0:00 A lot of these questions are for wives, so that's why I asked her to come. What does genuine, wholehearted, scriptural submission to a husband practically entail for a wife in day-to-day operations? 0:30 If you don't mind, first shall we just look to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for this time You've given us and thank You that we can spend this time in Your presence. Lord, we come to You with so much need in our hearts 0:49 and You have the answer for every question, Lord, and we look to You to give us the right answer. We are human, but we thank You that You know our weaknesses and You give us strength and wisdom and everything that we need. 1:03 Bless this meeting today, Lord, this afternoon, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. All of us who've heard about submission, you know you must have listened to a lot of messages about submission. In our Indian culture, we've grown up 1:20 that the husband or daddy is the head of the home and mom as a second place. It used to be like that. So I grew up in the culture, in that culture where my dad was the head of the home and he brought us up. He was a believer. 1:38 He was born again, baptized. I mean, he came from Orthodox, but... So he brought us, and all those things were so real in my life when I, what my dad taught me. So about submission I can say it was not something that I had to fight against. 1:54 I understood that from what my dad taught me and from scripture and later from messages that God has a certain order in the universe. God is above all, created the universe. Christ submitted to him and we submit to Christ. 2:19 The husband submits to Christ and the wife submits to the husband. And I used to think like in every office or every hospital or anywhere there's a person who's the head of the department or the CEO. And everybody has a certain place. 2:37 My place as a wife is to submit to my husband. If in the office they say I'm an assistant but I want to be the CEO there'll be confusion. So for the perfect harmony in the home the perfect order is that we obey scripture 2:54 and submit to our husbands. Now day-to-day circumstances it's not like a rule book when you get up in the morning you have to do this and do that or show your submission in this way. Every family is different. Every husband is different. 3:11 My husband's nature may not have been like my dad's nature and the way he runs things is not the way like my husband runs things. So I adapt to him and my husband likes it in a certain way I like to do it in that way. I don't want to do it 3:28 oh my dad used to help my mother and he used to do this he used to make the coffee or he used to do that so my husband should do that. But if I see my husband is in a certain wants a certain thing in a certain way I'll be happy to do it 3:44 yes I'll do it his way and like that I learn to adjust to his ways and in simple ways like if there's any disagreement in the home or like I don't see eye to eye to him I don't have to argue with him and I have to tell him 4:04 no I won't do it I'm going to do this way then there'll be conflict but if there's any disagreement I can say he has two votes and I have one vote I take it like that so I consider him like his vote his view is must be more 4:24 and definitely as a godly husband I know he has more than two votes so I'll put that into account and I'll think okay mine is a small vote and I take time to think about it and then I realize yeah my way of doing it can be changed 4:40 I'll be the first one to change and that way it's not that it hasn't happened overnight over the years the Lord has taught me to have symphony and harmony in the home I must be the one to take the first step so for small small things 4:58 I just ignore if it's an important thing I know that I may have a way of getting upset or say it in a wrong way so I say Lord help me to say it in a calm way when I'm settled and I express my view to him and say can we do it like this 5:16 I try to do that and things have gone over the years more and more harmonious and our children have seen us live like that I think more if you ask my children most of them will say they've never seen us fight with each other 5:32 because I wish they had seen because when they have problems in their home they must be surprised how did dad and mom handle these things but that's how the Lord gave us grace but it's I can say that following the scriptures 5:50 and the new covenant is the answer the way of submission it's not difficult because I say Jesus submitted to the father Mary submitted to accept the will of God I have so many examples and I pray and ask the Lord and so it becomes easier 6:10 and easier to submit the word submission it doesn't feel like some people they think like they hate that word it doesn't come to me like that I think it's such a divine thing it's a quality which Jesus had that submission nature 6:27 so I want to have that nature that's how it and then day to day life it's not a rule book as the circumstances come up the Lord will tell us yeah in this in this occasion this time you just keep quiet or in this time you can say 6:46 isn't there a better way can't we do like that and we work things together so it's not like one is above the other but we gladly submit in in a divine way I hope I have made it clear yeah let me add to this that 1 Corinthians 11 7:05 verse 3 there is an order it's here in scripture the father is the head of Christ as a man Christ is equal to the father from all eternity but when Jesus became a man the father Christ then it says 7:25 Christ is the head of the man man is the head of the woman so that is the order that's put in scripture but that doesn't mean the man must be a tyrant because 1 Peter 3 and verse 7 says husbands that's what he must understand always 7:48 as husbands to live with your wife as husbands live with your wife in an understanding way it's not like a boss she's not a servant in the house live with your wives in an understanding way 1 Peter 3 7 and what does the man 8:01 has to what does the man have to understand that is written in the next phrase that the woman is a weaker vessel is a weaker person that's what he must understand always weaker physically weaker emotionally and therefore 8:19 not intellectually she may be cleverer but emotionally and physically weaker that's why if if there are two suitcases to be carried when you go to the train station the husband should carry the heavier one definitely that is one example 8:35 and the same principle applies in everything that we do that you recognize that the woman is a weaker vessel that's the most important thing all husbands must understand okay next question is I thought my husband was a Christian 8:50 when we got married but now with new covenant truths I see he's not serious about following Jesus how can I raise our children to not follow his example given that he professes to be a Christian if I were in that place I would think 9:10 maybe I'm a bit proud to think that I know the new covenant my husband must be knowing something and I might be thinking that I'm more and he doesn't understand the new covenant truths I could I misjudged him if he was a Christian 9:30 and he was born again maybe he he's not it's not become evident but that could be a possibility so first of all I would respect my husband I won't despise him if he's such a person I would still continue 9:50 to respect him and appreciate his wisdom and ask his advice for everything but try and encourage listen to the new covenant messages now we have so much of material like the daily devotions that's what my husband and I we do 10:07 at breakfast time we listen to the daily devotions every day and we even though I've heard it before I like to hear it again and then we listen to it together and then that way that wife can bring the husband slowly to understand 10:24 oh this is what my wife is listening to and believing and it's very difficult for husbands to admit that their wives are more spiritual so keep that evaluation as a wife to yourself and continue to respect your husband and give him time 10:43 but with the children we have more lot of opportunities with the children daddies go to work we are with the children all the time so we can take time but we shouldn't let the children feel that daddy doesn't understand 10:58 new covenant only mommy understands that's wrong we give the wrong impression to the children but we tell the children this is what the bible says you know your daddy scolds you it's for our good take it in a good way if daddy disciplines 11:15 it's in a good way and gently and tenderly teach them the spiritual truths the bible stories ask them what happened in school did you have any did any friends harm you did anybody fight with you and oh forgive them daddy might say 11:33 you should hit back if somebody hits you but he'll say but be careful if you hit back you might hit him and hurt and he may have to go to hospital or something so don't hit back just don't get into his way don't let him hit you 11:49 if he's a person who's coming to hit you just keep away just go away and don't get yourself into trouble like that I would advise but I won't say daddy's wrong he's saying this wrong you should not do that no I wouldn't say it like that 12:04 I say it in a wise way and give godly advice to the children but not in a way that they'll think despisingly about their father and I know with the power of prayer many husbands have been brought to the Lord I've seen in Bangalore 12:22 in our churches in India many