Latest / Crosswalk / Keeping Your Word When It Hurts — Joshua 9:16–27

Transcript

Keeping Your Word When It Hurts — Joshua 9:16–27 · Crosswalk

0:00
Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
0:03
him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
0:05
Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
0:08
of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
0:10
to lead you to the cross through the teaching
0:12
of God's Word. Now these guys are coming from
0:49
the position of being Canaanites. They wouldn't
0:52
expect that from another Canaanite. They wouldn't
0:54
expect them to keep their vows because they're
0:57
a bunch of Canaanites. But they know that what
0:59
they're dealing with is a group of people that
1:00
are different than the rest of the people on
1:02
the planet. And so what they're gonna do is take
1:05
advantage of that. And guess what? That's exactly
1:08
what people in the world will do with you. They
1:11
know what the standards are they know what it
1:12
means to be a Christian You know at least somewhat
1:15
they do and they know that you're supposed to
1:17
be upright and you're supposed to be honest and
1:19
you're supposed to have integrity and Many times
1:22
people who are in the world will take advantage
1:23
of your integrity and you have to be aware of
1:26
those things I've had this kind of situation
1:29
come up a number of times. And again, I'm not
1:31
saying that we need to be absolutely cynical,
1:33
but we need to be people who are seeking God,
1:35
and we need to be people who are trying to have
1:38
some kind of discernment when we're dealing with
1:39
the people who are around us, especially those
1:42
who aren't following God. And when you're talking
1:44
about an unbeliever, unbelievers do what unbelievers
1:47
do, and we need to understand that. And what
1:50
they do is they go after stuff with a perspective
1:53
that they're the most important thing in the
1:55
deal. They're looking out for their own. You
1:57
know what, if I was an unbeliever and I can't
2:00
say that I was like this because I was raised
2:03
in a military family and my parents weren't totally
2:06
squared away, but I was taught honor and I was
2:09
taught integrity and that kind of thing. And
2:11
I kind of look at that as a leftover from Christianity
2:14
in America, basically. Christianity specifically
2:17
in a military context. And so I had some of that
2:20
stuff going on. But logically speaking, If I
2:25
was an unbeliever and I really had the attitude
2:28
that the only thing that I get in this life is
2:31
what I get in this life and that there's nothing
2:35
afterwards, that I'm just gonna go into a hole
2:37
and there's gonna be no existence, that this
2:41
is all I've got, guess what I would be going
2:43
after? I'd be going after everything I could
2:46
get. And so when an unbeliever acts like that,
2:49
I expect it. I'm not surprised by them. I expect
2:52
them to act dishonorably. And I expect them to
2:55
act selfishly. And I expect them to try to take
2:58
advantage of my integrity. I expect all those
3:01
things from them because they're just people
3:03
who are living life and they don't believe that
3:05
there's anything else. They're not looking at
3:07
the judgment. They're not looking at heaven.
3:10
They're not looking at hell. They're not looking
3:11
at any of that stuff. They're just looking at
3:13
what they can get in this life. It's logical.
3:15
to do that, and I can't expect them to do anything
3:19
else. I don't like it, and I think that people
3:22
should be different, and I think that people
3:24
should be more like me and more like what the
3:26
Bible says, but that's not the case. You're dealing
3:29
with unbelievers. And so what they would never
3:31
expect from a group of Canaanites if they'd made
3:33
a false contract with them, they expect from
3:36
the people of Israel. Actually, they probably
3:38
don't expect it. They're taking a chance on it.
3:41
They're taking a chance on the fact that when
3:43
these people make a promise Even if they're found
3:45
to be you know to not have understood all the
3:49
situations that were connected with that promise
3:51
But when they make a promise that they're gonna
3:54
keep it and that's what they're banking their
3:57
lives on in this situation and so they take advantage
3:59
of Israel's integrity and again That's what people
4:02
will do with you. So you're a Christian. You're
4:06
in business dealings You have to read the stuff
4:08
that you sign you have to read it You have to
4:11
pay attention to the kind of contracts that you
4:14
get in because as a Christian, what you're supposed
4:17
to be doing is keeping your vows. And the Bible
4:21
talks about the fact that we keep our vows to
4:23
our own hurt. And so we'll talk about that more
4:26
in just a minute. So the next thing that you
4:28
have in the passage is the failure of Joshua
4:30
and the people. So you have the manipulation
4:32
of the Gibeonites, then you have the failure
4:34
of Joshua and the people, and the first failure
4:36
is in verse 7, they're not listening to the Spirit
4:40
of God. There's an indication here that God was
4:43
giving discernment to the people. They say to
4:46
him, the men of Israel said to the Gibeonites,
4:48
perhaps you dwell among us, so how can we make
4:51
a covenant with you? And one of the things that
4:53
God will do with you when you're talking with
4:55
people, when you're in a situation that's similar
4:58
to this, is he'll make the alarm bells go off.
