The Stand (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 Jeff Kliewer)

Worship Gathering, Announcements, and Psalm 119 Exhortation

I want to say good morning. If you are here, take a seat in the hallway. If you want to come in, grab a seat. We're joining together again in the Lord's presence for worship. What an amazing day today is going to be.

There are so many things. I don't know which one is going to be the biggest highlight, whether it's going to be the singing, whether it's going to be Pastor Jeff's message. That's got to be up there somewhere, right?

We have Hamilton Banda, who's going to share his ministry. You'll hear more about that. We have baptisms. We have all kinds of stuff today. But I want to start us out with a word from Psalm 119, verses 1 and 2.

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart. Our walk is... No, no, no, that's okay. Normally I am totally unflustered by things that go on.

Thank you, Phil. As people who live in this world, first of all, if you are a believer, you are new creation. All things are new. All things have gone away. We do know that, and we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

But I got news for you. The world is still out there giving us all kinds of issues and stuff to deal with. This passage is a promise. It says, if you are walking in the law of the Lord, if you are seeking him with your whole heart, your ways are blameless and you are blessed.

That really presumes that you are actually in the law of the Lord. You are reading it. You are praying over it. You are meditating on it. And it presumes that you are surrendering your heart to God. But the promises that we have as believers are unlimited.

Today is an amazing day, as I said. We are going to start out with our worship service, and Hamilton Band is going to come speak about how God is calling him into a very, very incredible ministry. After this service, we are going to not be going outside.

Why not, I hear? I don't think it's going to rain for 40 days and 40 nights, but today it's going to be Anyway, we are going to do not an indoor picnic, but an indoor Breaking the Bread Fellowship together.

Our lunch is going to be provided. It will be out there. I'm going to give you guys a little bit of a secret, Pastor Jeff encouraging Second Service to come back. They may be out there getting their sandwiches before you guys.

First Service will. Anyway, we will just stay here. We're going to be breaking bread together. You can use the sanctuary classrooms or whatever, so it will still be a time of fellowship. And then somewhere around 1230-ish, we'll be returning back in here and we'll be having our baptism.

What an amazing time to be able to experience and to witness the testimony of these lives publicly proclaiming their citizenship with Christ. So we're looking forward to that. Come back at 6 for our prayer meeting.

If you didn't make the prayer meeting, but please come back around 7 -15, especially the men, but the women are invited as well for our movie. I do not remember the name of the movie. Show Me the Father.

Show Me the Father. Come back for that. Our regular schedule of activities this week with the women's and the men's studies. The Isaiah study on Wednesday, small groups is going on. So please take advantage.

On Saturday is our Love Life prayer walk out at the Women's Center. It would be a great time to join in prayer and holding up before the throne of God those young innocent lives. A congregational meeting is scheduled a week from tomorrow, the 20th at 7 o 'clock.

So go ahead and put that on your calendar. And at this time, Mr. Banda, it's all yours.

Hamilton Banda's Testimony and Ministry in Malawi

Good morning, Church. Let's bow our heads to prayer. Dear God, thank you for this wonderful morning. Thank you for these beautiful people. And thank you for this opportunity to share what you are doing in my life and also the lives of children back in Malawi.

I pray that as I'm sharing, you speak to their hearts. In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen. There is a scripture verse in Luke chapter 12, verse 48. And the verse talks about to whom much is given, much is also required.

Basically, they're talking about our responsibilities to what God has given us. And I know that God has given us so, so many things in our lives that we need to be responsible for. And this morning, I'm standing here knowing that God has also given me a lot.

And yeah, I'll be sharing about my testimony, my story, but also what God has put on my heart, which is a ministry that I'll be going to do back home in Malawi. So yeah, my name is Hampton Douglas Banda.

I was born in a family of two, and my parents passed away when I was five years old. So I grew up in a poor family, but also grew up in Malawi, which is one of the poorest country as well. So in LA, that's me when I was young.

And then I started living with my grandmother, I and my big brother. And later on, my brother was taken away by some people, which was five hours away from my home. And I was the one left at the home with my grandmother.

So my grandmother, she was providing food, and she was breaking kweli, like small stones to sell, and just to provide food for me. And she was very old at that time that she couldn't do that anymore, like to provide food for me.

