they're the world champions. And for a reason, they got the two-time MVP. Clay is a special, special player. They got two other all-stars. Like, elite athletes, they just don't think that way. And they know that the Houston Rockets are coming at their head. So I believe that Golden State, in this environment tonight, that they're gonna try to meet that intensity. Now, does it work out? No, it might not work out. But I definitely know that Steph and that roster, they're not going into this saying, you know something, we're a little shorthanded.  We got an excuse. Well, guys, you have to keep this in mind. They have been talking about how they have to start revving it up, getting ready for the playoffs. We've heard it from Kerr. We've heard it from Clay. We've heard it from Steph. Now, the thing for me is, when you look at this Golden State team, people are talking about, are they bored? Listen, we play sports. You can't get bored at any time. But what I can say is this, I lost a game five championship, 20,000 at the palace in Detroit.  We gotta be ready. We gotta be ready. But you can come out, you can shoot poorly, and not be able to defend, and lose a basketball game. People keep talking about, oh, can anybody? You can flip the switch. Yeah, you can flip the switch, or people can't beat them in seven games. If you get bad chemistry, you get guys not shooting well. Anybody can be beat. I'm not saying that the Warriors can be. I still have them winning a championship, but there are possibilities. And when you lose to a Philadelphia team at home, when you lose to a Boston that bad at home, those are teams that are in a top echelon that are supposed to be meeting you in the finals. Nick, we've had more and more people come on here and say, well, I'm still picking the Warriors, but I'm starting to worry. But boy, you know, they lose a game to the Suns after beating them. Because they all saw how bad I looked when I, I think I was the last person to pick against them it was two years ago, captain in five.  It's true, a lot of butts with this team, especially this late into the season. Because here's the thing, they went into the year having, in the last two years, since they added Kevin Durant, they were only, they were only pressed once. The series against Houston, they had won seven of their eight series in five games or fewer. And seemingly they got better, because they added an all NBA caliber center. And that's what I want to talk to you about because seemingly they got better, but they, Boogie Cousins has not been an improvement for them. He has made their offense worse, which is surprising to me, has made their defense worse, which we probably should have anticipated to a degree. At full strength or not, I wonder if Boogie Cousins is playable in a series against the Houston Rockets with how often they run pick and roll and how often they want to isolate you. He might be playable in a series against the Denver Nuggets. Nikola Jokic can't guard anybody, like so Boogie is going to struggle on the defensive end, but Jokic's got nothing for Boogie on the other end. Capella can guard Boogie, so he's not going to punish you offensively. And on the defensive end, aren't they just going to put him in the torture chamber again and again and again, Houston against him? Well, you look at this whole acquisition now to Bogey and bringing him back. Now he has won a championship with the Golden State Warriors. He understands the system. So he's a guy that can come in with that starting unit, but when you're going against the Houston Rockets, if it's a late game situation, I see Steve Kerr going small ball. I see him going back to Iguodala. I see him pushing the five over to Draymond Green. But guys, keep this in mind. I don't think Boogie is bad for them offensively. Boogie is a big that can shoot from the outside, can pass. We're starting to see his offense come around. Where they struggle is the defensive end. That's the problem they have. You mentioned that the pick and roll. He has not been stellar in a pick and roll. I've seen more straight line drives to the basket with the Golden State Warriors than I have seen in the last three years. It's amazing to me. But they have to think about this. Boogie is a guy. He's playing for a contract next year. So if he's not playing at the end of games, does that disturb your locker room? And the organization, they made a promise to him because he took less. That's the only way he could fit into the roster by taking that contract and less. And there was plenty of discussions. Boogie knew I'm going there to try to reinvent my image, try to be a champion and try to get me a max deal. Tell me who the person in the organization that has that conversation with Boogie Cousins and say, you're not going to be playing in those important minutes. That, to me, that person does not exist unless you're going to have Draymond. I was going to say staff, because what I got going forward is more important and what you agreed to. I came here with an agreement and that agreement is we're going to bring me back slowly but I'm going to be integrated back onto this team and I'm going to be playing critical minutes. So those promises and those minutes, they promised him. And that's why Boogie Cousins is going to be out there and that's why it's on the board that they can be beat because of the lack of defense that we've seen the worst of the last five years of a Warriors team. Following, Chris Broussard breaks down the top five NBA coaches. There's always, we're going to hit you with a great top five and since I sat down with Danny Green, he of course plays for one of the all time great coaches in Greg Popovich. That got me to thinking, who are the best five coaches in NBA history? And at number five, I'm going with Lenny Wilkins. Lenny Wilkins, one of the few people in the world to ever be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. He did it as a coach because he's the second winning this coach of all time with over 1,130 victories. Then he also won a title, 1979 with the Seattle SuperSonics and check this out. There have been two teams in 38 years, the last 38 years of NBA history to win a championship without a bonafide superstar or a guy who would be considered a top 50 player of all time. One of them was Lenny Wilkins Seattle SuperSonic teams. So he did a great job of coaching them. Also was great in Cleveland and Atlanta and some other places Lenny Wilkins, fifth greatest coach of all time. At number four, the man, Pat Riley, coach the Lakers, the Knicks, the Miami Heat has won five championships all together, four with the Showtime Lakers of Magic Johnson and Karim Abdul-Jabbar. And then 18 years after his last title with the Lakers, he leads the Miami Heat to a championship in 2006. Pat Riley showed his