Going Deeper With God - The Cost

Ready to leave the shore? We dive straight into what it actually takes to go deeper with God, moving from comfortable routines to a surrendered life that carries weight. I share a simple starting rhythm—five minutes of prayer, five of Scripture, five of praise—to build spiritual muscle memory, then challenge you not to mistake the starting line for the finish. Using marriage as a living picture of loyal love, we explore why real relationship always costs something and how love reorders our plans, priorities, and pride.

We open Scripture without flinching. Luke 14 asks us to count the cost before we pick up the cross. Malachi 1 confronts our leftovers and calls for honest sacrifice. Romans 12 reframes worship as a life on the altar, and 1 Samuel 15 reminds us that obedience beats performance every time. I talk about “lamplight faith”—how God often shows only the next step—and why depth comes from a steady yes in the quiet more than a loud moment on stage. Along the way, we clear up a common confusion: nothing can separate us from God’s love, but love received still calls for a life transformed. Fruit reveals the root.

We also address the tension that real discipleship creates. Jesus said truth would divide, and following Him may cost comfort, approval, and even relationships. I call out “Cool Whip Christianity”—faith that looks full but weighs nothing—and invite you to carry substance instead of fluff. Hot-button cultural debates are reframed as biblical convictions, but the goal isn’t outrage; it’s responsibility. Every believer is a minister of the gospel. That means awkward, loving conversations, persistent mercy toward our critics, and a daily choice to live a holy, set-apart life that points to Christ.

If you’re tired of surface-level faith and ready for depth, hit play, take the next step, and then tell me: what costly yes is God placing in front of you today? Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Chapters

• 0:00 New Year Focus: Go Deeper
• 1:21 From Shore To Depth: Survival Analogy
• 3:00 Beyond Checklist Faith: 5-5-5 Challenge
• 5:10 Marriage As A Model For Pursuit
• 7:20 Salvation’s Gift And Our Response
• 9:10 The Cost Of Commitment In Family Life
• 12:00 Discipleship Must Cost You Something
• 15:12 Count The Cost: Luke 14
• 17:25 Comfort Vs. Sacrifice In Church Culture
• 19:10 God Requires True Sacrifice: Malachi 1
• 21:05 Living Sacrifices: Romans 12
• 23:05 Obedience Over Performance: 1 Samuel 15
• 25:00 Walking By Lamplight Faith
• 27:12 God Rejects The Show: Amos 5
• 29:12 Holiness, Fruit, And Real Change
• 31:20 Judgment, Love, And Salvation Clarified
• 33:20 Fire And Division: Luke 12
• 35:20 Cool Whip Christianity Called Out
• 37:12 Culture Wars Framed As Biblical Issues
• 39:00 Every Believer Is A Minister
• 41:00 Hard Conversations And Costly Love

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

What is up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Faith and Failures. It's been a minute, took some time off. We're going to come out with some quality content. If you've been around for any amount of time, you know we dialed it back to once a month. I have some interviews coming up. I'm going to be releasing interviews of pastors, interviews of Christian artists. But I wanted to start off the new year and I wanted to talk about um going deeper with God. So what does it mean to go deeper with God? Well, if you do the very basic logical thing, whether you're at a lake or you are at the ocean at the beach, if you want to go deeper, if you want to go out where let's say, let's say you're out stranded on an island, you are by yourself, and you have to survive. Well, what does that mean? That means you better find some food. You have no grocery store, no sustenance, so you will have to find a way to get food. So eventually, if you want to survive beyond green leafy things, if that's even on the island, you will have to make your way into the ocean. You'll have to fashion a spear, uh, whatever. Maybe you crash with your boat, you got some fishing equipment, whatever the case may be. You have to go into the deep, you have to get deeper to get larger fish. Well, if we want to get deeper in uh with Christ, if we want to get deeper in our relationship with God, we have to stop staying on the shore and we have to get out into the depth where there is um more nutrition available to us as believers. So if you've been struggling, say 2025, you had a year and you're like, man, I kind of I kind of just glided through. God didn't uh call you to glide through and just kind of skate through barely in your Christianity. He desire, he desires for every person, every person who declares himself as a believer, who bears the name of Christ, he desires for us to actually act like we care. So if we were to apply our same walk with how we do anything else in life in relationships, we would be very, very lonely people. We would not have a good quality of life. So why would we do the same in our walk with God? If we desire to be closer, we want to know Him more. I use this as a reference. If you don't know, I'm a lead pastor of a church here in Longview, Texas. And one of the things when people ask me about studying the Bible or how can I make it to where it's not just like something I have to do to mark to check off my list of things to do during the day, which is very easy to get caught up in doing. It's a good place to start. I'll I'll say that. It's a great place to start. I