Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Panel Discussion

PASTOR SCOTT: Amen. As the other pastors are coming, we''re going to take just a few minutes and with the conference starting tomorrow--following that on Wednesday, of course, we''ll be having a good time of visiting with the other pastors and having some time in that particular panel--I wanted to just put a little aAmen on the teaching that we''ve been doing on humility [to] see if we covered all of the bases [and will] be able to practically apply this principlee.

You remember we were starting out on the teaching--we were talking about how there''s been this false pride that''s been really something that''s being infused into our young people, into this generation. When I say our young people, I''m not just talking about the kids here in our fellowship. I''m talking about this generation that we''re going to be facing who are going to become the generation of power that will bring the persecution to the church. We''re talking about the secular aspect of it and then the influence that really is on our young people also from their own peers. A generation that''s been actually told how great they are, how special they are.

We poked fun. We were talking about the generation of the forties and fifties, and we made comment about those of us that have survived drinking out of hoses and riding in the back of pickups and all these particular things, but we are in a day when everyone is made to feel special. Chuck said he was listening to a talk show, a Christian show, coming back, and the public schools have introduced a new game. It''s kind of like when we used to play--you''d either play dodgeball or you''d play whatever it is, tag and you''re out, or whatever. They''ve got it now where nobody''s ever out. He said he didn''t get to hear the final verdict of this thing--[it''s] because you don''t want anybody to feel bad about their position in society, that you could ever be less than somebody else.

So we''re living at a time when everybody is made to feel special. We talked about it from the Adamic perspective. I want to address that a little bit more in just a moment, but before we do, just to see--Chuck, yourself, any of you guys, anything that stood out to you in the teaching, any of the different areas that stood out that you''d like to speak toward or anything that you all might have questions on, some things that we could speak toward. If there''s anything from your thinking that you''d like me to expound on or expand on a little bit more, we want to do that.

I think as a people--and I was telling the guys in the back that we as a fellowship, we need to guard ourselves in that area that I was talking about this morning too, and that''s the spiritual pride: thinking we''re better than other Christians that are out there because we go to church more, we know more of the Bible. We are not better; we''re unprofitable servants. We''re just doing what God called us to do. We shouldn''t resent the fact that they only go to church twice a week. They might be saved! ""Yeah, but they need to be doing what we''re doing."" Well, you do what God called you to do, and just share the Word with them and don''t worry about where they are. Don''t worry about the fact that someone is smoking or someone is drinking. I was sharing with the guys back there, the only thing that can hurt you that they''re doing is false doctrine, if you embrace it, and nothing else is going to hurt you.

So we''re the light of the world. We''re to be examples. We don''t--the Pharisee in that parable of Jesus'' despised that other person (Luke 18:9-14). They thought that because of their works, their tithing, their praying, that they were better to the place of despising. Anything we''re doing, we''re doing by the grace of God. We''re not special; we''re just Christians and doing what God called us to do. So don''t allow yourself to be deceived in those areas and think that you''re something just because you''re being obedient. That''s normative Christianity, so it''s important that we embrace those things. Anything that stood out?

PASTOR HEGLUND: Just something along those lines that I''ve been talking to a couple of people this week about. One, it came up in missions practice, and how you had shared, and you often share, that we need to be careful that it''s the gospel that we''re sharing that''s offensive, not the way we''re sharing, our breath, or anything else, our own personalities. Of course, we''re being careful. We''re trying to write skits this year, skits on touchy subjects like racism, and we want the Word of God, the principles of the Word, to be what offends.

Someone was just sharing, one of the group members, just, man, that really stood out in this person''s own personal life. The person said, ""I don''t know how many times I''ve heard Pastor share that""--but just how it''s hitting home when you''re getting ready to go stand before probably a thousand plus Africans out in the middle [of an] open air market and do a skit on racism, how you really want it to be the Word that offends.

And then another area that stands out to me, and just as you were sharing that about people sharing on the job and running into people from other churches and things like that, I know I get to be around you a lot and just watch your life, whether you''re at the races and you run into a Christian racer or something. When you''re talking to them, this person might share some things and we go, ""Man, that guy is in trouble."" You would hear certain things and think, ""Well, I''m not sure he''s headed down the right path,"" but you don''t feel a big need to fix that guy. You can see it, and you''ve had thirty- some years plus of being a Christian. You probably know where that guy is going to be headed, but you might just inject something. And timing--and what you inject is not what he needs to be doing, what direction he needs to head with his life, but it''s this principle so that the seed is put out there. Maybe he got it, maybe he didn''t, but the Holy Spirit can use that. And not feeling also that you have to fix big things when you might run into a guy in a restaurant. We were sitting out the other day, and this guy was sharing--some Muslim guy.

