So once again, hello everyone and welcome to today's online workshop today's topic is GPL in the WordPress training teams vetting process So I'm Ben and today I have O'Neill and the two of us will be presenting What GPL is and how we use it in the training teams vetting process? So today we'll be looking at first of all what open source is and what free software is The second point what the GPL software license is in general and then third Why the training team looks for GPL adherence when vetting for some roles? And then finally we'll do a bit of a demonstration of how we actually vet applications I'm so you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at how we go about doing that. All right So jumping right in What is open source? So you may have heard of the word before Open source is software with source code that anyone can inspect modify and enhance so Open source is where this the source code the code behind a piece of software is Open and free for anyone to have a look at to change and modify to meet their needs so the opposite of open source is propriety software and When you purchase software from a lot of companies like to install into your computer They used to come a like CD-ROMs or even floppy disk before that this software would have been compiled and So into a machine Into into a format that can only be read by a machine So a human could not look at the code and make changes because it was already compiled and encrypted So that only machines could run the software So that's how different companies protected their software. They would compile it and sell it about open source keeps the code Uncompiled so people can still examine the code and make changes if they want to So WordPress is open source. You can have a look at the source code behind WordPress and It's also free software They also want to take a moment to consider what free software is When we when we talk about free software, especially in open source We are talking about freedom and not necessarily price so as It says here the term free in free open source software refers to freedom not monetary cost so in a sense you could have open source you purchase which is still free because it's Provides freedom to the user Wordpress is free in both price and it provides freedom But today in a couple of our slides will be talking about free software and the freedoms of software So I just want everyone to keep in mind. We're not talking about price when we talk about free. We're talking about freedoms and You can fall more you can find more information about oops about the freedoms of open source On a website called open source.org so I'm going to drop that link in the zoom chat here and you can refer to that later So that is a definition of free software so Looking into more details. There are four freedoms included in free software The first one is the freedom to run the program for any purpose so Free software says you can run the program for anything you can run it for Your personal blog you can run it for a non not for profit organization You can run it for a for-profit organization. You can run it for a business You can run it for any purpose The second freedom is the freedom to study how the program works And change it to make it do what you wish So again, this is opposite to propriety software, which has already Compiled the software and encrypted it so you can't really Study it or change it free software gives you the freedom to study and change it So when we provide free software to other people they can change it to match their needs The third freedom is the freedom to redistribute the software so They can then share that software with their friends and they can even make Modifications and then share those modified versions with other people which is the fourth freedom the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to other people So before freedoms are the freedom to run the program freedom to change the program the freedom to redistribute the program and Finally, the troops the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to other people And we'll be looking at these four freedoms In more detail or specifically to the WordPress project in further slides here And again, I have another link here For more information about free software and open source You can have a look at the GNU license Website and they give a bit more information about the freedoms provided in free software So let me just pause there quickly. Are there any questions so far? We've been talking about very general concepts of open source and freedom. We'll dive into WordPress specific things next Are there anything any questions or anything you want clarified? No, we won't thank you. All right Well, so what does this mean for WordPress specifically? So the WordPress project we also The WordPress project also has these four freedoms connected to its software the WordPress software is licensed under the general public license which is often shortened to GPL and specifically The GPL states this WordPress can be run by anyone for any purpose Anyone can study any aspect of the WordPress code WordPress can be downloaded and shared with and by anyone and Finally, anyone can download and modify WordPress and distribute modified copies So this is basically the four freedoms we talked about before But as it applies to the WordPress project now The GP Sorry, the GPL license the general public license dates that any software So any modified software or any derivative software of a GPL license software Must also carry the GPL license So you can download WordPress. You can modify WordPress. You can redistribute WordPress But when you redistribute WordPress, you must also add the GPL license to that redistributed version of WordPress that is the old In my mind the only requirement that comes with the GPL license the requirement to add the GPL license to any modified versions of the original software So that means you can't download WordPress make changes and then sell that changed version of WordPress to a limited number of people like Your software has to be so you can't sell like a compiled version of that WordPress your software your modified version also has to be Available for anybody to write it also has to be Studyable by anybody and it needs to be able to be redistributed by other people So the GPL license talks about the modified versions of WordPress, but it also talks about the derivative works So anything that needs WordPress to run must also carry the GPL license so if you have Extra code that sort of connects to WordPress and these extra pieces of code need WordPress in order to run and Then these extra pieces of code should also carry the GPL license Which is the freedom to run it for any purpose study it and download it and share it and share modified versions In for WordPress specifically these derivative works these extra add-ons are called plugins and themes So for the WordPress project Plug-in authors and theme authors are asked to Make their plugins and themes available with the same freedoms Attached to the main WordPress software because plugins and things need WordPress in order to work Plug-ins and themes also should carry the GPL freedoms So talking a bit more detail. What is the GPL? The GPL is I'm reading some notes here. So if I if I'm looking down like this, please forgive me Let's see. So the GPL license was originally written in 1989 by the free software foundation and It is the founding license for open source software So The GPL was created so that Rather than restricting distribution It allows people to distribute their code So let me read the GPL was set to make it so that source code would be distributed more It would be shared more amongst people and improved more So let's see propriety software, which doesn't carry the freedoms is Created by usually one one company and their developers and they're the only people who can make changes and updates and They choose who they want to sell it to GPL takes a totally different approach and says little share our software little make it better together and It was the one of the founding philosophies of the open source concepts in the world So the GPL states if you take a piece of software that's licensed under GPL and create a derivative work of it That derivative work must also be licensed with GPL This is important because if you don't honor the GPL the license to use the source program Will terminate and it would breach the terms of usage So if you were to create a derivative work that isn't licensed with GPL Then you'd actually be breaking the terms and conditions you signed up to when using the original GPL license And this means people are free to fork License software So when you fork software you take a copy of something and you make modifications So the main software keeps on developing And gets updates and you make and you sort of branch off from that And so you can add your own updates and your own features to this forked piece of software and the GPL actually protects this because People