greatness when he left LA and went to the New York Knicks. Now in LA, he's coached this glamorous up and down, fast break style with Magic Johnson leading the way. Then he goes to New York and completely changes his coaching style and coaches the Knicks of Patrick Ewing to a hardcore defense first, slow down type game that made them a top team in that era and a contender against Michael Jordan. So Pat Riley can coach in many ways and that's what makes him the fourth greatest coach of all time. At number three, Greg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs. This guy, similar to Pat Riley, can coach to the strengths of his players. When he had David Robinson and Tim Duncan, twin towers were going inside. When David Robinson gets older, they build it around Tim Duncan. When Tim Duncan gets older, Tony Parker and the pick and roll becomes the focal point of the team. When Parker gets over, they do a lot of ball movement. They're shooting a lot of threes when they beat Miami in the finals. Then they get Kawhi Leonard to come of age and Lamarcus Aldridge is a free agent. They go more ISO style. Greg Popovich adjusts to the strengths of his players. Oh, and he's also got five championships. He's also about to lead the Spurs to the playoffs for the 21st straight year, that second longest streak in the NBA history. And then he's got 18 years. It's about to end this year maybe, but 18 years of 50 or more wins, longest streak in NBA history. Greg Popovich, number three. At number two, I'm going way back. Red Arbok of the Boston Celtics. Look, this guy is an absolute legend. Led the Celtics to nine championships with Bill Russell leading the way. Great thing about Arbok too, is that in that era where racism was just overt, he was a guy that didn't care whether you were black player, white player, whatever. He was the first NBA coach to start five black players. He hired the first black coach, Bill Russell, who actually coached the Celtics to two championships himself. But Red Arbok, great innovator, was the first to create the sixth man. I mean, Red Arbok, second best coach of all time. And at number one, you know who it is, Phil Jackson. A bit of a strange guy, you know, with the Zen and the smoking and all that stuff, but you can't take it away from him. The guy is a great coach, 11 championships, obviously an NBA record. Now everybody would say, well, of course he had Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen and Shaq and Kobe, but here's the thing. The great Michael Jordan, the goat Michael Jordan, never won a championship without Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson was great psychologically with players, really got him to perform to the best of their ability, got him to play the team basketball that was necessary to win championships. I know he had a lot of great talent, but a lot of other coaches had those players and have had great talent and have not been able to win championships, especially in the way he's done it. Three Peets are hard to come by. Phil Jackson has three peated three times and then his other two championships were a repeat, as good as Popovich is, never three peated. You know, so the ability to get your players to be dialed in, to be hungry, to play with a sense of urgency and want to win a championship after they've won one or two, that is a gift. Phil Jackson has it. That's why he's the best coach of all time. Thank you for listening to the Hoops on Fox podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a five star review, letting us know what you think of the show.


You will suffer You will have tribulations. You will have obstacles that come in your life that you are not going to overcome Let me just say this again. You are not going to overcome everything in your life at least everything physical There are some things that you will not defeat. There are some weapons Another broadcast another day that will come against you and you will not win But guess what you're not necessarily supposed to win Overall, you're gonna be victorious. Overall, you're going to win. There's gonna be pain and suffering in your life Somebody might catch cancer somebody might get cancer and may not defeat it Somebody might lose their job and may not get enough one back someone might pass away in your family and There's nothing you can do about it Something bad is going to happen in your life and There's gonna be something that's gonna happen in someone else's life You're gonna have some struggling days.  I mean Lord, don't you love me and Since you love me and you want the best for me Doesn't that necessarily mean that I shouldn't have to struggle and suffer and have pain You would think that you you would think that but let me just say this as a matter of fact The Bible actually tells us that it's not going to be that way as a matter of fact Jesus puts this statement He says this he says these things I have spoken to you so that in me you may have peace in the world. You have tribulations, but take courage I have overcome the world. What does that mean? Well that he's giving us a heads up He's letting us know that some things are going to happen now I don't know if you all have seen the movie taken if you've seen the movie taken there is a scene that For some reason, I don't know why every time I think about this I think about that scene every time I watch the movie and see that scene I think about this. I think about going through suffering I think about because he tells his daughter that Something is going to happen.  I need you to listen. I need you to pay attention This is the hardest part. This is the most important part. You're going to be taken Jesus is kind of saying the same thing. I want you to understand something This is the hard part. You are going to have tribulations. You're going to suffer You are going to have persecutions People are going to come against you and on many times it won't be your fault now There are times though and we need to be honest That there are reasons why we go through suffering that has nothing to do with anyone else It may have everything to do with us There are times where our suffering is brought about our own doing because of sin Sometimes when we sin there necessarily needs to be some punishment to correct us now There's the punishment comes for two reason When punishment comes from God when cuff when suffering is a result of what God is doing There's only two reasons for it.  