PASTOR SCOTT: A Muslim guy praising the Pope.

PASTOR HEGLUND: Was that what it was? Yeah, you might be able to tell the story better, but I really appreciated how you were dealing with the guy. He said some things that he shared. He was a Muslim all excited about the Pope dying--""Hhe was the best man ever,"" or something. You didn''t just kill the guy about, ""No, the Pope is going to Hell, and you are too"" and all these other things. He was bringing the meal--the guy was hustling; he was sweating. He was bringing the meal one time. The other, I think he was filling your soup bowl up again or something, but, anyway, you took the time. You shared just a few principles. You didn''t have time to get into everything to do it justice, so you just shared the principles very briefly, and if it was going to offend, it was going to be the Word that was offensive. Not that you wouldn''t take time and really get into it if that''s what the Lord wanted you to do.

PASTOR SCOTT: The funny thing--yes, and I always love to share in a situation like that and say, ""Well, you know, the Bible says that there''s no other name under heaven whereby man can be saved but the name of Jesus."" It''s always, ""Yes, but... . . . ""--and they go on. Do you feel the compulsion to have to fix it? That''s pride. Can you just speak the Word of God and believe that the Word is alive and powerful? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is the one that draws men? And as Jeff is sharing, I think that''s something that we--a very big part--we think that we''re really doing something, and it''s really a pride issue rather than it is a zeal issue, many times. Are we zealous for the glory of God? There''s no greater example to people than being able to rest in the truth, and let it be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4).

PASTOR HEGLUND: Or they don''t date or they only have services twice a week. They invited us to lunch, and they work at the same place with us. We''re like, ""Hmm! Gee, I don''t really know if I can go eat lunch with them because they date."" You''re being self-righteous about where we were however many years ago--twenty-five--or if we dated. I don''t remember. That''s before me.

PASTOR SCOTT: I think what Jeff is saying is an important part of that and that we don''t want to have that Pharisee''s attitude when we stand before other people and put ourselves off as superior. We''re just unprofitable servants. We''re ambassadors.

As I hit on that this morning, I think many times many of us don''t even know our own hearts. We resent the fact that they might be able to get to Heaven only praying two times a week and we''ve got to be up here every night. It''s like the guy that got the same pay for the last hour as the one that signed on all day, because we hold the standard of works and our perspective of justice, and ""Bless God, I had to work eight hours for my pay! Why should this guy get the same thing for an hour''s pay? That''s just not right."" We''re judging God, and we''re judging many other things that are beyond our realm of passing judgment. Let''s just do what God called us to do. Let''s just be obedient with the task that''s at hand, and I think that''s part of how we can guard ourselves against that pride issue of wanting to put upon others our commitments and our convictions. There is no greater danger than despising that other man who''s smiting himself and saying, ""Have mercy on me; I''m just a sinner."" I think that''s important. Any comments along these lines or toward anything else?

PASTOR LAROCK: Jeff was giving that example of the coworker--they don''t practice abstinence in the area of dating (they date). From God''s perspective, that person may very well be closer to Him than you are. You may have this doctrine, that you hold as very near and dear, that you perceive makes you real spiritual, but from God''s perspective this person may be far closer to Him than you. Yet, you''re thinking, ""Well, you know, I''ll just try to enlighten this weaker brother here."" So sometimes our perspective of ourselves is really out of whack, because we may have sound doctrine and we may attend a fellowship where the doctrine is sound, but that doesn''t mean that our hearts are lily-white. What you''re talking about, too, that aspect of despising others--how much peace do you have in your life with what God has called you to, and what is that, that would cause us to despise having to pray? When you think about what prayer is--prayer is the privilege of coming into God''s presence to present our petitions before Him and to commune with Him. For us to say, ""You know, I have to pray eight hours, and you''re not going to get away with only praying two,"" that reveals what we really think in our hearts about prayer.

