Keep a Closed Mind — Steve Hill

The Need for a Firm Spiritual Foundation

Keep a closed mind. If there's ever been a time that you need to hear something like this, it's right now. You'll understand that in just a minute. Keep a closed mind. There are people today that are beginning, many Christians are beginning to question their beliefs.

It's as if the foundation of their lives were never correctly established. Rather than having a foundation of bedrock, people today, Christians today, seem to be loosely anchored to shifting sand. Turn with me to the book of Galatians, chapter 1.

So, Galatians chapter 1. This is Paul writing around 57 A .D. Paul, an apostle, not from man nor through man, Galatians 1 .1, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. Let me stop there.

I'm sorry, folks, but I just love this. Paul, an apostle. You know, this is—what a way to start a letter. You can tell he's about to hit them hard, can't you? Look at this. Paul, an apostle, not from man nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.

That would be the same as you writing your son who's in school and saying, your father, comma, the one who pays all your bills, the one who brought you into this world and can take you out, dear Joe. And all the brethren who are with me, grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen. Verse 6, Galatians 1. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you into the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. And that accursed has a twofold meaning, excommunicated from the body and also eternally condemned.

And as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. Now turn with me to Colossians, just a few pages to your right.

Remaining Grounded in the Hope of the Gospel

Who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight, if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

It was obvious that Paul the apostle was having trouble with church people. They would be doing fine, Floyd, as long as he was there. But as soon as he left the premises, wolves slept in. They crept in, they slipped in and began undermining his teaching.

Reminds me of what the devil did to Eve thousands of years ago after God gave the teaching. He said, you can eat of everything in this garden, but stay away from this tree. And if you eat of this tree, you're going to die.

And then Satan comes up and says, hey, listen, you're not really going to die. And he begins to twist it. Now this is going to make a whole lot of sense to you in just a minute. Closed-mindedness is best defined by understanding open-mindedness.

An open-minded individual is one who is free from any rigidly fixed preconception. You're willing to listen to other arguments and other ideas. You allow yourselves to be swayed from whatever opinion you might have had on a subject.

Openness to Technology and Human Progress

Now, open-mindedness is not a bad thing. Open-mindedness is a good thing concerning particular subjects. You're dealing with a man before you right now that is extremely open-minded. I am open-minded, for example, to the advances in communication.

I thank God that we no longer see hieroglyphics on the walls of caves. I thank God that we don't have to deal with the Pony Express or Morse Code anymore. I like email. I like cellular phones, and I love overnight shipping companies.

I'm open-minded to the mass communication. After all, I can't imagine what my life would be like without my laptop, my voice-activated cell phone, and my iPod. Let me talk about voice activation for a minute.

I've got a phone, and this is not new technology, but it's becoming refined. I've got a telephone that I can just pick it up, open it up, and say, call Jerry Hill at home. Call Chris Lister at work. Call Floyd Ellsworth on his cell.

And it'll go, call Floyd Ellsworth on his cellular phone. Correct? And I'll say, yes. Then it'll say, I didn't understand you. And I'll go, yes! And he never raises his voice. He goes, dialing, you know?

Just a nice little man that lives inside my phone. But voice activation is awesome because one day, you're going to be able to walk into your house, you're going to say, television, Daystar, celebration, yesterday.

And the television's going to go on, and it's going to show yesterday's celebration program. If you want to watch last week's news, maybe you want to remember something that took place last Tuesday, you're going to be able to walk into your home, you're going to say, television, Fox News.

You won't even have to say television. You'll just say, Fox News, Tuesday. Give the date, and it's going to come on. It's going to be voice activation. I love it. I had fun the other day. I was at the mall.

And I love to goof off with people, OK? I'm one of those people, if we're in a big crowd, I like the theme park, and my kids are with me, I'll say, kids, watch this. And I'll go, and you know, the 300, 400 people standing around, I'll go, hey, Bob!

And then there'll be like five or 10 Bobs that'll turn around. It's just fun, OK? But I was at the, I was at Grapevine Mills Mall the other day, and I was, as I walked towards my car, there was this large group of teenagers that were just sort of hanging out at their cars.

And I love messing with young people. And so they're just sort of hanging out there. And so I thought, what can I do to really just get them? And I thought, I know what I'll do. And I had my little car clicker thing.

