Mens Conference 2016 - 03 - The Work of Shepherding — Exodus 4

0:00 We're going to start our third session tonight. It's on a little lighter topic than what we had last session but a very important topic and that is the the work of shepherding much neglected among god's people, much neglected among Christian families and Christian homes and I want to start again by just stating the obvious from scripture. I think it's a good foundation to begin with. Humanly speaking, God considers both men and women equal, right? He doesn't value a man or a woman more than each other, which is different than a lot of the world religions.

0:43 Muhammad said that a, and this is pretty typical in the Islam that a woman's testimony is only worth half of a man's. But that's not the case. Christianity clearly speaks of men and women being equal but they have different roles by design. And so husbands, not the wife, who's commanded by God to lead the family. And so I put down six different passages here that I feel are very clear that uphold that truth.

1:12 Titus two:five, one Corinthians eleven:three, Colossians three eighteen, one Peter three:one, Ephesians five twenty three, and Genesis three sixteen. And we were talking about before, if we as husbands have become slack in leading our families, then we need to go back and apologize to our wives and just start with a scripture and say, I understand God has made me, he has called me to be the leader of this family and I'm responsible to him. I think it's a very sobering thing for me personally to think I have to stand before the Lord someday and give an account of how I led my family. You elders, Hebrews chapter 13, same thing, right? We have to give, I think it's verse 17, we have to give an account to the Lord.

2:08 Wherever there's given responsibility, there's accountability. And so just because we don't exercise leadership within our families doesn't mean we're off the hook. And so we need to, if there's a problem where we've not gone forth and done the leadership and we need to regain that, at least in our wives' eyes and this is a place to start with the scripture and apologize and say, we want to go forward for god's plan because we know that's where we're going to get god's blessing. And god's design for the family, husband is to lead, protect, provide, and oversee his family. If you would turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter four, I say this in a very respectful way but I find this one of the most bizarre passages all in the entire Bible.

3:01 The scene is this, Moses has met Jehovah God at the burning bush. He found out that God is I am that I am and God commissioned him to go to Egypt and lead his people out of Egypt into a land or to the land, a promised land which would be full of milk and honey. His plan was to have Joshua do that, but Moses was to deliver them out of Egypt. So Moses is obeying. He gets his wife.

3:33 He gets his two sons. He puts his wife and two sons on a donkey. He has the staff, the rod of God, God's authority in his hand and he's off to Egypt. Okay? And so that's where we're picking up in Exodus chapter four and I'll start reading in verse 24 and it came to pass on the way at the encampment that the lord met him, Moses, and sought to kill him, Moses.

4:08 That seems very strange, doesn't it? Lord met with Moses, said, I want you to go to Egypt. I'm going to use you as a deliverer. I'm going to bring my people out of Egypt. Moses takes the staff and he's off to Egypt just as God said.

4:23 And now we find the Lord, I would take this theophany, a pre incarnate visit of Christ, is going, meets him and seeks to kill Moses, his chosen deliverer. Some of the commentators think that Moses was struck with a deadly disease. Others think that the lord was actually choking him and was going to kill him. Doesn't that seem strange? Well, we get the explanation.

5:13 You're a husband of blood because of circumcision. Well, the Midianites didn't practice circumcision. Circumcision was first given Abraham in chapter 17 and then it was practiced on down the line. It would be affirmed in Exodus, a little bit later in Exodus under the Mosaic Law. So Moses as a descendant of Abraham, his family practiced circumcision, Moses was circumcised.

5:47 And now that when Moses left at the age of 40, he went on the backside of a desert. He'd been there for forty years. He marries a fourah and they have a son. Their first son is Gershom. We don't read of any problem with Gershom.

6:06 Now, not too long later, they have another son, Eliezer, and I think that these boys had to be pretty young because both mom and two boys are on one donkey. So, don't think these boys are too old. Gershom is probably, this is my opinion, very young, maybe even a newborn or not just a few months old. So, the Midianites didn't practice circumcision. Moses, the Israelites did practice circumcision.

