Wayne Van Gelderen: Ephesians chapter 6 if you have your Bibles let’s go to Ephesians chapter number 6 this is a special time for minute men ministries 25 years ago our evangelistic team began to travel full-time and so we’re finishing our 25th year of pretty much the team being on the road for most of the

year and really it’s a 30th year that the ministry started in 1979 with its very first time of conducting one of our youth campaigns and so this is a special time as a result what we’ve done with the speakers is four of the five speakers are former team evangelists and other than myself

i’m still doing it but i’m the old guy and i’m still doing it but i think i’m not sure i think i found my life’s work i’m not sure but anyway um uh we uh so we are highlighting the some of the former team evangelists and pastor van gelden who will be speaking uh tomorrow is a very integral

part of the ministry because it was his brainchild that began the ministry in 1979 so all of the speakers have a definite tie to the history of minutemen ministries minutemen evangelistic team the war war of special forces cola class fizz feud etc okay but i was just sitting there thinking i

believe it’s well over a thousand campaigns that the ministry has conducted and i think it’d be safe to say that each campaign we’ve averaged over a hundred young people and so as i would say it’s a conservative estimate in the last 25 years we’ve had the privilege of preaching the gospel to over

100,000 teenagers across America I know that’s a drop in the bucket but at least it’s a start and I hope there’ll be many more that will have the opportunity to preach to and several of these men who are be preaching this week have been a part of that preaching the gospel to teenagers who need

Jesus Christ so it’s been a great thrill and we believe our best days are still ahead though we’re certainly grateful for what God’s done we believe he’s building and building upon what he’s done in the past for all you young people here it is a great delight to be here i know for you to be here

it’s a great delight for me to be able to preach to you tonight and i’m trusting that you’ll make your avail yourself of this opportunity i know that god is going to speak to each one of you we’re praying that way we’ve claimed it we believe that god is going to work in each of our hearts

so i hope you’ll come with a heart open to receive god’s gracious dealings in your life moms and dads you come as much as you can it may be called a teen revival conference but i put it this way i’ve probably said this here but for those that haven’t heard it i used to didn’t like to preach to adults

until one day it hit me adults are nothing more than teenagers with wrinkles and so um i just just realized you preach to them the same way they got the same problems but um so anyway uh you moms and dads you come along and the sponsors of course you’ll be here each session has already been

mentioned and sponsors and moms and dads at 8 30 on thursday and 8 30 on friday will be meeting in this auditorium for i believe a very critical prayer meeting and i’m begging you if you’re the kind who looks at a prayer meeting says i wonder if i can have a good excuse to miss it i’m hoping

that you’ll not carry that attitude into this prayer meeting because we need to meet with god and i believe the very key to what’s going to happen is going to be won the battle will be won i believe is being won in prayer meetings that have already occurred will be occurring and so you please be a

part of that all adults are welcome and that is not for the teens but we do invite all adults to and be a part of that very important prayer meeting on Thursday and Friday morning. It’s in your notebook.

It does not say where, but it will be right here so that we’re right ready for the session. We’ll open the doors about five minutes before the session to begin. Now, let me encourage you to be on time, the meal at 8 o’clock tomorrow,

and then, of course, 9 o’clock, the session. Don’t miss anything. And sponsors, let me encourage you to be a real part of making sure

that your group is where they need to be at the right time because it is an aggressive schedule, but our burden is to get as much in as possible,

And line upon line, precept upon precept. And tomorrow morning, evangelist or I’m not sure what to call Frank, evangelist or pastor, he’s done them both.

He really, by gift, is an evangelist. Right now he’s serving as a pastor. But he’ll be leading off tomorrow at 9 o’clock, very important session,

laying a foundation for where we’re going in this particular conference. So I’ll mention that. Okay, Ephesians chapter 6 and verse number 4 tonight.

And the Lord’s led me, I believe, tonight to put together a few different things from several different messages I have. and I’m a little I’m just kind of interested to see what the Lord’s going to do tonight but I

I tried to get out of it but the Lord wouldn’t let me so tonight I’m going to preach and this title could get me in huge trouble but here it is tonight I’m going to preach on failing fathers troubled teens in God’s grace failing fathers troubled teens in God’s grace in 25 years of

traveling and working with young people I have found that many young people not all but many young people their rebellion comes out of or was provoked by failure in the home I’d like to first I’m going to address that since I have some moms and dads in the audience tonight.

And I’m also addressing those who are listening by MP3. I believe there will be fathers who are not here who will hear this message and parents as well. So I’m hoping it will be help in that venue as well.

But tonight I’d like us to address this subject because I have found in traveling the country, I’ve met a lot of young people who are struggling with bitterness. They’re angry.

They’re not happy with things going on. In fact, if you are around them long enough or you watch them on the ball court or you watch them on the ball field, you’ll see that anger is right below the surface.

And with a proper provocation, it doesn’t take much. They explode. And there are angry teenagers I’m preaching to tonight.

You came to this conference. Perhaps you didn’t want to come. Perhaps you came because you felt you had to.

Perhaps you came because, in a certain sense, you might be a compliant rebel. You came. You knew you had to.

Couldn’t get out of it. But you didn’t come with a willing heart. And there may be some here tonight are struggling with anger and bitterness

toward circumstances in your life or toward failures that you’ve observed in your parents or in others in leadership around you. And I’d like tonight to address this subject.

We’re first of all going to deal with the problem. And then I would like to deal with the unfortunate wrong response of teenagers that I’ve seen across this country.

And then, hallelujah, we got an answer. The guys just sung about it. It’s called The Grace of God.

And I believe they’re young people. It’s a divine appointment for somebody in this room, probably more than one. And I’m convinced tonight that some young person in this room

has got a huge problem with bitterness and anger in your heart. You’re ticked off and you’ve got bitternesses toward people that you have no business having bitterness toward.

But I will tell you there is an answer. God can heal you of things you never thought you could be healed of. And so we’re going to look at Ephesians 6 and verse 4 at the problem first of all.

The Bible says, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Those two words are very interesting. The word nurture was originally the idea of instruction. It came to have the idea of chastening.

Both of these words have a positive side and a negative side. The word nurture and then admonition is the idea of reproof. It could be a verbal reproof.

It also has the idea of verbal encouragement. That is all a part of the guiding and the directing and the raising of a child. Now I thank the Lord.

I certainly know that any parent, no parent is perfect. And I will say this before I get into this. I’ve said this here at Falls.

But I probably need to address it to those that are listening tonight. I recognize the difficulty of parenting. I’m under no, by the way, I didn’t always know that.

I was an expert on parenting about 13 and a half years ago, almost 14 years, an expert. I mean a total expert. You could ask me any question, I could have given the answer.