5:01
He'll start speaking to your heart. He'll make
5:03
you think that something is hinky about a situation.
5:06
And a lot of the times that I've gotten myself
5:09
into bad situations, it's because I failed to
5:12
heed that. I didn't listen up to that. I didn't
5:15
take a step back and go, you know, wait a minute.
5:17
I don't have to do this right now. I can do this
5:19
tomorrow. I can think about this for a couple
5:22
of days. I don't have to get involved in this
5:25
whole situation right now at all. And if somebody
5:28
starts pushing me, it's like, you know, at that
5:31
point that I'm actually, now I'm speaking from
5:33
experience, if somebody starts pushing me, if
5:35
I'm like, you know what? I don't know about this.
5:37
I need to think about this a while. I need to
5:39
go pray about it and stuff. And somebody starts
5:41
pushing me on that, I'm like, okay, there's a
5:44
scam here. There's something going on here. I
5:46
need to be paying attention. Actually one of
5:48
my favorite stories is my wife and I, we had
5:50
some extra money. We were young and married and
5:52
we needed a new couch. We had a couch that was
5:55
like, you know, gosh, that thing had to be 20
5:57
years old. It was cool because it was eight foot
5:59
long and I fit on it. So I liked it a lot. But
6:02
it was getting all ratty and stuff because we
6:04
had Bible studies and people would spill things
6:06
on it. So we needed a new couch. I had some money.
6:09
And so we were looking for a new couch. So we
6:11
stopped by a furniture store. And you know how
6:14
a furniture salesman can be, right? And so we
6:16
go to the furniture store. A guy comes walking
6:18
up and he says, hey, you're looking for something?
6:20
I go, yeah, we're looking for a couch. And he
6:22
goes, well, we got these over here. And so he's
6:24
trying to sell me. He was a really nice guy.
6:25
He's trying to sell me and stuff. And it came
6:27
down to the point where he's kind of putting
6:28
a little pressure on. And he's like, well, do
6:30
you like these? And I'd say, well, you know what?
6:32
I'm a Christian. I need to pray about it. And
6:34
he goes, OK, go ahead. And I had never had anybody
6:39
say that to me before. And I'm like, well, he
6:44
goes, can't you pray about it here? And I go,
6:47
well, actually, I can. I can pray about it here.
6:51
And so me and my wife went over. We sat down.
6:53
And I prayed about it. And it really got really,
6:56
it was just a feeling. But God was speaking to
6:58
my heart. And he said, you know, I don't want
7:00
you to get this couch. Right? And so I go walking
7:03
over to the guy and I go, you know what? I really
7:04
appreciate, you know, saying that to me and stuff,
7:07
but I feel like the Lord told me not to get the
7:08
couch. And so he was kind of bummed out, but
7:10
I liked the guy. You know, if I ever wanted another
7:12
couch, I'd go buy it from him, just because he
7:15
said that. Anyway, we ended up going home that
7:17
night, and that night we get a phone call when
7:19
we get home. It was the secretary of the church
7:23
and there was a couple in our church that were
7:26
well -to -do and they had bought a couch, actually
7:29
a couch and a love seat. They'd bought a couch
7:31
and a love seat and when they got them it didn't
7:34
match their wallpaper of all things. It wasn't
7:39
what she wanted and so what they decided to do
7:42
was give it to us. And so the secretary of the
7:45
church calls us up and wants to give us not only
7:47
a couch, but a couch and a love seat. And it
7:50
was still in the plastic. She never even unwrapped
7:53
the stuff. And so we get these brand new couches.
7:56
And you know, I tried to give her money and said,
7:58
we got money, we can do this. And she goes, no,
8:00
no, no, you don't need to do that. And so because
8:02
I listened to God, what God did was he blessed
8:05
me not only with a couch, but a love seat too.
8:08
And so we had that puppy for a really long time,
8:11
for years and years and years. And again, it
8:13
was because I was listening to the Lord in that
8:15
situation. Now that's a good story. A lot of
8:18
my stories are bad stories about not doing that.
