Understanding How To Be One Of God's Heroes As A Christian

James Greer: [00:00:01] Well, morning, Journey Church. Whew. Man, I tell you, wasn't that praise team rocking the house? That's why I had to come up here and sit down, man. I was standing up. It was so exciting. I couldn't sit down. Amen? Because we're in the Father's house. Amen? Woo! And everybody, you have a father, whether your father is living or not. My father is in Heaven. But man, I got two dads. I got my physical father, and I got my spiritual dad. Amen? Happy Father's Day. I tell you, we're the only church in the whole United States that gives knives out to dads. I got to thinking this morning. Can you believe everything that's going on in the world? Hey, men, come to church and get your knife. We needed it. Amen. And you needed it. The name of the message today is what makes a hero. But it's a shame, you know? In a recent Gallup poll, 51% of all kids, even the age of 13 to 17, they said, I can't name one single adult hero in my life. Said, I don't know any adult that I'd want to model my life after. That's almost tragic, isn't it? No matter how old you are, you really need heroes, and you kind of need to be a hero. When I say hero, you need a model or a mentor in your life. They help shape your life and your character. They help inspire you to do more than you were ever able to do. They challenge you to grow. That's why we need to choose the right heroes. But we need to choose them carefully.

James Greer: [00:01:39] I love this verse, and it's kind of a key verse for the whole lesson. And the Psalmist says, 16:3, it says, The godly people in the land, they're my true heroes. David's talking. He said, there's some godly people in the land. They were my true heroes, and I take pleasure in them. I hope your heroes are godly people. See, today, if you're not careful, that's not the true heroes of the day. And I want you to know, when I say true heroes, I'm not talking about the religious people. I'm talking about people that have a relationship with Christ. There's a big difference than religious people. Real religious people, they're real rigid. I mean, I want to talk about people that have a relationship. They have love and they have life. But I hope you have godly heroes in your life. Tell me who your heroes are, and I'll tell you who you're becoming. You can actually tell me who your heroes are, and I might even be able to tell you your future. What most people call heroes are really zeros because they're celebrities. It's okay to like them. But they don't need to be your heroes. Most people don't know the difference between a hero and a celebrity. Let start out telling you the difference between a hero and a celebrity. A celebrity, they like to make a big splash. Heroes, they want to make a big difference in lives.

James Greer: [00:03:09] Celebrities, they want to be all about their big image and their fame. Heroes are about character. They're about service. Celebrities are about sacrifice, but it's only sacrifice about themselves. Heroes sacrifice for other people. Celebrities serve themselves. Heroes serve other people. Celebrities, they celebrate who they are. Have y'all ever watch, there's a show comes on some nights, and it's all about the celebrities. And men, I've never seen them serve anybody else unless they're making sure everybody's watching them. But dude, they worry about how they dress and how they look. I mean, it's all about who they are. Heroes, it's whose they are. Big difference. Celebrities focus on how they look on the outside. But sometimes how they look on the outside, you can see everything they got. And then they pay thousands of dollars for those little bitty things. I don't know. Heroes focus on who they are on the inside. That's good, Brother James.

James Greer: [00:04:27] Celebrities are known for their doing. Heroes are known for their being. Every dad wants to be their children's hero. Amen? Every husband wants to be their wives' heroes. One of the things my wife does best, the greatest thing she's done for most of our life, she says, Honey, you're my hero. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. There used to be a song that talked about, You're my hero. And she'd play it, and she'd say, Honey, you're my hero. I'd say, What do you want me to do? You got it, baby. She'd just win. I mean, what are you going to do, huh? Second, real heroes will stand alone, and they stand for what's right. There's more than just standing alone. It's standing for what's right. It makes a difference. If you want to make a difference, you have to be different. You can't be like everybody else. True heroes often go unknown. You don't really know sometimes the true hero. Until Heaven, there's true heroes we won't know. They don't do things just to be seen. They don't do it like on the outside, like celebrities. They get their fulfillment on the inside for what God's called them to do. True heroes protect and serve those out front and many times are behind the scene. True heroes often make those people out front look much better than they are.