I saw the kid throwing the fit in the grocery store, and I had it down pat ready to go. And 14 years ago, almost 14 years ago, on August 27th is coming up, I entered the ranks of the rest of you parents, and that is, Lord help me, I’m in trouble.

Okay, so I recognize the difficulty of parenting, okay? I was an expert. I’m no longer.

I’m pleading for the grace of God like many of you parents are as well. So I recognize that. I’m not coming saying this is an easy thing, nor am I coming as a perfect parent.

But I’m coming here tonight recognizing that one of the problems we have in this culture is failing fathers. And I’m convinced I have seen young people who were very angry and very bitter at a father they never met. I’ve had young men who were, some adopted, some in cases where their dad took off before they were born or before they remember him,

who had extreme bitterness toward an absent father. Obviously, I’ve met young people who knew their father, but he was pretty distant out of their life, a divorced home, and the father didn’t have much to do with him.

And there was bitterness toward that absent dad or that distant father in his life, his or her life. And so I want you to recognize tonight that this is a problem. in the culture in which we live there are people scattered all over here who some of the biggest

problems you’ve had have come because of failure in your father i’m talking to some of you have a heart for god you’re sitting here as fathers yourselves and the truth is when you look back you recognize you maybe had an unsaved dad maybe even a saved dad but there was unbiblical

responses to these admonitions and and you recognize now that the difficulty that came as a result of it now i see two issues that i i’m very burdened about and i’m only touch on this briefly before I go to the major issue to you young people.

But I see a couple of issues. Number one, as I’ve already alluded to, is what I’m going to call the passive father. That’s either the absent father or the distant father, or the father who lives in the home.

He makes the paycheck. He pays for everything in the home. He’s a good provider, but he’s passive.

In other words, kids soon come to realize that dad’s not going to put the law down. Dad’s not going to tell him to do this. Dad’s not going to put down here.

And they soon come to realize that there’s not strong discipline. They can push at the walls and they move. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I thank the Lord for my father.

He was not perfect as no father is. But I will tell you that he really did believe this verse of Scripture. And I can tell you, he implemented it in my life.

I saw both the positive and the negative. Now, I will tell you, my dad was a wonderful disciplinarian. My dad could swing a belt.

In fact, my dad could not only swing a belt, he knew the psychology of swinging a belt. He could make it whistle.

I mean, the point is, he could make you recognize. And there was an intimidation psychologically as that belt came down. I mean, my dad was a good disciplinarian.

In fact, I remember very few times my dad disciplined me very few times. And if you were in my family, you would have remembered very few times if you’d had a brain too. I mean, it was one of those things you just didn’t want to go to him.

It was an event. I mean, it was something you remembered for a long, long time. Now, I thank the Lord for that.

Now, I know as soon as I say something like that, somebody’s going to say, you had a child abuser for a father. Now, please do not miss this. When I think of my father, I do not think of somebody who was a great disciplinarian, though he was.

I primarily think of someone who loved me unconditionally. You see, my dad loves me so much, he would not let me get away with certain things. Now again, he wasn’t perfect.

He had blips and there are certain things that he did let me get away from that perhaps I recognized I’d struggle with certain issues that I wouldn’t struggle with if he had not let me get away with them.

So no father is perfect, but there are several areas of my life that my dad would not let me get away with. One was disrespect. I will tell you I never rolled my eyes at my dad

I never talked back to my dad I never sassed my dad I don’t remember one time even coming close

To being disrespectful to my father You say preacher you must have been a good kid No it’s called fear

And I didn’t even think about it It was not even an option I didn’t even come close to it

And I’ll tell you why I don’t understand it all But somewhere far before I can remember Dad put that in my heart

And after this very day I really struggle with anybody who’s disrespectful. In fact, I’ll be honest with the young person.

You mark this down. You want to have trouble. You disrespect your parents in front of me this week.

You’ll have trouble. You know why? I don’t know what it is, but through my father,

God put something in my heart because he used his discipline to put that disrespect is a bad deal. I’m absolutely amazed today at the way kids treat their parents. Some of you kids out here treat your parents like dirt, like trash.

Now, it’s tragic that your parents let you do it, But as you’re going to see in just a moment, I don’t care if you have the worst parents on planet Earth,

disrespect is sin against Almighty God. And it is of no excuse, none at all. But I’m simply saying that my dad, thank the Lord for him,

definitely brought me up in nurture and admonition. There was the negative, don’t get me wrong. I mean, he, as this is what I mentioned,

he would not let me get away with disrespecting many things. Now, here’s where I’m going. He was also an outstanding example of nurture, of the positive side.

My dad was constantly saying positive things. In fact, I was so dumb, and I was dumb, I believed everything my dad said. My dad said, I believe God’s hands on your life.

I believe God’s going to use you. I believe you’ll have a greater ministry than I’ve had. I mean, everything he said, he said things like that,

and even greater things than that. I’ll tell you, friends, I was dumb. I mean, real dumb.

I believed him. And kids, shut your ears for just a moment. Let me talk to your mom and dad.

Your kids are dumb, too. They’ll believe you, too. They really will.

You tell them you’ll be nothing more than a ditch digger, guess what? They might believe that. You tell them God can greatly use your life,

I believe God’s hand in your life, they’ll probably believe that too. You see, that’s the idea of nurture and admonition.

But I’m telling you, friends, we’re reaching a problem. We’ve got a problem in this country,

and the problem is we have dads who have disengaged. I’m talking about Christian dads who have disengaged in the raising of their children.

They’re distant from their kids. They don’t know their kids’ hearts. They let their kids do what they want to do.

They let them be disrespectful. They let them push the envelope. And I know many of you say,

preacher one day i don’t know what happened i woke up and i’ve got this teenager i can’t control him the reason you cannot control a 13 year old is because you didn’t control your three-year-old see god aren’t you glad god made them small listen you for your parents that got them little you

better win the battle when they’re little because they get big and see god designed it friends that we win the battle we engage the child because we love them again we’re not talking about child abuse here we’re talking about control discipline that is motivated by unbelievable sacrificial

unconditional love. I knew my dad loved me unconditional. I never doubted out of that,

even when we’re in the heat of getting disciplined. So understand, and I’ve seen this today, that we’ve got two problems.

We’ve got the disengaged dad, the passive dad, who just sits back and lets the kids kind of run. He never breaks their will, never comes around.

You know, it might be cute when they’re three when they throw a fit, but you hear me at 13, it’s no longer cute.

