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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #6: Bend, Don't Break (Part 1)

May 20, 2026 | 27:29

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #6: Bend, Don't Break (Part 1)
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#Courage #Trials-HardTimes #Challenges #Faith #Persecution #Christianity #Hatred #Culture #Division #Overcoming #Evil #Goodness #Blessing #Peace #RobertJeffress

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #6: Bend, Don't Break (Part 1) | May 20, 2026
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
  • 00:00:06.396 --> 00:00:09.065
  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with dr.
  • 00:00:09.065 --> 00:00:12.235
  • Robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
  • 00:00:14.671 --> 00:00:16.406
  • Again to "pathway to victory."
  • 00:00:16.406 --> 00:00:18.575
  • Living as a christian means facing opposition sometimes from
  • 00:00:18.575 --> 00:00:22.645
  • Your employer, sometimes from the culture, and sometimes even
  • 00:00:22.645 --> 00:00:26.716
  • From your own family.
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  • So, how do we hold on to our convictions without getting
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  • Swept away by the pressure?
  • 00:00:31.955 --> 00:00:34.023
  • The answer is learning to bend without breaking.
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  • Today, i'm going to share with you how to maintain your
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  • Convictions without losing your witness in the process.
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  • My message is titled "survival tip #6: bend, don't break," on
  • 00:00:44.501 --> 00:00:50.140
  • Today's edition of "pathway to victory."
  • 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:53.042
  • ♪♪♪
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  • Announcer: each day, millions of lost people are searching for
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  • Hope and truth.
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  • Homes across america and around the world, but there are still
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: setting out from mexico on november the 18th,
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  • 2012, salvador alvarenga, along with his fishing companion,
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  • Ezequiel cordoba, fired up the motor on his skiff, a 25-foot
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  • Open boat canoe, and he surfed over the crashing waves of the
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  • Pacific ocean as they came rolling onto the beach.
  • 00:01:57.740 --> 00:02:02.111
  • His boat was weighed down with 1,000 pounds of
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  • Fishing equipment, including a 5 foot by 4 foot ice box that he
  • 00:02:04.948 --> 00:02:09.986
  • Hoped to fill with tuna, shark, and mahi mahi.
  • 00:02:09.986 --> 00:02:14.324
  • Though alvarenga was aware of approaching storms, he ignored
  • 00:02:14.324 --> 00:02:18.595
  • The warnings.
  • 00:02:18.595 --> 00:02:19.929
  • He calculated that one day of good fishing would net him
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  • Enough money to live on for an entire week.
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  • To him, that was worth the gamble.
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  • When they were about 75 miles offshore, alvarenga and his
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  • Friend, cordoba, began to let out their 2-mile long
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  • Fishing line.
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  • The seas were calm until around 1 in the morning, then the wind
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  • Picked up.
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  • Waves began crashing over the sides of the boat, filling it
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  • With water.
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  • Alvarenga tried to pull in the fishing line, but more water was
  • 00:02:48.358 --> 00:02:51.995
  • Coming over the sides than cordoba could bail out.
  • 00:02:51.995 --> 00:02:55.431
  • Alvarenga had no choice.
  • 00:02:55.431 --> 00:02:57.500
  • He had to cut the fishing line and race toward home.
  • 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:01.137
  • With dawn approaching, alvarenga and cordoba could see mountains
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  • On the horizon.
  • 00:03:04.741 --> 00:03:06.643
  • Then their motor coughed and finally died.
  • 00:03:06.643 --> 00:03:11.080
  • Alvarenga yanked on the cord.
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  • Nothing.
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  • He yanked again, and this time the cord broke.
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  • As the ocean raised and dropped the skiff, the two men saw the
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  • Mountains disappear as the boat floated away from shore.
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  • The storm raged for five days.
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  • After constant bailing, both men were exhausted.
  • 00:03:30.266 --> 00:03:33.803
  • They had drifted some 280 miles from the mexican shoreline.
  • 00:03:33.803 --> 00:03:38.941
  • Rescue seemed nearly impossible since the skiff sat so low in
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  • The water, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to spot it,
  • 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:48.284
  • And they had no flare gun or other means to call for help.
  • 00:03:48.284 --> 00:03:51.621
  • They were at the mercy of the sea.
  • 00:03:51.621 --> 00:03:54.724
  • The sun baked their skin during the day, and to fend off the
  • 00:03:54.724 --> 00:03:58.861
  • Cold at night, alvarenga and cordoba climbed into the ice box
  • 00:03:58.861 --> 00:04:03.333
  • For warmth.
  • 00:04:03.333 --> 00:04:04.834
  • Finding fresh water was an immediate concern.
  • 00:04:04.834 --> 00:04:08.071
  • Thankfully, a few days after the storm, it rained again.
  • 00:04:08.071 --> 00:04:11.874
  • The men laid out plastic bottles they had collected floating in
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  • The ocean and collected about 5 gallons of fresh water.
  • 00:04:15.445 --> 00:04:20.283
  • Eating what they could catch by hand from the sea and the
  • 00:04:20.283 --> 00:04:24.087
  • Occasional sea bird that landed on the skiff was just enough to
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  • Stave off starvation as the days turned into weeks and the weeks
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  • Turned into months.
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  • Alvarenga established a routine to keep himself and
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  • Cordoba alive.
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  • Alvarenga was always awake by 5 a.m., checking the traps he had
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  • Put out the night before.