James Greer: [00:05:55] I'm not a hero, but I can tell y'all, the people behind the scenes make me look way better than I am. They run the church, they make the decisions. I mean, my goodness. We got one of the best children's departments in the world. We have one of the best youth departments in the world. We got one of the best, smoothest churches in the world. Out of respect, they come and they say, Man, I got an idea. I want you to approve it. Oh, my goodness gracious. They've already got the details worked out. We're going to have a three-day VBS. It's going to be dynamite. I titled my sermon series after the VBS. We got to a youth department that's unbelievable. I mean, our whole church, we got executive pastor. I mean, it's just unbelievable how great they are. And most people don't have any idea how good they really are. I think my secretary is the one that came up and said, Hey, don't men like knives? I said, Oh, yeah. Get all the men knives. I saw the DA this week, and I said, Guess what we're giving out at church? And I gave him a knife. He said, Oh, yeah, that's great. Said, y'all giving everybody, all the men knives? And I said, Yeah. But you don't have to worry about our men. Most of our men. He said, Yeah, I know most of your men. Anyway, let me ask you a question. I'm going to ask you about a hero and ask you if you ever heard of this name. His name is Eleazar, the son of Dodo. Y'all know the son of Dodo. No, no, man. I mean, it was one of David's great heroes, and it really was. And he says these are the name of the top three heroes. And these were the most heroic men in David's army. Most of you, you would never know who these men were. And it says, first of all, there was Josheb-basshebeth. That's close enough. And he was from Tahchemon, whatever it is, known also there was Adino. And he was from, he was Eznite. And he once killed 800 men in one battle.

James Greer: [00:08:16] Next in rank was Eleazar, the son of Dodo. The one word I can pronounce good. The son of Dodo and the grandson of Ahohi. And listen. And how would you like to be called, Hey, here comes the son of Dodo? I guarantee you that's how he learned to fight. He'd go to school and fight. Who's that? Oh, that's the son of Dodo. Boom! These three men though, they held back the Philistines on their own. All the rest of the children of Israel, they ran. It says, They killed the Philistines until, listen, listen. The son of Dodo. Let me tell you what he did though. He killed the Philistines until his hand was so tired he couldn't hold the sword. But y'all don't know what that means is he was so tired, he fought so much, his hand was glued to the sword. It stuck to the sword. He had held it and had fought so long, it had bled and stuck to the sword. You could let it go. It wouldn't let go. That's something. And the Lord gave him a great victory. But the rest of the army, they didn't return until it was time to collect the loot.

James Greer: [00:09:40] Oh, yeah. When the battle was over, they were all ready to come back. Amen? And then it says, The last one after him was Shammah. But I want to give you some insights about some great heroes. These were three great heroes. If I wouldn't have mentioned them to you today, you probably wouldn't have ever heard of them. But yet they were some of David's greatest heroes. He said they were the heroic men of battle. They were the ones that were willing to stand. Everybody else ran, and they stood and fight. One of them killed 800 men by himself. That's a pretty bad dude. Amen? First of all, first of all, real heroes are loyal. Those people were loyal to David and loyal to their country. How loyal are you? How loyal are you to those when nobody's looking? How loyal are you to those you work for and to your country? We've got a guy. He's not here. So I'll tell you. He comes to the next service. Al Nunley. He sits right about there. You and Mr. Terry are sitting, he usually sits right in front of y'all. Did y'all know that Al's got a Purple Heart? Did y'all know Al's been shot, and he was a hero in the Army? But usually nobody during veterans and all that, nobody knows him. That's how real heroes are. He was a hero in the military.

James Greer: [00:11:14] I asked them the other day, I said, Man, one of the ceremonies, you didn't even. He said, man, I know. He said, not only do I have a Purple Heart, I got this, that, and the other. He says, you know, they won't even buy him a coffee. I said, man, you're a hero. Doesn't even talk about it. But he was a hero. How loyal are you when everybody else runs? How loyal are you when others try to attack and hurt or even kill the ones you're supposed to be protecting? Most of all, how loyal are you to your mate? If you're married or you're engaged, are you loyal? Are you loyal to your boss, to your children, to your pastor, most of all to God? I can remember one time, I used to stay out in the foyer all the time. I love people. I love to hug everybody. I'm not going to today because I'm going to town next week, and I'm trying to be very careful. But I love to go out there. And one Sunday, I was out there hugging everybody, and I heard this lady say, hey, don't talk like that in here. Later on, I said, Well, what's the problem? She said, Well, she was talking about you and I told her if she didn't like it, she shouldn't be coming to church here. Go ahead. But you know, how loyal are you? How loyal are you to God? But don't get loyalty, real important, don't get loyalty and character mixed up. There's some denomination right now that got their loyalty and character mixed up, and now it's coming out.