So later on, at the age of six, I started, I wasn't even going to school, and I was just walking up and down in my community to find food from other people. And I met some also friends, and at the age of seven, some of my friends told me like, hey, let's go into the city, which is the capital city of Malawi.

So I went there, and I started asking money from people. And some people gave, they were giving me money, and I bought some food. I was like, this is a good place, like I should be coming here. And at the age of seven, I ended up staying there as one of the homeless kid in the streets.

At that time, there was no facilities that were taking care of kids. So I just ended up there, walking up and down with my friends. We had to ask money from people, and sometimes they could not give us money, but we had to do anything to find food.

So sometimes I had to go to the restaurants where people were eating, and get the leftovers and eat. Sometimes, like the sleeping places, there are no places like for people to sleep. So I had to sleep on a bare floor with some of the friends.

And there are these, some nights, which were very waste for me, whereby you had some people like other boys that could come and find us sleeping at night. And then they would wake us up and say, hey, give us money.

So failure to do that, they had to put us in a ring, like a wrestling, and had us fight. So just for entertainment. And that was the life. But then as I was in the street, I was just hopeless, because I had to do anything just to survive for that day.

And then I was just hopeless, like I thought that could be my life forever. And one day I was at a mosque. I was begging money, and a gentleman approached me and said, hey, I'm doing an after-school program.

Would you like to come and join? I told him no, because I didn't know the person. But then as he was talking to me, there was another, one of his friends was in a shopping mall getting some snacks. He had bread, bananas.

And then he came out with those bread and bananas, and he was talking to his friend like, hey, I'm ready. Let's go. And the guy asked me again, hey, would you like to come and join us? And I said yes, just because I wanted the food.

I was so hungry at that time. So I went with the guy at an after-school program. They started teaching me about God. We had games. And then I was just waiting for the snack time to eat. Once I ate the food, I left.

And I came the following day for the food, and I just ate the food and I left. But one day as I was there, he sat down with me and said, hey, why are you here in the street? Tell me. Like, what's your story?

So I started explaining to him, and then he was like, okay, I'm going to take you out of the street and put you in a home. So he took me and some of the other boys, he took us in an empty home. So we went there.

It was just empty. That night we slept on the floor, and the following morning, some kids, they started running out here. They were like, no, we cannot stay here. But that day, he went and bought some blankets, and then the house was now coming up as a house, buying some other stuff, sleeping on the bed.

It was a house with electricity, even with a flushing toilet. It was just amazing. And then he started homeschooling, because at that time I couldn't even read and write in my own language. So he started teaching me, and then later he sent me to a public school.

And then I went to a public school. I was just a smart kid, and getting good grades, I went to high school. Then I went to college, and graduated from college. Oh, that's me there. Yeah, so I graduated from college.

First person in my family to graduate there. And then when I was in college, that's when I had this calling from God to go back into the street and reach out to the children that were homeless and orphans there.

So one day, I just went there and told some of the kids, like, hey, let's meet at this place. And I went the following day, it was 45 kids waiting for me. And I went there, I was like, wow. So I bought some snacks, and we played soccer.

We like soccer. So and then I told them about God, just stories. And then the kids, the number was just increasing, coming to the program. And then I started sharing about, you know, like, they have to go to school because they are kids, ages 7 to 16.

And I started telling them about school, and some of them, they were like, I want to go to school. But then I was, the advantage, I was working on a public school. So I talked to the headmaster, and the headmaster said, yeah, you can bring them here.

So I enrolled four of them. The four, one dropped out of school. These kids were still living in the street, facing all these challenges. But then in the morning, they could put on a school uniform, go to school, come back.

That just amazed me. And there was a dine ministry in the street, and I went there. It was just an empty property. So I asked the owner, like, hey, can I bring the boys to stay here so that they can go to school?

He said, yeah, but you're going to provide for food. So I said, okay. And then I put the kids, the number grew up to 16 kids, started with elementary school. Some of them were going now in high school.

Now I have one kid who will be graduating from high school, probably soon will be going to college. So that's how I started the ministry. I don't know if you can read that. That's the vision and the mission of the ministry.

So some of the programs that I want to be providing to these kids basically is to give them shelter. That's the first thing, to take them out of the streets and put them in a house. Those are just some of the faces of the kids.

The other ones that I started with them when they were young, now they're in elementary school and some of them, they're in high school. So I want to do an after-school program, which is I want to provide literacy support to the kids.