  • 00:04:46.542 --> 00:04:48.778
  • To escape the brutal sun, they climbed in the ice box.
  • 00:04:48.778 --> 00:04:52.548
  • At night, they laid face up and drew doodles in the sky.
  • 00:04:52.548 --> 00:04:57.120
  • Then things went from bad to worse.
  • 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:00.323
  • One evening, the two men ate a sea bird.
  • 00:05:00.323 --> 00:05:03.292
  • Cordoba grabbed his stomach and frothed at the mouth.
  • 00:05:03.292 --> 00:05:06.829
  • Inspecting the bird, they discovered the bird had eaten a
  • 00:05:06.829 --> 00:05:09.465
  • Poisonous snake.
  • 00:05:09.465 --> 00:05:11.534
  • Though cordoba's stomach got better, he never
  • 00:05:11.534 --> 00:05:14.103
  • Recovered psychologically.
  • 00:05:14.103 --> 00:05:16.639
  • Within a couple of months of not eating, cordoba had physically
  • 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:20.743
  • Shriveled up.
  • 00:05:20.743 --> 00:05:22.512
  • "goodbye, friend," cordoba said, as he began to throw himself
  • 00:05:22.512 --> 00:05:26.215
  • Over the side of the skiff.
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  • Alvarenga caught him, wrestled him into the ice box, and sat
  • 00:05:28.484 --> 00:05:32.488
  • Down on the lid.
  • 00:05:32.488 --> 00:05:34.257
  • When cordoba calmed down, alvarenga laid down next to
  • 00:05:34.257 --> 00:05:37.693
  • His friend.
  • 00:05:37.693 --> 00:05:39.028
  • "we have to fight, to tell our story."
  • 00:05:39.028 --> 00:05:42.231
  • But it was too late, cordoba died a few days later.
  • 00:05:42.231 --> 00:05:46.702
  • With the death of his friend, alvarenga concentrated on
  • 00:05:46.702 --> 00:05:50.139
  • Keeping himself occupied.
  • 00:05:50.139 --> 00:05:52.241
  • He hunted turtles and seabirds.
  • 00:05:52.241 --> 00:05:54.977
  • He trapped fish, and he designed a shark detection system that
  • 00:05:54.977 --> 00:05:59.882
  • Permitted him to take short swims to wash and cool himself.
  • 00:05:59.882 --> 00:06:04.487
  • What got him through the lonely hours, however, was the thought
  • 00:06:04.487 --> 00:06:08.157
  • Of his daughter and the growing sense that the lord must have
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  • Some reason for his life.
  • 00:06:12.995 --> 00:06:15.798
  • Then on january the 30th, 2014, after more than a year afloat in
  • 00:06:15.798 --> 00:06:22.772
  • The skiff, alvarenga noticed coconuts bobbing in the water
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  • And the sky filled with shore birds.
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  • In the distance, he could just make out a tiny island.
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  • When he was about 10 yards from the shore, alvarenga dove into
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  • The sea and let the waves carry him to shore, gripping what he
  • 00:06:38.488 --> 00:06:43.092
  • Later called a handful of sand that seemed like treasure.
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  • He had washed ashore on the ebon atoll, the southern tip of the
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  • Marshall islands, one of the most remote spots in all
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  • The earth.
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  • Had he missed this tiny speck of land, the next likely stop was
  • 00:06:57.740 --> 00:07:02.678
  • The philippines, 3,000 miles away.
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  • Salvador alvarenga is a perfect illustration of the survival tip
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  • We're talking about today.
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  • In our series, "courageous," we're talking about ten survival
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  • Tips that allow us to thrive in an increasingly hostile world.
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  • How did salvador alvarenga survive in that
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  • Hostile environment?
  • 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:35.778
  • He illustrates the important principle of bending
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  • Without breaking.
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  • Bending without breaking.
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  • You know there's an african proverb that says, "the wind
  • 00:07:45.555 --> 00:07:49.158
  • Doesn't break the tree that bends."
  • 00:07:49.158 --> 00:07:53.362
  • The wind doesn't break the tree that bends.
  • 00:07:53.362 --> 00:07:56.165
  • I mean, the fact is, if a tree is too rigid and has no bend in
  • 00:07:56.165 --> 00:08:01.003
  • It, it will snap like a toothpick in a heavy storm.
  • 00:08:01.003 --> 00:08:05.474
  • But if it bends too much, it will also break in two.
  • 00:08:05.474 --> 00:08:10.179
  • The key is to have enough elasticity in it to bend
  • 00:08:10.179 --> 00:08:15.418
  • Without breaking.
  • 00:08:15.418 --> 00:08:17.453
  • We have another word for that elasticity.
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  • We call it resiliency.
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  • Resiliency is the ability of something to bend without
  • 00:08:22.725 --> 00:08:27.296
  • Breaking, and once the pressure is off, to return to its
  • 00:08:27.296 --> 00:08:31.767
  • Original form.
  • 00:08:31.767 --> 00:08:33.970
  • That's important in every area of life, including survival.
  • 00:08:33.970 --> 00:08:39.475
  • You know, truthfully, salvador alvarenga should have never gone
  • 00:08:39.475 --> 00:08:43.846
  • Into that storm.
  • 00:08:43.846 --> 00:08:45.181
  • He was warned about it, but he went into it anyway.
