 So keep your place there. We're going to be coming back there. Proverbs is one of those books that I wish I would have read and understood when I was probably a young man or young lady understands the book of Proverbs. It's life advice on everything. How to deal with people, how to get education, how to get knowledge, how to have friends, how to look things to look out for with friends, how to handle business, how to handle your life, your career. It's all in the book of Proverbs. So it's just a great book to study and to read for any Christian. But I want to focus on verse number seven this morning. Verse number seven, if you look down at Proverbs, now I've explained this before, but Proverbs, many verses in Proverbs, the single verse says one thing and then the last part of the verse will say the other side of that coin. So it'll say some advice and then it'll say, if you don't do that advice, this is going to happen to you. Which is why Proverbs is so cool. Look at verse number seven. It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. So it's saying, you know, if you want to have knowledge, I mean, if I asked everybody in the room today, like, who wants to be knowledgeable in your life, I'm sure everybody would say, I'm knowledgeable. So the Bible is saying that the beginning of that, the beginning of that is the fear of the Lord. And then it gives the opposite of that, right? So you don't fear the Lord, you don't want knowledge. The opposite of that, look at the last part of the verse. It says, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And verse number 29 kind of repeats this concept. It says that if you don't have fear of the Lord, you're a fool. If you don't want to begin that knowledge with the fear of the Lord, it's like you're literally a foolish person. And in verse number 29, it literally says that you hate knowledge if that's you. It says like, you know, who out there would admit willingly that I just hate knowledge? I don't want to be smart. I don't want to be wise. I want to be an idiot in my life. You know, nobody would say that. Yet the Bible here is saying, is that if you don't fear the Lord, if you don't start there, you'll be an idiot, basically, is what the Bible is saying. You'll be a fool, I guess is the Bible word. Alright, so this morning I want to talk about a very specific topic. I want to talk about a very specific topic this morning that I haven't talked about in years, and I'm not sure why, because it's such a major problem in our country today. You know, around the world, but mainly it's one of the main things that is literally destroying this country and generations of people in it. This morning what I want to talk to you about, I titled the sermon The University Industrial Complex. The University Industrial Complex is the title of the sermon this morning. So first of all, what is an industrial complex? Let me just define that for you. I think I'm going to have a sermon series, by the way, just on many different industrial complexes in the United States and the damage that they're doing. So an industrial complex is here's the definition from the dictionary. The industrial complex is a socio-economic concept wherein businesses become entwined in social and political systems or institutions creating or bolstering a profit economy from these systems. So what an industrial complex is, is basically it's a business that's in bed with the government. It's a business that profits in some way from a political system or the government in the case in the United States. The most common one that people have talked about is the military industrial complex. Now that, look, that deserves a sermon in itself, the military industrial complex. But it's a good example, it's a good example of just to use to define what an industrial complex is before we begin the sermon this morning. Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address in 1961 he literally, he had a ten minute farewell address. Here was a man who was a general in World War II. He was president of the United States and he had ten minutes to say goodbye to the country. You know what one of the main things that he brought up was? Was warning against the military industrial complex. Warning against an industrial complex. Let me just give you an example. I'm going to quote from his farewell address. The idea is to understand what an industrial complex is this morning before we, this is a prerequisite to understand the sermon this morning. This is a quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address. He says a vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be might ready for instant action so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. American makers of plow shares could with time and as required make swords as well. So what he's now, I'm pausing the quote here, but what he's talking about was basically in World War II factories shifted in the United States from making goods and products to making tanks and military equipment. Okay, so he's saying that industries they can shift to making military equipment. He continues in his quote. He says, but now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense so we have been compelled to create a permanent armament industry of vast proportions. He's pointing out that now we've created these industries that are only there to create military equipment. That are only there to create tanks and bombs and missiles and planes and all these things. And I can name out many different industries and companies for you, but I'm sure you can already know what I'm talking about. So he's warning against this. He continues. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience yet we must not fail to comprehend its brave implications. In the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwanted influence whether sought or unsought by the military industrial complex. His words. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. Wow, you're like, wow, is he a prophet? Basically what he's saying is, as these companies build up, I mean if you're a company that makes missiles how do you make money? Nobody's shooting missiles at each other, how are you going to make money? How are you going to be profitable? He's saying so these companies are going to build up and there exists this risk that they may be able to influence the government to go and start shooting missiles places or giving missiles to other countries to shoot at each other. Sound familiar? He's saying there's a risk here. There's a conflict of interest here to just keep wars going to keep these companies profitable. That's an industrial complex. That's what we're talking about. So back to the university system in the United States. This is kind of the new capitalism. This is kind of the new capitalism, these companies, these businesses that get in bed with the government and make money that way. Imagine, let's just imagine, let's just use an analogy. Imagine you sell hammers for a living. Back to the university system. Now that we know what an industrial complex is, let's say that you sell hammers for a living. You have John's or Bob's hammer store and you sell hammers. Well, here's the thing. Hammer sells are going okay, but not everybody really needs a hammer. Not everybody needs a hammer. But then you have an idea. Then you have an idea. What if the government can give people free money or zero-interest loans to buy hammers? And then, not only that, but I could convince the politicians and the socio-political culture to program to convince everyone that they need a hammer. So people that didn't even, in the past, wouldn't even have thought they needed a hammer. Now they just think, I need a hammer. And the government will give me free money to buy a hammer. How are my hammer sales going to go? My hammer sales are going to go way up. And guess what? I can charge way more for hammers now than I could before. Because I'm selling a lot more hammers. You see where I'm going with this? I could triple the price of hammers. Because everyone thinks that they need one and they get free money from the government to get a hammer. Welcome to the university industrial complex, folks. This is exactly what is going on. And it is ruining generations of Americans. Literally destroying them before they even can start their