of the wives were the first ones to come to our CFC churches some were Catholics some were Hindus men from other religions and they used to come secretly in the beginning I remember I used to go and meet 12:36 some of the sisters in some secret place and share with them pray with them and after a few years I found the husbands wanted to know what my wife doing why she's so different she's become a different person she's become different 12:51 and they've become interested and many husbands have come to the church after a few years they are in the church I remember one couple they were non-Christians and the wife used to come secretly to the CFC and one time she went back 13:09 and her husband beat her so badly I heard about it and I went to see her and her face was all swollen with all the beatings she got and to tell you now both the husband and wife are in the church what a change because she didn't talk back 13:25 I said if your husband doesn't want you to come to the church don't come we'll pray at home those days there was no these YouTube or anything but I said I'll share with you we'll pray over the phone and over a few years 13:40 he started coming to the church and he died recently but the Lord brought him to to know him so there's so much power in prayer when we pray and ask God specifically Lord I'm weak I'm desperate my husband I want him also 14:00 to come to you and I want to respect him I don't want to despise him and God sees our heart and he will answer our prayer I know many many instances where the husbands have been brought to the Lord by their godly wives one of the primary 14:19 one of the primary marks of new covenant is humility so if a wife knows the new covenant and the husband does not or vice versa the one who knows the new covenant must be more humble it's not just knowledge knowledge do you know that 14:41 the devil knows all about the new covenant he knows it better than me because the devil knows the bible better than anyone sitting here he could even quote the bible to Jesus Christ so what does he not know he knows everything 14:59 about the new covenant if you ask the devil to come and preach a message on the new covenant he'll come and preach a message here exact details but does he live it no so merely knowing the new covenant all the theories and 15:16 maybe your wife does not know it or your husband does not know it does not prove that you are better because if knowledge is the important thing the devil is number one it is the life of the new covenant that your partner 15:31 husband or wife must see in you and that is what must draw them not trying to say you're wrong this is what the new covenant teaches and you don't understand it that that never brings people to Christ but if they see here is a quality 15:48 of life that has changed that is that I'm attracted to to use the old example I've said before why do Indians come to America why don't they go to Uganda or Nigeria or something tell me the reason many of you are Indians 16:07 why didn't you go to Uganda or Nigeria or Congo or something like that why America so far away Congo is much nearer to India the answer is be honest you wanted to improve your standard of living for your children this is what 16:27 new covenant is it's an improvement of a standard of life and there's nothing wrong in that but then you must manifest that in your life not just knowledge okay next question how can busy couples effectively prioritize friendship 16:44 to eliminate loneliness while juggling the demands of daily chores I'll tell you my testimony so I can get an idea how to handle ours was 17:06 arranged I mean semi-arranged marriage I'd heard my husband speak but it was arranged by a godly man called Brother Bak Singh so I was just beginning to get to know my husband and we got married and he had no income and no home 17:24 and thing so we moved into his parents' home so I suddenly had a husband a new father that's my husband's father a new mother my husband's mother and a new sister my husband's sister who was in medical school all of us and they had helpers 17:46 in the home so it was like I had to get to know so many people after my marriage and they were my family and I thought this is like it was like a beginning of some big like a marathon race I had to where to begin but the Lord 18:05 gave me grace and I tell you one thing the answer for me at that time was when the Lord baptized me in the Holy Spirit I was in so much need because everything was new and I was cut off from my biological my siblings and my parents 18:21 that I was in so much need that I cried to the Lord and he met me and till now I'll never forget that experience which I had and that has been there like a like a like a sprinkling a green lawn you know it goes on the trickle of water 18:41 the Holy Spirit trickling into my life and the freshness that happened at that day it has never stopped and so however busy and then I had to welcome a new baby also so one more person came in that in our family circle and 18:58 however busy we are I know the Lord will give us His strength and His power if we are dependent on Him and cry to Him for the power of the Holy Spirit but that doesn't mean we have to keep on spending our time on our knees 19:15 praying and praying take the opportunities that we have like when my husband used to come back from the preaching meetings and all he used to come home the first person to welcome him would be his dad and his mom because he came 19:30 into the house and they were there and they were his parents and here I thought I am the wife I should be the one to welcome him but then I knew this is my place he is their son and I didn't I said I have to get used to that 19:46 and then after that we had time together then I thought I am not going to begin my this welcome by grumbling and complaining about his parents and why this why that why didn't you see me first that is spoiled I will make 20:01 the best use of the opportunity we have and then we talk about what happened how did this go how did that go and then there was nothing there was even that half an hour we spent was like a whole day together we could because it is not 20:19 the quantity of time that we spend together it is the quality of time and when there is love time doesn't come in as a factor so that is how the Lord helped me to prioritize and we have to take the opportunities like my husband 20:35 is working all day like most of the time now we both are by ourselves but he has so many emails to reply and so many phone calls and and even though we are by home and and some of them are private calls he has to make so I don't want 20:52 to be listening to what he is talking to other advice he is giving so I go to my room and do my own thing and then when when I come out I don't want to sulk and say hmm well you don't have time for me and that will spoil 21:07 so I just we joke and talk and then my husband will show me something did you see this in the YouTube this nice thing and I will show him some song some nice tune which I heard and then it becomes so happy so we have to make 21:24 our happiness it's not like there's some rule book it's up to us to make ourselves happy and our husbands happy and our family happy so much is in our hand and the Lord will give us grace and strength and wisdom and power 21:40 to do that but there's a lot which we can do if we take it in a negative way we'll be always gloomy and depressed but you say Lord I'm not going to go into this law of despondency I'm going to overcome I'm going to make 21:54 my life happy and make my husband happy and take even if it's five minutes that's enough I take that time to spend together I'm not answering but I'll just yeah my wife has had a different calling from all of you who get married 22:15 I'll tell you every wife everyone when they get married every woman wants because she's always been in a home where parents are there they are the head that's not there not her home she looks forward to the day when she can get married 22:35 when she'll at last have her own home my wife did not have that when she got married she moved into a home which is not even her father's father-in-law mother-in-law there are umpteen stories of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law 22:53 you've heard of but I testify after 58 years of marriage my mother and my wife never had a fight even once the God's grace there and you're always good friend I'll interrupt one thing I know more about my husband's relatives 23:12 and family connections than my husband knows because my mother-in-law and I would always talk about oh see and so in such and such a place and so and so and this is their son so I know the family tree more than him yeah that saves me 23:30 from a lot of embarrassment when my when my relatives come I say who's this I ask and my wife will tell me I knew the people in the church very well I knew the people in the church very well okay so 23:51 it was not an easy thing for her but I decided my parents were believers that was one thing I was very thankful for and my dad who had a great ambition that I should end up as the admiral of the navy and I was working towards it 24:06 I was stopping my class and all that but when I left my job my dad accepted it fully I'm very thankful and so when I left I'd given away all my money and he knew that I could not I did not have money to rent even a small apartment 24:25 I was working among poor believers I did deliberately did not go to the rich churches because I read in the Bible that Jesus read that in Luke