0:04

Hey , welcome back to the Imperfect

0:06

People's Podcast , and here at

0:08

TIP we are a podcast for the

0:10

hurting and we're cured by grace

0:12

. I'm Yahoos Keith . I'm

0:15

a medically retired firefighter . I'm

0:17

a former youth leader , way speaker

0:19

of the United Methodist Church . I

0:22

did some church planning , along with

0:24

nursing home and hospital and

0:26

jail ministry . Our goal

0:28

is to share as a

0:30

struggling Christian family that

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has dealt with death , addiction , mental

0:35

health , and though we are imperfect

0:38

, we are perfected through

0:40

Christ Jesus in the sight of

0:42

God , and you could be too , and

0:45

we're here to help . We are kicking

0:47

off an official season

0:50

on the topic of spiritual

0:52

warfare , so

0:54

let's get into

0:56

it .

1:00

I'm Yahoos Keith . And

1:02

today we're going to be talking about

1:04

the elephant and

1:07

the stake . The elephant

1:09

and the stake is something

1:12

I heard from a gentleman named

1:14

David Hernandez , a

1:16

minister , and

1:19

he went in to explain about how we

1:21

heard about this story about the elephant and

1:23

the stake . Well

1:25

, I'm going to put my own little spin on

1:27

it , like I like to do

1:29

with a lot of things . And the

1:32

elephant we're going to make is us , and

1:34

you can see it on the screen right there , right , let's

1:36

see if I can get right there . See the baby elephant

1:39

and the chain . It

1:41

looks like he got two , but

1:44

anyway , the elephant is you or

1:46

I . The rope is our

1:49

life's timeline , what

1:51

we're held to , and the

1:53

stake is Lucifer

1:55

, satan , this world

1:57

. And when we were born , especially

2:00

into

2:02

a non believing family

2:04

or a non practicing family

2:07

, like my family , believed in God

2:09

but we didn't practice

2:11

it . I was never told about

2:13

salvation and all that stuff . So

2:16

it's kind of hard sometimes coming

2:19

into a , coming into the world

2:21

and and not having

2:23

, you know , a Christian family

2:25

to help . So , as we grow

2:27

up believing that our life is only

2:30

as long as that chain

2:32

, right there , right , lucifer

2:35

has already planted himself

2:37

in your life the

2:39

day you were born into

2:42

and some were born from . Sin in

2:44

some cases and what I mean

2:46

by that is , like God forbid , rape

2:49

or incest or anything

2:51

like that doesn't make the baby

2:53

any less valuable to person

2:55

. That's the victim , and

2:57

there's been plenty of people that

3:01

have been survivors of abortion

3:04

, survivors of

3:06

their parents not going through with it . I should say

3:08

Right , well , when , when ? The

3:10

reason why handlers , handlers

3:13

train these

3:15

elephants when they're young

3:17

. They take that rope of chain

3:19

or whatever is available

3:21

at hand and they tie

3:24

these young elf , these young

3:26

elephants , up . And as soon

3:28

as they tie

3:30

the baby elephant up , they do

3:32

it while they're young because

3:35

obviously , when we're young , we're

3:37

naive , right , and we're too weak

3:39

to break a chain

3:41

or a rope , rip a stake

3:43

out the ground , right , we're

3:45

born . Nine pounds , you know

3:48

, give or take eight , ten , twelve , you know , in

3:50

that range , that baby elephant

3:53

right there , the average weight

3:55

for a baby elephant is 264

3:58

pounds or what . One hundred and one hundred

4:01

and twenty kilos , something like that , and

4:04

even that small , right

4:07

, they're powerful , but they don't know that

4:09

and they're so naive and they don't

4:11

understand that they could

4:13

, when they grow , get away

4:16

from that chain , right . So now

4:18

, when we grow . For myself

4:20

, I became 280 pounds

4:22

. Right , I have a lost weight , but I

4:25

did . I became 280 pounds . But

4:27

an adult elephant could be anywhere

4:29

from 4,000 to 14,000

4:32

pounds as adults . And

4:35

it just amazes me that , like

4:37

you take me now , say , 280

4:39

pounds , right , I could

4:42

probably push

4:44

down a fence , maybe , right , but

4:46

an elephant being as big

4:48

and majestic and beautiful they are , but their

4:50

strength , they could easily

4:53