Our education system is so poor. It's like one teacher to 30 kids. So most of the kids, they go to school, but it's just noisy. They can't, you know, it's hard for them to ask questions, know how to read and write.

So I want to provide those programs as well. But the other program is to provide a home for the kids, which is an orphanage, to take these kids and bring them into the home, provide them with everything, shelter, food, but also education, and teach them about God as well.

And yeah, I'll start with eight, eight boys and eight girls in the home. These will be two different homes, and I'll have someone to take care of them and just see them going to school, graduating, and going anywhere in the world, and make a difference as well.

And the other program I'll be doing, a summer camp program, whereby I want to bring these kids together so that they can also have that social aspect of making friends, you know, but also at the end of the day, just to take them to some trips.

And in Malawi, we have a beautiful lake, it's called Lake Malawi, with fresh water. It's so big. And a lot of kids have never been there, so it's always an opportunity when you take them just to go and see the beauty of God, and I appreciate that.

So that's what I want to do as well. And the last one is a feeding program. So the feeding program, we are still facing a lot of challenges, especially for kids going to school without food. Kids that are still like orphans, they do not have food, like to be provided by food.

So I want to start that program whereby you can go and provide food for these kids so that they can also stay in school and do well. So later on, I applied for a program here in the States to do my Master's.

So I came here for my Master's program, and I'm almost done. Then I'll be graduating with a Master's program and be heading home at the end of this month. So that's what God has done for my life. Finally, I'll be doing a farming project because learning these programs will need me to provide food for the kids, which means every month I need to buy food from other people.

But getting a land and do farming on my own to grow crops, we eat. We call it sima. That's our staple food. It's made from corn flour. So growing corn, and that will be providing a lot of food for the programs as well in my ministry.

So that's what I want to go and do. And I'm just happy to have people like you so that you can play about it. Yeah, thank you.

Prayer for Hamilton Banda and the Orphans in Malawi

Hamilton, we thank God for you, and we can see the hand of God's favor on your life. First of all, he chose you and saved you, rescued you with the gospel. So we want to pray for you to go out preaching this good news and also looking after orphans in their distress.

Isn't that true religion? Amen. James 1, that is true religion to look after orphans and widows in their distress. Let's pray. So Father, we want to thank you for our brother Hamilton. We thank you that you have saved him, that you sent the gospel to him and captured his heart and forgave him of all his sin, washed him with the washing of renewal by the Holy Spirit and regeneration.

Thank you, Lord, that you have also gifted him by your Holy Spirit and given him a heart of compassion for these orphans, Lord. We pray, Lord, that you would send Hamilton out to preach the good news, that he would first of all be about preaching Christ and him crucified, to know nothing else.

Lord, and also, Lord, that he would help orphans, that he would be established in the work he plans to do. We pray that you would provide these buildings for the girls' home and the boys' home. We pray, Lord, that you would provide acres for the farms.

We pray that you would provide hands to work that farm. And, Lord, that the food would come forth to feed the orphans, Lord God. We pray blessing on everything Hamilton sets his hand to do, that you would go before him, be his rear guard and keep your hand upon him.

Bless this ministry, this work. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Did you catch how he referred to the young people that are being blessed by God through him, my kids? I just absolutely see the heart of compassion. It is exciting to see how God's working through you.

And we do pray for you, we pray for each of these children. Let's pray right now. Oh, God, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your activity, it says in Psalm 119. We see this young man, Hamilton, who has been touched by your grace, who has been blessed in so many ways by this other ministry that reached out to him, and now his heart is drawing out, and he calls them my kids.

We pray for Brother Hamilton as he prepares for this ministry, as he finishes his study, as he pursues the land, as he looks for buildings. Lord, that you would bring the children to him, that he would have the wisdom that he would be able to be prepared by your grace.

We pray for him, dear Lord. Father, I pray that we, as your children, being touched by your Holy Spirit, that our hearts might also be moved to being steadfast in keeping your activity, that we would choose to walk, even as our brother Hamilton is stepping out.

Lord, for the many who are preparing for baptism, today we rejoice, we pray, Father, that this would be an incredibly special day for them as they publicly proclaim their citizenship in heaven, being your child.

And that we, as those who are going to be able to witness it, would be encouraged as well. And Father, as our church continues to move forward, and today we would be seeking about the time when the land will be actually purchased this week, and then moving forward, we need you as the guide.

We do not want to be taking this on our own. This is your church, this is your kingdom. Keep us obedient to you. Moving out in the power of your word, that this lamp that's lit here, sharing your word, would remain forever true.

And so protect Pastor Jeff as he proclaims truth. Lord, now today as we gather together and we consider this message of standing for your truth, we pray, Lord, that you would prepare the words for Pastor Jeff and our hearts to hear.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's all stand and exalt his name together.

Prayer for Healing and the Opening of the Sermon on Standing for Christ

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. So Father, I want to open by praying for my mother-in-law Loretta, as she has fast spread in her lymph nodes. We're asking in Jesus' name that right now you would halt that spread.

And just touch her body and heal her and give release in Jesus' name. We also pray for Charlie's mom, hoping Charlie's mom that you would touch her and bless her as she's in the hospital as well. And we pray that you would heal her of pneumonia in Jesus' mighty name.

We know that you are able to do all things, and so we call upon that name that is above every name. And now, Lord, as we open your word, our prayer is that the words of my mouth as I preach and the meditations of my heart and the meditations of the hearts of all the people gathered and listening would be pleasing in your sight, our God, our rock, and our Redeemer.

In your name we pray. Amen. You will look back on your life and remember that the times that you had to make a stand for Jesus Christ were the best days of your life. Stephen, when he was stoned for the gospel he was preaching, endured great pain, but his reward was in heaven where Jesus stood to meet him as he rose.

The stand, that is our subject today, taking a stand. Martin Luther, of course, was famous for the stand he had to take. Remember that? When he had recaptured the essence of the gospel, justification by faith, the Roman Catholic Church came against him and called him to trial, and at the Diet of Worms he said, to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.

Here I stand. And recently, for those of you who are maybe baseball fans, the Rays in Tampa Bay have undertaken to be politically correct and put a rainbow flag on their shoulders of their uniform in honor of so-called pride, LGBTQ pride.

But five of the players said that they were believers in Jesus Christ and they could not compromise that conviction. They tore that thing off their jersey. They said no, and they took the field in the name of Christ, making their stand come what may.

It's a hard thing to do when all of the world is against you. One of my favorite stories along these lines comes from a book called Why I Stand, written by Jonathan Isaac. And Bob Nichols gave me that book and I read it this last week.

It was amazing. Jonathan Isaac grew up in New York City. His dad was actually the manager of that McDonald's in Times Square. Anybody may be eating there at the McDonald's in Times Square, a famous restaurant there, but sometimes his dad would work the night shift and the kids would be sleeping up in the second floor of McDonald's just enjoying that smell all night long.

Or not enjoying it, whatever may be the case. But anyway, when Jonathan was young, just maybe five years old, his mom picked up and left and took the kids to Florida. And his dad stayed in New York, and he hardly had a relationship with his dad.

So Jonathan Isaac grew up with great anxiety in his life. He always missed that father figure, so he looked for approval from other guys, and he really wanted to fit in. He became a basketball player.

But as he got better and better at basketball, the expectations upon him kept going higher and higher. He was ranked nationally, and he was like a top recruit to all of the colleges. By the time he got to Florida State, he was so riddled with anxiety, he thought he had asthma.

But it wasn't actually asthma, it was panic attacks where he would lose his breath. And a couple occasions before games, and as the difficulty of it mounted, and the pressure on his shoulders, all the world watching, he actually passed out a couple of times from the panic.

So I set this up to say, here's a man from within. He didn't have the courage to make a stand. He had anxiety. But something changed a couple years after he got into the NBA. A chaplain for basketball chapel.

One time I actually got to speak to the Rays myself, actually, when I was a youth pastor in Florida. I didn't really follow baseball, so I was like, sure, I'll go speak at baseball chapel. So I had these two professional baseball teams, and I'm just preaching.

And then afterwards, people asked me about it, and I didn't know any of the players' names. I just preached like anything else. But in this case, it was basketball chapel, and the speaker told him, and all the people who gathered, these Christian guys, listen, unless you're willing to take up your cross and follow him, you're not following him at all.

Count the cost, stand, believe in Christ, and make your stand with him. Well, Jonathan Isaac knew at that time he had never been a Christian. So he began to read the word and read the word. And then he met a man in the neighborhood who he began to call Doc.

Later he learned he was called Doc because he was Dr. Hepburn, a pastor in a local church. And this man took Jonathan under his wing and began to disciple him. They would meet at six o 'clock every morning to pray.

And Jonathan says the first time he got to his 6 a .m. prayer meeting, he lasted five minutes and he was sleeping on the floor. Anybody sympathize with that? You start praying, the next thing you know, you're sleeping.

But by discipline, he grew in his ability to pray. His discipline grew, his prayer life grew, and he began to study the scriptures and be taught the word of God. Well, 2020 happened, and the culture began to vilify the police of this country.

The actions of one man, Derek Chauvin, horrifically putting his knee on that man's neck, on George Floyd's neck for eight minutes, that person's action got transposed onto all police. And the narrative began that the police of this country are systemically racist.

And the country began to believe that, not just the police, but all manners of law enforcement, and actually all areas of society were deemed racist. And here's Jonathan Isaac. On a professional basketball team, the Orlando Magic.

Now, mind you, just a couple years earlier, the rookies had all gathered for a camp, and they talked about their exploits with women. And they went around bragging about these things until one basketball player named Semi Ojale, they asked him and he said, oh, I don't do that, I'm a virgin.

And all of the rookies mocked mercilessly Semi Ojale. They ridiculed him for this. But later Jonathan asked him, why did you say that? Why are you a virgin? And he said, because I'm a Christian. And he was unashamed.

And even though Jonathan Isaac at the time was joining in the ridicule, he noticed the stand. He noticed the boldness of this man who was not ashamed of the gospel and not ashamed to wait for marriage.

That stand did something to Jonathan. It showed him that it can be done. In 2020, after they came out of this COVID lockdown and they went into the bubble, remember the bubble, where all the basketball players met in Orlando and Walt Disney World, and they were all locked in there to play basketball.

And the point of the bubble was a social justice political statement. All of his players were bound and determined to take a knee. But on that day, with Black Lives Matter painted on the court, and all of the world watching, all of the people whose approval he always wanted, he wanted to be a man's man, he wanted to be accepted by everybody.

And he even had panic attacks when he was afraid that he wouldn't. Having read in the scripture the truth of God's word and growing as a young Christian, with everybody else kneeling at the national anthem, there stood Jonathan Isaac with his Orlando Magic jersey, making the stand.

He stood. And that took incredible courage. Where does that courage come from? Here's the lesson today. It didn't come from him. It came from God. It was a supernatural courage, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Now, how do you think the media treated him when he came out to the press conference after making his stand? He in his darker skin, having stood for the truth, a woman with white guilt, said to him, don't you think that black lives matter?

Don't you think that black lives matter, she asked him. Mocking him for his stand. Now, listen. Whenever you make a stand for Christ, especially in word, your words will be twisted to mean something different than what you meant.

Her tactic is what is called the Mott and Bailey. Give you a little lesson here in apologetics. The Mott and Bailey comes from the old Mott and Bailey castle. The castle would have a Mott, which was a well-fortified castle, but outside of it was a place where people would want to live.

And that was only defended by a small moat, just a small ditch or something. When the assaulting marauders would come, they would fight them in the Bailey, but if they couldn't handle it in the Bailey, they would retreat to the fortified Mott.

So the Mott and Bailey in rhetoric is when somebody makes some smaller claim, but when they can't defend it, they retreat to the Mott. Black Lives Matter was a Mott and Bailey. If you said that you stand on the word of God, that all people are made in the image of God, that race is one in Adam, and you deny the supposed social justice idea that all the police are racist, they will turn around and retreat to the Mott and say, what, you don't believe that black lives matter?

Do you see? You're not saying that black lives don't matter. All Christians believe that all lives matter. This is the word of God and how we stand. But from that day on, Jonathan Isaac was vilified as one who does not believe that black lives matter, twisting what he said.

It's called equivocation, the Mott and Bailey. Now I bring this up because in this day and age, every one of you in this room and listening online, if you're a Christian who stands upon the word of God, will have to make your own stand.

Before 2020, Jonathan Isaac never probably thought he would have to stand for the word of God's teaching in the area of race, did he? Before 2020, none of us thought that we would have to stand for our own right and liberty in Christ to have determination over what's put inside of our bodies.

And that's a stand that Jonathan Isaac also had to make regarding the vaccine, whether it would be mandatory. All of us have to make choices in a culture that's becoming increasingly pagan. And as Christians, we must stand for every single word that God has given us in the text.

