summer vacations 2015 notification

>> dr. ron hawkins: all right, please be seated. what an amazing word to describe our god. amazing—an amazing grace. this morning we want to honor one of our longmarchers. we've got a couple of long marchers on theplatform this morning. you're going to hear from one of them, butwe want to honor duke westover. duke was born in houston, texas. he's been a member—he is now a member ofthe board of trustees of liberty university,

and for many, many years he served alongsideof our founder and chancellor, dr. jerry falwell, sr., who was – as his executive assistant. duke and his wife carlene, and carlene isseated right over here, all right? duke and his wife carlene operate ducar internationaltours—a wholesale tour company specializing in taking people to israel and other middleeastern countries. since 1981, ducar has taken thousands of peopleto the holy land—including 1,500 at one time. that's a lot of busses lined up in a line! at this writing, duke has traveled to israel89 times.

in january of 2016, duke was honored witha lifetime achievement award for his steadfast commitment to bringing tourism into israeland his endless contribution to the jewish state. this award was presented from the israel – theisrael knesset and the world jewish congress. and we thought it would be a wonderful thingthis morning if we could give that award to him in front of all of you. so, duke, if you would come now please, andall right. carlene, do you want to stand over there? this is the lady behind the throne.

but, anyway, we're glad to have both of you. >> duke westover: thank you. well it's such an honor to be here. thank you so much for coming. and recognition like this doesn't come easily,and i appreciate everything that's gone on at liberty university. i've been here for a long time. i was here the day liberty university started,so i've seen a little change. the average israeli, most israeli's that iknow believe that the evangelical christians

are the best friend that israel has. that's always – that’s not always beenthe case, and i believe that that particular movement started in 1956 when jerry falwellgraduated from college, because one of the prime things in college was the abrahamiccovenant. those who bless israel will be blessed. those that curse israel will be cursed. and if you down look through history you'llsee an ash heap of people who have cursed israel. and right now, today, though.

but jerry falwell started preaching the abrahamiccovenant at his church and on television. and then when he started the moral majorityin 1979. that was one of the tenants, the four tenants,of the moral majority: pro-life, pro-family, pro-national defense, and pro-israel. and we started taking tours during that time,and others started taking tours during that now about 80% of the tourism that comes fromamerica comes from evangelical christians. so, liberty university has been a major partof that movement since 1956. and once again, i appreciate the recognition. i love liberty.

i love you kids. my daughter graduated from here in 1981—excuseme 1991—so we're liberty-ites. we love you. thank you so much for everything! god bless! >> robert mullen: at liberty, we are blessedto be able to stand on the shoulders of giants like duke westover. and thank you for acknowledging him and welcominghim. well, many have already heard that tomorrow,tuesday, november 8, is a big day.

after years of dialogue, and discussion, anddebate, it's the day of decision. and it's what you've all been waiting for,because tomorrow classes are canceled! and, and from 3:00 to 5:00, dorms are open! you can thank president falwell for makingthat possible. you may also have heard, though, about anotherevent that's taking place tomorrow, and i hope that you will be fulfilling your biblicaland civic responsibility as a freedom-loving person to go out and cast your vote for theperson that god leads you to vote for. all eyes are on liberty. all eyes are on our precinct.

so, let's send a message tomorrow that luvotes. and let's let the whole nation know that asyoung people, as the future of our nation, you are taking your responsibility in doingjust that. just some details to help you—if you liveon campus and you're registered to vote, you'll be voting here in the vines center any timebetween 6 a.m.—how many 6 a.m. folks—6 a.m. all the way up to 7 p.m. you'll need to remember to bring your flamespass. that's your identification to be able to getin. and free food for all out amongst on the concourseoutside the vines center, and hope you'll

be able to do that. if you live at the annex, you'll— annexover here? alright! you're going to be voting at the sheffieldelementary school. there's going to be bus service leaving theannex on every half hour all the way up to 6:30 p.m. the last bus will depart and hope that theannex people will be out as well. so, thank you for participating, and let everyoneknow that lu votes! also, tonight, college republicans are holdingan event with senator jeff sessions.