Well, then the likelihood is that it's not to kill you The likelihood that the punishment is not to crush you and destroy you But to discipline you to correct you to move you in the right direction Which means he loves you enough to do that He has not given it when God is getting up on you then that's it if he said you know what I'm through I'm out with and that's it you're not changing his mind But when he said if he has determined that he is going to see you through Then amen now, obviously, we don't always know the end Obviously, there are times where we just don't get it. We don't we don't Lord. What are you doing? Because what if what you're going through though isn't sin I can understand if the suffering that I'm going through is not sin related It's just for some other reason. Well, there are some passages that we get and honestly that they don't It almost seems like it's just kind of cold-hearted, right? Let's see what Paul says Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power Will be of God and not from ourselves Notice what he says. He says we are afflicted on in every way, but not crushed Perplexed we don't quite understand it, but we are not despairing. Well, let's stop there for a second Let's Paul I call foul wait a minute Paul wait a minute Paul you said you said perplexed but not Dispairing now you yourself Paul even said that we disparate even of life itself and sometimes I'm disparate I Don't know what I'm distraught as distraught can be I'm hanging on by a thread and that thread is starting to tear So you're telling me we're not know this is what he's saying. We're doing this there's something in you Have you ever have you ever gotten to the point to where it felt so bad and it felt like this was the end but something Something just kind of kept you going. You don't know what it is, but something kept moving in you You don't know where that's true. You thought all was lost, but next thing, you know, you woke up the next morning You thought this is gonna be the end of I don't see how I'm going to make it through the next thing, you know It's tomorrow Is that just me know it's you also so he says we are not despairing so these little when we get over these dark nights When we overcome these dark nights and we don't see morning coming, but then morning comes You know, it does it gives us extra encouragement even if we don't think about it. It gives us enough Motivation to go to the next day and so he says not despairing persecuted but not forsaken He has not forsaken a struck down but not destroyed always caring about the In the body the dying of Jesus Christ so that the life of Jesus may also may be manifested in our body Look at he says for we are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus's sake. I Want you to highlight that for Jesus's sake? You are going to go through a lot and I'm gonna tell you why in a little bit I'm gonna tell you why you're constantly you are marked to go through a lot. We are we are Constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus's sake So that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh so that death Works in us, but life in you But the past that he just stated before so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh You know that means and I I kind of want to say that but no I'm gonna go to this right now There are people that are looking at you Now there are some of them looking at you that are kind of just shaking their head There are some people that look at you and think that I have poor soul that one of my favorite passages is is Psalm 3 Lord, how are they increased who troubled me many are they that rise up against me many there be Would say of my soul and yes, I'm quoting the King James version. There is no help for him in God That is where you're going through it. You feel bad and Even people look and say not even God can help that he's through has anybody ever written you off Has anybody ever written you off? I've been written off a few times as a matter of fact I was written off and done away with and forgotten about but ta-da here. I am Hey, did y'all see court your court Cory's out.  He says the sawman said David says but thou oh Lord are a shield for me They said there is not and there is no help to Kate.  And so he says I cried to the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy heels And so one of the one of the truest ways that you could know that you're his is if you know that you're his Let me say that again One of the truest ways that you can know that you Belong to him is that you know you belong to him. What core you're talking in the riddles No, here's what I mean when you cry out who do you cry out to? See I cry out to my father because that's who I know sustains me I don't I don't get on the internet. I don't go to YouTube boo-hooing boo-hooing complaining I'm not calling on friends. Hey man. It's rough. I didn't know knew no No, I call on the one who I know I belong to One of the truest ways that you know that you belong to him is that you know that you belong to him Because if you know that you belong to him, then you'll let him know that you know you belong him and you'll cry out to him and so People are gonna see you.  They're gonna think it's over for him Yeah, yeah, he had a good run, but that's it. She she had a good life, but you know, that's that's it Got us through with her, you know No, we haven't peaked yet We have not peaked our best days are ahead of us now our best days may not even be Not even may are not gonna be on our planet But even on this planet, we still have some good days left may not be our strongest days May not be our physically best days They mean that it's not either But there's still a lot of life left. I said this before and I mean this If there is purpose that God has for you Then as long as there's a purpose for you and something for you to do then you are invincible You are literally immortal.  That's why Jesus says this. He says these things. I've spoken to you so that in me you may have peace You're going to have persecution one because you're christian Two because yeah, yeah, you're gonna make mistakes. You're gonna mess up and so You need to understand that the suffering the struggles you go through the pain Lord, I've been dealing with this with this health issue this ailment forever Seems like it won't go away and why won't because you're god Listen lord, I don't I don't go to some of these The snake oil salesman. I don't go to I don't go to Benny here and ask them to to wave their hand over I don't I don't do that. I trust you And as long as I've been trusting you lord, I still have this ailment I still got this sickness. I still got this disease. I still got this infirmity. I still got this problem And why won't you take it away? Why won't you take it away? Well because he says For others, let's go back to it again He says verse, uh, where were we at verse. I'm sorry wrong passage wrong passage Back to verse 11. He says so that the life of jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh So the light y'all do realize that jesus was victorious, right? Y'all do realize that jesus was victorious and so that very same victorious life will be in you Now some people again wrote him off. You don't believe they wrote jesus off Go to the scene of the crime go to the cross They were shaking their heads at him. Look at him.  