How to Make Your Home an Altar Again

On today’s episode of The Morning Charge, Joshua talks about why the home must become an altar again, a place where God is honored, prayer is normal, Scripture is alive, repentance is practiced, and families are shaped by the presence of Jesus. If the home is not being shaped by the Lord, it will be shaped by something else.

This episode is a strong, practical call for believers, parents, spouses, and families to bring God back to the center of everyday life. Joshua challenges listeners to stop outsourcing discipleship, take spiritual leadership seriously, guard what enters the home, and build a household where Jesus is welcomed, honored, and obeyed.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Your home is your first ministry.
• If the Word is not alive in your home, something else is discipling your family.
• Parents are called to more than provision; they are called to spiritual leadership.
• A home without an altar may stand in comfort, but it will struggle in crisis.
• Revival must reach the home if it is going to remain strong.

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Real Talk. Real Jesus. Real Life.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Morning Charge. This is your moment to slow down, breathe, and get your spirit aligned before stepping into the day ahead. Life moves fast, responsibilities pile up, voices compete for your attention. But before the noise of the world takes over, this is where we come back to what actually matters. This is a place for honest conversations about faith, life, purpose, and everyday battles we all face. No pretending, no religious performance, just the truth. Because following Jesus was never meant to be complicated. It was meant to be real. So whether you're driving to work, you're getting the kids ready, or simply taking a quiet moment for yourself, you're in the right place. This is Real Talk, Real Jesus, Real Life. This is the Morning Charge. All right, this week we have been on quite the journey of the blessings of God. We've talked about surrendering our lives to God. We've talked about what it is to fully be surrendered to God and how to work that walk that out daily. What it is to live an ordered life and get rid of the clutter and the noise and the hurry and the worry and all the things in our life and focus back in on God. Amanda, good morning. Good to see you, friend. This morning, this is something we have talked about before, and I've thrown it into different messages here and there, but I haven't quite ever just focused right in on it. But when it comes to getting your home in order, it's not just getting rid of a bunch of stuff and cleaning, okay. The inside of you, the outside of you, you're at okay, all of those things are important. But what happens when you get everything clean and you're standing there before God and you're like, okay, it is echoes. I see that. What what what what what what do we do now? And as I was praying that very thing this morning, what do we do now? The Lord said, You have got, you have got to, got to, got to have your home become an altar before me again. Your home has to become an altar again. And while I have talked about this here and there in ways that, you know, you got to bring order back to the home life, it don't matter if you live by yourself or if you have just a spouse or you have a spouse and children, or your your aunt and uncle staying with you for three months because they're trying to find a place or whatever that whatever your living situation is, it doesn't matter. You have your home has to become an altar again. If the home is not shaped by the presence of the Lord God Almighty, it is going to be shaped by something else. See, wait, wait, when are we going to realize that? If you if you don't if you don't put God at the forefront, if your home has not become an altar, you haven't set an altar in that place, then what is your home being shaped by? Because your house became a mess from somewhere. Your house was in disarray and out of order somewhere. So you're partnering with the Lord and you're getting your home back in order, and it's a partnership with him in doing that. Now you have to set an altar in place. Rottenberry, good morning to you. You have to set an altar in that place where you can take things before the Lord. See, we feel like the altar is just for the church. No. The altar should, your, your, your home is your first ministry. So you need to create an altar in that place. There was a time, and there was a point in time when when the home was a place of prayer. Scripture was being read in the home, and there was worship unto the Lord, and there was instruction that was coming down from heaven, and the home was a place where true repentance of the heart was coming forth, and the blessings of the Lord was pouring out, and God was shaping us and forming us on the potter's wheel. There was one place the home was the safe space for all of that, but now for a whole lot of people, the home has just become a place where it's it's noisy and it's distracting and it's it's chaotic and and there's and there's uh there's a lot of entertainment. Before I step on people's toes, you know, people like, well, I like watching my my movies and my TV and my entertainment has its place, but it should not be at the forefront of everything that you do. The home life is where there's a lot of complaining and there's a lot of exhaustion, and and then there's a whole lot of tension in marriages and parenting the children, and everybody feels like they're in survival mode, and we're wondering why all of these things are going on. It's because you have not set an altar in that place. You must set an altar in that place to begin to see transformation happen in the lives of the people who inhabit that place. Amen, screw screw. There's a lot of people that don't even have TVs. Amen. And while entertainment, entertainment is, it's okay in its place. Brandy said it right there, don't make it your idol. Whatever you consume your time doing, or whatever you consume your time with, that is what you have made your idol. That's what you have made your idol. So you have to be careful what you're making, what what you're what you're putting in front of you. You've got to be careful. And that's why a lot of families are just really best way to put it, they're they're they're they're weak spiritually because you haven't put God at the