lives. So this morning I'm going to give you two biblical reasons. Two biblical reasons to avoid the university system today. Just using the Bible. Alright? Look, it's basically a biblical decision matrix. What did Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 7 say? It says the beginning of knowledge starts with the Bible is what it was saying there. It's saying if you want to have knowledge, you want to even get started with knowledge you better know what the Word of God says. So home schooling parents, I mean we're a home schooling church here. I mean I do not believe you should have your kids in the public school system. You know, home schooling parents have already taken great lengths to pull their kids out of that system. You know, they're not in the box. They're not in that box of thinking that oh, you just must put your kids in daycare. You must put your kids in public school. No. Home schooling parents have already exited that. They've already said, you know what, the status quo. I don't care what the status quo says. I care what the Bible says. And I'm going to follow that. But then they go send their kids to university. It makes no sense. It's a huge mistake. So first of all before I give you these two reasons, let me just, you say well you got to get educated. You got to have education. Well what does the Bible say? That's what we're going to look at this morning. What does the Bible say about education? Turn to Proverbs chapter 16. Does the Bible say you should be educated? Does the Bible say that you should have education? Look at Proverbs chapter 16. There's too many verses in the Bible on this but I'll just read you a few. Proverbs chapter 16. Look at verse number 16. Proverbs chapter 16, verse number 16. So I'm going to give you two reasons but first of all I'm going to show you what the Bible says about education. Okay? About what the Bible calls knowledge and wisdom. Look at Proverbs 16 and verse number 16. Is education important before we get started this morning? Look at what the Bible says. It says how much better is it to get wisdom than gold? And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver? The Bible here is saying you got a pile of gold over here. I mean everybody thinks that's pretty good. Gold's good. Everybody likes gold. Everybody would want gold. Everybody would want silver. It says no. Understanding's better. Wisdom is better. It is better than any amount of money the Bible is saying. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. I'm going to read for you Proverbs chapter 4 and verse number 13. The Bible says in Proverbs 4 13 it says take fast hold of instruction. Let her not go. Keep her for she is thy life. The Bible here is saying education is your life. It equates it to life itself. You know talking about how the way of the fool will lead you to the opposite of that. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Look at verse number 12. The Bible says for wisdom is a defense and money is a defense. But the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom giveth there it is again. What does it say? It says wisdom giveth life to them that have it. It's saying look it's equating wisdom and knowledge and instruction with life itself. It sounds pretty important to me. It sounds like education is pretty important in the Bible because that's what people will tell you and the reason I'm pointing that out before we even get started because if you tell people I'm not sending my kids to college today they'll say oh you want your kids to be uneducated. Wrong. The Bible says education wisdom and knowledge is equal to life itself. It's better than gold. It's better than silver. The Bible says that it is so important that you are educated. Proverbs 1.7 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of that. So you say I want wisdom, I want knowledge. The fear of the Lord, the word of God is where it starts. Meaning, I mean thinking about this. If I want education and I want knowledge in my life and this is the problem that most people make right off the bat. If I want education and I want knowledge and I want wisdom which everybody would say that they have or that they want. But I have no idea what the Bible says. I don't care what the Bible says. I don't care what the word of God says but I want these things. You pretty much have no chance because the Bible says that the fear of the Lord, what God says, His word is the beginning of it. It's like looking at a map without a compass on it. It's like looking at a map and you got roads and you got left turns and right turns but there's no compass saying where north is. So you just got to guess. I mean if you go the wrong way and you go east and the map was oriented west, you have no chance of arriving where the map says you should arrive. Even though it says left turns, right turns, whatever if you don't know which way north is, that's exactly the analogy the Bible is using here. It says the beginning of this, the foundation of education is the Bible. That's the word. That's what it is telling you. So now with that in mind, the idea this is why we homeschool by the way, is to give kids this Christ centered Biblical education. Every education has a worldview folks. Every education every subject out there except maybe math and I think they're even politicizing math today. But every subject out there has a worldview teaching. It has something and it must be Biblical centered or it's a waste. You could be ended up going east when you're supposed to go west. Now higher education, college this university system in the United States today what they're telling us today and what the world teaches is that you can't make it without this. You can't be successful without this thing. Of course the people that are pushing this are telling you that. You can't be successful without a college degree from a university. You'll make more money from a university. I mean I've even heard people say that you will live longer if you go to a university. I'm going to prove all these things false to you. I'm going to show you some shocking statistics this morning and then we're just going to look at what the Bible says and look if you just follow what the Bible says you're going to be fine. But it's when you start just going the way the world tells you to go is when you're going to run into a lot of trouble. Alright so look what does the Bible have an emphasis on? We just saw education we just saw instruction is the word the Bible used. Knowledge wisdom over and over and over. If you read Proverbs those words are going to come up again and again and again wisdom, knowledge, wisdom, knowledge. What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge? Knowledge is knowing things. Getting instructed and knowing things. Wisdom is when you take those things that you know and you put them into action. That's why you hear people say look that's a wise guy. That man is he has a lot of wisdom. He's a very wise person because he has a lot of knowledge but he actually puts it into action which makes him wise. This is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. You can say that wisdom is applied knowledge. What good does it know? I've met some really smart people who are fools. They know a lot of things but they don't apply anything. You could sit here and you could listen to the Bible preached and screamed in your face three times a week you apply nothing you'll still be a fool. Like I know what the Bible says. I know what I've read the Bible ten times. I've met a lot of people like that. I've read the Bible this many times but they apply none of it you're a fool. That means nothing. You must apply it then you're wise. Alright? So today today the problem is somewhere along the lines college degrees have gone from and I don't know when this is. It was further than 50 years ago before I was born. Alright? College degrees went from gaining actual education and knowledge to just getting a piece of paper that gives you a right of passage somewhere. That transition took place long before I was on this earth. Alright? It became about that piece of paper and not about the knowledge and the wisdom that came from applying that knowledge. So the first question is before we even get to these, this is all for introduction purposes. Before we even get to the