8:22
But you know, when God is speaking to you about
8:24
something, when there's this kind of iffy thing
8:26
going on and you feel like there needs to be
8:29
a pause here and you need to check things out,
8:31
you need to listen to that. And again, most of
8:34
the problems that I've had as a Christian, it's
8:36
been that kind of thing. So they weren't listening
8:37
to the spirit. When there was a danger of discovery,
8:41
and we already talked about this a little bit,
8:43
when there was a danger of discovery, the envoys
8:45
turn from the conflict and go to Joshua, the
8:48
leader. And like I said before, that's really
8:51
flattering to the leader. And again, when somebody
8:53
talks me up, when somebody's flattering me and
8:55
that kind of thing, a lot of times, especially
8:57
in a situation like this, I'm looking for what
9:00
they're doing. I'm looking for what they want.
9:02
And again, I came from California, and so that's
9:05
how that is. When I first came to Washington
9:08
State, one of the first experiences I had was
9:10
over at WinCo. I was over at the WinCo. It was
9:13
at the old WinCo. I'm there, and I'm in line
9:16
with my wife. And the lady at the counter, you
9:20
know, we're checking out, the lady at the counter
9:21
starts talking to me. And she's, you know, just
9:24
having a conversation with me. You don't do that
9:26
in California. And so she's having this conversation
9:29
with me, and I'm like, what do you want? You
9:31
know, I'm looking for guns or something. What
9:33
do you want, lady? And I realize she's just nice.
9:37
And so again, I come from a background and a
9:40
lifestyle that's like that, and I have to watch
9:41
it. Not everything is flattering. Sometimes people
9:45
are just nice. But when it's flattering, you
9:47
need to start watching out. The other thing that
9:50
they did was, as far as their failure went, they
9:52
walked by sight. They walked according to their
9:54
own understanding. And so these guys have this
9:57
plan. We'll get some old moldy bread and we'll
10:00
get some sandals that are worn out and we'll
10:02
get some wine skins and we'll tear holes in them
10:05
and we'll mend them and stuff like that. I kind
10:07
of think that that was a little over the top
10:09
because if they want to have a covenant with
10:12
Joshua and the people of Israel then they're
10:14
probably no more than a couple hundred miles
10:16
away. You know that's less than a two -week journey
10:18
and how your wine skin is going to get old and
10:20
torn up and worn out on a two -week journey.
10:22
But they do this stuff and the people go for
10:25
it. It goes on in verse 12, and it says, this
10:29
bread of ours we took hot. For our provision
10:33
from our houses on the day we departed to come
10:35
to you But now look it's dry and moldy and these
10:38
wine skins which we filled were new and see they
10:40
are torn and these are Garments and our sandals
10:43
have become old because of the very long journey
10:45
and the men of Israel took some of their provisions
10:48
But they did not ask counsel of the Lord and
10:50
so they're walking by sight They're walking according
10:52
to their own understanding these guys come up
10:54
with a story. That's halfway believable and they
10:58
fall for it And the Bible teaches that we're
11:01
to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not
11:05
lean on our own understanding, in all our ways
11:08
acknowledge him, and he's gonna direct our paths.
11:11
And so there are times when the situation is
11:14
not what it appears. And that's the case in this
11:16
situation. And if they'd gone and talked to God,
11:18
then God would have made it clear to them. Why
11:20
doesn't God do that? Because God lets you go
11:23
through things so that you decide that maybe
11:25
you should talk to God so that God can make it
11:27
clear to you. God doesn't always tell me to come
11:30
to Him. What He does is He treats me like an
11:32
adult. He goes, I want you to come to me. I want
11:35
you to seek me. I want you to hear from me. I
11:37
want you to pray. And then I get to choose. And
11:41
if I don't pray, then I don't get the blessings
11:43
of praying. I don't get the consequences that
11:47
come from praying. And so if I sow to the flesh,
11:51
I'm going to reap corruption. If I sow to the
11:53
spirit, I'm going to reap life everlasting is
11:55
what God tells me. And so I have to Covenant
11:58
with God that that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna
12:00
seek you on things Lord I'm gonna pray about
12:02
these things and that's the last thing that is
12:06
spoken about here again in verse 14 they did
12:09
not ask counsel of the Lord they didn't pray
12:12
and So when you look in the Bible, we're commanded
12:16
to pray We're called to pray and prayerlessness
12:18
is a sin of omission. There are sins of commission
12:23
Where I do the wrong thing and there are sins
12:26
of omission Where I fail to do the right thing
12:29
and either one of those things is a sin prayerlessness
12:31
is one of them there's a passage in James 417
12:34
that says therefore to him who knows to do good
12:37
and Does not do it to him. It is sin. Is it good
12:40
to pray? What's the answer? Yeah, if you don't
12:45
do it, what is it to you? It's said and so we
12:48
need to be praying about things. We need to be
12:50
seeking God on those things Verse 15, it says,
12:53
so Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant
12:55
with them to let them live and the rulers of
12:57
the congregation swore to them. In verse 16,
13:00
they get discovered. It happened at the end of
13:02
three days. after they had made a covenant with
13:05
them that they heard that they were their neighbors
13:07
who dwelt near them. This is how it happened.
