When Requiescence Rules – Subverting the Gifts That Have Become Idols

Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.

Shabbat Shalom. Come on in, find a seat, join us. Scripture says where two or three are gathered in Yeshua's name, that he is there in their midst. Amen. Matthew 18 tells us that. Psalm 5 says, but let all who take refuge in you be glad. Let them ever sing for joy, and may you shelter them. That those who love your name may exult in you. For it is you who blesses the righteous man, O Lord. You surround him with favor as with a shield. Father, we thank you for your favor this morning. We thank you for the shield that surrounds us on this day, your Shabbat. We bless you, we honor you, we praise you. We seek to exalt you this morning.

Stand if you're able. Oh, what a light in your God. A thousand stories of your tender, the dead, your power alone. You're a good, good father to you I am. Searching for is only just one word. You're a good, good father to you I am. Oh, you're a good, good father to you I am. Cause you're perfect. Cause you're perfect. You're perfect. I'm love. Good, good father. I'm love. I'm in love by you. He is a jealous God. He loves us so well. Sing, he is jealous. He is jealous. Hurricane, I am a tree. And in these afflictions, it could be as just how beautiful and how great your affections are. Sing, he is jealous.

And in beneath of a sudden, there are these afflictions eclipsed by God. How beautiful and how great your affections are for me. Oh, how he loves us. Oh, how he loves us. We are his portion and he is our prize. Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes. If great ocean with heaven kiss my chest. I don't have time to make regrets when I think about. If you love us. You love us. You love us. Of us. Of you. There's nothing worth more. Never come close. Nothing can compare to your presence. I've tasted and seen of the sweetest allowance where my heart becomes free. And my shame is at your presence. This place and fill us with fear.

God is what our hearts long for to be your presence. Come flood this place and fill the earth's fear. God is what our hearts long for, to be your presence. Come flood this place and fill the earth's fear. Oh, how he loves us. We need your presence. When you poured out your spirit on the old age. In the power of your praise. Holy Spirit, break upon grace. As a sign of your love. Holy Spirit, find in my soul. As a call on your love. As a call on Yeshua. Dreams and visions of. Revelations of. As we look to the heavens. Sing of your love as I call on the name Yeshua. As I call on the glory of your prayer.

Lord, I serve to your glory. For your mercy, mercy, crashing over me. So I'm a glory to your glory, God. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. Spirit of Sovereign, come and presence know the glory of living. Spirit of Sovereign, come and make presence know glory. Let the wave of your glory arise. The life of your river flow. Let the truth of your kingdom reign. The light of your glory flow.

Abiding in Him

He's been talking to me about abiding in Him. Yeshua said, "If you abide in Me, I abide in you." And we abide in the Father. It's like this thing we do together. And apart from me you can do nothing. So how important it is for us to just abide. What does that even look like? To abide in him. To not let the world in. To walk through our days seeking the spirit. Being led by the presence. Just abiding. Where the desert isn't the desert place, because he's there with us. Where the wilderness isn't the wilderness because he's with us. It's a place of delight even because he's with us. He's with us. Father, would you make that so real to us that you're with us?

You're with us. You said you'd never leave us nor forsake us. Would you help us? Oh, we delight in you. Your joy is our strength. Can you just speak your delight to the Father right now? Just tell him how you feel about him. This is his day. This is his day. We come before him to delight in him, to honor him, to praise him, to worship. Declare that he is worthy and there is no one else beside him. This place is outside of time and space. It is the come-away place. Oh, we declare your praise. You are a worthy God. There is no one. Just declare his praise. Just declare who he is to you. Call upon your name.

Thank you, Yeshua. Bless you, Lord. Holy Spirit. I'm just going to sing that again, that Holy Spirit. Consume, consume our presence to your glory. Consume your glory. Consume us, God. We lift our hands to you. Open hands to you. Consume us, God. Is that the cry of your heart this morning? Use me up, God. Consume us, Lord. Holy Spirit reign. Break upon as a sign of your love holy spirit fire and soul as a call as a call as a call on your as a call on your name yeshua the call. Oh, how about we thank you. We thank you. You are good and everything you do is good. Everything you allow to filter down to us is good.

It's for our good, our benefit, for your glory, for your kingdom's sake. Would you give us your eyes to see, Father? Your heart for the nations. Would you take us outside of our box, Father? You are so worthy, Father. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We just bless your name this morning. We just delight in you. We thank you for this time, for this set-apart time, outside of time and space, outside of the chaos and the current of the world, that you just say, come away with me. Come away with me, my bride. We thank you, Father. We bless you. It's in your name, Yeshua, we pray. You continue to do your work, Ruach.

We're listening. We're here for you. In Yeshua's name I pray.

Prayer Over the Children

I would like to invite the children and four capable men to come to the front for prayer. Four capable men and all the children. All right. I get the privilege today. I was just thinking about what Christy said about the wilderness. One of the things that the Holy Spirit mentioned to me is in the wilderness or in the desert, are there distractions? Life can give us a lot of distractions. So embrace if you are in that wilderness or in that desert place, because there are no distractions. And we have to be reliant on him, to provide. He provided for his children. He'll always provide for us. So just think of it as a good place.

And you'll eventually get out of it. Again, I had the privilege of blessing the children today. We thank you, Father, for them. I thank you for the boys first, or the young men. Do we have youth out there? Can they come up? The youth, I don't see any youth. Come on, yeah, there we go. All right. Thank you, Lord. I thank you for the boys and the youth, Father, that you bless them just as you blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. Just as the patriarchs of our faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I thank you for them, Father, that they are being trained up the way they should go, that when they get older, they will not depart from it.

Father, I thank you that you give them ears to hear today what the Spirit is saying. In their classes, Father, I thank you. I thank you for the teachers that will be in their class today. Thank you for Tim and Noah and Audra. I thank you, Father, that you give them unctions, not only what they're to say today, but maybe just a little something that you give to them as far as right now, right time, right place. Thank you, Father, for that.