two reasons does the Bible say that the goal is education or the goal is a piece of paper? The Bible clearly says that the goal is instruction knowledge and wisdom. Very clearly. Alright? So the goal in your life is education, knowledge and wisdom. Alright? Where to find it? Where to find it? It starts with the Bible. It starts with the fear of the Lord. So now let me give you two reasons to avoid the university system and expose all the lies, there are a lot of the lies that are being told about it today that are conning people into feeding their children to this beast. Alright? Turn to Matthew chapter 12. Turn to Matthew chapter 12. Turn to the sermon. All that was introduction. All that was introduction. What are the two biblical reasons that you should have nothing to do with the university system today? Turn to Matthew chapter 12, the first book in the New Testament. Matthew chapter 12 and look at verse number 30. Now this is something you need to understand about God. God literally says in the Old Testament, he says remember jealousy and envy. Jealousy is good and envy is bad. Envy is something, envy is coveting somebody else's stuff. Alright? If I'm envious of you know Brother Jeff because he has a nice car, that's bad. That means I want something that he has. But if I'm jealous over something, that's a good thing. Jealousy is something that, you're jealous over something that's yours. Like I'm jealous over my wife. Because she's mine. It's okay to be jealous. God literally says one of his names in the Bible is jealous. And guess what? God is jealous over you. God says this. Your God is a jealous God. Because why? Because you're his. That's why. It's okay for a man to be jealous over his wife. It's okay for a wife to be jealous over her husband because you belong to each other. Now if I'm envious over somebody else's wife to be covetous over somebody else's possessions. That is wrong. That is wrong. So the Bible says jealous is a good thing. God literally says my name is jealous. Look at verse number 30 of Matthew chapter 12. Knowing that knowing that God is jealous over you look what God says. He says he that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad. This is Jesus. Jesus says, now I mean that's pretty harsh for most people. Jesus is saying if you're not with me, you're against me. That's pretty extreme. What'd you say? I mean the disciples were with Jesus. They were out preaching the gospel with Jesus. Jesus is basically saying hey the people that are sitting on the sidelines in this spiritual war they're against us. The people that are not with us are against us. And they actually you know what they're doing? They're scattering people. There are enemies. There are the spiritual enemies of the gospel. That's an extreme statement right there. God is saying that if you are not with me you are literally against me. So the first reason knowing this about God knowing this that if you're not on his side he considers you against him. Knowing that the first reason you should have nothing to do with the university system in America today is because it's anti-God. It's literally not neutral. It's against God. And as God is jealous of you, you should be jealous of God. It's anti-Christian. It's anti-everything the Bible stands for. There's too much to go over. You know the Bible is against fornication. It's for fornication. It's nothing but a fornication culture in the university system. The Bible is against alcohol, drug abuse, not being sober. You know literally go to Proverbs chapter 23. Literally 66% two thirds of university students abuse alcohol on a regular basis. And you know this is true. You don't even need statistics on this. This is not surprising to anybody. Look it just pushes university culture is totally against everything that the Bible stands for. That should be enough right there. We'll just close the book and just call it a sermon. It's against God. Okay, done. Let's pray. But oh no, let's go into some further statistics here. The Bible is talking about this culture of university system is against every single thing that the Bible teaches. It's anti-God, it's anti-Christian, it's anti-Bible. Let me give you some stats. The most recent statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimate that about 1500 and 19 college students aged 18 to 24 died from alcohol related unintentional injuries including motor vehicle crashes. You know that's more people that die every single year than the whole zero to 18 died of COVID in two years. Why aren't we like locking these university systems down to try to save these kids? I mean why aren't we just like freaking out over like people under the age of 18 dying of COVID? Everybody's got to get a shot in 16 boosters in order to not die, in order to save themselves from something that is statistically zero chance of killing them. I'm not going to go off on that. But the point is like all these kids are just dying of all these alcohol related things and like nobody cares. Nobody cares. Now here's where it gets really crazy. And this, look I looked up this statistic like five years ago because I preached a sermon about this like four or five years ago and this statistic has doubled. This has doubled. Now this is nuts. Sexual assault in universities. Although estimating, this is a quote, although estimating the number of alcohol related sexual assaults is exceptionally challenging because they're under reported. So it's saying that this number that I'm about to tell you is too low because it is known that these types of assault are under reported. So researchers have confirmed though a long standing finding that one in five college women experienced sexual assault during their time at college. What decision could I get a father to make? Hey dad, I got something that's really good for your daughter. I got something that's really good for your daughter. Fill in the blank. It'll make her make a bunch of money. She'll be happy for the rest of her life. Well, I don't care what it is, what I'm selling, that dad or those parents. What it that is, they fill in the blank. Oh, but by the way, there's a 20% chance that she's going to be raped. Who's making this decision? This is crazy. This is insane. Look at Proverbs chapter 23, verse number 29. Many of these things that I'm going to talk about this morning are detrimental to women. You say who cares about women? The Bible cares about women. These people making these decisions and pushing this culture, they hate women. They hate young ladies. Look at Proverbs 23, 29. The Bible says, who hath woe? I mean, the Bible tells us this. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath what? Wounds without a cause. You know, wounds without a... Who has all these problems? You're depressed. You know, you're speaking like a fool, babbling. Your eyes are red. You know, you have woe, contentions. You have no friends. You're losing friends left and right. And it says, who hath redness of eyes? And it says, who hath wounds without cause? You know, who's getting literally physically assaulted is what it's saying. Who is it? It's your daughter if she goes to college. That's what it is. There's one in five. It talks about those that seek mixed wine. It's talking about drinking alcohol. What is this college culture preaching? You know, I'm sick. I'm sick and tired of these types of stats. You don't hear these types of stats. And you don't hear about the horrible things that are happening to young ladies at universities until they're literally murdered. And then they're murdered, then it makes the news. Then it makes the news. This is pretty bad. You don't hear about the 20%. You know why? Because it's normal. You know, that college campus here in the center of town, you'll drive by that place. It's like a blue light special everywhere. There's like hundreds of blue lights there. You know why that is? That blue light program with the phones and the emergency phones it was created in I think the late 80s or the early 90s. I remember when this was put into place because some young lady was sexually assaulted and murdered on a college campus. That campus is literally the most dangerous place in Fresno for a young lady. 10 times over. You say, oh, what about the neighborhoods here? Forget about the neighborhoods. We walk through these