6:36 So, now, you have this husband and wife and there's this disagreement, a rub. It probably created a lot of friction with Gershom. We don't read of him needing to be circumcised. So, I think Moses won that battle but now, he's he's compromised and the lord is meeting him in the way on the way to Egypt because things in his own household were not right. The point is, if we're going to do great things for the lord, it starts with doing great things in our own home.

7:12 Okay, we gotta we gotta have our own homes in shape. We gotta be bringing things in line with the word of God if we expect him to use us in greater ministries. And we see this in the requirements, qualifications for deacons and elders. They have to rule their own home well. The home is a good measuring of how somebody will take a greater shepherding responsibility.

7:38 Well, to kill somebody seems pretty, that seems like a really going to a very severe degree but this was important to the lord. It was marking Gersham and well, not Gersham but Eleazer as a descendant of Abraham, a a child of promise so to speak and the lord wanted Moses to come bring his household in a line before he went to Egypt but it's it's a kind of a disturbing thing to see the Lord there choking Moses, his deliverer Zephyr now who doesn't even believe in circumcision. She's forced to pick up the knife, not because she believes in it, but to save her husband. And she does a circumcision, throws, you know, you're a bloody husband. She didn't want to do it, but there was this inner strife and Moses apparently compromised to keep peace.

8:33 And as far as the Lord's concerned, it wasn't keeping peace. So the point here is when we're talking about shepherding, our own house must be in order before we can be effective in serving the Lord outside the home. Again, Moses had compromised what he knew was right to keep peace in the home, but he angered God and god held him responsible. So, just a little nugget out of Exodus, when we're thinking about shepherding, god is going to hold us accountable for what we don't bring in line to his word And this was an example where he did that with Moses. Alright, if you would turn to Genesis now, I want to take you through a little shepherding study in the life of Jacob.

9:40 He ends up with Leah and Rachel. The Lord blesses him. In the next few years, he has several children and so we see Jacob's family growing in chapter 24, sorry, 29. Actually, it's the family is growing in chapter 30 to the first part of the chapter. Now, in the last part of the chapter, we see where Laban, after fourteen years, Jacob wants to go.

10:11 Okay, give me the wise I've worked for, I'm going to go. Laban makes a deal with him. And over the course of the next six years, we see Laban continually cheating Jacob, trying to change his wages. He said, change my wages 10 times. And despite what God had, what Laban had done to Jacob, God was making up for it.

10:35 And we read at the end of that chapter, verse 43, thus the man became, speaking of Jacob, exceedingly prosperous and had great flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys. One of the things that we need to keep in mind when we're shepherding, it doesn't mean that as we go through life, our families won't go through some real trials. Trials, trials are going to come. They're natural. We don't know where our faith is.

11:03 Faith that's not tested won't be trusted and so often the lord provides these things in our lives so that we can see where we are, where we're at with him. So, have this tough situation with Laban for for six years. He continues to cheat Jacob but the lord grace greatly prospers him in those same six years. David says this in Psalm 50 five:eight, he says, I would flee the storm. And there are storms in life where we'd say, Lord, I want to get out of here.

11:36 I want to flee it. But a good shepherd understands that there'll be these tough situations that come in life and that god is using those to perfect character, bring him more Christ likeness. I was talking I think it was last night with Roger when we were talking about some of the key brother and I know, I hardly know a full time worker that's being really used to the Lord that hasn't gone through deep water. Slander, false accusations, whatever. And it's kind of like Tozer said, it's doubtful that God can use a man greatly till he's bruised him deeply.

12:18 And so we realized that as we go through these things, why we're underneath the dark threatening cloud, it's very ominous. But once we get beyond that, we can look back and say, you know, that was good for me. The Lord prospered me through that. And so our children need to understand that these storms will come in. It's not that we need to evade them.

12:42 What we need to teach them is to by faith, stick with the lord and let him take us through the storms. That builds our faith and our character. Verse 43, again, Jacob Laban continued to cheat Jacob financially, but the Lord blessed Jacob despite that. And that just shows us that cattle on a thousand hills are the Lord's, right? He controls it all.