He'll be back And so there are people that are going to look at you and they're going to see you now Can I tell you what really be wrong? Can I tell you what is kind of insulting if you think about it? Now what you think about it this way You're going through some things and you're wondering why me lord Now think to think that god chose you to use you in the situation in the state that you're in To think that that's what he did The thing that he chose you because he it's not like what you're going through he didn't know And that he can't fix it. He can't take you out of it But he's got you going through something he's allowing you to go through He's allowing you to go through it while suffering while in pain while struggling And sometimes with some sort of maybe addiction maybe a stronghold some sort of sin or weight that you're trying to get past To think that god chose you And then you doubt You doubt And so really causing doubt in his decision-making to think that he made that he made a mistake in choosing you That's really to impugn his decision-making To think that he didn't know what he was doing when choosing you Can I tell you he knows exactly what he's doing and he knows exactly who you are and he knows exactly what you can stand Matter of fact, it's even sad when you think about it that even the enemy even the devil knows exactly what you can stand And you don't It should be that you know a little bit more about yourself than the devil does Because guess what you're not going through anything that you can't handle that you can't deal with As a matter of fact, let's go and look at what what paul says again He says paul says in roman's eight He says for i consider that the sufferings of this present time name name the suffering you pick it you choose I just pick one You pick it cancer.  Whatever the suffering is he says that I am I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory That is revealed to us for the anxious longing for the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of god For in for the creation was subjected to futility now understand the whole creation has been subject to the same suffering And creation is longing for this redemption to show up Now notice what he says and not only this but we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit having the spirit in us Even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons We know the spirit in us lets us know that it's coming But for some of us, let's be honest not fast enough for in hope We have been saved but hope that is seen is not hope for who hoped for what he already sees But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it in the same way This is where this passage gets misused so often in the same way The spirit also helps our weakness Remember I said that that that night it said night and you don't know how you're going to get going What's going to move you through here? It is in the same way The spirit also helps our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should But the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words And he who searches the heart knows What the mind of the spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of god Here it is And we know that god causes all these things What things? What did he just talk about What was he just the suffering The stuff that you go I'm gonna all of that stuff. I'm gonna have it to it Now the word that's used here this causing is sooner gay, which is him working with god is literally working with all those things Give me your cancer. Give me your lupus. Give me your diabetes. Give me your heart ailment Give me your blindness. Give me your poverty. Give me your frailty. Give me your anxiety Give me your insecurities. Give me all of these things And watch me work them for help watch me god not me cori but god watch god Take those things and work them for the good to those who love them that includes you and that includes all of us Why is that important because somebody guys remember this? Somebody's looking at you Somebody is looking at you. Let me just can I just can I just give a roll call?    Sierra. Somebody is watching you Somebody is Janice. Somebody's looking at you What are you gonna give them to see What are you gonna show them Somebody's literally looking at you and they're taking notes Now there are two people that are looking at you. You you know one group one group You know very well. Those are the haters. They they are looking. Uh-huh Look at how she act Look at them. But there are other folks that are looking to learn There are other people that are looking to see and this is one of the reasons why he doesn't Let me just say let me back up for a second. There's four reasons Why you suffer there's four reasons why God has not taken all the pain away There's four reasons why you still struggle one. We talked about earlier sin That's the first reason the second reason is so free you to grow And we'll cover these a little bit more. So one because of sin We understand that I've messed up. I did wrong. Okay. I gotta suffer for that And the suffering I don't determine how long the suffer is gonna be I think the suffering should be a slap on the wrist I think the suffering should be five minutes, but it might be five years. It might be five decades But because of sin the second reason is to grow to grow me. I'm suffering I'm struggling so he can grow me. We'll talk about that even more as we go The third reason is to show God To show yourself who God is We'll talk about that the fourth reason So we got because of sin to grow to show God and to show others God the fourth reason Somebody we're talking about now somebody is watching you Somebody wants to see how you grow in this somebody wants to see God working in you I've been struggling with alcoholism for so long. I've been trying to get past it and just when I think I got a lick I might mess up. I've been dealing with these drugs or I've been dealing with porn or I've been dealing with lust Or I've been dealing with anger. I've been dealing with all these different things And every now and then I'll have a little bit of relapse. Why? When some people who are having the same struggles, they seem to just like that is gone There are people that have struggled with drugs and bam soon as they place their faith in Christ No desire for it. And then there's others that just seem to struggle Why is that? Why haven't you take this This lust this desire this simple desire away from me This I as paul says I want to do good my desires to do good but the things that I don't want to do I keep doing it