have a challenge with my people, five, five, and five, the challenge of 15. Five minutes of prayer, five minutes of reading your word, five minutes of praising the Lord every single day. Now, these five minutes are not a finish place. Like it's not the finish line, but it is a starting line where you can get that um muscle memory down of studying the word, of picking up your Bible and reading it. Yes, a Bible app is a good way to start that and maybe complete a actual Bible study, but that is a child in Christ in the relationship. Um, that's that playground. If you want to go deeper with God, you have to love picking up his word. Well, how do you love something? You get to know it better. My wife and I have been married for coming up on 11 years, and I I loved her when we got married, but who she is and who she's becoming, and and the characteristics and the integrity and the character and how she is faithful to me, all those things stack up my loyalty in her direction. Because getting to know her better. I'm I'm sitting back and watching her become uh maybe someone more powerful and more intelligent, or, you know, all these things that are being revealed to me along the journey of our relationship, the same way with us in God, along the journey of our relationship, more and more of him should be revealed to us because we are pursuing him. The Bible clearly states over and over again that he initiated with mankind an audience, a relationship. And so it is our responsibility to reciprocate that, to do that back towards him. It's not just a one-way street where we receive things from God and we say, okay, cool, thank you. I really appreciate that. Um, now I'm not gonna go to hell. That's not the point. The the point of living a Christian life is not to not go to hell, it's not to um sidestep and get your fire insurance and not not face destruction. The whole point of coming to God is yes, there's a lot of benefits along the way, but companionship, just for an instance, let me be blunt for a second. Maybe in the beginning, let's just be real, when I first got with my wife, um, I'm like, I'm gonna get to have sex with her. I mean, if you ever are about to get married, guess what? That's one of the benefits, that intimacy. But if that's the reason you get married, you get you're you're getting into a relationship for the wrong reason. And so if you get into a relationship with God because you're scared, you're just trying to not go to hell, you're missing the whole point of being in relationship with God. You're missing out. And and let me say this very clearly sex can be intimacy, but intimacy is not just sex. So just because I I get to have sex with my wife, that is just a part of the intimacy. Not going to hell is just a part of the benefit of that relationship with God. Do you understand what I'm saying? If not, comment down below. I'm probably gonna get a lot of flack for saying sex on the internet, but that's okay. You can pretend like you don't know what it is. So let's go ahead and I want to talk about the cost um because uh a lot of churches, a lot of maybe a lot of pastors, a lot of motivational speakers. I don't know if we can even call them pastors, but they always talk about like the benefits of knowing God, of saying yes to Jesus, of making him the Lord of your life. And this is very important. It is paramount. He must be the Lord of your life. Um the purchase that Christ, the the cost that he paid was a purchase for your soul. But it is it was his design, but your responsibility to receive that gift, to say yes to that. He already paid it, and he's waiting for you to receive it. Now, there's there's two sides of the coin of salvation. There is the all all the good things and the benefits and this and that, and yes, I'm gonna get all these things, but we have to understand this, and it's the same. I'm using marriage a lot because it's it's you gotta understand the Bible calls us the bride of Christ, those who have said yes to Jesus, we are called the bride of Christ, which means marriage is a very uniquely designed layout of benefits, um, communication, relationship that we should be able to understand if you've ever been married. So when I got married, my marriage, even though it had tons of benefits, it still has benefits. It's full of benefits, but it comes at a cost. When I when we have children and we are doing what married people do, it comes at a cost. It is not just to have fun. Now, some people decide not to have kids, some people are um they just don't want to do that or they can't do that. And everything that you do in a marriage, it's no longer you, but it is about your spouse. You are laying down your life, you're laying aside your agenda. Um, for instance, I'll give you a real world example from my marriage. Um, when we uh a little over, I guess almost three years ago now, we started talking about having kids. And she worked a full-time job, she had she had a career, and I asked her directly, and she's very by the number. She's very like, she's got to see proof in the pudding. And very logical, which I love that about her, because I'm more the illogical fly by the seat of my pants a lot of times, and she's more the a hold on that's calm down. Uh, she she's my anchor that brings me back down to earth, and I am the wind in her wings to help her fly a little bit. We compliment each other so well. That being said, when we started talking about having kids, and I think actually she may have already been