13:12 I think of what in Haggai chapter one when he the prophet was exhorting the people of god. Well, you've taken the resources to build the temple. You made your own panel houses and he says, you know, you eat, you're not full and you drink and you're still thirsty and you work and there's like a hole in your purse. The money goes through. And he says, God just blew on it.

13:39 And that's our God is big enough to take care of these difficult situations. If we're going to cheat him, he can just go, it's gone. Just like that. And so keeping the heavenly perspective, helping our children to understand everything that passes his desk has his stamp of approval. He doesn't let anything in your life happen, which he hasn't given his approval for.

14:04 He will work it for his glory and your good. And so that's something that we see with Jacob. A positive thing is that despite Laban and the continual cheating, he he just stuck with the Lord. The Lord blessed. And that's a good example for fathers.

14:24 Just attend to our character, give the problem to the lord, and and he will work it out. In chapter 31, we're going to pick up our reading in verse two. And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban and indeed it was not favorable towards him as before. Then the Lord said to Jacob, return to the land of your fathers and to your family and I will be with you. So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field to his flock.

15:29 God is able to right the wrongs. Amen? Yes. Amen. God is able to right wrongs.

15:34 That's just not go wrong with the wrongs. He's able to right the wrongs. Then, in verse 11 says, the angel of the lord spoke to me in a dream. Jacob still talking to his wives. Jacob, he said, here am I.

15:47 He said, lift your eyes now and see all the rams which leap of a flocks or streak speckled gray spotted for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. And I am the God of Bethel where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now rise, get out of this land and return to the land of your family. So Jacob now is relaying to his wives a previous dream he had about how god would take care of the livestock, the the theft, and the changing of wages. Jacob was going to be getting these speckled and spotted and streaked animals.

16:29 And God was in control of the breeding process. And Jacob's also telling his his wives that God has called them back to Bethel, back to his homeland. And so this is a wise shepherding lesson in the life of Jacob. He receives the word of God. He takes his wives privately out in the field, and now he is conveying to them the word of God, getting their buy in, explaining the things before he makes decisions and before he moves the family.

17:04 And I think that's a very wise shepherding move on Jacob's part. It could be that we know the will of God from from his word and we just want to do it and force it. But that doesn't go over very well if there is an understanding. And so it's good just to pause, talk it through, explain, and say, obeying God's very important. And I want you to understand my thinking on this.

17:31 And sometimes they may not agree, but if they know that you thought through it well, and and you're really before the lord on it, they'll go with it. My wife has told me several times, I'm so glad I'm not the leader of our family. She's told me that many times. I am so glad to be your wife. I'm glad you're my wife too.

17:49 You know, Because the buck stops with you. And as long as I follow your lead and obey you clearly in the things which are right before the Lord, then God doesn't hold me responsible. He holds you responsible. And so she understands that and that's liberating for her, right? It was if Ronald Reagan had that, the buck stops here or Ike, one of those presidents had a Harry Truman, thank you, on the Oval Office on the desk, the buck stops here.

18:21 Well, in the family, the buck stops with the husband. So, again, obedience can be forced, but hearts will be lost. It's better to attain full, willful submission. And again, children benefit when they see their fathers always relying on God's word for family direction, rendering decisions. I think it's very good just to explain instead of jumping forward.

18:45 All right, Then Genesis 32. These are just little nuggets, little shepherding nuggets from the life of Jacob. This is one of my favorite chapters in Genesis. Up until this time, Jacob's always talked about God as the God of Isaac, the God of Abraham, your God. But I believe this is his conversion.

19:05 He is headed back to Bethel now. He's snuck away unawares from Laban. And as he approaches, he understands that Esau is aware of his coming and he has sent 400 men out to meet Jacob. Well, what did Esau threaten to do before Jacob left Israel? Kill him.

19:31 Kill him. So, Jacob saying, my whole family's dead, right? So, in the next few verses, we see Jacob going into this plan, pray, plan, pray, plan stage. He's going to send these ways of animals, five eighty animals, if I recall, and five different ways to try to soften Esau's heart. Very expensive.

