Participants:
Series Code: FGOY
Program Code: FGOY000005S
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00:01 Welcome to For Guys Only,
00:02 a program that deals with topics 00:04 specifically geared for the urban man. 00:07 I'm Pastor William Lee, 00:08 and I'm so thankful that you have joined us 00:09 for another broadcast on today. 00:12 Today we're going to talk about the norm of hypergamy. 00:15 What is it? 00:16 And how do we go against this norm? 00:19 Stay tuned as we go into our broadcast. 00:37 Gentlemen, welcome once again, 00:39 it is a pleasure to see each one of you all again, 00:42 as we have another fantastic discussion 00:45 about the norm of hypergamy. 00:48 We have, you know, 00:49 so much discussion and conversation 00:52 in our society today 00:54 about different norms that you know 00:56 our society thinks are acceptable. 00:59 And today we want to see what does God think 01:01 as we go forward today. 01:02 So, as we go forward, 01:04 let's kind of introduce ourselves. 01:05 And let's get right into our discussion by, 01:08 I'll start with Brandon today. 01:10 Yes, my name is Brandon dent, 01:12 I am a retired auto executive 27 years 01:16 and running my own marketing company. 01:18 I'm also married 27 years. 01:21 Interesting. coincidence. 01:24 And maybe it's not interesting, 01:27 maybe it'll play into our subject today. 01:30 But I have raised two children, teenagers, 01:34 raised two boys 01:35 and have a teenage daughter at home. 01:38 And I'm happy to be here today. 01:39 Very good. 01:40 My name is Colin King. 01:42 I'm the father of two teenagers. 01:44 My daughter is 18 and my son is 17, 01:47 and I've been married to the same person 01:49 for the last 21 years. 01:52 By training, I'm a clinical psychologist. 01:56 But I currently work as a neuropsychologist 01:58 dealing with various clinical syndromes, 02:01 substance abuse, brain injury, personality disorders, 02:05 and so on and so forth. 02:07 And I'm very, very thrilled to be talking 02:09 about the norm of hypergamy. 02:11 All right. 02:12 My name is Mutu Mwenya, 02:14 and I'm Executive Director for Elijah3 Ministries, 02:17 married seven years, seven blissful years, 02:20 with two children, and I'm happy to be here. 02:24 All right. 02:26 As always, I'm Pastor William Lee, 02:27 pastor in a Lake Region Conference 02:29 of Seventh- day Adventist, 02:30 been married for seven years, two children, 02:33 and I'm excited about the move of God 02:35 in the days that we live in today. 02:37 Dr. King, would you offer a word of prayer for us 02:39 as we go forward today? 02:40 Absolutely. 02:42 Our Father and our God, 02:44 we are so grateful for this opportunity 02:46 to sit here today. 02:47 And to discuss issues 02:49 and propose solutions to problems to topics 02:54 that are so helpful to urban families, 02:57 especially black males, 02:59 we ask your blessings upon our discussion today. 03:02 In Jesus' name, amen. 03:04 Amen. 03:05 Let's gonna talk about this, 03:07 this word that we've been saying 03:08 a couple of times, hypergamy. 03:10 What is it? What is hypergamy? 03:13 I'm gonna look to you Brandon to kind of break it down 03:15 as we go forward today. 03:17 Okay, the norm of hypergamy. 03:20 Hypergamy, 03:21 it comes from to two pieces 03:23 hyper meaning up and gammy, meaning marry. 03:26 And it is a social norm 03:28 that says women should marry up 03:33 in all kinds of aspects of the term, 03:37 their men should be taller, 03:39 they should be positioned higher in society, 03:42 you know, the Bible says her husband, 03:44 he's known at the gates, you know, 03:47 he should have higher education and make more money. 03:52 And so, this is an old norm. It's been around a long time. 03:55 And even though there have been changes 03:58 in the level of education and employment 04:01 and income of women, 04:03 this norm is still something 04:05 that is affecting the psyche of society to this very day. 04:09 Okay. All right. 04:11 So, let's try to break it down then, 04:12 I think I got it now. 04:13 So, it's really women marrying up. 04:15 All right, is that right? 