chapter 4 he says the Lord Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor 24:42 I read that verse and I said Lord all the big evangelists come to India and preach only in the cities the cities are the places where the rich believers are send me to the poor so the last 50 years so the last 50 years we spent 24:56 among I and later on Annie also we went to the poorest villages in India planting churches where there was no church for 2,000 years and among the poorest people who struggled to survive and many of them non-Christian backgrounds 25:12 they came to Christ it was a tremendous joy the result was of course I was very poor I couldn't get I wouldn't take any money from any of them and we had to I say okay Lord you've given me my father's not a wealthy man he was a pensioner 25:25 and he was getting a limited but he had a rented house and at the rented house had a spare bedroom and so even after she spoke to my parents we could go into the bedroom and the bedroom the door could be locked so we could still talk 25:39 to each other so that was how it was but you know the result of it as time went on and I started my ministry among the poor villages of India I discovered that many of those poor people when they get those poor young men 25:57 when they get married they don't have the money to have their own home they had to live with their parents ah then I knew why God made me a forerunner for them why he allowed me to live for four years with my parents so that I could tell 26:15 those poor people I'm not preaching a theory I can tell you from my experience I had the same difficulty you have now with living with your parents God allowed me unlike anybody I don't know how many people here when you got married 26:31 lived for four years with your parents probably nobody but God took me there because he had a ministry for me and I've discovered through the years that when you serve the Lord you have to pay a price for it part of their price 26:42 is in your married life and this is the price I had to pay but I rejoice in it because I was able to help so many of these poor people in their situation and I can tell them I'm not telling you theory I'm telling you from my experience 26:55 and my wife could say how she came into the house of her father-in-law right from the beginning for four years she could speak to the ladies there so everything if we submit it to God you'll find even what is unnatural and difficult for people 27:09 God will have a wonderful plan if your aim in life is not to live for yourself but to be a blessing to others now most people in the world only think of is this helping me I say Lord you have not put me on earth to live for myself 27:24 you said the spirit of God will come upon you and you shall be my witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth so if you make your aim in life to be a witness and say Lord I'm willing to pay any price that's what I said 27:36 when I left the navy I'm willing to pay any price I want to be your witness any part of India and so I have tremendous joy I have no regrets over the way the Lord led us and he will say the same thing so God has a plan for all of us 27:53 this is the way he led me I'm just saying that if your situation is a little different from the average family life remember submit to it there will be some plan in it that God has for the future for you okay later when my 28:09 father-in-law got a stroke they moved and lived with us and he died in our home and mom his mom was alone and she moved with us and she became forgetful you know when old senile and forgetful and she became worse 28:30 and worse that was also a time when I used to think like a day may come and I start forgetting things and somebody has to help me so God did a work in me to be kind to her and to ignore the things if she kept on asking me repeatedly 28:49 what I said or what she had forgotten taught me a lot of patience and prepared me for many things which happened later yeah my mom died many many years after we were married we married in 1968 and she died in 2000 29:09 so it's over 30 years but in 30 years my wife and my mother never had a fight we were very good friends right up to the end and that's a good testimony if you sisters who get married can say that you are very good friends 29:21 with your mother in law for 30 years that's a pretty good testimony okay I would ask her she would always give me advice like this is the way she did things like small things and I knew I knew like the way my mom taught me 29:39 was different but I would always ask her I used to call her mommy mommy what shall we make for lunch today even though it was my home and I was running after they moved in and she was happy to tell let's have this and so 29:56 how do you do this I'd ask her advice and so it was like so harmonious and even though I had some other plan I thought okay we'll do it like how mommy wants and so everything went off so smoothly I cannot tell you the good 30:14 days we had together except when she was getting forgetful and she forget if she had breakfast and she come again for breakfast so I told her mommy there'll be always bread and jam on the table anytime you're hungry you just 30:26 come and take and so then she she sort of but you know the forgetful thing is a very sad thing if it happens to us yeah I want to say one thing in that connection there's a beautiful song I wish probably we could try and sing 30:42 it in the next song called how quickly life here passes on its way we soon will reach the evening of our day and it goes on to say how when that loved one passes away you should not have any regret of how you lived with 31:00 that person when you stand before the Lord the important thing is not fun and happiness the important thing is love the greatest thing is not fun and happiness or even ease and comfort in life the greatest thing is love 31:16 and so remember that always next question if my unbelieving spouse asks me to pray in a situation how he's an unbeliever or she's an unbeliever how do I do that without feeling like a formality or insincere spouse okay 31:37 since neither of us have unbelieving spouses it's a theoretical question for us but I would say that Jesus was a friend of sinners and if you follow Jesus and you're not a friend of sinners you're deceiving yourself you're 31:57 following some other Jesus the Jesus I follow called himself a friend of sinners and if I cannot be a friend of sinners if that sinner is my wife or husband or anybody I'm not following Jesus remember that always or in your office 32:14 or anyone else your relatives or unconverted or your mother-in-law unbeliever but Jesus was a friend of sinners you claim to follow Jesus be a friend of sinners and if that sinner is living in your own house be a friend 32:28 that's where the Lord has put you so if you are to pray pray for that person pray sincerely that from your heart it's not a formality and you don't have to be insincere the next question is my husband does not prioritize 32:45 being a good husband he shows no care for me disregards the second floor second floor means home life first floor is conscience foundation is knowing God as father first floor is good conscience second floor is family life 33:01 third floor is church so he does not prioritize he disregards the family life but is always active on the third floor church activities so how should I respond and our elders are not aware that he doesn't help at home at all 33:17 should I ask the elders to help me or advise him does submission to my husband mean I completely ignore that he does nothing in the home I'd say that if I were such a wife I'll do my best to build the second floor myself 33:36 do what I can with all the respect I can give to such a husband and think that yeah let him do this he's doing he feels that he should build a third floor let him go ahead and keep building it I'll do my part in doing the 33:55 second floor but basic things like we can pray together family prayer and at least I'll be thankful he's working and bringing the money home so that we can have a second floor I'm not on the streets so I thankful I should 34:12 be thankful that he's doing his part in providing the means for me but other than that I can do my part with the children and the cooking and the things of the second floor I can do my part and hopefully such a husband can 34:32 change and do but I may be wrong also in judging that he's not doing the second floor maybe he is doing and I'm expecting very high standard of his contribution to the second floor that could also be there I would say one 34:49 of the big problems that can come up in any husband wife relationship is demands if you have inner demands which you don't express it but you have an inward demand that my wife must be like this or my husband must be like 35:09 this my wife must do this for me my husband must do this for me he should not leave this for me to do I can prophesy without being a prophet that you have a miserable married life if you have inward demands dead people have 35:28 no demands you know that a person is dead he has no demands this is what it means to die with Christ I choose to die with Christ and I don't have any demands now you may say if you are like that your partner will take advantage 35:48 of you ah then I have a promise for you for all people who fear that your partner will take advantage of you because you're a Christian and and and and because you're seeking to deny yourself that promise is in 1 Corinthians 36:05 10 13 in the middle it says God is