Last week, I began this series
on playing church and talking saved. And you know, I went through
that whole thing about how to play church. Just get a group
of people together that are real religious. They really don't
know the Lord. They just want to play church.
So I went on and talked about that. And then we talked about
voting, how important it is that you're a registered voter. If
you're a Christian, I'll just flat out tell you, the problems
that this nation faces is because the church has gone to sleep.
And we have drifted and drifted and drifted and kind of become
a social club in the four walls of the church. We have not gotten
out of the bleachers and into the game. Really, people ought
to fear this church. I mean, the reputation of this
church ought to be, you don't want to get near that church
if you don't want to get saved. Because God's over there. God's
in there preaching. God's in there praying. God's
in there singing. God's over there. If you don't want to get
saved and have a changed life, don't get near that church. You
ought to have that kind of reputation that the power of God is in this
church. Let me tell you this. If the
power of God, if the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven is not
in your church, you're playing. Because nothing happens without
Him. And you can go through a form of godliness with no power. So,
we talked about it being the duty of every Christian to register
and to vote. And it is. It is your duty. Hitler told those folks, stay
out of governing the nation. And the clergy and primarily
the Lutheran Church in Germany stayed out, and six million Jews
died. The church has stayed out, and
50 million babies have been aborted. We've had a greater Holocaust
here in the United States than the Jews had in Germany. 50 minutes. And now we talk about abortion
like it's eating popcorn. Oh yeah, she had an abortion.
She aborted two kids. It's no longer called what it is. And
partial birth abortion, we talked about that. It is absolutely
barbaric. It is barbaric. And yet, Mr. Clinton, and our present president
have been the two most pro-abortion presidents that we've ever had
in the United States of America. We need to elect an anti-abortion
person. It's just Christian. Now, I know,
I know what some of you are already thinking. He shouldn't be talking
about Republicans and Democrats. I'm not talking about Republicans
and Democrats. I'm talking about Christians. I'm talking about
Christians. I'm talking about the church
making a difference. So you vote. I want to encourage
you to vote. I hope you will. I hope you're
registered. I hope you get registered. You still have time. Time's running
out. You have really the month of
July and a little bit of August. So if you haven't registered,
I hope that you begin to feel a moving of the Spirit of God
in your heart to register to vote. We've been talking about
issues. The church ought to talk about
issues. Abortion is an issue. What's going on in this country,
to me, is most frightening. One or the other will happen,
as President Reagan said. We will be one nation under God
or one nation gone under. And right now, as far as I'm
concerned, we're underwater. Not to where we will be if we
keep on doing what we're doing. Got to turn around. I hope that
this church will be a stand-up church. And we just flat-out
say no. No to the politician who's pro-abortion. No! I'm opposed. It's murder. It's taking a life. I know, I know you hear a lot
about, well, you know, women have their rights. Well, what
about the baby in your belly? Does the baby have any rights?
Does the unborn have any rights? The unborn didn't ask to come
into this world. We bring babies into the world.
We make a decision. Now, I do want to say this real
quick. If you've had an abortion, God
is able to forgive that. I want to make that real clear
because I know many of you in here have. And I want you to
know there is forgiveness with God. But just because you've
done something doesn't mean you go on condoning it. So, we say
as Christians, there's many things I've done in my life that now
I know was wrong. And I say, it's wrong. I did
it, but it's wrong. And it's all right to do that.
In fact, it's a good thing. That's what we call repentance,
turning from and turning to God, doing it the right way. So I
don't want to put a guilt trip on you. No one in here ought
to feel better than anybody else. We're all sinners. We're all
sinners saved by the grace of God. And were it not for the
grace of God, we'd go to hell. Your problem might not be abortion,
but you have a drinking problem. Or my problem might not be this
or that, but I have another problem. We all have issues. I want to
talk about the issue. And what we do is take sides
with God against ourselves. The Bible is God's holy word. Is that right? It's the inspired
word of God. You know, my dad used to say
this, and then he corrected himself in latter years, but my dad used
to say, The Bible says it, and I believe it, and that settles
it. And then he got to saying, the Bible says it, and that settles
it. It doesn't make any difference
whether you believe it or not. You believe in something, it
doesn't settle anything. God's Word is forever settled. Now, I want you, real quick,
I'm going to talk about entitlement today, so hang on to your seat.