04:17 Men and women vary of whether it means 04:19 whether it's socially, economically, 04:22 even in statute or height or whatever, okay. 04:24 It means that, okay, I got it. All right, good. 04:27 So let's kind of talk about, you know, 04:29 this norm, so to speak. 04:32 For all guys program, 04:33 do you think that women are so concerned with this, 04:36 you know, really today that they, 04:38 they feel that they had to find you know, 04:40 someone or a brother who you know, 04:42 has this degree 04:43 and has this social economic stance, you know. 04:46 Do you think women are really thinking about you know, 04:48 that today? 04:50 I think so. 04:51 And I think it's becoming more and more of a challenge. 04:55 And one of the reasons why I said that 04:57 because we've noticed that in the 1980s, 05:02 there was a marked increase in enrollment 05:05 of female college students over male college students. 05:10 As a matter of fact, between 1970 and 2000, 05:17 females enrolled in post-secondary education 05:22 increased by about 136%. 05:25 And in professional type occupation or studies 05:31 increased by 853%. 05:35 Meanwhile, males have lagged behind in terms of enrollment. 05:41 For instance, in 2004, 05:43 was about 9.9 million female college students, 05:48 as opposed to 7.4 million male college students. 05:54 Bottom line, 05:55 more females are becoming educated, 05:58 more females are earning more. 06:00 So how in the world are they able to find a mate 06:04 and even marry up? 06:06 That's a problem. Okay. 06:08 That's a huge problem. 06:09 Yeah, and so it's a bigger problem 06:12 for the urban male, 06:13 for the urban community 06:16 wears a heavy African-American influence 06:21 or Afro centric influence. 06:24 Because to be honest with you, 06:26 even though that is a social norm, 06:28 it's a concept. 06:30 But we have always struggled to, 06:34 to live up to it, 06:35 whether we should be trying to or not, 06:36 we struggle to live up to it, 06:38 because of the unique African-American experience 06:41 here in this country. 06:44 It's interesting, that Dr. King's statistics, 06:50 the timeframe 1970s to about 2000, I think he said, 06:55 I did a little bit different research, 06:57 and found the impact of these improvements in education 07:03 and job opportunities for female. 07:05 And it's interesting, 07:07 they use a very similar time frame 07:09 1970 to 2002. 07:11 And here's what they said. 07:14 "The United States understood that 07:18 it would be good for society, 07:20 good for economy, good for industry, 07:23 if we take this whole half of the population 07:28 and give them education 07:30 and allow their skills and abilities and brainpower 07:34 to enter into American industry." 07:37 And I totally agree with that. 07:40 I think, it's one of the reasons 07:42 why this country has excelled the way it has, 07:45 but it has had an interesting adverse effect 07:49 on the institution of marriage. 07:51 For example, the median age over that same time frame, 07:54 the median age of individuals 07:58 getting married for the first time 08:00 increased by four years, 08:03 the likelihood of an individual aged 40 to 44 08:09 not being married doubled in that same time frame. 08:14 Divorce rates increased, 08:16 and the percentage of married adults 08:20 has fallen substantially 08:23 from 71.7% to only 55.3% 08:28 in that same time frame. 08:30 So while it's been good 08:31 for making money and for industry, 08:34 it seems to have had an adverse effect 08:38 on the institution of marriage. 08:41 Okay, okay. 08:42 So, as we look at this topic then, 08:47 should we then try to reverse this norm? 08:51 I mean, women are definitely, 08:55 you know, they're searching for, 08:56 you know, an educated guy. 08:58 You know, I don't think any woman you know, 08:59 grows up and says, you know, 09:01 just give me someone that doesn't know anything, 09:03 you know, whether and I'm telling is education, 09:05 you know, had a college degree, 09:06 but they want you know, a man that knows something. 