forefront. You haven't, you, you don't, you don't come together, okay, because it just feels uh it just feels awkward and weird, and you're like, well, we're all finding our way, and we we know who Jesus is. We go to church every Sunday, and you know, the kids know where we are. No. It is everyday thing with your children to parent them in the ways of the Lord, to instruct them in the ways of the Lord, to raise them up in the ways of the Lord, because I can tell you this nobody, the world out there is not going to do that. You can't expect anybody else to do that. And you should not expect your children's pastors to raise your children in the word. They should be a collective unit that comes alongside of you, and they are also teaching them in a safe place, but it is up to you as the parents' job to teach them in the ways of the Lord in your home. Yes, it's weird. Yes, it's awkward when you first start out, and everybody seems like their attention span is everywhere, and usually you just give up. You're like, I can't get anyone to sit still long enough to go through this. But consistency is gonna take care of that problem. Consistency will take care of that problem. It didn't look great today, so you're gonna pray with them and send them on their way and give them a small something. The next day, you're gonna do the same thing. The next day, you're gonna do the same thing. The next day, you're gonna do the same thing. And the more you keep doing the same thing, the more children see, us humans, we're creatures of habit, by the way. So the more that you begin to make it a habit where you sit down and talk about God and you pray with each other, that don't mean you're sitting there for four hours today. I mean to take take ten minutes. We're gonna take 10 minutes and we're gonna pray and we're gonna listen to Jesus today. Is everybody with me? Come on, let's do this. If you don't make it fun and exciting for the kids, if you look like you're in pain while you're trying to do this, they ain't gonna want to do it. So you've got to be excited about God. If you want them to be excited about God, you have to be excited about God. If you look like you're, well, all right, let's get together. And I mean, you should be excited about God and what God is doing in your life. We're all on a journey, we're all in a process. I'm throwing some things out at you. You're like, ah, but see, that the how the home where you live, that place that the house that you have made into a home, see, it's just a house if it's just a building that's sitting there, a structure that's sitting there. A house becomes a home when you inhabit that place. And see, home is never meant to just be a place where you eat, sleep, and pay the bills. Oh, and scroll on your phone. It wasn't meant to be a place to just kick back. Yes, you should be at peace in your home. Yes, there should be rest. When people enter into your dwelling, they should feel the peace of the Lord, not the tension of everything that's out of order. They're gonna feel one of two things. See, the home was meant to be a place where God is honored, where truth is taught, where couples pray together, where where families pray together, where peace is guarded at all cost, and where hearts are formed and transformed by the renewing of the mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your home has got to become an altar once again. Your home has to become an altar again. So this morning, let's let's really dive into this and let's let's really look at this how this looks. It's not, it's not, it's not just your your church attendance that makes you a good little Christian. It's not it's not just your Sunday routines because a lot of us we get up and we we get going and we get everyone dressed and we show up at church and we make that the holy day. Okay, that's the one holy day. Well, there's seven days a week. If you only made one of them a holy day, there's six days. What are you doing with the other six days, for goodness sakes? But your home that should be the most sacred place in your life. Yeah, of course, church should be that peaceful sacred place. But your home should be the most sacred place. Your home should be the most holy place. If we're not careful, we're going to raise families in houses that just have furniture, food, internet, entertainment schedules, but there is no altar. I refuse. I I spent years doing that. We knew Jesus. I was praying on my own time, usually in a hurry going to work. Trying to stick with Jesus all throughout the day. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. And then rush home tired to a family who then wanted my attention. I couldn't give it to them because I was so consumed with work. At one point, I made my job my idol. I'm just being 100% real with y'all. If you're not careful, you put your identity in the thing that you do rather than in God. That thing that you do, that thing you're putting your identity in, it can leave you in a hurry. Or you could be forced to leave it in a hurry. And then a lot of people leave their jobs and they don't know who they are anymore. That, my friends, is a big, big problem. That's a big problem. Your job is what you do, your work is what you do. Yeah, you work to live, not live to work. That's that's it. If you don't work, you don't eat. But don't make that your God. Don't make it your idol. Don't be so consumed with it when you get home. All of those things at the office will be there in the morning to greet you. Stop trying to check emails and getting all this stuff. No, no, no. Put barriers in your life and say, this time is important. Say, I didn't know how to do that. I do now, but at one point I didn't. And now it brings me joy to show others how to make those things a priority in your life because you'll be doing a whole lot better, trust me. But there's a lot of people you have everything else in your home, and there's no altar, there's no prayer, there's no reading of the word, there's no true repentance, there's no, you, you're you're wondering why things are so stressful because you're not seeing the blessings of the Lord. There's not enough men that have risen up to be the true spiritual leadership, the true, the true head of their households. You know, there's a lot of men that still don't know how to step into their place as the solid rock foundation. So you're standing upon Jesus. The men, you're the first depiction of the heavenly father to your children. Your