faithful you don't bring God into the picture what you say is right husband and wife they'll take advantage of you if you are just act like a doormat but here it says God is faithful 1 36:22 Corinthians 10 13 middle he will never allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able to bear wow imagine a promise being given to you say you're working in an office and the boss says I will never give you a job which 36:42 you cannot do I will never give you a job where you have to work overtime never it will only be within your capacity within the hours you're in the office boy I'd like to work in an office like this and I'll tell you honestly 36:58 I love to serve a God like this who says he will never allow me leave alone home life outside I'm a servant of the Lord I'm a target of the devil because I serve him whole heartedly serve the Lord wholeheartedly but God 37:12 will never never and he has never allowed me to be tested beyond my ability ever and I'm telling you after 67 years of experience not a single time did I face a situation where God did not give me grace to overcome or to 37:32 handle it personal life married life church life even when people took me to court threatened to put me in prison for the sake of the gospel no other reason and other Christians tried to persecute me they published articles 37:50 about me and published articles that I was the devil incarnate and all that it's okay I could forgive them love them God never never allowed me in the 67 years of my Christian life to be tested and tempted beyond my ability 38:05 wouldn't you serve a God like this I want to say to every married couple if you trust in your heavenly father that promise is for you however bad your husband or your wife may be and however much however many demands you 38:23 think they'll make on you God will do something wonderful for you at the end of all that you'll have such a knowledge of God that you'll be able has come out of different problems that I have faced in life and how God has 38:40 helped me through it that taught me what to share with other people and if you hear that my message is very practical for you it's because I've gone through those situations myself so if God takes you through such situations 38:52 be thankful okay next question okay the rest are all for me so okay 39:14 what should I do if my unconverted husband and his mother try to impose their catholic religious traditions like meat restrictions catholic prayers catholic 39:34 practices on our children now this is really difficult for a wife who's living with a catholic husband and he's the head of the home and see first of all if she was a believer she should not have married a roman catholic 39:52 if he was not converted he was converted he should leave the roman catholic church and be a part of a believer church I personally do not believe that the roman catholic teaching is according to the bible I tell you that 40:06 honestly I love them I love and definitely I can love roman catholics there's no problem there but I have to say I disagree with the teaching of other religions and I disagree with the teaching of roman catholics that doesn't 40:24 mean I don't love them I disagree with them otherwise I wouldn't be preaching what I preach I preach that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation no one comes to the father but by him that's what it's written in the Bible 40:36 what Jesus said I believe that that puts me different from all the other people who think there are many ways to God I'm sorry there are not many ways to God there is only one through Jesus Christ and it's not through Mary 40:46 like the Catholics would say it's not through any of the other gods that other people say it is only through Jesus Christ and only through his death on the cross so that makes me very exclusive but that is the truth so I 41:02 have to take my stand for that and so one but if you got married and after that you got converted and that's good that you got converted and your partner is a Catholic and he's a husband who's the head of the home I agree 41:17 it's very difficult you must pray to God first of all your main prayer should be Lord bring my husband to salvation not for the sake of peace in your home but because your husband is dishonoring the Lord by worshipping Mary 41:33 and worshipping another or by prayers which are not according to scripture pray you must pray for his salvation and and then meanwhile you need to seek for wisdom that you don't get into a conflict with your husband he's 41:51 the head of your home even if he's a Roman Catholic he's the head of your home and you're a wife you have to submit and you don't have to do what he tells you in your life but you can't stop him from running the home as 42:04 he likes putting pictures of Mary up there and crucifixes and all types of things you can't stop it he's the head of the home and he's the father of the children and so if he takes the children to the Roman Catholic church 42:18 and teaches them you have to allow for that but you can pray that God will bring him to Christ and yet your home will become a Christian home and that is the answer I have to say to all people it's not worth getting into 42:32 a fight with him because he won't get anywhere because he's your husband now it's different if the wife is a Catholic then of course it's easier for the husband because he's the head of the home and he can impose his rules 42:44 on his children and all that but I don't think he should get into a fight with his wife over her Catholic traditions but pray that she will come to faith the Bible says pursue peace with all men as much as it you know it's 42:59 the one place where I don't know whether you noticed this let me show you this verse in Romans it's a do you know that there's only one command in the New Testament as far 43:20 as I know only one command which says if possible obey this isn't that good there's a command that says if possible obey it every command is absolute shouldn't tell lies don't hurt people speak the truth but there's one 43:38 command which says if possible Romans 12 verse 18 if possible as much as it depends on you live at peace with all men because God knows you cannot live at peace if the other person doesn't want peace whether it's in a home 43:56 or anywhere so if possible as much as it depends on you live at peace with all men that's my advice to anyone who's in an awkward family situation okay as a husband how do amidst the emotions that she experiences both as 44:14 a mother and also in the church yeah I mentioned that earlier that the one thing that a husband must recognize always 1 Peter chapter 3 husbands live with your wives in an understanding way and what is it that you must understand 44:31 this in the next sentence I've asked husbands this question what is the thing that you need to understand about your wife first of all and they don't know I said you haven't read the full verse it's there in the next sentence 44:44 in that verse 1 Peter 3 7 husbands live with your wives in an understanding way as someone who is weaker that's what you need to understand that she's a weaker vessel so that's how you that's something you must remember 45:02 all the time and all the experiences she goes to as a mother or as a pregnant wife and all the demands that children make on her and cooking and so many things in the home where she doesn't have the outlet that a man has 45:18 this is what a husband must recognize the very fact that you just can able to go out of your home for eight hours a day and even if your office is a very difficult work situation the fact is still you're away from the home 45:31 you're in another atmosphere with other people think of your wife who's sitting at home the whole day seeing no one else except her small children and the atmosphere of house 24 hours and you every day you have the opportunity 45:45 to go out eight hours meet other people even if they're unbelievers and to be out in the fresh air in another office and come back please keep that in mind husbands when you come back home that your wife has sat cooped up 46:02 in that house all the time you have to live in an understanding way and so you need to bear that in mind encourage her by if possible taking her out of the home go and have a meal in a from cooking a meal for herself for 46:22 the family take the children out go to a park go to some type of clean entertainment or something like that so that she can have some relaxation from I don't say you do that every day but it will mean a lot if you take it 46:42 is encouragement because as a human being sometimes these physical things can encourage a person it's not by preaching to her that you encourage preaching is also good to encourage but as a human being we are body soul and 46:56 spirit so the body also needs some type of relaxation okay another question is how can a married couple who have repented of serious physical sins committed while they were single live entirely free from the guilt and regret 47:15 they have about their past life well you'll have a lot of regrets guilt can be removed if you have really repented and asked Jesus to forgive you unfortunately a lot of young people young men particularly and unfortunately 47:35 some young women also have been immoral before they got married it's an unfortunate thing maybe maybe because the parents were not strict maybe when even if the parents were strict they played the fool or they were away from 47:51 home in college or something or somebody molested them I don't know there could