And for the girls, Father, just as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, patriarchs of our faith, I thank you, Father. Sarah's tent was always open. I thank you for the hospitality that they'll be learning as they grow older, Father. That they'll invite the people in. They'll be good witnesses to those people, Father. And I thank you again that when we train them up, the girls will be like the boys. They will not depart from it. Father, again, I thank you for the ears to hear what the teachers will tell them today, Father. Thank you for it in Yeshua's name. And everyone said,

Community and Family Focus

When I first visited, what I noticed was the focus on the family and also the focus on community. Not just a building, but a community of believers who have a focus on the Father. Amen. What impressed my wife and me about it was the prayer over the children before they were separated into their own classes, but then also how it varies for age group because we have a daughter who's three, one who's six, but then also you have a class for the teenagers, which my six-year-old isn't there yet, but she is soon to be there. So I think it's great the way it's geared toward their age group and then how they come away with the crafts and everything that they did that pertains to the subject that they're going over at that time.

I like the soundness and the doctrine. I love the fact that it seems to be research-based doctrine where there's historical points brought up. There's secular information that helps to confirm the scripture and the lesson that we're going over for that day. And that's really imperative because to me, the fellowship should be about the word. It should be about community, but the learning aspect of it is very fulfilling for me. I do have a mainstream Christian background. On my side of the family was Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Baptist growing up. And my wife, Rebecca, she grew up in a Catholic home.

I feel like it would be an easier transition simply because of the love and the fellowship that the members of Foundry 2 have to others. Because sometimes you can go into some of the Great Roots movements, it can be a little bit uncomfortable. Whereas this, someone can come in and what is taught in a way that is palatable and acceptable. Very important. Tradition does not trump the word and that is very important because sometimes it's like in the class today. Sometimes we can get caught up in the traditions and we can forget about what the word plainly tells us. Set of regulations that are applied to it. And so when we come into the kingdom of God, Philippians tells us that our citizenship is not necessarily in a kingdom on this earth, but it is a citizenship that is in heaven, God ordained.

The Radical, Upside-Down Kingdom

And so how should that change look when we enter into this alternative reality, this alternative kingdom where our king sits on a throne and it progresses and overthrows all principalities, all governments, all kingdoms throughout the world? Not through force, not through violence. That's how the pagans would overthrow governments. That's how the Romans did it. No, Yeshua had this radical message where he said, listen, the kingdom of God is going to overthrow even the Roman Empire. And you know how it's going to do it? All the zealots piped up, man, through my sword, bro, we're going to get this, through my spear, we're going to get them.

No, through love. What are you, some kind of a hippie? I mean, through love. What do you mean love? Through the love of God, we will extend Eden throughout all the earth. And we will free every captive. And those who think they are slaves will be freed. And those who believe that they are lower than anyone else will be raised up above all. And those who are high up will become servants. But that is how you become greater in the kingdom of God. You don't do it by being number one, by oppressing others, by putting others down. You become number one in the kingdom of God by serving, by serving. Wrapping yourself in a towel and scrubbing the dirt and mud and poop off someone's feet who've just been walking around Jerusalem with all them animals during Passover. The flipped upside down kingdom of God is something that was so radical it can't help but to be noticed just for its boldness to say we will subvert the empires of this world in a way that will be unlike anything the world has ever seen.

A Kingdom That Lasts

And yet, everyone mocked it. Everyone said there's no way—Nero, 'I want my gardens lit up tonight. Go find one of those Christians, coat them in oil and light them up like a candle so I can see the Inquisition's through all the persecution.' There's no way this faith, this kingdom of God will last. And yet here we are, 2,000 years later. Over a third of the earth claims to be part of this kingdom. And now, whether those numbers are accurate to the ones who are really part of the kingdom or just say they're part of the kingdom, it's irrelevant to me because the kingdom's message has been heard, whether it's been accepted or not. And that fascinates me.

Living as Kingdom Citizens in a Consumerist World

And so this whole series was about application. It was about in this western world that we live in, filled with greed and consumerism and selfishness—how is our lifestyle supposed to reflect that we're part of a different kingdom, that we're part of a kingdom that's supposed to subvert the very culture that's around us. If you will, overthrow it, push it down, but not in the way that the world would expect. In the late 1940s, there was an author, you may know him, George Orwell. He wrote a book, a fictional book called 1984. Anybody ever read it? Fascinating little book, right? Orwell's dystopian novel describes a future world where the all-seeing government—big brother —bans books, suppresses original thought, and regulates all activities in someone's life.

I mean, they're everywhere. You can't walk down the street without a video camera taping you. They're tracking your every move. They're looking at you. They're watching you. What are you doing? And for several decades, as communism was a big threat in the East, many people thought that this was going to be the totalitarianistic regime. This dictatorship was going to rule the world, and this Big Brother was going to become a reality here in the West.

A Different Kind of Dystopia

And it's fascinating because once communism crumbled, it didn't take long for many people to kind of walk away from the idea that this book may have been telling some type of futuristic reality that may come true. It was no longer a big threat. But there was another author that wrote a book in 1932, Aldous Huxley, and the name of his book was Brave New World. Anybody ever heard of that? It's a fascinating book, and when I was coming back from Dallas, I was looking at it, and I was like, I want to read something on the airplane. And so I was looking at my phone on the airplane. They're like, come on, please shut off your devices in airplane mode.

And I'm like, mm-hmm, find this book, gotta find this book. Kindle edition, gotta do this. And you can't buy a Kindle book online on the Amazon app on a phone for some reason that is beyond me. We're fixing to take off and I'm like, challenge accepted. We got to figure this out. And so you have to go to the web. Anyway, I got the book, right? And then I got it in my Kindle and I'm downloading and we're off the ground. And who knows what kind of controls are going off in the front, in the pilots. I mean, there's all kinds of distractions because my phone's turned on. Oh, come on, download, download, download.

Four bars at LTE, three bars at 4G, two bars, one bar, download complete. Bloop, no signal. Yes. So I started reading this book. I was not prepared for what was published in the 1930s in this novel. It has been one of the most disturbing books I've possibly ever read. And the gist of Huxley's vision of the future stands in stark contrast to Orwell's in that in the brave new world, the danger is not in books. The danger is not that the government would come and ban books or that people would not be controlled and regulated, even though that does happen. The issue is basically the world that Huxley paints, where there is so much entertainment that is forced on the people.