19:55 You know, kind of these peace offerings trying to soften his brother's heart so he won't slaughter everybody. Maybe he thought, I don't have anything to lose. I would say that this this strategy of planning and praying is very good but Jacob starts with planning first and then prayer and the man of god wants to pray first and then plan. It was interesting just a couple weeks ago. I'm just curious.

20:22 Anybody coming to the week of prayer out in KC? We have a week of prayer coming up the end of April. Mike Atwood, Randy Hoffman, and Scott DeGroff are on that committee and they have interesting committee meetings. They spend about 80% of their time in prayer and they find that after they get done praying, they they just know what to do and they just write it down and they go back to prayer and there's very little discussion. They're just talking it out before the lord and so I joined him one afternoon.

20:52 We had this lovely session of prayer and you know, that was a decision. So it was so obvious to everybody. I think we spend a lot of time in our homes, even in eldering in the local assembly. We're not spending enough time in prayer seeking the mind of God. Amen.

21:09 And it we're we become we become reactionary. We're always looking for smoke and instead of having good fire prevention and the shepherd wants to be proactive in the presence of the lord deriving that wisdom. So, hopefully, there isn't always the smoke to respond to and so, Jacob, his planning and praying is good but the point is start start with prayer and then plan. Jacob is going to be brought to the end of himself. He's always a strategist, a planner, a conniver and in this chapter, we read of Jacob's conversion through brokenness.

22:03 For until then, god cannot show himself but we can never get to the end of our plans until we've been brought to the end of ourselves And Jacob, he's done everything he can and we find him now. He's verse 21, it says, so the present so the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. He rose that night, took his two wives, his two female servants, and his 11 sons and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, then sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone.

22:46 And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go. For the day breaks. But he said, I will not let you go until you bless me.

23:08 So he said unto him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked, saying, tell me your name, I pray. And he said, why is it that you ask about my name?

23:29 And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. Just as he crossed over Peneul, the sun rose on him and he limped on his hip. Therefore, to this day, the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is of the hip socket because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip and the muscle that shrank. Jacob, the Jabbok, the four that he crosses, Jabbok means to empty.

24:05 And that's exactly what God was going to do with Jacob. So, Jacob crosses it. He's left all alone. He set his family ahead. And notice it says, a man wrestled with him.

24:17 The Lord started the wrestling match. So, he wrestles with Jacob and what's Jacob do? Well, he wrestles back and so here's the lord wrestling with Jacob all night long. Does that show the long suffering nature of god? Wrestling with Jacob, he wants Jacob broken.

24:38 That's the end result yielded to him. By the end of the morning, the lord says, let me go. Jake says, alright, let you go until you bless me. Well, how did God get him in such a place where Jacob, all he could do was just hang on to the Lord. He touched his hip.

24:57 This is the strongest muscle in our body. He touches this and he takes the strength out of Jacob's leg and out of the hip here. And so now all Jacob can do is just hang on. All he can do is just grasp the Lord. And that's what the Lord wanted.

25:12 And so he just hangs on. He won't let him go. And so at the end of the morning, lord says, let him go and he says, not till you bless me and so the lord blesses him. He gives him a new name and Jacob from that day forward gets a new walk And this is really his conversion. David learned or not David.

25:31 Jacob learned through brokenness how to be blessed by God. And there was Jacob wanted something. He wanted a blessing from God. God wanted something. He wanted Jacob broken.

25:43 And they both got what they wanted. And so we learned the blessings of God through brokenness. Personal fruitfulness comes through brokenness. And I think this is another thing that we can learn from Jacob. If we want to be good shepherds, we're going have to be broken before the Lord.

25:58 We're going to have to be humble before the lord and be broken. I I do I tend to be a planner. I have 14 things going on in my mind. It's very hard just to settle down and say, lord, what is it that you want? I don't want my plans.

26:16 I want what you want. And just to be broken before the Lord, especially when things happen. Just as a little side note here, you know it says talking about the Jews and Orthodox Jews actually they pull out the sinew. They don't eat that from what they, the animals they slaughter. And it says the children, that day the children of Israel did not eat the muscle that shrank.

