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Good morning. When Pastor Kevin

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assigned Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones to me,

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I went, what are you doing?

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Give this to Barbie.

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But he didn't. And so here we are. And I feel like the Lord's given

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me some stuff. I feel like the Lord's you know, giving me some news you

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can use, so that'll be good.

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Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah. Just

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a little background here. They both ministered

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during the time of the exile to

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Babylon. There were actually three deportations

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of the Jews to Babylon. The first one took place

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in 605 BC, and that's when Daniel and his friends

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went. And then nine years later, there was another, a

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larger group that went. And Ezekiel was in that group.

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And then 11 years later, everybody went and.

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Or did I say that right? Everybody,

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Everybody, everybody went and they

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destroyed Jerusalem.

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Now, they. They were

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contemporaries, Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Ezekiel was

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in Babylon, and Jeremiah was still in

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Jerusalem. And the people in Jerusalem were

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saying, hey, we're. We're. We're the

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ones. We're the good ones. That's why we're still here. And the

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Lord's going to deliver us, just like he did during the time of

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Hezekiah when he sent an angel and destroyed the

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Assyrian army. Praise God. And Jeremiah said, that

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ain't happening. That's not what God's doing

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this time. These are false prophets that are

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telling you that. In fact, what you need

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to do is go out and surrender to the king of Babylon, because

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that's what God wants you to do. And that's why Jeremiah was so

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popular in his day.

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Ezekiel, who was with the exiles in

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Babylon, what the false prophets were saying there was, we're not going to

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be here long, guys. Pack your bags. We're going back. We're

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going back home. The Lord's going to take care of us, deliver us.

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And Ezekiel said, that ain't happening. We're going to

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be here for a while. In fact, we're going to be here for, like, 70

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years. And so you just need to settle down. You need

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to pray for the peace and work for the prosperity of the

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place where you are. And that's why Ezekiel was

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so popular. Ezekiel was

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a strange dude. We

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sometimes get the impression, we sometimes tend to think that, you know, the bad

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guys are the ones who are. Who are exciting

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and who are interesting people.

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That's wrong. Now,

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on the other side of that, we tend to think that, you know, the

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good guys and gals, the good

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guys, they're kind of boring. That's wrong. See, the

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truth of the matter is the bad guys. There's only three strings on their

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guitar. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life.

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And that is life in black and white. The

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good guys, those who are on the side of the Lord. Love

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comes in Technicolor. And

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Ezekiel was a man who loved and loved passionately. And he

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was a weird dude. And he had

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two main visions that he's really known for

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today. One of them was. He had this

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vision of these four incredible,

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massive creatures, living beings. And they had

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four faces. I said in the early service, they had four heads. I

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don't know. I don't think they had four heads. Know how many heads they had,

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but they had four faces. One of them was like a lion, and one

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of them was like an ox, and one of them was

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like an eagle, and one of them was like a human. And just tell me

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that isn't weird, but it even gets weirder than that because they rode

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around on these big giant wheels that had a wheel

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within a wheel, and they moved wherever the spirit moved, and

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the glory of God was over them. That

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was a. I mean, that. That. That's exciting.

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And the other one was Valley of Dry Bones, which is

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what I was assigned to preach about today.

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Would you stand with me? We're going to read the whole section.

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It's not all that long, but hang in there,

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okay? The hand of the Lord

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was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit

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of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley.

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It was full of bones. He led me back and

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forth among them, and I saw a great many bones

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on the floor of the valley, bones that were very

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dry. Then he said to me, prophesy

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to these bones and say to them, dry bones.

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Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign

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Lord says to these bones. I will make breath

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enter you, and you will come to life. I will

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attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon

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you and cover you with skin. I will put

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breath in you, and you will come to life.

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Then you will know that I am the Lord. So I

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prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was

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prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling

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sound, and the bones came together, bone to

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bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh

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appeared on them, and skin covered them, but

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there was no breath in them. Then he said to

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me, prophesy to the breath. Prophesy,

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Son of Man, and say to it, this is what the

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Sovereign Lord says. Come, breath from the four

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winds and breathe into these Slain that they

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may live. So I prophesied as he

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commanded me, and breath entered them. They

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came to life and stood on their feet a vast

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army. Then he said to me, son of man,

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these bones are the people of Israel. They

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say, our bones are dried up and our hope is

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gone. We are cut off. Therefore,

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prophesy and say to them, this is what the

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sovereign Lord, my people, I am going

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to open up your graves and bring you out from them.

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I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

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Then you, my people, will know that I am the

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Lord. When I open your graves and bring you up

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from them, I will put my spirit in you and you

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will live. Will settle you in your own land.

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Then you will know that the Lord have spoken.

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And I have done it, declares the Lord. Father,

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I pray for the Spirit to breathe in this place.

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I pray that you would bring life to that which is dead.

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Touch those places in us

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where we so desperately need you. Jesus. Name.

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Amen. You may be seated. I

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realize that there was a slide missing there,

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and I need to tell you what it says, because before the Lord

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told Ezekiel prophesy, he said, he asked him a question.

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He said, son of man, can these bones live?

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And Ezekiel's answer was, sovereign

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Lord, you alone know. Okay, that's important.

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Don't know how I got left out.