James Greer: [00:13:11] That immorality going on in the name of religion. And they said, Well, I was trying to protect these certain people. That's not loyalty. If you got immorality going on right underneath it, you get rid of them. Or you straighten it out. One or the other. You don't protect them. See, that's not loyalty. Your loyalty, you ready? Your loyalty is always first to God. If you're with somebody and they ask you, Are you ready to do something that's immoral, even if it's your family and your mate, your loyalty is to God first. Okay? And then your mate and family. Say, I want you to keep them straight. Real men are loyal and not ashamed of being loyal. Loyalty is almost a forgotten virtue today. Biblical loyalty is using difficult times and circumstances to demonstrate your commitment to God and to those that you're called to serve and love. My wife has shown her loyalty most during my most difficult times in life, whether it was health or whether it's financial or whether it's pressure. That's when she's been the most loyal to me. That's when she steps up. That's when she shows her greatest strength. The few times that I've been without a job out of my choice or the few times I was the most depressed in my life or the few times that I had the hardest times in my life, that's when she stepped up. That's when she was the strongest. That's the that's the loyalty. That's what it means. You demonstrate it during those times.

James Greer: [00:14:57] The Bible said, like Jesus in John 15:13, greater love has no one than this, than he lays down his life for his friends. The opposite of loyalty is unfaithfulness. God wants men to be men. I love 1 Corinthians because it says this. Keep your eyes open for spiritual dangers, men, women, boys, girls. God says, keep your eyes open because they're all around you. Staying true to the Lord and act like a... Stand true to the Lord and act like what? Man. And be strong. It's okay to be strong and still act like a man. Amen? And whatever you do, do it with kindness and love. You can still act like a man and do it in kindness and love. So let me give you some characteristics of acting like a man and still doing it with kindness and love. It's bringing them food every day. No, nevermind. [inaudible] Men, would your wife and children say that you're tough, but yet you're still tender? That's acting like a man. Does your wife feel that you're her protector, her provider, you deliver, you make her feel safe? Because she feels like you're loyal to her and not somebody else. You can have manners and morals. What are morals? She says, I feel that my husband's morally right. In other words, I don't have to worry about him when he goes out of town. I don't have to worry about what he's doing, so it makes me feel good. You're gracious and generous. It's okay to be kind, to give, and take care of them and open the door or take them out to eat. But it's also saying I'm going to protect them. I don't want to be in debt that I can't pay for it, that we're so stressful. So I'm going to protect them from that. So I'm not going to overbuy.

James Greer: [00:17:07] So it's gracious and generous. Real men don't demand respect, but they earn it. Men, you don't go home and say, the Bible says you submit to me. I the man. You know, there is men that try that. It does not work. Try it. See what happens to you. You might be the man of the house all by yourself. But you the man. You earn respect; you don't demand it. You've got to be willing to stand alone, though. If you don't start standing for something, you just really end up nothing. When other guys are wanting to go out and, you know, do things they shouldn't be doing and going places they shouldn't go, you make a stand. When I was 21, I was already traveling. I traveled all over and spent the night out. And it was amazing what the guys would try to get me to do that were married. And what I'd find out, they were the most outspoken, but they were the most insecure. When the other guys are talking about the women and what the other women look like, what the other women are shaped like, and what they thought they would do, you don't go there. Sometimes when I didn't want to embarrass everybody, I'd just say, Hey, my wife is more than I can handle myself. I mean, she is by the way.

James Greer: [00:18:51] That was a nice way of saying, shut up. But one thing you do, you got to understand what you're going to say before you get in that situation. The best thing to do is don't get in that situation. But sometimes you work for people, places, things where you're out in those situations and they're saying that. But you can still be a man. You don't have to say, Oh yeah, man, that is good-looking. I would like to do that or that. You don't need. That's not a man. I think that's a wimp. Let me say a nice word. Trying not to say a wrong word. Wimp. Thank you, Jesus. Okay. Is that you saying I need both. You're right. Anyway. So what other guys are talking like, you don't have to go along with it. When men are allowed, uh-oh, I know this is going to make some men mad. When you allow your girls and daughters, especially under 12 to wear inappropriate clothing, make a stand. And you said, why 12? Because today girls that are 12 or 16, they're not like they were when I was growing up. After girls are a certain age, you cannot control them. You think you can, but you can't. It's not like it was 20 years ago. 20 years ago, you could look at them, and they would cry. Today you look at them, and they look back at you. When I was growing up, I'd say, Don't say why. Today they told me the other day, I really mean I want to understand why. It's the truth. They don't mean. They don't mean it. They really wonder why. But when they're small, and I'm just saying 12 or whatever, you know, let's do it appropriately. Right? You can't control them when they get older. You might wish you could, but you can't. If you try too hard, they'll get more out of control.