be 7:00 p.m., the concert hall in the schoolof music. hope you can be out and take part in that. and then very importantly, also tonight, anight of worship and prayer for our nation emphasizing unity amongst our student body,as we are united together in christ, hope that you'll come out for that—8 p.m. inlahaye event space—to worship together and pray for our country. and this is a very pivotal time in our nation,and we want to show the world that we are united as brothers and sisters in christ,and just praying that as this event continues on, as our election takes place, that we willbe able to manifest not just that we're politically

active, but that we are followers of jesuschrist, and live and conduct ourselves in a way so that he is magnified and glorifiedthrough the events of tomorrow. let's do that. i also have the privilege this morning, now,of introducing to you a great friend of liberty university. our guest today played one season with thenew york jets in the nfl, 1981-1982. he then went on to serve as a liberty universityvice president for urban ministry in 1987. and then in 1988, michel faulkner and hisfamily moved to new york city where he served as the assistant pastor and director of thelamb center for the lamb's church in time

square. he's now a resident of new york, of harlem,and he is running for the mayor of new york city in 2017. let's give it up for michel faulkner, futuremayor of new york city! >> michel faulkner: good morning lu! i am so excited to be here on the eve of whathas been called the most important election of our lifetime, of america. and i know that's been thrown around a bit,but i actually believe it's true. now, i'm having, i had a tough time.

i was very conflicted, because as a preacher,i know i want to honor the preacher who's coming with the word of the day. and so, i want it to be short and concise,but as—i'm not a politician. i'm a social entrepreneur. but as someone running for elected officei thought, wow, i want to give a rousing political speech! but i don't want to do that either, so i'mgoing to speak to you as a dad. i'm going to speak to you from my heart. my daughter's a senior here, and i just wantto communicate some truth to you.

is that okay? i said is that okay? listen, we are in a tough situation as a nation. the next president is likely to nominate andto have brought into fruition the next four supreme court justices. that alone just sends shivers down my spineto think that we would give that responsibility to someone who doesn't honor the constitution. and then, not to mention, that same presidentis inheriting a weakened economy and a division between americans unlike any i've ever seen.

the racial divide in our nation is greaterthan any i've seen any time during my lifetime. you know, we do have a growing disparity betweenthe haves and the have-nots. but in my opinion, as i see it, the causeis not race or racism. oh, sure, it's involved, but that's not theroot cause. and it's not going to be resolved by blackrage, or white guilt, or by a progressive politician showing up every time somethinghappens and blaming someone for the problem. we as americans need to band together, needto come together in unity, help each other realize our god-given potential. this next president needs you, needs yourinvolvement.

first you've got to vote for him. then, they need your involvement as christians. second chronicles 7:14 says, "if my people,who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from theirwicked ways, then i, says the lord, will heal their land." we want a better america; we need to be bettercitizens. can somebody help me with an amen? i am running to be the next mayor for thecity of new york, because i love that city. and god has called us to be salt and light.

i have had the privilege of growing up ina middle-class family in washington d.c. i understand what it means to serve others. i had the privilege of going to a jesuit highschool and learned the commitment to my fellow man. and then going to virginia tech, whose motto—inmy bachelor and master’s degree—whose motto is 'ut prosim,' which means 'that imay serve.' i have served my entire life, and then in1984, '85, i met this radical, radical, crazy christian named dr. jerry falwell, and heinvited me to come to liberty and be a part of this movement here.

and i was privileged to have my family aspart of this family here. and then in 1988 god surprised me and calledme back into new york city where i ran a soup kitchen, and i bandaged the wounds of prostitutes,and i worked in the belly of the beast. and i believed in my going to new york itwas god's calling on my life. and i do believe that god has called me tobe mayor. i do believe that it is this season of mylife now that god has prepared me for my entire life. and i want to serve in the name of christwith dignity, with respect, with honor. i want to end the soft bigotry of low expectations.