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  • Unfortunately, we don't have that choice when it comes to
  • 00:08:50.486 --> 00:08:53.522
  • Storms in our life, many times.
  • 00:08:53.522 --> 00:08:56.058
  • Jesus said in john 16:33, "in this world you will
  • 00:08:56.058 --> 00:09:00.796
  • Have tribulation."
  • 00:09:00.796 --> 00:09:02.632
  • That word "tribulation" means pressure.
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  • You're gonna have pressure in this world.
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  • You're gonna suffer storms if you're going to be in
  • 00:09:06.902 --> 00:09:10.139
  • This world.
  • 00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:11.507
  • And make no mistake about it, jesus planned for us to live in
  • 00:09:11.507 --> 00:09:14.777
  • This world.
  • 00:09:14.777 --> 00:09:16.145
  • In john 17:15, he said: "father, i do not ask you to take them
  • 00:09:16.145 --> 00:09:20.049
  • Out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one."
  • 00:09:20.049 --> 00:09:24.020
  • But part of the price of living in this world is storms.
  • 00:09:24.020 --> 00:09:27.390
  • Now, storms come from a variety of sources.
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  • Some storms are the result of strained relationships and
  • 00:09:30.793 --> 00:09:35.398
  • Broken relationships.
  • 00:09:35.398 --> 00:09:37.266
  • Some of the storms come into our life are the result of our job
  • 00:09:37.266 --> 00:09:41.470
  • Or our financial situation.
  • 00:09:41.470 --> 00:09:44.240
  • Illness is another storm that everybody goes through at some
  • 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:48.110
  • Point in their life.
  • 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:50.212
  • But there's a particular kind of storm difficulty that we're
  • 00:09:50.212 --> 00:09:54.717
  • Talking about today.
  • 00:09:54.717 --> 00:09:56.085
  • Again, the series, "courageous," is about living your faith
  • 00:09:56.085 --> 00:09:59.755
  • Courageously in spite of a hostile environment.
  • 00:09:59.755 --> 00:10:04.694
  • We're living in a world that is increasingly hostile to
  • 00:10:04.694 --> 00:10:08.364
  • Christianity, and the kind of storm we're talking about today
  • 00:10:08.364 --> 00:10:12.368
  • Is the storm of persecution for your faith.
  • 00:10:12.368 --> 00:10:16.572
  • Whenever you face opposition, you have to be able to do so by
  • 00:10:16.572 --> 00:10:22.211
  • Bending without breaking.
  • 00:10:22.211 --> 00:10:25.214
  • Jesus promised opposition.
  • 00:10:25.214 --> 00:10:27.349
  • In john 15, verses 18 to 20, he
  • 00:10:27.349 --> 00:10:29.719
  • Said: "if the world hates you,
  • 00:10:29.719 --> 00:10:32.655
  • You know that it has hated me before it hated you.
  • 00:10:32.655 --> 00:10:36.025
  • If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but
  • 00:10:36.025 --> 00:10:39.462
  • Because you are not of the world, but i chose you out of
  • 00:10:39.462 --> 00:10:43.365
  • The world, therefore, the world hates you.
  • 00:10:43.365 --> 00:10:46.669
  • If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."
  • 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:51.273
  • When jesus talks about the world, he's not talking
  • 00:10:51.273 --> 00:10:53.509
  • About the planet earth.
  • 00:10:53.509 --> 00:10:55.077
  • He's talking about the world system that's under satan's
  • 00:10:55.077 --> 00:10:58.247
  • Control right now, that world system that controls every seat
  • 00:10:58.247 --> 00:11:03.686
  • Of power in the world today, that world system that is based
  • 00:11:03.686 --> 00:11:07.823
  • On man's values and not god's values, it is opposed to god and
  • 00:11:07.823 --> 00:11:12.828
  • Therefore, it is opposed to you if you try to follow god.
  • 00:11:12.828 --> 00:11:17.166
  • You should not be surprised when you face opposition.
  • 00:11:17.166 --> 00:11:22.738
  • But when we talk about resiliency, we're talking about
  • 00:11:22.738 --> 00:11:26.075
  • How you respond to that opposition to your faith.
  • 00:11:26.075 --> 00:11:29.812
  • Resiliency is about how you maintain your convictions in
  • 00:11:29.812 --> 00:11:34.583
  • Face of opposition.
  • 00:11:34.583 --> 00:11:37.253
  • I could point to all kinds of cultural examples of people
  • 00:11:37.253 --> 00:11:41.090
  • Being persecuted for their faith.
  • 00:11:41.090 --> 00:11:43.592
  • You remember jack phillips, the colorado baker of the
  • 00:11:43.592 --> 00:11:47.129
  • Masterpiece bakeshop, who refused to bake a wedding cake
  • 00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:52.334
  • For a gay ceremony.
  • 00:11:52.334 --> 00:11:54.537
  • He wasn't refusing to serve gay people.
  • 00:11:54.537 --> 00:11:57.039
  • He invited gay people into his place of business, but he did
  • 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:00.176
  • Not feel right using his creativity, his creativity to
  • 00:12:00.176 --> 00:12:04.713
  • Make a special wedding cake for a gay couple.
  • 00:12:04.713 --> 00:12:07.449
  • And you know what happened?
  • 00:12:07.449 --> 00:12:08.818
  • The colorado board of labor sued him into oblivion.