And you know, it has a little red button where you can push it, and your car goes, deet, deet, deet. You know, the horn goes off, and you can find your car. Well, I had that in my pocket, and I put my finger on the button, put it in my pocket, and I made sure the young people were like 30, 40 feet away so they could hear me.

And I went, where? And then I pushed the button in my pocket, and it goes, deet, deet, deet. And then I went, thank you, and I pushed the button again. And these teenagers are going, I love the advances in communication.

How many remember me, George Jetson? You remember that? How many remember the Jetsons? Raise your hand. How many do not remember the Jetsons? OK, come on, get with it, man. But all the stuff, all the stuff on the Jetsons, that stuff is coming to pass, man.

I mean, if you don't believe me, you remember Astro and George when they'd go out for a walk? Remember that treadmill? Well, now you log on to jogadog .com, jogadog. You can buy that that you saw on the Jetsons.

OK, all that kind of stuff, it's prepared food coming out of machines. It's a great day we live in. Transportation and medicine are two more areas that I'm so wide open. I've got an open mind. I did not come to church today on a horse.

Thank you, Jesus. And when I looked in the parking lot, I didn't see any horse-drawn carriages. I didn't see any donkeys or camels or pack animals. I did see a lot of horseless carriages with heating and air conditioning.

Someone say, thank you, Jesus. I love the advances in communication and advances in transportation. I've traveled the world many, many, many, many times. As a matter of fact, in one seven-month period, right before we started this church, I circled the globe four times.

And it was after that, you know, I said, man, I can't, you know, I just can't continue to do this. But now they're coming up with these supersonic jets and then these double-decker, like the Airbus A380, has two, it's like a flying shopping mall.

And then high-speed trains. They're trying, you know, they want to build a triangle with Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio with bullet trains. I would love for those bullet trains to be built. I would love, Floyd, to get on a bullet train in Dallas and let's go have lunch in Houston.

Have lunch, turn around and come back. Them things are fast, folks. So I'm open. I'm also open to space flights. Space planes are being designed now. We've come a long way since 1903 at Kitty Hawk. I'm also excited about the advances in medicine.

I've got an open mind. I thank God for a thing called anesthesia. I love it because I've broken bones before and you're lying in a hospital. And, you know, as you're lying in the hospital, they gas you or whatever, you know, pump something.

They said, you know, count to 10, 9, 8, 7. It's awesome because then they start twisting your bones and, you know. We have in and out surgery centers now where you can go have surgery, outpatient procedures, and you're back home that night.

Technology, Science, and Medicine

Forensic science. If I wasn't a pastor and wasn't an evangelist, this is what I'd do. I love forensic science. It's fascinating to me. Maybe because I was a criminal for so many years. Maybe that's what it is.

But forensic science is amazing to me. If you're listening to this by internet or you're listening in here and paying attention and you're a criminal, this is a bad time to be a criminal. Forget wearing gloves.

You better not sneeze. A hair from your head better not fall at the crime scene because you're dead meat. Forensic science, it's awesome. Nanotechnology. How many know what that is? That's the science of itty-bitty.

Little things. And one day, you're going to call the doctor and you're going to say, Doctor, I just don't feel good in my stomach. I just don't feel good. And he'll say, I'll send you over a pill and then I'll watch it on the screen.

And he'll send you over a pill and you'll swallow the capsule and take pictures of your innards. And the doctor will be at the office, you know, he'll probably be on a cruise somewhere looking at your tummy.

I just love the days. Did you know that 50 ,000 people less died this last year than the year before? 50 ,000 less people died in the U .S. because of advances in technology and medicines. Heart disease, cancer.

Openness to the Move of God

I love the days we're living in. I'm also open. Let's get spiritual here. I'm open to a move of God. I'm open-minded to the Spirit of God coming down. I'm open-minded to the Spirit of God touching my life.

I'm open. If God wants to sweep into this service right now and cause us all to be hit by the power and we fall to the ground and we lay motionless for three hours, I'm good with that. Anybody on board?

I'm open. But over the last several years, there's been something happening in Christian. There's been an onslaught of false teaching and the sole purpose of it is to undermine the basic doctrines of our faith.