i want to help people understand we can dobetter! we will do better! when something happens, i want to be ableto look people in the eye and say, what are you going to do about it? what are we going to do about it? the government promises to deliver you throughthe salvation of the welfare system has not worked in 50 years. and i am a conservative. i have lived and worked in harlem, and i amthe messenger that can point to people and

deliver that message with enthusiasm. and guess what? it is well received. believe it or not, it is well received. i do a lot of campaigning. i have knocked on over 6,000 doors in thepast year and a half. i started my campaign in the housing projectsof new york city—the place they said, “don't go.” and you know what?

it is received enthusiastically, because peoplecan understand. they can discern the love that i have, thecare that i have, the concern that i have for them, for their well-being. not looking for government solutions, butlooking to help them band together to do better for themselves, for their families, and forcommunities. that's what this is all about. as conservatives, we have to get our messageout to america right now. it is urgent. it is important.

my candidacy is important. it's important to new york. it's important to you. and here's what i want you to do about it. i need your help. i need your help right now more than any othertime in my life, and i'm going to ask you to do three things. one is i'm going to ask you to pray for meand my family, because this is a grueling, grueling process.

i'm out most nights during the week, and upearly in the morning. well, that was always the case, but it hasbeen a grueling process. i need your prayers. secondly, if you are on social media, andi know all of you are, i need you to go to my facebook page and like it. it's important that you follow what's goingon. we are campaigning every day. we are meeting religious leaders, people inthe cities and so forth, and we are doing what we need to do.

i need more likes on my social media. hello? i'm putting it out there, right? lastly, if you would like to get notificationsfrom us about what is going on, you can text the word 'mayor' to 67076. text the word 'mayor—do it right now, becausei know you'll forget. what was that number again? 67076. type the word 'mayor.'

you'll receive a notification and my enthusiasm,and i'll communicate with you on a regular basis, and you can opt out at any time. i'm excited that we're on the eve of thisgreat election, and i'm looking forward to being the mayor of new york next year thistime. thank you, and god bless you. >> david nasser: we want to spend a few minutespraying together for our nation in just a second. i do want to tell you that this is not somuch of an announcement as much as it is just for you to be aware, that tomorrow we havestudents representing every single state of

the united states here on campus, and so we'vepulled from every single state a different student who's going to be praying in differentstations all day during the day tomorrow. and so, that's going to be a pretty amazingthing. we're just really asking the lord, more thananything else, for just an awakening, and a revival in our land as michel was talkingabout just a few minutes ago. let me let you know that there's a careerfair coming up. the fair will be hosted by the school of divinityon november the 15 at 12:30. it'll go until 4:00. it'll be held at the montview student unionalumni ballroom.

that's the ballroom with all the pieces ofart, so just on its own that's worth going to see. outside of that, this career fair is goingto be pretty amazing. seventy organizations are coming from allaround the world to really make job opportunities available to you. and i know that our school of divinity ishosting it, but let me just tell you that if you are a student with a business degree,or an education degree, or if you're someone in the it world, they are looking, these organizations,for all kinds of people to give jobs to, all kinds of people to give internship opportunitiesto.

so, it's not just focused on music majorsand worship students, you know, and those kinds of folks. this literally is, more than just an opportunityfor pastors to go and be on staff. it's an opportunity for all of us. definitely worth our while, as a student body,to go out and check out at the montview student union ballroom. i have the privilege of getting to introduceto you our keynote speaker for today. our keynote speaker shares one thing in commonwith our last speaker on last friday in that he serves on our board of trustees.

dr. thorpe has been on our board of trusteesfor 28 faithful years. isn't that amazing? but even bigger than that, he has since 1964been on staff as a leader—that's a whole lot longer than even 28 years—at templebaptist church in odessa, texas. dr. thorpe travels around the country. and almost every sunday, or 50 sundays a year,he speaks at different churches all around, really not the united states but the world. he used to do like 25, 30 youth camps duringthe summer. we don't even have that many weeks, but hewould just go from one place to another.

just an incredible communicator, a faithfulservant just to god's word. and the few years that i've been here on staff,dr. thorpe has always just been such an encouragement to me. he's always wanted to know about you, andevery time we run into each other at board of trustee events, he asks about you. he asks about your spiritual welfare, andhe just seems to have a real father figure kind of posture in everything that he does. we're so blessed to have him here with ustoday. can we just put our hands together for dr.jerry thorpe?