With Orwell's book, the government uses technology to suppress the people. And Huxley's book is kind of the opposite. The technology that oppresses the people is something that the people love so much that they don't mind it.

The Dangers of Entertainment

And many aspects of Huxley's book actually is frighteningly similar to where we are in American culture today. They have genetic mutations that are common day to day. Not just in the food, they actually do it with people now. Growing people in tubes. And it's fascinating because wherever the government thinks that you should work in your life, you're going to be a... The only thing that you're going to be doing is hitting this one little button in this factory, all industrial. And so what we're going to do is make sure that you don't have a straying thought that you're better than where the government wants you to be.

We're gonna intentionally put alcohol in your test tube or deprive it from oxygen while you're being grown, so your brain gets weaker. Give you just enough intelligence so that you can do this one job. And for the alpha group, they're going to be the engineers, we're going to soup them up and make them smart. And it's just fascinating how the government is trying to control everything. If you're walking along the street, the government funds all-access pharmaceuticals for whatever you want. You need an upper, you need a downer. Feeling great today? Here's a smile pill. I'm just too jittery. Here's a calm down pill.

Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. It's fascinating. It's fascinating because we live in a world of constant entertainment and that's exactly what everybody in the book, at least the alphas, were seeking. They can't wait to go travel. It's a world where sexual promiscuity... That's not even the scope of the book. I can't even explain what's going on in the book. Children are taught that sexuality is a part of playtime in the book. So that when they're older, they won't have these reservations; it's more than just being promiscuous. It's something, I can't even explain it. It's so casual that why would you ever have a home and a wife and a child, right? When you can just have fun.

Bearers of God's Kingdom

And so I want to take a look at that today and I want to talk about the idea of being entertained as a believer. Okay. As image bearers of God through Yeshua, we carry the banner of God's kingdom. Do you guys realize that? It's a big, big, big responsibility. That's why you're called an emissary or an ambassador. And God's kingdom, which emulates God on earth—that's our mission to spread. And I was talking to someone at Revive even, they were trying to explain to me some type of extremely complicated scope of what the kingdom of heaven was because it's not what everyone thinks. And the kingdom of heaven is far different than anything else that anyone thinks.

And I'm looking at him and I'm like, do you really think that God is going to give us like a science project, rocket science test for us to figure out what the kingdom of heaven is? The kingdom of heaven is the same thing as the kingdom of God. And what is the kingdom of God? It's a kingdom where God is king. I mean, that's what it is. That's what Yeshua established on earth with his Lord's Prayer. I say this a lot because I love it. In the Lord's Prayer, our Father who art in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come. From where? From his domain. Your kingdom come, your will be done. Okay, where?

What? On earth as it is in heaven. Your domain, may heaven kiss earth and your government reign. Your kingship reign on earth. And that's our job as image bearers, is to walk that out and portray that to the world. We emulate his love, we emulate his mercy, we emulate his compassion. Well, in the first chapters of Genesis, we see another example that I believe we're meant to follow, and that's the aspect of working and resting. Pretty common sense. The beginning of scriptures describes God's how he worked earnestly to create the world, not really just for himself, he created it for man. He gave man dominion over it to reign and rule with the authority that God had given.

And he works and he works and he works, and then he comes to the end and he does what? This is easy stuff. He does what? He rests.

The Divine Rhythm of Working and Resting

This divine rhythm of working and resting kind of climaxes, if you will, in the commandment to keep the Sabbath. It's the ultimate blessing. Righteously working and righteously resting are two things that God ordained from the beginning that we should do. According to Scripture, rest and leisure are gifts from God. I expected some people to say amen, but okay. Rest and leisure. How many of you guys like to rest? How many of you guys like leisure activities? Those hobbies. Those things you do when you're not working. TV, video games, movies, sports. Those things. It's fascinating because since leisure is a gift from God, then it's basically a time for you to do these other things that you want.

It's a gift from God. That time that you get to play video games, that's kind of weird, right? It's a gift from God. You'll gain that time as a gift for you. Sit down and watch a movie with your family, read a book with your kids, gift from God, leisure, But it's fascinating because just like in Huxley's book, and like so many other gifts from God, leisure can easily take the place of God. And that's what I'm going to be speaking about today. And it sounds like such a simple topic, man, this is very basic. Leisure? Why are you talking about leisure? Let's talk about some Hebrew gematria or some junk like that.

Let's get in deep and talk about something that what really matters. Leisure.

Rest and Leisure Are Gifts from God

Especially in our culture, that's filled with the idea that the pursuit of happiness is based on money and greed and consumerism. It doesn't take long for the gifts from God to become our idols. We all work hard, I assume. It's tough sometimes. Your job's tough. It's stressful. Time away from your family. Put a lot of energy and time in there. And it's really nice when you get a break. Now, I know some people that work seven days a week. They get a break maybe once a month, a little weekend off or something like that. Whoo! It's nice. Some of us get a Sunday off or Saturday, a whole weekend, if we're blessed to have a job that actually respects the weekend off. Maybe some of us get a couple weekdays off, so on and so forth.

When Leisure Becomes Our Focus

It's nice to get a break. It's nice to go home and just kind of binge watch Netflix. I'll be honest. Man, binge watching Netflix is dangerous. That's worse than drugs, man. I know somebody sat down and he was only off for a day and he came to me the next day. I'm like, hey man, how was your day off? He's like, man, I watched Lost. Lost. And I'm like, oh yeah? I mean, I heard it was a really decent show. It was a long time, real popular. How long did you get? I watched all of it. It was like eight seasons or something like that. You only had 24 hours? Dangerous.

Some of us play video games. Any gamers? Any gamers? A couple people? A few people? I play games every once in a while. I like it. Some of us watch mind-numbing cable all day long before we have to equip ourselves with the courage and the motivation to go to bed knowing we're going to get up and go back to work the next day. When leisure becomes our focus for living, it stops being our friend. This is the point of the message today. When leisure becomes our focus for working, it stops being our friend. It stops being a blessing. It stops being a gift from God. Instead, it's given the authority to become our taskmaster.