Let me say something clear to everyone within the sound of my voice. When it comes to the fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ, there is no room for debate. Some have said, Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it.

No, my friend. Jesus said it, that settles it, whether you believe it or not. So there's a lot of things concerning Jesus that when it comes to your perception, you better have a fixed, closed mind. Now, why are you talking to us like this, Pastor?

You seem to be just burning with this in your heart. I am, and I'm going to tell you why. Right now, there's stuff coming across the internet, televisions, movie theaters, newspapers, that's causing men and women who've loved Jesus all their lives to begin questioning their faith.

Rejecting the Gospel of Judas and Other Apocryphal Writings

Things like this, the Gospel of Judas. Now, I'm going to cover this today, folks, because it needs to be covered. Last night, when I went home from the service, I preached this same message last night.

We have three services here at Heartland. Last night, at 9 o 'clock, and now at the 11 o 'clock. Last night, after the evening service, oftentimes after a service, I like to go home and watch about 30 minutes' worth of news or something just to relax, okay?

Because my mind gets so full of everything that's going on, it just helps me to relax. So I turned on the television. The first thing that came on was the Gospel of Judas. And the part in the film on the Gospel of Judas was when Jesus was at the Lord's Supper.

He walks up to Judas, and he says, Judas, come here, come here, come here. And these are professional actors doing this. He says, come here, I want to talk to you, Judas. He said, Judas, I want to share things with you that none of the other disciples will ever know.

This is just for you, Judas. And I want to reveal to you the kingdom. I want to reveal to you all about heaven, okay? Now, I promise you, there were Christians watching last night that did this. I didn't know that.

I didn't know that. See, the Gospel of Judas was discovered in an Egyptian cave about 30 years ago. And basically what it says is that Judas was a close confidant of Jesus, higher than all the other disciples.

It's a ridiculous paper. And I'm going to explain some of this, you know, in a nutshell. This is not going to be heavy, but it is going to be informative. You know, people are saying, well, why isn't the Gospel of Judas in the canon of Scriptures?

Why isn't the Gospel of Judas part... And did you know that there's 21 Gospels out there outside of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John? There's 21 Gospels out there. For those of you that haven't heard of them, they're everywhere.

They're there. And they're probably going to find a few more as they keep excavating. Let me tell you the problem with these writings. They don't fit. They don't fit. What do you mean, pastor? Let me illustrate it this way.

I have a couple individuals in our church right now that I have enlisted to journal the history of Heartland. And these individuals are professional writers, not by profession, but by their own skill.

As I read their writings, these guys could write books. One lady and one individual, another man. And so, they have been here, both of them have been here pretty much since the beginning of Heartland.

And so I've asked them to start journaling everything that's going on at Heartland. They were here for the Easter drama. And their writing went home and wrote what they saw firsthand. Everyone say, firsthand.

They wrote what they saw. Okay? They're here all the time. One of them's in this meeting right now, listening to what I'm saying. Will probably write when they get home about Keep a Closed Mind and how it affected some of the members of the congregation.

I had people in the first service walk out and say, Pastor, you don't know how badly I needed that. And I know what they were saying. That their faith was being shaken. But these individuals that are writing for the church right now are qualified.

I, as being the senior pastor of the church, have spoken to them about writing this. Okay? Now, imagine this. Someone else that comes to Heartland. Comes two years ago, they stay for a month. Then they go to Gateway for two months, sit under Robert's ministry.

Then they go over to Prestonwood for three weeks and sit under that ministry. Then they decide to go to Fellowship Church for four months, sit under that. Then they come back to Heartland for another three months here.

And then they decide to go over to High Point for a month. Do you think, if they were journaling, they would know what's going on at this church? They're not going to know. The Gospel of Judas was written a couple hundred years after Christ.

Judas is dead and gone. And so, what are you going to want to read? When the Scriptures were put together, when our church fathers decided which ones would go into the book, it was because they were the ones that were inspired of the Holy Ghost.

And if you see, there's a bloodline from Genesis to Revelation. There's continuity all the way through. Paul doesn't contradict Peter. Peter doesn't contradict Job. Jesus is always using the Old Testament.