neighborhoods all the time. Never had a problem. That place is dangerous. Those blue lights show you how dangerous it is. Who is making this decision? The Bible tells us, look, any culture that goes against the Bible is wrong. Any culture that's anti-God, anti-Christian, pro-fornication, all this is totally wrong. And this danger is just ignored by everybody. It's literally crazy. I mean, that should be enough right there. Oh, but you need an education. But you need an education. And that's the only way to get it is to risk a 20% chance that your daughter is assaulted in that way. It's insane. Who's making these types of decisions? Here's another one on the culture side of it. Feminism is overwhelmingly pushed in this culture. And here's what makes it so crazy. It's such a dangerous situation for young ladies. Feminism, this idea of promiscuity, is literally pushed upon young ladies. Turn to Titus Chapter 2. Turn to Titus Chapter 2. There's literally a nationwide college campus sex week it's called. I'm sorry to bring these things up, but it needs to be outed. Where it just promiscuity is promoted and is pushed on all these young people. What does the Bible say though? It's just this idea of feminism just destroying our young ladies in this country. Look at Titus Chapter 2 in verse number 5. This is what the Bible says that a young lady should be. Let's compare this to feminism and the ideology that is pushed at the universities on these young ladies. Look at what it says in verse 5. This is what the young women should be. It says to be discreet. Feminism is like be loud. Be loud and obnoxious. That's the opposite of what the Bible says. A woman should be discreet. Chased, you know what that means? That means pure. This is crazy, but a woman should be pure. A woman should be a virgin when she goes to her wedding day. That's what the Bible teaches. The same with a man. Keepers at home. What's the university teaching? Don't stay home and have children and get married and raise your children. No, go get a career. Put off marriage. Put off children. That's why abortion must be a part of the feminist toolkit. Because the worst thing that could happen to some promiscuous college girl is that she gets pregnant. She must have that tool to just get rid of that pregnancy. To murder her own child so she can continue this feminist ideology and lifestyle. It's literally the opposite of the Bible. It's not a little different. It's the opposite. Good. Oh, they really hate this one. Obedient to their own husbands. Are you joking? At the universities and feminist ideology, it teaches women to be in competition with men. It teaches them, no, you can do everything better than men. You're not to be different. You're not to have separate roles as in a family. You're to be in competition where the Bible says that the man should support his family and a woman should stay home and instruct the children, teach them the Bible, raise the children, keep the home and be obedient to her husband. It's literally the opposite of what these universities are teaching. LGBT indoctrination. Don't even get me started on that one. Just teaching them to accept all kinds of perversion in their lives, all kinds of unnaturalness in their lives. And they're just focusing on a career and competition with men. This is why many young ladies go and they marry some weak puppy man that they later regret. I've seen this so many times. Then they have children years down the road. Now they want a man. Now they want someone who's going to go out and take care of business when that motherly instinct takes over. And they're like, why are you so weak? Why can't you support the family? Because that's what feminism taught them. The Bible teaches that men are to be men and women are to be chased, keepers at home, discreet, pure. It's literally the opposite, folks. It's literally the opposite. 12 to 1. University professors are liberal. I mean, just talking about liberal, anti-God versus conservative. 12 to 1. Especially in the liberal arts, which are basically the majority women. The majority women. And guess what? A poll from October 6, 2022, shows that women, young ladies, for some reason, we can't figure this out. For some reason, young women in this country are getting more and more liberal every year. The same thing is not happening with young men. But women, young women, are getting more and more liberal every single year. Why? The university system is a big part of this. So look, folks. The point I'm trying to make is it's not education. It's indoctrination. It's indoctrination. It's literally an assault on the mental well-being of especially young ladies. It's an assault on the spiritual lives of these young people. And look, it's literally physical assault. I mean, who would make these decisions? So the culture is the first reason that you should have nothing to do with this university system. It's wicked. It's anti-God. And look, if you're jealous over the Lord and you believe the things in the Bible, this should be enough for you. Nothing else should matter. It shouldn't matter if, you know what, I'm just going to be poor. I'm just not going to be able to make that much money. Like, you should be jealous over the Lord and you should do things his way. But wait, there's more. Turn to Proverbs chapter 22. Turn to Proverbs chapter 22. Proverbs chapter 22. Here's the second reason, as if that's not enough. Here's the second reason you should have nothing to do with the university system in your Christian life and especially not expose your family or your children to this wicked system. The second one is this, financial responsibility. Financial responsibility. You're like, what? I thought I had to go to college in order to make any money. I thought that's the only way to success. But guess what? You know the Bible? You know the Bible? It not only has relationship advice. It not only has advice how to get to heaven. It has advice on how you should deal with everyone on this earth. It also has financial advice. The Bible literally teach you how to handle your finances. Look at Proverbs chapter 22 and look at verse number 7. I'll just show you a couple verses here. Proverbs chapter 22. If you open your Bible right in the middle, you'll be in the book of Psalms. If you have one book over, you'll be in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 22. Look at verse number 7. This is the truth right here. Every verse in the Bible is true, whether you like it or not. Look at verse number 7. It says the rich ruleeth over the poor. That's true. It's saying this is just how it is. And then look what it says. It says, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Everybody's like, oh, servitude. That's over. No, it's not. Go out and get yourself in a bunch of debt today and you're going to be a servant. Go out and get yourself, go out and take a loan on everything from a car to a TV to a couch and to a bag of Cheetos. Run up a bunch of credit card debt and you will be a servant today. Because this is true. The borrower is servant to the lender. Look at Psalm 37. One book back in your Bible. Psalm 37. So it's just saying, look, this is just a fact of the world. If you owe a bunch of money, you are going to be a servant. Look at Psalm 37. Look at verse number 21. You say, okay, well, I owe a bunch of money and I'm just not going to pay it back because I don't want to. Well, you're stuck there, too. Look what the Bible says here. It says the wicked borrow it and pay it not again. But the righteous show it mercy and give it. You know what you can't do if you're in a bunch of debt? You can't give anybody anything because you have nothing to give. So the Bible here is saying, is that, look, if you borrow, you're a servant. If you borrow, you're a servant. That's why the servitude laws in the Bible make so much sense. Because the guy standing on the corner, the bum with two arms and two legs standing on a corner with the sign that says, give me money, you know what? He doesn't have nothing. He has his labor. He has his labor. He's like, go work. That's what the Bible would say. Go work with those two arms and those two legs. You don't have nothing. You have your labor. But the Bible says if you borrow, you're going to end up as a servant and then you can't just decide, I'm not going to pay