09:08 So what do we do? 09:10 Do we just, you know, do we keep the norm or do we, 09:13 how do we adjust it some, 09:16 you know, to be able to go forward? 09:18 Well, you know, 09:20 a good biblical case study 09:23 is the case of Queen Vashti. 09:27 Okay. All right. 09:29 Queen Vashti, if you remember, 09:31 she was summoned to come before the king's banquet. 09:35 And she refused to do so, 09:37 she did not respect 09:39 what was going on with that banquet. 09:40 She refused to do so. 09:43 One of the king's advisors Memucan said to the king, 09:50 "The queen has disgraced the palace 09:55 and you got to do something about this." 09:58 Now he loved Vashti. 10:01 But now he's starting to be concerned 10:03 because it's almost like, 10:04 you know that norm was more prominent then, 10:07 than it is now. 10:09 So it's a greater violation then than today. 10:12 But what really got the king to make a decision to banish 10:15 his queen was when Memucan said, 10:18 she will become an example to women 10:20 in houses of the kingdom, 10:23 and these women will begin to rise up 10:25 against their husbands, because the king allowed it. 10:28 So, you've got to do something about this. 10:31 But interestingly, this whole situation, 10:36 God used this situation, her insolence, if you will, 10:40 to bring about his will the opportunity for Esther. 10:44 Now, when Esther got into that position, 10:47 she worked with the social norm. 10:51 But she still had impact far outside of that norm. 10:55 Right, she was able to affect law, 10:59 which no woman could ever do. 11:02 But she did not just come in and start working all outside 11:06 being offensive to the norms and the customs of the day. 11:09 And it's important that 11:10 when you find yourself in a situation, 11:12 you do need to try and understand 11:13 and respect the norms, 11:15 because oftentimes, 11:16 they will open people up to you 11:18 and give you now an opportunity to be about God's purposes. 11:22 Okay. All right, that's good. 11:23 I praise God for that. 11:25 Do we, you know, keep the norm though, 11:27 do we, you know, the Bible says that, 11:29 you know, we are peculiar people. 11:31 Right. 11:32 And God has definitely standards or whatnot. 11:35 But, Muta, how do you see it? 11:37 You know, do we keep doing things 11:40 at a certain level 11:41 or do we have to break the norm of things, 11:44 to be able to do things God's way? 11:47 Obviously, we have to do things God's way. 11:50 That's first and foremost, 11:53 in the case of what we're speaking about, 11:56 specifically, it's kind of hard 11:58 because you want for those who have a daughter, 12:03 like you two, 12:04 you don't want your daughter bringing home just any guy. 12:09 But at the same time, 12:11 you want her to bring home somebody who's going to love 12:14 and respect her and cherish her and treat her right. 12:17 So I think education on the type of man 12:21 one should look for, 12:25 in regards to his spirituality, 12:29 the way he carries himself, as a man. 12:32 Does he take care of his business? 12:36 Not only does he have a college degree, 12:38 or does he have, you know, a home that he owns himself? 12:40 But is he somebody 12:42 who's able to really take up responsibility 12:44 for what's his and do right by you? 12:47 I think that's what we should be looking, 12:49 looking for more rather than, 12:53 "Hey, you know what? 12:55 You got to get somebody who's got it going on." 12:57 Because otherwise 12:59 you don't want your kids growing up over here, 13:01 you don't want that. 13:02 And, sadly, that's just what happens. 13:04 And it's all about education, 13:06 because my wife actually met me, 13:09 before I had a college degree 13:11 before I had a high school diploma. 13:13 Okay. 13:14 And she had her college degree, 13:17 and she had already started working. 13:18 And when she met me, I was working at Office Depot. 