The Old Testament's all through the New Testament. There's a flow in the Scriptures. Why? Because these are the books that were anointed of the Lord. You all with me on this? Somebody say, Amen. Then the Gospel of Thomas, written around the 3rd or 4th A .D., which turned out to be a forgery.

The Da Vinci Code and Modern Conspiracy Theories

Now the Da Vinci Code. Whoa! Whoa! Dan Brown has sold 40 million copies. Forty million copies of a book that talks about Jesus impregnating Mary Magdalene and having a child. And that child become part of a secret society within the Roman Catholic Church.

And if you don't believe this is affecting Christians around the world, then how come it's on the front page of the newspapers and periodicals everywhere? You know, Leonardo da Vinci's in my house. If you go in our living room, we have a beautiful antique framed The Lord's Supper, which is one of his classic works.

But ooh, there's all kinds of cryptic writings and puzzles and brain teasers. No, it's a picture of the Lord's Supper. Yeah, but what does that mean when Peter's touching his nose? All kinds of secretive stuff on Mona Lisa, you know, the way she's smiling.

The Vitruvian Man, you know, a lot of the New Agers have used that design of Leonardo da Vinci. I look at this and I go, come on, Christians, come on, man. What is with you? And I'm speaking to the body of Christ in general.

Remember, this message is going in Charisma magazine in a couple months. And then a professor in Florida comes up and says, wait a minute, I know exactly what happened back 2 ,000 years ago when Jesus came walking on the water, He was actually walking on ice.

Because every 10 ,000 years, the Sea of Galilee freezes over. Not totally, he says, but there's patches. And Jesus happened to land on the patches. He was just in the right place at the right time, I guess, you know.

And then all the conspiracy theories that come out of Matthew 28, 11 through 15. You remember what happened? I mean, we just came out of Easter, where they said, here, take this money, tell everyone that the disciples came while you were sleeping and stole the body of Jesus.

And then the Bible says, and these things have been heralded since that day. That Jesus never rose from the dead. The disciples stole His body away. And so, I'm just, folks, listen. I'm going to lay a foundation in just over the next few minutes, and then we're going to close today.

False Teaching During Spiritual Revival

I believe we're at the beginning of the greatest move of God this world has ever seen. And with that great move of God is going to come a flood of heresy. A flood of false teaching. It's going to come from within the body of Christ and outside of the body of Christ.

I know what I'm talking about. I've lived through two revivals. When the Argentine Revival broke out in Argentina, cults came by the tens of thousands into that country. And I met them. I would fly in and out of the nation, and you'd be sitting in a plane.

You'd be sitting there with cult members. Why were they there? Because they were on assignment from Japan, assignment from the U .S. to come into Argentina during this mighty move of God. And they would come in, and Jerry and I would catch them at our crusades.

They would be standing around the perimeter of the crusades, stealing little sheep as they got saved. And they would say things like, Veni, veni, muchacho, come here, young man, muchacho. And they'd have a little Bible, you know.

Veni, veni, veni. Quiero enseñarte algo de Jesús. I want to teach you something about Jesus. Veni. En mi casa, in my home. Tenemos un estudio bíblico. We're going to study in our home. And we'd see these cults come in and divert these young little sheep.

And, I mean, it was a full-time job. So it's going to happen. Now, let me just get to you a few points today. I have a closed mind. And I had mown a shoe to keep a closed mind concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Exclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ, John 3 .16, could we say this Scripture together? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

There's no room for argument right there. The Bible doesn't say God had many sons. The Bible doesn't say that Jesus was a prophet. The Bible doesn't say that there's other ways to heaven. The Bible says He saw the world.

He loved the world. He sent His Son to die for the world so the world would not go to hell. That's the gospel. Now, whether your neighbors want to believe that, that's their business. But you had better get your foundation rock solid.

Come on, church. Jesus said, He said, I am the way, John 14 .6. I am the truth. I am the life. No man goes to the Father but through Me. What do you not understand about that? Someone said to me the other day, they said, well, what about all the other cults?

What about all the billions of people that believe other religions? And I look back and you go, what about them? What about them? But what about, I mean, you know, they don't believe in God and they're not hearing the gospel, you know, and the people are dying.

Who stepped off the throne and put you on there? Since when do you think that God's not able to save someone without your help? How do you know that right now as I'm preaching this message, God could be speaking to 14 million Muslims all at once in their homes in privacy?