  • 00:12:08.818 --> 00:12:12.254
  • They demanded that he go through a re-education program to rid
  • 00:12:12.254 --> 00:12:16.358
  • Himself of his so-called homophobic beliefs.
  • 00:12:16.358 --> 00:12:18.794
  • I mean, that's like china going through a re-education program,
  • 00:12:18.794 --> 00:12:22.865
  • And he was on his way to having to do that till, thank god, the
  • 00:12:22.865 --> 00:12:25.835
  • Supreme court intervened.
  • 00:12:25.835 --> 00:12:27.636
  • And this new supreme court that is conservative upheld his
  • 00:12:27.636 --> 00:12:31.473
  • First amendment rights, and we praise god for that.
  • 00:12:31.473 --> 00:12:34.810
  • But that wasn't the end of the story.
  • 00:12:34.810 --> 00:12:37.179
  • This week, he was hauled into court again.
  • 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:40.482
  • This time because he wouldn't bake a cake for a transgender
  • 00:12:40.482 --> 00:12:44.486
  • Individual who wanted to have a transgender celebration about
  • 00:12:44.486 --> 00:12:48.190
  • His confusion over whether he was male or female.
  • 00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:51.660
  • And because jack phillips wouldn't use his gift to make
  • 00:12:51.660 --> 00:12:56.031
  • That cake, he is now once again being sued again.
  • 00:12:56.031 --> 00:12:59.468
  • I mean, you see that everywhere in the culture.
  • 00:12:59.468 --> 00:13:03.138
  • But, you know, you don't have to look at the culture to
  • 00:13:03.138 --> 00:13:05.507
  • Find opposition.
  • 00:13:05.507 --> 00:13:06.976
  • Just look in your own life.
  • 00:13:06.976 --> 00:13:08.577
  • If you are standing for christ, you're gonna suffer opposition
  • 00:13:08.577 --> 00:13:12.448
  • And persecution from your employer, perhaps even from your
  • 00:13:12.448 --> 00:13:17.553
  • Own family members.
  • 00:13:17.553 --> 00:13:19.655
  • I know some of you because i've talked to you and counseled
  • 00:13:19.655 --> 00:13:22.491
  • With you.
  • 00:13:22.491 --> 00:13:23.859
  • You're trying to take a stand for christ in your family and
  • 00:13:23.859 --> 00:13:27.196
  • You're being shunned by certain members of your family because
  • 00:13:27.196 --> 00:13:31.166
  • You will not compromise your convictions that are based in
  • 00:13:31.166 --> 00:13:36.538
  • God's world.
  • 00:13:36.538 --> 00:13:37.907
  • As this world becomes increasingly hostile to the
  • 00:13:37.907 --> 00:13:40.843
  • Things of god, we've got to know how to handle that opposition.
  • 00:13:40.843 --> 00:13:44.847
  • And the key is to learn to bend without breaking.
  • 00:13:44.847 --> 00:13:48.484
  • You know, paul offered some great advice on how to handle
  • 00:13:48.484 --> 00:13:52.721
  • Opposition in a hostile environment, and it's found in
  • 00:13:52.721 --> 00:13:56.358
  • Romans chapter 12.
  • 00:13:56.358 --> 00:13:58.527
  • Look at romans chapter 12, would you, for just a moment?
  • 00:13:58.527 --> 00:14:01.196
  • Verses 17 to 21.
  • 00:14:01.196 --> 00:14:04.733
  • These are words that are seldom read and seldom understood if
  • 00:14:04.733 --> 00:14:09.171
  • They are read.
  • 00:14:09.171 --> 00:14:10.539
  • Look at what paul says in verse 17.
  • 00:14:10.539 --> 00:14:12.174
  • He said: "never pay back evil for evil to anyone.
  • 00:14:12.174 --> 00:14:16.178
  • Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
  • 00:14:16.178 --> 00:14:20.082
  • If possible, so far as it depends upon you, be at peace
  • 00:14:20.082 --> 00:14:23.953
  • With all men.
  • 00:14:23.953 --> 00:14:25.487
  • Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the
  • 00:14:25.487 --> 00:14:28.757
  • Wrath of god, for it is written, 'vengeance is mine.
  • 00:14:28.757 --> 00:14:32.361
  • I will repay,' says the lord.
  • 00:14:32.361 --> 00:14:34.663
  • 'but if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
  • 00:14:34.663 --> 00:14:37.132
  • If he is thirsty, give him drink; for in doing so you will
  • 00:14:37.132 --> 00:14:40.803
  • Heap burning coals on his head.'
  • 00:14:40.803 --> 00:14:43.205
  • Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
  • 00:14:43.205 --> 00:14:49.812
  • Whenever we face opposition from individuals, we're not to
  • 00:14:49.812 --> 00:14:52.781
  • Seek vengeance.
  • 00:14:52.781 --> 00:14:54.116
  • Instead, in romans 12, verse 14, a few verses earlier, he said:
  • 00:14:54.116 --> 00:14:57.886
  • "bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not."
  • 00:14:57.886 --> 00:15:01.623
  • That word "bless" literally means to speak well of,
  • 00:15:01.623 --> 00:15:05.094
  • To praise.
  • 00:15:05.094 --> 00:15:06.762
  • What paul is saying is, with everything you have, seek to be
  • 00:15:06.762 --> 00:15:11.200
  • A peacemaker, even when you're facing opposition.
  • 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:15.671
  • You know, jesus said in matthew 5:9: "blessed are
  • 00:15:15.671 --> 00:15:19.274
  • The peacemakers."