I used to be in a church like that up until I was about twelve years old, and the headquarters is in Rome. That''s really what it reminds me of when I think about that. I was around people all the time, as a young person, where I''d hear things all the time: ""Well, let''s go to church on Saturday night and get it out of the way so we don''t have to go on Sunday."" They''d start at 5:20 Mass on Saturday night. So you could go for twenty, thirty minutes on Saturday night and have your Sunday free to do what you really enjoyed doing. It was all about obligation, and there was no joy in any of the service. We look at the Catholics and we see the great error of the Catholic Church and all the works, and yet we can be doing the exact same thing but just with sound doctrine and despising the fact that--and really not having joy in prayer and the things that we do. Perceiving them as obligations instead of privileges and then wanting to pat ourselves on the back because we''ve fulfilled them and think that God is going to really put us at the head of the class when we get to Heaven because of how faithful we were to prayer. We looked around here on Tuesdays and Thursday nights, and ""There are a lot of people that are not near as faithful as me."" We''re just so proud of that and looking forward to the great reward that we''re going to get. So that thing of despising others, just proud of ourselves, really stood out to me.

PASTOR SCOTT: Yes, the despising isn''t just even making accusations. This guy verbalized--and it sounds so horrible hearing it verbalized--but don''t verbalize it; just think it. You know, just like, ""Well, where are they, and how come they''re not as committed?"" Are you seeing any merit in what you''re doing, or are you counting it a privilege? Merit, again, is coming from that realm of self-consciousness, and privilege is from that realm that we talked about of nothingness, of that position of debtor, and that''s the humbling part. Because man--the Adamic nature, man--every man is special in his own eyes, period! So those are the things that when we can live separate from that, then humility really is bearing some fruit in our lives. Any other comments along these lines? Anything else that stood out to you in the teaching that you want to speak toward that might be worth addressing? Richard.

PASTOR MILLER: It''s been mentioned a couple of times, the aspect of humility, coming to that place of nothingness. When you were speaking of that this morning, I thought of Philippians 2. You referred to Philippians 2:3 where he says, ""Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."" That one phrase, ""let each esteem other better than themselves,"" that really, it gets you. Because like you said, we are so trained to see ourselves as special, or number one, but what it''s talking about is, I can see the gifts and the value that God has placed in my brothers and sisters, and I glory in that rather than glorying in myself. He goes on and he refers to Jesus Who emptied Himself, and that''s really the spirit of what you''re speaking of. Being able to empty yourself of all agenda, preference, desire, to where you really are at peace with God''s will for your life and God''s plan for your life. You''re no longer striving against His will, demanding your own way, but you''ve come to that place of nothingness, of just saying, ""Father, whatever You will, that''s what I want. Nothing more, nothing less; just whatever You want."" That''s really the great place of humility and obedience, that example of Jesus.

PASTOR SCOTT: Yes, and humility--watch this. Are some people really better than others? You know, really. Not morally [but] naturally--gifts, talents, better looking by human standards. We know that''s a subjective thing, but there is a--we all know ugly when we see it. [Pastor''s humor.] Are some of us more talented? Do we have more gifts? Are some of us intellectually keener? The answer to that is yes. When we''re talking about humility, we''re not talking about a false humility of, ""Well, you know, we''re all the same."" We''re not. We that are better know it. [Pastor's humor.]

Humility is knowing what God has made you and knowing that God made you, and that it''s to be used for His glory and His honor. Humility doesn''t despise others that are better or less, but it''s understanding that God put us in the body as it pleases Him. So when we''re able to come to that understanding, we''re not talking, again, about humanism and everybody is equal, socialism--everybody is equal. We''re talking about man, who naturally would like to think that he is preeminent, being able to realize God''s wisdom supercedes our own and that He has gifted and placed. And I yield to that and call it right, and that''s humility. So it''s important that we operate in that realm and not this false humility. Know who you are. Know what God has made you. Know what He has called you to do. Give Him the glory.

That''s part of that aspect. Then when we talked again in the back, we were talking about it--""Humble yourself and in due time God will exalt you"" (1 Peter 5:6)--we said the misunderstanding that ""God exalting me"" is finally God giving me what I want and God revealing to others how great I really am and me receiving in the eyes of men what''s due, finally, because I humbled myself. Exaltation is not you getting what you think you deserve or having more than others or coming to a position of preeminence. Exaltation, as we said this morning, is you being able to be used for God''s fullness, in whatever way it is, and being content in that. That''s exaltation; that''s humility. When you humble yourself, in due time God will be able to exalt you.