He's revealing Himself through signs and wonders all over the world. So who are we to say, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, what about them? What about them? Where's your faith? I'm beating Muslims and Buddhists that have had visitations from Jesus.

They're talking about the man in the white robe. You all with me on this? So concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is only one way in. One way to heaven, one Savior, one way, and that's His way.

I am the light of the world, He says. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the door. I am the bread of life. I am the good shepherd. I am the first and the last. He's not sharing this glory with nobody.

Why is it that I've been able to win Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus to the Lord? I want to tell you why. Because they see me stand behind a pulpit and lay it on the line. I don't give them an option.

Shoot me if you want to. This is the way. You want to go to heaven? This is the way. I shared with you about a meeting that I preached in a nation where we had like 8 ,000 people in the arena. And the head of the crusade there that brought me in, he said, he said, don't be disappointed, but these are all Hindus.

And he said, they're not going to respond to your message. They're here because of the miracles. They want to see the miracles. And he said, they're not going to respond. And I remember during the worship service, it was pretty dull.

Okay, because these guys were not into anything. I preached the message. 3 ,000 people came running as fast as they could to the altar. And that individual, that leader, he was crying his eyes out. And he said, 54.

He said, 54. He said, since 1954, I've worked in this nation and I've never seen anything like this. Why did it happen? Because I told them, there's only one way in. The second thing, I have a closed mind and I encourage you to keep a closed mind concerning the Word of God.

The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture

This book is accurate from cover to cover. Somebody say amen. 94 of American households have one of them in the closet somewhere. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, all, all, all, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

The Bible also says in Revelation 22, 18 and 19, that if you add anything to it or take anything away from the Word of God, you are in danger of judgment, the Word of God. So humanists and lukewarm theologians are trying to cool it down.

This thing's hot, trying to cool it down. Mark Twain said, it's not the Scriptures I don't understand that bother me, it's the Scriptures I do understand that bother me. So concerning the Word of God, folks, listen up.

Keep a closed mind. If anybody ever comes up to me, and I've had this happen. See, I'm not the smartest man on planet Earth. I'm smart, but I'm not the smartest. I've got theologians that I call when I'm stumped on something.

Some of the top theologians in the nation, I'll give them a call up and boy, I can get some answers. But if I've ever stumped on the streets, and someone comes up to me and says something, and maybe it's something I don't fully understand, and they're pulling something out of Ezekiel, or pulling something out of Revelation, or somewhere out of Daniel, and I really haven't studied that portion of Scripture, it takes more than a lifetime to get this book down, folks.

I'll say to them, I'll say, you know something, sir? I'll never bow my head, by the way. I lift my head high. He's the glory and the lifter of your head. I lift my head high and look straight into their eyes.

And I'll say, sir, I appreciate the fact that you've challenged me. You know, I have not studied that one text the way you have. But I will let you know something that is dear to me, and that is my relationship with Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Just this morning, Jesus and I were having a sweet time of fellowship. He's everything to me. He's delivered me from drug addiction and alcoholism. He's my best friend. I once was blind, but now I see.

If you want to drive a door-knocking cult member nuts, tell them, come on in. But we're not going to talk theology. You can't mention your church. You can't bring out one of your books. You can't play a tape.

All we're going to talk about is our personal relationship with God. They'll go nuts and just sit there. Say this, could we begin by just having a worship time? Oh, I love you, Lord. I love you, Jesus.

I glorify you. I glorify... You're going to hear slam. I'm telling you, it works. I also have a closed mind concerning the doctrine of original sin and the danger of a sinful life. Everyone say sin. Ooh, what's that?

Original Sin and the Danger of Sin

Sin separates you from God, Isaiah 59, 2. Sin will enslave you, John 8, 34. The wages of sin is death. Sin came into this world when Eve disobeyed God's command. That is the doctrine of original sin. And if you feel like a loony when you're talking about Adam and Eve, something's wrong with your foundation.

I love looking at people and saying this. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. I love to say God flung the star. I've had people say to me, you are a fool. Oh, and then He said, let there be light.

And He made cows and giraffes. Folks, for those of you that love to be right, you're right. So, don't worry about them. They're wrong. It may be a few years before they found out how right you are, but just talk to them, man.