just break the

4:55

chain , snap the rope , pull the

4:57

stake out of the ground . But since they

5:00

were little and

5:02

since they were born , they've been chained up and

5:04

they became to believe that that

5:06

chain that's attached to

5:08

their feet , that's their lifeline

5:11

, that chain . So as they grow

5:13

, another link gets added . Right Now

5:16

, if you take this in the sense of

5:19

the stake being Lucifer , the chain

5:21

is our lifeline , right ? How long

5:23

we're on this earth , and the elephant

5:25

is us . And , just

5:28

like the elephant , when we're

5:30

born into a non-believing family , we're

5:33

naive about God . We're naive

5:35

that we're born into sin . It's

5:38

nothing we have done , adam and Eve , we

5:41

hold that sin and

5:43

everyone everyone

5:45

, hindu , buddhist , whatever right , islamic

5:48

people or whatever right we

5:50

all have a mansion in heaven . The

5:53

only thing is is that we come

5:55

to the understanding

5:57

that we need Jesus . We

5:59

need his death , his resurrection , his life

6:02

to come into us so then

6:04

we can start to repent . And repenting is renewing

6:06

your mind . Stop thinking

6:09

the way you have been thinking . You have been

6:11

thinking worldly right . So we get into

6:13

the word and when we get into the

6:15

Bible , that

6:18

guy , that country guy that just like

6:20

blew up out of nowhere , he says something

6:22

to the effect that and

6:25

he's still drinking the milk , but

6:27

he has a lot of knowledge , a lot of

6:29

wisdom God's given him throughout these days

6:31

and however long he's been

6:33

studying two years or something I don't know . But

6:37

he's like you read the

6:39

Bible , right For understanding

6:41

, but as you read the Bible , the

6:44

Bible gets stored

6:46

up in this brain and that's what helps

6:48

you to repent , to change your thinking

6:50

and to go . And then

6:53

when you have that change

6:55

and you accept

6:57

Christ or you accept what he has

6:59

done for you and

7:02

you believe it in your heart of hearts , then

7:05

your mansion is there . But

7:07

say you're a Buddhist and you

7:10

never come to Christ . Right , your mansions

7:12

there , but no one else is ever

7:14

going to live in that mansion . That is your mansion

7:17

from God , your gift

7:19

. So when you put your trust in God and

7:21

you pass on . You go to

7:23

eternal life and there is

7:26

your mansion . But if you never come

7:28

to Christ , if you never put your faith

7:30

in Christ's death and resurrection , that

7:33

mansion will stay empty for

7:36

eternity . Because you're not

7:38

there . And God don't

7:40

send nobody to hell , we

7:42

send ourselves . He laid it all

7:44

out for us . And if we're

7:46

too blind , we're too blind , I guess , right . So

7:49

back to this elephant thing . There's

7:51

some , let me . Let me mention

7:54

some verses . I got so

7:56

many . I think there's like 19 , that

7:58

kind of talk on on death

8:01

or being born into sin . Let's

8:03

say Hebrews 4 , 15 . For

8:05

we do not have a high priest

8:07

who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses

8:10

, but one who

8:12

has been tempted in all things as

8:15

we are , yet without

8:17

sin . We're all going to be

8:19

tempted . It's just what we

8:21

decide to do to

8:23

give into it , to give

8:25

into the flesh , or we

8:28

can resist it . And the way

8:30

we resist it is being in

8:32

the word , is keeping

8:34

our mind focused on Christ

8:36

and and and learning and

8:38

trying to become more like Christ

8:41

. Every day , another day , another

8:43

chance to be better than what you were right . Here's

8:46

another one we'll do . Psalm 58

8:48

3 . The wicked are estranged

8:51

from the womb . These who speak

8:54

lies go astray from birth

8:56

. There it is . We're all that

8:58

elephant . We all got Satan

9:01

chained to us and he's grounded

9:03

in this earth . He is the king of this

9:05

earth . So we're

9:07

all that elephant . And it's just

9:09

like the chain , like how I mentioned

9:12

. With the chain that you know , the

9:14

handler put links in as the elephant

9:16

grows and the elephants thinking wow , you

9:18

know , I'm moving , I'm getting somewhere , I'm

9:20

growing , but he's still chained

9:22

. Even though he could break

9:25