be many reasons and I don't want to judge anybody but there are these and some of these sexual relations can have a permanent imprint on your 48:07 mind and that can bring tremendous feelings of guilt in single days and then you get married and one of the questions was in another place where should we tell our when we are considering marriage with our past sexual history 48:27 my answer is no if it is you have repented of it and the Lord says I have forgiven you you sincerely confessed it I encourage every such person to go to the promise in Hebrews 8 and verse 48:47 12 which says in the new covenant I will not remember their sins anymore it's a tremendous promise I will not remember their sins anymore so we 49:09 have to be merciful to such people and not compare ourselves with them I had the grace to be brought up in a very God fearing family my parents were born again and from the time I was born I was taken to believing churches 49:27 so I never fell at any time in my life into adultery or any such thing in my entire life but that's only because I had a God fearing upbringing I don't despise somebody who did fall so I say that to such people I say if you 49:44 really repented and confessed your sin I don't care who you are man or woman the Lord says I will not remember your sins anymore the most important person in the universe has said he doesn't remember your sins that's the 49:56 most important that's done with so I personally say it's not wise to confess it unnecessarily there's nothing to be gained in fact it can create problems later on in married life if you do say such things and they may accept it 50:15 the other partner may accept it initially but five years later when you have a conflict they will bring up that thing you were like this and you were like this so it's best not to bring those things up what's blotted out 50:27 I tell newly married couples if the Lord has blotted out your past let it be blotted out don't bring it all up it won't help you in any way how will it help a husband to know that my wife had sex with some other man before 50:43 she married me or how will it help a wife to know that that my husband had sex with some woman before she married me it will not help one bit it is over it's finished with and if you feel he's an immoral man you should not 50:57 have married him but that you married him because he's probably repented and changed and changed there is no point in going over the past so we should not mention this and there should be no lingering guilt or regret because 51:13 if God Almighty who's the ultimate judge says forgiven and forgotten take it like that I mean even an earthly judge puts the hammer down and says this is my verdict we accept it we can accept the verdict of Almighty God 51:29 okay now this is carrying on to what we already just said is it appropriate for a woman to explicitly ask a prospective this is before marriage to ask the one she's considering the man she's considering for marriage whether he 51:49 has watched pornography or whether he's currently battling pornography how much of past sexual history is a man obliged to reveal before marriage well I'll tell you something unconverted men unconverted men who are in 52:10 teenage years nowadays almost all of them have watched pornography you might as well face it born again people if they are brought up in a good home and a good home may not have but even then some of them will slip up and be 52:25 careless when they are tempted by their friends in their teenage years if they are not wholehearted but it's not wise to ask about it because they would have if they have come to the Lord they would have really repented 52:38 of it and God as I said earlier God's blotted it out it's pointless you're bringing up bring it up and I do not advise any man or woman before marriage to ask what is your sexual history I do not encourage anyone to ask 52:55 it before marriage or after marriage it will not help you one bit think of it supposing you're a woman and I mean if you're going to decide whether to marry him or not and you ask him very watch pornography or not you there 53:12 are two possibilities one is a boy who will tell you a lie say oh I never watched pornography all rubbish and you believe that lie and marry him and he may be an absolutely evil man first of all because he told you a lie 53:25 and but you don't know that another person may sincerely say yes I did slip up and you reject him and marry this liar so don't be deceived by that that's why the best thing is not to ask because all do not speak the truth 53:42 that's why I say don't ask because you may not hear the truth you may hear a lie from a crooked person and the honest person may say yes I slipped up and you think he's worse this guy is worse who's telling you a lie so 53:56 that's why I say it's better not to ask because you don't know who's speaking the truth you're just considering a new person for marriage remember so it's best not to ask these questions see what he is like today and ask 54:10 any probing questions about where he stands spiritually today what's his relationship Bible says person is in Christ old things have passed away so the Bible says the old things have passed away okay let's accept that 54:30 also according to God's word before entering marriage what practical things should believers consider such as should we have separate bank accounts or joint bank accounts have share existing financial obligations need to 54:49 support elderly parents exactly well I'll tell you this this business of you know having separate bank accounts and they say before you get marriage have a contract that we will keep everything or our financial matters separate 55:07 it's almost like saying we know we are going to divorce so we might as well you starting marriage like this all these people who make such arrangements are saying number one sentence we definitely divorce okay so therefore 55:21 what shall we do we shouldn't have conflict when the time comes that we have to share our marriage let's make separate accounts I do not encourage it we we don't start marriage thinking of divorce we married together we 55:40 share everything together and I never even dreamt of having separate bank accounts to none of my children did I suggest them to have separate accounts I say have a joint account that's what my suggestion is if there are 55:54 existing financial obligations supposing your husband has got a debt to some person hundred thousand dollars debt to somebody it's good to mention that to I'm in debt so much it's good for a person to know that or I have 56:12 elderly parents I'm the only son I'm the only child they are too old and they don't have a home of their own I probably have to my next question is 56:32 concerning children how can I maintain consistent godly discipline my children for acts of disobedience deliberate acts of disobedience when my unbelieving husband refuses to support me in those matters and gives contrary 56:51 to the Bible advice to the children example my husband tells my son if your school bully hits you hit him back well we have to I think you should don't argue with your husband right in front of their child it's one advice 57:11 I always give to husband and wife if you disagree with your child don't argue in front of them go into a separate room sometime else during the day and talk to your husband lovingly and say no I don't think we should do 57:26 this we should not teach our son to hit back at somebody else because you don't know that fellow will hammer him again he'll come back with a broken nose and and and that you told him to fight with him and that guy is stronger 57:36 so we should not give such advice you must tell your husband and put some sense into him so sometimes men can be pretty foolish and a wife must to be the Bible it says God gave Eve to be a helper to Adam helper 57:56 means what help him to come to his senses if he says something stupid and protect him from doing something foolish it's like you see him falling into a ditch hold him don't say he's the head of the house I must follow him 58:11 into that ditch no hold him pull him back and if he's doing something foolish or saying something foolish pull him back it's exactly like he's falling into a ditch and you must help him to be protected so and if he's giving 58:27 contrary advice to your children talk to him afterwards and say darling that is not talk to him lovingly not like as if you're the perfect authority or anything talk to him lovingly and say I all discussions with husband 58:46 and wife must be in private not in the presence of the children next question is how can I make the word of God and prayer more interesting to children than the video games well it's very difficult children get so addicted 58:59 to video games that you can never tell them the Bible is more interesting read the book of Hebrews or Habakkuk or something is more interesting more than all these books in the Bible I said because I mean for me it is not 59:19 interesting the Bible is tremendously interesting but at that age when they are 10 11 years old they don't understand that so we say yeah we have to be careful about the type of video games they play also it should not be 59:38 violent video games there are games which are pleasant and easy computer games which they can play but we tell them it's not a question of what is interesting it's a question of what is good for you it's like certain foods 59:51 for example if you prefer ice cream to other regular food like bread and other things that