James Greer: [00:20:43] I know. I'm getting to get in more trouble now. You ready? When you're married, your wife doesn't need to be wearing show and tell others. You just tell her, Show and tell, it's just for me and you, honey. I know. I used to go shopping with my wife. You say, well, you're a wimp. I don't care. At least I knew what she was going to buy. And I liked it. Today sometimes, when it's church or whatever, ain't no big guessing what you're wearing or what you look like. It's show and tell. Let's just say it. I know it's quiet, but it's true. You know why? It's not her fault. It's the men's fault. Why do you think she's wearing that in the first place? Because of men. Mm hmm. Now what? Now that they won't say anything. Journey Church, it's just not y'all. When the sons and boys are talking that trash about women, it's not funny. When they're being disrespectful and talking trash, it's time to stand up and tell them to shut up. It's tough to be a hero today. A lot of times it's not popular. But God's looking for them. Abraham was a hero. He stood alone in an immoral culture. He had Sodom and Gomorrah trying to pull him that way. But he said, I'm not going. I'm your uncle. But Lot, if you really want to go, you go. It's already got him. Noah stood alone for 120 years with people making fun of him. 120 years they walked by him. I can't believe you're going to build a boat. And it had never rained, by the way, at that time. Daniel said, you quit praying. He had integrity. He got thrown in the lion's den, even though the lion fell asleep. And Esther stood alone and saved her people. She could have been killed. Moses stood alone against Pharaoh.

James Greer: [00:23:09] But see, they all had to make a stand. My question is you willing to make a stand for what's right? Sometimes it will be a fight. Sometimes, men, that means you've got to grow you know what to do what's right in your home, with your mate, sometimes with your own kids. That's why we're in the mess we are in the first place. Adam shut up when he should have spoke up when he went to Eve. Men always have a communication problem. If you read books that say men need to learn to communicate better, that is true. But ladies, don't always use it for an excuse. Why don't you learn to help them communicate better? Why don't you help them be a better hero? Look for things they do behind the scene, and you ready, ladies? Speak them out loud. Speak them out loud in front of them, especially in front of the kids. Some of them go to work every day. There's a lot of wives and women that love for their husbands just to go to work every day. Speak it out loud. They play games. They go to the games. They help with the kids. They cook, they clean. I know a guy that hardly says five words. He doesn't hardly speak. But you know, he brings me vegetables every single week. He's my hero. He doesn't say anything. Sometimes he doesn't even tell me. He just sits them on the back porch. Cooks for his kids fresh vegetables almost every Sunday. Ask me if they come over then. He doesn't hardly communicate, but there's plenty to talk about that he does.

James Greer: [00:25:08] Amen? I'll give you a free insight. How about if he's loyal to you, he's faithful to you? Maybe you should tell him that. Some ladies are married to heroes, and they don't even know it because they've never spoken it out loud. You ready? Love does not produce joy. Learning to communicate it correctly is what produces joy. God is looking for heroes, men and women. 2 Chronicles tells us that God is just, He wants heroes so bad. It says, The eyes of the Lord. They're running to and fro throughout the whole earth, look to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is what? Loyal to Him. Real heroes take risks. They risk failure, rejection, criticism. Luke 19:26 said, And he said, That's what I mean. Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe, and you end up holding the bag. A safe life is almost a wasted life. Most people are not going to take a risk because they're scared of failure or even rejection. I can remember the time I had lunch with my son Jimmy and we're eating lunch. And I said, Jimmy. He said, how are things going? I said, I think we're going to have a campus. We're going to try to have a campus in Alexandria. He said, Good, Dad. You always know how to go from a hero to a zero. I said, Pardon? He said, That's how you do. He said, Man, you know how to go from a hero to a zero. He said, Because when it fails, you're going to be a zero. But I want to give you credit. I probably shouldn't tell you what he said. But anyway. He said, You have a you know what? A pair to be willing to do that and try it. And I really, really wanted to do it. And man, we had a say yes, campaign. Man, our people gave and gave and gave. We had people like me. I sold my motorcycle. We had other people sell their motorcycles and gave above. And we went over there. We had one of the most beautiful campuses you've ever seen. Men took a risk, man. And we went. And I tell you, I loved it. Darrell went over there. We had people that went. Things came about. COVID came about. Even as bad as it was, we were blessed to be able to sell it. And we had to close it down.