pregnant, and I asked her, I said, you know, do you or would you ever, not that she had to, but would you ever want to stay home? And of course, her first answer was, we can't do that. And my response was, okay, so if you ever get an argument, or if you're ever trying to, you know, think five years ahead and and plan a little bit with your life, take money off the table, take you know, all the emotional stuff off the table, and just say if there, if if everything was perfect and you just could, would you? I said, so don't worry about money, don't worry about the logistics. Like, as a a future mother, would you want to stay home with the kids? That would mean giving up her job. I mean, she has a degree, she had a career, she was uh second in command um at a college in the um in the advising and stuff like that. She was, I mean, she had from from high school, she had worked her way through college and she was at a college in higher education, and it was something that she, you know, she used to be very passionate about. So for her to really think about putting that on pause or not doing it all together anymore, that was a big deal because she had spent her entire adult life working at this place, doing this job, working towards what she had achieved. And after she thought about it, she we, you know, had the conversation again. We were about to have the kid, and we're like, you know, we got to make a decision. Uh, do you would what what do you think? And after she thought about it, she said, you know, if we could, I really think I would want to be home with with the kids and raise, raise them. Be, you know, you you if you think about the time you have with your kids, if they go to daycare and stuff, now this is not for everybody. I'm not saying everybody has to do it, but if you think logically, which she does, how many hours a day they're getting influenced and taught by everyone else, when she thought it in those terms, thought about it in those terms, she was like, you know, I think I would want to do it myself. I would want to raise our kids, teach our kids. And so I said, okay, I will make it happen. So now we're actually expecting our second. We had a little girl, she's two, just turned two, and now we're about to have a little boy in 2026 this year. So that being said, everything comes at a cost. And we just have to decide whether we're willing to pay it or not. She tells me all the time, she is amazing. She tells me all the time how much she loves and appreciates how much I work because I have a business, I am self-employed, and then I'm also the pastor of a church. And I do these things, I work as much as I do because it's important to me that she is able to stay home with our children. That's very important to me. So, as any other loving parent, whether one stays home, one goes, or whatever the case may be, or whatever your situation is at the house, you will sacrifice everything, even your own happiness for your spouse because and for your kids, because they have value. It costs us something to be spouses, to be in relationships, to be parents. But these we we understand the value of that, and so we're willing to pay the price. So, this whole story, this little whole rant, has been a setup to help you understand that if you actually are going to make the decision to follow Jesus and Him be the Lord of your life, not in addition to your life, but the Lord of your life, it must cost you something. And so the ransom that the Bible lays out, the ransom that God sent his son to pay for our way. He is the way, he is the doorway into salvation, he is the doorway into heaven. There is no other way but through him. And the the the Bible is very clear about this. So, what does that mean? That means that there is a cost to being called a child of God. There's a cost. Jesus paid the cost for our salvation, but for us to live a life worthy of bearing his name, worthy of the burden of the gospel, we are called to pay a cost. And sadly, a lot of people live a life that is labeled as Christianity by label only and not by definition. So, what does that mean? That means that it's not actually being a Christian. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian. Reading the word, reading the Bible, even though it's good and it's healthy, does not make you a Christian. Praying every day, guess what? Does not make you a Christian. Because you can talk talk to God all you want, you can read scripture all you want. Satan knows the word of God very well. He tried to use that against Jesus when he tempted him. Do you understand what I'm saying? Like, as believers, salvation, being saved should cost us something. If it hasn't cost us anything, our sinful nature, our own desires, even relationships, if it has not costed anything, then have we actually been bought by the blood? Have we been washed in his blood? It cost us something. It may cost you family, it may cost you your pride. I hope it does. It's one of the things that made the devil fall from heaven. It should cost us. So let's dive into some scripture. We're going to walk through this. Okay, if you look at Luke chapter 14, 27 through 28, it says, And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Now, this this is the words of Jesus. If you have a red letter Bible, which I love because it kind of immediately went open the pages, you can see where Jesus is talking, and that's what that means. It means there's red letters where he speaks. This is Christ talking, the Messiah talking, the