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The scene. There's a scene from the Chosen, and

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if you haven't watched the Chosen, you really need to. It's really good.

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But there's a scene, and some people have a problem

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with the Chosen because there's some extra biblical stuff that they kind of put

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in there. But, hey, guys, the Bible itself says not everything was

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written down, actually happened. Okay, And

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I'll give them a pass on this one. There's a scene where Jesus is

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in the Garden of Gethsemane and he's praying,

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we know what happened there. Father, let this cup pass from me, but

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not my will, but yours be done. And

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then the Chosen, they have this. There's this mist that

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appears. And Jesus walks through the mist. And

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the next thing you know, you hear this crunch. And he's

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in this place where all these bones are. And I'm going,

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oh, I know what this is. I know where he's going. And he

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keeps walking through it. And he comes to this guy and he says, ezekiel,

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you know, can these bones live? Ezekiel says, you

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alone know. And at first

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I was kind of confused. Okay, what's the connection here?

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Why do these fit together? And then as

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I was doing the assignment that Pastor Kevin gave me.

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The Lord began to speak to me and said, here's the

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connection. Neither one of them were in a place where they wanted to be.

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Jesus was in Gethsemane preparing

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to be arrested, betrayed, arrested,

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crucified. Ezekiel

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was in a valley of dry bones. Oh, hallelujah.

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And so here's the first place that I'm going to go. There's

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a couple of places I'm going to go today. First place I'm going to go

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is this. We may be led by the Spirit of the Lord to

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places that do not seem pleasant or fruitful or where

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we want to be. In fact, you may be in such a

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place right now in your life. It may

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be where you work. It may be a situation at home, it may be

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a situation at school, it may be situation at church.

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It may just be a situation in your mind, but it's someplace where

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you don't want to be. Nevertheless,

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God always has a purpose.

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The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the

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Spirit of the Lord. And he set me in the middle of a valley, and

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it was full of bones, and they were very dry.

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Ezekiel wasn't just. Didn't just stumble upon this valley.

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He wasn't just wandering around and going, oh, there's a valley

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of dry bones. Let's go check that thing out. No,

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God went plopping. Here you are in the middle of

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this. The Lord intentionally brought him there.

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You know, life may seem random at times,

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but it's not. He knows you.

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He knows where you are. He knows your journey.

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And he told me to share a little bit of my journey today.

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And so I'm going to do that. Maybe there'll be some information

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here that. That you might find helpful.

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I grew up in church. Number of you

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probably know this. And then in my late teens through to

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my mid-20s, I

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ran from the Lord as fast and far and hard as I possibly

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could. Wanted nothing to do with church. But then when I was 25,

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came back to the Lord and I was in this church, and it was.

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It felt good. It was kind of like what I grew up in. Now, the

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church that I grew up in, we had freedom

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that we said. And what that meant was that something weird

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was going to happen every service. And,

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you know, sister so and so had the freedom to stand up and

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deliver a message in tongues. And woe be unto the pastor if

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he doesn't have an interpretation for it. Brother

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so and so could get up and run around

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the sanctuary and the church house or

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somebody's got to fall over. Somebody's got to do something weird. And if something weird

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doesn't happen because we're free, then there must be

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sin in the pastor's life. Of course there's

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sin in the pastor's life.

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There's sin. There's sin in the life of the person you're sitting next to

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look at them, give them a big smile. There's

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sin in the person sitting in the seat you're sitting in.

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So, of course there's sin in the pastor's life. So, you

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know, we had this freedom, and you know that there was. There was

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some of that in this church, but there was a different kind of freedom.

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We could breathe. We could actually be

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who we were and not have to, you know,

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conform to some kind of how it's supposed to be.

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And I just felt so good, and I've come back to

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the Lord, and I really love this church. And everything was great for about nine

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months, and then it started going south. I don't know why

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they say south, but

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anyway, we're not going there. It started going

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south. Things started changing, and I

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could see it kind of felt like

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the pastor felt like he was kind of losing grip. And

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so we were kind of, you know, let's. We got to get this back together

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now. We got to get control of this. And I didn't want to be

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there anymore. And I. You know, I told the Lord, I said,

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lord, I could see the direction this is going, and I really don't want to

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be here. And you know what I heard from the Lord?

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Crickets. Nothing.

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For about three months. And my attitude got worse and

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worse and worse almost with every passing

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week. And then the

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Lord finally said something to me. And you know what he said?

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He said, you're not going anywhere until you get your heart right.

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You're not. You're not going anywhere until your attitude changes

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now. Oh, okay. Because, you

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see, it wasn't about the pastor. It wasn't about

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what was going on in the church. It was about what was going on inside

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of me. That's what he was working on.

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And so, you know, I.

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The first question that I would ask, if you're in one of those places, if

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you're in one of those places where you don't want to be, is this.

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Get your heart right before leaving.

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That's the first lesson that I learned. Boy, has that served me well

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over the years in a bunch of different kinds

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of situations. Bunch of different places.

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My friend Clopas Chitapa, who was my

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Favorite student in the Bible school that I taught in in

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Zimbabwe. His ministry,

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Cornerstone Ministries, this month celebrated

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30 years. And I.

