 Amen, so I'm excited to be here before I get started here in 1st Corinthians chapter 14. Just keep your place there Let me just say thanks to Pastor Mejia and the church staff for having me even though I kind of invited myself We're we're running some errands here and we figured we'd make a church caition out of it So yeah, that's one of the nice things about having a lot of you've done it too and a lot of nice thing about having a lot of churches up and down the west coast is When you're coming to town or you're going up and down you can go and visit Friends and brothers and sisters in Christ So keep your place there in verse. We're gonna look down at 1st Corinthians chapter 14 in just a few minutes But let me just say Let me just give you a little bit of background I was trying not to give away the whole sermon talking to the guys out in the front, but I am not from a city I am from Nowhereville, North Dakota LA is absolutely and I know this is an LA You don't have to explain that to me, but the whole area of LA is fascinating to me I mean it is it is I've been here two or three times, but every time I drive through here It is it's mind-blowing to me. I don't know how else to say it It's it would be hard for me It would be hard for me to describe the kind of middle of nowhere that I grew up in To you, but I kind of want to explain like I did meet a guy I grew up on a we came from a farm in North Dakota that you know it wasn't you couldn't GPS your way to the farm and Kind of a opposite of what I want to kind of explain to you is I had a Delivery driver delivering some fencing materials to me a couple years ago a couple years before we moved and he was from New Jersey and This guy was from the big city and he couldn't find the place so I had to actually jump in my pickup and go and get him and bring him back To the farm and by the time he got out of the truck. He was literally he was freaking out. He just he was like I I Didn't know places like this existed. I mean there's no trees. There's just nothing There's nobody any he thought he was gonna die out there unless this guy in a white pickup came out and Found him in a way. I found him was like well Tell me what does the field to your right look like you know and that kind of thing is there you know Is there a substage? Did you pass a substation? You know that kind of thing but The flip side of that is like when I come to a place like LA it is it is always going to be I've lived in Dallas, Texas and now I live in Fresno So it's not like you know, I'm afraid of a city But a place like this is always going to be shocking to me today We went to we went downtown to the not downtown point We went to the harbor and we toured the USS Iowa and my my grandfather was in was in the South Pacific in World War two So I'm kind of fascinated with that kind of thing. I always tried it I was really close to my grandfather. So when I look at ships like that I'm always thinking of some farm kid pulled off the farm and dropped on a ship like that And what would that be like? So, you know, we're sitting there in the harbor and we're literally We're sitting on the deck of the battleship having a hot dog You mean, you know, there's a hot dog stand on the battleship, too I mean, and I'm we're having a hot dog We're watching all the cargo ships come in and I just I looked at my wife and I said if it gets any better than this I don't know You know and she's like Can we go to my stuff next but anyway? The point is I just it's fascinating the bridges the people I mean they say everyone's leaving California But there's got to be a few more people to leave here before I mean It's like eight lanes of traffic in every direction. It doesn't matter what time it is There's people bumper-to-bumper on the roads. It is a culture shock for me. That's what I'm trying to say So tonight what I'm going to do is I'm going to try to bring these cultures together All right, I'm going to try to bring the culture that I grew up in To your culture and bring your culture to my culture. All right all that Introduction look down at first Corinthians chapter 14 first Corinthians chapter 14 is kind of like one of the themes of the the chapter is Things that are edifying to you and things that are not edifying to you Really what it's it's focusing on is words that are edifying to you But look down at verse number six of first Corinthians Chapter number 14 if you would for a minute where the Bible says now brethren if I come unto you speaking with tongues What shall I profit you? Except I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine He's saying you know if I come and I speak words to you and they don't mean anything What good is that for you? You know in the context of it is you know speaking in different languages and all those things But generally what he's saying is words matter He's saying words matter, but look down at verse number seven He even goes further here where he says even things without life Giving sound what's he talking about? He's talking about this stuff right here. He's talking about things instruments All right, he says things without life giving sound whether pipe or harp Except they give a distinction of the sounds how shall it be known what is piped or Heart for the trumpet given uncertain certain sound who shall prepare himself to battle the reminded of numbers chapter 10 Where the trumpet had to sound a certain way and then the people would