>> jerry thorpe: okay, i'm a texas boy. and i decided not to come here and say thenormal stuff we say—good morning and stuff like that—but i'm going to talk cowboy toyou, and i want all of you— i was listening to tim lee the other day, and i said how greatwould it be if i gave a little texan and the whole crowd said it back. so, here's my greeting. you ready? howdy! >> audience: howdy!

yeah! always like it when there's a “yee-haw”in the crowd. the greatest thing that ever happened in mylife happened when i was your age. i was an 18-year-old freshman in college,when in a small church in texas, on the first sunday night of january, 1955 i stepped out,and walked to the front, knelt at an altar before a holy god, told him i was not a holyperson, and asked him if he would be my savior, come in and change my life. and that night jesus christ totally changedjerry thorpe. that's been 62 years ago, 62 years ago!

i am 80-years-old now. how about that? and the greatest thing that ever happenedto me is jesus christ. the second greatest thing that ever happenedto me is that 58 and a half years ago, freddie and i were married. freddie's a girl. didn't want you to be mixed up about that. and as david said, 28 years ago—it's reallyabout almost 29—dr. falwell asked me to be on the board.

i was in baptist bible college with him. asked me on the board—it's been a privilegeto serve. and i want you guys to know, of all of thebeautiful things that are happening in your life here now, there's a lot of great peoplethat paid a great price to make this possible, so you need to honor them. and you do that very well, and god bless you. i want to talk to you this morning on thesubject of choices, choices. because i'm a big fan of classical music. i've always loved the singing of willie nelson,and merle haggard, and johnny cash, and george

jones. george sang a song that goes with this message. it was called "choices," and in this songgeorge is singing of his life. he was a great, great voice in country music,one of the biggest stars, but boy did he ever live a wild life—primarily because whenhe was young he made the choice to make alcohol his drink of choice, which led to amphetamines,and then cocaine. he was strung out, hungover, drunk so muchthat he missed so many shows he was called no-show jones. he was married four times, divorced threetimes.

and then march 8, 1999 driving his lexus suvutility truck, with a bottle of whiskey in the front seat with him, without his seatbelton, talking to his daughter on the telephone, he went right into a bridge abutment. he was driving drunk and came about as closeto killing a man as you can come. in fact, it took them two hours to cut himout of the car and months of recuperation. his next album was called cold hard facts,and the first cut of that album is a song called “choices.” the words are on your screen. he put his story broadly.

george said, "i've had choices since the dayi was born." we all have, you know? in fact, as you guys get older, and peoplewill talk to you, and they will say, "tell me about your life." your life will be defined by the choices thatyou have made and the choices you're making now: how you treat your family, how hard youstudy in school, what your morals are, the level of friendship you keep and the qualityof your friends, how hard you're willing to work, and your relationship with jesus christ. when you get as old as i am and somebody says,“tell me about your life,” your life will

be defined by the choices you've made. george said, “i've had choices since theday that i was born.” next line said, "i've heard voices that toldme right from wrong." and again, we all have—our parents, ourteachers at school, sunday school teachers, our pastors. we're surrounded by voices that try to giveus guidance. and the next line george said is such a sadline. "if i had listened— if i'd only listenedi wouldn't be here today living and dying by the choices i've made."

when i talk to you about choices this morning,i'm not talking about the choice to get an extra dip of ice cream on your cherry pie,or what kind of a car you drive, or what kind of clothes you wear. i'm talking about a choice, sometimes, thathas the potential to really spiral your lives. and more than that, maybe scuttle, if youknow what that word means, scuttle god's plans for your life. and through the years, there hasn't been awhole lot of encouragement in our american culture to resist temptation by making rightchoices. do you ever think of our mottos?