It’s tragic. But it really was tragic at three. And some of you kids out here, you can’t

control your emotions you you’re the kind of puts the envelope you push your mom and dad around they may have let you got to get her get away with it but you’re in huge trouble you have no idea because you may be able to push mom and dad around but sooner or later you’re going to meet somebody

you’re not going to be able to push around he might be the military sergeant in the marines but you’re going to meet somebody and see the point is we are in trouble in this culture and it has come because of failure in the home and i’ll tell you friends really my i’m not putting you moms off the

hook totally but i am telling that you we men are the really the bottom line problem in the home comes back to us we’re the issue and we’ve got this disengaged or distant father but there’s another problem i’ve seen now this is just 25 years of working with young people preaching messages

sitting down with teenagers and saying what’s up well i’m angry why angry you begin to talk to them and you recognize there are certain issues okay so the first is the disengaged passive dad and that means he is not involved in nurturing he’s not involved in the admonition but the second problem

is what i’m going to call the angry father he’s involved but he is he is disciplining in anger and that’s a problem too because notice what it says uh and you fathers um bring them up in the nurture and admonition uh excuse me provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the

nurture and admonition of the lord and the problem is when you don’t bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord guess what it’s happening you’re provoking them to wrath you see when a father is distant and when he does not engage a child when he does not put the walls up and

and keep them firm and he does not run rule the home with love and unconditional love and the power of God what happens is children are provoked to wrath and when a father is angry and disciplines out of anger then the children are provoked to wrath in fact in Colossians it says the same verse

except it says, lest they be discouraged. And I meet, I’m telling all across this country, I meet young people, young men particularly,

but young ladies as well, who are angry, been provoked to wrath, and who are discouraged.

And what I’m saying here this evening, to you moms and dads, and for those of you listening,

you dads who are listening on the MP3, and I believe there’s some dad who’s going to be listening to this MP3

who needs this message. You’re disengaged with your kids. You have gotten angry in your discipline.

You’ve never humbly apologized. And you’ve provoked your kids to wrath and you’re sitting in a Teen Revival conference,

or maybe you sent them here and you’re listening to the MP3, and you’re praying that somehow we’ll fix the problem that you caused. But the real, I believe, solution would begin

if dads in this room got on their knees and said, poor Almighty God, I have been disengaged with my kids, and I have let the walls move, and they may be teenagers now,

and I failed them as a child to set them down and break that will and nurture them up in the nurture and admission of the Lord. I failed that.

You know, God gives grace to the humble. That’s where it all starts. And I’m going to tell you the problem is dads.

Listen, the problem in the United States of America is seated all across this room in fathers who don’t obey Ephesians 6.4. That’s the problem.

You know, we talk about the ladies being the hand that rocks the cradle. You know, the hand that rocks the cradle, rocks the nation, whatever. The nation, whatever.

I can’t remember how that thing goes. But you know, I’m talking about influences the nation. Some of you ladies know the phrase.

I’ll tell you, friends, I’ll tell you who influences the next generation. It may be that I’m convinced the dads are a greater responsibility. Dads will do right.

It’ll help the moms, and the whole thing trickles down. I believe in trickle-down economics, and I also believe in trickle-down family blessing. So some of you politicians out there, you ought to say amen on that trickle-down stuff.

Okay, we’re all big trickle-down people. We like that stuff. Okay.

So I recognize the problem. Now, I just wanted to spend a moment on that. Now, here’s the danger in spending a moment with that.

See, some of you young people out here, you hear that and say, yeah, you see, that’s why I’m a rebel. Yeah, my dad just, you know, he let me get away with it.

I push the walls, they move, you know. I’m running the show now. I can do what I want to do.

I can, you know, I can manipulate mom and dad. You know, it’s really their fault, it’s not mine. Young person, you please hear me and do not miss this.

You cannot blame anybody for your rebellion. You are the one responsible for it. And I don’t care if you have the worst parents on this planet.

You will answer to God for your rebellious spirit. And there are bitter kids across this room. You may be angry.

And you may have a disengaged father. You may have a father who’s been absent from your life. You may have an angry father.

But I want to tell you something. God’s grace is more than enough. And you have absolutely no excuse.

None. And although certainly fathers and mothers, we need to recognize the needs in our life.

And as God convicts us, we need to deal with them. I’m preaching to young people here who have made wrong responses because of viewing the imperfections of parents.

There’s no parents on this planet that are perfect, none. All parents will make mistakes, and young people, I know this is a shock to some of you,

but one day you will be a parent and you won’t be perfect either. Shock of shocks. I’ve said this to some, but I’m going to say it here

just because some of you dear young people need to get this. I don’t want to give you nightmares, but I’m going to give nightmares to some of you.

I want you to imagine a few years down the road you’re married and there’s a whole house full of kids just like you. Some of you will not sleep the rest of the week.

You’re going to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Hey, how would you like to parent you? You ever thought about that?

You know, I tell young people, and I know this is blunt, please forgive me, but I tell young people, you know the way you feel about your parents, your kids are going to feel the same way about you.

Some of you kids out here despise your parents, maybe even use the word hate towards your parents. You mark my words, bud, and you get it down.

Your kids are going to feel the same way about you. I’m talking to young people out here. You’ve disrespected your parents.

You’ve despised them. You’ve hated them. You’ve pushed them off.

And you mark it down. You don’t get right with Almighty God. One day you’re going to have a house full of kids

who feel the same way about you that you feel about Mom and Dad. It’s a big deal, bud.

It’s a big deal. So I want you to see tonight that the problem is big. It’s all across this country.

We know that. We’ve got distant fathers. We’ve got angry fathers.

We’ve got a problem. It’s in the church house. It’s outside the church house.

It’s a huge problem. We all know that. And I’m sure there are young people strewn across this building

who I’ve just described your situation. I remember a kid just a few months ago broke. The kid was totally broken and got right with the Lord.

And his whole issue was he was bitter at a father he had never met in his entire life. Totally put him on a downward spiral spiritually. And there are young people, I’m sure, just like that in this room.

or some that are similar. And so I’d like us to then consider the wrong response. We certainly recognize we’ve got a problem, failing fathers.

It’s a problem. We have fathers who provoke their children to wrath by being uninvolved or by being angry.

We certainly see that problem. We see the discouragement that the failures in the home and our culture bring.

But there’s a wrong response. Go to Matthew 15, 4. I want you to see the wrong response.

Matthew 15 and verse number 4. 15 and verse number 4. There’s a great verse of Scripture here.

Matthew 15 and verse 4. By the way, if you’re here as a father and you say, Preacher, what do I do?

I mean, I’ve failed my kids. I see that. I’ve let them get away with stuff.

I’ve failed my kids. Well, I’ll tell you, start off, first of all, as you’re going to hear tomorrow in the afternoon session,

you claim the cleansing of the blood and get a hold of the clean heart. But another thing you can do is sit down with your kids and apologize for your failures

so they know where you failed. You’re honest. God gives grace to the humble.

Now let’s go to Matthew 15 and look at verse number 4. Here’s what it says. For God commanded, saying,

Honor thy father and mother, and he that curseth father and mother, let him die the death.