one who died for us talking. And he says, and this is before he died. So he's saying, He's or he's in think about this. He knows what he has to do to be the sacrifice, he knows what's coming. And he's saying, if you don't follow me down that path and do the same, then you will not be my disciple. You it doesn't say you will not, it says you cannot. So look on, but don't begin until you count the cost. So don't don't step up to your own cross and pick it up before you count the cost. This will cause eternal damage because most people who come to church are coming, and this is why it irritates me here in East Texas because people think they come to a church that they are saved or that they're good, or you know, all these other uh things to describe what they think a Christian is. But this is what Jesus is saying a Christian is you must pick up your cross. Don't begin until you count the cost for who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it. So you have to ask yourself, are you willing to pick up your cross? Are you willing to pick up your cross? Okay, so so we're gonna what we're gonna talk about going into the deep, going deeper in the truth of Christ, because if we are not willing to count the cause, we are not willing to go deeper, to go further in our relationship with God. So I want you to think about this. This is a question for every believer. Are you tired in this new year? Are you tired of being a surface-level Christian? Don't ask to go into the deep if you're still trying to hold on to the shallow end comfort. Don't say you want revival if you're not willing to sacrifice everything. Most of us as believers like the comfort of church, but we don't embrace the sacrifice of Christianity. And this is what happens. So the problem with the modern church, and and and every believer, guess what? You're a part of the modern church, especially here in the Western culture. This is majority, I don't know anything about other countries, but I know the Western culture of church is that this is the problem. We have created churches full of people who want the promise, but we don't want any part of the process. There are messages being preached about blessings, but there are no messages being preached about being broken. We preach about favor, but we forget about the fire. We preach about divine destiny, and the Lord's gonna have a breakthrough for you today, but we never say anything about death to self, picking up our cross. So look over at Malachi. Want to write these scriptures down or screenshot them? God always requires a sacrifice. Six through nine. A son honors his father and a servant, Malachi chapter one, as you see on your screen, sorry, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name, you defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn't that wrong? Try giving gifts like that to your younger to your governor and see how pleased he is. Go ahead. But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all? We bring God our leftovers and then expect his fire to fall. We want power, but we won't lay anything down as a sacrifice. We want miracles, but we refuse to live like a holy people. Let me tell you something. God has never accepted. Half-hearted offerings, even since the beginning. This is the whole conflict and ended up being death when Cain killed Abel because Abel was accepted by God, his sacrifices, and Cain's was not. God is a selfish God and he wants it all. And if he doesn't have it all, he doesn't want it at all. Think about that for a second for yourself. Read scripture, dive into scripture. What does scripture say? This is this echoes throughout the Old Testament and through the New Testament. God sees our heart. And if we have half-hearted sacrifices, if we're not bringing all of ourselves to him, he doesn't want any of it. He doesn't want any of it. Worship is a lifestyle of sacrifice. Go to Romans 12, 1 and 2. It says, And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, be kind, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behaviors and the customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way that you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and it's perfect. So I know there's a culture, and I love worship music. I love it. But we have to understand that worship is not just a song. Matter of fact, worship should be a lifestyle that burns on the altar before God. This is why some people never experience a breakthrough because they think they can sing their way into freedom while living in compromise. We are not called to live like the world, to live like the culture. We are called to be set apart. We are called to be a holy people. We are called to be a spotless bride, the bride of Christ. God is looking for living sacrifices. People who wake up every day and say, Not my will, but your will be done. Obedience always over performance. Obedience always is overperformance. God doesn't want your church face, He wants your obedience. It comes from a place of a broken heart before the Lord, a willing heart, willing vessels for the Lord. 1 Samuel 15, 22, and 23. It says, What is more pleasing to the Lord? Your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice. Listen, obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. God doesn't want your leftovers, he wants your best. You can show up to church, you can shout amen, you can raise your hands, and still walk out and be disobedient. He doesn't care about your church routine, he wants your