 Let's begin reading at verse 17, and we'll read to verse 17 and get into our study. The writer writes, Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Now the writer of Hebrews has already begun to approach this subject. Bear with me for just a moment, verse 7 here in chapter 13, how that he had already written, remember those who rule over you and who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith followed considering the outcome of their conduct. So he's already begun writing concerning this particular subject, and now he turns to the topic of giving honor to spiritual leaders. Interestingly enough, chapter 13 contains three verses that speak on the leadership in the church. Read verse 7 a moment ago, verse 17, and then verse 24, all speak concerning leaders and all, and so that's a very important subject here in chapter 13. It's interesting though how he puts it, because in verse 17 he says to us, to obey those who rule over you. What an interesting word to use, rule. That means to lead or even to command, and it speaks specifically of leadership in the church. Now sometimes when we hear the word rule, somebody is ruling over something or somebody else, we may begin to think of a king or a tyrant, somebody who is lording it over, we get an image of somebody who pushes people around, but that's not the picture of leadership that the writer would have us to have. You see leadership in the kingdom of God is actually built on an upside down pyramid. In the kingdom of God, leaders are actually simply servants. Jesus was speaking about that in Matthew chapter 20 in verses 25 through 28. In that passage, Jesus called his apostles to himself and he said this to him, he said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as a son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life or ransom for many. Leadership in the body of Christ is not tyranny, it's not being a dictator, it's not ruling over in a lording kind of way, it's actually serving the body of Christ. Now that's something that the apostle Peter learned as he was growing in his ministry and all, and I'd like you to turn with me for a moment to see what he wrote concerning that, it's found in 1 Peter chapter 5. So if you please would turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 5, I want to show you something there and found in verses 1 through 3 to illustrate this as I'm laying a foundation for leadership in the church and what it means to be a biblical ruler or a biblical leader. Because Peter learned something about that as a believer and all that, he communicated in 1 Peter in chapter 5. In verses 1 through 3 of 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter wrote, The elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Now he gives him orders, he says shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those who are entrusted to you but being examples to the flock. And so he spoke concerning that and I want you to notice that Peter said that the rulers or the leaders are to shepherd the flock of God, he says which is among you, serving as overseers. When he speaks to them in verse 2 and says shepherd the flock of God, that word shepherd means to tenderly care for. The word shepherd is also used to speak of a pastor and he's saying tenderly care for the flock of God which is among you. So to be shepherding speaks of loving, speaks of feeding, it speaks of caring for and leading, it speaks of protecting and sacrificing for. And what he's speaking about when he speaks of the flock of God is he's saying one, the sheep belong to the Lord and two, they should be gently, lovingly cared for. There to be cared for with a loving attitude. Notice he says not by constraint. When he speaks of constraint there, that reveals spiritual immaturity. Constraint speaks of it being a job or some grievous task. And he's saying you're not to serve in that way, he said to these leaders, you're not to have this attitude that you have to do it. You're not to have this attitude that I don't want to do it, but I've got to do it, somebody has to do it. You're to do it willingly out of love. I heard about this guy who was in bed on a Sunday morning and his mom walked into the room and said to him, son, you have to get up and get to church. And he says, I'm not going. She said, yes, you are, you have to go. He says, I don't want to go. She says, son, get up and get to church. You have to get to church. It's Sunday morning. He says, I'm not going to go to church. I don't want to go to church. And she says, well, why not? He says, I just don't like it. I don't like the church. I don't like the people there. Mom, they're mean. They gossip, they tear me up, they're just, they're not kind. You know, I just don't want to go to that church. I can't stand going to that church. Give me one good reason why I should go to church today. She says, I'll give you two. One, son, we're Christians. This is a Christian home. We've always gone to church on Sunday. And two, you're the pastor. You have to go. You know, sometimes we can do things out of constraint and even leaders can. And Peter said, you're not to do it that way. The reason you shepherd the flock of God is because it belongs to him. And you have been given the privilege of serving the Lord as you serve them. And you ought to do that with love for God and love for them. It's interesting how in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 15, God gave a promise to the nation of Israel that you could apply spiritually to the body of Christ when it comes to pastors and shepherds. In Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 15, God said, I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. I'm going to give to you shepherds who follow after me, who are after my own heart. I'm going to give you shepherds who have hearts like my own. And what is God's heart towards the nation of Israel? It's a heart of love and compassion. It's not a mercy and concern. I'm going to give you shepherds after my own heart. And they're going to lead you. They're going to lead you with understanding. They're going to lead you with knowledge. I'm