And the reason I say hang on to your seat is because we have
gone so far that I'm Pretty sure that there are many in here,
surely some, that really believe entitlement. You haven't thought
about entitlement. It's just like abortion. You've
become very familiar. It's just kind of, OK, let's
talk about entitlement. And in order to talk about entitlement,
let's see what the Bible says about entitlement. Let's go to
Ephesians 4 and verse 28. Let him that stole Don't steal
no more. Now that's pretty simple. You
get that part? Don't steal. But rather let him
labor. Stop stealing and go to work.
I mean, that's pretty simple. Working with his hands the thing
which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth. So stop stealing. Get a job. Earn money and give it away.
Is that what God said? That's what God said. Let's read
one other. 2 Thessalonians. You know, Christians
are givers. Is that right? The greatest servant
ever lived was Jesus Christ. He manifested that in washing
His disciples' feet. Let me tell you, if you're not
a servant, you're not walking in the steps of your Master.
as a Christian. You weren't saved to sit. You
were saved to serve. God didn't save you and put you
in a church to absorb information like a sponge. And you become
a theologian. By the way, theologians don't
make good church members. They're always questioning me
about what I'm preaching. Let's do that for Brother Morton.
Well, there we go. 2 Thessalonians 3. Here's another
one. Verse 10, "'For even when we
were with you, this we commanded you," here's a commandment from
heaven, "'that if any would not work, neither should they eat.'"
Let me make it really plain. No worky, no eaty. That's the
interpretation. You don't work, you don't eat.
Now, who said that? God. Is this the Word of God? Don't get mad at me. Tell God
you don't want to work. Verse 11, For we hear that there
are some which walk among you disorderly. My friend, if you're
an able-bodied person and able to work and won't, you're disorderly. You are out of order. And if
you're a member of the church, you should be called on it. Hey,
brother, you're out of order. That's kind of like, get a job,
Bubba. I've heard this for years over,
Jason. If you think that I'm going to work for a McDonald's
for a minimum wage, you are out of your mind. I've heard people
say that. The Bible doesn't say you have
to make 10 bucks an hour to work. It says go to work. Go to work. For we hear that there are some
which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. in idle hands. And really what
the Apostle Paul says, shut up and get a job. Now them that
are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that
with quietness they work. There again, shut up. And eat
their own bread. Don't be go begging. You work. Buy your own food. Well, we've
taken another step here in America toward socialism this week. Another
step toward big government. You know, one in seven Americans
get food stamps. One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven. The next person gets food stamps.
I want you to think about that. I just want you to think about
it. And the one in seven, for the most part, feel like they
deserve it. In fact, You may have heard on
radio. It's on television. I've heard
it and seen the commercial on television where our government
is sponsoring parties for people encouraging them to sign up for
food stamps. Listen, now listen to me. This
is not a joke. It's the two old ladies who are
talking about, my, you're looking good. And the other old lady
goes, yeah, I'm getting food stamps and eating right. Now,
I challenge you to check it out. Have you heard it? Anybody here
heard the commercial? Yeah, some of you have heard
the commercial. Now, I want you to think about this just for
a moment. 61% of our budget, we are $16
trillion in debt. And 61% of the American budget
goes toward entitlement programs. And I know, I know, it's not
just drug addicts. It's farmers and corporations. Let me just get this out front
in case I go too long and not able to say it. Here's my thought.
Let's cut all entitlement programs. I bet we could balance the budget.
You know what? I could really handle this thing.
I really could. You know, if I were president
and I could get enough votes, I would just say, let's cut all
entitlement. Let's go back to the old America where everybody
worked. And we just didn't hand out people
money and stamps and food who won't work. Let me make it real
plain. It's not Bible. You want to know
why we received no government funding over here? And by the
way, the proof is in the pudding. You want to see something that
really works? Look at Grace Centers of Hope.