26:43 And that's a good practical thing. The failures of God's people really make a poor diet. And we shouldn't be feasting on them either. When there's failure, we should weep and be broken before the Lord. Oftentimes, it's our, we worry about the assembly's reputation, our family names, and reputation, and we don't pause to think about the the disgrace that's been brought on the name of the lord Jesus Christ.

27:10 That I bring us to tears. The world needs to see people that love the lord and live for him. Not those that are disgracing his name. Alright. In chapter 33, we're going to get into some more shepherding things now.

27:40 And so we see in verse four, when they finally meet, it says, Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and wept. Here's a man who said he would kill Jacob years earlier but god had worked in his heart and now, he kisses his brother. He weeps and he and he embraces him. It wasn't Jacob's all these animals that he'd given as a peace. You know, gift of peace.

28:13 It was god working in his heart. Verse nine, Esau doesn't even want the animals. He says, have enough. And but Jacob continues to encourage him and finally he took it. This is an important characteristic at the end.

28:35 He says in verse 12, then Esau said, let us take our journey, let us go, I will go before you. So Esau now wants to escort Jacob and his family. He's got a young family, he's got young children, he's got all these animals, animals that have offspring, and he's moving southward. And now Esau, with his 400 armed men, wants to escort Jacob down to Edom. Well, there's a problem.

29:10 God commanded him to go back to Bethel, not Edom. And we may not applaud what Jacob does because it seems a little deceptive, but he does say this in verse 13, if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. Now, this is a shepherding experience that that Jacob has gained coming out. He doesn't want someone else leading his family. He knows what his family can do and their limitations and he doesn't want anyone interfering with that.

29:47 In various ways, many parents today are relinquishing the responsibility of raising their children for the lord. Daycares, parochial, public schools, the church, secular clubs, or but to name a few. I was working with a family one time in family counseling and they actually believed that it was the church's responsibility to raise their children for the lord. He says, that's why we send them to Sunday school. I said, you ever list, you ever follow the history of Sunday school?

30:17 Sunday school was a vent used a lot during the Methodist days as an outreach tool and that's how children got to hear the gospel and got saved. It's become a discipleship school tool but that wasn't how it's really originally used. So, again, Jacob understood, I am responsible for leading my family. I'm not going to let anything else interfere with that. Again, the church can support parents and teaching their children but parents have a primary responsibility and it's on the umbrella of the husband's leadership.

30:51 Amen. Alright. Now, some very specific things that we can draw from the text. He says, please let my lord go on ahead before his servants. I will lead on slowly at the pace which the livestock that go before me and the children are able to endure until I come to my lord Seer.

31:13 Esau said, now let me leave with you some of the men, some of the people who are with me, but he said, what need is there? Let me find favor and sight, oh my Lord. And Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. Right? So, what do we learn from Jacob?

31:31 First of all, Jacob was a good shepherd. He knew his sheep. We read of another good shepherd in John 10 and he says, I know my sheep. Praise the lord. He knows his sheep.

31:43 A good shepherd leads softly. A good shepherd doesn't have a big heavy stick. You may have a a crook, a cane, and so forth to direct but he leads softly. He doesn't overdrive his sheep. A good shepherd does not allow others to lead his sheep.

32:02 And so that's something that I really admire about Jacob from the text is he knew his sheep and he was willing to lead them at a pace that would best benefit them and not let anybody else interfere. Again, see this over and over again that the responsibility of the husband related to the authority over the family, if the wife is there nurturing and teaching as well. We can't count. We shouldn't allow other entities coming in and training our children. Then in Genesis 34, we get another, this little shepherding tidbit.

33:18 It's really the consequences of Jacob not watching over his daughter, allowing her to get in a situation where she could get hurt. There wasn't the protection there. And then his sons falling through in anger and doing what they ought not to do and it cast, affected the entire region as far as their testimony. So, this is one thing I would just want to encourage you dads. God created females to be responders to male initiation.

33:52 We see that from Ephesians chapter five, Christ loved the church. That's initiating love and then, as a result, first John four nineteen, we love the lord. That's that cause and effect from sacrificial love and young daughters need to have that masculine tenderness And it's important for them. I've noticed it starting at about age 14 or so where sometimes my dodgers come over and lay their head on my shoulder. And they just want that confirmation of security and so forth, I'll put my arm around them even sitting like in a pew.