giving you shepherds after my own heart because they have a relationship with me and they know me. They're not going to be false shepherds who really have no relationship with God, who just speak about a God that other people believe in. He says, I'm going to give you people who have an experiential knowledge of me. Shepherds who have a relationship with me. Shepherds who are after my heart, who long for the things that I long for, who desire the things that I desire. And I'm going to have these shepherds over you because they're going to care for you with knowledge and understanding. They're going to be skillful in the way that they do so because they're going to gain their skills as they spend their time with me. And so a shepherd is to care for the flock of God as an overseer. And not with restraint, as Peter says, but willingly. Not for dishonest gain, he says, but eagerly. A minister never serves the Lord for finances. A minister serves the Lord because he must serve the Lord. There's this desire within that person and all they want to do is serve the Lord. I got saved, went into the military three months later, began to make some friends in the army, had a friend by the name of Danny Rendon. Danny was from Baytown, Texas. It's an oil town. And a very solid Christian young man and was a very good example to me and an encouragement to me in my early walk with the Lord. Danny got me involved with memorization of Scripture. He was involved with a group called the Navigators. And he and I would go to Saturday meetings with the Navigators and played on intramural football teams and all with them. And just had a great time in the military and spent a good year becoming very close friends with Danny. And at one point I was speaking to him and I said to Danny, when you go home, when you get out, what are you going to do? He says, I'm going to go back to work in the oil fields. And I said, you're going to what? He said, I'm going to go back and work in the oil fields. He says, Baytown, Texas is an oil field town. He says, and I have a job waiting for me, so when I get out of the army, I'm going to go back to work in the fields. And I said, why, Danny? Why are you going to do that? You're obviously a man who loves the Lord and you love his word and you've been a great example to me. Why aren't you going to be a pastor? And he says, because I'm not called to be a pastor. And I looked at him and I thought, you got to be kidding me. I thought everybody who was saved ought to be a pastor. I thought that was the call for every person. You see, because I've been asked in the past, when did you know you were called to be a pastor teacher? And the answer has always been basically the same. The day I got saved. The day I got saved. I got saved December 27th, 1970. And when I got saved, the only thing I could imagine doing for the rest of my life was talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. I wanted to tell people about him. Within two or three weeks, I started to have in Bible studies at my house. I mean, I would have people come over and I would memorize what the Bible teacher, I had just attended a study. I'd memorize his study and then I'd bring him over and just basically parrot what he had just said a couple days before. I didn't know how to study. I didn't know anything. I had no business trying to teach the Word of God. But I had this desire for people to know Jesus Christ. I wanted them to know His Word. And that's how it began in my life very early on. It's that desire to do that. And sometimes people in this fellowship are wondering, am I called to be a pastor teacher? Am I called to be a minister? Well, Spurgeon said it well when he said to his students, if you can do anything else, by all means do it. Because a person who is called by God does not serve the Lord out of constraint but willingly. They do it because they can't imagine themselves doing anything else. They couldn't see themselves doing anything else. And ministry is not an easy life. I mean, sometimes people think, man, you took the easy way out. Now, ministry is not an easy life. It's a very difficult one in a variety of ways. And you can get to that point where you start saying, I don't know if it's worth it. I don't know. But if there's anything else you can do, you ought to do that. And so for me, I do it willingly. Even as he says, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly. Not for dishonest gain but eagerly. He doesn't serve the Lord for finances. He does it because he has to serve the Lord. The genuine shepherd isn't for sale. He's not a hireling. He's a servant. I had a lady when I was an assisting pastor and another fellowship many years ago approached me. And she was a very wealthy woman, lived up in Claremont in the hills of Claremont in a very exclusive area and was a very wealthy woman. And she approached me. I used to do a variety of ministries at this church, including high school ministry. And I remember her approach to me on one occasion and she said, you know, you need to start a high school study for the kids because they need it. And I said, I realize that they do, I definitely do. She says, well, if you don't start one, then we're gonna have to leave. And I smiled at her and I said, we'll miss you because I don't do things just because somebody tells me I'm supposed to do it. I do things because the Holy Spirit says to do it. That's the best way to do ministry, you see. It's by the leading of the Holy Spirit. And you're not a hireling. You know, in essence, what she was saying is, you know, we were in a small fellowship of 150 people and she was a wealthy person who was giving, I guess, generous gifts to the church. And in essence was making it clear that she's gonna remove her tithe if I don't do what she says. You know what, I don't trust it, man. I trust in God. God has an ability of providing. And when you come in and you start, you know, making comments like that, then you need to get your heart right with the Lord. You can't be doing that. And yet there are some people who say, oh my goodness, we're gonna lose out on the tithe. Okay, then high