13:20 Okay. 13:22 But at the end of the day, 13:23 she realized very quickly that 13:24 though I may not have been at her education level, 13:28 I still was somebody who had goals. 13:30 And she saw as we've been together 13:34 me achieved these goals 13:35 that I wanted to achieve in life, so. 13:37 Awesome. 13:38 It's a very, yeah, it's a very interesting point, 13:41 because it's a very difficult self 13:44 to a female professional, 13:47 saying to her, just find a guy, find a guy who's responsible, 13:52 find a guy who has a job, find a guy who is on task, 13:57 but you're so advanced, 14:00 he is not 14:01 but still relate to him on your level, 14:04 it is a huge challenge. 14:05 And if you look at the ratio to females, 14:08 you know, females to males in our church, 14:11 that gap is steadily widening, 14:14 not just in terms of pure numbers, 14:16 but in terms of educational status, 14:19 in terms of financial ability. 14:22 So, we have a number of black, educated, financially sound, 14:28 powerful women looking for a boyfriend or a spouse, 14:32 and they can't find them. 14:34 It is a huge problem. 14:35 So if they can't find them, what do they do? 14:38 Because men and women 14:40 listening to us right now and viewing us, 14:42 and I don't want to just be one side of what can we do? 14:45 What kind of solutions can we make to help go forward? 14:49 Well, the first thing 14:51 and I think Muta really plugged into it is 14:54 you want to be in God's will. 14:55 Okay. 14:56 Society has a variety of norms, 14:58 some of them, we can look at 15:00 and then know that they're not healthy, 15:02 we wouldn't subscribe to, 15:03 we wouldn't have them on this show 15:04 because this show is more provocative than that. 15:07 But, I mean, it's a good model. 15:12 You know, there's nothing inherently wrong with it 15:14 as long as it works for you. 15:16 The problem is, if you notice, 15:20 all of the real elements are what I call Mammon, 15:23 just material earthly things. 15:25 Okay? 15:27 And what you do 15:28 and when it starts to turn toxic, 15:31 when those things 15:32 take the foreground in the relationship, 15:36 okay? 15:37 And because it's a societal thing, 15:39 which what you have is 15:41 you have a woman who gets around her girlfriends 15:43 and is not proud to talk about what her husband does, 15:47 because all the other wives are married to guys 15:51 who have all these fancy titles, okay? 15:53 Or you have girlfriends saying house husband, 15:56 are you kidding? 15:58 I wouldn't take that, he have to go out, 16:00 it doesn't matter that she actually is a doctor. 16:03 And if he doesn't stay at home, and he's a handyman, 16:06 then that means 16:07 they have to live off of a handy man's salary 16:10 while she stays at home. 16:12 And that has far reaching financial implications 16:18 for their children, right? 16:19 So now how do you raise them? 16:21 What level of education can they have, 16:22 and so on and so forth? 16:23 I think what you have to find yourself is 16:25 in the will of God, 16:27 I know an evangelist, powerful evangelist, 16:30 who had to make that adjustment come out of corporate America, 16:34 because he received the call from God, 16:36 he and his wife had to work through that. 16:39 Okay. 16:41 At the time, 16:43 a lot of people was talking about, 16:45 you know, man, that's not a responsible thing to do, 16:48 you know, I know she's gonna be upset, 16:50 I don't know how this is going to work. 16:52 Well, it's been many, many years since that decision, 16:54 and this individual has done a powerful work, 16:58 baptized thousands around the world. 17:01 You know, sort of like, 17:03 when a basketball player comes down, 17:05 he's not at home court, 17:06 and he hits the three and silences the crowd. 17:09 Well, all these years later now, 17:11 there have been so many threes hitting, 17:14 so many threes that have been hit 17:15 for the sake of the gospel, 17:17 that the global crowd has been hushed, 17:21 and now has the ultimate respect 17:23 for that decision. 17:25 So the point is, 17:26 is we can't let social norms define us. 17:28 God is not beholden to social norms. 