know you know is it war are we going to church? What are we doing here right by the way the sound? You know by the way the instrument acted by the way the instrument sounded so what I'm trying to get you to see here Is that words and sounds? Matter in your life The title of the sermon tonight and the way I'm going to bring these two cultures together The title of the sermon is hip-hop honky-tonk You say what are you talking about? So I did some research. I did some research on LA and all you people from LA And it turns out that it's kind of like the birthplace of hip-hop and rap and all this kind of stuff And if I'm stereotyping you and you're offended you're going to be offended for about another 50 minutes So just it's okay, but I always thought you know, I mean I did some research. We got people here like you know sugarpuff Dr. Knight and Dre Daddy kind of people that are you know from the LA area or into this hip-hop stuff and like I'm getting more and more in you know kind of educated, you know forcefully on accident against my will You know living in California in the hip-hop and rap cultures that you'll hear it You know played in people's cars and things like this now You say how are you going to bring these cultures together? Well, I grew up. I grew up with you know my main Thing that I grew up with you know on the farm and just being out in the country was country music go figure, right I Grew up with names like you know George straight and Alan Jackson and you know all these you know Kenny Chesney He's kind of you know, I'm kind of dating myself here He was kind of younger when I was I was growing up, but the point is this You say these cultures are completely different, right? These cultures are completely different. I want to show you tonight how the cultures of Country music this this you think that this is so different than hip-hop and rap and all these different things I want to show you how these cultures are exactly the same actually I'm going to give you three themes of the culture that I grew up in and how it matches perfectly the more I learn about the culture of that you know this urban culture. I'm sure it's not just LA I'm sure it's urban culture and look the hip-hop stuff and the rap stuff. It's out and it's out in the Midwest too It's it's creeping all over there as well But you think about you know, I did a sermon series and I kind of was back in this sermon series In the last couple of weeks I did it a sermon series many years ago called American heresy and I did this sermon series And what I did was I tried to preach a sermon On heresies that you will see when you are out soul winning and I tried to kind of describe You know what the Pentecostals believe what the Catholics believe what the Jehovah's Witnesses believe what the Mormons believe We just did one. I just did one on Scientology You're probably not going to run into them at the door. It's some wacky stuff But you can go ahead and check out We did a little mini documentary on that But the point is I kind of got out of that series a few years ago And I'm just gonna pop into it, you know here and there because it kind of got boring actually And you say how could it be boring pastor? I mean it was edifying for people to figure out You know what the hang-ups of a Pentecostal will be you know what you know It's nice to know where somebody's coming from when you're giving the gospel to them So you know you know you got to hit eternal security pretty well with this person with their background You know, obviously we're gonna hit it You know always but you know, you just hang-ups that people might have coming from these backgrounds these cultures these heresies Right, but the thing is they were all the same themes At the end of the day, there's only two religions in the world There's the gospel and then it always came back to I mean there was a Scientology was really fun I mean it was like Xenu the alien dictator. I mean that's that's fun stuff to preach You know Xenu the alien dictator and all these you know demons and faintings attached to your body and all this Scam that these people are running, but at the end of the day. What is it? It's works It's works based Theology every single time that's because it all comes from the same person It all comes from the same source I'm gonna give you three common themes tonight on really modern music That we see and just general secular music and especially focusing on where I came from with the countryside of things and What you see in the cities hip-hop rap all these things you say, how could they possibly be the same? The messaging is exactly the same and that's what I want to show you Tonight look, I might even admit to you tonight that I think country music might be more damaging Why is it seems more harmless? Because it seems more wholesome But it's all teaching the same thing turn back to first Corinthians chapter Number seven. Let's just look at a few things. Let's just look at a few things this evening and compare Country music to you know hip-hop music Look at first Corinthians chapter number seven and look down at verse number two now the first the first theme is fornication slash the abuse of women And you say, you know if you've ever wondered in the Bible when you've read the Bible And you've ever wondered why like it just seems like like fornication in the Bible is treated so much more seriously against women I mean, I'm sure you've thought that