school ministry it is. Well, that's not how you minister. That's not what you're called to do. You don't take the word of God and change it. You don't take the word of God and adjust it to the hearer. You don't allow people to pressure you. In 2 Corinthians chapter two, verse 17, Paul said it like this. He said, unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ, we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent by God. And so a minister is one who does it willingly. As a person who doesn't do it for dishonest gain. And then finally, Peter points out in verse three, nor is being lured over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. So God entrusts shepherds with the care of his sheep. And because he entrusts the shepherds with the care of his sheep, they are not to lord it over. They are not to bully. They're not to manhandle or hurt the sheep. In 3 John, there's an interesting portion of scripture there in 3 John verses nine and 10. John the Apostles writing there concerning a man in the church who was an elder whose name was Diotrophes. And as he's writing there, he says in 3 John verses nine and 10, I wrote to the church, but Diotrophes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore if I come, I will call to mind his deeds that he does, prading against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, but forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. You see, this man, Diotrophes, was rejecting the leadership of the apostle John and was speaking malicious words, nonsensical charges against him and is a good example of somebody who is lording it over the flock. So a pastor teacher is to serve. He's to shepherd. He's to serve, not by constraint, but willingly, not for money, but eagerly and not lording it over the flock that has been entrusted to them, but by being examples to the flock. Their lives are to be models of integrity and models of soundness. They're examples to the flock. So the body of Christ is to look to the elders to set the tone, to be models of godliness. I've said this in pastors' conferences before and it's not always a popular thing when I say it, but I mean it sincerely when I speak to fellow pastors and I say to them, remember who you are. Remember what your ministry is. Remember what God has called you to be. You are pastors over the church. You are there to model for them the love of Christ and to be an example of a godly individual and always remember that what you are speaks so loudly that people will not hear a word that you say because many a good message has been undermined by a poorly lived life. And so ministers are to be examples of what God does in a person's life so that like Paul could say, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Like Paul could teach us the things that he has taught, the things that they have watched him do are the things that they ought to learn themselves in order that they might grow in the things of the Lord. And so he's saying that we are to be examples in Titus chapter two, verses seven and eight. He said to Titus, and everything set them an example by doing what is good in your teaching, show integrity, seriousness, soundness of speech that cannot be condemned so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. When our church first began, we were meeting in a small building on Vine Street in the city of Ontario. We'd probably been going for about three or four months at the time. And most of you probably don't know this, but before we became Calvary Chapel Chino Valley, we for many years were Calvary Chapel Ontario. We began as Calvary Chapel Ontario and continued until 1992. And then when we moved over here, we changed our name to Calvary Chapel Chino Valley. And so for many years, we served in the city of Ontario, but we weren't the first Calvary Chapel in Ontario. There was another Calvary Chapel that had existed prior to us planting our church and was there for somewhere around a year and all in. And the pastor had left and left the ministry in the hands of somebody else and then it ultimately folded. Well, now Calvary Chapel Ontario has begun and one of the original pastors, the one who was the second pastor in the Calvary Ontario that had first been affiliated as a Calvary Chapel came to visit. And after I gave a message, I stepped off the platform and there he was to talk to me at the bottom of the platform and we began to speak for just a moment and I'll never forget how he looked at me and he said, interesting Bible study. He goes, you're pretty serious, aren't you? And I smiled at him and I said, well, the gospel is pretty serious. You know, I feel very strongly about being careful how we teach and how we model and what we have to say and all of that, not simply because that's just part of the way that David Rosales is, but because that's what scripture teaches. Because if I want to be an influence in somebody's life, I need to live the message out myself. And that's what he's speaking about when Peter says, do it to be an example. Now moving on back to Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17 and continuing, that's basically your introduction. The writer says, obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief for that would be unprofitable for you. Now it's interesting how he begins by saying obey. The word obey is an interesting word. It means to yield to or comply with. It speaks of trusting or having confidence in. To obey speaks of listening with the attitude of doing. And so it's not enough for me to hear a Bible study. I am to hear the Bible study with an attitude of obeying what I hear. I'm not, in other words, to accumulate information. I'm to have transformation take place in my life through obedience to God's word. And so obedience is the standard of behavior expected for every Christian. In the church, God has established leadership and he does so through the elders. And the elders responsibility is disheppard even as we saw a moment ago how the apostle Peter had pointed that out. In Acts chapter 20 verse 28, Paul said it this way. He said, keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with