It works. And it works without one dime
of taxpayer dollars, not one dime. You think about this. People
are taxed and taxed. You think about the people who
donate to Grace Centers. They are taxed and taxed and taxed.
And we're about to be taxed again for our wonderful health care
program. And we're going to be taxed again. You think about
the people who donate, though. Those people pay their taxes,
send it up to Washington, people who are opposed to abortion and
many other things. send their taxpayer dollars,
then they write a check to Grace Centers of Hope for $50 or $1,000. In some cases where the wealthy
folks believe in Grace Centers for $25,000. You think about
$5.3 million coming in from folks who are already taxed, but they
believe in what Grace Centers is doing without government money
so much that they pay extra. It's an amazing thing. You know
what God hates? He hates a proud look. He hates
the idea of, I deserve. You know what you deserve? Yeah. Nobody in here wants what
they deserve. Not really. Well, I'm entitled. I have rights. If God gives you
what you deserve, He sends you straight to hell along with me.
You know it's true. God hates a proud look. God in
the gospel of Jesus Christ has excluded all boasting. I was
thinking last night, a picture of myself shouldn't go to my
head. Right? I mean, so I'm Michiganian of
the year, one of the Michiganians of the year. You know what? I
doubt if too many people know that. I doubt if too many people
really care. And next year, they'll elect
some more people. I mean, just think about this.
The most amazing thing is that I've been saved by the grace
of God. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus found me! Out in the darkness
no light could I see. Put His great arm under and wonder
of wonders, He saved even me. Isn't that something? Alas, did
my Saviour bleed and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred
head for such a worm as I? Oh, He came to me. He came to
me when I would not and could not come to Him. He came to me.
That's what we shout about. Not entitlement programs. Boasting
is excluded. Boasting, let me say it again,
boasting is excluded. The message we preach here won't
fit in most churches. It just won't. What program works? God's program. I'm telling you
this. You may think that all of this
just happened here at Grace Centers. But 25 years ago, a conscious
decision was made. No government money. We're going
to do it God's way. A conscious decision was made. There is an army of people out
there who believe in God, not big government. Oh, we believe
in the big G all right. But it's a big God who's able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask for things.
What government is doing is creating reliance on government. And I
said this in the first service. I'll say it again to you. All
you have to do is read your Bible. You can see what's happening.
Government and religion is going to get together. These are going
to be the last days. Government and religion is going
to get together. The Antichrist will appear on
the scene and then all hell breaks out. It's coming. It's coming. God's way works,
and here's what is recorded in the book of James. Whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed. God doesn't hold out a carrot
and say, now you Christians, Come on now. Don't commit adultery. Come on, don't fornicate. You
know, don't be doing bad things. God doesn't do that. And if you
don't do bad things, I'll reward you when you get Him. Here's
what God says. If you do it My way, you can have a good life.
You can have a great life. You know, I really am not much
on in the sweet by and by. I'm a lot in the sweet now and
now. You know what? I want to be happy now. I want
to have peace now. A peace that passes understanding.
I want a good life now. I want a wife who knows the Lord
and loves the Lord, and I've got that. I want my children
to come to know the Lord. I want a little heaven on the
way to heaven. And God has told us how to have that in His Word.
We'll be blessed in the doing. I guarantee you, you heard Brother
Morton say, when I was in the church, good things happened.
When I got out in the world, bad things happened. That's how simple
it is. That's just how simple it is. There is a way that seemeth
right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction." I wouldn't be
singing that song. I did it my way. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Next week I'm going to talk to
you about the issues of morals, marriage, gay marriage and the
like. In regard to America, America is totally out of step with God's
order. Totally, completely out of step.
Why would God even speak to us? We've told him to get out of
our schools, and he has. So we lead the industrialized
nation in teen suicide. We've told our kids that money
will make you happy, that new jeans and designer clothes and
a new Corvette for graduation. And now we have kids killing
kids. We've told them that you're nothing
but accidental formation of dust and gas. That's all you are.