are allowed to make modifications and then share their modifications So GPL makes forking software Possible as long as the forked software also carries the GPL license a Copy of the GPL license is actually included with every WordPress installation You may not have ever looked in the source code to find the license before But we also have the text you can also have a look at the text of the GPL license at this link I've just added to the zoom chat Alright, so that's that's a little background and technical information about the GPL Any questions so far hopefully I haven't made it too confusing here Rico, okay What does the whole licensing issue look like in terms of teaching? Is there anything to consider? How does it look when the school pays me to produce teaching materials? Can I also mention the school as a sponsor in videos and documentation, etc? Okay, that's a good point because We talk about Paid Paid features and the GPL license in a few more slides So let me hold that question for just a few more slides and we'll get to that GPL a quick answer is GPL doesn't prohibit Telling things like you can make money off GPL licensed software But there are some things to take in consideration, so we'll get to that question in just a moment But thank you for asking that All right, so WordPress is licensed under GPL which protects for freedoms and We talked about how derivative works must also carry the GPL license and carry the same for freedoms So now we're going to narrow in further and look at plugins and themes So WordPress has plugins and themes. What how does GPL apply to plugins and things? So again, we have four freedoms Number one a plugin or thing can be used by anyone for any purpose so if if somebody is Distributing a plug-in and saying this can only be used by schools Then they're actually restricting this first freedom The GPL says plug-in to things can be used by anyone so we can't they shouldn't restrict who is allowed to use it The second freedom anyone can study any aspect of the plugin theme and code so Plug-ins and themes aren't compiled when they're distributed their source code is open and anybody can study them Thirdly a plug-in or thing can be downloaded and shared with and by anyone so Technically you could Ask a fee to distribute a plug-in to somebody But you can't restrict that person from distributing it further so a Plug-in or thing you distribute can then be downloaded and shared with anyone so you can't restrict How that is redistributed beyond that person you gave it to a Number four anyone can download and modify the plug-in theme and distribute modified copies Again, so plug-ins and themes Anybody can take that modify the code and then share that modified version with other people as well So these are the fourth freedoms as they apply to plugins and themes But in the WordPress ecosystem, you will see there are paid plugins and themes so this is This is why the free software the free in free software is Referring to freedoms and not price because you can have paid for free software So let's have a look at this Play paid plugins and themes can also be GPO compliant if they don't conflict with the fourth freedoms so the important thing is that The the money that is exchanged Isn't restricting the four freedoms we talked about before So for example Some plugins offer Support as part of a subscription. So once you download the plug-in There's an option for you to pay for a year of support This is this is GPO compliant because they're not The plug-in itself isn't restricted you can look at the plug-in you can study the plug-in you can redistribute the plug-in What you are paying for is for the customer service people who are going to respond to your questions So your payment has nothing to do with the freedoms of the software It is for the subscription with that company who are going to be supporting you over the next year So that sort of setup is GPO compliant However, sometimes when you do a Google search you may find plugins or things that say This can only be used on X number of sites and This is not GPO compliant because one of the freedoms of GPO is for you to redistribute the code and so you should have the freedom to Install the code on other sites or other Any number of sites? So if they are restricting the number of sites it can be used on then that is not GPO compliant So let me pause then come to your question recall So you said what does the whole licensing issue look like in terms of teaching? Is there anything to consider? How does it look when the school pays me to produce teaching materials? So when the school pays you for teaching materials They're paying you for your time you invested in creating the curriculum the time you spent teaching it And so That payment has nothing to do with the freedom of the WordPress software you're using in your classes So It is totally acceptable to receive that payment for your teaching And it doesn't conflict with the GPO life and sin And then says can I also mention that schools as a sponsor in videos and documents, etc Yes, so in your personal like videos and documents you can mention these schools are financing your work That is totally okay And I see you just dropped the question here, which isn't English But there are purchase plugins that you can only install on X sites Yes, so WordPress That plugins and themes are gpl compliant But when you look in the world There are plugins and themes that aren't gpl compliant. So they aren't Honoring the four freedoms that should be included in plugins and themes And that is why there is a vetting process for some roles in the training team If every plugin and every theme was gpl compliant automatically then we wouldn't need the vetting process because They don't really be gpl compliant But because there are people who create and distribute plugins and themes in a non gpl compliant way We have to vet applications to make sure they are honoring the gpl system Before they are allowed into some roles in the training team um So That's a good observation reco and that is a good segue into our next slide Where we start looking at the training team specifically So Let's pause for a moment. What is the wordpress training team? So we're moving away from gpl and all that just in general What is the wordpress training? So the wordpress training team helps people learn to use Extend and contribute to wordpress through synchronous and asynchronous learning via learn.wordpress.org so Hopefully people watching this video have seen the learn.wordpress.org website Um, it looks a bit like this We have tutorials. We have lesson plans. We have courses. We also have online workshops So somebody creates this content on one somebody Maintains this content if there's a wordpress update we have to update the content That somebody is the wordpress training team So the wordpress training team is made up of volunteers who said we want to contribute to learn.wordpress.org And presents high quality education material for other people in the world to use as well The training team's vision is to be the coordinator for all the content on learn.wordpress We want learn.wordpress to be the go-to resource for learning and teaching wordpress So Rico you said you're a teacher and If you look in the world there are probably hundreds Maybe thousands of teachers out there who Are creating their own resources their own material to teach wordpress to different age groups different communities Well, what would be ideal is if there if learn.wordpress could be that central hub Where everybody shared their knowledge shared their resources Um, and then you could take that into your communities and teach people there That is the vision of the training team We're not there yet The learn.wordpress website still has a long way to grow But that is our vision. That's what we're working towards So here I've got a table. We call it the training team contributor ladder You don't have to read all the details But what I wanted to point out is at the top here we have some areas of contribution So the training team has content creators. We have editors We have subject matter experts and we have administrators So content creators are the people who make content But we also have editors who review content before it is published Or edit published content When an update needs to be made We also have subject matter experts who are experts of the different content topics Who assist content creators as they make content And then we also have administrators who look after a lot of the The tasks behind the scene that keep the website and the team running Um, and then you'll see down the left here. We have a progression so Of contribution So when people first join the team, they're in the connecting stage And as they contribute more to the team, they move to the engaging stage And then the performing stage And then the leading stage So the training team is made up of different areas of expertise And people move through a Like a growing progression through the team as they contribute