13:09
And the children of Israel journeyed and came
13:11
to their cities on the third day. Now their cities
13:14
were Gibeon, Kephara, Viroth, and Kirjath -Jeram,
13:17
but the children of Israel did not attack them
13:19
because the rulers of the congregation had sworn
13:21
to them by the Lord their God. And so they journeyed
13:23
to their cities, takes them three days to get
13:25
there. They're only 25 miles from Gilgal. That's
13:29
where their cities are. 25 miles away. That's
13:31
how far they traveled. That's a day's journey,
13:33
basically. And so the whole group of Israel takes
13:36
about three days to get there. When they get
13:37
there, these guys go, oh, by the way, we live
13:41
right there. We don't live in a far country.
13:44
We live right there. And at that point, all the
13:46
people of Israel were all ticked off and going,
13:49
what did you make a covenant with these guys
13:51
for? And one of the things that's telling in
13:54
the passage here is that the issue of repealing
13:57
the treaty isn't even entertained. They don't
14:00
even go there. They don't come to these guys
14:02
and say, you know what, you represented yourself
14:05
falsely and so the treaty's null and void. They
14:08
don't do that. And again, the reason is because
14:10
they're walking in their integrity. Turn over
14:12
to Psalm 15. Real quick, Psalm 15. I'm gonna
14:17
try to get this done before eight. This is a
14:22
great Psalm. It's all about having a life that's
14:25
above reproach. And in verse one, it says, Lord,
14:28
who may abide in your tabernacle? who may dwell
14:31
in your holy hill. He who walks uprightly and
14:35
works righteousness speaks the truth in his heart.
14:38
He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor
14:41
does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up
14:44
a reproach against his friend. That literally
14:46
means, nor does he receive a reproach against
14:49
somebody who's his friend. You don't listen to
14:51
gossip, that's what that's talking about. In
14:54
whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he
14:57
honors those who fear the Lord. And then look
15:00
at this verse. He who swears to his own hurt
15:03
and does not change. It's the idea of I make
15:07
a promise, I find out that it's not great for
15:10
me, and I refuse to change the promise. I keep
15:13
my word. He goes on and he says he does not put
15:16
out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe
15:19
against the innocent. He who does these things
15:22
shall never be moved. And so an awesome Psalm
15:27
about what it means to walk in integrity. There's
15:30
a passage in Numbers 30 verse two, there's a
15:32
bunch of them, but Numbers 30 verse two, God
15:34
says, if a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears
15:37
an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he
15:40
shall not break his word. He shall do according
15:42
to all the proceeds out of his mouth. And Jesus
15:45
in the New Testament said, let your yes be yes,
15:48
let your no be no. It's the idea of be honest.
15:50
And so if you've made a promise, if you told
15:52
somebody that you're gonna do something, do it.
15:55
So I'm making excuses and just do it. And so
15:57
you see this all throughout scripture. Does God
16:00
ever break his promises? Nope. Does God ever
16:04
go back on his word? Nope. Am I supposed to be
16:07
like God? Yep. I'm supposed to be just like him.