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And he asked me to do a little video thing to, you

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know, say hello, congratulations. And I did. And

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I said, Congratulations on 30 years of successful

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ministry. I don't know the numbers, I don't know

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the bank account, I don't know how many churches you got, don't know how many

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people came. But I know your ministry is successful because I know how it started.

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And the way it started was this. He had spent seven years working

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in this ministry called Zioja. That

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was the church that we were with in Zimbabwe. And

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he had spent seven years working in that. And he contacted

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me one day and he said, I. I really feel like the Lord has told

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me that I need to leave Zyojia and start this

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ministry. So I would like to know what you think

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or what you think I should do. And I said, well, I bear witness with

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that. And I did. I bear witness that you do need to start

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a ministry. Now let me tell you what you need to do. You need to

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go to Baba Ezekiel Gudi. You need to go

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to him, share your heart with him, and you need to ask for his

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blessing. And he went

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to Ezekiel and he did.

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I'm sure it was hard for him, but he went to him and he shared

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his heart. And, you know, Ezekiel didn't want him to leave. He's

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a really good man, offered him some

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different positions and everything. But when he finally realized, okay, this is what

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God has for you. I'm going to give you my blessing.

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He gave him his blessing. And he said, over the years,

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I've had many, many people. I mean, Ezekiel had over a thousand

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churches, said, I've had many people who passed through and left

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me and gone to start other ministries. You are the

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first one who asked for my blessing.

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I knew his ministry was successful because he did it the

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right way. He left the right way with the right heart.

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We many of you know, but some of you don't. We used to be an

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assembly of God church here, and I grew up in the

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Assemblies of God. So when I came back here to

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take this church, I was

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like, what in the world am I doing back in the Assemblies of God?

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And the Lord spoke to me and he said, as long as your father is

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alive, that's a non issue. So for the next 20

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years, it was a non issue. And then

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my father passed and some things changed. We spent

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two years really trying to fit in, but it just

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wasn't Working and the Lord finally, it was finally clear we

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needed to leave. Because it was just taking too much energy,

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too much focus, too much. And I went to the

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district superintendent and I said, look, we're not mad. I'm

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not mad. I'm not upset with anybody. This just isn't where we belong.

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And so we're going to, we're going to pull out of the denomination

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and I want your blessing when we go and he

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gave it to us. We

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wouldn't be here today. I don't think at all many of you

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would not be here if we hadn't gotten that blessing.

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Leave the right way. Leave

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with the right. The Lord just simply may be. The

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situation that you're in right now may simply,

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entirely be about you getting

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your attitude straightened out. And you know what?

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You ain't going anywhere until that attitude gets straightened out.

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Because wherever you do go, you're going to have the same

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attitude. It's going to be the same way until

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God does that work in your life, and that's why

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you're there, so he can do that work in your life.

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Then I went to work for Social Security, and when I went to

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work for Social Security in 77,

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it's 1977, I,

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I was, I was excited about it because, I mean, they didn't

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work, they weren't open on weekends, they weren't open

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at night. And I could do this 9 to 5 job,

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have all this time to work at the church and not

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have to worry about conflicting with my work or anything. But about

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three years in, I

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knew I was called to full time ministry. And I went,

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God, you've called me to full time ministry. I really don't need

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to be here. And you know what God said to me?

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Nothing. Crickets

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for about, for about a year. And then

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I finally figured it out.

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I figured out that, oh,

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I'm pretty young, I'm going to work 30 years

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here and then I'll just be 57 and I can retire and

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get this civil service pension and we'll go on a mission field

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full time. I know what you're doing.

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God goes, no, you don't. You don't have

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any idea what I'm doing. And so

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about nine months later, the man who's the youth

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pastor at the church where we were attending, a guy named Bruce

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Kobel, some of you know him, came to me and said, they're going to move

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me into a different position here at the church. Would you like to, would you

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consider becoming the youth pastor? And I said, yeah, I'LL do it.

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He said, don't you want to pray about it? No, I know it's what

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I'm supposed to do. I've only been praying about it for five years.

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So, you know, here we are. And so here's.

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Here's the second thing about this.

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Are you willing to stay if it's God's will?

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I got to the place where I went, I'll stay here for

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30 years. I've been here for

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four. I don't want to be here, but I'll stay here for 30 years

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if that's what you want me to do. And by the time

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Bruce came to me, I was totally there.

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That's what I was going to do because that's what he wanted me to

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do. Now, let me just say that

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being willing to stay is not the same thing as getting comfortable.

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Ho ho. I mean, anybody

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can stay where they're comfortable. Anybody can

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stay in an easy situation.

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But being willing to stay, it's

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because of contentment. It's a matter of being

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content, because the contentment comes from God and not from

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my circumstances. Paul says this.

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I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to

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have plenty. I have learned the secret of being

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content in any and every situation, whether well

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fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want,

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whether I'm comfortable or I'm uncomfortable, whether I'm

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happy or unhappy, I can be content.

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And then he goes on to say a verse that, you know, we like

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to put on coffee mugs and T shirts and all kinds of things.