James Greer: [00:27:48] And when other people couldn't, God sent us somebody to buy it. And you know, my wife didn't come to me and say, I can't believe we gave all that money and now it's closed down. She didn't say a thing. She said, God has a purpose, and it'll all work out. We didn't miss it. God replaced it. Did you know I called every single person personally that gave over $5,000 and told them why I thought we should close? Did you know I didn't have one person get upset with me? I had one person say, I told you so. I gave anyway, but I told you, you shouldn't do it. But other than that, not one person. I cried, cried, cried. I cried for a whole week. Whole week. I cried every single day. Not because I didn't think it was the right thing to do. I just cried. It just broke my heart. But I would have rather tried it because I felt God wanted me to do it than not do it at all. I don't regret it, not one bit. And so but a lot of people just won't do it. And you know, let me tell you, what same people we said, hey, we're going to have a campaign for trampolines. Said, I'd like y'all to give again.

James Greer: [00:29:07] Steven did a great job presenting it, and we got more than we asked for. We got people, man, they just believe, they give, they follow. I want to thank y'all for taking a risk, you know? I know a young man that's going to take a risk. I remember him calling and he said, my younger brother's going to have brain surgery. he's got cancer. I'm afraid, he said, But I'm going to do something I've never done. We're going to close. And he said, I called my family together and we all held hands. Said, I've never done this. He told them, he said. I've given my life to Jesus Christ, his whole family right in front of him. Said, I'm not perfect. He said, I know I cuss sometimes. He had to get that in. He said, I cuss sometimes. And he said, But, you know, I know I'm a sinner. I believe in Jesus Christ. I invited Him into my heart. And I know I'm saved. His little brother said, I believe too. I believe in Jesus. He stood there with his whole family, prayed out loud for him. That young man took a chance. He took a risk. His brother is still alive. And that was several years ago. He was willing to speak up when most people would have shut up.

James Greer: [00:30:24] In closing, God wants heroes who are willing to stand up. If you're here today and you've never stood up and invited Jesus Christ in your heart, that's the most important thing you'll ever do. Not maybe. It's the most important thing you need to do. Second of all, to be a hero, your private life has to be right. God knows. And if your private life is right, your public life, you'll have more victories. So ask God, is there something in my private life I need to change where I can have more victories in my public life? And He'll show you. How about this week, just invite somebody to church? And then ask God, hurting people need help. If you see somebody hurting, ask God how you can minister to them. Let Him show you how. Fight the real enemy. Not your mate, not your kids, not your boss. But I got to get this in before I close. Most people are fighting the wrong way. I hear too many people saying the devil is doing this and the devil is doing that, and they're exhorting the devil and all they're doing is talking about the devil. I never hear them talking about Jesus Christ. And there's a verse I want you to remember, and it's in Psalms 68:1. I wrote it in front of my Bible this morning. And it says this.

James Greer: [00:31:54] Let the Lord arise. Let the enemy be scattered. Raise up the Lord. Let's start talking about what God's doing. Let's raise up Jesus' name. Lift Him up. Talk about what He's doing at church, talk about the lives that are being changed. We baptized three or four. We had 60 or 70 go to youth camp. How many, Richie? 62 youth went to youth camp. We had 40 something children that went to children camp. We had people getting saved. We got lives being changed. Start lifting up God. Then the devil scatters. I know he's about like a roaring lion. I know he's trying to devour. But I know greater is he that's in me that's in the Lord. So let's start magnifying Jesus Christ and His name. I'm going to tell you this, and then we're going to pray. I want you to know that I believe the best spiritual warfare you can do is engage in magnifying the name of Jesus Christ. So let's do that this week.

James Greer: [00:32:56] Would you stand? God, I just thank you for this message. I thank you for your Word. God, you're changing so many lives, and so many times we're taking it for granted. I want to pray for men and women and boys and girls to make a stand. This isn't just for men. The same principles apply that every single person here today. God wants to use you. You've got to make sure that you're saved. You've got to say, God, here I am. Use me. Maybe you came today and you're the one that's hurting and needs help. God said, Come to me and you can find rest. Maybe you need to follow through in public baptism. Maybe God put His finger on your private life and He says, Hey, I want you to change your private life where I could use you more in public. What's God calling you to do? What area did He touch your heart, touch your life? You can write it on the next step card. Or man, we got wonderful people that you can come down and pray with this morning. I ask it in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.


Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.