more and more to the team Now out of all that Most of those roles can be done by anybody There are just four roles we vet for gpl adherence before they are Even special access to tools Um, and before they're accepted into those roles. So I just want to clarify most of the roles on the table beforehand Um, I'm necessarily vetted for gpl adherence. Um, there are just four roles we vet for Those are faculty members, which are like the mentors in the training team um online workshop facilitators Online workshop co-hosts. So that is like me and Neil today who are presenting in online workshops And tutorial presented So tutorials are our five to ten minute videos on loan wordpress and that talk about a specific topic Now these roles are vetted for gpl adherence Because these people become the face of wordpress in different recordings and in team leadership So I mentioned before um online workshops are recorded and uploaded to wordpress.tv and basically They're there forever. So Even after I die me talking today is going to remain on wordpress tv as a recording forever And so in a sense, I am the face of wordpress The gpl license is very important to wordpress and We we want everyone to follow gpl. Um, Unfortunately, some people don't But that's why we check to make sure people who become the face of wordpress Are following gpl because the gpl license is that important to the wordpress project So these people become the in a sense the face of wordpress and that's why they are vetted for gpl adherence All right, so how are they vetted? so in the training team handbook it says These people that the four roles I mentioned before they must embrace the wordpress license This means that if they are distributing wordpress derivative works such as themes plugins Etc these people or their business should give their users the same freedoms that wordpress itself provides So we've been talking about four freedoms and so if I were to create a plugin or a theme I would be checked beforehand to make sure those plugins or themes Are giving people the same freedoms that the wordpress software itself provides through the gpl license so In short, I don't make plugins or themes. Um, so I don't make derivative works so I am automatically cleared for gpl adherence because I I don't distribute anything But if you were a plugin developer or a theme developer or if you worked for a company that Created plugins or themes then we would check those plugins and themes to make sure they Kept the four freedoms that are included in the gpl license Now how do we do this specifically? um We the the wordpress project has a 22 teams One of them is the community team the community team has created a hundred percent gpl vetting checklist Um, so I'll copy this and put it in the zoom chat here for people And I won't go through all of this now, but you can have a look at this later. Um But the hundred percent gq we are gotten checklist I think it's like a 10 step checklist And like step one That's the speaker so they can distribute or promote wordpress themes If you might all skip to number five if yes continue, so it's like a yes no chat Um, and you just walk through the checklist and go all the way to the bottom And then once you get to the bottom, it says yes, this person is gpl compliant or they're not This is probably one of the best resources we have to help us check gpl compliant Of course, we don't have to follow that but it's a good reference point And it also helps you if you want to apply for these different roles You can sort of have a look at what process we'll be going through in that vetting process So we try to be as transparent as possible this gpl vetting Doesn't happen in secret. We try to be open about what we're checking for why we're checking it But again, if you have any questions, um, you are free to ask us not just in this online workshop We can always join the training team in channel a slack and we'd be happy to answer your questions there And one other thing I want to note is If somebody applies to become say an online workshop presenter And we notice their plugin or thing isn't gpl compliant which we Would like to offer guidance on helping that person make their plugin or theme gpl compliant We're not going to just say now You don't make the cut. Um, what we would actually like to see is You or that or that person Update their plugin in theme so that it is gpl compliant and then it it does carry the four freedoms of the gpl license um Because sometimes people distribute plugins or themes not really understanding the gpl life And so it's not that they intended to prohibit some of the freedoms They just didn't understand it will and so we want to help these people understand why the gpl license is important And help them change their products. Um, so that it is gpl compliant um So, yeah, that brings us to the end of the Explanation and I'll now hand it over to O'Neill for the live demonstration before we move there though Are there any questions people wanted to ask about what we've talked about so far? Sanya, I see you came in later in the session. Thank you for joining um I hope was there anything you wanted us to clarify before we jump into the live demonstration Regal can I also publish learning material at learn.work.org response and mention That is a good question And the training team has a handbook page That talks about let's see So Grand usage guidelines and promotional guidelines So I think your question this promotional guidelines page is going to be the most relevant Um, so I'll copy a link and put them the zoom chat. Yeah um So the quick answer is In most of our resources, we do allow the content creator to do a um A little bit of self promotion so you can mention your name your social accounts But the focus of the content is to be the content and The WordPress project is made up of a lot of Um, I don't know Oh Let me stop that thought. Um, so we want the focus of the content to be the content And we want to promote WordPress and the WordPress brand as much as possible um, so Regarding sponsor mentions, I'm not sure if that's come up specifically in the training team before Have a look at this guide. It might be something. Um, you could ask the training team and we could all consider together to see if it's appropriate or not um I mean, I'm I don't have Enough knowledge to give a yes or no answer right now or neil. Is there something you wanted to add to that? I feel like it's something we'd have to discuss as a team. Yeah, I think so. I've never actually encountered this Yeah, so good question repel um, and yet if if you are interested in joining the training team and um Mentioning your sponsors is something important to you. Then do let us know Um, and it is definitely something the training team can consider Um, let me share one more link. Um, this is the training teams onboarding program So if you're brand new to the training team This link I just dropped in the zoom chat is a good place to start and it will walk you through getting set up with the training team It'll help you um create a slack account So you can join the training team slack and bring your questions there And then the training team would be more than happy to discuss that with you Because we would like to see more contributors. Um, and so yes, please please join us there All right on here. Let me hand it over to you then Um, and you can do a live demonstration of what it looks like to bet a application I'm going to stop my share once and then Do you have the ability to share? Yes, I do. Okay Sharing my screen now. Thank you Ben. Okay. Can you see my screen? Yes, all right. Um, this is just essentially the steps that we take when vetting an application So the first thing that's going to happen once you apply as a Uh tutorial presenter, we're going to receive an email the faculty admin will receive an email We're using ben as an example. He's volunteered his own information as an example here So the first thing you're going to see here is the name of the applicant. So benjamin evans or ben evans You can actually include that in one of your search strings One of the first things I do is check the information that's given here email address One thing you can look at here if there are any previous conversations within help scout which means Ben if ben has communicated with the tutorial with the training team With another part of the learn wordpress group in a previous Conversation, he's applied for another Uh position in the training team like online presenter or tutorial presenter It should appear here if he uses the same email address But if he's using a different one then it'll it won't appear in the same as previous conversations So that's one thing you should check if he's already applied before And then the next thing you should check is The username so you put that which means this is his profile in the in wordpress.org you enter this Into his profile here And then you come up with this information. So you'll see here full name and members since March 23rd. So