wife is going to look at you and gonna need some things from you, and not just a whole lot of this. Although this takes this, and you want to bless your wife and bless your family, and you want to be blessed. It goes beyond that. A lot of times we think I just need to pull in a whole lot of money to, and then she does the this and then that and the other. No, no, that's a partnership. And your job is just part of what you do. When you come home, it's a jump-in collective, we all in this together thing. Yeah, men arise. Brandy said we want men to leave. You want men to stand up and lead and take their place. Men, we got to step up and we got to do better. We got to step up and take our place. And a lot of men just don't know, they don't know how. How do I do this? How do I do it? My father didn't teach me that. I didn't see that from my grandfather. I haven't had a strong mentor in my life. You need to get around somebody who's going to help you and show you how and take you through those first awkward steps to get you to where you need to be again. The presence of God is not being honored in homes today the way that it should. And we wonder, we wonder why our homes feel so, why the atmosphere just feels thick and stressful all the time. We we we try to figure out, you know, why, why, why is my marriage feeling so strained? And why is all this pressure sitting upon me? And why are the kids so spiritually confused and confused in their identities? And why is the anxiety so level in my home? And why is there no peace here? You know, sometimes we have a little bit of peace and then it feels like it's just gone. And why does everyone feel so disconnected? Because you have not made time to set an altar in the most holy place, in the most sacred place that is your home. You have got to take time to set an altar in your place again, where you and your spouse can pray together, where you and your children and your family can pray together. Just saying, y'all. In scripture, if we take a look at scripture, the home was always a place of spiritual formation. It was always a place where people were being formed spiritually. The home was never meant to be spiritually neutral, so to speak. Where we just kind of do this on Sunday, and the rest of the week's just we're here. We just is what it is. Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter six, six through nine. It says, And these words, which I command you today, shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You ever seen that in Deuteronomy? Hang on. There we go. Let's go through this again. Amen, disciple under construction. That's what I'm talking about. Teach them in the ways, and then talk about what you just what you just went through. Allow them to ask questions. If they don't get it, you go through it slower. Spend time. It's all about spending time. Deuteronomy 6 again, 6 through 9. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. Did you hear that? These words that I'm telling you shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. Parents, teach the words of the Lord diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. And all day, all it's an all-day thing, it's an all-day learning thing. You shall teach all of the ways of the Lord diligently to your children, and you talk of them when you sit in your home. What are you talking about when you sit in your home? Let's take inventory of that really quick. Yeah, take it all the way back, echoes, all the way to the Waltons. That's it was a wonderful show, by the way. I caught the reruns. I'm not old enough to see the original airing. But that was a great show. I grew up on Andy Griffith and the Waltons, by the way. And I still believe in a world like that. Boy, yeah, I'm just I'm one of those crazy ones. I still believe in a world like that, but it takes people like you and me to set things in order and in place to see a world like that. It's possible. It is possible. My Bible tells me that all things are possible through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. Yeah, we live in a different culture and a different time, but those principles still remain. These principles remain and they always shall remain. But but but but I mean, and just looking at Deuteronomy, when the Lord took me to the scripture, I mean, this is not just in church, not just in what the synagogue, like we talk about, the high-up hierarchy of the religious world. Not not there. This is in your house. When you're sitting down and when you're, what does it say? When you're going the way. So when you when you walk by the way, when you're when you're out for a walk or you're you're sitting down or you're lying down or you're just getting up in the morning, that means the word of God was meant to live and was supposed to be a part of the family unit. It's supposed to be alive and well in the home. If the word is not living in your home, then something else must be discipling your family. Rah-rah, Raggie. If the word is not living in your home, if the word is not alive and well, if Jesus is not alive and well in your home, then what is discipling your family? What is, what what are you allowing your your children to be to be raised by? We got a lot of screens and a lot of different things. There's phones and there's tablets and there's computers and there's TVs and there screen, screen, screen, screen, screen, screen, screen, screen, screen. How much screen time do your children get? What are they watching on the screen? Guess what? There's lots of technology out there available for you to set things up the way they should be set up. And you need to have a teaching moment when you put a device in your child's hand. You have to explain to them what it is, what we use them for, how they are to be used, and that we have put safety measures in place to protect them from da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Teach the truth of the matter to your children. Our children know about human trafficking. They know about how people can come in and what they can try to chat about them about, and all of those things. But we have put safety measures in place to where they cannot get out to the outside world in that manner. But if something, because I know technology, I've worked with it most of my life, if something slips through, you recognize it, you know it, and you're like, uh-oh. And they come to us, hey, I see this. Or I see that because we've educated them on it. If