  • 00:15:19.274 --> 00:15:21.610
  • But notice what paul also says in verse 18: "if possible, so
  • 00:15:21.610 --> 00:15:25.981
  • Far as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men."
  • 00:15:25.981 --> 00:15:31.020
  • It's not always possible to be at peace with everyone,
  • 00:15:31.020 --> 00:15:34.923
  • Including those who are opposing you in your faith.
  • 00:15:34.923 --> 00:15:38.961
  • Yes, jesus says, "i'd like you to be a peacemaker," but he had
  • 00:15:38.961 --> 00:15:42.798
  • Some other words about that as well in matthew 10:34-35.
  • 00:15:42.798 --> 00:15:47.669
  • He said: "do not think i came to bring peace on earth; i did not
  • 00:15:47.669 --> 00:15:53.242
  • Come to bring peace, but a sword.
  • 00:15:53.242 --> 00:15:55.577
  • For i came to set a man against his father, and daughter against
  • 00:15:55.577 --> 00:15:59.348
  • Her mother, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
  • 00:15:59.348 --> 00:16:02.518
  • Yes, family is important, but there's something more important
  • 00:16:02.518 --> 00:16:05.354
  • Than harmony in the family, and that is fidelity to the truth of
  • 00:16:05.354 --> 00:16:08.924
  • God's word.
  • 00:16:08.924 --> 00:16:10.292
  • And the truth is going to divide sometimes.
  • 00:16:10.292 --> 00:16:13.529
  • So he said, "when you can, be at peace," but sometimes you can't
  • 00:16:13.529 --> 00:16:17.032
  • Be at peace with all people.
  • 00:16:17.032 --> 00:16:18.901
  • Well then, how are we to live in a world that is opposed to
  • 00:16:18.901 --> 00:16:22.304
  • Our faith?
  • 00:16:22.304 --> 00:16:23.672
  • Notice two characteristics of peacemakers.
  • 00:16:23.672 --> 00:16:26.241
  • First of all, peacemakers don't take their own revenge.
  • 00:16:26.241 --> 00:16:29.745
  • Verse 19: "never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room
  • 00:16:29.745 --> 00:16:34.016
  • For the wrath of god, for it is written, 'vengeance is mine, i
  • 00:16:34.016 --> 00:16:38.120
  • Will repay,' says the lord."
  • 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.255
  • I wanna make two observations about that verse.
  • 00:16:40.255 --> 00:16:43.192
  • First of all, paul is referring to personal offenses, not
  • 00:16:43.192 --> 00:16:47.763
  • Spiritual convictions.
  • 00:16:47.763 --> 00:16:49.865
  • When he says, "don't seek revenge, don't fight back," he's
  • 00:16:49.865 --> 00:16:54.203
  • Talking about in the area of your rights.
  • 00:16:54.203 --> 00:16:57.906
  • He's not talking about your convictions.
  • 00:16:57.906 --> 00:17:01.143
  • You can give up your rights as a christian, you're never to give
  • 00:17:01.143 --> 00:17:04.947
  • Up your convictions.
  • 00:17:04.947 --> 00:17:06.882
  • Big difference.
  • 00:17:06.882 --> 00:17:09.318
  • I saw a clip this week from "the view."
  • 00:17:09.318 --> 00:17:13.355
  • They were talking about jack phillips, and they said, these
  • 00:17:13.355 --> 00:17:17.159
  • So-called christians on "the view," "well, he ought to just
  • 00:17:17.159 --> 00:17:19.995
  • Go ahead and bake that wedding cake.
  • 00:17:19.995 --> 00:17:21.830
  • That's what jesus would have done.
  • 00:17:21.830 --> 00:17:24.166
  • He should serve them."
  • 00:17:24.166 --> 00:17:27.402
  • Here's a good piece of advice: don't take your theological
  • 00:17:27.402 --> 00:17:33.075
  • Consulting or opinions from "the view."
  • 00:17:33.075 --> 00:17:35.711
  • Don't look to "the view" for any interpretation of the bible.
  • 00:17:35.711 --> 00:17:39.481
  • That's what a lot of people think though.
  • 00:17:39.481 --> 00:17:41.350
  • They think, "oh yeah, we ought to be like jesus, you know,
  • 00:17:41.350 --> 00:17:43.952
  • Washing people's feet.
  • 00:17:43.952 --> 00:17:45.287
  • Let's just go ahead and bake the cake and what's the big deal?"
  • 00:17:45.287 --> 00:17:48.190
  • Here's what the big deal is: marriage is a sacred institution
  • 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:53.896
  • That was created by god to illustrate the union between
  • 00:17:53.896 --> 00:17:58.800
  • Christ and his church.
  • 00:17:58.800 --> 00:18:00.736
  • That is why it is a holy, sacred picture.
  • 00:18:00.736 --> 00:18:04.406
  • A relationship between a man and a woman is the picture of christ
  • 00:18:04.406 --> 00:18:08.577
  • And the church, and to do anything to defile that picture
  • 00:18:08.577 --> 00:18:14.716
  • Is an abomination to god.
  • 00:18:14.716 --> 00:18:17.085
  • And that's why you have no choice but to not be a part of
  • 00:18:17.085 --> 00:18:21.590
  • Something like that.