Now that second part of the verse that says, him that curseth father and mother, let him die the death,

that is a reference to Exodus 21 and verse 17. The verse of Scripture that basically commands young people to be put to death

if they cursed their father or their mother. Now, it’s interesting to me that it is repeated here in the New Testament.

Okay, and it is repeated in contrast to honor thy father and mother. Now, young person, I don’t care who you are.

I want you to take a little test. This passage of Scripture is teaching us this. Young person, it does not matter who you are.

You either honor your parents or you curse them. There is not a no man’s land in between them.

Say, well, you know, I really don’t curse my parents, but I really don’t honor them either. I’m somewhere in between.

Impossible. You’re either honoring your parents tonight, or you are cursing them.

Now, the word curse is a very interesting word. Back in 1993, I took a semester of biblical Hebrew. I know enough biblical Hebrew to be extremely dangerous.

But I took some biblical Hebrew, and I learned something in that Hebrew class that many times one Hebrew word had several English word definitions,

and you understand it, or you know the definition by context. But I learned when it came to the word curse, it was opposite. There is one English word curse, and there are five Hebrew words.

Five Hebrew words, we only have one English word basically to translate them, and that is the word curse. So the concept in the Hebrew language of curse is very well defined,

far more than in English. This particular word curse, according to the theological word book of the Old Testament, means, quote, to be light or to be slight.

It’s any time, friends, you’re light towards your parents. You slight them. In fact, it’s the word used in the book of Genesis

when it said that Hagar despised Sarah. You see, Sarah couldn’t have children. Hagar did have a child.

And when she did have a child, she looked down on Sarah. That’s the word curse. The word translated there, despise.

It means to slight, to treat lightly. Now, we use that analogy in the English language. We say, you’re treating that person lightly.

Okay, we use that. That’s the idea of the word curse. Now, the opposite side is the word honor.

And in the Hebrew language, the word honor means to treat weightily. Now, we don’t use that. We don’t say, you need to treat that person weightily.

You know, we don’t use that, okay? In fact, we’re not into weight. Now, we’re into weight, but we don’t like to, you know what I’m saying.

But anyway, let’s not go there. But anyway, so we don’t talk about treating someone weightily. Now, my best analogy on this is that when you treat someone weightily,

you’re treating them like a heavyweight. Okay, now let’s just imagine tonight that those doors opened after the service, and Mike Tyson of boxing fame walked through those doors.

Now, if you knew Mike, you’d immediately cover your ears just in case. You don’t know what kind of mood Mike might be in. And so Mike Tyson walks in.

A guy’s cut. I mean, he’s a V. You know, people are different letters.

Have you ever noticed that? He’s a V. Other people are O’s.

But anyway, he’s a V. Okay, and so Mike Tyson walks in, and this guy is just cut, And he walks in.

Now, would you walk up to Mike Tyson and challenge him for a fight? You know, can you imagine that? Some kid kind of walking up, punching him in the chest, saying,

Okay, Mike, you and me outside, Mike. Now, you and me outside. Let’s settle it, Mike.

You and me outside. Would you do that? Now, some junior high kid might.

But you have to understand, junior high kids’ brains are not fully developed. Now, junior highers, I’ve got good news about your freshman year. Things, you know, totally come into, you know, your brain matures,

and you begin to think like a normal human being. So there is hope. Okay.

But other than that, you’re not going to go walking up to Mike Tyson, I wouldn’t think. You know, punch him in the stomach. Hey, Mike, you and me.

Why? Do you respect Mike Tyson? I’m going to be dead honest with you.

There’s a lot of things Mike Tyson has done that no Christian can respect. But I will tell you, I would treat him with great respect. You know why?

Because he’s heavyweight. And although I may not respect Mike Tyson and the things he’s done, I do respect Mike’s bulging biceps and what he can do to leave a lasting impression upon my face.

You know what I’m talking about? you know mike’s the kind of guy can rearrange your face in a fairly short amount of time you don’t like where your nose is he can move it okay you know the point is we would treat mike tyson with

great restrict why he’s a heavyweight you know young person some may come from very difficult homes and maybe you have a mom or dad who is not saved or maybe far from god and they’ve done things you say preacher i couldn’t respect them they’re sinful activities you know what god says

treat them like a heavy weight. Treat them with honor weightily. Okay, now, some young people

definitely recognize they’re in a situation where there may be a difficulty with the parent having done some things

that they could not respect spiritually, and they use that as an excuse. Young person, God’s saying here is

what you need to do is honor your parents. Don’t curse them. Treat them weightily.

Okay, so there’s that side. And then there’s the side of treating them lightly. Okay, God says, don’t curse them.

Now, the idea is I mentioned curse is to treat lightly. Okay, what does that mean? Friends, I want you to understand in the Old Testament,

God says, if you treat your parents lightly, you’re to be executed. Now, this is obviously referring to older teenagers. Okay, you roll your eyes at your parents.

In the Old Testament, you’ve done something worthy of death. I’m talking to some of you. I’m not trying to be in kind.

Some of you, every day of your life, do things the way you treat your parents would have gotten you executed in the Old Testament

and it doesn’t bother you at all. can you imagine can you imagine you know here it is um some of you high schoolers 20 years from now you pick up the newspaper and you find that a high school buddy of yours became a chain murderer

you’re just shocked so you go down to the state penitentiary and you somehow get audience and of course you sit down there’s that big wall there and there’s a telephone and big glass and and you pick up the phone and you call your former classmate and you say what gives i mean i mean a mass murderer

how did this happen and your friend across the glass says you know i don’t know what happened i just get this little problem every weekend or so just got to go bump somebody off no big deal you think man that’s strange such some some you know crime of that magnitude and you know and

they don’t even they’re not they’re just laughing about it we would all think something’s wrong but you know there’s a lot of teenagers that every day of their life treat their parents in a way that in the old testament would have gotten them executed and they laugh it off they don’t think

it’s any big deal and yet it’s such a serious crime that god said in the old testament i don’t want to tolerate in what you to tolerate at all. And so you’d be rolling up the eyes.

It’d be yelling back at your parents. It’d be hassling your parents.

Listen, friends, there is nothing wrong with appealing to your parents. Appealing to your parents is when you sit down with mom and dad,

say, mom and dad, here’s some information you may not know. And I want to give you the information, but whatever decision you make, I’ll certainly trust that the Lord will guide you in it.

And I want you to have complete liberty and freedom to make the decision you believe is God’s will for my, uh, for, for this situation.

And, uh, okay, that’s an appeal. Nothing wrong with that, but I’m talking to somebody argue.

You know, I’m talking about so-and-so’s family lets them do it. Or, hey, you let my brother do it. Or, you let, you know, so-and-so do it.