17:30 Okay. 17:32 And He proved that in His Word. 17:33 There's an example in the Bible, 17:34 if I could just take a few more minutes, 17:37 where Moses is giving out land 17:40 to the different tribes based on their leaders. 17:42 Well, women were not to own land. 17:45 And as these two daughters whose patriarch is deceased. 17:49 So, they are the only ones 17:51 who can step up and ask Moses for their land. 17:54 Moses didn't know what to do. 17:56 He's like this, women can't have land. 17:58 Right? 18:00 So he goes, 18:01 and has this long drawn out conversation, 18:03 I could see him enhanced and but now Lord, 18:06 you know, we got a problem here, 18:08 you know, the other tribes 18:09 are gonna have a problem with this. 18:11 And you know, women don't, 18:12 we're not supposed to give them land, 18:14 it goes through this whole dissertation. 18:16 What should I do, Lord? Yeah. 18:18 The Lord says, 18:19 "Give them their land." 18:21 And so even then, 18:23 God was showing that He does not, 18:26 He's not beholding, 18:27 He doesn't have to subscribe to our social norms. 18:30 So our best bet is to figure out 18:32 what is the model 18:34 that God has for our family for us, 18:38 and find ourselves in it. 18:39 Yeah, that's good. 18:41 Right here you're saying is that, 18:42 you know, always focusing on God's will 18:44 for our or individualize 18:46 focusing on what God is saying, 18:47 and don't worry about so much the crowd 18:50 or what society is always saying as well. 18:53 And I think that's significant. 18:54 Because so many times we listen to the other voices, 18:58 you know, especially as men, 18:59 and sometimes as men, you know, even if our, 19:02 if our wife or girlfriend, whoever is, 19:05 is making more money than us, 19:06 you know, sometimes we feel intimidated, 19:08 you know, we feel like, 19:09 you know, I'm supposed to be the man, 19:11 you know, I'm supposed to be the breadwinner or whatnot. 19:13 And it's okay, you know, what it's, you know, 19:16 because that's God's will 19:18 for our life or my life right now. 19:21 If I have to be if I'm at home, 19:23 we shouldn't think you know, what the key is supposed be, 19:25 we shouldn't think that it's a bad thing, 19:27 you know, that you're not working, 19:28 you are working. 19:30 You're doing, you're fulfilling your role for God 19:33 would have you to do right now in this particular situation, 19:35 which is a blessing as well. 19:37 I think that's good. That's good. 19:39 But it tell us a little bit more about this, 19:41 this whole norm. 19:42 I know there's this concept of even you know, 19:45 as mundane as may sound that 19:47 women look to marry a man 19:49 that's even taller and statue than they are. 19:54 They're just affected by the norm. 19:56 And this is kind of interesting 19:58 because a lot of women 20:00 don't even know what it's called. 20:02 They haven't heard it by its term, 20:04 they've only experienced it through their society. 20:07 So they, they will get around and talk. 20:11 And yeah, she married some dude. 20:13 Yeah, he's like two, three inches shorter than her. 20:15 Now you dating some dude, 20:17 you haven't told the girls about it, 20:19 and he's two, three inches shorter than you. 20:21 All right, so now all of a sudden, 20:23 just through that interaction, 20:25 you don't need a social scientist 20:27 to come teach you about the norm of hope of hypergamy, 20:30 you're already living it, 20:32 and you're already starting to shrink, 20:34 possibly from the responsibility 20:36 in the direction that God has for your life 20:38 simply because of this so called social norm. 20:41 And it's a problem. 