you copy this information Put it into the list So that you have all of this information that he has location The name of his blog so his website this is can be a Work blog or it can be a personal blog So you can copy this information as well. And then you can also check his github contributions So you can also see if he's actually been active within the wordpress github Job title and the employer. So one thing we like to check also is whether he's working for a company that is gpl compliant whether the the software that they release the Themes that they release are gpl compliant. So you can check here Been working for automatic. So you can check There's actually a list of these companies that are already gpl compliant. This is a complete list Of the companies that create themes. So there's a list and then you can see whether they're gpl compliant here This is just one way of checking if the company is gpl compliant And then you go through the other information what type of tutorials so Ben is looking at creating Different types of tutorials. You can also copy his expertise. So you copy this information It also helps to make a an excel list So that you can add it as a note into the email And then next will be his Social media accounts social media that he included is twitter facebook linked in instagram So you can check all of these twitter Whether it's an active account. You can see the information the company that he contributes to His interaction with other people on wordpress his Attending word camps or meetups within his region within the area You can also check facebook You can also see other information that he does here. He indicates where he works his location. This is just to confirm The information that he's being given he has given in the email LinkedIn is actually very helpful because you'll also see professional connections so people who he works with or he's connected to in professionally and then the activity whether he Contributes to wordpress activities workshops and word camps So that's also the information there and then instagram some people also like to post things that they do on instagram And another thing we also check is whether the person is active on meetup Meetup is where what the software we use for Organizing the events the activities so you can see when ben joined how often he's rspp'd for Activities and when was the last time he visited a group so you can see whether they're also active in the And then another thing we also like to do is do a google search By just the name either the full name or a nickname and then wordpress so you can also see the social accounts whether They're also active Other online activities And then going back to his profile you can also see The contributions of For example ben He has you can see he has multiple badges included with his contribution So he's actually very active in different aspects of the wordpress community translation training as a speaker and wordpress tv contributor and then lower here you can see Other activity within github within the workshops Take even taking the courses and whether they Are active also on slack on writing comments on the forums and if you're already part of the wordpress slack you can also check there if the applicant has uh contributed to the training team meetings And whether they are also active in the discussions So a lot of these things are just basically searching online different places Whether you can see the activities that they've done And then of course you can see make sure that the software that they're producing whether it's plugins or themes or Have the gpl compliance by going through the checklist Then you can determine whether uh, they should be approved or if there are any red flags that we should watch out for or recommend that they can adjust their their gpl license to be able to be compliant for the wordpress Gpl so that they can become part of the wordpress training team And after that we'll reply to Ben and then select And then whether it's approved or declined Then you can just say approved And then reply to his send him his email and then he can Start contributing to the wordpress learn wordpress training team That's all Thank you very much, O'Neil um Does anybody have any questions about that process any questions? Anything you'd like audience to show again I have a question O'Neil just On average, how long would it take you to vet an applicant like is it 5 minutes 15 minutes? Oh, um, for example like the your application you listed your Social accounts that makes it faster makes it easier to find Your presence online If you list your company the company that creates the plugins, whether it's your a developer Theme creator it makes it faster, but there are some who just indicate their email their name If they don't have that much information or if they use Different names uh different from their profile. It makes it a little harder So it might take maybe a couple of hours to look through And confirm if this person who applied is actually the same person linked in same person in the company. So maybe One or two hours to go through an application Possibly longer if they have limited information But what we do if they don't have enough information is we send them a follow-up email asking if they can Indicate their contribution to WordPress specific and specify What they've done in the WordPress Okay, thank you Rika also asked a question How many people will be bled off? I I presume you mean like Will be declined as a as a result of this Do you want to answer that O'Neill? Yeah, um, actually we've It's very rare that there's going to be a big red flag um, some people there are spam applications which is essentially Just a bot maybe trying to apply trying to fill in the form So that one we check it if they don't respond I usually send them a follow-up email to get more information if they don't respond within a week I mark that as spam But if there's an application that has certain information that's not consistent Meaning their name is different from their profile on other social accounts or even linked in or if it's uh on If they have a Their company account or company website is not compliant Then that is already a red flag Or if they don't have a lot of contribution in the WordPress space We might ask for more information if they're not able to give much more information It might be a yellow flag as in not that big a difference, but um, maybe one or two out of 10 or 20 Is average maybe 5 to 10 percent Because a lot of people who do apply are already working in the WordPress space. They just want to be able to contribute more. So Yeah, it's it's it's not a big number of people are declined Yeah And just to add to that I've also been investing applicants for almost a year In the whole year, I'd say I've had two people Who weren't gpl compliant at least on my first check and so I wrote to them and said hey, I don't think you're gpl compliant and One of the person actually clarified that they are it was some wording in their website. That was a bit confusing So after that clarification, they were okay The second person they confirmed they weren't And but they were willing to change the licensing on their plugins so that it became gpl compliant so that they could contribute Um, so as O'Neill said, there's a there's a lot of spam. So Aside from the spam out there real applicants in the year I've had two people who I've noticed who aren't gpl compliant But through conversations, they've both been able to update their licensing and get approved. So It's yeah, I agree. It's very rare that somebody is just declined and like not allowed Record does that does that answer your question? Does that give you enough information? And we have just a few more minutes. Yep. Um, if there are any other final questions you wanted to ask I'm going to share my screen one more time So, you know, I was going to share the link to today's slides. Um So let me drop that in the zoom chat and then you'll be able to click on the links the slides also have presenter notes So you'll be able to read a lot more what we've been talking about. There are extra links in the presenter notes So let me drop them in the zoom chat again, you're free to um In a sense like download create a copy of this resources to look at later And then the final slide has um additional resources that sort of back up a lot of what we've been talking about today um I think personally the gpo license was all confusing when I started contributing to wordpress as well. Um Especially when like when I realized that you can have paid for products that are still gpl compliant um the concept of free software paid software that it's still free as in It has freedom Um, that was a bit confusing to me even now sometimes when i'm vetting someone If I come across a confusing situation, I will ask other administrators in the training team to get a second opinion Because it is it is a bit confusing But hopefully today after this presentation You've been able to understand gpl a bit better and you've been able to understand how gpl is used in the training team how we take for gpl appearance And more than anything, I hope you have been You are interested in joining the training team and help us create content for the loan wordpress website um So yeah, once again, I dropped the onboarding program link in the zoom chat here Do take a look at that and um Yeah, we're a few minutes early, but if there aren't any other questions, I think we might finish there Thank you so much for attending everyone. Thank you for co-hosting with me on neil And I look forward to seeing everyone in another online workshop in pu chat Thank you for your time