full submission. He wants your yes in the secret times to where nobody else is watching, nobody else hears, but you're just crying out to the Lord and worshiping him and blessing him and saying, Yes, Lord, whatever you say, whatever you require of me, whatever it is, my answer is yes. This will change, literally change the trajectory of your life. When you come before the Lord and say, Whatever you require, whatever you ask, I say yes. He wants our obedience, even in the dark times. I know it it's very it's very hard to tell God yes when you don't have the full picture, when you don't have when you when you can't see everything. And a lot of times when we when we can't see ahead, the scripture says that the word is a light to our path. But if you if you understand the time of when the word was written, they had lamps. They didn't have headlights like in cars. Headlights in cars you can see way off. You can you can see in the distance, you have a good idea of what's coming up. Not a whole lot can surprise you if you have your your headlights on and your even in your brights, you can turn them brighter and be able to have clarity and and realize if there's danger up ahead in the path. But when scripture was written, that didn't exist. And it the Bible is supposed to be alight into our path, which means what? It means that even though it would be nice, it's not practical or logical for us to be able to see in the future. That's God's business to be able to see that far in the future. And I have this rule, and it's my prayer, and I tell God this I say, Lord, because most of us, and it's human nature, most of us want to know three, four, five, six steps ahead. And usually the way God works in my life, at least, just as this is for me, firsthand experience on mine, is that He doesn't give me two, three, four, five steps. He just presents the step in front of me and gives me the opportunity to say yes or no. And so if the if we think about a lamp, like an oil lamp or or whatever, even the little, you know, the ones with a little wick on it with the flame, and you hold that up, and really it's only good for a foot, foot and a half, two, maybe three feet to where you can see the path, but you don't see much in the distance. And so when we view the the word of God to show us, because even the Bible says that we we prophesy in part, like even though we may give prophecy and we may speak out, there's just things that we won't know. And a lot of times when you speak out in prophecy, there's pieces that you don't know. And so you have to just trust and know that God placed it on your heart, and you're just there to be an instrument, not the answer. Like just to say what needs to be said, no more, no less, and just going about your business because it's not your responsibility to make it come true or to make it come to pass. You just speak and just be faithful, and God will do the rest. And so God shows me the next step and gives me the opportunity. And I believe he does the same for most believers. Sometimes he gives the benefit of seeing a few steps ahead, but a lot of times it's those small steps of faith that he desires. And God doesn't want us to try to put on some kind of show and pretend like we know what's going on because that's not our business. He just wants us to be faithful and step when the step is presented, when the path is clear before us, all he wants is for us to be faithful. So God hates the show. You see, this echoed when Jesus would encounter church people all the time. He would get so frustrated because they the Pharisees were so obnoxious, all they did was put on a show. Jesus even called them whitewashed tombs. They are pretty on the outside, they look like they have it all together, but inside they're dead. They stink. He wants, he doesn't want to show, he wants surrender. He doesn't want to show, he wants surrender. So look at Amos chapter 5, 21 through 24. It says, I hate all your show. Hate is a strong word. I hate all your show and pretense, the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise. You're like, hold on. Are these people are praising? And he's rejecting them? Yes, because it was a show. It was not a harp posture, it was a show. I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. You can have the lights in our churches. Man, it's a culture thing, I guess. We have some lights. I mean, you gotta we have cameras, you gotta be able to see. We don't even shut down all of our the lights where the seats are. We keep those on because we have older people and they can't see anything. We did it one Sunday and they were like, I can't see where I'm going. So we just left them on. It's not a big deal. It's not like we're gonna usher in the presence more because it's dark. You can have the lights, you can have the cameras, you can have a full perfect band that plays and sings every note right. There, all the words are right. I mess up the words all the time. I also lead the worship at my church. But if you don't have righteousness, you won't have revival. You just have the ritual. God is not impressed by noise, He is drawn to brokenness. He can work with brokenness. He is attracted to holiness. There are specific angels that were created to surround his throne because of how holy he is. There are specific angels surrounding his throne to declare his holiness constantly, every moment, every day, until eternity, because he is holy. So he demands holiness from his people. Now, holiness doesn't mean a tie, it