And you’re arguing with your parents, trying to take their logic and twist it into a pretzel. My friend, that’s the idea of cursing. You’re not treating them weightily.

You’re treating them lightly. You’re arguing with them like they don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m talking to some of you.

You roll your eyes when your parents talk to you. You tap your foot. You kind of fold your arms.

You act like, yeah, this is real dumb. And I won’t tell you, you’re treating them lightly. You’re cursing them.

And friends, I’m talking to some of you who have very good parents. I’m talking to some of you

who do not fit in the category of parents who are distant and parents who are angry.

They may not be perfect parents and they may have made mistakes and they probably have gotten those right with you

and you really have no excuse at all but you continue to have that kind of attitude. And some of you will not have that attitude

out and out because you know they’ll be disciplined but you have those same wicked attitudes in your heart. You roll your eyes in your heart.

You tap your foot in your heart. You say this is stupid in your heart. I’m talking to young people all across this room

that have huge problems with disrespecting your parents. And I want to tell you, young people, it’s a big deal. It’s a big deal.

If God executed people for it in the Old Testament, don’t you think it’s a big deal? Well, we have become so inundated with Hollywood.

We’ve got so inundated with pop culture. We now think it’s no big deal when teenagers every day of their life do something that in the Old Testament would have got them executed.

and I know some of you, you go into, you’re a snail you’re the kind of person, you don’t like what’s going on your parent, something happens, maybe they discipline you

and I’m talking to some of you parents deal with you correctly and here’s exactly what you do you fight out back in retaliation

you like pull yourself into a shell and you give your parents the silent treatment you know friends

that’s exactly what, that’s cursing your parents when your parents, I’m talking to some of you, your parents ask you questions and they can barely get a grunt

out of you, I won’t tell you friends you’re cursing your parents in the Old Testament you wouldn’t have been around very long

some of you treat your parents like dirt I’m going to tell you as I travel the country I see it all the time there are kids all across this room

in fact I would imagine if you’re a normal cross section of young people there are very few of you in this room who do not treat your parents like dirt

and I’m going to tell you it doesn’t matter how your parents what kind of failures are or what kind of successes they are

if you treat your parents like dirt you’ve got a huge problem with God and you have no excuse, none

and some of you kids out here are blaming your parents and it may not even be a real thing. It may be imagined.

It may be a part of the deception of the wicked one. And you’ve grabbed onto something that’s not even there. And you’ve let Satan use that as an excuse

for you to withdraw from your parents and begin to treat them disrespectfully, if not out loud, in your own heart.

I want you to see that’s the problem with the troubled teens. We’ve got dysfunction in our families. We recognize that.

But the problem is we have Christian teenagers seated out in front of me who have, instead of appropriating God’s grace,

have used it as an excuse to curse their parents. In fact, do you know, young person, that God even deals with it, you can curse your parents without opening your mouth?

Proverbs 30 and verse 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth those may his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

Whoa, that’s a verse, isn’t it? You say, what’s that talking about? It’s talking about a disrespectful eye.

Now let’s talk about the consequence, then we’ll go back and talk about the eye. It says the ravens of the valley shall pick it out

and the young eagles shall eat it. You have to understand Jewish culture. In Jewish culture, one of the worst things that could happen to a Jew

was to die and not be properly buried. You still see this reflected today. But you see it in the Bible.

Remember Saul, king, was killed, and the Philistines nailed his body to a wall, and the men of Jabesh-Gilead broke through enemy lines

and risked their lives to rescue a corpse. That may not make sense to American minds. It makes all the world, it means all kinds of sense to a Jew.

Proper burial was a big thing. In fact, you remember Rizpah, two of her sons were hung up before the Lord, evidently because of their involvement in killing the Gibeonites.

And she stayed out there and she drove away the birds of prey and she drove away the beasts of the field because it was unthinkable to this Jewish mother

that the rotting bodies of her sons would be eaten by the birds of the prey or by the beasts of the field. Unthinkable to her.

you know the story and friends the idea is helping us understand here that to a Jew

it would bring great shame and great reproach if you were not married properly now we Americans don’t think this way

but I will tell you as I understand it when a body would die in the field the very first thing that would happen

is the birds of prey descend and the very first thing they eat is guess what the eye

so this is obviously a reference to great shame listen young people roll your eyes at your parents

treat them like trash despise them give them the silent treatment push the walls even if they let them let you get away with it you keep doing that bud and i will tell you you’re going to break great shame and great reproach to your life and this may be referencing not only great shame and reproach

it may be a reference to an untimely death because certainly the bible says honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the earth so god gives us the promise of long life and it It seems that he also mentions in Proverbs 20, 20,

Whoso curseth his father and mother, let his lamp, shall be put out in obscure darkness. Which seems to be another reference to untimely death. You see, so God’s word is very clear here, friends.

You better be careful what you do with your eyes. With your eyes. I’m talking to some of you out here.

I don’t know what it is. I’m talking to some of you guys out here. You think you’re tough, man.

You get 13, 14, and you treat the woman that brought you into the world and risked her life. you treat her like dirt. You roll your eyes at her when she asks you,

oh, you won’t when your dad’s around, some of you. But you will, you know, when mom’s just mom, you roll your eyes at her, you hassle her,

you give her a hard time because you know, you know you’re stronger than her now. I want to tell you, friend,

that’s what God’s talking about here. The eye that mocketh at his father. You know how it is?

You see your dad, you see some of your friends kind of roll your eyes, showing your friends, yeah, see my dad, he’s out of it.

You despise him with your eyes. or how about this it says the eye that despiseth to obey his mother mom says uh son would you would you clean your room and here’s what some of you do oh you know what you just did you despise to

obey your mother with your eye isn’t that exactly what you did mom says to some of you girls clean the dishes here’s what some of you do oh you know that’s me again you know friend you mark it down you may think that’s cute and that may be some sitcom that you’re you’re imitating but you got

a huge problem with God, you’d have died if you were in the Old Testament. I think it’s a big deal.

Some of you have been so influenced by Hollywood, you have no clue about the Holy Word.

Maybe you ought to turn off the television, open the Bible, and realize that you’re doing things that are going to destroy your life.

I’m talking to some of you who think Christianity is a joke. You think the Bible is a joke. You’re here under duress.

You’re here only because you have to. And I’m telling you, bud, and I’m

telling you, young lady, you’re in huge trouble if you don’t get to God. But I’ve got good news for you.

You get to Jesus. He’ll cleanse you. He’ll wash you up.

He’ll restore you and He’ll put you on the right path and give you purpose for living. Get all that crud out of your heart and life. You’re not happy and you know it.

You see, friends, understand that God is simply helping us recognize that this is the wrong reaction. When there’s dysfunction in the home,

when there’s failure in a father, there’s failure in a home, that the right response is honor.