you don't educate your kids on it, how are they going to know? I mean, handing a kid a wide open phone, handing a teenager for the first time a wide open phone is like giving someone a loaded pew pew. And just saying, here you go. You never taught them to the, you never took them to the range. They they they they never pew pewed at a target. You you didn't teach them safety. You didn't teach them what this is for and what it's used for. You didn't take them through class. I'm telling you, we should treat electronic devices the same way we treat the pew-pews. I'm using my TT language. Y'all don't be laughing too hard on the other end. But we should take them through class just like you go through that. I mean, you want to get certain permits and things for the pew pew, you got to go through a class, you got to get certified, you got to sign off on it. I mean, you driver's license and you're here, sign this, and now you're certified. You passed. You can now do these things. My gosh, take your kids through a class. I mean, and if you want to take it the extra mile, print off a little something, and then say, here, sign this. We have an agreement that you know how to use this. Anytime it's not used this way, we go back to the agreement. And if you're in violation of that agreement, that becomes mine again. Stand up and be a parent again. Oh, ooh, I said it out loud. I'm sorry. Are the numbers dropping? Stand up and parent your children again. And so, yeah, Stephanie, social media bullying is a thing. It's a big issue. You see it and how principles and people are having to step in and take care of this. You, as the parent, put things in place. Be the parent. Be the parent. Do what you gotta do. But if the living word is not alive in your home, something else is disciple in your children. I'm just saying. If you're not careful, you're gonna let the culture disciple them. Disciple is a term, the proper definition of disciple, obviously, is a personal follower of Jesus during his life, especially one of the twelve apostles. But it's a personal follower of Jesus. So when you're a disciple, that means you're following after Jesus. The second Definition is a follower or student of a teacher. The follower or a student of a teacher. So somebody who is who is doing this. So a disciple is somebody who is not just listening and learning, but this is somebody who follows. That means you're putting feet to things. I could never be one of those shadow people. That'd be terrible, but that means there's movement involved. You're not just sitting and learning and going. You are a follower. So if you are not careful, you are allowing your children to follow the culture. You are allowing them to follow after things they see on the screens that's just entertainment. You wonder why your kids are so sarcastic and why they have a smart mouth. You might want to take a look at what they're watching, what they have been watching. Children mimic what they see. But maybe you, I mean, maybe you got to check yourself first. I don't know. Maybe go look in the mirror. But you're wondering why your children are acting that way, and we don't act like that here. So if you ain't acting that way, they're seeing it from somewhere, they're getting it from somewhere. Their influence is coming from somewhere. Where's their influence coming from? Nip it in the bud. There's your, you know, uh Barney Fife reference for the day. They're gonna go where their friends go. Who are their friends? Especially when they're young enough. Who are their friends? Who are they going after? Are they are they being a thermostat that's setting the temperature? Or are they being thermometers that are just reading the room with whoever it is they're hanging out with? Teach them the difference. You need to do that. I didn't expect this to be parenting class today, y'all. I'm talking about setting an altar in your home, but this is an important part of this. Are you allowing them to are they following after social media? All the trends and the the the challenges and the whatever they got going on out there in the social media world. There's a lot of darkness out there, there's a lot of craziness out there. I mean, we had kids eating laundry pods a few years ago. Y'all remember that? What? No. Let's let's make sure we're having healthy conversations with our family. Because I can tell you this. My 20-year-old has admitted to me not long ago, he said, all those times and those talks we had, you may have thought I wasn't listening, that I wasn't paying attention, that I didn't care, but I wanted you to know that I was listening to every word. He he out of nowhere sent me a nice message one day and he said, I just want you to know I always listening. He didn't always like what I had to say, but he honored what I had to say. And in those moments, I'm like, I don't know why I keep talking. I mean, is he even listening? Your teens are listening to you, continue to speak. They want to hear from you more than they really want to hear from anyone else. They probably would never admit that, but they honestly want to hear real talk from you. So it's time to get real, it's time to stop sugarcoating things, and it's time to be honest about things. But social media will lead them on the way if there are no healthy boundaries in place. Music. Hello. Music will lead them along the way as well. What type of music are your children listening to? What type of music do you allow into the ear gate? What kind of music do you allow into your ear gate? This goes beyond children because I'm telling you, there are lyrics that go along with songs. You might like the beat, and you thinking you're somebody cool out here riding around and we thumping today, but what is the song saying? I've told y'all that story many times when my son pulled up and I was like, what is he listening to? So I had that app on my phone where it listens and it lets you know. So it let me know. I looked up the words and I went, oh wow. So I waited for him to come in. He put his stuff down and I said, Hey, I said, I'm gonna read you a poem. I'm gonna read you a poem, and I want you to give me your feedback on this poem. I had to repent like majorly after this, but I was driving home my point. I said things I've never said in my whole life, but I was driving my, and I'm just, this is real talk, real Jesus, real life. I wanted to drive my point home. Trust me, I prayed. I said, Lord, I'm using this as an example. So I began to read off this poem, and and and the sheer horror on his face as I couldn't even hardly get past the first verse into this chorus of sorts. And he was begging me to stop. Please stop. What are you saying? What are you doing? Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're saying these things. I said, What are you talking about? I said, This, I said, that is what you just pulled up in our driveway listening to. And the sheer horror on his face. And I, and I just, I just very quickly, now he still listened to his music, okay, but but I but I was like, listen, be more choosy about what you put in your ear gate. Because what you're listening to affects your life. What you listen to affects how you live your life. Because music has the ability to go past all thought process and go straight to the heart. Music is not something you think about, it's a very emotional thing. And if you're not careful, it will be deep-seated in your heart. I tell people all the time, what goes in the ear gate and what goes in the eye gate is more important than you really think. And a lot of people will try to sit here and you'll try to justify what you're listening to or try to justify. Oh, God still loves me. Oh, this has nothing to do about that. He has unconditional love for you, but he has a much better life for you. And he wants you to shake off all the funk and off the all the dust off of your life. You wondering why life is going this way and why there's no peace in your home and all the things we just mentioned, is because we have put all of this stuff up on a pedestal. We've allowed all this stuff to lead us on the way. And we wonder why God is why why isn't God here? Why, why, why, why, why, where is the Lord? Yes, Lakina, I see your message there. This is uh it is available in podcast form. All right. The Morning Charge podcast is anywhere you get your podcast. If y'all want to go back and find this at any point in time, go back and get it. Okay, it's there. Just letting you know. It's usually a bit of a delay in going up, but it's there. And there's tons of episodes to choose from. So just go glean all you want to go glean. And I'm just gonna even dare say, even aside from music, if we are not careful and we're not talking about Jesus at home, the school system is gonna lead them on the way. Boy, haven't we seen some things in the school system lately. Maybe I'll just leave that one where it's at. Lots of things being taught, not even being explained to parents, but just taught. What where did this come from? I used to get, I mean, we used to get rundowns. We had to have our parents sign off on everything we were going to be learning about when I was in school and hand it back to the teachers. So the parents were on the same page as the teachers. Something done shifted along the way now. Because now they're teaching things in health class that should not be taught to that age group ever, never. I believe our kids should be, they should be, they should be taught about things, but it should be taught from home. There's a lot of parents who just won't rise up and speak to their kids about it. You know age-appropriate stuff. You know how to explain things on their level so they get it and so they know. If they don't hear it from you, they go and hear it from someone else. If they don't learn things from you, they will learn it from somewhere else. It's not a matter of will they, it's a matter of when will they. I mean, we just keep it real. I mean, in here. This whole world is it's a mess. But if we will arise and we will take our place as sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, if we will arise and take our place in whatever God, wherever God has you right now, we will always stand up for the truth. I've stood up for the truth in the workplace before and left. God honored it, He saw it, and He was with us every step of the way. And he took care of us. And if I feel like I have if I hadn't done that and I had compromised, I would not be sitting where I'm sitting right now today. Don't compromise. You don't have to compromise. Oh, a lot of people feel like, well, I have to to keep my job. You don't need that job. If you have to compromise to keep your job, find another one. That is unexcusable. I am I am coming at you guys with fatherly advice today. I am in one of those, I'm in just one of those veins where I just feel like I'm I'm a father talking to my child. I said, that is unexcusable. We do not stand up for that and we will not act that way. God will have your back every single time. You have teachers subverting the parents. That is no. It's inexcusable stuff. And all of this points back to having an altar in the home, bringing God back into the forefront of your home again. See, the altar represents, it represents consecration. It represents sacrifice. It meant it represents uh coming and having a meeting with God in that place. Now, I don't mean you need to go get one of those padded bench looking things. All right, y'all think when it when I say altar, is that ways that comes to everybody's mind? That is not, yes, that is a that is like an altar that people, so it's easier for people to kneel, okay? But the altar is you have consecrated your household to the Lord. I mean, if you want a special place to go pray, you should have your secret place, a closet or something. Find a place where you can get alone with God. But when we say that our home has to become an altar again, I'm I'm not talking about the furniture, okay? I am I am talking about the function of the home. So let's make sure to get that. If we look at Scripture and we truly look at what the altar was and what it was a place of, it was a place of, it was a place of sacrifice. The altar was a place of surrender, it was a place of a place of worship and and it represented covenant with the Lord and and remembrance for what Jesus has done, what the Lord has done in our lives. It represents a place of encounter with God, and that place should live in your home. That's what should live in your home. Genesis 12, all right. If you read Genesis 12, I'm gonna do a little snippet here on this, but if y'all want to write these down, go read all of this for yourself. Genesis 12, 7 through 8 is where Abraham built altars unto the Lord. In other words, he he built places of remembrance unto the Lord. In Genesis 13, 3 through 4, he then returned to the place of the altar. Abraham did. So he built