doesn't mean a skirt, it doesn't mean a certain denomination. Holiness is a heart posture. What does that mean? That means that because we are saved, not what we do that makes us saved. Okay. It is not in what we can do so that no man can boast. It is by faith through grace, only um the heart can be known by God, but the fruit that that flows out of us, the the product that comes out of a person that is saved, declares, shows, and displays that they are saved. For instance, if I get saved at 25 years old and at 35 years old, I still have the same language I had when I was not saved. I'm still doing the same things with my friends that I did when I wasn't saved. I'm still going to the clubs, I'm still wearing the same types of clothes that are revealing. I'm still lusting like I like I did when I didn't care. I am sleeping around with whoever, like whatever, you know, God gave me this, and that that's for me to enjoy. All these selfish, sinful things are not of God. So if we are doing things, not that we're trying to go through the process. I told people actually this last Sunday, I said we spend our entire lives building bad habits, bad language, bad thought processes. It is not, God can do it. But most of the time, so that we appreciate the process and we appreciate the cost of being free, God will walk us through a process of freedom. And that means that there's some things it's going to take some time to buff out. But if I am exactly the same person 10 years later, after coming to Christ and giving my life to God, and I have no desire to get closer to him, then how can I claim to be his? I'm not judging you, but yet the word of God is I was looking for my Bible, the word of God is a mirror of who we are supposed to be. And so if we are not trying to get closer to him and trying to see what he says is righteous, what he says is truth, what he says is how I should live, then how can I say that he is the Lord of my life? Because there's no evidence. If I was to put in a to be put in a court of law and think about it, one day every person, believer or not believer, will stand before God and it will be a court of law, and the book of life will be open, and judgment will be everything, every thought, every word said, not said, everything will be accounted for, and we will have to answer for it. That's just the way it's gonna go. And nobody's your pastor's not gonna be standing there with you, your spouse, your parents, your kids, nobody's gonna be. Either Christ will be, he will shed, he will um, he gave his blood for you to be free, for you to be forgiven when we accept that forgiveness. The love of God, Romans talks about this. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. And a lot of people take nothing can separate us from the love of God as nothing can separate us from the salvation of God. And those are not the same thing. Salvation came because of his love, but they are not one and the same. Because Christ paid it all for us. That sacrifice was a one and done. Until the Lord comes back, we can be forgiven, but we have to admit that we are sinners and turn from our wicked ways, as we read in the beginning. Christ said himself, if you don't pick up the cross and you don't follow me, and you don't pay the cost that it it cost us to be Christians, then you are not his disciple, and you will not enter the kingdom. So let's go on to this next one. Um rambling on here. So now here's something that Jesus said himself. We're gonna um and this to me, this is profound and quite, I believe, the opposite of what churches are preaching in their in their from their pulpits, because the cost of salvation it divides us. It doesn't bring us close. Now it brings unity in the body, it brings us close together, but those how it divides is this it it openly displays and brings light into the darkness for those who pretend to be of the light of Christ and those who truly are, and so it divides because the path to Christ, to heaven, the Bible describes it clearly as a thin path, hard, not traveled by everyone, but the path to hell is wide and it's open and it is inviting and it's easy. So let's go to what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12, 49 through 4053. I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning. Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No. I I guess he did when he was born, but that was it. I have come to divide people against each other. From now on, families will be split apart, father against son, and mother against daughter. You can read on that. But when you say yes to Jesus, when you really say yes and you're all in, it will cost you friends, it will cost you family, it will cost you comfort, and sometimes it will even cost you your safety. There's some serious things happening right now around the world and beginning in America as well, that there's going to be, I told my people this maybe two Sundays ago, something like that. I told them, I said, You get get yourself ready because there's going to be a time where we won't be able to say sin is sin from the pulpit of a church. That they will come in here and they will drag me out for preaching what the word of God says. And then those who actually belong to God will be revealed, and those who don't will also be revealed. This is not the wide road, this is the narrow path. This is the road of fire, of pressure, of testing, and the road of obedience. But hear me, this is also the path to power, to revival, to glory. Now we said at