The wrong response is cursing. And I’m talking again with some very good parents who have very little problem and doing it pretty well.

They may have made a few mistakes along the way, but some of you know what I’m talking about. You’ve still got a huge problem in your heart.

You’ve got a problem with this disrespect thing. So the cursing is to be light, to be slight, and the eye can certainly be a part of that.

Now, if I could, please, I want to go in conclusion to the book of Hebrews in chapter number 12. Would you go to Hebrews in chapter number 12?

We saw all of the dysfunctional home, the failing fathers. We’ve seen the troubled teens who have unfortunately taken the wrong response. But I want you to see there is an answer.

It’s God’s grace. So go, if you would, please, to verse number 15 and following. Let’s just look at those quickly, 15 and following.

And let’s see what this says here. It says, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God. Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

Last, there being a fornicator, a profane person, as he saw. If you’ll notice in this passage of Scripture, there’s a progression. Do you see it?

There’s three little words. There’s three times one word mentioned. Anybody want to tell me what the word is?

It’s mentioned three times. It’s a connector word that helps us organize the verses. And the word is?

Last. Last. Okay, now I want you to see we’ve got a downward progression here.

He’s saying in verse number 14, pursue peace. Follow peace is the idea. Follow peace.

The idea is follow with great pursuit, okay, is the idea. Okay, so follow peace, and there’s a participle looking diligently. Okay, and then he points out the important to be diligent about this,

to pursue peace, because if you don’t, there’s three less. Number one, lest any man fail the grace of God. Now we’re going to come back to that in a moment, but let me just start and say this.

Okay, how do you fail God’s grace? Well, you’re not going to have any idea how you fail God’s grace until you understand how to access it.

So the question is real simple. How do we access the grace of God? For by grace are you saved through faith.

Romans 5 and verse 2, In whom we have access by faith into this grace. Wherein we stand.

Okay, so we access grace, God’s supernatural interaction in our lives. We access it by believing God. When you and I believe God, you know what God does?

He gets involved. He gives us what we need. It may be strength.

It may be comfort. You know, there’s a lot of aspects of grace. Grace is God’s giving.

It includes a lot of things. It’s God’s interaction with man. It’s His giving to man.

Okay, so we access grace by believing God. So if we access grace by believing God, don’t miss this, we fail grace by what?

Let’s try this again. If you access grace by believing, then you fail grace by not believing, unbelief.

Okay, so see this. So young person, the thing that has gotten you in trouble is unbelief. Okay, so here’s what happens.

Something happens. Maybe your dad gets angry when he disciplines you, and maybe he has a record, kind of a track record of that.

Or maybe he’s just not engaged in your life at all. You push the walls, they move. And you start to not believe.

You don’t let, you know, whatever the situation might be, you find yourself provoked, and here you are. You’re at a crisis.

Because either you can do this. Either you can get on your knees and you can say, God, this is really tough.

But God, I believe you’re going to work it together for good. You could do that, but most don’t. You know what most do?

They don’t even pray. They get angry. And in getting angry, you know what they’re saying?

I don’t believe God’s going to work it together for good. So that’s the first step. It’s unbelief.

I’m talking to some of you, every one of you who’s bitter. Every one of you who’s bitter. You know what your core problem is?

Unbelief. unbelief. You don’t believe God.

Whatever the situation may be, it may not even come from your home. It may be somebody else who’s wronged you.

It may be some difficult circumstances coming to your life. It may be some other issue.

I don’t even know. Your parents may not even know. They

may be puzzled at why you’re struggling. The truth is, deep in your heart, something happened, and instead of believing, God, this really hurt, but God, I believe you’re going to work it together

for good, you got angry. Or you said, you just, man, that’s terrible. Or man, it’s things like this.

Man, that messed up my life. Or when you say to somebody, you ruined my life. Or you ruined this.

Or man, you ruined my vacation. Or you say stuff like that. You know what those are?

They’re statements of unbelief. You’re saying, I don’t believe God. I don’t believe God’s going to work it together for good.

I’m talking to some of you. You can remember when you got angry at God. You got to thinking, man, that ruined my life.

Or that ruined my senior year. Or that ruined my junior year. Or man, that guy ruined my chance on the soccer team.

Or that really messed things up. And you got angry. Okay, so that’s what happened.

You failed the grace of God by unbelief. But I want you to see what happens. And it says,

Last, any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. Now don’t miss this. Bitter teenagers, and adults for that matter, are troubled.

You know, if you’re bitter tonight, you are troubled. And you know it. You’re troubled.

But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Isaiah 57, verses 20 and 21. I’m talking to some young people in here. You’re troubled.

God loves you, friends. And yet He’s diagnosing your problem perfectly. You doubted God.

Bitterness, a root of bitterness sprung up. It’s troubled you. And notice this.

It defiles many. You know the amazing thing about bitterness? It is one of the blindest things you’ll ever experience if you ever get bitter.

Because here’s what happens. You get bitter. That person wronged me.

That person messed things up. That person ruined. And here’s what you do.

You end up doing worse to others than done to you. And you’re completely blind to your hypocrisy. I’m talking to some of you who are bitter at a mom or bitter at a dad.

Or bitter at someone else. Or bitter at God or bitter at whatever. And you’re bitter at folks who you feel have wronged you.

It could be perceived. It could be real. But here’s the point.

You end up many times as younger brothers and sisters. You treat them like dirt. And you treat other people like dirt.

And you’re completely, absolutely blind to the fact that you’re one of the biggest hypocrites on the planet. Because here you’re all bitter about what somebody’s done to you. And then you treat other people like trash and are completely blind to your double standard.

You see, that’s what happens when people get bitter. They’re troubled and they defile many. And that’s why I remember years ago, a young lady came forward.

And actually, it was after the invitation was over. She came and said, Brother Van Gelden, can I talk to you? I said, sure.

She said, and it was very cavalier, so much so that it was quite unnerving because she didn’t seem to have much emotion about it. But I realized it was her defense mechanism.

She said, Brother Van Gelden, I’m adopted. She said, my mother who has adopted me has said to me on several occasions, I wish that I had never adopted you.

Now that’s rough. I realize that’s rough. And I’m not minimizing the hurt.

But I looked at that young lady just so I’d look at any young person in this room. I said, you’ve got a choice. You’ve got a huge choice.

Because either you are going to get bitter, get angry at your mother who adopted you, and you will do the same thing to your kids. or you’ll access the grace of God and stop the mess.

You’ve got a choice. Now, you can hang on to your bitterness, and your kids will feel the same way about you

as you feel about your mother who adopted you. And that’s the truth, young person. You mark my words.

Some of you, that’s where you’re headed. You think it’s cool because you hate your parents, or you don’t like your parents,

or you’ve got issues with your parents, and you clam up, you mark my word, what you sow, you will reap.