  • 00:18:21.590 --> 00:18:22.991
  • I can't tell you the people in our church who've asked me, "we
  • 00:18:22.991 --> 00:18:25.727
  • Have a relative who is gay, and we wanna show love to that gay
  • 00:18:25.727 --> 00:18:30.832
  • Person, and they've invited us to their wedding.
  • 00:18:30.832 --> 00:18:33.569
  • Should we go or not go?"
  • 00:18:33.569 --> 00:18:35.938
  • That's an increasing issue that families are facing.
  • 00:18:35.938 --> 00:18:39.675
  • Look, you can be kind and loving and should be, and there's no
  • 00:18:39.675 --> 00:18:42.778
  • Reason ever to be hateful and so forth, but to participate in a
  • 00:18:42.778 --> 00:18:47.816
  • Ceremony that is an abomination to god that destroys the picture
  • 00:18:47.816 --> 00:18:52.487
  • Of christ and his church is something that no christian
  • 00:18:52.487 --> 00:18:55.724
  • Should ever be a part of.
  • 00:18:55.724 --> 00:18:57.993
  • We can--we can give up our rights, but we do not give up
  • 00:18:57.993 --> 00:19:02.164
  • Our convictions.
  • 00:19:02.164 --> 00:19:03.932
  • That's an important distinction there.
  • 00:19:03.932 --> 00:19:06.435
  • Secondly, we are to surrender our desire for vengeance, but
  • 00:19:06.435 --> 00:19:10.372
  • Not for justice.
  • 00:19:10.372 --> 00:19:12.140
  • When paul says, "don't take your own revenge,"
  • 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:15.377
  • He's saying, "don't try to pay back somebody for doing
  • 00:19:15.377 --> 00:19:18.080
  • You wrong."
  • 00:19:18.080 --> 00:19:19.448
  • You know what vengeance is?
  • 00:19:19.448 --> 00:19:20.782
  • Vengeance is my desire to hurt you for hurting me.
  • 00:19:20.782 --> 00:19:23.318
  • He said don't seek your own vengeance, let god settle the
  • 00:19:23.318 --> 00:19:26.488
  • Score for you.
  • 00:19:26.488 --> 00:19:28.457
  • He can do it much, much more effectively than you can.
  • 00:19:28.457 --> 00:19:31.260
  • Don't seek your own revenge, but you can give up your desire for
  • 00:19:31.260 --> 00:19:37.499
  • Revenge, but you don't give up your desire for justice.
  • 00:19:37.499 --> 00:19:41.169
  • You know, justice is the payment that god or others may exact
  • 00:19:41.169 --> 00:19:44.873
  • From those who wrong you.
  • 00:19:44.873 --> 00:19:46.675
  • I think about the apostle paul.
  • 00:19:46.675 --> 00:19:48.143
  • We'll talk more about this in a moment.
  • 00:19:48.143 --> 00:19:50.045
  • But you know, he was falsely accused, sent on his way to
  • 00:19:50.045 --> 00:19:54.549
  • Prison for something that he didn't do, and he didn't hang
  • 00:19:54.549 --> 00:19:57.786
  • His head down and say, "you know what, i guess that's god's will,
  • 00:19:57.786 --> 00:20:00.555
  • For me to suffer."
  • 00:20:00.555 --> 00:20:01.923
  • No, he fought that injustice.
  • 00:20:01.923 --> 00:20:03.992
  • He spent two years tied up in the legal system in order to
  • 00:20:03.992 --> 00:20:08.196
  • Fight for his rights as a roman citizen.
  • 00:20:08.196 --> 00:20:11.833
  • Vengeance is trying to pay back evil for evil.
  • 00:20:11.833 --> 00:20:14.569
  • We don't do that, but that doesn't mean we give up our
  • 00:20:14.569 --> 00:20:17.506
  • Desire for justice.
  • 00:20:17.506 --> 00:20:18.874
  • Secondly, paul says, "peacemakers seek the good of
  • 00:20:18.874 --> 00:20:23.645
  • Their enemies."
  • 00:20:23.645 --> 00:20:25.013
  • They seek the good of their enemies.
  • 00:20:25.013 --> 00:20:26.348
  • Look at verses 20 to 21, romans 12: "'but if your enemy is
  • 00:20:26.348 --> 00:20:30.819
  • Hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for
  • 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:35.223
  • In doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head.'
  • 00:20:35.223 --> 00:20:40.228
  • Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
  • 00:20:40.228 --> 00:20:44.599
  • You wanna surprise your enemies?
  • 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:46.968
  • Do something good for them.
  • 00:20:46.968 --> 00:20:49.204
  • Why should you do something good for them?
  • 00:20:49.204 --> 00:20:50.839
  • Well, he says because you will heap burning coals upon
  • 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:53.842
  • Their heads.
  • 00:20:53.842 --> 00:20:55.210
  • Some people misinterpret that.
  • 00:20:55.210 --> 00:20:56.545
  • They said, "oh, i get it.
  • 00:20:56.545 --> 00:20:57.913
  • If i do something good for them, it's gonna make them feel so
  • 00:20:57.913 --> 00:21:01.817
  • Wretched and lousy, it'll make them suffer for what they're
  • 00:21:01.817 --> 00:21:05.287
  • Doing to me.
  • 00:21:05.287 --> 00:21:06.621
  • I wanna make them feel worse.
  • 00:21:06.621 --> 00:21:07.989
  • Yeah, i'll bake them a cake or do something else for them."