when you've read the Bible about what God says about fornication and marriage and You know reasons for divorce and the Old Testament law and all these things the reason that it is that way Is because fornication and I'll prove it to you the same thing is happening today fornication damages women more People are so upset at us for preaching like The Bible, you know the Bible family the man's in charge of his household and the wife should be you know Submissive to her husband. It's like oh, we're the only ones that actually have respect for women All of this fornication culture is terrible for women I mean in hip-hop you literally have this is something that I noticed in California that has surprised me In just the last few years coming from the eyes of somebody. It's not really used to this But you have literally women being called derogatory terms You have women being you know, just like just not only just derogatory terms But just speaking of women in the worst possible ways And then you will see a woman driving in a car with her windows down listening to this by herself music degrading herself And I'm like what is going on here? What is happening? I mean basically just a jet objectifying Women you said that's way worse than anything in country music wrong Country music has an extreme promotion of fornication And it may not be as blatant as just name-calling women But it has been promoting the fornication culture in this country for Ever since the beginning of it. I Can't think of any era of country music artists even beyond my own that did not promote fornication It's all the same thing It's all the same messaging my my question is when are women in this country going to figure out that Feminism is bad for them that feminism. I have a conspiracy theory that feminism was invented by a man It's it's horrible for women. It teaches them to disrespect and devalue their own bodies Exactly what the Bible says it basically gave men commitment free access to women and Both of these cultures of music are pushing this agenda You're saying well, I listen to country music seems holes like it is put. I'm not gonna read you any lyrics tonight Because I don't want to put that stuff in your head, but look it isn't good for men either But it's especially not good for women. I'm gonna prove it to you I'm gonna prove it to you with some stats. I did a little bit of research. Did you know did you know that today? today in 2024 America Men from the age unmarried men from the age of 30 to 50 right in that, you know, they're gonna they should be getting married range They are three times more likely than women to not even have any interest in marriage What's happening here? What's going on is somebody gonna figure this stuff out where the where the scientists today? You don't need to have a Bible to figure out some things going on Why the difference between men and women just think of that one I mean, it's literally one-third at this point and by the way, it's never been higher in the United States One-third of men from 30 to 50 have no interest in being married. None. They're like we're good You see because outside of biblical conviction Why would a man want to get married today? What reason would there be? There's nothing see outside of biblical conviction. There's nothing but risk there. I Was talking I was talking to a landscaper just two days ago and You know either we were watching this we were watching this loader do some work and and this landscaper turned to me And he said he said man I saw my neighbor take one of those loaders and just like bulldoze half of his house literally like last week And I'm like, what are you talking about? He's like, yeah, he's getting divorced and he's like I'm not letting her have any of it. He's like I'm gonna give her half in the street and I'm just like This is what people this is what Non-christian see when they see you know the risk of marriage like why would I why would I do that? I don't need I don't want to be lonely, but I don't need to be lonely You see because we have this fornication culture that is pushed from that West Coast To the East Coast and everything in the middle as well That's what people think you know, I could just get out of California. They're gonna get out of California And they're gonna find out it's everywhere You're like, oh you shouldn't have left because it's nicer here But the point is this overall marriage overall marriage is at an all-time low in US history Why is that? Why is no one asking these questions? I mean we know why But why is nobody else wanting to figure this out? So you got you got a third of men 30 to 50 no interest They're like we're good. We don't want to be married, but guess what women in general still want to be married Because God wrote it in their hearts. They have a maternal instinct. They want to raise children. They want that 92% of women still want to be married in that same age group Overall marriage is an all-time low why? Because if you give something away for free who would buy it. I'm not trying to be crude, but that's that's it If you give something away for free who would buy you know what that means women have devalued themselves This fortification culture pushed by everything from hip-hop all the way to the wholesome country music has devalued the women of this country And they've done it to themselves We've successfully objectified women and convinced them to have no respect for themselves Go