these altars and then he returned to these places, these places that he had built, the altar. In Genesis 35 and 1, God told Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar there to God. See, the altar mattered because it marked a place where God was honored and where people were met with him there in that place. It was a very holy place, it was a very sacred place. We gotta build this in our homes. An altar is any place where God is given his rightful place there in that place. When you make an if when you when you make that your home and you make, I want to say a sacrifice, but you make that you make that place in your home, then what you're saying is, Lord, I am giving you uh I'm giving your you your rightful place here in my home. I consecrate my household, I consecrate my marriage, I consecrate my children, I consecrate everything in this place, about this place, of this place, I consecrate my household and unto the Lord, and I give you your rightful place here with us. This is your place, God. And now I walk in that truth every day. I walk in that truth every day at that place, in that place. Because when we say that our home needs an altar again, what we are saying, we're saying that that my home needs to become a place where God is welcome. Lord, you have a place where you're honored, God. Lord, you have a place where we're going to seek you and where we're going to obey you, and and Jesus, where we're going to remember what you did for us, and we're going to take communion in this place. Hello, communion is a thing. Apostle is, he is challenging each one of us here that are connected with HPM. He is connected, he is challenging us to have a communion every day. He said, this is not just a ritualistic thing. This is a place. And so if you're going to consecrate your home to the Lord again and you're going to build an altar in that place again, then what you're saying is when you take communion in this place, Jesus, we remember what you did. We remembered what you did on that cross. We remember why you shed your blood for me. And when you begin to do that, you're going to begin to see things shift in your home. You're going to begin to see things fall into place like you've never seen them fall into place before. You're going to see yourself blessed more than you've ever been blessed in your whole entire life. If you are one that surrenders and you are one that builds an altar in your home. Are you going to be one? And yes, Destiny, absolutely. That's the song I'm thinking of. Are we going to be the ones that build the altar in our home? A godly home is not going to just happen by accident. It's not going to happen haphazardly. No, no, a God-ordained home, a place where you have built an altar. You have to be the one to stand up and say you've had enough and begin to walk in the way. Walk in the way, walk in all the way. You've got to be, you've got to be guarded. You've got to, you've got to maintain this thing. All right. You've got, you've got, you are the model for your children. Don't expect your children to build the altar in the home. You have to build an altar in your home. Proverbs 24, 3 through 4 tells us, through wisdom a house is built. And by understanding it is established. By knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. See, a house is built, if you will. A house is established and then a house is filled. So it has to be built and then it has to be established and then it has to be filled. That means you have to do this. A home will not become an altar by accident. It is going to become one by intention. You have to be intentional with what you're doing. You have to be intentional in setting an altar in your home. Some people are waiting on God to do this big dramatic thing when actually He has told you, no, I have told you to build an altar in that place, and I have asked you to be faithful every day. That's our part. That's our part. And then he will meet us in that place. Don't expect God to bless all the stuff you've been going and doing and thinking he's going to just take your life and just he's just going to, oh wow, it's just going to be overabundance and you're not doing your part. You have to do your part so he can do his part. He wants to bless you in that place. He wants to be with you in that place. A praying home is one that is being built. All right. A peaceful home is then built. A truth-filled home is then built. A God-honoring home is then built. And now you are building upon the word of God and you have set an altar in that place. Joshua understood that homes make decisions, did he not? Not me. Joshua in the Bible. Because in Joshua 24 and 15, he said, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We shall serve the Lord. Notice he did not say, as for me, I personally love the Lord, and everybody else can do whatever they want to do. He didn't say, I'm good, but you know, but my kids and stuff, they'll just sort of figure it out. Just let them figure it out. No, he said, as for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord. Now, what you do when you move up out of my house is all on you, boo-boo. That's what you do, but it is up to me. As you live with me, we are going to walk the way together. But if you don't do that part, how do you expect them to walk with the Lord when they do leave your house one day? Because it's a matter of will they leave the house. When they're really young, you can't even fathom and think about that moment when they move off and do their thing, no matter what that is. Did you do your part while they were with you? Because really, your children, they are the Lord's. God has put them in your hands for a time and a season. Because once they move out, they're going to go the way. You might see them a lot, you might see them a little. At this point, they are adults and they are doing their thing. You must love them in the place that they're in, and you need to stand knowing that you have done everything that you possibly can. Kids are like electricity and water. They take the path of least resistance. Yes, they do. Disciple under construction, you very well. I know that very, very well. It's up to us parents to take our place. And as for me in my house, we shall serve the Lord. Amen. And there you go. Elizabeth, I see you there. You know a preacher who prayed for his daughter to come to God for 14 years and finally she submitted. They gotta have some sort of foundation to stand on to