Look like a loony. It's fun, sin. Everyone says sin. You know, Jesus said, go and sin no more, okay? He's not into sin. Jesus is not into sin. Now, did you know that there's churches today, denominations that are allowing practicing homosexuals to preach from the pope?

I'm talking about a man—forgive me for my— this is not vulgar, but it's just plain— a man who commits sodomy the night before on a Saturday night, then comes in and speaks in the pulpit on Sunday morning, okay?

Could you imagine if I came out of the green room at 11 o 'clock with my wife, Cherry, and she was holding me up because I was drunk, and I came up to you, Chris, and I just reeked of alcohol, what would be your opinion of me?

How many of you in this church would be so appalled at this drunken man opening up the Word? Or how about if I was in the broom closet over here, and you open it up, and I'm in the broom closet with some woman that's not my wife, and we're embracing one another, and you open it up, and you see that.

Do you think you would sit under my ministry, let them—you know, me, I come out of that, I go, hey, hey, listen, listen, I come out, then I preach the Word. That's how ridiculous it is right now, with churches allowing people that are living wicked lifestyles— they're not alternative lifestyles, they're wicked lifestyles, demonic lifestyles.

Now, I love the homosexual, but I hate the sin, and we happen to lead the nation in homosexuals. You know, we got the largest homosexual church in the nation here in Dallas-Fort Worth. And I'm sure the pastor will get this message.

The Reality of Heaven, Hell, and Divine Judgment

Some little birdie will get it to him. And I'm closing with, I have a closed mind, and you should also concerning heaven and hell. Now, this kind of stuff will get you in trouble. You know, right now in Sweden, some of my friends are being jailed.

As a matter of fact, one of the pastors that gave us $100 ,000 to start this church in Sweden came this close to a prison sentence for preaching what I just preached, okay? That day is coming in America.

If you don't start living holy and raising up that standard and vocalizing what you really believe, you're going to have a minority of people rise up and change the very laws that we've lived under for years.

Why? Because the Christians sat silent. And then pastors will be arrested for preaching against sin. I'd gladly go to jail for that. I have a closed mind, and you should also concerning heaven and hell.

Everybody say, heaven. Say, I want to go there. Everyone say, hell. Say, it's a bad place. Say, it's hot. Say, it's hotter than Texas in the summertime. This is something God would never send anyone to hell.

You know, there's a Scripture in Psalm, I believe it's Psalm 50, verse 21. You can look there later. It is Psalm 50, verse 21. And this is what it says. These things you have done, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you, but I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

Let me tell you what this is. When God is silent, and right now He's silent in America, there's no judgment going on in America right now. There's no judgment. God is silent, but He's taking notes. And that's what this Scripture is all about.

I was silent, so you thought that I was just like you. That means people think God is tolerant. People think that God, because He's not doing anything, it's like a kid that doesn't get caught under his parents' watchful eye.

He feels like, well, my dad's just sort of letting me, you know, get away with stuff. God's not letting you get away with anything. The Bible says that He will reprove you and He will state the case. And that's a military phrase.

That means He's going to line up all your sins as a military army lines up for battle, and they're going to come marching towards you on judgment day. That's a scary thought for those in this room that don't know the Lord, and those listening at home that don't know the Lord.

And so with heaven and hell, when people go, God wouldn't cast anyone in hell, they're thinking that God is just like them. Because there has been no judgment. I mean, folks, look here. We're going to close, I promise.

But look at America. Right outside this building. As a matter of fact, you'll probably go to a restaurant today, and somewhere in that restaurant will be a practicing pedophile who's already been busted once.

Okay, they're in the restaurant. They're all over the place. Why? Because in America, we are so soft. I took my girls to a graveyard the other day by my house. I love going to the old-fashioned graveyards.

They're a great place to talk to your kids, by the way, parents, because a lot of the gravestones talk about Jesus. These are your ancestors. A lot of them say awesome things, okay? And I took my kids, and I showed them this plaque where this man and a tree, there's still this big oak tree there, where a man was hung, where a man was hung.

And I said, Kelsey, see that branch right there? This is where they hung the man back in the early 1900s. And I said, you want to know what they hung the man for? For stealing a horse. For stealing a horse.