The Caesar of Leisure

We literally enslave ourselves to leisure if that's what we're pursuing and putting all of our time and energy in. We talk about the different Caesars that we're supposed to be subverting, the Caesar of leisure. Colossians 3, 17 says something incredible. It's a verse that's talked about in church all the time. We learn this verse in Sunday school. And everything that you do, you do for Christ, right? And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord or Kirios, Jesus, Yeshua, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. So in every single thing that we do, we do in the name of the Lord or Kirios, Yeshua. It's fascinating. Why would you do it in the name of? What does that have to do? You go into work, Brad, I know you put in floors, you swing hammers, in the name of Yeshua! In the name of Yeshua! I mean, what does that mean?

Everything in the Name of the Lord

Some of those fixed computers for a living? In the name of Yeshua! I mean, what does that mean? We're in ancient cultures, doing something in the name of someone else was holding their honor as collateral for whatever the situation was. That makes sense. If you go and you say, hey, I state, I assert with the power of the name of so-and-so, you're basically aligning yourself, associating yourself with someone, and you're pulling their name in and saying, yeah, this is truth, and in the name of so-and-so, I back this up in Jewish literature. It's fascinating because a lot of times you'll see rabbis say, oh, in the name of so-and-so, I declare this, or the name of so-and-so said this, or so on and so forth.

And it's a way for them to cite certain beliefs or certain arguments, if you will. Judaism is the only religion I know that canonized their arguments. And so they say, I say in the name of so-and-so, where you're citing a source, but not only that, you're bringing the honor. In the name of this great rabbi, which automatically makes whatever you're fixing to say, should give it weight. Everything you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of Kiryas Yeshua.

Honoring and Representing God's Name

I find that fascinating because what that means is everything that you do in word or deed, you represent. You bring to the table. You hold out. I talked about honoring the name of God. Do not take the Lord's name in vain. And how a lot of people are like, oh, that has to do with how you say it. That's like how you pronounce it brings it honor or whatnot. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, that may very well be true. Taking someone's name in vain would be making an oath in the name of a deity or a patron and then breaking the oath. And remember how you had their name as collateral? Anyone ever co-signed on something for the teenager or whatnot for a loan? Poor thing. You know how that ends. When they don't pay their bill, it's your name that gets dishonored. And so when we walk as believers, we wear the jersey of the king. I'm not quoting a Mattis Yahoo song, but we wear the jersey of the king. And everything that we do in word or deed, everything that we act, everything that we put our hands to, is either going to lift up and honor the name of the Lord or not.

We Wear the Jersey of the King

And so it's fascinating because we're a follower of the Son of God. We're a follower of the king, the king who was crowned on that one evening and who was raised from the dead three days later. The King Yeshua. That's what Christ means. That's what Messiah means, the anointed King. And everything we do, we do in His name. And I find it fascinating because this really led me on a rabbit trail. And I feel like this is important because John 14, 13 says, Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. And so basically, this is like, almost seems like a magical incantation. You just say the name of Yeshua and poof, He's going to do something. Well, that's not exactly correct at all, but... I find it fascinating because if you represent Yeshua, it does what? What's the purpose? Why is he trying to get you to do this? Because it brings glorification to the Father and the Son.

Asking in Jesus's Name

I have another verse. He says something else. It's a little bit on the same lines. John 16, 23. In that day you were asked nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full. So here we have him talking about using my name, using my name, use my name, guys, so that you will have overabunding joy in your life. It will be overflowing. I want that Corvette in the name of Jesus. It didn't happen. Why didn't it happen? He said it was going to happen. Is there a context?

We know that it should bring glorification to the Father and that it's going to bring us joy. Now, joy to the world is something completely different to joy to a believer. Which brings us to 1 John, and the writer he's writing, he says something very interesting. He says, this is the confidence which we have before him, that if we ask anything, what's that word, what's that say? According to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which he has asked from him. Now, if we ask anything according to his will, we're petitioning God for things that are going to edify His kingdom on earth.

And if you read the context of this chapter, this verse is taken out many times; the context of the chapter is about people who walk away from the faith. They're about people—read a couple of verses later—it's about people he's lamenting about. Man, these people who walked away from the faith. I guess they were never part of us to begin with. If they walked away, obviously they were never a believer to begin with. I mean, it's almost like it's just the passion that John has. And he's saying this verse in the middle of this context. What's he saying? He's saying, guys, if you ask anything in times of trouble, when people are struggling, the people around you, the community around you, if you ask anything according to his will, it will be granted with confidence.

Working for His Glory

And so back to Colossians , whatever we do in word or deed, when we go to work, when we get home with the kids, still work. When we get to love on our wives a little bit, give them a hug—marriage, it's a little bit of work. Whatever we do, we do in the name of Yeshua. We carry his name into it. And that's very important because if we don't do that, then we're just like the world. We are robbed of joy, of the joy of working for the glory of God whenever our labor becomes the means to an end. So we're supposed to go to work. We're supposed to be content with our job. And we're supposed to do it as if unto the Lord.

But if the only reason we're going to work is to pursue that leisure that we get off—if I work, work, work, work, I have enough money to do this. If I work, work, work, work, I get these days off. If I work, work, work, work, I get to do this. We rob ourselves from the work of the kingdom, from the attitude that God is going to bless us with and enrich us with. We get distracted with our own will instead of his. If the only reason we go to work is to take that vacation every year, that's a problem. If the only reason that we go to work is to have that new technological gizmo, right? It's a problem.

The only reason we go to work is to go to those sports events, get those Super Bowl tickets so we can... Is that what you're focused on every single day when you go to work? The Caesar of leisure. Love how that rhymes. Blinds us to the danger of spending exorbitant amounts of time and energy on nonstop entertainment, just like in Huxley's book. It's amazing.

An Outsider's Question

You ever wonder what would happen if someone from an underdeveloped country came to the States? And I'm not talking about third world. Costa Rica—that's pretty developed. It's a very poor country. I'm talking about jungles where people are still carving logs into little figures and worshiping them and stuff like that. Can you imagine if you got one of these guys and brought them over to the U.S.? What would they say when they looked at us? Would they have questions about certain things we do? Would they say, hey, what's that rectangular box on the wall there that everyone spends so much time in worship and prayer to?