“everybody's doing it.” “if it feels good, do it.” flip wilson used to say “the devil mademe do it.” and the nike group says, “just do it.” do you notice that the fallout from bad choiceslitter our culture? if you watch evening news on television, itshows line, after line, after line of people that have made the choice to do somethingthat is so bad that it results in disaster. but bad choices also litter our family andfriends. not any of you, i wouldn't think, have somebodyin your family, somebody in your friendship,

and they do things you can't put it in yourhead. you can't understand why they do the thingsthat they do. it litters the bible. king david was referred to as a man aftergod's own heart, but he lost, in a moment of lust with bathsheba, what it had takenhim an entire lifetime to gain. david found out that temptation is a liar. it promises what it cannot produce. the night before he was crucified, when theapostle peter—you're going to be tempted to make a choice, because i'm going to bearrested.

it's going to get hard. you're going to make a choice—be temptedto deny me. and peter's like all of us when we're facedwith preaching like i will do this morning. oh, come on jerry, that could never happento me. that's what peter said to the lord. come on. i could never - these other guys might denyyou, but i will never deny you, but of course he did. here we go.

to get the wisdom and strength to say no whenwe want to say yes. well let's start with god. here's a verse on your screen. the apostle paul said, “but remember thatthe temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. but god is faithful.” keep reading. “he will keep the temptation from becomingso strong that you can't stand up against it.

when you are tempted, he will show you a wayout so that you will not give into it.” aristotle was a greek philosopher who wasa student of plato and a teacher of alexander the great. and aristotle said once, what lies in ourpower to do lies in our power not to do. when i was pastor in odessa, our church becamethe largest church, by far, in our community. i had 11 full-time staff ministers, and iwas constantly talking to these people. the devil would like the choice that couldreally destroy your ministry and hurt the church. and i kept saying, but god will not let thathappen to you unless you're willing to run

the red lights, unless you're willing to runthe stop signs, because god was faithful, and he will always say don't go there; it'sa bad place to be. well, i want to give you a biblical exampleof right choices, and this is a story of a young man named joseph. we pick him up at 17 years of age, who undervery stressful and tempting situations made right choices and came out a winner. let me tell you a little about his life. he grew up the apple of his dad's eye. he was the eleventh of 12 children—boys.

so, he grew up a pampered 17-year-old. perhaps you read about the coat of many colorsthat his dad gave him. he's a 17-year-old jewish boy raised by asingle father in a dysfunctional home. his dad had children of two wives, and twomidwives, four women in all. his brothers were hellions. i mean joseph's home would have been a hiton the jerry springer show. you'd have read about that in tmz on yourtelevision set. and because of the jealousy of his brothers,he was sold by his own brothers to a group of slave traders who took him to egypt tosell him for a slave.

here's a 17-year-old kid. he arrived in egypt in chains, his hope shattered,his life in ruins. potiphar, who was the captain of king pharaoh’sguard, which is kind of like the fbi wrapped up in one man. and all of the sudden this guy, 17-years-old,was thrust into a brand-new culture, a brand-new language, a brand-new standard of moralitywith no hope of going home. he went from a pampered son, to hatred withinhis family, to a long ride on a slave wagon, to a wide-eyed, what had to be a wide-eyedboat ride down the nile river, to a frightening experience on the auction block, to a newlife as the lowest of slaves.

if there was ever a prime candidate to throwhis life away by making a bunch of bad choices and blaming it on the fact that my mom diedwhen i was young. my dad showed me so much favoritism that mybrothers hated me. and my brothers were so mean, and i didn'tget any breaks. and here i am in egypt, and i'm a slave. and i've been sold, and i'm working in thestables. what does it matter what i do? what does it matter how i act? but joseph didn't do that.

he was smart. he had a strong faith in god. he was a quick thinker, so he just went towork probably in the stables or in the fields. and after some years of adjustment, and hardwork, and such success that he now ran potiphar's household, joseph was accosted by potiphar'swife—a liberated, probably beautiful, turned on but bored woman who made repeated attemptsto seduce him. she even arranged the setting and took awayall the difficulties she could see, and she was ready to go. and all of the sudden, a young man raisedin an environment of god was faced with a

brand-new temptation, and he had to make sometough choices. now, i want you to read it with me. we're going to read 12 verses. normally we don't do that in a setting likethis, but let's do it this morning. you can follow along on your screen from genesis39. the bible said, "when joseph was taken toegypt by the ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by potiphar, an egyptian officer. potiphar was captain of the guard for pharaoh,the king of egypt. the lord was with joseph, so he succeededin everything he did as he served in the home

of his egyptian master." pay attention to verse three. "potiphar noticed this and realized that thelord was with joseph, giving him success in everything he did. this pleased potiphar, so he soon made josephhis personal attendant. he put him in charge of his entire householdand everything he owned. from the day joseph was put in charge of hismaster's household and property, the lord began to bless potiphar's household for joseph'ssake. all his household affairs ran smoothly, andhis crops and livestock flourished.