where they finally make that personal decision with God. But if you're not with the one teaching them, who is and what are they teaching? Me and my house shall serve the Lord. And every home is serving something. If you're not serving God, what are you serving? Maybe you're serving comfort. Maybe you're serving up chaos. I mean, maybe you're serving up entertainment or sports. Yeah, I said it out loud. Maybe you're serving up money, self, pride. Maybe there's a lot of anger. Maybe there's a lot of distractions. Maybe there's a lot of self-image. We have an image to uphold here, and we've got to, you know, we're not living the part, but we've got to look the part. That's a whole lot of falsehood going on there. In that life, it's not a matter of is it going to crumble? It's a matter of when is that going to crumble? Because you can only sustain that for so long. But every home is serving something. Every home is built around something. Every home has a center to it. So what sits at the center of your home? What sits at the center of your family unit? What is in the center of that thing? What is the thing that y'all dive into the most? If it's not Jesus Christ, what is it? Parents, we're called to more than just provision. We're called to this spiritual leadership that we're speaking of this morning. A lot of people think if they, you know, if we just, if we my my job, I hear this from so many men. And while it is true, it is only you've stopped short. Food, clothing, and shelter. It's my job to feed the family, pay the bills, and keep the roof over their head. And now I have fully done what I needed to do. That's what they say I got to do. I got to keep you dry and inside. I got to make sure you got clothes on you, and I got to make sure you have food in your belly. Okay, well, that is great. But Jehovah Jirah is my provider. He is the one that sustains our family. He helps us. He's the one that brings forth the food. He pays the bills, and he keeps the roof over our head. I trust him with those things. And then as I am trusting him with those things, I am able to do my job to be able to supply for my family. We do what we need to do to partner with him to make sure that we have the things that we need. Yes, that is very important. Yes, that matters a lot. Because yes, you need those things, but it's not the whole thing. Psalm 78, 5 through 7. Psalm 78, 5 through 7, he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children that the generation to come might know them. Parents, we're not just called to provide materially. We are called to pass down the truth spiritually to our children. That is what we are called to do. The word tells us that is what we're called to do. Wayne, good morning, man. Good to see you. Ephesians 6 and 4, bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. That means correction. That means instruction. That means direction. That means formation. That you are their, you are their training center to launch them out into the world so they know who they are and whose they are. Identity, identity, identity. Fathers, mothers, instill identity into your children. And usually it's more the father's role of teaching them their, of giving them their identity. Your actions and the things you do and the time you spend, you are the one that gives your children their identity. So they know their rightful place. Our children don't just need, they just don't need our provision. Our children need our discipleship. They need us to spend time talking about the one who can heal them and save them and is and is their source of strength, their source of hope, their source of everything. Our children need to be seeing us on our face before the Lord praying. They need to see us on our face before the Lord in repentance. They need to watch us forgive other people. They need to hear us forgiving other people. They need to see how we handle all the pressures of life with the faith that we have. How are you handling your situations? Screaming and yelling and ranting and raving and complaining and running and are you peaceful and stop and pray and trust God with it? They need to see that. They need to hear the word of God going out verbally in their household. They need to know that God is not just a Sunday school, because that's what we've called it. God is attached to school. So that means He's something we just learn about. No, they need to see it in action through your household. Because that is what's going to make a difference. And I can tell you, speaking about pressure, pressure is going to expose whether you have an altar built in your house or not. Why do I say that? Because there's a lot of houses that look just fine until pressure hits of some kind. Could be financial, could be a strain on your marriage, could be any, whatever it is, unexpected things come up, family issues, whatever they are. When the pressure hits, what comes out? Is it anger and rage that comes out when the pressure begins to hit? Is it is it is it is it the blame game that comes out? When the pressure begins to come down, is there silence and a big elephant standing in the room when the pressure begins to hit? Is there division? Do we see a lot of carnality in the home? Do we see a lot of panic? Do we see a lot of bitterness? See, those are the things that begin to, when you get squeezed, you just there you go. Disciple under construction. You squeeze an apple, you get apple juice. You squeeze an orange, you get orange juice. When you get squeezed, what's coming out? What is coming out? Because that tells me a lot about where you are and what is going on. Matthew 7, 24 and 27, that is where Jesus said that the storms reveal whether the house was built on the rock or it was built on the sand. Is it going to withstand the storm or is it going to get washed away? Storms do not create the foundation that you stand on. Storms is what reveals what type of foundation you're standing on. If there's a foundation at all. So a home, write this down. A home without an altar may stand in comfort. But a home without an altar is going to struggle in crisis. It's going to struggle under pressure. But when a home has an altar, people know where to turn to. They know where to run. Prayer is a normal thing that you go to. Prayer should be like your children should say, Let's pray. My finger hurts. Can we pray over that? I want to hear my kids say that. They know where to go first. Scripture is alive and it's well and