They give it all of their attention. It has the idols inside of it. What does that do? What does it do for you? Why do you spend so much time there? I mean, we just go and say a few prayers and throw some offerings and walk away. Why do you spend so much time in front of this thing, staring into oblivion? Investors had a meeting, and the CEO of TiVo, you guys know what TiVo is? TiVo was a wonderful thing that arrived 10, 15 years ago, maybe 20, and it was a box. It was a box that if you liked watching TV and you weren't home to watch TV, you could select the show that you were going to miss and it would record it on a little hard drive.

And so you could come back later and you could watch the show even though you missed it. And what was amazing about this thing is a little button called the fast-forward button. When those commercials came on, I felt special when you had this thing. And so it would have a catalog of shows that were going to be airing soon. And you could go and select all the shows that you would want to watch. And you would think this thing would be nice for one or two shows a week while you're at work. But who went crazy? I mean, Discovery Channel, record that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that. I want to record that whole season of this, that, this, that.

And it's a box that records TV so you can always have what you want to be entertained by at your hands, at your fingertips. And it was an amazing thing. And Michael Ramsey, CEO of TiVo, he spoke of the issue of storage anxiety and consumers who get anxiety because they record so much television programs on their TiVo and they're unable to find time to watch it. Anybody? Does that sound familiar to anybody? Yeah. What am I going to do? And so you sit there for an hour. It's just like Netflix. Same thing on Netflix. What do I watch? And you spend 40 minutes trying to pick out a show, and you're stressed out, and your marriage almost ends because of it, and it's just horrible.

It's a real thing. An investor by the name of Roger McNamee piped up, and he said this. He said, we just want to have a ton of stuff on some storage thing somewhere so that when the urge hits us, we can be entertained. Exactly what happened in Huxley's book. Whenever they wanted papa drug, whenever they wanted to go to vacations, whenever they wanted to always be entertained. This divine rhythm of work and rest is abolished at this point. We're only seeking one thing.

Before Endless Entertainment

I grew up with television. Who else grew up with television? And it was the standard of entertainment back in the 90s. We thought nothing of sitting in front of the TV for two or three hours, four hours in the summer months every day, right? Anybody? Anybody a TV kid? Yeah, you knew the schedule. Remember when they had the TV guide in the Sunday paper? And that was like the thing to do—get that sucker out and start circling. My mom would often get frustrated realizing I've been sitting there for two, three hours. She's busy. She's actually putting in effort at the home, keeping everything up. She was working.

She comes in, you're still sitting in front of that TV? Three, four hours, and she kicks me outside. Go outside. But all the same, it was entertainment. It was effortless entertainment. Before TV, families seemed to create their own entertainment. Yeah, I know, right? And whether it be gathering around the fireplace to tell stories or playing the piano and singing as a family. Families before television would do these kinds of things. Before television, anybody ever do stuff like that? Just kind of hang out on the front porch or by the fireplace or sing songs together? Man, that sounds boring and dull, right?

But imagine doing these types of things. Sitting with your family and reading a book together, listening to a radio show together, playing the piano and everybody singing a song together. Imagine doing these things right now and imagine you being joyful in it. Imagine yourself being happy and content with it. That must have been amazing before we had this effortless entertainment.

From Porches to Living Rooms

And of course the front porch used to be a place to hang out with neighbors, invite your neighbors over. Once the TV came along, notice how houses started getting built with smaller and smaller front porches, right? Bigger and bigger living rooms. You want a bigger couch now. You don't want a bigger front porch. It's fascinating. And instead of being outside with your neighbors, you would sit in front of the TV as a family. It was still a family event. You'd sit in front of the TV as a family and watch fake neighbors. But it was still a family event. As TV variety increased, so did the number of televisions in the home.

Everyone could watch something different now. Children would have Nickelodeon at the foot of their beds. Pre-teens would have the Disney Channel. Of course, nowadays, Disney Channel is no longer pre-teen appropriate. And for the teens, they had MTV, right? The Devil Station. Everybody had their own show. And the family began to separate. Even spouses would separate to go watch his show and her show. Bye, dear. I'll see you later. I'm going to watch my TV show. It seems like an incredible dream come true that everybody in the home can have exactly what they want and they're not subjected to coming together and being forced to watch something that they're not really interested in.

So it's an everybody-wins situation or an everybody-loses situation depending on how you look at it. When I was in Costa Rica almost two years ago, the beauty of the country and even the politics weren't the most fascinating thing. The most fascinating thing was the families there. I stayed with a family, Esteban and Gabby—a very modest, beautiful family. They had four kids, and they had a nice, modest home outside of San Jose. And it was fascinating because every morning when we would get up, I would walk in and Gabby was just cooking breakfast, cooking stuff. We're used to my wife cooking eggs and some beef bacon or maybe getting some instant oatmeal packets.

This woman is just cooking a feast every morning. I'm like, how do you find the time? She gets up early, and I'm like, so what's for breakfast? She's like, corn. I take a nibble of it, I eat the whole bowl because it's just awesome. And then she has these bananas—but they're not bananas, they're something different. Even though they look like bananas and they smell like bananas and they feel like bananas when you squeeze them, there's something different. She puts fried butter on them, and they're awesome. I mean, just this magnificent feast every morning. But that's not what really impressed me, even though I was very impressed by it.

I was impressed that all four kids would get up and come hang out with her, and the husband would get up and hang out with her too. Now, this kitchen wasn't huge—it's a small kitchen. And they had the living room right next door. The kids did play in the living room a little bit, but they didn't spend all their time in there. See, they could have been in the living room watching TV, and the dad could have been in the living room reading the newspaper, but mom was in the kitchen. She couldn't join us. So how do we fix this? We all get in the kitchen. I'm trying to wash dishes in my kitchen, and I feel like my kitchen is adequate enough for several people to stand in.

I admit that. But I'm trying to wash dishes, and Jenny's trying to cut something up next to me on the counter. You are in my way. Please leave while I finish washing the dishes. Then I will give the kitchen to you, and then you can have the kitchen. This place—this kitchen—was not big. Small. And to make things worse, you know where they stuck the kitchen table? They could have stuck it in the room next to them. No, they had a kitchen table in the kitchen where everyone sat and hung out as a family. It was the most fascinating, bizarre thing I've ever seen in my life. It shocked me. "Aren't they uncomfortable?" No, they wanted to be together as a family.