It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal. You may laugh about it now, but when you’re sitting in divorce court, 35 years old,

with tears streaming you on your face with kids that hate your guts, you realize it’s a big deal. And if you think that’s some kind of out there thing, I meet it every day.

I meet it all the time. Kids who have that kind of attitude toward their parents because their parents never dealt with their bitterness.

Now, I know that’s blunt. I’m not in any way trying to rub salt in anybody’s wounds. What I am trying to simply help you young people realize is your bitterness is a big deal.

The fact your dad may have nothing to do with you, I will tell you, friend, you are at a crisis. Because you can get bitter at that father,

and you can harbor that anger, and, friend, tragically, you’ll do the same thing to your kids. Or you can access the grace of God, and He can heal it.

And so bitterness is a bad deal. You doubt God, you’re troubled, and you defile many. But notice it doesn’t stop there.

Notice the verse keeps going. It says then, last, there be a fornicator or profane person as Esau. Bitterness opens the door to two other tragic sins.

Number one, moral impurity. There are young men in this room who have a huge internet problem. I want to tell you why.

Because you’ve got bitterness in your heart. You’re bitter. And it has opened the door to moral impurity.

Now, I’m not saying everybody involved in moral impurity is bitter. No, no, I’m not saying that. God doesn’t say that.

But he is saying that one of the things that opens the door to moral impurity is bitterness. And maybe some of you young people out here, you’ve gotten that banger, that bitterness towards something that’s happened in your life.

And so that’s the door that’s been opened. Notice the little word or. Fornicator or profane person.

I found it to be so true. It’s usually one or the other. It’s rarely both.

Bitter young people, it opens the door. In fact, I’ve asked all kinds of young people across this country, after I presented Hebrews chapter number 12,

And I said, is this chapter true, or these verses, excuse me, true in your life? I have never had one teenager who was bitter ever look at me and say, no, they’re not true. And every bitter teenager in this room, you’re going to see in a moment that Hebrews 12 is a huge mirror.

And the first thing it does is open the door to moral impurity in your life. It may start out with visual images. It may start out with Internet.

It may start off with movies or TV programs or paper or pornography or whatever. It may start off with that. It may start off with visual, but if left unchecked, it moves to action.

And some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. That’s what bitterness does, friend. It opens the door to moral impurity.

I remember a few years ago, I was in a Christian school, and I saw there were two sisters there. They both came from a terrible home.

I think their dad was a drunk, a very difficult home. One of the sisters began to ask me questions, and she was really struggling with anger toward God.

In a moment, we’ll see how that plays in here. And the other sister never, I think she said one word to me the entire week. I said, hi.

She said it back reluctantly. But she was the kind of girl that dressed on the edge. She dressed as close to the line as the school would let her.

She flirted with all the guys. It was very obvious that her bitterness was finding around a different direction. One sister was going toward struggling with being a profane person,

as we’ll investigate in a moment. And the other was going the other route. In fact, do you remember the girl I mentioned just a moment ago

who said her mother, who adopted her, said, I wish I’d never adopted you? Later in the week, that young lady was counseling with my wife

and admitted that she was already involved in moral impurity with her boyfriend. I’m going to be dead honest with you. I was grieved.

I was burdened. But I wasn’t shocked at all. That’s what bitterness does.

It opens the doors for the scarring. I will tell you, young man, young lady, you can hang on to your bitterness. You can hang on to it, friends, but it’s got a big price tag.

First of all, it says fornication, but it also says profane person. We all know that that means treating the things of God like they’re common. I’ve seen profane people, some that are more aggressive, turn out to be people who hate God.

Others seem to those who could care less about God. But a profane person is someone who has a very wrong attitude toward God. I remember years ago counseling a young lady and giving Hebrews 12.

There as I was talking with her and her parents, and I remember she looked at me and she said, you know, Brother Van Gelderen, she said,

that’s the problem. I’ve been angry at God. I remember another young lady,

I finished preaching in a youth group, and she launched into me after the service was over, and we began a very animated conversation.

And I remember looking right at her. I said, young lady, I said, you know what your problem is?

You hate God. She looked right back at me. She said, you’re right.

I’m talking to some of you out here. You may not say it out loud, But you know in your heart you’ve got a real bad attitude toward God.

And you know what your problem is? It’s bitterness. Bitterness.

Now we’ve seen the problem, and of course it’s a huge problem. You say, preacher, what’s the solution? Now as this week goes on, the solution is going to be more further develop,

but I feel like I’ve got to at least give you a little bit of hope. Go back, if you would please, to verse number 15. Look what it says.

Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God. And the last few moments, young person, for some of you out here, and I’m telling you, I’m for you, young person, I’m for you.

But these days, our burden is, I’m telling the preachers, just put it out there straight. I’m for you.

But there’s so many young people out here that you have, this passage of Scripture has diagnosed you. You’re saying, yeah, that’s me.

Yeah, that’s me. I got a problem with disrespecting my parents. I got a problem with anger.

I got a problem with bitterness. And yeah, I can see that I defile others. I’m inconsistent.

I treat my brothers and sisters like trash. And my parents like trash. And I can see that.

And I can see that it’s opened the door to either moral impurity or having a wrong spirit and attitude toward God. You say, Preacher, I see that. So what’s the solution?

Now, where did you get off? Remember when you got off? Looking diligently, lest what?

Any man what? Fail of what? The grace of God.

You know, friends, the solution is far more simple than you realize. In fact, for many of you young people out here, there are young people sitting here tonight and say, Preacher, don’t preach to me. I’m past it.

I’ve tried to get back. I can’t get back. And I will tell you,

if you’re out here sitting here and thinking that you can’t get back to God, that’s a lie.

You listen this week, there’s a way back to God, and it’s not as long as you think.

So, say, well, preacher, what’s the issue here? Okay, what happened is,

you got angry, something happened, you go, oh, it’s terrible. Man, that messed things up.

Man, why did God have to do that? Why did that have to happen? Man, that makes me so mad.

And what happened was, you failed the grace of God. You didn’t say,

God, I don’t believe you’re going to work it together for good, but that’s what you said.

You didn’t say it in those words, but that was your hard attitude. It was an attitude of unbelief.

So you say, preacher, what’s the answer? The answer, friend, is to go back and get on your knees and say,

God, it hurt, it was difficult, but God, I really believe you’re going to work it together for good.

You know what will happen? You’re going to get grace. You say, friend,

You might say, well, preacher, what is grace? And I tried to mention it a moment ago, but in this case, grace would be that supernatural divine aid from heaven

where God’s Holy Spirit meets with you. And you begin to realize God is supernaturally doing something. He’s going to do it.

He’s going to work it together for good. And I feel so sorry for some of you out here. You know what I’m talking about.