it's very present in the home. When your home has an altar, worship is going forth. Repentance is already possible. Forgiveness is ready to meet people, your children, your spouse. Forgiveness is there to meet one another. Peace has its place in the home. But when there's no altar, it's like living in a glass house. A little bit of wind blows, the whole thing comes shattering down. And everything is exposed. And it's time. Alright, and I'm going to leave you with this. The early believers carried faith into the house. See, we we talk a lot about our church gatherings and our conferences and all the things, but the early church, well, I mean, they were deeply house-centered. That's where they met. They met in home groups, is about what they had. The true followers of Jesus had their home groups. Acts 2, 46 through 47. They continued daily with one accord and breaking bread from house to house. They did life together. They moved together. They celebrated Jesus together. They lived together in one accord. Acts 10, 1 through 2, that's where Cornelius feared God with all of his household. Y'all remember that. 2 Timothy 1 and 5, Timothy's faith was seen first in his grandmother and his mother. So Timothy's face was first seen, uh faith was first seen in Lewis and Eunice. Faith was moving through the homes. It was moving through the family units. Revival that never that never reaches the home, all right? Revival that never reaches the home will not remain strong for very long. If you go get a touch at the Sunday service or you go get a touch at the conference or the revival meeting or the tent meeting or wherever you were. And it doesn't come home with you, it's not going to remain strong for long. The home has got to carry what the Lord ignites. The home has to sustain. It's like the home fires. You should have fire burning in your home. So let's do Lamentations 3 and 40 this morning. Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord. You're not going to restore the altar in your home by a whole lot of wishing and hoping. You're going to restore the altar in your home by returning back to the Lord. So we got to search out and examine our ways and see where it is that we have been failing recently. And that's just taking, that's that's the real talk, real life part of this. We have to, if we want to go forward in real life, we have to have the real talk and real Jesus to come forth before we have our real life. And that's not just a cute saying I came up with for the morning charge. I mean, real talk, real Jesus leads you to real life. So we got to get down to the nitty-gritty, the things that no one's touching on anymore. We live in such a soft society, especially over in the Western world, where we try to just make sure everybody's feeling good as they can so they can give as much as they can. That's not what church was meant for. It was meant meeting and breaking bread together and coming together and lifting up Jesus and iron sharpening iron and walking with people through their issues and their and their things and helping people in their weaknesses and their strengths and helping balance one another out. I'm all about that reach out and touch of people. If you don't have any reach out and touch of people in your life, you need to do that. That was Lamentations 3 and 40, by the way, for Mike. Yeah. Lamentations 3 and 40. Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord, is what that scripture says. We gotta examine our ways so we can turn back to the Lord. So make your home an altar. Yeah, trash man, it ain't about putting rumps in the seat, so to speak. We've made church something it was not meant to be. We should all be on our face in repentance over that one. And then when we get up from that, we can't continue to do things the way we've always done them. Yeah, real church is getting us transformed into him. It's where the church, you and me and all of us come together and we become transformed. If there is no transformation, uh we haven't been doing our job. And there's things that we need to do. We got to build an altar in our home again. So, Lord, we just pray this morning. Bring our homes back to the altar. I mean, we we lay our homes on the altar again. We surrender our homes to you again, Lord. Help us see things differently, Lord. Lord, forgive us for allowing distractions and compromise and passivity and just all the noise to take over. The places that should have that should have shaped us by your presence. Lord, we just repent right now, Father, for for for not keeping you at the forefront, for not for not for not talking to our children, God, Lord, about you and teaching them about you, God. Lord, for for not for not standing up and arising and taking our place in the home again. And for many of us, we've had time and chance, and time and chance. And for many of us, it's not this is not the first time you've heard this message. Maybe you've heard it somewhere else. Maybe you've heard it multiple somewhere else. And now here you are hearing this again. You just gotta say, Lord, let peace return to my home. Let repentance return to my home. Let healing return to my home. Let let truth return to my home. Let let spiritual hunger, Lord, hunger for you, Lord, return to my home. Lord, I set an altar in this place. And I say, as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord all the days of my life. And Lord, let our houses become places where you are welcomed, where you were honored, and where you are obeyed again. Because this right here is not to restrict you, but it's to give you healthy boundaries to live the most free life you've ever lived your whole entire life. You will experience so much freedom when you begin to walk according to the Word of God. This is what brings you freedom. It's not to restrict you, but to bring you freedom. That's today's morning charge. Before you move on with your day, take a moment and let what you've heard settle into your heart. Faith isn't just something we talk about, it's something we live out in the ordinary moments of everyday life. Wherever today takes you, remember this. You don't walk into it alone. God is already ahead of you, working in ways you may not even see yet. Stand firm, walk in wisdom, lead with love, and don't forget who you belong to. Until next time, keep your heart anchored, keep your faith strong, and keep living out real talk, real Jesus, real life. We'll see you on the next morning charge.