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I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

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And we completely divorce it from the verse that comes

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before it. And in fact, the modern,

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most of the modern translations don't say, I can do all things. They say,

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I can do this. I can be content

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in any and every situation through

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him who gives me strength. It comes

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after the lesson of contentment. In the world, we always

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want more poor or rich, successful, unsuccessful,

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strong, weak. But more stuff

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does not ever bring more contentment,

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only more. God brings more contentment,

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whatever situation we're in. And that was really good. And

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I should have gotten a few amens, or as

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my dad would say, if he were here, he man, yeah,

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well, never mind. And then

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also speaking of some other place that I did not want to be,

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I didn't want to come to Smyrna.

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You say, well, what has that picture got to do with that? That's

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where you parked your car today.

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And I made that picture out my back window. And I don't know how clear

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it is. My back window of my office, I

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don't know how clear it is, but there's some deer back there. And I think

388

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I made that picture because I was just so excited somebody came.

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I didn't want to come to Smyrna. I remember

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when we were in Zimbabwe and our youngest child was born about

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eight months before we left. And my mom came

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for Valerie's birth and I remember

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her saying, you need to come to Smyrna. You know, what are y' all going

394

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to do? Well, we're not sure. I think we're going to start a church somewhere.

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You need to come Smyrna and take this church. And I

396

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didn't say it, but I shouted it

397

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inside. No, I don't either.

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I've been to that church and I've been to

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Smyrna and I don't neither one of those

400

00:26:07,930 --> 00:26:10,690

things hold any attraction for me whatsoever.

401

00:26:15,010 --> 00:26:18,690

But what a fruitful place. I mean,

402

00:26:19,090 --> 00:26:22,780

we came and, you know, it wasn't like

403

00:26:22,780 --> 00:26:25,900

it hit the ground and woo, we're so glad we're here.

404

00:26:26,780 --> 00:26:29,580

No, it kind of hit the ground and we hit the ground.

405

00:26:31,740 --> 00:26:35,580

But a fruitful place for my in laws who later on, as

406

00:26:35,740 --> 00:26:39,300

they were older, we were in a place where we could take care of them

407

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because we were near to them. Fruitful place for my

408

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children. I mean, Isaac and

409

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Arwen and Valerie all thrived here.

410

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And then a fruitful place for my parents

411

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and for us because, I mean,

412

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I was never estranged from my parents and believe me, I

413

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tried, but they loved me

414

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so much that that never really happened. I was never estranged from my

415

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parents, but we'd never been, you know, like best

416

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buds or anything. The last 20 years,

417

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their lives were the 20 years that we were here in

418

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Smyrna and it was the best 20 years that I had with them

419

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the whole time. I mean, what, what a blessing

420

00:27:27,620 --> 00:27:30,500

the Lord brought us to. Well,

421

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that brings up the flip side. Are you of. Are you willing to stay?

422

00:27:36,180 --> 00:27:39,380

The flip side of that is, are you willing to go

423

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if that's God's will. You may be in a place that

424

00:27:44,070 --> 00:27:47,310

you're very comfortable and you feel like,

425

00:27:47,630 --> 00:27:51,310

yeah, oh, I have arrived. Let's just come

426

00:27:51,310 --> 00:27:55,030

on, Rapture. I'm good. I'm ready right now. The only thing

427

00:27:55,030 --> 00:27:57,790

better than this could be heaven. And God goes,

428

00:27:59,070 --> 00:28:02,870

let's go visit the Valley of Tribal. Let's

429

00:28:02,870 --> 00:28:06,550

go over here. Are you willing to do

430

00:28:06,550 --> 00:28:09,960

that? If that's what he wants, that's his will.

431

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We have this mentality here

432

00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,080

in the United States. I'll just say it. That ain't no place

433

00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,760

better in the whole wide world. Course you

434

00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,520

wanted to come home. Of course you wanted to be here. I bet

435

00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,960

you were so happy to be back. Actually,

436

00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,730

we were very sad to leave. And when we

437

00:28:36,730 --> 00:28:38,850

got back, when we did come back,

438

00:28:40,210 --> 00:28:43,650

about six months after we got back, Isaac and Arwin, who were,

439

00:28:44,050 --> 00:28:47,770

let's see, they were 8 and 6 at the time, put a delegation

440

00:28:47,770 --> 00:28:51,450

together and came to their parents to say, we're ready to go

441

00:28:51,450 --> 00:28:52,290

back home now.

442

00:28:57,810 --> 00:29:00,770

Retirement, it doesn't have to be moving from one place to another.

443

00:29:01,890 --> 00:29:05,560

You know, it was been close to

444

00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,080

five years now that I retired. Actually, I kind of

445

00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,640

retired in secret before I retired. Cause Kevin and I.

446

00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,560

Kevin and I were co pastors there for a while.

447

00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,360

But the only reason I was here to go, he's in charge,

448

00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,000

talk to him. And so

449

00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,400

it's been a while. And for the first year or two, I'd have people say,

450

00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,010

I bet it's hard, man, I bet it's hard. You know, sitting there,

451

00:29:31,010 --> 00:29:34,770

you're not, you're not in charge anymore. And you don't, you're not the one

452

00:29:34,770 --> 00:29:38,130

up preaching all the time and all this stuff.

453

00:29:38,770 --> 00:29:42,450

By the way, my picture's on the wall out there and it

454

00:29:42,450 --> 00:29:46,170

says Pastor Emeritus. And most of you don't know what

455

00:29:46,170 --> 00:29:49,570

that means. What that means is I'm the old guy.