the very beginning, you know, are you are you willing to pay the cost? Are you ready to pay the cost? Because going into the deep is not for the casual Christian. I use this analogy for my people. I'd they kind of laughed, but it's I came up with this, I don't know, I may, I was in my early 20s. There the world, and especially the United States, and in the Bible belt, especially here in East Texas, the world is full of Cool Whip Christians. And what I mean by that is Cool Whip can fill an entire five-gallon bucket, but can weigh two pounds because it looks a bunch of fluff? It looks like there is something there, but it actually has, it bears no weight. There's no substance, there's no true substance. And I what worries me, and this is why I I preach the way I do, I don't, I don't tickle ears, and I don't do it to to cause issues or to cause people strife and to have fear. I don't, I don't preach fear, I preach scripture, and I don't back down from what I say. Why? Because there are too many weak Christians that are allowing culture to infiltrate the church, and and church has become just another part of the culture. And people try to separate religion and state and all this other stuff, but the way I read my Bible, marriage between man and a woman has nothing to do with politics, but it's scripture, it's God's design. He came up with it first. So just because people in power are trying to own it doesn't make it so. Abortion, killing unborn babies. That's not a political issue, that's a biblical issue, and it's wrong. There are things, time and time again, that are just simply biblical issues painted up as political nonsense and given or they think they have ammunition, but in the end, they don't have right because they're not the creator of life. God is. When a church counts the cost and chooses to come to the altar of repentance and chooses to sacrifice, and we understand actually what the cost is. I'm not inviting you to Jesus if you don't understand what the cost is. You need to weigh your options and dive in headfirst and see exactly what being a Christian is. Because if if you don't, if you want to live for yourself and do your own thing, Christianity is not for you. Because if you're not going to change or if you're not going to chase after God and be in relationship with Him, you'll just be another good churchgoer. Christians should have the passion. So I tell my people this, and I and I just started saying this recently because I fully believe it. A lot of people rely on their pastors to minister to people, to preach the word, and and nine times out of ten, that's the action when you come to church. There is a man or woman standing there declaring the gospel and reading scripture and hopefully teaching you scripture. But every believer, every believer who says yes to Jesus is a minister of the gospel. We should remember that this is not a game. That just like that, someone can slip into eternity and there are no seconds. I don't care what certain religions or sects of whatever try to do, you can't pray for somebody after or get baptized in their place. That's not how it works. Once you are gone from this life, your chances are done. And that should make some of us either pray harder about people we know or have those conversations. If we're not willing to get awkward with people and and just talk to them about God and see where they are spiritually, like why wouldn't we? If we say we love them, why wouldn't we want to talk to them? And I'm not saying like be over the top, but. At least one time try to have the conversation. And if they don't receive it, then be the hands and feet, be the testimony of Jesus to them with your life. No person has ever been argued into heaven, and no person ever will be, but we can love them into there. And as a believer, that should be a part of the package deal of the cost. Setting down our pride, having hard, difficult conversations, and loving people enough to get in their business and see where they are spiritually. As believers, we should realize sometimes we need to get awkward. Sometimes we need to stop dodging and start discipling and really start loving on people. Because I guarantee you, when you really truly love so love on someone and you, in spite of their hangups and issues and mess ups and all that other stuff, like they're going to get curious. And even especially if they're like your your nemesis, your enemy, and you still love them anyways, and they try to make you mad and they try to get you upset. Is it possible that maybe, maybe God has put you on assignment to win them over by loving them in spite of how they treat you? That, I mean, listen, I'm gonna end it with this. That would be the greatest testimony of what God can do and his love because Jesus looked down from the cross and he himself was like, Lord, Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. And he did that while he was dying on the cross. He looked down at the very people that put him up there and had compassion on them, and then took one of the guys that was hanging next to him that deserved. And the guy, even out of his own mouth, said, I deserve this. But yet Jesus said, Well, because your heart turned to me, today you'll be with me in paradise. That's pretty powerful. So I love you. I'm praying for you. And I hope that you realize the cost of living for Christ. And hopefully, if you watch the video up to this point, you realize that this is not a game, that living for God should mean something.