I thought it was going to be amazing after all it was my honeymoon. My wife and I, we saw the travel agents brochure. It promised romantic getaway in the island of Kauai. And including in this trip was a convertible car. So we booked it, we got married, and off to Kauai on our honeymoon. We landed and there at the airport when we went to get the convertible car, there was a Chrysler Seabring there that we had rented. Now if you don't know what a Chrysler Seabring is, don't worry, you're not missing anything. It's a car that you normally would see in the front of a retirement home, or somewhere that doesn't need to go anywhere fast. It goes about zero to 16, about six and a half hours. And that's a Chrysler Seabring. How many of you drive a Chrysler Seabring? Don't raise your hand, please, don't do it. And so we got in our Chrysler Seabring, we began to cruise around the island. And we had our snorkel gear with us. And so we decided just to hop in these different bays around the island as we were driving around the island, making our way to the hotel. And so we would jump in the water and jump back in the convertible car. And when I got back in the car a couple of times, I didn't put my shirt back on because I'm on my honeymoon. And after all, I want to impress my new wife with my body. And so we buckle up and we drive. And what I didn't know at the time though, there was a bacteria, a fungus on the seatbelt called ringworm. And I didn't know that until the next morning when I woke up, I had this giant Tony Stark Ironman circle on my chest. And there I am with a big ringworm circle. And I'm like, what is this? And my wife's like, I think that's ringworm. So we go to the pharmacy. And we asked the pharmacist what to do. And she gives us some cream to put on it. And really, I just wanted to get some sun because I'm of a color that's a little bit lighter than white. My peeps on the streets call me Uedo. And so I wanted to get some sun. So I asked the pharmacist, can I get sun on this? And she said, oh, yeah, the sun is great for it. The sun will actually help kill it faster. And so you totally, totally get some sun on it. She said the only thing that's not good for it is like lotions and all the sunscreen stuff. No, that's really good for it because that will help it grow. So don't put any of that. Perfect, okay? So we go to the beach that day. We spend all day on the sand, soaking in the rays. But when it came to putting sunscreen on, I didn't want to get any of that lotion on that because that would definitely keep that alive. And I wanted that to die.  And so by the next morning, that little ring had completely gone away, it was dead.  And so we go back to the pharmacy once again and I said, look what happened to me. And so she gave us some burn cream and we went on our way. And so, you know, applied that to it and just dealt with it. And then so we go on this moped tour around the island to see all the different waterfalls. Really cool thing on the island require all the natural waterfalls and Swiss family Robinson scenes. And so we go on this moped tour but because Kauai, there's a lot of farmland, as I'm mopedting through the farmland, there's times where you would hit a swarm of bugs, whether it's mosquitoes or wasps or gnats and you just start pelting you as you're flying through it. One time this big beetle landed on my chest and then it was like flapping its one wing and I'm looking down, trying not to crash. And then it like kind of crawls and goes into my armpit. And I'm like, ah, and I almost killed myself in that moment, but I didn't, thank God. And so I ended up getting a few bug bites on me from that day. And because of the sun and the bug bites, I ended up breaking out in a full on allergic reaction.  And so we go back to the pharmacist once again. Now they know me by name. And Brandon, what can we do for you today? I'm like, look at me, I'm having an allergic reaction.  And so I got some, I got some medicine to help with the allergic reaction. And so my wife and I say, you know what? Let's just, let's just relax the next day. Let's just lay out by the pool. And so we spent the next day at the hotel. We got a couples massage and went and laid out by the pool. And we're laying out there and all of a sudden I'm smelling this horrible mildew smell. It's like, have you ever left your jeans in the washer for like three weeks? And you know that smell, you know. Some of you are like, no, me neither. I've never done that either. But there's this mildew smell. You know that mildew smell that's super strong. We're smelling that. And I'm smelling my shorts. I'm smelling the towel. I'm smelling everything. I can't figure out where the smell do, the smell do. The smell of the mildew is coming from.  Maybe it's coming from here and she smells it. And she almost throws up right there. She's like, oh, that's it.  I said this morning, I don't get it. So I go wash my hair.  So I'm sniffing all around like a bassinet how I'm trying to figure out where the mildew smells coming from now.  They use rancid oil. And when we went in the sun, our skin and especially our hair was stained with mildew rancid oil smell. And so we had that going for us. Then the next day, listen, you can't make this stuff up. The next day, this alarm goes off and we come running out of our rooms wondering what's going on, is there a fire and people are screaming and there's a guy pounding on the door saying, get out, get out. We're like, what's going on? He's like, there's flash floods coming and we have to evacuate the hotel. We got to go up the mountain to the top and that's where we're headed to a big tent.  I'm like, no, we're all going to be in a big tent together.  And so we go up there and we ended up not having to stay there very long. We could come back to the hotel but because of the torrential downpour we were in the hotel for the next three days. We couldn't leave because of the flooding. It was like Noah's arc all over again. We're just stuck there. And so we're there in the hotel for three days and finally we get to the last day of our honeymoon and we're going to redeem it. We're going to go out with a bang. And so we decided to go on this catamaran cruise that takes you across the Nepali coast, 4,000 foot cliffs and then they take you out to Forbidden Island and then you can snorkel. It has the greatest depth of any snorkeling place in all of the world, over 200 feet depth perception. And so we're there snorkeling for a little while but then the captain gets on the loudspeaker and announces that we have to cut the trip short that we paid for because high seas are coming in. And so we all start doing what people do when we hear news that we don't like, boo, you know, boo. And he says, no, listen, high seas to you mainlanders are five to seven foot swells. High seas to us Islanders is 12 to 15 foot swells. That's 30 foot faces. We need to go and we're like, okay, let's go. Let's go. So the whole way back two and a half hours of a boat ride on this catamaran we're going, so they start passing out blue buckets. I'm like, sweet, sand toys. That's not what they were. And so we're sitting there and people next to us and behind us, they start losing it and the wind is blowing. It was the worst situation you could ever be in. And so now because of all the situations not only do I get motion sickness but everything else going around me.  I'm not going to vomit. I'm with my brand new wife. I'm going to be a man. I'm going to be strong. But before I knew it, I knew I was going to lose it. I had the urge to regurg. But I didn't want to throw up in a blue bucket next to her. That's disgusting. So I'm going to be a man. I'm going to go to the edge of the boat and I'm going to lose it off the edge of the boat. And so I get up and knowing that I have seconds. So I go, I run. I sprint to the edge of the boat. Da na na na na na, do do do do, da na na na.  It throws me towards the edge of the boat. My hands miss the railing. But don't worry, my face catches the railing. Bam! Smack the entire, my entire face smashed into the handrail.  