And when you die, you're dead like the dog rover. You're just
dead all over. There's nothing left to you.
You have no real purpose in life. There's no purpose in life. We've
told our kids that and they've believed it. And now they're
killing themselves in one another. 80% of the children born in America
today are born to single women. 80%! Fathers who live with the mother
of the children, bring home the paycheck, shows children by example
how a responsible male adult is supposed to behave, has nearly
vanished. Those guys right in here have
no idea how to be a male leader, a father. You don't know. You
never had a mentor. That's why you go to jail. That's
why you're locked up. That's why you're using drugs.
You have no idea. Somebody told me this morning,
preacher, I'm watching you. I take that as a serious responsibility,
somebody watching me. That means he's watching me how
I treat Miss Pam. He's watching me how I relate
to my daughters, my grandchildren. He's watching me about how I
pay my bills. He's watching me. I want to be
a good mentor. I'm a child of God. I'm a Christian.
Amen. Mothers. Mothers leave the children
unnurtured, undisciplined, sometimes unfed, unwashed. That's common
in America. I've seen it over 25 years. Mothers
don't know how to be mothers. I remember the little mother
that came into Grace Centers of Hope and finally began to
tell her story. And she had a newborn in the
crib in her apartment. She left to go get some bread,
met up with a heroin man, didn't come back for two weeks. The
baby died, starved to death in that apartment. That's what's
happening in America. And our nice little suburbanite
churches don't see that, but I'm telling you, this world is
being swallowed up by a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And the nice little panty-waist
church has gone to sleep. Not out front. I want to be out
front. I want to make the headlines
some more. I ought to at least be threatened with jail one more
time before I die. Here's the answer for social
ills and its work. It's called the three-legged
stool approach. Here it is. Here's the three-legged
stool. Number one, the family. I'm telling
you, family is important. And I'm talking about mom and
dad, not Adam and Steve. I'm talking about mom and dad. and babies. That's what I'm talking
about. Family. God ordained the family. The family is the building block
of a solid society. Just look around. Families falling
apart. Just falling apart. Another leg on this stool is
the church. You take this church away from
here and Grace Centers of Hope is a flop. Oh no, this church
is important. This is where we meet and fellowship
and love one another and edify and encourage one another and
talk about our failures and our sins together. This is not a
piety club here we have. Here at our church, we know that
in our flesh dwells no good thing. I say quite often here, Brother
Morton, you better pray for me. You better pray for me because
I'm capable of doing anything. Because in my flesh is no good
thing. You better pray for me. And that's what we all are. You
know, when I was more in the suburbanite church crowd, I used
to hear churchy people go like this, I am so shocked. Now, you're
lying through your teeth. You're not shocked at all. You
know what you yourself are capable of. Don't pull that. Don't pull
that on me. I like to lost my sanctification. Y'all are bad. The third thing
on this three-legged stool is simply this, neighborhood, community.
You look at what Grace Centers is doing and what we have planned
to do for 25 years. This is what we plan to do, establish
the family. When I came here 25 years ago,
everybody was shacking. It was like, you mean you're
married? Yeah. The church, the neighborhood. Getting back to this drug use
real quick. The American drug dealer is lionized. The man who
mops floors is scorned. The schoolgirl who gets pregnant
is envied. The schoolgirl who studies hard
and makes her grades is taunted. The drug trade has torn apart
the social fabric of our neighborhoods. What I'm getting at is this.
Is more entitlement the answer? I mean, is it really the answer?
Is money the answer? When I came to the old Pontiac
Rescue Mission, there were approximately 7.5 million families living under
the poverty line, and it took an average of $12,000 of supplement
income to bring those families above the poverty line. 25 years
ago, our welfare budget was $150 billion. It would have taken
$90 billion to bring all 7.5 million families up above the
poverty line, except for the fact that we had a $60 billion
expenditure called the poverty industry, the bureaucrats who
passed out the checks. Say, Wessler, what did you just
say? Well, what I just said is we spent $90 billion on the 7.5
million American families, but we spent $60 billion on the people
who pass out the check. That's an industry to me. That's
an industry to me. And, of course, we got 61% now
of the budget going toward that. It's far more than $150 billion.