20:43 And I'll tell you who does most of the shrinking, 20:45 you know, we always look at this 20:47 from the woman's perspective, 20:49 but particularly in the black community, 20:51 where we have statistically 20:53 not been able to fulfill that social norm. 20:57 And we have had women, you know, black women who say, 21:00 you know what? 21:02 See that we talked about this in earlier shows, 21:04 they have certain emotional needs, 21:06 that they will need that are so high and so strong 21:08 that they will say, 21:09 well, here's the minimum set of requirements 21:11 that I have to have, 21:12 this guy has to be above these, these things, 21:14 and if he can't make all the money I need, 21:17 that's not in this box. 21:19 I rather have the companionship and the love and the affection 21:22 and even spiritual guidance, 21:24 I rather have that and they're willing, 21:26 more often than the man 21:27 is to enter into that type of relationship, 21:30 because men have this evil thing going on 21:33 where we want to be a dominant force 21:36 in the relationship. 21:37 And we don't think we can be that 21:38 if we're in this somewhat compromised role 21:41 in the relationship. 21:42 So, we got to talk to some of the men out there 21:45 who are finding themselves in the situation 21:47 or have this opportunity, 21:49 who may not be taking advantage of it, 21:52 because they're simply influenced 21:53 by this social norm. 21:56 And they're not plugging into 21:57 what is God's purpose for my life? 22:00 Well said, 22:02 Doc, talk to us a little bit 22:03 about the clinical side of this? 22:04 Yeah, you know, 22:06 I couldn't agree with Brandon more. 22:07 When we run our lives based on norms or expectations, 22:12 we sort of put on a show, we wear masks, 22:16 and so outwardly, 22:18 you know, we're fulfilling the requirements of society, 22:22 but inwardly 22:23 we're not living fulfilled lives. 22:25 And Brandon is absolutely right, 22:27 what is God's will for my life? 22:30 How does He want me to function? 22:32 And it could be 22:34 that he wants me to play a supportive role 22:37 rather than a dominant role. 22:39 You know, you can use an analogy of basketball. 22:42 You know, I certainly am not a basketball player. 22:45 But I do know that 22:47 most teams have a couple of superstars. 22:49 And then there's there are those supporting guys 22:52 who can pass the ball, who can set the game up. 22:54 That's right. 22:56 And as males, 22:57 we don't always have to be 22:58 in a perceived dominant position 23:01 to live a satisfactory life, 23:02 and we need to remember that. 23:04 That's good. That's good. 23:05 Because lot of times the point guard, 23:07 he runs the team, 23:09 but he may not be the superstar. 23:10 Absolutely. 23:12 But he knows where to ditch it off, 23:13 he knows where to give the ball to at just the right time. 23:16 Absolutely. 23:18 And he, you know, 23:19 the other person becomes the star. 23:20 That's right. 23:22 But they work together. That's right. 23:23 That's why we say working together. 23:24 How does this, you know, play itself out in the church? 23:26 Because I see, I see this being, 23:28 you know, very practical, 23:30 but I'll see it could be challenging, 23:31 especially as relates to the church, 23:35 and this whole this whole norm, 23:38 especially those who have education, 23:40 and then the guy feels is you know what, 23:42 I don't want to come around, 23:43 you know, you know, 23:44 others because I'm not, you know, 23:46 I don't have everything everybody else has. 23:48 And that may be another reason, because we started off, 23:50 you know, previous episodes 23:52 talking about mid run, 23:54 you know, Adam sometimes destined or whatnot. 23:56 I'm seeing, you know, 23:58 the norm of hypergamy being, you know, 24:01 in relationship to why sometimes men may run, 24:05 you know, maybe 24:07 could we discussed that a little bit as well 24:08 as figure out how that relates to church and Adam? 24:12 Sure. 24:13 You know, I believe that God runs a beauty parlor. 24:17 So... Say it. 24:19 I'll run to barber shop, beauty parlor. 24:22 So, if that is the case, 24:24 whereby the guy is married to someone who's smarter, 24:29 better, taller, whatever than him. 24:33 So there could be that feeling that, 24:34 you know, I can't come into the church 24:36 because I'm going to, I'm going to seem less than. 24:40 When you come to the Church of God, 24:42 God makes you a better person. 