So I was, bam, oh, oh, over the edge of the boat. And for the next two and a half hours, I'm sitting at the back of the boat, losing my stomach over and over and over again. And then we finally get back to the hotel. We go to sleep and the next morning we wake up and we say, you know what? Why don't we try to go home early? Who tries to leave their honeymoon early? We did. And so we get to the airport. We go to the rental car place. It was weird. There was no one there. So we just dropped the keys in the drop box and parked the car, took the shuttle to the airport where we found out that the airport in Hawaii is closed during the day. We were trying to get an earlier flight and just be on standby. There's no planes in the earlier in the day in Hawaii. So we sat there for seven hours in the airport until our plane got there and then we left and went home. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be like. I saw the travel agents brochure saying, romantic get away and rental car, but it's not what I had imagined. Now why do I share that entire story with you so that you would feel sorry for me? No, I share that entire story with you because it's a lot like something in life that we have perceived notions of what it's going to be like and how it's going to be. Let me put it to you this way. Satan has his own travel brochure. It's called sin and he paints the picture in the world about how amazing it will be if you just indulge, if you just do this, if you partake in that, it's going to be so amazing. But what we will always find is it's not what we thought it would be like. You see, James chapter one verse 14 and 15 puts it this way. Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Now Satan will say, hey, this is amazing and it looks alluring. It looks like it would be satisfying and fulfilling but when we get there, we realize it's not what I thought it was going to be like and ultimately sin brings about death. And so pictures are painted, commercials are given, advertisements about how great it's going to be and we have preconceived ideas but the end result is always far different than the advertisement in Satan's travel brochure. And so there's a warning in our text before us today. A warning, a heads up given, a warning sign. Just like when you see advisory signs on the side of an on ramp or off ramp, a caution sign that says slow down or an advisory speed that you should go so that you don't lose control and end up in a ditch in the same way the spirit inspires the author of the book of Hebrews to give his brothers, his family, the church a warning sign so that we wouldn't lose control and end up in a ditch more importantly in the pit. And so there's a warning given in Hebrews chapter three, let's pick up in verse 12. It says, beware, brethren. Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God but exhort one another daily while it is still called today. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. There's three points from our text today that we can draw out of just these two verses. I wanna look at these two verses in depth and look at three specific points of things that we can learn about and learn from about sin. Number one, sin is a deceiver of the heart. Sin is a deceiver of the heart. I brought with me the number one fishing lure in the world and any fishermen or fish or women in the church tonight. This is the number one fishing lure. The reason why it's the number one fishing lure is because well, it looks like a real fish. It has the texture of its gills and scales and fins and even eyes. Not only does it look like a real fish but when it's pulled through the water its weighted tail actually makes it move like a real fish. And not only that but there's some spray that comes with it, you can spray on the fish that makes it smell and taste like a real fish. Now you and I know this isn't a real fish but the other little fishies that look for little or fishies to eat think it's a real fish. And so these fish will bite on this fish believing it's gonna satisfy, believing it's gonna fulfill, believing it's the real thing and it's going to be all that they want because it looks like the real thing. It moves like the real thing. It smells like the real thing. So it must be the real thing. Another way to put sin as a deceiver is this.  Oh yeah, yeah baby, that will satisfy. That's gonna fulfill, that's what I need. Ah, it's not that bad. I'm a mature adult. I can handle just a little thing. It's not that big of a deal.  So what do we do? As that fish is being dangled, we will, I'll just take a little bite and so we, we chomp on the fish, but then we find ourselves being hooked, hooked, hooked on whatever it is that Satan wants to get us hooked on. But what is the purpose of being hooked? So that it can reel us away from where God wants us to be in a close and intimate relationship with him. Pulling us away from where we ought to be to pull us further away from God and where God desires for us to be. And so we find ourselves hooked. You ever hear someone say, man, I just got hooked on that. I got hooked on alcohol. I got hooked on drugs. I got hooked on porn. I got hooked on phonics. That's a whole different set of hooks. But you find yourself getting hooked so Satan can get us hooked. He will show us things that look like they're going to fulfill, look like they're going to satisfy. But what did James say? That the person that's tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. When that desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And then when it's full grown, brings about death. Satan has a lure. And you might say, but Pastor Brennan, that analogy doesn't work for me. You see, I don't like fish.  I won't even eat salmon if it's made for me. Fish doesn't do it for me. Well, listen, it might not always be a lure because lures come in all different shapes and sizes. So it might not be a lure. It might be a lure. And there she is. It says the world's sexiest hair and makeup. And now you see her, the world's sexiest hair and makeup.  Or do I need to walk by again?  And so you say, you know what, I appreciate it, flattered really, but I'm a Christian and you know what, my eyes are on the Lord. So she says, oh, okay. So she walks back up to you a moment later and she says, do you believe that God speaks to people?  Hi, my name is Will, God's Will. Nice to meet you. And so you're there and though those things are happening and you know it's not right, you know it's a lure, you know it's Satan, you know it's Satan.  But then there's that enticement, that desire and it's just a little bit, a little bit, a little bit. The false perceptions of pleasure, what that will be like. Listen, the Bible says it this way, sin, it's fun for a season. It is, sin is fun for a season, but in the end it brings about complete destruction. And so Satan will say, look how much fun you'll have knowing that it's always within the intention to destroy your life. So God gives us warnings from time to time. Judgment calls, discernment of the Holy Spirit to you men and women, to us, to give us a word of warning say, hey, watch out for the deceitfulness of sin that you would not be deceived, your heart would not be deceived by the sin that so easily ensnares us, the sin that so easily entices us. Beware of it, watch out for it. And now some of us might have the reaction even now. Well, like kind of like as a child you view your parents when your parents say no, they don't want you to go there do that. Oh, they just wanna keep me from having fun. And God, you know, he just says, oh, don't do this and don't do that. You know, he wants to keep me from having fun and living life. Listen, Jesus put it this way, talking about Christ, that He came, that you may have a life and have it that much more abundantly.  I wanna live, I wanna, you know, I wanna be able to have the college experience. And then, you know, I'll get around to getting serious and right with Jesus. And then you go through college and then you end up getting married and having a couple of kids. And you know, I'll get right with Jesus, you know, when my kids are old enough, you know, I'll start taking them to church, but that never happens. And so now after my kids move out of the house and we're empty nesters, then I'll have the opportunity and have the time to really get serious with the Lord or maybe people even say, you know what, before I die, you know, on my deathbed, I'll get right with Jesus then. Because I wanna live life a little bit. Listen, the life that's truly lived to the most fulfilling, satisfying, abundant lifestyle is a life lived for Jesus Christ and Him only. That's how you live an abundant life.   Sin is a deceiver. Think back to the beginning of time with Adam and Eve in the garden there in Genesis chapter three. When Satan came to Eve, he came with a lure. Do you remember the story in Genesis chapter three? He came to tempt Eve. And in the way that he tempted Eve is the same way that Satan always tempts humanity. First, Satan questioned the word of God. Satan always will try to get us to question the word of God because if Satan can get you to write a question mark and question God's word, then he can get you to begin to doubt God's word. And if he can get you to doubt God's word, then he can get you to stop depending upon God's word.  