 Good afternoon, Pastor David. Hey, John. Welcome everybody to an unfiltered, a random moment with Pastor David. Pastor, when we look at the condition of the church today, and we see that a lot of churches have even become entertainment centers, we see the church in a place where it could appear to be weaker than it typically has in the past. If you were to pinpoint or a reason why this is going on, what would you say is missing in the church today? I think there are several things that we could do better, that we would be better if we were to be aware of. You know, it's kind of like the church has forgotten who we are. You know, we were birthed through the power of the Holy Spirit, right? I mean Jesus said you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Then you're going to be witnesses to me, Jerusalem and Judea Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And so the church was birthed through the power of the Holy Spirit, and it was also entrusted with the message of the gospel that is intended by God to go out under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. So the ministers of the gospel are to be people who rely on the Holy Ghost and the Holy Word. And so if there's something that we need to awaken to in these last days, it's to the combination of the work of the Spirit and the Word. I believe that because there are so many negative comments and negative views, related to Christianity because so many Christians, unfortunately, have been living less than what God intends us to live. You know, we're sometimes almost, if not completely, indistinguishable from the world. You know, we many times do the same things, say the same things, go to the same places, listen to the same kinds of music, watch the same movies. We do all the same things. There's really nothing different about it. Well, the church sees that, rather the world sees that, that the church is just not even that necessary. I mean, when you think about it through the COVID situation that the church was not even regarded as being a necessity. Tattoo parlors were, and bars were, and things of that nature were still considered essential. But the church itself wasn't. And why is that? You know, well, a lot of times we'll say it's because, you know, there is no regard for the church. You know, it's that the church has become irrelevant to a lot of people. And that's, that's largely our fault, you know, and that we haven't lived up to what we're supposed to be. So I would say that we have an appearance of weakness because we've been walking in the flesh, and because we're not bold in our faith, and because we haven't relied on the expression of the word of God in our lives and very often in our churches, John. So I think that what we need to do is to reawaken to the power of the spirit and to be more open to God moving in us. Part of the problem related to that is that the hyperpentecostal experiences infiltrated and became regarded as a normal thing amongst those who believe in the gifts and all. And so because of that, we became looked at in a ridiculous way. I mean, it's kind of like when Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 says, if everybody is speaking in tongues and all and the unlearned or unbeliever should enter in your midst, will he not say you're all crazy? Well, by putting that kind of exhibitionism on TV in an unregulated, biblically unregulated way, that's exactly what the world began to say is those Christians are crazy. But what happens when the Holy Spirit really is governing your life is you become normal. You become more normal. I mean, the scripture tells us that the spirit of God was on Jesus without measure and he was not a lunatic and he didn't do odd and weird things. You know, but here we have people saying, Oh, the spirit is on me. And then they're barking like dogs or running around the church or standing outside. I was there when this happened standing outside of a hospital commanding COVID. I wasn't doing it. Somebody was COVID disease be gone in the name of Jesus. And then people see that and they say, What's wrong with these people? And for a good reason, they're asking what's wrong with these people. They're they're unlearned and they're they're unaware of how the spirit actually intends to work. And so if there's anything we need right now, John, it's to return to to rely on God's power to rely on his Holy Spirit to work within us to gift us to anoint us to lead us to inspire us and his word so we can live by it and and share it with other people so that they may see what what the lives of those who know God really should look like. Amen. Well, Pastor, thank you so much for that. You know, one of the things I think people say is that I need to walk in the power of the spirit. And sometimes I think that they think it's like some gimmick or something I need to do or something. But it's just simply opening our hearts to the Lord. It's God working many years ago and I'll close our moment with this illustration. I was I was after church service and a woman approached me immediately after the service. And I was talking to her and she said this to me. I'll never forget it. She said, When does this is my first time here? When does a Holy Spirit move in this place? That's what she said. When does a Holy Spirit move in this place? And I looked at her and I said, Were you here for the study? And she said, Yes, I said the Holy Spirit moved through the teaching of the word. I said, Were you here for the worship? She said, Yes, I said the Holy Spirit was moving during our time of worship. I said, Did you see the invitation today? She said, Yes, did you see people come forward to receive Christ? She said, Yes, I did. I said the Holy Spirit was moving. I said, Look around this room right now. And she did. I said, Do you see those people praying with one another right now? She said, Yes, I said the Holy Spirit is at work right now. I said, What you're really asking me is when we speak in tongues, right? She said, Yes, that's what I was asking you. And I said, The Holy Spirit works in a variety of ways. His work is not always centered on one particular gift. I said, As you look around right now and as you just experienced in our services, the Holy Spirit is at work. And I think that sometimes, John, people isolate one gift, one particular thing, whether it's tongues or healing or prophecy. They isolate one thing, one gift, one expression of the work of God, and then judge everything else by it. Now, the Holy Spirit works in a variety of ways. That's why there's a variety of gifts. And as the gifts are operating as they ought to, then people will say, Truly God is amongst you. And that's how that works. Pastor, thank you so much for that. And may we can always continue to be filled with the Spirit of God. And Church Family, I want to invite you guys to our services tomorrow night, which is Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. And Pastor, you're taking us through the book of Titus. We'll be in Titus chapter 1 tomorrow, verses 5 through 9, maybe a little bit further. Invite your friends and family to come out and join us. And then our services on Sunday morning at 8.30 and 10.45 a.m. And Pastor David, thank you, Ken, for sharing with us. Guys, thank you for tuning in to Unfiltered. God bless you and we'll see you next time.