You’ve had moments where God was with you, but something happened and you got bitter. And God seems like He’s a million miles away.

I’ve got good news for you, friend. Your problem was somewhere along the line you stopped believing God. You started not believing God.

And if you go back to that point and simply say, Oh God, I believe you’re going to work it together for good. God, I’m excited about it.

I’m trusting you to work it together for good. You will find that God’s going to get involved in your life. We call that grace.

Tonight, young person, as we begin this conference, I’m begging you. Some of you tonight need to start right at the very beginning. Say, I came to this conference with unbelief.

There are certain things that have happened to me. Maybe you come from a difficult home situation. Maybe you have a father I’ve described.

He may be lost. He may be saved but away from God. And it may be a situation tonight where you need to sneak out on your knees and say,

God, that was really hard when my dad got mad at me. But God, I believe you’re big enough to work it together for good. You think God can work an angry father together for good?

Do you believe that? I’ll tell you, friend, he can. And one of the things he’ll work together for good is he will turn you into intercessor for your father.

And you will see God use your prayers to see his life changed. Some of you have a father headed straight to hell or a mother headed straight to hell And you know what you need to do stop getting bitter to your mom or your dad

Get on your knees and realize god wants you to reach them And the only way god’s going to be able to reach them as they see god transform your life through his grace I don’t know what your issue is friend.

I don’t know what your problem is But i’m burdened tonight that somewhere along the line you make a decision right here at the beginning I’m, gonna believe god i’m gonna doubt him

And there are young people in this room god’s god’s hand is he wants to put it on your life but it’s not there right now because of bitterness. Maybe it was there in the past, but it’s not there now

because you’ve doubted God. So it comes down to it, friend. It’s real simple.

You’re going to fail the grace of God by doubting Him or you’re going to believe God and access His grace. Do you see it tonight?

Failing fathers, troubled teens, but oh, my friend, don’t miss it. God’s grace is more than enough.

Can I ask every head bowed, please, and every eye closed? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. I’m going to ask a very

couple of interesting questions that I hope will provoke your thinking my burden in these questions

it’s not for me please understand it is not for me I’m not even necessarily looking

at anybody particularly I’m just asking a question for yourself to take some spiritual inventory

how many fathers would say preacher tonight God has gotten on my front porch

and he has pointed out no father is perfect I’m not asking for perfection

here tonight by this question but how many fathers would say preacher tonight

God has confronted me and I see very clearly that I have been a disconnected dad.

That I have not been involved in my kids’ lives. I’ve been way too passive

and God’s convicted me of that. Or maybe it’s the other side and God’s convicted you

of disciplining your kids but there’s been anger and you have not confessed it.

You haven’t seen victory yet. I’m sure there’s fathers who’ve had anger,

dealt with it, seen a victory and living in victory

about the matter. But how many fathers do they preach here tonight?

God got on my front porch and He began to deal with me about this nurture admonition.

There’s positive and negative when it comes to child rearing. The positive side of nurturing and encouraging and lifting up and the negative side of putting walls that won’t move.

Discipline and breaking their will because I love them and that. And God’s convicted me or dealt me. If there’s a dad tonight, God’s got it on your front porch very clearly.

I’m not asking for a small thing, but very clearly confronted you. Would you by a lifted hand just acknowledge that before Almighty God? Again, this is not for me, but it is for you.

Thank you very much. You may put your hands down. I see those.

I trust that God will encourage your heart with His grace. Does any other dad say, Preacher, that’s me tonight. God has dealt with me about it.

Anyone else? Okay, amen. God bless.

God bless. Thank the Lord for His grace. Okay, now, how many teens out here say, Preacher, I’m not perfect.

No man is. But I can honestly say that I do not have a problem with bitterness, nor do I have a problem with dishonoring my parents.

You may have other issues. You may have a whole lot of other issues. But you’d say tonight, Preacher, best I can tell,

I do not have trouble with bitterness, nor do I have trouble being disrespectful to my parents. I’m not perfect, no man is, but those are not issues

I find myself being regularly defeated by. Would you raise your hand? Thank you very much.

You can put your hands down. I appreciate the honesty of many of you here this evening who did not raise your hand.

Now, here’s the kind of invitation I’m giving. I’m going to ask Mike Fisher to go to the back. We’re going to have a backwards invitation.

In a moment, I’m going to have you, I have a pianist go to the piano and begin to play. Now, you listen carefully.

Teenager, if God has dealt with you, tonight, I’m going to invite you to go to the back. And there’ll be counselors there.

If there’s a sponsor who wants to follow one of the teens out, you’re certainly welcome to do that if you’re burdened to counsel them yourselves. But we’re going to have an invitation where we’re going to take you to a counseling room

where we can open a Bible, walk through this, and really make sure you’re on the victory side. This is not a small matter.

It’s a big deal. So tonight, if God’s dealt in your heart, you say, Preacher, I’m sick of treating my parents like trash.

I am sick and tired of being a defeated Christian. I’m sick and tired in my Christian life of having bitterness and anger in my heart. And I need to get it right with God tonight.

Then I’m going to invite you just to go to the back doors. There will be folks out there. I’ll ask Brother Schultz to be out as well.

And I’ll ask our counselors to head out during the invitation. And there’ll be someone there to open a Bible and help you in a place you’ll not be distracted. We’ll take you to a classroom where you’ll not be distracted.

And open a Bible and help you with this issue. I know that’s early in the week. But I do want to give you the opportunity for some of you who have a tender heart.

And God’s dealing, and you need to deal with that particular issue. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. In a moment, I’ll point to the piano.

When I do, she’ll begin to play. If God’s dealt you, stand to your feet, open your eyes, and head to the back. There in the back, someone open a Bible.

In a room, will you not be disturbed? A lady with a lady, a man with a man, open a Bible and help you with your particular issue. So, young people, this is for you.

Dads, if you want to come to the front and kneel and pray, you’re certainly welcome to. Or if, Dad, you need some real counsel on this matter, you can head to the back as well. We’d be glad to have someone, a man of your age,

open a Bible and help you as well. But if God’s dealt in your heart, let me urge you to respond. So teenager, if God’s dealt, as the piano plays,

you stand to your feet, open your eyes, head to the back. No one will be looking, no singing. Just going to invite you to step out as the piano plays.

How about it? how about it friend if there any of our

counselors are available we may need it particularly on the male gender

any sponsors who feel you could help us with counseling

if you want to just check back there make sure we’re covered that’d be great

How about a friend We’ll play games with God This is big stuff

God’s grace is big stuff, Dad God’s grace can enable you to see victory where there’s been defeat

God’s grace is big, teenager God’s dealing with you, go I’ll not keep it open much longer.

But I thank the Lord for an initial good response. But I know that young people are battling with God.