But are we any better? Are we any better off? than we
were in 1960 when this whole mess got started about the new
society and we're going to eliminate homelessness. And still we are
buying the idea that you can build a person a house and put
them in the house and they won't steal your car. And that everybody
deserves a roof over their head. Not if you're stealing my car.
You deserve to be shot with buckshot. How am I talking this morning?
My friends, it's just wrong to think that our problems are caused
by not having enough money. When you had money, I've heard
Quentin tell this a million times. Under the bridge, begging for
money, we'll work for food, right? And somebody give him money and
where'd you go? Went out and got high. That's
a personal testimony. Money will not solve a drug addict's
problems. First of all, the addict is trying
to sedate pain, and therefore he chooses the false god to get
comfort. And it just makes things worse.
So money's not the right idea, Washington. You don't understand. It's wrong to think that problems
can be solved by throwing dollars. at them, or even reduced. Money didn't reduce Quentin's
problems. And all of you, all of us can testify. You know,
I can have a pocket full of money, but if my heart is broke, if
my heart is broke, I'll spend that money to try to heal my
heart. So it's not money problems, it's
heart problems that people have. In fact, writing checks doesn't
decrease poverty, it increases it. Guaranteed income. I got a guaranteed income. You know, the food's out there
for a mother's baby, but a competent mother is not. The food's out there. More money's
not going to make a competent mother. More money is not going
to bring fathers back to the children that they have sired
and then abandoned. It's just not going to happen.
Give dad more money and he's going to run home to mama and
the kids and make things right? I don't think so. A guaranteed
income is not going to reduce drug abuse or alcoholism. Money
for an apartment is not going to solve the complex problems
of why a homeless person is on the streets to begin with. What
are you doing on the streets to begin with? So you're on the
streets and I give you an apartment. Are your problems solved? No,
you'll sell the dishwasher out of the apartment and buy drugs. You'll trash the place. I'm telling
you that social programs of welfare state provides no way out. There is no way out. I want to
say this. Maybe you just came in the mission.
Maybe you're here today for the first time. You think I'm a crazy
wild man. I want to tell you this. Just
listen to this. There's no way out for you in
the welfare system. There's no way out in the welfare
system. But thank God there is a way
out. Just because government can't
do it doesn't mean it can't be done. God can do it. He can take a sorry old drug
addict and turn them inside out and make them new creatures.
Isn't that right? Bureaucrats can't answer your
problems. So I want you to think about
that when you're voting. Hey, this isn't working. Providing
food for people cures nothing but hunger. That's all. And if
all you're doing is keeping the drug addict alive, that's horrible
charity. There is an interaction between
the way we help and the effect of that help on the human spirit
and human behavior. What are we doing here at Grace
Centers of Hope and Grace Gospel Fellowship? We're creating community
with men and women who are getting their lives back. Men and women
who are coming to understand their responsibility of adulthood,
providing a moral uplift, resurrection life, new life, mind renewal. Government can't do that. Government
cannot do that. In fact, government's out of
touch with your fundamental need. Because government thinks that
a cold check from Washington will cure your heart. Only God
can mend a broken heart. Only God can do that. The needs,
the human vacuum, the needs. Real quick now, two things. Let's
learn the meaning of compassion. It's not giving the panhandler
up at Bo's a dollar. I did that a couple months ago
against my principles. I gave this guy a dollar and
he goes, that's it? So I took it back. I said, that's
it. Republicans and Democrats are
using the term compassion fatigue. You know, many of us who earn
our living and work hard are sick and tired of throwing money
down a rat hole. It's called compassion fatigue.
Generosity misused is of no use. And people are getting tired.