feminism What are they thinking? You know what the one of the main influences of this is? Music of all types Turn to Isaiah chapter 28 What's the second one What's the second one? Turn to Isaiah chapter number 28 if you would Isaiah chapter 28 Look down at verse number seven The second one that they both have in common Is the glorification of drug and alcohol abuse? That it's cool That it's fun That it's harmless You know with the hip-hop you got all the weed is harmless and all you know smoking marijuana is cool And all this stuff now they find out that it completely permanently destroys your brain oops Look down at Isaiah chapter 28 you say well country music doesn't really promote weed and drugs. That's true not yet anyway That's true The look at verse number seven of Isaiah chapter 28 verse number seven the Bible says But they have also aired through wine And through strong drink are out of the way The priests and the prophet have aired through strong drink. They're swallowed up of wine They're out of the way through strong drink. They air in vision. They stumble in judgment This is the conservative in our country today Right here they air in judgment why because they're drunk That's why but both of these cultures of music. They're just like oh just fun Drugs alcohol, you know, you're just gonna be around a bunch of pretty people It's nothing is ever going to happen this the worst thing about country music is that it tied this culture of masculinity with this culture of drunkenness sick To the point where a man that has grown up in that culture can't even imagine himself being masculine if he's not a drunk Look if you if you don't know what I'm talking about. It's real. That's a real thing they tie, you know drinking and being this drinking person to Masculinity look I grew up with some masculine individuals. I grew up around some tough characters But this culture is Destroying the character of that group of people. This is the conservatives in this country today. This is the problem The conservatives in this country They're they're like they're looking around and they're like what happened. How did we get here? How did this happen? It's because Satan got them all drunk And he stole the church from them He got them all drunk and he stole the school Well, they were drunk. He stole the entire country because they their vision Is Isaiah 28 the vision is gone they think oh, we're gonna you're gonna get it in this election. You're like you're still drunk though That's the problem All these George Straits and these Alan Jackson's Randy Travis's drunkenness drunkenness Drunkenness, but they have a gospel album still drunk the country was lost from the pulpit and And the country was lost because the men went out and they got drunk that was the view from where I was standing It's the same Both cultures. It's exactly The same turn to Proverbs chapter 14 Turn to Proverbs chapter 14 Say what else could there be look at Proverbs chapter 14 look at verse number nine the third point where both of these Cultures are pushing the same garbage that I want to make tonight is This idea of pushing this party life I want you parents to listen up tonight Pushing this idea that sins no big deal Pushing this idea that you can't have fun Without going out and getting in a bunch of sin and trouble Look at problem chapter 14 and verse number nine the Bible says fools make a mock at sin But among the righteous There is favor see this idea that sin is no big deal It's it's work like this these music cultures of hip-hop and country music it is worse than making a mock of it It is glorifying it It is glorifying it and presenting it as something that it is not It is presenting it as something that can give you something that it cannot When it will actually give you the opposite. I mean Country and hip-hop. It's all the same party lifestyle It's all I bet you if you went to a if you shut off the sound and you looked from a drone view of a Hip-hop concert. It would look exactly the same as one as a at a country concert exactly the same party Lifestyle look this is terrible to raise especially young people this way Raising kids you need to think about this when you're thinking. Oh, I need to do something fun for my kids every five seconds Raising kids to where see what this party lifestyle does. Yes, it gets them into a bunch of sin that destroys their life but it also trains them to be this person that needs to live off these extreme highs He's extreme dopamine hits Even even outside of the alcohol and the drugs which is all part of it I mean just party after party after party and that becomes Your life. It's just look. You know what if you raise children like that or they grow up in a culture like that They will find no joy in hard work They will find no joy in building something They will find the Christian life to be what to be boring You know what I used to say I I don't have this my sermon and maybe I shouldn't confess this but I'm gonna do it anyway You know what I used to say I was Lutheran. I lived in Texas And we had many Baptist friends And I used to always say about the Baptist, you know, they're just no fun but see I wasn't I didn't understand because I Was drawn into all this You cannot raise your children this way They will find no joy in the things that will actually give them joy because guess what drunkenness will not bring them joy It will bring them the reward of sin for a moment the reward