it back because that's a wicked thing to do, the Bible will say. They're like, oh man, what's the answer? Don't go into a bunch of debt. That's the answer. Now, let's talk about the university system. Entire generations of kids are being financially ruined before they're 20 in this country. I was watching a documentary that Garrett pointed out to me the other day. You get these kids, they're giving all these testimonies. They're thinking about killing themselves when they're 19. Because guess what? You know how you get, you know what? You get a credit card. You pay for 20 grand. You know what you can do? You can just not pay that back and you can declare bankruptcy or whatever and no one's going to hunt you down and kill you. It's going to ruin your credit and you're going to have bad credit for seven years, which is also biblical by the way. And you know, you're going to have hard financial times for seven years, but you know what? No one's going to hunt you down and break your kneecaps if you just don't pay back a credit card. Look, you should pay back every single debt that you have. But guess what? You know how you get out of student loan debt? You pay it back or you die. That's it. You can't declare bankruptcy and pay back student loan debt. It's not on the list. You die. I mean, talking about kids, thinking about killing themselves because they're 50, 60, $100,000 in debt before they're even 20. Who is advising these kids in this direction? It's crazy. And the Bible just says, don't do it. Don't go in debt. You know, that's why. Are you starting to see Proverbs 1, 7 come true? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge? Imagine some 19-year-old kid who just knew the Bible front and back, who was saved, knew the Bible front and back and then had some person telling him, hey, go and take out all this money. And he's like, whoa, that's not what the Bible says. But guess what? They're just listening to people giving them bad advice. And the sad thing is most of these people giving them this advice are their parents. That's the sad thing. So look, here's some stats for you. Here's the university, you know, industrial complex and what it's doing to people. First of all, notice how the hammer sales do a lot better when you get tied in with the government. Remember my hammer store? Guess what? Education costs, university costs, have risen more than energy prices. They've risen more than housing prices. They've risen more than health care costs. I talked to somebody the other day that went and got a shot at a hospital and it cost him $18,000 for one shot. Education costs have risen higher than this. Why? Because there's so many people just beating down their doors to get into their schools. It's like, hey, just pump up the price. The government's giving out free money. I knew a guy like this. A guy like this was my roommate in college. I'm living on 20 bucks a week trying to pay as I go. This guy's living like a king. And he told me. I'm like, what in the world? How do you afford all this? He's like, it's free money, man. He's free money. It has to be paid back. It has to be paid back. It's a racket. It's subsidized. It's a scam. It's crazy. Turn to Luke chapter 14. No other decision. Here's the thing, folks. No other decision would be made like this. It is a failure. It is a failure of a thinking, of a logical mind to do risk reward analysis. Does that make sense? To do risk reward analysis. Look at Luke chapter 14 and verse number 28. Jesus warned against this, too. Look what he says. He says, for which of you? Luke chapter 14 and verse number 28. Jesus is trying to teach risk reward analysis here. Luke 14, verse number 21. He says, which of you? He's like, who would do this? Which of you intending to build a tower, sit it down not first and count at the cost whether you have sufficient to finish it? He's saying somebody that's got a building project in front of them, the first thing that you're gonna do is be like, hey, how big is this building gonna be? How much material am I gonna need to buy here? What's the price of a two by four? You seen the price of a two by four lately? Probably a lot of people can't finish their tower now, but that's beside the point. The point is, Jesus is saying, hey, do risk reward analysis. He's saying, nobody would just start building something without even knowing what it's gonna cost. Nobody would do that. Yep. But you're getting sold a hammer today. You get sold a hammer today and here's the sales pitch. Here's the sales pitch for the hammer. Hey, you might not even really need this hammer. That's the first thing. You know, the hammer might not work. The hammer might not work. You have to hang on to it for six years. And at the end of six years, it might not even work for you. All right? After that, you have to use it in a very specific way or, you know, which, by the way, this way may change how you use the hammer after six years and after it changes after six years, that hammer might not even be the right tool anymore. And oh, by the way, you gotta pay me right now for it. Full price. You gotta pay me right now for it and you gotta pay me five times what it could possibly make you in a year. And oh, by the way, you could make money. You're like, do I need the hammer? No, you don't. It would just be make zero dollars a year. Kids today are being put in financial ruin before they're 20 years old. The outstanding federal loan balance is $1.6 trillion. That's hard to even imagine that number. Let's break it down to just individual people. There's 330 million people in the United States. 43 million people have student loan debt. That's a lot of people. That's a significant percentage of the population of the United States. The average student loan debt is almost $41,000 at this point. And I've met many people where it's well over 100 grand. Well over that. The average person pays off. These are the people that don't default. The average person pays off their student loan debt when they're in their 40s. 40s. 20-some years later. Look, it's literal magic beans that are being sold to people today. And no, this is even worse. You say, well, yeah, but they get a good job. They get a good job and they make enough money to be able to pay back that student loan debt. That works for a percentage of them. That works for a percentage of them. But let's just look. Let's do some math this morning. These are real numbers. All right? If you start college when you're 18 years old, there's a 60% chance that you will finish six years later. Because a four-year degree takes you six, by the way. You're like, what? Hey. We're going to keep you here as long as possible and charge you as much as we possibly can. We don't want you to finish in four years. All right? So look, 60% of people that start when they're 18 finish and get a degree. All right? You're like, oh, sounds pretty good. 27% of people that have a degree get a job in that field. 27%. So if you take, you want to do statistical math, if you want to find out how many people start out when they're 18 going to college that end up with a job in their field, all you have to do is take .6 times .27. And guess what? You know what that number is? It's about 16%. 16% of people that go to college when they're 18 years old end up with a job in the field that they got a degree in. 16%. But guess what? They all owe the money. 100% of them owe the money. If you go to college when you're 18 years old and you drop out after the fifth year, you don't get that degree. You're like, oh, I didn't get a degree. So I don't owe every single penny that you borrowed. But I didn't get it and nobody cares. It's like going to a casino. You see the casino billboards. I explain this to Jacob all the time. We go by the casino billboards and you see all these people all happy like, like winning. I'm like, here's how nice the casino people are. You could work for 40 years in your life. You could save up $500,000. You could go into casino and you could lose it in two hands of cards. And you're like, man, they took all my money after 40 years and they'll throw you out the door on your face. That's how nice they are. You're like, oh, they'll give your money back. No. They'll throw you out the door on your face. You're like, somebody like that would probably go kill themselves. I know somebody that did that and tried to kill themselves after something like that. They'll take every penny and they'll throw you out the door on your face. Like, what kind of wicked person would do that? University system? They'll charge you every single penny. You don't even get a degree. You owe all the money. Now, here's some even better statistics for you. That was somebody that started out when they're 18. How many people do you know that decide, hey, I'm going to go back to college when I'm 24 or 25? I'm going to go back and I'm going to get that degree when I'm 24 or 25 years old. If you start out 24 years old, there is a literal 20% chance that you will graduate with a degree. 