are on the table you don't keep on giving ice cream you tell a child if you keep on eating ice cream you will get sick so even though 1:00:10 that's more tasty we still have to give you vegetables which are good for your health and other things that we provide in our breakfast and lunch and dinner different types of a balanced diet of many many things vegetables 1:00:29 and meat and grains and all that and it's not a question of taste you have to explain to children even if they are small this is what's good for your health and we know better than you what's good for your health so in the 1:00:43 same way for know what's good for your health a little bit of video games ice cream now and then is okay so we allow you to play video games also but if you tell me that if you ask me you tell your children the children 1:01:02 try and make their avocado or spinach try and teach them that's sweeter than ice cream it's not sweeter than ice cream even an adult will say it's not sweeter so don't fool them but say it's good for you not because it's 1:01:20 sweeter than ice cream so video games may be exciting but it's good for you to read the bible it's good for you to do your studies for your school so it's not a question of being more interesting compare it to food how you 1:01:33 eat different types of food that's why we don't make that doesn't mean we have no ice cream I'm not saying no video games but keep it in balance with all the other things you need to do just like on the table the lunch table 1:01:44 there are many things okay is it legalistic to forbid children from participating in sports tournaments scheduled on Sundays now to me Sunday is not different from any other day all the days I'm not a Jew or a seven day 1:02:04 Adventist who keeps Sabbath especially I don't say my Sabbath is a Sunday I don't have a Sabbath my Sabbath is Hebrews chapter 4 which is an inner rest in God that is the meaning of the Sabbath an inner rest in God so here 1:02:23 but I believe Sunday is important because that is the day we come together as a church and sing songs and praise the Lord and we must get children to attend that so if my children were studying for an examination I would 1:02:42 still say God will help you in your examination come for the Sunday morning service at least and then go home maybe you can't stay for the whole Sunday fine but come and honor God by worshiping him and joining the Sunday 1:02:54 service being there for a couple of hours you're not going to do worse in your exam you're going to do better in your exam so so so so I have to come to come to church on Sunday morning but I wouldn't say that Sunday is 1:03:10 a special day that supposing they for example supposing they have they are applying for some college admission and the school admission test is on a Sunday morning I say go by all means go because they won't conduct it on 1:03:24 a Monday and they won't conduct it Sunday evening so you have to use your common sense there that Sunday is not a day which you can't do anything otherwise so in that way if there is some very important sports tournament 1:03:39 scheduled for a Sunday I would say okay I let you go but if it is just a routine thing skip it and each thing you must seek the Lord in that particular situation how important is this thing I don't want to frustrate my children 1:03:58 for example if there's a selection your child is very good at soccer and there's a selection on a Sunday morning for the school team I otherwise he can get so frustrated he's not going to really follow the Lord coming to 1:04:13 the church on Sunday so each now don't go to your child and say brother Zach says it's okay don't quote me please have your own conviction on this and follow the Lord I'm only giving you some advice if you feel otherwise 1:04:30 go by your own conviction this is my conviction and I was not so strict about days in for example you're working in Dubai you know the holiday there is on a Friday and in some Gulf countries what do you do Sunday you have 1:04:47 to go to work Sunday they have school so what do you do there so we don't make laws on this God has liberated us from special days okay another question is are secular cartoons or classic fairy tales that feature harmless 1:05:04 magic safe for children to watch what about okay that's the first part of the question I don't feel anything wrong in children reading fairy tales provided you explain to them this is not a true story there's no such thing 1:05:21 as fairies and all that I mean Snow White and the seven dwarfs and all these things it's a story you can read it and many other stories like this children's tales Hans Andersen's children's tales and all they are interesting 1:05:39 children's stories but there's nothing wrong in there reading it if there's magic there we have to be careful because children should not be fooled we know that it's all just a hoax fooling people's eyes you know pick this 1:05:55 card and I'll tell you which card you chose there's all hand tricks like that but if there's any element of demonic in the magic better you ought to be sensitive to that because there is a demonic element in some magic there's 1:06:13 no other way to explain some things they do some magic is just tricks tricks by which they fool you because they do something this way and that way and fool you but that type of thing is okay but if there's an element of 1:06:27 demonic I would say better to steer clear it doesn't matter if your children miss out on something but otherwise fairy tales are okay provided you tell them these are all just fairy tales what about the series television 1:06:41 series called The Chosen now there are different opinions on that I watched a number of those series and as a to me it's just like a comic picture book of the Bible where you have pictures showing the Gospels supposing you have 1:07:00 the Gospels in a picture Bible form and it's acted out there and I think as far as I know they've pretty much followed the scripture but they've added on so many new ideas about how the different apostles were and all that 1:07:15 and I wouldn't have an objection to anybody watching it but if you feel there's something wrong somewhere that's up to you parents I telling my children and their grandchildren to see it and what about modern Christian musicians 1:07:34 like Forrest Frank I don't know I've never heard any Forrest Frank songs but there are Christian singers and all but I say I there's nothing wrong in listening to good Christian 1:07:55 music I'm all for listening to good Christian music which is a good melody sung by a good person but I would not promote any particular person say you must listen to this person because all these fellows are after making 1:08:07 money every one of them and I'm sure this guy is also after making money so I say I don't want to encourage people who are doing that but I say if he's singing well okay listen to one song of his but don't get addicted to 1:08:21 anybody to get addicted to any type of singer or anything to listen to songs is good and if they have songs were very very good because of his voice was good and it was a very good 1:08:42 and he sang a lot of worldly songs as well so we have to be careful that we don't promote a particular singer he would like to listen to good Christian hymns okay what about celebrating Valentine's Day well I don't know 1:09:02 who Saint Valentine was and whether he would have approved of himself being named after him but it is sort of supposed day when people love one another husband and wife and girlfriend and all boy friends I don't promote 1:09:17 too much boyfriend girlfriend business but one day they have father's day mother's day and if valentine's day is sort of for husband and wife to show their love for each other by all means I got nothing against it so all 1:09:33 a question of how it is celebrated and who are celebrating it next is about church life can a believer who carries a can he remain as a truly committed member of a local church whose vision focuses primarily on 1:09:53 discipleship and fellowship in other words can such a person remain in a CFC church where we emphasize primarily discipleship and fellowship that's entirely up to that person if he values evangelism more than discipleship 1:10:11 and fellowship by all means go and join a group which promotes evangelism but I personally believe that Jesus did not come to promote evangelism he said I will build my church evangelism is only a means of bringing people 1:10:28 built into a church the sad thing about a lot of evangelism done nowadays in the last 50 years I tell you my opinion great evangelists and many other people who do street evangelism go and ask the great evangelists I heard 1:10:47 some of their testimonies I was over there there were a million people in the meeting and 10,000 people signed decision cards to become Christian I said wonderful I went to northeast India once where a great evangelist had come 1:11:03 from another country from America and preached and there was some it was a smaller group 500 people had signed decision cards some months later I went to that place and and I knew the man who got the list of these names 1:11:18 and was asked to follow up these people these 500 names I knew that brother I said brother what was your result when you followed up all these 500 names he says hardly any of them is following the Lord so the evangelist 1:11:30 went home thinking he brought 500 people to the Lord I later on went six months later and found none of them are following the Lord so a