456

00:29:50,930 --> 00:29:54,450

That means I used to be a pastor, you know, so

457

00:29:54,690 --> 00:29:57,250

now I'm that thing.

458

00:30:00,210 --> 00:30:03,890

But yeah, I bet it's hard to sit there and watch

459

00:30:03,890 --> 00:30:07,170

the changes and everything. No, Kevin doesn't do things

460

00:30:07,890 --> 00:30:11,370

always the way that I would do them. That's why Kevin is the

461

00:30:11,370 --> 00:30:14,050

pastor now instead of me.

462

00:30:15,410 --> 00:30:18,770

Because it was time. God says, time to go.

463

00:30:19,250 --> 00:30:23,090

And when you go, because he has said it's time,

464

00:30:23,410 --> 00:30:27,250

hey, that's. There ain't no. I

465

00:30:27,250 --> 00:30:30,930

know that sounds Southern and hickey and everything, but ain't

466

00:30:30,930 --> 00:30:34,650

nothing better than being where God wants you to be and

467

00:30:34,650 --> 00:30:38,490

standing in the center of his will, whether it's stay

468

00:30:38,650 --> 00:30:39,370

or go.

469

00:30:42,410 --> 00:30:45,850

And by go, I do not mean run,

470

00:30:48,330 --> 00:30:52,140

because that's often what we want to do. And

471

00:30:52,140 --> 00:30:55,900

sometimes we paste God's name on it when really

472

00:30:55,900 --> 00:30:59,580

we're just running away from something. But I mean, when

473

00:30:59,580 --> 00:31:03,300

God has told you

474

00:31:03,300 --> 00:31:07,140

to go. Of course, the blessing is not

475

00:31:07,140 --> 00:31:10,660

always so apparent as it turned out to be for us in

476

00:31:10,660 --> 00:31:13,660

Smyrna. Sometimes the blessing is simply

477

00:31:14,140 --> 00:31:17,020

growing in the Lord. Sometimes it's simply maturing,

478

00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:20,620

sometimes it's fruitfulness.

479

00:31:21,860 --> 00:31:25,620

And it all boils down to this learning

480

00:31:25,620 --> 00:31:28,940

to hear his voice, it's the most

481

00:31:28,940 --> 00:31:32,660

precious, valuable thing you can

482

00:31:32,660 --> 00:31:35,620

have in this life. Money.

483

00:31:37,059 --> 00:31:39,860

Maybe that's good for you. Maybe that's not good for you.

484

00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:45,300

If you don't know what that means. Wait 10 years. I mean,

485

00:31:45,300 --> 00:31:48,180

you'll find out. Maybe it could be a good thing. It might not be a

486

00:31:48,180 --> 00:31:51,800

good thing, but a word

487

00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,520

from God. And knowing that you have a word from

488

00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,520

God, whoo. Now that's valuable,

489

00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,040

that, that's rich. That's true riches.

490

00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,080

Well, how do I know if I'm. If I'm in such a place where I'm

491

00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,760

supposed to stay or where I'm supposed to leave? There is no

492

00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,480

formula. There is no form I can't

493

00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,280

give you. Well, put A and E and plus

494

00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,890

it to B and you'll get C. There's no formula for

495

00:32:21,890 --> 00:32:25,530

it. You have to learn to distinguish

496

00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:29,210

his voice. And his voice is not

497

00:32:29,210 --> 00:32:32,970

always the same. It doesn't always come from the same

498

00:32:32,970 --> 00:32:36,809

source. You may not hear it the same way.

499

00:32:38,170 --> 00:32:40,730

And it is certainly not predictable.

500

00:32:42,010 --> 00:32:45,450

You can't figure out, you know, what God's going to

501

00:32:45,690 --> 00:32:49,410

say and how he's going to say it. And it

502

00:32:49,410 --> 00:32:53,170

takes time. It takes obedience.

503

00:32:53,810 --> 00:32:56,770

If you'll. If you'll just give him the time and

504

00:32:57,570 --> 00:33:01,170

be obedient to what you feel like you're hearing from him.

505

00:33:01,170 --> 00:33:04,610

You'll learn. You'll learn. But there's no

506

00:33:04,610 --> 00:33:07,810

shortcut. It takes yourself. Getting out of the way

507

00:33:09,090 --> 00:33:10,290

of what you want

508

00:33:13,420 --> 00:33:15,100

and desiring what he wants.

509

00:33:17,180 --> 00:33:19,820

Sometimes the Lord brings us to such places

510

00:33:23,020 --> 00:33:26,540

to ask us questions that we may otherwise never consider.

511

00:33:28,540 --> 00:33:31,660

Son of man, can these bones live?

512

00:33:32,780 --> 00:33:36,500

The slide was missing, but I told you. Is there so? First thing

513

00:33:36,500 --> 00:33:40,140

he asked. You may be in a place where there seems no hope

514

00:33:40,660 --> 00:33:44,340

for life. There seems no hope for fruitfulness. There seems no hope

515

00:33:44,420 --> 00:33:45,860

for reconciliation.

516

00:33:49,540 --> 00:33:52,660

And. And perhaps you've always in the past, been able to make

517

00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:57,380

Was tough, but I made it. I made it through.