We were talking about this big plan that God has and the fact that so many of us are waiting for God to unveil this, finally, and reveal to everybody the great, majestic plan and the preeminent position that He has for our lives--and it''s finally revealed! I was sharing with the men, that perception is pride, because you can''t comprehend what God has planned for you. You can''t comprehend what''s best. If God showed it to you, you couldn''t understand it. In reality, what He has when He reveals Himself to you--we were laughing about it, but really, if God was to pull the veil back, you know what the great thing is that''s waiting for you as you humble yourself? You want to know what it is? He''s going to pull that veil back, and you''re going to see this thing that says ""more of the same."" Yes. More of the same. Just that continuing--Jeff, as you quoted the Scripture--""... . . . patient continuance in well doing... . . . "" (Romans 2:7). That''s God''s will for your life. Are you content with that, or does it have to be something that''s dramatic and spectacular? That''s not exaltation. Exaltation is being content and hearing, ""Well done.""

PASTOR HEGLUND: I just had thoughts along those lines, too. I don''t really want to embarrass anybody but I probably will. [It''s] just exciting to see people with talents, and you have dreams for your life and things that you could do. I think about [people] like Michael Coxa certain young man. I was talking to him the other day, and he was just sharing along those lines of just being able to humble himself. He could have gone and played basketball somewhere. He had certain plans for his life, but he was thankful for the Lord being able to exalt him to where he could just be content to serve in the body. Not that it''s wrong to go play basketball if that''s what God wants you to do, but he was saying that''s what he felt he would like to do. And he was just able to submit to the Lord, and I see the fruit of that coming forth. I know in talking with the kids that I work with, they look up to him, and he''s able to, on a Monday night, playing basketball--not near the caliber he might like to be playing. Of course, he''s out of shape now. That''s what he says.

PASTOR SCOTT: Getting old!

PASTOR HEGLUND: But just put his arm around a kid and said, ""You know, man, your attitude is not really good. I used to be like that. You need to change."" Just watching the faithfulness to go to some of the different outreaches and things. He was just sharing the peace and the contentment of that patient continuance in well doing. It''s not flashy. It''s not accolades and people cheering or anything like that. It''s not a lot of people seeing it, but it''s just that eternal fruit you were mentioning before about humility. With our kids, not just giving them everything and making them think they''re great, but teaching them that what''s important is the eternal--what''s going to change your friend sitting next to you, his life.

Another thing that I enjoy watching and hearing about is the young mothers. They just maybe had their second child--I know Kim went through this, and just sharing how, ""Man, I just don''t feel like I''m doing anything. I''m here at home and I''m changing diapers. You''re coming home from this meeting, or you got to go to that outreach, and I''m just not important."" Of course, she worked through that and the Lord humbled her, but just seeing it in others, different young adult moms or something, and as they share. When you can kind of finally realize that''s what I think is important--going out witnessing or the-- I''m training up a life in the Kkingdom, and being content, being free, being exalted, to see that, ""Man, this is a high calling."" It''s like you said. It''s very mundane, and there''s really no glamour in changing a diaper and just being there to read the book, or as they get older, just listen to the teenage rambling at one o''clock in the morning that''s so important. Just watching those things take place--that''s the supernatural. But we always have our dreams of whatever: seeing the world and preaching to thousands or being a deacon or whatever it is we think is the most spiritual.

PASTOR SCOTT: That agenda-free life. Any other, anybody else?

PASTOR LAROCK: Yes, as we were talking about that subject of humbling yourself and God will exalt you, when you say that, it can sound like, Well, gee, that doesn''t sound that great. I mean, I''m putting in all this effort and work to humble myself and all I''m going to get is like, yeah, just be a servant and nobody knows about it? That can be--

PASTOR SCOTT: Bummer.