so, potiphar gave joseph complete administrativeresponsibility over everything he owned. with joseph there, potiphar worry about nothing—exceptwhat kind of food to eat! joseph," the bible next says, "joseph wasa very handsome and well-built young man." now i've got to comment on that. it's not wrong to be well-built and handsome. it's not. it's not fair, but it's not wrong. so soon, potiphar's wife began to look athim lustfully. "come and sleep with me," she demanded.

now i want you to read carefully the nextverses, because we're going to get some thoughts here for you. "but joseph refused. 'look' he told her, 'my master trusts me witheverything in this entire household. no one here has more authority than i do. he has kept back nothing from me except you,because you are his wife. how could i do such a wicked thing? it would be a sin against god.' she kept putting pressure on joseph day afterday, but he refused to sleep with her, and

he kept out of her way as much as possible. one day, however, no one else was in the house. no one else was around, when he went in todo his work. she came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding,'come on, sleep with me!" joseph tore himself away. he left his cloak in her hand, and he ran,ran from the house." here's a young man that made great choices. he was probably in his mid 20s. he's a long way from home.

he's surrounded by people who live that way. and i did my research on egypt when poti-josephwas there. but he refused. i think he asked himself five questions thatare the basis of the message—five questions you might ask yourself anytime you're facedwith something that requires a difficult choice. first of all, joseph said, “’who getshurt? if i do this who gets hurt?” the verse said joseph refused. look, he said to potiphar's wife.

my master trusts me with everything in thehousehold. he has kept back nothing from me except you. joseph first considered how it would affectothers. his first thought was not himself. he's a young, virile, handsome, long way fromhome, probably a very beautiful woman on the attack day after day, but joseph wasn't thinkingof himself. his family wasn't there, so they weren't aconsideration, but he said, “he has been very good to me. he bought me as a slave, but he gave me work.

and he honored my work, and now i'm runningthe whole household. and not only that, he's recognized that godis important in my life, and then he comes home and finds out that i've been sleepingwith his wife?” that's not going to happen. now wouldn't it be great if when any of uswere tempted we first decided who gets hurt? do i really want to hurt my parents that way? do i really want to hurt the people of mychurch? do i want to hurt my pastor? do i want to hurt my family?

there are people in your life who love you,support you, depend upon you. anytime you're facing something like that,back up and ask, “if i do this who gets hurt?” second question i think joseph asked was whatare my moral convictions? what do i really believe about this stuff. joseph said i will not do it, because youare his wife. now joseph had moral convictions, becausehe respected god and god's word. now potiphar's wife had a different view. she obviously believed that sex was just arecreational activity between consenting adults

for personal pleasure. it's just a physical act, which is seeminga very prevalent view in the society in which you're living now. it's just a physical act. it's no big deal. if joseph had taken that view he would'veslept with her. but joseph didn't take that view. joseph would've understood that god was involvedin this. and joseph would've understood, i think, thatgod gave sex to be a beautiful part of a relational

commitment of love, a relational commitmentof love. he would've understood that god is not anti-sex,but god is pro-marriage, and joseph planned to be married someday, so—get my next page—josephunderstood, perhaps, that if you in your life make sex a play thing, maybe you lose thereal thing. and joseph would've understood this commandmentof god is god's protection of the sanctity and importance of my marriage, because josephintended to be married someday, and he knew what god's view was this. so, he backed up. he had moral convictions, because he respectedgod and respected his word.

third question: i think joseph asked whereis god? notice the verse on your screen. joseph said, "how could i do such a wickedthing? it would be a great sin against god." who gets hurt? what are my moral convictions? where is god? potiphar's wife must've said, whoa, whoa,whoa, time out boy. have you looked around here?