lot of people are deceived by 10,000 decisions 50 decisions 50,000 decisions you don't 1:11:43 know what's happening later on that is if you go to the New Testament and you ask Paul hey Paul I heard that you went to a place called Philippi and converted a lot of people he say come with me I'll take you to Philippi 1:11:55 he'll take you to the church meeting you see these 100 people sitting here these are the people I brought to Christ here's this one this one this one this one and Paul I heard you went to Thessalonica and did that also come 1:12:08 with me he takes you to Thessalonica he won't give you a list of names he'll take you to a church see all these 150 people sitting here these are the people I brought to Christ Paul did not do the type of evangelism that's 1:12:20 done today he it's like to me evangelism done today is a mother gives birth to babies okay leave them on the street I've got to produce another baby now next year leave that on the street then go give it to somebody else 1:12:34 give it to some people who will bring it up have another year after year producing a baby and giving it to some person to bring it up that's exactly today's evangelism so 1:12:54 I say if you are interested in street evangelism by all means do it but bring that person into a church Paul can show you the churches he planted in Philippi Thessalonica every place people he brought to Christ they were 1:13:10 in a church that is the pattern we have followed in CFC for 50 years you ask me the people I brought to Christ in Tutankaran or Tanjavur or Chennai or Bangalore or Hooghli or come with me I'll show you the people I brought 1:13:30 to Christ they are all in churches that's the pattern we follow because that's what we see in the Bible okay I'm not here to judge others God bless you you can do what you like you can ask other people to nurture the children 1:13:48 you brought to Christ but make sure they are nurtured check up five years later where they are but do you think any of these evangelists check up where their 10,000 converts were after five years later they'll get a surprise 1:14:01 if they find out where they are so that's why I do not agree with that type of evangelism without I believe in evangelism with church building is it biblically healthy for a member a church member to deliberately avoid fellowship 1:14:19 or maintain physical distance from certain other members of the church due to personal disagreements no I don't agree with it I believe that you must build fellowship if the other person doesn't want fellowship you can't 1:14:34 force it but from your side you must always be open to fellowship but if a person is always gossiping and backbiting I'll say goodbye thank you very much and then you should tell the elders I'm sorry brother I can't fellowship 1:14:51 with him every time I go he's gossiping about somebody else or backbiting about somebody else I'm not interested in that fellowship tell the elders about it but if it's personal disagreement that you don't like his face 1:15:05 or you don't like something about him that's not the way to break fellowship personal disagreement is a completely different thing because God has brought different types of people into the church and like the parts of the 1:15:18 body all different we fellowship with one another what is the biblical stance regarding ongoing personal communication or casual conversation with individuals or left or separated from the local church in each case it is 1:15:30 different you know I'll tell you what scripture says best is to quote scripture it happened in Corinth in the church in Corinth one man slept with with his father second wife his step mother and you know what the apostle 1:15:48 Paul did when he heard about it he said boy something's happened in your church there's not even happens among the heathen well he says I have put that man I have handed him over to Satan you know Paul had that authority 1:16:04 as an apostle I handed him 1 Corinthians 5 5 5 I handed him over to Satan so that his flesh can be destroyed and his spirit can be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus he hands him over to Satan to be tortured and troubled 1:16:19 so that the guy will repent and come back to the Lord his aim is always repentance 1 Corinthians 5 5 so we don't want to reject a person but we have to be careful now but he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians and further 1:16:39 down verse 11 1 Corinthians 5 11 I wrote to you not to associate with you know when I said to you verse 9 1 Corinthians 5 9 answer to this question I wrote to you not to associate with immoral people what 1:17:00 I meant was immoral people of the world no no what I did not mean was immoral people of the world the covetous and swindlers and idolaters of the world how can you avoid them then you have to go out of the world those are 1:17:12 the people you have to evangelize but if it is a person who calls himself a brother verse 11 who is immoral or covetous don't even eat meet 1:17:33 him be friends with him bring him to Christ but if he calls himself a brother and he behaves like this he's immoral an immoral person he calls himself a believer cut him off don't even eat meals with such a person boy what a 1:17:49 standard so we have to judge those who are inside the church who behave like that and when there's a wicked man like that verse 13 remove that wicked man from your midst Paul was strict that's how he kept the churches pure 1:18:03 unfortunately today people are not so strict they want to be popular and they are kind to people somebody commits immorality they still allow him to sit there we don't we say put him out okay what is the biblical stance 1:18:19 regarding ongoing personal communication oh we already answered that how can a church body transition from a club mentality which is only interested in food activities and to be transformed into a vibrant Christ centered 1:18:35 sharing of God God is actually doing in individual lives I believe that if food and picnics and all is the main thing in a church you should leave that church but that doesn't mean that we don't have food and picnics we can 1:18:49 have food and picnics and all as part of a family as a family for example your own family would you go on a picnic nothing wrong in it perfectly okay do you go out to have a meal somewhere together sure in the same way if that's 1:19:04 not primary the main thing in your church is not just picnics and eating food and having a good time together then it is a club but if the main thing is that you're challenged to live a godly life and to worship god and come 1:19:18 together and build fellowship for another and then on the side we have picnics and good food and have outings and perfectly okay it's a question of what is primary and what is secondary what are specific ways in which a 1:19:34 young single brother can build up the church yeah by being a witness to those younger to you being friendly with the children you know I once said in the church a lot of you have to have a great lust to be elders right you want 1:19:49 to be an elder in a church and I said I appoint all of you young brothers as elders today to all the people who are younger than you please bring them to Christ you wanted to be an elder right so I said here you're an elder to 1:20:03 everybody younger to you go and witness to them and bring them to Christ the children in your church so those are the ways a young single brother can be a blessing in a church there's a lot of people younger than him be friends 1:20:15 with the children I like to be friends with the children okay what is the proper understanding of 1 corinthians 11 15 which says that a woman's long hair is given to her for a covering now obviously I'm trying 1:20:36 to read between the lines you know what reading between the lines means what is the hidden question here and the hidden question is why should I have a head covering when 1 corinthians 11 15 says the woman's long hair is 1:20:52 given her for a covering okay my answer to that is here's the apostle through the inspiration of the holy spirit writing in 14 verses you must have a covering over your head a man must not cover his head and at the end of it 1:21:07 all if he says well your hair is a covering he could have said that in the first sentence and cancelled out these 15 verses what is the meaning writing all these 15 verses and then saying actually what I mean is your hair 1:21:17 is your covering he's got to be an idiot you're accusing Paul of being an idiot if he writes like that no he's he's just saying your hair a woman has long hair it's a glory to her and her hair is given her he's just saying 1:21:33 it's a coincidence he's saying that woman should not cut her hair short that's what he's saying if a man has long hair it's a dishonor you see the context of a verse before you take one sentence out to try and prove something 1:21:47 okay next question how can a believer distinguish between a real new birth and a false start if I keep falling down and feel like I can never do anything right we do children if you see a child falling down when he's nine 1:22:04 months old ten months old you don't say ah that's useless child it was not born properly perfect birth but he's not yet ready to walk when it's two years old three years old and still falling down ah then you have to think 1:22:17 about it there's something wrong with the legs or something but in the initial stages we all fall and then you can be 20 years old and fall trip up on the road somewhere but it won't