PASTOR LAROCK: You can think, Well, gee, I thought I was going to get put on a pedestal and everyone would be able to recognize how humble and spiritual I was, and people were going to say that, and I was going to get the esteem of men and honor and respect and people would be real quiet when I spoke, like Job said. It can seem like you''re getting shortchanged, but the process of being humbled is the process of learning the value of the exaltation that God gives. You lose--the value that you once placed on being exalted in the eyes of man gets weaker and weaker and grows less and less, and the value that you place on the confidence of knowing that you''re doing God''s will becomes more and more regardless of what esteem you may get in the eyes of men and what exaltation.

The other aspect is the finances. We talked about the parallel: things people give. They think if they give, they''ll get from God (if you give sacrificially, God will give you a lot back) [or] if you serve, God will exalt you. In those cases and in others we could use as examples, it''s still just self-centered, and God''s process of humbling us is to free us from self, because if we were put on a pedestal and everyone was saying how great we were, we would be very empty.

God frees us from that love affair we have with ourselves to be able to find joy in the fact of seeing us as nothing, seeing ourselves as really nothing and not worthy to be put on a pedestal, and hearts full of joy that He is on one. So that process of humility is--that''s what''s working. The treasure of us on the pedestal is becoming less and less, and the true, genuine heart value of seeing Him as all and all becomes greater.

PASTOR SCOTT: Yes, and we like that recognition. Greer was teasing me the other day with Jimmy about what''s so natural in us. She said it never fails. Any time that we''re working on something and I''m polishing some aluminum, man--get that thing up--I always have to say, ""Come here! Come here! Look! Look at this! Did you see it before? Look at that thing! Look at that thing! Look in there! What do you think? Isn''t that a lot shinier than last time?"" It''s in man. We want our efforts to be seen and appreciated.

PASTOR LAROCK: You say, ""Oh, yeah! That looks beautiful."" ""No, no! That''s the side I did, over here on this side."" ""Oh, yeah, that''s good.""

PASTOR SCOTT: The reason that came up was because Jimmy had called Steph out into the garage to look at some of the wiring he did on his motorcycle. Like most of us men, we''re so proud of ourselves. We want all the praise and accolades, and, you know, ""You''re my hero."" And she said, ""Oh. Yeah."" Chuck said that Jimmy should have told her, ""No. Go back in the house. I''ll call you back out. You can do better than that."" So Jimmy did, and Steph came back out and said, ""You should have sent that to Tony Delsignore."" [Laughter.] I''m making all that up. Just the second part.

It''s in us. We''re all that way. But to be able to live without the praise of men, to be able to live without recognition--that Andrew Murray quote, ""To be nothing before Him God is the glory of man."" There is no higher position attainable than to be nothing before men but everything before God. For he''s just saying, ""You made it. You''re agenda-free. You''re praise-free. You''re free from self."" That''s what we''re looking for. What a glory! What an attainment! So we''re just working ourselves toward that. Any other comments on some of these? We had made some of the one-liners: When God is all, self is nothing--a few of these that I''ve actually written down. Greer had some of the things written down that we had said, some of the one-liners. There were some really good ones, and I''ve gone back and written some of them down from their notes.

We''re living in the fruit that--you may not be as blatant, but are you one of them?

We were coming home from Florida, and this guy--are you one of them that when the lane--you know, the sign says ""Lane Ends in 300 Feet"" and then it ends but you don''t? Are you one of them that drives up the turn lane, and you know it''s a turn lane, an exit lane, and then you cut in like, ""Oh, I didn''t know that was coming""? You knew it was coming. You can get hung out sometimes in traffic. We all can when you get surprised by it. But if you do [cut in], that''s more of an indication of pride and improper value on self than many of these other things that you might think. We see it in--are you the one that--some of these stupid things that society does. The dumbest thing I''ve ever seen are those signs they have over here at the mall: Mothers With Children. Now, how can you be a mother without a child in the first place? My mom could park there; she''s got a kid! Who are those people that are pulling in there that have their thirty-year-old children with them? ""Hey, this sign gets us closer. I have a right to be there. I''m a mother with a child.""

What''s that all about? We''re breeding all of this stuff. You can use some of those things. Do you think you should be at the front of the line? Can you crowd and feel comfortable about it? I don''t even know what other practical things to give, but some of these are just everyday, mundane practical things that we put ourselves forward. We think we deserve that. We have a right to run the yellow light, or whatever, and all of these things.

PASTOR CARLSON: Too many items in the express lane at the grocery store.