those chains himself and

9:27

set himself free . He was

9:29

conditioned since a baby

9:31

to believe that he

9:33

couldn't break free from that chain . We

9:36

can't break free from our sin . We

9:39

can't rip up that stake

9:41

that had us grounded

9:43

in this earth and sin and

9:46

just bad

9:48

crap , man , we got to realize

9:50

we may not have four

9:52

legs and we might not weigh 14000

9:55

pounds when we're grown , but

9:58

just like that , sorry for the noise

10:00

, I forgot to go into airplane mode . Anyway

10:03

, we , you know , we get so

10:05

conditioned , just like these elephants

10:07

, that that we don't even see

10:10

past our chains . And

10:12

God can set us free . Here's

10:15

another one Jeremiah 17

10:18

, 9 . The heart is more deceitful

10:20

than all else and is desperately

10:23

sick . Who can understand Romans

10:25

14 , 23 ? But

10:27

he who doubts is condemned

10:29

if he eats because his

10:32

eating is not from faith

10:34

, and whoever is not

10:36

from faith is

10:38

sin . Let's hit up

10:40

first John 3 , 4 . Everyone

10:43

who practices sin also

10:45

practices lawlessness

10:47

, and sin is lawlessness , that's

10:50

living without living

10:52

under God's law

10:55

. Granted , jesus Christ

10:57

is the fulfillment of that law , but

10:59

he is still the law and we still

11:01

need to obey and

11:03

worship him and trust him

11:05

and believe in him . We can break those

11:08

chains , but we may not be able

11:10

to do it ourselves , but we have

11:12

someone . Someone died

11:14

on a cross , someone bled out

11:17

. His last words was

11:19

it is finished

11:21

. He defeated death and

11:24

because of that we have

11:26

a promise , a hope

11:28

. We live on blind

11:30

faith and that hope is to be

11:32

in the kingdom with

11:34

Christ , with God , our father

11:37

, and the Holy Spirit and the

11:39

love Saved ones that

11:41

we lost . You know when we

11:43

wake up , when Jesus comes back and

11:45

we wake up . You know they say the dead is

11:47

asleep . So we'll become that

11:50

will be coming a day when Jesus

11:52

returns and the dead will awaken

11:54

. And there's a lot of grown-in and

11:57

I know people are on this end of the

11:59

world trip and

12:01

, be honest with you , I'm

12:04

kind of like my eyebrows

12:06

are raising with some of this stuff , right

12:08

and . But this one thing

12:10

, this , this With . There's

12:12

gonna be a seven-year period , right

12:15

, but the one thing people

12:17

are missing about this , everybody that's

12:19

like screaming End

12:21

times and stuff . There's gonna be three

12:23

and a half years where two witnesses

12:26

, two prophets , are

12:28

gonna have the power of the Holy Spirit

12:30

. They're gonna do some craziness and

12:33

that's all before the Antichrist comes

12:36

on scene . So when you start seeing two

12:38

people Doing

12:41

amazing wonders , you

12:43

might want to raise your eyebrow and pay attention . Attention

12:46

, who knows ? Probably

12:48

ain't gonna be in my lifetime , who knows ? We don't know

12:50

the time , the day , the hour when

12:52

he'll return , and that's the

12:54

thing . And we got to get straight . If

12:57

you're out there and you're hurting and

12:59

You've

13:02

tried everything , even the

13:04

really bad stuff , then give

13:07

God a try . Look , I sit

13:09

here , I am . I'm

13:11

a failed man . You know , haven't

13:13

worked in years and years and

13:15

years and you know it

13:17

hasn't been easy . But God has been

13:20

there and I said this yesterday I

13:22

heard somebody ask a person and

13:24

this is on YouTube a lot , I watch a lot

13:26

of YouTube and and he

13:29

asked when did , or if

13:31

you ever did , feel that

13:33

God is real ? When did he become

13:36

real in your life ? You

13:39

know , and it was oh seven about

13:42

when I , when I came to Christ , and you

13:45

know , july , my dad passed

13:47

seven , eight , nine , yeah , and

13:51

when I got home and I pulled in

13:53

the park , parking in my driveway

13:55

. And I just cracked

13:57

the door open and I may have been , you

14:00

know , grabbing something and my

14:02

phone rang and

14:04

you know it was the donor

14:06

people and they wanted my dad's eyes and

14:08

I mean I had just Left

14:11