be so frequent in the early days there 1:22:29 will be frequent falls so when you're born again it's exactly the same thing you don't immediately become a mature adult it takes time but we don't therefore say the person is not born again I've asked Jesus into my heart 1:22:46 repeatedly with no emotional physical response I also asked Jesus at least 100 times into my heart finally I got assurance so ask the Lord for assurance and those who are born interested in families we often do ask the Lord 1:22:58 a hundred times into our heart okay next is how do I distinguish between a healthy self judgment and self condemnation self judgment leads to greater purity in your life self condemnation makes you miserable and so we that's 1:23:19 not true I'm not useless I'm a child of God but I slipped up and fell again but I'm a child of God and I'm precious to him I must believe that God accepts me and he wants to help me to become better and I keep my relationship 1:23:34 with God as a loving father one day I overcome that and I don't fall in that area gradually I overcome more and more in the Christian life okay and in abstaining from social media that means so many things on the internet 1:23:50 social media for example is abstain sorry the question is if I abstain from social media is that a form of fasting just like or does it have to be food fasting must be from food yeah to abstain 1:24:10 from social media for a period is a form of fasting I agree if you are addicted to it in the same way fasting from food is also a form of fasting which is good and in that connection I would say the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:24:27 and chapter 9 that the Christian life is like a race 1 Corinthians 9 24 and in that race everybody runs but one person gets a prize because he was 25 he disciplined himself and exercised self control 1:24:47 in the days before he came to run in the race these people who win the marathon usually somebody from Kenya wins the marathon every year and and what do you think they do in Kenya they get up in the morning run for 26 miles 1:24:59 next day they do the same thing next day they do same thing do that for four years and then come and stand in the Olympic games and they win the prize and then it says they discipline themselves in order to get a wreath 1:25:12 or gold medal and he says in the in my body because I want to run the race Christian race also properly and how do I do it I make my body 1:25:32 my slave in other words like paraphrase says I tell my body what it should do my body does not tell me what it wants to do that's the difference I tell my body what it should do you have eaten enough now I tell my body get 1:25:50 up like somebody said the best exercise that you can do is the push-ups from the table the push-ups from the table are the best exercise if you want to keep yourself fit so discipline yourself in eating take a walk regularly 1:26:07 and keep healthy don't eat too much sugar and limit your ice creams and cakes and all that and eat healthy food eat a lot of vegetables I'm not preaching what I don't practice I tried my best now to avoid all sugar I drink 1:26:25 coffee without sugar as far as possible except occasionally if it's too bitter I take a little sugar I'm not a slave to avoiding sugar but I avoid it as far as possible at home all the time but outside sometimes I can't 1:26:40 avoid it completely but don't eat anything that's you know a lot of oily grow older particularly as you grow older don't shorten your life through your love for food fasting 1:27:01 is to preserve yourself in health as long as possible so that you can be useful to God if you're careless with your life you can die when you're 50 and that was not God's plan maybe God wanted you to live up to your 70 and 1:27:19 you died off early because you were indisciplined in the area of food so we must be disciplined in keeping our body as fit as possible sleep well cast all your burden on the Lord don't worry about things and keep physically 1:27:36 fit you're active your legs don't eat too much and fast now and then you won't die if you miss a meal a day even at my age I try to miss at least one meal a day very frequently not every day but many times I skip a night 1:27:53 meal and have breakfast and lunch and then next day is breakfast I want to keep myself healthy not be a glutton and I'm healthy so if you eat too much you can die soon and so be careful in 1:28:13 that area and so fasting is primarily in relation to food but you must fast from social media also if you're addicted to it does denying my own will mean I cannot enjoy personal hobbies no you can certainly enjoy personal 1:28:31 hobbies if they allow you to relax in something that's useful as I wouldn't make a rule on that particularly if you're younger what does showing hospitality to strangers Hebrews 13 2 says show hospitality to strangers mean 1:28:46 in the modern world yeah you know I think a lot of things are written in the Bible are for the Jewish people and among the Jewish people they were all related they were all children of Abraham that's why when the Lord told 1:29:02 his disciples when you go don't carry a bag don't carry anything when you go to a place look for some home that will invite you go and stay there I would never teach that today if one of our brothers is going to some place 1:29:16 I won't say don't take a bag don't go anything and you find some home and go and ask them can I stay here I wouldn't teach that but among the Jews you don't understand the situation there they were all considered we are 1:29:28 all family we are all descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob so they could go freely then in Luke 22 Jesus said to his disciples till now everywhere you went you could find a home you remember how Abraham once saw a stranger 1:29:44 coming down he said hey come have a meal with us and he cut a goat up and fed him total stranger that's how we are not all one family we can't do that and so when he talks about a stranger he's referring to such people and 1:30:03 I think he's referring to a believer who's new to you from another place welcome him that's how I look at those verses and we have to be careful in these days about just inviting any Tom Dick and Harry to come and stay with 1:30:18 us how can I guard my heart against intense anxiety over student loans auto debt debt over my automobile while remaining financially responsible we have to be very careful first of all not to get into debt but if you have 1:30:32 got into debt you know with student loans and all we must try hard I don't know what it means but as far as possible if the only way you could study is with a student loan please work hard to try and clear it as soon as 1:30:48 possible and be disciplined in cutting down other expenditure so that quickly you can eliminate your debt best is to avoid it altogether but some people cannot avoid it because the parents have no money or there's no other 1:31:03 way to get an education and if they don't get an education in some situation they can't get a job so sometimes it's okay but make sure you pay it back regularly discipline yourself in other areas how do I practically apply 1:31:21 the command to consider everyone as more important than yourself when at work when colleagues attempt to take advantage of your faith by treating you as an errand runner and pushing their responsibilities onto you shifting 1:31:36 blame to you now Philippians chapter 2 where it says consider others as important to yourself was not written for everybody in your office it was written for everybody in your church in a church we consider others as more 1:31:51 important than I mean if you decide to treat everybody in the office as more important than they'll definitely take advantage of you in an office there are different degrees so and so is the CEO so and so this this is different 1:32:04 and somebody chief manager junior manager etc etc you've got to submit to them everybody is not at the same level in a church Philippians 2 and verse 3 says consider everyone as more important than yourself not more spiritual 1:32:20 don't misunderstand it you are more spiritual but you consider the other person as more important by honoring him and we should and I seek to do that with everybody I don't ignore somebody saying oh you're not important 1:32:34 everybody's important even a child is important so but that's not the commands in the scripture are not for your office the office the command is submit to the authorities whoever is the boss is it biblically permissible 1:32:47 to take an undercover role like being a detective or a spy for tactical deception when required well if that is your job if the ultimate intention is good there's nothing wrong in taking us provided you're not harming anybody 1:33:02 provided your ultimate aim is good there's nothing wrong in being a detective okay this is the last question what is the wise and Christ like response when you're walking down a street and you find two people fighting with 1:33:17 each other in a verbal or physical conflict quietly go away that's my okay otherwise you might get hit yourself let's pray heavenly 1:33:41 father please give us wisdom in the different situations we face in life to have wisdom from above to follow in the footsteps of Jesus to know what Jesus would do in that situation give us wisdom through the Holy Spirit 1:33:55 we pray in Jesus name thank you amen thank you brothers sisters for listening patiently to all these questions and answers praise the Lord thank you