  • 00:21:07.989 --> 00:21:09.825
  • That's not the point.
  • 00:21:09.825 --> 00:21:11.360
  • The idea is not to make them feel bad so that they can suffer
  • 00:21:11.360 --> 00:21:14.696
  • For doing wrong to you.
  • 00:21:14.696 --> 00:21:16.365
  • The idea of setting, heaping coals on their head is, when you
  • 00:21:16.365 --> 00:21:20.969
  • Do something good for somebody who has wronged you, that brings
  • 00:21:20.969 --> 00:21:24.973
  • Them under conviction, conviction that will lead them
  • 00:21:24.973 --> 00:21:29.277
  • To eternal life.
  • 00:21:29.277 --> 00:21:31.012
  • And that's what it means to love your enemies.
  • 00:21:31.012 --> 00:21:33.115
  • It doesn't mean to wanna hang around them.
  • 00:21:33.115 --> 00:21:35.217
  • It doesn't mean to enjoy being around them.
  • 00:21:35.217 --> 00:21:37.619
  • It means wanting god's best for their life.
  • 00:21:37.619 --> 00:21:41.089
  • And the best thing that can happen to your enemy is for them
  • 00:21:41.089 --> 00:21:43.825
  • To come to faith in christ, and one way you have helped that to
  • 00:21:43.825 --> 00:21:47.562
  • Happen is by doing good instead of evil for those who wrong you.
  • 00:21:47.562 --> 00:21:52.033
  • You know, i was reading this week the story of peter miller,
  • 00:21:52.033 --> 00:21:55.036
  • Who was a baptist minister during the revolutionary war.
  • 00:21:55.036 --> 00:21:59.741
  • He lived in ephrata, pennsylvania, and he had a next
  • 00:21:59.741 --> 00:22:04.312
  • Door neighbor, michael wittman, who belittled him, blasphemed
  • 00:22:04.312 --> 00:22:09.251
  • His faith, did everything he could to make the
  • 00:22:09.251 --> 00:22:12.487
  • Pastor miserable.
  • 00:22:12.487 --> 00:22:14.423
  • One day, peter miller heard that michael wittman had been
  • 00:22:14.423 --> 00:22:17.626
  • Arrested for treason and sentenced to death.
  • 00:22:17.626 --> 00:22:21.930
  • And so, peter miller walked 70 miles from his home to
  • 00:22:21.930 --> 00:22:26.802
  • Philadelphia to make an appeal to general washington for his
  • 00:22:26.802 --> 00:22:31.072
  • Neighbor's life.
  • 00:22:31.072 --> 00:22:32.407
  • And he made the appeal and general washington said, "no,
  • 00:22:32.407 --> 00:22:35.844
  • Peter, i cannot grant a pardon to your friend."
  • 00:22:35.844 --> 00:22:40.749
  • Peter miller said, "my friend?
  • 00:22:40.749 --> 00:22:43.585
  • He's not my friend.
  • 00:22:43.585 --> 00:22:44.953
  • He's my most bitter enemy."
  • 00:22:44.953 --> 00:22:47.556
  • And washington was so astounded that he would walk 70 miles
  • 00:22:47.556 --> 00:22:51.960
  • Seeking the pardon for his most bitter rival that he granted
  • 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.797
  • Michael wittman the pardon.
  • 00:22:55.797 --> 00:22:58.333
  • And peter miller left that day with not an enemy, but a friend.
  • 00:22:58.333 --> 00:23:03.672
  • That's what it means to do good to those who wrong you.
  • 00:23:03.672 --> 00:23:08.477
  • We bend without breaking.
  • 00:23:08.477 --> 00:23:10.545
  • You know, i think there's nobody in the bible outside of jesus
  • 00:23:10.545 --> 00:23:13.482
  • Christ himself who better illustrates that principle of
  • 00:23:13.482 --> 00:23:16.785
  • Resiliency, of bending but not breaking under persecution, than
  • 00:23:16.785 --> 00:23:21.890
  • The old testament character daniel.
  • 00:23:21.890 --> 00:23:24.693
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:23:24.693 --> 00:23:30.031
  • Jeffress: there's more to come on this topic, so please join me
  • 00:23:30.031 --> 00:23:32.634
  • Again next time.
  • 00:23:32.634 --> 00:23:34.069
  • But first, listen to this note from a viewer in pennsylvania.
  • 00:23:34.069 --> 00:23:38.139
  • He wrote, "i've been physically sick with anxiety while enduring
  • 00:23:38.139 --> 00:23:42.110
  • The mess of my life, but i begin to trust in god.
  • 00:23:42.110 --> 00:23:45.981
  • Eventually--in a massive crying mess on my knees--i gave my life
  • 00:23:45.981 --> 00:23:50.352
  • To christ and put my full faith in him.
  • 00:23:50.352 --> 00:23:53.855
  • Since then, i have grown immensely."
  • 00:23:53.855 --> 00:23:56.925
  • Isn't that a powerful testimony?
  • 00:23:56.925 --> 00:23:58.994
  • To god be the glory.
  • 00:23:58.994 --> 00:24:01.229
  • Thank you so much for partnering with me to share the hope of the
  • 00:24:01.229 --> 00:24:04.366
  • Gospel with people who need it most.
  • 00:24:04.366 --> 00:24:07.269
  • Now, stay right there, i'll be back with more "pathway to
  • 00:24:07.269 --> 00:24:10.005
  • Victory" in just a moment.