the hospital on . It takes probably

14:13

about 10 , 15 minutes to

14:15

get to the hospital or get back from the hospital

14:18

when I live and that was the first thing

14:20

. Car in park cracked my door , probably

14:22

grabbing keys or something I don't know , and and

14:25

the phone ring and man that set me off

14:27

, amanda

14:30

, that set me off , and I

14:32

went into the backyard and

14:35

I just raised my fists in the air stereotypical

14:37

right and I just

14:39

, I , just I just dumped it all

14:41

out on God . Man , I was Pissed

14:44

, like I understood my dad

14:46

. You know I was going in a better place

14:49

, I'm sorry , I just bumped my mic and

14:51

you know I was okay with that

14:53

, but it was just like I know

14:55

something , something got in me and I

14:57

just got real , you're really

14:59

upset and I

15:01

just started going off on God and then , all

15:03

of a sudden , this just , I mean , you hear it

15:05

, you hear people say it all the time it's this

15:07

peace that passes is all understanding

15:10

, and that's what it was . It was just

15:12

like I was , like I

15:15

just stopped and like I came

15:17

still for a second , and then I just started

15:19

praising God and

15:21

I felt that Undescribable

15:24

peace that I wish I could live every

15:27

millisecond of my remaining

15:29

life in . That feeling is

15:31

better than any drink , better

15:34

than Any drug that

15:37

I've ever tried . It's

15:39

so , I know . It's like , oh

15:41

, it's like everything in your body , your

15:44

DNA and your

15:46

cells and everything . It's just like it's

15:48

what it craves . It's

15:50

like our bodies , our spirits , our

15:52

souls just crave

15:55

Whatever this Holy

15:57

Spirit , this peace that comes

16:00

upon you . Your body craves

16:02

it , I mean , and it's not a craving

16:04

like an addiction , it's just like your

16:07

body just knows . It's

16:09

right , you know , and it is so

16:11

hard to understand because I was so

16:14

pissed off

16:16

, I was mad , you

16:18

know , and me and my pastor friend stayed

16:21

with my dad that night and everything , and it

16:23

was great . And you know , though , that

16:25

whole part was fine , but just oh

16:28

, and it was crazy . But that peace , man

16:30

, ask God to help you break that chain

16:32

, rip that steak . That's

16:35

got you trapped , that's got you separated

16:38

from God , and may have you separated

16:40

for eternity . You think this life

16:42

is hell now . Imagine

16:44

an eternity , separated

16:46

from any hope , any love , true

16:50

love , pure love . That would really

16:52

be hell if I had . If

16:54

God God forbid , if

16:56

if feeling how I feel

16:58

normally every day is like

17:01

being separated from God and

17:03

having that feeling of that undescribable

17:06

peace and

17:08

Happiness and and all

17:10

of it , I definitely take that peace

17:12

for eternity . Yeah , guys

17:15

, I had you know , I did , I script part

17:17

of this out and and I'm rambling , so

17:19

I I apologize , but guys

17:22

, really , man , take a look into the

17:24

elephant and the steak

17:26

. I mean , really take , take a look

17:28

at it and and and you'll get

17:30

an understanding of what I , what I'm trying

17:32

to Let

17:35

you guys know about . Like you know , my little

17:37

take on it . It's just crazy

17:39

, man , that chain , that chain , if

17:41

you will get like elephants

17:43

could just , you know , rip that

17:45

out . And if we

17:47

turn to Christ , christ

17:50

will Rip that

17:52

stake out , will rip us

17:54

out of Lucifer's hand . He

17:56

will break the chain that

17:58

has us bound to this earth

18:01

and the sin and and

18:03

the hurt and the pain and the anger and all

18:05

that BS , man , he will come

18:07

and break that chain . You know

18:09

, and even sometimes I'll see if I

18:11

could maybe switch out a picture , but

18:13

I have a picture of an elephant

18:15

, a young elephant , and he still has

18:17

the chains , but his handler , a

18:19

young boy , is sitting

18:21

reading a book , holding the chain of the elephant

18:24

. See , satan will

18:26

take you off that , that stake , but

18:28

he'll hold the chain and he'll let you

18:30

wander to and fro this earth Seeking

18:34

out all the pleasurable , sinful