Why is that? Could you imagine seeing now paul doesn't go over all the things that he struggled with But could you imagine if a person could see what paul was struggling with could you imagine the person watching paul Worked to his struggles. What did you think? What do you think that person who's who could actually see paul dealing with his struggles dealing with his frailties And to see him moving. What do you think that would do for that person? Could you imagine watching paul struggle and suffer paul is pinning some of these letters to encourage us Even from his jail cell and this ain't like the regular jail cell It's not it's not like it's not see a lot of prisons. There's air conditioning A lot of prisons. There's cable tv. There's there's a weight pile. There's all kind of stuff Not in paul's prison Some of the days he's chained either to the to the to the door or to a guard And and in many cases some cases he might not have even been able to stand totally upright And you do realize they didn't have showers and toilets in his in his cell Not the cleanest place and obviously cold because he's asking can you bring my can you bring my coat? Can you bring my cloak? But he's encouraging us paul is encouraging us So could you imagine looking at paul and thinking you know what? If this old man can make it and he's giving lord of god, what what can I do? Which is why he says all these things are working for the good to those Not just paul himself but all those people that are watching him Those who are called according to his purpose The whole point is to be in his purpose for those whom he foreknew he I'm sorry. He also predestined to become conformed into the image of the sun That he would be the firstborn among many brothers now there's nothing Absolutely nothing that can take you away from him. He says what shall we say then of these things have got us for us Who is or who could be against us? Nobody nobody nobody and let me say it one more time. Nobody I don't care who was talking trash.  Yeah, I'm down and out Yeah, I'm in I'm in I'm in week one of my 20 year sentence. Yep, bring it on But my bolstering won't be in me anyway My bolstering is going to be in whatever god does it if he decides to kill me or praise god I get to go to heaven a lot sooner than I thought If he strings me out and makes it into some sort of comeback story Well, praise god if I'm out on the doc's work and no one ever gets to hear of me again Praise god because he knows my name And so what can separate look what he says He who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all how will he not also With him freely give us all things The things that will benefit us not the things we want Who will bring a charge against us against god's elect who is the god is the one who justifies Who is the one who condemns so there's nothing that's going to happen. There's nothing that's going to separate us Nothing nothing absolutely nothing can separate us who will separate us Will tribulation do so nope distress nope persecution nope Fam most of us wouldn't know a famine if we saw a famine because we got a refrigerator full of food Uh a famine for us is if I can't eat four meals a day, you know three meals plus a good snack That's probably coming at some point in time. I don't have enough clothes All of these things uh someone is literally trying to hurt me peril sword. No None of those things are going to be able to separate us now. I said that god wants to grow you God wants to grow you Again, all of these things are working for our benefit And so he says now notice what paul says In philippians 4 I this is one of my favorite set of passages By the way in this passage, there's there's a particular passage that always gets I should say always But in many cases, it's one of the passages that get taken out of context Most often But I rejoice this is philippians 4 10, but I rejoice in the lord greatly that now at last you have revived You're concerned for me indeed you were concerned before but you lacked an opportunity to show it basically Not that I speak from want for I have learned to be content in whatever Circumstances I'm in I'll talk about that and just I'll I'll come back to verse 11 in a second I know how to get along with the hunt with humble means and I also know how to long Know how to live in prosperity I know how to have a fat bank account and live well We all know how to do that but but I've also had a bunch of times where there was nothing there Matter of fact matter of fact when your bank account has a line before you get to a number, you know that line you I'm not the only one that knows that line is in your bank account the first thing you see it's a negative negative something Yeah, I've learned how to live that way as well And so I know how to get along with humble means I know how to live in prosperity in every and in every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry both having abundance and suffering need Look what he says That I can do all things these things He just spoke about I can do them through him who strengthens me which is why going back to verse 11 He says I have learned that whatever state I'm in to be content. This is to grow you Everybody hates going through something I mean listen if you like going through trials and tribulations and so forth well then fine Let me know so I can give you mine, but no one likes it. No one is Yay, the lights are off. Yay. I don't have enough money for this. Yay my whatever sickness is flaring up Yay, these people are coming against me. No one is like that. No one no no one doesn't But can can I tell you what's funny about us? Look first of all, let me just do this. Let me just do this Let me put it on the screen Let me just see all the people in the chats That are 40 and up I'm not I don't want to get on the I understand you 39 and a half and 39 and seven eights months or whatever 39 and 11 months No, anyone 39 and under don't know but everyone that's 40 and up. I'm gonna I'm gonna show you guys something Everyone that's 40 and up everyone's gonna get something out of it So if you're 40 and up just say yes now, of course folks are gonna start putting their ages in because For some reason when you get old You start you you become proud of your age.  Look at all these old folks Now, let me tell you what's weird about getting old. This is it's absolutely Astonishing it's funny.  I'm 20 Lord, I don't want to be 50. I'll never forget having a conversation with a guy I am 28 29 and we were talking about how you know, there are some older women He said there's nothing more attractive than a nice looking older woman, right? I'm thinking he's talking 30 to 31. He said about 40 45. I said, uh I said, ooh yuck 40 40 what Because I'm in my 20s.   