518

00:33:57,860 --> 00:34:01,620

You know, I, I, I, I, I just toughed my way through it and got

519

00:34:01,620 --> 00:34:05,060

through to the other side. Or I scrimped and saved and, and

520

00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,160

to make ends meet, you've been able to make it. And at

521

00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,880

some point, God brings you to a. Oh, and it's such a blessing

522

00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,200

where God brings you to a place where you are not enough.

523

00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,440

You cannot make it. You

524

00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:27,040

can't make ends meet. You. You can't get your way

525

00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,800

through. One of my Favorite quotes

526

00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,480

by C.S. lewis is everyone wants to see a miracle, but

527

00:34:35,750 --> 00:34:38,310

no one wants to be in a position to need one.

528

00:34:40,950 --> 00:34:44,630

We'll take a quick bunny trail here, and then we'll. We'll circle back

529

00:34:44,630 --> 00:34:48,390

and plug in. But here's the bunny trail because there are those,

530

00:34:49,670 --> 00:34:53,510

there are many who would profit from the desperation

531

00:34:53,510 --> 00:34:54,630

of those in need.

532

00:34:57,750 --> 00:34:59,830

But that is never God's way.

533

00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:06,000

Whenever you hear. So whenever you hear anything

534

00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:09,800

resembling. Send in your money and

535

00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:11,120

receive your miracle.

536

00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:18,720

Remember Acts, chapter eight. There was

537

00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:22,480

a revival going on in Samaria, and Peter and John were sent

538

00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:26,240

there, and revival was so strong that

539

00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:29,630

this guy named Simon the sorcerer got saved.

540

00:35:30,190 --> 00:35:33,430

And he. And he followed Peter and John around and he saw their ministry and

541

00:35:33,430 --> 00:35:36,270

he saw how. How what they could do.

542

00:35:37,630 --> 00:35:41,310

And he offered them money, said, I'll give you money. And

543

00:35:41,390 --> 00:35:45,230

so. And you show me how to do that. You. You give

544

00:35:45,230 --> 00:35:48,910

me the power to do that. And Peter said that.

545

00:35:48,910 --> 00:35:52,430

Peter said this to him in chapter 8, verse 20,

546

00:35:52,590 --> 00:35:56,090

may your money perish with you, because you thought

547

00:35:56,170 --> 00:35:59,690

you could buy the gift of God with money.

548

00:36:01,370 --> 00:36:05,130

And let's actually make this a little clearer. I don't

549

00:36:05,130 --> 00:36:08,970

want to be freak any of you out, but really,

550

00:36:09,210 --> 00:36:12,850

back in 1958, there was a J.B.

551

00:36:12,850 --> 00:36:16,530

phillips, wrote a modern language

552

00:36:16,530 --> 00:36:20,090

New Testament. And he translated this verse this way.

553

00:36:21,190 --> 00:36:22,390

To hell with you and your money.

554

00:36:25,110 --> 00:36:28,870

And he put a little footnote and he said, it's so unfortunate

555

00:36:29,350 --> 00:36:33,030

that most of the translations obscure the real

556

00:36:33,030 --> 00:36:36,870

meaning of what's being said. Here you

557

00:36:36,870 --> 00:36:40,670

go. That was J.B. phillips. What does the message say? Sits to hell

558

00:36:40,670 --> 00:36:44,430

with you. And your money says exactly the same

559

00:36:44,430 --> 00:36:47,430

thing because you thought you could buy the gift of God

560

00:36:48,390 --> 00:36:48,950

with money.

561

00:36:53,030 --> 00:36:55,190

Son of man, can these bones live?

562

00:36:56,710 --> 00:36:58,790

Ezekiel's answer was perfect

563

00:37:00,710 --> 00:37:03,190

Sovereign Lord, you alone know.

564

00:37:05,990 --> 00:37:09,750

By the time I was 17, I knew everything there was

565

00:37:09,750 --> 00:37:10,390

to know.

566

00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,760

I had it all figured out. And I couldn't understand

567

00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,160

why some of these old folks did not see the wisdom in

568

00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,800

me. And if

569

00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,120

you are 17, if you've ever been 17,

570

00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,560

and you can't relate,

571

00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:36,080

then you. You d.

572

00:37:39,300 --> 00:37:42,580

Because we all go through that point where we got it.

573

00:37:45,300 --> 00:37:48,980

Well, at 25, when I came back to the Lord, I realized, okay,

574

00:37:48,980 --> 00:37:52,740

maybe I don't know everything, but I know what I need

575

00:37:52,740 --> 00:37:56,460

to do. And I also know what you need

576

00:37:56,460 --> 00:38:00,180

to do. And I'll tell you what you need to do.

577

00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:04,020

You can just ask me or just hush and I'll tell you.

578

00:38:04,750 --> 00:38:06,030

You don't even have to ask me.

579

00:38:09,790 --> 00:38:13,470

I was probably 60 before that demon was fully cast

580

00:38:13,470 --> 00:38:14,190

out of me.

581

00:38:20,670 --> 00:38:24,310

And at 75, I've

582

00:38:24,310 --> 00:38:27,790

gained the wisdom to know that there is a whole universe of important

583

00:38:28,190 --> 00:38:31,890

stuff out there, that about which I am

584

00:38:31,890 --> 00:38:35,370

totally ignorant. There is just.