20% chance. If you take that times the 0.27, there's a literal 5% chance that you will end up with it. If you go back to college when you're 24, that you will end up with a job that you get from that degree. 5%. You think about a young lady that goes to college, goes back to school when she's 24 or 25 years old. She has literally five times the chance of getting sexually educated. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's so backwards, this culture that we live in. They all are financially ruining themselves for literally no payback. You know what? If you're a parent that's listening to this on YouTube or on the internet and you're like, you know what, I made this mistake with my kids. You know what? Admit fault. Admit fault. And if I was a parent that made this mistake with my kids, I would admit sorry, I did that. That was a mistake. And I would do everything that I could in my power as their parent to help them pay that debt that I led them into back. That's what I would do as a parent. But look, this backwards culture that we live in folks, like if you know what the Bible says and you see people making decisions like this, you're like, it's a mind cult. You're like, they're stuck in this mind cult. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's an anti-God culture. Be a little jealous over God, will you? God's done so much for you in your life. You didn't deserve to be saved. You don't deserve to go to heaven. God's done so much for you. Hey, maybe I'd yoke up with a bunch of people who are against him and insulting him and just blaspheming him aside from what it'll do to you and your children. And the second part is just financial ruin. It's just anti-biblical financial advice. So you're saying, okay, I agree with you, pastor, you know, but turn back to Proverbs 22. I agree with you, but how do I get that education? How do I get that education? You know, what do I do? Here's the thing. Think differently than everybody else. Get outside of this mind cult, realize that most things you've been taught in your life are wrong when it comes to the Bible. Most things as compared to the Bible that you've been taught, if you're just going to read the Bible and you're going to be like, you know what, I'm going to read the Bible? Here's all you got to do in your Christian life, folks. Just learn the Bible, listen to the Bible and just say, no matter what it says, no matter how uncomfortable that that makes me, I'm just going to do what the Bible says. That's it. And you will be successful in your life. That's all it takes. You've got to get out of this mind cult that you were raised in. We all had to do it. Look at Proverbs 22 and verse 29. It's the most important verse that you can read as a practical application verse in the Bible. When it comes to I'm a young man, how do I move forward in this life? What do I do? What do I do? I know. Okay, you convinced me. I'm not going to the university. Now what? Look at Proverbs 22 and verse 29. Look what the Bible says. Every verse in the Bible is true. See thou a man diligent in his business. The Bible says he shall stand mean. It's like the mean of a set of numbers. It's saying this man, a man that's diligent, this guy's two things. He's diligent. What's diligence? Diligence is persistence over time. It's being consistent over time. All right? It's not being hey I'm going to work hard today. No, you go home and you work hard every single day. This man's diligent but he's diligent not just diligent he's diligent what? In his business. He's diligent because he knows for living. This means this man is highly skilled. He's highly skilled and he's consistent with his skills. And the reason that he's highly skilled by the way is because he's diligent. This is anybody. You're like how do I get to be and you know what the Bible says? This is true and I will prove this to you. I've seen this so many times in my 23 year career that this man that is diligent in his business he will stand and turn to 2nd Chronicles chapter 2 I'll give you an example in the Bible of this. I'll give you an example of the Bible. I'm sorry I'm going to keep you a little bit longer today and I'm going to give you an answer to this question on how you solve this how you fill this gap. I'm not going to go to the university what do I do? The Bible says be diligent in your business. This man that is diligent in his business he will be sought out by people. People will come after him. People will need 2nd Chronicles chapter 22. Solomon is starting a super important building project. He is building God's first temple. You think this is important? He's building the temple of God and he starts reaching out to kings that his friends that his dad was friends with for help. He's reaching out for materials for labor for things that he'll need to build the temple. Look at verse number one of 2nd Chronicles chapter 2. The Bible says in Solomon determined the kingdom of the Lord and a house for his kingdom. Two houses. And Solomon told out 3 score and 10,000 men to bear burdens and 4 score to hew in the mountain and 3,600 to oversee them. So here you got 3 score and 10 you got 70,000 men these are the laborers you got 4 score 1,000 to hew in the mountain and 3,600 so there's a lot less of the guys overseeing them supervisors there's only 3,600 of them but there's tens of thousands of the other workers and Solomon sent to hear them the king of Tyre who was friends with David his dad saying ask thou did deal with David my father and did send him cedars to build a man house to dwell therein even so deal with me he's like hey I need some materials and Tyre where they lived up in Lebanon had a lot of good cedar wood behold I'm building a house for the name of the Lord my God to dedicate it to him and to burn him sweet incense and look at verse 5 in the house which I build is great for great is our God above all gods in the house seeing that heaven and heavens cannot contain him who am I then that I should build him in house save only to burn sacrifice before him then look what he says send me thou therefore a man cunning to work in gold silver and and brass and iron and purple and crimson and blue and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me and Judah and in Jerusalem whom David my father did provide now skip down thousands of people but he asked the king of Tyre for building materials all these things and he's like hey by the way send me one man but it's one specific type of man look at verse number 11 of second chronicles chapter 2 then hear him the king of Tyre answered in writing which he sent to Solomon because the Lord had loved his people and he had made the king over them hear him said moreover blessed be the Lord God of Israel that made heaven and a wise son endued with prudence and understanding that might build a house for the Lord and a house for his kingdom and now I have sent 70,000 men is that what he says? look what he says and now I have sent a cunning man endued with understanding of hear him my fathers the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan and his father was a man of Tyre skillful to work in gold so it goes through all these things that this guy can do any manner of graving and guess what? look at this and to find out every device which shall be put to him this guy can grave anything out of metal he can make anything out of brass out of silver out of gold and guess what? you know what else he can do? he can figure out any machine he can figure out anything that's put in front of him with thy cunning man and the cunning man of my Lord David thy father look around you look around you especially in