Don't take a second to get up straight. It's just the audience Lord help us if you got to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night But there's something weird something funny about getting old Something just it's just funny about getting old and I can promise you everybody in the chats who's 40 and over Especially 50 and over and 60. I can't I'm pretty sure it's 70 When you go back now tell me if I'm wrong You're alive today. You must be alive today because you're literally chatting If that's not you someone stole your account I praise God. They're still representing you here, but You're 40 you're 50 you're 60 You have not only gone around the block a few times. You've been drug around the block a few times Do you know what we do as older people the older we get? We look back on all those struggles and smile and think fun like that was like a great memory Well, I remember the time that our lives that I remember we got all those things I remember going through bankruptcy. I remember being a victim. I remember these reposites We look at all those bad things and smiling things falling like and people like what are you smiling for? Tell you why I'm smiling because it taught me I grew from it I don't do that anymore because I don't want to make a 20 year old mistake when I'm 50 I don't want to make a 35 year old mistake when I'm 60 Harder to recover But there's wisdom in every single older person in this chat 40 and older. They're like, yeah, yeah, you're right Yeah, even even the time that this guy broke my heart this girl broke my heart. This happened.  That's what pain does Even when you're going if you're going through it right now It's not as bad as when you first started anybody going through something The longer you go through it is almost like it becomes a friend You can relate to it Now here come some of you guys have a have a medicine cabinet And if you lined up the pills You can probably line up your pills from here probably with a good mile on just line them up from in the end Someone's got a bunch of pills on cabinets, right? Become our friend When you first started taking man, you couldn't stand it now. That's old hat I know a guy that uh, one of my buddies Um has to take the little pins and prick himself and so forth. Sometimes you give himself a shot Why that could ah, I'm not doing that. You know what killed me He said I thought the same thing until I first had until I well one if your life's on the line You'll do it two after a while. That's no big deal All of your problems have taught you something And so this is what paul estate. He says in whatever state I'm in I have learned to be content. Remember Paul Can be boastful. He tells us that Matter of fact, paul says I'm not gonna I I could boast about this and I can boast about that I can boast about how I I'm not gonna boast about how I did this this all the good things I'm not any boast about even paul wants to boast about all the bad things But what I will boast in is is him And why does he say so? Paul says so that when I'm weak You know what, you know, I'm strong as a matter of fact, let's go to what he says in second Corinthians 12 9 He says and he has said to me my grace is sufficient for you. This is paul saying lord Can you do old paul a solid now? This is me. I'm in I'm giving I'm saying how paul would say it If paul were living in 2023 Lord, can you help an apostle out? Can you do me a solid? This thorn in the flesh this issue. Can you can you do something about it? Can you take can you take it away because it I I honestly lord I could do without Please so much so paul asked three times God says nope Hush up paul My grace is sufficient. What's paul's response? Why boohoo? Let me go and cry. Let me make a song. Let me sing Something about how I got over. No, that's not what paul says That's not how paul returns paul says most gladly therefore. I will rather boast about my weakness So that the power of christ may dwell in me Why therefore I am well content with my with the weaknesses with insults with distress with persecutions with difficulties For christ's sake for when I am weak, then I'm strong. You got something bad to say about me say it Cory that man made all him videos about you. Okay, you know what make 50 more Hey, this person called you this. Hey, let him come talk to me. This person wants to do this. Come on. Do it What are you going to do that? He can't stop and if he ain't gonna stop it then so what? Just more to glorify him more to grow me And we can listen we can be we can be a little bit braggadocious What if it don't kill me make me stronger and so all you're doing is is building a bigger stronger version of me Of the person that god is in Can you imagine taking taking god? Taking the spirit of god that dwells in you And strengthening it with with with weaknesses with failures with insults with persecutions And letting because he because he just he just said I didn't say it He says he don't take those things and make them work for the good in you and others That would be foolish if you think about it It's almost like if if the if they knew better, they would not have crucified christ But they didn't know any better. So if you if you knew better, you wouldn't do these things But fine bring them because when i'm weak How am I stronger because I then in turn I then in turn lean on him I lean on him Clark Kent is on the bus. So i'm not going to complain about what's happening Or more importantly Jesus is in the boat Yes, there's a storm Yes, the waves are are just beating up against the boat. We're being rocked back and forth All this rain is coming down the winds and so forth Looks bad But Jesus is in the boat So if jesus is in the boat and this is what he rebuked them for you of little faith I'm in the boat I'm not going to perish So why would you perish jesus is lived i've been through enough things Guys i've i've i've been through enough To where yeah, there are things that yeah, I don't like it It can get me down. I don't want I don't want to give the picture that i'm never bothered There are times where i'm bothered and I wish we could fix this and do that but Because of what paul says i've gone through all those things This is where I get to show god in me You don't get to see it as much as others My wife gets to see it and she wonders why I can sometimes be non-chalant and sometimes I because I don't I may not always show I may not always show the emotions that she thinks that that maybe I ought to because hey, you hear what you see What's happening and and and and I have literally seen well, I haven't seen as bad as it could get. I'm not going to say that There are people that have seen a lot worse than I've seen But I've seen enough bad to know that uh what i'm going through I can I can handle it I can deal with it Not that not to worry. I can make it go away. I've