of iniquity For a moment. I'm sure Judas felt good for a few minutes when he held that silver in his hands What happened to him in the end? All these things that are promising joy to these people being raised in this lifestyle are just going to end up in Destruction for them and I'll prove it to you. I'll prove it to you through Music turn to 2nd Kings chapter number three. Look the folks folks. I was saved later in life You think about your kids this evening. I was saved later in life But let me tell you something one of the hardest things for me to put aside and Cut away from was music Your mind is an infinite recording device. They have tried to measure it. They can't They think that yeah, I mean we can measure everything We can measure how far a 16 inch gun on a battleship. We probably dropped that shell within 10 yards or something We can't measure how much your brain can record Because it just keeps recording and recording and recording in one of the best ways That you can record things or remember things is through music You need to be careful with music turn to 2nd Kings. I'm gonna turn there myself look at 2nd Kings chapter number three and Look at verse number 15 I used to say I used to say when before I gave up certain music You know, I used to say even told my wife this I was like, I just like the tune. I don't listen to the words. I just like the tune I Don't listen to the words But look down at verse number 15 of 2nd Kings chapter 3 the Bible says actually go to verse 14 It says an Elisha said is the Lord the host liveth before before whom I stand surely It were not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah I would not look toward the Norseedee, but look at this in verse 15 But now bring me a minstrel and it came to pass when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him This is very similar to what we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 Where the tune that was played here literally brought his brought the Lord's spirit to him The opposite can be true If it works one way with a certain song and tune there is a non edifying way that it can work as well Look Music is powerful and you all know that it is it literally can change your mood It can change your mood. I was a wrestler before I wrestled. I listened to some music that changed my mood On purpose because I wanted to change my mood It can bring back memories you can hear a song that you heard and it can remind you of something vivid 25 years ago look what what the Bible is saying here in in second career in second Kings chapter 3 and This is why Satan turned to Ezekiel chapter 28. This is why Satan uses music Is because music touches your spirit Music moves your emotions and it can move you towards the Lord or it can move you away from the Lord Satan was a musical being for sure Look at verse number 13 of Ezekiel chapter 28 So you wonder why are all these themes the same? Why does it matter? Why does it not matter if I go to rap music or rock and roll music or Country music or whatever music. I know I kind of use country and hip-hop here. Why does it not matter? Why are the themes of fornication and making light of sin and alcohol and drugs and abuse of women and all these different things? Why are they all the same? Because they all it's the same thing with the heresies because they all come from the same place Look down to verse number 13 Talk about Satan here. The Bible says thou has been in Eden the Garden of God Every precious stone was thy covering the sardis the topaz the diamond the barrel the onyx And the jasper and the sapphire and the emerald and the carbuncle and gold and The workmanship of thy tabernits and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created Thou art the anointed cherub it cherub that covereth and I have set thee so thou was upon the holy mountain of God and That's walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire Satan's a musical being I Don't know if he was the only musical being people say he was the chief musician in heaven. Well, you know he was a musical being that's what we know and Music is one of his most powerful tools that he uses on this earth and look musicians Musicians and I can't even read you all the different things that I'm going to read you tonight because there's just too many of Musicians throughout history have constantly through the years eluded Many times like I think this has kept secret with most people But many times people have just given interviews and just told like that they've literally made a deal with Satan It's real It's as real as Satan himself. Let me I mean let me just give you a few examples like spanning a couple of hundred years There was a man named Giuseppe Tartini He was you know, he was born in 1692 He was a violinist He was considered to be this virtue. Oh, so nobody could understand How he could play the violin how he played He composed the devil's trill sonata a piece so complicated Many modern players struggle to play it This is a quote from him Asked about his His abilities and his reason that he wrote this sonata and how he was able to play it This is a quote from this man born in 1692. He said one year in the year 1713. I Dreamed I had made a pact with the devil for my soul Everything went as I wished My new servant anticipated my every desire among other things. I gave him my violin to see if he could play How great was my astonishment on Hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautiful It played with such great art and played with such great art and intelligence as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy I felt enraptured transported and enchanted my breath failed me and I awoke and I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain in part at least my impression of the dream The music that I composed is indeed the best I have ever wrote and I still call it the devil's trill 1890 a man named Ferdinand Morton Claims he invented jazz you say well hip-hop and country music. Well, let's go back to jazz He freaked he invented jazz is how he frequently introduced himself in a 1915 piece Jelly roll blues blues was the first published jazz composition. So he probably did invent jazz However Morton's talent stemmed from a place much darker than the vibrant upbeat music he composed It is said that jelly's godmother Yule Lee Echo a French-speaking Creole who practiced voodoo Sacrifice jelly sold to Satan as part of a black magic ritual in exchange for inhuman musical talent and fame What followed was a prolific musical career as Morton took his place as the most supreme figure in America's thriving jazz scene In 1939 the record company Victor offered jelly a recording contract as the leading composer and conductor of early jazz Morton was so successful he could afford to wear diamonds in his teeth and his socks Leading to his trademark rhinestone studded smile But eventually Morton got his side of the deal and so the time came when he had to keep up his side of the pact Two years after signing with Victor his old voodoo godmother Yule Lee Echo was dead Jelly's girlfriend Anita Gonzalez said this jelly's always knew she sold him to Satan and that when she died He'd die too. She would take him down with her within two months Morton passed away. He was 46 years old Jimmy Hendrix Jimmy voodoo child Hendrix Acknowledged by many people I mean you talk to somebody who is a guitar player or whatever and they will say he is the best guitar player That has ever walked the face of the planet But he had a keen keen interest in spiritism a Conga player who played with Hendrix was from a village in Ghana, West Africa where his father was a voodoo priest It's been said that one of the first things his friend did was asked Jimmy where he got his voodoo rhythm from As many of Hendrix's signature rhythms were the very same ones that his voodoo father played in voodoo ceremonies Alan Douglas Hendrix's road manager and producer expressed his concern for the musicians well-being one of the biggest things is a quote one of the biggest things About Jimmy was what he believed in He believed that he was possessed by some spirit and I believe it myself the road manager said He was very humble about discussing with people because he didn't want people to feel he was being pretentious and so on But he really believed it. He was wrestling with it constantly His long-term girlfriend Jimmy Hendrix long-term girlfriend Said this he said he used to always talk about some devil something was in him He didn't have any control over it And he didn't know what made him act the way he acted and what made him say the things he said and Played the songs and different things that just came out of him It seems to me he was so tormented and so tore apart that he really really what he would talk to us about going down To Georgia and getting rid of this evil thing having some root lady drive out his demon out of him September 18 1970 at the age of 27 Hendrix died of asphyxia. I could just keep reading on and on and on In 2004 Bob Dylan did an actual interview with 60 minutes Bob Dylan He does super successful artist. He does this interview with 60 minutes and the 60 minutes interviewer Literally says to him. I mean is asking him. How do you do it? He's like he's literally says like I don't even know like how I wrote this stuff He's like, I don't even know but then he says this He says it's a destiny thing quote. I made a devil's bargain, and I'm holding up my end And if you go and you look for that on YouTube that 60 minutes thing they bleep out the word devil So it just it's like I made a Bargain, but then he goes and he says this I mean that the interviewer said this what was your bargain? And and Dylan said to get where I am now and the interviewer said who did you bargain with? You know what he says? He says the chief commander In this earth and the world we can't see What a second Corinthians chapter 4 say the Satan is the god of this world He made a devil's bargain with the devil Their stories like this could go on and on and on John Lennon, you know the the Beatles the Rolling Stones Snoop Dog I Mean the list just goes on and on and on look it is Even if there was no official deal The sign is the message that they are projecting The sign is the message that they are projecting and the talent that they have look people are saying I mean think about it if I gave you a list and the thing the thing about people that make deals with Satan and follow Satan The point is this folks it's fame through a message. That's the deal The deal is give me talent. Give me fame. Give me money Give me success in this world and Satan's like I will give you that but you will speak my words You will you will do a song called highway to hell Making light of eternal destruction To young people in the nation Where's dad? Oh, he's drunk Listened into George straight. It's all the same