California you know what you see? you see cranes you see you see trains you see trucks you know what you're seeing? you're seeing industry you're seeing industry all around you you're seeing production and the means of production you're seeing a massive economy in this state I've lived in many other states and I've never seen anything like this anything I've been to a lot of other states I should say I haven't lived in that many other states I've lived in two other states but do you know what all these people need? you know what all these people need? they have lumber they have steel they have brick they have all these things you know what they need? they need cunning men that's what they need and when they find that cunning men you'll stand before kings that cunning man will stand before kings even today turn to Daniel chapter 12 Daniel chapter 12 so what's the answer? how do I become that cunning man? first of all you have a Bible foundation Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 7 you raise your kids to have a Bible foundation you get your kids in a Bible preaching church give them that compass that they have that can begin their knowledge that can begin their wisdom and that biblical instruction is what they need turn to Daniel chapter 12 at age 10 these kids should be starting to be self-starters they should be readers this is the difference between the homeschool kids and the public school kids right here the homeschool kids should be self-starters in their own education they should be teaching themselves they should be wanting to read reading is the engine that drives education in the homeschool child they will love to read but guess what? you put them in an institutionalized school they're not going to love to read they're going to read what they have to read you put them in front of TV all day long they're not going to want to read anything they got questions about things? how do things work? look it up you know that we've never been in a time in history look at Daniel chapter 12 and verse number 4 this is an end times prophecy that's super interesting right here look at Daniel chapter 12 and verse number 4 it says but thou Daniel oh shut up the words but thou oh Daniel shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end many shall run to and fro meaning people are going to be traveling all over the place what do you see today? people traveling all over the place could you say that 100 years ago that you could just easily travel across the world I could travel across the world and be there in 14 hours today look that's a huge Bible prophecy right there but look what it says in the last part of that verse it says and knowledge shall be increased there has never been a time in the history of mankind where pretty much all knowledge is available to the common man you could literally learn anything about anything just as a common person today all you need is a connection to the internet all knowledge is freely available I mean that's a sermon in itself but the point is you know these specific educational things that you will need whether it's electricity or mechanics or math today people there's such a shortage of people that people will literally pay you to learn these things it's the opposite of the university system people will literally pay you to teach you these things there's too many programs to list if you have questions just ask me there's too many programs to list on how to be successful without the university system there's too many options to discuss there's simply too many ways to win there's too many ways you say why you say why the reason that there's so much opportunity now is because there's no cunning men because there is a massive shortage of cunning men of men that have skills that can be applied to build things to produce things you know 80% of construction companies cannot find enough skilled workers 80% the vast majority of construction companies even in our area they don't have enough people most of them you're like oh there's no help wanted you know why they don't have help wanted signs because they've simply quit looking because they can't find anybody that is willing to learn that is willing to be what to be diligent in his business that's why but contrast this to this now I'm talking about this this thing that you're being told that you can't be successful without a university degree over the last 20 years over the last 20 years these are real statistics the university industrial complex has created twice as many bachelor degrees as there are jobs to fill those degrees I mean there's all this just bachelor degrees everywhere bachelor degrees everywhere and there's just no jobs there's half as many jobs now you can understand now you can understand here's a truth that I can tell you over 23 years of engineering experience this is why no matter where I have worked in the last 23 years as an electrical engineer you saw that that sounds pretty good there's always been tradespeople that make more than me always every single place I've worked you're like what why because they're cunning men because the cunning men they know how to do stuff every job that I've ever had there are tradespeople that make more money than the engineers there many times the boss I've worked for so many bosses so many great bosses no degree I work for them why they're diligent they're diligent in their business that's why turn to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 here's some fallacies here's some fallacies and I'm going to prove this from the Bible that the Bible tells you that this is false but here's some fallacies that they'll tell you about the skilled trades versus getting a university degree so the money is just fake it's just false it's just a lie it's just a lie be diligent in your business you'll make plenty of money to survive trust me 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 here's a fallacy here's a fallacy that I was taught and that I still here taught today yeah you go out and you be a mechanic you're going to be all busted up by the time you're 50 you go out and you have a physical job where you actually have to do something physically you're going to be all busted up and worn out by the time you're 50 years old what's the truth let's look at what the Bible says what's the Bible say you should do look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 11 let's just look at the Bible and let's just do what the Bible says how's that sound look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 11 those T books in the end of the Old Testament or the New Testament sorry 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 look at verse number 11 and you should study to be quiet here we're learning things right we're having knowledge and to do your own business and to what and to work with your own hands Paul is telling the people in this church work work with your hands as we commanded you and then he equates that he equates that with this in verse number 12 he says that you may walk honestly towards them that are without you know what he's saying they go out and work with your hands you ever seen the bumper sticker you know dirty hands clean money that's this Bible verse right here paraphrased it's saying go out and work with your hands make your own money and you know have an honest job you know there's a lot of jobs out there that make a lot of money that aren't honest jobs I wouldn't want my son to make money off you know usury you know make money in the financial markets just taking interest off of people going out and being a loan shark I wouldn't want my son doing that wouldn't want my kids like that's not an honest living that's not working with your hands and producing something that people need as the Bible is saying here he's like hey go out and build something that does something for society for the community around you and make an honest living that's what Paul is saying make an honest living work with your hands but the world out there is telling you that's bad that's bad go be a drunk for six years and then just give them that ticket you're like I was a drunk for six years oh give me your drunk ticket you give them the drunk ticket and they give you some job to plop down behind a desk for the next 40 years and you're like I made it that's not what