34:31 I'll put my arm around just a little touch just to yeah, I love you. If they don't get that sense of confirmation, often they'll go somewhere else for it. And in this case, if Jacob had been watching his daughter, she wouldn't have gotten raped. He would have protected her. And this is an application I think it's good to have wholesome affection from fathers to daughters.

34:58 Sons don't have the same needs, but see my daughters, like my wife, the weaker vessel, needing that extra support and encouragement. And I think that should come from dads. A member of a Christian family engages in sinful conduct, that becomes public, known they should be grieved over the disdain brought upon the name of Christ. Jacob was more concerned in this chapter about what's going to happen to me than happens they're going to kill me. Instead of the fact that what was done was completely, it was murder.

35:33 Their conduct of his sons in the chapter was completely wrong. But that isn't what he talks about. He's self focused. And I think this is an application. We need to be really mindful of the disdain that we cause in the Lord's name when we don't live in a way that's honoring to him.

35:54 And then in chapter 35, we get a call to sanctification. Says in verse one, then God said to Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel, dwell there, make an altar there to God who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother. And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, put away your foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel and I will make an altar there to God who answered me in the day in my distress and have been with me in the way which I have gone. So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands and earrings which were in their ears and Jacob hid them underneath a tree which he was at Shechem.

36:46 And they journeyed and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. So, Jacob was also not monitoring the secret idols that were coming into his family. And so God calls to sanctification and come to Bethel, which means the house of God. And so Jacob tells his families to purify themselves and get rid of all their idols. Not only did they get rid of the idols but they also removed their earrings which could be melted down to make idols in the future.

38:06 What idols have snuck into your home that you're not aware of? What things might be stealing your wife and children's love for the lord? Not only did Jacob's family remove their idols from home but they also gave up their earrings to ensure that they would not have the provision make idols in the future. What should we removed from our homes that could be an idol in the future? Are there things in our home that Satan is using to distract our families and hinder allegiance to Christ?

38:42 Yeah. I think they were they were probably still there. Now I can tell you that some of the commentators, I don't know that I hold this view, they were likened to terrafim that Laban was using. And some think that she took them so Laban wouldn't be able to easily find out where they went. So that's a different view.

39:26 But she had them and they were still in the, in their, her family. So I don't know Rachel's motive. I don't know if it's good or bad. Was she protecting the family when she took Laban's terrafem? I don't know.

39:41 My gut feeling is that she had a little bit more interest in them than that, but that's possible. So they may have still been there, but it sounds like there were other idols or gods, you know, in the midst. Because we're talking, you know a few years later in chapter 35, a little bit of time has gone by, guess maybe over a year. So yeah, those idols and probably others I think. And certainly the earrings could be melted down.

40:12 We see that again and again. That's what was used to during the time of Gideon, right? The earrings of the Ishmaelites were melted down and then that became this this golden coat that got the fleece that got worshipped became an idol in itself. So, the point here is there's a call to sanctification. I think this is something as shepherds we have to continue doing our house.

40:42 Just a continual call of sanctification. Go around the walls. Go in the garages and just say what is there that taking time that's robbing the the resources of our family devotion from the lord? I grew up in a family which the TV went all the time And when Brendan and I got married, we had a TV for about the first two, three years and then we decided, you know what, this is just wasting time. And since that time we got rid of it.

41:14 And I am so thankful that we did that. I hate to think of the thousands and thousands of hours now that we've been wasted in just doing that. And it provides more family time, more time for interaction, more time for study. And what it did is it forced my children to read books. And it's funny now when we play, my kids have read thousands and thousands of books.

41:39 We play games like Boggle, they clean my clock every time. I have not even won one round against my daughter, older son and daughter. Their vocabulary is so much better than mine. And because of reading. It was Warren Wiersbe that said readers are leaders.

41:56 And I think that's good. Get good books in our children's hand. The highlight of the week was going to the library and getting literature instead of the program. Just doesn't what's on TV today, the commercials, the rest of it, there's very little that passes the Philippians 4A test. And so, just really need to be careful.