bargain and look it's just like the heresies. It's got Satan's fingerprints all over it It's everywhere Satan gives the talents But he gets the messaging that's the deal And it's all the same message, but turn to John chapter 10 Here's the itty see of these people that follow Satan You say people have to choose Satan or God Satan or Jesus Christ who would choose Satan? He kills them all He destroys Everything look at John chapter 10 in verse number 10. We just studied through this In our study of the book of John, but look at what the Bible says Jesus is saying no I'm the shepherd you got to come through the doors a matter of fact. I am the door There's no other way Except me look at John chapter 10 in verse number 10 But somebody else wants to come in another way or convince you that there is another way It says the thief come with not but for to steal and to kill and destroy. That's all Satan does He steals and kills and destroys Especially the people that follow him Jimmy Hendricks died choking on his own vomit when he was 27 years old You know how many of these stars and musical artists died choking on their own vomit? The list is long But they made the deal, but guess what? Satan destroyed him anyway because what did he do he destroys? That's all he does If you look at those three words, I mean just this is another sermon in itself But I mean the Christian life is the opposite of those things Think about a steal kill destroy. What do we do? We give the gift of salvation We give things away you go out and charge people soul winning. No, we go out. We give away eternal life We don't kill we give you know through God's word. We give people everlasting life through Jesus Christ We give them that message freely We build we don't destroy When it get people in church, we want to build people in their Christian life It's exactly the opposite, but that is all Satan does is destroy It's not like he's got these minions on this earth and he treats them really well No, he kills him. He killed him when he was 27, but guess what you say? Why would he kill him if he was working for him? Guess what that music lives forever? He got what he wanted He got the material and that music is it's everlasting on this earth If you've heard these music these songs you'll remember them till you're dead You'll remember them I mean thank God that you know my children and your children aren't gonna have to have that stuff recorded in their head I Mean you ever thought like walk through a store or something and you ever thought like they're still playing the song Don't they have new songs? We're walking through like a home good store You know a couple months ago, and they played a song that played the song called walk like an Egyptian And like my kids are like they're listening to the they're listening to the song and They don't even know we're they don't even write words, and they're just like blah blah blah And I'm like yeah kids like people used to love this song, and they would walk around like this And my kids are like dad Stop it quit a lion Look the point of the whole sermon tonight is Influence is Influenced and to be careful look here's the application for you. You need to be careful Who and what influences you? Turn to Proverbs chapter 13 The devil these people made I mean people are like the Super Bowl They're like well there was a devil sign or something that somebody made during the Super Bowl probably I mean what what's the message the message is Satan's message and We're shocked that somebody does a devil ritual on a stage or something. It's like no Okay, so they didn't come out and give a 60 minutes interview, but they're working for Satan It's the same thing why because the message is his message The deal is all the same and no matter when that artist dies or what the end of that artist is that message lives on In people that heard that tune attached to those words That is literally tattooed in their mind forever So the application tonight is just the influence of the things in your life the influence the things that are after you and After your kids in your life at least all about Influence, that's the devil's game right there with music You need to ask yourself who and what influences you I hope I hope your pastor influences you I mean, that's an easy one, but I mean you know I mean the problem with this country or one of the main problems with this country is you got parents out there today and They're upset They're upset that what they don't have influence They're upset that somebody else is doing the influence You know we got an entire generation of Confused kids coming our way. I mean just confused. I mean they say Gen Z Gen Z one in five twenty percent They're confused about if they're a boy or a girl or what what they are And I'm like this is like Thousands of percent increase in in this thing and I'm like alright like some scientist is gonna is gonna pick this one up And even like this is one of those things like you don't have to read the Bible to know something's going on here and Sure enough somebody wrote a book a couple years ago That like hey, we think it's a social contagion like you think We just studied Psalm chapter 82 Last night and Psalm chapter 82 is basically God yelling at the leaders God is yelling at the leaders because he's saying you know what you're allowing the wicked to Harm the poor and the needy and the fatherless That's exactly what's going on with this