And what's happening is people of generosity are now resenting,
resenting the whole welfare mess. I am. I resent it. I resent that I
send money to Washington, and I resent the fact that it goes
toward abortions. I resent it. I resent the fact
that this president has just imposed a law that violates the
Catholic Church principles and beliefs. Say, well, you're not
a Catholic. I know I'm not a Catholic, but I'm a church man. And government,
this squatter has no right on church turf. No right. How would you like the government
to come in here and tell us how to worship and what our principles
are? Just keep voting the same way
and you'll see it happen. We're experiencing a social disaster
in this country. I think about, and I've seen
this many, many times, when I have visited the welfare
office with someone and seen the long lines of women waiting
for their number to be called. And they've asked me to come
up there for some reason to testify, do something. And I've gone up
there. And some of you ladies, you know
what it's like to wait three and four hours in the welfare
office. No hope. Just all kinds of people
cramped into that office, down and out. Or You know, guys lining
up at the food wagon, getting food and shuffling off to drink
and eat their food in some alley smelling with urine? Is that
charity? Is that compassion? I tell you, my friends, for us
Christians, faith without works is dead. And compassion on our part has
to do with this, descending into the misery when necessary in
order to help pull someone up and out. When I look across this congregation,
I'm not going to look at you, Wanda, but I'm talking about
you. I see people all over this congregation that this world
wouldn't give two cents for you. They thought you were crazy.
They thought you needed Medicaid. And as far as they were concerned,
just lock them up in a cage and throw in some food. But you know
what I believe? And I believe the Scripture teaches
this. The Bible says that though our Lord was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor that you through His poverty might be
made rich. I believe that Wanda and others
of you is worth going down into the pit. That's what Christians
do. They go down into the pit not
to enable, but to help pull out. To come alongside. We come alongside. People don't need Washington.
People need people. And that's what we talk about.
People helping people. People loving people. People
knowing their neighbors. You know, there was a time when
if my mother wasn't at home, the neighbor would take care
of me. Even kind of take care of me with a paddle, maybe. And
kids respected adults. There was actually a time where
children said, yes, sir, and no, ma'am. And this last thing, here we go.
You know, we believe in the theistic God. In other words, we believe
in a God of justice and mercy. Hardheaded, but warm hearted. Hard-headed, but warm-hearted. Justice, meaning punishment for
wrongdoing. You know, it's just right if
you play, you pay. It's just right. Well, I don't
know why he's giving me 30 days. Because you broke into a car,
that's why. Justice. No worky, no eaty. That's justice. You don't work,
you don't eat. That's justice. Mercy being the
rapid response when people turn from their past practice. Oh,
you won't work? No mercy for you. Oh, you're
going to work? I'm going to help you. Listen,
if you want me to help you, you've got to work. But if you don't
work, I know help you. I expect something from everybody
who comes to Grace Centers of Hope. I expect something from
you. That's not a flop house. We're not going to baby feed
you while you act ugly. Show some initiative. Show you're
turning from this to the Lord. I'll help you. Amen. All kinds of wonderful things
can happen here. You can come in a soft drunk, a drug addict
over at Grace Centers of Hope. And in three or four years, you
can leave there owning your own house, living in a neighborhood. You see, I believe it's important. Miss Pam's not going to like
this part. I believe it's important to have Calvinistic folks elected
to office. You know why Calvinistic folks
believe this? They believe in the total depravity
of man. They believe this. If you give a man a right, whether
to work or not work, he won't work, because he's totally depraved. You see, our ideas of God have
much to do with our anthropology. What do you think about God?
He's just. He's holy. He's righteous. And He's merciful. But He's not a flophouse God. He's not a flophouse God. He's
a God of justice, but He's a God of mercy. I'll tell you why I preach the
doctrines of grace here over and over and over. Because an
understanding of theology is the first step. It's the first
step toward an accurate view of anthropology. In other words,
Those are kind of big words, but in other words, how you treat
and how you react to people. If you know that men are totally
depraved and only the gospel can turn a person around, you
preach the gospel. And then when the person is turned
around and has found mercy and grace in the eyes of God, you
come alongside and help. And that's what we teach here
and preach here. Well, Entitlement. Don't take an entitlement
view. Take this view. I am what I am
by the grace of God. We're not for the grace of God.
There go I. There go I.