585

00:38:36,090 --> 00:38:39,290

You don't become wise until you learn what you don't know.

586

00:38:39,690 --> 00:38:43,050

And I don't mean until you learn it, but you learn you don't know it.

587

00:38:47,370 --> 00:38:51,050

And often, so often, we just have to have. We just have to

588

00:38:51,050 --> 00:38:52,490

know the answer.

589

00:38:54,810 --> 00:38:58,250

Firstly, we need to understand that there are answers, in fact, all the really important

590

00:38:58,250 --> 00:39:00,250

answers that are known only to God.

591

00:39:03,350 --> 00:39:06,550

The disciples asked. Jesus was telling the disciples about

592

00:39:09,270 --> 00:39:12,670

the end times. And the disciples said, what are these things going to happen? And

593

00:39:12,670 --> 00:39:16,070

Jesus went, I don't know. I don't even know.

594

00:39:17,190 --> 00:39:20,950

So if there's stuff that Jesus doesn't even know, then

595

00:39:21,750 --> 00:39:25,470

who am I? Who am I? Who am I to know

596

00:39:25,470 --> 00:39:26,070

know stuff?

597

00:39:30,470 --> 00:39:34,230

Two weeks ago, I guess Justin was teaching on Job.

598

00:39:35,030 --> 00:39:38,230

And when I saw that Justin was teaching on Job, I went, oh.

599

00:39:41,190 --> 00:39:44,990

But it wasn't because it was Justin. It's because everybody messes

600

00:39:44,990 --> 00:39:48,550

Job up so much, they have a tendency to. If you have an

601

00:39:48,550 --> 00:39:52,230

unbelieving friend and they

602

00:39:52,630 --> 00:39:56,470

pretend to read the Bible, I tell you what their favorite book is

603

00:39:56,470 --> 00:39:59,990

right now. It's Job. Oh, Job's my favorite book.

604

00:39:59,990 --> 00:40:03,670

They've never read it. They just heard about it. Okay.

605

00:40:06,150 --> 00:40:08,310

But Job's friends.

606

00:40:11,030 --> 00:40:14,310

Job's friends made two big mistakes

607

00:40:14,790 --> 00:40:18,630

when they came to be comforting to Job. The first one

608

00:40:18,630 --> 00:40:20,550

was they opened their mouth

609

00:40:22,590 --> 00:40:26,350

up. Until then, they were doing a great job. And then they opened their mouth

610

00:40:26,350 --> 00:40:30,150

and became miserable comforters. Are you all. Yeah, you guys can come on

611

00:40:30,150 --> 00:40:32,830

out. I'm going to hurry. I know I'm a little. But yeah,

612

00:40:34,030 --> 00:40:37,790

and I'm doing pretty well, I think. So. Yeah, let's. Let's just keep it going

613

00:40:37,790 --> 00:40:41,590

here. No, you know, that's okay. Just say amen. Yeah.

614

00:40:41,590 --> 00:40:45,070

Okay. They opened their mouth. The second

615

00:40:45,230 --> 00:40:48,910

big mistake they made is when they opened their mouth, they tried to explain why

616

00:40:48,910 --> 00:40:52,570

this was. Was happening, and not a one of

617

00:40:52,570 --> 00:40:56,290

them came within a mile of the answer.

618

00:40:57,810 --> 00:41:00,210

Not. Not one of them

619

00:41:01,730 --> 00:41:04,610

said, oh, I know why it's happening, Job.

620

00:41:05,650 --> 00:41:07,890

God was bragging about you to the devil.

621

00:41:09,570 --> 00:41:13,330

And the devil. The. The devil said, well, the

622

00:41:13,330 --> 00:41:17,140

only reason that he follows you and worships you

623

00:41:17,140 --> 00:41:20,780

is because you bless him. You get him out of that health and wealth

624

00:41:21,340 --> 00:41:24,940

movement, and he'll turn his back on you. And

625

00:41:24,940 --> 00:41:28,220

God said, okay, let's just see.

626

00:41:29,180 --> 00:41:31,980

That's why this is happening. No,

627

00:41:34,220 --> 00:41:38,060

they had no idea what this was about.

628

00:41:38,860 --> 00:41:42,150

No idea what was going on.

629

00:41:42,950 --> 00:41:45,510

And so when God showed up

630

00:41:46,470 --> 00:41:50,150

and began to ask Job some questions about

631

00:41:50,150 --> 00:41:51,910

hippopotamuses and stuff,

632

00:41:55,110 --> 00:41:58,310

Job said it all went away.

633

00:41:59,590 --> 00:42:03,310

Yeah, I'm back now. You asked, who

634

00:42:03,310 --> 00:42:06,900

is this who obscures my plans without knowledge. Knowledge.

635

00:42:06,900 --> 00:42:10,380

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand. Things too

636

00:42:10,380 --> 00:42:13,780

wonderful for me to know. Son of man, can these

637

00:42:13,780 --> 00:42:17,340

bones live? You're the only one who

638

00:42:17,340 --> 00:42:20,980

knows, Lord. So the word of the Lord was

639

00:42:20,980 --> 00:42:24,820

spoken and there was a sound and the structure

640

00:42:24,900 --> 00:42:28,620

began to come together. Thigh bone connected to the hip

641

00:42:28,620 --> 00:42:32,380

bone kind of thing. And there they were. And they, and they had skin and

642

00:42:32,380 --> 00:42:36,200

everything, but they weren't alive. So prophesy again.