PASTOR SCOTT: Yes, fifteen items or less, and you have sixteen. ""Well, it''s only sixteen!"" And the guy behind you has only got seventeen, and the guy behind him only has eighteen, and the guy behind him only has-- By the time you go to the express lane with your fifteen items and those other guys that are just one over, two over, three over, four over, five over, twelve over, you might as well go to the non-liars line.

PASTOR LAROCK: What if you''re the person that always likes to count everybody''s items that are in that lane to make sure that they''re not over the limit, and you report them to the manager?

PASTOR SCOTT: Is that person here? Is the counter here? That would probably be me if I went to the store--""Hey, you ain''t coming in here with sixteen items, Jack!"" Take that thing and throw it down the aisle, you know. Have the grocery police come and get them. I think I''m the guy that would eat the sixteenth item in line while I''m waiting.

PASTOR LAROCK: Especially if it was an ice cream bar.

PASTOR SCOTT: Yes, if it was ice cream. By the time you get there, it''s only fifteen, right? Put the stick up on there. But these are things that we can really get glimpses of our heart where we think we''re special [and] we deserve. Those are areas that we can, when we''re so proud of where we think we''ve come, realize who we really are and what our tendencies are and guard ourselves. Any questions or comments thus far? Anything that might be an area that you''d like to hear a little more spoken toward, and we''ll do that very quickly here if there was any. If not, we''ll give the guys one more chance to comment. Anybody? All the areas pretty well covered.

We tried to keep it practical. It''s a topic that, of course, all of us--it''s who we are. It''s man. But true humility is that emptying again of ourselves and coming to the place of obedience, even the death of our daily cross. To take His yoke and learn of Him. He''s meek; He''s lowly. He was agenda-free. When it says yoked up with Him, it means yoked up to do the will of the Father, not our own will. Humility is being yoked up to do the will of God. Humility is living free from works and totally by the grace and finished work of Jesus, and there is no merit in anything we do, because we''re yoked up. Our strength, our worth, is in our identity with Christ. That''s where true humility comes in.

Steve was talking in the back about--I hadn''t heard of them, these clothes--Dickies clothes. He said he was talking to some of the kids--and he found them [Dickies] and he really liked them. Then he saw some of the kids wearing them, and the kids that he saw in them, he was shocked that those children would even darken the doors of Wal-Mart. He found out they hadn''t; they got them at Ocean Pacific. This is one of the new fads. Well, Steve being Steve, he said he--Chuck was teasing him in the back--he said, ""I won''t wear anything with a label. ."" So if it''s got like a label on it that says Dickies, he cuts it off, because ""I''m not wearing labels."" Now, he said it''s not pride. He said it''s not pride, and I believe that. He just wants contingency money.

PASTOR CARLSON: It just leaves little holes.

PASTOR SCOTT: Advertising--""If I''m going to advertise your brand, you''re going to pay me for it. I paid you for these and that''s enough. You''re not getting free advertising."" So that''s the way he''s looking at it. The point I''m making, of course, is we''re talking about the recognition of men, identity, these things that we don''t know are there. If labels, identity with what the ""in"" thing is today--do we have to have that, or can we just really be content with what we like? I like this. I like the way it fits. I like the way it feels. I like the value of it. Are you comfortable there? That''s where we''re trying to get ourselves, as a community, to be. Are you comfortable with the fact that if somebody among us can--and we''ve shared that before--if somebody among us can buy their kids the hundred-dollar tennis shoes, are you comfortable with the fact that your kids wear the--I don''t know what the brands might be.

PASTOR CARLSON: Super Giant.

PASTOR SCOTT: Do they make a--

PASTOR CARLSON: That''s what we wore when we were kids.

PASTOR SCOTT: Okay. Super Giant shoes that--they make them out of used plungers and different things. So here you are. What are you teaching your kids? Do you have to sit there and go, ""That''s stupid for them to spend a hundred bucks on a pair of shoes for their kids when they could get Super Giant''s for twelve""? That''s not your place to say that in front of your children. If God has blessed them and they can pay a hundred bucks for a pair of tennis shoes and it''s no different for them to spend a hundred bucks on a pair of tennis shoes than it is for you to spend twelve for your kids, you''re both where God put you. Pride has to judge them for spending that money when they have the wherewithal, and pride is in that despising factor. We need to be very careful. Pride would be to go down and buy your kid a pair of hundred- dollar shoes when you can''t afford it. Just tell them. ""God hasn''t given us the wherewithal to spend a hundred dollars on tennis shoes."" Does that make you less? No. Do our children know that?