just learned how to suffer in christ Sounds weird, but I've learned how to suffer in christ Because when you suffer in christ You end up forgetting about the suffering and focus on the in christ Yeah, I I know what it's like being homeless Trying to figure out how you're gonna eat where you're gonna stay where you're gonna go to can I get a job? I'll never forget being homeless Trying to save up some money Got an apartment no no Furniture in the apartment No furniture in the apartment And I said I'm still young Let me get back into college Save up some money. I'm working Over time double time triple time Triple time. Hey, you need somebody to cover this shift. I I got you Didn't have a car. I was working as a nurse aid Yeah, they they they would hire me they hired me as a nurse aid And you know, you wear these little nurse scrubs Nurses know this too these little nurse scrubs and I'll never forget I I'm trying to pick up work now It's free this I'm in Indianapolis. It's freezing one year I mean and I'm not exaggerating this one particular year I think the the wind chill was close to negative 30 negative 40 someone in area And I'm freezing and so I have to walk fast and jog to the to the job And then back home come back home. It's so cold. I've got my keys in my pocket And I pulled my keys out I can't grab them because I got these big thick gloves on so what do I do Put the key in my mouth while I pull the gloves off What does the key do because it's so cold the key has stuck to my tongue So cold but that's what I would do just to Work to get some money so I can get myself back in school I save a little bit of money and someone steals it Someone steals it all that hard work You know I said, you know what I'll keep pushing again. I'm not gonna complain about it won't happen again But I'll keep working and keep working.  What do you mean?  Did you where where are the things that you've gone through? Can someone please tell me the actual chronological location of the things that you've gone through This this where are the things that you've gone through all the bad stuff that's happened Somebody in this chat has been sexually assaulted molested or touched in the wrong way somebody has Somebody has Somebody has been jumped beat up. Somebody's been shot. Someone's been in jail. I'm not the only one in this chat That's been in jail. Someone has lost a lot of money. Someone's lost someone has lost a whole lot Someone's going through some physical things and has gone through where all those trials all those things at Can someone please tell me where all of those things that you've dealt with in the past? Where are they? behind me So what does that mean that literally means you've overcome it that literally now are there more things to come sure But you're the woman for the job You are the man for the job You know how I know you are because you literally have the lord living in you. You have the spirit of god living in you Please tell me why you're complaining.  I have a lot of medical problems. I can't do easy math or spell complicated words I'm financial emotionally financial emotional burden on my family But praise god But but praise god as a matter of fact, let's do what we're supposed to father god Just ask you lord that you would touch troi That you would give him confidence in you That you would encourage his heart and lord god that you would make him a living example and a testimony for others to see God let him know that you are going to do things in him may not be delivered from everything But in the very end lord god, there's something later for him lord god So give him strength give him encouragement as he goes through whatever it is Father, you know what you've placed on him and what you placed in his way And father, I pray that he knows that you are with him God, I ask you that you encourage him and everyone else lord in jesus name.  You are struck down but not destroyed You are let's let's read it again Let's read again, but he says we are afflicted in every way but not crushed Perplexed but not despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed Still breathing you still breathing Yeah, you still breathing Yes, you're still breathing and so because of that because you've made it through the other things Then he he's already demonstrated that he's giving you the strength to make it through all of those things Now notice what paul says to timothy And by the way paul is not as young as we think he is he's not a little kid when paul tells him That he says let no one look down on your youthfulness But rather in speech conduct love faith and purity show yourself an example of those who believe let somebody see you Let somebody see you you're going through something highlight the fact that you're that he's bringing you through it Don't let it ever be that you're the kind of person that talks more about the problems than the him that's bringing you through the problems After talking to me I would hope that whatever i'm going through That you're encouraged about what god is doing I don't want I don't want you to leave after talking to me feeling bad about me I I never and it's not a pride thing. I want to highlight what god is doing in me Why are you suffering? Why not? Somebody has got to see some If there's going to be somebody that's going to struggle and suffer why shouldn't why should it not be the christians? Because could you imagine if only christians? You would think I used to think this That christians should be the ones that never suffered the non christians Those are the ones that that that should suffer us christians. We shouldn't suffer People should be able to see us and see that if you serve god then only good things happen But our leader our fearless leader literally was crucified No The drug addict should be able to look at the former drug addict or the struggling drug addict who's in christ The person who's dealing with their sexual identity their struggles in christ.  I desire to be delivered from that And it's a struggle for me But I see this person over here who has gone through it and so this person Gives me hope if they can do it dawg on and I can let me go talk to that person Could you come talk to me and ask me what it's like to get past some sort of drug addiction? No couldn't help you I got some other things I could probably talk to you about but you might think yeah, but this person over here um Percy, I hope there's nobody Percy named Percy the chance. I'm just throwing a name Percy or Ethel They've dealt with drug struggles How did you make it out? Ethel Johnny may they've had somebody um accost them or assault them sexually How how did you deal with that? Because there's some little girl Some little boy or some adult girl or some adult boy a male female that's struggling with it Don't know how to cope Let me help you cope That's why you're doing one because of sin we get that but two to grow to grow you you do realize that You have not resisted the point of shedding your blood in your striving against sin So you're so because of the sin You're not dying as a result You're not you're not gonna down the cross as a result of it and you have forgotten the exhortation Which is addressed us as my son Do not regard lightly the discipline of the lord for faint Nor faint when you are reproved by him If you're not being disciplined by him then then then guess what you're not you're not his his child You're not his son. You're not his daughter.  