potiphar's on a business trip. i made sure the servants are involved somewhere. there's no one else in this house but us. the doors are bolted. the doors are locked. it's just you and me. but joseph realized there was someone in hislife that could go through bolted doors, who sees in the darkness. no one other person might know, but god wouldknow.

in psalms, chapter 139, the psalmist said,“where can i go from his presence? if i go to the heavens, you're there. if i go to the depths of the sea you’rethere. if i go to the blackness of night you're there. so, joseph purposed in his heart, please listen. it's not a shallow commitment. it's not saying, okay, i know god's okay atchurch, but when i'm on a date— no, god's there. okay, i know god's okay at church, but wheni'm at my job, sometimes— no, no, god knows

about all of this. okay, i know god's okay at church, but we'retaking a trip to vegas, and you know what happens in vegas stays in vegas? no, god's in vegas. and i go at night, and i sit down at my computer,and everybody else is asleep, and i can go anywhere i want to. no one will ever know. yes, someone will know. i preached in farmington, new mexico the firstsunday in september, and god bless the catholic

churches of san juan county in farmington,new mexico, because outside of one of these sleazy porn joints they put up a sign that'llbe up on your screen. when you drive on the parking lot to thatplace, that's the first thing you see! don't you love it? jesus is watching you. you know something guys? there's a scary verse about david and bathsheba. david brought her in. she was another man's wife.

slept with her; she got pregnant. he did everything he could to cover it up,to hide it. there's a verse that says in second samuel11:27, the thing he did displeased the lord. and i know, wherever i am, you might neverknow, but god knows. and i don't want to do that thing that displeasesthe lord. someone is always watching. in london, a pastor of a local church goton a trolley one morning, gave the driver a bill, took the change, went back and satdown, and then absentmindedly counted his change and said, “whoa, he gave me way toomuch change.”

so, at the next stop he walked back up andsaid, “sir, excuse me. when i gave you the bill you made a mistake. you gave me way too much change.” and the driver smiled at him and said, “nopastor, it wasn't a mistake. i know you don't know me, but i know you,because i was in your church yesterday. and i heard you preach on honesty. just thought i'd put you to the test thismorning, see if you believe what you say you believe.” somebody is always watching.

fourth question: should i run? she grabbed him. “come on, sleep with me.” joseph tore himself away, left his cloak inher hands he ran from the house. listen to me. joseph ran from sexual sin. the apostle paul said in 1 corinthians 6:18:"run from sexual sin." that's great advice; you can't have sex whileyou're running. run from sexual sin, okay?

saint augustine, our christian forefather,saint augustine was a wild liver before he got saved. and after he became a christian, he was walkingdown a road, and coming toward him was a prostitute that he had frequented earlier in his life. and when he saw her he turned around and startedrunning in the other direction. and she called out, “augustine! it is i.” and st. augustine said, “i know, but itis no longer i. i've been changed by jesus christ.”

okay, there was this guy. he was way overweight, and he worked hereat this company, and he didn't exercise. and one of the reasons he was overweight,because on his way to work every day he passed a bakery, and he stopped every single dayand bought a frosted coffee cake and came down and gave a little bit to everybody else,and ate most of it himself. and they're fussing at him, and griping athim, and said, “look. you're killing yourself. you've got to quit doing that. you've got to start exercising.

you've got to quit going to that bakery.” so, they convinced him, and he said you'reright. i've got to change. so, for several months he was doing real good. and he said, “i've even changed. i don't drive by the bakery anymore, so idon't see those coffeecakes anymore. and he's losing weight and doing good, andthen one day he came to work, and he walked in with a big frosted coffee cake. and they said, “oh no, man!

what did you do?” he said, “you know, i don't know. force of habit, i just came that same road,and i passed that bakery, and i saw this coffee cake. and i said, ‘god, if you want me to havethat coffee cake let there be a parking place right in front of the bakery,’ right?” and he said, “sure enough, the eighth timearound the block …” let me tell you something from long experience. guys, please listen to me.