16:14
One of the things also that you have with these
16:16
guys, verse 18, is that the children of Israel
16:17
did not attack them because the rulers of the
16:19
congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God
16:21
of Israel and all the congregation complained
16:23
against the rulers. Then all the rulers said
16:26
to all the congregation, we've sworn to them
16:27
by the Lord God of Israel, now therefore we may
16:30
not touch them. We may not touch them. And one
16:34
of the things that these guys realized is that
16:36
sin is not remedied by more sin. That's something
16:40
that again we need to keep in mind. A lot of
16:43
times we get ourselves into a position because
16:45
of some failure on our part, some sin on our
16:47
part, and then we think that what we're going
16:49
to do is fix it by sinning more. And that is
16:52
not the case. That is not what you do. What you
16:54
do is you stop sinning, you start at that point
16:56
doing exactly what the Lord tells you to do,
16:58
and then God will come along and he'll make the
17:01
best of the situation. That's what he does with
17:03
these guys too. One of the things that happens
17:05
later on in Israel's history is King Saul. He's
17:08
the first king of Israel. One of the things that
17:10
he does is he goes after the Gibeonites. And
17:12
he attacks them and he kills a number of their
17:14
people. And what God does is he plagues the people
17:17
of Israel because they didn't keep their contract
17:20
with the Gibeonites. Even hundreds of years later,
17:23
that's going on. And so he abrogated the treaty
17:26
with Gibeon and Saul's family was judged because
17:29
of that. So what Joshua does with these guys
17:32
is he makes them woodcutters and water luggers.
17:34
it says in verse 20 this we will do to them we
17:38
will let them live lest wrath be upon us because
17:41
of the oath which we swore to them and the rulers
17:43
said to them Let them live, but let them be the
17:45
woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation
17:48
as the rulers had promised them. Then Joshua
17:50
called for them and he spoke to them saying,
17:53
why have you deceived us saying we are very far
17:55
from you when you dwell near us? Now therefore
17:57
you are cursed and none of you shall be freed
18:00
from being slaves, woodcutters and water carriers
18:02
for the house of my God. So they answered Joshua
18:05
and said, because your servants were clearly
18:07
told that the Lord your God commanded his servant
18:10
Moses to give you all the land and to destroy
18:12
all the inhabitants. of the land from before
18:14
you therefore we were very much afraid for our
18:17
lives because of you and have done this thing
18:19
and now here we are in your hands do with us
18:23
as it seems good and right to do to us so we
18:27
did to them and delivered them out of the hand
18:29
of the children of Israel so that they did not
18:31
kill them and that day Joshua made them woodcutters
18:33
and water carriers for the congregation and for
18:36
the altar of the Lord in the place which he would
18:38
choose even to this day And so one of the things,
18:42
again, that you see with these guys is they recognize
18:45
that the people of Israel are different than
18:47
the people of Canaan. Because I highly doubt
18:49
that they would ever have come up to one of the
18:51
kings of one of the Canaanite cities and fallen
18:54
on their mercy and say, do what seems right to
18:56
you to do to us, after they just ripped them
18:59
off and lied to them. Not really rip off, but
19:02
you know what I mean. They just baked them out.
19:05
I highly doubt that they would have done that
19:07
with one of the Canaanite kings. but they do
19:09
it with the people of Israel because they know
19:11
that they're different. And so that's a cool
19:13
thing because these people have a witness to
19:16
the people who are there in the world. And again,
19:18
what you got is a bunch of worldling doing what
19:20
worldlings do in this situation. They end up
19:23
being woodcutters and water luggers for the house
19:25
of the Lord. And so they end up actually being
19:30
blessed by God. They become servants willingly
19:34
in this passage. And if you look up in chapter
19:37
10, verse two, It talks about the kings of the
19:41
Canaanites fear greatly when they hear about
19:45
Gibeon making peace with Israel because Gibeon
19:48
was a great city like one of the royal cities
19:52
and because it was greater than Ai and all its
19:55
men were mighty. So these guys weren't wimps.
19:59
They weren't doing this because... They were
20:01
afraid of Israel in the sense that they didn't
20:04
go out to battle with anybody or they were Marvin
20:07
milk toasts or something like that. These guys
20:09
were mighty. They just realized that there was
20:12
something going on with the people of Israel
20:13
that was different than any army they'd ever
20:15
seen. And they figured, yeah, we better strategize
20:18
here. We better do something. We better back
20:20
this off because Jericho goes down, AI goes down,
20:23
and it's obvious that we're next. And we better
20:26
do something here. And they throw themselves
20:28
on the mercy of the people of Israel. which lets
20:30
you know that they know that mercy's coming with
20:33
these guys. And again, don't like the way that
20:36
they did it, don't like what they were doing,
20:37
don't like the fact that they were lying through
20:39
their teeth and deceiving people and that kind
20:41
of thing, but what they're doing is what unbelievers
20:42
do. And where they end up is in the house of
20:45
God serving. And that's kind of a cool thing.