Well, I'm been left on this earth to still suffer But I'm growing through it Because think about the person Have you ever met someone now there there really truth be told there really is no such person But there are some people who just haven't really gone through as much as you you look around No, nobody's had to go through what I've had to go through it seemed like all my co-workers had it easier than me Well, that's not necessarily true. But the person that seems like they haven't gone through a lot You don't have a whole lot of confidence in their leadership in their direction You don't okay. That's a nice person sweet person whatever, but That person over there That's gone through it And look at them now Think about the people we're talking think about joseph Joseph's story is joseph's story because of where he came from Same thing with moses Say pick the person that you think about often in the bible some of our greatest characters that we look to They went through some things didn't they Jonah's story can teach us I've never been in the belly of a will don't want to be in the belly of a will But then we look at people today who have gone through some things who over One of the greatest stories that I that you can think of is nelson-mandela story That was a hard story for him to go through hard for him to go through and and to hear about it Now, I don't know what his relationship was it isn't christ have no idea But you see people like that who have gone through some things The johnny the johnny erickson tithes of the world You see these people that have suffered and you just marvel Especially someone who has faith is you just marvel at that person's faith I when I was in prison I wrote on my books So we you know, we would cover our books up with paper so the outside won't get messed up and I would write on them Do something amazing Do something amazing Why don't you make up in your mind? I'm gonna do something amazing I'm gonna do something amazing. What am I gonna do amazing?  Because you're supposed to You are supposed to does anyone not know that life is a contact sport Does anyone not know that when you play certain sports, you're going to get hit and hit hard You can expect to be tackled. You can expect to be thrown around But we're still portion towards it life is a contact sport and people While you're playing it are going to hate on you They're going to dump on you. They're going to throw stuff at you. They're going to say all sorts of mean things about you They might even make a video about it. They might post something on Instagram or facebook or x or whatever it's called now They might even go and dig up My space and put stuff on there about you They might go to the local bathroom and spray paint graffiti They're going to say and do all these different things. So what? So what I want to leave you one thing as we get ready to go out I want to leave you one thing Is it going to sound heartless? But it's not You're going through something. So Struggling financially. So Cory, I need a job I need a job that I'm gonna lose my car. So So Cory my health is fading So So what? Not that we don't care But so in the sense that It doesn't compare with as paul says with what i'm going to receive now Does it mean that i don't do anything about that that i don't fight that i don't try to Want get a job? Yeah, I do those things But in the grand scheme thing None of these things are as big as what i'm going to get. I'll put it this way Could you imagine? Could you imagine? Could you imagine? You come home The lights are turned off The water's off There's an eviction notice Or a foreclosure notice There is a pickup truck that's outside the house coming to repossess your car Nothing but bills But could you imagine also though at that same point in time that You just had an inheritance You also opened a letter and you see that your great great uncle bernie died and left you because there's no one else that he liked left you a million dollars See perspective can make those other things. You know what? Hey Guy that's here to repossess the car. Let me help you hook it up Take it away You want to you want to kick me out of this house? fine In light of what I have going forward Now the reason why I say so do you know so is part of the root for the word salvation? So say So so So i'm saved So i'm saved So therefore Whatever is happening. Will I try to help it? Will I try to fix it? Sure But in the meantime my eyes still focus on christ because I can promise you this If you seek him the things that you want he'll add to you. He knows what you have need of you're going to make it You know how you know how you know you're going to make it Do you know how you know you're going to make it?  You've been making it.  You've been making it. You're 60 your whole life has been a life lived of overcoming But isn't that what we're called aren't we called the overcoming ones? Aren't we didn't he say that those that are believing in him are the ones that are overcoming? And who are the overcoming ones those that he has placed his spirit in their hearts who has been born from above The ones that were caused me so if that's you he already stated that you're one of the overcoming ones So so what that you want to persecute me? I've my entire life. I have lived Overcoming stuff. So now Here is my focus Here is my focus I know That my entire life. I've lived overcoming stuff Now I need to make it to do my very best to let everybody else know That I live my life overcoming that I've been it's what I do It's what I do the back of my jersey said doesn't say minors is overcoming Yep I got I got it written on my socks Overcomer I got a tattooed on my chest. I got a tattooed on my arm Overcomer not really But I want to live my life making sure folks know that I'm overcoming not on my own But in Jesus And that's what you have to do Because again, there's somebody there that needs to hear your story at the end of your story hadn't happened yet And so in the meantime make it your focus to glorify god as you're overcoming all that you've gone through Because he's chosen you to be the vessel to bring about his glory Amen