42:17 That's for me personally, that difficult because I grew up with it. It was always there. I liked it. And after a while I found out, you know, I can carry on without this. It's not needed.

42:31 So, I'm going to just go pause there for the evening, but I'm just curious what would be some other things that you brothers would suggest looking out for that you know for a fact have been idols within your families, things that have robbed affection that you've had to deal with? Facebook. What's that? Facebook. Facebook.

42:54 You know, I'm glad you mentioned that because we, my wife and I will do social media. My oldest daughter and my two sons had Facebook accounts. My oldest son was the first to get rid of his and then my other son did his and my daughter said, dad at the end of the year I'm getting rid of Facebook. She says, this is absolutely ridiculous now what people are posting and you know, I thought this could be a tool to keep in contact which says, this is becoming ridiculous. So, I think there's liberty there but the lord showed them that that wasn't the the right thing to do just for time and and there's been a lot of marriages wrecked through Facebook, reconnecting, and so forth.

43:42 It's not evil in itself. It's what you do with it. This will be a nice way to close just to give god the glory and my wife was had an after school club in the elementary school in Ottawa, Kansas and that school was not going to let her come the next semester. They didn't have the facilities. So, my wife went around to other elementary schools praying Lord, open the door for some school.

44:07 And a school at Apennus, Lincoln closed down the school at Apennus, which is a country school, it's a little smaller school like 150 students said, that's fine, we'll let you have an after school club here. So, were praising the Lord that the door didn't close. So, my wife goes to Apennus and the flyers go out for the club and a young man named Jason comes to the club. He's seven years old. Now, the story of Jason's life is this.

44:39 He was in the Kansas City area, which is an hour away. His mom was not his natural mom. She was in a relationship, an unsaved woman was in a relationship and that man's sister was a drug addict and she kept having babies. And she was giving the babies drugs to keep them quiet. And so this woman who was in this relationship saw what she was doing to these babies and felt sorry for Jason.

45:14 And so she started the adoption process. She wanted to adopt and get him out of that. It took about two and a half years. And finally, she broke off of this guy, but she ended up adopting Jason, who's now like four, 4.5 years old. And so she put her into, put Jason into a Catholic school in Kansas City.

45:37 Well, then she had some tumors and so forth on her ovaries and it was very serious. She almost died. So Jason then came to live with his grandparents, which lived three miles from us, which put him out of the Catholic school in Kansas City and put him in Appanoose. Jason gets a flyer to Camp Kindness, seven years old. The first days there, he hears about sin.

46:05 And two day, two more clubs later, he professed Christ as savior. Praise the lord. You see how the lord works at? Now, his parents, his grandparents, he's living with, we try to follow-up and so I get them in a Bible study and now, they've come to Christ. They've just been baptized and now they're in the assembly, all three of em.

46:24 Ain't our god great? Amen. Praise god. You know, so, there's an example where yeah, that's fulfill a great commission, pour self in the lives of the kids. Who knows what else god will do out of that?

46:34 We have a great god. I just marvel at all the things that had to happen and now, Joey just got baptized in December. He says, all because of camp kindness. I said, no, Joe. All because of the lord and look at all everything else that had to happen.

46:51 I mean, we start seeing astronomical things like that. You know, god's got a signature on things. It really encourages us. Father, we want to thank you for a great day. I thank you for each and every one of these brothers that have come today.

47:20 We know we have failed. We've come short of what your expectations are for us as the shepherds and leaders of our families as husbands. And we pray father that today you might have spoken to us in a very real way that we might go forward with a greater capacity, a greater understanding, a greater desire to please you in this important role of leading our families and being good husbands. Father, I pray for each family represented here today. Put a hedge of protection around them, Father.

47:53 Please, Father, keep the devil from them. And we don't need any more disaster stories. We don't need any more broken marriages. We don't need any more children straying off and becoming casualties of of a sin cursed world. So, we pray father you give us a heart to do what would please you.

48:12 You're a god worth all of our service and we just pause and give you praise and thank you for a good day. Amen.