generation you got an entire look you got an entire parents don't like it But they don't have the influence You got the wicked doing you got the wicked Influencing and confusing a child and then you got a confused child confusing children It's exactly what's happening It's all about the influence Parents they don't have it anymore. That's the problem problem 13. Are you there? Look at verse number 20 There was a there was some Motivational speaker something that I heard years ago. He said he said you are the sum of your friends. I Mean there's some truth there, right? There's some truth there like I don't know if he was coming at it from the perspective of Like success in life or something like that or maybe even income or something They've done studies where it's like if you hang out with a bunch of you know people that don't make any money You don't make any money or something like that, right? But guess what if there's any truth to anything. It's already in the Bible Look down to verse number 20 of Proverbs 13 You are the sum of your friends and every writes a book and everyone's like brilliant Look at Proverbs 13 to verse number 20. It says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise But a companion of fools shall be destroyed look we rephrase that you know according to the sermon tonight If you're influenced by wise people you will be wise In what way every way If you're influenced by fools You will be a fool in what way in every way To the point where you will what you'll you'll be completely destroyed turn to Romans chapter 7 Romans chapter 7 look at Romans chapter 7 see What we want for our kids Bringing it back to the musical Sermon here what we want for our kids. Let me tell you something. It's possible. I Love that moment in home goods where my kids were like this is really stupid and I'm like, thank you But we don't want them to have to go down that road And it's possible to raise your children where they will hear this stuff and they'll be like that is wicked as hell Where they will hear the words and they will never say oh, but you know lyrics Well, they will they will hear they will sit in a restaurant and they will hear lyrics They'll be like I'm not gonna come back to this restaurant anymore Because I don't know what this song is But what they're saying is wicked as hell What they're saying is a it's literally they'll be offended because it'll be like this this this wording is against my Lord Jesus Christ That's what we need to put in the hearts of our children Or they would you know what they'll stand up for God They'll stand up for Jesus Christ and they hear wicked garbage. I don't care how pretty it sounds or what tune they put it with They'll say no, I know what the truth is look down at Romans 7 Look at verse number 13 was that which is good made death unto me. He's talking to the law He's talking about the law. He's talking about the Bible. He's talking about the word of God God forbid but sin. What is the point of teaching our children the Bible? What is our point? What's the point of having your children here in church listening to your pastor yell at you three times a week? What's the point of that? It is so they will learn the word God What is the point of homeschooling and pulling them out of that influence and Teaching them the word of God in your own home and giving them that worldview Teaching our daughters, you know what you have value in this life God loves you he values you and here's what he wants you to do Little girl, here's who he wants you to be Teaching our boys To be strong men without being drunks That actually drunkenness is weakness It's the it's not it's not like it's a little bit. It's completely opposite of the truth The message of Satan he destroys God builds It is possible today even with everything that you see for your kids to hear this stuff keep reading But sin that it might appear exceedingly Said that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good That sin by the commandment by the law by the word of God might appear exceedingly Sinful it will pop out at them. They will care what the tune is. They'll hear those words. You know what? They'll even hear the tune and know that the tunes bad They'll I'm I'm telling you it's it's they'll hear the song. They don't even need to hear words and be like this isn't good Why because the sounds matter and the words matter, but it'll but as they sharpen themselves on the word of God These kids won't fall for any of it. It'll work. It's it's guaranteed Did it say that it might that that by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful maybe No, it's it will happen and you can see it happening in the generation that we are raising now It's a beautiful thing when they hear stupid things It will pop out at them. They will reject it outright. They'll be speaking to themselves and songs and hymns and spiritual songs That bring them closer to the Lord and strengthen them Everything else will be exceedingly sinful Unfortunately today what you're seeing around us is Satan is just winning this game of influence He's winning music Just like false religion Nice thing about Satan though He's super unoriginal and once you know the Bible. It's super easy to pick them out Because it doesn't matter what the music is. It doesn't matter with the tune. What's the messaging? What's the best thing the messaging is all the same see you see how I brought our cultures together tonight