20:49
because God takes that whole thing that is supposed
20:51
to be a curse to them and they become willing
20:53
servants. Psalm 84, 10 says, a day in your courts
20:56
is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper
20:59
in the house of my God than dwell in the tents
21:01
of wickedness. And that's what the men of Gibeon
21:03
in this passage choose. Gibeon becomes a priestly
21:06
city. The tabernacle ends up being housed there
21:10
in 2 Chronicles 1, 3. It becomes a place of worship
21:13
during Solomon's reign. And the Gibeonites actually
21:16
help rebuild the wall in Nehemiah 3, 7. So there's
21:19
a whole history that comes from these guys having
21:21
contact with the people of Israel, but they do
21:23
become a snare. They do become a snare. Chapter
21:26
10 is about sticking up for people you're not
21:29
supposed to be strapped to. So what happens is
21:32
the rest of the Canaanites go up against Gibeon,
21:34
and now Gibeon has a covenant with the people
21:36
of Israel, and then they got somebody who's gonna
21:38
fight on their side, and they're like, oh Israel,
21:40
Israel, everybody's attacking us, come on down.
21:43
Come and help us out, we have a covenant with
21:44
you. And so now Israel's been dragged into a
21:47
situation that they would never have been dragged
21:49
into before if they hadn't have made the covenant
21:52
with the people of Gibeon. Again, there's consequences
21:55
to the contracts that you make with the people
21:57
who are around you. These people are strapped
21:59
to people they're not supposed to be strapped
22:01
to. The consequence of having to come in the
22:04
battle that way is that the Amorites are setting
22:06
the battle strategy. Israel would rather go in
22:09
and set the battle strategy on their own. Go
22:11
and seek God, find out what God wants to do in
22:13
this situation, and go and set the strategy.
22:15
But now they're on the defensive in this situation.
22:18
And they're not even defending themselves, they're
22:20
defending other people that they've made a contract
22:22
with. Now what's cool about chapter 10 is God
22:24
enters in and he does cool things there. But
22:26
still, it's not the ideal situation. 2 Corinthians
22:30
6 says, you're not to be unequally yoked with
22:32
unbelievers. For what concourse does righteousness
22:36
have? I'm going to butcher that. because I didn't
22:40
get a long enough nap. Says in the passage do
22:46
not be yoked together with unbelievers for what
22:49
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness
22:51
What communion has light with darkness what accord
22:54
has Christ with Belial and what part has a believer
22:56
with an unbeliever? What agreement has a temple
22:59
of God with idols for you're the temple of the
23:02
living God as God has said I will dwell in them
23:04
and walk among them I will be their God and they
23:06
shall be my people Therefore come out from among
23:10
them and be separate says the Lord do not touch
23:13
what is unclean and I will receive I will be
23:16
a father to you. You shall be my sons and daughters
23:18
says Lord Almighty Would you like God to receive
23:21
you? Then you have to come out from among them
23:24
and be separate Doesn't mean you have to be mean
23:27
to them doesn't mean that you have to ignore
23:29
them You can still love people who are non -believers.
23:32
They are the objective, but you have to be separate
23:35
from them Do not touch what is unclean So stop
23:40
getting involved in things that are unclean And
23:42
so the conversations that they have, the attitudes
23:44
that they have, the talking behind people's back
23:47
that they do, all of that kind of stuff. You
23:49
don't be involved with things that make you unclean.
23:52
And what God promises is that He's going to be
23:55
a father to you. Would you like God to be a father
23:57
to you? I would. And you shall be my sons and
24:00
daughters. Would you like to be His sons and
24:02
daughters? You've been listening to Crosswalk
24:06
with Pastor Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio
24:08
ministry of Cowrie Chapel Tri -Cities in Kennewent,
24:11
Washington. If you're wanting to know more about
24:13
what it means to follow Christ, then please contact
24:15
our church office by phone at 509 -736 -2086.
24:21
You can also look us up online at calvary -tricities
24:24
.org. Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities is offering
24:27
two in -person training courses for those seeking
24:30
to serve in missions or ministry. The School
24:33
of Missions starts with 12 weeks of classroom
24:35
-style learning and local outreach in the Tri
24:37
-Cities, Washington, followed by a 10 -week cross
24:40
-cultural mission outreach. The School of Ministry,
24:43
this course is 18 weeks of in -person learning
24:45
environment, followed by a four -week mission
24:48
trip. Find out more at calvarytrainingcenternw
24:51
.com.