24:44 You know, He gives you a haircut. 24:46 He motivates you. 24:48 He opens and He widens your horizon. 24:50 So yeah, you know, 24:52 you may have a high school diploma, 24:54 and that's okay. 24:56 When you come to the church and you stay with the church, 24:58 God makes you a better person. 24:59 He runs a beauty parlor. 25:01 Yeah, I like that, I'm gonna use that as well. 25:03 That's all right. 25:04 You can't lose. Absolutely. 25:07 So don't be fazed by the norm. 25:10 Look what the Bible says, 25:11 what Bible says that 25:12 man looks on the outward appearance. 25:14 You know, that's what this whole discussion is about. 25:16 Everybody's like look on the outside 25:17 trying to judge you from the outside. 25:19 But God, Bible says that God looks in the heart, 25:21 and God knows exactly what's going on, 25:24 on the inside whether good or bad. 25:26 And I appreciate that about God as well. 25:30 Help us understand a little bit more about 25:32 some of the other social implications 25:33 of this whole norm. 25:35 And, you know, we'll have about, you know, 25:36 two and a half minutes left in this broadcast, 25:39 help us understand God's will, 25:41 help us understand the steps we need to take 25:43 so that we don't fall, you know, 25:46 pray to what's been happening, 25:48 you know, through our society for so long. 25:51 Well, you know, socially, 25:55 and we talked about it a little bit earlier, 25:58 I think the real problem is that men who God has called 26:03 to do a level of ministry that perhaps, 26:10 you know, I will say only men can do 26:12 but God told called men first to do. 26:15 And we will often find ourselves 26:18 not subscribing to that, 26:21 because we are caught up emotionally in something 26:25 that is really nothing at all. 26:27 I was just listening to a preacher preach a sermon, 26:30 majoring in minors, 26:32 majoring the norm of hypergamy is really a minor. 26:37 And when a man subscribes to God 26:40 in His purpose for his life, 26:43 it's just like, 26:44 "seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, 26:46 and all these other things that I'll add unto you." 26:49 And that's your relationship. 26:50 That's the right woman, 26:52 family dynamics, wealth, you name it. 26:56 And it really comes when you let the social norm 27:01 pull you away from 27:02 what you know to be God's order for your life, 27:04 and that's idolatry. 27:06 And idolatry in the Bible, last time I checked, 27:09 was never rewarded by God. 27:10 As a matter of fact, 27:12 it was punished quite vehemently. 27:14 That's good. Absolutely. 27:16 Let me read this text 27:17 as we come to the close with Bible says 27:19 in 1 Peter 2:9, 27:23 the Bible says, 27:25 "But you are a chosen generation, 27:28 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 27:30 a peculiar people, 27:32 that you should show forth the praises of Him 27:35 who's called you out of darkness, 27:38 into His marvelous light." 27:41 And I think so many times even with, 27:42 you know, this norm of you know, 27:44 women think they had to marry up 27:45 and men thinking they have this certain role or whatnot, 27:48 then we got to be so comfortable 27:49 in who we are, 27:51 as we said before in God, that I am peculiar. 27:54 that my family is peculiar, 27:56 that we don't have to operate in some linear box 27:59 that man has set up with that 28:02 even when man looks at us 28:03 that we still can, you know what, 28:05 regardless of what you may think, 28:07 I know that I'm following the will of God, 28:10 and God's will is always the perfect will. 28:14 So I challenge my brothers today, 28:16 that are battling with this topic, 28:20 say the norm of hypergamy, 28:22 even though women that that may be join us well, 28:24 to seek the will of God 28:26 not to seek the will of man, 28:28 but to know that God before us, 28:30 no one else can be against us. 28:32 Until next time, I'm Pastor William Lee, 28:34 I look forward to you joining us again? |
Revised 2023-04-13