his own blood. And so elders have a responsibility of leading the body of Christ and those within the body of Christ have a responsibility of being obedient to the teachings they receive. Now remember in verse nine here in chapter 13, remember how he had said, do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines? Well, that was a word of authority that he was giving. He was concerned with the spiritual welfare of the believers. And so as he's giving them this command to not be carried about with various and strange doctrines, he's actually evidencing spiritual authority, the authority to give an order. And he gives them orders because as a leader in the body of Christ, God gave to him spiritual authority. Remember Ephesians 411, how the Bible says he gave some to be apostles, prophets, some to be evangelists and some pastors and teachers. So God is the one who gives the church with church leadership. And so the church leadership has a responsibility of shepherding and loving and caring for the body of Christ as a responsibility of obeying God's word. And so the writer's authority is recognized and he writes with some awareness of authority and he calls the readers to recognize the authority God has given to the leaders in the church. Now, I need to hasten to add this. They're not to follow those with self-imposed authority. They're not to follow those who are lording it over them. Those who have basically set themselves up. They already have had a test. And I think I pointed this out to you when we're in verse seven. They already have something that the leaders are supposed to be doing that they should be looking at. Remember how I had pointed out in verse seven, how we had said, remember those who rule over you, who've spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct. He said, if you're gonna be following the leaders then make sure that they pass this test, that there is faithful preaching and teaching of God's word, that there's a faithful living out of the teaching and that there's a fruit that evidence is growing maturity and a faith worth following. These are the kinds of leaders that you are to respect and obey. You're to follow those who willingly lead with humility and love as examples of the flock of God. And leaders who are carefully following the Lord, I think are worthy of imitation. And there are people in my life that I as a pastor do look to as men who model for me. Obviously, the most important spiritual leader that I have is my own pastor. Pastor Chuck. And I watch the way that he leads and I watch the way that he reacts to circumstances and all and over the years I've grown to know him. He celebrated his 80th birthday and some of us were asked to do a little video kind of greeting to him and to Kay who both were celebrating their 80th birthday in June. And so we went to Costa Mesa on a Sunday night to celebrate with Pastor Chuck and Kay their 80th birthday. And I did a video greeting. Marie greeted Kay and I greeted Pastor Chuck and they played it in the church service that evening. We happened to be in that service. And in it, I said, you know, Pastor, I said, just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I said, the first time that I encountered you, you were 43 years old, you know? And it made the congregation kind of laugh because they're celebrating his 80th birthday. But in my life, Pastor Chuck has been a very important, important part for many, many years, for many years. And so I look at him as an example, as somebody who lives out the messages that God has given to him. And I see others like that. I have friends that are godly men whom I will look at and I will see the way they respond to certain things and how they deal with certain trials and all. And I use them as examples. So leaders who are carefully following the Lord are worthy of imitation. Philippians chapter three, verse 17. Paul says, brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. Now, why are they to obey their leaders? Because their leaders are leading that fellowship and ultimately are accountable to God. Now, there are basically two reasons for them to be obedient to leadership. First, notice with me, he says that leaders watch over their souls. When he says they watch over their souls, leaders exercise spiritual oversight. Watching over literally speaks of being sleepless, being kept awake. It means to be attentive and at the ready. Leadership literally loses sleep over them because the concern for them is that great. That's the truth. I have had on more than one occasion, as a pastor of this fellowship, on more than one occasion spent the night at a hospital with somebody who's there who's gravely ill and all and that's what leaders do. That's just basically what we do. I remember as a young pastor, our church was less than a year old and we had a lady in our fellowship and her husband and this was about 25 years ago. Her husband's name was George and I was in my front yard on one occasion working and on the yard and George came driving down my street and I still remember this and he sees me and he pulls over and climbs out of his car and walks up and you need to remember that. At that time, our church maybe numbered a couple of hundred people and all and so I knew pretty much everybody and so George comes walking up to me as I was doing some work and he said something I've never forgotten. He said to me, you know, Pastor David, I wanted to tell you something. He said, do you know how you mentioned Pastor Chuck that you love him? And I said, yeah, I do. I love my pastor. He says, I want you to know something. Now, this span was probably in his late 40s at the time, probably even beyond that now that they think about it, maybe in his early 50s and he says to me, I want you to know that's how I feel about you and I smiled at him because I was like 31, 32 years old at the time and to me, he was an older guy. He was at least 50 years old, he's ancient and as I was looking at him, I smiled and I do remember this very well. It's one of those things you never forget and as I smiled at him, I was thinking, you don't know how