18:36

things , because sin feels good on it

18:38

. It does . That's why we do it . And

18:40

and yeah

18:43

, he'll walk us around and guide us , but

18:46

you can bet your bottom dollar he will

18:48

Put you back on that steak

18:50

, he will be that steak

18:53

and he won't let you go . And

18:55

you better cry out and Ask

18:58

God To show you

19:01

that he's real and to help you break

19:03

these chains . Now I'm just gonna finish

19:05

with a prayer . It's prayer Christ

19:07

Jesus taught us how to pray Our

19:10

father who out in heaven . How

19:12

will be thy name ? Thy kingdom come

19:14

? Thy will be done on earth

19:16

as it is in heaven . Give us this

19:18

day , I'll , daily bread , and

19:21

forgive us our trespasses , as

19:23

we forgive those who trespass against us

19:25

, and Lead us not into

19:27

temptation , but deliver

19:29

us from you find as the power

19:31

and the glory forever . Amen , amen

19:34

, yeah , I'm in right , y'all

19:36

. I'm sorry , I lost

19:38

a week of podcasting and

19:41

actually right now is

19:43

613 on Labor Day and I'm I'm

19:45

trying to do a Video

19:48

podcast and the audio podcast

19:50

at the same time and I'm

19:53

behind schedule . But I couldn't

19:55

deal with myself if I , if

19:58

I didn't try to get something up today . I'm

20:00

kind of like a ship in the ocean , right

20:02

. So y'all , I

20:05

really do appreciate y'all listening

20:07

and . I hope I kept your attention and

20:10

I hope y'all have a great

20:12

Labor Day . I hope you hear this today

20:15

and the

20:17

video I'm gonna try to

20:19

get it out this week . But happy Labor

20:21

Day to y'all . And I'm gonna

20:24

have a song coming up from my friend Eric

20:26

. I don't know the song yet because I haven't

20:28

I haven't even really , um

20:30

, tried to find a song that

20:32

fits . I've been listening to his

20:34

music , but sometimes a song

20:36

just like it's like how does that ?

20:38

happen .

20:38

You know he writes this years ago and then I

20:41

talk on something , then it all fits . It's amazing

20:43

, God . You just watch God everywhere , man

20:45

. So , guys , you know the deal

20:47

I'll . I'll see you on

20:49

a flipside later on .

21:10

Music Pastor

21:12

, service shepherds , each and every

21:15

one , god gave

21:17

them an important job to do

21:19

To tell

21:22

a wayward world about his only

21:24

son , who sacrificed

21:27

his life for me and you . Satan

21:31

stands against the shepherd every

21:33

day . He knows

21:36

so many ways to interfere

21:38

. He seeks

21:40

to divide the sheep in every

21:43

way , for if he

21:45

does , the gospel isn't clear

21:48

. He must stand

21:50

behind the one God chose to be

21:52

the leader of

21:55

our flock in loving unity

21:57

. Let the shepherd

22:00

lead . Let the lost may

22:02

sing . Jesus

22:04

is the way , the life , the truth

22:06

. Let us put

22:08

aside things that take

22:11

our minds Away

22:13

from what we are called to do

22:15

Love the one

22:18

who feeds he who plants

22:20

the seed . Let

22:22

the shepherd think Music

22:27

. We

22:34

can't allow tradition to stand

22:36

in the way . The

22:38

church must not be afraid

22:40

to change . The

22:43

methods may evolve for

22:45

the world today , even

22:48

though the message stays the same

22:51

. The shepherd cares

22:53

about the feelings of the sheep

22:56

and he knows there will

22:58

be times he makes mistakes , but

23:01

he made a promise to the Lord

23:04

that he must keep To

23:06

serve him first , no matter what

23:08

it takes . Let

23:11

the shepherd lead . Let

23:13

the lost may sing . Jesus

23:16

is the way , the life , the truth

23:18

. Let us put

23:21

aside things that take

23:23

our minds Away

23:25

from what we are called to

23:28

do . Love the one

23:30

who feeds he who plants

23:32

the seed . Let

23:35

the shepherd lead

23:37

Music

23:44

. Let the shepherd

23:47

lead . Let the lost

23:49

may sing . Jesus

23:51

is the way , the life , the truth

23:53

. Let

23:55

us put aside things that

23:57

take our minds Away

24:00

from what we are called to do

24:02

. Love the

24:05

one who feeds , he

24:07

who plants the seed . Let

24:10

the shepherd lead . Let

24:14

the shepherd lead

24:17

. Music

24:19

, music

24:29

, music , music

24:35

.