Music link:       https://youtu.be/HbpDZgDU3hA

Scripture reference:   

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Todays sermon:      https://youtu.be/-VEdh_mV_ek

Music link:      https://youtu.be/bY1ph_PYMtg

2nd Sermon:     https://youtu.be/NN47HAlkmh4

I am a Christian who has been involved in ministry for over fifty years. During all that time, I have been lied against, gossiped about, slandered, shunned you name it. Nevertheless, I have never been able to seek financial backing for any of my endeavors. Satan has used numerous so-called ‘ministers’ to always hold me back by gossip, slander, innuendo and vicious lies concerning my character. 

For decades I have been a lone voice to my own financial detriment. I have criticized hundreds of churches who have made it quite clear that their only pursuit in life or in Christianity has been to plunder the laity and to manipulate those finances of God’s children.  

Only God knows how many tens of thousands of dollars that I have spent in developing myself into a disciple worthy of calling oneself a follower of Jesus. I have followed Jesus from one end of the country to the other attending Bible Schools, Conferences, Speaker engagements, always seeking for more knowledge that I could use in my Christian development as a disciple of Christ. 

I have operated in numerous gifts of the ‘Spirit,’ yet have always remained humble and obedient and always ready to repent.

And “Yes,” there were many times where I erred in the use of these gifts, but as I have explained on numerous occasions, none of them come with an “Owner’s Manuel.” Therefore, you learn to use them by “Faith,” and operate in them through righteousness, else you find yourself ‘shipwrecked’ and alone in that vast sea of forgetfulness. 

You see, only God knows the exact number of good Christian men whose ministries were started good and with the help of Holy Spiritual gifts, but over the years, they have tended to move toward the “Sea of Forgetfulness.” 

That is where you stand before Jesus at judgment, and he says, “Who did you say you were, why I never knew you.” 

I don’t ever want to be like that, therefore a long time ago, I made a promise to the Lord that I would never use His gifts for financial gain in this life. 

Nonetheless, my entire life has been devoted to seeking to always do what was best for the “Kingdom of God.” During my decades of pursuit in following Jesus, I was always a fighter for the underdog. You have never seen me raising finances or helping individuals with so-called ministries involved in raising ridiculous projects such as Private Jets, or lavish lifestyles, or building tens of millions of dollars in buildings of brick and mortar.  

In the first community that God called me too, we never even owned a building. Nonetheless, in less than four short years, I was discipled and developed as a powerful influence for the “Body of Christ.”

It was in that community where we learned to worship in ways that I have yet to see in any other church since. You see, it was the unity of the ‘body,’ which had knitted our members together in ways in which God could more powerfully work. 

We ate together, we shared living situations, we did chores to honor our brothers and sisters. We shared meals, we were generous to each other, we lived out those ‘words’ that the Lord placed in the Bible generally known as “the teachings of Jesus.” 

We had classes after classes as if each one of our lives were simply on a school of perpetual learning. In other words, the Christian life is a lifelong education. 

You don’t go to church on Sunday, and then after learning the manipulations of tithing and the understanding of being forever in bondage to the practice, come out as one who has finished their Post Graduate Schooling.  

No, “training in righteousness,” was just a part of being expected to attend an ongoing curriculum of classes. 

And no one ever was expected to pay for any class. You see, we considered it an honor to either be a disciple who trained others or one who was consistently learning to one day be such a person. 

It was our duty, as most considered it. 

I watched for fifty years, as very few churches or ministries ever had any works toward their fellow man. In fact, at one time, I obeyed God and published a number of papers on this subject which then led to many huge Charismatic churches publicly denouncing their own practices and then to begin starting “works ministries,” in order to not be publicly chastised further. Nevertheless, few did it to appease their hearts, but to further add a fresh coat of “Paint,” on their “Whitewashed Tombs.” 

Did they give up their lavish lifestyles? 

No, they merely allowed a few bread crumbs to fall from their tables, as they figured other forms of manipulation to continue to rob the little people. 

Thus, welcome to the modern-day church. 

They are not all like that, but there are enough. 

Anyway, I am making a plea today on behalf of a few very good causes. 

In this second sermon Pastor Jim Cymbala is making a plea for a couple of projects which are ‘dear on his heart.’ 

Well, after watching the film clips that he showed concerning the ROMA people and seeing the poverty of these small children, Jim has converted me also, so that the ROMA people are, as well, on my heart too. 

Lastly, I just want to say that today is the very last game of the World Cup for 2026. 

I am also aware that there will be billions of dollars changing hands from individuals who have wagered on this once in a lifetime event. 

Well, I wonder how many individuals might be interested in placing a ‘SMILE,’ on God’s face today for being considerate of a few of His children? 

Now please understand that I am not promising anyone a new Bentley, an upgraded Private jet, a hundred million dollar new building in order to gather your fellow compatriots to meet in and to count your monies. 

No, neither am I promising a whole new career for you, a new house, a new wife, a new dog or anything else, but I am giving you an opportunity to place a “Smile” on the face of God. 

Won’t you look into your hearts and see if there are any extra little ‘returns,’ or blessings in which God may have caused to come your way? 

I truly believe that the Lord is asking a number of you to help these poor individuals out who are called the “Roma,” people. 

And I understand that some of my “charity raising,” tactics can be a little strange and odd, but trust me, this is a whole lot easier than trying to retrieve those loose dollar bills from them cold dead hands and bodies of “Pew Sitters,” as I like to call them. It seems that they only like to give to brick, mortar, or an occasional Medicine  Show Wagon.

Following from Google:

AI Overview

The wagons that traveled from town to town to sell elixirs, cure-alls, and "miracle" medicines were called medicine show wagons. They were the centerpiece of traveling entertainment troupes known as medicine shows. 

These wagons doubled as both a stage and a shop, traveling through rural towns across 19th and early 20th-century America. 

Here is how the shows worked:

• The      Pitch: The traveling salesman (often a "Doctor" or      "Professor") would roll into town and set up. To draw a crowd,      the wagon featured traveling entertainers, acrobats, musicians, or      comedians. 
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• The      "Cure": In the middle of the fun, the salesman would      stop to sell his "patent medicines" or elixirs. These tonics      were sometimes referred to as snake oil, because they claimed      to cure everything from aches and pains to toothaches and tapeworms. 
• 
  
• The      Tricks: To convince the crowd the medicine worked, the salesmen      hired "shills". These were actors planted in the audience who      would come forward, take the elixir, and pretend to be miraculously      cured. 
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• The      Ingredients: The elixirs were rarely backed by science. They were      typically a mix of alcohol, sugar, water, and sometimes hidden ingredients      like cocaine or opium. 
• 
  

Eventually, government regulations like the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act required these sellers to list their ingredients, which caused the medicine shows and their wagons to slowly disappear. 

Christianity 101:      https://youtu.be/IIYJocympmk

Last Sermon of the day:       https://youtu.be/MmICqT06wsA