The only way they can be comfortable with who God has made you and them is by you boasting in the goodness of God in the position that you''re in, and humbling yourself to make God good and big and right that you only make twenty thousand a year and he makes a hundred and twenty thousand a year. Not feeling any less and not having a haughtiness and pride and boasting in what you don''t have, but boasting in what God has given you. See, that''s the distinction. Many people boast in what they don''t have. They boast in their ability to do without. Do you boast in God being your source, whether it''s twenty thousand a year or two hundred thousand a year? That''s humility. That''s what we need to teach our children in this community, and the fact that we''re not all going to be the same. Those are the things that we need to come to and to be comfortable in.

How about when God blesses you and you go to a different position? My dad was one of those that took that pride. He got--they were so blessed as time went on, but he never saw it. My mom was still--they were making a good amount of money, and my mom was still going down to those dollar stores and paying ninety-nine cents for a pair of shoes. I''ve told you the story about my dad''s shoes when I bought him that pair of shoes for Christmas one time, and he opened the shoes up and he said, ""How much did you pay for those shoes?"" I said, ""I''m not going to tell you."" He said, ""No, really, how much did you pay for them?"" I said, ""I''m not going to tell you because if I do, you won''t be able to enjoy them."" So he put them on, and he walked around a little bit. He said, ""Man."" He said, ""These things don''t even hurt your feet!"" I said, ""Shoes aren''t supposed to hurt your feet."" He''d never had a pair of shoes that didn''t hurt his feet. He said, ""I''ve never had a pair of shoes that didn''t hurt my feet."" I said, ""You''ve never had a pair of shoes you paid more than twelve bucks for."" But he would boast in that--""I never spend more than twelve dollars for a pair of shoes!"" ""Yeah, your feet have hurt for forty years, man, so boast in that!"" The place I''m going with all of this is, we were sitting there one day, and he made the comment. He said, ""You know""--I can''t remember what it was that I said, and he was making one of those stupid statements like that about, ""Well, twelve dollars is all you need to spend on a pair of shoes."" It probably wasn''t that thing, and I said something else and he said, ""The problem with you is you forgot where you came from!"" I said, ""No. The problem with you is you don''t have a clue where God has put me."" He kind of looked at me, and he didn''t have any more to say. You glory in the Lord. You boast in the Lord. Those are the things that we want to make real to our children.

Our kids--and I''ve shared, had the privilege of our lives being open before you--our kids, when we raised them and they were little, the only clothes they had were what their Grandma Cheaerry would make them or one of the relatives would buy them. We didn''t have money to buy our kids clothes. We didn''t have money to do anything. When we moved here, the clothes that most of our kids got were hand-me-downs from the Sullivans and different things that they would give us or that Edith would be able to get a hold of from one of them and the kids. All they were told was, ""We''re blessed because we''re able to serve God. We''re out doing God''s work, man."" I just encourage you to make that the treasure for your children''s hearts. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Any last comments that you guys might have? Anything?

Well, praise God. Hopefully it''ll be something we can live and chew on for the next few days. And the next time you pass in that turn lane or you go with sixteen items to the line or you really think that you deserve preferential treatment or you''re patting yourself on the back for being an unprofitable servant or you resent others because they''re not working as hard to pursue God as you are, then realize it''s time to humble yourself and in due time God will exalt you. He''ll finally empty you of all of those things you think you''re doing right, and then you''ll be free. There is no higher place than finally becoming nothing before Him.

Father, we thank You for Your grace and Your mercy. We''re so full of ourselves, but You''re bringing us to an understanding, constantly, of the grace, the mercy, that''s so freely been given to us. We are debtors. We can never achieve righteousness. We can never work to gain Your pleasure. Nothing done in our own strength is acceptable or worth recognition in Your sight, but only what You''ve initiated, only that, that is effectual for Your glory and Your purposes will remain. That''s what You''ll boast in, and that''s what we can make our boast in. We just ask, Father, that You''d make it very real to us, in Jesus'' name. Amen. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, ""In due time He''ll exalt you."" Hallelujah!

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