Costa Rica: A Different Way of Being Together

I got to engage new people every single night in Costa Rica. Puerto Vida, right? Yeah, all the Ticos are coming. We'd hang out every single night, laughing and carrying on, just being joyful and happy. And only a few of them spoke English, but that didn't stop us from having a good time and just hanging out all night long. In rush hour traffic in San José, we would stand still. And I began to get frustrated because, who likes to be in traffic? In America, this is where we fight. If we're going to get in a fist fight, it's going to be on the highway. But everyone was content in traffic. I didn't see anybody angry or cursing or throwing their fists up or appendages on their hand. Nothing. I even looked over at one guy standing still, waved at him socially, and as if commanded, he waved back. People are just so content to be with their people, even if they're stuck in traffic with each other. Fascinating. Where have we come from and where have we gone?

Entertainment and Togetherness

They had a TV—Gabby and Stavon's. It was in the guest room, my room, where my bed was. Kids would be watching, maybe an hour or two of TV at night, and they had Fast and Furious, or reruns of Fast and Furious. I'm going in there, and I'm not going to push them out of their own room, but it's time for me to go to bed. I put my pajamas on in the corner, watching TV. My bed is here, the couch is here next to my bed, and the TV's there next to my bed. Four kids just hanging out, talking to me a little bit. "Huh, yeah, oh yeah, that's cool. America, yeah, States, we got this." Staven comes in, sits down on the couch with them. It's just a block party in my room. If I'd asked them to give me some privacy, they would have, but that wasn't what they're accustomed to. They're accustomed to being together. Get in the bed, we'll all hang out together.

The Leisure Question

Mind-numbing entertainment for hours and hours every day. When you sit down... and this is the point, and this is what's controversial about this message because it's a hard thing to try to consider, even to put forth the effort to change. When you sit down without any intention of what you're going to use your leisure time for— the gift that God has given you—it seems ungrateful. When you sit down to watch cable TV and you spend five minutes watching the preview channel—you know what I'm talking about, the one that scrolls up and then you get distracted, you miss the channel, and you have to re-watch the whole scrolly thing all over again. What are you doing? You just want to watch TV. You don't—obviously, you don't have anything you want to watch. You're just looking for something to be mind-numbing entertainment. When we spend hours and hours and hours, when we make leisure the priority of our life, guys, we literally hand over the time that God gave you to an idol.

The Audit: What Do You Serve?

I love video games. I do, I do like to game from time to time. I admit it, and I have a passion for games. But I'm not going to game for eight hours in a day. Do I want to? Yes. But I'm not going to. I won't game if my wife or my son needs me for something. I will not game if I have things to do. It's not gonna happen. I only game a few times during the week, real short sessions. That's the audit that has to take place. I'm not going to put my leisure before my work. "Matt, you're off work by the end of the night." No, I'm still a husband and I'm still a father. I'm still working. I still have righteous work to do that's God-ordained.

The Help That's Required

I bug my wife to death. "Jenny, you need anything else?" Nine o'clock at night. She's like, No, I'm good. I'm like, Are you sure? I'll follow her around the house. "What is your task list for the evening? What can I help you with?" She's like, "Matt, I got everything. I'm just going to go read a book." But I see she doesn't go read a book. She goes back in the kitchen and does something. "What can I help you do? We need some dishes? Come on, scrub it up. Let me help you." I have to make sure that my wife is done with everything she needs to do, or done with the things that she might need my help with, before I go upstairs and try to... pew pew, play a little stupid game, watch a movie.

If I don't do that—and this is a hard one, it's a work in progress. I am a work in progress. If I neglect my job as a husband and a father, and if I don't have permission from my son and my wife to go engage in leisure, then I have now placed myself—my leisure—on top of my job for them. Anybody ever play video games at work? Don't raise your hand. I've gotten away with it before, a long time ago. But what would happen if you got caught? You would have a talking to. Why? What's so wrong about that? "I'm just doing what I want to do. I'm playing video games while I work." Because your video games, your leisure, does not come before your job when you have things to do.

Husbands, do not sit down in front of that TV if your wife is still doing things around the house. If you can help her, you need to be helping her. Wives, Netflix is a dangerous thing. Good gracious. Do not start that show if your husband is still working with the kids. "Oh, but he has it." I know he has it. You were made to be a helpmate, and so was he. Make sure that they have the things that they need to get done, finished, before you put your leisure as your main priority. "Well, they said they didn't want my help." You better make sure they give you permission to go watch that TV show. Men, if you ask your wife, "Hey babe, do you need help with anything?

I see that you're pretty busy," and she says, "No dear, I'm good. Go ahead," it's a trap. I have that General Akbar or whatever from Star Wars—he just replays in my mind all that. It's a trap. Guys, do not fall for the trap. I don't understand the mind of a woman—why they say these things. They want to be compassionate. They want you to have a good time. They want you to be blessed. They want you to have leisure. Do not allow them to enable you to put your leisure before them.

What Do You Offer on the Altar? The question, the audit that should take place based on your time and intention: What do you serve with your time, your intentions, and your energy? What do you sacrifice to? What do you offer up on the altar? Who or what do you serve? In the Roman Empire, the rulers knew that they could stay in power if they controlled two things: if they pacified the populace with enough food and with enough entertainment. Juvenal, the ancient satirist, called the Roman policy "bread and circus." If you gave bread to everybody and you had a circus going on, you could control everybody.

It kept bellies full and minds entertained. This is how the Caesars kept their power—through entertainment and government-sponsored food distribution. But Matt, sports are pagan. Anybody ever heard that? Anybody? Just me? Matt, sports are pagan. I had someone trying to convince me that basketball was of Satan and pagan worship because basketball, because it rhymes with Baal, and Baal was a false god, so basketball. And it took me a few minutes to determine whether he was serious or not. That's how basketball... Bale is not a formal name. It's a title that became a formal name. That's regardless of what?