if you come across something that's wrong,don't keep circling the block. don't keep hanging around. don't keep playing it out in your mind. don't keep driving around until one day youfind a parking place. last thought, number five. joseph asked himself what are my dreams? you see, back when joseph was 17-years-oldat home before brothers sold him, god gave him a dream. the other sheaves of wheat bowed down to hissheave.

and the sun, moon, and stars—he had it ina dream. it's like a statement from god to joseph thati've got special plans for you. your life is to be significant. it's going to be meaningful. you’re going to make a difference in thisworld. now we all, i guess, grew up with dreams. most of you came to liberty university withdreams. there was nothing in joseph's dream. it was just god saying i've got a specialplan for you.

there was nothing in his dream about his brothershating him. there was nothing in the dreams about theland of egypt, or the auction block, or the work in the stables, or potiphar's wife. it's just god saying i've got a plan for yourlife, so live in a way that i can bless you. are you listening? i have a dream for you, so you live in a waythat i can fulfill the dream in you. joseph went through 13 very difficult years. from the time he was 17, he couldn't findvery many things that he thought god was really making it easy, because it was tough.

but at age 30, in a miraculous series of events,potiphar—i'm sorry not potiphar, but the king of egypt—pharaoh brought joseph outof prison, and made him—you can read about it—prime minister of egypt. and as prime minister, he rode in one of thelead chariots, and everybody bowed down to him. he was prime minister for the next 80 years. but when he was 17-years-old god said i'vegot something special. now if joseph had got bitter about his brothersselling him, or if he'd have slept with potiphar's wife, you think the dream would've come true?

so live in a way that i could bless you. there's a picture of a lake coming up on yourscreen. in oklahoma, it's lots of indian tribes inoklahoma, and this happened a long time ago, and there was an indian tribe on either sideof the lake. and sometimes they had their intertribal meetings,and at one of those a very handsome young man met a beautiful girl from the other tribe,and they just fell for each other head over heels. they didn't get to see each other too much,but when the tribes got together, and they planned their life together, but they livedacross the lake.

but they had this little tradition. every night this young man would stand atthe edge of the lake, and he would call out—like this is not wrong—an indian love call acrossthe water of the lake. and then he would hear her voice coming backto him, and that's what he did every night. he would call to her. she would call back to him. well it's the end of january. it's freezing; it's snowing. it's nasty, and he's there, and he calls outhis love.

and then he hears her voice, and he can'tstand it. i know it's cold. i know it's difficult, but i'm young, andi am strong, and i am virile, and i can do this. so, he dived in the lake to swim across tosee his beloved, but he got about halfway out there, and it was so cold he realizedi'm not going to make it. it's too far to go back. it's too far to go to her. so, he lifted himself out of the water withhis last breath, and he called out his love,

and then he sank beneath the water and drowned. yeah, it's sad. so, then the tribes got together. the tribes got together, and they thoughtthey'd recognize what this young man has done so that people in the future, people in thefuture would look back and remember what this young man did. so, they decided they'd rename the lake afterthis young man, what he had done. we're going to name the lake after him. so, they named the lake lake stupid.

now i know that's a big disappointment toall you girls. you're saying, "lake i'll love you forever,""lake i'll swim the oceans for you." no, what he did was stupid, right? okay, if i could have a couple of minutes. okay, listen. the reason i preached this lesson to you thismorning is i'm trying to keep you from swimming around in lake stupid. and i've got three thoughts. just, i want to name them to you.

if you want to stay out of lake stupid, firstof all, make sure you have a real relationship with jesus christ. god doesn't want to be your copilot. god wants to be your pilot. and second, make sure you're a part of a localchurch and serving the lord in the local church. but more than that—not more than that, butequal with that—when you walk into church on sunday morning and say, "hi, god." “listen, where have you been?” and you say, "well i was here last sunday."

"i know you were here sunday, but i reallywanted to talk to you monday, and i thought you'd read about me monday. and i thought you would talk to me tuesday,but you didn't. and i thought maybe we'd communicate wednesday." keep a daily relationship with god. and i've got another thought. make sure jesus is a reality. keep a daily relationship with god, and ifyou want to stay out of lake stupid, quit hanging out with people that are swimmingin lake stupid.

thank you.