You become like the man who builds his house on the sinking sand. And so when storms come or when trials come or when temptations come, you have no basis, no solid foundation. And so he always comes with the question. Satan came and he said to Eve, hath God really said? I know God's given you promises from his word. God's spoken to you as you spend time in the word. God's given you a promise that you've been holding on to. But Satan will come and say, did God really say that? Was that really God? And he'll try to get you to begin to question God's word. So not only to say and question the word of God, but then he'll move and question the motive of God. He then goes to Eve, why aren't you allowed to eat from the tree?  Why doesn't God want me to do this? Does God have ulterior motives in his commands? And now Satan begins to try to get us to question his word and his motive. And Satan's trying to convince Eve that God's motive is to keep her from experiencing life. Then the temptation comes as it did for Eve. He appealed to three areas of the human life. And all temptations come in one of these three forms. One, the lust of the flesh. It says in Genesis three that she saw that it was good for food. Oh, that will satisfy, that will fulfill. It's good for food. The lust of the flesh. Then it was the lust of the eyes. It says that she saw it was pleasant to look at. It would be fulfilled and satisfying as it's good for food. And it was also pleasing to look at, but not only that, the pride of life. Satan said you can be like God. And the three temptations or the three forms of any temptation that Satan comes our way with is always in one of those three forms. That's gonna satisfy me if I'm in that relationship or if I'm being promiscuous in that relationship or if I have that fixed or if I'm at that party, that will fulfill this emptiness. That will fulfill this void, Satan will say. Or the lust of the flesh. Hey, you can't do that, but it doesn't hurt anybody to look. I've heard too many people say, oh, I'm just looking. Can't hurt anybody by looking.  You see the lust of the eyes and how Satan has gotten so many strongholds in both men and women's lives through the lust of the flesh, through the eyes. And then the pride of life, the pride of life where we begin to think that we can handle whatever it is that we want to have in that encounter. And Satan makes sin out to be what it's not. And that's why John wrote in 1 John chapter two, verse 15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, there it is, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. John says, you cannot love both the world and God. The more that you love God, the less love that you're gonna have for the world and the things of it. But the more that you love the world, the less that you're gonna love the Lord. And so John says, you have to choose whom you will serve this day. What will you live for? Will you live for the Lord or will you live for the world? Because sin is a deceiver of the heart. Number two, sin is a desensitizer of the heart. Once you've been deceived and you begin in that sin, the very next process takes place of hardening or desensitizing your heart. It goes on to say in verse 13, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. You see, once you're deceived in that sin, then the next thing that Satan wants to do is harden you in that sin. Listen, if you embrace anything long enough, you're gonna begin to accept it. And once you become deceived, then you will become desensitized. Your heart becomes hardened. And I would put it to you this way, sin, it's like cement. Now I know sin isn't the most popular topic and I could come and talk to you about something that might make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. But the fact of the matter is too many people in the church are being robbed from God's best in their lives because they're allowing sin to come in and break and bring strongholds into their lives. God wants to break those strongholds. Because I care about you. Like God cares about you, not even nearly close, but I do care about you in that same way. And just as the author of Hebrews would be inspired by the spirit to write the same warning to the church in that day, so too, it's the same warning to the church in this day because sin is like cement. When it's first poured into our hearts, well, it's gonna be messy to clean up. Have you ever dealt with cement when it's still wet? It's messy, it gets everywhere. But if you don't deal with that cement when it's messy and there's gonna be messes, if you don't deal with it, then it begins to harden and solidify. And that's what sin does within our hearts if you can picture that in your mind's eye. But if we, and if we ignore sin long enough in our lives and we allow it to sit in our hearts, at the only way to deal with it at that point is for a breaking of the heart. And the heart so many times is then broken because of it.  Because what Satan does is he dangles the lure and says, hey, do this, do this.   And so you feel guilty and ashamed but then the next opportunity for that same sin comes along and it's a little bit easier the next time as it does once that road is paved, it's easier and easier each time and now it's easier and easier to go there and to do that and so now you're involved in that again and again and again until it comes to a point in your life where you're just now not even feeling that bad about it and you just accept it as part of your life once that something made you so sorrowful and shameful now it's not even that big of a deal, why? Because sin is a desensitizer of the heart. When you find yourself doing the things that you would have never done before because now you've been hardened and desensitized. You see, our society renames what sin is called. What sin is called. You see, God says it's sin and society says, no, that's not sin. That's something different and once the rename it, you see society took the word infidelity and labeled it open-mindedness. Society took the word sexual perversion and labeled it tolerance and society takes compromise and even in the church labels it liberty and once you've been deceived in sin, you become desensitized in sin and then it says in verse 12, beware brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Number three and final point, sin is a departure of the heart from God. Sin is a departure of the heart because once your heart is hardened, Satan reels you away. Now you wonder if you can ever come back to God after what you've done because of the guilt and shame through the desensitization of your heart but it's been said that sin, it will keep you from this book but this book will keep you from sin but I wanna take that saying one step further tonight because John chapter one verse one says that Jesus was with the word, the word was with God, the word was God. The word was made flesh. It's called the incarnation of the word, the word becoming flesh.  And so I would put it to you this way, sin will keep you from a relationship with Jesus but a relationship with Jesus will keep you from sin. You see, Satan wants to reel you away and so there's a warning given because God cares about you. It's not that he wants to keep you from something, it's because what God has for you is far better. And so God says, hey, don't get consumed with these things because I wanna give you something so much better.  And so if you find yourself in that position, you need to know this. Number four, here's the bonus point. Sin needs to be dealt with in the heart. Sin needs to be dealt with. You see, the matter of the heart is the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is always a matter of the heart. Where our hearts are at because you can't both love the world and love God. And you might say, but pastor, I've tried. Well, I don't know. And this admonition is given in verse 13. It says, deal with it today, today, this day, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not when I'm ready to get right or when I get everything figured out or know what I'm getting into then. No, the word from God to the church is deal with it today. Why? Because every day that goes by, we become more desensitized and our hearts become more hardened to the things of the Lord. The Bible says that talking about the spirit, the spirit will not always strive with man. That is if we resist the spirit over and over and over again, the knocking on the door of our hearts from the Lord wanting to have a relationship, wanting us to come into a relationship with him and to know him personally. If we continue to say no, no, no, no, there will come a time in each of our lives where God will say, okay, then have it your way. And then our hearts no longer being hardened by ourselves but then God will solidify that decision that we've made. We see that in the story of Pharaoh. Over and over and over again it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart. But then it comes to a point where it says