Basket Bale, okay. Well, the Olympics were offered to the Greek gods and their pagan traditions. Fascinating to think that modern-day Olympics are somehow serving the mythological cults that have been dead for thousands of years. And in reality, their traditions have been taken from these ancient cults that were pagan, that celebrate competition in sports that bring multiple cultures and multiple kingdoms together. And I find something edifying just about that. Competition cannot divide but actually bring people together.

Sports—they're still pagan. Competition is pagan. That's funny, because in Paul's letters, he uses sports and athletic metaphors multiple times to define how we're supposed to be engaging in the gospel of the kingdom of God. Now, I'm not saying that sports can't be an idol. Basketball for sure, right? But let's take a look at what Paul says.

Paul's Athletic Metaphors

I didn't divide them up. That's okay. 2 Timothy 2:5: "In the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules, right?" You've got to compete. You've got to fit within the standards and you've got to work. 1 Timothy 4:7: "Having nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales. Train yourself." Training is important in godliness. "For while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." It's basically asserting that as you would normally train physically to be an athlete or work out or get strong, that's the effort you should be putting into your spiritual life.

1 Corinthians : "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Now you run, just like they do, in such a way that you may win." Competing in the gospel. You guys didn't realize that? It's a different prize at the end, though. There's a different way. There's different rules of competing. Yeshua defined those kinds of things that evening when he started washing the feet of his disciples. He said, "You guys want to be first?" Hebrews 12:1... Christians also saw how the obsession for such entertainment led to forms of idolatry in the early 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries.

Tertullian's Warning Against Spectacles

I have a quote here. Tertullian. You guys know what Tertullian is? He was a church father. He wrote a lot of valuable letters that we can look at and see how the early church was forming in the late second century, early third century. Of course, we don't agree with everything that church fathers wrote, but it gives us insight. It's like a time machine. We can go back and see what politics were causing them to view different things differently. Here's what he says in "Spectacles," chapter 28: "In it, they rejoiced and they find their diversion in it. They even glory in it. But you, why do I find you sighing for goalposts or the stage or dust or the arena?

Why are you emotional about these things? I wish you would say plainly, we cannot live without pleasure, whereas we ought to die with pleasure. For what other prayer have we but that of the apostle to leave this world and find our place with the Lord? Our pleasure is where our prayer is." Now, I don't agree with a lot of stuff this guy says, but good gracious, ouch. Are you so focused on the goalpost or the stage or the arenas that you have made it your mission in life to pursue these desires as your number one priority? Not that sports is bad. You watch a game, it's fun. Football, yeah, look at them hit each other.

A big ball chasing around. Golf, fascinating. A ball chasing around this huge thing. But when those things become the object, the apple of your eye, guys, they become an idol.

Leisure as a Gift from God

The reason why you live your life is the reason why you go to work, the reason why you do all the things for your wife, the reason why you do all the things for your kids, you put them to bed early so you can play video games. The reason why you're doing these things is so you can have a selfish venture of leisure. Ought not the early believers subvert leisure as they imitated Messiah, the Son of God, who lived according to His Father's timetable, right? Yeshua did not come to be pampered or served by the luxuries of this world, but to fulfill the kingdom mission. And if we're supposed to be pursuing that example, that should really shift our mindset.

This is a hard thing to do and implement. He also instructed his followers to "seek ye first the kingdom of God." Early believers understood that a life of perpetual leisure competes with a life that is on a mission for God. The believer's life is not grounded in leisure. It's grounded in the cross. So is leisure bad? No, of course not. It's a gift from God, remember? But we have to be intentional with this gift, just like we would be intentional with any other gift God gave you. Jeez, goodness gracious, I don't know. Let's say God gave you a pot to cook in. It came to my head. And this is a divine pot from heaven.

I mean, it's just like—it's nice. It's not even ceramic. It has some gold, heavenly metallic stuff. Nonstick. I mean, it's wonderful. Would you dare pull this thing out for a midnight snack to pop some popcorn in or throw some macaroni and cheese in it? Or would you only use this gift with intention? Maybe for Shabbat only, or feast days only, or just some time. Only. Would you really use it so casually? Throw it around, throw it in the dishwasher? I mean, how would you treat these things differently, these gifts from God? The same thing goes with your leisure.

Being Intentional with Our Free Time

If you're just going to turn on the TV for 10 minutes and watch the preview channel, you're probably not spending your leisure time intentionally. Jenny and I have never had cable since we've been married. It shocked our friends. "What do you do?" "Never had cable." We watch movies and TV shows. Don't get me wrong, but it's a planned out thing. We don't say, "Hey, let's just go sit on the couch." No, we go Redbox, rent something. We know what we're going to do with this time of movie watching. We already got the movie, right? Amazon, you can rent movies, download them. TV shows, Netflix—we know we're going to watch this TV show.

It's intentional. It's intentional. Are you really saying that it's a gift from God for you to watch an episode of Friends with your wife or whatnot? Yeah. If we're making that about this gift and showing gratitude to God, I am thankful for this time, absolutely. When I play video games, it's great. But when I sit down, I know when I'm going to stop playing. It might be one hour, two, you know, Jenny's away, two and a half. Or you can cheat the system and just be like, "Just two rounds," however long a round is. Whatever. Whatever. You're intentional with what you're putting into it. It's not "I'm just going to do this until whatever."

You're putting value to this gift that God has given to you now. Does this make sense at all? This makes the time valuable by being intentional about the gift that God has given to you. You subvert society's expectations of leisure and you keep focus on God. Your free time should never occupy the vocation and service towards the people that God has placed in your life. If it does, it's idolatry. This is blunt, and it's a hard one to struggle with, I promise. Every day, auditing. Like I said, men, don't play those games if your wife still needs your help with something. Women, if your husband, your kids still need something, your job's not done for the day.

You're still working. You haven't gotten the time of leisure yet.

The Subversive Nature of Following Jesus

Following Yeshua is the most subversive thing that you can do towards the culture and society around us. And that was the basis of this entire series. Things such as "Don't hate your enemy." That's a tough one. You want to be real? Let's be real. I'm going to make a lot of people mad. How many of you guys hated someone on 9-11? He did not just say that. We hated people. I'm a 14-year-old running around. "Let's nuke them." Yeah, man, I have no idea what's going on. How many of you people see things on the news and media? Hate people. Hate.