the Bible says that's not what the Bible says look make an honest living working with your hands and guess what this health thing is a lie too they're actually coming out saying if you have a desk job now it's like smoking there's nothing worse for your health than sitting behind a computer screen it ruins your eyes it ruins your heart ruins your back ruins your knees it ruins everything that's why you're seeing all the stand up desks now because sitting behind a desk and having that golden office job is ruining your health it's making you overweight but here's the thing this idea that can be busted up by the time you're 50 how many people think that the cunning man that went and stood in front of Solomon was carrying bricks around how many people think that he was the laborer up there slapping the mortar around no he is the boss he's telling people what to do I've seen 24, 25, 26 year old cunning men running hundreds of people hundreds of people why? because they were smarter and better looking no they're diligent in their business I remember I had 10 years ago before we moved to California I had the privilege of working at the biggest power plant the biggest power station in three states massive machines massive place you know the most cunning man at that place was this man that started out in the lowest position there but he was an operator he started out as an operator kind of a I won't mention his name but he didn't just go out when he was told to go out and open valve number 284 he didn't go out and just open valve number 284 he said why am I opening this valve and closing this valve how does this system work how does this machine work how does this plant work that guy knew every single thing about thousands and thousands and thousands of points of control in that station you know what he does now I valued his knowledge and his wisdom so much that every project that I had every system that I was working on I said you make sure John's in this meeting I want John in this meeting and then I would sit there and I'd throw out some idea to the group and I'd look at John is that a good idea or is that going to blow the place up because he knows because he knew everything why? because he was diligent in his business you know what that man does now that man's in charge of every single generation employee in the entire state college degree none technical degree none diligent in his business he has the respect of thousands of people you know what the CEO wants to know something about one of those generating plants you know who they talk to he talks to that guy he's like get me that guy because that guy because he was diligent in his business he stands before kings you see he had knowledge and he applied it and he got wisdom he needs some piece of paper he didn't need anything you figure out how those bricks fit together you figure out how those systems work a guy a few years ago in the church he's like I don't know they give me these drawings sometimes at work the informant's gone and wants me to figure out the drawings he's like I don't like looking at those drawings you look at those drawings you learn those drawings and you're going to be the boss if you do that why? because there's nobody there's nobody that wants to do that there's nobody that wants to do that learn them push yourself that's what it takes folks that's what diligence means if it was hard or if it was easy everybody would do it it's hard but do it the cunning man was in charge and the cunning man is the man that the king will call for every single time and guess what? guess what? you won't have money problems you won't have money problems because you know what the bible says you won't get in a bunch of debt you'll make decent money when the king's calling for you you don't have money problems folks by the way money's not our goal in this christian life even if it were true even if it were true that you could make more money going to college which is a total lie diligence is the difference even if it were true I still wouldn't send my kids there are you kidding me? the bible's more important to me if none of these things were true if you would be poor if you didn't go to college and if your body would be broken by the time you were 50 if you didn't go to college you know what? I'm jealous for the lord I'm jealous for the lord and I'm jealous for my family I'm jealous for my daughter and I will protect those things over any worldly thing anything I will never sacrifice my children to this satanic beast ever ever because I'm on the lord side that's why this should be the christian's answer to this look folks let me just wrap it up here this morning we all have stories I'm sure you all have stories about somebody that you know that went to college and came back a completely different person I'm sure you have all have stories the reason for it is the reasons I brought up to you today you know these kids they went to college they came back completely different and look not in a good way not in a good way the culture war is being lost in this country let me just share something with you I read yesterday on accident on accident Russia Russia everyone's like everyone hates Russia today look what Russia did in their state government like the Russian federal government did this just a few days ago Russia's we're talking about the culture war here Russia's state government has voted to fully ban LGBTQ pedophilia and sex change propaganda in the country following the final reading of the bill on Thursday the legislation called the protection of traditional values was supported by all 397 MPs in the lower house of the country's parliament passing without any objections or absentations the bill would outlaw such propaganda in advertising books movies and media it's widely seen as a follow up to the 2013 law which banned the dissemination of LGBTQ materials among those under 18 in Russia but this new legislation applies to minors and adults you won't read that in the western media no, Russia's got a lot of problems alright you can't preach the gospel in Russia but look you're saying people in the United States would be like that's anti-freedom but guess what if freedom means freedom to be a pervert and freedom to hurt children count me as anti-freedom too look these countries Russia being the example here they're looking at the west and what has happened to the west and they're being like they're like man we don't want that happening to us because this culture war was lost in this country in like 20 years you know how it was lost it was lost through movies it was lost through TV it was lost through media and it was lost through the university systems in this country they pushed all this perversion and all this anti-god wickedness on everybody you know what it made a difference it worked it's destroying us especially our young ladies in this country other countries are literally looking at us and they're like we don't want that to happen to us other countries that are you can't even really say are godly countries they're just like we don't want that happening to us the Christian America with the culture war the way it is has no choice but to fall back but to exit the public school system but to get in a good bible preaching church and teach that to your children but then send them to university nah not me the nice thing is that everyone goes as everyone goes this way folks as everyone goes this way for your children there's gonna be tons of opportunity there's gonna be tons of opportunity when I see the vast majority of the sheep walking across this walking over this cliff and look it doesn't make me happy to see other people's children going the wrong way but if there is a silver lining it is that the bible believing Christian child that doesn't walk off that cliff with everybody else there will be so much opportunity look we're realizing it I laugh when people say all these lies about if you don't go to university this will happen I laugh I laugh there's so much opportunity get in a good church ask questions everything you will do well your children will do well it is possible today to raise children that grow up are successful and that still want to serve the Lord with their life it's possible but you can't go that way you have to go this way let's bow our heads and have a word