much I love my pastor, George. For you to say something like that to me, you really don't know how much I love my pastor but I do appreciate the fact that you're saying that to me. I remember that very well. Well, I was in my office a few weeks later and I get a phone call and it's from his wife and she says, George has been admitted to the hospital in West Covina and she said, could you please pay him a visit? And I said, sure, of course. And so I called Marie, my wife and I said, honey, I said, I'm gonna go visit George. I said, I'm gonna drive to West Covina. Are you able to go with me? And she said, yes, and so we got somebody to watch our babies and she climbs in the car and off we drive to this hospital and so I'm going there with this attitude. I'll walk in and hold his hand from in and pray for him and encourage him and I'll go home and it's just nice to have Marie with me and that's kind of where my heart was, just a general hospital call. And so we came in to the hospital, we asked where George was, they said in the second floor and so Marie and I get in an elevator and we're just kind of chatting, just talking and I step out of the elevator and I begin walking in this darkened wing. There's no lights on in the hospital. It was kind of an odd feeling and so I start to walk and a doctor comes walking out of a room and intersects with Marie and me and stops us and he says, can I help you? And I said, yes, I said I'm a pastor and one of our members of my church, his name is George, is here and I've come to pray for him and the doctor looks at me and he says, you haven't heard? I said, heard what? And he says, George just died. And when he said George just died, his wife stepped from behind the corner. I didn't even have a second to adjust to the news. He said, George just died and she's right in front of my face and as I'm looking there at her, her face is ashen like any woman who's just watched her husband die is gonna be and Marie and I are standing there just in stone silence, just absolutely thinking, oh my Lord, give me words and give me wisdom right now. How can I minister to this woman who is just this minute become a widow? See, ministry is something that is deep. I mean, it's something that works deeply within your heart. It's not something that's light and you watch over people's souls and there are times that you are sleepless. There are times that you are kept awake at night in our fellowship and it's not necessarily with a sinful worry. It's with the concern you have because you love the church. That's what ministers do and this is the truth. I go to bed at night thinking of the fellowship. I wake up in the morning thinking of the fellowship because that's where our hearts are and leaders love the flock dearly and exercise great concern over the body of Christ and will lay their life down for them. I can't tell you how many times over the years and finally became something I learned from and I've learned to handle but to be honest with you as a pastor when I would stand up and I would say, be careful for this and be careful for that doctrine then people would get upset and make odd accusations if I mentioned a person's name and I said be careful for what he's teaching and they would get so angry at me and all I at first I didn't get hurt feelings because I've got a thick skin but I would wonder why do you get so upset? I mean, I'm trying to help you not to be hurt and for some reason you get mad at me for warning you and for the longest time I just didn't understand that. I remember a fellow who was in our fellowship years ago now and he was attending another church that was pastored by a man by the name of Frederick Casey Price. I didn't know him at the time but I made mention of Price's doctrine and I shared in a church service that there was error. The things that Price was teaching in this particular area was an error and that you need to be careful with this because it is error and it can harm your spiritual life. I didn't know it but this guy who was in our church that day was a member of that fellowship and you see I didn't realize that I didn't even know that until he came and spoke to me later on and so what he did is the next week he came and to listen to me a second time though he normally would go to Price's fellowship he came just to prove me wrong and he came a second time the next week because I had quoted Price and I said this is where you can get the source to discover whether this is accurate or not and it turns out he had all of Price's tapes and he went and he pulled one out and listened to it and saw that I quoted him in context but he came the next week in order that he might prove me wrong and then he came the next week to prove me wrong and ultimately I was teaching a Bible course at the Bible college and he came walking up to me and he says you don't know me but I go to your church and he said oh he says my name is Ron and he says and he told me the story I just told you and Ron is now pastor of Calvary Chapel San Antonio, Texas and yet when he first came he got angry at me because I said you have to watch out for this doctrine but you see that's what leaders do they love the sheep dearly and have a great concern for them and that's what he means by watching over them so ministry's not a job. The second thing he says here in verse 17 is leaders give an account for their care of God's sheep as a matter of fact we receive a stricter judgment we have an account that we give to the Lord and we have a stricter judgment James 3 verse 1 says not many of you should presume to be teachers my brothers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly and Romans 14 verse 12 each of us will give an account of himself to God Luke 12 48 for unto whomever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask them more and so as a teacher because I know that I stand before the Lord to give an account of my ministry I don't have a problem telling you listen last week I told you that it was John 19 36 through 38 but it's really John 18 and I have a problem telling you that because I wanna be accurate because we know that that's