643

00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:41,800

And the word of the Lord comes the

644

00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:45,440

breath. And the breath brings

645

00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:49,120

life. He can make

646

00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:50,200

these bones live,

647

00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:55,080

but he may just simply have you where you are.

648

00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,480

To teach you to know him.

649

00:43:01,830 --> 00:43:05,550

Teach you perseverance, to get your attitude

650

00:43:05,550 --> 00:43:09,030

right, to get your willingness, willing.

651

00:43:11,030 --> 00:43:12,870

But ultimately the answer is

652

00:43:14,710 --> 00:43:15,590

he is God.

653

00:43:18,950 --> 00:43:22,670

Think about this. Jesus said that even the

654

00:43:22,670 --> 00:43:26,180

hairs of your head are numbered. And we can, we can't, we

655

00:43:26,180 --> 00:43:29,980

can't. Come on. The average

656

00:43:29,980 --> 00:43:33,500

person has about 120 hairs on top of their head.

657

00:43:35,580 --> 00:43:39,300

20,000. Yeah, you're right. 120. I was

658

00:43:39,300 --> 00:43:41,180

talking about me and Fred.

659

00:43:44,060 --> 00:43:47,580

100, 120,000. And Morgan.

660

00:43:47,660 --> 00:43:50,220

It changes with time though.

661

00:43:51,750 --> 00:43:54,950

Going to say that and there are 8 billion people.

662

00:43:56,630 --> 00:44:00,310

You kind of go 8 billion times 120,000. Oh, that's

663

00:44:00,310 --> 00:44:03,870

just ridiculous. You think God

664

00:44:03,870 --> 00:44:07,670

knows all the stars and where

665

00:44:07,670 --> 00:44:08,150

they are?

666

00:44:10,790 --> 00:44:12,790

120,000 times 8 billion

667

00:44:14,870 --> 00:44:18,630

is the tiniest fraction of, of how many stars there are.

668

00:44:19,990 --> 00:44:22,550

The estimate on that is like

669

00:44:23,270 --> 00:44:25,750

200 billion trillion

670

00:44:27,830 --> 00:44:31,190

stars in the observable

671

00:44:31,190 --> 00:44:35,030

universe. So that doesn't even talk about the stuff

672

00:44:35,030 --> 00:44:38,870

that we can't even see. Oh, he knows so

673

00:44:38,870 --> 00:44:39,190

much.

674

00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:46,400

I had a friend telling me,

675

00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,000

now let's, let's do this. I want to tell the story with us

676

00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:55,440

standing and those who are going to minister, go ahead and come down here.

677

00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,680

Had a friend telling me about a guy's testimony

678

00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:03,440

one time is. I think it was a grief share thing, I'm not sure, but

679

00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:07,680

he, his brother had passed away. His brother was young

680

00:45:08,810 --> 00:45:12,410

and he had passed away and he had struggled with it so much, but he

681

00:45:12,410 --> 00:45:16,250

seemed to have such peace. And his testimony was

682

00:45:16,250 --> 00:45:19,930

this. I struggled with it so much until

683

00:45:19,930 --> 00:45:23,530

one day I was so angry

684

00:45:23,530 --> 00:45:27,290

and I was so upset about what had happened.

685

00:45:28,250 --> 00:45:32,090

And I was driving in my car and I was, I was banging

686

00:45:32,090 --> 00:45:34,820

on the steering wheel and,

687

00:45:36,180 --> 00:45:37,860

and, and just go, why?

688

00:45:40,020 --> 00:45:43,860

Why God? And

689

00:45:43,860 --> 00:45:46,580

then I heard I am God.

690

00:45:50,500 --> 00:45:53,300

And I got release, I got peace.

691

00:45:55,300 --> 00:45:58,900

You know, I was brought up with all kinds of songs. Talking about. We'll.

692

00:45:58,900 --> 00:46:02,210

We'll understand it better by and by. We'll. What we will understand

693

00:46:02,850 --> 00:46:06,690

is not why my friend Doyle died

694

00:46:06,930 --> 00:46:10,730

of cancer in the ninth grade. It won't be why my

695

00:46:10,730 --> 00:46:14,530

mom spent 13 years in a wheelchair at the end of

696

00:46:14,530 --> 00:46:17,890

her life. It won't be why my first wife, Margaret,

697

00:46:18,370 --> 00:46:22,090

died in what seemed to be the prime of

698

00:46:22,090 --> 00:46:25,330

life. What I'll know is he is God.

699

00:46:27,980 --> 00:46:31,740

And whatever your situation, whatever your circumstance, the

700

00:46:31,740 --> 00:46:34,620

answer is, he is God.

701

00:46:35,660 --> 00:46:37,900

We're going to sing this song one more time. And

702

00:46:39,340 --> 00:46:42,860

if you need prayer, these brothers and sisters will pray with you.

703

00:46:43,260 --> 00:46:43,740

Yeah.