The Radical Command to Love Your Enemies

Yeshua says something so difficult to wrap our minds around. Love your neighbor. Pray for your enemy. Love your enemy. Pray for your enemy. Pray for him. Pray they get a bomb dropped on their face and we feel gracious. Radical. What if you had a sign on September 12th walking through the city, "Let's pray for our enemies," through the city. How do you think that would have gone down? You probably would have been put down because the world cannot accept this —no, we are supposed to hate. We're not supposed to pray. Guys, it's so hard to even wrap our minds around it. What's the scope? I mean, there's got to be a clause where Yeshua...

I mean, he has to understand what we can hate at some point. Man, pray for your enemies. Whenever you pray, you typically petition God for blessings, right? Bless them? You want them to be blessed? That's so difficult. Forgive the worst offenses. I don't know if I can do that, man. You're right. Can you imagine if someone beat you up, right? Beat your family up, arrested your family, came into your house, and they wanted to mock you a little bit before they took you to jail, so they ripped your clothes off, right? You're naked. Anyone ever been naked in public? Good. That's a good thing. Been locked out of a hotel room.

Anybody ever walked out of their hotel room and the door locks behind them and you don't have a key and you don't have a shirt on or something? Okay. It's embarrassing. Your shame. Imagine them taking you out in your front yard in front of your wife and kids and they're kicking you and they're stripping you naked and they're making fun of you and they're spitting on you. And then they get a big old stick and they're just beating you, man. They're beating you in front of your children, in front of your friends, in front of your mother, in front of your family. Would you be saying something bad to them?

Something? The same thing happened to Yeshua except for he was beaten, he was whipped, nailed to a cross, left there to hang. And instead of hating, he prayed for the people doing this to him. And he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what to do. I love them. Father, forgive them. That's a pretty big blessing on their lives. Take the judgment away from them. They don't know what they're doing, Father. They haven't seen your love yet. They will, though.

He Prayed for Them

That's radical. That's how the Roman Empire got destroyed by a faith that refused to pick up arms. I can't imagine living through what the believers lived through when Nero was in power. I cannot imagine. A kingdom that says love no matter what, serve no matter what, but they're sinners, just like you were. Show them what God's kingdom looks like. You do this through your behavior. You do this in word and deed in the name of Yeshua. After a long intricate presentation in a QA session with N.T. Wright, a scholar I look up to, I don't agree with everything he says, but I find wisdom in some of the things he says as he approaches the gospel.

And one of the people in the audience asked him a QA question, and they said, hey, Professor Wright, you're stuck in a coffee shop and you only have five minutes to tell someone about the gospel. How do you do it? Could you guys do it? I mean, good gracious. Talking about the gospel. Oh, in the beginning, God loved me. Five minutes, that's all you got. How would you do it, Professor Wright? And he looks, and he says something so radical that you almost want to disagree with and object. And he says, oh, well, I don't know. I guess I'd buy him a cup of coffee. If you don't have time to tell it, then show it.

Spend your money on someone else? Who would do that? Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

Show It Rather Than Tell It

Now we know paying for someone's coffee is not the full detailed message of the gospel and the kingdom of God on earth and so on and so forth, but I find it interesting that we do have the ability to show the gospel. It's not just about saying words, it's about showing the gospel, it's about showing the love of God, it's about showing the servitude of God, it's about showing the kingdom of God. What is stopping us from at least doing that? A subversive life is one that proclaims Yeshua, king over all aspects of it. That's why the Roman Empire saw Christianity as such a threat. They just couldn't wrap their head around them proclaiming this guy the curious, this guy the Lord, this guy the King, loving like they did, saying no to the priorities of the Roman Empire, saying that they crucified their King and God rose Him from the dead and now we live in that promise.

We've been baptized, we've died with Him and we will resurrect with Him. That's the most threatening thing that we can proclaim to the world around us. Not just by our words, but by our deeds. Are we doing that? Or are we letting the world control us just like Huxley's book and thinking that we're in control? Thinking that we're successful, we work hard, I deserve this, I am the grantor of my own blessings. That's not true. That is a lie.

The Most Threatening Thing

And so I leave you with that this week, concluding this series. And I hope that at least some of it will cause you to think next time you sit down in front of the TV, next time you sit down in front of that video game, is this a time of leisure that has been given to me or is this something that I'm taking? Amen? Amen. Please stand. We're going to go ahead and pray. We're going to sing the Shema, and then we have some very special announcements to make as well. Alvina Malkinu, our Father, our King. Father, we thank you for the ability to fellowship. We thank you that you have given to us this fellowship.

We thank you for this family. And Father, we thank you for your Son, that you would love us so much that you sent your Son. Father, may we never neglect or take for granted the things and the gifts that you've given to us in this renewed life, this new creation that we live in, in your kingdom. But may we take up the banner of your kingdom. May we march forward in the world that is in darkness and be the light because of you. Never allow us to forget our vocations that you've given to us. And Father, we thank you for the gift of rest and leisure. Allow us to show gratitude in the intention that we engage in such things.

In Yeshua's name we pray. Amen.

In Yeshua's Name We Pray

Please join us as we sing Mishma. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Blessed be His glorious name, whose kingdom was, is, and always will stand forever and ever. Amen. Shalom everybody. We hope you enjoyed the message today at Founded in Truth Fellowship. And if you were encouraged by anything that you heard, if you have a praise report or something that edified you, the staff at Founded in Truth would love to hear about it. Please shoot us an email at info@foundedintruth.com. And in the subject line, go ahead and type in Amen. It's very encouraging to see what God is using the ministry for to impact the world around us. And so we would love to hear about your testimonies regarding how this ministry has impacted you. If you'd like to support this ministry and partner with us, you can do so at findingthetruth.com/give.

Ways to Get Involved

We thank you for your support, your prayers, your time, your energy, and financial support as well. This is what keeps us going. This is how we're able to continue with our services. And so we thank you for joining us today and we pray it was a blessing. Shabbat Shalom.

For more on this and other teachings, please visit us at: