In this special Father's Day episode of the Joe Rooz Show, we dive into a heartfelt discussion about the significance of Father's Day, reflecting on personal experiences and the importance of fellowship with both earthly and heavenly fathers. Joe shares his own memories of his father, the joy of hearing from his children, and the culinary delights of a traditional Italian dinner he prepared. Despite some technical hiccups with the broadcast, Joe emphasizes the value of connecting with family and the blessings of fatherhood.
As part of our Bible Study Sunday, we explore the theme of fellowship with the Father, focusing on passages from 1 John and other scriptures. Joe discusses the importance of spiritual cleansing, the mysteries of faith, and the profound connection between believers and God. He encourages listeners to engage in genuine fellowship with God, aligning interests with divine purposes, and understanding the mysteries of the Bible. The episode concludes with a prayer for deeper spiritual connection and a reminder of the eternal rewards of aligning with God's interests.
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(00:01:15) Introduction and Father's Day Reflections
(00:04:37) Technical Difficulties and Show Updates
(00:10:36) Bible Study: Fellowship with the Father
(00:32:03) Fellowship with Jesus Christ
(00:46:17) Mysteries of Faith
(00:57:40) The Fellowship of Suffering
(01:03:42) Common Interests with the Father
- Wayne Rankin
- Rosanna Rankin
[00:01:16]
Unknown:
All right. Hey folks. It is Sunday, June 2025. And we are broadcasting to you live tonight from the Asylum Studios. Bringing you the best quality talk radio we could muster without all the bluster. This is the Joe Ruse show. And folks, it is great to be with you on a beautiful, beautiful, hot Sunday afternoon here in Eagle Pass, Texas. And, it is Father's Day, and it is our Bible study Sunday. So I hope you're ready for that tonight. But first folks, before we get into any of that stuff, I hope you guys had a great weekend. I hope you are are are you are enjoying, I will speak English someday.
I hope that you are enjoying Father's Day with your families, and it is a beautiful day to do it too. It it is really it's it's hot, but it's not that bad. It's been a lot worse, But, it's, it's it's just a great day, you know? Kinda wish my dad was around. Wouldn't mind that phone call, you know? But, it's just the way it works, I guess. I did get to hear from my kids today, which was great. It was a blessing, so I look forward to that. And, had a really nice dinner tonight for myself. I I made a typical Sunday sauce and, decided to make some good old fashioned stuffed bell peppers.
And, man, they came out, you don't understand how happy I am that I am Italian, and I know how to cook. I mean, it came out great. One of these days, I'll have to get pictures up on the Facebook and all that stuff. And, we are not streaming on Facebook, today because for some strange reason, the connection failed, and for some reason, all my settings on my Facebook page have changed. So not exactly sure what that's all about, but we'll get that all straightened out. But, again, it is my show, and there wouldn't be a it wouldn't be my show if there wasn't some kind of a problem that that, you know, kick off the thing, like, we didn't have the the mic turned on for the intro, the music, so it was kinda quiet for a bit there, and then, had a problem switching over to the camera.
Camera settings were all messed up, And that that was my fault, though, because I was kinda playing with it, yesterday, trying to get a better quality for you. And, I looked a little white whited out washed out on this side. Alright. Yeah. That's because I moved the moved the tower over a little bit too much. So but, hey, that's alright. You know what? We'll figure all that stuff out. I could always let's take a look at let's see how this looks. Is that better? I guess we could do that. I'm just trying to get the best quality that we can. I don't know if it's the if it's the camera, if it's the Internet connection, if it's what that keeps on, getting all fuzzy and and and tripped out. I I don't know. But, we'll figure it out someday someday. But, but, again, it is Sunday. It is our bible study Sunday, and, we're gonna get into that here just a minute. But before we do anything like that, why don't you, go and grab your bible so that you're ready when we get started.
And, we will not be cutting the feed to, to Twitch, YouTube, x. I would say Facebook, but we're not there. So, we'll we'll gonna keep this running live, for for today since it is Father's Day. And, so before we get into that, so go grab your Bible, get yourself ready to go, grab a notebook if you wanna take notes. If you don't have a Bible, that's fine. I have the I have the, verses that we're gonna be looking at already clipped and up here in the studio, so we'll be ready to go with that on a moment's notice. Alright. Now, having said all that, how about we do some of the usual housekeeping? So if you would, just, head over to our website, joe roos dot com. It's right there on your screen.
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Fellowship with the father. Now we're gonna look at first John chapter one, and, we're gonna be, gonna we're not gonna bounce around too much today. I think I have, let me see. I have about 11 or so 11 or so, screen clips of scripture for you. So we got let me see. One, two, three, four. About four, maybe five five different books we're gonna look at today as we talk about fellowship. Fellowship with the father on Father's Day. This is a Father's Day kind of message, and, I hope you find it to be a blessing for you. Alright. So first John chapter one beginning in verse one. That which was from the beginning let's put that up.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled the word of life. Now before we go any further with that, there's been debate over the years by some theologians that, question who wrote, first John. Well, if you're familiar with your Bible, it's really no secret, you know, that that the same the same person who wrote first John also wrote the book of John, And I think the similarities are pretty obvious right there in the verse. You know, John the gospel of John starts with, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And then you go down in in the gospel of John to verse 14, and it tells you that, that, that that word became flesh.
Right? Alright. First John one verse two. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the father and manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin we're up here now. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Our precious father, we once again ask you by your benevolent graces and mercies, if you would shine upon us with mercy and favor and light and revelation from your holy word. God, give us discernment and understanding, and I and I pray, God, that you would increase our hunger for a fellowship with you. And as the name of your precious son that we do pray, Jesus Christ, amen.
Alright. Now Father's Day typically initiates millions of phone calls, cards, something to express some appreciation for individual fathers. Now, unfortunately, some of it's feigned. Right? And that's sad, but true. But then some of it is sincere. Some will express a a a genuine desire for, continued fellowship, future fellowship, and and others will be just satisfied with just satisfied with passing along a few pleasantries. Unfortunately, that's just really the way it is. And so it is with God. So it is with God. You know, someone you know, occasionally, someone's gonna walk onto the stage of life that really has a deep appreciation or deep yearning, to fellowship with the father. But reality is most are just content to kinda, like, send off a a religious hallmark to heaven.
They're content with doing that, and they consider that to be just, you know, that that's enough. That's efficient. True fellowship, though, is by nature based on a commonality, a mutual interest. You know, it's hard to fellowship with people that only wanna talk about themselves or gripe or complain. Did you ever notice that? Is or is that just me? Is is am I weird that way? Or that they never expressed any appreciation for anything. It's really hard to fellowship with people that that when it's just all gloom and doom and, you know, agony and and despair. I mean, who really, who wants to be around that?
Who wants to be around? I mean, unless you're the same bent, you know, you really don't wanna fellowship with that. Someone once said to me, you know, my my fellowship with the father feels like, a little shallow. Seems a little shallow. Well, my response to that was, alright. Well, what did you talk about? What did you talk about when you fellowship with the father? Alright. Now our next verse says in verse in our text, our verse says in verse three, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the father and his son, Jesus Christ. So if you're really gonna have fellowship with someone, it's usually a give and take.
Right? It's it's that's the kind of deal it usually is. It's usually a give and take deal. You know, you tell your story, they tell their story, they lend to the conversation, you lend to the conversation, and and it goes on like that. Just so on and so forth. All of us all of us have experienced this when you're visiting somebody or you're in conversation with someone where you could honestly tell that they weren't really listening to you, and all they were doing was generating their next conversation or their next point. Well, that ceases to be real fellowship.
Wouldn't you agree? Alright. So let me ask you this question then. When you're having fellowship with God and you're having fellowship with your father, who has the right to set the agenda for the conversation? Who has the right to set the agenda for the conversation, us or God? God. But we want it to be us. We wanna be the ones to set it. We wanna say, alright now, Lord, I I've got a few things I need to tell you, or ask of you, or request of you. You know, and then the Lord says, well, why don't you let me set the set the conversation once in a while? That's a brand new thought. Right?
I mean, have you ever really thought of that? Let God set the agenda for the conversation. Fellowship with the father. Like I said, I thought Father's Day would be a good a good time to talk about the ultimate fellowship. You know, I I guess in a lot of ways, I I kinda consider myself to be extremely fortunate in the fact that I had a good father. You know? I enjoyed fellowship with my earthly father. And, you know, you know, he's he's gone to be with the Lord now for four years already, and, it'll be five years already in this this coming December. And, you know, honestly, I I I I'll tell you, I every day every day, I missed the opportunity of picking up the phone and having a conversation with him and and and just talking to him.
You know, when when I was living back home in New York, you know, I I enjoyed the opportunity and the ability to drop by the house, say hello, have a cup of coffee in the backyard. You know, my dad loved his backyard, man. He loved his garden. He loved to be out there, you know, doing whatever it was that he did. He loved every minute of it. That was his thing. You know? And, I used to love going there. I would sit that sit out there in the backyard with him and, you know, we would just talk about life, just talk about everything that was going on in my life. And and then, of course, you know, as I got older, you know, he he would tell me more things about himself and his life and things that he was dealing with and, you know, our fellowship grew over that time.
You know, I miss being able to go over there and and getting his advice and his opinions on things. I mean, I I had I have so many issues going on that I, you know, over the last four years or so that I I I would love to have been able to sit down with my dad and talk to him and, you know, and find out his opinion and his take on those things. I missed that earthly wisdom that he had. You know, he didn't have much spiritual wisdom, to to be honest with you, because he didn't get saved until just a few days before he before he died. But, you know, thank God he got saved. Amen?
Just thank God he got saved, you know? Yeah. And my dad didn't have the easiest life growing up, you know? He he really didn't. You know? He he started working at I I think he said it was before he was 16 years old. He started working to help take care of his family. Because his dad, my grandfather, you know, wasn't a very good provider. And, you know, he had to step up and and and and fill that fill that void in. And he did all that before he was 16 years old. And then, you know, he he would often work two jobs when I was kid when I was a kid growing up. You know, he worked days, he worked nights, you know, he he drove he drove, private car service, he drove yellow cabs, and then he also worked for the US post office for, you know, like, thirty plus years until he had to retire because of his health.
You know, my dad also wasn't the kind of guy that was gonna sit around and and tell you that he loved you three times a day. That just wasn't him. You know? I mean, he got a little bit softer about it later on in life, but, you know, but as a kid, now he wasn't that guy. But yet somehow, amazingly, I knew that he did. I understood it. I just instinctively knew that my dad cared about me, that my dad loved me. And my sister, you know, the same with my sister too. You know? We we we both. We just knew that. He could be rough. He could be coarse. You know? He could be a little crude at times, but the thing is is that we knew that he loved this.
I miss I miss having that fellowship with him. And, you know, I I really do feel sorry for some folks that that never really had a chance to have fellowship with their earthly father. You know? And maybe that's some of you that are that are listening or watching today. Maybe you didn't have that opportunity with your earthly father, but I I got news for you, though. I got news for you. There is a better relationship that's available to you. A far better one. It's fellowship with your heavenly father. Alright. Now how does that start? Well, obviously, any relationship has to have a beginning. Right?
It has to start somewhere. So where is the genesis of that fellowship with the father? Well, we already read it in our text, so let's let's go take another look at it in, first John and verse six. First John first John one verse six. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. So fellowship with your with your heavenly father begins with cleansing.
It says it right there in the verse. It is impossible. It is impossible to have fellowship with someone that is so dirty, that is so smelly that you can't stand to stay in the same room with them. I mean, that's pretty difficult, don't you think? You know, that's like that's like, you know, going out into the woods and saying, well, you know, I'm gonna have fellowship with the skunk. It just doesn't really work out that good, does it? You say, alright, Joe. Well, what's what's the point? Well, the point is this, When God looks down on us, dressed in our rags of sin, and Isaiah says all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, all of them, and he looks on us, we present such a stench, such an odor, such an offensive smell to the nostrils of God that there is absolutely no basis for fellowship.
So God says that step one is to clean you up. Clean you up. Alright? Now what's the cleaning agent? Well, our text is pretty clear. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Alright? Now when that happens, that brings us into a union. It brings us into a family, into into a, into a relationship that that now we we can we can genuinely initiate real fellowship with the father. Now I'm not gonna go into the details of my testimony. Alright? But, I got saved, February. So I've been saved almost twenty five years now. And, you know, now over the years, I I've served the Lord in in many capacities, you know, I've it just as just as a member of a church. I've I've taught Sunday school. I've preached. I I've served as as an associate pastor.
You know? I was licensed, ordinations, you know, all that stuff. I've preached funerals. I've I've, you know, never done a wedding, which is fine, but I've preached funerals. I've done a a a a a lot of things over the course of the twenty five years that I've been saved. But, in the time leading up to the day that I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, I was searching. I was reading my Bible. I I I was reading everything that I could get my hands on. I was listening to Christian radio. I was listening to preaching. I was debating with saved people. I was searching and I was learning. I was searching and I was learning, but I didn't have fellowship.
I didn't have fellowship with my heavenly father because I wasn't clean. No matter all of that stuff that I did, reading the Bible, all that stuff, until until I was washed in the blood of the lamb, none of that stuff cleaned me up. The night that I knelt down on on on on Pier 34 on along the West Side Highway by Canal Street in in in Lower Manhattan and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I was washed, and I was cleaned by the blood. The Holy Spirit moved in. I was adopted into the family of God, which by the way is an incredible doctrine when you when you really look at it. I was able to look into heaven, and I was able to cry, Abba, father.
Romans eight fifteen. And like I said, I I don't know if you've ever looked at the doctrine of adoption. It's an incredible doctrine, and I'm gonna tell you something that I learned about adoption. According to the law, if you have a biological child, you can you can disown him. And I'm sure that's across my mom and dad's mind many, many times, you know, over the course of my life and theirs. But according to the law, you cannot disown your biological child. You can disown. I'm sorry. You can disown your biological child, but according to the law, you cannot disown an adopted child.
Now isn't that a just wrap your head around that. Isn't that an amazing deal? How amazing is that? Have you ever studied the doctrine of adoption? Do you know what happened to me when I got saved? God adopted me into his family. He came into his own, and his own received them not, but as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God. That's John one eleven and twelve. So the beginning of fellowship with the father is cleansing, and the cleansing is accomplished by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and you receive that by faith.
You trust him. You ask him for forgiveness. And when I got saved, I didn't ask a church for forgiveness because the church doesn't offer it. I didn't ask the preacher for forgiveness because he couldn't give it. I asked the Lord Jesus Christ because it was his blood that was shed. It's really it it's it's, you know, it's it's an exciting thing to see people born into the kingdom of God. It really is. It's an exciting thing. Now the beginning of fellowship is cleansing. The beginning of fellowship is cleansing. Alright. So we're gonna take a quick second here just for, just for a quick read.
Folks, Truth Social. If you're not on Truth Social, you need to get on it. If you are looking for a great place for online enter for online news. Where am I? What happened? Alright. Well, something happened there. The, the read came came down, so we're gonna skip that. Alright. Oh, there it is. Okay. So if you're looking for a great place online for news, discussion, and entertainment, then check out Truth Social, Donald Trump's social media website. You'll get breaking news stories and commentary from top media figures. If you wanna see Trump's legendary Truth Social posts, you need to get on Truth Social.
Join a growing community of patriots on a free speech platform designed to avoid censorship and cancellation by big tech. Make your voice heard. Join the movement. Join Truth Social. And I've said it many, many, many times, if you wanna know what's going on with the current administration, Truth Social is the place to go because he's gonna post it there first. Alright? Now fellowship with the father. We said the beginning of fellowship is by cleansing. Alright? Now fellowship with the father is by necessity by necessity fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Alright. Now if you're gonna have fellowship with the father, you're going to have fellowship with the son. That's common sense. It can make sense. And the reason why that is is because Jesus Christ is always invited into the room because he made the cleansing possible. Take your Bible. Look at me over in first Corinthians and, chapter one. First Corinthians in chapter one. First Corinthians chapter one and verse number one. Grace be unto you and peace from God our first Corinthians chapter one and verse one, that is not. Alright.
Let's back it up. So let's start with, verse three. Okay? Verse three. First Corinthians one verse three. Grace be unto you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. That in everything, you are enriched by him in utterance, in all knowledge, even even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our lord. Alright. Now whenever the lord says, come and fellowship with me as the father, he also invites the son into the room. When I went up to New York, from for, for my dad's funeral, you know, I was kinda sitting off to the side of the room just watching folks coming in and out. And I really sat there. I tried to figure out, you know you know, who who some of the people that were coming in were, you know, friends of the family from from years ago that that I I haven't seen in God knows how many years, you know.
But I was trying to figure all that stuff out, and, you know, as I'm getting older here, my my my memory is becoming more and more like Swiss cheese. But, but I'm sitting there doing this, and my sister comes over with with with a young lady, and she asks me if she asks me if I knew who that was. And, I honestly honestly, I I tried to put it together, but I was I was honestly stumped. So my sister said, Joe, it's so and so. Well, that just opened up a floodgate of memories, you know, from the old neighborhood because I used to torment her sister.
Like, any like, just whatever you could do to to to just torment this this poorly this poor girl, I did it. Like, there there there was there was one time I I I went into her their driveway, and her kitchen window was by the driveway. And and her dad was an alcoholic, and he was hardly ever around. So she was, taking care of, the younger sister and the brother. You know? She she was, like, cooking, cleaning, you know, all the household stuff, you know, and make sure we got to school, everything. You know? She just she she was the de facto mom, the de facto parent in in the house. But one night, she was she was cooking at the stove, and their kitchen was by the driveway window.
And so me and my friend Kevin, we went into the into the driveway, and and he boosted me up on his shoulder. And I had this, I had this this this, this this full head mask on. I I forget what it was, though, but I had this full head mask on, and he lifted me up to the window, and I just sat there with this mask on by the window until she noticed. And when she noticed, she looked out to scream. She dropped the the the pan that she was cooking with on the floor, and she came out, and she she just, like, tried to wail on us. Like, you have no idea. We just took off, man. It was funny. Oh, gosh. That was funny.
And, we sat there. We talked about all these things, and and, you know, and and about what happened to this person from the neighborhood, and what happened to that that person, you know, the old gang, the whole, you know, you know, just basically tripping down memory lane. Now it it had been, like, over thirty years at that point since we've seen each other, but the fellowship wasn't difficult. It wasn't strained. It was it wasn't like we had to sit there and think about things to say. It just came flowing. It just came flowing out. You know, we started talking about all the people that we knew all those years ago.
Well, in the middle of one of those conversations, another familiar face came over, and there was another mutual friend of ours from the old neighborhood that neither of us had spoken to in a long time. And I was like, no, man. You've gotta be kidding me. This is this is crazy. You know? And, and and so we fell asleep with him for a little while. Now when you fellowship with the father, Jesus Christ is invited into the room. Jesus Christ is invited into the conversation, into the fellowship, and you're gonna be fellowshipping with him also. Well, you know, there must be something to this fellowship thing.
You know, maybe maybe some of you missed out on the greatest and grandest fellowship as far as with your earthly father goes. But you know something? You don't have to miss out on an even grander fellowship with your heavenly father. Now that fellowship gets expanded to others who agree and have benefited. Take your Bibles and look with me over in Philippians in chapter one. Philippians in chapter one. You know, you're you're fellowshipping with the father, and pretty soon you're gonna find out that that circle just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. It's it's kinda like just picture, you know, when you you're standing by a pond or a lake or something, you know, and you you you throw a rock, and it it hits the water, and it just the rings just kind of expand outward.
You know you know what I'm talking about? You know, it just goes on and on and on. Same thing. You see, the the father has a lot of friends. A lot of friends. Father knows a lot of folks. Now Philippians chapter one and verse five, the apostle said this, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Alright. So what he's indicating here is that there's a certain commonality. There's a certain union of thinking, and it was all built around the gospel. It was all built around the gospel, and the gospel is defined as what? Do you I don't know if you know, but what for those of you who who used to follow the other show that I did, the bible study show, do you remember what it is?
The gospel is is defined in first Corinthians chapter 15 as the story of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those three things. That makes up the gospel. Right? Can you see that? Kinda whited out. Alright. So that those three things, the death, burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright? Now in verse 12 of first of, Philippians, verse 12 of Philippians chapter one, But I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places.
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. So as he fellowship with the father, he fellowship with these saints at Philippi, and it was a source of encouragement for others. It was a source of encouragement for them to, to to to not act under the fear of or or the umbrella of fear, but but to but to express a certain boldness for the gospel. Remember the Proverbs says, the righteous are as bold as a lion. Alright. Now there's another, arena of fellowship that I particularly enjoy with the father.
I enjoy the fellowship around the mysteries. Now I was I was, I was flipping the channels or or searching, scanning through, you know, all this because I I don't have regular TV. I stream TV, but I was scrolling through all the available, stuff that you can stream and download on the television, the other night. And, I passed by one of those those channels that you could you could watch that played old TV shows. You you know that like, what what I'm talking about? And I don't know why I stopped there. I I just did. Maybe it was the Lord telling me I could use this as an illustration, but but I I stopped on an old detective show. I mean, if you're if if you're like my age, you you gotta be you gotta remember Columbo. You remember Columbo?
Columbo didn't carry a gun, but he was a detective, and he acted like this this fumbling bumbling idiot, who was really couched in a great deal of guile while solving the crime. And it was it was fascinating to me to to watch him or to watch how step by step, he unfolded the pages of the mystery that was before him until it became evident who the perpetrator of the of the crime was. Right? Mystery. Mystery is fascinating. It really is. And I want you to take your Bible. I want you to turn to the, book of Ephesians. You're in Philippians, so it's just one book over, and you're over there.
Ephesians chapter three. Ephesians in chapter three. Ephesians chapter three and verse nine. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hidden God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. Now the, particular minute mystery that that's being discussed here is the mystery of what we call dispensationalism. Alright? That's that's what Paul's talking about here. He said he said, you know, God did things a certain way back in the Old Testament, but as we've progressed into the New Testament, he's revealed a lot of light on things that were formally, you know, that people didn't know or or didn't understand.
Alright. So in in other words, what he was doing was he was unfolding the mystery. Alright? That which used to be mysterious is no longer a secret. God has illustrated these things to us. You know, it it it's wonderful. It really is to be able to read your Bible and fellowship with the father as he shows you these tremendous mysteries and how they're coming to pass exactly as he said he they would. You know, in in in the verse, just as an illustration, he talks about the mystery of creation. You know, there there's there's a lot about creation that I don't understand, but I certainly wouldn't call it a mystery to me.
It's a mystery to an evolutionist, but as someone who believes the Bible, it's not a mystery to us. God said it, and that settles it. You know, when my when my kids were young and they were in school, they, my my daughter came home one day, and she said to me that, they were learning about the Big Bang Theory. And she was like, do we believe in the Big Bang? Now if you you know what the Big Bang is? I don't know if the the Big Bang theory, just like evolution's a theory, it's not a fact. Big Bang is a theory, it's not a fact. The Big Bang was, you know, from from one little particle of matter exploded into this magnificent universe that we have surrounding us. Alright? From from nothing something.
Ex nelio in in in Latin. So my daughter asked me that question. She's like, dad, do we believe in the big bang? And I was like, yeah. I believe in the big bang. I do. God said it, bang, came into existence. You know, that's the big bang. Right? Another guy had a a a had a bumper sticker on his car that said, you know, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Somebody else made a bumper sticker that said, God said it, that settles it whether you believe it or not. You see, I have no I have no problem understanding the mystery of creation. I just read my Bible and there it is.
To me, that's pretty simple. In fact, it it it it takes more faith, I think, to believe any other theory. You know, it it really does. I I just accept the facts. But, you know, there are there there are there are many mysteries in the New Testament that that you could fellowship with the father over as he reveals that mystery to you. You know, over the years, I I I indicated earlier, over the years, my relationship with my dad matured, you know, and he started to talk to me more about, some of the more serious things in life and in the in his life. And, you know, he started to tell me some of those, family secrets that are always so, you know, like, closely guarded within the family.
You know, it it helped me it helped me, actually, to understand a lot more about why certain people in the family acted certain ways. It helped me to connect the dots and helped me explain some things that I have observed over my life. Like, for example, I I had no idea that my grandmother, my father's mother, went through her entire life not knowing how to read or write. And then I also learned the the the the really the heartbreaking story that was behind it. I got it on a family secret. I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but that it's a family secret.
And it wasn't a good one, but I understood it, finally. It made some sense. You know, the Lord, as your heavenly father, wants to let you in on all the family secrets, good and bad. He'll tell you about all of these things. He tells you about them in his word. He tells you about them in his book. All we have to do is we have to read them and understand them. You know, there's there's the mystery of spiritual union in Ephesians chapter five. Alright? And that's talking about marriage. You know, when, when I first got licensed to preach by my church back in New York, a friend of mine came to me, and he told me he was gonna propose to his girlfriend and ask if I could marry them.
Now remember I told you, I haven't done a a wedding ceremony. I've only done funerals, but so this would have been my first. So, but neither one of them were saved. Neither one of them wanted to get saved. They didn't wanna know Jesus Christ. So I told them that, well, I said, I, you know, I I really shouldn't, but but if you really want me to marry you, I I could, but it's gonna cost you about $5,000. You know? I'm kidding. I'm kidding. And it's kinda like the lady that, that that called the Baptist preacher and said, you know, my dog just died. Would would you conduct a funeral for him? And, you know, he just took off like a rocket ship on that one. He said, lady, the Bible clearly says that the spirit of the beast goeth downward.
We don't conduct funerals for dogs. She said, well, I'm I'm sorry. I just feel like this dog was such a loyal companion through the years. It deserves a funeral. Can you recommend someone that might? Well, the this Baptist preacher kinda chuckled to himself a little bit. He goes, well, why don't you try the Methodist down the street? I think I think they would. She said, alright. And she goes, I'll I'll give him a call, and by the way, do you think $500 would be appropriate fee to pay him? And the the Baptist preacher said, lady, why didn't you tell me he was a Baptist dog? You know?
But but in truth I know it's a dumb joke. I know. I know. But, you know, in truth, I wouldn't have any fees for weddings or funerals. Probably do the same thing I do with the show. If you wanna make a donation, great. If you don't, great. But what I did tell him though was that is that, a marriage is a three legged stool, And, it it meaning that it's you got a picture in your head, you know, the three legged stool. It's it's physical, it's emotional, and it's spiritual. Alright? Those are the three legs of the stool, and that's what marriage is, physical, emotional, and spiritual. There has to be a spiritual connection.
There has to be a spiritual relationship for it to be the type of relationship that God wants it to be. And the Bible's talking about our relationship with Jesus Christ and our marriage relationship. You know? A a a a good Bible based marriage is simply a mirror or a picture of our union with Jesus Christ. And, and he said, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Jesus Christ. It's a mystery, and you'll only figure that thing out by studying your Bible. I know years ago, there was a book that came out, it was it was called, men are from Mars, women are from Venus, or or or or some something like that.
Did you know that, there was a scientist back in the nineteen eighties that actually won a Nobel Prize for determining that baby boys, when they're in the womb, sometime between the sixteenth and twenty sixth week of gestation, the caring side of their brain stops developing. And the guy got a Nobel Prize for figuring that out. He said the side of the brain that's compassionate and cares and and and and all that stuff doesn't develop nearly at the rate of a girl baby. And, you know, I suppose that's true. I I do. I I look at myself and I I can see that and, you know, you can also look at it like this. You know, junior, you know, falls down the driveway and skins his knee and, you know, what does dad say? Dad says, you'll be alright. Get up. Walk it off.
But what does mom do? Mom picks him up and kisses the little boo boo. It'll be all white. It's okay, little honey. Right? I mean, it's just the way it is. It's just a difference between men and women. We are wired differently. It it's God made us different. That's just the way it is. And aren't you glad? And there is no book in the world that explains it like your Bible. The word of God helps you understand those differences, and it helps you to find compatibility within the ranks of those differences. That Bible explains what no Nobel Prize winner could ever possibly explain about the the union in marriage.
It's a mystery. It's a mystery. You know, the Bible calls the rapture a mystery in first Corinthians fifteen fifty one. Do you know who let me in on the secret and really allowed me to, to assess it and and assimilate it and understand it and wait for it with rejoicing? The father. The father. Fellowshipping with the father brought me into this glorious secret that there is a time coming when God's gonna blow a trumpet, and God's gonna give a shout over the banister of heaven, and they that know the Lord are gonna be caught up together to meet him in the air. The world doesn't understand that.
The world doesn't they they couldn't possibly understand that. And when it's explained to them, if that's something that you believe and you've tried to explain it to somebody who who's not a believer, they laugh at you. They ridicule you. They make fun of you. They say that's the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard. Yet in spite of that, they they try to make preparations for it in in, you know, as far as explanation goes in the world. You know what they're saying? They're they they say they come up with things like, do you remember back in 02/2012, they were talking about the Mayan calendar and all that mess?
They said, what what was it? December 21 or something like that? 02/2012, the rotation of the Earth is gonna stop and go reverse, and and that's gonna be cataclysmic and all that stuff. Now, of course, it didn't happen. Obviously, it didn't happen. But after all, you know, the Mayans were incredibly intelligent people. I mean, look at the pyramids they built. Look at the star charts and everything else that they did. Yeah. They were intelligent. Absolutely intel intelligent. They sacrificed their babies to their gods. Real smart.
Real smart. Or other explanations for these, for for for the rapture, like, alien invasion and, you know, aliens snatching up people and, you know, taking them off for for testing and and all that stuff. I'm not saying there aren't aliens or anything like that, but there aren't, but they're demons, but you know what I'm saying? You get me. Then you have the mystery of iniquity in first in the second Thessalonians chapter two. The mystery of iniquity. You know what that is? The mystery of iniquity? That's a discussion of the antichrist in that chapter.
What the Lord does what the Lord does here is is he he tells you that the the whole personality event, advent rather, popularity acceptance of of a is of a political world figure known as the antichrist to us. And And he explains it, and he gives it to us in detail. If you study your whole Bible, God gives you all kinds of examples. Like, did you know you're gonna like this. Did you know that God gives you 18 types of the Antichrist in your Bible? Okay. 18 types. Well, that's interesting, isn't it? Because that would be six plus six plus six.
Six six six. 18 types of the Antichrist in your Bible, if you know anything about numbers. That Bible says that that a guy is gonna have that that the Bible says that that guy is gonna have a bad eye and a bad arm. So when someone walks up on the political stage and all the world is going, he's the man, he's the man, he's the man, and that guy has a bad eye and a bad arm, you're gonna be ready. You're gonna be ready because you're in on the mystery. You're in on the mystery. The Bible says that that there's a mystery of godliness in first Timothy chapter three verse 16, and that has to do with the incarnation.
You know, no one can really understand the virgin birth and the incarnation outside of the word of God. In Revelation chapter 10 of verse seven, it talks about the mystery of God, And that's that's just, you know, the the capsulized picture of God giving us the whole book of Revelation and explaining to us what we could expect in the immediate future. So there's the fellowship of mystery. Then over in Philippians chapter three, you should still be in Ephesians, so just go back one book to Philippians. Philippians chapter three verse 10, Paul said this, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship is of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.
Oh, man. The fellowship of suffering. Did it ever occur to you, and it and it did to me while I was preparing this this, this sermon, that God has a far greater longing to fellowship with us than we do with him. Think about that. God wants to fellowship with us, and sometimes we're just satisfied enough to send him a religious hallmark. Good to talk to you, dad. Call you next year. You know, and the lord knows that being, you know, constructed of the clay that we are, that some sometimes the only thing that'll drive us in his direction is suffering. Suffering.
The fellowship of his sufferings. In that, we we find this intensified fellowship that we can find no other way. People say, well, I I I just don't deserve this. A guy said to me one time, he said, he goes, you know, you know, after I got saved, I just went through some really, really hard times. I don't understand it. I don't know why the Lord would allow would would allow us to do that. So I said to him, I said, well, let me ask you this. Joseph in the Bible told his brothers about a dream that he had that God gave him, and then he was sold into slavery, and then found himself in a prison situation where he languished for quite a while.
What do you think about that? I said, what about what about Daniel? Daniel who was faithful to God and got thrown into a lion's den, and three Hebrew children got thrown into a fiery furnace. I said, what about Paul? Paul, probably the greatest missionary the world has ever known, and he got stoned, not stoned, stoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and and and and everything else you can think of. But what do you think about that? He just said, oh. But do you know what Paul did in all that he endured? In everything Paul went through, do you know what he did? He said, I'm learning. I just want fellowship with the father even more.
I wanna get closer to him. I wanna have this intensified relationship with him. And then finally, there is the fellowship of common interest. The fellowship of common interest. Do you know what God is interested in? Do you know what God is interested in? You know, the the more you get interested in in what he's interested in, the more you'll you'll have fellowship with him. Now God's interested in souls. He says that he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It's a very interesting word, all, right there. That's one of the most contested words in all of your Bible, all.
What does all mean? All means all. You have people that say, well, you know, in the original Greek well, in the original Greek, all means all. All. All encompassing. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should be saved. That all should come to repentance. He's interested in souls coming to Jesus Christ. You know, the the more you're interested and the more your interest peaks in the direction, the more you're gonna have fellowship with the father. And you know how that's gonna happen? One day, you're gonna you're gonna come across someone, and you're gonna develop a burden for their soul. And then you're gonna start to pray for them.
You're gonna say, lord, will you save that guy right there? Lord, would you do something in that lady's life to bring her to Christ? And you know something? God is very, very, very tuned into those kinds of prayers. You're gonna find that there's fellowship there. The Lord likes to fellowship around his word because his word is his book. The Lord is interested in his people. The Lord is interested in his church. The the more you get interested in what the lord's interested in, the more there's basis for fellowship. And that's true in human relationships.
You know, my dad and I used to love to go fishing. My dad would and this isn't an endorsement, I'm not telling you you should do this. Alright? But my dad would let me skip school during the school year to take me fishing. We would go down to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, we would get on one of those party boats, we go out and fish all day. We would get there at, like, five in the morning, get on the boat, boat would boat would take off, like, six 06:30, something like that in the morning, and we'd be out there all day till two, 03:00 in the afternoon just fishing, just me and my dad. Well, everybody else that was on the boat too, but it was just me and my dad, you know.
We had fellowship around that. I didn't understand it at the time. I was a kid, you know, fifth grade, fourth grade, sixth grade. But that was something that I look back at now and I and I, you know, I I valued that time with my dad. That was great. That was something really special. And my dad had the opportunity to do stuff like that with my son. Carried on. We had fellowship around baseball. I was the opposite of everything my dad liked as far as the sports teams, and most of the time I did that just to be a twister, you know, just just just to, you know, just to kinda dig them a little bit.
My dad was a Yankee fan. I was a Met fan. And after what they did today, I'm not interested in following them anymore either. But another story, another time. My dad was a, like I said, a Yankee fan, Met fan. My dad was a Giants fan. I was a Jets fan. My dad liked the Islanders. I liked the Rangers. My dad liked the Knicks. I liked the Nets. Whatever my dad liked, I liked the opposite. And I would like to twist him a little bit about things. I've I've told the story many times, you know. There was that Father's Day that I decided that I'm gonna buy my die hard Yankee fan dad a Boston Red Sox jersey that he only ended up throwing into the fire pit in the backyard. You know?
But we had fellowship around that. We had fellowship around baseball. We had fellowship around fishing. We had fellowship around football. We had fellowship we had fellowship around a cup of coffee on a Saturday afternoon in his backyard. You get interested in what the father's interested in, you're gonna have and you're gonna learn that there's a mutual benefit, not just for not not only for him, but for you. You're gonna benefit from his interests. You get interested in souls. There's eternal rewards for that. You get interested in his word.
There's revelations in that that you've never thought existed. You get interested in his people, and we know that we have passed from death until life because we love the brethren. You'll get assurance. There are benefits in being interested in what the father is interested in, And those interests lead to a better fellowship with your heavenly father. Our heavenly father, we wanna thank you for the day that you've given us here, lord, today where we could think about the things related to our fathers, both earthly and, more importantly, heavenly.
Father, we thank you for the gift of fellowship. Lord, we thank you for all of the things that you have put in your book to help us improve that fellowship between ourselves and and you. Father, we pray for that that sweet fellowship to continue on day after day, week after week, month after month, until that sweet fellowship with the lord Jesus Christ or the sweetest fellowship that we'll have with the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming, when he raptures us out of here, gets us out of here, and we will forever be with the Lord. Father, we thank you for that, and Lord, if there's anyone listening or watching right now that doesn't know you as their personal savior, father, I pray that you would open up their eyes and their spiritual ears to hear the truth that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the in the flesh, that Jesus Christ came, suffered, crucified on a cruel cross, shed his precious blood to pay the sin debt for every sinner, and all they have to do is accept it, that he die that he died, that he was buried, and that he rose again, defeating that last great enemy of death.
Father, we thank you for that tremendous truth, and we ask your blessings on us as we go forward from today to the remainder of this week. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen? Amen. Amen. Alright. Well, happy Father's Day to everybody that's watching, listening. Remember to have that fellowship with your father, earthly and heavenly, today. Have a great one. We'll do our shout outs to our executive producers, Wayne and Rosanna Rankin. Our producer, anonymous Angela, thank you so much for spending your Father's Day evening with me right here at the Joe Russo.
We will see you tomorrow night, 7PM central time, our regular time. We have a guest tomorrow night lined up for the first hour, a guest Tuesday first hour, and a guest Friday for the second hour. Looking forward to it. Alright, folks. Make Texas independent again. Go podcasting. Keep a steady stride. Have a great night. Good night, and goodbye.
All right. Hey folks. It is Sunday, June 2025. And we are broadcasting to you live tonight from the Asylum Studios. Bringing you the best quality talk radio we could muster without all the bluster. This is the Joe Ruse show. And folks, it is great to be with you on a beautiful, beautiful, hot Sunday afternoon here in Eagle Pass, Texas. And, it is Father's Day, and it is our Bible study Sunday. So I hope you're ready for that tonight. But first folks, before we get into any of that stuff, I hope you guys had a great weekend. I hope you are are are you are enjoying, I will speak English someday.
I hope that you are enjoying Father's Day with your families, and it is a beautiful day to do it too. It it is really it's it's hot, but it's not that bad. It's been a lot worse, But, it's, it's it's just a great day, you know? Kinda wish my dad was around. Wouldn't mind that phone call, you know? But, it's just the way it works, I guess. I did get to hear from my kids today, which was great. It was a blessing, so I look forward to that. And, had a really nice dinner tonight for myself. I I made a typical Sunday sauce and, decided to make some good old fashioned stuffed bell peppers.
And, man, they came out, you don't understand how happy I am that I am Italian, and I know how to cook. I mean, it came out great. One of these days, I'll have to get pictures up on the Facebook and all that stuff. And, we are not streaming on Facebook, today because for some strange reason, the connection failed, and for some reason, all my settings on my Facebook page have changed. So not exactly sure what that's all about, but we'll get that all straightened out. But, again, it is my show, and there wouldn't be a it wouldn't be my show if there wasn't some kind of a problem that that, you know, kick off the thing, like, we didn't have the the mic turned on for the intro, the music, so it was kinda quiet for a bit there, and then, had a problem switching over to the camera.
Camera settings were all messed up, And that that was my fault, though, because I was kinda playing with it, yesterday, trying to get a better quality for you. And, I looked a little white whited out washed out on this side. Alright. Yeah. That's because I moved the moved the tower over a little bit too much. So but, hey, that's alright. You know what? We'll figure all that stuff out. I could always let's take a look at let's see how this looks. Is that better? I guess we could do that. I'm just trying to get the best quality that we can. I don't know if it's the if it's the camera, if it's the Internet connection, if it's what that keeps on, getting all fuzzy and and and tripped out. I I don't know. But, we'll figure it out someday someday. But, but, again, it is Sunday. It is our bible study Sunday, and, we're gonna get into that here just a minute. But before we do anything like that, why don't you, go and grab your bible so that you're ready when we get started.
And, we will not be cutting the feed to, to Twitch, YouTube, x. I would say Facebook, but we're not there. So, we'll we'll gonna keep this running live, for for today since it is Father's Day. And, so before we get into that, so go grab your Bible, get yourself ready to go, grab a notebook if you wanna take notes. If you don't have a Bible, that's fine. I have the I have the, verses that we're gonna be looking at already clipped and up here in the studio, so we'll be ready to go with that on a moment's notice. Alright. Now, having said all that, how about we do some of the usual housekeeping? So if you would, just, head over to our website, joe roos dot com. It's right there on your screen.
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Fellowship with the father. Now we're gonna look at first John chapter one, and, we're gonna be, gonna we're not gonna bounce around too much today. I think I have, let me see. I have about 11 or so 11 or so, screen clips of scripture for you. So we got let me see. One, two, three, four. About four, maybe five five different books we're gonna look at today as we talk about fellowship. Fellowship with the father on Father's Day. This is a Father's Day kind of message, and, I hope you find it to be a blessing for you. Alright. So first John chapter one beginning in verse one. That which was from the beginning let's put that up.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled the word of life. Now before we go any further with that, there's been debate over the years by some theologians that, question who wrote, first John. Well, if you're familiar with your Bible, it's really no secret, you know, that that the same the same person who wrote first John also wrote the book of John, And I think the similarities are pretty obvious right there in the verse. You know, John the gospel of John starts with, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And then you go down in in the gospel of John to verse 14, and it tells you that, that, that that word became flesh.
Right? Alright. First John one verse two. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the father and manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin we're up here now. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Our precious father, we once again ask you by your benevolent graces and mercies, if you would shine upon us with mercy and favor and light and revelation from your holy word. God, give us discernment and understanding, and I and I pray, God, that you would increase our hunger for a fellowship with you. And as the name of your precious son that we do pray, Jesus Christ, amen.
Alright. Now Father's Day typically initiates millions of phone calls, cards, something to express some appreciation for individual fathers. Now, unfortunately, some of it's feigned. Right? And that's sad, but true. But then some of it is sincere. Some will express a a a genuine desire for, continued fellowship, future fellowship, and and others will be just satisfied with just satisfied with passing along a few pleasantries. Unfortunately, that's just really the way it is. And so it is with God. So it is with God. You know, someone you know, occasionally, someone's gonna walk onto the stage of life that really has a deep appreciation or deep yearning, to fellowship with the father. But reality is most are just content to kinda, like, send off a a religious hallmark to heaven.
They're content with doing that, and they consider that to be just, you know, that that's enough. That's efficient. True fellowship, though, is by nature based on a commonality, a mutual interest. You know, it's hard to fellowship with people that only wanna talk about themselves or gripe or complain. Did you ever notice that? Is or is that just me? Is is am I weird that way? Or that they never expressed any appreciation for anything. It's really hard to fellowship with people that that when it's just all gloom and doom and, you know, agony and and despair. I mean, who really, who wants to be around that?
Who wants to be around? I mean, unless you're the same bent, you know, you really don't wanna fellowship with that. Someone once said to me, you know, my my fellowship with the father feels like, a little shallow. Seems a little shallow. Well, my response to that was, alright. Well, what did you talk about? What did you talk about when you fellowship with the father? Alright. Now our next verse says in verse in our text, our verse says in verse three, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the father and his son, Jesus Christ. So if you're really gonna have fellowship with someone, it's usually a give and take.
Right? It's it's that's the kind of deal it usually is. It's usually a give and take deal. You know, you tell your story, they tell their story, they lend to the conversation, you lend to the conversation, and and it goes on like that. Just so on and so forth. All of us all of us have experienced this when you're visiting somebody or you're in conversation with someone where you could honestly tell that they weren't really listening to you, and all they were doing was generating their next conversation or their next point. Well, that ceases to be real fellowship.
Wouldn't you agree? Alright. So let me ask you this question then. When you're having fellowship with God and you're having fellowship with your father, who has the right to set the agenda for the conversation? Who has the right to set the agenda for the conversation, us or God? God. But we want it to be us. We wanna be the ones to set it. We wanna say, alright now, Lord, I I've got a few things I need to tell you, or ask of you, or request of you. You know, and then the Lord says, well, why don't you let me set the set the conversation once in a while? That's a brand new thought. Right?
I mean, have you ever really thought of that? Let God set the agenda for the conversation. Fellowship with the father. Like I said, I thought Father's Day would be a good a good time to talk about the ultimate fellowship. You know, I I guess in a lot of ways, I I kinda consider myself to be extremely fortunate in the fact that I had a good father. You know? I enjoyed fellowship with my earthly father. And, you know, you know, he's he's gone to be with the Lord now for four years already, and, it'll be five years already in this this coming December. And, you know, honestly, I I I I'll tell you, I every day every day, I missed the opportunity of picking up the phone and having a conversation with him and and and just talking to him.
You know, when when I was living back home in New York, you know, I I enjoyed the opportunity and the ability to drop by the house, say hello, have a cup of coffee in the backyard. You know, my dad loved his backyard, man. He loved his garden. He loved to be out there, you know, doing whatever it was that he did. He loved every minute of it. That was his thing. You know? And, I used to love going there. I would sit that sit out there in the backyard with him and, you know, we would just talk about life, just talk about everything that was going on in my life. And and then, of course, you know, as I got older, you know, he he would tell me more things about himself and his life and things that he was dealing with and, you know, our fellowship grew over that time.
You know, I miss being able to go over there and and getting his advice and his opinions on things. I mean, I I had I have so many issues going on that I, you know, over the last four years or so that I I I would love to have been able to sit down with my dad and talk to him and, you know, and find out his opinion and his take on those things. I missed that earthly wisdom that he had. You know, he didn't have much spiritual wisdom, to to be honest with you, because he didn't get saved until just a few days before he before he died. But, you know, thank God he got saved. Amen?
Just thank God he got saved, you know? Yeah. And my dad didn't have the easiest life growing up, you know? He he really didn't. You know? He he started working at I I think he said it was before he was 16 years old. He started working to help take care of his family. Because his dad, my grandfather, you know, wasn't a very good provider. And, you know, he had to step up and and and and fill that fill that void in. And he did all that before he was 16 years old. And then, you know, he he would often work two jobs when I was kid when I was a kid growing up. You know, he worked days, he worked nights, you know, he he drove he drove, private car service, he drove yellow cabs, and then he also worked for the US post office for, you know, like, thirty plus years until he had to retire because of his health.
You know, my dad also wasn't the kind of guy that was gonna sit around and and tell you that he loved you three times a day. That just wasn't him. You know? I mean, he got a little bit softer about it later on in life, but, you know, but as a kid, now he wasn't that guy. But yet somehow, amazingly, I knew that he did. I understood it. I just instinctively knew that my dad cared about me, that my dad loved me. And my sister, you know, the same with my sister too. You know? We we we both. We just knew that. He could be rough. He could be coarse. You know? He could be a little crude at times, but the thing is is that we knew that he loved this.
I miss I miss having that fellowship with him. And, you know, I I really do feel sorry for some folks that that never really had a chance to have fellowship with their earthly father. You know? And maybe that's some of you that are that are listening or watching today. Maybe you didn't have that opportunity with your earthly father, but I I got news for you, though. I got news for you. There is a better relationship that's available to you. A far better one. It's fellowship with your heavenly father. Alright. Now how does that start? Well, obviously, any relationship has to have a beginning. Right?
It has to start somewhere. So where is the genesis of that fellowship with the father? Well, we already read it in our text, so let's let's go take another look at it in, first John and verse six. First John first John one verse six. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. So fellowship with your with your heavenly father begins with cleansing.
It says it right there in the verse. It is impossible. It is impossible to have fellowship with someone that is so dirty, that is so smelly that you can't stand to stay in the same room with them. I mean, that's pretty difficult, don't you think? You know, that's like that's like, you know, going out into the woods and saying, well, you know, I'm gonna have fellowship with the skunk. It just doesn't really work out that good, does it? You say, alright, Joe. Well, what's what's the point? Well, the point is this, When God looks down on us, dressed in our rags of sin, and Isaiah says all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, all of them, and he looks on us, we present such a stench, such an odor, such an offensive smell to the nostrils of God that there is absolutely no basis for fellowship.
So God says that step one is to clean you up. Clean you up. Alright? Now what's the cleaning agent? Well, our text is pretty clear. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Alright? Now when that happens, that brings us into a union. It brings us into a family, into into a, into a relationship that that now we we can we can genuinely initiate real fellowship with the father. Now I'm not gonna go into the details of my testimony. Alright? But, I got saved, February. So I've been saved almost twenty five years now. And, you know, now over the years, I I've served the Lord in in many capacities, you know, I've it just as just as a member of a church. I've I've taught Sunday school. I've preached. I I've served as as an associate pastor.
You know? I was licensed, ordinations, you know, all that stuff. I've preached funerals. I've I've, you know, never done a wedding, which is fine, but I've preached funerals. I've done a a a a a lot of things over the course of the twenty five years that I've been saved. But, in the time leading up to the day that I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, I was searching. I was reading my Bible. I I I was reading everything that I could get my hands on. I was listening to Christian radio. I was listening to preaching. I was debating with saved people. I was searching and I was learning. I was searching and I was learning, but I didn't have fellowship.
I didn't have fellowship with my heavenly father because I wasn't clean. No matter all of that stuff that I did, reading the Bible, all that stuff, until until I was washed in the blood of the lamb, none of that stuff cleaned me up. The night that I knelt down on on on on Pier 34 on along the West Side Highway by Canal Street in in in Lower Manhattan and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I was washed, and I was cleaned by the blood. The Holy Spirit moved in. I was adopted into the family of God, which by the way is an incredible doctrine when you when you really look at it. I was able to look into heaven, and I was able to cry, Abba, father.
Romans eight fifteen. And like I said, I I don't know if you've ever looked at the doctrine of adoption. It's an incredible doctrine, and I'm gonna tell you something that I learned about adoption. According to the law, if you have a biological child, you can you can disown him. And I'm sure that's across my mom and dad's mind many, many times, you know, over the course of my life and theirs. But according to the law, you cannot disown your biological child. You can disown. I'm sorry. You can disown your biological child, but according to the law, you cannot disown an adopted child.
Now isn't that a just wrap your head around that. Isn't that an amazing deal? How amazing is that? Have you ever studied the doctrine of adoption? Do you know what happened to me when I got saved? God adopted me into his family. He came into his own, and his own received them not, but as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God. That's John one eleven and twelve. So the beginning of fellowship with the father is cleansing, and the cleansing is accomplished by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and you receive that by faith.
You trust him. You ask him for forgiveness. And when I got saved, I didn't ask a church for forgiveness because the church doesn't offer it. I didn't ask the preacher for forgiveness because he couldn't give it. I asked the Lord Jesus Christ because it was his blood that was shed. It's really it it's it's, you know, it's it's an exciting thing to see people born into the kingdom of God. It really is. It's an exciting thing. Now the beginning of fellowship is cleansing. The beginning of fellowship is cleansing. Alright. So we're gonna take a quick second here just for, just for a quick read.
Folks, Truth Social. If you're not on Truth Social, you need to get on it. If you are looking for a great place for online enter for online news. Where am I? What happened? Alright. Well, something happened there. The, the read came came down, so we're gonna skip that. Alright. Oh, there it is. Okay. So if you're looking for a great place online for news, discussion, and entertainment, then check out Truth Social, Donald Trump's social media website. You'll get breaking news stories and commentary from top media figures. If you wanna see Trump's legendary Truth Social posts, you need to get on Truth Social.
Join a growing community of patriots on a free speech platform designed to avoid censorship and cancellation by big tech. Make your voice heard. Join the movement. Join Truth Social. And I've said it many, many, many times, if you wanna know what's going on with the current administration, Truth Social is the place to go because he's gonna post it there first. Alright? Now fellowship with the father. We said the beginning of fellowship is by cleansing. Alright? Now fellowship with the father is by necessity by necessity fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Alright. Now if you're gonna have fellowship with the father, you're going to have fellowship with the son. That's common sense. It can make sense. And the reason why that is is because Jesus Christ is always invited into the room because he made the cleansing possible. Take your Bible. Look at me over in first Corinthians and, chapter one. First Corinthians in chapter one. First Corinthians chapter one and verse number one. Grace be unto you and peace from God our first Corinthians chapter one and verse one, that is not. Alright.
Let's back it up. So let's start with, verse three. Okay? Verse three. First Corinthians one verse three. Grace be unto you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. That in everything, you are enriched by him in utterance, in all knowledge, even even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our lord. Alright. Now whenever the lord says, come and fellowship with me as the father, he also invites the son into the room. When I went up to New York, from for, for my dad's funeral, you know, I was kinda sitting off to the side of the room just watching folks coming in and out. And I really sat there. I tried to figure out, you know you know, who who some of the people that were coming in were, you know, friends of the family from from years ago that that I I haven't seen in God knows how many years, you know.
But I was trying to figure all that stuff out, and, you know, as I'm getting older here, my my my memory is becoming more and more like Swiss cheese. But, but I'm sitting there doing this, and my sister comes over with with with a young lady, and she asks me if she asks me if I knew who that was. And, I honestly honestly, I I tried to put it together, but I was I was honestly stumped. So my sister said, Joe, it's so and so. Well, that just opened up a floodgate of memories, you know, from the old neighborhood because I used to torment her sister.
Like, any like, just whatever you could do to to to just torment this this poorly this poor girl, I did it. Like, there there there was there was one time I I I went into her their driveway, and her kitchen window was by the driveway. And and her dad was an alcoholic, and he was hardly ever around. So she was, taking care of, the younger sister and the brother. You know? She she was, like, cooking, cleaning, you know, all the household stuff, you know, and make sure we got to school, everything. You know? She just she she was the de facto mom, the de facto parent in in the house. But one night, she was she was cooking at the stove, and their kitchen was by the driveway window.
And so me and my friend Kevin, we went into the into the driveway, and and he boosted me up on his shoulder. And I had this, I had this this this, this this full head mask on. I I forget what it was, though, but I had this full head mask on, and he lifted me up to the window, and I just sat there with this mask on by the window until she noticed. And when she noticed, she looked out to scream. She dropped the the the pan that she was cooking with on the floor, and she came out, and she she just, like, tried to wail on us. Like, you have no idea. We just took off, man. It was funny. Oh, gosh. That was funny.
And, we sat there. We talked about all these things, and and, you know, and and about what happened to this person from the neighborhood, and what happened to that that person, you know, the old gang, the whole, you know, you know, just basically tripping down memory lane. Now it it had been, like, over thirty years at that point since we've seen each other, but the fellowship wasn't difficult. It wasn't strained. It was it wasn't like we had to sit there and think about things to say. It just came flowing. It just came flowing out. You know, we started talking about all the people that we knew all those years ago.
Well, in the middle of one of those conversations, another familiar face came over, and there was another mutual friend of ours from the old neighborhood that neither of us had spoken to in a long time. And I was like, no, man. You've gotta be kidding me. This is this is crazy. You know? And, and and so we fell asleep with him for a little while. Now when you fellowship with the father, Jesus Christ is invited into the room. Jesus Christ is invited into the conversation, into the fellowship, and you're gonna be fellowshipping with him also. Well, you know, there must be something to this fellowship thing.
You know, maybe maybe some of you missed out on the greatest and grandest fellowship as far as with your earthly father goes. But you know something? You don't have to miss out on an even grander fellowship with your heavenly father. Now that fellowship gets expanded to others who agree and have benefited. Take your Bibles and look with me over in Philippians in chapter one. Philippians in chapter one. You know, you're you're fellowshipping with the father, and pretty soon you're gonna find out that that circle just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. It's it's kinda like just picture, you know, when you you're standing by a pond or a lake or something, you know, and you you you throw a rock, and it it hits the water, and it just the rings just kind of expand outward.
You know you know what I'm talking about? You know, it just goes on and on and on. Same thing. You see, the the father has a lot of friends. A lot of friends. Father knows a lot of folks. Now Philippians chapter one and verse five, the apostle said this, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Alright. So what he's indicating here is that there's a certain commonality. There's a certain union of thinking, and it was all built around the gospel. It was all built around the gospel, and the gospel is defined as what? Do you I don't know if you know, but what for those of you who who used to follow the other show that I did, the bible study show, do you remember what it is?
The gospel is is defined in first Corinthians chapter 15 as the story of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those three things. That makes up the gospel. Right? Can you see that? Kinda whited out. Alright. So that those three things, the death, burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright? Now in verse 12 of first of, Philippians, verse 12 of Philippians chapter one, But I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places.
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. So as he fellowship with the father, he fellowship with these saints at Philippi, and it was a source of encouragement for others. It was a source of encouragement for them to, to to to not act under the fear of or or the umbrella of fear, but but to but to express a certain boldness for the gospel. Remember the Proverbs says, the righteous are as bold as a lion. Alright. Now there's another, arena of fellowship that I particularly enjoy with the father.
I enjoy the fellowship around the mysteries. Now I was I was, I was flipping the channels or or searching, scanning through, you know, all this because I I don't have regular TV. I stream TV, but I was scrolling through all the available, stuff that you can stream and download on the television, the other night. And, I passed by one of those those channels that you could you could watch that played old TV shows. You you know that like, what what I'm talking about? And I don't know why I stopped there. I I just did. Maybe it was the Lord telling me I could use this as an illustration, but but I I stopped on an old detective show. I mean, if you're if if you're like my age, you you gotta be you gotta remember Columbo. You remember Columbo?
Columbo didn't carry a gun, but he was a detective, and he acted like this this fumbling bumbling idiot, who was really couched in a great deal of guile while solving the crime. And it was it was fascinating to me to to watch him or to watch how step by step, he unfolded the pages of the mystery that was before him until it became evident who the perpetrator of the of the crime was. Right? Mystery. Mystery is fascinating. It really is. And I want you to take your Bible. I want you to turn to the, book of Ephesians. You're in Philippians, so it's just one book over, and you're over there.
Ephesians chapter three. Ephesians in chapter three. Ephesians chapter three and verse nine. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hidden God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. Now the, particular minute mystery that that's being discussed here is the mystery of what we call dispensationalism. Alright? That's that's what Paul's talking about here. He said he said, you know, God did things a certain way back in the Old Testament, but as we've progressed into the New Testament, he's revealed a lot of light on things that were formally, you know, that people didn't know or or didn't understand.
Alright. So in in other words, what he was doing was he was unfolding the mystery. Alright? That which used to be mysterious is no longer a secret. God has illustrated these things to us. You know, it it it's wonderful. It really is to be able to read your Bible and fellowship with the father as he shows you these tremendous mysteries and how they're coming to pass exactly as he said he they would. You know, in in in the verse, just as an illustration, he talks about the mystery of creation. You know, there there's there's a lot about creation that I don't understand, but I certainly wouldn't call it a mystery to me.
It's a mystery to an evolutionist, but as someone who believes the Bible, it's not a mystery to us. God said it, and that settles it. You know, when my when my kids were young and they were in school, they, my my daughter came home one day, and she said to me that, they were learning about the Big Bang Theory. And she was like, do we believe in the Big Bang? Now if you you know what the Big Bang is? I don't know if the the Big Bang theory, just like evolution's a theory, it's not a fact. Big Bang is a theory, it's not a fact. The Big Bang was, you know, from from one little particle of matter exploded into this magnificent universe that we have surrounding us. Alright? From from nothing something.
Ex nelio in in in Latin. So my daughter asked me that question. She's like, dad, do we believe in the big bang? And I was like, yeah. I believe in the big bang. I do. God said it, bang, came into existence. You know, that's the big bang. Right? Another guy had a a a had a bumper sticker on his car that said, you know, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Somebody else made a bumper sticker that said, God said it, that settles it whether you believe it or not. You see, I have no I have no problem understanding the mystery of creation. I just read my Bible and there it is.
To me, that's pretty simple. In fact, it it it it takes more faith, I think, to believe any other theory. You know, it it really does. I I just accept the facts. But, you know, there are there there are there are many mysteries in the New Testament that that you could fellowship with the father over as he reveals that mystery to you. You know, over the years, I I I indicated earlier, over the years, my relationship with my dad matured, you know, and he started to talk to me more about, some of the more serious things in life and in the in his life. And, you know, he started to tell me some of those, family secrets that are always so, you know, like, closely guarded within the family.
You know, it it helped me it helped me, actually, to understand a lot more about why certain people in the family acted certain ways. It helped me to connect the dots and helped me explain some things that I have observed over my life. Like, for example, I I had no idea that my grandmother, my father's mother, went through her entire life not knowing how to read or write. And then I also learned the the the the really the heartbreaking story that was behind it. I got it on a family secret. I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but that it's a family secret.
And it wasn't a good one, but I understood it, finally. It made some sense. You know, the Lord, as your heavenly father, wants to let you in on all the family secrets, good and bad. He'll tell you about all of these things. He tells you about them in his word. He tells you about them in his book. All we have to do is we have to read them and understand them. You know, there's there's the mystery of spiritual union in Ephesians chapter five. Alright? And that's talking about marriage. You know, when, when I first got licensed to preach by my church back in New York, a friend of mine came to me, and he told me he was gonna propose to his girlfriend and ask if I could marry them.
Now remember I told you, I haven't done a a wedding ceremony. I've only done funerals, but so this would have been my first. So, but neither one of them were saved. Neither one of them wanted to get saved. They didn't wanna know Jesus Christ. So I told them that, well, I said, I, you know, I I really shouldn't, but but if you really want me to marry you, I I could, but it's gonna cost you about $5,000. You know? I'm kidding. I'm kidding. And it's kinda like the lady that, that that called the Baptist preacher and said, you know, my dog just died. Would would you conduct a funeral for him? And, you know, he just took off like a rocket ship on that one. He said, lady, the Bible clearly says that the spirit of the beast goeth downward.
We don't conduct funerals for dogs. She said, well, I'm I'm sorry. I just feel like this dog was such a loyal companion through the years. It deserves a funeral. Can you recommend someone that might? Well, the this Baptist preacher kinda chuckled to himself a little bit. He goes, well, why don't you try the Methodist down the street? I think I think they would. She said, alright. And she goes, I'll I'll give him a call, and by the way, do you think $500 would be appropriate fee to pay him? And the the Baptist preacher said, lady, why didn't you tell me he was a Baptist dog? You know?
But but in truth I know it's a dumb joke. I know. I know. But, you know, in truth, I wouldn't have any fees for weddings or funerals. Probably do the same thing I do with the show. If you wanna make a donation, great. If you don't, great. But what I did tell him though was that is that, a marriage is a three legged stool, And, it it meaning that it's you got a picture in your head, you know, the three legged stool. It's it's physical, it's emotional, and it's spiritual. Alright? Those are the three legs of the stool, and that's what marriage is, physical, emotional, and spiritual. There has to be a spiritual connection.
There has to be a spiritual relationship for it to be the type of relationship that God wants it to be. And the Bible's talking about our relationship with Jesus Christ and our marriage relationship. You know? A a a a good Bible based marriage is simply a mirror or a picture of our union with Jesus Christ. And, and he said, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Jesus Christ. It's a mystery, and you'll only figure that thing out by studying your Bible. I know years ago, there was a book that came out, it was it was called, men are from Mars, women are from Venus, or or or or some something like that.
Did you know that, there was a scientist back in the nineteen eighties that actually won a Nobel Prize for determining that baby boys, when they're in the womb, sometime between the sixteenth and twenty sixth week of gestation, the caring side of their brain stops developing. And the guy got a Nobel Prize for figuring that out. He said the side of the brain that's compassionate and cares and and and and all that stuff doesn't develop nearly at the rate of a girl baby. And, you know, I suppose that's true. I I do. I I look at myself and I I can see that and, you know, you can also look at it like this. You know, junior, you know, falls down the driveway and skins his knee and, you know, what does dad say? Dad says, you'll be alright. Get up. Walk it off.
But what does mom do? Mom picks him up and kisses the little boo boo. It'll be all white. It's okay, little honey. Right? I mean, it's just the way it is. It's just a difference between men and women. We are wired differently. It it's God made us different. That's just the way it is. And aren't you glad? And there is no book in the world that explains it like your Bible. The word of God helps you understand those differences, and it helps you to find compatibility within the ranks of those differences. That Bible explains what no Nobel Prize winner could ever possibly explain about the the union in marriage.
It's a mystery. It's a mystery. You know, the Bible calls the rapture a mystery in first Corinthians fifteen fifty one. Do you know who let me in on the secret and really allowed me to, to assess it and and assimilate it and understand it and wait for it with rejoicing? The father. The father. Fellowshipping with the father brought me into this glorious secret that there is a time coming when God's gonna blow a trumpet, and God's gonna give a shout over the banister of heaven, and they that know the Lord are gonna be caught up together to meet him in the air. The world doesn't understand that.
The world doesn't they they couldn't possibly understand that. And when it's explained to them, if that's something that you believe and you've tried to explain it to somebody who who's not a believer, they laugh at you. They ridicule you. They make fun of you. They say that's the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard. Yet in spite of that, they they try to make preparations for it in in, you know, as far as explanation goes in the world. You know what they're saying? They're they they say they come up with things like, do you remember back in 02/2012, they were talking about the Mayan calendar and all that mess?
They said, what what was it? December 21 or something like that? 02/2012, the rotation of the Earth is gonna stop and go reverse, and and that's gonna be cataclysmic and all that stuff. Now, of course, it didn't happen. Obviously, it didn't happen. But after all, you know, the Mayans were incredibly intelligent people. I mean, look at the pyramids they built. Look at the star charts and everything else that they did. Yeah. They were intelligent. Absolutely intel intelligent. They sacrificed their babies to their gods. Real smart.
Real smart. Or other explanations for these, for for for the rapture, like, alien invasion and, you know, aliens snatching up people and, you know, taking them off for for testing and and all that stuff. I'm not saying there aren't aliens or anything like that, but there aren't, but they're demons, but you know what I'm saying? You get me. Then you have the mystery of iniquity in first in the second Thessalonians chapter two. The mystery of iniquity. You know what that is? The mystery of iniquity? That's a discussion of the antichrist in that chapter.
What the Lord does what the Lord does here is is he he tells you that the the whole personality event, advent rather, popularity acceptance of of a is of a political world figure known as the antichrist to us. And And he explains it, and he gives it to us in detail. If you study your whole Bible, God gives you all kinds of examples. Like, did you know you're gonna like this. Did you know that God gives you 18 types of the Antichrist in your Bible? Okay. 18 types. Well, that's interesting, isn't it? Because that would be six plus six plus six.
Six six six. 18 types of the Antichrist in your Bible, if you know anything about numbers. That Bible says that that a guy is gonna have that that the Bible says that that guy is gonna have a bad eye and a bad arm. So when someone walks up on the political stage and all the world is going, he's the man, he's the man, he's the man, and that guy has a bad eye and a bad arm, you're gonna be ready. You're gonna be ready because you're in on the mystery. You're in on the mystery. The Bible says that that there's a mystery of godliness in first Timothy chapter three verse 16, and that has to do with the incarnation.
You know, no one can really understand the virgin birth and the incarnation outside of the word of God. In Revelation chapter 10 of verse seven, it talks about the mystery of God, And that's that's just, you know, the the capsulized picture of God giving us the whole book of Revelation and explaining to us what we could expect in the immediate future. So there's the fellowship of mystery. Then over in Philippians chapter three, you should still be in Ephesians, so just go back one book to Philippians. Philippians chapter three verse 10, Paul said this, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship is of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.
Oh, man. The fellowship of suffering. Did it ever occur to you, and it and it did to me while I was preparing this this, this sermon, that God has a far greater longing to fellowship with us than we do with him. Think about that. God wants to fellowship with us, and sometimes we're just satisfied enough to send him a religious hallmark. Good to talk to you, dad. Call you next year. You know, and the lord knows that being, you know, constructed of the clay that we are, that some sometimes the only thing that'll drive us in his direction is suffering. Suffering.
The fellowship of his sufferings. In that, we we find this intensified fellowship that we can find no other way. People say, well, I I I just don't deserve this. A guy said to me one time, he said, he goes, you know, you know, after I got saved, I just went through some really, really hard times. I don't understand it. I don't know why the Lord would allow would would allow us to do that. So I said to him, I said, well, let me ask you this. Joseph in the Bible told his brothers about a dream that he had that God gave him, and then he was sold into slavery, and then found himself in a prison situation where he languished for quite a while.
What do you think about that? I said, what about what about Daniel? Daniel who was faithful to God and got thrown into a lion's den, and three Hebrew children got thrown into a fiery furnace. I said, what about Paul? Paul, probably the greatest missionary the world has ever known, and he got stoned, not stoned, stoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and and and and everything else you can think of. But what do you think about that? He just said, oh. But do you know what Paul did in all that he endured? In everything Paul went through, do you know what he did? He said, I'm learning. I just want fellowship with the father even more.
I wanna get closer to him. I wanna have this intensified relationship with him. And then finally, there is the fellowship of common interest. The fellowship of common interest. Do you know what God is interested in? Do you know what God is interested in? You know, the the more you get interested in in what he's interested in, the more you'll you'll have fellowship with him. Now God's interested in souls. He says that he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It's a very interesting word, all, right there. That's one of the most contested words in all of your Bible, all.
What does all mean? All means all. You have people that say, well, you know, in the original Greek well, in the original Greek, all means all. All. All encompassing. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should be saved. That all should come to repentance. He's interested in souls coming to Jesus Christ. You know, the the more you're interested and the more your interest peaks in the direction, the more you're gonna have fellowship with the father. And you know how that's gonna happen? One day, you're gonna you're gonna come across someone, and you're gonna develop a burden for their soul. And then you're gonna start to pray for them.
You're gonna say, lord, will you save that guy right there? Lord, would you do something in that lady's life to bring her to Christ? And you know something? God is very, very, very tuned into those kinds of prayers. You're gonna find that there's fellowship there. The Lord likes to fellowship around his word because his word is his book. The Lord is interested in his people. The Lord is interested in his church. The the more you get interested in what the lord's interested in, the more there's basis for fellowship. And that's true in human relationships.
You know, my dad and I used to love to go fishing. My dad would and this isn't an endorsement, I'm not telling you you should do this. Alright? But my dad would let me skip school during the school year to take me fishing. We would go down to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, we would get on one of those party boats, we go out and fish all day. We would get there at, like, five in the morning, get on the boat, boat would boat would take off, like, six 06:30, something like that in the morning, and we'd be out there all day till two, 03:00 in the afternoon just fishing, just me and my dad. Well, everybody else that was on the boat too, but it was just me and my dad, you know.
We had fellowship around that. I didn't understand it at the time. I was a kid, you know, fifth grade, fourth grade, sixth grade. But that was something that I look back at now and I and I, you know, I I valued that time with my dad. That was great. That was something really special. And my dad had the opportunity to do stuff like that with my son. Carried on. We had fellowship around baseball. I was the opposite of everything my dad liked as far as the sports teams, and most of the time I did that just to be a twister, you know, just just just to, you know, just to kinda dig them a little bit.
My dad was a Yankee fan. I was a Met fan. And after what they did today, I'm not interested in following them anymore either. But another story, another time. My dad was a, like I said, a Yankee fan, Met fan. My dad was a Giants fan. I was a Jets fan. My dad liked the Islanders. I liked the Rangers. My dad liked the Knicks. I liked the Nets. Whatever my dad liked, I liked the opposite. And I would like to twist him a little bit about things. I've I've told the story many times, you know. There was that Father's Day that I decided that I'm gonna buy my die hard Yankee fan dad a Boston Red Sox jersey that he only ended up throwing into the fire pit in the backyard. You know?
But we had fellowship around that. We had fellowship around baseball. We had fellowship around fishing. We had fellowship around football. We had fellowship we had fellowship around a cup of coffee on a Saturday afternoon in his backyard. You get interested in what the father's interested in, you're gonna have and you're gonna learn that there's a mutual benefit, not just for not not only for him, but for you. You're gonna benefit from his interests. You get interested in souls. There's eternal rewards for that. You get interested in his word.
There's revelations in that that you've never thought existed. You get interested in his people, and we know that we have passed from death until life because we love the brethren. You'll get assurance. There are benefits in being interested in what the father is interested in, And those interests lead to a better fellowship with your heavenly father. Our heavenly father, we wanna thank you for the day that you've given us here, lord, today where we could think about the things related to our fathers, both earthly and, more importantly, heavenly.
Father, we thank you for the gift of fellowship. Lord, we thank you for all of the things that you have put in your book to help us improve that fellowship between ourselves and and you. Father, we pray for that that sweet fellowship to continue on day after day, week after week, month after month, until that sweet fellowship with the lord Jesus Christ or the sweetest fellowship that we'll have with the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming, when he raptures us out of here, gets us out of here, and we will forever be with the Lord. Father, we thank you for that, and Lord, if there's anyone listening or watching right now that doesn't know you as their personal savior, father, I pray that you would open up their eyes and their spiritual ears to hear the truth that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the in the flesh, that Jesus Christ came, suffered, crucified on a cruel cross, shed his precious blood to pay the sin debt for every sinner, and all they have to do is accept it, that he die that he died, that he was buried, and that he rose again, defeating that last great enemy of death.
Father, we thank you for that tremendous truth, and we ask your blessings on us as we go forward from today to the remainder of this week. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen? Amen. Amen. Alright. Well, happy Father's Day to everybody that's watching, listening. Remember to have that fellowship with your father, earthly and heavenly, today. Have a great one. We'll do our shout outs to our executive producers, Wayne and Rosanna Rankin. Our producer, anonymous Angela, thank you so much for spending your Father's Day evening with me right here at the Joe Russo.
We will see you tomorrow night, 7PM central time, our regular time. We have a guest tomorrow night lined up for the first hour, a guest Tuesday first hour, and a guest Friday for the second hour. Looking forward to it. Alright, folks. Make Texas independent again. Go podcasting. Keep a steady stride. Have a great night. Good night, and goodbye.