Standing Firm in 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17

Our verses today are 2 Thessalonians 2, 15 to 17. And it is an imperative. It is a command. After much doctrine and teaching, now we come to that application of the text where Paul will tell the Thessalonians to stand.

Stand and hold. We're told in Philippians that we hold fast the word of life in a crooked and depraved generation in which we shine like stars in the universe as we hold it fast. Because many live as enemies of the cross of Christ, their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.

We talked about this last week, that the LGT movement, whatever it is, LGBTQ, et cetera, et cetera, they take pride, pride month in June, in shame. But the Christian will be shamed if we don't stand with them.

And so here, let's read it. It says now, so then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

There's the command in verse 15, stand, hold. Stand and hold. So where does the strength to do that come from? Let's look at the context and remind ourselves of that in order to get the answer to that question.

The first thing to remember is the book of 2 Thessalonians is written to Christians who are under fire, under pressure. They have come to believe in Christ in a pagan culture. And in the Roman culture, if you did not confess that Caesar is Lord, you were deemed to be an atheist.

If you didn't worship the pagan gods, all of the multiple gods of Zeus and Hermes and all of the gods of Rome, you were called an atheist. In fact, it was required of all people to take a small pinch of incense and throw it on the altar to Zeus and say, Kaiser Kurios, Caesar is Lord.

It only required a small pinch of incense and you're fine. You may not believe much, you don't have to do anything. You simply have to make that statement. Just say those words. But the Christian could not.

Could not pinch the incense on the altar and say, Kaiser Kurios, Caesar is Lord, because we believe that Jesus is Lord. And there's no other Lord. And so the result of this confession that the Christian would make is that they began to lose their jobs.

They were put out of the trade guilds. Some of them were actually killed. Martyrdom in Thessalonica in the first century. They're losing their lives, they're losing their jobs, they're under pressure.

Now, when you have a vulnerable people, people who are suffering, there is an opportunity for false teachers to sneak in. Very often when your adrenaline is high, when you're emotional, when you're afraid, you're more susceptible to being led astray.

So what happens in chapter 2? Look at verse 2. Paul is reminding them not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed. Why? What's going on? It says, So the context here, some false teachers are speaking and they're saying, the day of the Lord has come.

The reason that you're being persecuted, that you're suffering, the wrath of God has come. The day of His wrath is upon us. You must have missed the rapture. The day of the Lord is here. That's the teaching that's coming into Thessalonica.

Now, notice Paul refutes that by saying that's utterly impossible because three things have to happen first. What are they? The apostasy, the antichrist, and the abomination of desolation. And he reminds them of those things.

Verse 5, he says,. Then he says it's the restrainer, the Holy Spirit, through the church that's keeping the day of the Lord from coming. This isn't the day of the Lord. They're tricking you. That letter that you think that I wrote, I didn't write it.

It was written pseudonymously, written falsely in my name. It's a forgery. I said no such thing. Remember what I did say. Remember what I did write. That book called 1 Thessalonians? That one's from me.

So as you get to verse 13, we've heard about the coming antichrist and all of the horrible things that are about to happen. Paul is teaching them this is not yet the day of the Lord. That day is coming.

But you need to stand strong. Yes, you're suffering. You're being persecuted. It's hard. It's hard to make your stand. But listen, it can be done. And last week, we actually learned the first point of where this comes from.

It's surprising. Jonathan Isaac, take a knee. Every teammate in the locker room told him that before they went out. You're going to ruin this team. You're going to ruin the league. You're going to ruin our message.

Just take a knee. Just bow the knee. And Jonathan Isaac said no. Where did that strength come from? The world will tell you it comes from within. The strength comes from you. You just got to dig down deep.

You just got to toughen up. Look within yourself. Discover the power. I am woman. Hear me roar. It's within you. The power is you. I was on a run yesterday, and I saw a young girl getting ready for some prom or something, some teenager.

And she had a beautiful dress on, and she was taking pictures with a sword. And I thought, how sad is that? I think she got that from the Black Widow or Captain Marvel or something like that, where the world is saying that women are men and men are women.

There's no distinction of role. I am woman. Hear me roar. Look within yourself. These are the messages of the culture. The absolute last thing that anyone would expect to answer the question of where will the strength come from?