then God hardened his heart. He solidified the decision that Pharaoh had made. Listen, God won't force anyone to have a relationship with him. That's why he stands at the door and knocks. Listen, he's a gentleman. He won't kick the door down but if you open it to him, he promises that he will come in and he will sup with you, he will dine with you. He'll share a meal with you. Why is that important? Because in the Jewish culture, sharing a meal was the most intimate thing that you could do on a social basis. Sharing a meal was personal. And what Jesus is saying is if you open the door of your heart, I will come in and I will be personal with you. I'll be close to you. We'll have that connection and that relationship with each other. But you might say, Brennan, I've tried. I've tried to deal with it. And I know you're saying to deal with it today but I found that it was impossible. I know I've tried to stop. I've tried but I can't. It's impossible. Listen, you're right. You can't stop. It is impossible for you but it's not impossible for God. What's impossible for you is probable for God. So when you think there's no way, you need to think your way because God can do it. You need to look to the Lord as you open the door of your heart to the Lord because no matter how far you go from God, God is only one step away from you. You might say, I've wandered so far pastor, I don't even know where I'm at now. I've been so deep into the sin. It's been just a downward spiral. I'm not anywhere close to where I used to be. And you might think I'm so far from the Lord but listen, the Lord is pursuing you. As you're walking away from the Lord, as the Lord is walking after you. So for that moment that you turn around, you realize Jesus is right there waiting with open arms. How do I know he has open arms? Because he opened his arms that day on the cross when he said, day to less die, it is finished. His arms were open for you then and his arms are gonna be open for you now. All you have to do is turn to the open arms of Jesus Christ. Deal with it today because nothing with God is greater than everything without God. And I think so many times we're afraid of what we might lose. Let me tell you this. What you gain when you give your life to the Lord and I'm speaking from personal experience is far greater than anything that you could ever have apart from the Lord. And so many people in this room right now are saying amen because they know what that's like when you give your life to Jesus Christ. Maybe you've given your life to Jesus Christ at one time but you've allowed the lures that so easily and snare us to get caught back up in those things and you realize that you're on that path to destruction. And now God out of his grace and mercy has just stuck a little warning sign to hey, son, daughter, watch out, beware, brethren.  And this exhortation, I'll close with this. He says, beware, brethren. It's because he cared about his family. He didn't wanna see another brother, another sister fall by the wayside, another brother, another sister destroyed by the sin that brings about death. And God doesn't wanna see another one of his children be trapped and enslaved and ensnared by the enemy.  And when you realize God says, hey, watch out, it's not to keep you from something.  And so God, you might say, I have shame, I have condemnation, I'm embarrassed. What do I do, pastor? What do I do? Back to our story. Adam and Eve, they both sinned. They realized they were naked and so they clothed themselves in fig leaves, which is the stupidest thing to do. Listen, fig leaves weren't designer of the day. It was just Adam and Eve. Fig leaves, they're incredibly itchy. It's like making underwear out of burlap. It's just foolish. But that's what we do when we sin. We often follow with dumb decisions over and over and over again. So that's what Adam and Eve do. They clothe themselves with incredibly itchy fabric and then they hear that God is walking through the garden so they go and hide in the cave. You know what God said in that moment? Adam and Eve had sinned. Now they're separated from the Lord. Adam and Eve once were walking with God. Now they're hiding from God to hide their sin. It's not that God didn't know their sin. It's not that God didn't know that they would sin. God before the foundations of the world were ever made already had the plan to redeem humanity.  Talk about blowing your mind right now. God knew that Adam and Eve had sinned but now they're hiding. And you know what question, the one question that God asked? Let me tell you what God didn't ask. He didn't say to Adam and Eve, why did you? That's often what we hear from spouses or from parents. Why did you do that? Why did you? That wasn't God's question. Nor did God say, how could you? The forbidden fruit, the forbidden apple martini, how could you? Nor did God say, where were you? I know where you were. You were hanging out by the tree again, weren't you? I told you not to hang out at that spot and there you are hanging around that spot. It was only a matter of time if you keep going there and hanging out there. He didn't say, where were you? He didn't say, how could you? He didn't say, why did you? The one question that Jesus posed to Adam and Eve, he said, where are you? It's not that God didn't know that Adam and Eve were hiding in the cave. The question God was asking to Adam and Eve in that moment was one of self-realization. Where am I? Where am I with God right now? I'm separated from God because of my disobedience and because of the sin. Where are you? And the same question that God is asking to you today, to the church today, isn't how could you? Isn't why did you? It isn't where were you for the last 20 years when you weren't in church? No, none of those questions. The one question that God is asking you tonight is where are you today? Are you in a right relationship with me? Or are you in a cave? Are you somewhere separated from me? Where are you? God knew the answer to this question already, but he wanted Adam and Eve to realize the answer to the question. And God wants us to realize the answer to that question today as well. God knew their sin had separated them from him, but God wants to know where are you right now with me? Perhaps today you've been in a cave hiding. Hiding your sin, maybe in the cave of depression, the cave of bondage, the cave of addiction. Perhaps it was just a little cave, maybe just of anger or lust. It wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a little thing. Yeah, I have outbursts of wrath. Yeah, I have that, but that's not that big of a sin. These ones are the big ones, and this is just a little one. And God says, no, any of that is gonna separate you from me. They're all footholds for the enemy to get strongholds. That's why we're told to give no place to the enemy, to give no room to him in our hearts while it is called today. Now that word today doesn't only talk about today as in this day, but in that text, it was in reference to a specific day. If you notice that word today is capitalized in your Bibles. It's in reference to the day in which the nation of Israel had an opportunity to go into the promised land, but did not because of their unbelief. Why didn't they believe because there were giants in the land and they didn't believe that God could or that God would? And the very thing that will keep you from entering the spirit-filled life that the promised land is a symbolic picture of is unbelief that God will, that God could and that God would deliver you from the giants. The giant problem that you think impossible to get over, the giant bondage that you find yourself in, or just the little one, the unbelief that God wanted or that God couldn't.   He's giving it to you already. All you have to do is believe that God can. When you place your heart in His hands, He will do what you never could. Would you bow your heads with me?


everyone has a certain love style based on their upbringing. One, the pleaser. The pleaser often grows up in a home with an overly protective or angry and critical parent. Pleasers often spread themselves thin trying to be everything to everyone when it's not realistic. Two, the victim. The victim often grows up in a chaotic home. They may end up marrying controllers who mirror the same behaviors as their parents. Three, the controller. The controller usually grows up in a home where there wasn't a lot of protection, so they learn to toughen up and take care of themselves. They don't like stepping out of their comfort zones because it makes them feel weak and unprotected. Four, the vacillator. The vacillator often grows up with an unpredictable parent. As vacillators enter adulthood, they try to find the consistent love they were deprived of as children. Five, the avoider. The avoider often grows up in a less affectionate home that values independence and self-reliance and rely on logic and detachment more than their emotions. Which love style do you identify with? Please share your thoughts with us below.