what the Lord has called us to a stricter judgment now obviously leaders aren't perfect outside of me and they're not infallible and people obviously do and often will disagree with the things that are said and that's understandable but the attitude that God desires is a sincere appreciation for the leadership of the body of Christ 1 Thessalonians 5 12 says respect those who work hard among you who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you now ultimately notice with me once again we give an account and he says let them do so with joy and not with grief when members of the church refuse to obey and fail to respect their leaders it's painful the work of ministry ceases being a joy and becomes a burden filled with grief I have had one person for 15 years who has been working to tear this ministry down I won't mention him by name used to be part of my ministry and for 15 years has been working to try and find a way to destroy this ministry and just two weeks ago I received a report that he's still at it I thought he gave up but he hasn't and for 15 years has been spreading things about me that are untrue and I'm one of these people who really tries to be real and I think I am what you see is what you get I'm not one of these people who put on cause I really don't care that much I don't wanna be impressive so I'm safe from that but I never have understood that depth of bitterness I just have never understood that but that's been going on for so many years and it continues and do you wanna know something it's really sad because those kinds of things do happen in ministry and after a while if you have enough of that ministry ceases being the joy that it's supposed to be and it can become a burden it can become a trial it can become something filled with grief I brag about you guys when I go to other churches and I share I'll say things about this fellowship because well I talk about my grandson to you I talk about you to other people you may not realize that and I'll say God has given to us a great fellowship he's given to us wonderful people and there's some little monsters here and there but most of you are pretty sweet and it's a joy it's a joy for me it's a joy to be able to pass through this church and that's what God has called us to do on occasion there are those who do what they can to hurt, to destroy there are things that I could say that I won't that we've heard over the years that we've weathered that we're unbelievably unkind and inaccurate and the thing that has often caused me the questions has been why they're so readily believed but we're a people that likes negative anyway we're a people who likes to hear the bad that's just the way it is I remember somebody years ago saying David Rosales says he loves his wife but he's going to have an affair and you'll see he's going to fall those kinds of things come to me and I think who in the world would say something like that and why? I mean there was somebody who said I live in a three-story mansion and it's four stories, not three and these things come to me and it amazes me I think my goodness you know at least they're dreaming big and that has happened over the years you can't believe it I remember a phone call I was speaking to somebody and I had a red car at that time and he said to me your car is an ungodly color and I said yes and he goes yeah I said why he says because it's red and he said and that's not good and he says no that's not good and I said pray tell what color car should I be driving and he said you should be driving a white car and I said really I said a white car and why is that he says because white is the color of purity and I said red is the color of the blood of Jesus your turn I mean what's that all about man you know I'm telling you you know you don't want to be a pastor you know it actually I love it I just it's just kind of like crazy I had a guy stalking me for three years he found out where I lived and one day my brother-in-law who happens to be a Chino police officer was driving by our house and I hear a banging on the door and I opened the door and my brother-in-law comes running in my front door with his service revolver up in the air you know and he says there's someone in your backyard and he goes running past me and swings the door open and is chasing after some guy and I had been somebody had been stalking me for it went on for two or three years you know that's just you know why me you know but you know stock Marie she's worth following but me I'm not give me a break you know I mean I had elders following me home to make sure I got home safely you know my trust is in the Lord not some old elder is going to get beat up you know come on now but see that's ministry I mean those things you know throw yourself in front of me and I'll get away you know I'll give you a good funeral you know I'll double your salary I could tell you story after story but ultimately we give an account leaders give an account and he says may they do so with joy so through obedience and submission that causes passers to have a joy in their heart and that that should provide them with the motivation to live properly for the Lord the fact is when we don't have a loving obedient spirit God is displeased and you're never going to find a happy pastor apart from a happy congregation when the body of Christ is living at peace then the heart of the pastor is filled with joy and I have to tell you this is the truth you know as cookie as these stories are and I can keep going you know we've had some amazing amazing things happen here some guys somebody said that we have bodies buried in under the parking lot I mean I've had stories after story the guy who said it he's buried out there now but we've had so many interesting interesting things you know it makes life interesting but I have to tell you this in a happier note you know this church has made my heart happy for so many years I'm so blessed because this congregation is a wonderful congregation you guys truly truly special and you've made me have a joy in my heart that makes me enjoy coming to do church services and I thank you for that.