  • 00:24:10.005 --> 00:24:13.108
  • Jeffress: christians today are living in hostile territory.
  • 00:24:13.108 --> 00:24:16.645
  • The attacks are real, the opposition is fierce, and the
  • 00:24:16.645 --> 00:24:20.148
  • Stakes couldn't be higher.
  • 00:24:20.148 --> 00:24:22.250
  • That's why i wrote "courageous," to give you the biblical tools
  • 00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:25.954
  • You need not just to survive, but to stand strong and thrive.
  • 00:24:25.954 --> 00:24:30.659
  • Announcer: in "courageous," you'll find ten biblical
  • 00:24:30.659 --> 00:24:33.128
  • Survival strategies drawn straight from scripture that
  • 00:24:33.128 --> 00:24:36.164
  • Will give you fresh fire and real hope, no matter what
  • 00:24:36.164 --> 00:24:39.301
  • You're facing.
  • 00:24:39.301 --> 00:24:40.669
  • Jeffress: survivors have two things in common: a different
  • 00:24:40.669 --> 00:24:43.538
  • Response to trouble and a different perspective on life.
  • 00:24:43.538 --> 00:24:47.542
  • In "courageous," i'll give you ten biblical strategies to
  • 00:24:47.542 --> 00:24:51.112
  • Develop both and come out stronger on the other side.
  • 00:24:51.112 --> 00:24:55.050
  • Announcer: request your copy of "courageous" when you give a
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  • Generous ministry gift to "pathway to victory" or when you
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  • Become a pathway partner.
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  • And when your ministry gift is $75 or more, we'll send you the
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  • Courageous leadership kit containing the "courageous"
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  • Book, the personal and group study guide book, ten courageous
  • 00:25:09.731 --> 00:25:13.435
  • Encouragement cards, plus the complete teaching series on cd
  • 00:25:13.435 --> 00:25:17.405
  • And dvd.
  • 00:25:17.405 --> 00:25:18.773
  • Jeffress: as christians, we're living in a
  • 00:25:18.773 --> 00:25:20.675
  • Threatening environment.
  • 00:25:20.675 --> 00:25:22.577
  • We have an adversary, the devil, who is intent on destroying
  • 00:25:22.577 --> 00:25:26.915
  • Everything important to us.
  • 00:25:26.915 --> 00:25:28.416
  • Announcer: thank you for partnering with "pathway
  • 00:25:28.416 --> 00:25:30.251
  • To victory."
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  • Your generosity funds the proclamation of god's word
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  • Across television, radio, and online, bringing bold biblical
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  • Hope right here at home and around the world.
  • 00:25:38.293 --> 00:25:41.396
  • Jeffress: paul's words in romans 12 give us a clear road map for
  • 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:49.270
  • Responding to opposition without seeking revenge and without
  • 00:25:49.270 --> 00:25:53.475
  • Losing our witness.
  • 00:25:53.475 --> 00:25:55.243
  • That's what it means to bend without breaking.
  • 00:25:55.243 --> 00:25:58.313
  • And next time, i'm going to walk through the life of daniel, a
  • 00:25:58.313 --> 00:26:01.950
  • Man who faced enormous pressure to compromise his faith, and
  • 00:26:01.950 --> 00:26:05.954
  • Show you four principles he used to stand firm.
  • 00:26:05.954 --> 00:26:09.924
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:09.924 --> 00:26:12.661
  • Series, "courageous."
  • 00:26:12.661 --> 00:26:15.830
  • Jeffress: we can't make every issue a federal case.
  • 00:26:15.830 --> 00:26:19.167
  • We need to pick our battles as christians carefully, make sure
  • 00:26:19.167 --> 00:26:23.004
  • That the battle line you're drawing is a biblical one and
  • 00:26:23.004 --> 00:26:26.708
  • Not just one of personal opinion or preference.
  • 00:26:26.708 --> 00:26:29.678
  • When it comes to biblical truth, you cannot surrender those
  • 00:26:29.678 --> 00:26:34.015
  • Convictions, but make sure the stand you're taking is
  • 00:26:34.015 --> 00:26:37.385
  • Biblically based.
  • 00:26:37.385 --> 00:26:39.754
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for part two of
  • 00:26:39.754 --> 00:26:42.657
  • "survival tip #6: bend, don't break," here on "pathway
  • 00:26:42.657 --> 00:26:46.861
  • To victory."
  • 00:26:46.861 --> 00:26:48.263
  • Announcer: the apostle paul sailed these waters, walked
  • 00:26:51.366 --> 00:26:54.169
  • These streets, and the church was never the same.
  • 00:26:54.169 --> 00:26:57.272
  • Jeffress: i'm inviting you to follow in paul's footsteps on
  • 00:26:57.272 --> 00:27:00.308
  • The pathway to victory journeys of paul cruise, through the
  • 00:27:00.308 --> 00:27:03.411
  • Stunning greek islands into ancient ephesus and many other
  • 00:27:03.411 --> 00:27:07.315
  • Destinations as well.
  • 00:27:07.315 --> 00:27:08.983
  • This is purposeful travel at its finest.
  • 00:27:08.983 --> 00:27:12.253
  • Announcer: set sail may 14, 2027.
  • 00:27:12.253 --> 00:27:14.856
  • Call ... or visit ptv.org.
  • 00:27:14.856 --> 00:27:14.856